Behold The Lamb - John 1:29-34

[0:00] Hey guys, thanks for listening to our Calvary Chapel Charlotte podcast.! I will walk by faith and not by sight.

[0:47] Good morning, everyone. Let's open the word and let's trust the Lord to do wonderful work. I'm excited about the scripture we're going to be in as we behold the Lamb this morning, as we let the Lord present himself to us as he has presented himself to so many people across the ages through his word.

[1:06] So turn to the book of John, John chapter one. It's been a while. It's been a couple of weeks. If someone asked me, you know, you ready for Sunday? I'm like, I've been ready for three weeks. You can only go over the same text so many times.

[1:20] Problem is when you go over the same text again, there's more and you just can't keep adding. Um, there's many times where I think I need to go through and kind of pare this down. And instead of taking stuff out, I'm adding. So, um, don't worry.

[1:33] Um, it's not, not too much, but what we will be out by four. I mean, if you want to stay till four, I'd be thrilled. That's, that's great. But anyway, so, um, last time we were together, we looked at, we were looking at John the Baptist and we're kind of going to, um, sunset on him mostly today.

[1:51] Um, he'll be in a little bit next week. Um, but in John's account for John the Baptist, this is kind of where he wraps up this week. And it's really neat because he's going to tell us, he's going to give us this phrase, behold the lamb.

[2:05] And so that's what we're going to do. It's been a while since we've been together. We're going to behold the lamb and we're going to take communion. And it's just going to be, it's going to be wonderful. And then next week, I'm so excited about next week. We have Jesus's first words in the gospel of John and they are to these men.

[2:19] What seek you? He's asking men, what seek you? It's just so, so rich with so much meaning there. Um, and then we also see next week, we're going to see the first, um, use of the word disciple.

[2:30] So there's so much there about discipleship and, and Jesus saying, what seek you? But this week it's John the Baptist saying, behold the lamb. But if you remember in John chapter one, verse 23, John describes who he is.

[2:42] John the Baptist. He says, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord as said the prophet Isaiah. That's hearkening back to the prophecy that Isaiah prophesies about the one who would make the way, prepare the way.

[2:57] John says, I'm just a voice. Remember they said, are you, are you the Messiah? He's like, no, I'm not the Messiah. Are you Elijah? No, I'm not Elijah. Are you that prophet that Moses spoke about that would come and be like him?

[3:07] He says, no, I'm just a voice. I'm just a voice to point to the word, the word that was made flesh and dwelt among us. I'm just a voice to speak the word. That's all he is.

[3:19] Um, there's a scripture in Amos, Amos chapter three. Amos is a, around this section of scripture. It's really exciting. If you want to on your time, on your own time, go read that. Um, but he gives like the sequence of logical progressions.

[3:31] If there's this, there's obviously this. And he says in verse eight, the lion has roared. Who will not fear? I don't think we have a lot of lions in the South. Do we? I haven't found it yet.

[3:41] But if you're on your front porch and a lion roars, you're probably not going to stay on your front porch, right? You're going to, you're going to be afraid. It's the logical progression. He says, the Lord has spoken.

[3:53] Who can but prophesy? The Lord has spoken. Who can but speak forth his word? And John is essentially saying that he's like, look, God has spoken the word.

[4:03] I'm here to prepare the way for the word. I'm just a voice. But neither Moses or the prophets or John the Baptist, they had, they did not have the capacity where they could display the fullness of God's word, right?

[4:17] They could speak with that voice. I mean, Moses did a great job. We just finished Exodus. He did a great job speaking forth what God gave him to. Truly, after going through the book of Exodus, you can see why it says Moses was the meekest man to ever live.

[4:32] This guy just took it from people and then just spoke what God gave him. He never tried to twist it or change it or make it his own or embellish it. He just said, hey, this is what God's doing. But they did have a privilege.

[4:45] They had this privilege of being a voice that speaks of that fullness. So John the Baptist is that is the one the last in that line to be the one to get to be the one to say, this is the one.

[4:56] Moses said, yeah, there's another one coming like me. And all the prophets pointed forward to Jesus. But John is the one who gets to say, this is the one. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

[5:11] No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten son, which is in the bosom of the father, he has declared him. So as good as John could be at proclaiming Jesus, Jesus alone has the capacity to bring the fullness of God, which is grace and truth.

[5:26] Remarkably, it's grace and truth. Do we want Moses to be the representative of God's fullness? No, we don't. The law is good. Yes, but we don't want him to be.

[5:38] Moses is the one that was there's fear and trembling and the smoke and the fire. We want Jesus. We want grace and truth. So John, he was faithful in his witness. If you remember, he gave a witness that was audible.

[5:52] He didn't keep it quiet. He spoke. It was understandable. It was consistent. And it pointed to Jesus. Didn't point back to John. Didn't look at how big my ministry is.

[6:04] It was look at Jesus. Jesus. And that phrase that he uses there, quoting Isaiah to make straight the way of the Lord, is what they would do.

[6:16] They prepare the way for the king who was coming. They would go and they'd sweep the road. They fill the potholes. They prepare the way they'd flatten high places and raise up the low places. And John says, that's what I'm come to do.

[6:26] I'm come to remove obstacles to prepare the way for the king to come into people's hearts and lives. If you remember, we left off last week. And I said that John was doing these things where he was baptizing.

[6:39] He was baptizing in Bethabara beyond Jordan or Bethany beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. And we saw that was the same place where Israel would have come with Joshua into the land.

[6:50] And as Elijah would have pointed and said, you think you have Abraham as your father. I say to you, God is able to, of these stones, open those 12 witness stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

[7:03] And there he is declaring right at the point of that entrance into the promised land. Moses couldn't do it. Moses couldn't bring the people into promise and needed someone greater. And in type in the Old Testament, it's Joshua.

