I'd like to begin by reading two brief articles. I condensed them by two of my
favorite preachers, two of my favorite people, dear friends
of mine and yours. The first one is titled Preach
Christ by Brother Henry Mahan. He's commenting on this verse
of scripture in John chapter 16. Our Lord is speaking and
he tells his disciples, he, speaking of the Holy Spirit, he shall
glorify me for he shall receive of mine and show it unto you. Henry writes, the Holy Spirit
does not reach after something novel, new, or spectacular in
order to glorify Christ or to preach Christ to men. He does
not need tongues, fleshly emotion, bodily healings, and creature
fame and importance in order to bring glory to Christ and
call out his sheep. He finds Christ's glory in Christ
himself. If we want to honor Christ, glorify
Christ, and preach Christ, we must not look for something outside
of Christ. If folks need something more
than Christ, they're in trouble. They're in trouble. Henry goes
on to say, Jesus Christ is most glorified, his sheep most edified,
his will and purpose accomplished, and his church perfected in faith,
hope, and love when we preach Christ himself. The work of the
Spirit of God is to reveal to us the beauties of Jesus Christ,
and they are all found in Christ himself. And I added this note
of my own. O Lord, be pleased to prove that
to us today. Glorify your Son in our midst
by allowing us to behold the Lamb of God. The second article
is by Brother Don Fortner, my other good friend and faithful
servant of God. This is from a Bible lesson in Exodus chapter 10. It's when
the Lord told Moses to stretch forth his hand toward heaven
and he would send another plague upon the Egyptians, one of darkness. Darkness that might be felt. But he said, the children of
Israel, in their houses there'll be light. God's called us out
of darkness into his marvelous light. God puts a difference
between his people and the world. Always has. Always has. The title
of Don's article on that verse of scripture is this. Three Felt
Things. And Don wrote, the basis of our
hope is the Word of God. That which is revealed in this
book that gives us hope is the person and work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And I want you to see that the
good hope of grace and salvation that God gives to his elect is
something that is felt in us. A lot of folks are afraid of
that word. We're creatures of extremes,
aren't we? The Pentecostal nonsense we don't
want nothing to do with, but we don't deny that the experience
of God's grace is exactly that. Something that's felt in the
heart of every believer. Don goes on the right. I would
not give a nickel for any religion that is nothing but feeling.
Emotionalism and religious excitement is not grace. But I would not
give a penny for religion without feeling. That religion that has
no feeling, that is all intellect, is always cold and dead. The
hope that has been begotten in us is called a lively hope, a
living hope. When Lazarus was raised from
the dead, he felt it. He felt it. A prisoner released
from prison, delivered from the hole of the pit in which no water
could be found, feels it. You may not feel a pardon, but
if ever you experience forgiveness, you'll feel it. You'll feel forgiveness. Christianity is a matter of the
heart. And those things that are found
in the heart are felt things. It is Christ in you whom the
Spirit of God calls the hope of glory. And if Christ is in
you, he'll stick out. And if he sticks out, you'll
feel it. Now let's look again here in
John's Gospel, chapter 1. Our texts are verses 35 and 36. Let's read them again together. And again the next day after,
John stood and two of his disciples and looking up on Jesus as he
walked, hmm, my, what an event, what an honor, what a privilege. Looking upon Jesus as he walked,
he saith, behold the Lamb of God. Remember what I asked you a few
moments ago? Pray that the Lord will allow us to do exactly that,
to behold the Lamb of God. Wouldn't it be wonderful? I know
that it won't happen, and I'm sad that it doesn't, but wouldn't
it be wonderful if every preacher in Sylacauga would do that today? If every man who claims to speak
for God would do what God Almighty commands and exhort sinners to
behold the Lamb of God. I want each of us to experience
that. Nothing. I don't have any reservation
about saying that. I don't have any doubt whatsoever
about this. Nothing is as important as that. Nothing is of greater consequence
than that. Nothing that ever takes place
