All right, turn back in your
Bibles to John chapter one. John chapter one. We continue our studies through
the Gospel of John. There are so very many men today who call themselves, who claim
to be pastors and even apostles, prophets, evangelists. So many men today who make that
claim, even some women. And that doesn't need to be addressed. Because 1st Timothy 2 and 1st
Corinthians 14 are very clear about that. Women are excluded. But how do you know? How do you
know? A man is a true preacher sent
from God, a pastor. biblical offices. These are not
things men made up. These are true biblical offices. How do you know the truth from
the false? How do you know? And there are
no more apostles, nor prophets. We'll see that in a moment. But
how do you know a true preacher sent from God, a true pastor?
How do you know? Well, this one thing, this one
thing that all true God-sent preachers have in common, Jesus
Christ is their message. Jesus Christ is their ministry. Jesus Christ is their method.
The preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ is their method.
It's how they do things. It's what they do. It's all they
do, is preach the gospel. They know it's the power of God.
They are determined, like the apostle Paul. Paul did one thing. When he went all over the Middle
Eastern and Eastern world, Europe, preaching the gospel. Well, I
just gave the answer. That's what he did when he traveled
all over. He did one thing. He wasn't an
entertainer. He wasn't a counselor to people. He didn't hold seminars on various
subjects of the day. He preached the gospel. The gospel
of Christ. Jesus Christ. Paul said, I'm
determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. He said, I'm determined not to
do anything or be taken by anything except preaching Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. And such was a man, such was
the man, the last prophet, John the baptizer. We call him the Baptist. Baptists
particularly like to call him that. But that doesn't mean he
was of the denomination of Baptist. He was John the Baptizer. We gave him that nickname. At any rate, this was the man,
John. Verse 6. Look at it. John 1,
verse 6. There was a man sent from God. There was a man. He was a man.
Make no mistake about it. Our Lord said, we'll turn over
to Matthew 11, very quickly. Matthew 11. Matthew chapter 11. Our Lord
spoke concerning John the Baptist. In Matthew 11, look at it in verse 7. Matthew 11, verse 7, as they
departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning
John, what went ye out into the wilderness to see? What did you
go to see? A reed shaken with wind, with the wind? A man clothed
in soft raiment? Verse 9, what did you go out
to see? A prophet? I tell you, more than a prophet.
John was no weak, effeminate fellow. He's a man's man. He's a man's man. A man. That's what our text says back
there. Hold that place there in Matthew 11 and look back at
the text. A man sent from God to do one
thing. Look at verse 7 of John 1. It
was a man sent from God whose name was John, the same This
man came for a witness, to bear witness of the light, verse 8.
He was not that light, sent to bear witness of that light. He
was sent to bear witness of Christ. John, verse 15, chapter 1, verse
15. John, bear witness of him, of
Jesus Christ. Look at verse 19. And this is
the record. This is where we left off last
week. This is the record of John. This is the account. This is
the message. This is the methods. This is what John, the baptizer,
did and does. This is what John did. This is
the record, the account, the message, the methods of John. They said, look at verse 19. This is the record where the
Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who
art thou? Who are you? And over there in Matthew 11,
our Lord said, who was John? Who was he? Our Lord said, listen
to this, Among them that are born of women there hath not
risen a greater than John the Baptist. Never been a greater man born
on earth. Now, Jesus Christ said that.
God said that. The greatest man to ever live
was John the baptizer. Now, our Lord said that. Now, I didn't say that. God said
that. The greatest man to ever live. And they said, who are you? And he confessed. Look at verse
20. He confessed. He confessed and denied not,
but confessed, I'm not the Christ. You see, the world out there
in the world are men who profess to be great. Don't they? Scripture says it calls them
boasters, proud. boasters and lovers of self.
Those men who are nothing boast of greatness, don't they? Great men boast of nothingness. Those who are nothing boast of
greatness. Great men boast of nothingness. They asked John,
who are you? He confessed, I'm not the Christ.
He denied not. He wasn't about to share God's
glory. Not in the least. Not suddenly. Not by any end of it. He wasn't
going to share God's glory in any way. Now listen to me. There's a lot that goes on in
the name of God today. A lot of so-called fellows. Listen
to me. Our Lord said, he that cometh
in his own name, he will oversee. Any man, any man, if men were
really interested in God getting all the glory, they wouldn't dare. They would
never allow their name and their face to be displayed as they
do in our day. Did you hear me? Any man who's
really interested in God's glory would never allow his face and
his name to be used in such a way as these fellows do today. John,
who are you? Who are you? He never even told
his name. Well, what's your name? It's
not important. Well, tell us so we can bring
it on the billboard when you come into town. John, what's
your name? No. It's not important. The great George Whitefield,
who was a great man, he said, he said, let the name of George
Whitefield perish from the earth. He said, let the name of Jesus
Christ be remembered and exalted. Mark it down, folks. Any man,
I don't care how good he looks or how good he sounds, allows
his name and his face to be displayed in such a way is not sent from
God. Look at verse 21 in the text.