[7:16] And yet not even Joshua, Hebrews tells us, could bring the people into that ultimate rest. And so here, John the Baptist is saying, don't be, don't miss it. Don't be like those people who didn't enter into promise.

[7:27] One greater than Joshua is here. One greater than Moses. And he can take you into a promise that neither Moses or Joshua ever could. He essentially was going to say, behold, the lamb, one who's even greater.

[7:41] So we talked a couple, oh, a couple Wednesdays ago, I opened talking about preconceived ideas. I thought, well, a lot of us, we have these preconceived ideas, which is simply an assumption made in advance that can prevent objective understanding.

[8:00] So I assume something in advance, which then prevents me from being objective about something. That could be in a relationship. You know, that person, they're never trustworthy. They're never here on time.

[8:11] We might as well plan, you know, a half hour early so they can be here. Well, it keeps me from being objective and seeing anything else other than that. And we also, we have preconceived ideas that will hold to regarding God's word, right?

[8:26] A lot of times we'll approach the word with preconceived ideas. And I don't, they're not all bad. But sometimes when the word challenges those ideas and beliefs, we're hesitant to release them.

[8:36] Because it's something we've already accepted as this is what it is. This is fact. This is true. And God's word then comes and it says, well, no, this is actually the truth. And I say that as someone who's had many preconceived ideas, you know, throughout my life.

[8:51] I have four kids. I've had so many times where I thought, man, they didn't do what I told them to do. I am, oh, you're thinking in your head of the why and the what. And it's like, and then you go and talk to them and you feel really stupid afterwards.

[9:04] Because you're like, you should have done this. And I told you this. And they said, well, you know, dad, I couldn't. Because, you know, that person got the flat tire and I helped him change their tire. And then I went and fed the homeless. And then, you know, I went and preached them.

[9:15] I'm like, oh my goodness. You know, you feel really, really silly about it. But preconceived ideas, they're not wrong. It's just we need to make sure that they are conceived in something that is valid.

[9:28] So they need to be conceived for us off of God's word. The gospel of John, it flies in the face of many preconceived ideas that the people at this time are experiencing.

[9:39] Right. At this point in time, Israel did not expect a lamb. They wanted the lion. Right. They got it wrong. They said, well, we looked and in the Old Testament, we read and it said the Messiah is coming and he will set up his kingdom and he will.

[9:53] But they didn't realize there was two instances of that coming. And so they didn't realize why Jesus was coming. That he was coming first, not to right all wrongs of the system, but to right the wrongs of the heart.

[10:08] And so the gospel of John, it flies in the face of many preconceived ideas. You see, they expected the Messiah to become something. But what they didn't realize was what he already was. As we read, the word was with God.

[10:22] It was God. They didn't realize what he already was. They wanted him to become something for them. And I think of myself as I read the word so many times in my relationship with the Lord.

[10:32] Am I accepting what God is or what I wanted to become in this situation? Lord, I really want you to do this. Could you just bless this and make this happen and do this? I found myself praying more and more often as I pray for people or situations.

[10:47] I'll stop and like, Lord, what do you want to do? What is it you want? You know, and Jesus taught us to pray that way. Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name.

[10:58] Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And Lord, what do you want to do? Not what I want to do. And so as we approach the scripture, as we go through this book, God is going to challenge us in many, many ways.

[11:12] And in things that we have held to be true, that the word is going to say, no, there's actually something else I want you to see here. So I want us to have open hearts and open minds with that.

[11:22] Because the people at this time, we're going to see they didn't get it as we go through this book. But there are a few people who did. And praise the Lord, here we are. As a few of them. But as we jump into the text, so verse 28, as we just read, these things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.

[11:40] And we'll pick up in verse 29. And the next day, John 1 29, John sees, John the Baptist sees Jesus coming unto him. We're going to see that phrase a bunch.

[11:51] The next day, the next day, the next day. This is all happening in very quick succession. As John is there baptizing. So what has just happened the previous day that is saying the next day? Well, the day before was they were asking him.

[12:03] The people were coming from the Pharisees and the religious leaders and saying, are you that prophet? Who are you, John? Speak and tell us. And John faithfully then gives his witness. The next day, he sees Jesus coming unto him.

[12:17] What a phrase. What a phrase. He sees Jesus coming unto him. I want that written about me. And Jared looked and saw Jesus coming unto him. That's a good thing. I like that. And he said, behold, the lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.

[12:32] So in our record here that John, the apostle is writing, remember we saw that he says, I write these things unto you that you might believe, that you might believe. So the reason he's stacking these things in the order that he is, is for a purpose.

[12:46] And he writes this phrase the next day, the next day after what? Jesus came to John the Baptist after a faithful witness and testing and faithfulness.

[12:58] John was faithful. And how wonderful for us that Jesus is there. And he comes to us in our witnessing and our testing and our faithfulness. Jesus comes.

[13:10] What a phrase. The next day, John sees Jesus coming. Coming. The word means to come from one place to another. So, okay. It's used both of persons arriving and of those returning.

[13:22] Jesus, he came. He came over 2000 years ago. He arrived and Jesus is returning. And one of these days we're going to say, Jesus came to us. And he took us.

[13:34] We know in verse 11, it said, he came unto his own and his own received him not. There's a few other scriptures. That talk about this idea of coming and returning and going.

[13:44] John 14. We'll eventually, a long time from now, we'll get to John 14. We'll read, let not your heart be troubled. Troubled literally means not to be moved from comfort.