in your life will ever be of more importance than this, beholding
the Lamb of God. Because if I beheld, if I really
beheld the Lamb of God, Then I'm saved. I'm saved to the uttermost
with an everlasting salvation. God's salvation is everlasting. Salvation to the uttermost. There's
none other kind. The day has been referred to
as it is each time this year when those two teams, football
teams, play Super Sunday. Is that what they call it? Oh
my soul, if God Almighty is pleased by his supernatural grace to
reach down and enable sinners to behold the Lamb of God, that'll
be a super Sunday. That'll be a time of refreshing
for our soul because the consequence of that is it shall never end. It shall never end. It'll shine
into a brighter day until as John closed his lesson this morning
with the hymn, face to face I shall behold him. But if not, but if
not, if I've never beheld the Lamb of God, nothing else I know
or claim or am will change the fact that I'm lost. If I've never beheld the Lamb
of God, I've never experienced grace, If I've not beheld the
Lord Jesus Christ, if I've not believed on Him, and that's what
the word behold means. It's to believe on Him. We don't
behold Him now with the natural eye. Many people did that here
in the chapter that we read, but they saw Him. They saw Him
in the flesh, but they didn't know who He was. It takes the
revelation of God Almighty in the heart of a sinner. It did
then and it does today. Thomas, because you see me, you
believe. Blessed are those who shall not
see me and yet shall believe. If I haven't beheld the Lamb
of God, I'll repeat it. No matter what else I may claim
to know, experienced, done, I'm a lost man. I'm a lost man. Let me read you a couple of other
quotes. These are brief. The first one
is by Martin Luther. He said, a man cannot be thoroughly
humbled till he realizes that his salvation is utterly beyond
his own powers, efforts, will, and works, and depends solely
on the will, power, and pleasure and work of another, God Almighty. God Almighty. That's exactly
right, Lester. Robert Haldane, who wrote a great
commentary on the Book of Romans, perhaps you have it, he wrote
this. The first great difficulty is
to convince a man that he is a sinner. And really only God
the Holy Spirit can convince a man that he's a sinner. I mean
really convincing that he's a sinner. Oh he might give lip service
to it just to get someone that's witnessing to him off his back,
but to really know what his heart to be to be enabled to stand
like that publican, smiting upon his breast, not even lifting
up his eyes toward heaven and saying, God, be merciful to me.
I'm the sinner. That takes the work of God's
grace to convince a man of that. But Haldane went on to write,
but the second difficulty is to persuade a believer that he
is forever safe in Jesus Christ. Oh, I'm learning that more and
more day by day. Oh, to be accepted and to be
loved. And to be loved. You say, Larry,
you haven't learned that yet? Well, I sometimes wonder whether
I have or not. Because when I fail, you know
what my first inclination is to do? Make things right. begin to try to labor with these
hands, which never can bring peace with God, but think it's
something in my power that I must do, instead of realizing, no
matter what I do or fail to do, I'm always accepted, never less
accepted, never more accepted, in the Beloved. That's the grounds
of my hope. Nothing else ever is, ever can
be. Oh God, convince me more of that,
that I'm safe. I'm safe in the beloved. Accepted
I am. Oh, what a blessed, blessed scripture.
The third man I'm quoting is Joseph Irons. All these men lived
many years ago, but he wrote this. I am as sure as I am of
my own existence that wherever God the Holy Spirit awakens the
poor sinner by his mighty grace and imparts spiritual life in
his heart, nothing will ever satisfy that poor sinner but
a believing assurance of eternal union with Christ. That's exactly
right. Unless the soul obtains a sweet
and satisfactory consciousness, of it in the exercise of a living
faith, it will never enter into rest this side of eternity. O Holy Spirit of God, again I
ask, allow us this day to behold the Lamb of God." Notice in our
text that this was John's only message. We read in verse 29,
previous to this, that he'd already said these same words. Behold
the Lamb of God. And on that occasion, he was
talking to a multitude of people. Among them were the religious
Jews, the Levites, the priests, sent there by the Pharisees.
