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good evening everyone just a reminder if you would like to volunteer for the March fellowship luncheon to to organize that if you could contact Leslie Lawson either talk to her or email her that would be excellent that's coming up soon so the the sooner the better you can turn in your Bibles with me to Isaiah 53 in fact Isaiah 52 beginning at verse 13 are called to worship on the Lord's Supper evening be a reading of isaiah 52:13 through Isaiah 53 so Isaiah 52 beginning in verse 13 this is the Word of God behold my servant shall deal prudently he shall be exalted and extolled and be very high just as many were astonished at you so his visit was marred more than any man and his form more than the sons of men so shall he sprinkle many nations Kings shall shut their mouths at him for what had not been told them they shall see and what they had not heard they shall consider who has believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord being 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 despite 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 and 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 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 it's Shearer's is silent so he opened not his mouth he was taken from prison and from judgment and who will declare his generation for he was cut off from the land of the living for the transgression of my people he was stricken and they made his grave with the wicked but with the rich in his death because he had done no violence nor was any deceit in his mouth yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him he has put him to grief when you make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his seed he shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand he shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied by his knowledge my righteous servant shall justify many for he shall bear their iniquities therefore I will divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul unto death and he was numbered with the transgressors and he bore the sin of many and made transgress and made intercession for the transgressors amen will it stand and sing together we're gonna sing as our first hymn hymn six in your larger Trinity hymnal that's him number six let's stand and sing together [Music] please be seated let's go to our God in prayer let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you we can gather now a second time on this year Lord's Day for your worship for the worship of our great God Father Son and Holy Spirit we do pray once again that you'd help us in this worship help us to worship you in spirit and in truth we pray Lord God that we would cast off thoughts that would intrude upon worship that you'd help us to not be dwelling upon the past week or thinking about the upcoming one but we would now be focused on the worship of our great God and we thank you for the gospel of Jesus Christ we rejoice in a righteousness not our own that is imputed to us we rejoice Lord God and that sacrifice upon Calvary's cross the forgiveness of sins through the shed blood of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ we rejoice in his life his death his resurrection we thank you that he has ascended to your right hand where he does ever live to intercede for his people to rule and reign over his enemies to subdue the hearts of his elect and we thank you for our blessed King and we do pray that we would dwell with great joy upon our Savior this evening we do pray once again God that you'd be with all of our brothers and sisters in Christ near and dear to us in this church that are suffering physically strengthen them and heal them be near to them we pray for all struggling spiritually that you'd lift them up we pray for all traveling that you would watch over them and just give them traveling mercies and return them home safely and we pray for all unable to join us Lord that you would strengthen them we would ask God that you'd be with our brothers and sisters in churches near to us here in Chilliwack we pray that you'd be with all of your churches in Chilliwack strengthening those who are the ministers of your gospel blessing the congregations with the proclamation of your word and the worship of the triune God we pray that all your churches here in Chilliwack the Lower Mainland in Canada would be blessed by their God and that you would grow the numbers in your churches bringing more and more to a knowledge of Jesus Christ the Savior we pray for churches around the world as they gather that you would equip them with with hearts for worship Lord that you would give a grace and strength to those preaching the word in your churches around the world help them to preach the the full and saving Christ and our glorious gospel we do pray that you would strengthen your churches around the world and for those in persecuted nations or in nations where there is much persecution we would ask that you'd be with our fellow Christians that you'd be near to them that you would be to them their God of all comfort strengthen strengthening them in the midst of adversity and in the midst of much opposition we pray Lord God that you would do a mighty work throughout the world vindicating your name throughout all the earth by the proclamation of the true and saving gospel and by Amazing Grace bringing forth dead sinners to life in Christ Jesus the Lord we thank you for this opportunity again together we thank you that we can observe the Lord's Supper we do pray that you would give us hearts of focused as we not only engage in worship but also engage in this element of worship tonight the Lord's Supper we do pray that you would be with us that you would strengthen us as we partake of the bread and as we partake of the wine we thank you for this ordinance that calls us to remember the death of the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ and we pray that by your spirit you would increase our faith as we partake of this ordinance we do ask Lord God that you'd help us throughout this upcoming week to honor you to adorn the gospel of Jesus Christ as we leave this place and go into another week give us the grace to endure give us the grace to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ and be with pastor Butler as he preaches tonight help him as he comes into this pulpit to preach I write the things of the Living God we do pray that we would receive it well that your Saints would be instructed and equipped the Lord God that sinners would be saved and that this would once again be an occasion where the triune God is praised Father Son and Holy Spirit we pray in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord amen let's stand again in sync for the preaching we're going to stand now and sing 173 173 let's stand and sing together [Music] [Applause] [Music] please be seated well please turn with me in your Bibles to John chapter one the Gospel of John chapter one John Juan I'll begin reading in verse 1 in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God he was in the beginning with God all things were made through him and without him nothing was made that was made in him was life and the life was