Uh, Brad Mullins died, is that
right? That's Ed's son-in-law. Uh, young
man, in his forties, right? And also your, was it your brother
fell off of a ladder? And he's in a coma. Hit on his,
right at the orbital socket right on his face. That's, I remember
him. And Doris West Maney something. What's your brother's name? Sounds familiar. Really? What happened? Well, he's a big boy. Josh had
a problem with that because he's a big boy, too. Okay. Let's begin our worship service
tonight. Deb's got her backs out. That's
why she's not here tonight. She's walking kind of bent over. Bless her heart. Hymn number
51. Praise the Savior, ye who know
him. Praise the Savior, ye who know
him, who can tell how much we owe him. Gladly let us render
to him all we are and have. Jesus is a name that charms us. He, for conflict, fits and arms
us. Nothing moves and nothing harms
us while we trust in him. Trust in him, ye saints forever. He is faithful, changing never. Neither force nor gall can sever
those he trusts. Keep us, Lord, O keep us cleaving
to Thyself and still believing, to the arrow Thy receiving, promise
joys with Thee. Then we shall be where we would
be. Then we shall be what we should
be. Things that are not, now nor
could be, soon shall be our own. Number 475. Redeemed how I love to proclaim
it. Redeemed by the blood of the
Lamb. Redeemed through His infinite
mercy. Is that the right tune? Does that sound like the right tune
to you? Okay, let's sing 474 because
I'm pretty sure I know that tune. I was talking about dementia
today. Not have I gotten, but what I
received. Grace hath bestowed it since
I have believed. Boasting excluded, pride I abate. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. This is my story. To God be the glory. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Once I was foolish and sin ruled
my heart, causing my footsteps from God to depart. Jesus hath found me happy, my
case. I now am a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. This is my story. To God be the glory. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Tears unavailing, no merit had
I. Mercy had saved me, or else I
must die. Sin had alarmed me, fear in God's
face. But now I'm a sinner saved by
grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. This is my story. To God be the glory. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Suffer a sinner whose heart overflows,
loving his Savior to tell what he knows. Once more to tell it
would I embrace. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. This is my story. To God be the glory. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. If you have your Bibles, turn to
John chapter 1. One verse of scripture. after John had dealt with the
Pharisees and answered the questions that they had put before him
and declared that he was not the Christ, but Christ was the
one that was before him and heard before him. In verse 29 it says,
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold
the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world. Let
us pray. Our Father, we bless You and thank You for
Your Word which gives us understanding
of who You are and what we are and the glorious truth of our
salvation which was wrought completely by Jesus Christ for your glory
and for our good. We thank you, Father, that we
are your children by adoption and by the new birth, and we
are welcome into your household and to your presence, even told
to come boldly before you. We thank you, Father, for your
goodness and your mercy and your grace. We pray for those who
are sick These new ones who have been mentioned on the prayer
list, we ask, Lord, your help for them. Pray for the family
that's lost a loved one, Mr. Mullins' family. Pray for Brother
Ed's brother. He's in this coma. We ask, Lord,
for him. Pray for this other lady that's
been mentioned. We ask, Lord, for these folks that you would
be pleased to minister to their hearts and to their minds and
souls. Fix their eyes and hearts upon Jesus Christ. Cause us all
to know and realize that our days are fleeting. Soon this
life which is a vapor shall pass away. And what we have, we have
in Thee that is eternal. Everything else is going and
going fast. Help us now, this night, to consider
the words of John the Baptist. and to make it our own motto.
Make it our motto to behold the Lamb of God and take away the
sin of the world. Help us, Lord, we pray to worship
you in spirit and in truth. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Now this is the divine record
of one man fulfilling his purpose in life what he was made for. His very existence is for this
moment, for this time. The world is abundant in this
day with thoughts and themes about having a purposeful life.
Books are written about it all the time. But this is finally
and truly the purpose of every man and woman who is saved by
grace and every man whom the Lord has put into the ministry.
This is the reason for our existence in this church and in this world. This is the singular message
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the end of every true sermon ever preached.
