The Lamb of God — Jon Speed

Before I get started here, I apologize for this, but just one point of housekeeping. If you're looking at the books back there, you're interested in the price. If you look at the first blank end paper, there's a penciled price on the first blank page up in the corner.

That price is in pencil for a reason. So if you need some help with that price, I can definitely adjust that. That's a ministry. We want to equip you. Part of what Any Great Awakening is about is education regarding the gospel and the doctrines of grace.

And I'm sure you'll see, as you look through those books, there's some solid theology there. That's what we really want to do there is get sound theology out there into the hands of people who are interested in doing evangelism.

The other thing that we want to, I encourage you to pick up, there's a little pamphlet there. It's free, just grab that. It's about a church planning project and a opportunity to get more education in open air preaching.

The Gospel Must Proclaim Christ

And that's all I'm gonna say about that at this point. John chapter one, verse 29 is our text today. John chapter one, verse 29. A while back, I had the privilege of hearing a solid Reformed Baptist preacher talk about evangelism.

And he was just kind of tongue in cheek, kind of ribbing those of us who do street evangelism. And he was saying, you know, some of you guys think that you're John the Baptist. And he kind of said it tongue in cheek.

And I was speaking with some brothers and sisters in Christ, some brothers in Christ in particular, and they said, you know, it's important for us to preach about Jesus when we go out there and preach the gospel.

Because there's something that happens when we go out there and we focus on the law of God, and we never get to the cross. You know, so many of us, we've come up through very good ministries like Way of the Master, and they've done an excellent service to the body of Christ, and helping us to understand the importance of preaching the law before we get to grace, preaching the law before we get to the cross.

But there's, in some preaching that's going on out there, there's no getting to the cross. It's just, it becomes a man-centered message to an extent. Because what we're doing is we're saying you're this, you're that, you're this, you're that, and going down over lists of sins and all these things that these people most definitely are in their totally depraved hearts.

But we never get to the remedy. We never get to Christ. Something is wrong with our gospel preaching if we're not preaching Christ. Something's wrong with it. And so I began to think about what this man said.

Some of you all think you're John the Baptist, and you met that kind of as a dig. But have you ever looked at the preaching of Christ in the ministry of John the Baptist? John chapter one, verse 29. We have the preaching of Christ in the ministry of John the Baptist.

It's simple, it's not even the whole verse. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Let's bow together in prayer. Oh Lord Jesus, it is the desire of our hearts to see you.

Father, forgive us if we have come to this place today to hear a man, any one of the men who are listed. And Father, God, give us a heart to see Christ. Give us a heart to preach Christ. Give us a heart to not worry about anything other than making sure that this lost and dying world understands their obligations before this King of Kings and this Lord of Lords.

Oh Father, God, I pray that you might come and that you might speak through a weak man this morning. I pray that you would be glorified. I pray that you, Lord Jesus, that you might come and stand beside me in this pulpit and that you would give me strength and give me the words to say.

Behold Christ Rather Than the Preacher

We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. I wanna break down this amazing phrase, John the Baptist. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Let's first of all focus on that first word, behold.

Behold. John the Baptist was not a typical American evangelical preacher. John the Baptist was not a typical evangelical American preacher. He did not say, behold, my moleculous gifts. Didn't say that.

He didn't say, behold, my prosperity. He didn't say, behold, my converts or the number of people that I baptized last year. He didn't say, behold, my building program. Behold, my personality, my best-selling book, my TV show, my blog, my diplomas on my wall.

He said, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. That's what God has called us to do is open our preachers. It's not to go out there and say, behold, my blog or behold, my website or behold, anything else.

Behold Him, behold Christ. Fix your gaze on Christ. That's what John the Baptist is saying. If God supernaturally moved in the hearts of most evangelical preachers in this nation today on Sunday morning and they spoke the truth that's in their heart, they wouldn't be saying this very simply because they know they're out to say it, but what they would be saying is, behold me.

