Behold The Lamb Of God

Please open your Bibles this morning to the Gospel according to John.

We finished John's prologue last week, verses 1-18, so this morning we are officially jumping into the narrative section of this book.

And so turn there to John chapter 1, we're going to read this morning from verse 19 through verse 34.

John 1 · chapter mention

John chapter 1, verses 19 through 34.

John 1:19–34

And if you're using the pew Bibles there in front of you, you can find this passage on page 833.

We invite you and encourage you to have a Bible open.

So we're going to be on John chapter 1, verses 19 through 34 this morning.

John 1:19–34

Please follow with me as I read.

And this is the testimony of John.

When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him,

Who are you?

He confessed and did not deny, but confessed,

I am not the Christ.

And they asked him,

What then? Are you Elijah?

He said, I am not.

Are you the prophet?

And he answered, No.

So they said to him,

Who are you?

We need to give an answer to those who sent us.

What do you say about yourself?

He said,

I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness.

Make straight the way of the Lord,

as the prophet Isaiah said.

Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.

They asked him,

Then why are you baptizing,

if you are neither the Christ,

nor Elijah,

nor the prophet?

John answered them,

I baptize with water,

But among you stands one you do not know,

even he who comes after me,

the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.

These things took place in Bethany,

across the Jordan,

where John was baptizing.

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said,

Behold the Lamb of God,

who takes away the sin of the world.

This is he of whom I said,

After me comes a man who ranks before me,

because he was before me.

I myself did not know him,

but for this purpose I came baptizing with water,

that he might be revealed to Israel.

And John bore witness.

I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove,

and it remained on him.

I myself did not know him,

but he who sent me to baptize with water,

said to me,

He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain,

this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.

And I have seen and have borne witness

that this is the Son of God.

This is God's holy, perfect, true, and inspired word.

Let's bow and pray once more.

Father, we simply ask again

that as we open up your word,

that you would do a miracle here.

That we wouldn't just hear it as information,

but by the power of your Spirit,

would it transform us

as we hear and receive your word.

We pray in Christ's name.

Amen.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,

then John the Baptist has got to be

one of the least flattered figures in the Bible.

We sing David's songs,

and we pray his words from the Psalms.

David wrote a large portion of the Old Testament.

We simply don't have that same wealth of information

from John the Baptist.

Just a handful of verses in comparison.

Plenty of people want to live in big,

fancy houses like Solomon.

I don't hear many people wanting to live

out in the wilderness like John.

People love to talk about Joseph

and his coat of many colors.

As I look around,

I don't see anybody wearing camel's hair

like John the Baptist did.

And I've heard of plenty of people

following the Daniel diet,

but I don't know of a single person

who has ever followed the John the Baptist diet

of locusts and wild honey.

That might not be what we want to imitate

from the life of John.

But despite his lack of press,

John the Baptist is one of the most significant figures

in human history.

In fact, R.C. Sproul,

he observes that secular historians

from the first century,

they wrote more words,

they gave more attention to John the Baptist

than they did to Jesus himself.

He was that unbelievably significant.

And no, it's not primarily because of his clothes

or his lodging or his diet.

It was because of his witness.

John the Apostle,

he first introduced us to John the Baptist

up in verse 6.

And here's what we said.

You may remember this from several weeks ago.

We said that we cannot imitate John's unique position,

but we can imitate his posture

and his proclamation.

I wonder if you remember that.

We cannot imitate John's unique position.

He was one of a kind,

one of one, utterly unique.

But we can and we must imitate his posture

and his proclamation.

If you are a Christian,

then you are, like it or not,

a witness to the glory of God

in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our passage this morning,

as we look to who John the Baptist is,

how he acted,

what he said,

our passage this morning,

it gives us two keys to that witness.

If you're taking notes,

this is going to be our outline this morning.

We're going to see two keys

for our witness to Christ,

our posture

and our proclamation.

First, what is our posture

as witnesses to Christ?

Look there to verse 19 with me.

It says,

and this is the testimony of John.

