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 true
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, has 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, why, 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
him. 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, thy 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 bad about his baptisms. 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 latchet
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's preferred over
every man. He it is whose shoe latchet I'm
not worthy to unloose. I'm not even worthy to untie
His shoes. I'm nothing. He's everything.
In another chapter, John says, He must increase, but I must
decrease. He comes from above. I'm just
from the earth, and I'm earthy. He's 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 Jesus's 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, 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. 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 saying 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 is 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 will see is wood, hay, and stubble.
If you behold the choir, if you behold the preacher, if you will
behold anything, even yourself, you will behold nothing of any
value. But if you behold and look on
and consider and believe and trust and look to, Then 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?
Huh? 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. Well, 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, 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.