With these words, John has found his place in the world, his reason
for being, his raison d'etre. with these words John is found
he in truth brought to life for this moment this time to utter
these words for he could speak while he was yet nestled in the
amniotic fluid of his mother's womb he leapt in the presence
of the one whom he now proclaims and points men to look to he
was born and lives 30 or so years for six months to declare the
glories of the Lord Jesus Christ. He had a short and a profound
ministry. Of him, the scripture says, he
did no miracle, but everything he said about Christ was true. I like that, etched on my gravestone. He did no miracles, but everything
he said about Jesus Christ was true. These words are divine
counsel. Behold the Lamb of God that taketh
away the sin of the world. There's no better instruction
than can be given. I'm no counselor. No preacher
is a counselor, though they like to talk about it. And when I
first got into the ministry, I found some books on counseling.
And after I read them, I said, I can't do that. I can't do that. When folks come to me with problems,
my answer is always the same because there's but one answer
to every situation. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. I know that man that is born
of woman is a few days in full troubles. Some would say that
the troubles that men face are as complex as the world they
live in. disease and distress, sorrow and woe, tragedy, loss,
isolation, crime, debauchery, fear and anger. All these plague
men every day. We're looking to Christ to make
the problems go away. No, they won't go away, but they
will be put in the right perspective. a proper place and an anchor
in the soul for the soul in the time of storms. This short and
often trial-filled existence is not our life. Is it time to quit already? This short and often trial-filled
existence, this is not our life. This is not what we're here for.
It is a comma in the narrative of our existence. We will go
on. Our souls will live forever.
We will live forever somewhere. One man said there's a birth
to be had, a death to be had, and a place somewhere to spend
eternity. The breath of this earthly existence
is called the vapor, and that's what it is. this thing that goes
faster than a post and faster than a weaver's shuttle is but
for a moment and when clarity finally arrives, if it ever does,
and it will when we die, I suppose, all men will know that the words
of John the Baptist were the singular words that ought to
have been noted and embraced. Behold the Lamb of God that taketh
away the sin of the world. Salvation begins continues and
culminates in looking to the Lamb of God. Those who are long
in the tooth, who have been believers for a while, can tell you that
as the days grow short and the night draws near, beholding the
Lamb of God is the only thing that gives them any true peace
and joy in this world. In those moments when they can
gather with the Church of the Living God and worship Him, In
those rare, sweet seasons, there is joy and peace. Religious men
have come up with all sorts of inventions to mortify the deeds
of the flesh. But according to Colossians chapter
3 and verses 1 through 12, the only way to mortify the deeds
of the flesh is to look the Lamb of God. We tend to apply to the
flesh to stop the problems with the flesh, and that's where our
problems exist. We're adding trouble upon trouble.
look to the Lamb of God. You want assurance? Don't look
to your life. Don't look to your deeds. Don't
look to your doings. You don't want to find assurance
there. Don't look to your righteousness, for you have none. Look to the
Lamb of God. Malice and envy and hatred and
anger subside when you look to Jesus Christ. The only way to
obey the precepts of the gospel is to look to the Lord Jesus
Christ. The only way to lay aside the sin of unbelief, the weight
that so easily besets us, is to look to the Lamb of God. Looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, and for the joy
set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, is now set
down on the right hand of the Father. The only way to see Christ
coming again is to look for Him, for it says He'll appear unto
those that are looking for Him, in Hebrews chapter 9. This word,
behold, behold the Lamb of God, is a word that requires exclusivity
and singleness of mind and inspires all and suggests that nothing
else is worthy to be viewed. This is what we're to look at.
This is who we're to look at. Behold means to be possessed
of a singular scope, a kind of tunnel vision. The periphery
is to cease, it's to fade away. This one glorious thing is to
feel the vision in this only. I found out this to be true.
You cannot behold the Lamb of God and at the same time look
at yourself. You can't do it. You cannot behold the Lamb of
God and look to your works. You cannot behold the Lamb of
God and look to the law. And oh, what lesson we're not
to learn here. You cannot behold the Lamb of
God and at the same time behold your brothers and sisters and
see their weaknesses and faults and sins. Not when you look to
Christ. Not when you look to Christ.
