Okay, John 1, look at verse 6. There was a man sent from God
whose name was John. The same man came for a witness,
to bear witness of the light that all through him, this witness,
They might believe. He was not that light, but sent
to bear witness of that light. A man sent from God, a messenger,
a witness. God sent. witness and a gift. Our Lord said when He ascended
on high, He gave gifts to men. Some prophets, some apostles,
some evangelists, pastors and teachers. He said they are gifts
to men. There's no greater gift that
God can give a people, give a community, than a preacher of the gospel.
No greater gift. Our Lord said they are a gifts,
because they speak of, they tell men, they are witnesses of that
unspeakable gift of the Lord Jesus Christ. No greater gift. Paul said in Romans 10, how shall
they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? So there was a man sent from
God. Simple outline. Did you get it? There's a simple outline. A man. A man. He's a sinner. John was not sinless. John was a sinner. All men are sinners. Only a sinner, though, can preach
the gospel. Angels weren't sent to preach
the gospel. They were sent at first to declare
and announce Christ's birth. But they can't preach the gospel.
They can't stand up and preach the gospel. They don't know anything
about sin, because Christ came into the world to save sinners.
They're not sinners. They don't know anything about
mercy and grace. They know the letter of it, but
not the experience of it. John was a sinner. John was a
man. It says in verse 6, whose name
was John. Very simple name, isn't it? They
wanted to call him Zechariah when he was born, which was a
great prophet's name. But no, the Lord revealed, no,
he shall just be called John. John. Plain and simple. Name for a plain and simple man. It says he wore a hairy garment,
didn't he? Just plain clothes. A very simple
man. A sinner. A real man. But this is what makes him special. It's not in him, but it's who
sent him. He's sent from God. A man sent
from God. Paul said, I'm separated unto
the gospel of God, called out from other men, separated to
this work of preaching the gospel, sent by God, a preacher, a prophet. Look at, I quoted it, 1 Corinthians
1. Look over there with me. In case
you've never looked at it, look at it with me. thing of preaching foolishness. It is the means that God uses. And to those who have heard the
gospel through preaching, it's the power of God and the wisdom
of God. Look at 1 Corinthians 1 verse 21. After that, in the
wisdom of God, the world, by wisdom, knew not God. It pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. The
Jews require a sign, the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach. What do you preach? All preachers
preach Christ crucified. Unto the Jews a stumbling block,
the Greeks foolishness. But unto them which are called,
called by our gospel. Both Jews and Greek, Christ is
the power of God and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness
of God, or that is this thing of preaching that men call foolishness,
is wiser than men. The weakness of God, what they
call weakness, is stronger than men. This is how you were called,
wasn't it? Every single person whom God
saves is called by this thing of preaching the gospel. So he
was sent by God in Romans 10. You may not know this, Romans
10 says in verse 13, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him
in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? As it is written, here's what
God says about His preachers, and so do the people. How beautiful. are the feet of them that preach
the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. I remember as a young man, a
preacher in a conference preached a message that greatly blessed
me. And I was compelled to write him a letter afterward and wrote
him a letter. And I just quoted that verse. And all I said to him was, you
have beautiful feet to me. Beautiful feet. He's a gift. Our Lord said in Ephesians 4,
a man sent from God. Whatever God sends you for the
purpose of doing you good, oh, that's a good gift, isn't it?
