Behold the Lamb of God: Part 2

I'd like to speak to you today, and as we continue our message, this is part 2 of Behold the

Lamb of God, Behold the Lamb of God. It's a wonderful text, and our text comes from the

Gospel of John, so please turn with me to the Gospel according to John, the

Gospel according to John, known as the 4th Gospel, verse 29, verse 29, one text, and we'll ask the

Lord to help us after I read the text. Hear the word of the living

God. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said,

Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the

Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Please bow with me as we come before the throne of grace this morning to seek our

Lord's help in time of need. O God, our

Heavenly Father, how deep and infinite, Lord, is your love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners,

Christ died for us. When we were without strength, Christ died for us.

How vast beyond all measure is your love, that you so loved the world that you gave your one and only

Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life, and that you should give your

Son, Lord, to make a wretch your treasure. O Lord, I pray this morning to save us from apathy.

Lord, save us from ourselves. Give us, Lord, in your grace today.

I pray fresh bread and manna from heaven, fresh fire in our hearts to love you more and more, and to obey you more and more.

Lord, we will thank you, O God. We thank you for your word this morning, for in these last days you've spoken to us by your

Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who died, was buried, rose again, and is seated at your right hand, and is soon to come back in power and glory with all the holy angels.

Lord, you have appointed him heir of all things, and through whom also he made the worlds.

Lord, our prayer is that we would see Jesus. Hide me behind the cross,

Father. I need your help this morning as I proclaim your word. I'm just a voice. May you increase and may

I decrease. Father, may you honor your word, your written word, the holy scriptures, because it is alive, living.

Thank you for the written word, but Father, we thank you for the living word. Christ Jesus, and we pray that in all things that he alone will have the preeminence as we worship and praise you,

O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We need the blessed Holy Spirit to help us within this hour, Lord, I pray.

Give us ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church within this grave hour in which we live.

We thank you, Lord. We thank you, Savior. We thank you, King. We ask these things in the name of the

Lord Jesus Christ, amen and amen. The witness of John the

Baptist about the Lord Jesus Christ is one of the greatest witnesses, greatest witnesses ever given by a mortal man.

John the Baptist had a great privilege to introduce the world to the greatest man,

Jesus Christ, the God -man. John was great, but John was a mortal man.

Jesus was different. Jesus was the incarnate word. And you see this as we have been tracking this throughout

John chapter 1, that Jesus is the eternal word. 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.

And him was life, and the life was the light of man, and the light shines in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

So we see that Jesus Christ is the eternal word. And then in verse 14, the word became flesh.

He became flesh. He came in a body and dwelt among us.

He pitched his tent among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten Father, full of grace and truth.

Well, John the Baptist was the forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we see that as he had the great privilege to introduce the world to Jesus Christ to the world, we see in verse 6 through 9, there was a man sent from God, this is commentary on John, whose name was

John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the light that all through him might believe, and he was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of the light that was the true light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

So Jesus Christ, the anointed Messiah, is the Lamb of God. He is

God's Lamb. Keep this in mind. This is not another lamb. This is

God's Lamb. So the testimony of John the Baptist concerning Jesus Christ begins actually in verse 19 and runs all the way to verse 37.

So John the apostle, the apostle who wrote this wonderful gospel, hones in on really three days, as we've been looking at, three important days of the enduring ministry of John the

Baptist. John had a unique ministry, and he literally was considered somewhat like Elijah, a prophet of fire, comes out of the wilderness, his food is locusts and wild honey, he's dressed somewhat strange, he would be considered as a wild man, very eccentric in our day if he was here preaching today for us.

But he preached with power and urgency and unction and great love and passion.

He introduced the world to the Lord Jesus Christ. He had a unique ministry. He literally ministered for months and months on end, but out of that period of time, there's a three -day focus

I'd like to mention in the introduction here that's very important. Three days. Why?

Why is this important? Because Jesus shows up. Now that's important, isn't it?

Jesus shows up. He comes on the scene for the first time.

And for the very first time, he says, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Day one, actually, he says, he is here. He is here.

Verse 26, 27 basically gives commentary on that. He's here. John answered them.

That's the delegation of the religious people, like I said, would be today like the fact checkers on Facebook.

They're checking them out. He's checking out John. John is a prophet. His father is a priest.

He comes out preaching the power of the gospel. He says, I'm just a voice. He's questioned.

Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? You see this in actually the verses we've been looking through concerning John the

Baptist's witness from verse 19 to 23.

But these Pharisees, the Sanhedrin sends the delegation from the capital, from Jerusalem to find out who is this character,

John. So John basically says, I'm not the Christ. I'm just a voice.

I'm just a voice crying in the wilderness. But he says he's here. Jesus is here.

Now he didn't literally mean that Jesus has showed up yet on day one. He says he's among you.

Verse 26 and 27, John answered them saying, I baptize with water, which is an outward symbol of regeneration and cleansing from within.

Externally, the water H2O does not say. This is something that was signified and witnesses what is done on the inside.

