John chapter 1 again, if you
will, please. Let me read my text. John, the first chapter, verse
29. The next day, John seeth Jesus
coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, Behold the Lamb
of God which taketh away the sin of the world. Great and marvelous are the works
of the Lord our God. David said, when I consider the
heavens, the work of thy hands, the sun, the moon, the stars,
What is man that art mindful of him? How awesome is creation! And the fact that the works of
God, the mighty, marvelous works of God, the fact that they have
such little effect upon us, they make such a little impression
upon you and me, is evidence of our dullness and our depravity
and our deadness and our ingratitude. How many of us, when we got up
this morning, opened the blinds and looked out over God's world,
were awed and amazed at the things that he'd made? How many of us,
when we went into the shower and we turned on the water and
the water flowed out and we washed our hair bathed and stepped out
and dried on the towel, stopped for a moment to thank God for
the clear, crystal clean water that came out of that spigot.
The rivers and the creeks and the lakes and the seas that he
had made. How many of us, when we walked in, sat down to the
table, I know we said the blessing. Everybody says the blessing.
But we sat down and looked at that food that was sitting before
us, the orange juice and and the coffee from Brazil, or Colombia,
or Cuba, or somewhere, and the bread, bread, the staff of life. Just thought for a moment that
God caused the rain to come upon the earth and the little seed
to grow in the wheat field, or the corn field, and made the
oats that we ate, the oatmeal. And how many of us just gave
any consideration to the fact that God caused these things
to be? And then we stepped down into
our nice clothes, and the cotton grew, and they made these clothes
out of it. Or the sheep out there were sheared,
and the wool was taken from him and put on a loom or something
and made into cloth. And all I did was go down and
store and buy it and put it on. And I drove out this morning,
and there was plenty of good air to breathe. I have to have
that, Cecil, you know, that good air that comes down into these
lungs that God made. And then I took for granted the
fact that I could see you when you came in this morning. God
made these eyes. Man makes his cameras that automatically
focus and automatically have the light and automatically do
everything, but man never made an eye. God made the eye. And all that it beholds. And
here I am speaking. I'm communicating. I feel some
things in my heart. that I would like for you to
know and like for you to join with me in rejoicing over. And
here I'm telling you about it in a voice and a language that
God gave me. He gave me the power of speech. And I'm standing here. David
said how wonderfully I'm made. When David considered the human
body with all of its parts and all of its faculties and all
of its abilities and gifts, he just said how wonderfully I'm
made. Yes, great and marvelous are
thy works, O Lord, God Almighty. And the fact that these works,
I live in the midst of them. I participate in them and partake
of them. And they surround me every moment
of every day. And the very fact that I'm not
impressed, the very fact that I'm not awed We make more to
do over a human being's paintings than we do over God Almighty's
world, don't we? We make more to do over an automobile
somebody built. We say, look at those lines,
look at those wheels, look at this, look at that upholster,
look at something else. Yeah, you look at what God made.
And the very fact that it makes such little impression upon me
sufficiently proves my depravity. and my deadness and my dullness
and my ingratitude. I think this is the reason, one
of the reasons why David was called a man after God's own
heart, is he always rejoiced in the things God made. Turn
with me. I don't want to burden you too
much, but I want to read you just a few verses. Let's turn,
first of all, to Psalm 19. I believe this may be one of
the reasons David was a man after God's own heart. He saw God in
every butterfly. He saw God in every hill. I will lift up mine eyes to the
hills from which cometh my help. He saw God in every raindrop. If he could have seen the snow,
he'd have seen God in that too. The rushing wind. Listen to Psalm
19, verse 1. The heavens declare the glory
of God. The firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech. Night unto night showeth knowledge.
There's no speech nor language where the voice of God's creation,
God's marvelous works, is not heard. Their voice has gone out
through all the earth, their words to the end of the world.
In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun." Turn to Psalm 24.
Psalm 24, verse 1. The earth is the Lord. and the fullness thereof, the
world and all, and they that dwell therein. He hath founded
it upon the seas. He hath established it upon the
floods. Turn to Psalm 74. Psalm 74, verse
16 and 17. Psalm 74, 16 and 17. The day
is thine. The night also is thine. He could
see God in the darkness, in the nighttime. Thou hast prepared
the light and the sun. Thou hast set all the borders
of the earth. Thou hast made summer and winter. Look, if you will, at Psalm 95.
