Well, as we come to the Lord's table tonight, it is something that we delight in. It is something in which our eyes are fixed on the bread and the cup, but we have to look past these, as it were, through these as mirrors or as windows to see the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And that's what John This forerunner of the Lord Jesus told his disciples what he proclaimed, what he announced. Behold the Lamb of God. Although he may have known Jesus as a relative before this, or as one greater than he, it seems that when Jesus came to be baptized by John, and when the dove descended, the spirit descended as a dove upon him, it became clear this, is not a mere man. This is none other than the Lamb of God, the Son of God, who comes with a mission. That's what we're going to study tonight. The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. So let's ask God's help as we come to this passage, come to the Word of God, come to the Spirit of God, and ask that he would open our hearts. And even as this supper is meant to proclaim his death until he comes, that by the Word and by these symbols, we would delight to see our Savior tonight. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we come here for a purpose. We do not come to merely spend an hour on a warm day in an air-conditioned place. We come because we want to meet with you. We come because we want to all the more feast on our Savior, have our souls fed, even delighted, even ravished with this truth that we have known, some of us, for 50 years or more, and yet we need to know it again. We still need our sins taken away. And so we ask that you would come afresh and make your truth glow in our hearts as we leave this place. We ask these mercies in Jesus' name. Amen. Behold the Lamb of God. That's what John the Baptist said. That's what he told to his disciples there in John 1. That's what he said again to these two, Andrew and Philip. Behold the Lamb of God. And these two then followed Jesus and came to know Jesus. And then they went and told others, we've met this man. Could this be the prophet? And they went and were following Jesus. And Jesus said, well, come and see. Come and see. And if you will, at the beginning of this message, I would just say, if you're sitting on the fence, or if you're not even sure who Jesus is, as Jesus said to these two, come and see, come and see, and learn who he is this evening. And they went, and they told others, and they went, and they brought others, Nathanael, and is this the Messiah? Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Come and see. And I trust you will see tonight. Well, as we look at this passage, John had this burden to proclaim him, to make him known, behold the Lamb of God. And those to whom he said this, they had a burden to make him known to others. And so this ripple effect has come to us. Others said to us, behold the Lamb, come and see. And you came and saw. and you're here tonight. Well, there's a hymn I love. It's not in our hymnal. I learned it in the Philippines. It's in English hymnals from, it's a Wesleyan, Charles, I believe Charles Wesley. And it's based on this text. And he says, his only righteousness I show, his saving truth proclaim, tis all my business here below to cry. Behold the Lamb. Happy if with my latest breath I might but gasp His name, preach Him to all, and cry in death, Behold, behold the Lamb. There's a mission for us. There's a task. To cry to all. Behold the Lamb. And that's what I plan to do this evening. And so we're going to look at three things from this especially verse 29 where John said about Jesus, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. His identity, he's the Lamb of God. His work? He takes away the sin of the world. And then his target, well, it's the world whose sin he takes away. Three simple points. And so then let's begin. His identity, the Lamb of God. Now the Lamb, if you said this to a Hebrew and you spoke of a lamb, that would immediately suggest certain things to a Jew. And there are several lambs that we meet with in the Old Testament. And the first lamb, of course, is the Passover lamb. When you meet this lamb in Exodus 12, we're not going to read the chapter, but you remember the story that as they're there in Egypt, and it's now the 10th plague, and the firstborn of the Egyptians, they're all going to be slaughtered. And how will the destroying angel know the Hebrews' homes? Well, they're to slaughter a lamb. And they're to take the blood and sprinkle it on the doorposts and the destroying angel when he sees the blood on the doorpost, he's going to pass over that house and go on. The Passover lamb, the lamb that was slain to deliver the Israelites from the destroying angel. And so when he says, behold the lamb. No doubt a Jew would think, well, the Lamb, the Lamb of God, this is the Lamb that saves us. And Peter reflects on this in 1 Peter 1, 18 and 19. I'll read the text. He says, knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from the feudal way of life that you inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood as of a Lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. You have a lamb, a spotless lamb, and it's his blood that causes judgment to pass over you. And so that's the first lamb that they would have considered. But then there's also the lamb of the daily regular sacrifice. Every day in Israel, they were to sacrifice on the altar there at the tabernacle, then the temple, a lamb. And we find this in Numbers chapter 28. Let me