In John 1, verse 29, we read
these words that came from John the Baptist, the man that the
Lord said was the greatest of them born among women, the only
man other than Christ who was prophesied of in the Old Testament
that appeared in the New Testament. The next day, John seeth Jesus
coming unto him, and saith, Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world. Now there is a particular person
who will have an interest in this message, someone who needs
their sin and their sins to be taken away. You've seen that
there's nothing you can do about your sin. There's nothing you
can do to change your standing before God, and you need somebody
who is able to do something about your sin, and there's only one
who fits that description, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I like
to think of being in the audience of John at this time. We read
in verse six of chapter one, there was a man sent from God
whose name was John. John the Baptist, as I've already
said, there's never been a man greater than John the Baptist. The same came for a witness,
to bear witness of the light that all men through him might
believe. We read in verse 15 of this chapter,
John bear witness of him and cried saying, this was he of
whom I spake, he that cometh after me, is preferred before
me for he was. He's talking about his eternal
existence. Now John the Baptist was three
months older than the Lord Jesus Christ, but John tells us he
was. He's the eternal I am. He was
before me. And the people have been listening
to this man telling them of the coming one, and I'm sure it was
kind of unusual. John the Baptist wore a loincloth. You don't see many people like
that, and you didn't see many people like that in that day.
He was a very hairy man, like Elijah, wearing a loincloth,
eating wild locusts and honey. And you had to be in the wilderness
to hear him. He didn't preach in the temples
and the synagogues and the places of organized religion. But here
is his message. Behold the Lamb of God. He points to this one walking
to him, this man, and he says, behold, the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world. Now, I've entitled this message,
The Lamb of God is God the Lamb. Let me repeat that. Oh, would
to God that we would be enabled to hear from him. The Lamb of
God is God the Lamb. Now this story of the Lamb of
God really doesn't have a beginning point. Christ is called in Revelation
chapter 13 verse 8, the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. Before there was a creation,
before there was a sun, moon, or stars, before there was a
universe, Jesus Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. Before the creation, he was the
Lamb slain, and God made the universe. So the Lamb slain before
time could be slain in time. This is God's eternal purpose. The reason why the world was
created was for the Lamb slain. And the most God-like thing God
has ever done is found in the Lamb slain, the cross of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Have you and I ever beheld the
Lamb of God? which taketh away the sins of
the world." Now, that's what John said. Behold, look at, carefully
consider the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world. Now, the first time this Lamb
appears in Scripture is right after the fall of our first parents,
Adam and Eve. You'll remember The voice of
God came walking in the cool of the day. Who is that but the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, saying, Adam, where art
thou? And he slew a lamb. to replace those fig leaf aprons
that they had over them that didn't give a true covering,
which represents salvation by works. He slew a lamb and covered
them. You see, the lamb is the theme
of the entire Bible. Every book, every page, the theme
is the lamb of God. What about Abel? He came into
God's presence, the first story after the fall. He came into
God's presence with the blood of a lamb. He wouldn't come in
his own works. He knew the only way God could
be approached is through the blood of the lamb. And the New
Testament says in Hebrews 11, 4, by faith, Abel knew exactly
what he was doing. He knew it wasn't that lamb's
blood that made him accepted, but the lamb it pointed to, the
coming lamb of God, the promised seed of woman who had bruised
the serpent's head. By faith, Abel offered unto God
a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he also obtained
witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts.
And he by it being dead yet speaketh." I'd like to read from Genesis
22. This is such a powerful gospel illustration about Abraham offering
up Isaac. I want to begin reading in verse
22. one of Genesis chapter two, 22. And it came to pass after
these things that God did tempt test Abraham. And he said unto
Abraham, and he said, behold, here I am. And he said, take
now thy son, thy only son, whom thou lovest. and get thee into
the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering
upon one of the mountains, which I will tell thee of." Now, which
of us have not thought, could I do that if God commanded me
to do that, to offer up the fruit of my loins, my children? Could I do that? If God told
you to, you could. And if this man had faith, this
man knew that even if He killed his son and in his mind his son
was already killed. God would raise him from the
dead because God promised that the Messiah would come through
his son. So he knew even if he killed him, God would raise him
from the dead. So let's go on reading verse
33. And Abraham rose up early in the morning. and saddled his
ass and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son,
and claved the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up and went
unto the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day
Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham
said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass, and I and
the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you. You see,
he believed that God would raise him from the dead. He said, both
of us will come back to you after I obey God and offer him up as
a burnt offering. And Abraham took the wood of
the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his son. And he took
the fire in his hand and a knife, and they both went up together."
