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May I turn in your Bibles to 
John chapter 1 for our meditation this morning before we participate 
in the Lord's Table. John chapter 1. While you're 
turning there, you'll remember that John chapter 1 verses 1 
to 18 are the prologue to the entirety of John's Gospel. And 
those themes that are set forth in John 1, many of them are amplified 
or shown to be the case in the remainder of John 1. We're going 
to read verses 19-42, focusing on John the Baptist's testimony 
concerning our Lord Jesus, with special reference to verse 29, 
as Jesus, the Lamb of God. I'll pick up reading in verse 
19. 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 whom you 
do not know. It is He who, coming after me, 
is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy 
to lose." These things were done in Bethabara, 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. Again, the next day, John stood 
with two of his disciples, and looking at Jesus as he walked, 
he said, Behold, the Lamb of God. The two disciples heard 
him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and 
seeing them following, said to them, What do you seek? They 
said to him, Rabbi, which is to say, when translated, Teacher, 
where are you staying? He said to them, Come and see. 
They came and saw where he was staying and remained with him 
that day. Now it was about the tenth hour. 
One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, 
Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother 
Simon and said to him, we have found the Messiah, which has 
translated the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. 
Now when Jesus looked at him, he said, you are Simon the son 
of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas, which 
is translated, a stone. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, 
we thank you for the Holy Word of God. We thank you that all 
Scripture is given by inspiration of God and that it's profitable 
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in 
righteousness. And we pray that you would thoroughly 
furnish us and do every good work and cause us again to marvel 
at the wonderful gospel of free and sovereign grace. Cause us 
to behold the Lamb of God. Cause us not only to do this 
on one Sunday of the month when we have the Lord's table, but 
God, may it be a daily activity. May we live always by faith in 
the Son of God who loved us and who gave Himself for us. May 
we never stray from the cross, Lord God, but may we always find 
our joy and our delight and our comfort and our strength for 
Christian living wound up or bound up in the Gospel of Jesus 
Christ. We just pray that Your Spirit 
would be at work in our hearts, We pray for any and all who do 
not know You here. We just pray that Your Spirit 
would convict them. Bring forth that knowledge of 
sin and show them as well the glory of Jesus Christ and all 
of His ability to save to the uttermost all who draw near to 
God through Him. And we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, as we have seen here, John 
the Baptist is being questioned. He is being asked very specific 
questions concerning his identity, concerning his place in redemptive 
history. You remember that he is baptizing 
people. And of course, in this, people 
would be curious as to his authority, as to his position, as to his 
qualification to do such thing. And John answers these Jews in 
verses 19 to 28. He gives, or the question is 
posed, who he is or his identity. He states very clearly that he 
is not the Christ, but rather he has been sent in accordance 
with the prophets as a forerunner. He cites Isaiah 40 and verse 
23, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the 
Lord. There is a great progression there in Isaiah 40 through chapter 
66. We see the forerunner come and 
announce the arrival of the great King. We see that King introduced 
in Isaiah's prophecy as the servant of the Lord. That one sent from 
God on a very specific mission to save His people from their 
sins. That servant then ushers in a 
new heavens and a new earth. That's the whole thrust of the 
latter half of Isaiah. And I believe John the theologian 
here is picking up that theme and he is showing us the fulfillment 
as it is in our Lord Jesus Christ. And then John gives specific 
testimony concerning Jesus in verses 29-34. He identifies Him 
as the Lamb of God. in verse 29. That will occupy 
our attention this morning, but just so you can see the structure 
and how the passage flows for your own later reflection. He 
then shows or tells that Jesus is the preeminent one in verse 
30. Notice he says, this is he of 
whom I said, after me comes a man who is preferred before me, for 
He was before me." Later, John will say of Christ, I must decrease, 
but He must increase. He saw Jesus as the fulfillment 
of God's promises to save His people from their sins, and therefore, 
He is the preeminent One. John then identifies Jesus as 
the coming One. Verses 31-33, when he says, I 
did not know Him, he doesn't mean he didn't know Him at all. 