But whether they were religious or lost, whether they were just
a curious multitude, let's go down to Jordan and see what this
fellow's doing. Have you heard about him? He's
an odd character. Let's go see what all the fuss
is about. Or whether they were sincere,
seeking sinners, John's message was always the same. Whether
he was speaking to a multitude, or as in our text, speaking to
only two disciples, his message was always the same. Behold the
Lamb of God. To unbelievers, he said, behold
the Lamb of God. To two of his own disciples,
he said, behold the Lamb of God. Notice again in verse 35, it
says, again, again. I almost titled this message,
which is Behold the Lamb of God, but entitle it Behold the Lamb
of God Again. You know the best thing that
you can do for your soul For the glory of God and the Lord
Jesus Christ, the best thing you can do after you've beheld
the Lamb of God is to behold the Lamb of God. You'll never
do anything more comforting, more edifying, more glorifying
to Christ than to behold Him again and again. Remember, John
the Baptist was the only man. John pointed this out several
months ago when he was teaching. and referring to John the Baptist. And I was sitting where I usually
do, and John looked at me and said, Larry, correct me if I'm
wrong, but John the Baptist, other than the Lord Jesus Christ
himself, was the only person foretold, prophesied of in the
Old Testament. His coming was foretold. His
birth was foretold hundreds of years before it took place. And
that's right. That's right. Other than the
Lord Jesus Christ, John the Baptist was the only one that the prophets,
Isaiah and Malachi, as a matter of fact, The last book, the last
chapter, the book of Malachi, we're told that God would send
his messenger before his face to prepare his way before him.
He'll come as Elijah, in the spirit and power of Elijah. And he was talking about John
the Baptist. An angel announced his birth
to his father. You remember in Luke 1? Zacharias
was in the temple. He was a priest. He was in the
temple going through his duties. And an angel. He was old and
his wife Elizabeth was old. They never had a child. They
forgot about that a long time ago. And the angel appeared to
Zacharias and said, your prayer's been heard. Elizabeth, your wife's
going to conceive. She's going to have a son. He'll
be the forerunner of Christ. He'll be great in the sight of
the Lord. My soul. And Elizabeth, after
she had conceived and was expecting John the Baptist, six months
into her pregnancy, Mary went to visit her. And when Mary walked
in, the babe leaped in Elizabeth's womb. And Elizabeth cried out,
who am I that the mother of my Lord should visit me, my soul,
What an experience! And yet, when John the Baptist
came on the scene, he purposely deflected every consideration
Every suggestion that he himself was some great one. He said time
and time again, I've told you people. Aren't you listening? I'm not to Christ. We saw it
several times in the chapter that we read here in John chapter
1. Look again at verse 19. When
they asked, who art thou? Now these were the big wigs.
If you picked up the newspaper this morning that this took place,
And turned to the religious page, they would have said the Levites
went from Jerusalem, were sent by the Pharisees to visit John
the Baptist today. Who are you? And John said, and
denied not, I'm not the Christ. I'm nothing. He didn't say anything
about his miraculous birth. He didn't say anything about
the prophecies in Malachi and Isaiah that were only about him. He said, it's not about me. I'm not him. I'm not the Christ. I'm not the Messiah. Who are
you then, John? Who are you? We've got to give
an answer to those fellas that sent us, the Pharisees. What
are we going to tell them? You go back and tell them this.
You tell them, I'm just a voice. Wait a minute. That's it? You've
got to give us more than that? Well, you're not going to get
it, John. I'm just a voice crying in the wilderness. He that's
coming after me, he's the one that ranks higher than I. He's
the bridegroom. I'm just nobody. They said, well,
John, aren't you somebody? And John said, no, I'm nobody.
But let me tell you about somebody. Let me tell you about He that's
coming after me. He's the Christ. He's the bridegroom. He's God's chosen. He's God's
son. He's God in the flesh. He must
increase. He must increase. Oh, what about
you, John? Man, would you forget about me?