[13:59] Not to be moved from being settled. Don't let your heart be unsettled. Don't let it be moved from a place of comfort. You believe in God. Believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions.

[14:11] If it were not so, I would have told you. Jesus said, if I had another purpose, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will do what? I'll come.

[14:22] I'll come from one place to another. I'll return. And receive you unto myself. For what purpose? To be with him. That where I am, there you may be also.

[14:32] 1 Corinthians 15, verses 22 through 24 says, For in Adam all die. Even so, in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order.

[14:45] Christ the firstfruits. Meaning what? He was the first to experience resurrection. He was the firstfruits. In a sense, the fact that Jesus rose and maintained a resurrected state is proof that we will also.

[14:59] Afterward, they that are Christ's at his coming. The purpose of his return is for our resurrection. To be like the firstfruits. Then, after that in sequence of events.

[15:12] After his return. And after we are partaking in his resurrection. Then comes the end. And what does that end look like? When he shall deliver it up the kingdom to God, even the Father. When he shall have put down all rule and all authority and all power.

[15:25] And that's what we've been reading about in Revelation on Wednesday nights. That end. So, John the Baptist. Jesus comes to him. Jesus comes from one place to another.

[15:37] And he says, behold. Behold the Lamb of God. And we looked a couple weeks ago, I think, at the word behold. Look upon attentively. To contemplate. To learn by looking.

[15:48] You know? So, if you hold something up. You say, behold this. Look at it. Take note of it. But the word is not just, let's all settle down. And take a long time to look at this.

[15:59] It's actually a, look at it. Here it is. It's like, you know, a helicopter flies over. And your kids are literally like, look, look, look, look, look. Behold, behold. Behold. There it is. And you try and catch a glimpse of it. When a sense Jesus has come.

[16:11] And John is saying, look. Here it is. Don't miss this. Don't misunderstand this. Don't mistake this. Behold. There he is.

[16:22] Look attentively. Contemplate. Take a moment and look at what this is. John the Baptist was able to point to Jesus because he had already beheld him.

[16:33] He had already beheld him. He knew who he was so he could say who he is. I can't say behold the Lamb. I've never seen the Lamb. I don't know who the Lamb is or what the Lamb is. And what John beheld was not withheld.

[16:48] He spoke it forth. He didn't say, well, that's really neat. There's the Lamb of God. I'm so glad I know about that. And I'm in the know. Look at all these poor people. Well, I'm special.

[17:00] No, he did not withhold when he beheld. The Apostle John, writing the Gospel of John, also wrote 1 John.

[17:11] You know, it's kind of like there's a lot of Johns. There's a lot of errands here. I was in a church before. There was a lot of Johns. There's just like sometimes one name that's very prevalent. Like, which one are you talking about? So I guess there's John the A, John the Apostle, and then John the B, John the Baptist.

[17:28] It's got A and B, John. This would be A, John. 1 John 1, 3, he says, Remarkably, as we spread the news of Jesus, as we invite others into what we've experienced in Christ, it doesn't diminish him.

[17:49] It actually increases. What happens when more people come into the body of Christ? It gets bigger. Guys, we can be bodybuilders for Jesus.

[18:02] We can. He says, That which I've seen and heard, I declare unto you that you also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

[18:12] There's no diminishing in that. And again, the Lord God has spoken. Who can help but prophesy? When you receive God's word, I think it was Jeremiah. You're so discouraged by his ministry.

[18:24] Right from the beginning, God said, Hey, by the way, you're going to have a ministry where no one's going to listen to you, like you, or accept you. Oh, thank you, Lord. And he got so discouraged. He said, I'm not going to speak.

[18:35] But he said the word was like a fire pent up in his bones. He just had to get it out. And so John here is declaring something for us. He says, Behold, the Lamb of God, which does what?

[18:47] Takes away the sin of the world. John is declaring the purpose. Behold the Lamb. Every Jewish member of John's audience would have understood the purpose of a Lamb.

[18:58] They would have known when John said, Behold, the Lamb of God. They would have thought back to Genesis 22, 8, when Isaac said, My father, where is the Lamb? And then Abraham said, My son God will provide himself a Lamb.

[19:13] They would have thought back to Exodus 12, 3, where the Lord tells Moses, Speak to the children of Israel, that they take a Lamb, everyone for his house. And they would slay the Lamb. They put the blood in the doorpost.

[19:24] They would have thought back to the whole Levitical system laid out, which we'll get into Leviticus someday. Oh, I'm sorry. Let me turn that off. Where they would have seen the sacrifices for the Lamb, of the Lamb, for sin, for an offering.

[19:42] Every Jewish member would have known the Lamb. John is declaring that purpose. He has come. He's the Lamb. He's the Lamb who? Of God. It's the person. Here he is. It is Jesus, God himself.

[19:55] He is of God. And the plan. What is the plan? To take away sin. And the promise? The whole world. As John declares this faithfully. To take away is an interesting phrase.

[20:07] In the Greek, it means to raise up, to take off, or to remove. The Lamb of God, to take away the sin of the world. To raise it up, to lift it off, to remove it.

[20:18] 1 Peter 1, verses 18 and 19. It says, For as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, but with the precious blood of Christ, for what purpose did he come?

[20:35] As a Lamb. As a Lamb without spot, without blemish. Colossians 2.14 tells us that the handwriting that was written against us, the handwriting of ordinances, essentially our sentence, as it were, or our crimes, they were blotted out.

[20:53] Which was contrary to us. It was taken out of the way. It was nailed to the cross. It was took away. It was lifted up off of us. It was put upon Christ. And then he was hung upon a cross. 1 John 2.2.