the light of men and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it there was a man sent from God whose name was John this man came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all through him might believe he was not that light but was sent to bear witness of that light that was the true light which gives light to every man coming into the world he was in the world and the world was made through him and the world did not know him he came to his own and his own did not receive him but as many as received him to them he gave the right to become children of God to those who believed in his name who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth John bore witness of him and cried out saying this was he of whom I said he who comes after me is preferred before me for he was before me and of his fullness we have all received and grace for grace for the law was given through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ no one has seen God at any time the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father he has declared him now this is the testimony of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him who are you he confessed and did not deny but confessed I am NOT the Christ and they asked him what then are you Elijah he said I am NOT are you the Prophet and he answered no then they said to him who are you that we may give an answer to those who sent us what do you say about yourself he said I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness make straight the way of the Lord as the prophet Isaiah said now those who were sent were from the Pharisees and they asked him saying why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ nor Elijah nor the Prophet John answered them saying i baptize with water but there stands one among you who you whom you do not know it is he who coming after me is preferred before me whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose these things were done in Bethabara thought beyond the Jordan where John was baptizing 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 is 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 amen well let us pray father in heaven we thank you for your word we thank you for what we find here concerning our Lord Jesus Christ we ask that you would help us now as we look to this section of scripture we pray for the Ministry of the Holy Spirit we thank you that you've not left us as orphans in this world but you've given us another one just like the Son of God we pray that the Spirit would be at work in our hearts and that you would encourage our hearts and strengthen us as we look and see the glory or behold the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ as it set forth here in John chapter one we thank you for this ordinance we thank you for this time of refreshment we thank you that you the householder provide this bounty for your weary pilgrims and I pray she would strengthen our faith that you would help us God to grow in the Grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus please conform us further unto the image of your beloved son and send us out into this world to be faithful witnesses to shine as lights in this crooked and perverse generation and give us boldness and opportunity to to hold forth your word of truth do forgive us now for our sins and our transgressions and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well our focus tonight primarily will be verse 29 the work of the Redeemer on behalf of his people behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world but will notice that verse 29 does not stand alone there's a lot that precedes concerning the Lord Jesus Christ there's a lot preceding concerning the Lord's relationship to the Father and sort of as an outflow from this morning's sermon on the doctrine of the Trinity I thought we would investigate a little bit further verses 1 to 18 before we get to verse 29 so I want to look first of all at the identification of the word in verses 1 to 18 and then secondly the description of the work of the Savior in verse 29 now we're not going to go through every jot and tittle there in verse 1 verses 1 to 18 but just a couple of the key points again keeping in mind what we saw this morning in terms of the one God the divine infinite being and there are three subsistence Azure persons the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit they all have in common the divine essence but they are personal subsistence 'iz and they are one God everlasting existing as Father Son and Holy Spirit so let's look at the identification of the word verses 1 to 18 the first place notice that the word is God first of all we ought to identify who this word is if we were never had if we had never read John's Gospel we had never heard sort of theological language we didn't know the identity of the word was Jesus Christ there is sufficient information in here to tell us this notice it's the word that became flesh so this of same word of verse one is the word of verse 14 the word became flesh and dwelt among us so the Incarnate son is the word the Lord the second person rather of the Trinity and in the first place we see that the Word was with God verse 1:1 says in verse 1 a in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God that shows that distinction between the father and the son it shows that modalism as I mentioned earlier is incorrect it is simply false that God was the father became the son and is now the Holy Spirit that he simply represents himself in various modes of being no we see distinction among the persons of the Trinity specifically here the 1st and the 2nd person where we read the Word was with God God here specifically is the father so the word identified as Jesus later is the second person of the Trinity and he is with God there is distinction between these persons and this demolishes the notion of modalism or sabelli anism the fact that the word is with God indicates that the word himself is eternal other words the word being with God indicates that the word is eternal like God the Father Calvin says with reference to the language of in the beginning he says he does not ascribe to the word a beginning of time but says that he was from the beginning and thus rises beyond all ages so it highlights actually the eternality of the word or the second person of the Trinity so we see here his relationship to the Father he is always with him from everlasting to everlasting father and son and the spirit but we're focusing on the father and the son tonight are always with one another John Gill says this phrase denotes the existence of the word with the father his relation and nearness to him his equality with him and particularly the distinction of his person from him as well as his eternal being with him for he was always with him and is and ever will be so it's most important that we maintain the fact that there are these three persons there are these three subsistence as there is distinction they are distinguished by their relative properties and relative properties and their personal relations and we need to maintain that but notice what John goes on to say in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God again here it's