BEHOLD THE LAMB! – Charles Spurgeon
BEHOLD THE LAMB!
“Behold the Lamb of God!” John 1:36.
Introduction to the Preacher’s Work: 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 life’s work 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 lifted up 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’s Example: John, however, most thoroughly discharged his life’s work, for he was always 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 faced toward 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 Objective 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 disciples, 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 sweeter, more refreshing, more inspiriting, more sanctifying to the saint than the Cross of our dying Lord!
The Call to Behold the Lamb: Give me that harp, and let my fingers never leave its strings; the harp whose strings sound 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 Christ!
The Lamb of God: 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 to heartily 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.
The Lamb as the Ultimate Sacrifice: 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 to say 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 Him; 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.
The Lamb of God’s Appointment: 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 if justice 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 His 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 simplest 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!
Truly He is a Great God and 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. Contemplate Jesus as the Lamb of God
But now we must move 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 on 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!
The Balance of the Soul in Christ: 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! Others 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 who takes away the sin of the world” is the objective 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!
The Necessity of Contemplating Jesus: 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 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, and its object melts into the Divine, for we love God when we love Jesus, since He is very God of very God!
The Necessity of Believing in Jesus’ Divinity: 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 put down 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 who is not with our Lord is against Him, and he who 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 who takes away the sin of the world, and the Son of God whom the world shall yet adore!
III. Gather Instruction from Jesus, the Lamb of God
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; lift up 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 expense! 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 who 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!
Practical Reflections on Jesus, the Lamb of God
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!
Are you a 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 eyes 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!
IV. Behold the Lamb of God with Reverence
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! 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.
Portion of Scripture Read Before Sermon—John 1:19-51.