So John is answering them, he says, I baptize with water. But there stands one among you whom you do not know.

It is he who is coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap

I'm not worthy to lose. He's basically saying I'm just a servant slave and I'm not even worthy to stoop down and unlatch his sandals.

This is how great the Lord Jesus Christ is and John knew that. So he says he's here.

He's in the midst of you. On day two, John says, look at him.

Look at him. And this is our text. The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, behold, the

Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Explanation. You can hear him shout this out for all these religious people, all these

Gentiles to hear this great news. The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Then on day three, as we will be following up on this Lord willing next Lord's day, then he says, follow him, follow him.

So you see that in verse 35 to 37. Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples looking at Jesus and he walked and said, behold, the

Lamb of God. He says it again. The two disciples heard him speak. These are

John's disciples and they followed Jesus. There was a transition here and John loses his disciples, which he gladly wanted that to happen.

He wanted his disciples to follow Christ. That was his purpose. That was his reason. So he said, he's here.

He said, behold, the Lamb of God. Behold the

Lamb of God. Look to look at him. And then he said, follow him. Beloved, can I say this?

That is actually. That what that is the message of any preacher that would that would give the gospel recording regard, record,

I get my words right here, according to the gospel regarding Jesus Christ. Now, let me say this.

The great preacher, C .H. Spurgeon, said the motto of all true servants of God must be we preach

Christ and him crucified. We preach Christ and him crucified.

And Spurgeon goes on to say a sermon without Christ in it is like a loaf of bread without any flour in it.

No Christ in your sermon, sir. Then go home and never preach again until you have something worth preaching.

That's what Spurgeon said. And I mean every bit of that. So when Jesus is called the

Lamb of God in our text in verse twenty nine and verse thirty six, it is actually referring to him as God's perfect, holy, ultimate sacrifice for sin.

I will say that again. This is God's perfect, ultimate sacrifice for sin, holy, spotless.

In order to understand this and who Jesus Christ is and what he has done for us, we must look into the

Old Testament. I like to retract and recap a little bit what

I spoke about last Lord's Day, but I got some points to make with what I'm saying, which contains the prophecies concerning the first coming of Christ as a guilt offering.

Now we see this in the whole chapter of Isaiah fifty three. Isaiah fifty three says concerning Christ in verse ten, it pleased the

Lord to bruise him, to crush him. Think of that.

It pleased the Lord to bruise Christ. 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. That means he will be resurrected and live forever. And the pleasure of the

Lord shall prosper in his hand. Beloved, though the suffering servant, the

Lamb of God, did not deserve to die, it was the Lord's will for him to do so.

And he willingly did this. He was the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world.

I love Matthew twenty six thirty nine. Hear the word of God on this. Matthew comments on this.

When Jesus is in Gethsemane, the oil press, the olive press.

And here you see the weight of sin pressing upon the Lord Jesus Christ in the garden.

And it's pressing so hard because he sees the agony and the cup he's about to drink as he goes to the cross.

He set his face like a flint. He was unmoved and obeying the Father's command.

This was God's command given to Christ. And the scripture says he went a little further in verse thirty nine.

Aren't you glad Jesus went a little further? He fell on his face and he prayed saying, oh my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me nevertheless.

Not as I will, but as you will. If you ever notice, you know,

Satan, who was once an archangel. And think of that. This is something to think about.

Sin originated in heaven, in the heart of an archangel. An archangel that was lifted up in pride.

That turned an archangel into a devil. And the commentary on Isaiah literally says,

I will exalt myself against the most high. I will be God. I will be like the most high.

I, I, I. Jesus does opposite. He says not I, but thy will be done.

Jesus was utterly committed as a man, the God -man, to submit his will to the

Father's will. And he learned obedience even through suffering.

It's incredible, isn't it? Jesus, the Lamb of God, willingly drank the cup of God the

Father's divine wrath against sin, your sin, my sin. And the scripture says the sin singular of the world, all in one package.

Now Hebrews 9, 28 says this, so Christ was offered once, notice the word offered as a sacrifice, to bear the sins of many.

To those who eagerly wait for him, he will appear a second time apart from sin for salvation.

The Lord Jesus Christ, the suffering servant, is the Lamb of God. Then in Isaiah 53, 7, says this, he was oppressed, he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth.

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.

Have you ever seen an innocent little lamb? Have its throat sliced, and killed, and then offered?

Cute, precious, male little lamb. But the Lord Jesus Christ was even, far more, these are types and shadows, and we're going to see this in just a minute.

Jesus is that suffering servant, God's Lamb. He will utter no protest as he goes to the cross.

He would be willing to willingly die on a cruel Roman cross, and will utterly be submissive to God's holy will.

And by the way, we're talking about perfect submission, folks. We're not talking about halfway submission.

We're talking about perfect submission. No one else has ever done this.

This is why the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is the only acceptable way to get us to heaven.

