The sermon delivered by Jason Dohm focuses on John 1:29, where John the Baptist declares, 'Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.' The speaker highlights the importance of this declaration, emphasizing that Jesus is the fulfillment of the biblical imagery of the Lamb from Genesis to Revelation. John the Baptist's role was to identify Jesus as the only one capable of taking away sin, fulfilling the prophecies and sacrificial systems outlined throughout the Old Testament. The sermon traces the Lamb motif through Genesis, Exodus, the Law, and the prophets, culminating in the New Testament and Revelation, where Jesus is depicted as the sacrificial Lamb who atones for the sins of humanity. The speaker urges listeners to recognize Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice, encouraging them to share this message of salvation. The sermon concludes by emphasizing the importance of not holding onto sin, which Jesus came to take away, and calls for a life of holiness in response to His sacrifice.

Our sermon text today is John chapter 1 verse 29, but I'm going to read 29 through 34. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me comes a man who was preferred before me, for he was before me. I did not know him, but that he should be revealed to Israel. Therefore, I came baptizing with water.

And John bore witness, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon him. I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God. Let's pray. Oh Lord God, I pray that you would show us Christ today.

Lord that just like John said we would be able to see Jesus Christ that we would behold the beauty of our Lord. Oh Lord God please be with Jason now as he brings your word as he brings the sermon. Lord strengthen him give him the words directly from you and I pray Lord that you would help us as we listen to the sermon to be attentive. Lord to seek your face through the sermon. Lord God to apply what we learn to apply who you are to our lives.

In Jesus name, Amen. I think it was on Tuesday, I was on our website just listening to the sermon from last week, and I came to the end of it, and I was just thinking what I'm always thinking after I've been away and I'm listening to the sermon, which is just I'm so grateful for the teaching gifts that God has put in our church that just allows me to be away, serve in another church for a Sunday, and we don't miss a beat. So we should praise the Lord for that. That is a wonderful thing. So anyway, I appreciate your labors, brother.

And then on Friday, I was pouring over 15 pages of study notes, which is way too many and way more than I normally have. So James was on the way home from Pennsylvania, so I called him to just beg for him to let me subdivide. We work on a preaching schedule together. We agree on the preaching schedule, so I'm not unilaterally free to just go do that. But he got tired of the begging and he let me subdivide.

So we only have one verse. We're going to be in verse 29. About half of those 15 pages were on this one verse. And I think as we look at this verse, we find out why it's got so much content attached to it, how rich it is. Let's begin in prayer.

Holy God, thank you for making a way that sin can be taken away from me. I can be parted from my sins. Thank you for Jesus. I pray today that in your Word, and through the preaching of your Word, that Jesus Christ would be lifted up and exalted, and that our hearts would be thrilled as we think about His work for sinners on behalf of sinners. The work that we can never do for ourselves, the work that reconciles us with you, this holy God.

Oh God, thank you for the Gospel, the center, the heartbeat of the whole Bible. Let it be loved today, we pray in Jesus' name, Amen. Well, the title of the sermon this morning is, Behold the Lamb of God. Just a very simple title. It's about half of the verse anyway.

The context. So if you're filling in blanks on the back of the handout, It gives you a place to make notes. The blank is context. The context. John the Gospel writer is continuing to teach us about John the Baptist.

They're not the same people even though they share the same name. John has written the Gospel of John, and the Gospel of John begins with a lot about John the Baptist. John the Gospel writer has already been teaching us a lot about John the Baptist. We were taught in verse 6 that John The Baptist was sent by God. He didn't send himself.

His ministry wasn't his own idea. God sent him. In verse 7, we learned that he came for a witness. His whole purpose for being was the testimony that he would give about Jesus Christ. He came to point us to the Lord Jesus Christ.

