Every time I step into this place,
I remember and think of the words
to that song that we sing, all in vain unless the spirit of
the Holy One comes down. And that's a true, true statement. You can stir up people's emotions
and get them crying like Many churches trick them into a profession
of faith, but it does no lasting good for their soul. So pray
for me as I attempt to exalt our Savior. Let's start in the
first chapter of the Gospel of John. John chapter one, very familiar
text. We'll begin reading in verse
29 of John chapter one. The next day, John seeth Jesus
coming unto him and saith, behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, after
me cometh a man which had preferred before me, for he was before
me. And I knew him not. but that
he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore, am I come
baptizing with water. And John bear record saying,
I saw the spirit descending from heaven like a dove and it abode
upon him. And I knew him not, but he that
sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, upon whom
thou shalt see the spirit descending and remaining on him, the same
as he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bear
record that this is the Son of God. Again, the next day after
John stood in two of his disciples and looking upon Jesus as he
walked, he saith, Behold, the Lamb of God. Now, twice in these
verses, John the Baptist declares to those around him within hearing
distance these words, Behold, the Lamb of God. And the first
time in verse 29 that he states that or makes that statement,
he tells us the reason why he's called the Lamb of God, because
he taketh away the sin of the world. And as you know, lambs
were the most commonly used animal in the practice of Jewish sacrifices. And no sacrifices of those lambs
always included the shedding of the blood of that particular
lamb. This, of course, is a type, a picture, of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the coming Messiah. And God instructed Moses and
Aaron during that first Passover that a lamb was to be the sacrifice
that was to be offered for that first Passover in Egypt. And
all those lambs, untold number of lambs that were slain on Jewish
altars, were simply a type of this lamb that John declared
when he pointed this out to the people around him. Throughout
the book of Revelation, Christ is called the Lamb with a capital
L. And in chapter five of Revelation,
verse six, John wrote this, and I beheld, and then he tells us
what it is that he beheld, a lamb as it had been slain. And in
the unending ages to come as a redeemed of God, gathers around
the throne and sings the praises of Christ, we're going to forever
behold those scars in his hands, in his feet, in his side. And
then we'll be able to sing his praises and extol his name much
better than what we heard. If heaven has rafters, we'll
rattle the rafters with our singing. and our praise and our song will
be that which is found in verse three. Later in this fifth chapter
of Revelation worthy is the lamb that was slain who hath redeemed
us unto God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and
people and nation. So I want to focus on these five
words spoken by John the Baptist behold the Lamb of God And I
want to look at the work of our blessed Savior from eternity
past, unimaginable ages of eternity past to the unimaginable ages
of eternity future. We simply cannot grasp what either
of those mean. But there's one thing that's
for sure. The Lord Jesus Christ is a central theme. The main
character that we find throughout this book that we refer to is
the Holy Bible. And it's all about him and all
about his work and what he's accomplished for the glory of
the triune God and for the good of his people. Turn over with
me to Proverbs chapter 8. Proverbs chapter 8. This describes. What happened in what we call
eternity past. Proverbs chapter 8 verse 5 says,
O ye simple, understand wisdom. Now what is Christ called in
Corinthians? He's called the wisdom of God. O ye simple, understand wisdom.
And ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart. Hear, for I will speak
excellent things, and the opening of my lips shall be right things. For my mouth shall speak truth,
and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of
my mouth are in righteousness. There is nothing forward or perverse
in them." Then verse 14, "'Counsel is mine and sound wisdom. I am
understanding. I have strength. By me, kings
reign and princes decree justice. By me, princes rule and nobles,
even all the judges of the earth." Then in verse 22, our Lord Jesus
speaks of the time before there was such a thing as time, when
he dwelt in perfect harmony and unison with the Father and the
Holy Spirit. The Lord possessed me in the
beginning of his way before his works of old. I was set up from
everlasting, from the beginning, wherever the earth was. When
there were no depths, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water, Before the mountains were settled, before
the hills were brought forth, while as yet he had not made
the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust
of the world, when he prepared the heavens, I was there. When
he set a compass upon the face of the depth, when he established
the clouds above, when he strengthened the fountains of water, when
he gave to the sea his decree that the water should not pass
his commandments, when he appointed the fountains of the earth, Then
I was with him, as one brought up with him, and I was daily
his delight, rejoicing always before him, rejoicing in the
habitable part of his earth, and my delights were with the
sons of men. Now, if we can use human terms
to describe our God, this is how Jesus Christ spent his time
before there was ever anything as time. And it tells us that
he was daily the very delight of his Holy Father. Next, we
behold the Lamb of God as he creates this universe. Genesis
1.1, in the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And the God here we know is none
other than Jesus Christ himself. We know this from what we read
in the first part of John's Gospel. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. All things were made by him,
and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was
life, and that life was the light of men. Genesis 1-3, and God
said, Let there be light. And we read in Isaiah 45, I am
the Lord, there is none else. I form the light and create darkness. And I thought a lot about this
as we read different things about the size of this universe. We
start with our universe and then the Milky Way and then on and
on it goes. And I mean, you can't even comprehend
what our God spoke into being. We sometimes wonder, I wonder
what's going to happen tomorrow. And yet we claim to worship a
God who spoke a universe into size that the satellites have
never found the edge of. And I doubt they ever will, because
I feel like this universe is like the God that created it.
It is infinite. Next thing we behold is the Lamb
of God as he makes man in Genesis 126. And God said, let us make
man in our image. and after our likeness. And I've
often wondered if Adam was not the exact twin of our Lord Jesus
Christ. The reason I say that, when something
is made in the image of someone or something, it is made to look
exactly like that person or thing. And in verse 27 of Genesis 1,
it says, So God created man in his own image, In the image of
God created he him, male and female created he them. And Genesis
2.7 says, And the Lord formed, or the Lord God formed man out
of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life. And man became a living soul. Became means to make something
that has never existed before. When our God breathed into the
nostrils of this man that he created, this man named Adam,
something came into being that had never existed before, the
human soul. And notice that it says he became
a human, or I mean, a living soul. It doesn't say he became
a living body, although that is what happened. But it says
he became a living soul, an eternal soul, as eternal as the God who
created it. Now, next, we behold the Lamb
of God and the types of the Old Testament throughout Holy Scriptures. And I want to look at just briefly
at just a few of these. You could spend months on this
study, but I just want to touch on a few of these, the types
of Christ that we find in the Old Testament. Adam, of course,
was the first man created, and the Lord Jesus Christ is called
the firstborn of every creature. He is called the first and the
last, the Alpha and the Omega. Abel was a type of Christ. And then among other things,
God had respect to Abel and his offering, to Abel and his sacrifice. As is stated in Hebrews 11, 4,
and so it was with the offering of our Lord Jesus Christ. The
time he offered himself for his people's sins, God had respect
to his sacrifice. And we know that because he raised
him from the dead and instructed him to sit on his right hand. Melchizedek was a type of Christ
in that he was both a priest and a king. Psalm 110, 4 declares
Christ to be a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
And further, Hebrews 11 speaks of Melchizedek being a king of
righteousness, a king of peace, having neither beginning of days
nor end of life. And so it is with our Lord Jesus
Christ who we're told abideth a priest forever, ever making
intercession for his saints. Isaac was a type of Christ in
that he was a child born a promise born long after his mother had
passed childbearing years. And further, Isaac willingly
agreed to be a sacrifice when called upon to do so by his father,
Christ himself willingly laid down his life and became that
sacrifice. that was required to atone for
his chosen people. David was a type of Christ in
so many ways that it would be a lengthy, lengthy discourse
to try to even begin to list them all. He was a shepherd who
became a king, chosen of God to be the king. And so it is
with our good shepherd. He is also called the King of
Kings and the Lord of Lords, ordained by the father himself. from the foundation of the world.
