Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. John is urging us. Yes, he's urging you and me to look at the Lamb. To understand that there is no gospel, there is no good news from heaven to earth without looking at the Lamb, without seeing the Lamb of God.
So the question is. Have you looked at the Lamb? Of God. Welcome to The Verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. The Bible gives us all kinds of information about Jesus.
But if you want to understand who he is and why he came, There's one verse that's a great place to start. As we continue our series on encountering Jesus, John highlights this special verse from the Gospel of John that celebrates the identity and mission of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here's Pastor John Monroe. We all know the difference between knowing some facts and figures about a person. as opposed to actually knowing the person.
personally and intimately. My prayer is that you will have a personal encounter with Jesus which will change all of life. This is different from simply having knowledge about who Jesus is. Last time we began looking at the encounter between Jesus and John the Baptist. Meeting Jesus is the culmination of John's ministry.
and the fulfilment of his life's work. And John makes a tremendous statement that we're looking at today. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Why is the death of Jesus so central to the Christian faith? Why is the cross the symbol of Christianity?
And what does all of this have to do with us? Continuing our study in John's Gospel. Under the general title Encountering Jesus, I want this morning to look at one verse, just one verse. One brilliant verse, I would say, which will deepen our understanding of the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. but which will also warm our hearts.
Can I ask you to open your Bibles to the fourth gospel? The Gospel according to John. And we're going to look at the first chapter and verse 29. The next day, he, John the Baptist, Saw Jesus coming to him and said, Behold the Lamb of God. who takes away the sin.
of the world. Behold the Lamb of God. Who takes away the sin of the world. From this verse we see firstly that there is no gospel without Jesus. The gospel, the good news, is all about Jesus.
He is the central figure of all human history, and as we will learn throughout our worship this morning, he is also the central figure of all eternity. And so there can be no true gospel, no good news without Jesus. And John is writing this wonderful gospel that we know as the gospel according to John, the fourth gospel. He's writing to tell us who Jesus is. And in our existing study, our past study from chapter 1, we have learned from verse 1 that Jesus is eternal God and He is equal with God.
In verse 3, we learn that Jesus is the Creator. Verse 4, Jesus is life. Verse 5, Jesus is the light of the world. Verse 12, those who receive Jesus are given the right, the authority, to become children of God. And then we saw in verse 14 the wonderful truth that Jesus, this eternal word of God, becomes flesh and dwells among us.
He is Emmanuel, He is God with us. In verse 15, we see that Jesus is pre-existent. In verse 17, He brings grace and truth. It's true, the law came through Moses, but this one. Brings grace and truth.
In verse 18, John tells us that although no one has seen God at any time, this one, Jesus, is the one who perfectly reveals. God because He is God. In verse 33, he baptizes in the Holy Spirit. In verse 34, he's described as the Son of God. But in this verse, verse 29, our subject this morning, we see him as the Lamb of God.
Seeing Jesus come to him, John the Baptist says, Behold the Lamb of God. who takes away the sin of the world. John is urging us to Yes, he's urging you and me to look at the Lamb. To understand that there is no gospel, there is no good news from heaven to earth without looking at the Lamb, without seeing the Lamb of God.
So the question is Have you looked? At the lamb. of God. Have you seen, are you seeing the Lamb of God? I believe that the best day in our lives is when we see the Lamb of God.
taking away the sins. in our lives. the Christian faith. It's not about a religion. But it's about a living relationship.
It's about a personal encounter, an ongoing encounter with the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is looking to Jesus. It's seeing the Lamb of God who takes away the sin in our lives. It's understanding that Jesus is God's gift, loving gift, to us. There is no gospel.
There is no good news for you and for me apart. from Jesus. But secondly, there is no gospel without the cross. The cross is central To the Christian faith. That's why we have a cross on the ceiling.
That's why the cross, rightly down through the centuries, has been the symbol. Of Christianity, there can be no true Christianity apart from the cross. Jesus does not come into this world to be admired. He doesn't just come to give some moral teaching. He comes to die on the cross for our sins.
And he accomplishes salvation for you and for me through his death on the cross. And this is what John is saying when he looks at Jesus and says, There, look at him. It's the Lamb of God. who takes away the sin of the world. What a strange thing to say about a man.
to call a man a lamb of God. What did you mean?