Now, what a picture. There was another time when a
man carried the wood for his own execution up a hill. This
is to teach us of the Lord Jesus Christ and his substitutionary
death. Verse 7, And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and
he said, My father, and he said, Here am I, my son. He said, Behold
the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? He didn't know that he was to
be the lamb. Where is the lamb? What a question. Where is the
lamb? And Abraham said, my son, God
will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. Now here is
the point. That's Jehovah Jireh. God provides. There is nothing that you or
I can provide that God could accept. God's holy. God's righteous. Everything that comes from my
hand and your hand is sin. And you can't provide anything
that God would accept. It would be wrong for him to. It would take away from his character
if he could accept something from me or you when it's defiled
with sin. God is the one who does the providing. Do you know that all that God
requires, he provides? God will provide himself, for
himself, a sacrifice. You see, God had to do something
for himself before he could do something for me or you. God's
holy. God's righteous. He cannot let
sin go unpunished. All sin must be punished. And he had to do something for
himself before he could justly do anything for me or you. You
see, the blood wasn't shed so much for you, but for God, to
make a way for God to be just and justify the ungodly. And
God shall provide himself as the Lamb for the burnt offering. The Lamb of God is God the Lamb. And then there's the Passover
Lamb. I suppose you know the story if you don't. God has already
plagued Israel, and he's passing by again. He's sent nine plagues
into the land that has just totally destroyed Israel. Israel's in
shambles, and he hardens Pharaoh's heart. Pharaoh won't relent and
let the children of Israel go. And the reason he wouldn't do
it is because God hardened his heart. That's what the scripture
says. You see, God has made all things for himself. Yeah, even
the wicked for the day of evil. He said, regarding Pharaoh, even
for this same purpose, have I raised thee up that I might show my
power in thee and that my name might be declared throughout
all the earth. Now, hardening his heart. We
read of the Passover lamb that's provided for the children of
Israel. Look in Exodus chapter 12, beginning in verse 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses
and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be in
you the beginning of months. The calendar was changed for
this. And actually, life has not begun until I understand
something about the Lamb of God. That's how important this is.
Speaking to all the congregation of Israel, saying, in the 10th
day of this month, they shall take them every man a lamb according
to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house. And if the
household be too little for the lamb, let him in his neighbor
next into his house. Take it according to the number
of souls. Every man according to his eating shall make you
count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish,
a male of the first year. Now this is speaking of the spotless,
sinless character of the Lord Jesus Christ. He had no blemish. He knew no sin. He obeyed God's
law perfectly. And yet what were they to do
with this perfect lamb? Kill it as a sacrifice and take
the blood and put it over the door. And we read In verse 12
of Exodus chapter 12, God says, for I will pass through the land
of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the
land of Egypt. That's including Israel. They
had a substitute though. The firstborn lamb was slain,
but there was a lamb slain in every house. Somebody died. The
firstborn died in every house. For I will pass through the land
of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the
land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt
I'll execute judgment. For I am the Lord, and the blood,
the blood of that perfect lamb, shall be to you for a token upon
the houses where you are, and when I see the blood." Who had
to see it? God did. Not when you see it. When I see the blood. What was
God looking for? He didn't say when I see your
sincerity. He didn't say when I see the reformation of your
life. He didn't say when I see your faith or repentance. He
didn't say when I see your sorrow over your sin and your intention
to not commit it anymore. He said, when I see the blood,
that's the one thing God was looking for. When I see the blood,
I will. pass over you. Now what if one
of those people with the blood over the door in that side of
the house, what if that very day they committed a sin that
is too shameful to even mention? And they're in the house with
that blood over the door. Same thing. When I see the blood,
I will pass over you. I think of the lamb of Isaiah
53, the silent lamb, the lamb who opened not his mouth. That's brought out about the
silent lamb. He opened not his mouth. Against
all of his accusers, he opened not his mouth. Now, what does
the silence of the lamb speak of? It speaks of this. Guilty as charged. Now, if I'm
accused of something that I didn't do, I'm going to defend myself. But the Lord Jesus, as God's
lamb, did not defend himself. Why? Because he was guilty. How could that be? I heard you
just say that he never sinned. The sins of God's elect became
his sins. When he drank that cup, he was
drinking the cup, the sins of God's elect, so that he actually
became guilty of the commission of them. And listen real carefully.