That all might believe, the whole purpose for him and his witness was so that we would know who Jesus is, so that we would believe in Him, not just truths about Him, but that we would place our trust in Him, and by trusting in Him we would be saved. In verse 8, we get the clarification that He was not that light. John the Baptist was such a big deal in his own time that John the Gospel writer felt like it was particularly necessary to say, John the Baptist was not the Christ. He was just a point to the Christ. In verse 15 John the Baptist cries out, this was he of whom I spoke.

This is the one that I've been talking about that this one who will come after me is preferred before me. He is the one who deserves the place of honor because he was before me. In other words, my life started when I was born, says John the Baptist, but this one who is coming is pre-existent, eternal. He is God. In last week's text, verses 19 through 28, the Jews sent priests and Levites.

So they are not sending minimum wage workers just to deliver the message. These are learned men in the law, priests and Levites. And they send, the Jewish leaders send priests and Levites in order to question John the Baptist about what he is doing. And John the Baptist confesses, I am not the Christ. I am not Elijah.

I am not the prophet. I am the fulfillment of Isaiah 40 verse 3. I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord. The word used for Lord there is Jehovah God. Make straight the way of Jehovah God.

He is saying who Christ is. He is acknowledging that he himself is the subject of prophecy. So he is a prophet, but he's also the fulfillment of prophecy that one would be sent before as a forerunner before the Messiah to make the people ready to receive the Christ. John the Baptist says, I'm not even worthy to loose his sandal strap. Our text begins with the words, the next day.

And what we have here is is a sequence of days so last week's text 19 through 28 verses 19 through 28 You just call that day one So when the Jews sent priests and Levites to question John the Baptist is day one. Now in verse 29 we see the words the next day and John the Baptist sees Jesus and he points to him and he declares who Jesus is. Then in verse 35 that verse begins again the next day. This is day 3 now. And we'll be introduced to Andrew who's going to come in contact with Jesus And then he's going to go get his brother Peter and bring him to Jesus.

And then in verse 43 begins, the following day, now we have day 4, and Jesus is going to seek out Philip and call Philip to follow him and then Philip is going to go get Nathaniel. And then as chapter 2 begins, it begins with the word on the third day. I'm not sure on the third day from what, but I haven't studied that text yet. I'll probably have more to say then. But the point is that we're given a compressed time period, a sequence of consecutive days where a lot is happening and Jesus is being brought onto the stage of world history to do his work.

That's the point. Compressed period of time where Jesus comes into the limelight of world history. Finally, and more on this next week, this has to come after Jesus' baptism and his temptation in the wilderness. There's nothing about Jesus' baptism or his temptation in the Gospel of John. That's in other gospels.

But because of what he says in the verses that I'm going to cover next week, it has to be after his baptism. Because what John the Baptist says next week in our text for next week is part of Jesus' baptism and what happens there. So just in your mind, John's declaration in verse 29 happens after Jesus' baptism and his temptation in the wilderness. So that is the context for John the Baptist's declaration. That brings us to the declaration.

So again if you're taking notes on the handout, you're filling in blanks, we're coming into the second section, the declaration. Declaration fills in the blank. Look at the verse again, just verse 29, John chapter 1 verse 29. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Behold, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. If you had to condense the Gospel, the Gospel is the centerpiece, it is the sum total of the message of the Bible.

The Gospel is a condensation of the Bible. How many pages are in this book? I don't know. I should have looked before I asked that question to you now. But many, many, many, many pages, many books of the Bible, many chapters.

And it can be condensed into the gospel about Jesus Christ. And if you condense that into one sentence, how would you do better than this sentence? Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is really the sum total of all of Scripture in very concise phrase. John the Baptist sees Jesus coming and he says, Behold, this is not an academic lecture giving you truths to learn and be spit back later.

This is a face-to-face identification of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Savior of the world. Ban this from being an academic exercise. This is a revelation of the one and the only one who can save anyone who has ever been born from their sins before a holy God, a righteous judge. See Jesus. Consider Jesus.

Think about Jesus. Behold. In Matthew chapter 22 verse 42, Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees and He says this, What do you think about the Christ whose Son is He? That is the question of questions, isn't it? In other words, what other questions matter unless you get the answer to that question right?

