Behold The Lamb!

A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JULY 14 1872,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Behold the Lamb of God!" John 1:36.

IT IS the preacher's principal business–I think I might say, his only
business–to cry, "Behold the Lamb of God!" For this reason was John
born and sent into the world, and such were the prophecies which went
before concerning him. If he had been the most eloquent preacher of
repentance. If he had been the most earnest declaimer against the sins
of the times, he would, nevertheless, have missed his lifework if he
had forgotten to say, "Behold the Lamb of God." He did well when he
baptized the repenting crowd. He spoke nobly when he faced the
Pharisees and was a true hero when he rebuked Herod. But above all his
chief errand was to herald the Messiah, to bear witness to the Son of
God!

What we have said of John we may say of every God-sent minister–he is
sent to bear witness to the Christ of God and whatever else he may do,
if he does not this continually, habitually, earnestly–he is not
fulfilling the errand for which his Master sent him, but has turned
aside to baser ends. When any one of us who are called ministers shall
die and come before the Lord to give our account, it will be a sorry
thing for us if we can only say, "Lord, I have preached the dogmas of
the Church to which I belonged," unless we can also add that we have
directed men to the living Savior.

Vain will it be to have argued with accurate logic and persuaded with
lofty rhetoric unless we have uplifted Christ among the people. It will
be idle to say, "I have preached against the skepticism of the times. I
have rebuked the sins which raged around me and have proclaimed what I
knew of the glory of God in Nature and in Providence," for our chief
and distinguishing work is to declare the name of the Lord Jesus and
the power of His precious blood. As the stars called "the Pointers"
always point to the Pole star, so must we always point to the Redeemer.

I think the minister who has failed to cry, "Behold the Lamb of God,"
may expect at the last to be cut in pieces and to have his portion with
the tormentors. I can scarcely conceive a doom too terrible for the man
who dazzled his hearers with oratorical fireworks when he ought to have
lifted up the Cross, or mocked immortal souls with the carved stone of
his elocution when they were starving for the Bread of Heaven. Sermons
without Christ condemn the preacher and delude the hearer. Sermons
which do not point to Christ in them will be as hard to answer for as
blasphemy or murder when the Judge is on His great white throne. It is
cruel to amuse with trifles those whose souls are in jeopardy of
eternal fire! Playing with men's souls is murderous work and truly, if
the Lamb of God is not preached, the ministry is playing with souls, if
not worse.

John, however, most thoroughly discharged his lifework, for he was ever
saying, "Behold the Lamb of God." Notice in the text the attitude of
the preacher, for it is very instructive. "Looking upon Jesus as He
walked," John said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" The preacher's eyes
should be upon his Master while he points to his Master. They preach
Christ best who see Him best. John had his own eyes fastened upon Jesus
and therefore he did, by his own example as well as by his words, say,
"Behold the Lamb of God."

If you will take your place in a crowded street and stand for a few
minutes looking at a certain object in the heavens, or gaze upward as
if something were there to be seen, you will soon find that without
asking others to do the same, a company will gather round you and begin
to look in the same direction. Indeed, a vast crowd might be collected
by no other action than by your gazing intently into the air! So John,
in addition to his saying, "Behold the Lamb of God," was doing the best
thing to attract others to behold Him–when he fixed his own eyes on
Jesus–with a fixed wondering, admiring, adoring gaze.

John had no eyes for anyone but "the Lamb of God that takes away the
sin of the world," and therefore his words had point and power in them.
And note that John's eyes were upon Christ not only when Christ was
coming to him, but as He walked by him! Well may the preacher have his
Master before him when his Master is cheering him with His

fellowship and honoring him with His Presence. But on this occasion
Jesus was walking alone, as though in meditation, with His eyes
probably bent upon the ground. It was not meet that He should always be
coming to John–He had done that once and so had put an honor upon His
servant.