on the cross. It was not the innocent being
punished. It was the guilty being punished. He took my sins and my sorrows. He made them his very own. He
bore the burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone. Now
I've given you Old Testament scriptures. And remember, the
gospel is called by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, 4. It's how that Christ died
for our sins according to the scriptures. And it's talking
about the Old Testament scriptures. Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world. Now I want to look at a scene
in Revelation chapter 4. We read in verse 1, after this,
I looked and behold, a door was opened into heaven. And in the
remainder of that chapter, we find out what heavenly worship
is and the one who sat on the throne is described. And then
in chapter five, we read, and I saw on the right hand of him
that sat on the throne, a book written within and on the backside,
sealed with seven seals. Now we have this book that is
written on the front and the back, and that means nothing
that can be added to it. No additions. No subtractions. It's complete. It's the book
of which our Lord said, Behold, in the volume of the book, it's
written of me. I delight to do thy will, O God. This is before the Bible. The
Bible is part of this book, but this is the eternal decrees and
purposes of God. Do you know God decrees everything
that takes place? It's all according to his purpose. The decrees of God are for his
glory, they're eternal, they're immutable, they're sovereign,
they're efficacious, they always work and they relate to all events. Now that is this book sealed
with seven seals, verse two. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book and to loose
the seals thereof? And no man, no man. Moses, are you worthy? No. Abraham, are you worthy? No. John, are you worthy? No. No man. No man in earth,
under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look
thereon. No man was worthy. You know,
there's no such thing as a worthy man. All have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. And no man was worthy to open
this book and loose the seven seals. And John says in verse
four of Revelation 5, I wept much because no man was found
worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.
And one of the elders said unto me, Weep not. Behold, the lion
of the tribe of Judah, spoken of in Genesis 49, the Lord Jesus
Christ, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book and
to loose the seven seals thereof. There is one worthy to open the
book, the lion of the tribe of Judah. And I beheld, and lo,
in the midst of the throne of the four beasts, in the midst
of the elders, stood a lamb. as it had been slain. John, look
for a lion. And you know what he saw? A lamb
as it had been slain. Now that lamb is the lion, but
he saw a lamb as it had been slain. Now look what it says
about this lamb that had been slain in verse seven. And he
came and took the book. out of the right hand of him
that sat upon the throne." Oh, the power of this lamb that he
can come up and take the book as equal to the father. And when
he had taken the book, the four beasts and the four and 20 elders
fell down before the lamb, having every one of them harps and golden
vials of odors, which are the prayers of the saints. And they
sang a new song saying, thou art worthy to take the book and
to open the seals thereof for thou was slain and hast redeemed
us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, tongue, people
and nation and has made us kings and priests and we shall reign
on the earth." Now there's two things that I see in that glorious
sight, the equality of the Lamb of God with the Father. He thought
it not robbery to be equal with God. He came and took the book. He didn't ask for it. He came
and took the book having earned the rights to take it. He thought
it not robbery to be equal with God. But we also see regarding
this lamb the redeeming power of his blood. Thou hast redeemed
us. You know so many people present
the blood of Christ and the redemption of Christ as potential, as an
offer. He offers you forgiveness. He
offers you salvation. You won't find that in the Bible.
He hath redeemed us by his blood out of. He didn't redeem every
kindred and people and tongue and nation, but he redeemed us,
God's elect, all who believe, out of every kindred tongue,
people, and nation. Oh, the power of His blood to
redeem, to make me pure and holy." In Revelation chapter 7, one
of the elders, verse 13, one of the elders answered saying
unto me, what are these which are arrayed in white robes? And
whence came they? And I said, sir, thou knowest.