Psalm 95, verse 4 and 5. Listen to this. The sea is his. He made it. His hands formed
the dry land. O come, let us worship. Bow down,
let us kneel before the Lord, our maker. He is our God. We're
the people of his pasture, the sheep of his hand. Today, if
you will, hear his voice. Hear it everywhere. Hear it in
all things. He was conscious of God's presence
and power. and glory in all things. Let's
look at Psalm chapter 136. I quoted 121. I lift up mine
eyes into the hills from which cometh my help. My help cometh
from the Lord which made heaven and earth. Psalm 136. I want
you to see this one. Psalm 136, beginning with verse
1. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord.
He's good. His mercy endureth forever. Oh,
give thanks unto the Lord, unto the God of gods for his mercy.
endureth forever. O give thanks to the Lord of
Lords, for his mercy endureth forever. To him who alone doeth
great wonders, for his mercy endureth forever. To him that
by wisdom made the heavens, for his mercy endureth forever. To
Him that stretched out the earth above the waters, for His mercy
endureth forever. To Him that made great lights,
for His mercy endureth forever. The sun to rule by day, for His
mercy endureth forever. The moon and the stars to rule
by night, for His mercy endureth forever. One more, Psalm 139. Psalm 139. O Lord, beginning with verse
1, Thou hast searched me and known me, Thou knowest my down-sitting,
my up-rising. Thou understandest my thought
afar off. Thou compassest my path, my lying down, and are
acquainted with all my ways." Here's David awed at the omniscience
of God. He knows all things, my thoughts.
There's not a word, verse 4, in my tongue, but, O Lord, thou
knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and
before and laid thy hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me. It's high. I cannot attain unto
it. Whither shall I go from thy spirit?
Whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend into heaven,
thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold,
thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shalt
thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say,
surely the darkness will cover me, why, even the night shall
be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not
from thee, but the night shineth as the day. The darkness and
the light are both alike to thee, for thou hast possessed my reins,
thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee, I will
praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous
are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well." You see
what I'm saying? Charlie, maybe this is one of the reasons. I
know his faith. I know his understanding of the
gospel. I know his trust in Christ. But David, as I've read to you
through these scriptures, in everything, he saw the Lord and
gave God all the glory. I will praise thee. I'm fearfully
and wonderfully made marvelous of thy works, and that my soul
knoweth right well. David was God conscious. and never unconscious of Him.
Always God conscious. Always walking with God. Men
and women in this world live without God. They're without
God in this world. They're without God, and yet
in Him they live and move and have their being. Isn't that
astounding? Oh, I know occasionally, now
this is the way we are, occasionally, Occasionally, sickness will come
in the home, bad sickness or perhaps a tragedy. You pick up
the phone one night and somebody says, Floyd? Yeah? Dad just had
a bad wreck. Oh, my God. Oh, my God? You are no my God than yesterday. Call the preacher. Pray for dad. He's had a bad wreck. You weren't
concerned about dad last week when he's walking on two legs.
Tragedy, sickness, death sometimes forces men to consider God's
power over them and forces men to consider their dependence
on him and the fact that we do live and move and have our being
in him. But when the danger is over,
when they move out of intensive care into a private room, And
then get in the wheelchair and come down the hall and get in
the car and drive home. The danger's over. The sickness
has passed. The grass is pretty well grown
over the grave now. And men lapse back into their
dull stupidity. Isn't that right? That's exactly
right. And here we are over here in
Isaiah 1, if you want to see a perfect description. And this
is, I'm ringing the bell this morning. I'm right where we live.
Right where we live, we're surrounded by the mighty, marvelous, miraculous,
majestic world that God's made. We are dependent on Him for every
step we take, every movement of our arms, every bite we eat,
every breath we draw, every word we speak, every sight we see,
every voice we hear, and yet we live without God in this world. Without God. There's no praise. There's no adoration. There's
no worship. There's no faith without God. Oh, occasionally, yes, hard times
hit. We get without a job, and we
go to praying. Something happens, we get sick,
and we go to praying. Somebody dies, and we go to praying.