What do you think about the Christ Pharisees? Whose son is He? The question is, how do you identify the Christ? Who is He? What do you think of Him?

Where do you get your knowledge of Him? Whose son is He? Because if you get this question right, it points you to the answers of all the other questions. It puts you on a track to real knowledge. All the other questions, if you get that question right, and you follow it, if you follow that answer, that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, that He is the Son of God, that He is the one who was appointed by God to deal with the sin of mankind.

If you get that question right, it's pointing you to the source of the answers for all other questions. If you get it wrong, who cares what the answer to any of the other questions is? What does it matter? So it is the mission of John the Baptist to identify Jesus. And it is our mission too.

It is our mission too. Don't isolate this declaration to John the Baptist and think, Oh, it's interesting God sent a forerunner, he appointed a forerunner to say this about Jesus. No, no, no. This is the task of the church to declare to the world that Jesus is the Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. His declaration is to be our declaration.

His proclamation to the people who were listening is to be our proclamation to the world. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. I've been saying that John the Baptist's mission was his message. In other words, his whole reason for existence and his short ministry, Just six months, John the Baptist is on the stage. But the whole purpose for his lifetime was to declare who Jesus is.

And now Jesus is there, physically there, coming towards him. And this is his message. Jesus is the Lamb provided by God to deal with sin. There is only one that can deal with sin. He is not a Lamb of God, he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

He's the only one that can do it. There has never been one before Jesus who could do anything about sin. There's never been one after Jesus who can do anything about sin. Jesus is the Lamb of God, the only one ever provided by God to deal with our sin. He takes away the sin of the world.

The Greek word that is rendered, take away, Jesus takes away, He's the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. That Greek word has two meanings. One to take upon oneself and to carry what has been raised up, to bear. So you take it on yourself. There's a burden and you Take it on yourself.

That's the first meaning. The second meaning is to bear away, to carry off. But both of these are what Jesus does to the sin of the world. He takes it upon himself. There is a burden to be born.

And Jesus takes it upon himself. And he bears it away. He carries it off. This reminds me of my favorite Psalm, Psalm 103 verse 12. Psalm 103 verse 12 where the psalmist says, As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

This is what Jesus does to the sins of the world. He takes them upon Himself and He carries them away. How far away? As far as the east is from the west. No one knows how far that is.

You go in that direction, infinity, and you go in that direction, infinity, and that's how far Jesus removes His people from their sins. They are parted, infinity from their sins. Praise the Lord for that. And the text says the sin of the world, not the sins of the world. It's as if all the individual sins of his people have been collected up into one single body.

And Jesus takes them all on Himself and He carries them all away. No one sin has left. All, all, all, all gathered up, collected up into one single body, and taken up and carried away as far as the east is from the west. There is no sin that he cannot carry away. There is not one of the sins of his people that are left.

No, they've all been collected up into one single body of sin and born and carried away. He does not leave one. Now, What does it mean to take away the sin of the world? This makes Calvinist really edgy. The sins of the world.

I'm just going to table that for a minute. I wanted to take it up now just to say I'm aware that I'm dodging this for now and postponing, buying myself a few minutes, but I will take it up again. We'll give J.C. Ryle the last word before we move on to the next section. J.C.

Ryle says this, Let us take heed that in all our thoughts of Christ, we first think of Him as John the Baptist here represents him. Let us serve him faithfully as our master. Let us obey him loyally as our King. Let us study his teachings as our prophet. Let us walk diligently after Him as our example.

Let us look anxiously for Him as our coming Redeemer of body as well as soul, but above all, let us prize Him as our sacrifice. And rest our whole weight on His death as an atonement for sin. Isn't that true? Jesus does so many things to His people. He is our Master, He is our King, He is our Prophet, He is our example, He is our Redeemer of body as well as soul.

But all of these things come after Him being our sacrifice and making peace with God. What is the meaning of the other things if we are not at peace with God. He buys us peace with God. He pays His blood to give us peace with God. So we have the context.

