Now this morning, I want to look
at John, the Gospel of John, chapter 1. In verse 29, it says,
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold,
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. John,
being the forerunner of Christ, recognized Him when he saw Him.
He pointed Him out as God's Lamb. Which means, if He's God's Lamb,
then He's sinless. If he's God's lamb, he must be
perfect. It also speaks of his character. He's meek and lowly.
He made himself of no reputation, though he is equal with God.
It speaks of his sacrificial character. The Jews knew what
the lamb was for. Scripture says Christ is the
Passover lamb. Paul said in Corinthians, Christ,
our Passover, is sacrificed for us. It speaks of his sufficiency. He taketh away the sin of the
world. No other Lamb was able to do that. This is He of whom
I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me,
for he was before me. This is the third time John says
this. The Holy Spirit speaking through John leaves no doubt
as to who this man is. He's God. The eternal, divine
Son of God. That's who He is. He's more than
just a man. He's the God-man. And John says
in verse 31, I knew Him not. But that he should be made manifest
to Israel, therefore might come baptizing with water. John tells
of the purpose of his baptizing. It was to make Christ manifest
to Israel. It was to prepare a people for
him. Now John did not know Christ until he saw him here for the
first time. They did not get together and
scheme this up. as some might suppose. This was
the first time John saw him. John lived in the desert and
Christ lived in Nazareth. Now John baptized in the river
of Jordan, which means river of death, which was what they
acknowledged as sinners who deserved death. But now, when one is baptized,
that person acknowledges that they have already died to sin
in the death of Christ and risen to newness of life. Now John
says in verse 32, and John bear record saying, I saw the Spirit
descending from heaven like a dove and it abode on him. John the
Baptist, a prophet of God, is giving testimony to what he saw.
We have a credible testimony here. He saw the Holy Spirit
descend from heaven and abide on his shoulder, on the shoulder
of Christ as it was told to him. John is the only one of the four
Gospels that makes mention of the Holy Spirit abiding on Christ.
The Holy Spirit did not visit him. He abode in him as a man. The Holy Spirit abode in him.
He had the Spirit without measure. And John says, I knew him not,
but he sent me to baptize with water. The same said unto me,
upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining
on him, the same as he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost.
John makes it plain that this was the first time that he saw
him. Then he tells us that he was
given a divine revelation that the person on whom he saw the
Spirit, the Holy Spirit, descending on and remaining on, That person
is the one who would baptize with the Holy Ghost. That is,
he would give the gifts and graces of the Spirit. John could only
baptize with water. He had no power to bestow life
and gifts. That belongs to Christ. John
says, and I saw and bear record, this is the Son of God. John
the Baptist bore a sevenfold witness to Christ. First to his
pre-existence, he says, he was before me. He's the eternal son
of God. He bore witness to his lordship.
He says, make straight the way of the Lord. This is the Lord
of glory. This is the Lord of hosts that
John is speaking of. He bore witness to his superiority.
He said, I'm not worthy to untie his shoes. I'm not worthy to
bend down and untie this man's shoes. He bore witness to his
sacrificial work. Behold the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world. He bore witness to his moral
perfections. I saw the Spirit descending like
a dove and then abode on him. He bore witness to his divine
right. He baptizes with the Holy Spirit. He bore witness to his
divine sonship. This is the Son of God. He bore
a sevenfold witness to Christ. Then in verse 35 he says, Again
the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples, and
looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of
God. Note here, John's message from
one day to the next did not change. He preached the deity and sacrificial
character of Christ every time he spoke of Him. Every time. And when the two disciples who
believed John's message saw Christ, they followed him. God will send
his servants, he'll send his messengers in and out of our
lives, and we thank God for them. But Christ is the one whom we
always follow. When all is said and done, we
follow Christ. Now John is a great example for
all God's preachers. He pointed sinners to Christ. He did not let the Jews sidetrack
him. He stayed with the message. He
stayed with Christ crucified. He stayed with the Lamb of God.
