WEBVTT 00:00:00.521 --> 00:00:07.267 I'm going to ask you to open your Bibles with me this morning in the third installment in our series entitled Who Is This Man? 00:00:07.267 --> 00:00:15.227 And I'm going to ask you to turn to the first chapter again, the first chapter of the Gospel of John, john, chapter 1. 00:00:15.227 --> 00:00:18.126 John, chapter 1. 00:00:18.126 --> 00:00:21.925 Verse 29,. 00:00:21.925 --> 00:00:28.785 If you're new with us, we have been parked at the Gospel of John, chapter 1, for the last three weeks, so this is our third week. 00:00:28.785 --> 00:00:39.209 We have been pulling out of this wonderful prologue, the first 18 verses of John's Gospel, these incredibly powerful statements. 00:00:39.209 --> 00:00:47.787 We spent three months in a series called A God Worth Knowing, talking about the Godhead, and now we have focused on Jesus. 00:00:47.787 --> 00:00:53.953 And let me tell you, as we go into the month of December, i'm going to be focusing in Matthew embellished by Luke. 00:00:53.953 --> 00:01:02.240 I'm going to be talking to you for three Sundays and then Christmas Eve, about the birth of the Jewish Messiah, tim. 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:07.412 This morning I'm going to talk to you about my favorite verses in John 1. 00:01:07.412 --> 00:01:11.009 This is called the Crucified Word. 00:01:11.009 --> 00:01:13.787 First week we talked about the Eternal Word. 00:01:13.787 --> 00:01:17.228 Last week we talked about the Incarnate Word. 00:01:17.228 --> 00:01:31.631 This morning I am so excited about getting to talk to you for a few minutes about the Crucified Word John 1.29, familiar or worse, i'm sure, for most of us. 00:01:31.631 --> 00:01:44.390 The next day he sought Jesus coming toward him and said Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 00:01:44.390 --> 00:02:03.287 And in John 1.35, the next day again, john was standing with two of his disciples And he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said Behold the Lamb of God. 00:02:03.287 --> 00:02:07.715 Behold the Lamb of God. 00:02:07.715 --> 00:02:21.590 Father, i pray with everything within me this morning that you hold forth to this assembly in all of its glory and power, the Lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world. 00:02:21.590 --> 00:02:25.145 We would see Jesus crucified this morning. 00:02:25.145 --> 00:02:34.270 Father, help us to understand what that crucifixion means and how Jesus has become the Lamb of God. 00:02:34.270 --> 00:02:39.330 And, father, this morning, draw sinners to the Lamb of God. 00:02:39.330 --> 00:02:43.968 In Jesus' name we pray Amen. 00:02:45.719 --> 00:02:53.323 If you hung out with me in John 1 over these weeks maybe you read it again and again, as I have over these weeks You might have noticed something. 00:02:53.323 --> 00:02:54.947 It's very apparent. 00:02:54.947 --> 00:02:57.151 You don't have to really search it out. 00:02:57.151 --> 00:02:58.883 It hits you very plainly. 00:02:58.883 --> 00:03:05.294 And that is John's gospel reads so much differently than the synoptic writers. 00:03:05.294 --> 00:03:07.945 We call the first three gospels synoptic. 00:03:07.945 --> 00:03:42.352 It's a fancy term that means to view together, because Matthew, Mark and Luke give us a view together of the life of Jesus, and all three of those gospels actually all four except for John doesn't give us any story of the temptation, but all three of the gospels give us the story or account of Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist and then immediately spending 40 days and nights in a howling wilderness being tempted by the devil. 00:03:42.352 --> 00:03:49.390 And those three gospels tell us why John was sent, and everybody's aware of that. 00:03:49.390 --> 00:03:58.212 He was John the Baptist, which was not, by the way, his designation as the head of a new denomination. 00:03:58.212 --> 00:04:08.126 By the way, please tell your Baptist friends or maybe you're here this morning, please, please, get the word out that the first Baptist was Jewish. 00:04:08.126 --> 00:04:16.384 It's not gotten around, but this was John's mission in life. 00:04:16.384 --> 00:04:18.790 He was sent to baptize the Messiah. 00:04:18.790 --> 00:04:36.423 What you may not know, and you only would know by reading John's account, john's gospel, is John the Baptist himself did not know who the Messiah was And he was told specifically that it would be revealed to him through the act of baptism. 00:04:36.423 --> 00:04:39.992 And, by the way, john didn't invent baptism. 00:04:39.992 --> 00:04:43.923 He brought it to a public formation, but he didn't invent it. 00:04:44.564 --> 00:04:48.913 Baptism came out of many years or centuries of Jewish ritual. 00:04:48.913 --> 00:04:55.363 How many remember when you went into the Tabernacle or Temple if you were a priest, you had to wash before you could go in. 00:04:55.363 --> 00:04:57.528 There were water sprinklings. 