I told you, I'm not the Christ. I must decrease. It's all about Him. And when
Christ was revealed to John, he cried. He said in chapter
3, I believe it was, of John, Oh, my joy is fulfilled. I'm like the best man at the
wedding. I stand in the shadows. It's all about the bridegroom.
My joy is fulfilled. It's enough for me just to stand
and hear his voice. That's fulfilling to me. And
when Christ was revealed to John, he cried, Behold, behold, the
Lamb of God. This, this is the Son of God. John was the forerunner of Christ,
but he was always, so to speak, looking over his shoulder for
him who was coming after him. And when he did, when Christ
overtook John, John stopped dead in his tracks and wouldn't take
another step. He just stayed put and cried
Behold the Lamb of God. That's Him. Behold Him. Now notice again in verse 35. Again we're told, as we said,
the best thing to do after we behold the Lamb of God is to
behold the Lamb of God. Now we that are grandparents
all have memories of our Grandchildren, you know, our grandchildren are
just special, John. You talk about your grandson,
JC, he can't hold a candle to my great-grandson, Brantley.
I mean, what are you talking about? But all when they were
young, and they are, those two are still young. Before they
get too old and have less and less time for Pawpaw, but when
they were little, they'd come up to you, Pawpaw, swing me,
swing me. Bounce me on your knee. Swing
me, Pawpaw. Throw me up and catch me. Do
it again, Pawpaw. Do it again, Pawpaw. You're going
to have to let Pawpaw take a break. Do it again and they will just
laugh for joy. Oh, preacher, do it again. Tell me to behold the Lamb of
God. John, tell me again. Behold the
Lamb of God. There's nothing that can quench
my thirsty soul but a view, a fresh glimpse of the Lamb of God. No
matter what I'm going through, no matter where this moment finds
me, my greatest need, the remedy is for me to do what I've already
done by His grace again, to behold the Lamb of God. Now let me just point something
out here as we did in the reading. Verse 31 we read John says, and
I knew him not. He's talking about Jesus Christ.
Comes to him to be baptized and John says before this I knew
him not. And then in verse 33 he repeats
it. I knew him not. How do we account for that? What
in the world could John mean by these words? Now I read some
very good commentators, but I had to differ with them when they
tried to explain this. They say, well, they live some
distance apart. And the Bible says John was in
the desert until the day of his showing to Israel. And the Bible
does say that, but I don't think he was in the desert all his
life, John. I mean, I don't think he was born when he was crawling. They threw him out in the desert.
No, no, no. I don't think it means that at
all. I don't think that's what John... John doesn't mean that
he wasn't acquainted with Christ. I mean, surely his parents told
him. About his birth and the birth
of Mary's son? About the prophecies that went
before them? About what God said John would
do? Surely John knew when Jesus, Matthew tells us when Christ
came to be baptized of John, John had to know him because
he said, I have need to be baptized of you. And you come to me. So when John says, I knew him
not, what does he mean? And I think it's this, John had
to have Christ revealed to him just like any other redeemed
sinner. By nature he was blind, lost,
undone. He knew Jesus of Nazareth, but
he had to have him revealed to him in a saving way. He himself
had the experience to behold the Lamb of God. and then point
others to do the same. It was true of John just like
it was of Peter. Peter, the Lord said, flesh and
blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father which is in
heaven. That's what it takes. That's
what it takes. It takes a miracle of God's grace.