Some accident happens, we go to worship. We go to church or
on special occasion. But when it's all over and everything's
back to normal, we're just as dull and stupid and godless as
we've ever been. And that's what he's describing
in Isaiah chapter 1, verse 2. Listen, O heavens, hear and give
ear, O earth. The Lord has spoken. I've nourished
and brought up children, sons and daughters, and they've rebelled
against me. The ox knows his owner. We talk
about the stupid, dumb ox. Dumb as an ox. You ever heard
anybody say that, men, he's dumb as an ox? Well, he does know
his owner. He does know who owns him. That's
right. He's not near as dumb as some
folks I know. Not near as dumb. The dumb ox does know his owner.
And the ass, you ever hear somebody call somebody stupid ass? Well,
I'll tell you this. The ass does know who feeds him,
and he serves him, right? And he comes when he calls him.
He knows his master's crib. The ass does come when he's called,
and he serves his master. And he knows who feeds him. But
Israel does not know. My people does not consider. Consider what? Consider who he
is. Consider what? Consider our total
dependence upon him for all things. Consider what? Consider that
he has our breath in his hands. Consider what that he is to be
worshipped and adored and glorified and magnified us magnify God
together. He's to be believed That he's
to be honored and he's to be served Well, I asked this morning
what what what if anything What if anything can engage the attention
the permanent attention of such senseless creatures as men and
women Is there anything, what if anything, can engage permanently,
on a permanent basis, the attention of senseless, dumb ox people,
stupid ass people, who do not know their owner nor their master's
creed? What can get their attention?
What can turn their attention to God, the living God? so that
they will glorify him and worship him and honor him and love him
and give him his rightful place and position. You will anything? What can change a heart of stone
into a heart of gratitude? Will anything? What can open
blind eyes to behold the Lord God in all his grace and beauty
and glory, what he had talked about in his prayer? What really
can open eyes that love darkness and evil and corruption? What
can open their eyes to behold, to see what human eyes can't
see by nature? Well, anything? What can loose
the fettered tongue that's chained by flesh and make it praise God
in all things. What can do that? I know one
sight. I know one sight. Right here
in my text, I have it right here before me, and Mike sang about
it. Behold the Lamb of God. I guarantee that's the one remedy. That's the one sight. That's
what Job said, I've heard of you, now mine eye seeeth thee.
Now mine eye seeth thee. The prophets, let me give you
a few examples of that. The prophets of old foresaw Christ's
manifestation in the flesh. And their whole existence from
that time, their whole existence, their lives, their love, their
affections revolved around that sight. Take Moses, for example. Here was Moses down in Egypt,
the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Moses was surrounded by, you
don't know what plenty is. Moses was surrounded by plenty.
Moses had everything at his fingertips, at his beckoning call. He was
the son of Pharaoh. He was in line for the throne.
He had the riches of Egypt. He had the command of the armies
of Egypt. He had the slaves of Egypt at
his feet. There was nothing that Moses
could not command, which he desired. He had everything. But by God's
grace, Moses caught sight of someone that made him consider
these riches of Egypt to be nothing. made Moses a man 40 years old. I've had preachers tell me, well,
I can't preach what you're preaching. I'd have turned my back on my
whole life. Would you now? What you do is
turn your front towards real life, what you do. I've had fellows
say, well, I just couldn't. I'm 40 years old, or I'm 45 years. Moses was 40 years old. And he
walked out of Egypt. out of Egypt. He turned his back
on the throne, he turned his back on his friends, he turned
his back on riches, he turned his back on everything this world
could possibly give a living man, and walked with a staff
and a piece of cloth on his back out to beyond the mountains and
sat out there and took care of some sheep for 40 years because
he saw some woman. He's a herald of a man of God.
That's the one that Moses, Christ said, wrote of me. He wrote of
me. It tells about him over here
in the book of Hebrews. Let's look at it just a minute.