He didn't know Him as the One who would fulfill all that the 
prophets had spoken. And then he identifies them very 
clearly in verse 34, as the Son of God. I have seen and testified 
that this is the Son of God. Just by way of a side note, when 
we come this morning to feast on the bread and on the wine, 
this is the Son of God Himself who loved us and who gave Himself 
for us. What a glorious picture of mercy 
and of grace. What a glorious presentation 
of glory and grace in the sense that God made man. God sent His 
Son to save man from their sins. We ought to marvel at His goodness 
this morning. as we are reminded of these truths. Well, as we consider verse 29, 
there's three points I want to make by way of meditation. The 
first is simply this. His arrival. Don't think it's 
accidental that John uses this word, behold. It is a command. He is saying to take notice. 
It is somewhat similar to what we find in the ordinance or sacrament 
of the Lord's Supper. We are told to remember. I believe 
the idea is that we are prone to wander, prone to leave the 
God that we love. We go astray. We get tied to 
this present world. Our minds, instead of being at 
the right hand of the Father, get focused on ourselves, get 
brought down. We are consumed with that unholy 
trinity of me, myself, and I. And so the supper, the table, 
calls us back to a positive reflection, to a positive remembrance of 
who Jesus is and what He has done on our account. And I think 
bound up or wrapped up in John's announcement here is the reality 
to take heed to, to take notice of Jesus Christ. Remember, this 
is a very epic moment in redemptive history. All these promises have 
been given for several thousand years. And now John the Baptist 
has come in accordance with the prophet Isaiah. He is announcing 
the arrival of the King. He is being asked if he himself 
is that King. He says, no, there is one who 
is coming after me. He is preferred far above me. He is the Lamb of God. And so 
he calls his audience to behold this Lamb of God. To take notice 
of Him. To take heed to Him. To give 
attention to Him. In the theology of Hebrews 9.11-15, 
I believe this accurately reflects what's in John's behold here. In Hebrews 9.11 it says, But 
Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come. with 
a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is, 
not of this creation, not with the blood of goats and calves, 
but with His own blood He entered the most holy place once for 
all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood 
of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, 
sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, How much more shall 
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself 
without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works 
to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the 
mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption 
of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who 
are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. What 
John is identifying or what John is highlighting in this simple 
command to behold the Lamb of God is that the promises of God 
are yea and amen. The promises of God have come 
to fulfillment. Brethren, I think we take these 
things so routinely. We are steeped in Christianity. We are steeped, hopefully in 
a right sense, biblically. And the temptation is to hear 
these truths preached Sunday by Sunday, to read them in our 
Bibles each and every day, to gather around as families and 
to rehearse these things, and they sort of become old hat to 
us. And we don't stop for a moment to behold. We don't stop for 
a moment to reflect. We don't stop for a moment to 
take notice of the fact that this Son of God came into this 
cesspool of sin to die for us and to rise again. It's truly 
amazing. It's truly mind-blowing. Truly, 
Wesley wrote, amazing love. Or Anne Kennedy, amazing love. That's the kind of an attitude 
that should find us on this Lord's Day morning. We just go through 
our work of day lives and we become deadened to the realities 
intrinsic in these emblems here. We become hardened or callous, 
not evilly so, not maliciously so. We don't reject Jesus so 
much outright, but we reject Him when we don't give Him priority 
in our minds. We reject Him when we don't give Him priority in 
our lives. We plan, we detail, we orchestrate everything in 
our lives, and we oftentimes exclude that which is most important. Be like sort of packing up your 
van to take your kids to the park. Putting all the toys in 
there, putting the balls, and putting the digging toys, and 
all those things that kids like to play with when they go to 
the park. You get in the van, you fire it up, you're on your 
way, and you say, oh yeah, we forgot the kids. We have all 
the stuff, we have all the trinkets, we have all the periphery, but 
we don't have the substance. I believe that finds us out as 
Christians in the church today. We have all the stuff, we have 
all the trinkets. We have all the things externally 
there, but we're missing the very substance, the reason we 
gather here, the reason we call one another brother, the reason 
that we seek to pray for one another. Our common bond is in 
Jesus. And John's behold and this ordinance 
of the Lord's Supper calls us to stop. Just stop. I realize we're all busy. I realize 
we have many things going on. I realize that this room right 
now is very hot. I realize that maybe you didn't 
get a good night's sleep last night. Or you've had a tough 
week. But John's Word is appropriate to each of us this morning. Behold, 
stop for a moment. Think about the glory of Jesus. Isn't it hard to think of anything 
outside of ourselves? Let's just be honest here. We're 
all selfish. Oh no, not me, man. Okay. You 
may be an exception to the general rule, but for the most of us, 
99.9% of us, we're selfish. All we can see is what affects 
us. What's in it for me? That's the 
heart of man. Even redeemed man. I've been 
at this game long enough to see that redeemed sinners are still 
sinners. Not reigning sin, but remaining 
sin. And one of those elements that 
hangs on, hangs on for dear life, is that love of self. That attraction 
to self. That commitment to self. John 
says, get your eyes off yourself and behold. Behold this one. Again, it is a command. You need 
to stop in your busy life to behold the Lamb of God. You need 
to stop in your daily activities to behold the Lamb of God. That's 
the glory and the beauty of the day of rest that God has given 
to us. Man was not made for the Sabbath, 
but Sabbath for the man. To give for the man so that we 
can stop for a day to behold. So that we can come in out of 
the world. So that we don't have to work 
our fingers to the bone. So that we don't have to put 
ourselves into an early grave. So that we don't have to go into 
coronary arrest or cardiac arrest. So that we don't have to have 
high blood pressure. God has given a gift of a day, 
so we can stop and behold. And then, mercy upon mercy, He 
gives us this ordinance. So that with this bread and with 
this wine, we can stop and behold, we can taste and we can drink. 