Are you thinking about, as I am, how sad it is that today the
miracle of God's great salvation, the miracle of his precious gift
of faith has been reduced down to be no more than a decision
for Jesus? Hogwash! Hogwash! That is not so. The miracle of
the new birth is affected by a man walking to the isle and
shaking a preacher's hand. Again, I say hogwash! How dishonoring
to the triune God. Flesh and blood has not revealed
this unto you, Peter. You didn't come to this on your
own. You didn't arrive at this by
studying the Old Testament. No, you weren't educated into
this, Peter. It doesn't come that way. That's
not the way it happens. Well, then what happened? My
father. My father. God Almighty opened
your eyes to show you who I am. That's the only reason you can
say in truth You're the Messiah. And that was the same case with
John. That's why he says, until that took place, I knew him not. But he that sent me to baptize
said, upon whom you'll see the Spirit descending and staying
on, the same as he. And John said, I saw him. Is
that not what he said? I saw just like God told me I
would see, identifying Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ of
God. And in verse 34, I saw and bear
record that this, this, nobody else, this is the Son of God. Do you remember what Paul said
in 2 Corinthians chapter 5? He said, though we have known
Christ after the flesh, yet know we Him no more. That's a good
commentary on John's words here, I knew Him not. He knew Him after
the flesh. Paul saw what Tarsus did, but
he didn't know him spiritually. He didn't know him savingly until
God Almighty opened his eyes and he bowed down and said, Lord,
what would you have me to do on the Damascus road? Our knowledge
of Christ is not a carnal apprehension of the intellect, but the gift
and revelation of God's Holy Spirit. In the 1600s, John Owen
wrote this. Sounds like he's describing our
day. He said, of all the poison which
is at this day disfused in the minds of men, corrupting them
from the mystery of the gospel, there is no part that is more
dangerous than this one perverse imagination that to believe in
Christ is nothing at all but to believe the doctrines of the
gospel. Hello! It's nothing more than to believe
the doctrines of the gospel. I believe this point, then I
believe this point. Well, if that point's right,
this must logically be the next one, and this one, and this one.
Five points makes me a believer. No, it doesn't. No, it doesn't.
That's just what Owen was talking about. That's knowing Christ
after the flesh as the result of my own intellect, my own decision,
my own whatever. Oh, but to know Christ savingly,
God Almighty must reveal Him to your heart. You must behold
the Lamb of God. The Holy Spirit calls knowing
Christ after the flesh by mere carnal reason. There are people
with religious knowledge who are totally void of grace and
spiritual life, groping in the darkness of their own invented
lights. These religious people were.
They were the religious teachers and the Levites and priests.
And they didn't know who Christ was. They saw him with their
natural eye. And they said, well, big deal.
Big deal. Who does he think he is? He's
nobody. What are you people getting all
excited about? We know who he is. We know his
father, Joseph. We know Mary. We know his brothers
and sisters. And you think he's the Messiah?
You've lost your mind. Oh, but John the Baptist? He
said, I know, this is He. Behold the Lamb of God. The best thing we can do, as
I've said, after beholding the Lamb of God, is to behold the
Lamb of God. This is He. Can you say that? Can you stand with John and say,
well, let everybody else say what they want. Everybody's got
an opinion. He's this and he's that. It's like pouring water on a
duck's back. It doesn't bother me at all because
I know who he is. I know who he is. He's the Christ
of God. I know whom I had believed. How do I know? Because God Almighty,
God Almighty, by His matchless grace, revealed His Son to me.
Otherwise, I would not know. This is what happened to Andrew
and whoever this other disciple was, perhaps John. I'm not sure,
it doesn't say. But when our Lord, or rather
John, stood with those two disciples, and again Christ comes by and
John says, look, look, look there, look, look, Andrew, look, look,
There's the Lamb of God. That's the Lamb of God. That's
God's Lamb. And they followed him. Master,
where dwellest thou? And they stayed with him that
day, and their eyes were opened. And then he went and got his
brother. Gotta go tell Peter. And he brings Peter to Christ.
And Peter's eyes were opened. And he beheld the Lamb of God. There's nothing more important.
Nothing more important. Christ, child of God, is that
lamb of God's providing. Aren't you glad that he did? Child of God, are you vexed with
sin today? I know you are. There's not an
hour we're not. What can I do? Behold the Lamb
of God. Are you troubled with affliction?