Let's stop there

because that might not sound like much,

but this was an unbelievably,

unbelievably significant moment

in God's story of redemption.

The Old Testament,

it had concluded with Malachi's prophecy

and then for 400 years,

God was silent.

There was no vision.

There were no prophecies.

There was no prophets.

God did not speak.

It was utter silence from God

for 400 years

until a prophet comes out of the wilderness

and begins to testify.

Apparently, John was causing

a little bit of a scene.

People from all over were coming to him,

listening to his message

and as we see in the Gospel of Matthew,

he was preaching a message of repentance.

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

His message was,

turn from your sin.

Repent.

The king is coming.

He's on his way.

You had better prepare yourselves.

He is near.

And as a way of demonstrating that repentance,

we see that he was baptizing there in the water.

Now, this is not quite the same as our baptism today.

We baptize in a hot tub.

But not only that,

we baptize believers in Christ.

We demonstrate externally, visibly,

the internal transformation

that has happened by the power of the Holy Spirit

when God saves someone

and they come to faith in Christ.

This was not that.

John's baptism,

this was something called proselyte baptism.

Proselyte baptism had arisen

during that 400 years

between the two testaments.

And it was traditionally only for Gentiles

who converted to Judaism.

And they were considered unclean.

And so they needed to be washed.

They needed to be cleansed.

And actually, the convert would baptize himself.

He would wash himself,

clean himself up,

have to wash away his uncleanliness

before joining the Jewish community.

But here comes John,

out of the wilderness,

preaching a message of repentance,

not just for the Gentiles,

but for the Jews as well.

Not just for the Gentiles

who didn't know the Lord,

but for Israel.

He came saying that the kingdom of God is near

and they are not ready.

They need to repent.

And on top of that,

people are coming to him

and he is the one doing the baptism.

He's administering baptism

to all of these people.

So naturally,

the religious leaders were curious.

What in the world is this guy doing?

Who does he think he is?

And that's exactly what they asked him there in verse 19.

It says,

The Jews sent priests and Levites,

some of their religious experts from Jerusalem,

to ask him,

Who are you?

And here's where we begin to see

the posture of John.

In the strongest terms possible,

he confessed and did not deny,

but confessed,

I am not the Christ.

See, he didn't even begin to tell them

who he was.

He told them who he was not.

Don't look at me.

Don't worry about me.

I'm not him.

Look to him.

I'm just here to pave the way for him.

So they moved on to the next option.

Well, what then?

Are you Elijah?

Elijah the prophet famously did not die.

He was taken up to be with the Lord,

and so it was believed that Elijah himself

physically, literally,

would return in the future.

And in fact, Malachi,

the last prophet of the Old Testament,

it concludes with this prophecy

that I will send Elijah the prophet

before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.

So John here, he says,

no, I'm not Elijah,

and technically he's correct.

No, he's John.

He's not Elijah.

But Jesus, in Matthew 11,

he tells us that John is in fact

the fulfillment of this prophecy.

He is Elijah who is to come.

So they're down to one more option.

Are you the prophet?

If they had said,

are you a prophet?

Maybe John would have said,

yes, I am,

but they didn't say that.

They said,

are you the prophet?

They're referring to the prophecy

of Deuteronomy 18.

God had told Moses in Deuteronomy 18,

I will raise up for them a prophet like you

from among their brothers,

and I will put my words in his mouth,

and he shall speak to them

all that I command him.

They were looking for this particular prophet to come.

And of course,

that is a prophecy fulfilled in Christ.

So again, John says,

no, that's not me.

I am not him.

So they're finally out of options,

and they give John a turn to speak and say,

well, then who are you?

We need to give an answer to those who sent us.

What do you say about yourself?

And John tells them,

referencing Isaiah 40, verse 3,

Isaiah 40:3

which we read this morning,

I am the voice.

Not the word,

the voice.

Not the word,

but a witness.

I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,

make straight the way of the Lord,

as the prophet Isaiah had said.

See, John knew his role.

It was not to attract glory,

or fame,

or attention to himself.

It was to prepare the way of the Lord.