And he said, these are they which came out of great tribulation
and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood
of the lamb. You see, that's what the lamb's
blood does. He makes the blackest sinner
perfectly white. All sin is washed away. And this
lamb is a unique lamb. You know, when we think of a
lamb, we think of a docile creature. But look at this description
of this lamb, verse 15, in the kings of the earth, Revelation
6, and the great men and the rich men and the chief captains
and the mighty men and every bondman and every free man hid
themselves in the dens and the rocks of the mountains and said
to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face
of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb.
You see, this lamb is God. Just as God has wrath, the lamb
has wrath. And this lamb is to be feared
by all his foes. But thank God he never loses
his character as a lamb, a sacrificial lamb for sinners. We read in
Revelation chapter 12, beginning in verse 9, and that great dragon
was cast out. The old serpent called the devil
and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. He was cast out
into the earth and his angels were cast out with him. And I
heard a loud voice saying in heaven now has come salvation
and strength in the kingdom of our God and the power of his
Christ. For the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which
accused them before our God day and night. And before I go on
reading, what could the devil accuse you of that would not
be true? Every accusation he make about me or you be right
on the money. But look what it says, and they
overcame him. These people he made these accusations
against, they overcame him by the blood of the lamb. In Revelation 14, we see him
as the head of the elect. And I looked, and lo, a lamb
stood on the mount Zion, and with him an 144,000, having the
father's name written in their foreheads." Now that 144,000
is an exact number. It's a large number. There's
obviously going to be more people in that in heaven because it
says there's going to be 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands and
thousands. But this represents the elect,
an exact number, a large number. And I heard a voice from heaven
as the voice of many waters and as the voice of a great thunder.
And I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps. And
they sang as it were a new song before the throne and before
the four beasts and the elders. And no man could learn that song
but the 144,000 which were redeemed from the earth. These are the
ones who are redeemed. These are they which are not defiled
with women. They look to Christ only for their virgins. These
are they which follow the lamb, whether so ever he goeth. These
were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God
and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found
no guile, for they were without fault before the throne of God.
We read of the Lamb who cannot be defeated in Revelation chapter
17, verse 14. These shall make war with the
Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them. For he is Lord of lords
and King of kings, and neither with him called, chosen, and
faithful." What a description of believers called by irresistible
grace, chosen by God in eternal election, faithful by the grace
of God to believe the gospel. And then we read of the Lamb's
wife in Revelation chapter 19. I love this passage of scripture
beginning in verse 6. And I heard as it were the multitude
I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude and the
voice of many waters and the voice of mighty thundering saying
hallelujah for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth Let us be glad and rejoice
and give honor to him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come,
and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her it was granted
that she be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. For this is
the righteousness of saints. You see, the righteousness of
Christ, the righteousness of the lamb is the righteousness
of saints. And that is how saints are robed. The lamb has a wife. And then
we read in Revelation 21, beginning in verse. One, and he showed
me no 21, I'm sorry, Revelation 21, verse 22, and I saw no temple
there in. For the Lord God Almighty and
the Lamb are the temple of it." You see, the Lamb is the temple.
People talk about a new temple being rebuilt. No, no need for
that. The Lamb is the temple. He's
the dwelling place of God's people. I'm simply in Him. And the Lamb
is the light thereof. The city had no need of the sun,
neither of the moon, to shine, for the glory of God did lighten
it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. The Lamb of God is the
light of how God can love me and accept me and save me when
I'm so sinful. The only way it can be seen is
in light of the Lamb of God. And then we read in chapter 22,
and he showed me a pure river of water, clear as a crystal,
proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, and in
the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river
was the tree of life, which bear twelve manner of fruits, and
yielded her fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree were
for the healing of the nations, and there shall be no more curse,
But to the throne of God and to the Lamb shall be in it, and
his servant shall serve him." You see, the Lamb of God is why
there's no more curse. He was cursed. He was made a
curse. And now there's no more curse.
Now, my dear friend, This is the theme of scripture, the only
hope any sinner has. And with every sermon we hear,
we ought to ask what Isaac asked. Where is the lamb? If there's
no lamb there, there's no gospel. Oh, where is the lamb? He's seated
at the right hand of the father. And he says, all that the father
giveth me shall come to me. and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out." Now we have this message on DVD and
CD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Nibert asking that
God will make himself known to you. Amen.