Behold the Lamb of God. Are you in need of comfort? Behold
the Lamb of God. Do you need reviving? Do you
feel just dead inside, just going through the motions? Oh, behold
the Lamb of God. Are you fearful about your soul? Anybody fearful about their soul,
about eternity? Behold the Lamb of God. Are you
concerned about the future? Behold the Lamb of God. Do you
want to know how to live? Behold the Lamb of God. Do you
want to know how to die? to face God Almighty. Behold
the Lamb of God. Mr. Spurgeon wrote, and I think
as a very young believer, if I'm not mistaken, he wrote this
hymn. He said, what the hand is to
the lute, what the breath is to the flute, what is fragrance
to the smell, what the spring is to the well, what the flower
is to the bee, that is Jesus Christ to me. What is the mother
to the child, what the guide in pathless wild, what is oil
to troubled way, what is ransom to the slave, what is water to
the sea, that is Jesus Christ to me. There is no subject in
the world so vast, so elevating to the soul of a believer, than
to behold the Lamb of God. You talk about mysteries? We'll
try this on. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. You like romance? We'll try this
on. God had loved me with an everlasting
love. That's higher than I can reach,
John. Talk about beauty? Try the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Talk about science. Try the science of substitution,
satisfaction, and everlasting redemption. Talk about those
blessed things. Note what John says here. The
Lamb, my soul, let's not fail, or rather don't missed the forest
because of the trees. The Lamb, not a lamb, not a lamb. The Lamb. There's only one. Only one that God appointed.
And Paul tells us in Romans 3, Him have God set forth in the
eternal covenant of grace in time. to be the propitiation
for our sins. He's the one God appointed and
the one God provided. You remember when Isaac was going
up to the mount with his father Abraham? Where are we going,
dad? Where are we going? We're going
up to the mount to sacrifice to God. Well, father, here's
the wood and the fire, but we're forgetting something. Where's
the offering? Where's the offering? You remember what Abraham said
to him? My son, God will provide himself
an offering. And God did. Behold the Lamb
of God. When the fullness of the time
was come, God sent forth his son. I like what I read one writer said on, made this comment,
rather. He said, the most hideous conception
of Christ's atoning work is that it is not the sacrifice that
secures the acceptance of the worshipper, but the obedience
of the worshipper that secures the sacrifice, or rather the
acceptance of the sacrifice. In other words, he was addressing
the same problem we have today. The offering of Jesus Christ
is presented to people like it's up to them to accept or not. Whether it's successful depends
upon what they do with it. Jesus Christ did not offer himself
to man. Did you hear that? Jesus Christ
did not offer himself to man to accept or not. He offered
himself, we're told in scripture, he offered himself without spot
to God. He offered himself as the sin-atoning
sacrifice to God. It was God that crushed his son
beneath his holy wrath. It was God that demanded the
sacrifice. It was God that required the
payment. It was God Almighty that bruised
his son and it was God Almighty that accepted his son eternally
and he proved it when he raised him from the dead. You remember
what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5? God had made Christ to be
sin for us. God did that. He offered himself
to God. We might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. And one is as certain as the
other. And that's why God says it. And
I'll tell you what, child of God, we cannot curl up close
enough to this. This has got more comfort, more
assurance, more peace, more hope. More security than anything else
can possibly have. And it's this, it's this. It's
just like if I would curl up in that chair right now and just
get cozy and doze off. Oh, to curl up in this blessed,
blessed, wondrous truth. God Almighty says, when I see
the blood, Larry Criss, I'm gonna pass over you. Oh, man. I like that. I like that. When I see the blood, the reason
I forgive you, the reason I accept you, the reason you'll be with
me in glory is not because of anything you've ever done. It's
what my son's done on your behalf. Yes, man, I can curl up to that. I can curl up and find sweet
hope in that. The Lamb. Nothing else matters,
does it not? Does it not? Look unto me. and be ye saved. Look, look. Oh God, open my eyes
to look. There's no decision for Jesus
that can do that. No being dragged down a Roman's
road can produce that. You remember when that blind
man our Lord healed in John 9. After he was healed, he was called
before the Sanhedrin. We know this fellow This Jesus
of Nazareth, he's a sinner. So you can't be giving him credit
for opening your eyes. What really happened? Well, you
know the story. He wouldn't budge. He said, well,
I'll tell you this. I know this. I know this. I was blind, but now I see. They
said, well, you're ignorant. You're ignorant. Get out. Get
out. They excommunicated him. Best thing that ever happened
to him. Because the Great Shepherd found him. I've had folks tell
me from time to time, Larry, I had a religious experience
and I thought, well, that's probably the worst thing ever happened
to you. Because some of the nonsense that follows that declaration
is bewildering. But anyway, the Great Shepherd
found him. He'd been cast out by the religious
powers, but he in whom salvation is found him. Remember the first
thing the Lord said to him? Do you remember? Do you believe
in the Son of God? And that poor man said, Lord,
who is that that I might believe on him? And the Lord Jesus said,
it's he that's talking to you now. It's that one you're looking
at now. And that man said, I believe.