We have the declaration. Now in our next section, we have the Lamb of God from Genesis to Revelation. Literally, from Genesis to Revelation. The Lamb is in Genesis and the Lamb is in Revelation. The first book of the Bible, the last book of the Bible, and so many of the books of the Bible in between.

I want to just do a survey in the time that we have to give it for a survey of the Lamb of God in Scripture. It's such a rich picture. So if you're filling in blanks on the handout, it's Genesis, Revelation. The Lamb from Genesis to Revelation. First we have the Lamb before the law.

There's another blank if you're taking notes. The Lamb before the law. Turn to Genesis 22. Turn to Genesis 22. I want you to see it.

I'll be reading eight verses, so it'll be better if you see it. Genesis 22. Genesis 22 verses 1-8. Follow along as I read. Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham, and he said, here I am.

Then he said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.' So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. And he split the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day, Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off, and Abraham said to his young men, stay here with the donkey, and the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you. So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took the fire in his hand and a knife and the two of them went together.

But Isaac spoke to Abraham, his father, and said, my father. And he said, here I am, my son. And then he said, look, the fire in the wood, but where is the lamb for an offering? And Abraham said, my son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering. So the two of them went together.

You know the rest of the story. Abraham is about to offer his son. And God calls Abraham, and there's a ram caught in the thicket, and the ram is offered instead. But this is a picture of a father who loves his son, who has one son of his love. Now Abraham actually had another son by another woman.

He had Ishmael, but Isaac was the son of the promise. Isaac was the one that God had said, promised to give to him, and promised that the nations would be blessed through this offspring. And so he's a unique son, like Jesus, the only begotten. Only begotten just means unique, one of a kind. He's a one of a kind son.

I am, because of my faith in Christ, I am a son of God, but not like that. Not like Jesus. Isaac is that to his father Abraham. He only has one of him. He loves him.

And God calls for him to lay him down and to offer him up as a burnt offering. And God holds him back from that. The picture doesn't go all the way to the end. But God goes all the way to the end and really offers up his one of kind son, whom he loves as a burnt offering. That's Genesis.

In Exodus, in Exodus chapter 11, God promises Moses that he's going to kill all the firstborn of the Egyptians, man and beast. So The firstborn of all the human families are going to die in one night. The firstborn of all the animal families are going to die in one night. And God is going to do the killing. But in Exodus chapter 12, the next chapter, God says, but you Israelites, every family take a male lamb without blemish, you can't have a blemish, a male lamb of the first year, no blemish, and you sacrifice it at sundown, and you take some of the blood and you paint the blood on the doorpost.

And when I'm going through the land, killing the firstborns, When I see the blood marking out the doorposts of your house as my people, I will pass over." I will pass over. It's called Passover. God who's killing the firstborn, don't think he's doing something unjust to the firstborn of those families. The Bible teaches that the wages of sin is death. God can pay the wages any day He wants to.

When you sin, He can pay your wages the day that you sin. It's His mercy that He waits to render to you what you deserve for your sins. God's not doing anything unjust to the firstborn unjust to the firstborn in Exodus chapter 12. He's just paying wages. Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 7 says, for indeed Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us.

So Paul looks at the Passover lamb in Exodus chapter 12 and he said Christ is that for us. Christ is the real Passover. Exodus chapter 12 is just another picture. There's a picture in Genesis chapter 22 with Abraham and Isaac, but there's another picture in Exodus. It's the Passover, the lamb, the blood painted on the doorposts so that God rendering what is deserved for sin will pass over because of the blood of an innocent lamb slain in the place of.

Now, that's Exodus 11 and 12. The Law is given when? Exodus 20. So all this is before the Law. All this is before the Law.

Now the next section. The Lamb in the Law. If you're taking notes, that's the blank, in. The Lamb in the Law. In Matthew chapter 5 verse 17, this is the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5 17, Jesus says, Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets.