just read a couple of verses, Numbers 28 verses 3 and 4. And he says, And you shall say to them, This is the offering by fire which you shall offer to the Lord, two male lambs, one year old, without defect, as a continual burnt offering every day. You shall offer one lamb in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight. This is a continual burnt offering of the people of Israel, it was a reminder of their sin. Remember, they had offerings day and night, morning and evening, and this is to show them, you need a sacrifice. Without blood, your sin will not be washed away. You sin every day, you need a sacrifice. And they had this reminder every day, morning and evening. The Lamb of God, you need a lamb, you need a sacrifice, you need blood. Without the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness for your sin. But then there's also the lamb prophesied by Isaiah that would no doubt have come to their mind because Isaiah said, and you know, the text in Isaiah 53 verses five through eight, and let me turn there. Isaiah 53 verses five through eight. I referred to this passage in my testimony earlier this morning, but it's that text that reminds us there's one way for all of us who've gone astray to be forgiven. Isaiah 53 verse 5. but he was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities, that chastening for our well-being fell upon him, and by his scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray. Each one of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. like a lamb that is led to slaughter, like a sheep that is silent before its hearers, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment, he was taken away. And as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? The Lamb of God, not another lamb, no other way. This is the lamb prophesied by Isaiah, that lamb that would be slaughtered, led to slaughter for the sins of his people. And so the Lamb of God, there were lambs in the Old Testament, and these Jews who would have heard this there coming from the lips of John the Baptist would have had their minds directed to those lambs, of course. But notice there's a phrase here that we did not read in all of those Old Testament passages. He didn't say, behold the Lamb of sacrifice, behold the Lamb of prophecy, behold the Lamb of the day of atonement. He said, behold the Lamb of God, the Lamb of God. Why is he the Lamb of God? Because he's the Lamb God provided. Can you think of a lamb that God provided? Jehovah Jireh? the Lord will provide. When were those words spoken? By Abraham on the mountain. There was that day when the Lord told Abraham to go up on the mountain with Isaac, his son, and put him to death. And Abraham, no doubt with grief in his heart, and yet with submission to the will of God, goes up on the mountain. And when he's ready, to slay his son. God says, stop. And you remember what he had told Isaac? Isaac said, father, where's the lamb? The Lord will provide. And indeed the Lord did. There was a lamb caught in the thicket right there. The Lord provided the lamb for the burnt offering. And so God had provided this lamb. God promised this lamb before the foundation of the world here in Isaiah chapter 53. If we consider further in verse 10 through 12, but the Lord was pleased to crush him, putting him to grief. If he would render himself as a guilt offering, he will see his offspring. He will prolong his days and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in his hand. And as a result of the anguish of his soul, He will see it and be satisfied. By his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant, will justify the many, as he will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot him a portion with the great, because he will divide the booty with the strong, because he poured out himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he himself bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressors." This is prophecy. This hasn't happened yet. But you see here in this passage that inter-Trinitarian agreement, that God was pleased to do this, and he rendered himself as a guilt offering, and because he was submissive to the Father's will, and he undertook to bear their sins and to make satisfaction. The Lord promised him, I will give you the fruit of your suffering. You will see your offspring. You will be satisfied. And this covenant made before the foundation of the world, this agreement, inter-trinitarian agreement, promised to the son. The son undertook the work. And so when it says, behold the Lamb of God, what Lamb is it? It's this Lamb of God's covenant sacrifice to redeem the people He promised to His Son. Behold the Lamb of God, here He is! We've been waiting for the fulfillment of this prophecy. It's here, in this one, Jesus of Nazareth. Can anything good come out of Nazareth? The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Was he born in Nazareth? No, he was born in David's city in Bethlehem, as promised. And now he comes in his earthly ministry, the God-man. How do we know he's the God-man, even going back here to what John says? John, we go back to John chapter one, and I don't know if you picked up on this, but in verse 30, after he said he's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, he's more than just a man because John says, this is he on whose behalf I said, after me comes a man who is greater than I, for he existed before me. Now who was born first, John or Jesus? Remember when Mary goes to visit Elizabeth, the baby leaps in Elizabeth's womb? Who was older? Well, John was. Well, why didn't this John say, he was before me? He's not just talking about rank. He's talking about precedence, existence. Because as Jesus had told the Jews before Abraham was born, I am. This is no mere man. This man is the son of God. As we pause, as we think of the elements, the bread and the cup, we think of what they represent, the Savior. It's the Lamb of God. He's God's provision, God's promised answer to our need as sinners. Behold the Lamb of God. There He is, that's His identity. God's Lamb, God's sacrifice, God's sufficient sacrifice, God's atoning sacrifice. God sent him. That's the first thing. But then secondly, what's his work? What did he send him to do? And John knows this. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Takes away sin. Now, I know these are goats, but this is the picture of the Day of Atonement, that Jewish sacrifice, that Jewish ceremony, in which there's the two goats, the one goat over which the people who is slain, slain by Aaron the priest, has a sin offering and his blood is sprinkled. The sin-offering goat. But then there's the other goat. We read this in Leviticus chapter 16. I won't read the whole chapter. I'll just refer to it. But you know the story of the scapegoat. And then the priest, the high priest, will take and lay his hands on the head of the live goat. And he will confess the sins of the people. Must have taken a while. Confess the sins of the people for the past year. And then they take that goat and they send him away into the wilderness. And if I were that goat, I would be quite happy to skip and jump and be and get lost and get out of their sight, because he probably saw what happened to his fellow goat. And he's gone. But what's the picture? Sin is paid for with the blood. Sin is taken away. You never see it again. Far country is gone. Behold the Lamb of God. And what does he do with sin? He doesn't leave it on you. He doesn't make it possible to take it away. He takes it away. And if he takes it away, guess what? It's gone. It's out of sight. It's buried. It's dead. It's out of the way. One goat is not a sufficient picture. in that day of atonement. One goat sheds his blood. Yes, without shedding a blood, there's no forgiveness. The other goat runs as far and fast as he can and takes sin away. And here is Jesus. And we know what happened to him. He did both. He took away sin, but he paid for sin with his blood on the cross. And there it was. that Peter goes on to say in 1st Peter 2.24, he himself bore our sins in his body up to the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. So there's the picture, there's the bloody death, the cursed death, Jesus taking away sin by the shedding of his blood. The wrath of God is poured out and satisfied, the penalty is paid, justice has its penalty done with. Now, the point is, again, if this is what Jesus came to do, to take away the sin of the world, and you have put your trust in him, you've confided in him, you laid like the priest confessing the sins of the people over the head of that goat, You confessed your sin to the Savior. Where's your sin? It's taken away. It's gone. It's paid for. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed to his cross, and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Oh, my soul. Just as an illustration, It is as if back in the days before E-ZPass, if you go to the toll booth and you have your friend following you in the next car, and you go to the person in the toll booth and you say, okay, this is for me and for the car behind me, and you pay the toll. And then your friend comes up in his car to the toll booth. Would it be right for the toll collector to say that'll be, well, back in those days before E-ZPass, that'll be $1.70? No, because it's paid. You don't collect that penalty, that toll twice. If it's been paid, it's paid. And so it is for you, dear brother and sister. If your sin is paid, justice is satisfied, the atonement is made, you don't pay it twice. That is glorious truth. Jesus came to do it, and he did it. But what's his target? Looking again at John's statement, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Not every individual in the world, of course. When he says of the world, you have to remember when we read the Bible and we come to this word world, it doesn't always mean it has different connotations or strains of meaning, but it doesn't always mean every last person in the world. How do we know that? Well, we just ask the simple question. Did Jesus in actual fact, take away the sin of every last individual in the world? And of course, the answer is no. We know from the words of Jesus that broad is the way that leads to destruction and many are those who walk in it. When those come to him and say, Lord, Lord, did we not teach? Did we not heal? Did we not cast out demons? And Jesus says, depart from me. I never knew you. When Jesus there in the parable of the sheep and the goats, what does he say to those goats that he places on his left hand? He says, depart into eternal punishment. These will depart into eternal punishment. And so it is obvious, evident, even as we walk around, we know there are a lot of people out there and no doubt some in here, sadly. We're not going to be. do not have their sins taken away. Enter by the narrow gate. The way is broad that leads to death. But the way is, there is a way that leads to life. It's the narrow way. It's the way of repentance and the way of faith. It's the way of Christ. Don't go