Would you turn back to John chapter
1? Verse 29 once again. The next day, John, John the
Baptist, seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb
of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. I've entitled this message, The
Lamb of God is God the Lamb. Now, there is a particular person
who will be interested in this message. The person who needs their sin
taken away. There's nothing they can do about
their sin. And they need someone who has
the ability to take away their sin. Would that be you? Now I've tried to picture myself
being in the audience of John the Baptist. This was a very
special man. But can you imagine how they
felt as they heard him preach looking at him? He wore a loincloth. That's all he was wearing, a
loincloth. And he, like Elijah, was a very
hairy man, the scripture points out. And that would have been
unusual in itself, listening to this man. And when he saw
he had been speaking of the Lord, look in John chapter one, verse
six, There was a man, we just read about him in Luke chapter
one, his supernatural birth. There was a man sent from God
whose name was John. The same came for witness, to
bear witness of the light that all men through him might believe. Look in verse 15. John, bear
witness of him." That was John the Baptist's purpose. 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 before me. He's speaking of the eternal
deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was. In the beginning was
the word. The word was with God and the word was God. The same
was, eternally was. in the beginning with God. And these people had been listening
to him preach and the next day, verse 29, the next day, John
seeth Jesus coming into him and saith, behold, the Lamb of God. Would to God that that's what
we do this morning, that we might be enabled by the grace of God
to behold the Lamb of God. Now this story can't really be
said to have a beginning, and here's why. I'd like you to turn
with me to Revelation chapter 13. Verse eight. And all that dwell upon the earth
shall worship him, this false prophet. All that dwell upon
the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the
book of life of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now, the reason this story doesn't
have a beginning is because it's eternal. Christ Jesus is the
lamb slain from the very foundation of the world. Before there was
a creation, before there was a star, before there was a universe,
Christ stood as the lamb slain from the very foundation of the
world and God made the universe. So the lamb slain in eternity. could be slain in time. The reason for creation, the
reason for all things is for the lamb slain. That is God's
purpose. That is his eternal purpose,
and it's the reason why the world was created. The lamb slain speaks
of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you remember after the fall of Adam, we read of
the voice of God walking in the cool of the evening. I have no
doubt that that's a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ walking
in the cool of the evening after the fall and Adam, where are
you? And it was the Lord Jesus Christ
who slew the first typical beast. The first blood shedding happened
right after the fall. A lamb was slain to provide a
covering for our first parents. And you remember Abel. He brought a lamb, the firstlings
of the flock, rather than his own works, The first gospel story
after the fall, he approached God through the blood. By faith,
Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,
by the which he obtained witness that he was righteous. God testifying
of his gifts and he being dead yet speaketh. He's speaking this
morning. Now turn with me to Genesis chapter 22. Genesis 22. This is one of the most important
stories in the Old Testament. Verse one. And it came to pass after these
things that God did tempt Abraham and said unto him, Abraham. And
he said, behold, here I am. And he said, take now thy son,
thy only son, Isaac, Ishmael's not acknowledged as a 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 told me to do that? Could
I offer up my child in obedience to him? You could, if he told you to
do it. The ability comes with the command. And what did Abraham do? Verse
three. 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 claimed the wood for the
burnt offering and rose up and went under the place of which
God had told him. Then on the third day, Abraham
lifted up his eyes and saw the place of far 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. Now we
know from that that Abraham had full intention to kill his son. in obedience to God. And he believed
that they would return because God would raise that boy from
the dead because God had promised that salvation was going to come
through that boy. The promised seed was going to
come through him. So Abraham really believed that
God was going to raise him from the dead. He said, we'll go yonder
and worship and we'll return to you. Verse six, And Abraham
took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac, his son.
And he took fire in his hand and a knife, and they went both
of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham,
his father, and said, my father. And he said, here am I, my son.