They asked him then, Who are you, Elias? He said, I am not. Are you a prophet? No. Yes, he was. He was. The Lord
said he was. Stand the Lord said he was alive
in last year. Didn't it? Who are you, he said? Nothing. Verse 22, well, who
are you that we might tell everybody, give an answer then, what are
your credentials? Look at verse 23, I'm the voice,
a voice. Someone cried in the will. I'm
just a man, just a voice, a messenger. It's all paperboy. I'm just a
paperboy to deliver a message. Listen to your paperboy announce
in the morning, hey, hey, here I am. Does it? Well, y'all wake
up. It's me. It's me. It's Ernest
T. Will you do that, huh? He just
delivers a message. It gets. Joe, you got interest
in the paperboy? You're interested in the message.
Right? That's what every deliverer of
the message does, Joe. He delivers message, gets out
of here. Get out of the way. Right, Joe? He's not there to be seen. He
wants them to see somebody else. He's really not there to be heard,
not impress anybody. He wants someone else to be heard
and to impress them. Verse 23, he said, I'm a voice. A voice makes straight the way
of the Lord, as they say of the prophet Isaiah. Verse 24, and
they went, they which were sent were the Pharisees. Verse 25, and they asked him,
said, well, what about baptism? They asked him about baptism.
They could have, if this was the 20th century, they would
have said, well, how many of you baptized this morning? That's
what they would have asked him. What about baptism? Paul, one time, you remember
where Paul, they said, how many of you baptized Paul? He said, one, I think. Yeah, one, no,
no, two, I can't remember. I can't remember any other. One
or two. You remember that? I can't remember,
sir. How many? One? Two? Is that all you baptized? Well,
you're not coming from God. God can't be in this thing. Oh,
yes, he is. Paul said he didn't send me to
baptize. He sent me to do what? Preach. I love that. Paul didn't even
know how many he baptized. The only thing, one or two. John said it. He said, verse
26, I baptize with water. How many do you baptize? One
or two. This is not, this is just water.
Baptism is nothing. It doesn't matter if there's
a million people go through that pool. All it does is go in the
water. That doesn't amount to nothing. Far, I bet you there have been
far more people been in that who are not children of God,
who are not saved, than are, I guarantee you. John said, this is not, it's
just water. Look at verse 26, and I was,
I've been in this pool Maybe more than anybody in here. I
was baptized when I was 12 years old. I didn't know Christ. That didn't mean a thing. And
we used to swim in it when I was a boy. We used to swim in it,
me and my brothers. After he'd baptized somebody,
you know, we'd go over and swim in it before they drained it.
So I've been baptized. I've been in that quite a few
times. Well, verse 26, John said, It's just water. He said, There
standeth one among you. This is what you need to see. He said, There's one among you
whom you know not. It stands one among you. Do you
know the Lord Jesus Christ? Not if you've been baptized.
Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ? That's the issue. This is the
issue. They came to Christ one time
and said, well, Christ said to them, he said, what think you
of Christ? They asked him many questions
in there. What about this? What about this? What about your
stand on that? What's your stand on the law?
What's your stand on abortion? What's your stand on this and
that and the other? He said, what think you of Christ? That's
the issue. There's only going to be one
thing matter and go, right? That is, if you're found in Him,
not found a Republican. Let's hope you're found a Republican
and a sinner. Be found in Him, not how righteous
you were as of now you lived on this earth. Be found not in
your own righteousness, but in His righteousness. What think
you of Christ? That's what you'll think about
your righteousness. It all answered under that question,
what think ye of Christ? What do you think about the law?
I think of Christ, is what I think of it. When I think about the
law, what do you stand on the law? Guilty! In every point, every jot and
tittle, I'm guilty. Oh, I strive to keep it, but
guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty. What think ye of Christ?