The Passover lamb was a type of Christ which we've already
talked about. And the brazen serpent was a type of Christ
in it all who were perishing and who are perishing under sin
can be saved with but a look from the Savior. The same way
that all those who were bitten by fiery serpents were saved
with just a look at that serpent of brass. Now next, We behold
the Lamb of God as he is conceived and born miraculously, as no
other man has ever been born. When the angel Gabriel came to
Mary in Luke chapter one, he told her, Hail thou that are
highly favored. The Lord is with thee. Blessed
art thou among women. And this same can be said of
the elect of our God. We are highly highly favored,
chosen to serve the purpose of our Lord and Savior. And Gabriel
didn't tell Mary that she was highly favored because God had
looked at her and she was just, I mean, the perfect choice. No, this is a clear case of election. God choosing one among all the
virgins in Israel at that time. He chose this one named Mary
to be the father. of the mother of our Lord Jesus
Christ. But Mary knew the natural order
of things. That's why she said, how can this be seeing I know
not a man? And we find Gabriel's response
in verse 35, and it says the angel answered and said unto
her, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the
highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore, also that which shall
be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. Now, never in
history is such a thing ever taken place. And this is how
our Lord Jesus Christ could be born as no other man born without
sin, without Adam's fallen nature. And he had to be that way to
become that perfect sacrifice. And we behold the Lamb of God
as he comes forth from the womb, coming forth in perfection. To
live in perfection. to keep every jot and tittle
of the law, to put away his people's sin. And next, we can behold
the Lamb of God as he walks this earth. The scriptures tell us
that the child Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in
favor with God and man. Now, I can understand how he
increased in favor with men as he watched him grow in stature
and in wisdom. But how is it that Christ Jesus
increased in favor with God? Has he not from eternity always
been the obedient son, one with his father? And I read several
commentaries on this verse, and none seem to give a satisfactory
explanation concerning this question of how he could increase in favor
with God. So I'll be honest with you, I'm
as much in the dark about this statement is before I began the
study of it. But as a pastor friend once told
me, sometimes it's OK just to say, I don't know. And this is one of those times
concerning that I have no idea how our Lord could increase in
favor with his father. Now, the first words that recorded
are recorded by our Lord Jesus Christ are found in Luke chapter
two. Luke chapter two, starting in
verse twenty nine. It's our Lord Jesus walked this
earth. This is the first time we ever
find that he spoke. And the Holy Spirit found it
right to record his words. And this is, of course, the time
that he stayed behind after his parents had come to Jerusalem
to worship, and he stayed behind and they didn't realize he was
gone until the night that they camped and they Went back looking
for him, looked for three days. And Luke chapter 2 verse 49 says
it. Here he was sitting among the
elders, both hearing them and answering their questions. And
they that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And Mary, of course, we read
of how she rebuked him for giving them such sorrow and woe. And
the Lord Jesus Christ replied, How is it that ye sought me,
wished ye not that I must be about my father's business? Now here in this verse, our Lord
declares his reason for coming to earth. He must be about his
father's business. And what exactly was that business?
We're told in Luke 19 verse 10, for the son of man has come to
seek and to save that which was lost. So throughout the four
gospels, we find him going about doing just that. We could literally
spend days. Speaking about all that was involved
in that work, but suffice it to say. At every single thing
I did, our Lord did as he walked this earth. Were those things
that were decreed by the father to do so he came to fulfill,
he told us all that was written of him. and the prophets and
the Psalms. And we read of him speaking to
the people and teaching the people in Matthew seven. And as he spoke,
he spoke with absolute confidence, which would make sense. He is
the God of this world, God of this universe. And we read in
the last verse of Matthew seven and it came to pass When Jesus
had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his
doctrine. They weren't just impressed.
It says it set them back on their heels. For he taught them as
one having authority, the ultimate authority, and not as the scribes. In John 7, we read a similar
text. Starting in verse 43, it says,
So there was a division among the people because of him, and
some of them would have taken him But no man laid hands on
him. Then came the officers to the
chief priests and Pharisees, and they said unto them, Why
have ye not brought him? And the officers answered, Never. Man spake like this man. Even
the unbelievers saw that this man was very different from every
other man they had ever encountered, even that one called John the
Baptist. In Mark 2, we have an account
of the Lord healing the sick man, the man sick of the palsy,
and he picked up his bed and walked away. And we read that
after the Lord healed this man, it says, And they were all amazed
and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. We've seen him do some pretty
amazing things, but we've never seen anything like this. Now
next, we behold the Lamb of God as He dies. for his people's
sin. In Luke 23, starting in verse
33, it says, And when they were come to the place which is called
Calvary, there they crucified him, and the male factors, one
on the right hand and the other on the left. Then said Jesus,
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And verse 44 tells us, and it
was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the
earth until the ninth hour. The sun was darkened, and the
veil of the temple was rent in the mist. And when Jesus had
cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. And having said thus, he gave
up the ghost. These six hours that our Lord
hung on that tree, six long hours, are both the
most cursed and the most blessed six hours
in all of human history. I say that because they're the
most cursed six hours because they demonstrated the true depth
and the evilness and the depravity of the heart of natural man.