There is no other way. All religions of the world, we'll see this in Cain in just a minute, and Abel.

But two worshippers, both religious, both bring sacrifice. But there's only one that really pleased the

Lord. That was Abel's sacrifice because he brought a lamb, he obeyed God. He came

God's way. Cain wanted to go his way. Cain wanted to do, this is what religion, man's religion is.

Man's religion is their attempt to get to God, through work, salvation, through any other way but Jesus.

Jesus is the divine way that God has given to us and the world to come to God.

No other way. And that's why the scripture says, there's no other name under heaven whereby men could be saved but through the name of Jesus Christ.

But see, Jesus submitted himself to God's will and also to those who would oppress him.

He said he opened not his mouth. There was no protest. He willingly submitted to the

Father's will. Jesus fulfilled this as the suffering servant, as the lamb of God.

Now the Old Testament asks the question as we saw, where is the lamb? Where is the lamb?

The New Testament shouts it out. Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

So does that mean we do away with Genesis, all the way, all the books of Genesis, the 39 books to Malachi?

Absolutely not. Because all those books point to Christ. They point to Christ.

There's Christ in the Old Testament. Jesus after his resurrection on the road of Emmaus, he spoke to two disciples and he went through the scriptures all the way to the beginning with Moses, through the prophets, through the

Psalms, concerning himself. Could you imagine hearing Christ, the living word preached through the written word?

That's amazing. But he himself, how important it is, the Old Testament is. The prophets spoke and uttered

God's holy word that inspired God breathed just as well as the New Testament. The New Testament basically just revealed what was concealed in the

Old Testament. So the New Testament shouts behold the lamb of God and in eternity, in the future,

God's people that are redeemed by the blood of the lamb, who overcame by the blood of the lamb, will praise the lamb who is worthy for all eternity.

That's what they're doing now. You know, as we meet together as God's people, this is just a touch, a foretaste of heaven.

As we sing God's praises, as we worship God, and as we pray and then we hear the word preached, but beloved, this is a foretaste, but in heaven they're doing this constantly in God's presence.

And as they bow before the almighty, holy thrice holy God, they say holy, holy, holy

Lord God almighty who is and who was and is to come. So this great plan of redemption was in the mind and the heart of God throughout all eternity.

God's eternal purpose is redemption by the blood sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. That was

God's plan before this world was created. God knew ahead exactly what would happen, but he planned this in his sovereign will in a covenant,

God the Father in a covenant with God the Son, and how the plan of salvation would unfold.

Isn't this glorious? Nothing takes God by surprise. God had all this already planned.

You mean to tell me all the evil that takes place and all the horrors of hell and all the suffering?

Folks, look to the cross. Look at the horrors of hell there. Nothing we go through compares to that.

Doesn't even come close. But we'll see that. And how beautiful this red cord of crimson thread is woven through a tapestry is the glorious theme of the

Lamb of God and God's holy mind and plan and it's brought forth through the scriptures, through the holy scriptures.

Now listen to these people, they got another word, another revelation from God. Now folks, if it's not from this book here, throw it out.

This is the only revelation, Genesis is the revelation and when it says this is the word that we live by, this is the word that is the only rule of faith to practice and anything outside of scripture is spurious, it's wrong.

So as we look through the Old Testament a little bit, I'm going to touch on some things here and all

I did, I just put a, I got a little outline to give you but God's plan of redemption is absolutely awesome.

Now as we looked at last Lord's day, I just want to touch on this very quickly in Genesis 3 verse 21, you don't have to turn there but you can, it says this, also for Adam and his wife, this is before she was named

Eve because at this point sin came into the world, she was not named

Eve until after she gives birth, okay, or during the birth because she's the mother,

Eve actually means the mother of all living. So this is his wife, Adam and his wife, the

Lord God himself made tunics of skin and clothed them. Now underscore that, clothed,

God clothed them. They were naked, they were brought down by the curse of sin that came into the world but God in his grace clothed them.

God killed an animal. Now we don't know what animal he killed. It's assumed that it's a lamb but there is a sacrifice that's given.

The first physical death should have been the man and his wife, they should have been the one that really should have died.

They deserve to die, just like you and me, we deserve death. We don't deserve to live but God in his grace allowed them to live another day.

God killed an animal which was a shadow of the reality that God would someday kill a substitute to redeem sinners.

He will sacrifice, it pleased the Lord to crush his son, folks.

But you say, pastor, when I read the scriptures, they put them to death, they did, they were responsible for putting them to death and they were responsible, the religious people, the

Jews, the Jews there said crucify him, crucify him. But God in his sovereignty allowed that to take place.

But it was God that was really in control. This was God's lamb that was allowing this to happen to his son.

Because Jesus was the substitute and there was no other than the Lord Jesus Christ who would become flesh and he's our

Passover lamb. Spurgeon once again said this, the heart of the gospel is redemption and the essence of redemption is the substitutionary death sacrifice of Christ.

It's important because there has to be a substitutionary sacrifice.