He satisfies every desire, every need that man has. God is a giving 
God. I was reminded of something this 
past week in my reading, and I know that I've said this many 
times. When we come to church, we ought to seek what we can 
give. We should. We ought to give praise. We ought 
to give worship. We ought to give glory. But we 
ought not to forget that church is a place where God gives. God 
gives us. God serves us. God comes in these 
means and He blesses His people. He visits us, which is the primary 
blessing. But then He gives us these ordinances. 
He gives us His Word. He is serving us. He is benefiting 
us. He is strengthening us so that 
we'll then leave from this place and go out and serve Him in this 
world. Brethren, behold. Notice his 
identification. He calls Him the Lamb of God. 
Now, I know all of you are somewhat steeped in some knowledge of 
the Old Testament. But remember this audience. They 
knew the Old Testament. They knew it very well. They 
wouldn't have called it the Old Testament, mind you. Just as 
Jews today don't call it the Old Testament. They reject the 
New Testament. Therefore, there would be no 
Old Testament. They simply call it the Tanakh 
or the Bible. But John's audience, when they 
heard him say, Behold the Lamb of God, texts would start coming 
to mind. Texts that I hope are coming 
to your mind. Genesis chapter 3. Man sins and 
what does he do? He hides himself in the trees. 
As if we can hide from a sovereign God amongst trees. As if making 
fig leaves and placing them over our groin area and then hiding 
amongst some trees is going to hide us from the sovereign searching 
eye of God Most High. Don't you see the folly of sinners 
there? Of course, we see it in Genesis 2. We see their folly. 
Genesis 2 and 3, rather. We see their folly and madness. 
Look at them making loincloths for themselves and then trying 
to hide in the trees. I wonder, though, how many people 
here are making loincloths for themselves and hiding among the 
trees. Instead of coming to believe the Gospel of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. Look, I can make loincloths. I can atone for my sin. I can 
do better. I can try harder. I can get more 
intelligent. And then I'm going to hide from 
God. He won't find me out. It's folly. It's madness. It's 
wretchedness. But what happens when God comes 
to them? He initiates. He seeks. He saves 
that which is lost. The beauty of the Genesis account 
is not that man sought God, but that God sought man. That God 
comes. That God makes skins for them. He killed animals right before 
their eyes and takes those skins and clothes them with it. They 
obviously taught their children this because when it came time 
to sacrifice, or came time at the end of days to offer up to 
God, Abel does that very thing. Takes an animal out of his flock, 
puts a knife to its throat, and offers it up to the Lord God. 
Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. John's 
words ought to cause you to start thinking like a biblical theologian. 