highlighting the fact that the three persons have the essence they have deity they are all together God not three making up the one god but the one god existing inter eternally in three persons the word who was with the father then distinguished from the father is nevertheless God the word and the father have the whole divine essence but they are distinguished by these properties we'll see those at least one of those properties when we follow up with the fact that he's eternally begotten of the father again terton says when the son is said to be one with the father and yet to be distinct a distinct person from him there is no contradiction again and probably pushing my luck with another doctrinal sermon we had some of this this morning and probably stretched some of your minds a little bit when you heard words like subsistence and you know the various things that I mentioned this morning but we're gonna just follow up on that because again it's most important we need to understand what's in view here we have the word with God distinctiveness distinction between the first and second persons of the Trinity but we have identification the Lord Jesus Christ the second person of the Trinity is God they all three have the essence they all three have this deity it is in comment that there is distinction among the persons again turreted when the son is said to be one with the far one god with the father and yet to be distinct person from him there is no contradiction although he has the same essence according to which he is said to be one with the father yet he has not the same mode of subsisting our confession says they are distinguished by several peculiar relative properties and personal relations the father is unbegotten the son is begotten the spirit proceeds from the father and the son the father has paternity the Sun has affiliation the spirit proceeds from father and son or spy-ray those are the things that distinguish the persons of the Godhead yet again they have in common the diya the divine essence the three persons are distinguished by these peculiar relative properties they share or they have the whole divine essence yet not three essences one essence three persons that's how there is not a contradiction now notice in terms of the word one of the things that distinguishes him from the father is what we call eternal generation notice in verse 14 the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth you've all heard that language only begotten of the Father we see it again in verse 18 no one has seen God at any time the only begotten son who is in the bosom of the Father he has declared him now it's translated here as only begotten in the King James and in the King James as well your Bible version may have the only son or the one and only Son this translates a Greek word that's monogamy monogamous now some have picked on the Greek speaking fathers because they used the translation only begotten the word primarily does mean unique and only son or the the one and only son that is an accurate translation to be sure but the fathers are some theologians have used this and referred to it as only begotten that's cause--'cause some in our day to say that the Greek speaking fathers didn't know how to translate a word that they knew that was in their language though they on stood that the rest of the Bible taught eternal generation of the Sun they didn't simply go to these only-begotten texts in John's gospel and epistle but they saw a theology of eternal generation and they certainly used that language only begotten with reference to these johanan texts one man John Gill says I cannot see any reason to object to the use of the phrase eternal generation as applied to the sonship of Christ since one divine person is said to beget Psalm 2 today I have begotten you and therefore must be a father and another divine person is said to be begotten John 1:14 and 18 and elsewhere and therefore must be a son and if a begotten son as he is often said to be then he must be a son by generation again this is a doctrine that you need to be aware of is being pushed away from sort of the theological interpretation of the Bible this idea of the only begotten of the Father it's something that was very common it was something that is very traditional it is very classical and it is very well established biblically but today some suggest that we ought not to use it but the primary emphasis in that doctrine of eternal generation is to show the distinction between the father and the son it speaks to those relative properties those personal relations it shows us how there is distinction between the first and the second and the third person of the Trinity when we consider this whole idea of eternally begotten agile says with reference to the fathers and their use of this language he says it is simply to make the point that in profoundly theological context the word mahogany's may imply that what is unique about the son is his pre existence is God yet other than God the Father something explained in terms of his eternal beginning or generation in other words this language is absolutely crucial if we want to maintain the reality that there is one god in substance or essence in three persons Father Son and Holy Spirit the language that is used here is to explain or to demonstrate or to display the relationships between the persons of the Godhead as God in himself and this is what the the history of the church is done and this is something that we need to continue to do as well consider the fact that the identification of father implies son the idea of son implies generation now it's not a generation in time that's why we call it eternal generation and gregory of nazi anzen explains he says the begetting of god must be honored by silence the lord's we know that it happens the father eternally begets the son but how that's not something we can penetrate into remember this morning I made the distinction between creator and creature there are certain things as creature we're just not going to get we know that it's true the Father eternally begot the Sun the Sun is eternally begotten of the Father but how do we efficiently or sufficiently explain that Gregory says the beginning of God must be honored by silence it is a great thing for you to learn that he was begotten but the manner of his generation we will not admit that even angels can conceive much less you shall I tell you how it was it was in a manner known to the father who begat and to the son who was begotten anything more than this is hidden by a cloud and escapes you are dim sight I think that's the best way to address this whole issue I don't understand how did that happen well he's God the relationships between the father between the persons of the Trinity the Father is unbegotten the son is begotten and the spirit proceeds from the father and the that explains the distinction among the persons it explains the difference in terms of the father is not the son the son is not the father the Spirit is not the father or the son but in terms of how this took place Gregory's counsel is most wise we cannot peer into this go back into eternity pass and somehow discover for ourselves the particular ins and outs of the eternal generation