00:04:57.528 --> 00:05:05.468 Baptism in its earliest form was various washings that God required of the people of Israel. 00:05:05.468 --> 00:05:10.365 What John did is make it the public evidence of repentance. 00:05:10.365 --> 00:05:26.887 It was called a baptism of repentance And the outward sign to Israel that you were repentant was you submitted yourself to John's baptism And John was baptizing literally thousands of Israelites. 00:05:27.690 --> 00:05:29.117 You might have seen this in the movies. 00:05:29.117 --> 00:05:30.723 I don't think they've done it justice. 00:05:30.723 --> 00:05:38.024 But John is out there in the wilderness, in places where there's water, abundant water, and he's baptizing thousands. 00:05:38.024 --> 00:05:44.425 And while he's baptizing them in water, which was necessary, he's telling them this ain't it, guys? 00:05:44.425 --> 00:05:47.273 There's something coming better than this. 00:05:47.273 --> 00:05:51.891 This is ritualistic, this is form, it's necessary. 00:05:51.891 --> 00:05:56.262 But there's another baptism you are going to be introduced to. 00:05:56.262 --> 00:06:01.531 It's baptism in the spirit by Messiah when he appears. 00:06:01.531 --> 00:06:03.235 And then it happened. 00:06:03.235 --> 00:06:08.367 Then it happened Jesus of Nazareth. 00:06:08.367 --> 00:06:10.011 I love the way Mark's gospel. 00:06:10.011 --> 00:06:12.380 It's powerful for its brevity. 00:06:12.380 --> 00:06:18.411 Then Jesus of Nazareth came along and he appears, and he wasn't alone. 00:06:18.411 --> 00:06:25.550 He came with many other Israelites on a certain day to submit himself to John's gospel. 00:06:25.550 --> 00:06:27.053 And it is in that moment. 00:06:27.053 --> 00:06:29.807 And I can't remember the movie. 00:06:29.807 --> 00:06:30.750 I remember seeing it. 00:06:30.769 --> 00:06:53.750 It made a great scene where John's pouring water on people and he's doing it quickly because there's thousands of people in line, and then his cousin Jesus of Nazareth steps up and John's about to cover him in water And John, for the first time, stared into the face of holiness incarnate. 00:06:53.750 --> 00:06:59.259 The word made flesh and John begins to tremble. 00:06:59.259 --> 00:07:10.196 Matthew alone records John's verbal response to Jesus coming to him for a baptism of repentance. 00:07:10.196 --> 00:07:17.952 And with trembling lips, john basically says I'm going to paraphrase it What are you doing here? 00:07:17.952 --> 00:07:21.182 You are holiness incarnate. 00:07:21.182 --> 00:07:25.930 You don't have need to be baptized by me. 00:07:25.930 --> 00:07:30.942 I have need to be baptized by you and you come to me. 00:07:31.985 --> 00:07:38.175 John doesn't get it, but this is the moment for which John had been sent. 00:07:38.175 --> 00:07:48.370 This was the moment And I can imagine that all the thousands of people that John baptized before he baptized his cousin Jesus of Nazareth, john was anxiously looking at H1. 00:07:48.370 --> 00:07:49.252 Are you the one? 00:07:49.252 --> 00:07:50.163 Are you the one? 00:07:50.163 --> 00:07:59.567 And then the day came when he stared in the eyes of holiness incarnate And John hesitates I can't baptize you. 00:07:59.567 --> 00:08:02.252 This is a baptism of repentance. 00:08:02.252 --> 00:08:03.980 You have nothing to repent of. 00:08:03.980 --> 00:08:13.759 And Jesus tells John, let it be John, for in this way we are fulfilling all righteousness. 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:24.661 And you know what happens John takes Jesus down into the water And when the when the Son of God splits the waters and comes up, the heavens make a sound. 00:08:24.661 --> 00:08:31.894 The Holy Spirit descends on him like a dove And the heavens hear the voice of God. 00:08:31.894 --> 00:08:35.274 I can't prove this, but I've always felt this when I've read it. 00:08:35.825 --> 00:08:42.589 I think the Father didn't plan on saying anything that day, but when he saw his son come up out of the water, he was like me. 00:08:42.589 --> 00:08:48.811 When my son scored a goal at a soccer game, like an idiot I stood up in the stands and went. 00:08:48.811 --> 00:08:53.774 That's my boy, And I think that's exactly what the Father. 00:08:53.774 --> 00:08:55.601 Now, this is not theologically sound. 00:08:55.601 --> 00:09:03.352 I say that in advance because someone's going to email me, but I get the feeling that the Father did not intend to speak. 00:09:03.352 --> 00:09:14.173 But when he saw his son that day who, by the way, had done nothing yet regarding ministry, he was just a son The Father said I am so pleased with you. 00:09:14.173 --> 00:09:15.990 Get that in your craw, please. 00:09:15.990 --> 00:09:23.730 He was pleased with him before he preached a sermon, cast out a demon, raised the dead or healed the sick. 00:09:23.730 --> 00:09:27.250 He was pleased because he was simply a son. 00:09:31.304 --> 00:09:40.870 And immediately the synoptic gospels tell us that Jesus was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness for 40 days and nights. 