the broad way. You want your sin taken away, that you bear it no more, you come to Jesus, because that's what he came to do. The whole world, men from every nation, tribe, and tongue, this is God's design from eternity. You know, the Jews didn't get it. Sometimes we look at the Jews and their hard-heartedness and their thick-headedness, and we say, how can you be so dumb? But then you look in the mirror, And you say, oh yeah, I get it. But what did God say? Way back in Isaiah chapter 49 and verse six, one of my favorite missionary passages that comes in the prophecy of Isaiah, one of those servant passages. and where the Lord says in verse five of Isaiah 49, and now thus says the Lord, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, in order that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and my God is my strength. And you say, well, of course, Jesus is a Jew. Jesus came to save Jews. Israel, Judah, that's natural, that's right. But he came to his own, and what happened? By and large, his own received him not. Well, what then? Does that mean he fails? No, look at the rest of the verse, or the next verse, verse six. He says, it is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel, that is the remnant. I will also make you a light of the nations so that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. Here we are. not in Israel. If there are Jewish members of this assembly, I'm not aware of it, there may well be, there are some in our assembly there in New Jersey, but no minority. But Jesus, God promises his son here in this passage, if that were all you were sent to do, just to save Israel and Judah, which would be glorious, it's not enough. And where we have people tonight, from not perhaps every nation, tribe, and tongue, but different ends of the earth. And we are all, in a sense, certainly not Jews. If Jesus were only sent to save Jews, where would we be? He came to be a light to the nations. He came and shined light into your heart, that you might see his glory in the face of Jesus Christ. Men from every nation, tribe and tongue. And that's what we find there in the book of Revelation. In that new song, worthy is the Lamb, worthy art thou to take the book and break its seals. For you were slain and purchased for God with your blood, men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And you have made them to be a kingdom and priest to our God. And they will reign upon the earth. To whom were they singing? The Lion of the tribe of Judah. And they looked, John looked, and what did he see? A lamb. Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It's a blessed thing. It's a great work to be a missionary, to bring the gospel to various lands. And you see people in different cultures, and you hear them singing different languages, but their song is one. Praise the Lamb of God who took away our sin. So there's his target. And the point, again, as I mentioned in my Sunday school, in my testimony, there's no one excluded by virtue of race or nationality or sex or class or education, all kinds of sinners all over the world. The Lamb came to save not every last person, But whoever would behold the Lamb, turn from their sin, confess it over his head as it were, he'll take it away. Now, what's our conclusion from these three things that we've seen? The identity is the Lamb of God, the work, he comes to take away sin, the target, the sin of the world. What do we learn from this? Well, this is the Bible doctrine of atonement. And, you know, for example, One of the Muslim names of God is the all-forgiving one. But you ask a Muslim, if you have Muslim friends, all right, your God is just. You say he forgives. How can he be just and forgive? And they say, we have an answer. It's the Lamb of God. How can God be just and justify you? because he sent the lamb, his son, to take away sin. This is the Bible doctrine of atonement. No forgiveness without shedding of blood. That's why we need the lamb of God to make that sacrifice. This is the gospel. Either I die for my sin or there's a substitute who dies in my place. And who can be that substitute? Well, he has to be man, but a mere man can't do it. He has to be God to endure it. The God-man, no other name. This is the Lamb of God. Secondly, in a conclusion or an implication, application of this, behold how terrible sin is. Just think about this. Who is the Lamb of God? It's the Son of God. The greater than John the Baptist. No mere man could do this. Who is going to undertake the mission? The Lamb of God is the Son of God. That's how great a problem sin is. One of our hymns, you who view your sin but lightly, nor suppose the evil great, here may view its nature rightly, here its guilt may estimate. Behold the sacrifice appointed. Who is it? Son of man and son of God. Sin is not a trivial thing. If it were a little problem, it just needs a little solution, but a big problem. needs a big solution, the death of the Son of God. But then if that's the case, if we have this lamb, if he's come and he's taken my sin away, what's the next implication? What should be the song of our souls? Hallelujah, what a Savior. Hallelujah, what a friend. Were your hearts moved as we sang that earlier? Hallelujah, what a Savior. who can begin to grasp the love of God, which surpasses understanding, demonstrated by the love of God. So praise the Savior from sin set free. Hallelujah. What a Savior. But then, as we come tonight and we have the symbols, the bread and the cup, use them like glasses. And we're not going to