But this time He came not to him lest men should think that He had a
dependence upon John–He walked in quiet musing as though His thoughts
were otherwise occupied. Nevertheless the Baptist had not forgotten his
Lord, but again pointed Him out. If the Lord denies to the preacher His
comfortable Presence; if no light of fellowship shines forth from the
brow of the Crucified, it is still ours whenever and wherever we preach
to let the eye of faith realize Christ as present and still to cry to
others with a heart that palpitates in union with our words, "Behold
the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world."

Even when I preach in chains I would labor to honor Jesus, looking to
Him as the End and Object of every word I utter! It is mine to preach a
Savior in whom I believe, whom having not seen, I love. I am looking to
Him now for everything, even as I would have you do. I see in Him
superlative beauties which I wish you to see and I worship a Divinity
in Him which I desire you to worship. I preach not to you an unknown
God or an untried Savior! There is something notable in our text as to
the hearers. This was a brief but weighty sermon, worthy to be preached
a thousand times. Nobody needs a new sermon when, "Behold the Lamb of
God," is the old one!

John had delivered this same discourse before an assembled crowd, but
now he had only two hearers and those two were not unconverted
persons–they were his own disciples–and they were at least very near
to the kingdom if not already in it. Yet to the solitary two and those
already discipled he had only the same message to deliver, "Behold the
Lamb of God." He was a man of rich mind and ready utterance yet he kept
to this one point in all companies. It is thought that if we go into
the theater to preach to the mob, we must be sure to preach Christ–let
me ask you what subject would be fitter for an assembly of saints? I
pray you tell me!

It has been said that he who preaches in the street ought to confine
himself to the simple Gospel–my Brothers, in what place would that
subject be inappropriate or unprofitable? Paul knew nothing among the
Corinthians save Jesus Christ and Him crucified–the resolve is a safe
one for all companies. In this respect some preachers know too much and
the sooner they join the holy know-nothings the better. Christ is
appropriate as a subject for two disciples as well as for a thousand
scoffers, for while He is the Resurrection to those who are dead, He is
also the Life of those who have been already quickened.

No subject is more sweet, more refreshing, more inspiriting, more
sanctifying to the saint than the Cross of our dying Lord! The sinner
needs it if he would be saved, but the saint requires it that he may
persevere, advance, conquer and attain perfection. Give me that harp
and let my fingers never leave its strings–the harp whose strings
resound the love of Christ alone! To harp upon the name of Jesus is the
blessed monotony of a true ministry–a monotony more full of variety
than all other subjects besides. When Jesus is the first, the midst,
and the last, yes, All in All, then do we make full proof of our
ministry. We do well when we are able to say, "of the things which we
have spoken, this is the sum, we have such an High Priest who is set on
the right hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the heavens." May Christ
be "All in All" in all our ministries, for so shall we prove that God
has called us to testify concerning His Son Jesus!

This may serve as an introduction to our subject. Now let us take the
text itself. John says, "Behold the Lamb of God." And first let us
behold Jesus and know Him to be the Lamb of God. It will be well to be
fully assured upon that point and heartily to accept the witness of God
concerning His Son. When we have done so, let us secondly behold
Him–that is contemplate Him and humbly and attentively view Him as the
great Propitiation, the true Sacrifice for sin. Then thirdly, beholding
Him again, let us gather instruction from the Redeemer's appearance as
the Lamb of God. And fourthly, let us behold Him, that is, reverently
adore Him in His blessed capacity as the Lamb slain.

I. First, then, let us behold our Lord and LEARN THAT HE IS THE LAMB OF
GOD. What does the term, "the

Lamb of God," mean? The Hebrews are accustomed that a thing is "of God"
when they mean that it is the greatest, the noblest, the chief of the
kind. For instance, they call the cedars, "trees of God," and the
thunder is the "voice of God." Therefore we may understand, in the
first place, by the expression, "the Lamb of God," that Jesus is the
chief of all sacrifices, the first of all offerings by which atonement
is made to God for sin.

And truly He is so. He stands above all others because He contains all
others. All other sacrifices of God's ordaining were but pictures,
representations, symbols and shadows of Himself. There is only one
Sacrifice for sin–there never was

another and there never can be. All those offerings under the Aaronic
priesthood which were presented because of sin were only
representations of the one Sacrifice–they were that and nothing more.
Jesus far excels them all. Beloved, if you need to see the Lamb that
Abel offered on the altar, the lamb because of which God accepted his
faith and had respect unto him, you must see Jesus Christ, for we are
accepted only in the Beloved.

