A Discourse
written during the third week
in February 1846.
For the Mount Moriah Congregation
From the text
Behold the Lamb of God that taketh
away the sin of the world!
John 1.29
8s+7s. 1. 208
G. Hc. 2. 209 }Hymns
L. Hc. 3. 207


John 1.29.' 80807
The author of this exclamation was one of those
remarkable characters of which the history of
the world furnishes but a single one. All
may say that from the Creation of the world to
this time there ever had been & from this time
to the end of the world there never will be
(because from the very nature of the case,
there never can be) another just such a man
as was John. The forerunner of Christ.
Himself the subject of Prophecy, as the [one] morning
star which was to herald the dawning of that Light
of the Sun of Righteousness which was to
enlighten a darkened world, He stands on
His isthmus which joins the old and the
new Dispensation the link which connects
the one undivided, indissoluble chain of
the Old Testament and the New Testament
Church. John occupies at once a solitary and


and a sublime position in the grand view of the
[Gospel Place] History of the Church. Look among the Long list
of the Prophets both the Greater & the Less and there
you find none who are as great as was John
the Baptist. True the hallowed lips of Isaiah were
touched with a live coal from off the altar of the
Living God and he spake in words that burned
his thoughts which breathed and he spake as he
was moved by the Holy Ghost and Jeremiah too,
was the favoured recipient of the direct teachings
of the Spirit of God and Ezekiel the son
of man with whom God talked in visions of
holy entranced delight and Daniel the special
favorite of Heaven and who foretold with so
much exactness the time of the coming of Xt-
and Hosea, Amos, Joel Obadiah Nahum Habakkuk
Zechariah & Malachi all were distinguished as
having direct communication with God in prophetic
visions yet none were so great none


so highly honoured as was John the Baptist. Four
hundred years had now elapsed since the Book of
Prophecy was closed, and the last of the Prophets
had said in the word of the Lord "Behold, I send my
messenger and he shall prepare the way before me
and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to
his temple even the messenger of the covenant whom
ye delight in; behold, he shall come saith the Lord
of Hosts." During the long period which had passed
shadows clouds and darkness had rested upon
the Church of God. The Old Dispensation had waxed
& waned and its types and shadows had almost
become insignificant and unintelligible, amidst
all the corruptions with which Idolatry and Ignorance
had enveloped her. There were still however
some left among the thousands of Israel who had
not departed from their Fathers' God and their
Fathers' faith and devout men waited day and
night for the Consolation of Israel. And to those


who had made the Prophets their study, there was
a certainty that the set time was near at hand
when the Messiah should come. Evidently some
wonderful manifestation of God's favour to his
once honoured, still loved, but unfaithful people
was about to be made. But still before this Day
Star arise and this day spring from on high shd
visit his people there was a needful work of preparation
to be done. John came to do this work and
[formed it] as [a] Pioneer are sent on before to level the high ways
and remove all obstructions out of the road
which some great Monarch is soon to travel
so John humbled the pride of the Jews and
counteracted their prejudices and instructed
their ignorance and showed them the true
way of Life, and thus by his preaching prepared
the way for the heavenly instructions of the
Great Messiah that should come after him.


It cannot fail to strike our minds as a remarkable
feature in the character of John that
while he was thus honoured of Heaven, and while
great multitudes were daily surrounding him
and wonder & applause were excited on all hands
while he had every opportunity & inducement
to impose himself upon the credulous populace
as "some great one" while the wonder-loving
and superstitious Jews were already prepared to
fan into a flame any latent spark of ambitious
vanity that might have slumbered in his heart by
the supposition that he was either Elijah or Jeremiah
or one of the Prophets that had risen and
some went so far as to ask him if he were not
The Messiah yet amidst all this John is distinguished
by a singleness of purpose just to occupy that
singular position and fulfill that remarkable office
which he did fill as the forerunner of Christ
No suggestions of others however flattering to his vanity


could for a moment induce him to swerve, or assume
a character & station above his own but he steadily
"confessed & denied not but confessed, I am not the
Christ!" But told his inquisitors "I am the
voice yea! Nothing but the voice of one
crying in the Wilderness, Make straight the
way of the Lord, as said the Prophet Elias"
How rare the humility of John, when to the minds
of common men he had the opportunity of securing
consequence & influence by assuming
a character, which considering the credulity
of the people, could have been sustained so easily!
And John thus presents not only proof of a great
mind to be above such artifices, but thus he shows
the most certain evidence of his Divine Mission.
It was no degradation to John either it cost
him no effort to mortify his pride when he said
"I indeed baptize you with water but there standeth
one among you whom ye know not, He it is who


coming after me is preferred before me whose shoes
latchet I am not worthy to unloose!" Nor did he
hesitate to direct his own disciples and all the
multitude which he was surrounded to turn
away their attention from himself & look upon Jesus
when with a spirit of holy joyful humility he exclaimed
"He must increase, but I must decrease!"
and therefore he bade them "Behold the Lamb
of God that taketh away the sin of the world!"
Would to God, my hearers, we had somewhat of John's
spirit! So that we could lose sight of self and forget
our own merits and claims to notice and be content
to yield the palm to Xt & be content with
Paul to "Know nothing but Xt & him crucified."
& feel that we wish to glory in nothing but "The
cross of Xt Jesus our Lord!" Let us endeavour
then to cultivate this feeling & to do it effectually
we will attend to the important point in this text.