The soul that sinneth shall die. For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our

Lord. We got to understand both sides of this. We must understand the justice of God, we must understand the love of God, the mercy of God.

And at the cross both kissed each other. We will see this. Christ is our Passover.

He's been sacrificed for us. And throughout the Old Testament we see the lamb of God in tithes and shadows.

We see this time and time again, thousands of years before Christ literally became, entered into this world in flesh.

All the way through the prophets, they speak first of his first coming and then his second coming as well.

Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1 says this, God who has at various times in his various ways spoken time past to the fathers by the prophets.

And then of course in verse 2, he has in these last days spoken to us by his son whom he has appointed heir of all things through whom he also made the worlds.

Let's take a jet tour real quickly in a survey through these wonderful scriptures.

And like I said I want to just highlight some points here and we're going to briefly go through and just gaze and catch a small glimpse of the lamb of God in the

Old Testament. We're going to go to the New Testament but then we'll have an application of how to follow the lamb in everyday living before we dismiss and go to our homes and wherever God has appointed.

But God has something for us this morning. It's very important. The first thing we see is the prospect of the lamb for redemption.

The prospect of the lamb for redemption. This prospect of the lamb is found in Genesis 4,

Genesis 4, 3 to 7. Now, you can ride with me and go with me very quickly and we'll go through this as fast as I possibly can but I don't want to miss nothing here that's so important for us to understand this concept.

Genesis chapter 4, 3 to 7 we see two worshipers again and let me read verse 3, beginning of verse 3.

Verse 3, in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering, notice the word offering, to the fruit of the ground to the

Lord. Abel also brought the firstborn of his flock of their fat and the

Lord respected Abel in his offering. But he did not respect Cain in his offering and Cain was very angry and his countenance fell.

So the Lord said to Cain, why are you angry? Notice the questions God asked

Cain. Why are you angry? Why has your countenance fallen? This is what sin does.

This is what self -will does to a person. If you do well, will you not be accepted?

If you do not do well, sin lies at the door and its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.

Very, very interesting. The concept here of a required lamb is given as a sacrifice on the account of the very first act of worship.

The very first act of worship we see in Scripture here. Both of these brothers, again, are worshipers, they're religious.

Abel is a keeper of the sheep. He brings a lamb before God. And why is he bringing a lamb?

Because he is divinely instructed by God Almighty to bring a lamb. Now that's why

I would possibly assume, and I don't want to go there because Scriptures don't give it, but God killed an animal, it could be very well possibly a lamb because he learned this somewhere, folks, right?

So he brings a lamb. Cain doesn't do this. He's another worshiper. He comes before God worshiping.

He's religious. He's desiring to worship his own way, not

God's way. So Cain represents, again, all religions of the world.

He's coming his way. It's man -centered. It's work -centered. And his approach to God is to do everything self -willed.

Cain worshiped. To worship a holy God. And God does not accept his sacrifice.

But Abel comes with blood sacrifice. There's the key right there.

Blood sacrifice. This pleases the Lord. In Hebrews 11, 4, by faith

Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous.

God testifying about his gifts. And through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.

And there's the commentary on that. Beloved, when we worship God, we always come by faith through the lamb of God slain as a propitiation.

Folks, no other worship is going to be accepted to God unless it's by faith, through blood sacrifice to the

Lord, through the lamb of the Lord Jesus Christ. R .C. Sproul, he's with the

Lord now, but he was one of my favorite teachers and theologians. He said this, quote, we have no right to come before God at all apart from the finished work of Christ.

Did you hear that? We have no right to come before God at all apart from the finished work of Christ.

The only way that God will hear us and accept us in our worship is through faith and through the blood sacrifice of Christ.

There's no other way. There's no other way. And all other is rubbish and dung, as Paul would put it.

Able sacrifice, man is always seen bringing the animal sacrifice,

Hebrews 9 .22, without the shedding of blood, there's no remission. Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission.

So we see the prospect of the lamb for redemption there. So next we see the provision of the lamb for redemption.

Prospect, and now you see the provision. As we saw this last Lord's Day, again,

Genesis 22, we see Father Abraham in chapter 22. Verse 6,

I want to just read verse 6 through 8. Read this whole chapter in your devotional time, but it's really a wonderful test for Abraham.

God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham, he said, here am I. He said, take now your son, your only son

Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him, there it is, offer him there as a burnt offering on the mountains, one of the mountains of which

I shall tell you. Now I want you to think about this. Back in Abraham's day, to offer a human sacrifice was absolutely pagan, right?

They worshipped other gods, sun god, and actually that's where Abraham, when he was

Abram, God called him out. And then he began his journey, and he went by faith.

So to offer up, and here God at this time is saying, okay, now you offer your son, your only son.

You've got to remember, this is not just another son, this is the promised son in which the Messiah would come through his lineage.

This is the covenant in which God, the Abrahamic covenant that God makes with Abraham, and now

God is saying, now you give him back to me. Offer him back to me. Isn't it amazing?