And he bowed down and worshipped him. I believe, he said. And he worshipped him. Imagine
that. He bowed to the Son of God. Really? You mean if a man is
saved, he bows to the Son of God? Seriously? Seriously? I hope nobody's asking
that question. Of course every believing sinner
bows to the Son of God. It's only this religious nonsense
that tells sinners they can be saved without bowing to the Son
of God. That's a lie. That's a lie. I know many people profess to
believe, but their whole life is a blatant denial that they've
ever bowed to the Son of God. They shake their fists in everything
God's Word says, and yet they'll tell you, I'm a believer. I don't
bow. I don't intend to do anything
He tells me to do, but I'm a believer. No, you're a deceiver. You're
a deceiver. You can't be a believer. This
man bowed. He said, I believe. Him. He worshipped Him. You cannot
be a Christian having never bowed to the Son of God. That's just
fact. That's just fact. And I'll say
that to my son that I love with all my heart sitting right down.
Roger, if you've never bowed to the Son of God, you can sit
there with the Bible in your lap and you can recite scripture
after scripture after scripture. If you've never bowed to the
Son of God, you're lost. And that's not only true of my
son, it's true of yours, your daughter's, son's, whoever. Don't compromise the Word of
God and don't give them a false hope. Don't do that. Because
they may open their eyes in hell and say, oh man, you lied to
me, you lied to me mom, you lied to me dad. Why did you treat
me like a believer? I didn't know God from a goose.
Oh no, pray that God Almighty would open their eyes to behold
the Son of God and when He does, they'll tell you about it. You
won't have to convince them, they'll tell you that it's so.
Oh, may God give all of us this day a fresh glimpse of His blessed
Son. If He does, we'll gladly bow. Let me close. John in Revelation 5 beheld around the throne and
in the midst of the throne a lamb, a lamb as if it had been slain
from the foundation of the world. And that lamb came and took the
book to fulfill all God's decrees, all God's purposes concerning
that everlasting covenant of grace. And when he did, everybody
in heaven, angels, redeemed sinners, every inhabitant of heaven cried,
worthy is the lamb That was slain. Fanny Crosby, my soul, I don't
know how many hymns she wrote. There's many of them in our hymn
book. We sing them often. As you know, she was born blind,
been blind all of her life. One time a preacher that she
knew was visiting their home. And this man said to Fanny Crosby
as he sat there in darkness, one kind of darkness but not
another. He said to her, I think it's a great pity that the master,
when he showered so many gifts on you, didn't shower you with
the gift of sight. And I imagine, I'm sure, that Fanny Crosby's answer probably
shocked this fella. Because she answered, do you
know that if at birth I'd been able to make one petition to
my Creator, it would be that I should be born blind. Why, the preacher said, asked. Because, she said, when I get
to heaven, when I get to heaven, the first
face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior. When I get to heaven, The first
thing that I've ever seen will be the face of my Redeemer. She
wrote this, when my life work is ended and I cross the swelling
tide, when the bright and glorious morning I shall see, I shall
know my Redeemer when I reach the other side and His smile, His smile will be the first to
welcome me. Behold, the Lamb of God. Amen. God bless you.