God has respect unto any man who brings this Sacrifice–but unto any
who bring a bloodless sacrifice, such as the priests of Rome foolishly
do when they offer the unbloody sacrifice of the mass, unto them God
has no respect and never can have. The blood of Jesus once presented
has forever put away sin and no further sin-offering can be brought.
Whoever rests in Jesus as the true and only Sacrifice is accepted in
his faith. If you desire to see the Lamb which Noah offered when he
came out of the ark, together with other sacrifices of which it is said
that, "The Lord smelled a sweet savor of rest," you must look to Jesus
Christ–for the bullocks, rams and lambs of Noah all pointed to the one
sweet savor offering of Christ Jesus offered upon the Cross, where God
and the souls of all Believers meet in blessed union and find sweetest
rest.

This, Beloved, is the Lamb of which Abraham spoke when he said to
Isaac, "My son, God will provide Himself a Lamb." And today if you
would understand the paschal supper, first of all, spread on that dread
night when the destroying angel went through Egypt and smote the first
born of all her land–if you would know who it is whose blood is the
true Passover when it is sprinkled upon the conscience and whose flesh
is meat, indeed, when it is fed upon by the children of God–you must
look to Jesus, for He is the Lamb of God's Passover.

And if, pursuing your studies, your thoughts should turn into the
tabernacle of old, or into Solomon's Temple and you should see each
morning a lamb slaughtered and its blood poured out, and each evening
the same sacrifice repeated–if you desire to know what was intended by
the morning and evening lambs you will find that they were but lambs of
men, lambs presented by men, but they pointed to the Lamb of God in
whom their teaching is all summed up. He is the Substance of that of
which they were but the shadow. Jesus is the Lamb of the morning slain
from before the foundation of the world and He is the Lamb of the
evening offered up in these last days for His people.

Thus might we speak of all other sacrifices and show that in Jesus they
are all fulfilled. Atonement for sin is truly and in very deed to be
found in the Son of God. In Him, alone, is there remission, for in His
blood, alone, is there efficacy to satisfy the Law of God. Stern as the
Truth of God is, we ought never to flinch from repeating it–that sin
cannot be put away under the moral government of God without
punishment. This is a rule from which there is no variation and there
should be none, for ifjustice is left unsatisfied, the foundations of
society are out of course.

Infinite Wisdom has found for us a door of escape by the way of a
vicarious Sacrifice, but that way does not violate justice. Seeing that
we originally fell by the sin of another, namely, our representative
Adam, God has seen fit that we should rise through the righteousness
and sufferings of another, namely, Jesus, the second Adam. Because
Jesus was one with His people, and their federal Head, it was just to
allow Him to suffer in their place and He has so done. Apart from this,
every man must bear his own burden of sin and punishment. The only
possible way by which a man can be forgiven his sin is by that sin
being punished in his legal Representative–the Lord Jesus.

Jesus has borne, Himself, what every believing sinner ought to have
borne, or an equivalent for it, sufficient to recompense the injury
done to eternal justice. No other person could be a Substitute for our
sin, for no other is our Head and Representative before God, and yet
Himself innocent. There is none other name given under Heaven by which
we may be saved. The Lord Jesus is of God appointed and provided to be
the one vicarious Sufferer, the true bearer away of the sin of the
world by enduring its penalty in His own Person so that whoever
believes in Him is redeemed from the punishment of sin. That is the
Gospel!

I would sooner state it in the most simple language than have the power
to deliver an impromptu poem, though it should excel the productions of
Homer or Milton. There is more of precious truth and priceless learning
in that faithful saying that, "Jesus Christ came into the world to save
sinners" than in the most profound discourse, or the most stately epic.
Be thankful that you have heard it! Be thankful that there is
forgiveness with God because Jesus Christ has become the Savior of men.
O fellow Sinner, you may approach your God without being plunged into
suffering yourself, or needing to bring a victim with you, for Jesus
Christ has been brought as a lamb to the slaughter and His soul has
been made an offering for sin! Tremble not, but receive the
reconciliation effected by the Lamb of God! Come boldly, for the way is
open and man is invited to approach his God.