God in human form came to this earth and did only goodness and
kindness, yet mankind exercised their free will in the most evil
way imaginable. They killed the prince of life,
as Peter told those Jews in Acts 3.15. But these are also the most blessed
six hours in human history. Because in these six hours, our
Savior suffered the wrath of his father. It was due the sins
of all his chosen people so that he might present us faultless
before his presence of the glory or with glory and exceeding joy. As he declared, behold, I and
the children that the Lord hath given me. And next, we behold
the Lamb of God as he comes forth from the dead in the Gospel of
John, Chapter 20. John, Chapter 20. We read the account of Mary Magdalene
going to the tomb the day after the Lord was buried. And she
found the stone rolled away from the entrance and she runs and
tells Peter and John and they also go to the sepulcher and
find it empty. After which Peter and John left
and went home but Mary stayed behind. Verse 11 says that she
stood outside the tomb weeping and that she stooped down and
looked into the tomb and saw two angels were the body of the
Lord in lane. Who ask her woman Why weepest
thou, she said unto them? Because they have taken away
my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. In the next verse, she sees Jesus
standing, but doesn't know that it's him. In verse 15, it says,
Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest
thou? She, supposing him to be the
gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou hast borne him hence,
Tell me where thou has laid him and I will take him away. Jesus
sayeth unto her, Mary. One word. And she turned herself
and sayeth unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, master. Jesus sayeth unto her, touch
me not, for I am not yet ascended to my father, but go to my brethren. and say unto them, I ascend unto
my Father, and to your Father, and to my God, and your God,
one and the same. And notice in this verse that
the Lord instructs Mary not to touch him, but a little over
a week later, he tells Thomas to thrust his hand into his side
and to touch the scars in his hands. And apparently in this
time that the Lord, he did indeed ascend to the Father and then
returned to earth, to instruct his disciples. Now, I have no
idea what occurred when he ascended to the father and returned. It
made him okay to be touched by Thomas. And yet a week earlier,
he instructed Mary not to touch him. I have, again, no idea at
all. And next, we behold the Lamb
of God, and he ascends unto heaven. Luke records this in the last
four verses of his gospel, and it says, And he led them out
as far as to Bethany, And he lifted up his hands and blessed
them. And it came to pass while he blessed them. He was parted
from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him
and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they continually
were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen. And now. In this present time,
we behold the Lamb of God as He rules all things in this world. This could be a message in and
of itself. He told his disciples in Matthew 28, that verse that
we're so familiar with, all power is given unto me in heaven and
in earth. And I love those first four verses
of Psalm 2. I quote them often. Why do the
heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the
earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together
against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, Let us
break their bands asunder and cast away their cord from us.
He that said it in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have
them in derision. Whatsoever our savior purposes
shall surely come to pass and though we watch the news and
see things that are happening in this world day to day in our
own community and around the world. And it seems to be chaos. But God's people have the confidence
to look at those things knowing that it's not chaos. It's simply
the purpose of our Lord and Savior coming to pass. We should We
don't, but we should rejoice in everything that we see. And
admittedly, a lot of it is hard to swallow. But if we actually believe that
this God of ours that we claim to worship, if we actually believe
that he rules all things, including the fine little dust that you
see floating in the sunlight coming through your window, we
should never despair over anything that we see coming to pass in
this world. because we can rejoice when we know that everything
that we see happening is happening for two reasons. One, for the
glory of his name, and two, for the good of his people. And then we behold the Lamb of
God as he gathers his people to himself. We find a most blessed
verse. Turn over with me to Jeremiah,
chapter 32. Jeremiah 32. We find our Lord, the Lamb of
God, gathering his people to himself. And Jeremiah 32, starting
in verse 37, he promises this. Behold, I will gather them out
of all countries, whether I have driven them in mine anger and
in my fury and in great wrath. And I will bring them again unto
this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. And they
shall be my people and I will be their God. And he makes us
a further promise. And I will give them one heart
and one way that they may fear me forever for the good of them
and of their children after them. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do
them good. But I will put my fear in their hearts and they
shall not Depart from me. I don't know where you could
find anything more encouraging than those verses. This, of course,
is speaking of the true church of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
true Israel in this world. And further, Christ promises
that all that the father giveth me shall come to me and he that
cometh to me, I will in no wise Cast out, and I love that verse
in Isaiah 54 7 for a small moment. Have I forsaken thee, but with
great mercies? Well, I gather the. One of the definitions of this
word gather that I looked up. It means to put your arms around
someone. And hold him in a careful. And
loving way. What a perfect description of
what our Lord does for his people. He gives his people a heart to
pray with David. Save us, O God, and gather us
from among the heathen to give thanks unto thy holy name and
to triumph in thy praise. Then we behold the Lamb of God
as He returns in the clouds. Revelation 1, verse 7 states,
Revelation 1, verse 7, if you'd like to look at it. It tells us this. Behold, He cometh with clouds,
and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him.