Behold me. It's not about us. It's about His glory. Behold the Lamb of God. When John the Baptist said this, what he said was, what he was saying is, look with understanding. Look with understanding. He wasn't just saying, oh, look over there.

But what he's saying is, look with understanding and to give them some understanding, he goes on here. But before we get into the rest of this text, I wanna point out to you that John the Baptist understood his role.

John the Baptist as Witness, Not the Light

He understood his role. Go back to John chapter one, verse six. There is a man sent from God whose name is John. The same came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all men through him might believe.

He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. If we could just get verse eight drilled down in our own hearts, we're not the show. John the Baptist understood that. He understood that he wasn't the light.

His ministry wasn't the light. God can do without our ministries. You understand that? God can do without lost cause ministries in Dallas, Texas. He can do without all our ministries. Jesus Christ is all powerful.

He is God. And we need to communicate this. Jesus Christ is what everything is about. The gospel, it's all about him. He is the gospel. John chapter one, verse 19. And this is a witness of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who art thou?

He confessed and denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, what then? Art thou Elijah? And he said, if I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, no. Then said they unto him, who are you?

That's a big question these days. Who are you? You know, well, let me tell you who I am, right? Who are you? And he says, I lost my place here, that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou thyself?

He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah. He was a fulfillment of biblical prophecy. He understood his role. His role wasn't to make straight his own way.

His role was to make straight the way of the Lord. In John chapter three, verse 30, how many people would do this? John chapter three, verse 30, he says, he must increase and I must decrease. And he wasn't just saying it for the sake of the audience.

He was, he meant it. He must increase and I must decrease so much so that back in John chapter one, verses 36 and 37, we read there that when John was with his disciples, he saw Christ and he said again, behold the Lamb of God, and he sent his disciples to go follow Christ.

How many people today send other people to follow Christ instead of getting them to follow them? John the Baptist was not your typical preacher. He understood his role and he called people to look with understanding on Christ and we need to do the same thing.

Get people to fix their gaze on Christ. Let me tell you something. When you have the right understanding of who Jesus is and you see him in his glory and you see him in his purity and you see him in his holiness and you hear his commands that are so holy and pure in scripture, it only takes a passing glance at yourself when your gaze is fixed on Christ to see your own sinfulness.

The Law Reveals Sin and the Glory of Christ

Is that not true? Just a passing glance, just a peripheral glance at yourself reveals the rot and the total depravity that you are outside of Christ. And this is true of the sinner as well. Look at Isaiah chapter six.

In Isaiah chapter six, when Isaiah has this thrilling vision of God, there's no one standing next to Isaiah in Isaiah chapter six taking him to a good person test. He sees God and what does he say? Where is me?

I am undone. I'm a man of unclean lips. I dwell amongst a people of unclean lips. Does that mean throughout the law? Absolutely not. Use the law of God because we don't have that luxury of just having the throne of God show up anywhere.

What we do is we go out there, we preach the law to give people a sense of the holiness of God, yes. But understand that Christ is the light. He is the light. The law sets the stage to reveal in the darkness the depravity of man to show the glory of Christ.

Isaiah 45, 22, look unto me and be saved all the ends of the earth for I am God and there is none else. We can go out there with boldness and say to all men, commanding all men everywhere to repent, all the ends of the earth, look to Christ.

Fix your gaze on Christ. See his beauty, see his glory. Jonathan Edwards wrote a wonderful sermon called The Excellencies of Christ. The Excellencies of Christ. On the one hand, he is the lamb of God.

On the other hand, he is the lion of the tribe of Judah. How can this be? A lamb and a lion united in one person. God and man united in one person. All these amazing attributes of Christ united together, seemingly contradicting one another, but united together in one glorious person, Jesus Christ.

Christ as the Fulfillment of the Sacrificial System

So call people to fix their gaze on him. John the Baptist said behold. He also said behold the lamb of God. The lamb of God. Bible scholars debate, what does this mean? What lamb is he referring to in John 1, verse 29 when he speaks of the lamb of God?