just focus on bread and cup. We look through them. And what do we see? Through these glasses, we see the Lamb of God taking away my sin. Think on that as you take the bread and the cup. Here's my Savior. Picture a symbol, not literal body, not literal blood, but a picture that shows reality of what he did for me. And then, like John, Remember what John said, okay, he says this, behold the Lamb of God. There in verse 29, he just sees Jesus coming. Who's listening when John says that? It doesn't mention anybody. But then the next day, he's standing with two disciples, and he says it again, behold the Lamb of God. And the two disciples get it, and they follow Jesus. And then these two disciples, when they meet Jesus, come and see, and they go and see. And he says, you're Simon, son of John. You shall be called Cephas, Peter. And so Peter says, Philip, come. Nathaniel, come. Andrew, come. And they say, behold, the Lamb of God. Now, that's not a big thing to say. It's not a heavy responsibility. It's not something that should be a burden in a way, although we're shy. You're shy. I'm shy. But if you've seen the Lamb, isn't that glorious? Can you say that? Behold the Lamb of God, who's taken away my sin. He's come to take away the sin of the world, and He'll take away your sin. Turn from it and trust in Him. That's what they did. And these men followed Him, happy if with my latest breath, my last breath, I might but gasp His name. You don't have to be a preacher. You can just be an ordinary Christian. Say, behold the Lamb. Have you beheld him? Let me quote here, and I was talking to Pastor Mitz last night, saying I don't usually quote. I'm gonna give you a quote. All right, this is from Henry Law, and he says this about this phrase, behold the Lamb of God. He says, Holy Father, and he puts it in the form of a prayer. The heavens, the earth, and all that are therein proclaim your wondrous goodness. but your love shines forth in surpassing luster in Calvary's stupendous scene. There at the cross, we see your heavenly grace removing the tremendous load of our iniquities from us, heaping them all on your beloved son. We see him standing as a transgressor in our place. We see him who knew no sin being made sin for us. We see him, the all holy one, accounted as a curse. We see your justice leading the spotless Lamb of God to the slaughter and rigorously demanding the full payment of all our sin debt. Your avenging sword enters his very heart. The stream of sin-atoning blood flows. Full recompense is meted out. Divine justice can ask no more. Charges against us are all obliterated. The debt book is cancelled. If our sins are searched for, they cannot now be found. The spotless Lamb of God is devoted to all anguish, that we may be inheritors of all joy. He is cast off from you, that we may be brought near to you. He is treated as your enemy, that we may be welcomed as your friends. He is deserted by you, that we may be received to your everlasting favor. He is surrendered to hell's worst that we may attain heaven's best. He is stripped that we may be clothed. He is wounded that we may be healed. He thirsts that we may drink of the water of life. He is in darkness that we may rejoice in the glory of the eternal day. He weeps that all tears may be wiped from our eyes. He groans that we may sing an endless song. He endures all pain that we may rejoice in unfading health, not in this life, in that which is to come. He wears a crown of thorns that we may receive a crown of glory. He bows his head in death that we may lift up our head in heaven. He bears earth's reproach, that we may receive heaven's welcome. He has tormented, that we may be comforted. He has made all shame, that we may inherit all glory. His eyes are dark in death, that our eyes may shine and gaze upon unclouded brightness. He dies, that we may escape the second death and live forever. Oh gracious father, he goes on and concludes, thus you spared not your only begotten son that you may spare us. All our sins are cast behind your back. All are buried in the ocean of reconciling blood. We can only fall low and cry. We adore you for the gift of your son is our substitute, for the death of your son is our ransom. Behold the Lamb of God and what he did for us. Spurgeon was fond of this simple song, and he quotes it again and again in his sermons. There is life for a look at the crucified one. There is life in a moment for thee. Then look, sinner, unto him and be saved. Unto him who was nailed to the tree, behold. the Lamb of God. Let's pray. Our Father, as we have considered this brief verse from John's Gospel, truths that we're familiar with and yet we need to be reminded of, have our hearts refreshed. Come again to the fountain open for sin and uncleanness. Come again and, as it were, confess our sins over his head. knowing that he takes them all away. We thank you for your son, our savior, the lamb. We thank you for his sacrifice. We thank you for what it accomplished. Surely, definitely, particularly. And we confess our sins. We have no claim but his blood and his righteousness. And we thank you that this is all sufficient. And so as we take the bread in the cup tonight, refresh us, revive us, stir us, move us, that we would turn away from sin and lay hold of the lamb and walk in his ways. Because as he has said, my sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me. And so we come to not only trust the lamb, put our sins on his head, but to follow him in all his ways. Hear us we cry, in Jesus' name, amen.