He stayed with his mission. He did not get sidetracked. And
the two disciples heard him speak and they followed Jesus. They
heard the message and they believed it. And it proves it by following
the Lord. Disciples follow their master. We follow our master. We have a master, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Those who believe God. I'm talking
about those who believe God. Now those who don't believe God,
they also have a master. It's called the devil. But now
listen, there comes a time when the sinner, the sinner who's
been convicted of sin, whom the Lord has dealt with, who has
been born of God, there comes a time when the sinner must have
the Savior. John probably stopped. He probably
laid his hand on them to get their attention and said, there
he is. There is the one I have been
telling you about. I can only imagine how they looked
at him in wonder and amazement. This is the Messiah This is the
Son of God. This is the one we've been waiting
for. Then Jesus turned and saw them following, and saith unto
them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, which
is to say, being interpreted, Master, where dwellest thou? Christ never turned away a seeking
sinner. Never. He turned away self-righteousness,
but never a seeking sinner. But he asked them this question,
what seek ye? Why are you following me? Why
did you come to me? He's going to test their motives
and their purpose. He says, what seek ye? What are
you after? What are you really after? Why?
Why do you follow Christ? What are you after? Some follow
because of the loaves and the fishes. They saw the miracles. They got a free lunch out of
it. And that's why they followed Him. Some because the crowd followed
Him. And so they followed Him. And
some for the miracles that they saw. They were impressed by miracles. Why am I seeking Him? Why am
I following Him? Well I hope and believe it's
for who He is. My Lord and my God. To be saved
from sin and self. I hope it's for that reason.
And to be with Him. Not what I can get out of Him.
You know, that's what I see so much of preaching on the television
today. It's what you can get out of
Him. All this victorious life, this seed stuff, this seed faith,
all this junk that's being preached today, it's not for Him. It's
what you can get out of Him. But the sinner, the sinner comes
for Him. The sinner wants Him. The sinner
wants to be saved from himself, from his sins, and to be made
one again with God. That's what salvation is all
about. To be made one with God. And they asked, where dwellest
thou? They did not ask this out of curiosity. They wanted to
be with him. To have fellowship with him.
This is what the Shulamite woman asked in the Song of Solomon.
Have you seen him whom my soul loveth? They desired the blesser
more than the blessings. There's a great difference. A
great difference. In fact, it's an eternal life
difference. I think it is a shame that we
should even have to ask where he dwells. That the creature
should have to ask the creator, where dwellest thou? Where dwellest
thou? That's a shame that we should
even have to ask. That's how far we've fallen.
That's how depraved and dead we are. We don't even know where
he is. And we don't even know who he
is unless he reveals himself. Then he says in verse 39, he
says unto them, come and see. come and see." They came and
saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day, for it was
about the tenth hour, it was four p.m. Note his gracious words
here to these two men, these two sinners. He said to them,
come and see. He knew their hearts. He did
not disappoint them either. He said, come and see. He said
in one place, come unto me all you that labor and are heavy
laden, and I'll give you rest. Come, he says, and drink of the
living water. Come and see, or look for yourselves. You know, one day the believer
is going to come and see where he dwells in heaven, among the
hosts of heaven, and what a day that'll be. Come and see. They
came and saw where he dwelt, and you know what? They're still
with him. If we ever see him, if we ever
see him, And where he dwells, leaving this world and leaving
these earthly things behind will be no problem. The only reason
people want to hang on to these things is because they've never
seen him. They've never known him. And
it says they had bowed with him. They had fellowship with him. They left all and followed him. And eventually, they followed
him right into glory. A man, the scripture says, a
man who tries to keep this life shall lose it. But they gave
up this life, and they followed him, and they followed him eventually
right into glory. And it was about the tenth hour
of the day, 4 p.m. Time didn't matter to them now.
Why? Why did not time matter with
them? Because they were with the Eternal One. What's the key? Really. What seek you? What are
you after? What are you trying to get out
of Christ? Are you trying to get forgiveness
of sins, true forgiveness, true cleansing, true mercy, true grace,
and to be with Him? Then you're seeking Him with
a true heart. But if you're just trying to
get a better job, a bigger house, anything on this earth, Anything
earthly, if that's all you're after, you missed it. You completely
missed it. What seek ye? Alright, may God
bless His Word.