Moreover, our Savior is called the Lamb of God, not only, par
excellence, because He is, beyond all others such, but, secondly,
because He is the Lamb of God's appointing. God from all eternity
appointed the Lord Jesus! He was chosen and ordained to be the great
Sacrifice for Sin. So was it decreed and written of Him in the volume
of the Book, that oldest of books, "I delight to do Your will O God."
In the fullness of time Jesus came to do the Father's will and
therefore it is plain that there was such a will to do, such a decree
to fulfill. Jesus is elect, precious!

Peter tells us that the Lord Jesus is "a Lamb without blemish and
without spot, who verily was foreordained from before the foundation of
the world." Jesus is the choice of the Father. Our hearts rejoice that
it is so, for when we rely upon Jesus Christ to save us, we trust in
One whom God has appointed to save His people. If, as a poor guilty
sinner, I leave my sin upon Christ, the Lamb of God, I leave it where
God has bid me cast it, namely, on the appointed Scapegoat. I rest in a
Sacrifice which God, Himself, ordained of old to be the Sacrifice for
sin. O Soul, there can be no question that if you come to the Father in
the way in which He, Himself, appoints, you come acceptably!

For if you were not accepted, you might well say, "O God, You have set
forth Christ as a Savior and yet You do not save men through Him. You
have bid Him say, 'Him that comes to Me I will in no wise cast out,'
yet I have come and You have cast me out! This is far from You, Lord."
Such an event shall never happen. No human lips shall utter such a
complaint. God's appointment is the guarantee of the acceptance of
everyone that believes in Jesus.

Thirdly, Christ is called the "Lamb of God" because He is of God's
providing. The Father not only appointed His Son to be the Sacrifice
for sin, but He gave Him freely to be such. Out of the bosom of God
came Jesus Christ as love's richest blessing. He is the Father's only
begotten, God's dear Son, and to us, "His unspeakable gift." "He spared
not His own Son, but freely delivered Him up for us all." "Herein is
love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to
be the Propitiation of our sins."

Men were bid to provide the sacrifice under the Law, but the one
Sacrifice of the Gospel is the gift of God. "This is the record that
God has given to us, eternal life, and that life is in His Son." It
endears Jesus to us to know that He is the dearest pledge of Jehovah's
love to His chosen. And then, fourthly, He is not only of God's
appointing and God's giving, but He is of God's offering. Let us never
forget that Jesus Christ was not presented to God by a human
priest–there might, then, have been some mistake in the sacrifice. It
was not left to the sons of Aaron to offer up this true sacrifice to
God. We may be quite sure that the Offering was presented in fit order
and in an acceptable way–it is written, "It pleased the Father to
bruise Him, He has put Him to grief. The Lord has laid on Him the
iniquity of us all."

God Himself had a hand in the sufferings of His Son! What does that cry
mean, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" but that God,
Himself, had turned away from Him and so had brought His soul into the
extremity of woe? What do the Scriptures say? Is it not the Father's
voice which says, "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the
Man that is My Fellow"? Oh, Beloved, when I think of this, that God
chose His Son to be the Atonement, that He gave His Son–and then,
Himself, did, as it were, like another Abraham, offer up His own
Isaac–I feel that the Sacrifice must be acceptable and all sufficient,
so that he who rests in it need not have a shadow of a doubt but that
his soul is saved!

One other reflection here–this Sacrifice is also of God's setting
forth to the sons of men. Remember the text, "Whom God has set forth to
be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His
righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the
forbearance of God." When we, as God's ambassadors, tell you of Jesus
Christ, we do not so in our name but we do our Lord's bidding and God
Himself, by us, is setting Christ forth, showing Him, revealing Him,
exhibiting Him and bidding you come to Him. "Behold," says God "I have
given Him for a Covenant to the people, a Leader and Commander to the
people."