Let's see if we can find that passage of scriptures. Over here
in Hebrews chapter 11 is where it is. He beheld the Lamb of God. It says here, verse 24, Hebrews,
that by faith Moses, when he was come to years, when he came
to maturity, when he came to years, refused to be called the
son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with
the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season,
esteeming what? The reproaches of Jesus Christ. I hear people say, well, Moses
left there so he could lead a nation out of captivity Moses' eyes
were not on that nation specifically. They were on his Lord. That's
where Moses' eyes were. They were on his Lord. He esteemed
the reproach of Christ, greater riches, and the treasures of
Egypt. If you'll read carefully, you'll find it took a whole lot
of persuading for God to even get him to go back down there
and get those people. Didn't it, Aidan? It took a whole lot.
But he had to give him some help. He didn't want to go. But he
did want to leave. He saw the Lord. Let me tell
you something else. Here's another man, Abraham. Abraham. Abraham was more than 40 years
of age. Abraham, my guess would be, was
past 50 or 60. He lived in an idolatrous country. He lived, at that time, men grew
up and they stayed home. There were tribes of people,
whole families of people lived in these plush valleys and fertile
lands. And here was great granddaddy
and granddaddy and son and his son all living in the same area. They brought their families up
together. Nobody just walked away and went
out there and started afresh and knew by himself. They inherited
land. They spread out. They were a
family. And here was Abraham, a man in
his late 60s probably. Married and he was lived with
his all of his family was comfortable. They worshipped idols. He didn't
know the Living God and the Lord God came to him and said Abraham
leave your father's house and your country and your kindred
and Go to a land. I'll show he left not knowing
where he was going And God came to him again and
said Abraham He had a son named Ishmael then You know the story
behind it. And God said, Abraham, send Ishmael
away. Ishmael was about 15 years old.
Only son he had, other than the new one, Isaac. That new baby
was born. Get rid of him. The son of the bondwoman cannot
be an heir with the son of the free woman. Put him out. Abraham
put him out, not knowing what God's purpose was in this thing.
And then one day God came to him when that other boy was about
14, 11 or 12 or 13 or 14, said, take him up on a mountain and
sacrifice him to me as a sin offering. Abraham, three days
journey. What motivates a man like that?
I'll show you. I'll show you. It says in the
scripture, in John chapter 8, I believe it is, verse 59, you
don't need to turn to it, I'll quote it, for your father Abraham
rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad. That's
what motivated him. In every trial that he had, he
had so many trials. When Lot had the argument with
his shepherds, and he came out there to Lot, and to Lot he said,
this is too big a land for us to be quarreling over. It's just too big a land, too
much land out there. Lot, tell you what you do. Now
listen to Abraham. I'm older than you are, and I'm
your uncle and you're my nephew. Now this is the way we talk. You're my nephew and I'm your
uncle, and you're just fortunate, son, to be with me. You're what
you are today because of what I made you. And I'll tell you
what you do. You just get up there on the mountaintop and
start your farm like I did when I was a boy, and earn your way. No, he said, Lot, there's the
land. Pick out what you want. Now you
just pick out what you want. I'll take what's left. An old lot picked the fertile
plains of Sodom. And Abraham said, that's fine.
And he went to the mountain. That's Abraham. What motivates
a man like that? I tell you what, he saw the Lamb
of God. And brother, the fertile plains
of Sodom just didn't appeal to him like the Lamb of God appealed
to him. Abraham, take your son whom you
love, Isaac, and sacrifice him. If that's what you want, Lord,
that's what it'll be. That's exactly what it'll be.
How can a man do that? A man can't do that. Not when
he has any decision to make between his son and God, but when he's
beheld the Lamb of God, the decisions are made. It's God who's first. It's God who's Lord. It's God
who's king. It's Christ who's sovereign.