Innocent. My hope, my righteousness, my
salvation. My righteousness, surely shall
one say, one shall have wanted to say, in the love of Jesus
Christ I have my righteousness. What think ye of Christ? He's
my righteousness. What do you know? Not much. What
think ye of Christ? He's my wisdom. He's my righteousness. What about sanctification? He's
my sanctification. What about redemption? He's my
redemption. What think ye of Christ? And this is what John said, He
it is, verse 27. Look at it. He it is. He it is. Who are you? He it is. What are you? He it is. He it is. Do you have a master? No, he's
the master. I'm a student. I don't have a
master's. I'm a student. There's one master. Well, do you have a doctorate?
No, he's the great physician. I'm a patient. I'm not even a
good practical nurse. A doctor? He's the great physician. Doctorate. He, it is, verse 27, who is coming
after me, is preferred before me. He's the preferred one. He's the preferred one. Ah, now, he said, I'm not worthy
to touch his shoes. And that's the place he'll approach
to. He's at his feet. And I'm not worthy to unlatch
him. He it is. He it is. He it is. He's the only way to God. He
it is. No man cometh to God but by him.
He it is. The way to God. He it is who's
the truth. Everything else, everyone else
is a lie. He's the truth. All other revelations are a lie. All other Jesuses, all other
Christs are a lie. All messiahs are a lie. He's
the true one. All other gospels are false.
He it is. He's the gospel. Christ is the
gospel. The gospel is not about Christ.
It is Christ. He it is. He is the life. He is, if any man hath the Son,
he hath life. He it is. He is life. He it is. In Him we live and move and have
our being. He it is. He's the Alpha and Omega, the
Author and the Finisher, the Beginning, the End. He's the
Counselor. He's the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. He it is. Christ is He. It's
all and in all. He is. What's your creed? He it is, my creed. He is my
creed. What's your body of divinity?
In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the body of divinity. What's
your denomination? In Him. In Him. I'm a member of His body. What
do you believe? He it is. He it is. Is what? Is all. It's all my
salvation. Is that all you know? Oh, that I might know him. Be found in him. Grow in grace
and the knowledge of him. Him. Verse 28, read now. Now,
these things were done in Bethlehem, brother. Anybody remember? crossing. Anybody remember? The Fabra. I see one. I see the
light in somebody else's face. Read on. Verse twenty-nine. Now,
John just got through talking and preaching and declaring Jesus
Christ, didn't he? Well, the next day, same message. And this was Wednesday night,
and it's Sunday morning. John got up to preach. And he
took the text, same text. Joe, he took the same text. OK,
turn to John 1, chapter 1, verse 27. I'm going to preach on, here
it is. Wait, John. Wait a minute. You just preached on that. Yeah,
but I did not cover it very well. See, here it is. In case somebody
didn't hear. And I'm just sure they haven't.
And I look in the faces right now of some who do not see him
as he is. And would the God I could preach
in such a way that they would see him as he is. Young people. Would the God have seen in the
light of their eyes that they see some beauty in him? I said, what would they
see? And I saw no beauty in him that I should desire him. I heard
no glory in this gospel. One day, same preacher preached
the same message, and I saw him as he is, and myself as I am." And that's all I wanted to hear
from that day forward. What you going to preach? Here it is. Is that going to be a text? Yeah,
good. I'll sit on the front row. Here it is. A woman told a preacher
we know well, she said, she meant this in derision of him. She
said, oh, you preach. So I've heard you many times.
I've got it written down here all over my Bible. He said, in
my notes, he says, gospel, gospel, gospel. That's all you preach
is gospel, gospel, gospel. He said, lady, write that on
my tombstone. Please. With a pin of iron in
the rock. Another person in derision of
my pastor said to him one time, she said, or about him, she said,
He's made an idol of Jesus Christ. Oh, write that on my tombstone. He worships and is taken up with
nothing and no one else but Jesus Christ. That's salvation. Those who turn
from idols to serve the true and living God. Here it is. John, you're going to preach
that same old thing? Yeah, next day, verse 29, next day, John
saw Jesus coming unto him and said, Behold the Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb of God. Oh, my. This just cannot be done
justice, this passage here. See, if you behold, John could
have said this, if you behold me. See, they went out to see
John, didn't they? Everybody heard of John. They went out to see John. And
John could have said this, if you behold me, if you see me,
what are you going to see? Huh? After you see me and go
out to see me, what are you going to see? A man. You take off Pope John,
and millions of people go out to see that shriveled little
old polack. Don't they? Say, don't make fun
of it. I'm making fun of that dude.