And he said, behold, the fire and the wood, we have what's
needed for sacrifice, but where is the lamb? for a burnt offering. Now this is the lamb that John
the Baptist was speaking of when he said, behold, the lamb of
God. Now look how Abraham answers Isaac. And Abraham said, my son,
God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. Jehovah
Jireh. God will provide himself a lamb
for a burnt offering. Now, please listen to me very
carefully. In this thing of salvation, you don't have anything that
God would accept. You believe that? You cannot
provide one thing that a holy God would accept. God's holy. God's just. He can't accept something
that comes from me or you. And if you think he can, what
a low view you have of God. And what a high opinion you have
of yourself. But the fact of the matter is,
you cannot provide one thing. Here's the gospel. God provides
everything he requires. He provides. God will provide
himself a lamb for an offering and understand this. This is
very important. God is providing for himself. The blood of Christ was not shed
for you. It was shed for God. So he could
do something for you. You see, God is holy. God is
just. God is righteous. God would not
be God if he could let one sin go unpunished. It would mar his
justice. It would mar his character. But
God provides for himself this lamb so he can do something for
me or you. For him to do something for me,
for him to save me, for him to have mercy upon me, for him to
forgive me, he first had to do something for himself. God shall
provide for himself a lamb for a burnt offering so that what
he requires of you he can provide for himself, so he can do something
for me or you. And God shall provide himself
as the Lamb for the burnt offering. You see, the Lamb of God is God
the Lamb. He provides himself as the lamb
for the burnt offering. And that is exactly what John
the Baptist was talking about when he said, behold, the lamb
of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. And this is
a question, this question of Isaac's. Here's the fire. Here's
the wood. Where's the lamb? This is a question
you and I better be asking with regard to every message we hear. Where is the lamb? Does this have to be in every
message? Yes. Yes. And if this is not the foundation
of the message, the gospel has not been preached. I don't care
what good things were said. The gospel has not been preached
unless the lamb of God is the very foundation of the message. And then there's the Passover
lamb. Turn with me to Exodus chapter 12. Now you remember how Paul said
the gospel is how that Christ died for our sins according to
the scriptures? Well, this is how that Christ died for our
sins according to the scriptures, Genesis 22. And now we're going
to consider the Passover land. This is the 10th and the final
plague. Egypt has been destroyed by the
first nine plagues. I mean, the place was destroyed. But now it's time for the 10th
plague. And God hardened Pharaoh's heart
after all of this so that he would not let the children of
Israel go. Do you mean that God actually
hardened his heart? Yes, I do. God hardened his heart
so he wickedly refused to let the children of Israel go all
for this 10th plague. Now, the 10th plague is the death
of the firstborn in every home. God said, I'm going to pass through
the land and the firstborn from the beast and every home is going
to be destroyed, is going to be put to death, including Israel. Israel wasn't exempt from this,
but they had a substitute. That was the difference, this
lamb. Now look in Exodus chapter 12. And the Lord spake unto Moses
and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying, this month shall be unto
you the beginning of months. It should be the first month
of the year to you. Now the calendar was changed
because of this. That's a very significant event, isn't it?
And this is when life begins. This is when spiritual life begins. When somebody is enabled to behold
the Lamb of God, that's when life begins. Verse three. speak ye into all the congregation
of Israel, saying in the tenth day of this month, they shall
take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their
fathers, a lamb for an house. And if the household be too small,
too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto
his house, take it according to the number of the souls. Every
man, according to his eating, shall make your count for the
lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish." A male of the first
year. and you should take it out from
the sheep or from the goat and you should keep it into the 14th
day of the same month. You're going to watch over to
make sure that it's a perfect lamb and the whole assembly of
the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. Now here's
the lamb of God without blemish. Speaking of the perfect life
and righteousness of Jesus Christ, he had no blemish. You see, if he did, he couldn't
do anything for me or you. If he did have blemish, but he
is the perfect lamb. Now, what was to be done with
that lamb? Kill it. Slay it and take the blood. and put it over the lentils and
the doorpost of the house. And look in verse 12. For I, God, 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 will execute judgment. I am the Lord and the
blood. the blood of that lamb, the lamb
of God, and the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses
where you are. And when I see the blood, I will
pass over you. Now understand this about the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not an offer on God's part.