This is God's will, that Christ should be made known to the ends of the
earth! Everywhere Jesus is to be preached, whether men will bow before
Him or not. We are quite sure we are doing God's will when we are
setting forth Christ, for we are bid to go into all the world and
preach Him to every creature. Assuredly, what the Lord thus sets forth
He intends to give to those who seek it. There are no mockeries with
God! He does not exhibit bread and refuse it to the hungry, or set
garments before the naked and refuse it to them. Happy are the men who
see Jesus set forth manifestly crucified among them, for they have good
ground to hope in Him!

Now then, Sinner, look at this. You want to be rid of your sin. You are
conscious of it this morning, and you do confess it with shame. Well
then, God's way of pardoning you is that your sin be laid on Jesus. As
far as you are

concerned, you can obtain all the merit of the great Atonement of
Calvary by a simple act of faith. As of old the Jew laid his hands upon
the victim and then the victim was his substitute, so if you do but lay
your trembling hands upon Christ, He suffered for you! He was an
Atonement for you, and what a blessed Atonement! Let us rehearse that
point again–He is the Chief of all sacrifices, the Sacrifice of God's
ordaining, of God's bestowing, of God's presenting, and now of God's
setting forth to you!

What more would you have? In order that all things might be of God in
this matter, from first to last, Jesus is the Lamb of God–is not this
well? Jesus is God's own chosen Savior–what can be better? On what
surer ground would you wish to rest? O that you were led to receive Him
now to be yours forever! Jesus is my All, and I am a man as you are!
Why should He not be your All, also? I feel as if I could tarry here
just a minute and pass round among all this audience this one solemn
question for each one to answer–will you accept Jesus of Nazareth, the
Son of God, to be unto your soul the Lamb of God which takes away your
sin? Come, what do you say?

It is ours to point to Him and to bear our witness–will you accept our
testimony? Truly He is a great God and a Savior! We have trusted in Him
and we are not confused. Oh, if the Spirit of God sweetly leads you,
now, to say from your heart–

"My faith does lay her hand On that dear head of Yours While like a
penitent I stand, And there confess my sin"–

it is indeed well with you both for time and eternity . Be of good
cheer–your sins, which are many, are forgiven you! Go your way, you
are accepted in the Beloved! Your iniquities are blotted out like a
cloud–not one of them shall be mentioned against you any more forever!
O blessed Spirit of God, out of Your great mercy grant that many and
many a heart may lay hold upon the Lord Jesus at this hour!

II. But now we most pass on to a second point. "Behold the Lamb of
God," that is, let us CONTEMPLATE JESUS UNDER THAT CHARACTER. Let us
meditate upon Him for a few minutes and then let us constantly fix our
thoughts upon Him. Jesus Christ, as the atoning Sacrifice, ought to be
the principal Object of every Believer's thoughts. There are other
subjects in the world which we must think of, for we are yet in the
body–but this one Subject ought to engross our souls, and, as the
birds fly to their nests so ought we, whenever our minds are let
loose–to fly back to Jesus Christ.

He should be the main Topic of each day's consideration and of each
night's reflection. We might, with truthfulness, transfer the words of
the first Psalm, and say, "Blessed is the man whose delight is in the
Christ of God and who meditates in Him both day and night; for he shall
be as a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his
fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he
does shall prosper."

To meditate much upon the Lamb of God is to occupy your minds with the
grandest Subject of thought in the universe! All others are flat
compared with Him! What are the sciences but human ignorance set forth
in order? What are the classics but the choicest of Babel's jargon when
compared with His teachings? What are the poets but dreamers, and
philosophers but fools in His Presence? Jesus alone is wisdom, beauty,
eloquence and power! No theme for contemplation can at all equal this
noblest of all topics–God allied to human nature! Just think–God the
Infinite–Incarnate among sons of men! Marvel at God in union with
humanity taking human sin–out of stupendous love condescending to be
numbered with the transgressors and to suffer for sin that was not his
own!