I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. Now Jesus fulfills the law in His perfect obedience to the law, but that's not all. The law also had many types, many shadows, many pictures, and He fulfills all of those. Meaning, there's a type in the law, Jesus is the fulfillment of that. There's a shadow in the law.

Jesus is the substance of that. It was all in the law just to teach us about what was to come and to be fulfilled in the life and death and resurrection of Jesus. So Passover is enshrined in the law. So the event actually happens in Exodus chapter 12, but God wants it to be memorialized, and so He enshrines it in the law. He commands that it be observed perpetually by the Israelites.

In the law we have the morning and evening sacrifices where a male lamb without blemish of the first year just like the Passover lamb, every single morning and every single evening a lamb was A lamb was to be slain, and wine was to be poured out, and bread was to be put on the fire. This is just a precursor of the Lord's Supper. What we're going to be doing at the end of our service and observing the Lord's Supper, taking the bread, taking the wine, we're going to be doing what they did every morning and evening in the tabernacle and then in the temple. It was pointing forward to Jesus. Ours is pointing backwards and it's a remembrance of Jesus.

It was the burnt offering in the law. It could be a lamb. It didn't have to be a lamb. There were other things that could also be sacrificed, but it could be a lamb. It says explicitly that it was for atonement, and they would sprinkle the blood, for the burnt offering, they would sprinkle the blood around the altar.

You find this in Leviticus 1 verses 4 and 10. Verse 4 says, this is for atonement, meaning that this is to pay the penalty, the innocent paying the penalty for the guilty. This is substitutionary. The innocent dies, the guilty goes free. By the way, the morning and evening sacrifices, if you want to look it up, you find it.

It's multiple places, but Numbers 18 is probably the clearest. So morning and evening sacrifices, number 18, numbers 18, the burnt offering, Leviticus 1 verses 4 and 10. You have the peace offering, peace with God. It could be a lamb. Again, there were other things you could sacrifice as well, but it could be a lamb.

And in the peace offering, you would lay your hand on the head of the lamb, and then you would kill it. You would transfer your guilt to the innocent lamb. Again, it's substitution, but it's transfer of guilt to the lamb. That's Leviticus 3 verses 7-8, peace offering Leviticus 3, 7-8. There's the sin offering.

It's interesting. The sin offering could be a male or a female lamb. It had to be without blemish. And again you lay your hands on it. The sin offering.

You find the sin offering in Leviticus 4 verse 32. I spent some time trying to chase down why a female lamb? And the explanation that I found this morning that makes sense to me is that there were certain sacrifices that emphasized the one representing. And that's Jesus. When The emphasis is on the one representing.

It always had to be a male lamb. The Passover lamb always had to be a male lamb. The morning and evening sacrifice always had to be a male lamb. A female lamb would not fulfill the requirements of the law. Because the emphasis is on the one representing, which is the Lord Jesus Christ.

There are other sacrifices where the emphasis is the one represented. The one deserving to die. The one being represented. Is it just men who have sins? Is it just men who need to be parted from their sins?

No, all of us have our sins. The trespass offering is in Leviticus chapter 5 verse 6. This could also be a female lamb. It was actually a male lamb for rulers and a female lamb for the people. Now what is all of this teaching?

The Passover, the morning and evening sacrifices, the burnt offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, what is all this about? It's summarized in Hebrews chapter 9 verse 22. Listen to Hebrews chapter 9 verse 22. And according to the law, almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. Remission just means forgiveness.

Without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin. Why is that? It's because God is holy and as a holy judge, as a righteous judge, He can't just overlook sin and pretend it doesn't matter. Sin produces death. And in His goodness and in His mercy, He is willing to accept an innocent sacrifice on behalf of the guilty.

The problem is, there is only one who is innocent, and it's Jesus, because He is God. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. And so even though it's not the blood of those animals that actually does the work, we're coming to that in a bit, but just take my word for it now and I'll prove it from Hebrews later. The actual blood of those animals never actually took away the sin. It was teaching.