You ought to start thinking of Genesis 3. You ought to start 
thinking of Genesis 22, when God calls to Abraham and says, 
take your son, your only son. Take Isaac, the son of your love. I want you to take him up to 
Mount Moriah, which was the site of the temple. I want you to 
take him up there, I want you to bind him, and I want you to 
stick a dagger in him. That is not given for us to imitate. That is not an example. You are 
not to take your son out to Mount Sham and cut him up for the glory 
of God. That was a case-sensitive, unique 
application in redemptive covenantal history where God is making a 
point. What's Abraham about to do? He's 
about to drive that dagger into his son, his only son, the son 
whom he loves. That's how he's described. It's 
no accident that Jesus is described in the same way. God's only Son, 
the Son of His love. He's about to bury that dagger 
in that son, and the angel of the Lord stops him. What had 
Abraham already told Isaac? When Isaac was savvy enough to 
see the wood, to see the fire, to see the instruments for sacrifice, 
and he asked for an animal. What's Abraham say? Oh, God will 
provide. When the angel of the Lord stops 
Abraham from following through this activity, what does he look 
behind him and see? He sees a ram caught in the thicket. 
And it says he offered that up instead of his son. Behold, the 
Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The Lord does 
provide. The Lord does act upon His promised 
Word. God is faithful to His covenants. 
Remember the Passover Lamb, when the children of Israel were told 
to cut that Lamb up and to put some blood over the lentil of 
their door so that the angel of death would pass over them. 
Paul the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 5.7 says, Christ, our Passover, 
was sacrificed for us. The weight of John 1.29 ought 
to sink you into a happy euphoria of reflection upon gospel mercy. It ought to weigh you down with 
the glory of God. The Lamb of God has come. The 
Lamb of God has arrived. The Lamb of God is present. It reminds one of Isaiah 53, 
6 and 7. All we, like sheep, have gone 
astray. We have turned everyone 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 its shearers is silent, so he opened not his 
mouth. Reminded us of something Pastor 
Cam read in the last hour concerning, behold, the lamb. He said, if 
we don't stop and behold the Lamb, we're worse than Pontius 
Pilate. Pilate said, behold the man. How many Christians are beholding 
the man? Christ Jesus. How many of us 
have become less than Pilate himself, who confesses the thrice 
holiness of Christ and then tells man, behold Him. You need to 
stop and reflect. You know, this is the answer 
to your busy life. I suspect that the church's attempt 
to be relevant through the trinkets, the puppets, the ponies, the 
programs, she has made herself irrelevant. What is most appropriate 
and what is most necessary for today is the preaching of Christ 
and Him crucified. That's what John is doing. Behold 
the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. His identification. We might subtitle the book of 
Revelation as Behold the Lamb. I wish I had thought of that 
last May, but I didn't. Behold the Lamb. Why do I say 
that? Do you know how John presents 
Jesus in the book of Revelation several, several times? As the Lamb of God. Now, we often, 
when we think of Lamb, we think of gentle Jesus, meek and mild. 
Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, died, was buried, rose again, 
and now He sits enthroned at God's right hand, Most High, 
where He is victorious. I think John's presentation of 
Jesus as Lamb in the book of Revelation is to highlight His 
victory. His victory over sin, His victory 
over death, His victory over the grave, and His victory over 
the hearts and minds of all men. That's what John's about in the 
book of Revelation. There's no accident in Revelation 
1. He sets forth Christ as prophet, priest, and king. The way we 
know He says He's king is that He is now, currently, the ruler 
over the kings of the earth. That scene in Revelation 5, when 
he is presented as the lion of the tribe of Judah. John turns 
and what does he see? He sees a lamb. A lamb is having 
been slaughtered. Revelation 5 is punctuated with 
the Lamb of God. Revelation 6. Revelation 7. Revelation 14. I read that at 
the outset of worship. That's a unique place. Not just 
because it follows numerically Revelation 13, but if you're 
keen on Revelation, you'll know that in chapter 13, two beasts 
are presented. There's a beast from the sea 
and a beast from the land. There is a beast that has power 
and authority. There is a beast whose followers 
receive His mark on their foreheads. It's no accident then that the 
contrast to Revelation 14 demonstrates the Lamb on Mount Zion with His 
144,000. I believe the clear implication 
is whatever the beasts do on earth, whatever they engage in 
in terms of men, there is no uprooting the sovereignty of 
the Lamb of God who is enthroned at the right hand of His Father 
and who exercises absolute sovereignty. G.K. Beal says, the immediate 
juxtaposition of the Lamb in 14.1 to the beasts of chapter 
13 serves the contrast between the two sides. There are those 
who are unbelievers who follow the beasts. There are those who 
are believers who follow the Lamb. And interestingly enough, 
they get the mark of God on their forehead. Brethren, John the 
Baptist sets forth the glory of Jesus as the Lamb of God, 
and John the Apostle never forgets that. He never lets that go. 