His role was to clear the way,

to make the path straight.

The King is coming.

When I was in college,

I lived in a house with three other college guys,

and if you came to our house,

you would notice that it was inhabited

by four college guys living there.

It was an absolute mess.

And every now and then,

we would get a message,

a warning.

The landlord is coming.

He's on his way.

He will be there soon.

How do you think we responded?

It was a whirlwind.

We hopped up into a whirlwind of cleaning.

The dishes were done.

Clothes were thrown into the closet.

Floors were cleaned.

We prepped ourselves for his arrival.

Well, John says,

in that same way,

the King is coming.

Don't look at me.

I'm just the messenger.

Listen to the message.

The message is urgent.

You need to repent

and prepare yourself

for the coming of the King.

Get your affairs in order.

The King is on his way.

Now, I'd like to have thought

that that would have satisfied me,

but they had another question.

It was probably the one

that bothered them the most.

Look what they said.

Then why are you baptizing?

If you're neither the Christ,

nor Elijah,

nor the prophet,

what are you doing?

And John's little addition there

in verse 24,

I think,

says it all.

My Bible has it there

in parentheses.

If you look there,

maybe yours does as well.

He gives a little aside

and says,

now they had been sent

from the Pharisees.

This is the first appearance

of the Pharisees

in the Gospel of John,

but as you know,

it will not be the last.

This is the beginning

of some tension

that will build

throughout this book

and of course will culminate

in the death of Christ.

The Pharisees were not all bad.

I want to give them

some credit.

I want to be clear about that.

Some Pharisees wound up

following Jesus.

They believed in Him,

but many did not.

The Pharisees were

the religious elite of the day.

They held the law of God

in high esteem on one hand,

but we see that they also

tended to hold

their own tradition

in high esteem as well.

And they had a hard time

reconciling or understanding

or accepting anyone

who would go and teach

contrary to what they said,

to what their tradition was.

And again,

we should note here

that there is no Old Testament

command or instruction

about baptizing a convert

to Judaism.

That had developed

as tradition,

Jewish tradition,

in that intertestamental period.

Traditions are great,

but scripture is better.

And sometimes,

I think we tend to get

that priority lopsided.

Traditions are wonderful,

but scripture is better.

And again,

I love how John responds here.

Look what he says.

He doesn't respond

how I might have responded

to that.

He doesn't even give them

a straight answer.

He could have said,

don't you realize

that I am a prophet?

Which means

that I carry the same weight

of authority

as all the prophets

of the Old Testament.

And so,

if I come saying

that we need to repent

and be baptized,

that's the word of God

telling you,

lay aside your tradition

and accept this new word

from the Lord.

You need to be baptized.

Come wash yourself.

You are unclean.

When God says

the Messiah is coming

and you are not ready,

it's time to toss

your traditions aside

and listen to the voice of God.

But he doesn't say that.

What does he say?

Look there to verse 26.

He says,

I baptize with water,

but among you

stands one you do not know.

Even he who comes after me,

the strap of whose sandal

I am not worthy to untie.

He again lowers himself

and he elevates Christ.

That was John's posture.

When someone became

a disciple of a rabbi,

they came under the teaching

of a rabbi,

they would do all sorts

of things for him,

almost to the level

of being a bondservant.

It was much more

than just listening

and taking notes

and following along

with their teaching.

When someone became

a disciple,

this was an all-of-life

commitment to service,

to the mission

and the teaching

of the rabbi.

So they would take care

of all sorts

of arrangements.

They took care

of everything from food

to lodging

to carrying their belongings,

all sorts of things.

But one thing

they did not do

was handle

the rabbi's shoes.

They didn't do that.

That one task

was reserved

for the bondservants,

for the lowest

of the low.

But John says,

for this man,

go even lower

than that.

I'm not even

worthy to untie

the strap

of his sandal.

Church,

I think we could

learn something

from the posture

of John the Baptist.

Don't you?

If you want

to be great,

make yourself

less than a servant.

Go lower.

Matthew and Mark,

we talked about this

in Sunday school.