Well, if you know your Old Testament, In the Hebrew scriptures, that under the Old Testament system, the Mosaic system, thousands of animals were sacrificed. Down through the years they were killed. But, says the writer of Hebrews, It was impossible for the blood of these animals to take away sins. But now in the person of Jesus, God incarnate. There is the perfect sacrifice.
Jesus is described as the Lamb of God.
So John and his gospel Makes it clear in John 19, verse 14, that when Jesus was crucified, it was the time of the Passover. The time when Passover lambs were being sacrificed in the temple. Paul and 1 Corinthians Five reminds us that Christ now is our Passover. He is our Passover Lamb. who has been sacrificed.
and the lamb In the Old Testament, Passover had to be unblemished. Saint Peter when he tells us that we are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, he says, it is of a lamb without spot. and without blemish. That the lamb that John the Baptist points to is a perfect lamb, a sinless lamb, a perfect one. And so the central event in all of human history the central event in all of eternity.
is that the lamb is slain. on the cross.
So Paul writes, In Christ We have redemption through His blood.
Now, why are Am I emphasizing this, that there is no Gospel without the cross.
Well, in our world, there are now increasingly more and more false gospels. Gospels without the blood of Christ, gospels of religion, gospels of prosperity. Gospels of self-actualization, gospels of mysticism, but the true gospel. The gospel of God. The gospel concerning our Lord Jesus Christ is a gospel of the blood of the cross.
This is. guards on the way. of salvation. No gospel. No good news.
Without Jesus, No gospel Secondly, without the cross. Thirdly, There is no gospel without forgiveness Of sense. Do you hear John? The Lamb of God. Who takes away The sin of the world.
How wonderful. The biblical gospel. as opposed to a modern contemporary gospel, deals with sin. Have you noticed how many churches and how many preachers have thrown out sin? We're told it's too negative, it's told we're not to mention it, it makes people feel uncomfortable, it sounds kind of judgmental.
How superficial, how unbiblical. at the very heart of the gospel. Jesus comes. As the Lamb of God Who takes away what? Who takes away the sin of the world.
If there is no sin, there is no need of a Saviour, there is no need of a gospel, there is no need of a death, of a sacrifice of Christ on the cross. And if there is no admission of sin by you and by me, of our personal sin, there can be no salvation. You say, How does God deal with our sin?
Well, again, the Old Testament is instructive to us. In the book of Leviticus, chapter 16, we have the account of the Day of Atonement, Yon Kippur. that most holy day in the Jewish calendar. and the priest lays his hand His hands on the animal to be sacrificed. It In symbol form, the guilt of the sinner is now being transferred to the animal.
The animal is going to die in place of the sinner. on the cross of Calvary. Our guilt. is transferred to Jesus the sacrifice, the Lamb of God. He is our substitute.
He is the sinless dying for the sinful. The holy dying for the unholy, the just. Dying for the unjust.
So here is the good news of the gospel. that when Jesus died It's true he died for the sin of the world. But he died for my since. The Son of God loved me, says Paul, and gave himself for me. All of my guilt.
All of my shame, all of my sin, now transferred to Jesus. You say, well, what happens to that sin? Listen to the text. Look at the Lamb of God. Who takes away, who removes the sin of the world.
How does he take it away? How does Jesus get rid of our sin? By bearing it. On the cross. Says Peter.
One of the apostles of our Savior, he himself. Bore our sins in his body on the tree on the cross. He removes it as he pays the price for it. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And this is the only place In all of heaven and all of earth, where your sins can be forgiven at the foot of the cross.
Central to the gospel, then. is forgiveness of sins. Are you struggling with the crushing burden of your sin? Here's the answer. Look to the Lamb of God.
He takes away all of your sin. That the burden of your sin is lifted at Calvary. When you trust Christ as your Saviour, When you look to the Lamb of God, For salvation, he says, your sins and your iniquities I will remember no more. But you say, John, I've done some terrible things. I'm full of shame.