It comes from God miraculously. This is a miracle child, and now God says, you offer him to me on this mountain,

Moriah. Well you know the story. Abraham passes the test.

It's a test of faith. That's why he's called Father Abraham, he's the father of our faith, and the dominant idea here, the whole experience is summed up in the words,

God will provide himself the lamb. You know, we hear about Jehovah Jireh, and the prosperity gospel, they use this text to provide homes and cars and more money.

That's all abomination, folks. God provides himself a, his lamb.

Now, in the story in verse 13, if you notice, in verse 13, Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked.

He looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by its horn, so Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.

Verse 14, and Abraham called the name of the place the Lord will provide, Yahweh will provide.

As it is said to this day, in the mouth of the Lord it shall be provided. So God provided the sacrifice.

You think, I want you to think of this, beloved. The Lord did just that at Calvary's cross.

He provided the lamb, his lamb, God's lamb. He provided the lamb that would take away the sin of the world.

Here was a ram, again, in the Old Testament, where is the lamb? But he shows up.

When John the Baptist comes forth and he sees Jesus coming toward him, he says, behold the lamb of God.

We need to ring, we need to have that ringing through our minds and our hearts. He says, look, he's here.

He's here. Follow him. Hebrews 10 .4, for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Right? If you look in Hebrews 10, this is a commentary on a lot that is being said here.

But in Hebrews chapter 10, let me read just a little bit, 5 through 10.

Therefore when he came into the world, speaking of Christ, he said, sacrifice and offering you did not desire.

Listen to that. But a body you had prepared for me. And burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you had no pleasure.

Then I said, behold, I have come in the volume of the book. It is written of me to do your will,

O God. This is speaking of Christ. Previously saying sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings and offerings for sin, you did not desire nor had pleasure in them which are offered according to the law.

Then he said, behold, I have come to do your will, O God. He takes away the first that he may establish the second.

And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

You see how that happened. Jesus fulfilled all that the law required.

That he pleased God in every way. Jesus, the Lamb of God, has fully, not in part but in whole, made redemption, made atonement, has taken away the sin of the world.

It's happened. The ram that was caught in a thicket as Abraham saw was a type of the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ that was offered up before God on a cross as a burnt offering in our place, a substitute.

We deserve to die, don't we? We deserve justice. We deserve eternal hell.

And yet God in his great love sent Jesus. This is why Jesus spoke to Nicodemus in John chapter 3, a very religious man, a

Pharisee, one that should have known the law. And Jesus speaks to him about the new birth in John 3, 3.

You must be born again. You must be born again. Without being born again, there's no way, no one will enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Or even see the kingdom of heaven. And then in verse 14, Jesus tells them this story.

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. You should think of this.

This is a veiled prediction of Jesus' death on the cross. Jesus refers to the story in the book of Numbers, in chapter 21, where the

Israelite people who looked at the serpent lifted up by Moses' pole were healed.

So the point of this awesome illustration that Jesus gives Nicodemus is this.

The analogy is in the lifted up. Lifted up.

That lifting up is Christ on the cross. Jesus Christ on Mount Calvary's cross is the sacrifice that God places in front of the world.

That great day. Just as Moses lifted up the serpent on the pole, so that all who looked by faith upon it might live physically, but they looked at it in numbers physically.

But those who look, behold Christ on that pole, lifted up on the cross.

The Lamb of God who was lifted up to die will live spiritually and eternally. Look and live, folks.

That's the message. That's what we need to tell people. Look and live. Look to Christ. Oh, to behold the

Lamb of God. I love what that wonderful hymn says, and there's so many verses to it.

Lifted up was he to die by Spafford. Not Spafford, but I can't think of his name right now.

But one of my favorite hymn writers. He was to die, it is finished was his cry.

Now in heaven exalted high, hallelujah what a Savior. So there's the prospect of the

Lamb for redemption, the provision of the Lamb. Third, there's the protection that's provided by the redeeming

Lamb. Prospect, provision, protection. We see the protection of the Lamb and the redemption of the

Passover Lamb appropriated by faith. And it had to be slain. The blood of it must be applied to each home.

In the book of Exodus, we see this. The father of each household was required to take an unblemished one -year -old innocent lamb to kill it, to put the blood on the doorpost.

And you see this in Exodus, in Exodus chapter 12, very important verse, chapter.

The Passover is instituted. Let me read just a little bit here.

Verse 5, your lamb shall be without blemish. Notice that without blemish, a male of the first year.

You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the 14th day of the same month.

Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight.

And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts of the lintel of the houses where they eat.

Then they shall eat of the flesh on that night, roast it in fire with unleavened bread.

And with bitter herbs they shall eat of it. Do not eat it raw, no boiled or with water, but roast it in fire.

And fire speaks of God's judgment and wrath. And it's on the sacrifice, heads with its legs and entrails.

You shall not let none of it remain until morning. And what remains of it until morning, you shall burn it with fire.

