Transcription downloaded from https://sermons.heritagesermons.org/sermons/14373/behold-the-lamb-of-god-quality-good/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] In John chapter 1, we're looking this evening at the 29th verse.

[0:13] John 1 and verse 29. The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him and saith, Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.

[0:39] May the Lord grant us much help to look upon this verse. And may we be granted such a view of God's Lamb this night, that we may be deeply affected thereby.

[0:58] Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. Now this is the meeting of the Baptist, John the Baptist, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

[1:16] The Lord has already come and been baptized at John's hand. But now John seeth Jesus coming unto him.

[1:29] And here is the Savior coming to hear John in his preaching. And the preacher takes immediately the opportunity.

[1:40] Behold, he says, look, behold the Lamb of God which taketh away, which beareth away the sin of the world.

[1:53] These words then, behold, here it's a literal matter as John utters these words. Christ is there before their eyes.

[2:04] Behold, he says, look to him. And most of the beholds that we come across in the New Testament are those figurative beholds. Here is important truth for us to take notice concerning.

[2:17] But when John the Baptist uttered these words, it was literal. Look to him. Still we can't look literally and physically to see Jesus Christ in the midst, but ought to see him by the eye of faith tonight.

[2:32] To behold him by the eyes of faith, the seeing that is spiritual. And to see him as the Lamb of God this night, which taketh away the sin of the world.

[2:48] There is this notice then. Behold him. Behold this person who is the Lamb of God. Behold his work, but taketh away the sin of the world.

[3:03] Now that is then consider these matters. First of all, behold the Lamb of God. And I shall spend the majority of time on this.

[3:15] Behold the Lamb of God. And then say a little before we conclude on the remainder of the verse, which taketh away the sin of the world.

[3:28] Now behold the Lamb of God. In a general sense, Jesus is as a Lamb. He is compared to a Lamb.

[3:39] Because there are certain things true of Lamb's that would be true of the Lord Jesus Christ. Certainly true of him in his coming amongst men and in the ministry that he was about to commence.

[3:58] Jesus is like a Lamb. We think of the innocency of a Lamb. The reformer Bollinger speaks of a Lamb as a symbol of innocency.

[4:10] And so Christ is that one who is innocent. As it says in Hebrews 7, Holy, harmless and undefiled, separate from sinners.

[4:22] Here is the sinless one. Here is the one who is all innocent. As a Lamb. A Lamb and its innocency. A Lamb is also without strength, easily hurt.

[4:37] The very Greek word used here for a Lamb, amnos. The words M-N-O-S that are in the letters M-N-O-S in that word together mean strength.

[4:53] But with the letter A before them, which gives us amnos, it means without strength. So that the Greek word for a Lamb is that which is without strength.

[5:05] That is how the Greeks spoke of the Lamb. It is a creature which is without strength. And it shows how vulnerable the Savior was in the condescension of his coming.

[5:19] And I say that because we must remember that he is the Son of God to whom all strength belongs. He is possessed of an essential power as God.

[5:32] He is the one to whom all mediatorial authority is given. And yet in that which he came to do as the mediator, you see that he was brought in weakness before men.

[5:46] And crucified in weakness is the scripture. He submitted himself. He was like the Lamb without strength. The Lamb which has so many enemies that prey upon it.

[5:58] Christ would say even of those that he would send out to do his bidding, that I send you a sheep in the midst of wolves. And he himself knew what it was to be as a Lamb surrounded by these ravening beasts of prey, as it were, that would devour him away with him, crucify him.

[6:18] We see that he is a Lamb. He is a Lamb in his innocency, in his proneness to be hurt, his vulnerability. You see that also the Lamb is as an object of meekness and patience.

[6:34] And Christ is all of that. Isaiah 53, 7. He is brought as a Lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep before a shearer is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

[6:48] There is that patient accepting of what God the Father had laid upon him. Though it brought him to that place, albeit his innocency, when he was treated as a very criminal and mocked and reviled of men, he opened not his mouth to revile his detractors.

[7:07] He made no defense against them. His words at the very end from the cross were words of extreme brevity. And there was no cry of protest.

[7:19] There was no cry of pain escaped his lips either. As a Lamb before her shearers is dumb. As a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his voice.

[7:31] And it has been pointed out that the beasts that were brought to the sacrifices of the tabernacle and then afterwards of the temple, they had to be bound with cords to the altar because they had that sense of what lay before them.