O Wonder and Romance, if men desire you, they may find you here! O
Love, if men seek you, here alone, they may behold you! O Wisdom, if
men dig for you, here shall they discover your purest ore! O Happiness,
if men pine for you, you dwell with the Christ of God and they enjoy
you who live in Him. O Lord Jesus, You are all we need!–

"Such as find You find such sweetness Deep, mysterious and unknown; Far
above all worldly pleasures, If they were to meet in one."

You may search the heavens above and the earth beneath. You may
penetrate the secret mysteries to find out the callow principles and
the beginnings of things, but you shall find more in the Man of
Nazareth, the equal with God, than in all else besides!

He is the Sum and Substance of all truth, the Essence of all creation,
the Soul of life! He is the Light of light, the Heaven of heavens, and
yet He is greater, far, than all this, or all else that I could utter!
There is no subject in the world so vast, so sublime, so pure, so
elevating, so Divine! Give me to behold the Lord Jesus and my eyes see
every precious thing! Brothers and Sisters, no subject so well balances
the soul as Jesus, the Lamb of God! Other themes disturb the mental
equilibrium and overload one faculty at the expense of others.

I have noticed in theology that certain Brethren meditate almost
exclusively upon doctrine, and I think it is not severely critical to
say that they have a tendency to become hard, rigid, and far too
militant. It is to be feared that some doctrinalists miss the spirit of
Christ in fighting for the words of Christ. God forbid I should speak
against earnestly contending for the true faith, but still, without
fellowship with the living Savior we may, through controversy, become
ill-developed and one-sided.

I think I have noticed that Brethren who give all their thoughts to
experience are also somewhat out of square. Some of them dwell upon the
experience of human corruption until they acquire a melancholy
temperament and are at the same time apt to censure those who enjoy the
liberty of the children. Other Brethren turn all their attention to the
brighter side of experience and these are not always free from the
spirit of carnal security which leads them to look down upon trembling
and anxious hearts as though they could not possess true faith in God.
I think, also, that I have noticed that those who pay all their homage
at the shrine of practical theology have a tendency to become legal and
to exchange the privileges of Believers for the bondage of servants.
This also is a grievous fault.

But when a man takes Christ Jesus crucified to be his mind's main
thought he has all things in one–doctrine, experience and practice
combined! As Canaan contained Carmel, and Sharon, and Eshcol, and
Hermon, so Jesus comprehends all good things. If "the Lamb of God that
takes away the sin of the world" is the object of our thoughts we have
wine and milk, butter and honey, the fat of the kidneys, wheat and oil
out of the rock, all in one. "A bundle of myrrh is my beloved unto me,"
"a cluster of camphor in the vineyards of Engedi."–

"All human beauties, all Divine In my Beloved meet and shine." Beloved,
this, indeed, is the most necessary Subject of contemplation that can
be brought before you! You may forget many other things without serious
damage, and even upon important matters you may somewhat err and yet be
safe– but you must live upon Christ, your souls must meditate on
Him–or else you have left the bread from the feast and missed the
water from the well! The crucified Savior is as necessary for our
meditation as the air is for our breathing. The blood of Jesus is the
life-blood of true religion–a bloodless faith is a lifeless faith.

I stood yesterday by the little open grave of one of our orphans and it
said far more to me than I could say to those who mourned around it,
for it reminded me that there is nothing worth living for beneath the
sky, since all things are as a dream. Then I thought within myself, as
I looked on the poor orphan lads around me–yes, there is something to
live for–to help the poor and train the young, and to make men holier
and happier. But then I remembered that they, too, like myself, were
dying creatures and therefore even the benefit received by them would
also pass away. To live, then, for men is, as far as eternity is
concerned, an unsatisfactory thing unless there is some higher light in
which to view it.

But when the heart lives for Jesus it is not less philanthropic, for it
loves men for His sake, but its object melts into the Divine, for we
love God when we love Jesus since He is very God of very God. Beloved,
this leads me to the very marrow of the matter–to believe in Jesus as
Divine is essential to real Christianity–and one of the distinguishing
subjects of faith which separate Christians from other men. Individuals
are to be found who possess great admiration for the Prophet of
Nazareth but they know Him not as the Son of God, or as the Lamb of
God. They deny His Divinity and reject His Atonement.