I love when Treg

preaches my sermon

before I come in here.

I really do.

It primes the pump.

Matthew and Mark,

they both tell

the story of how

James and his brother

John,

the John,

the John who wrote

this book,

John the Apostle,

who were reading

this gospel,

how they pursued

greatness.

They came up to Jesus

and they asked

that it be granted

to them

to sit one

at his right hand,

one at his left hand

in glory.

That's a bold request.

They wanted

to be great.

You know,

John just happens

to leave that story out

of his gospel.

You notice that?

And it says,

when the other ten

disciples heard of it,

they were angry

at them.

Not because that was

such a foolish request,

but because they

wanted to be great.

They didn't want to be

beaten to the punch.

And Jesus hears

all of this

and he says,

listen,

y'all need to come

over here,

sit down,

I need to tell you

something.

Listen to me.

He says,

you know that

those who are

considered rulers

of the Gentiles

lord it over them

and their great ones

exercise authority

over them,

but it shall not

be so among you.

But whoever would

be great among you

must be your servant.

And whoever would

be first among you

must be slave of all.

For even the son of man

came not to be served,

but to serve

and to give his life

as a ransom for many.

See, that's how Jesus

viewed greatness.

No wonder he says

in Matthew chapter 11

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

that among those

born of women

there has arisen

no one greater

than John the Baptist.

Not David,

not Joseph,

not Abraham,

not Isaac,

not Jacob.

No one

is greater

than John the Baptist.

Do you want to be great

in the kingdom of God?

John,

lower yourself.

Humble

yourself.

Stop making it

about you

become

a servant.

Imitate

the posture

of John.

Take this posture

of a humble

servant,

unworthy

even to be

a bondservant

of Jesus Christ.

Could you imagine?

what would your life

look like

if it wasn't

all about you,

but it was about

the glory

of Jesus Christ?

What would that do

for the dynamic

of your relationships?

If the goal

of your relationships

was to humble

yourself

and serve

that those

other people

might know

the glory

of Christ Jesus,

what would that do

for your marriage?

if you put

yourself aside

to serve

that they might

know Christ

more,

what would it do

for this church?

What would this church

look like?

If you can imagine

this,

if there was

no task

that was beneath

us,

if we would

jump to serve

whether people

saw us or not,

whether people

gave us credit

or not,

whether the only

person who saw

what you did

was the master

himself.

And I do

want to commend

you,

Siwe Bay,

because there

are many

humble servants

in this church.

I think this

is one of our

strengths.

But I want

to challenge

you.

Go lower.

We can go

lower.

The world

knows all

about climbing

the ladder

to greatness.

What would it

look like to

bring someone

into this place

and have them

see a family

of servants

who say,

don't look at us.

We're nothing.

Look to Christ.

Church,

this humble

posture of

our lives

will give

weight to

the proclamation

of our lips.

We need

both.

I'm going to

say that again.

The humble

posture of

our lives

will give

weight to

the proclamation

of our lips.

That's the

second key

to our

witness

to Christ.

Our second

point this

morning.

Second,

we see

our

proclamation

as witnesses

of Christ.

Our

proclamation.

Now,

we talk a lot

about evangelism.

That's one of

our three

key aspects

of our

philosophy

of ministry.

We want

to enjoy

God.

We want

to equip

the saints

and we

want to

evangelize

the lost.

That means

sharing the

gospel.

That requires

us to

proclaim

something.

But talking

with many

of you,

I know

that sometimes

you get

to that

point and

you aren't

even really

sure exactly

what to

say.

I want

to let

John help

us out

here this

morning.

You can

remember

this with

three S's.

Three parts

to John's

proclamation

and his

testimony

here.

Three S's.

Substitute,

Spirit,

Spirit,

Son.

If you

want to

know who

Jesus is,

John tells

us here that

he is the

sacrificial

substitute,

he is the

Spirit-filled

Spirit-giver,

and he is

the Son

of God.

First S.

And Jesus

is the

sacrificial

substitute.

Look there

to verse

29.

Verse 29.