of the son that it's true the Bible sets forth that it must be believed we need to embrace and that it distinguishes for us Father Son and spirit is something that is most useful in arguing against these false conceptions of the Trinity or this denial of the Trinity or this arrogant assertion of modalism brethren we need to make sure we think straight concerning these particulars now that's probably the toughest part we had to get through tonight the the word is God the word has eternally begotten of the father but the notice in verses 14 to 18 the word became flesh the Incarnation is highlighted for us in verse 14 the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth the reason why I kind of go behind verse 29 before we get to verse 29 is something I mentioned this morning it's good to look at what Jesus does on the cross always absolutely positively wonderful to consider the author of our salvation see what John is doing is he's starting somewhere beyond the cross he starts in eternity past to bring us to the cross and I think there's a world of help in this kind of an approach to what Jesus has wrought on our behalf other words it's the doing and the dying of the Son of God to be sure on our behalf but it has behind it this massive glorious plan of an eternal God and father it has as its sort of backdrop the very of eternity who in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ has stepped into time he has taken on our flesh the word became flesh and dwelt among us just think about this relative to verse 1 for a moment the fact that this word who was in the beginning with God and was God nevertheless comes into this world and becomes flesh if that doesn't blow your mind you're not thinking properly through john's prologue if you haven't ever stopped to consider the fact that the bread we eat and the blood the wine we drink all said blood almost devolved into potpourri there for a moment the bread and the wine brethren it's there and it's certainly relative to the cross but it's relative to eternity past in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God and that word became flesh and he tabernacled amongst us that puts the cross in its larger theological context dare I say it's Trinitarian context it's Christological context and when we see that connection it ought to make a stand in wonder and in awe and in praise and in worship he became flesh and dwelt among us John says and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth when John penned these things I can only imagine there was this you know worshipful response as he's writing these words on the page as he's pondering as he's considering as he's reflecting upon the glory that is Jesus Christ this one who was in the beginning with God this one who in the beginning was God has now stepped into our realm and has taken on our flesh and he has dwelt among us the notice not only that not only is incarnation but his covenantal headship again we put the cross in the context of Trinity in theology we put the cross in the context of Christology and we put the cross in the context of covenant notice in verse 17 he says for the law was given through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ now I think it's intriguing that at times we might read that verse and conclude there was never any grace or truth under the Mosaic Covenant and that there's no law under the New Covenant no that's not what John is saying it's a comparative statement under Moses was law that was the primary defining characteristic of that covenant with Israel it was law not that there wasn't grace the whole sacrificial system bespoke the grace of God Most High you approach to Yahweh through a bloody knife and a burning altar there was certainly grace there were promises concerning Messiah there were promises concerning His redemptive work the faithful back then always looked forward to the coming Messiah for their salvation David was saved by grace Abraham was saved by grace everybody in the Old Covenant that was saved was saved by grace but in terms of Moses mediating a covenant that covenant was primarily identified with law and with Jesus mediating a covenant that covenant is primarily identified with grace and truth and that's the point in John 1:17 he's not suggesting Moses bad Jesus good he is not suggesting that at all he is telling us there is this covenantal transformation that has now occurred in the beginning was the word the Word was with God the Word was God this word became flesh and dwelt among us and in his life and in his ministry he would inaugurate a new covenant and that new covenant would be marked by grace and truth certainly there is law to be sure the people of God have the law of God as their ruler pattern for life but nevertheless the marked feature of new covenant theology is grace and truth and then finally before we leave this section behind john 1:29 notice the revelation of god or we might say that jesus is the Revelator of God you've all heard the word exegesis well it's in verse 18 no one has seen God at any time the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father he has exegete at him he has declared him who better to make known God to the sons of man to the one who was in the beginning with God and the one who is God he makes known who God is so you see all of that leads us now to the declaration of John the Baptist in John 1:29 and let's look at that in particular first of all we ought to appreciate John's behold verse 29 the next day John saw Jesus coming excuse me toward him and said behold now there's a whole lot of reasons why somebody would say look or see or behold but I wonder if it doesn't bear some theological importance as if the Baptist is suggesting the time has come the arrival of redemption has come Lourdes what he says concerning the one he calls attention to is a most powerful impact statement concerning the redemption of his people so this behold was probably a bit more than I want you to look at that particular individual there I want you to notice that particular individual there I want you to see that particular individual there I think with all the weight of the promises of God being yeah and amen in our Lord Jesus when the Baptist saw Christ and he says behold there's a lot behind the scenes all that the Old Testament prophesied all of the prophets in the law that it specified that the Messiah would come that he would be the sacrifice that he would lay down his life for his people all that now is in the eyesight of John the Baptist imagine if it were you you'd probably yell behold - there's the one in whom our redemption lies there's the one in whom our freedom lies there's the one in whom forgiveness of sins behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world it's a beautiful thing the Old Testament promises have come to pass in fruition and fulfilment in the life and the Ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ notice his function he calls him the Lamb of God now certainly that's a title we can refer to Jesus as the lamb but I think it sort of points to his function this is what he does this is the purpose for which he came now I realized that in the Old Testament sacrificial system there were a whole