00:09:40.870 --> 00:09:47.529 Now here's what I want to ask you What was going on in John's mind? 00:09:47.529 --> 00:10:05.428 John the Baptist, he baptizes Messiah, there's a visible public demonstration of God's attesting to his son that he is indeed the Messiah, and then suddenly the Messiah is gone for six weeks And I've been asking this question. 00:10:05.428 --> 00:10:15.548 I believe John's gospel answers it What was going on in John the Baptist's mind during the almost six weeks that Jesus was in the wilderness? 00:10:15.548 --> 00:10:18.270 Because he's got a question. 00:10:18.270 --> 00:10:21.993 He didn't have the whole picture and he's got a question. 00:10:21.993 --> 00:10:24.152 I hope you have it this morning as well. 00:10:24.152 --> 00:10:25.168 I want to answer it. 00:10:25.168 --> 00:10:31.037 It's not a stretch to believe that John was pondering this question for the entire time. 00:10:31.365 --> 00:10:44.832 The Messiah was in the wilderness being tempted by the devil And the question was simply this why would the spotless, sinless Messiah of Israel, the word incarnate, who has never sinned? 00:10:44.832 --> 00:10:51.308 why in the world would he submit himself to a baptism for sinners? 00:10:51.308 --> 00:10:58.840 You know the answer because you live on the other side, but put yourself in John's. 00:10:58.840 --> 00:11:02.812 He didn't get it yet, he didn't want to baptize and it made no sense. 00:11:02.812 --> 00:11:05.889 There are no sins for you to repent of. 00:11:05.889 --> 00:11:18.326 And as the 40 days that Jesus was in the wilderness are coming to a close, it was nearing pass-over time. 00:11:18.326 --> 00:11:21.631 And let me take you into John's mind. 00:11:21.631 --> 00:11:26.876 I'm speculating here, but there is such a thing as Holy Spirit speculation. 00:11:26.876 --> 00:11:29.192 I think I have the Spirit of God. 00:11:29.192 --> 00:11:36.967 I think John was getting an education by the Holy Spirit for the six weeks that Jesus was in the wilderness. 00:11:36.967 --> 00:11:42.895 And as the six weeks winds down, we're almost at Passover. 00:11:42.895 --> 00:11:44.109 It's helpful to know that. 00:11:44.965 --> 00:11:49.510 And everybody's thinking about one thing I've got to go obtain my lamb. 00:11:49.510 --> 00:12:35.513 And everybody's thinking about one thing John, along with every Israelite, is thinking about how Israel, thousands of years before, were living in Egypt in slavery, and they were told by God to take a spotless, blemishless lamb on the 10th day of the month of Nisan, keep it for four days, kill the innocent lamb on the 14th, apply the blood to the doorpost and lintel of their houses And then, after the blood is applied, go into the house, have a meal, which, by the way, is where the Lord's supper comes from. 00:12:35.513 --> 00:12:42.340 It's a meal, by the way, and they were to celebrate this meal with the blood on the door. 00:12:42.340 --> 00:13:00.147 And that night God said I will pass through the land of Egypt and I will take the firstborn in death of every house that does not have the blood of a spotless, blemishless lamb applied to the doorpost and lintel of that house. 00:13:01.168 --> 00:13:07.885 Or maybe John's mind went back before the Passover, the original Passover. 00:13:07.885 --> 00:13:22.438 Maybe he thought about his father, abraham, who, in obedience to God, was told to take his son And the emphasis in the Hebrew text is extraordinary. 00:13:22.438 --> 00:13:28.378 God literally says because he's got a son named Ishmael, but he had to wait for an Isaac. 00:13:28.378 --> 00:13:50.971 And now God tells him the most incredible thing Take now your son, your only son, isaac, whom you passionately love, and bring him to a mountain in Moriah, to a mountain that I will show you, and there I want you to offer him Abraham as a burnt offering. 00:13:50.971 --> 00:14:08.345 Maybe Abraham thought about Isaac's response as they neared the mount where the offering was to be made, and he's turned to his father and said Father, you have a knife, you have the wood, you have the fire, but where is the lamb? 00:14:08.345 --> 00:14:17.659 And it was then that Abraham spoke prophetically and said these words listen to them carefully. 00:14:17.659 --> 00:14:26.059 God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering my son. 00:14:26.059 --> 00:14:41.398 And as Abraham begins to plunge the knife into his son, isaac, he's stopped by the angel of the Lord and he lifts up his eyes and finds a provision of God, a ram caught in the thicket. 00:14:41.398 --> 00:14:45.870 And God tells him take that ram and offer him. 00:14:45.870 --> 00:14:47.714 And he called that place. 00:14:47.714 --> 00:14:50.599 The Lord will provide. 00:14:50.599 --> 00:14:57.899 Jehovah Jireh, as it is said on this day, on the mount of the Lord, it shall be provided. 