1. We inquire How Xt may be properly styled a Lamb.
The answer to this question is two-fold. 1. He is a Lamb
inasmuch as he was a sacrifice offered to atone for
sin. By attending to the provisions of the ceremonial
Law of the Mosaic Dispensation, the analogy may
easily be traced.
It will be recollected that the sin offering was
to be a lamb without blemish. And that this
victim was to be offered for the sins of the
[world] people. That the Priest should bring the Lamb
up to the sacred place and there confess over
him the sins of all the people and laying
his hands upon him should thus signify
that their sins were transferred to the Lamb
and upon this the Lamb was to be slain
as the victim instead of the offenders themselves.
Thus is it with Christ. He is predicted under
the image of an offering for sin Messiah was

to be "cut off but not for himself." As a Lamb
he was offered up as a victim for sins not
his own the just for the unjust the innocent
for the guilty.
2. He is justly styled a Lamb however from
the peculiar qualities that meet in his character.
The Lamb, it is well-known is characterized by
gentleness, [harmlessness] innocence, and [submission] Patience. Let us
look at Xt's gentleness. This we may see in every
word & action of his life as it is recorded. Whether
he was surrounded by the great multitude who
hang with intense delight upon the gracious
words which proceeded out of his mouth or
the bitter enemies who sought to catch something
out of his lips whereon to base an accusation
or by the ferocious mob of brutal persecutors
who thirsted for his blood and never rested
until they had crucified him whether in the humble
cot of the soul & daughter of affliction & poverty


in the beloved circle of his own friends, or in
the hall of Pilate whether on his heavenly mission
of mercy in the desert on the mountain
on the sea by day & by night wearied & hungry
he was ever the same gentle & benevolent & tender
hearted Jesus. Hear him, when he beheld the vast
multitude who had accompanied him to hear
his wisdom and behold his miracles, and had
compassion upon them on account of their destitutions,
commanding his disciples to minister to
their wants as he fed them by a miracle. Behold
him as he sat by Jacob's well wearied & thirsty
An abandoned female came up and instead
of turning from her with contempt he enters into
conversation with her & speaks to her the words
of eternal Life. See him at the house of Simon
as he sat at meat when the poor guilty woman
enters and begins to anoint him [head] with precious
ointment to wash his feet with tears & wipe them


with the hairs of her head. And while the bosom of the
selfrighteous Pharisee was swelling with indignation
at her presumption & he said within himself "This
man if he were a Prophet would have known who +
what manner of woman this is that toucheth him
for she is a sinner!" And he would have spurned
her with contempt from him but what did the
gentle master? He rebuked the overheated zeal of the bigot
and having told him how much more kindly the woman
had treated him than he himself had done he said
with the kindness of His own gentle nature "Wherefore
I say unto thee her sins which are many are forgiven
for she loved much & he said to her "Thy sins
are forgiven." And if more is needed go to the grave of
Lazarus & see him weeping from the tenderness of his
sympathy & gentleness of his nature or go to the
city of Nain and there as the funeral train of
a young man winds slowly & mournfully out of
the streets - see Jesus having compassion on his mother


widowed & bereaved of her only son, stopping the
bier & raising the dead & delivering him to the
astonished mother or yet more go with him to
the judgment-hall & as one who late had solemnly
vowed to go with him into prison & unto death
is heart by the innocent prisoner now with fierce
& bitter oaths & cursings declaring his ignorance of
him see Jesus turning that one silent eloquent
& melting look on Peter not of reproach but pity
more in sorrow than in anger. And to crown
it all how did Jesus feel for the Penitent Peter
& wish to heal his broken heart & contrite spirit
when after his resurrection he sent a special
message to him "So says he & tell Peter" And
lastly to close the accumulation of proof of his
gentleness behold him in his conduct towards
his enemies. When he stood upon the brow
of a hill that overlooked the great city of


Jerusalem, wherein most of his mighty works were
done & thought of all their ingratitude & hatred
& persecutions of him & his Prophets when he
saw the city he burst into a torrent of tears
and exclaimed in the bitterness of his sorrow
"Oh Jerusalem! Jerusalem! tc" and on the cross
when reviled & mocked & derided & pierced
& scoffed at & smote & insulted hear him
"Father forgive them tc" & then after death
had been conquered & when he was giving
his commission to his disciples to go &
publish the glad tidings of the Gospel he
directed them especially to begin at Jerusalem
and make the first offer of pardon to his
enemies & murderers! Matchless gentleness
Godlike & unparalleled! Well in the emblem
of a Lamb selected to represent[ed] Christ the
gentle savior.