With fair words and oily speeches they compliment His Character and
bedaub His name with their worthless praises. Yet they are not
Christians and the name is dishonored when they wear it! Of late we
have heard deniers of our Lord's Divinity spoken of as Christian
Brethren. Now my common sense does not enable me to see how a man can
be called a Christian who rejects Christ! Charity by all manner of
means, but not falsehood! Union certainly, but not union in deadly
error! Confederacy with those who do not believe Jesus Christ to be God
and deny His atoning Sacrifice? It is treason to the Lord of Glory!

Such persons may be excellent Muslims, or Jews, or pure Theists, but
they are not Christians! And if they wrongly assume that title we ought
not to concede it to them. In this matter he that is not with our Lord
is against Him, and he that gathers not with Him scatters abroad.
Without a distinct and hearty recognition of our Lord's Deity and
Atonement, how can a man be a partaker of Christ at all? True
Christians have no questions about these Truths of God–Jesus is to
them the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, and the Son
of God whom the world shall yet adore!

III. Now let us pass on to a third run of thought, but indulge in it
very briefly. Let us behold the Lamb of God, that is, GATHER
INSTRUCTION FROM JESUS UNDER THAT ASPECT. I beg you to gather some
doctrinal instruction. If the Sacrifice provided by God for human sin
must be none other than the Son of God Himself, then sin is a gigantic
evil, and necessarily the punishment of sin is stupendous, too.

I observe with pain the attempt that is made to lower the meaning of
Scripture upon the subject of the penalty due to sin. It has been
usually believed to be everlasting, but this is now denied–denied in
the teeth of express Scriptures! Now the moment we begin to mitigate
our thought of Hell's terrors, we also lower our idea of sin's
evil–and with it we also decrease our estimate of the Savior. All
things in the temple of Truth are to scale. If you take the inch scale
which now seems to be getting popular you diminish the dimensions
throughout! A little Hell involves a little Atonement. But, to be
consistent, grant a Divine Savior an infinite Sacrifice and you grant
the infinite demerit of sin and then the eternity of future punishment
is seen to be consistent.

All these Truths in Scripture lean the one upon the other and your
judgment upon every other will be affected by your opinion of any one.
Do not err, I pray you. Uplift the Christ of God and believe in the
Lamb of God as none other than "very God of very God" and have Him in
high reverence whatever that reverence may involve. What though your
inmost soul is awed with the deepest dread and made to tremble at the
fate of those who reject the Savior and perish in their sins, yet seek
not to save your feelings at your Savior's cost.

Moreover, what a conception of the love of God the gift of the Lord
Jesus for our salvation gives us. Despite the terrible wrath of God
against sin, He loved the sinner so much that He gave His only son to
die for his redemption! Here is love! Let us infer from that gift His
willingness to answer prayer. "He that spared not His own Son but
freely delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things." Let us also see here sure proof of the
security of the saints, for if Christ is the Lamb of God and no less
than Divine, how shall they perish for whom such a Sacrifice was
offered? If it is the blood of the Son of God which has bought us, we
must be most effectually redeemed beyond all fear of perishing. So far
you get doctrinal Truth from beholding the Lamb of God.

Now, if you desire experimental aid look to the Lamb of God, also. Is
there a heart here troubled with sin? Do not meditate upon your sin
hoping to find comfort from any consideration connected with it–as
well look for Heaven in Hell! Do not look to your own resources for
consolation–as well search the Arctic ocean for tropical heat! "Behold
the Lamb of God!" Sin vanishes when the Savior appears. Are you
tormented with the power of sin? Beloved, if you long to conquer sin
within you, behold the Lamb of God! Crucified, your sin shall be upon
that Cross where Jesus died. Contemplations of the Savior are the death
of sin–no other weapon will destroy them.