And everything else finds its place somewhere else. That's
the way it is. You say, I just don't see those
things. I know you don't. When you ever look into His face,
every other face won't be near as pretty. If you ever look into
His love, His matchless, immaculate, unchangeable, infinite, everlasting
love, Everything else is hate. In comparison, that's right,
everything else is hate in comparison. When you look into his fellowship,
all other fellowships and social circles are nothing. They're
worthless. If you ever look into the treasures,
the riches of Christ, the riches of His grace, there's no diamond
ring that'll ever appeal to you again. That's so. You don't believe that? Well,
it's so whether you believe it or not. That's right. If you ever behold him, you'll
give up everything and everybody for his fellowship. Now, I'll
tell you, you say you don't know anything about that. All right,
I'll make you an offer for that little boy of yours. I think
we'll start with Charles Aden. That'd be a good place to start
right there. I'll make you an offer. What do you take for it? Huh? See what I mean? Well, I'll tell
you what. If somebody's got to get sick
and stay sick for six months, who will it be, you or him? See
what I mean? Why, you don't make any decision
about that. If you've got to choose between
your job and his health, which one are you going to take? You
ain't going to work tomorrow. See what I'm talking about? Yeah,
we know a little bit about it, but it's a selfish love. It's
our son. If you ever see God's son and
love him like that, the decision's all made. That's right. They're all made. And that's
what Moses saw. Wasn't any problem for him to
leave Egypt. He's glad to get out. He's glad to get out. He's glad to be done with all
that tinsel and junk that he knew God was going to burn someday
anyway. Just so much junk. He's glad
to leave that place. Abraham, no problem for him to
give Lot Sodom. He could have Sodom and Gomorrah.
Wasn't anything down there. God was as dwelt in the mountains.
What about Job? Job said, I know my Redeemer
liveth. That's what motivated that man.
How can a man say, though he slay me, I'll praise him, I'll
trust him? The Lord gave, and the Lord hath
taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Let him have it. It's his. Let him take it. Praise
God, from whom all blessings flow. I'll tell you, he said,
I know my Redeemer liveth. And at the latter day, he's going
to stand on this earth. He's going to stand here as the
lamb, and then he's going to stand here as the lion. And I'm
going to see him both times. My eyes behold him as redeemer. My eyes will behold his royal
presence as king. My eyes will behold him as my
substitute. My eyes behold him as my sovereign.
And I'm not talking about looking at him through the eyes of another.
He said, I'll see him myself. And Isaiah, what about Isaiah?
He said he'll preach good tidings to the meek, he'll bind up the
brokenhearted, he'll set free the captive, he'll give sight
to the blind and life to the dead, he'll give them beauty
for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise
for the spirit of heaviness, that in all things he may be
glorified. What can change my thoughts?
To behold the Lamb of God. What can change my selfishness
into dedication and consecration to His glory? Behold the Lamb
of God. What can change my allegiance
to the things of this world and my utmost desire to possess it
with its comforts and pleasures? Behold the Lamb of God. That
sight will turn everything around. Let me give you just three things,
and I'll quit. Let's look at our text again
in John 1 29. What do we mean by behold the Lamb of God? Behold
What do we mean by behold? Well, it means just this look
to Christ Look to Christ Isaiah 45 22 says look unto me look
unto me Look unto me. Behold the Lamb
of God means to look to Christ, to believe on Christ, to believe
God's revelation concerning Christ. That's what it means, as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth on him should
not perish but have everlasting life. Look to Christ. It's not
to critically understand all the mysteries of revelation,
it's to look. It's not to critically understand
all about the fall and all about the Old Testament dispensation,
all about the incarnation and all about the future. It's not
to mentally give agreement to a system of doctrine or a set
of rules and facts. It's to look to Christ. Sirs,
what must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved. Brother Lewis, And Brother Jim
Terry made me a bird feeder to put outside our patio door. We like to sit at the breakfast
table and supper table and watch the birds. We've got some little
robins. I put it out there for the little
robins. I like the robins. They're so
beautiful. And those little wrens, you know, those little bitty
birds, they look so frail and feeble. And I put it out there
for them. And we filled it full of bird
seed, you know, corn and everything. And they're hungry, and they
come and eat. They come and eat. But here comes
an old mean blue jay. You ever seen a blue jay, how
they act? Oh, they're mean. But you know
the blue jay didn't come knock on the door and ask me if that
feed was for him, too. He just flew in there and shoved
everybody away and started eating. He had an appetite, and he saw
the food, and he came to dine. And that's what I'm saying about
Christ. If you've got an appetite, if you've got a need, here's
the gospel, here's Christ, come and eat. Come and eat. Are you
hungry? Are you thirsty? Let not conscience
make you linger, nor fitness fondly dream. All the fitness
he requires is to feel your need of him. You say, maybe I'm not
one of the elect. Are you hungry? I'm hungry. Is the food there? The food's
there. Then why don't you eat it? Why don't you eat it? Well, I'll tell you what I'll
do, preacher. I'm going home and pray. Well, I hope you do,
but that won't save you. It's look to Christ. It's look
to Christ. Well, I'll tell you what I'm
going to do, preacher. I'm going to attend church regularly from now on.