Some Bible scholars say it must be referring back to the Passover lamb from the book of Exodus. And you know the story of the Passover lamb. The lamb that was slaughtered, the blood placed on the doorpost.

And the Lord himself would pass over those households if he saw the blood there on the doorpost. You understand that. So the lamb may be referring to that. Other Bible scholars look back to Isaiah chapter 53.

They look at Isaiah 53 and they see the lamb terminology that's used there. They say it's referring to that. Others go back to Exodus again and they see the daily sacrifices. Twice a day a perfect spotless lamb was slaughtered for the sins of Israel.

A continually born offering that was offered up. Which one is it? I would suggest to you today that Christ is the fulfillment of the entire Old Testament sacrificial system that's referring to all of it.

John the Baptist in his transitionary role from the old covenant to the new covenant is referring to all of it and he's saying this man is the fulfillment of all of it. He's the fulfillment of the Old Testament priesthood.

The Lamb as the Perfect Sacrifice

He is the fulfillment of the temple and the tabernacle. He is the fulfillment of the law of God. Look to Christ. Behold the lamb of God. Behold the lamb of God. Let's look at this. Isaiah chapter 53 verse seven.

Isaiah 53 verse seven. Incidentally I would encourage you to preach this kind of stuff on the streets. We hear this kind of stuff in churches all the time, right? I challenge you, I dare you. Go out and preach this kind of stuff in the streets.

Isaiah 53 verse seven. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her shears his dung, so he openeth not his mouth.

This is our lamb of God. This is Jesus. He went there perfect, completely innocent, did not even open his mouth in objection as he laid down his life as a perfect sacrifice. First Corinthians chapter five verse seven says that Christ is our Passover.

He is our Passover. He is the fulfillment. Hebrews chapter four verse 15. Hebrews chapter four verse 15 says this about Christ. We have not a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

He was that perfect lamb of God. He was tempted every way that you and I can be tempted, and he never once sinned in thought, word, or in deed. He is the perfect lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

First Peter chapter one verses 18 and 19. First Peter chapter one verse 18. For as much as you know that you are not redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold from your vain manner of life received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

He is the perfect sacrifice. And we all know this concept of Christ being the lamb of God, but it's interesting that in the word of God, the only author who refers to Jesus as the lamb of God is John, who writes the book of John, also writes the book of Revelation.

The Worthiness and Glory of the Lamb

And so we go to the book of Revelation and we discover some things about this lamb of God. Revelation chapter five verse 12. Revelation chapter five verse 12. What is this about the lamb of God? That he is worthy of praise.

We need to thunder this out on the streets. That this Jesus that they reject, this Jesus that people are just kind of sloughing off and it's not a big deal that they're rejecting, he is worthy of everything that they have.

Jesus Christ, our Lord, is worthy of everything that they have, everything that they are. He is God. Revelation five verse 12. This is what we're looking forward to. I'll go back to verse 11. I beheld and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the living creatures and the elders and the number of them was 10 ,000 times 10 ,000 and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice, worthy is a lamb that is slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.

Oh, he is worthy, saints. You know he is worthy. When you hear this, something jumps up inside of you and says, yes, I know he's worthy of all that. He's worthy of the aggravation that Jeff was just talking about that you face in your own church, that you face out there on the streets.

He's worthy of all that. He's worthy, but he's worthy of what? Look at verse 12. He's worthy to receive power. All the strength that you've got, all the ability that you've got is worthy to be poured out for this king of kings.

He is worthy, in verse 12, of all riches. This isn't a sermon about giving, but he is worthy of every penny that you've got. He's worthy of all of it. He's worthy here of all wisdom, all wisdom. The best thoughts that you have as you read the word of God and meditate on the word of God, he is worthy of that.