I'm guilty. My sin is crushing me. If you knew what I had done, you would throw me out of this church. We listen to the words of the gospel. Behold, The Lamb of God.
who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus in His death makes provision for sins in all times. He takes away all of our sins without exception. There is no sin too horrible, too despicable, too wicked that cannot be forgiven by our Saviour. At the Great Parliament of Religion some years ago in Chicago, every known religion was represented During one session, Dr Joseph Cook, a preacher of the Gospel from Boston, arose.
in the Parliament of Religions and said I I beg to introduce to you a woman with a great sorrow. Bloodstains are on her hands and nothing she's tried will remove them. The blood is that of murder. She has been driven to desperation in her distress. Is there anything in our religion that will remove her sin and give her peace.
Oh hush. fell upon the gathering. Not one of the company replied. raising his eyes heavenward, Dr Cook cried out to the Apostle John. John Can you tell this woman how to get rid of her sin, her awful sin?
And the great preacher waited as if listening for a reply. And then he said, listen. John is giving us the answer, John is speaking. Here it is. The blood, the of Jesus, his Son.
Cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1. Do you know anywhere else You can get forgiveness of your sin. Do you know anywhere else you can get relief of your guilt? Do you know anywhere else where your soul and your heart can be washed clean?
Have you received this forgiveness through trusting the Lamb of God? Will you look to the Lamb of God and say, I'm coming just as I am and waiting not? To rid my soul of one dark blot to thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot. O Lamb of God. I come.
I come. Will you do that? Will you come? No gospel without Jesus. No gospel without the cross.
No gospel without forgiveness of sins. Fourthly, there is no gospel for you. without a personal encounter with Jesus. You and I each must Personally, behold the Lamb of God. It's not just enough to know about Jesus, it's not just enough to learn about Him, to be told by others.
To admire him as it were from afar. No, John is pointing people to Jesus. Through the eye of faith, Are you looking at the Lamb of God? Don't look at yourself for what you can do. Look to the Lamb of God.
John records here in John 135 Again, the next day, John was standing with two of his disciples. And he looked upon Jesus as he walked and said, Behold, The lamb. of God And the two disciples heard him speak. And they followed Jesus. John's disciples didn't simply look at Jesus from afar.
They had a personal encounter with Jesus. They met Jesus. They followed him. And this is what you must do. You must receive Jesus into your heart and your life.
John tells us in verses 12 and 13 that as many as received him. To them he gives the right To become children of God who were born. Not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God, a supernatural, divine. Miracle. In your heart and your soul, as your sins are forgiven, as you embrace the Lamb.
of God. That has to be done by each one of us personally. Don't tell me you've been a member of the church. Don't tell me you've always believed this. You've always perhaps known about it as I did from a young age.
That may be true. Yeah. Automatically gets into heaven because of parents or grandparents or a church membership or baptism or communion. Each one of us must have a personal encounter with Christ. Just as in the Passover.
When the blood was shed from that lamb, that blood had to be personally applied by each household before they were sheltered by the blood. Are you sheltered? By the blood of the Lamb. Will you now respond in faith, trusting in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ? This faith is not just in your head, it's not just intellectual, it's not just something you sing about or talk about.
Or debate, something which has affected your heart and your whole life. These disciples encounter Jesus and they're never the same again. This faith believes the promises of God, claims the promises of God. Will you know? Today, this moment as you sit here, Will you personally receive Christ as your saviour if you've never done so.
Will you keep looking, if you're a believer, to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin? of the world. Listen to Charles Spurgeon's conversion. In his own words. You've heard a Welshman Saying You've heard a Scotsman try to preach, listen to an Englishman now.
Spurgeon says he's riding as a teenager. He says, I sometimes think I might have been in darkness and despair until now. Had it not been for the goodness of God in sending a snowstorm one Sunday morning.
Well, I was going to a certain place of worship. I turned down a side street and came to a little primitive Methodist church. In that chapel, there may have been a dozen or fifteen people. I'd heard of the primitive Methodists, how they sang so loudly that they made people's head ache. But that didn't matter to me.
I wanted to know says Spurgeon, how I might be saved. The minister did not come that morning. He was snowed up, I suppose. At last a very thin looking man, a shoemaker or tailor or something of that sort, went up into the pulpit to preach. He was obliged to stick to the text.
For the simple reason he had little else to say. The text was. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God and there is none else. Isaiah 45, verse 22.