Sin requires death. God will accept a substitute, an innocent substitute. The seed of the Gospel is there in the law. Now next section, the Lamb in Isaiah 53. If you're filling in blanks on the handout, it's Isaiah 53.

So we had the Lamb before the law, the Lamb in the law, now the Lamb and the prophets in Isaiah 53. Turn there, turn to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53 is this wonderful, famous chapter in Isaiah that talks about the suffering servant. The Gospel is as clear in Isaiah 53 as it is anywhere in the New Testament.

Isaiah 53, I'll be reading verses 1-7. Follow along. God through Isaiah says, Who has believed our report? And in whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed. For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground.

He has no form or comeliness. And when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and we did not esteem him.

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Now just think of it. We're coming to the punchline, which is verse 7. But just think of the people laying their hand on the Lamb as a symbolic transferring of guilt from the guilty to the innocent one to be offered. The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all, as laid his hand on that lamb to transfer the guilt. Verse 7, He, Jesus, He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth.

He was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before its shearers is silent. So He opened not His mouth. In Isaiah 53, the lamb becomes a person. It's clear from the beginning of the chapter we are talking about a person here, not just an animal, one who would lay down his life for others, one to whom the iniquity of others would be imparted. God would lay his hands on this one, this person, in order to transfer the guilt.

For the guilt. He would be led like a lamb to the slaughter. The next section. The Lamb is a declaration of John the Baptist. Here this brings us to our verse.

But in saying, behold, John the Baptist is saying, here is God's Lamb. Here is God's Lamb from Genesis. Here is God's Lamb from Exodus in the Passover. Here is God's Lamb from Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy, the Lamb in the law that you've been sacrificing every morning and every evening, every Passover, every peace offering, sin offering, trespass offering, burnt offering. Here is God's Lamb from Isaiah 53, the one to whom God would impart the guilt of people.

Turn to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter ten I'll be reading one through fourteen, follow along. For the law having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things can never with these same sacrifices which they offer continually, year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered?

For the worshippers, once purified, would have no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. What's being taught there is that all the old law, all the sacrifice, all the blood that we see was just symbolic blood. Meaning it didn't really do the work to cleanse from sin.

It was teaching about what sin deserved and that God would accept an innocent substitute. But it didn't itself cleanse from sin. Verse 5. Therefore, when He came into the world, when Jesus came into the world, He said, sacrifice an offering you did not desire, but a body you have prepared for me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you had no pleasure.

Then I said, behold, I have come. In the volume of the book, it is written of me to do your will, O God. Previously saying, sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings and offerings for sin you did not desire nor had pleasure in them, which are offered according to the law, then he said, behold I have come to do your will O God." He takes away the first that he may establish the second. He takes away all the pictures when he comes to be the substance and actually do, really do what those Old Testament sacrifices were just picturing. He took away the first to establish the second.

Verse 10, By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till his enemies are made his footstool. For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified." When John the Baptist sees Jesus coming and he says, and He says, Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, this is what He's saying.

The picture with Isaac and Abraham in Genesis, all of what you see in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and the Law, all of what you see in the prophets, Jesus. He's the fulfillment of all that. The blood of bulls and goats could never deal with sin. Jesus takes away the sins of the world. One sacrifice for all time, for all who would repent and believe.

Everything that came before Jesus was shadows, Jesus is the substance. Everything that came before Jesus was shadows. Jesus is the substance. Everything that came before Jesus was just preparatory to make us understand what sin deserves and that God will accept a sacrifice. So that there can be peace between us and God even though he is utterly holy and we are defiled in every part.

The last section. The Lamb of God in Revelation. So if you're filling in blanks, I think this is our last blank. The Lamb of God in Revelation. Turn, this is our last stop.

Revelation chapter 5. Revelation chapter 5. Revelation chapter 5. Without apology, I'm going to read the whole thing. Follow as I read.

Revelation chapter 5. And I saw on the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll, written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals? And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look at it. So I wept much because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll or to look at it.