[21:06] The promise for the whole world, guys. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. You see, the Lamb of God, he did not come to simply cover our sin, but to carry it away once and for all.

[21:23] And there is no sin too big or too heavy that God's Lamb cannot lift it. There's no sin too big or too heavy that he has not lifted off, and that he cannot lift off. And how sad, when I walk around carrying a load, that Jesus already took off me.

[21:39] That he already lifted off me. I guess it's almost like I'm holding on to it, because he's like, let me have that. I paid for that in my blood. Let it go. Let it go.

[21:51] Isaiah 53.4. John says, He said that in John 1.15.

[22:28] What does that mean? He's coming after me. He comes after me in sequence of time and events. But he was before me.

[22:40] He existed before me. He that was preferred before me means he existed in front of me. Then he uses this word before again. Totally different word in the Greek. For he was before me.

[22:51] In rank, in honor, in influence, and position. He says, hey, the one who came after me in the sequence of time, he actually existed before me. And he is before me and before all.

[23:03] He is first in rank, honor, influence, and position. And amazingly, the one who is first in rank, honor, influence, and position.

[23:13] He came as a lamb. I would have thought he would come as a lion, too. Or some type of hero figure. Like we see in the beginning of Revelation 1.

[23:24] You know, John says, I heard behind me the voice and I turned and like the hair is like white like wool and the eyes like fire. Like, yes, here he comes. He came as a lamb? Really? It says he showed himself forth.

[23:37] This is him who I said, after me comes a man who is before me, for he was before me. Literally, comes after me a man is to show himself forth as a man.

[23:51] This lamb came and he showed himself forth to be just a man. Hebrews 2.14 says, For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, us, he also himself took part of the same.

[24:04] That through death, he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the devil. He didn't stand apart from us. He didn't say, well, I'm okay.

[24:16] It's too bad for you. He entered in and became like us that he might serve us. So Jesus came as a man. He defeated sin, death, and hell on behalf of man.

[24:30] Romans 5 says, Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned. We all came from Adam.

[24:41] We all are under that same sentence. We all have the same condition. Sin isn't an act. The outward acts of sin simply represent the condition that I already have. We all have that condition. And there's no way to be free from it.

[24:53] Except, for if through the offense of one, many be dead. If through Adam, we all, by birth, enter into that condition.

[25:04] Much more the grace of God and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, has abounded unto many. Because he became like us. He allows us then to enter in through a new birth into his condition.

[25:20] Sin's defeat then is glorious. Because it means the defeat of death. It means death no longer has a sting. It means the grave no longer has a hold on us.

[25:32] And it is for this purpose that Jesus as man showed himself forth. And John tells us now that, John the B, John the Baptist, he says, I didn't know it was him.

[25:45] I said, well, John, it was your cousin. It was cousin Jesus. You didn't know it was him? I mean, you guys were only like, you know, less than nine months apart. So, no, he would have known who it was.

[25:55] Remember when Jesus went to Jerusalem when he was 12 years old? And then it says that Mary and Joseph were heading home with the family, with the group. And they're like, where's Jesus? Well, they would have all been there. It would have been like a family reunion at that time. He would have known who he was.

[26:06] But he says, I did not know him. I did not perceive him. He had no prior perception that cousin Jesus was the anointing of God. He didn't realize he was going to be the anointed one.

[26:18] It must have been interesting, those family reunions. I mean, it's like, oh, there's Jesus and John, the two miraculous births. He said, I didn't perceive that this was God's plan.

[26:32] And I knew him not. But that he should be made manifest to Israel. Therefore, I'm come baptizing with water. And we're going to see as we get down here that John was sent to baptize specifically with the instructions that, hey, you're going to identify the anointed one, the Christ, the Messiah, through baptism by something very unique that's going to happen to him that won't happen to anybody else who's baptized.

[26:54] We'll get to that in a minute. But he came to make him manifest to Israel. To make manifest is just to make it plainly recognizable, to make it very clear and seen. It's like if you need glasses.

[27:07] I mean, guys, I'm getting older. Like sometimes in the morning, I can't see the words on the page anymore. It's like, man, that is not manifest. That is not very plain.

[27:20] God desired his lamb to be shown and known to Israel. The whole point of John's ministry is to make Jesus known, is to point to Jesus. That's why he's there. John is no longer here.

[27:33] John the Baptist. Jesus in bodily form as a physical man is no longer here. But his body is still here. And it still has a purpose. 2 Corinthians 5.19 says that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.

[27:50] Praise God. That's the purpose we just read about. Not imputing their trespasses unto them. No, not pushing them down on them, but pulling them up off of them. And then what has he done? He's committed unto us.

[28:01] The word of reconciliation. Just now it's our privilege to be the voice, to take the word, to make Jesus known. The point of John's ministry was to make Jesus known.

[28:12] John had an amazing ministry of baptism and repentance and preparation.

[28:24] And yet, what good would any of that have been? How good would that be if it didn't make Jesus known? To go to John the Baptist, like, man, I've been baptized. I've repented. And I prepared myself.

[28:35] Do you know Jesus? No, I don't know Jesus. What good does any of that do if you don't know Jesus? And here we have the twofold purpose of Jesus' first manifestation.

[28:46] His first manifestation to the world, John says, is to deal with a sinful world, to take the sin of the world off of us, and to reveal himself, to make himself manifest to Israel. And remarkably, as we've read in the book of Revelation, those are the two reasons he's coming back physically to this earth.

[29:02] To deal with a sinful Christ-rejecting world, and to reveal himself to an Israel that will say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. God has a heart and a purpose for Israel, guys.

[29:14] Jesus became a Jew. To come unto Jews. To fulfill God's promise to Jews, and to offer the kingdom to the Jewish people. God loves his people.