and all kindred of the earth shall wail because of him. First
Thessalonians four, verses 16 and 17 say for the Lord himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout and with the voice of
the archangel and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then
we which were alive, which are alive and remain shall be caught
up together with him in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
And so shall we ever. Be with the Lord. There's a description
of this return of our Lord Jesus Christ in Revelation 19. If you're
still in Revelation, look at it in Revelation 19. This describes
the return of our Lord in Revelation 19, starting in verse 11. And I saw
heaven open, and behold, a white horse And he that said upon him
was called faithful and true. And in righteousness doth he
judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire
and on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written that
no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture
dipped in blood. And his name is called the word
of God and the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white
horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, and out of his
mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations,
and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he treadeth the
winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he
hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of
Kings, and Lord of Lords. And lastly, we behold the Lamb
of God as He is worshipped by His elect forevermore. In Revelation
chapter 4, verse 11, we read that the four elders fall down
before the throne of God and they cry out, and this is what
they say, Revelation 4, 11, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive
glory and honor and power. Why? For thou has created all
things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. And in the next chapter of Revelation,
we read the redeemed singing what is called a new song in
verse nine. And that new song is this, thou
art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for
thou was slain and hath redeemed us to God by thy blood out of
every kindred and tongue and people and nation, and has made
us unto our God, kings and priests, and we shall reign in the earth.
Then in verse 12, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive
power and riches, wisdom, strength, and honor and glory and blessing. And there shall never be an end.
There's not a final verse, not a final course to this song that
will be sung by the saints of God, because the scripture declare
many times that our Lord's kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. We
will worship him forever. Now, in the beginning, we read
the statement by John the Baptist, Behold, the Lamb of God. But John was just like us. He
was just a man. Even though the Lord said among
all prophets there has never been one like John the Baptist,
John was still just a man. That's why we read in Matthew
11, 3, how that he sent two of his disciples to the Lord Jesus,
and he told them to ask him, Art thou he that should come,
or do we look for another? Now this same John had already
proclaimed that Christ Jesus to be the very Lamb of God. He
had seen the Spirit of God descending and lighting upon him. So was John having doubts? Here
he was sitting in prison. And perhaps he was. But if he
was having doubts, I believe that the message that our Lord
sent to John through those two disciples put to rest any of
those doubts. And sadly, I don't know about
you, but sadly, we are much like John. One moment, and I know I'm not the only one
that's experienced this, you feel like I'll take on this world
to stand for what's right and exalt the name of our Savior.
And the next moment, like the flick of a switch, you find yourself unsure and
doubting that you have a shred of faith. You find yourself wondering if
this gospel that we claim to be true even true or not. And we might even find ourselves
doing what Peter did, denying our very Lord, maybe throwing
in a few cuss words just to drive the point home. But you know what? Those times are good for us. Because they make us cling ever
more tenaciously to that one who loved us and gave himself
for us. They make us realize that unless God keeps us, we're
as unstable as a leaf blown in the wind, ever susceptible to
that sin which so doth easily beset us, spoken of in Hebrews
12.1. This is why Paul wrote, and he knew well, he wrote, we
have no confidence in the flesh, but there is one in whom we have
all confidence, and that confidence is well-founded, that one who
John called the Lamb of God, that one who we will look upon
and sing his praises throughout eternity. Billy, come lead us in a song,
please.