00:14:57.899 --> 00:14:59.067 It's helpful to know. 00:14:59.067 --> 00:15:11.359 It's that very spot where the temple would be built centuries later, and many believe it was that very spot where the holy of holies of the temple was situated. 00:15:14.684 --> 00:15:27.297 No doubt John is also thinking of something else, the great 53rd chapter of the book of Isaiah, rolling around in his mind during the six weeks that he's trying to understand. 00:15:27.297 --> 00:15:33.658 Why would the spotless, sinless Messiah subject himself to a baptism of repentance? 00:15:33.658 --> 00:15:38.456 he might have remembered these words in the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. 00:15:38.456 --> 00:15:52.869 He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened, not his mouth, like a lamb that has led to the slaughter and like a sheet that, before it shears is silent. 00:15:52.869 --> 00:15:57.695 So he opened, not his mouth. 00:15:59.477 --> 00:16:03.830 An entire chapter that's been an enigma to the Jewish people for centuries. 00:16:03.830 --> 00:16:16.259 It speaks of one who is innocent yet suffers, not because of his own sin, but suffers horrible, grievous sufferings on behalf of others. 00:16:16.259 --> 00:16:26.139 And then Isaiah says, it's so succinctly and so powerfully all we, like sheep, have gone astray. 00:16:26.139 --> 00:16:34.519 We have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 00:16:34.519 --> 00:16:48.977 Or perhaps John was just thinking about the Levitical command that a lamb be offered every morning and every evening, two in the morning and two in the evening. 00:16:48.977 --> 00:16:59.150 On the Sabbath day for Israel's entire existence, while they had tabernacle or temple, every morning, a lamb had to be offered morning and evening. 00:16:59.150 --> 00:17:00.994 Now we don't know. 00:17:00.994 --> 00:17:08.090 We just don't know how much of this John understood before he baptized the Messiah. 00:17:08.090 --> 00:17:18.455 But it is likely that while the Messiah was being tempted of the devil, john was getting a first rate education by the Holy Spirit. 00:17:18.796 --> 00:17:31.353 No wonder, when Jesus leaves the wilderness, john is the only writer that tells us what happened immediately when Jesus left the wilderness, and it's found in John 1.29. 00:17:31.353 --> 00:17:49.576 And when John sees Jesus, no wonder it's not shocking that he looks at him and makes the greatest declaration about Jesus that's ever been declared behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. 00:17:49.576 --> 00:17:57.213 That phrase Lamb of God, was not a quote from the Old Testament. 00:17:57.213 --> 00:18:00.219 It's what we call an Old Testament echo. 00:18:00.219 --> 00:18:13.451 You can't point to a verse, lamb of God and say that verse is quoted, but you're echoing an idea to everybody who listens. 00:18:13.451 --> 00:18:27.932 He's the Lamb of God And John wants us to know one thing about Jesus of Nazareth He is the Son of God, he is the eternal Word of the Father, the Logos, who is always with the Father and who himself is God. 00:18:27.932 --> 00:18:37.394 But the most important thing John says you need to know about the man Jesus of Nazareth is He was born to die. 00:18:37.394 --> 00:18:56.551 He came to die And it is this sacrificial character of his death that is foremost in John's thinking, as Jesus comes from the wilderness. 00:18:56.551 --> 00:19:12.651 Jesus, i'm sorry, john is telling us in the entire world that you cannot understand this man, jesus, unless you understand that he came to die and that his death was a sacrifice. 00:19:12.651 --> 00:19:27.055 And when we turn to the rest of Scripture, we find out that the fact that he came to die was not an afterthought, but it was foreordained in the counsels of God from eternity past. 00:19:27.296 --> 00:19:31.568 Turn with me to 1 Peter 1, if you would very quickly this morning. 00:19:31.568 --> 00:19:33.435 1 Peter, chapter 1. 00:19:33.435 --> 00:19:36.224 And I want to read a couple verses to you from 1 Peter 1. 00:19:36.224 --> 00:19:40.525 They'll be on the screen if you don't have your Bible with you, but they're powerful verses. 00:19:40.525 --> 00:20:00.883 We need to understand that it is before creation, in the counsel of the Godhead, that it was determined that Jesus would be the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world, or, as I've called in this message, the word crucified. 00:20:02.250 --> 00:20:05.660 Look at this passage in verse, beginning in verse 17 of 1 Peter 1. 00:20:05.660 --> 00:20:36.847 It says And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb, without blemish or spot. 00:20:36.847 --> 00:20:54.977 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who, through him, are believers in God, who raised them from the dead and gave them glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 00:20:54.977 --> 00:21:03.278 There's so much packed in this passage, but let me take you to the heart of it Peter's saying to Jews who now believe. 