I'm going to offer you this blood if you'll just accept it and
accept and be forgiven. He didn't say, when you see the
blood. None of them could see it, they were in the house. He
said, when I see the blood. He didn't say, when I see your
sorrow over your sin. He didn't say, when I see your
sincere attempt to reform your life. He didn't say, when I see
your faith. He didn't say when I see your
repentance and your remorse. He didn't say when I see your
sincerity. He said, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. You know, that's the only hope
I have. When God says, when I see the blood, I will pass over you.
But suppose somebody that very day had committed a sin that
is too evil to mention. Does that change this? When I
see the blood, I will pass over you. You see, the Lamb of God
is God the Lamb. His blood is such that when God
sees His blood, not the blood of an animal, that animal represented
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. God said, when I see His blood,
oh, how precious His blood is to God. When I see the blood,
I will pass over you. And then in Isaiah chapter 53,
the lamb is presented as the lamb who opened not his mouth. He's brought as a lamb before
her chairs is done. So he opened not his mouth. And when the lamb of God stood
before his accusers, he opened not his Now what does the silence
of the Lamb say to us? He opened not his mouth. Because
I try to put myself in this position. If I'm accused of something that
I didn't do, I'm gonna open my mouth. I'm gonna defend myself,
I will. If you accuse me of something
that I didn't do, to you I'm gonna say, I didn't do it. I
didn't do it. I'm going to open my mouth, and
you would too. You would too. You wouldn't take a false accusation
against yourself. Why did the son of God open not
his mouth? Guilty as charged. That's why he didn't defend himself. He was guilty. The Son of God
was guilty. He deserved to die. Now, somebody says, how can you
say that? You've been talking about his sinlessness and his righteousness. How can you say he deserved to
die? Well, when he took my sins upon
himself, you remember the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins
of the world? Where did they go? They didn't
just go out there somewhere. He bore them in his own body
on the tree so that he became guilty of the commission of those
sins. That's what the Lamb of God did. became guilty of the commission
of those sins. He bore our sins in his own body
on the tree, on the cross. It was not the
innocent being punished. It was the guilty being punished. That's why the Lamb of God did
not answer his accusers. And when John saw Jesus Christ,
he said to everybody, behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world. Now, I wonder. I wonder about
me. I wonder about you. We read where
Paul said, I determined not to know anything among you, save
Jesus Christ and Him crucified, the Lamb of God. I wonder if
we've made that determination, that we're really not interested
in anything else. Behold, the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world. You know, I was thinking in preparing
this message, I would love to have this laid to my charge. He only had one subject, the Lamb of God. Oh, I'd love
to have that laid to my charge. I hope it will be. Let's go to another scene, Revelation
chapter four. Now this is about heaven being
opened, and we're given a view into heaven. Look in chapter
4, verse 1. And after this, I looked, and behold, a door was opened
in heaven. And the first voice which I heard
was as it were of a trumpet talking with me, which said, Come up
hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter. And the rest of that chapter
describes one who was sitting on the throne. Now look in chapter
five. And I saw in the right hand of
him that sat on the throne, this one who's described in Revelation
chapter four, in his right hand, there was a book written within
and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. Now this is the
book of God's purposes and decrees. It's the same book the Lord Jesus
spoke of when he said, lo, I come in the volume of the book it's
written of me. Now the Bible hadn't been written
yet. The Bible was all a part of this book. the book of God's
eternal purposes and decrees. And notice it was written on
both sides of the page. You know what that means? There
wasn't any room for anything else. This covers everything. I love to think of the decrees
of God. It speaks of the majesty of God. He said, I have purposed
it. I also will do it. God's decrees. His decrees are
really one decree, His own glory. Everything He does, He does for
His glory. His decrees are eternal, immutable,
Sovereign, efficacious, that means they always come to pass,
and they relate to all events. Now that is the book the one
sitting on the throne had in his right hand. Sealed with seven
seals, verse two. And I saw a strong angel. I reckon
the only kind of angels there are are strong angels, don't
you? 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 in heaven nor on earth,
neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither
to look thereon. Moses, are you worthy? No. Abraham, the father of the faithful,
are you worthy? No, not me. What about Paul,
the apostle? Are you worthy? Not me. What about the Pope? I love what
Henry Mahan said. He didn't even know there was
one. No man was found worthy to open the book. Verse four, and 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 saith unto
me, weep not. Behold the lion of the tribe
of Judah. The rude of David hath prevailed
to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof. And
I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four
beasts, and in the midst of the elders, he was looking for a
lion, and what did he see? Stood a lamb as it had been slain. Christ crucified. having seven
horns, representing all power, seven eyes, omniscient, which
are the seven spirits of God sent forth unto all the earth.