I think there's something very unique here for us to consider. 
We need to think on Jesus as the Lamb of God. We need to think 
of Him as victorious over our sin. We need to see Him led away 
like a lamb to the slaughter. We need to see Him in that priestly 
office. We need to see Him as the sacrifice, 
as the substitute, as the ram ultimately not caught in the 
thicket, but placed there by His Father. And I think this 
whole idea of the Lamb of God shows that it's God's provision. 
It wasn't our choosing. It wasn't our making. We would 
have never designed the Gospel. We would have never, ever had 
the ingenuity to design a triune God who created all things, who 
governs all things, and who redeems His elect. We would have never 
thought in terms of blood atonement. We would never come to design 
a holy God. We would never come to design 
justification by faith alone. We always want congratulations. 
We always want a part. We always want to participate. 
God's ways are not our ways. We need to behold the Lamb of 
God. We need to behold the Lamb of God. The idea that Christ 
is the Lamb of God highlights God's provision in the salvation 
of sinners. God sent forth His Son, and His 
Son willingly laid down His life for the sheep. John 10, 17 and 
18. So we've seen His arrival with, 
behold, His identification as the Lamb of God. Notice His mission. 
Who takes away the sin of the world. That's a great mission. It's a beautiful mission. It's 
prophesied in Isaiah 49. God says, it is too small a thing 
for you to redeem those in Jacob. Behold, I give you a light as 
a light unto the Gentiles. It's too small. It doesn't display 
His power. It doesn't display His majesty 
and His honor and His glory. It doesn't display what He is 
capable of. This one takes away the sin of 
the world. And notice that John the Baptist's 
ministry had redemption from sin as its focal point. Brethren, 
we all want a nice life, don't we? I don't think any of us would 
say, I'd like to live in a hut and have no water and no food. 
And when I get water and food, I'd like it to be dirty water 
and I'd like to sprinkle ashes in my food so that it tastes 
bad. For the most part, you ask anybody 
on the face of the earth, do you want a nice life? We're probably 
universally wired to say, yes. It's not bad. It's not wicked. 
You're not evil. You're not malicious. You're 
not vile. You're not wretched. But you 
know there's something so much better than a nice life now? There's something so much more 
glorious than the trinkets and the externals? There's a holiday 
by the seaside that God offers to us, but we want to make mud 
pies in the gutter. That's not my flower. That's 
C.S. Lewis who said that. The prophet 
Isaiah says, why do you spend your wages on that which does 
not satisfy? Why do you labor? Why do you 
work? Why are you diligent? Why are you busy, busy, busy 
on that which does not satisfy? Why do you go to a nice restaurant 
and say, can I just go into the back and eat out of the dumpster? God offers forgiveness of sins. Now brethren, I believe that 
we need to pray that God's will would be done on earth as it 
is in heaven, because Jesus taught us to pray that way. I believe 
that insofar as Christians are able, we ought to try and ameliorate 
the problems and the difficulties that people have. But having 
said that, we cannot neglect that greatest and most chief 
and most excellent of blessings, the forgiveness of sins. Behold 
the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. A.W. Pink said it was the Spirit of 
God presenting the Lord Jesus to Israel in the very office 
and character in which they stood in deepest need of Him. They 
would have welcomed Him on the throne, but they must first accept 
Him on the altar. And is it any different today? 
Christ as an Elijah, a social reformer, will be tolerated. 