00:21:03.278 --> 00:21:07.265 If you call on him, who is Father? 00:21:07.265 --> 00:21:11.537 be aware that you will be judged according to your deeds. 00:21:11.537 --> 00:21:14.683 So conduct yourself with fear. 00:21:16.210 --> 00:21:19.538 There's two types of fear in Scripture, one's bad and one's good. 00:21:19.538 --> 00:21:20.779 This is the good one. 00:21:20.779 --> 00:21:23.733 The bad one is cringing fear. 00:21:23.733 --> 00:21:25.839 I'm afraid to approach at all. 00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:42.130 That has been banished for believers, but what is still in place is the fear of God and the healthy respect that if I'm going to draw near to him I better make sure that I'm pursuing holiness, because he will burn away all the dross. 00:21:42.130 --> 00:22:02.069 And Peter says the way you develop this fear is to know what it cost to ransom you and I, to know what it cost Knowing you were ransom from the feudal ways inherited from your forefathers. 00:22:02.069 --> 00:22:02.991 Look up here for a minute. 00:22:02.991 --> 00:22:06.559 It doesn't matter if it's Judaism or Christian religion. 00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:24.376 Feudal ways inherited from your forefathers I was going to say grandfathers, but that's true Is religious works that people do to try to earn the favor of God and all the dead traditions that men and women have spent a lifetime thinking God is pleased with. 00:22:24.797 --> 00:22:33.410 And Peter says if you want to develop this fear, know that you were not redeemed by religious deeds and religious traditions and works. 00:22:33.410 --> 00:22:44.076 But here's what you were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb, without blemish or spot. 00:22:44.076 --> 00:22:50.490 And then Peter says he was foreknown before the foundation of the world. 00:22:50.490 --> 00:23:00.397 When did the father determine that the Jewish Messiah would become the spotless lamb who takes away the sin of the world? 00:23:00.397 --> 00:23:06.576 Answer before the foundation of the world, which means more than he just knew. 00:23:06.576 --> 00:23:08.502 Jesus would exist in time. 00:23:08.502 --> 00:23:17.426 But God had a plan in his eternal councils that the lamb would be slain before the foundation of the world. 00:23:17.426 --> 00:23:18.609 It's part of the father's plan. 00:23:18.609 --> 00:23:25.288 He set his love on his son in eternity past. 00:23:25.288 --> 00:23:25.689 What blows my mind? 00:23:25.689 --> 00:23:25.990 think about it. 00:23:25.990 --> 00:23:45.617 He did that in eternity past and he had us in mind, that the Son of God, the second person of the Godhead, would take on human flesh and die so that his spotless, blemishless blood might cleanse us. 00:23:45.617 --> 00:23:59.104 And Peter is saying if you understand what it cost, what it cost to redeem you, you will live your days in fear on this earth. 00:24:00.988 --> 00:24:11.941 Now, going back to John 1, let's fill out that statement in the remaining minutes. 00:24:11.941 --> 00:24:20.789 Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 00:24:20.789 --> 00:24:26.007 I'm going to say some shocking things in the next 10 minutes. 00:24:26.007 --> 00:24:32.263 Those of you who have weak stomachs may want to leave. 00:24:32.263 --> 00:24:36.455 He doesn't just cover it temporarily, he doesn't save people and put them on probation. 00:24:36.455 --> 00:24:39.443 The lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world? 00:24:39.443 --> 00:24:52.266 So I have a question If he takes it away, why are we so sin conscious? 00:24:52.266 --> 00:25:09.307 Think about this statement In the light of millions I was going to say thousands, but literally millions of bulls and goats and lambs that were sacrificed throughout the history of Israel, every year. 00:25:09.327 --> 00:25:16.824 If you were in Israelite every year, every festival, every Sabbath, almost every day, in fact, it was every day. 00:25:16.824 --> 00:25:31.731 In fact, if you were at the temple in the Old Testament and you saw a priest on duty at the end of his day, he would look more like a butcher than he would a priest, covered from head to foot in blood. 00:25:31.731 --> 00:25:38.872 There were daily sacrifices, there were festival sacrifices, there were annual sacrifices. 00:25:38.872 --> 00:25:50.272 Literally rivers, rivers of blood flowed in Jerusalem over the centuries and decades that the temple stood. 00:25:50.272 --> 00:26:02.599 And here's what Hebrew 10 says, for since, the law has but a shadow of good things to come instead of the true form of these realities. 