Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And
now for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us. If you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, I'm going to be preaching from John chapter
1. That's the gospel of John chapter
1. And I'll begin around verse 15. I dealt with some of these
verses in the last message, but I want to go back and pick up
with this subject, John's testimony of Christ. That's John, meaning
John the Baptist, John's testimony of Christ. John the Baptist had
such an important role in the history of redemption because
he was virtually the last of the Old Testament prophets who
came in representing the whole school of the prophets going
all the way back to Genesis. And their whole message, basically,
was to point sinners to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Now,
they spoke other things. They said other things. John
himself did, too. But look at verse 15. It says, That was John's purpose, to speak
of Christ. John was not a moral reformer. Even though he did speak of morality,
how sinners are to be moral, he confronted the king, King
Herod, over his immorality because of his marrying his brother's
wife and things like that. John confronted them. But John's
main message, and this is the main message of all the prophets
of God throughout the Old Testament, was Jesus Christ as the promised
Messiah. Jesus Christ crucified for the
sins of his people, died, buried, and was risen again the third
day. The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and what that means,
that's why John came. And he was the one who was to
usher in the actual coming of the Messiah into the world. And
it says, John, bear witness of him and cried saying, this was
he of whom I spoke, he that cometh after me is preferred before
me for he was before me. Now think about what he's saying
there. Not only is Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, preferred
before John or any other person, because Christ, the Bible tells
us, Christ is to have the preeminence in all things, not just salvation,
especially salvation, but he's to have the preeminence in creation,
in providence, in all things. And then John says, for he was
before me. Now, what is John saying there?
Well, he's acknowledging the deity of Christ, the eternity
of Christ. John says this person, who is
the Word made flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ, God manifest in
the flesh, was in existence before me. John had a beginning. John was a sinful human being
who needed salvation just like all of us. But Christ was not
a sinful human being. His human body had a beginning
because he was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the
Holy Spirit. But His deity, the Word, as John
puts it in chapter one, did not have a beginning. Has no beginning
and no end. He's called the Alpha and the
Omega. And so John acknowledges what his testimony of Christ
is, this person who is man without sin is God. God-man. That's John's testimony. And
that's the kind of person that it took to save sinners. God alone, you see, in order
for sinners to be saved, justice must be satisfied. The justice
of God against sins, against sinners, must be satisfied. That's
what propitiation, you've heard the term propitiation if you
read the Bible, any of the New Testament? The term propitiation
means satisfaction to God's justice. God's wrath turned away because
justice is satisfied. And the justice against sin is
death. So in order for God to save sinners,
justice has to be satisfied. Well, God cannot die. Now think
about what I'm saying here. God is eternal, God is life,
nobody can kill God. So what did the Lord God have
to do in the person of His Son? And we're talking about the Trinity,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God now, not three gods,
one God who subsists in three distinct persons, all co-equal
with the Father, the Son, and the Spirit in every attribute
of deity. God had to assume human flesh
without sin. Sinless human flesh. This humanity
of Christ could not be corrupted with the sins of Adam or the
sins of any human being. And you need to understand that
Christ is impeccable. Now what does that mean? That
means He cannot sin. And I know people, human beings,
we love to speculate, we love to rationalize, we just can't,
by nature, we just can't stand on the word of God, because if
it doesn't make sense to us, then, but see, our minds are
so limited. And we just have to believe God's
word. And the Bible teaches us that Christ, even though he was
tempted like as we are, yet without sin, and somebody said, well,
how could he be tempted like me if there was no possibility
of him sinning? Well, think about this. I always
use this example of Christ on the mount of temptation after
he went up on the mount to be tempted of Satan. And he was
there 40 days and 40 nights and he had not eaten one bit of food. He was hungry. Now, he had the
infirmities of the flesh but not the sins. He was just as
hungry in his humanity as you and I would be. Tempted like
as we are. But there's a difference. Yet
without sin. In us, There's a principle, a
powerful law, evil, that would consider and actually give in
to sin in order to relieve that hunger. We would deny God in
order to relieve that hunger rather than starve to death. Satan had no ally in Christ.