And Christ as a prophet, as a teacher of ethics, will receive respect. But what the world needs first 
and foremost is the Christ of the cross, where the Lamb of 
God offered Himself as a sacrifice for sin. Don't miss that. We can preach Jesus as a wonderful 
teacher, and people will say, yes. We can teach Jesus as a 
wonderful social reformer, and people will say, yes. But you 
preach a bloodied, battered, broken, crucified man, and to 
the Greeks, foolishness, and to the Jews, a stumbling block. But we preach Christ crucified, 
Paul says. For those who are being saved, 
it is Christ, the wisdom and the power of God. I love that. I believe Pink was right on with 
that. Notice, he says, who takes away 
the sin of the world. Why sin singular? I think it 
means the whole wretched mess. The aggregate of all our sins. He takes away the sin of the 
world. Here's Gil. The phrase, taking 
away sin, signifies taking it up as Christ did. He took it 
voluntarily upon Himself and became responsible to divine 
justice for it. And also, bearing and carrying 
it, for taking it upon Himself, He bore it in His own body on 
the tree and carried it away as the scapegoat did under the 
law. He's picking up Leviticus 16, 
that day of atonement, where those two animals, one is sacrificed 
and the sins are confessed and transferred to that one, and 
then he is sent out into the wilderness not to return. What's 
that showing us? That in the forgiveness of sins, 
there's a removal of it. There is God taking it and blotting 
it out. Christ deals with it once for 
all. He goes on to say, Christ has 
removed it as far as the east is from the west, out of sight, 
so as never to be seen anymore. He has destroyed, abolished, 
and made an utter end of it. Do we think that way? I think 
practically we say, yeah, or doctrinally we affirm justification 
by faith alone. But practically, we're whiners, 
groaners, and complainers because we have not realized there truly 
is a fountain open for sin and uncleanness. It sounds a lot 
more noble, a lot more holy, a lot more wise, a lot more pious 
than, oh, I'm so sinful. Yeah, you are. But Christ is 
so glorious. Christ's blood is that powerful 
to atone for every sin. It's not as if Jesus does 99.9 
and then sends you out to finish that .9. You'd be in hell. Jesus 
paid it all. Every single sin. If it were 
not so, we'd all be in hell, brethren. That's the clear testimony 
of Scripture. It's not a little bit of this 
and a little bit of that. It is exclusive. Either Jesus 
pays it all or we're in hell. That's why we go tell people, 
believe the Gospel. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You cannot 
atone. You cannot work. You cannot labor. 
Moral reform will not help you. Justification by faith alone. You want comfort, brethren. Think 
on that. Yeah, you've got issues. You've 
got problems. I do too. But Jesus paid it all. Oh, but 
that'll promote sin. That'll promote a license to 
sin. No, it won't. No, it won't. What shall we say? Romans 6.1. 
Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? May it never 
be. This doctrine doesn't promote 
license. It promotes fear and comfort. This doctrine doesn't 
promote sin and godlessness. It promotes righteousness. An 
accurate understanding of justification is the most liberating thing 
for your Christian life. If you think you're trying to 
slug it out because you're contributing, you of all men are going to be 
the most to be pitied. You cannot work it. He goes on 
to say, and this is expressed in the present tense, taketh 
away, to denote the continued virtue of Christ's sacrifice 
to take away sin. Don't miss that either. Remember 
Jesus in John 19.30. Here's where an understanding 
of a bit of grammar actually promotes Christian happiness. 
Jesus on the cross said, it is finished. And the way that He 
spoke that verb, it was in the perfect. That means it is a completed 
action that has abiding results. They found this verb all over 
receipts. They, archaeologists. They kept 
seeing this word, tetelestai, not in rich theological discourse 
concerning Jesus, but in bills paid. I come to pay my bill and you 
stamp it with tetelestai. It is a past completed action 
with abiding results. When I get my paycheck on the 
first, I don't have to say, ooh, I've got to pay something over 
there. No, it's got abiding results. It's been dealt with. It is finished. It is complete. He goes on to 
say, "...and the constant efficacy of His blood to cleanse from 
it, and the daily application of it to the consciences of His 
people, and which is owing to the dignity of His person as 
the Son of God, and to His continual and powerful mediation and intercession, 
This must be a great relief to minds afflicted with the continual 
outbursts of sin. These brothers knew the heart. I mean, you do like a who's who 
of theology. Sometimes John Gill is depicted 
as this rough, harsh Hebraist that leans toward hyper-Calvinism. 
He was a superlapsarian. Didn't believe in a well-meant 
offer. By that, he did not mean we don't preach Christ indiscriminately. He was a Calvinist. He was, you 
know, a sovereignty of God. Small church. I mean, on today's 
marketplace of the church, Bill would have been looked at like, 
dude, you've got 100 people after how many years? 120 people? Cash 
in your chips. Go to Walmart. Be a greeter. 
But there's nothing wrong with being a greeter at Wal-Mart. 
Just find something else. Listen to this pastor. Listen 
to how he knows the soul. All this theology, and I purposefully 
read it. The efficacy, the intercession, 
all these things. Theology. What does that mean? 
This must be a great relief to minds afflicted with the continual 
outburst of sin. He actually uses the word ebullition. Didn't know what abolition means. 