He says,

The next

day John

saw Jesus

coming toward

him and

said,

Behold,

the Lamb

of God

who takes

away the

sin of

the world.

This is

he of whom

I said,

After me

comes a

man who

ranks before

me because

he was

before me.

Behold,

the Lamb

of God

who takes

away the

sin of

the world.

What does

he mean

when he

calls Jesus

the Lamb

of God?

John is

no doubt

as he's

done so

many times

already through

this first

chapter,

time and

time and

time and

time again,

he's drawing

us back

again towards

the Old

Testament

scriptures.

And he's

showing us

how Jesus

is the

fulfillment

of everything

the Old

Testament was

looking forward

to.

So here

calling Jesus

the Lamb

of God,

he's

specifically

referencing

all the

Old Testament

language that

dealt with

sacrifice.

Abraham

brought Isaac

up to the

mountain,

prepared to

sacrifice his

son in

obedience to

the Lord,

and what

happened?

The Lord

himself provided

a sacrifice,

a ram,

caught in

the bush.

In Exodus,

God told the

Israelites in

Egypt to put

the blood of

the Lamb on

the doorpost

of their

home,

and those

who were

covered by

the blood

of the Lamb

were spared.

Those who

were not

suffered the

wrath of

God.

At the

Passover,

the Lamb

without blemish

was to be

offered to

the Lord

as a

sacrifice.

It was a

substitute to

bear the

wrath of

God and

cover the

sins of

the people.

And of

course,

we know

Isaiah

Isaiah 53 · chapter mention

chapter 53,

one of the

clearest and

most beautiful

passages,

of Scripture

pointing us

forward towards

the sacrifice

of Christ,

written 700

years before

Jesus ever

stepped foot

on the

earth.

He was

oppressed

and he was

afflicted,

yet he opened

not his

mouth.

Like a

lamb that

is led to

the slaughter,

and like

sheep that

before its

shearers is

silent, so

he opened

not his

mouth.

all of

this is

language of

sin and

sacrifice and

substitution.

If you want

to understand

who Jesus

is and what

he came to

do, we need

to remember

these three

words.

In my

place.

In my

place.

That's what

substitute means,

isn't it?

There's

something

happening in

my place.

Jesus Christ,

if we want

to understand

who he is,

what he's

done, we

need to know

he lived

perfectly in

my place.

That he

died in

my place.

That he

bore the

wrath of

God for

my sin.

In my

place.

That he

rose up

from the

grave,

defeating

sin,

defeating

death,

defeating

the enemy.

in my

place.

Listen, we

cannot

understand who

Jesus is

apart from

understanding

that it

was in

my

place.

As a

sacrifice

and a

substitute.

You all

know the

hymn,

What Can

Wash

Away My

Sin?

Y'all can

do better

than that.

What can

make me

whole again

is nothing

but the

blood of

Jesus.

I read an

article this

week about

the origin

of that

hymn.

That's one

of my

favorite

hymns.

Robert

Lowry,

he wrote

that song

in 1876.

He introduced

it at the

Ocean Grove

Campsite in

New Jersey.

And revival

broke out.

The following

summer, over

710,000 train

tickets were

sold.

Christians from

all over were

making the

journey to

Ocean Grove

to gather

and to

worship and

to sing

about the

blood of

Jesus that

covers their

sin.

Nothing can

for sin

atone.

Nothing but

the blood of

Jesus.

Not of good

that I have

done.

Nothing but

the blood of

Jesus.

But then I

got to the

end of the

article and I

saw something

that really

bothered me.

It said,

singing about

the blood of

Jesus may

offend the

sensibilities of

many 21st

century singers

and as a

result causes

them to

reject any

hymn that

mentions blood.

I'm sorry

if your 21st

century sensibilities

are offended

by talking so

much about

blood.

But God is

offended by

your sin.

And without

the shedding of

blood, there

is no remission

for sins.

Unless Jesus

Christ, the

Lamb of God,

is slain for

you, unless

His blood

covers you,

you will

bear the

wrath of

God for

your sin.

