In the first chapter of John's Gospel, in
the 29th verse, you'll find these words, The
next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him,
and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world.
It's often seen to me that there's been
a great deal of misunderstanding as to the
ministry of John the Baptist, the great forerunner
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
You remember how appreciatively Jesus spoke of him?
He said, Of all those born of women
there's never been a greater than John the
Baptist.
What was there about this man that was
so great?
Well, of course, the outstanding thing was this,
that he proclaimed the coming of Messiah, lived
to see him for himself, baptized him, saw
him start out on his wonderful mission, and
died for his name's sake.
Some people have an idea, you know, that
the great business of John the Baptist was
baptizing people, and that somewhere or another, by
his baptism, their souls were saved.
We read in the Scripture, Then cometh John
in the wilderness of Judea, preaching the baptism
of repentance for the remission of sins.
And people get an idea that John was
preaching baptism for the remission of sins.
That wasn't what he was preaching at all.
He was preaching proclaiming a baptism of repentance
with a view to the remission of sins.
That is, John's baptism was the expression of
repentance.
John was telling people that all were sinners
and all deserved to die.
He said, The ax is laid to the
root of the tree.
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit
is hewn down and cast into the fire.
And so he called for the people to
come down to the waters of Jordan, and
there be baptized, confessing their sins.
Now, that's repentance.
They came confessing their sins.
They came justifying God, acknowledging that what he
said about them was true, and their baptism
was simply the outward expression of their penitence.
But now that was a baptism of repentance
for the remission of sins.
The sins weren't remitted through the baptism, but
in what way were the sins remitted?
Why, he tells us here in this 29th
verse of John 1, Behold the Lamb of
God which taketh away the sin of the
world.
Baptism doesn't take away sin, but the Lamb
of God does.
And how does the Lamb of God take
away sin?
Why, he came into the world the only
begotten Son of the Father, and himself absolutely
sinless, went to Calvary's cross, and there upon
the cross he bore our sins.
The word of God says he was wounded
for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him,
and with his stripes we are healed.
And now, because our sins were laid upon
him, because he paid the penalty due to
those sins, he takes away the sin of
the world.
That is, if we turn to him, if
we trust him, if we believe in him,
we have the right to say, Thank God
my sins are gone.
Gone in what way?
Because I was baptized?
No, that wouldn't put away my sins.
Because I joined some church?
No, that wouldn't put away my sins.
Because I turned over a new leaf?
No, that wouldn't put away my sins.
Because I tried to be charitable and kind
to the poor and the needy?
No, it's a very good thing to do
all that, but that wouldn't put away my
sins.
What then?
Because I put my trust in the Lamb
of God who taketh away the sin of
the world.
The Savior knew all that I was guilty
of, that is, of course he died long
before I came into the world, but he
knew all I'd ever be guilty of, and
he took all my sins and bore them
there in his own body in the tree,
endured the judgment that those sins deserve, so
that now God can be just and the
justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.
And this is the gospel that John the
Baptist preached.
Some people think that John didn't know the
gospel, but here it is.
You couldn't get a clearer gospel than this.
Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away
the sin of the world.
That's the very pith and marrow of the
gospel.
The Lord Jesus Christ is God's Lamb, God's
sacrificial Lamb who gave himself for us.
You remember when Abraham and Isaac were going
up Mount Moriah, and Isaac turned to his
father and said, Father, here's the wood and
here's the fire, but where's the lamb for
a burnt offering?
And Abraham said, My son, God will provide
himself a lamb for a burnt offering.
Well, John the Baptist says this is the
Lamb, this is the one that God has
provided, this is the Savior for sinners, this
is the one who can offer himself without
spotting to God on our behalf, and this
is the one whom he calls upon us
to receive.
We read in the first chapter of John's
gospel in verse 11, He came unto his
own, and his own received him not.
But as many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the children of
God, even to them that believe on his
name.