[7:49] And there would be the bellowing, and there would be the bleating. As they sensed that their hour was come, there was no voice of protest from the dear Son of God.

[8:04] He came as God's Lamb. And as a Lamb, he was brought to the slaughter. And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his voice.

[8:18] He did not die, you see, against his will. Well, the victims died against their will. They were but creatures. And they were dealt thus by those that sacrificed them.

[8:29] But when the Saviour came, he came as a willing sacrifice. He came to give his life a ransom for many. No man taketh it from me, he said, but I lay it down of myself.

[8:40] And if I lay it down, I have power to take it again. And so in the figure of the Lamb, behold the Lamb of God, you see the innocency of Christ. And you see the vulnerability of Christ.

[8:54] How he was made to know contradiction of sinners against himself. And you see the patience and the meekness of Christ as a Lamb brought to the slaughter.

[9:04] But then as well as the general characteristics of a Lamb, behold the Lamb of God, would make us to see the sacrificial work that he came to do.

[9:17] He is the Lamb of God's appointment. He is the Lamb of sacrifice. Not just the Lamb that men chose. They made the selection of a suitable Lamb to be sacrificed without blemish and without spot.

[9:33] But this is the Lamb of God. This is the Lamb that God has chosen. This is God's choice. This is the Lamb of God. And in the Greek, it isn't, this is our Lamb.

[9:46] This is the Lamb. This is God's Lamb. This is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. This is the Lamb that God has appointed to be the sacrifice that will end all the sacrificing of these lambs, these beasts that for the generations past had been offered up in sacrifice.

[10:12] This is the Lamb of God. It distinguishes this Lamb from other lambs. It dignifies this Lamb above all other creatures. This is the one that has come down from God himself.

[10:26] This is God's Lamb. He is the Lamb of God. And we desire to behold him as such. In the book of Exodus, the 29th chapter of Exodus, you read of the lambs.

[10:43] Exodus 29, 38 and 39. Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar, two lambs of the first year, day by day continually.

[10:56] The one Lamb thou shalt offer in the morning and the other Lamb thou shalt offer at even. And the way that they were to be offered up is described, but one in the morning, one in the evening, continually.

[11:10] Think of all the lambs that were sacrificed from the appointment there in the day of Moses. Think of all the blood that was shed.

[11:23] Think of all the sacrifices that were made. And then think of this. Behold the Lamb of God. The one that is the fulfillment of all that those lambs were pointing to.

[11:38] They were typical. They were showing that without shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. There were those anticipations of the way of salvation.

[11:49] Until the one should come, behold the Lamb, the Lamb of God, that taketh away, which taketh away the sin of the world.

[12:00] And if the godly in the old Israel, morning and evening, were to look to these lambs and to see that this was the way that God would receive an atonement, that this was the prefigurement of the atoning work of God's dear Son for His people when it should take place.

[12:21] If they look continually day after day, evening after evening, to the lambs that were sacrificed, how we need to look continually to the Lamb of God, which beareth away the sin of the world.

[12:37] We desire that we might never forget Him. That's why the ordinance has been set in the midst of the Christian assembly. That as we take the bread and as we drink the wine, we might show forth the Lord's death until He come.

[12:53] That we might say, as it were, in that very ordinance, behold the Lamb of God, which beareth away, which taketh away the sin of the world.

[13:08] So we are saying that the Lamb of God, we think of Christ as that Lamb innocent and vulnerable and meek.

[13:19] We think of the sacrificial Lamb that was appointed to slaughter. We think of the shedding of blood that there might be remission of sin. But when we consider these words of John the Baptist, I believe we've got to see more specifically, Behold the Lamb of God and consider the Paschal Lamb, the Passover Lamb.

[13:45] Because in the Passover Lamb there is the complete delineation of Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God's appointment, which taketh away the sin of the world.

[13:58] The Paschal Lamb. You read of the Paschal Lamb in Exodus and in the 12th chapter particularly, that long chapter that deals with the Passover, that dealt with that time in the history of the children of Israel when they were in Egyptian bondage and when the plagues had taken place.

[14:21] And the last plague was announced that there would be the slaughter of the firstborn in Egypt, both the firstborn of Pharaoh and even the firstborn of the maidservant in the mill and the firstborn of every creature.

[14:39] That there would be the slaughter of the firstborn and it was said that there would be a Passover made in the case of the Israelites. But that there might be the Passover over and that the destroying angel might not wreak such a terrible work in the homes of the Israelites.

