August 15, 2004
Morning Sermon Outline
“Behold the Lamb!”
John 1:19-29

I. The council sent from Jerusalem

1. Doing the right thing in the wrong way
2. Most likely too slow
3. The beginning of proud caviling
4. They should have come to be baptized
5. A lesson to all of us as leaders – pastors / elders

II. John the Baptist’s answers

1. He knows who he is not
2. He knows who he is
3. He knows why he baptizes
4. He seems to have no worldly dreams or ambitions
5. Yet, he had the highest and greatest of human callings

III. John the Baptist’s great message “Behold the Lamb”

1. The message prefigured by the entire sacrificial system
A. In the animal skins that clothed Adam and Eve – Genesis 3:21
B. In the superior offering of Abel – Genesis 4:1-5
C. In the burnt offering of Noah after the flood – Genesis 8:20
D. In Abraham’s potential offering up of his only son Isaac – Genesis 22:1-12
E. In the ram God provided in place of Isaac – Genesis 22:13-14
F. In the Passover Lamb that spared Israel the deadly plague which God brought upon the Egyptians – Exodus 12:1-13
G. In every Passover Lamb in every remembrance of the Passover after that –
H. A message highlighted by Isaiah 53
I. At noon, there is no more need for shadows – “Behold the Lamb”
2. The message of hope and salvation (for a world lost in sin)
3. The message from the forerunner of the King
4. The message of a spiritual road-grater