Behold The Lamb

Behold The Lamb

John 1:29

29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of

God, which taketh ( or, beareth) away the sin of the world.

I love simplicity..., especially when it comes to the gospel.

I think the best sermons in the world are those that make the gospel the simplest.

I believe that is what makes Billy Graham so successful.

His messages are so simple.

He does not try to appeal to the intellectuals

He does not try to impress with his superior knowledge of Greek and Hebrew.

He does not try to answer the intellectual arguments of the day.

He simple preaches Jesus Christ.

That is what Paul did. He told the “1 want to know nothing among except Christ, and him crucified.”

I think Steve Brown has the simplest definition of witnessing.... “It is one beggar telling another beggar where he found food.”

Well, I believe John the baptizer was a preacher like Billy Graham (or vise-versa). He kept the mesage very simple.

Perhaps he was like the preacher who came to preach a trial sermon at a church. His wife came to him and when it came time for him to preach, she puckered up and blew him a kiss. Well, some of the ladies thought that was just precious. They were won over at once and naturally the preacher got the job. One day a few weeks after the new preacher had started his ministry there one of the old ladies remarked how he got the job because of his wife’s kiss and how the ladies were won over by it. The preacher laughed and told her. “That was not a kiss... it was a reminder. When she blows the kiss I am reminded of KISS... Keep It Simple Stupid!

Maybe john had someone who reminded him, Maybe Ruth Graham blows kisses to remind Billy.

But I want us to look at John’s message today and be blown away by its simplicity.

John was preaching in the wilderness.. in the barren place outside the town.

People streamed out of the towns to listen to his message. They were crushed by their sense of their own sinfulness. They came to the river to be baptized... washed from their guilt.

John preached a simple message about a messiah, a Christ, a deliverer who was coming and how they had to prepare their hearts for his coming.

Then one day Jesus came to where John was teaching and baptizing.

When John saw Jesus coming he preached the simplest and greatest sermon ever preached.

And he did it in only 13 words Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world

BEHOLD

Open your eyes, pay attention, perceive the deeper truths... not just look with your physical eyes.

As far as we know there was nothing about Jesus’ appearance that caused people to think he was special. That is why Jesus told Peter, after he had proclaimed Jesus to be the Christ, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you.” You did not perceive this from your natural senses.

To behold meant to read between the lines, to use your spiritual eyes to see what the unspiritual can not see.

This is the first part of any great sermon Cause them to turn their attention TO Christ and away from the world.

He must be the subject of any great sermon, he must be the source of any great sermon, he must be the object of any great sermon, and he must be the summatio of any great sermon.

One great preacher of old was asked how to preach a sermon, what text to use, what outline to use. His answer was, “start with any text and make a bee line for the cross.

John’s sermon was great because he started with Christ and turned the attention ofthe people upon Christ

THE LAMB OF GOD

Jesus was a great teacher and a preacher can get lost in his teachings.

He was a miracle worker and preachers can spend their time on the miracles.

But more than anything.... above all things.... JESUS WAS THE LAMB.

He was the sacrificial lamb of God.

From the time of Adam and Eve, man has been a sinner. They did not have to learn it. (Who taught Eve to covet or Cain to murder?)

And from the first sin the heart of God has been broken by that sin. Why? Because God loves us.

And since he did love us he was crushed by our separation from him. He wanted to be close and intimate with us... the was he was with Adam and Eve before the sin.

So God prepared a way for the sin to be removed and the separation to be healed. That WAY was the sacrificial system of the Old Testament.