[14:59] They were to slay the lamb according to specification. They were to smear the doorposts of every house and the lintel across with this blood of the lamb.

[15:12] They were to eat the lamb in the specified manner also. And if they did these things they would be safe when I see the blood I will pass over said the Lord.

[15:24] And so it was and this Passover was instituted and the commemoration of it which is the the Old Testament ordinance until that now has come to its fulfillment in the the lamb of God who was slain for the deliverance of his people upon the cross.

[15:45] and we don't keep the Passover we keep the Lord's Supper as we will seek to do later this evening God helping us. But it's in the Passover that you see the lamb set forth in all its many typical aspects and we see how all of these center upon the Lord Jesus Christ.

[16:06] The Passover had an historical intention. It was that they might ever remember in the commemoration of the Passover what mean ye by these things that they might remember the great deliverance God had wrought in bringing them out of bondage in Egypt.

[16:24] What mean ye by these things we were as bondmen ready to perish in Egypt but the Lord delivered us that was the historical intention of the Passover that they might ever remember what took place just as in the ordinance of the Lord's Supper we want to remember what literally took place at a certain time in the history of this world when the Son of God bowed himself upon the cross and gave up the ghost and died we want to remember that and remember it every time we come to the ordinance of the Lord's Supper but as well as the Passover having a historical intention it also has that great redemptive significance and it shows the means that were appointed in the lamb and in the blood and all the specification regarding the offering up of that lamb you see the redemptive significance of these things that we might learn more of the work of Christ who is our

[17:26] Passover Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us well then let us attempt to make some setting of these matters in order I cannot say everything to do with the typical nature of the paschal lamb and how it is fulfilled in Christ that would take us far too long but I seek to bring the main aspects to you if you have the works of top lady you will find a very valuable summary of the points of the typology of the lamb and the Passover in top lady but I don't make use of that tonight I confine myself to certain basic matters from the word of God itself to do with the topology behold the lamb of God consider this paschal lamb and now consider the Lord Jesus Christ and first of all the lamb was taken from among the flock we're taught

[18:32] Exodus 12 5 he shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats there was the taking of that lamb that would be the paschal lamb that was offered up according to the teaching in that day there was the taking of that lamb from out of the flock so there was the taking of God's lamb the Lord Jesus Christ from the midst of his brethren Deuteronomy 18 15 a prophet will I raise up from among the brethren so Christ took our nature upon him he was made like us and we read of it in so many verses in Hebrews we have been thinking recently on some of these verses as in 2 and verse 14 for as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood he also himself likewise took part of the same where for in all things verse 17 it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to

[19:45] God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people Christ is the paschal lamb and the paschal lamb was taken from the flock and Christ is raised up from amongst his brethren born of our bone and flesh of our flesh Christ is the same nature as us he shall take it from the sheep or from the God's lamb and then in the second place the lamb was without blemish the lamb without blemish and Christ without blemish or spot certainly tempted in all points as we are yet without sin he is the holy one of God 1 Peter 1 19 as of a lamb without blemish and without spot who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world sinless lamb behold the lamb of God without sin taken to represent his people taken from the flock

[20:53] Christ without nature upon him see him without spot or without blemish he said to the Jews that were so hostile in discourse with him John chapter 8 which of you convinceth me of sin not one of them could convince him of sin convict him of sin Pilate knew that he was a just man I find no fault in him he washed his hands to demonstrate that he found no fault in the one that had been brought before him even though he gave the Jews what they wanted and pronounced sentence of death over him but there is no sin in him there was our sin upon him but there was no sin in him he is that lamb of God without blemish and he is without sport and then you see that the lamb was to be a male we're told that in

[21:53] Exodus in the provision for the Passover the lamb shall be without blemish a male of the first year he shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats and we know that it was a male in the sacrifice in Luke 2 23 every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord isn't it an awful state we've come to when you've got those in so many professing Christian communions that try to make out the female nature of Christ what a terrible blasphemy it is how utterly contrary to the word of God it is it isn't a matter of you women and the position that we will give them or will not give them it's nothing to do with that it's according to the will and ordination of God the lamb was to be as a male the son of God came and to my mind it is the most errant and foul blasphemies when they speak of