[29:24] He loves them. He says, and remember when he's at the well in Samaria, and the woman there who's had five husbands, and the guy she's with now is not her husband.

[29:34] She tries to change that topic real fast when Jesus says that. She's like, ah, sir, I perceive you're a prophet. Let's talk religious talk. And Jesus said, you don't even know what you're worshiping.

[29:45] You worship, you know not what. We know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. It came through the Jewish nation. God has not rejected Israel.

[29:58] Not only has he not rejected them, he will one day gloriously restore them when he will open their eyes to behold him during a time of great trial. Romans 11 speaks all about this.

[30:12] We don't have time to go into it. But Paul tells us he doesn't want us to be ignorant about this mystery. He doesn't want us to be wise in our own conceit, thinking, ha, ha, ha.

[30:22] Look at what God's done for me. He rejected you. No, because he says God has not rejected them permanently, just temporarily. That blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles become in.

[30:38] And so Israel shall be saved. All Israel. As it is written, there shall come out of Zion the deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. God has a plan for his people.

[30:51] Verse 32. And John bear record. So he's saying, I knew him not, but this is the purpose of why I came to baptize, to make him manifest.

[31:02] And here's the record. Here's the witness. Here's the account. I saw the spirit descending from heaven like a dove and abode upon him. Saying this is how I knew.

[31:14] We're going to see as we continue down through the chapter. I knew him not. Verse 33. But he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me. That's a very interesting phrasing.

[31:25] He that sent me to baptize said unto me. John had an encounter with God in some form that he who sent him said unto him, upon whom you shall see the spirit descending and remaining on him the same as he which baptizes with the Holy Spirit.

[31:42] And so here John is giving that record. He's saying, I saw that. I saw the spirit, the Holy Spirit of God descending from heaven like a dove and abode upon him. Abode means to remain.

[31:52] Means no departing or removal. So John, the apostle, A John, John A. He doesn't give us the whole account of what was that?

[32:02] When did that happen? We have to go to Matthew to find that. It's in Matthew chapter 3. Then comes Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him. So in the gospel of John, where John the Baptist is saying, it says the next day, it says he saw Jesus coming to him.

[32:19] This would be after the first time he's seen Jesus at the Jordan because the first time would be now in Matthew when he baptized him. And then subsequent to that, Jesus comes back. And that's where in the gospel of John, he says, there he is.

[32:32] Behold, this is the one. This is the one that I knew it was him because of when I baptized. This is what happened. And this is the account of that baptism. Then comes Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized.

[32:44] So Galilee is up north in Israel. He would come down. Here's Jerusalem. And then the Jordan River over near Jericho is where John was baptizing. And Jesus comes down there. But John forbade him saying, I need to be baptized of you.

[33:00] And you come to me. And so as Jesus is coming into the water, John must have realized it's him. He's the one. Wow.

[33:11] He says, no, no, no. I need to be baptized. I need to be, I need to be prepared by you. I need to be baptized by you. And Jesus answering said unto him, suffer it to be so now. For thus it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness.

[33:24] Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, he went up straightway out of the water. So under the water comes out of the water. And lo, the heavens were opened unto him.

[33:35] And he, I think meaning John the Baptist, saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him. And lo, a voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.

[33:47] Or literally, I'm already pleased. In whom I'm already well pleased. John the Baptist, he encountered a powerful spiritual experience, didn't he?

[33:57] Something that he didn't keep to himself, but he used his voice to speak for it. He says, hey, this is the one. He could have just said, hey, this is the one.

[34:07] Behold the lamb. John, how do you know? Well, it's a little weird. I don't really want to tell you how I know. You know, people don't like when I talk about the spirit. So, I don't know. I just know. Believe me.

[34:18] No, he was faithful. He had a very powerful spiritual experience. He was faithful to speak it. You know, most of the gifts of the spirit, as you read through Corinthians in the New Testament, they involve speaking. Most of what God is asking us to do involves speaking.

[34:32] Remember when the apostles and the disciples, they were in the upper room after Acts 2 and the Holy Spirit comes. And they encountered persecution. And they go to the upper room and they're praying.

[34:44] They have a prayer meeting. And they're like, they pray. And their prayer is, Lord, give us boldness to faithfully speak forth your word. It says, after they prayed, the place was shaken. Like, whoa.

[34:55] Like, it shook. It says, they were all filled with the spirit. And they went forth and spoke the word of God with boldness. That's the point. It doesn't matter.

[35:06] This exciting experience. I saw the Holy Spirit like a dove coming down. Great. What did it result in? In your life? You had a powerful spiritual experience.

[35:17] Wonderful. Did it have an effect in your life? Are you speaking forth the word? What did the spirit descend as? A dove.

[35:28] He descended in a way that was harmless, gentle, and safe. He didn't fall like a hammer. It was a dove. Not a, you know. It wasn't like, man, the Holy Spirit hit Jesus and he was down.

[35:39] He was under the water. It like knocked him down. Holy cow. No, he descended in a way that was harmless. It was gentle. It was safe. We don't have to fear the spirit of God.

[35:50] We don't have to fear what God wants to do that's harmless, gentle, and safe in our life. And so John faithfully, John the Baptist, he bears record to the spirit's origin.

[36:03] He says, I saw the spirit descending from heaven. His manifestation like a dove, harmless, gentle, safe. And he abode on him, his presence. He was a presence that stayed with Jesus and his purpose to abide with him.

[36:21] It's interesting that Jesus would need the Holy Spirit. Do you ever think about that? Jesus is God. Why does he need the Holy Spirit like this?