host of different animals that were employed in the sacrificial system but lamb just sort of summarizes all of that and when John calls Jesus the Lamb of God it ought to suggest in all of our minds certain key moments in redemptive history in the Old Testament remember that scene in Genesis chapter 22 when God tells Abraham to take your son your only son you're monogamous take the son whom you love up to Mount Moriah the future site of temple take him there and sacrifice him Abraham so Abraham just obeys Abraham does what God tells him to do and Isaac on the way to sacrifice says father we have the wood excuse me we have the fire but where is the sacrifice and what does Abraham tell Isaac the Lord will provide he then ties Isaac down he's about to bury the knife into his son his only son the son whom he loves and the angel of Yahweh stops him and after God tells him no they look and they see a ram caught in the thicket this is the Lamb of God that that Ram pointed forward it was a type it was a shadow it was a a pointer to this Lamb of God it takes away the sin of the world we see the sacrificial system in Leviticus chapter 16 the whole concept of the two goats for sacrifice the one that was actually caught the blood was sprinkled on the the mercy seat and then that second goat the priest takes that goat lays his hands on the go more than likely pushing on it and he confesses the sins of Israel and then they drive that goat out into the wilderness this is a visual representation of the expiation or removal of Israel's guilt so there's blood to atone and then there's this goat sent out in the wilderness as a removal of the guilt of Israel you see all of this is behind John the Baptist's behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world brethren when you read New Testament passages like these think of your Old Testament - I mentioned the the fellow stopped by the other day and he wanted a Bible and he said but I only want a New Testament I said no you're getting old Oh Bible you need the Old Testament to make sense of the New Testament that's the way we are today we just want the New Testament especially those little wines that I can fit in my pocket you know I just want you know that it just brings me comfort just bringing me hope it brings me encouragement there's nothing wrong with the New Testament doing that the brethren so much of the New Testament is probably very difficult to understand without the Old Testament I wonder how anybody ever makes it through the book of Hebrews without any idea of the Book of Leviticus I mean certainly there's truths to be gleaned and there's things that you can learn and there's probably some benefit and encouragement when you when you gaze at Christ is the author of Hebrews sets and forth but when you understand it the larger context of the Book of Leviticus we understand it the larger context of the Old Testament when you see how the old taught there Paul and Hebrews is citing text after text into after tax from the Old Testament doesn't it ever provoke any of us to say boy these New Testament authors sure love the Old Testament perhaps I should to these old New Testament authors should appeal to the Old Testament a lot perhaps I should too you see when John the Baptist says behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world there's a whole block of data that informs our understanding with reference to that declaration the passage that kam read at the outset of worship in the prophet Isaiah Isaiah 53 specifically it ver seven he was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before it's Shearer's is silent so he opened not his mouth brethren when the Baptist says behold the lamb of God he's not making some observation without reference to this body of data and when we consider that statement the the Lamb of God we ought not to proceed without focusing on this blessed material as well so the provision of atonement or the provision of a lamp by Yahweh as signified or showed us in Genesis 22 the very sacrificial system which in many respects comes to its pinnacle in Leviticus 16 in an excellent excellent book by by Michael Morales on the Book of Leviticus he shows how even structurally Leviticus 16 is the center of the book not just theologically which it most certainly is but even structurally the way the book is put together leads us to see the emphasis on the Day of Atonement in the Book of Leviticus brethren it is what drives the Baptist's statement here of course the prophesied function of the servant of the Lord and then when we understand the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world will notice how he does that I mean we already know that because we're Christians and we're here tonight to celebrate the supper we know it's going to come through a violent death but they would have known that too with this identification of the Lamb of God the Lambs that were used in the sacrificial system weren't you know stroked and petted they had their throats cut their blood poured out their you know skin awful burned and their meat fed to the priests in certain instances so the idea of Lamb of God indicates there's going to be a violent death with reference to this one now when we consider sacrifice what is presupposed there it's a couple of sudden sort of fundamental up us assumptions certainly they're clearly explained in the Old Testament but reference to us here and now those two assumptions or those two presuppositions is that God is holy and we are not God is holy and we are not the only way for sinful wretched man to approach to a holy God is through sacrifice I mentioned Morales he says the Old Covenant sacrificial system where the Book of Leviticus specifically Morales says Israel sins must be dealt with expiated only a cleansed humanity may belong to Yahweh the way to God then is through a bloody knife and a burning altar and that is precisely what this language is indicative of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world Christ is the New Covenant bloody knife and burning altar the way of access to the father is through the son unless you forget who the son is he was in the beginning with God he was in the beginning God he became flesh and dwelt among us we beheld his glory we saw him as the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth it's that one who functions as the Lamb of God it's that one who's led as a lamb to the slaughter it's that one who goes to the cross for us men and for our salvation you see what John is doing he's showing us this glorious view of who Jesus is and then telling us specifically what Jesus does it's similar to the book of Hebrews we get this identification of Christ in Chapter one he is superior to the prophets he is superior to the Angels he is the the exalted of the Lord before it ever gets into his priestly work what the authors want us to appreciate there that there's something behind the cross there's a plan and a purpose that is larger or inclusive of that particular aspect of redemption in other words brethren we sit here tonight by virtue of the cross but that cross is low at a time at a place in the history of which God had ordained before the foundation of the world it's not haphazard that we