And he, this lamb having been slain, came and took the book. He didn't ask for it, he took
it. out of the right hand of him
that sat upon the throne, having earned the right to do so." That's
why he took it. And when he had taken the book,
this lamb slain, the four beasts and the four entwined 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 has redeemed
us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and
people nation. I notice it doesn't say he redeemed
every kindred and tongue and people nation. He redeemed us. Out of every kindred, and tongue,
and people, and nation. And here's what he did by this.
He made us unto our gods, kings, and priests, and we shall reign
on the earth. And I beheld and heard the voice
of many angels round about the throne, and the beasts, and the
elders. And the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000, and
thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice, worthy is
the land that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom,
and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. And every
creature which is in heaven, on the earth, and under the earth,
and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I
saying, blessing, and honor, glory, and power be unto him
that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and
ever. And the four beasts said amen, and the four and twenty
elders fell down and worshiped him that liveth forever and forever. Now there's two things I want
to point out about the Lamb from that passage of scripture. One,
equality with God. He came and took the book as
God's equal, the Son of God, the Lamb that was slain. You
see, he earned the right to take this book because he's God. You see, the Lamb of God is God
the Lamb. Equality with the Father. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. He is the one of whom God the
Father said, Thy throne, O God, is forever. The Lamb of God is God the Lamb. And the next thing I would notice
from that passage is his redeeming work. Thou hast redeemed us to
God by thy blood. It wasn't an offer. It wasn't
an invitation. It was an accomplishment. Everybody
Jesus Christ died for is redeemed and fit for glory. Even right
now, if Christ died for me, I have all that's needed to bring me
in to glory. Now this lamb of God, who is
God, the lamb is utterly unique. Behold the lamb of God. When
we think of a lamb, we think of a meek, docile creature. meek and mild. Look at John's
description of this lamb. Revelation 6, verse 15. Therefore are they before the
throne of God and serve Him day and night. No, I'm in chapter,
verse 15 of chapter six. And the kings of the earth 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 in the rocks of the mountains and said into
the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face
of him that sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb. For the great day of his wrath
has come, and who shall be able to stand? Now this is a lamb
that is to be feared by all of his foes, because the Lamb of
God is God the Lamb. Now this Lamb of God is always
the Lamb of God, viewed as such. He is my way of entering God's
presence and being accepted. He's the Lamb of God. He's the
Lamb of God's providing, the Lamb God accepts, and I'm accepted
in Him. Look in Revelation chapter 12,
verse 10. Verse 9, And that great dragon
was cast out, that 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 and
the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ for the accuser
of our brethren. That's who the devil is. His
name means slander, accuser. The accuser of our brethren. is cast down, which accused them
before our God day and night." Now, before I go on reading,
if the devil made accusations against you, would any of them
be untrue? Could he accuse you of anything
of which you could say, I didn't do it? If you think he could, you're
deceived. You don't really have a sense of sin because any accusation
he brings against me or you, and he does so night and day,
would be true. Verse 11, and they overcame him
in all of his accusations. How? By the blood of the Lamb. That's how he was overcome. by
the blood of the Lamb. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. There's
the blood of the Lamb. Yea, rather, that's risen, who's
even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us. Look in Revelation 14. And I looked, and lo, a Lamb.
There's this Lamb of God that John was pointing out, I looked
and lo a lamb stood on the Mount Zion and with him 144,000 having his father's name written
in their foreheads. Now this exact number represents
the exact number of the elect. Now there's a lot more than 144,000.