Wouldn't

you like a

substitute to

step in to

your place?

John says

that is what

Christ has

done.

This is not a

side issue of

Christianity,

church.

This is at the

very heart of

the gospel.

We don't need

a Christ who's

just a good

example.

We need a

Lamb of God

who will die

in our place

and cover us

with His

blood.

Not only

that.

John says

He is also

the Spirit

filled,

Spirit

giver.

Verse 33

tells us that

God had

revealed to

John previously,

we don't have

that conversation

here, but He

had revealed to

John previously

that He on

whom you see

the Spirit

descend and

remain.

This is He

who baptizes

with the

Holy Spirit.

This was how

God planned

to visibly

and powerfully

affirm the

unique Spirit

filled ministry

of the Messiah.

Again,

throughout the

Old Testament,

the Spirit of

God would

come on to

people,

come upon

people,

empower them

for a time,

but it

did not

remain.

It would

come and

it would

go,

it was in

and it

was out,

it was

temporary.

But again,

because Jesus

is who He

is,

because He

is God

Himself

in the

flesh,

God the

Father,

God the

Son,

God the

Holy Spirit,

He is one

with the

Spirit.

He is

Spirit filled

in a way

that no one

before Him

ever was.

the Spirit,

it doesn't

just come

and go

from Jesus,

it descends

on Him

and it

remains.

But John

says one

step further,

the Spirit

doesn't remain

and stay

there.

John says

this Spirit

filled Messiah

baptizes

with the

Holy Spirit.

He gives

the Holy

Spirit to

all who

come to

Him in

faith.

See,

John's

baptism was

temporary,

it was

external,

it was a

sign of

cleansing and

repentance,

it washed

the body.

But the

baptism that

Jesus gives,

John says,

to all who

know Him

in faith,

is permanent,

internal,

total,

complete

cleansing and

renewal by

the power of

the Holy

Spirit.

John says,

I baptize

with water.

He baptizes

with the

Spirit.

This is what

Ezekiel

promised in

Ezekiel

Ezekiel 36 · chapter mention

chapter 36,

what we call

the new

covenant.

He says,

I will give

you a new

heart and a

new spirit I

will put

within you.

Now I will

remove the

heart of

stone from

your flesh

and give

you a

heart of

flesh and

I will put

my spirit

within you

and cause

you to

walk in

my statutes

and to be

careful to

obey my

rules.

I have

been asked

before whether

or not I

believe in

baptism of

the Holy

Spirit.

And I

say,

absolutely.

But then I

have to

clarify because

that doctrine

has been so

confused and

twisted and

turned that

we have to

understand exactly

what that

means.

So let me

be clear.

Baptism with

the Holy

Spirit is not

for a select

few Christians

out of all

of the church.

It's not a

second later

event sometime

after your

conversion as

if you get

some spirit

now and then

you might level

up later as

you get holier

and more serious

in your faith.

No, this is

for everyone

in Christ.

Everyone in

Christ, everyone

who belongs to

Christ has the

Spirit of God

in them

in full.

Now our

experience of

that Spirit,

our walking

with Him,

our dependence

upon Him can

ebb and flow

with the

trajectory of

our life and

our dependence

upon Him,

but it's not a

question of

whether you

have the

Spirit.

If you are

in Christ,

you have

the Spirit.

This is what

Paul says in

Romans chapter

Romans 8 · chapter mention

8.

If you want

to know what

a gift you've

been given in

the Holy Spirit,

go home this

afternoon and

read Romans

Romans 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8.

I can't read

it all right

this minute,

but I'll

summarize it

for you.

This is what

he says.

You, however,

talking to

believers,

are not in

the flesh,

but in the

Spirit.

Two types

of people in

the world,

two types

of people in

this room.

There are

flesh people,

there are

spirit people.

He says,

you are not

in the flesh,

but in the

Spirit,

if in fact

the Spirit

of God

dwells in

you.

Listen to

this.

Anyone who

does not

have the

Spirit of

Christ does

not belong

to him.

He says,

I'm summarizing

here,

he says,

the Spirit,

he sets us

free from

condemnation and

guilt.