find ourselves here tonight it's not luck it's not happenstance it is according to the purpose and plan of a great and glorious God a creator who made this world and all things in it a creator who when he saw his creatures destroy themselves by sin nevertheless undertook on their behalf and in the person and in the work of the second person of the Trinity becomes flesh and saves us from our sins now note his purpose if his function is the Lamb of God his purpose is specified in the rest of what John says behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world is that beautiful you ever just think wow my sin has been taken away I don't know where to think about that well you should he really should she really should consider the fact that my sins are forgiven I mean do you ever just have those days when it's bad and there's trials and their sorrows and there's hardships and there's difficulties you get bad news after bad news after bad news be of good cheer your sins are forgiven but isn't that sort of Center a man and a woman doesn't it sort of bring balance and restore equilibrium I mean as bad as trudeau may be as bad as both Obama was as bad as the rulers of this age are my sins are forgiven doesn't it encourage you does that make you happy that make you want to dance and sing I can't dance and sing cuz you're a Christian you know what I mean David danced before the Ark of the Covenant if you don't like David and the privacy are on oh no I'm knock yourself out Worrell about and praise God Butler preach that we can dance no no no don't don't do that he takes away our sin so anybody ever said what's so good about Christianity well the fact that my sin has been taken away what's so good about your religion my sins are forgiven what's so good about being able in Jesus Christ he atoned for my sin he's the bloody knife and the smoking altar by which I approach to Yahweh of Israel that's good news he takes away the sin of the world the sins of his people are taken up by him they are blotted out by him they are taken away by him this is done in his cross work the way that lamb was taken out of the flock brought to the temple the owner cut its neck presented it over to the priest who then engaged in the sacrificial process that is what our Savior went through on our behalf so that we may be saved that's what it means to have your sins taken away notice the scope he says behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world now before the Armenians jump and dance and sing and whirl about before the Ark of the Covenant world as used by John doesn't mean every single human being without exception world as used by John means people without distinction and the primary emphasis in John's Gospel it's not just Jews but Gentiles in fact go back to the prologue and look at verse 10 you have the word world they're used in three different ways it's the same Greek word he was in the world that must mean planet Earth and the world was made through him but verse 3 has already told us he made all things so he didn't just make earth he made Mercury and Venus and Neptune and Pluto he made the solar systems and the galaxies and he made all that stuff so when John says he was in the world that means he was on planet earth the world was made through him that means the entire cosmos and the world did not know him that's used in an ethical sense we use that the word world in that way as well oh you're being world League you're of the world well that's certainly how it's meant there at the end of verse 10 so whenever you're a Bible reader and you come across the word world it doesn't mean every single human being without exception and especially when you look at John's Gospel and there's this theology of inclusion of Gentiles in the redemptive plan of God notice in John 3:16 for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life it's qualified who are the benefactors of this redemptive work the ones who believe in him within the world from every tribe tongue people in Asia that they are the ones who believe they are Jews and Gentiles notice in 442 after Jesus dealings with the Samaritans we see in verse 42 then they said to the woman now we believe not because of what you said for we ourselves have heard him and we know that this is indeed the Christ the Saviour of the world those of us who have been engaged in the study of the former prophets will know that Samaritans were terrible human beings now I would say so are Canadians and so are Americans and so are all of us I don't think I have a you know a racist bent against Samaritans but you know when you go back into the kings and you see what happened in Samaria when it was resettled after the conquest and various persons from different people groups were placed in that land and they started multiplying their idols Samaria at the time of our Lord Jesus Christ and Samaritans were looked down upon that's why for Jesus to meet with this Samaritan woman at the well and point her to himself is absolutely incredible but the idea is is that he is not only the savior of the Jews but he is the savior of the world Caiaphas gets this right in John chapter 11 John chapter 11 verse 49 this is Anna plot targeting the destruction of our Lord Jesus the Caiaphas gets right theology John 11:49 and one of them being high priest that year said to them you know nothing at all nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people and not that the whole nation should perish now this he did not say on his own authority but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation and not for that nation only but also that he would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad it's pretty good theology from a God hating rebel but see the wrath of God or the wrath of man praises God and then of course in John 12:32 Jesus said and I if I am lifted up will draw all men to myself go back for just a moment in verse 20 says now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast then they came to Philip who was from Bethsaida of Galilee and and asked him say sir we wish to see Jesus you see we've got Greeks we've got Gentiles we've got persons flocking to Israel's Messiah and I think one of the best sort of definitions or explanations of John's use of world is in John's book called revelation we're in chapter 5 he says in verse 9 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 and have made us kings and priests to our God and we shall reign on the earth so the word world does not mean every single human being without exception but it means persons without distinction Jews Gentiles one Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and so when John makes that declaration when he announces the arrival of Messiah in verse 29 behold the lamb of god that's his function and his specific purpose is to take away the sin of the world but this is not the first time that we meet Jesus in the Gospel according to John that prologue traces back into the history of the second person of the Trinity that he was with God that he was God that he became flesh and he dwelt among us he is the covenantal head of the New Covenant he is the Revelator of God according to verse 18 and he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world