And thus you shall eat of it with a belt on your waist, sandals on your feet and a staff in your hand.

So shall you eat it in haste and it is the Lord's Passover. And then it goes on to say, and I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast against all the gods of Egypt.

And I will execute judgment, I am the Lord. And it says, now the blood shall be assigned for you on the houses where you are.

And when I see the blood, you hear that? When God says when

I see the blood, I will pass over you. And the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when

I strike the land of Egypt. There's the protection, folks. And this is all fulfilled in the

Lord Jesus Christ. Christ was that without blemish, perfect, spotless

Lamb of God, perfect in every way. He fulfilled God's holy law from beginning to end.

No one else ever did that. And He did it as a man full of the Holy Spirit in His life, fulfilled.

And this is what I love. We're going to get to this in a minute. Jesus not only died for our sins, but He died and He also lives for us.

He lived for us that we may appropriate His righteousness.

He fulfilled the law. But there's the protection. And what's the protection from?

The wrath of God. Wouldn't you say? You want to be saved from the wrath of God?

I like what Paul Washer says. Really the question to people is, do you want to go to heaven?

That's not the question. He says, do you want God? Do you want

God? That's the question. So, you see, the perfect Lamb, the perfect Lamb in redemption is emphasized throughout the book of Leviticus.

I don't have time to hit all the scriptures there, but the theme of the book of Leviticus is what? God's holiness, right?

God's holiness and the sacrifice. The only sacrifice that pleases

God was the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world without blemish, perfect in every way.

The Lamb must be perfect in its character to remove sin, to remove guilt.

The priestly handbook made it very clear in Leviticus. I'll read one verse. Leviticus 22, 21b, it must be perfect to be accepted.

There shall be no defect in it. Therefore, every sacrifice in the

Old Testament anticipated the true perfect sacrifice, which the Lamb of God would one day offer once and for all.

Well, remember the question the Old Testament asked, where is the Lamb? Where's the

Lamb? Well, you see, all these types and shadows throughout the Old Testament, types and shadows of the coming perfect sacrifice for sin.

And even though all those sacrifices that were offered before a holy God, not a one of them could atone for sin.

They didn't have the power to do that. Even though they pleased

God, but it did not have the atoning power to remove that sin.

See, that was the sacrifice. Read the book of Hebrews. This is what Hebrews is all about.

Jesus is that fulfillment. And like Jesus said, I did not come, he said this,

I did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill the law. He fulfilled God's perfect standard, folks.

And so when we stand before a holy God, there's only going to be two kinds that's going to stand before God one day, in Christ or outside of Christ.

There's nothing else in between. And if Christ is not ours and all in all and in you all, then it's hell.

That's why the old fashioned preachers and they got it right. It's turn or burn. It's Christ or hell.

It's Christ or judgment. And that's the urgency of the message. But there is a way.

God has not left us to die and go all go to hell. There is a way.

And Jesus says, I am the way, the truth and the life. God has accomplished this through Jesus Christ, the lamb of God.

This was God's sacrifice. God the father gave God the son.

I love the gospel in one verse, don't you? Second Corinthians 521. You know it well.

For he, speaking of God the father, made him, speaking of Jesus the son, who knew no sin to what?

To be sin. For who? For us. Why? That we might become, listen to this, the righteousness of God in him.

He is our righteousness. He's the righteous one. So when we stand before a holy God, God doesn't look and see us.

He sees Christ. So therefore there's no condemnation to those that are in Christ.

Aren't you glad? Why? How? Because of the sacrifice. But the key is we must believe it.

And when we believe that sacrifice, and only by the Holy Spirit can we believe in our heart. It's not by trying.

It's by trusting. It's by coming in submission. And coming bankrupt.

And saying I've got nothing to offer. Here I am. I come, oh lamb of God. And I believe and I repent.

Help me. Throw yourselves at the foot of the cross. And let the blood of Jesus by faith cleanse you.

And look to him. I like the old Puritans. They would say one look at self and a thousand looks to Christ.

A thousand looks to Christ. I love that. And by the way, that one verse has double imputation in it.

You don't hear a lot of this. Jesus forgives us of our sins. But he also, as sinners, he gives us his righteousness.

Not single imputation. Double imputation. Isn't that glorious?

This is the gospel. So he gives us his righteousness to live victoriously.

In him. Through the spirit. To mortify our sins. We've seen the prospect of the lamb.

The provision of the lamb. The protection of the lamb. Provided through the perfect lamb. Now we're going to go on.

Remember what John the Baptist shouted to all those that heard. Behold the lamb of God.

Who takes away the sin of the world. He's here. Look at him. Follow him.

Great and awesome thing. God's eternal purpose. It's all about Jesus.

Now I want to say this. There must be two things here. As I try to bring this down to a conclusion.

I've got a little bit more to say. I can't get all this in. We must.

And I emphasize we must see this. By the help of the Holy Spirit. Or we will miss the whole gospel.