But one of the elders said to me, Do not weep, behold the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has prevailed to open the scrolls and to loose its seven seals. And I looked and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song saying, You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals.

For you were slain, and have redeemed us to God by your blood, out of every tribe and tongue, and people and nation. And have made us kings and priests to our God. And we shall reign on the earth. Then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures and the elders, and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing and every creature which is in the heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such that are in the sea and all that are in them I heard saying, blessing and honor and power be to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb forever and ever. And the four living creatures said, Amen.

Living creature said, Amen. And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever. If we didn't have Revelation, I would think that it was just to show what Jesus did in his crowning achievement, not just to live a perfect life, but the crowning achievement of that perfect life was to lay down his life and shed his blood for sinners. I would think that the picture of the lamb was all past, but here in Revelation, He bears the marks. He appears as a lamb who was slain.

They are marks of honor and glory. He is worshipped as the Lamb. In light of this, think of how appropriate what J.C. Ryle said in one of those opening quotes, that we should always think first when we think of Christ about how John the Baptist revealed Him to be here in this verse, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. We might have thought, oh wait, that seems out of balance to prioritize these over his other offices.

No! In Revelation 5, he is worshiped as the Lamb. In Revelation 13, 8, He is called the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Think about that for a minute. Revelation 13, verse 8.

Jesus is called the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. What does that mean? It means that before God laid the foundations of the world, Jesus was as good as sacrificed. Jesus was not a plan B in response to God being surprised at man's sin. Before I ever breathed a breath, God knew about all of my sins and had made provision for it before He laid the foundations of the earth.

What kind of merciful God is this who could see and know every one of my sins and make provision for it before He makes anything in the creation order? Now I want to return to the question of what it means that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Look again at verse 9. And they sang a new song saying, You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation." Though Israel was a special people, Jesus is not the Messiah of Israel. He is the Messiah of every tribe.

He is the Messiah of every tongue. He is the Messiah of every people. He is the Messiah of every people. He is the Messiah of every nation, which includes Israel. Praise the Lord.

John the Baptist has priests and Levites coming to him, sent from the leaders. Are you this? Are you that? Expecting a Messiah of Israel. John the Baptist is declaring he is the Messiah of the world.

The Jews had an expectation. The Messiah is coming to save us. Make Israel great again. Where's my hat? Make Israel great again.

Start by saving us from Rome. That would be a good start Messiah. But Jesus came not to make Israel great again, but to take away the sin of the world. The least of our problems are governmental problems. It's our sin.

John 1 verses 12 and 13. So I'm backing up in John 1 now. Look again at verses 12 and 13. This is why no one needs to be afraid of what is said in verse 29, verses 12 and 13. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.

We'll just stop there, verse 12. That's who will be saved. Same chapter. It's already been said, who will be saved. It's the those who receive Jesus Christ by believing in His name.

His name just means according to what He has revealed to be. If you receive this Jesus by faith, you are saved. You have been given the right, a legitimate claim to be a child of God. Every other claim is illegitimate. If you believe in another Jesus outside of this one, Your claim is illegitimate.

But if you believe in this Jesus, you have a legitimate claim. You are a child of God. You are saved. So obviously, John the Baptist is not teaching that the whole world is saved. Be careful about what you want to wrap into verse 29, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

You might prove more than you thought. You might go somewhere you never intended to go. To universalism, you don't even have to receive Christ. Well, that's dispelled in this same chapter. By the way, John 1 doesn't address at all who will believe.

That's a separate topic for other texts. And so, in the same way that we wouldn't want anyone else to presume too much from Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and extend it to people that the Bible wouldn't, nor should we in our speaking of it need to say too much, need to import things into this. Well, yes, but not them and not them. No, no, no. The offer goes out.

Behold! The offer goes out. Behold! Consider Jesus Christ, the Lamb, the innocent substitute who can part you from your sins as the East is from the West. Behold.