00:26:02.599 --> 00:26:25.653 Listen, it can never, by the same, sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near, otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins. 00:26:25.653 --> 00:26:38.079 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year, for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 00:26:38.079 --> 00:26:46.482 Let me say it as loud as I can It is impossible for bulls and goats blood to remove sin. 00:26:46.482 --> 00:26:51.174 What the writer is saying is all it did. 00:26:51.174 --> 00:27:09.157 Every festival, every sacrifice, every, literally, you were reminded again and again and again of two realities Sin is still an issue and it takes the death of an innocent victim to deal with it. 00:27:09.157 --> 00:27:12.906 But look at verse 11. 00:27:13.909 --> 00:27:15.373 The writer doesn't stop there. 00:27:15.373 --> 00:27:22.351 He now presents another priest who did something incredible Verse 11 of Hebrew 10,. 00:27:22.351 --> 00:27:31.232 Every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifice, which can never take away sins. 00:27:31.232 --> 00:27:46.251 But when Christ has offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting for that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 00:27:46.251 --> 00:27:55.771 Here it is, for by a single offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. 00:28:01.759 --> 00:28:06.184 And if that isn't clear to you, look at verse 17 of Hebrews 10,. 00:28:06.184 --> 00:28:11.656 Then he adds I will remember their sins constantly. 00:28:11.656 --> 00:28:17.388 I will call it to remembrance every moment. 00:28:17.388 --> 00:28:25.352 I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more. 00:28:25.352 --> 00:28:31.567 This is, folks, the power of the new covenant. 00:28:31.567 --> 00:28:39.481 It is permanent, it is efficacious, it works. 00:28:39.481 --> 00:28:41.862 It is powerful. 00:28:41.862 --> 00:28:48.752 By a single offering, the Messiah has perfected His people forever. 00:28:48.752 --> 00:29:03.667 It is so sure that this is the new covenant That He pulls this statement out of Jeremiah 31, where God ends and says I won't even remember their sins and their evil deeds. 00:29:03.667 --> 00:29:09.070 Now, does this mean that the Holy Spirit may never convict me and bring sin to my attention? 00:29:09.070 --> 00:29:09.853 Of course not. 00:29:09.853 --> 00:29:12.769 That's a standard experience of the people of God. 00:29:12.769 --> 00:29:23.251 But we need to move from a sin consciousness where we're looking at sin all the time, to a new covenant consciousness that believes that sin has been dealt with. 00:29:23.559 --> 00:29:25.507 Somebody said it recently again, it's not true. 00:29:25.507 --> 00:29:28.367 Somebody said sin separates you from God. 00:29:28.367 --> 00:29:30.948 May I say to you it is not true. 00:29:30.948 --> 00:29:40.846 It is sin not appropriated by the blood of Jesus that will separate you from God, but nothing shall separate you from the love of God. 00:29:40.846 --> 00:29:55.722 In Christ Jesus, our Lord, that Now you might think well, if I believe that, that He will remember my sins and my lawless deeds no more. 00:29:55.722 --> 00:30:01.279 Thank you, i'll just keep sinning. 00:30:01.279 --> 00:30:02.846 God forbid, is Paul's response. 00:30:02.846 --> 00:30:04.104 Whoever said that you hit it? 00:30:04.104 --> 00:30:10.027 God forbid If this makes you want to go out and commit adultery and rob a bank. 00:30:10.027 --> 00:30:13.702 Rob a bank, please don't rob a bank. 00:30:13.702 --> 00:30:20.102 But if your response to this is I can go sin, check your pulse. 00:30:20.102 --> 00:30:24.424 We'll give you an opportunity to repent this morning, in a moment. 00:30:29.619 --> 00:30:35.405 This does not promote In the breast of those who believe the New Covenant. 00:30:35.405 --> 00:30:37.070 It has the opposite effect. 00:30:37.070 --> 00:30:47.247 It has the effect on me of saying if this is true and your grace is so unconditional, i want to give myself away to you forever. 00:30:47.247 --> 00:30:51.484 I've used the analogy. 00:30:51.484 --> 00:30:54.489 It's what happens when men fall in love. 00:30:54.489 --> 00:31:01.608 It's what I had happened to me when I met Shelly and I saw her for the first time and I said I want to give myself to her forever. 00:31:01.608 --> 00:31:06.650 I didn't need rules, i didn't need her to read me a litany of things I would covenant to do. 00:31:06.650 --> 00:31:12.441 Men have to be smitten that way because no man in his right mind would stand at the altar and say the things we did. 00:31:12.441 --> 00:31:20.050 You have to be drugged, and it's called love romance. 00:31:20.050 --> 00:31:21.574 What did I say? 00:31:21.574 --> 00:31:25.548 I hope you have a copy, ladies, to show him what he said. 00:31:33.105 --> 00:31:39.294 Finally, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 00:31:39.294 --> 00:31:47.545 That is such a radical statement that has little or no effect on an audience such as is gathered here this morning. 00:31:47.545 --> 00:31:53.472 But if you were a Jew and heard such a statement, you would be outraged. 