[36:31] In Acts chapter 10, Peter is preaching. And he says, that word I say, you know. Speaking to the Jews, you know what I'm talking about.

[36:42] It was published throughout all Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism, which John preached. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power.

[36:53] Power just means ability. He was equipped by the Holy Spirit. And he went about doing good and healing all the repressed of the devil. For God was with him.

[37:03] Well, Peter, you mean God was him. He was God. Why would Jesus need this anointing? Luke chapter 4. After Jesus is baptized, he's led into the wilderness by the spirit.

[37:15] He's there 40 days and 40 nights tempted of the devil. And after he had tempted him and then departed, it says Jesus, the devil departed. It says, then Jesus returned in the power of the spirit into Galilee.

[37:29] And there went out a fame of him throughout all the region round about. And he taught in their synagogues being glorified of him. I included that verse because it says he returned in the power of the spirit.

[37:40] Acts, Peter tells us he was anointed. But what did that lead to? Yes, Jesus healed people. Yes, all that were oppressed of the devil, he refried them. But what was the first thing Jesus did?

[37:52] It says in Luke. He taught. The anointing and the power of the spirit was to speak forth the truth of God's word. So what was the purpose of Jesus's anointing?

[38:02] Why would Jesus as God need to be anointed and empowered by the spirit? Remember what Jesus said? He came to do one of the things. He says, I did not come to destroy the law. I came to fulfill it.

[38:15] I did not come to destroy the law or prophets. I came to fulfill them. We've just finished the book of Exodus, right? Remember in the book of Exodus, the last chapter there, one of the things that was very specifically needed to be done to the items that were made to make up the tabernacle.

[38:32] What was needed to be done to the people who would serve in the tabernacle? What did Jesus do?

[38:47] He came in tabernacled among us. And it was an anointed tabernacle. And you shall put upon Aaron the holy garments and unto him and anoint him and sanctify him that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.

[39:01] Jesus is our high priest. He was anointed. You see, Jesus, while fully man, I mean, while fully God was also fully man. And as man, he chose to constrain himself and operate in the capacity of a man.

[39:16] He made himself of no reputation. He took upon him the form of a servant. And you see the digression here. That God would become one who serves.

[39:26] And then not just a servant, but he became a man. And not just a man, but being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death.

[39:38] That God would come as a man and then die. And not just die. Even the death of the cross. Even the death of the cross means even so something horrible and vile is that. Told in the Old Testament that cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.

[39:53] Remember when Absalom, David's son with all the beautiful hair, is riding through the woods and he gets caught in the trees by his hair. That was the worst way to die.

[40:03] Because essentially it's saying, curse him are you, that you would die upon a tree. Jesus, while fully God, and he was fully man, he chose to constrain himself.

[40:14] Jesus received the spirit from heaven for the work given him on earth in the capacity of his manhood as a man. Why? Because he promises us the same experience.

[40:28] Because he turns around and says, listen guys, we can't use the excuse and go, well that was Jesus. Yeah, you know, he was God. I'm just, you know. John 3, 34.

[40:40] Speaking of him, of Jesus. It says, for whom God has sent, he speaks the words of God. For God gives not the spirit by measure unto him.

[40:51] The words that Jesus spoke were a result of, yes, he was God. But he was a God who constrained himself to being a man and received the anointing and the ability of the Holy Spirit to do the ministry God had given him.

[41:02] He did not hold himself aloof from us, but he entered into life with us. In John chapter 14, Jesus says, truly, truly, I say unto you, he that believes on me, the works that I do, shall he do also and greater works than these shall he do.

[41:20] What is the one work we can't do that Jesus did? Redemption. That alone belongs to him. But you read the book of Acts and it's just the body of Christ continuing the work that Jesus did.

[41:33] And greater works than these shall he do because I go to my father and I will pray the father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever. So he's saying this to his disciples who've had Jesus with him.

[41:44] They were very comforted because Jesus was there and Jesus is leaving. He says, I'm going to give you someone else to comfort you who will never leave you. He'll be with you forever. His physical, you won't rely on the physical presence of a person, even the spirit of truth.

[41:59] And the world cannot receive because it sees him not, neither knows him, but you know him for he dwells with you and shall be in you. Jesus promises us that same anointing and fullness that he received.

[42:15] Titus 3, 5 and 6. It's not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. He lifted that sin off of us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior.

[42:34] So, yes, Jesus came. And that's, I think, why John said, what am I? Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're coming to me. Understand what Jesus was doing. Verse 33, it says, I knew him not, but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, upon whom you shall see the spirit descending and remaining on him.

[42:53] The same as he which baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And as awesome as that is to us, understand what Jesus did in that moment. He hopped in line with a bunch of sinners, with a bunch of people in line for repentance, for confession, for renewal.

[43:13] Over here is the group sent from Jerusalem, from the Pharisees going, who are you, John? What's going on? Over here is the line of people waiting to be baptized, identifying themselves as Gentiles, essentially, wanting to become proselytes.

[43:26] That was the process of why they were baptized. And there, Jesus, what does he do? He doesn't go over with the religious people. He gets in line. And you know he didn't cut to the front of the line and go, hey, wait a minute, guys. We need to fulfill all righteousness.

[43:38] No, he just got in line. And John baptizes the next person. You know, he didn't say this, but we do. Buried with him in baptism, raised to walk in newness of life. And the person is excited and then he looks and there's Jesus.

[43:51] Identifying himself with those who are confessing sin. Identifying himself with those who need repentance. Identifying himself with those who participate in renewal. Because Jesus did not come to call the righteous.

[44:05] He came for sinners. Thank God, because I'm not righteous. I can qualify as a sinner. But he didn't come just to call us. He came to completely identify with us.