When you look to Christ and you look to your brother, you'll
see them robed in a perfect robe of righteousness. You'll see
them as without sin when you look to Christ. So if you're
picking each other apart, trying to destroy each other, then you're
not looking to Christ. It's that simple. Behold the
Lamb of God. All to do that. All to do that. Looking to Christ means beholding
Him alone. Alone. It's to be like dear old
Anna the prophetess in Luke chapter 2. She said, for those looking
for redemption, she said, look no further. look anywhere else
look only there behold the lamb notice the employment of the
definite article the lamb of god it's as if god has only one
and that's right he only has one all the others that were
slain throughout history merely pointed to and pictured him the
lambs the goats the bullocks the turtle doves all those blood
that was shed pointed to the lord jesus christ In the morning,
the priest offered the morning lamb. Jesus Christ is the morning
lamb, slain at sunrise, slain from the foundation of the world,
what it says in Revelation 13.8. He's the evening lamb, slain
in the end of days, the age which we live in called the gospel
age. He is a Passover lamb whose blood assures the believer that
he has been passed over in judgment He's the Lamb on the throne in
Revelation, and He's the subject in the new song sung in glory.
Worthy is who? The Lamb, as it had been slain,
and has redeemed us by His blood out of every kindred, nation,
tongue, and people, and made us kings and priests unto our
God. He is the Lamb of God. You read the book of Revelation,
that's the central character The revelation of Jesus Christ
is this. He's the Lamb of God. He's the
Lamb of God. He's God's sacrifice. It is in this capacity that we
see the true glory of His person. He's the Lamb of God, the single
sacrifice that honored God's law and justice. That's why He's
called the Lamb, because He's the sacrifice. He's the sacrifice. He's the sacrifice that pleased
God, that propitiated God, that satisfied God and fixed it so
that God could be just and justify sinners. Propitiation through
faith in His blood. He was offered as that propitiation. God has charged him with that. Behold Him and pray God to fix
your eyes and hearts upon Him. When you do, you'll find that
the things of this world will indeed grow strangely dim. Beholding Him as the Lamb of
God, God's accepted sacrifice will sweeten every relationship,
every relationship, temper every anger, and make life a precious
and enjoyable thing. You know that's true if you're
a child of God. When you look into Him, you don't
have any troubles with anybody. Spurgeon called it a divine cordial,
a really fine wine, a heavenly cordial that when you imbibe
it and get drunk off of it, you forget all your troubles. That's
what it is to behold the Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb of God. Your weaknesses will become strength
if you behold Him. Your experiences, your deeds,
your works, and your thoughts will fade to nothing if you're
beholding Him. Your inward struggles with self and sin and your bent
to self-exaltation and self-righteousness and self-deification are only
quelled as we look to Him and His accepted obedience of God.
It says in 2 Corinthians, bringing all things to His obedience. All things to His obedience,
not yours. his obedience someone had you
believe that there's more more to the Christian life than this
there's not there's not rules, regulation, church covenants,
bylaws and such these are the fathers of religion and designed
to take men's eyes off the prize and give churches and councils
power to judge men's lives look to the Lamb of God and you won't
worry about anybody judging you Let no man judge you in meat
or drink or in holy days, for Christ is the substance. It says
in Colossians chapter 2. Some men would say there's more
to preach than Christ. I've actually had men say that.