And what it's about. There's two things important here. The great reformers and the Puritans believed this.

And the gospel preaches this. We must have a true knowledge of ourselves.

And we must have a true knowledge of who God is. Folks if we don't have that.

In reality and truth. We will miss the whole point. Of what God is saying.

Fearfully. Terribly. Tragically. I hate to say this. But it's true. How can

I say this. Without sounding critical. But it's so true. I'm afraid that even so many people that's in churches.

Don't see this. How terrible. How terrible. And awful.

How abominable. There's no words that can describe it folks. Our sin is before a holy

God. How can you say that pastor.

Because. Because so many people think oh I'm so good. I'm so righteous. And yet they're so far from seeing

God who He is. Let me say this. It had to be awful.

To send His own perfect son. To a cross. To die. And take the wrath of God.

Do you see this? God's only son. To be sacrificed on a cruel tree.

To become a curse for you and me. To make His holy son.

Who knew no sin. Sin was foreign to Him. And yet He became sin.

How awful sin must be folks. He didn't send an angel.

He didn't send an archangel. He sent His son. As a substitutionary sacrifice.

This is why we must hear the whole gospel. He who knew no sin.

He became sin. The great exchange for us. That we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Beloved, do we really know how terrible our sin is? Before a holy God. To pay such a high cost.

Paul says you've been bought with a price. That price is the precious blood of the

Lamb. The scripture says it's precious. Precious. The precious blood of the

Lord Jesus Christ. It costs God to redeem us. From the awful slave market of sin.

And to set us free by His sacrifice of love. Beloved, if we don't understand this truth.

We will not see salvation as it is. And that's why we need the law of God. The law cannot save us.

The law only condemns us. But it is a mirror. That we may see who we are. Before the holiness of God.

And that holiness will shine on our sin. And yes, it will condemn us.

We need to hear this. To bring us to the cross.

To drive us to the cross. See, Luther said it right. The gospel is the remedy.

The law breaks the hard hearted. It's for the prideful, the boastful. But the gospel is for those who will humble themselves.

It's the remedy. It's the remedy. And only the gospel can save. So in the eyes of faith, we're redeemed.

Now, I've got to bring this to a conclusion. I like what Donald Gray Barnhouse, the great expository

Presbyterian preacher said. Where justification ends, sanctification begins.

That's so important. And you can read the commentary on that through Romans chapter 6.

And why I say that is. There's salvation. Jesus has provided the salvation.

Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. Sin had left the crimson stain. He washed it.

Made it whiter than snow. But to know that justification has taken place.

That's instantaneous before God. That God declares us righteous. As we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

There will be marks of sanctification. Mark Lord Jones said this.

He said, if you don't have a desire to be holy. There is great reason to doubt that you're even saved.

Why? Because when one is born again, he's born from above. He doesn't love the world.

He loves God. That's why the scripture says, love not the world. Neither the things that are in the world. What's in the world?

The lust of the flesh. The pride of life. It's all of the world. It's going to pass away. So we can't love what the world loves.

In other words, we love what God loves. We hate what God hates. Born from above.

You're a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5 .17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he's what?

A new creation. All things have been passed away. Behold. There's that word behold.

Look, all things have become new. So he becomes a new creation. Jesus died the death on the cross.

In Matthew 27 .45. And from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, there was darkness over all the land.

Noontime to three. Basically. Three hours Jesus Christ died, absorbed all of the fury of the wrath of a holy just God against sin on himself.

He took our place. He absorbed all that sin. Incredible. Jesus Christ.

And then the scripture says in about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, It's a tough word to say.

But it's Arabic. That is, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

It's holy ground. Jesus is quoting Psalm 22 .1 on the cross. No words, no human words can really explain or come close to what

Jesus is really suffering here, folks. We would never know this. Even in eternity. It's holy ground.

But we do know this much according to the revelation given here. Jesus, the Lamb of God at that moment, was experiencing in full the abandonment of God himself.

For the first time, the eternal son and the father was separated.

For three hours, Jesus took total separation as God was pouring his fury and wrath on him because of sin.

And we got people out there that say, Oh yeah, I'm a Christian. And they do whatever they want to do. But they don't want to please

God. Folks, I got... There's a reason to doubt. There must be marks of sanctification if there's justification.

If one's been born again. We must see this. We must see this. Jesus took this abandonment as he took the wrath of God upon himself.

Now, verse 50, Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. Verse 51,

In Matthew, Behold, look. There it is. The veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom and the earth quaked and the rocks were split.

That veil being torn. What did that signify? Folks, God himself tore that veil with his hands.

What did that signify? It's important. The curtain that blocked the entrance of the most holy place.

That the tearing of the veil thus signified that the way into God's holy presence was now open to all through a new and living way.

Through Jesus Christ. It's no more blood sacrifices of animals and tights and shadows as the

Jewish people still do today. It's through Christ. Through Christ, the new and living way.

God tore it from top to bottom. So that no man could even split.