God doesn't give anything but the best. The best gifts. And our Lord said when He ascended
on high, He gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers
for the perfecting of the saints, the work of the ministry, the
edifying, the building up of the body of Christ. We all come
into the unity of the faith. So this man was a gift. And I'm going to try to quit
apologizing for myself. I told a man years ago who used
to get up and the first thing he would say before he started
preaching was, I'm not worthy to be here. I'm less than the
least. And he apologized for himself. And finally I told him,
and he's one of the best preachers around, and I told him to quit
apologizing. God called you. God sent you. Just get up. You've got a job
to do. You're a gift to these people. And by God's grace, I'm
going to quit apologizing. I've got a job to do. I believe
God sent me. The Lord's people will receive
me and love me and support me and hear me, even follow me. And those who don't, I can't
do anything about that. His confession. Look at John
1. Look at our text. John 1. Here's his confession. Now, a
man sent from God. And it says in verse He came
for a witness, to bear witness of the light, that all through
him might believe. Not believe him, but believe
in the light, Christ the light. Look at his confession, verse
19. This is the record. This is his witness. The Jews
sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art
thou? And the first thing he said,
His confession. He confessed and denied not,
but confessed, I am not the Christ. Don't look to me. Don't look
to me. I am not the Christ. That's his
first confession. He wants to make it very plain.
Don't look to me. I'm not the Christ. I'm just
a man like you, just a sinner like you. All I'm doing is trying
to bear witness of the one and the only who can and must save
you. I'm not the light. He said he
was not that light. He was sent to bear witness of
that light. A true witness sent from God
never bears witness of himself. Our Lord said that, didn't He?
A man is sent to bear witness of himself. Listen to this. In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul said,
he said, we preach not ourselves. This is how you know a man sent
from God, a witness who has seen Christ's glory, who's seen God's
glory, like Moses, like we heard this morning. We've seen his
glory. He's not going to speak about
man, is he? He's sure not going to speak.
And if he's like Isaiah who saw his glory, he's not going to
speak about himself because all he's got to say about himself
is, woe is me, I'm undone. Paul said, we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord. Ourselves, we're just your servants. for Jesus' sake, ministers of
Him, witnesses of Him. A man sent by God doesn't commend
himself. Listen to this, 2 Corinthians
5, verse 12. He says, We commend not ourselves
again unto you, but we give you occasion to glory on our behalf. You'll know. God's people will
know. They'll know. And he said in
2 Corinthians 10, Corinth, there was people in that church that
denied Paul's ministry, who denied that he was an apostle, who said
he wasn't sent by God. And he had to defend himself.
And he did it for our sake so that we will know, too, and believe,
too, that his word is not the words of a man, but as it is
in truth, the word of God. And he said to them, you've made
me, you've compelled me to defend myself. But he didn't do that
very often. Our Lord didn't do it. But a man sent by God doesn't
commend himself and doesn't even defend himself. Listen to this. In 2 Corinthians 10, it says
in verse 18, "...not he that commendeth himself is approved,
but whom the Lord commended." The Lord will make it known. Very clearly. He rarely defends
himself. Here's his confession, John,
in verse 27. Look at it. and the confession
of every man sent by God. Verse 27, he said, I'm not the
Christ. He said in verse 27, he it is
who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe latchet
I'm not worthy to unloose. I'm not worthy to tie his shoes. He said, I'm less than the least
of all the saints, of all the apostles. He said, I'm not fit
to be called an apostle, didn't he? He said, in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. I'm not worthy. But worthy is
the Lamb. Well, who are you, John? Look
at verse 22. Who art thou, they said, that
we may give an answer to them that sent us? What sayest thou
of thyself? What have you got to say about
yourself? Tell us your credentials. Tell
us your name. By the way, he never would give
his name. He never would even speak his
name, John. John, the beloved apostle, would
never give his name. He just called himself the disciple
whom Jesus loved. The beloved disciple. That's
what he gloried in. Not in his own name or even his
own ministry, but the fact that Jesus Christ loved him and gave
himself for him. Well, John, who are you? Where
did you come from? What are your credentials? Verse
23, he said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness.