If you suffer today from personal affliction and need fresh strength to
bear it, "Behold the Lamb of God!" His way was much rougher and darker
than yours–pluck up courage, He will bear you through it! He is
familiar with all your griefs, His pitying eyes behold your sorrows.
And oh, if you are getting weary in the battle of life and tired of
serving God, "Behold the Lamb of God!" wrestling unto blood, and your
courage will return! Reaper in the summer's heat, see Him as He grasps
with that pierced hand the sickle! What strides He makes! How
untiringly He labors till His bloody sweat falls on the ground. Up and
do your reaping, too, working at His side!

Builder in the House of God, if you don't see the temple rising as you
desire, do not lay down your trowel or the mallet, but see the
Master-Builder standing there with indefatigable perseverance following
out His glorious design! Let not self-denial or self-sacrifice be
difficult when the Lamb of God is before you. Let not perseverance be
difficult, or shame, or scorn be hard to endure–or defeat, or death
itself be impossible to triumph in–when the Lamb of God is before
them! He conquered upon Golgotha, perhaps you will conquer there. Only
keep your eye upon the Lamb of God and this will make you strong to do
and to endure!

I might thus continue urging children of God to their profit to look to
the Lamb of God, but I shall only add this, that if at any time we grow
discouraged about God's work and are afraid that it will not succeed
and so on, the very best encouragement for us is to Behold the Lamb of
God! You are afraid that sin will conquer in your soul–how can it,
when Jesus died for you? Sin seemed to win the day when Christ was
dead, but He rose again and so shall you rise, and you shall be more
than a conqueror!

And in this world is it not a very weary business to be a minister of
Christ today? If I might have my choice I would sooner follow any
avocation, so far as the comfort of it is concerned, than this of
ministering to the sons of men! For we beat the air and this deaf
generation will not hear us! What is this perverse generation the
better for after years and years and years of preaching? This land is
going back to the foul doctrines which its fathers would not
bear–those who know better are in concert and continue in fellowship
with the priests of Rome! The world is not worth preaching to–we have
piped unto it and it has not danced! We have mourned unto it, but it
has not lamented! It needs an Elijah, a man of fire and thunder to deal
with such an age as this!

But for all that, there is no room for discouragement, for the Truth of
God will win the day! It is in the hands of One who cannot fail or
falter. He shall not fail or be discouraged till He has set judgment in
the earth and the isles wait for His Law. The fight may seem to hang in
the scales today, but the conquest is sure to come unto Him whose right
it is. He shall gather all the scepters of kings beneath His arm in one
mighty sheaf and take their diadems from off their brows, and be
Himself crowned with many crowns, for God has said it, and Heaven and
earth shall pass away but every promise of His must and shall be
fulfilled!

Push on, then, through hosts of enemies, you warriors of the Cross!
Fight up the hill, you soldiers of Christ, through the smoke and
through the dust! You may not see your banner just now, neither do you
hear the trumpet that rings out the note of victory, but the mist shall
clear away and you shall gain the summit of the hill–and your foes
shall fly before you, and the King Himself shall come and you shall be
rewarded who have continued steadfast in His service.

IV. Now the last thought was to be this. Behold the Lamb of God WITH
REVERENCE. I will not dwell upon it for I have not time. Lift up your
eyes and worship Him now. He exists, He is as truly there in Heaven as
He was here on earth. Behold Him! Worship Him! Trust Him! Love Him, for
be this remembered, He will come before long and that which we shall
have to dread if we are unbelievers will be the wrath of the Lamb!

Read through the book of Revelation and you shall find there, I think,
more than 20 times the Lord described as a Lamb. The song is the "song
of Moses and of the Lamb." Worship is given "unto the Lamb, for He is
worthy." He it is that takes the book and looses the seven seals, and
it is the Lamb that shall come "to judge the quick and the dead."
"Therefore kiss the Son lest He be angry and you perish from the way
while His wrath is kindled but a little." Worship Him at this hour for
He comes before long! As the Lord lives before whom I stand, He will
summon every one of you to His bar. Take heed that He is not an object
of terror to you as He will be if you continue in unbelief, but turn
unto Him that He may be your joy and gladness in the day of His
appearing! Amen.
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Rahab