It means outburst. We don't use abolition, so I 
took the liberty to give it a modern meaning. He says, which is taken 
away by the Lamb of God as fast as it rises. And who for that 
purpose are called to behold and wonder at the love and grace 
of Christ in bearing and taking away sin, and to look to Him 
by faith continually for everlasting salvation, and love Him, and 
give Him the honor of it, and glorify Him for it. What good 
is theology? It makes you praise. It makes 
you worship. It makes you stand in awe. It makes you behold the Lamb 
of God focusing on His redemptive work in His blood shedding at 
Calvary for our sins. That's why you need to behold 
the land of God. John uses the word world here. 
He doesn't mean every single person. John has a unique way, 
not a unique way. John has a biblical way of using 
the word world. Notice in verse 10 of chapter 
one, just for one example, he uses the word world in three 
different senses. Verse 10, he was in the world. That means earth. Doesn't it? 
He wasn't on Mars. He wasn't on Venus. He was in 
the world. And the world was made through 
him. He made the Earth, but he made Venus, and he made Mars, 
and he made Jupiter. Therefore, he made the universe. 
The world has that idea. But notice, and the world did 
not know him. It's used in an ethical sense. 
Do not love the world. That doesn't mean you should 
be eco-terrorists and put plastic in the ground so that everybody 
will have a cursed life on the earth. That doesn't mean hate 
the world in that sense, exploit its resources, kill its animals, 
do all whatever. No, it means hate the world, 
the ethical element, that which is in rebellion against God. 
John tells us that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the 
sin of the world. Later on in John 3, verse 16, 
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. But 
it's qualified that everyone believing in Him should not perish, 
but have everlasting life. John 4, verse 42, the Samaritans 
learn that very valuable lesson. Jesus is the Savior of the world. Not just Jews, but a world of 
Jews and Greeks. Men from every tribe and tongue 
and people and nation, as John defines it, or spells it out 
in Revelation 5-9. He's not teaching that Jesus 
takes away the sin for every single human being on the face 
of the earth. He's not a universalist. He does 
not teach that, nor does the rest of Scripture. The Bible 
is clear. If you reject the Son, you shall 
not see life. But the wrath of God abides on 
you. The converse is true. The contra 
is true. You believe and you will see 
life. God deals with that wrath. He 
takes it away because He poured it out upon His own Son. So behold, the Lamb of God who 
takes away the sin of the world. D. A. Carson said, the sacrifice 
envisaged is not restricted in the purpose or effectiveness 
to the Jewish race. This Lamb of God takes away the 
sin of the world. That is, of all human beings 
without distinction, though not as the prologue has already made 
clear, of all without exception. This is God's provision. Jesus 
is the Lamb of God. Brethren, that ought to occupy 
our thoughts. Not just today when we take the 
bread and the wine. But hopefully and prayerfully, 
it will occupy our thoughts each and every day. Because we all 
sin. We have remaining corruption. 
We have struggles. We are like the Apostle Paul. 
The good I want to do, I don't do. The bad I don't want to do, 
I find myself doing. Oh, wretched man that I am! Who 
will deliver me from this body of death? What does he do? He 
goes to Jesus. He goes to Jesus. The Bible never 
tells us that we're going to be without sin on this side of 
heaven. The Bible is not a Wesleyan perfectionist document. The Bible 
realizes the reality of remaining sin. Paul speaks to this as well 
in Galatians 5.17. The flesh lusts against the Spirit. 
The Spirit lusts against the flesh. It's never a matter for 
us whether or not we'll sin. The issue is always what do we 
do with our sin. Zechariah 13.1, there is a fountain 
open for sin and uncleanness. You need to be near Christ, you 
need to believe, you need to keep close to the cross, you 
need to be walking by faith in the Son of God who loves you 
and who gave himself for you. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank You for the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of 
the world. We thank You for such a mighty and a victorious and 
a wondrous Savior. We thank You for the fact that 
He is prophet and that He is King. And we thank You that He's 
our priest. We thank You that He ever lives 
to make intercession for us. And by His one sacrifice, He 
has dealt with our sin. He has dealt with the wrath of 
God. He has brought us salvation, full and free. God, I pray that 
we would rejoice in this, that we would just continue to praise 
and worship and honor You, and that we would be comforted with 
this reality, and that it would promote true gospel holiness 
in our lives. And we ask in Jesus' name, Amen.