[23:03] Christ as being a female person and speak of her as speak of him a she he is the son of God from all eternity and these things are meaningful things and significant things and it was a male of the lambs that had to be taken without blemish from amongst the flocks of the sheep and the goats it was a male and it is the son of God that is offered up because it is according to the divine purpose the lamb was to be a male and it was to be a year old a male of a year old that is not a tender lamb newly born not such but a lamb that had grown and lived some experience of life for a year so Christ had experience of life even though he was cut off he never saw old age he was cut off in his prime but the paschal lamb speaks of the antitype it was that lamb without blemish a male of the first year a male of a year old and Christ came then to be like us that he might stand for us that he might be that lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world and he had experience of man he was not naive although he was meek and mild he knew it was in man he knew all together he knew what it was to be tempted in all points as we are yet without sin but he was delivered up for our offenses so we've been looking at the lamb to be a male the lamb to be a year old the lamb moreover was to be kept we are told for four days from the tenth to the fourteenth of the month now that month was the month that became the first month of the year to the

[25:14] Jews it hadn't been always the first month of the year but it became so at the Passover and it is the month Aviv or as it is more commonly termed Nisan and on the tenth of Nisan the lamb was to be selected and made ready but it was to be kept for four days until on the fourteenth of the month until on the fourteenth of Nisan it was to be sacrificed and of course this is that it might be ready that there might be no forgetting of it every house to have the lamb that there might be the blood to smear upon the post and upon the lintel they had it in readiness they were able over the period of time to examine it the more carefully that it met the requirements that it might be without blemish and so we see how it was fulfilled in Christ it was in that month was in that first month of Nisan it was on the tenth of the month that he entered into

[26:25] Jerusalem and it was on the fourteenth of the month between the two evenings as the margin gives it there in Exodus 12 between the two evenings that the lamb was to be slaughtered that is exactly at three in the afternoon and at three in the afternoon of the fourteenth Nisan we believe that the son of God gave up his life according to the determinate purpose and foreknowledge of God and he died behold the lamb of God see him there see him entering in and for these four days and there are four days you can compute them for yourself remembering that the Jews were counting from the evening from what we would say the Sunday evening through to the Monday that's the first day when he entered into Jerusalem and then from the Monday evening to the Tuesday the second the Tuesday evening to the

[27:26] Wednesday the Thursday evening to the Friday evening is the 14th Nisan and between the two evenings at three in the afternoon at the moment of divine appointment he gave up the ghost and died no man took his life from him he gave it up of himself upon the cross he could have lingered there many a day there were those that lingered as you know I've told you before for days sometimes for weeks in agony upon the cross but he died at the moment when the lamb was appointed to be offered up the paschal lambs time of sacrifice was the time of God's lambs departure and that is so significant to us we marvel at this thing the lamb slain between the two evenings Daniel 9 26 after three score and two weeks shall

[28:26] Messiah be cut off but not for himself and so it came to pass he was slain at that very moment the lamb slain to typify the way of redemption by the shedding of blood God's lamb fulfilling the time he was cut off but not for himself he came to give his life a ransom for for many from the sixth hour Matthew tells us there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour the ninth hour then was that between the two evenings when the savior died about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice and we're told he cried Eli Eli lama sabachthani my God my God why hast thou forsaken me and then in verse 50 of Matthew 27 Jesus when he had cried again with a loud voice gave up the ghost now wicked men brought these things to pass but it was divine ordination that set it up it was

[29:37] God that will that it should be so or the love of the father for us that he spared not his own son but gave him up God's lamb the lamb of God's apartment the paschal lamb and he died the just for the unjust to bring us unto God and then still continuing the type the lamb's blood the paschal lamb's blood was not to be spilled upon the ground was to be caught in a dish and that was because of the need for this blood it had to be put to purpose sprinkled on the posts and on the lintel it was a very precious thing that blood and the blood of Jesus Christ is precious blood the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot and Christ's blood although it was shed it was not it was not all spilled and he has taken his blood and his sacred humanity is in the presence of

[30:39] God at this very moment of time his bones his flesh his blood and he shows his work continually before the father there's a great mystery but it's taught in the word of God the preciousness of that blood there were the bleeding wounds in hands and feet there was a spear wound in his side and forth came blood and water blood and blood and he has taken body and blood into the presence of the father and then we see that the lamb was to be roasted by fire it was to be eaten as well as slain and it was to be roasted by fire Exodus 12 9 and we think there of the judgmental element the fire standing for judgment and we think of Christ in his death brought to endure