The Lamb as Coming Judge and Gentle Shepherd

And those things are to be proclaimed on the streets. He is worthy of all those things. And he is the coming judge, this lamb. This lamb of God, we look at a lamb, we think of it as being something weak.

But in Revelation, the lamb is something that's powerful. Revelation chapter six, verse 16, verse 15. The kings of the earth and the great man, and the rich man, and the chief captains, and the mighty man, and every slave, and every free man hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb.

Folks, Jesus is coming back, it's true. There is a second coming, but when he comes the second time, it's not like the first time. When he came the first time, he came to save. My neighbor down the street's got a nativity set.

Plugs it in at night, glows, you know, plastic. There's the donkeys and the wise men, and you know, Joseph and Mary and the baby, it's cute, right? It's all cute. And our commercial society that we live in, they try to market it.

And you know, you've got the fat red guy in a suit and everybody's buying presents for one another, right? They're doing all these things that you think the first coming was cute. When Christ comes back the second time, he's not coming to save, he's coming to slaughter.

This is the Jesus that they're rejecting. He's resurrected, he's eternal God, and he's coming back. Do you preach the second coming of Christ on the street? What will you do when he splits the eastern sky and he rides down with 10 ,000 of his saints?

What will you do when he comes riding a war horse? What will you do when he comes with his ribs dipped in blood? What will you do? Repent, be on the right side of that equation when that eastern sky splits.

Repent and place your faith in Christ alone. He is the coming judge. But here's the amazing thing. He's our shepherd. This lamb of God, this sheep, he's our shepherd. Revelation chapter seven, verse 17.

For the lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. To the lost, he is a terror. To the lost, Jesus Christ, the king of glory, is a terror.

They will see him, the one that they have rejected, the one that they have said, ah, you know, when I stand before him, I'm gonna say this and that. You've heard it all before. I'm gonna say to him, why don't you show me more evidence that you existed?

These sorts of things, right? When you see him at that time, Revelation 6, 16, says they will look for a rock to fall on them, to hide them from his face. He's a powerful God. But in seven, verse 17, we see for us as believers, he's a shepherd, he's a gentle shepherd.

Psalm 23, you know, he leads us beside the still waters. He leads us to green pastures. He restores our souls, and we've experienced that as believers in Christ. He is the lamb of God. Behold this lamb.

Look at this lamb. I say to you today as preachers and as Christians, behold the lamb. Jesus is the gospel. He is Christianity, and when we go out and we share the gospel, get people to see the lamb in all his excellencies, in all of his glories.

Yes, he's a gentle shepherd to Christians, but he is the coming judge to those who aren't. He is worthy of everything. He is worthy of all praise, and he has paid the ultimate price for sin. He has laid down his own life, and that brings us to the next point, who takes away the sin of the world.

Christ Bears Away the Sin of the World

This isn't like the Paschal lamb, like the Passover lamb that was offered simply for Israel. Jesus Christ was offered up for all nations, all nations, all nations, all tribes, all tongues. He came to take away the sin of the world.

Christ as the Scapegoat

The Greek is saying bearing away, to bear away the sin of the world. That's why Jesus came. How does he do that? Let me suggest to you four ways from the word of God how Jesus bears away our sin. First of all, he is our scapegoat.

He is our scapegoat. Leviticus chapter 16 speaks of Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, when the scapegoat was brought, and the priest would lay his hands on the head of the scapegoat and symbolically transfer the sins of the nation of Israel to the head of the scapegoat and the scapegoat was sent out into the wilderness, symbolically carrying the sins away from the camp.

Christ is the fulfillment of that. He has fulfilled that. He's our scapegoat. Hebrews chapter 10 verse four says that it was impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin, to bear them away.

Well, it was impossible when the blood of bulls and goats was totally possible in Christ alone. He is our scapegoat. God the Father poured out his wrath against his son. He bore our sins. The scripture uses this language over and over.