He's anti-Christ. Millions of people flock to see
him. Where do you see it? You see
him. A miserable little dying man. He ain't no man, he's a worm. Where do you go when you go to
see a building? Everybody goes out to see the Crystal Cathedral
out in California, where all that, whose name is not worthy
to be mentioned. They like to see all that. What
do you see when you see a building? What do you see when you come
here to see this building? Wood, hay, and stubble! What do you go to see when you
see a robed choir? We used to have one, didn't we?
A big robed choir. Lots of people go to see them.
You ask them, why do you go to church? Because of the choir.
What do you think? What I see, I see a bunch of
self-righteous robed beggars. Beggars in rags, is what I see. If they really wanted the message
to be heard, the song they're singing to be heard and not be
seen, they'd put on sackcloth and rub ashes all over their
face so as not to be recognized and sing of him. What do you go to see? If you
go to see, or if you look within, you look at yourself, behold
yourself, what do you see? If I doubt, when I behold myself,
and I look in the mirror, you know what I see? I see an unclean
thing. But if God, by His grace, can cause you, will cause you,
He can. If He will cause you to come
and behold the Lamb, That's salvation. Eternal life. A new creature. It's everything.
Behold the Lamb. Blood. You see, blood's what
we need. You know what the old Testament priest did, Joe? The scripture said in Hebrew,
he took a big bowl of blood when they had a worship service. When
they had a worship service, he went out in the in the courtyard
there, and all the people were gathered outside of that tabernacle,
outside the eastern gate looking in, and there was the great high
priest, and he took a little lamb, beautiful, spotless lamb
without blemish, a male of the first year, one year old, little
yearling lamb, and he'd take a big knife and slit its throat,
and blood just splattered everywhere like that, and he took that lamb
up there and he squeezed the blood out of that lamb into a
big bowl. Blood! And then he took that
blood and started throwing it everywhere. Blood, blood, blood. Covered the altar, covered the
book, covered the people. That's what Hebrews says. Oh,
what a nice worship service we're having. You're getting near to
God. These people are right in the
verge of the groaning of God. If somebody said, how despicable.
It's from those sinners down there going, oh, oh, I see the
blood. You see, God said it's the blood
that make an atonement for the soul. God said, the High Priest
shall once take the blood of a spotless lamb into the whole
slittish blood, cover the people. Before that happened, John there
got an old goat, got an old goat out there. And the High Priest
laid his hands on that old goat and confessed. And all the people
listened as he confessed the sins of all the people on the
head of that goat. Then a strong man grabbed a hold of that goat. and walked out in the wilderness
with him. The scapegoat that men like to use in talking and
making fun and political editorials and so forth. The scapegoat is
my salvation, people. The scapegoat, which is Christ,
which we lay our hands on, the head of, who takes our sins and
put them away. Well, then the high priest took
that blood, that bowl of blood into the Holy of Holies under
a veil. Nobody saw it. Something went
on in there. Something went on in there between
Him and God. And He went in there not without
blood. And He came out without the blood. He left the blood in there. I know what He did. He took that
blood and poured it over the mercy seat. Oh my, and then he came out of
that veil, a smile on his face, and the bells are ringing. Accepted! And all the people laid out a
chair. Our sins are covered under the blood. Do you see? You see,
that went on, and the blood of bulls and goats and lambs cannot
put away sin. There's only a type and a picture
of him who would come to put away sin. There have been rivers
of animal blood shed throughout the year, but now, once in the
end of time, have... Joy has been preaching about
the blood. We've got to have blood that's typical of death. We've sinned. We must die. or a substitute. We've got that. There He is, John said, the Lamb
of God. Behold Him! Have you nailed it? The Lamb
of God, who appeared once by the sacrifice of Himself. In
the end of time, to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself,
He went into the Holy of Holies, the throne of God, heaven itself
with His own precious blood. and put away Barbara Ross's sin
and came out three days later with a smile on his face and
says, Mary, Barbara, it's me. Sin's gone. Sin's gone. And that blood is still there.
It's still there in the Holy of Holies right now making intercession
for you. Why do you say, Barbara? It's
the blood. Behold the Lamb, the Lamb of
God. I ought to quit right now. I'll just quit. I'm going to. I got five more
pages. I quit. That's all there is.
Here it is. Behold the Lamb. Behold the Lamb. Salvation is beholding the Lamb. You don't know what I was talking
about now, just being about this high priest and all that? Go
on and learn what it meaneth. You've got to. God said, without
the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sins, and all
that's sinned and comes short of the glory of God, and the
wages of sin is death. But some people, with the blood,
don't have to die. All right, Joe, you got a song
picked out? 208. 200A. 200A.