Well, that's good. I hope you do, but that won't
save you either. It's look to Christ. It's behold
the Lamb of God. Well, I'll tell you what I'm
going to do, preacher. I'm going to help you out on your mission
work. I'm going to write you a check, a good check for that,
to buy that property back here to build a parking lot. Well,
that'd be good. I'm in a receptive mood. But that won't save you. It's look to Christ. See what
I'm saying? Well, I'll tell you what I'm going to do, preacher.
I'm going to straighten up my life. I'm going to straighten up my
life. I'm going to start acting like I ought to act. Well, good.
Everybody, your wife especially, will be glad. And I'm sure your
boss will be glad. But that won't save you. John
says, behold the Lamb of God. You see what I'm saying? God
does not require you to provide a righteousness, but to receive
one. He doesn't require you to work
out an acceptance, but to receive one. He doesn't require you to
clean up your act, but to come to Christ. Now, that's what he
said. Behold the Lamb of God. Behold. Who is it that we're to behold?
Now, watch this. This is important. I know we
just came through that season, so I don't want to offend and
get folks all upset, but it is not to behold the babe in the
manger. That's not what he said. He didn't
say, behold the immaculate conception. Behold the tiny babe. Peace on
earth, goodwill toward me. No, sir. And I'll tell you this,
it's not to behold Christ the healer. Oh, I believe in miracles. I
believe God can heal the sick and raise the dead. I do too.
But it's not to behold a healer and the worker of miracles. It's
not to behold a miracle maker. It's to behold, watch it, the
Lamb of God. And the word lamb means what,
Charlie? Sacrifice. Sacrifice. Without the shedding
of blood, there is no remission of sin. He's, first of all, the
Lamb of God, ordained, appointed, anointed, and sent of God. He's
the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He's the Lamb,
secondly, to which every Old Testament sacrifice pointed,
of whom it prophesied and whom it pictured. Christ is the fulfillment
of the Scriptures. Thirdly, he's the perfect lamb,
as a perfect lamb without spot or blemish. Fourthly, he's the
only lamb. He is the only sacrifice. He's
the substitute for sinners. He was wounded for our transgressions,
bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was laid upon him. By his stripes we're healed.
My only hope, my only plea, is that when Christ died as my substitute,
as my sacrifice, as my sin offering, he died for me. Turn, if you
will, over here to Revelation chapter 5. Revelation chapter
5. I know the world wants Christ
the teacher. The world wants Christ the infant.
I'll tell you one reason why they go for this baby to manger
so much. You know why? What's more helpless,
what's more dependent, what's more needed than a baby? If they can keep their God needing
them. If they can keep their God dependent
on them. If they can keep their God requiring
something from them. That's what a baby needs. That's
the reason they worship women, Mary. A baby needs a mama. A baby needs a mother. And therefore
Mary's got to look after him and if I want anything that you
get through him, I've got to go to Mary and ask her. I can't
go ask him directly, Jesus, you want to play ball? I have to
ask my mama. See what I mean? I have to ask my mama. But a Lord on a... And here's
another thing the world despised. They despised God's judgment
and wrath against sin. and they won't have him who is
a sacrifice and a lamb and a suffering substitute bearing their guilt
and shame on a tree. But that's what he says, Behold
the Lamb. Now watch this in Revelation 5. I saw in the right hand of
him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the back
side sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice, Who's worthy? Who's worthy to open the book
and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven or earth
or hell was able to open the book or even to look thereon. We're in a mess, aren't we? Nobody. There's no help. There's no place,
no quarter, no help. And I wept. Oh, my soul. This is the book of life. This is the book of mercy. I
wept because no man was found worthy to open read the book,
neither even to look on thereon. And one of the elders said, don't
we? The whole, oh boy, the line of the tribe of Judah, the king,
the root of David, he hath prevailed to open the book and to loose
the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and I looked. That's
what I'm telling you, behold. Whom shall I behold? No baby.
no helpless, feeble infant, no healer or miracle worker. Lo,
I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four
beasts, in the midst of the elders, stood a lamb as it had been slain,
having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits
that God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took
the book out of the right hand of him that sat on the throne."