That's what he said one time. He said, the prince of this world
is coming and he has nothing in me. There's no ally in Christ. There's an ally in me of Satan.
It's my evil flesh. That's why I'm in a warfare,
the spirit and the flesh, a warfare. There was no warfare in Christ,
even though in his humanity he was hungry, just as hungry as
you would be or I would be. He had no thought, no temptation
to dishonor the Father in order to relieve that hunger. And so
he told Satan, man does not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceeded out of the mouth of the Father, out of God.
So you understand that. So Christ was fully man, but
God had to assume human flesh in order to die. Over in the
book of Hebrews chapter two, there's a verse that I really
love when it talks about the ones for whom Christ came to
die. You see, God cannot die, but now here's another thing.
Man, even a perfect man cannot give life. Only God can give
life. So therefore the Savior had to
be both God to give life and man to die, to satisfy justice
and bring forth the forgiveness of sins, to bring forth the righteousness
of God revealed in the gospel, the imputed righteousness of
Christ. Over in Hebrews 2.14 it says, for as much then as
the children are partakers of flesh and blood, now the children
there are God's children, God's elect, God's redeemed ones, believers. The children are partakers of
flesh and blood. He, that is Christ, also himself
likewise, took part of the same, that through death he might destroy
him that had the power of death, that is the devil. Now, the devil
doesn't have any power to kill or to make alive. But His power
of death was His power of accusation, which brings out the accusation
of sin. If I have sin imputed to me,
charged to me, then that's gonna be death. That's why I need a
Savior who took my sins. They were charged to Him, and
He gave me His righteousness. It was charged to me. Well, anyway,
go back to John 115. He's preferred before me. John
testified of the deity of Christ. And then verse 16 it says, and
of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace. John said
we receive of his fullness. Now that's what salvation is.
It's not receiving his partiality or something that he did in part,
just part of it. He did his part, the rest is
up to you. Oh no, John didn't testify of
him that way. John said, we and of His fullness
have all we received and grace for grace. John testified of
Christ that the salvation that God provides for His people through
Christ is all of Christ, all of grace, freely given, not conditioned
on you, not conditioned on me, not conditioned on John, but
it's full, full and free. Salvation, full and free. It's
not that Christ died for everybody without exception and then we
have to put that in power by our doing something, believing,
choosing, obeying or whatever, no. Christ did a full work. He said it's finished. All that
was required of me was fully accomplished and finished and
completed in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. in
order for me to be saved, that death has to take place in my
stead. Christ is my surety. My sins,
my sin debts, you might say it this way, because sin is a debt. Oh, a debt to God's law and justice.
My sin debt was charged to Christ before the foundation of the
world as He was made my surety, the surety of the covenant. Bible
in Hebrews chapter, I believe it's chapter eight, says that
Christ is the surety of a better covenant, or it's chapter seven.
But He's the surety of a better covenant. He wasn't the surety
of the old covenant, that's law, that condemns. But He's the surety
of the everlasting covenant of grace, the new covenant that's
brought in by Him in time. So He took all of my sins, not
just part of them, I've heard people say things like this.
They'll say, well, when I was born again, all my sins of the
past were forgiven, but now my future sins I have to atone for,
either by repentance or reformation or something. That's a lie. You
see, when God brings us to receive Christ, and we've already read
over there how people receive Christ, In John chapter one and
verse 12, it says, as many as received him, to them gave he
power, the right to become or to be called the sons of God,
even them that believe on his name, which were born, not of
blood, that is not of physical inheritance or physical pedigree,
nor the will of the flesh, that is the works of the flesh, you're
not born again by works, nor of the will of man. You're not
born again by your choosing something or having a will to do. God makes
His people willing in the day of His power, but they're born
of God, He says. But I've heard people say, well,
when you're born again, all your sins of the past are forgiven,
but the future sins you've got to atone for, no, no, no. My
friend, of His fullness have all we receive and grace for
grace. And grace reigns through righteousness
unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. You see, salvation
is not based upon our doing anything or choosing anything. Yes, all
who are saved, now don't get me wrong here, all who are saved
will choose Christ. But their choosing did not save
them. Christ did, of His fullness. and grace for grace. Listen,
it's all of grace. It's all freely given. Even the
faith to lay hold of Christ and receive Him is a gift from God.