[31:39] God's wrath and judgment upon him in the place of his people it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God our God is a consuming fire Christ was brought into that place the son was brought into that place for us even as the lamb the paschal lamb was to be roasted by fire Christ knew the judgment of God a visitation of wrath upon him for our sakes and then finally the lamb's bones were not to be broken born of him shall not be broken and it was literally fulfilled brought out in John 19 they brought the legs of the thieves because of course they would have lingered days as I say upon the cross but when they came to Jesus they found that he was dead already and they break not his legs that the scripture might be fulfilled which saith a bone of him shall not be broken paschal lamb behold the lamb of

[32:48] God wonderful points of comparison rich typology making us our trust to Luke this night behold behold the lamb the benefits of this sacrifice well what were the benefits of the Passover lamb that was slain and eaten or the benefits were that they were delivered that very night from Egyptian bondage they went out that very night and there was not so much as a dog barked against them they went forth and the people sped them on their way and gave them what they needed for the journey they spoiled the Egyptians as they went forth and by reason of our great saviour's work upon the cross his coming his doing and his dying he has spoiled principalities and powers he sets us free he has liberated us if the son shall make he free he shall be free indeed and we are freed not from a literal

[33:54] Egypt but from we are freed from the bondage of sin and from the condemnation of the law he frees us by the shedding of his blood when Christ died there was the rending of the veil of the temple from the top to the bottom and there was in that the the emblem that the way was open into the holiest of all and we have access to God he gives us to have access to God by his blood we are accepted in the beloved and this is a very precious thing you see how these Israelites they trusted in the word that was spoken by Moses they got the lamb they slew the lamb they roasted it on the 80th they smeared the blood upon the post and upon the lintel and they were spared from the destroying angel and they were delivered that night from the captivity in Egypt oh they they heard the word they believed the word they acted upon the word and when you are shown the lamb of God behold the lamb of God oh that you might have faith in the lamb that you might have that obedience of faith that you might look to the blood that you might as it were put that blood upon upon your doorposts and your lintel that you might know the application of that blood it's the father that sees you in the son but oh that you might make that blood your plea when I see the blood

[35:37] I will pass over they might have said well I don't know if it'll work I don't know if God means what he says there are those that doubt the word of God they take the word of a man who drives a bus rather than the word of God in these matters I mean by that they will commit themselves to a bus driver to be taken where he drives the bus they believe he will get them there in safety and yet the great God it says that the man or woman that looks to his son they don't credit God with being true to his word there are many many people that miss the salvation of God I speak in human terms because they don't believe the word of God they don't reckon upon it do you reckon upon it behold the lamb it's all very well to read it it's all very well to say it's a very precious scripture this but do you do you behold the lamb as the blood that was shed for your salvation do you look to

[36:43] Christ as the way for you to come to God to be delivered from wrath to come to be brought out of the bondage of sin and death and hell do you look to him do you trust him to do what he says who says him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out it was a day of emancipation when the paschal lamb was offered up and eaten they participated in the thing they shed the blood they smeared it they ate the lamb and in all this it was so emblematic of our participation in Christ we eat his flesh and we drink his blood that's what we're commemorating at the table tonight we are those that feed upon Christ as they fed upon the lamb we feed spiritually upon Christ God's lamb and he is the deliverer he is the one that emancipates us he brings us out he sets us loose he's paid the ransom and we have no doubt that the price is paid in full for we are redeemed not with corruptible things but with the precious blood of

[37:56] Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot and there was another thing that was in all this there was judgment on the gods of of Egypt we're told that in the 12th of Exodus 2 when these things were done and they went out there was a judgment on the gods of Egypt I believe the plagues every plague is a judgmental dealing with the gods the deities the idols that were the center of Egyptian worship and every one of them was brought down before the true and the living God the river they worshipped the flies they worshipped the lice they worshipped all of these were as nothing they were powerless when God brought plagues in the very kind of the deities they worshipped and we're told that God judged and in numbers 33 and verse 4 for the Egyptians buried all their firstborn which the

[38:58] Lord had smitten among them and upon their gods also the Lord executed judgment and when Christ Jesus died upon the cross the vanities and the empty things the deceptions of Satan that men still bow down to they were brought down in that they were prostrated in that they fell as the ark fell before Dagon in the temple but as Dagon fell before the ark in his house which we read in the book of Samuel and so every false way will be brought down before the work the perfect finished work of Christ he is the only name under heaven given amongst men the judgment of every false way is in that lamb that was slain and the people went forth on that Passover night and in Christ's dying he has put away all of these counterfeits they have been shown to be judged in God's sight they have no efficacy they have got no significance and though foolish men as the duke by Satan give them worship yet yet there is but salvation in