well brethren I hope that that puts the whole scope of the work of the of the Redeemer in that larger theological context again we can focus on the cross and we must focus on the cross but we ought to focus on the Trinitarian life of God we ought to think of who the person of our Lord Jesus Christ is one man John Webster says the hidden life of God precisely it's inaccessibility and completeness is the ground of creaturely well-being essentially what he's saying is that who God is in himself is the ground of creaturely well-being he says it is because of the divine processions and the missions which rest upon them that there is a preacher and a servant of God to come to the creature's aid and a spirit to bestow life I quite like that putting the work of Christ into its larger Trinitarian context as well the person of Christ in terms of overarching Christology it's almost impossible to preach a sermon on these themes and not quote the Nicene Creed the Nicene Creed tells us that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God begotten of the father before all world's god of God light of light very god of very God begotten not made being of one substance with the father by whom all things were made who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate he suffered and was buried in the third day he rose again according to the scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of the Father and he shall come again with glory to judge the quick and the dead whose kingdom shall have no now you got to see that these Nicene Creed writers didn't make this stuff up they reflect a movement that we see here in John's prologue in the beginning was the word the Word was with God the Word was God and that word became flesh and dwelt among us that word goes on to be identified in terms of his function as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world it's good to see the work of Christ in its larger theological context it's good to see the work of Christ in its larger coven ental context this is why Paul says that all the promises of God are yes and amen in Jesus when we eat this bread and we drink this cop we are proclaiming his death let's define the his let's marvel at the his let's worship the his let's glorify the his let's praise him and honor him and adore him because when we see that he left that to come into this to save us it ought to cause us to worship and praise John Calvin said it was also imperative that he who was to become our Redeemer be true God and true man it was his task to swallow up death whoo but life could do this it was his task to conquer sin whoo but very righteousness could do this it was his task to rout the powers of world and error whoo but a power higher than world and air to do this now where does life or righteousness or lordship and authority of heaven lie but with God alone therefore our most merciful God when He willed that we be redeemed made himself our mediator in the person of his only begotten Son praise Almighty God for that glorious truth and may we eat tonight and drink tonight proclaiming his death giving some concentrated focus as to who his is or who he as in that statement he is the eternal son of God who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven to save us guilty vile helpless we spotless Lamb of God was he full atonement can it be hallelujah what a savior well let us close in a word of prayer our Father we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ we thank you for how John teaches in John one not only that he functions as the Lamb of God with the purpose of taking away the sin of the world but from whence he comes how we thank you for the inner life of God Father Son and Holy Spirit and how we thank you that you have dealt so graciously with your creature your sinning creature how we thank you for redemption through his blood how we thank you that we have access to the Father by the sonna through the son by the power of the Holy Spirit and may these things truly encourage our hearts and may help us to recall the fact that the purpose defined at least in this text is that he takes away the sin of the world we may you encourage us with this truth not just tonight but each and every day may we find time to reflect upon the goodness of God the glory of the gospel in the sense or in the fact that we have been forgiven of our sins we thank you and we praise you through Jesus Christ our Lord amen yeah excuse me you can turn your Bibles with me to Matthew 26 Matthew chapter 26 as we now observe the Lord's Supper that particular passage in Matthew's Gospel Massud Matthew 26 beginning in verse 17 brings to the fore the institution of the Lord's Supper by Jesus Christ on the night in which he was betrayed in Matthew 26 beginning in verse 17 we'll read to verse 25 and then as we always do make some comments as we introduce and prepare our hearts for partaking in the Lord's Supper Matthew 26 beginning in verse 17 the Word of God now on the first day of the Feast of the unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus saying to him where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover and he said go into the city to a certain man and say to him the teacher says my time is at hand I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples so the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and they prepared the Passover when evening had come he sat down with the twelve now as they were eating he said assuredly I say to you one of you will betray me and they were exceedingly sorrowful and each of them began to say to him Lord is it I he answered and said he who dipped his hand with me in the dish will betray me the son of man indeed goes just as it is written of him but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed it would have been good for that man if he had not been born then Judas who was betraying him answered and said rabbi is it I he said to him you have said it amen well just very briefly we we often we switched between Matthew 26 and first Corinthians 11 often as we observe the Lord's Supper and this time being in Matthew 26 again we when we read from this passage we always identify the fact that Jesus is instituting the Lord's Supper in the midst of observing the Passover which is a remarkable and a glorious thing as pastor Butler was preached tonight about the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world we have Christ here the Lamb of God instituting the Lord's Supper the remembrance of his death in observing in the midst of observing that Old Testament ordinance that looked forward to him as the Lamb of God and which observance itself you know contained the death of a lamb in order to remember the Exodus but also to look forward to Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God coming into the world sinners to say it's an amazing thing you know the the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world who's also the great Shepherd of the sheep is instituting is instituting a supper in remembrance of him as the Lamb of God with their his sheep who would become shepherds who would go out and proclaim the Gospel of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world there's a deep and