Meditate on this, Christian. Think on this. Christ bore, he carried your sins. Isaiah 53 verse four. Isaiah 53 verse four, we'll look at several verses here. Also verse 10, surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.

Verse 10, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. It pleased God to crush him. It put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

Verse 12, therefore will I divide him a portion of the great, he shall divide the spoil of the strong because he hath poured out his soul unto death and he was numbered with the transgressors and he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.

He bore our sins. Leviticus chapter five verse 17 speaks of something that most of the lost are doing right now and they're bearing their own sins. Leviticus chapter five verse 17 says, if a soul has sinned and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord, that he may not, yet he is guilty and shall bear his iniquity.

Folks, those people that you see out there on the streets, they are bearing their iniquity. They're dead in their trespasses and their sins. They're carrying around the full weight of their sin. The good news of the gospel is that Christ bore the sins of his people.

Justification by Faith and Imputed Righteousness

He bore them, he bore our sins and he justifies us, the third way, he justifies us. Second Corinthians 521, God made him who knew no sin to be sinned for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

That is the gospel. If you're not preaching justification by faith, and you can talk all day long about being a reformer, you can talk all day long about being a Calvinist, but if you're not preaching justification by faith, you're not preaching the gospel.

God made him who knew no sin to be made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. How glorious is that? That God would take his son, perfect, tempted, that every way that you and I could be tempted, make his soul an offering for sin, the sins of his people be laid upon him.

God treated his son as we deserve to be treated. Put out the full brunt of his wrath against his son so that when we repent and believe the gospel, God in grace, in grace alone, gives us his righteousness credited to our account.

There was a guy about two or three months ago, he woke up, he checked his online bank account and discovered that several billion dollars had been accidentally transferred to his bank account. That's billion with a B, that's a lot of money, right?

And so he got up and he looked at that and he made the news because what he did was he called the bank and said, hey, there's been a mistake. And so it was all over the news, this guy had done this thing, and what a great guy this is.

Well, in a far greater way, in a far superior way, not with silver and gold, but with the blood of Christ, we've had his perfect righteousness credited to us. His righteousness. When we stand before God on the day of judgment, God doesn't have to look at a filthy, dirty sin, but he sees the perfect righteousness of Christ.

Explaining the Gospel Through Scripture and Personal Witness

That's the gospel. Share the law of God. Urge people to repent and believe the gospel, but point out to them and say it's hard to explain that. Well, tough luck, a lot of things are hard. Sit down, read the word, meditate on it, think about it, and try to figure out a way to explain this to somebody after you share the law of God with them.

I had the privilege of doing that with a bouncer out in Dallas, out in Lower Greenville Avenue. About one o 'clock in the morning, me and my wife were there sharing the gospel with this guy. This guy, it was a cool night, but he was sweating out of the top of his head, you know, like I am right now, just getting soaked, right?

And because he's under conviction under the law of God, which is great. All of us would stop right there and say, praise God, I brought conviction on that guy, right? That's not the gospel. So I sat down with him, I explained him 2 Corinthians 5 .21, and I went through this thing with him, and his eyes went from being fear-filled to hope-filled.

He was like, that's amazing. It's not a coincidence that John Newton wrote Amazing Grace. This is truly amazing. And about three weeks later, I get this call on my voicemail from this guy, and he says, man, I got right with God.

You know, he didn't pray a sinner's prayer, he didn't need me to be there, but he got right with God. Glory to God. This is the gospel. Christ justifies us. He declares us to be right with God by virtue of his perfect work on the cross.

The Gospel Changes Those It Saves

And here's the kicker. In the Bible Belt, this last thing, he changes us. For me to stand up in a pulpit in the Bible Belt, and to insinuate, this isn't the Bible Belt, very glad to be here. But the truth is, is that if you say that he actually, the gospel has the ability to change somebody, that's saying a radical thing in Dallas-Fort Worth.

