There are so very many men today
who claim to be pastors, preachers, evangelists. Some even claim
to be apostles sent by God today. Well, how do you know the truth
from the false? Turn with me to John's Gospel,
Chapter 1. The Gospel of John, Chapter 1.
How do you know a true God sent preacher from a false one. How
do you know? Well, the one thing all true
God sent preachers have in common is Jesus Christ is their message. He is their message. Jesus Christ
is their ministry. He is what they are all about. The gospel of Jesus Christ is
their method, their one and only method and the only means that
they use. They are, like the Apostle Paul,
determined to know nothing else, not to be taken up with or to
preach anything other than Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Such
a man was the last of the prophets, John the baptizer. As all prophets
before him, it says in verse 6 of John's Gospel, chapter 1,
there was a man sent from God. He was a man. John was a man's
man. In fact, the Lord Jesus Christ
in Matthew 11 proposed this question to some who came to him. He said,
when you went out to see John, this is in Matthew 11, he says,
What did you go out to see? A reed shaken with the wind? What did you go out to see? A
man clothed in soft raiment? Or that is, did you go to see
a weak, effeminate, lazy man? No. He says he's a man's man. He's a prophet. He's more than
that even. He said, among them born of women
there hath not risen a greater than John, the Baptist? Well,
in John 1, verse 6, it says there was a man, a real man, a hard-working
man, not an effeminate, weak, lazy fellow, but a man's man. And it says he was sent from
God, and his name was John. Not the right, reverend, most
holy Father, Dr. John, but just John. And it says
in verse 7, The same came for a witness, to bear witness of
the light, to bear witness of Christ. And in verse 19, it says,
This is the record. This is the testimony. This is what John said about
himself. When the Jews sent priests and
Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? They said, Who are you? Who are
you, John?" And he confessed, in verse 20 it says, he confessed
and denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ. In other
words, he readily admitted to who he was and what he was not. He did not confess to being any
one great or anything special, but just a man, to the world
Men who are nothing boast of greatness, but in the Scriptures,
men who were truly great boasted of nothingness. Well, John confessed
and denied not, or he dared not share any glory with him who
alone deserved all the glory. And so it is, if men were really
interested in God's glory, if they truly came for the glory
of God, and not in their own names. Well, they would never
allow their names and faces to be displayed publicly as they
do. They would never allow that.
John didn't. Well, in verse 21, they said,
Well, who are you then? Are you Elias? He said, I am
not. They said, Are you that prophet
or the one of whom Moses spoke? He answered, No. John never gave
his name. Do you know that? He never even
gave his name, as though he were not worthy to be remembered.
He never gave his name, he never gave his credentials, even though
the Lord Himself said there was never a greater man born of woman
than John. John dare not say that about
himself. He dare not. He did not give
his name nor his credentials. You would ask him if he had a
master's. No, he said, I'm no master, I'm
a slave, a bond slave. Well, do you have a doctorate?
Are you a doctor? He said, No, I'm the patient. There's but one great physician.
Well, in verse 22, they said, Well, who are you then that we
may tell them that sent us? What do you say about yourself?
They asked John. In verse 23, John gave the answer,
which is written in Isaiah chapter 40. He said, I am the voice of
one crying in the wilderness. I'm just a voice. I'm just a
man. I'm just a messenger. I'm just, as it were, a paper
boy crying in the wilderness, trying to declare a message,
trying to declare a report or a testimony that no one seems
to be interested in. And in Isaiah chapter 40, it
says this is the report. This is what the voice cries. In verse 6 of Isaiah 40, he said,
All flesh is grass. All flesh, everything having
to do with man, is grass. The beauty, the glory is worthless. It withers and fadeth away. All
flesh is grass. helpless, perishing grass. In verse 9 of Isaiah 40, the
second, the twofold message of the true evangelist or preacher
is this, all flesh is grass, and verse 9, behold your God,
holy, sovereign, just, omnipotent, by God reigneth. It says over and over and over
in Scripture. And then the report in Isaiah
53, verse 1, "...who hath believed our report, to whom hath the
arm of the Lord, the power of God, been revealed." Well, John
goes on, and this is his record, and they asked him in verse 24
and verse 25, they asked him about his baptizing, about his
baptism. They said, why do you baptize
then if you're not the Christ nor Elijah? They said, what about
this baptism that you're performing? How many people like to ask that
question today? In fact, I get that question
asked more than anything else. How many do you have in church? How many baptisms? How many? How much? How big? How great?