The Spirit

wages war

against the

flesh.

The Spirit

puts to

death the

deeds of the

body.

The Spirit

renews our

minds.

The Spirit

leads us in

holiness.

The Spirit

leads us to

delight in

the Lord.

The Spirit

bears witness

with our

spirit that we

are sons of

God.

The Spirit

helps us in

our weakness.

The Spirit

prays on our

behalf when we

don't know how

to pray or

what to pray.

The Spirit

himself intercedes

for us according

to the will of

God.

The Spirit

gifts us for

ministry.

The Spirit

convicts us of

sin.

The Spirit

bears the fruit

of godliness

in our lives.

The Spirit

stirs up love

for Christ

in us.

And we

think we

can live the

Christian life

according to

the flesh.

Church, the

Christian life

is impossible

apart from

his Spirit.

And John

says, come

to Christ.

All I can

do is clean

you with water,

but Christ

will baptize

you with the

Holy Spirit.

This Jesus

is a

substitutionary

sacrifice.

He is the

Spirit-filled

Spirit-giver.

Who else

can he be

but the

Son of God?

This is

how John

concludes

his testimony.

Here in

verse 34,

he says,

I have

seen and

borne witness

that this

is the

Son

of God.

We're told

in Matthew

3 that when

Jesus was

baptized,

he went down

into the

water and

as he came

up out

of the

water after

400 years

of silence,

everyone there

heard the

voice of

God.

This is one

of only three

times in the

New Testament

that God

speaks audibly

for everybody

to hear.

It's at the

baptism of

Christ,

this is my

beloved Son

in whom I

am well

pleased.

It's at his

transfiguration

of Christ,

this is my

beloved Son,

listen to him.

And it's in the

final week of

Jesus'

earthly life,

I have glorified

your name and

I will do it

again.

What do you

think God

wants us

to hear?

All three

times,

he points

our attention

to the

glory of

Jesus as

the Christ,

the only

Son of

God.

He wants

us,

he wants

you to

listen to

him,

to believe

in him,

to trust

him,

to love

him,

to share

him,

to behold

him.

That's

exactly what

John calls

us to do.

How do we

respond to

a man like

this?

With the

eyes of

spiritual sight

by the power

of the Holy

Spirit Church,

we must

behold

him.

Behold

the Lamb

of God.

Behold

the Lamb

of God

who takes

away the

sin of

the world.

But please

don't be

content to

just hear

this and

understand in

your mind

who Jesus

is.

You must

behold him

by faith

in your

heart.

Apply the

gospel to

yourself.

church.

To know

that everything

he did,

he did

on your

behalf.

Know that

Christ Jesus

came to

take away

the sin

of the

world,

but trust

that Christ

came to

take my

sin.

Jesus came

to take

away the

sin of

Jonathan

love and

have been

To be forgiven in my place.

Know that Christ is the spirit-filled spirit giver.

But look to him.

Come to him.

Behold him.

Depend on him daily.

Abide in him.

Walk in him.

Walk in the power of the Holy Spirit at work in you.

Sanctifying.

Purifying.

Convicting.

Leading you.

Christ in us.

The hope of glory.

And know.

Know that Christ is the beloved son of God.

But behold him by faith and rejoice.

To all who received him.

He gave the right.

To become children of God.

And by his grace you.

Are a son.

And a daughter.

Of Christ.

Son and daughter of God.

God.

Good news like this.

Church should.

Humble us.

And it should compel us.

To lower ourselves.

To point to Jesus.

To invite others.

To come and to behold the glory.

Of God.

Let's pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

God.

We thank you for the good news of the gospel.

That Christ came to take away the sin of the world.

Lord.

We pray that we would trust that to be true for us.

Specifically.

That the blood of Christ would wash away our sin.

And Lord.

When we realize that.

The gift that we've been given.

As we walk according to the spirit.

Lord.

Make us humble.

And make us joyfully.

Joyfully missional.

As we proclaim the glory of God.

To those who've never heard.

We pray this in Jesus name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.