The voice. John, the apostle John, not the
Baptist we're reading about here, but John the apostle, was in
the Isle of Patmos for the revelation, to receive the revelation from
the Lord Jesus Christ. And in chapter 19, he says, a
voice came out of the throne. A voice spoke to him. And John was so blessed by what
he heard and so amazed by, and he says, he fell at this one's
feet to worship him. the voice, the angel, whoever
this was that came to him, and it never did tell his name. It
just said, a voice. And John fell at his feet, and
whoever it was, it does not tell us who that person was. He said
unto John, don't do that. I am your fellow servant and
of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God. Worship Him. Don't worship me. I'm just a voice crying in the
wilderness. John had the name John, but he
wouldn't tell his name. How we like to drop names, don't
we? We human beings like to name
drop, don't we? We think it adds credibility
to what we're saying. We do. We're all guilty of this.
We think that the famous names or people that men and women
love and accept will add authority to what we say. That is not so
of the Word of God. All we need to say is, Thus saith
the Lord. But we do this. We say, Spurgeon
said this. And those of you who love Spurgeon,
you'll sit up Pay attention. John Gill said this. John Bunyan
said this. Calvin said this. Or Mahan said
this. Or Richardson. We say that, don't
we? We don't need those names. We really don't. They said, John,
who are you? They said, who are you? He said,
I'm just a voice. But here's what God says. Here's
what God said. And he that is of God, heareth
God's Word. In spite of the earthen vessel,
Paul said, we have this treasure. See, God has committed this blessed
treasure of the Gospel into earthen vessels, men, a man sent by God. John had friends, or people at
least that grew up with him, and family members and all that,
and they knew him. They saw him grow up as a boy.
They knew him just like our Lord, just like Paul, just like Peter,
just like James, just like John. And they all said, he's just
a man. That's just John. We've known him all our lives.
He's nothing special. No, he's not anything special
in himself. He's just a man. But here's why
you need to listen to him. God sent him. God sent him. He's just a man. That's what they said of our
Lord Jesus Christ. He never denied that he was a
man. He called himself, I'm the Son of Man, because God honors
this profession. God honors those who do it, and
so do His people. He is of God. They're going to
hear from God. They're going to hear Him through
a man. That's just the way it is. And
I don't apologize for that. I see the wisdom of God in this.
I see the power of God in this. I do. I see the reason for it,
to humble us, cause us to esteem the preaching of the gospel all
our lives, to need it, so that we'll gather together, and we
have so many reasons. All right, here's his purpose. He said in verse 6 and 7, There's
a man sent from God whose name was John. He came for a witness,
to bear witness of the light that all through him, through
his preaching, might believe, might see. He's a witness. A
witness. Now what is a witness? A witness
is someone who has heard and seen something. You go to a court
of law, if you're called upon to be a witness, to testify. to testify in a court of law
before a jury of your peers or before the people, before the
court, you're called to bear witness not of what someone else
has told you, not hearsay, not what you've just read, but what
you've heard with your own ears and what you've seen with your
own eyes. Okay? Listen. Listen to this. John
said, that, John the Apostle, that which was from the beginning,
which we have heard, he's talking about Christ, that light, which
we have seen with our eyes, and we have looked upon, we've gazed
upon, we've watched Him, our hands have handled, we've touched
Him, the word of life, the life, he said, was manifested, we've
seen. It, because it, because it's
so amazing. Bear witness, and we bear witness
and show unto you, listen, listen, that eternal life which was with
the Father manifests to us, that which we've seen and heard declare
we unto you, preach we unto you, that you also may have fellowship
with us. And truly, our fellowship is
with the Father, And with his son, it's around the Father,
the fellowship of Christ. Heaven's all about not us getting
together, but the fellowship around Christ. That's what it's
all about. And he said, these things we
write unto you that your joy may be full, You see, we're preaching,
we're witnesses of His glory. Peter said this. Listen to Peter.
He said, we've not followed cunningly devised fables when we've made
known unto you the power and the coming. God was manifest
in the flesh. The Son of God came to this earth.