The Apostle Paul, who was perhaps the greatest of all the apostles
in speaking of baptism, He couldn't even remember who he had baptized
or how many. He mentioned one or two, but
he said, I really don't remember. Why? Because he wasn't in it
to baptize, he said. I didn't come to baptize, but
to preach. And John the baptizer said the
same thing. He said, I baptize with water. It's just water. It's nothing
special. That's just a confession of faith
by those that believe Christ. identification with him in death,
burial, and resurrection. It's only water. And he says
in verse 26 of John 1, he said, There stands one among you, there's
a man, there's one among you whom you know not. He was speaking
of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom to know is to have eternal life.
And he says you don't know him because you're not looking for
him. And he says in verse 27, he goes on to say, "...he it
is who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoes latch
it I am not worthy to unloose." He it is, John says. He it is,
the true preacher says. He it is, is preferred before
me. In fact, he is preferred over
every man. He it is whose shoe latchet I
am not worthy to unloose. I am not even worthy to untie
his shoes. I am nothing. He is everything.
In another chapter, John says, He must increase, but I must
decrease. He comes from above. I am just
from the earth, and I am earthy. He is the Lord from heaven. What
think ye of Christ? That's the message. That was
John's message, and that's the message of all true preachers.
Jesus Christ and Him crucified, His person and His work. And
John said, He it is, He it is, He's the only way to God. No man cometh to God but by Him,
by His righteousness, by His shed blood, by His intercession,
by His mediation. Oh, He's the only mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus. He it is. He's the truth. All
other proposed messiahs or supposed messiahs are liars. All other
ways, all other religions are a lie. All other gospels are
a perversion. All other Jesuses, beside the
sovereign and just one, are false. He is the truth, and he is the
life. Only because he lived and died
and now lives before God as a man can anyone have life with God.
He it is. He is the Alpha and Omega. He
is the Author and Finisher. He is life. Why, He is the wonderful
Counselor and mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. He is all and in all. He it is. He it is. And I am nothing. Well, the next day it says they
came to John, verse 29. The next day John said, Behold
the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world." The
next day, he said the very same thing. Well, they said, well,
John, you preached that yesterday. Yes, I did, and I'm going to
preach it today because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday,
today, and forever. The message is the same yesterday,
today, and forever. Men are saved the same way yesterday,
today, and forever. And there's only one message.
Only one hope of salvation. Only one hope of your calling
is that God will call you in and through Jesus Christ. He
it is. He is the Lamb of God, John said. Behold the Lamb of God. This is salvation, people. It
is to behold the Lamb of God. Now, if you behold me or behold
any preacher, you will see a sinful, helpless man. If you behold or
look upon a building, all you'll see is wood, hay, and stubble.
If you behold the choir, if you behold the preacher, if you'll
behold anything, even yourself, you'll behold nothing of any
value. But if you behold and look on
and consider and believe and trust and look to the Lord Jesus
Christ, you'll be saved, because He's God's Lamb. He's God's Lamb. Do you know why we need a Lamb?
We need a lamb. Scripture says you must have
a lamb. It's the blood that maketh atonement
for the soul. God said without shedding of
blood, there's no remission of sin. God said when I see the
blood, I'll pass over you. God said there must be a lamb
for a house, a lamb, a sacrifice, a perfect spotless lamb of the
first year without spot or blemish. Well, Abraham told his son Isaac,
he said, God will provide himself a lamb for a sacrifice. Christ
is God's lamb. God sent him. Christ is God's
lamb. He is the sacrifice that we need
to be accepted by God for our sins to be laid on. He is God's
lamb. He is the only one God will accept.
Behold, the lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.
In verse 35 it says again, the next day after, John stood, and
two of his disciples stood with him, and it says, John looking
upon Jesus Christ as he walked, said, Behold the Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb of God. The third
day it was the same message by John. Jesus Christ and him crucified. And it says, two of his disciples,
They heard John speak, and they started following the Lord Jesus
Christ. John had two disciples, and they quit following him,
and they started following Christ. And John said, Well, this is
why a revival is here. These men have quit following
me, and they've started following Christ. Now, that's the true
preacher of the gospel, and that's the true message of the preacher
of the gospel. Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Well, if you want this message on cassette tape, write to us.
We'll be glad to send it to you free of charge. Until next Sunday,
good day.