00:31:53.472 --> 00:31:55.608 The sin of the world. 00:31:55.608 --> 00:32:03.346 A Jewish Messiah wasn't sent for the world, he was sent for Israel. 00:32:03.346 --> 00:32:12.313 The lambs offered in the temple daily were not offered for the world, they were offered for Jews. 00:32:12.313 --> 00:32:22.074 But John says it without any hesitation who takes away the sin of the world? 00:32:22.074 --> 00:32:33.429 And it's exactly what the four living creatures and 24 elders in Revelation, chapter 5, are declaring When they stand before the throne and sing the lamb's song. 00:32:33.429 --> 00:32:34.712 Bear with me, we're almost done. 00:32:34.980 --> 00:32:41.923 You remember John was weeping because no one was found worthy to open the scrolls that had been sealed and he began to weep. 00:32:41.923 --> 00:32:43.426 It's the only time John weeps. 00:32:43.426 --> 00:32:44.770 whatever it is, he's upset. 00:32:44.770 --> 00:32:48.851 He's going to see weird things all through this book and he never weeps. 00:32:48.851 --> 00:32:53.811 But he weeps when no one is found worthy to open the scrolls. 00:32:53.811 --> 00:33:11.794 And then one of the elders comes to John and says John, don't weep because the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has conquered, so that he is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals. 00:33:11.794 --> 00:33:15.230 And John says thank you, the lion of the tribe of Judah. 00:33:15.230 --> 00:33:19.352 And John looks for a lion and instead he finds a lamb. 00:33:19.352 --> 00:33:37.884 John then looks and sees quote a lamb standing as if it had been slain, and then the four living creatures and the 24 elders sing their song. 00:33:37.884 --> 00:33:55.529 And this is what it is worthy are you to take the scroll and open its seals, for you were slain and by your blood you ransom people for God, from every tribe and language and people and nation. 00:33:55.790 --> 00:34:06.619 The radical news that Israel was not prepared for fully was that God is ransening men and women from every tribe, nation, people and tongue. 00:34:06.619 --> 00:34:18.192 In a word, this is why we do missions, it's why Steve is in Brazil this evening We're going to pray for that. 00:34:18.192 --> 00:34:19.739 It's why we send out missionaries to the ends of the earth. 00:34:19.739 --> 00:34:23.793 It's why Kevin and Christine are in Colombia. 00:34:23.793 --> 00:34:25.900 It's why Phil and Jenny are in Afghanistan. 00:34:25.900 --> 00:34:32.139 It is why Rick went to Russia and and Yuri, in August, spent months in Russia and India. 00:34:32.139 --> 00:34:34.965 It is why we go. 00:34:34.965 --> 00:34:40.635 We believe that the spoils of the victory of the Son of God belong to him. 00:34:43.219 --> 00:34:45.364 We had a great time Thursday. 00:34:45.364 --> 00:34:53.750 We had our master builders monthly meeting Thursday at harvest church and Jeff Oaks brought a precious Russian man to us. 00:34:53.750 --> 00:34:54.932 He couldn't speak any English. 00:34:54.932 --> 00:34:56.963 There was a woman with him to translate. 00:34:56.963 --> 00:35:14.974 He works in Russia on the border with Mongolia And he began to weep as he spoke to us about a people group that live in the mountains in that region who are unreachable because there are no roads to get there. 00:35:14.974 --> 00:35:17.300 You have to go there by horse pack. 00:35:17.300 --> 00:35:19.889 I knew immediately I'm not going to be visiting that region. 00:35:19.889 --> 00:35:23.159 They've never heard the gospel. 00:35:23.159 --> 00:35:29.634 Small villages, people, groups of 400 people That's the entire people group. 00:35:29.634 --> 00:35:33.063 And we began to pray. 00:35:33.063 --> 00:35:35.748 All we had is a map. 00:35:35.748 --> 00:35:42.789 We were in a room with a map and he showed us where he labors and where these people groups are on the Russian-Mongolian border. 00:35:42.789 --> 00:35:51.974 And we began to pray and call out to God and weep for a people we never saw and probably never will, but he will. 00:35:51.974 --> 00:36:04.092 But we began to pray for this people group that God would reach them and send workers on horseback to reach an unreachable group that are in these mountains. 00:36:06.320 --> 00:36:19.192 What gives evangelism its strength is the awareness that it is the heart of God to redeem men and women from every people, group, nation, tribe and language. 00:36:19.192 --> 00:36:21.103 Missions is a no-brainer. 00:36:21.103 --> 00:36:23.449 It's not like an extra obligation. 00:36:23.449 --> 00:36:25.353 It is the result of the gospel. 00:36:25.353 --> 00:36:43.744 God's going to have people from every tongue, every tribe, every nation and every language And, by the way, it would be the heart of God for Trinity now that we start asking God to bring here every tongue, every tribe, every people and every nation. 00:36:51.353 --> 00:36:59.373 And then John, along with Heaven's Course, says this, and I want you to join me this morning. 