[44:17] For he made him to be sin for us who knew no sin. That we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Listen, if Jesus did not fully identify with us, we could not fully identify with him.

[44:28] If he did not fully identify as a man and with us in our sin. Not that he had sin. He took upon him that sin. We could not fully identify with him and his righteousness. The spirit.

[44:41] It came upon Jesus. It immersed Jesus. The baptism is just immersion. Baptism in waters, immersion. Jesus was baptized, immersed in the spirit.

[44:53] It came upon Jesus. Immersed Jesus. Equipped Jesus. And it remained upon Jesus. Jesus will say in John chapter 7. It's at the end of the feast of tabernacles. When they would come up from the springs.

[45:04] They would come up with a pitcher every day. They'd dump it out. And the last day they would dump it to be empty. They didn't know why they did it. It's just what they were instructed to do. They did it because it was a setup for Jesus. In that last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink.

[45:25] He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Shall gush forth torrents of living waters. But this spake he of the spirit, which they that believe on him should receive.

[45:39] For the spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. As we read, he said, when I go to my father, I will send the spirit. What does that mean for us? It means that he that believes Jesus is God's anointed source of life.

[45:52] He that believes on me, he says, out of his innermost being. And we have the promise of receiving as well within us a continual source of life. A continual source.

[46:03] He says, hey, he'll never leave you this comforter. He will be in you as a well of water springing up. Continual freshness. As Christ's body, we can be a spirit-filled body.

[46:19] Just as his body was. We can be a spirit-covered body. Just as his was. We can be a body where the spirit abides with us. Just as his was. Ephesians chapter 4 says, There is one body and one spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling.

[46:35] Meaning what? It's one, guys. It's one person. It's the lamb. And everything's taken care of. He supplies all that's needed.

[46:46] As we are called in one hope of our calling. It all points back to him. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. What does he mean? He's saying essentially, we all have the same spirit.

[46:58] We all have the same anointing. We all have the same capacity to have that well of living water within us. But hey, God has us each for a different purpose and a different calling. He created you as an instrument for this.

[47:09] And he created me as an instrument for this. He says, so yes, it's one source, the spirit, but different gifts. For the perfecting. What's the purpose? For the perfecting, the completing of the saints.

[47:20] For the work of the ministry. For the edifying of the body of Christ. It's to have a spirit-filled body. The ministry of the spirit is just like the ministry of John the Baptist.

[47:33] It points to Jesus. So whatever spiritual experience maybe we have. Or whatever powerful experience we've been part of. Does it point to Jesus? Does it result in me speaking forth the word?

[47:47] Our last verse for today. And I saw and bear record. This is Son of God. John says, hey, guys, I saw this.

[48:00] I, maybe you don't believe me. That's okay. I saw it. I know it's true. I've been there. I've experienced it. You can say, well, Pastor Jared, I don't know if I believe everything you're saying.

[48:11] You don't have to. But you know what? I've, I've lived it. I believe it. I believe it. Because the word says it. And because I've lived it. For John, there was no question.

[48:23] For John, there was no doubt. For John, there was no denying. There's no question who this person was. There's no doubt in his mind. Well, maybe I, did I really see that?

[48:34] Maybe I just heard something. And he wasn't going to deny it. In Acts chapter five, Peter and the other apostles early on in their ministry are taken in by the Sanhedrin the first time.

[48:53] And they're really upset. Not because they're doing anything wrong, but because they're getting all the press. They're like, oh, they were so indignant that they would speak in this name, the name of Jesus. And they forbade them to speak in that name.

[49:08] And Peter and the other apostles said, we ought to obey God rather than men. I guess it's just logical. I should side with God over man. Jesus will say in John chapter 10, verse 32 and 33, Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess before my father, which is in heaven.

[49:29] But whosoever shall deny me before men, him I also will deny before my father. Which is in heaven. Meaning what? Guys, who do you want to confess and deny? Are you going to deny the father to confess man?

[49:42] To try and get in good with men? Better to deny the world. Better to deny the fact that people, you know, they think you're crazy.

[49:54] You had some spiritual experience. You were born again. Yeah, I was. I confess that. You see what John the Baptist perceived as true. He accepted as true.

[50:04] He affirmed as true. And then he announced it as true. And today I can stand here or sit here. I have perceived Jesus to be the lamb of God. I've accepted him as the lamb of God.

[50:17] It's been affirmed in my life. And now I can announce that. And now I can be in this world saying, hey, God is reconciling you. God wants to lift your sin off of you.

[50:29] The lamb allows me to partake of the spirit by birth and by anointing. I think for some of us, we receive the birth. But we're a little scared of the anointing.

[50:41] Whoa. But we don't have to. It's safe. It's harmless. It's calm. It's comforting to know that it's not me. I can have another source.

[50:54] Welling up within me that is the source of this life. If you want, you can turn to 1 John. We'll end there. I'm just going to read it to you. 1 John chapter 5.

[51:05] This is John the apostle also writing. He writes Revelation. He writes 1, 2, and 3 John. And in 1 John chapter 5, we're going to pick up in verse 5. He asks the question.

[51:17] He says, who is he that overcomes the world? How do you do that? How do you confess Christ? How do you not deny the father? Listen, we've all been there.

[51:29] Right? We've all been there. Who is he that overcomes the world? I want to know. But he that believes that Jesus is the son of God.

[51:40] This is he that came by water and blood. Even Jesus Christ. What does that mean? It means Jesus had a baptism of water. And Jesus had a baptism of blood.

[51:52] Not by water only. But by water and blood. It wasn't just that John could say, hey, here he is. Behold the lamb. He came by water. But also he was one who had a baptism of blood in his death.