I've had preachers say that to me. And I've corrected them many
times. I usually just say, is there
anything better to preach than Him? And why would you settle
for anything but the best? If He's the best thing to preach,
let's preach Him. And those who have looked and
are looking know that they've seen the best thing. They've
seen the very best thing, the only thing, the cheapest among
10,000, the altogether lovely one, the rock of the King, the
sovereign Lord, the lily of the valley, the bright and morning
star, the water of life, the bread of life, the blood of the
everlasting covenant, the death by which death has been put to
death. That's our Lord Jesus Christ. he's the Lamb of God. Calling, Hope, Peace, Righteousness,
Sanctification, Wisdom, and Redemption. These are all the Lamb of God,
for He is made to be unto us. Who? The Lamb of God is made
to be unto us. Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification,
and Redemption. If you look at the Lamb of God,
do you know what you see? You see the glory of God. For
the glory of God is revealed in the face of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's the glory of God. You
want to know what God's glory is? It's Jesus Christ. It's the Lamb of God. To behold
Him is to believe Him. To trust Him, to behold Him,
is to have been given the gift of faith to see Him as He's revealed
in this book. To behold Him is to trust Him
alone as the singular means by which we're accepted by God.
That's how we're accepted, how we're accepted in the Lamb. He's blessed us with all spiritual
blessings according to His chosenness in Him before the foundation
of the world. we should be holy without blame before him, in
love having predestinated us to the adoption of children by
Jesus Christ unto himself, to the praise of the glory of his
grace, wherein we are made accepted in the beloved. About everybody
in this world seeks acceptance today. But I found this to be true about
acceptance. It's a difference in tolerance.
I appreciate if you tolerate me. Most of the time that's your
long-suffering and you do tolerate me. But if you're going to accept
me, you know what I have to do? I have to attribute sovereignty
to you. I can't make you accept me. I
can't demand that you accept me. I can ask and plead, but
the acceptance remains to you in Jesus Christ. we don't have
to be accepted we don't have to ask to be accepted we don't
have to worry about it being accepted in Jesus Christ we're
accepted in the presence of almighty the thrice holy God to behold
Him is to be accepted so I say with John behold the Lamb of
God and take away the sin of the world people jump all over
that last phrase, to take away the sin of the world. That's
not a theological statement designed to pit the Calvinists against
the Armenians. The sin of the world is not a categorization
or collecting of all sins of all men. Do you think that John
made this statement to establish a religious forum or set up a
debate? This is to and for the one who
is beholden to the Lamb of God. You know He's taking away the
sin of the world. This is good news to the one
who beholds the Lamb of God. The sin of the world is not about
the evil of the cosmos. If I'm looking to Christ's statement,
it's for me. We're just singing, I'm only
a sinner saved by grace. Beholding Christ is to know and
understand that He has taken away my sin. That's what Scripture
says. that's the wonder of believing
that's the wonder of faith that you can actually believe something
that wild and wonderful I know I'll never forget my sin rehearse
it in my poor head every day I feel it in my bones I know
what I am before God but he's put it away before God God doesn't
see it God doesn't remember it got his cast back separated much
as far as the east is from the west buried at the bottom of
the sea I see behold him take away the sin of the world my
world we use that phrase world world wide, wide world of sports. We
use that term to embrace a singular thing. This is talking about
my sin. If you're beholden to the Lamb of God, you can say
my sin is taken away. Taken away. The sin that plagues
and permeates my paltry, insignificant existence in this world is taken
away. behold, the Lamb of God is nothing
but the sinner looking to the Savior. He is not consulting
with flesh and blood. In Him I see my world of sin
taken away." Taken away. I see Christ. I see that. Because I know, as John said
in John chapter 3, after he said, Behold, what manner of blood
is this? We should be called the sons of God. he was manifested to take away
our sins. Take away our sins. You're not
looking to him and him alone. You remain a denizen of your
world of sin. That's where you live. I lived
in religion for a long time and all I did was remind myself of
what I was and try to figure out how to stop doing it. I can't
tell you how many sins I stopped in my life. not for very long,
but I stopped him for a day or two. If you're looking to him
and him alone, unless you're doing that, you're still in that
world. Because when you look at him,
you can say, he taketh away my world of sin. I can give no better
advice. No better advice than this. I
can preach no better message than this. I can tell no other
truth than this. I say to you and say to myself,
and hope to God I say it until the day I die, and repeat it
over and over again, Behold the Lamb of God, and taketh away
the sin of the world. Father, bless us to understand
and pray in Christ's name, amen.