Only God could do it. The writer of Hebrews says this, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endeared the cross, despising the shame, and had sat down at the right hand of God, of the throne of God.

For consider him, folks, who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, lest you become weary, discouraged in your souls.

The great exchange has taken place. The great exchange.

If you've appropriated Jesus Christ and believe, and if you believe, the scripture makes it very clear, there's fruits of obedience.

There's fruits of righteousness that follows, right? There's marks of sanctification.

That's why Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who, what?

Who believes. For the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed.

And from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith.

By faith in the Lamb of God. Now, I must close. And I want to close with a story that's taking place right now this month.

And I want to bring it into what is being said in the scriptures. So, not only would

Jesus forgive you of all your sins, but He also becomes our righteousness. The great exchange.

So that we'll live a holy, sanctified life. Isn't that wonderful?

Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh, the scripture says. Put on the

Lord Jesus Christ. Here's the example I want to give. 1977, a lot of people,

I was here, unfortunately I went to see this Star Wars classic in 1977, sad to say, but now called

The New Hope. I'm sure everybody's heard of it. Did you know the original dress that Carrie Fisher, who wore as Princess Leia, is being auctioned off later this month?

Take a guess how much they're going to be asking at the auction for that dress. Secular media anticipates bringing a substantial price, expected price of $2 million.

$2 million for a dress Carrie Fisher, who is dead in eternity now, that she wore on the set of Star Wars.

Not a few willing to pay for it by far, right? Who has that kind of money? $2 million for a dress she wore?

Really? Can I say this in contrast to the believer in Jesus Christ?

That we have received a garment, a spotless lamb by faith, washed in the blood of the lamb, a robe, a garment, far, far more costly and beautiful than what this old world affords.

This robe of righteousness has been paid for in full, purchased by the precious blood of the lamb, that is far more worth than any rag that's going to perish on this world as they're going to auction off this dress worth supposedly $2 million.

It's ridiculous. But think about what it costs God for the righteousness,

His righteousness, that He will clothe you with. Clothe your nakedness.

Clothe you and take away your sin and put on a garment of righteousness.

Isn't that glorious? How does this look like? Revelation 12, 11 tells us how the believer in Jesus Christ looks like.

They overcame Him, the devil, by what? The blood of the lamb.

The blood of the lamb. And by the word of their testimony.

And what else? And they did not love their lives to the death.

Why? Because they've taken up the cross, they've followed Jesus. Jesus said, follow me.

First He said, deny yourself. Number one. Next, He says, take up your cross.

That's two. Three, follow me. Deny yourself.

Take up your cross. Self -denial, repentance. That's believing.

Repentance and believing is the same coin, right? Take up your cross means obedience to the commands of God.

Jesus said, follow me. Follow me. That's what John the Baptist says, follow me. All believers in Jesus, past, present, future, overcome

Satan by the blood of the lamb. There's no other way to overcome, folks. This is the way the believer looks like.

Through Jesus Christ's death, burial, resurrection. What shall we say then,

Paul says to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare

His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all. How shall

He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect?

It is God who justifies. It is God who justifies. It is, who is

He who condemns? It is Christ who died. And furthermore, is also risen, who's even at the right hand of God.

Excuse me. Who also makes intercession for us. May we by God's sovereign grace believe, rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ and live for Him and not love our lives unto the death.

Because He's worthy. He's worthy. Let's pray. Our God and our

Father, how great is Your love. As the old hymn says, it's greater far than tongue or pen can even tell.

It goes beyond the highest star, it reaches down to the lowest hell.

There's not a person that's so depraved outside of Your hope, as long as they're alive.

Thank You, Father, for the wonderful, wonderful gospel that we're so undeserving of.

You gave Your Son to win. Your errant child, You reconciled and pardoned from sin. Oh, love of God, how rich, how pure, how measureless and strong.

It shall forevermore endear the saints and angels. Lord, I just pray. Lord, lay hold of us here today and to those that have sinned against You.

Lord, to wash them in the precious blood of the Lamb as they would believe. Lord, I pray they do not put this off.

Today's the day of salvation. Lord, eternity would not be long enough to thank

You for giving Your Son, the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die as our substitute.

For it was for us who deserve justice in hell. And yet,

You have given us grace, mercy and heaven. So much that we do not deserve.

And our song through all eternity and through the ages, when our little life is ended here, will be worthy as the

Lamb who was slain to receive power, riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and blessing.

All because of Your Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ, that gives eternal life here and now.

Father, I pray that not one here, not a soul here leaves until they have received and asked mercy from You.

And by Your grace, Lord, I would pray You would grant mercy through Jesus Christ.

And that's why it says, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered, shall be saved.

Now, Lord, may we all that are here be ready to meet

You whenever You call us home, whether we die or live,

Lord, we're Yours. And help us to serve You to the end. For Your name's sake, to live victorious through Jesus Christ our

Lord. We give You praise, we give You glory for it's in Jesus' name.