We've already read that it's 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands
and thousands. But this number represents an
exact number that the Lord is stood as a lamb for. Verse two,
and I heard a voice from heaven as the voice of many waters.
And it was the voice of a great thunder. And I heard the voice
of harpers harping with their harps. And they sung as it were
a new song before the throne and before the four beasts and
the elders. And no man could learn the song but the hundred
and forty and four thousand which were redeemed from the earth.
These are they which were not defiled with women for their
virgins. They look to Christ only. These
are they which follow the lamb whithersoever he goeth. These
were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits unto God and
to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found
no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God."
Now, this is what the Lamb made every one of his people without
fault before the very throne of God. Look in Revelation 17.
This is the Lamb incapable of losing. Verse 14, these, Revelation
17, 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
they that are with Him. are called and chosen and faithful. You see, the lamb can't lose
because he's the Lord of lords and he's the king of kings. And
I love how his people are described, called by invincible, irresistible
grace, chosen by God in eternal election, faithful. They all
believe and they all can be believed. Look in Revelation 19. Verse six. And I heard, as it were, the
voice of a great multitude, as the voice of many waters, and
the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia, 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 was granted that she
should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine
linen is the righteousness of saints. Now, I think it's amazing
that there are several versions that say this is the righteous
deeds of the saints. I don't think so. The righteousness
of the saints, the fine linen, clean and white, is the righteousness
of Jesus Christ. And he provides us with this
beautiful wedding garment. Let's go on reading. And he saith
unto me, and to her was granted that she be arrayed in fine linen,
clean and white. For the fine linen is the righteousness
of saith, and he saith unto me, right, blessed are they which
are called to the marriage supper of the lamb. Revelation 21. Verse 22. This is John's vision into heaven
and the new Jerusalem. And he said, I saw no temple
therein for the Lord God almighty and the lamb are the temple of
it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon
to shine in it for the glory of God did lighten it. And the
lamb is the light thereof. Now here we have the lamb described
as the temple. the dwelling place and the light. Next time you hear somebody talk
about, uh, they're in the end times, the temple's going to
be rebuilt. Remember that that's foolishness. That's all it is. You're not going to build a physical
temple. The lamb is the temple. There's
no need of a temple because the Lamb is the temple. He's my dwelling place. That's
why I say, Lord, let me be found only in Him. That's the only
place I want to be found is in the temple, in the Lamb. And He's the light as to how
all this can be. He's the light as to how God
could actually see me and see me as someone beautiful and perfect
and without fault and to have no guile. It's through the Lamb
of God. And look in chapter 22. And he showed me a pure river
of water of life, 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 there the tree of life, which
bear 12 manner fruits and yielded her fruit every month. And the
leaves are the of the trees are for the healing of the nation.
And there shall be no more curse. But the throne of God and of
the lamb shall be in it. and his servants shall serve
him. There's a reason there's no more curse. Because of the lamb. Now let
me close with John's declaration. Behold, the lamb of God. He's the subject before time
began. He's the subject of eternity. And by God's grace, may I be
beholding him even Isaac said, here's the wood,
here's the fire, where's the lamb? Well, I can tell you where
the lamb is. He's seated at the right hand of the father, right
now, ruling and reigning, and he's still a lamb for poor sinners. 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. If I come to this Lamb, and I
come to him for everything, I come to him for mercy, I come to him
for faith, I come to him for repentance, I come to him for
forgiveness, I come to him for a new heart, I come to him for
everything. O Lamb of God, I come, I come. Him that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast out. And that's exactly what Paul
meant in Galatians chapter six, verse 14, when he said, God forbid,
that I should glory, that I should have confidence in, that I should
rejoice in, that I should trust anything save the cross of the
Lord Jesus Christ, speaking of the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. May God give me and you the grace
to behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Let's pray. Lord, how amazed we are that
the Lamb of God is God the Lamb. And Lord, we ask that we might
see him as the lamb slain, taking away sin. Lord, we need our sin to be taken
away, born by the Lamb, and put away for Christ's sake. Lord,
bless this message for your glory and for our good. We ask these
things in the name of the Lamb, our blessed Son. In his name
we pray. Amen.