To say that the gospel could actually change someone, and those of you who've been there, you know what I'm talking about. It's like you're Mormon or something, right? Look at 1 John chapter three, verse five.

I've actually heard people say that a lot, but you know, man, you've probably heard it too. 1 John chapter three, verse five. This is the word of God. We all quote verse four. Whoever commits sin transgresses also the law, for sin is a transgression of the law.

And you know that he was manifested to take away our sins. It's the same word in the Greek language that was in John chapter one, verse 29. To take away our sin, and in him is no sin. Now, I don't preach sinless perfection.

I don't believe in that. I'm Calvinist. But the bottom line is this. The gospel changes people. It changes people. There is a difference that takes place. If any man's in Christ, he's a new creation. The old things pass away, everything becomes new, right?

This is Christianity 101, it's not complicated. The gospel changes us. It's a power of God unto salvation. What ludicrous thing is this, that people believe they can pray a sinless prayer and ask Jesus into their hearts and have no change?

Think about that, Jesus living inside of you, and yet you're still fornicating and all these other things, right? Is that possible? It's not even possible, and yet they revel in that stuff. The word of God, this gospel changes people.

We need to preach that on the street as well. And say to people, look, I'm not talking about praying a prayer. I'm not talking about joining my church. I'm talking about something that's gonna radically change your life.

This is gonna be the end of life as you know it. And you need to tell him that. He changes us. And I know this, I was a pastor for 13, well, yeah, for 13 years. I got saved after I was pastoring for about 12.

And then I was preaching a false gospel. And I know I'm not the only one. I know I'm not the only one. I drive by a church, I pray for the pastor. He takes away our sin, isn't it glorious? What amazing grace is this, that God would save us, that he would change us.

Christ Alone Is the Only Ground of Salvation

This is what we must preach, we must preach Christ. I've only touched the very tip of the tip of the iceberg. But in conclusion, let me say a couple of things. If Christ bore my sin, I don't have to. If Christ bore my sin, I don't have to.

And since God has appointed this deliverance as the way of salvation, there is no other way. There is no other way. Gracious God, for real, my sin or the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin, not in part, but the whole.

It's nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul. That's right. Our only hope, and the only hope is Christ. Sotus Christus, Christ alone. Martin Luther said, sin has but two places where it may be.

Either it may be with you, so that it lies upon your neck, or upon Christ, the Lamb of God. If now it lies upon your neck, you're lost. If however, it lies upon Christ, you are free, and will be saved.

Take now, whichever you prefer. Folks, one thing that I've been greatly concerned about is that there are people who know how to evangelize, but don't know Christ. There are people, people who are my friends, who really, you know, they're fascinated with the law of God, and they believe that somehow you can maintain the righteousness by obedience to the law of God.

This is not the gospel. The law of God cannot save you. Read the book of Galatians. Christ is the one who saves us, and justifies us. Even he is the one who sanctifies us. Folks, it's possible that there might even be somebody here today that's very enamored with what we do.

They like the idea of getting on a box and preaching, but you're not looking to Christ. You're looking to your own obedience to the law of God. You say, yeah, man, I'm tired of all that counterfeit Christianity, and all that garbage that's out there, and so now I'm gonna look and obey the laws of God, you know?

But the law can't justify you. Only Christ justifies. I say to you, as John the Baptist would say to you today, behold the Lamb. Not behold any ministry, not behold any method. Behold the Lamb of God, Christ, who takes away the sin of the world.

Closing Prayer for Bold Gospel Preaching

Let's close in prayer. Oh, Father God, we come before you now, and through a very weak way, I've tried to preach your word, and I pray that you would take your word, and that you would accomplish the purpose for which you've sent it.

Lord, I thank you for your word. I thank you for salvation. Oh, God, that you would save me is amazing. I can't get over that. Lord, help me never to get over that. Lord, help us never to get over it, and to go out there and preach with boldness and with power, just to preach Christ, the excellencies of him, and not to preach ourselves or anything else.

It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.