How many times, if you've watched this program, I probably don't
go in one message without quoting Ephesians 2, 8, and 9. For by
grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourself. It's the
gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. The reason
I emphasize that is because most people today, many, many people,
Christ is not their Savior, their faith is. And that's wrong. And you may say, well, you're
splitting hairs. No, I'm not. This is John's testimony. I agree
with John, John the Baptist. Of his fullness have all we received
in grace for grace. Look at verse 17. He said the
law was given by Moses. That's the old covenant law that
started back in Mount Sinai, given to the Hebrew children
through Moses. That law given by Moses, the
law giver. But grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ. Salvation is by Jesus Christ,
and that means salvation is by grace, and that's the truth.
And you know, it's sad today, so many people in religion today
who call themselves Christian, their religion is not based upon
grace and truth. Their beliefs are based upon
feeling and emotionalism. And don't get me wrong, When
I read the gospel, when I read the scriptures, I get emotional. When I preach it, I get emotional.
A chill sometimes runs down my spine, or I get teary-eyed, or
I just get rejoicing. I'm an emotional person. But
my beliefs, my gospel, my salvation is not based on my emotions or
my feelings. It's based upon truth as it is
in God's Word. the truth of who Christ is, the
truth of what he accomplished and why he did it and where he
is now. And then John says this in verse 18, no man has seen
God at any time. You haven't seen a visible image
of God. I know people paint paintings
and carve statues, but that's not God. God is spirit. And whatever dream you've had
or whatever experience you've had, emotional or otherwise psychological,
whatever it was, you didn't see God in His image, you see. Christ is the way we see God,
but not Christ in a picture. You don't even know what Christ
looked like in a picture. Nobody took a photograph of Him.
These Renaissance paintings, that's not Jesus. That's some
guy's interpretation. But Jesus Christ is the express
image of the Father and the Spirit of God. And so, no man hath seen
God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. You want
to see God with the eye of faith? Listen to what Christ declares. And let me caution you here on
something if you want to be a Bible student. When I say listen to
what Christ declares, what He says about the Father, about
the Spirit, about salvation, don't think I'm just talking
about the red letters if you have a red letter Bible. I'm
talking about the Word of Christ, the Word of God that goes from
Genesis to Revelation. I don't have a red letter Bible,
and many of you probably do, I won't tell you to stop reading
that, but I will tell you to think in this way. The letters
that are in black are just as important as the letters that
are in red because it's all the word of God. When Paul spoke
in the epistles, he wasn't speaking on his own volition or wisdom. He was speaking the word of God
through Christ. When John makes these statements,
He's speaking the Word of Christ. So understand that. He hath declared
Him, and what hath He declared? Well, He declared that God the
Father is a just God and a Savior to save His people from their
sins based upon His blood and His righteousness alone. That's
what grace is all about. And look at verse 19 of John
1. And this is the record of John. Now this is what the Apostle
John was led to record of what John the Baptist said. And he
said, this is the record of John. This is a historical record.
When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask
him, who art thou? Now here's the religious leaders
in Jerusalem of that day. John, as you know, he didn't
preach in Jerusalem. He preached outside the city
in the wilderness. And he baptized out there. We'll
talk about that in just a moment or later on. And he had a big
following. People were going out to see
him and to hear what he had to say. And that's why it's important
that we understand John's testimony. So they sent the religious leaders,
priests and Levites, that's the priesthood of Israel. that did
the services of the temple. And they went out to ask John,
who are you? Who do you think you are? Probably
more in line of their thoughts. And look at verse 20 of John
one. It says, and John confessed and
denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ. I'm not the Messiah. First thing John wanted them
to understand that he's not the savior. He's not the Messiah. I'm not your Savior. So many
people, they look up to men and give them too much esteem. Now
there's nothing wrong with esteeming a preacher or a witness of the
gospel. But you understand, no man has
the power to save you. No mere man. No sinful man. You see, I can't save you. I
can't even save myself. I need salvation by the grace
of God. And let me tell you something.