[52:04] And it is the spirit that bears witness because the spirit is truth. And he says this. There are three that bear record in heaven. The father, the word, and the Holy Spirit. Father, son, Holy Spirit.

[52:15] They bear record from heaven. And these three are one. They all speak the same thing. And there are three that bear witness on earth. The spirit, the water, and the blood.

[52:26] And what was Jesus baptized with? Spirit, water, and blood. And these three agree in one. Verse 9.

[52:37] If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. Listen, we receive John's witness. He says, hey, guys, I saw the spirit descending. I read that. And I think, yeah, I believe that. Mm-hmm. I believe that.

[52:49] I believe he came by water. Yeah, he was baptized. I believe the blood. I believe that Jesus hung on the cross. And he died for my sins. I believe that witness. That was a witness of men written down.

[53:01] It came by the spirit, which is truth. For this is the witness of God, which he has testified of his son. He that believes on the son of God has the witness in himself. He that believes not God has made him a liar.

[53:14] Made him a liar. We've said, no, no. It didn't happen. The blood, the water, and the spirit. The father, son, and Holy Spirit. I don't believe it. Who are we confessing?

[53:25] Who are we denying? Because we've made him a liar. Because he believes not the record that God gave of his son. This morning, we can believe the record. We can receive that record.

[53:36] And this is the record that God has given to us eternal life. And this life is in his son. He that has the son has life. He that has not the son has not life.

[53:48] Why is John writing this? He says, guys, I've written this unto you that you might believe on the name of the son of God. That you may know that you have eternal life and that you may believe on the name of the son of God.

[54:04] Jesus came to take away the sin of the world. To remove all doubt. To remove all discrepancies. So that we could say, look, here it is. Don't mistake this.

[54:15] Don't misunderstand this. Don't miss it. You can have eternal life and you can know that. And I think we do. I think those of us sitting here, that's why we're here.

[54:26] But I think sometimes, instead of receiving the anointing that God wants to give us, instead of receiving a source of life, we're carrying about something that he's lifted off of us.

[54:39] We're allowing ourselves to carry some sin or some weight that the lamb would take off of us and lift off of us. He would replace that with something so much better.

[54:50] He would replace that with the spirit. He would replace that with assurance. He would replace that with the ability to go out and say, behold, the lamb of God. Because I can tell you this. It's real hard, real hard to say, behold, when you're holding on to your sin.

[55:03] It's really hard. It's really hard to say, behold, the lamb of God. Look at what he's done for me. But I'm not letting him do anything for me. It's really hard to say, behold, the source of eternal life.

[55:16] When you're not living in that. When you're not filled with that. When inside you're empty and outside you're weighed down. Well, I have good news.

[55:28] This morning, there is no sin too big or too heavy for God's lamb to lift. We can let him lift it all. We don't have to miss this. We don't have to misunderstand this. We don't have to mistake it.

[55:39] Behold the lamb. Allow him to give us a fresh filling. A fresh vision of him. A fresh understanding of who we are in him. And I would encourage you.

[55:52] If he puts his finger on something. It's not because he wants to press down. It's because he wants to lift up. Right? If there's something where he says, hey, just let me have that. Let me have that. Because instead, he's going to give you something so much better.

[56:05] It's not going to scare you. It's not going to land on you like a hammer. It's going to comfort. It's going to bless. And it's going to give life. Galatians 5.25 says, if we live in the spirit, are we alive in the spirit?

[56:19] Yes. He who has the son has life. Let us also walk in the spirit. Let it be a daily progression. A daily decision. Not just to be alive in it, man, but to walk in it.

[56:29] To enjoy it. To be free. Father, we are at your disposal, Lord. We want to behold the lamb. And Lord, we don't want to just behold him as something that happened in history.

[56:45] We don't want to just behold him as a lamb for someone else. And we don't want to just behold him because it's really cool. And it is really cool going through your word. It is really cool. The amazing experiences in the spirit that you give us.

[56:58] Life and life more abundantly. That is amazing. But Jesus, this morning, we want to behold you as our lamb. As the lamb that Exodus 12 said that we were each to take for our own household, for our own use, for our own person.

[57:20] This morning, would you put your finger not on something that you want weighing us down, not to make something heavier, but would you put your finger on the things that you want to lift off, to take away, to remove?

[57:35] Because Jesus, you are coming and you are coming soon. And we have a privilege to say, prepare the way. Let's remove all obstacles from our life so that we can be used to remove obstacles from others' lives.

[57:48] So that we can say, behold the lamb. He's taken away my sin. He will take away yours. Revelation 5. John, the apostle, having an amazing spiritual experience.

[58:02] Being given the vision from God of the revelation of Jesus Christ. When he will manifest himself again. He says, And one of the elders said unto me, Do not weep.

[58:43] Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals. And John says, And I beheld. And lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders stood a lamb.

[59:01] As it had been slain. Yes, Jesus is that lamb who came. The lamb who was slain.

[59:12] And he is the lamb who was risen and coming back again. And for all of eternity, guys, he has chosen to be the lamb. The lamb.

[59:22] So that you and I can be there. Baptism, repentance, preparation. Communion. None of these things have any value apart from their ability to make Jesus known.

[59:37] And they have no value apart from those who know Jesus. For we believe and are assured that Jesus is the Christ.

[59:48] The son of the living God. Thank you, Jesus. For becoming a servant. For becoming a man.

[59:59] For humbling yourself. And becoming obedient unto death. Even the death of the cross. Thank you for becoming our lamb. Who has taken away our sin. We love you.

[60:10] For becoming a man.