What a verse. Spurgeon says he didn't even pronounce the words rightly, but that didn't matter. There was, I thought, a glimmer of hope for me in that text. The preacher began thus. This is a very simple text indeed.
It says, Look.
Now looking don't take a deal of pain. Ain't lifting your finger or your foot. It is just look.
Well, a man needn't go to college to learn to look. You may be the biggest fool, and yet you can look. A man needn't be worth a thousand a year to look. Anyone can look. Even a child can look.
But then the text says, Look unto me. I says the preacher. Many of you are looking to yourselves, but it's no use looking there. You'll never find any comfort in yourselves. Look to Christ.
The text says, Look unto me. Then the good man followed up in his text in this way. Look unto me, I'm sweating great drops of blood. Look unto me, I'm hanging on the cross. Look unto me, I'm dead and buried.
Look unto me, I rise again. Look unto me, I ascend to heaven. Look unto me, I'm sitting at the Father's right hand. O poor sinner, look unto me, look unto me. Spurgeon says when he had managed to spin out about ten minutes or so, he was at the end of his tether.
Then he looked at me under the gallery, and I dare say with so few present he knew me to be a stranger. Just fixing his eyes on me as if he knew all my heart, he said, Young man, you look very miserable. Spurgeon says, Well, I did, but I had not been accustomed to have remarks made from the pulpit on my personal appearance before.
However, It was a good blow, struck right home. He continued. And you'll always be miserable, miserable in life and miserable in death, if you don't obey my text. But if you obey now, this moment, you will be saved. Do you get the dram of it?
Spurgeon sitting there in this tiny little chapel, snowy day. Then lifting up his hands, The preacher shouted. As only a primitive Methodist could do. Young man, look to Jesus Christ. Look, look, look.
You have nothing to do but look and live. Spurgeon said, I saw at once the way of salvation. I knew what else he said. I did not take much notice of it. I was so possessed with that one thought.
I had been waiting to do fifty things, but when I heard that word look, what a charming word it seemed to me. Oh, that someone had told me this before. Trust Christ and you will be saved. I thought I could have sprung from the seat in which I sat and have called out, I am forgiven. I am forgiven, a monument of grace, a sinner saved.
By blood. I say to you. As John the Baptist said, As this old preacher said to Spurgeon, Well you look. Will you look to the Lamb of God, all of us? And say from our hearts in the depth of our soul this morning.
All I am of God. I come. I come. Help us, our Father. through your spirit.
to open our eyes.
Some of us are blind. how we need a fresh Look at the Saviour. and so open our eyes We want to see Jesus. Open our ears and help us. To listen.
and may each one of us come. For Christ's sake. Amen. Yeah. This is the verdict with Pastor John Monroe.
If you missed any part of today's message titled, Looking at the Lamb, Or you'd like to find more sermons from John, visit our website at theverdict.org.
Well, today we explored what it means for Jesus to be the Lamb of God. and how important it is for us to know and trust in Him completely. But perhaps you've been reluctant to put your trust in Christ. Maybe you don't understand why trusting God will make any real difference in your life as you face difficult issues. such as the death of a loved one, Loss of employment or broken family relationships.
That's why John has written a guide called Trusting God in Tough Times. And no matter where you are, We'd love to send you a free copy of this helpful booklet today. Just go to our website at the verdict.org and request your free copy of. Trusting God in tough times. And if you value the gospel work of this ministry, we invite you to be a part of our radio outreach and help us share these biblical teachings with new listeners this year.
by giving a financial gift of any amount. Your generous contributions help us deliver the truth of God's Word through the radio to your neighbors, your community, and all around the world. To give today, just go to the verdict.org. On our website, you can also learn how to join our Sunday morning worship here at Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Again, just visit thumbverdict.org.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe with his closing remarks for today's program.
Well, what's your verdict? Do you now understand why John the Baptist referred to Jesus as the Lamb of God? He is the one. It takes away not only the sin of the world, but dies on the cross for your sins. For God so loved the world that God But he gave his only son.
that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Will you look to Jesus? Today will you place your trust in the Saviour?
Next time we'll learn what it means to encounter Jesus and follow him as an authentic disciple. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