But not only his gentleness his innocency justifies his
being called a Lamb. whoever heard of Jesus being
chargeable with any deviation from the straight
forward way of duty! When was there ever known a
human being that maintained a perfectly spotless
character throughout all his Life? Yet Jesus did.
And he was so predicted of the Prophets he should
be the Holy One the Holy Name the Holy One of
Israel so is he represented by the Evangelists who
recorded his Life as free from any the slightest
stain of guilt, so is he spoken of by the apostles
who said of him that he was without guile neither
was deceit found in his lips so testified the
weak & time serving Pilate "I find no fault in
him" so said the wretched traitor Judas "I
have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent
blood" so said his enemies who
were sent to take him "never man spake like


this man" yea so said the devils "I know
thee who thou art the Holy one of God."
But his Patience proves him a Lamb as
when reasoning with the blinded & perverse Jews
who disputed his word and charged him with
blasphemy & attempted to stone him; he bore it
with meekness. Or when suffering in the garden
& betrayed by Judas instead of commanding 12
legions of angels to come to his assistance
he even rebuked the fiery zeal of Peter who
drew his sword and smote off the ear of Malchus
& submitted with patience and then when
buffeted & spit upon & smitten & treated with all
manner of insult & mockery, he bored it without a
murmur & with no resistance and then when dying
on the cross instead of rescuing himself from
his enemies & destroying them with one word
of his power he prayed for them "Father forgive them
they know now what they do." He is a Lamb.


I remark again, He is the Lamb of God."
He is so in a threefold sense. 1. God appointed him to
be the Lamb of sacrifice. From all Eternity it was so
appointed. Known unto God are all his work, from
the beginning. And as He knew what would be the
state of the world that He should create" as he knew
that man would violate His Holy Law and thus incur
His wrath and curse that he would invoke his whole
posterity in guilt and ruin and bring them into ruin
unless He should interprie. He, Therefore for His own
Glory and by His own Power & moved by His own
infinite Love; appointed this spotless Lamb as the
victim which was to atone for the sins of this
lost and ruined world. Hence Xt is the Lamb of God.
2. He is the Lamb of God by the repeated expression
of His approbation upon him during the period of
his human Life. Witness the descent of the Holy
Spirit upon Jesus at the time of His Baptism.


and witness the repeated expressions of this approbation
by a voice from Heaven saying "this is my beloved
son in whom I am well pleased."
But He is the Lamb of God by the fact of God's having
accepted his atonement as a sufficient satisfaction
to His violated Law.
Again
"He taketh away the sin of the world"
Not by taking it out of the world--
Nor by saving every body in the world
General mercy a mistaken notion
But by rendering a satisfaction such as would
admit of God's forgiving sin consistently with
his Holiness and Justice.
The victim under the old disposition was
a type sin confessed over & laid out
& then it was carried off & thus took
away the sins of the people
So Xt. Our sins were laid on him then


bore them in his own body on the tree
The Lord hath laid on him tc
By his stripes are we healed
He was bruised for our iniquities
wounded for our transgressions tc
He was not guilty tho' he bore our guilt
He was not a sinner but a sin-offering
He takes away sin by the sacrifice of himself
By imputation
Again
"of the world"
Not of every individual in the world
This has been supposed to mean thus
But let us examine it
If he takes away every man's sin why does any
perish? Because it is said they will not believe,
[*Sin is the only barrier & belief & so if that is taken away they willful.*]
But was it intended or designed for every body
If so who designed? God Well then God's designs


can be nullified by man's will & some of those
He intended to save will perish.
No the meaning of John is that the Gospel
dispensation is wider & more extensive
than that of Moses.
Whereas the lamb slain under the latter
only took away the sins of believing Israelite
their salvation belonged to the Jews Now
it was to extend to the men of all Nations
equally all without destruction. Not all
without exception
To conclude
Behold! How?
1. With admiration - Wonder oh Heavens
2. With Love! Herein is love
3. With Confidence - Believe & be saved
4. With Limitation Let the same mind tc.


6- With obedience
Behold him now as he is represented to
us our Prophet our Priest, our King
our friend our Savior, our advocate
& intercessor with God
He is still held up to us we have
yet opportunity to admire love obey
trust & imitate him.
But soon the scene will be changed
In such an hour as ye think not
And every eye shall behold Him once more
revealed from Heaven in the cloud
of Glory.
They shall look on him whom they have
pierced & mourn
Behold the Lord cometh tc
But then you will not be called on to
behold the Lamb of God - but the [?]


of All the Earth & the dreadful
sentence will be those mine enemies
who would not that I shd reign over
them bring hither & lay them before me
There shall be wailing & gnashing of teeth