[40:17] Christ no other name no man coming to the father but by him now all of these things in the paschal lamb we see if we have given eyes to behold the lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world oh for solemn solemn reverence this night that we might solemnly reverence God's dear son made a sacrifice for us as a lamb slain from the foundation of the world may we see him as such may there be that application to him for our own personal salvation that we might know that I live because the savior died for my sins may we be those that know that these things were not done in the mass but they were done for individual lost sinners according to the election of grace and may we be those that feel the melting of our hearts within us that we might love this dear savior that loved us even to the death of the cross

[41:33] God's lamb and may there be the waters that run down our cheeks from our eyes as we mourn over our sins that took him to the cross and as we weep to the praise of the mercy that we found behold the lamb of God my dear friends behold the lamb of God I visualize John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus coming to him and the preacher saying Luke there he is behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world or that I might have the power to say behold the lamb of God but it must be God's application it must be God's work to give you a sight of it I want a sight of it myself I desire that I might see that one that was smitten afflicted that died as a substitute for the sins of his people God's way of salvation the gospel way may we then see that he is a lamb by innocency by vulnerability by meekness a lamb of sacrifice may we see him also as that paschal lamb by God appointed and may we be able to say that all my sins on thee were laid now just a little in conclusion on the remainder of the verse which taketh away the sin of the world

[43:00] I remember in Suffolk in the early days of editing the peace and truth magazine I remember including a piece in the magazine in which I quoted this verse John 1 29 behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world and I remember a man writing in a letter to me saying that he was disgusted to see that I was setting forth in this magazine supposed to be raised up for the defense of the doctrine of particular redemption amongst other things that I was making mention in this magazine of Christ taking away the sin of the world he said he couldn't understand how I could put that in the magazine and I remember writing back and saying that I put it in the magazine for the simple reason that God put it in the scripture that's how God wrote it I don't have to apologize for the things that

[44:01] God has put in the word my business is to handle this and to declare it and the foolish man was one of those and there's still some about had a similar letter from a man only the other day on another matter a nitpicking letter by a man that doesn't stand himself that won't stand up and be counted and yet finds fault with everyone and we've got to be very careful that we are not brought to a place where we are afraid to use the very language of the word of God and it says here and John the Baptist said it behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world now it doesn't mean every last and individual person in the world for that simply would not be true to the fact if that were true there would be no hell whereas we know and we have the saviour's word for it that there will be that awful place and many will be therein doesn't mean then that he he bore away the sins of every individual of Adam's race and so we have to interpret it according to the sense of scripture and the context of scripture it shows the difference here between the old

[45:16] Israel and the new it shows the difference between the Passover lamb of the law and the lamb of God's appointment to which the Passover lamb was pointing Christ's death is for Jew and Gentile that's what it's indicating it's for the world of those that are the Lord's people by election the world of those Jew and Gentile for whom that sacrifice was made it's for the world of Jew and Gentile to whom the Spirit of God applies these benefits that's how it's to be taken as in first John to an advocate with the father and his blood is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole world it's not just for the apostles it's not just for those of a Jewish pedigree it's for all sorts and conditions even as Christ lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto him he doesn't draw literally and inclusively every individual upon the earth unto him if he did why would there be such a multitude of indifferent people and blasphemers this night now he draws the people that God has given to him all that the father giveth me will come unto me him that cometh unto me

[46:41] I will in no wise cast out it shows the difference between the old Israel and the new the Passover lamb was for the old Israel this is for the new Israel and there are gentile sinners in the new Israel it shows the scene of the saviour's sufferings too that he is the saviour of the world as it says in other scriptures he is the saviour that came to the world this was the scene of his coming he did not come to redeem the fallen apostate angels but he came to this world to redeem those of Adam's race and it is that gospel it is that true saying worthy of all acceptation Christ Jesus came where did he come into the world to save sinners behold the lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world and the elect are a world in themselves I think it's it's Thomas Manton that brings this out in one of his writings the elect are a world in themselves a multitude that no man can number and of every kindred and people and tribe and nation and tongue they are a world in themselves and they'll be brought ultimately to a place from which all others are excluded heaven is the home of the redeemed those who are in the benefit of that lamb that was slain oh we're not conceding for a moment that this is speaking of a universal atonement but it's declaring rather that this is the lamb of