And this wasn't a fable. This wasn't a fairy tale, a Jewish
fable. We made known unto you the power
and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We were eyewitnesses
of his majesty. And he went on to say, we heard
his voice, saw his glory on the mountain, and he said, and you
have a sure word of prophecy, the gospel. that you're hearing
right now, to which you do well to take heed until you hear His
voice. Because He speaks. Our Lord said,
My sheep hear My voice. They really do. Preacher, you
don't mean to tell me that you've heard Christ speak to you. Yes,
I have. I can't be a witness unless I
have. I've seen His glory. No, no. No man has seen. He's been gone. I've seen His glory. You can't
be a witness unless you've seen Him. But I'm here to tell you
from experience, and many of you can say the same thing. Though
you haven't seen Him with these physical eyes, though you haven't
heard Him with these ears, you've seen His glory nonetheless. The
Lord has taken you, like He did James, Peter, and John, up on
Mount Moriah, up on Mount Calvary, up on Mount Zion, and you've
heard His voice. You've heard the Gospel. You've
heard that power. You've heard Him speak to your
heart. You've heard Him break your heart.
You've had your eyes opened to see who He is, see His glory,
and you worship Him. and a witness. Peter said to
those men who threatened him, they threatened him not to preach
anymore. He said, we can't help but speak the things we've seen
and heard. How do you know a witness sent
from God? How do you know someone who's sent by God? Because they'll
preach Christ and Him crucified. Why don't men preach Christ?
They haven't heard Him and they haven't seen Him. The same with
you. If you're a witness of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and if you've heard His voice, and if you've seen
His glory, that's what you are. You're called to be a witness,
a testimony to Him. And if you do, that's who you're
going to speak of. That's who you're going to speak
of. Not of your church, not even of your preacher, but of your
Lord or witness. Can't help it. We preach Christ.
Paul said we preach Christ and Him crucified. Peter said this. He said to the elders, he said,
I'm an elder too and I'm a witness. I'm an elder and I'm a witness
and a partaker of the glory. Oh, my. You know, if you've seen something
wonderful and glorious, you'll talk about it with great enthusiasm,
won't you? My family and I, Mindy and the
girls, and Gabe and Hannah, went up to see a beautiful sight up
in southwest Virginia, up on the mountain. And we were all
just amazed by this beautiful sight that we saw. And we came
back. Telling everybody about it. That's
what we told, oh, when we were doing it with enthusiasm, oh,
you need to see it, you need to go there, you need to experience
this. And there was pools of water
up on the mountain, and we all got in that pool together. And
this is exactly what a witness and a partaker of the glory,
which is knowing Christ. If you've experienced Him, if
you've heard Him, if you've seen Him, that's who you're going
to talk about. That's who you're going to tell
people about. Come, that woman at the well said to her friend,
come, see a man. I've seen a man, and more than
a man. Is not this the Christ? He told
me all things. John's purpose, a man sent by
God, a witness, his purpose is he baptized. Look at Luke chapter
7. And I don't apologize for this. You know, increasingly as this
world scoffs and mocks, where is the promise of His coming?
What's all this foolishness you're going through? This foolishness
of preaching, this baptizing and all this stuff. this ridiculous
old mountain tradition. No, it's not. It's a command
of God. Baptism is commanded by God. Our Lord Jesus Christ was baptized
Himself of John. What does that tell you about
it? See, it behooves us to fulfill all righteousness. We've got
to do it. It's the answer of a good conscience. If you truly
love Christ, you will confess Christ. If you don't, you won't.
And our Lord commanded it. And John came baptizing. He's called John the Baptist. Isn't it? The Lord put great
stock in that. Look at Luke 7, verse 24. When the messengers of John were
departed, he began to speak unto the people, Christ concerning
John. He said, what went ye out into the wilderness for to see?