Why would we need to say more than that? Import the doctrine of election into our evangelism. As if the unregenerate care or could even understand. Offer Christ crucified as the one who can save them. As the one who can deal with their greatest need, their sin, before a holy God.

Here's the conclusion. The Lamb is in Genesis. The Lamb is in Exodus. The Lamb is in Leviticus. The Lamb is in Numbers.

The lamb is in Deuteronomy, the lamb is in Isaiah, the lamb is in John, the lamb is in Hebrews, even though we didn't see the word lambs. This is about blood sacrifice. I'm saying he's there. Lambs in 1 Peter. I didn't even talk about 1 Peter.

Listen to 1 Peter 1, 18 and 19. 1 Peter 1, 18 and 19. Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your aimless conduct, received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." The Lamb is in revelation. He's everywhere. He's the Lamb everywhere.

Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Three applications. Three applications. Number one, strip yourself of every other hope. Abandon every other hope.

Jesus is the Lamb of God. There is no other way to be separated from your sin. There are not many roads to God. There is one, the Lamb of God, there is one, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. If Jesus doesn't take away your sin, your sin remains with you.

You will stand before God. You will be guilty. You will be separated forever from Him. You will get what you deserve forever. Don't let God's patience with you and me fool you into thinking he will never render what's deserved.

That's why Peter addressing the Sanhedrin says this, he's speaking of Jesus, this is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone. He is saying you rejected Jesus but God is building the whole building on Him. He is the chief cornerstone. He supports all of God's people. Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. You are saved by this name or you are not saved. That's Acts 4, 11 and 12. Oh the mercy of God in Jesus Christ. Do you not know how God took away sin in Genesis 6.

He took away sin by taking away sinners. He cleansed the earth by sending a deluge that killed everyone on earth, probably hundreds of millions of people, and he left eight out of His mercy. Sin will not stand before God. He will take away sin. And in the past he's done it just by taking away the sinners.

He could purge the earth by purging the earth of you and your rebellion against God. Worship this God of mercy who has made a way to render what is due without rendering it to you. Strip yourself of every other hope. Number two, this is not just John the Baptist's message, this is our message. Stay on message.

Do not stray far from this message. Behold, consider, look at, think on the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Yes, are there other things that have to be known? Yes, in developing the Gospel there are a number of things we should develop. Stay on message, Jason.

I'm just preaching to myself for a moment here. Stay on message. This is our message to the world. Christ crucified. Christ offered as the lamb, the innocent, who will take your guilt.

You can lay your hands on Him so that the guilt passes from you to Him. This is not John the Baptist's message, this is our message. Number three, finally, listen to what Matthew Henry says. I would not have come up with this one on my own, but it's so pertinent. Matthew Henry says, let us not hold that fast which the Lamb of God came to take away.

I'll say it again. Let us not hold that fast which the Lamb of God came to take away. What did He come to take away? He came to take away sin. Why are you clutching it?

It cost the Son of God His life to bleed and die for you. Why are you clutching it? Why am I clutching it? How can we think little of holiness when Jesus' blood was required to cleanse us? How can We think sin a small thing when it required the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse us from it.

I never would have thought of it this way, but this declaration of John the Baptist, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world should be a call to holiness for us. Father, what a glorious verse. I thank you that you are holy, that sin matters to you. What a terrifying thought that God would be one who cares nothing whether sin abounds or diminishes. You could just overlook sin.

I thank you that you are a holy God, but I thank you that the implications of that doesn't mean that I have to be parted from you forever because of my unholiness, my uncleanness, but that you offer an innocent one. You will accept a substitute. Thank you for the Lamb of God who takes away my sin. It was offered freely to everyone in the world. There's no tribe, no tongue, no people, no nation where the offer for pardon is not good.

I put this message on our lips. God help us to stay on messages. As we talk to our neighbors, as we talk to people in the nursing homes, as We talk to people out in front of the abortion clinic. May this be our great message. Behold, consider, think upon, look at the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

I pray that you would do a great work among us because of this great truth. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.