[48:16] God which taketh away the sin of the world a world of lost sinners of the election of grace Jews and Gentiles in this number barbarian Scythian bond and free those that we would never have imagined would have a right to that blood of sprinkling but they're included in it the question is what do you believe concerning yourself and this gospel it is a gospel worthy of all acceptation Christ Jesus has come into the world are you the exception to that it is worthy to be accepted by all to whom it comes but not by me not by me why not by you who are you that you are an exception to this or see that you are not the exception which proves that you're not of that number but rather when you hear of a savior that taketh away the sin of the world rejoice in this hope in this give diligence to make your calling and election sure because of this behold the lamb of god which taketh away the sin of the world how does

[49:27] Christ take away the sin of the world it's a burden too heavy for us to be rid of we can't take it off our backs we are weighted down by the burden of our sin the fortieth psalm David says mine iniquities have taken hold upon me so that I'm not able to look up not able to look up how can we bear such a load of sin but he bears it for us oh the truth of it the lamb that lamb an emblem of weakness but oh the strength of god's lamb because he bears all the sins of all his people in his own body on the tree and he he takes away their sins he bears their sins bears the weight of their sins he bears the punishment for their sins and god by reason of that work nails the to the cross of his son the the ordinances that were against us he's blotted out the ordinances that were against us taking it out of the way nailing it to his cross oh what a truth it is that our sins are taken away I can't be rid of them the more I try the weightier they become the more I look for ways when I know the gospel the more I aggravate the load of sin the more I sin against the light of the gospel when I seek for another way of forgiveness when I seek by my works when the bible says it's not by works lest any man should boast

[51:01] I'm only adding to my sin the more I look for another saviour another way or come on the basis of works or law keeping or any such thing there's only one way for the weight of sin to be taken away because there's only one that can remove it and who is he Jesus is his name behold the lamb of God the lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world we need such a saviour we rejoice in such a saviour we glory in this salvation we pray that he will show himself to us this night he is the doctrine of justification he is the doctrine of sanctification he is the doctrine of our glorification all in this behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world have you seen your need of him have you felt the load that's upon you have you had it taken from your shoulders have you had it lifted from your back all the relief when we're struggling along under some heavy pack and at last we can put it down or someone takes the weight of it from us but it's nothing like the burden of sin the burden of sin that would bend as into hell itself all that you might know one to take it from you and never never to replace it there if you feel a weight of sin and you're a true child of God if you feel a weight of sin it's because of your own follies it's because of your own dalliance with sin and the chastising rods upon your back but it's not a penal rod upon your back because it was a penal rod exclusively on his back he died the just for the unjust to bring us to

[52:53] God he has taken our sins and then there is now that's a staggering thing there is he took them and his righteousness a staggering thing equally so his righteousness is mine perfect righteousness of the holy harmless undefiled son of God he's my righteousness Jehovah Sid Kunyu the Lord my righteousness oh what a gospel we've got is there anything like it there's nothing in the whole universe like it it will be the burden of eternity to make this the object of our praises worthy is the lamb that was slain oh then look to him behold behold the lamb of God what a thing it must be for those in hell when they cannot look savingly at him but they know that he is the savior because they've been consigned to hell by his very lips depart from me ye workers of iniquity into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and for his angels think of it they will recognize him then as the lamb of

[54:00] God but he's not the one that takes away their sin they are wedded forever to their sin and to the penal consequences of their sinning but think of it that in the heavenly state where there is no sin in that sinlessness as we look upon the Lord and see him as he is and we are like him in that day oh we shall praise him then but you'll never praise him then you'll never be there until you've had a look at him now behold the lamb of God then that taketh away the sin of the world look to him when that primitive methodist preacher in artillery street cultures that preached that day to young Charles Spurgeon look he said look young man you're so miserable look look Spurgeon says I could have looked my eyes away will you look to that one that John the Baptist pointed to in that great day when Jesus came to him behold the lamb of

[55:05]  God look your eyes away and give God the thanks this night from the depths within that he is the burden bearer of his people and the great burden the greatest burden that ever we bear is the burden of our sin he has taken it away he has taken it away never to be remembered against us behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world God bless his name God bless his son and lift him up high in the beds draw us unto him Amen