That's doing business in high places. Oh boy, you better not
send your preacher to do that. You better not send your mama
to do that. You better not send Mary to do that. Take the book
out of his hand. But the Lamb can do it. The Lamb
can do it. He's one with Him who sits on
that throne. He's one with Him that holds
that book. That makes me tremble to think about it. He came and
took the book out of the right hand of him that sat on the throne.
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 vows full of odors, which are the prayers
of the saints. And they began to sing a new song, saying, thou
art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof. Why?
for thou wast slain for thou wast slain for our sins and our
sorrows and our iniquities and our diseases and thou hast redeemed
us to God by thy blood my friends you call it if you want to an
old first century doctrine it's older than that it's older than
that you call it a bloody religion a slaughterhouse religion you
say it won't have anything to do with lambs and sacrifices
and blood and crosses and suffering, then you'll have nothing to do
with mercy. You'll bear God's cold, unrelenting
justice right in your very heart and soul. You redeemed us to God by your
blood out of every kindred, tongue, and people, and nation, and hath
made us unto our God kings and priests, and we'll reign on this
earth. Bless God. That's the Lamb I'm
talking about. And you do business in those
circles. I tell you, this little peanut
world just somehow, it fades into nothingness when you're
just reading that scripture out there. The awesomeness of it,
the glory of it, the majesty of it, the eternality of it. He, the Lamb, took the book out
of God's hand. And in that book is my name.
And he opened it. Ah, boy, and then, and then,
they didn't praise the Baptist church, and praise mama, and
praise the preacher, and praise the pope, and run around kissing
the ring from the feet. They fell down at the feet of
the Lamb. That's where men worship. They said unto him, thou hast
art worthy. Behold the Lamb of God. And last of all, John said, behold,
look, Just look. He didn't ask you to come help
him get the book. You don't mess around in that
area. He didn't ask you to wait outside
and keep the motor running while he ran in and got the book. He
just asked you to fall down on your knees and wait. He does
the rest. Behold the Lamb of God, the Lamb
of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Turn to Hebrews
9. My friends, let me close with this. Sin is hard to put away. It's stain. You know something
about stains. You women know something about stains. Boy,
you sure get upset when we men are eating a peach or something.
Don't get that peach stain on that shirt, you know. It won't
come out. You ever heard of it? Yeah, it'll
come out sooner or later. But I'll tell you something won't
come out sooner or later, and that's the stain of sin. Now,
you talk about a stain that's hard to remove. The Jewish sacrifices wouldn't
do it. Look down here at Hebrews 10,
4. It's not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should
take away sin. That won't do it. Tears of sorrow
won't do it. Esau sought repentance with tears. Judas came and cast the money
on the floor and said, I betrayed innocent blood. And I know if
he had tears, he was weeping tears. Religious works won't
do it laws won't do it death won't do it judgment won't do
it Hell won't do it if you die in your sins Christ said you
can't come where I am. Hell won't put away sin Here
wasn't designed to put away sin, but punish sin Well what in the
universe will put away sin one thing look at Hebrews 9 26. I Hebrews 9.26, the last part,
the B part of Hebrews 9.26. Now, once in the end of the world,
hath He appeared to put away sin. How? By the sacrifice of
Himself. Now, brethren, if words mean
anything at all, that ought to be sufficient for the faith of
everybody here. God said it, it's true. Christ
hath appeared on this earth in the flesh, in the body, and went
to the cross. And he did it for one purpose.
He did it to glorify God. He did it, God may be just and
justify. I know all those things. But he did it to put away sin. And he put it away. So that's
what I'm saying. This is my message to you this morning. And I believe
in what I'm saying. If I didn't believe it, I wouldn't
preach it. And I'm not talking about with these eyes. I'm not
talking about a cross or a crucifix or something. I'm talking about
beholding with eyes of faith. with heart faith, if I can ever
in my conscience and in my innermost being, in my inner bowels, in
my inner man, in my true self, if I can ever like Moses of old
and Abraham and Isaiah and Job, if I can ever see by grace the
Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, Jew and
Gentile, old and young, bond and free, white and black,