00:36:59.373 --> 00:37:10.635 I want you to stand And while you're standing, put up on the screen, please, revelation 5, 11 to 13. 00:37:10.635 --> 00:37:17.144 And let's say it together. 00:37:17.144 --> 00:37:36.434 When it comes to the word worthy, i'll read the narrative, but when it comes to the word worthy and anybody that wants to move in towards the front here and get close as we make this declaration, i invite you to if you want to, but when we get to worthy, i want you, at the top of your voice, get used to this. 00:37:36.434 --> 00:37:41.728 Guys, this is what we're going to be repeating for four trillion years. 00:37:43.172 --> 00:37:50.557 So I'm giving you a heads up, man, this is what we're going to be saying throughout eternity, and I want you to say it loud. 00:37:50.557 --> 00:37:51.159 Could you do that? 00:37:51.159 --> 00:37:55.474 Someone said, well, i don't need to, god's not deaf. 00:37:55.474 --> 00:38:01.027 And I said, well, don't worry about it, he's not nervous either, so let's let it rip. 00:38:01.027 --> 00:38:29.014 Then I looked and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders, the voice of many angels numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and blessing and blessing. 00:38:29.014 --> 00:38:41.201 Woo, thank you Wasn't good enough. 00:38:41.201 --> 00:38:43.425 One more time, when we say Worthy, go back. 00:38:43.425 --> 00:38:46.010 We're going to do it on the count of three. 00:38:46.010 --> 00:38:48.514 Let it rip One, two, three. 00:38:48.514 --> 00:39:02.775 Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. 00:39:02.775 --> 00:39:06.184 Let's praise Him, you, lamb of God. 00:39:06.184 --> 00:39:14.782 Now here's how we're going to close this meeting. 00:39:14.983 --> 00:39:17.724 I want to invite you this morning. 00:39:17.724 --> 00:39:34.206 You see, you may be here and you're not part of that company that's been vanquished by the Lamb, yet You are not yet in that company being ransomed. 00:39:34.206 --> 00:39:40.795 You might be religious, you might go to church, you might never have gone to church, maybe you've been brought here. 00:39:40.795 --> 00:39:45.788 I give you an opportunity this morning when I call our prayer team, in fact, right now prayer team. 00:39:45.788 --> 00:39:48.552 Come on up, norman, melissa, could you come too? 00:39:48.552 --> 00:39:56.972 Tom and Nancy, Rachel, and Let's stand and come on up And the other prayer team members come. 00:39:56.972 --> 00:40:00.103 I want you to do this right now. 00:40:00.103 --> 00:40:04.431 I want you to take a moment and check out where you're at with the Lamb. 00:40:04.431 --> 00:40:05.652 Are you part of that company? 00:40:05.652 --> 00:40:11.588 You know, being part of a church doesn't guarantee at all that you'll be part of that company. 00:40:11.588 --> 00:40:27.612 There's going to be a lot of church members that are going to be shocked on that day When they discover they really weren't part of that ransom company because they never personally exercised faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and received Him. 00:40:27.612 --> 00:40:33.463 I'm going to pray and I'm going to release the company. 00:40:33.503 --> 00:40:45.496 But look, if you're here this morning and your heart's being awakened by the gospel and you sense that you're being drawn by God to come to Jesus, to commit your life to Jesus. 00:40:45.496 --> 00:40:47.661 We all did this. 00:40:47.661 --> 00:40:54.153 We all at one moment recognized that we needed to surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:40:54.153 --> 00:40:57.684 The Lamb died for you and for I. 00:40:57.684 --> 00:41:02.253 And now He says join the company of the redeemed. 00:41:04.121 --> 00:41:08.409 If you're here this morning, you've never joined the company of the redeemed. 00:41:08.409 --> 00:41:10.231 I'm not asking you to join this church? 00:41:10.231 --> 00:41:14.443 That's secondary, i'm saying are you really with the Lamb? 00:41:14.443 --> 00:41:21.375 Make this morning an opportunity to settle that issue. 00:41:21.375 --> 00:41:26.539 And finally, those of you that are here that need prayer for other things, this team will be serving you this morning. 00:41:26.539 --> 00:41:35.539 If you're sick in your body, if you need ministry, maybe further ministry regarding depression, which the Holy Spirit pinpointed this morning, come freely. 00:41:35.539 --> 00:41:38.568 God is a God of healing. 00:41:38.568 --> 00:41:47.802 Father, this morning we close this service and ask that you draw men and women to the Lamb Throughout this assembly. 00:41:47.802 --> 00:42:03.474 If there's anyone here this morning that does not know the Son of God, who's never settled the issue that the Lamb is worthy to have their life, may this morning they settle it once and for all. 00:42:03.474 --> 00:42:07.284 Bring them now, father, to come. 00:42:07.284 --> 00:42:09.726 In Jesus' name.