rich biblical theology with regards to the Lamb of God here Jesus Christ and the connection here with the Passover the one to whom the Passover pointed is here instituting the supper that will be a remembrance of himself washings the ceremonies and the sacrifices and the words of spurge and these were all to be put away and nothing remained but a bleeding Savior as we observe now the Lord's Supper it's good to reflect again to remind ourselves what we are doing and what we are not doing the bread remains bread and the wine remains wine as Protestants we do set these things aside a consecration of sorts we set these things aside from a common use to a holy use here now as we have this element of worship the Lord's Supper but the bread remains bread and the wine remains wine we abominate as God does the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church and others who would say that the bread literally becomes the body of Jesus and that the blood literally becomes the blood of Jesus that they are to the outward senses still bread and wine but somehow magically literally become body blood and divinity of Jesus Christ that is blasphemy that is error of errors the bread Ramin remains bread and the wine remains wine these things are tangible elements that point our minds to that draw our hearts to the death of Jesus Christ upon Calvary's cross there is no real sacrifice made for the quick and the dead but only a remembrance of that once for all sacrifice that Christ rendered for the quick in the dead he has given himself once for the sins of his people and we now remember that and we also have this reality though that it is not only remembrance but just as sure as the bread and the wine our our to our physical senses so too are the benefits of Christ's death present to our souls and our confession reminds us that just as preaching is and just as baptism are and just as prayer are things that God uses to strengthen us in our faith by His Holy Spirit so to the Lord's Supper is a means whereby God whereby the risen and exalted Christ by his Spirit strengthens us and builds us in our faith this is not just some rote element of liturgy tacked on to a worship service this is a blessing and a gift from God whereby he feeds us physically and remembrance to remind us of Christ and spiritually by his spirit that we might grow in the Grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ this is an ordinance for Christians only so if you're here tonight and you're a Christian and you are a Christian living consistent with your profession of faith that is as 1st Corinthians 11 warns us you're not harboring unrepentant sin then you are to take this is an ordinance for Christians only if you're if you're not a Christian here tonight you are not to take don't be you know don't be offended don't be sensitive about this if you'd like to talk to us afterwards why can only Christian state then you can you can talk to Jim or myself but this is for you Christians tonight to take as Jesus Christ will remind us here this is for those who are New Covenant participants and it is only those who are New Covenant participants who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ when the when the wine comes around I'll remind you when it does but just a reminder now that the juice is in the outer ring if I could have the brothers come up now then to pass out the bread you can remain seated and we're going to sing in our red Trinity Salters the first hymn that Psalm 130 Psalm 130 you can remain seated as we sing [Music] [Music] Matthew 26 at verse 26 we read and as they were eating Jesus took bread blessed and broke it and gave it to the disciples and said take eat this is my body let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you that we can now partake of this bread so we observe the Lord's Supper we're reminded of the broken body of our Lord Jesus Christ that upon Calvary's cross even prior to Calvary's cross he took breach upon breach prior to being nailed to the cross and on the cross he bore our sins in his own body on the tree that we having died to sin might live for righteousness by His stripes we are healed we thank you Lord God that upon Calvary's cross our savior so died so as to secure the salvation of a multitude that no man can number we rejoice now as we're reminded of his body given for us as we partake of this bread help our souls to be brought to cheer and also to that reflection in solemnity that Jesus Christ took upon our nature that he died upon Calvary's cross so that he might redeem a multitude of sinners we rejoice now in this and we pray that you had bless us we pray in Christ's precious name Amen let's take together the remaining seated still if you can turn in your hymn books to 440 the brothers could come out to pass the wine a reminder that the juices in the outer ring him number 440 let's stay seated and see [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] verse 27 we read then he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying drink from it all of you for this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins but I say to you I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my father's Kingdom and when they had sung a hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives amen let us pray God we thank you now that we can partake of this wine we rejoice in what this represents the shed blood of our Savior Jesus Christ the Lord as the Bible says without the shedding of blood there is no remission and we thank you that Jesus Christ so shed his blood that we might have the forgiveness of sins and that perfectly through him we do pray as we reflect now that you would strengthen us in our faith you would grow us in the grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ we thank you that we have this opportunity to so take of the supper might we be joyfully reminded of our saviors death we pray that you'd be with us now in Jesus Christ's name Amen let's take together you can stand with me now as we sing our final hymn hymn number 175 hymn number 175 let's stand and sing as a church [Music] [Music] now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead that great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you complete in every good work to do his will working in you what is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever amen the Heavenly Father we rejoice in this Lord's Day we rejoice in you our great God and that we could remember recall the the doing and the dying and the rising again of the Son of God and Son of Man yet one Christ we thank you that we have this opportunity to gather and we pray that you would help us too to honor you to bring glory to you to adorn the gospel through this upcoming week do go with us now help us to live for your glory sake might we conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of our calling by Grace and we pray that throughout the week as we raised our heads in the morning and as we rest them at night we would open and close with thoughts of our great God and reflections upon so great of Jesus we pray in his precious name Amen well please be seated at we'll have a brief time of Prayer when the piano is finished you're dismissed you