A reed shaken with the wind? No, not a man bending with every
new wind of doctrine. He's a man firm and unshaken
and unmoved. What did you go out to see, he
said? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously
appareled and live delicately are in king's court. What went
ye out for to see? A prophet? I say unto you, much
more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written,
Behold, I send my messenger before thy face." God's messenger, sent,
who prepared thy way before thee. I say unto you, among those that
are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John the
Baptist. But, listen to this, he that
is least in the kingdom of God, The poor little fella up in the
mountains of West Virginia preaching to a handful of people is greater
than John. Sent just like John. And a gift
just like John. And he's a baptizer. If God sent
him, he's a Baptist. Now I'm not talking about denomination. But this is designation, this
is description of a man sent by God. He's a baptizer. This is not, as I said, ignorant
mountain tradition. This is a command of God. This
is a command of Christ. Christ said, Go ye in all the
world and preach the gospel. And he that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not. He that
doesn't confess me, I won't confess." That's how serious it is. Baptism
doesn't save us, but it's proof God has. Because you will not be ashamed
of Him. In fact, you'll want to get in that pool just as quick
as you can. Like the Ethiopian eunuch said,
after he heard Christ preached by Philip, Just plain old Philip. A deacon. After he heard Christ
preach from Isaiah 53, the eunuch said, stop this chariot. Look
at this pool. You told me to confess Christ.
I've got to do it now. Got to do it now. Those that received the Word
in Acts 2 gladly were baptized. Gladly confessing Him. Love to
do it. Got to do it. Got to do it. Not a denomination, but a description,
a designation of a man sent by God. He's a Baptist. We're still
Baptists here. We changed our name for various
reasons, but we didn't change. We're still baptized. John baptized
many. How many? Maybe thousands that
came to him at Jordan. He baptized many. The disciples
baptized many. The Lord didn't baptize any.
Paul just baptized a few, and he couldn't even remember who
they were. He said, I think the house of Stephanus, I don't really
remember. But he said, Christ didn't send
me to baptize, but to preach. What he did, baptized. He's not denying that. What he's
saying was, and he said, lest you say, Paul baptized me. That's what he said. He said,
some say, I was baptized to Paul. I was baptized. He said, that's
not why Christ sent me. He didn't send me to baptize,
but to preach. He's not denying baptism. The
fact is, baptism is a command. It's a privilege. John the Baptist. Look at his message in John chapter
1. That's his purpose, a witness,
a testimony, to come baptizing, the baptism of repentance. And
it says in chapter 1 verse 9, John said, He was the true light,
Christ, that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. Verse
15, John cried saying, This is He. This was He of whom I speak. He that cometh after me is preferred
before me. He was before me. Of His fullness
have all we received, grace for grace. The law was given by Moses,
but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God
at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." John is
declaring the Christ. That's who he's preaching. Verse
26, John says, I baptize with water. But there standeth one
among you whom you know not, and there's some in here that
don't know him." And that's why I'm preaching it, with a hope,
with a prayer, that God will use this earthen vessel with
these mighty words that will cause your ears to be opened,
your eyes to be opened, your heart to be broken, and hear
His voice. He it is. Here's John's message. He it is who coming after me
is preferred before me, whose shoes latched I am not worthy
to unloot." And these things were done in Bethabara beyond
Jordan where John was baptizing. Well, the next day John seeth
Jesus coming unto him and he said, here's the man sent from
God. Here's his message. Day in and
day out. Behold the Lamb of God that taketh
away the sin of the world. That's God's Lamb. You've got
to have a Lamb. Every man must have a Lamb. Because
only when God sees the blood on your soul, on your heart,
will He pass over you. If He doesn't see the blood,
if you don't have a Lamb, either have the Son, have life. He that
doesn't have the Son shall not see life. But the wrath of God
abides on Him. Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world, and must take away your sin.
Do you have a Lamb? There was a man sent from God. He was a witness. He's not the
light. He was sent to bear witness of
that light. Whom you need to know. Whom you
need to see. The light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Christ. And when you do, and
if you do, you will confess Him before men. And you will become
a witness to Him. Sent by God.