I need salvation by the grace of God based on the righteousness
of Christ freely imputed as much as the worst sinner that ever
set foot on this cursed world. Just as much. It didn't take
more grace for God to save the thief on the cross than it did
for him to save the Apostle Paul, or Peter, or James, or John.
All of us, if we're saved, it's totally 100% unearned and undeserved
grace, free grace, that is freely given. So who are you, John? John said, well, I'm not the
Messiah. I'm not the Christ. Anybody who tells you he or she's
the Messiah, get away from them. There's only one Christ. And
then look at verse 21. And they ask him, what then,
are you Elias or Elijah? And he said, I am not. Now why
would they ask him if he's Elijah? Well that comes from a prophecy
back in the book of Malachi when Elijah was mentioned, not personally,
Elijah who would come in the future, But he was talking about
what Elijah the prophet, who started out years ago, before
that, what Elijah the prophet represented in the school of
the prophets. And so what he was talking about
is the truth and the school of the prophets that Elijah represented. would come in that time, and
it would be fulfilled in John the Baptist, who is called the
voice of one crying in the wilderness in Malachi chapter three. So
he says, I'm not Elijah. Then they ask him in verse 21,
art thou that prophet? Now that comes from a prophecy
back in Deuteronomy 18, verses 15 and 18, where Moses spoke
of a greater prophet to come. You see, back in the Old Testament,
You had prophets, you had priests, and you had kings. Men like David and Solomon were
kings, but there was one greater than Solomon coming, the king
of kings, that's Christ. David and Solomon were types
and pictures of Christ. You had priests, like Aaron was
a high priest, Others that were named were high priest. But the
greater priesthood, as we learn in Hebrews, the book of Hebrews,
for example, Christ is the one true great high priest who entered
into the heavenlies for his people because he had satisfied justice
and brought forth an everlasting righteousness of infinite value
whereby God could be just and justify. And then you had prophets
who spoke of Christ, like John is talking about. Well, Christ
is the greater prophet. Moses said, a greater prophet
is coming, greater than Moses, greater than any other prophet.
That's Christ, who is that great prophet, who is the word of God
himself. And when they said, art thou
that prophet, I believe it's a reference back to Moses' prophecy. And John says, no, I'm not that
prophet, Christ is. So Christ, for the believer,
is our prophet. Our priest and our king, he's
the combination of all three, which represents the fullness
of salvation that he brought. And so John said, no, I'm not
that prophet. Look at verse 22. Then said they
unto thee, who art thou? Who are you? That we may give
an answer to them that sin us, what sayest thou of thyself? Now this is precious. And it
goes all the way through John chapter one. What John says about
himself. Let me tell you about me, John
says. In verse 23, he said, I am the
voice of one crying in the wilderness. And my message is, and this is
a prophecy from Isaiah 40, actually. I said Malachi before, but there
is prophecies in Malachi 3 of John the Baptist. And he said,
I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, and here's
my message. Make straight or prepare the way of the Lord,
as said the prophet Isaiah. I'm just a voice. It's kind of
like saying I'm just a signpost. I'm just here to point you to
the right way. I'm not the Messiah. I'm not that prophet. I'm not
Elijah. I'm John the Baptist. I believe
the same thing Elijah believed. I'm in that school, in that tradition. But here's what I really am.
I'm a voice just telling you where salvation is to be found,
in whom salvation is to be found. And in verse 24, it says, and
they which were sent were of the Pharisees. Now that tells
you something there. What was a Pharisee? A Pharisee
was one who sought and thought he had found righteousness by
works of the law. That's what a Pharisee was. Well,
John's getting ready to talk to these Pharisees the way that
they needed to be talked to. to expose their error. My friend,
righteousness, salvation, cannot be found in anyone or by any
work except Christ, crucified and risen from the dead. And
that was John's testimony. Look unto Him and be ye saved,
John would say. And so when they came, they asked
him these questions. I hope you'll join us next week
for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1-1-0-2 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia. Contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
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today and may the Lord be with you.