I want us this morning to look
at John, the Gospel of John chapter 1 verse 19 through 29. Title of the message, The Record
of John the Baptist. Now John the Baptist was the
forerunner of Christ. His life and ministry were foretold
in Isaiah 40. Our Lord said that there was
none greater among men than John the Baptist. he was filled with
the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb you can read that in Luke
chapter 1 verse 15 and this is the record it says in verse 19
of John chapter 1 this is the record of John when the Jews
sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask who art thou? John it caused quite a stir among
the people many were baptized by him So the Jews, that is those
who belong to the Sanhedrin court, sent some of their priests and
Levites to find out who this man was. Some thought that he
might be the Christ. Some thought that he might be
that prophet. Many people of Judea and Jerusalem
went out to hear him and were baptized of him. But John being
a true minister of the Lord Jesus Christ, would not mislead them
as to who he was. He was not after a following
as many are today. And he confessed and denied not,
but confessed, I am not the Christ. John was no pretender, as false
prophets are who would have taken advantage of the situation to
gain recognition. John confessed, he admitted,
I am not the Christ. His ministry and his message
were so powerful that they thought he might be the Messiah or he
might be that prophet. And they asked him in verse 21,
What then? Art thou Elias? And he said,
I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he
answered, No. The reason they asked him if
he were Elijah is because the Jews expected Elijah to appear
again on the earth because it is written in the scriptures
over Malachi 4 verses 5 and 6. They ask him if he were that
prophet that is spoken of in Deuteronomy chapter 18 verses
15 through 18. And he said, no, I'm not that
prophet. John disowns himself to be anyone
great He will not draw attention to himself. All of God's true
servants will not draw attention to themselves. As John said,
He must increase and I must decrease. That is the heart of every believer. This is a good lesson for us.
In all that we do, I'm talking to believers now. In all that
we do, Christ is to have the glory. Christ is to have the
preeminence in all that we do. In verse 22, Then said they unto
him, Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent
us? What sayest thou of thyself?
John could have impressed them with who he was, the son of a
priest, the forerunner, and he was a prophet. But he said, I'm
just a voice. That's all I am. I'm just a voice. It says there in verse 23. He
said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight
the way of the Lord as said the prophet Isaiah. He says. John claimed to be just a voice
of one. He gives himself no title. He does not call himself Dr. John. He calls himself just a
voice. A voice is something you hear
and not see. And that's all we need to be.
All who preach the gospel, all who witness for Christ, we just
need to be a voice. Our walk and our talk should
be one that does not draw attention to ourselves. What humility John
shows here. He says just a voice. A voice
is used to communicate words and thoughts. And all we need
to be is a voice to communicate the word of God, the written
word and the living word. And he says he's just a voice
in the wilderness. Not in the temple. Not in Jerusalem. But in the wilderness. The only
thing left in the temple was false religion. Lies. and hypocrisy. That's all that
was left in that temple. There was no true worship going
on. Very little true worship is going on in our day. Most
of the religious meetings in our day are nothing but emotionalism. It's just emotionalism. That's
all it is. Lying on God. But John wouldn't
do that. John stood out in the desert
calling sinners out of that false religion, out of that mess. I
tell you this, if God is pleased to save sinners, if He's pleased
to save you, He's going to have to call you out of this religious
mess that we are in this day. And He called them out of that
false religion, and that temple, and all connected with it was
about to meet its end. It was about to meet its fulfillment
in Christ. And all those things were going
to be done away with. And it says in verse 24, And
they which were sent were of the Pharisees, the most religious
people of that day. That's who came, and that's who's
questioning him. And they asked him, these Pharisees
asked him and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou
be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? They challenged
John's authority. If you are none of these, then
why are you baptizing? For we did not give you this
authority. We didn't give you the authority
to baptize. You did not graduate from our
school of theology, so why are you doing these things? John
was not identified with any of them. And John answered them
saying, I baptize with water, and that's all I baptize with
is water. But there standeth one among you whom you know not."
John stands his ground and he does not deny baptizing with
water because he was told to do that. But he turns their attention
to the Lord Jesus Christ. He gets it off of baptism because
baptism is not the point. Baptism is not the issue. Baptism
is not the center of attention. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. There
stands one among you whom you know not. Let's talk about him.
Let's talk about the one you don't know. The Lord Jesus Christ. That's what Paul said when he
went to Athens. They had many altars there. And there was one
altar that was built to the unknown God. Paul said this is the one
I want to talk to you about. The unknown God. The one you
don't know. The Messiah they looked for stood
among them. and they didn't even know him.
God Almighty stood in their midst, the God of heaven and earth,
the God of creation stood right in the midst of those people
and they did not know him. The promised seed, the seed of
the woman, the fulfillment of all the types and pictures stands
among them and they did not recognize him. The worst thing that can
happen is to have Christ among us and not know him, miss him. That to me has to be the worst,
to perish under the sound of the gospel. As I heard one preacher
say, why will you die when the water is so close by? But many
do. Then he says in verse 27, he
it is who coming after me is preferred before me." Once again,
John speaks of the deity of Christ. John is saying the one I'm talking
about is God manifested in the flesh. The Son of God incarnate,
that's the one I'm talking to you about. That's the one I'm
preaching. He's my message. And he says,
whose shoe latchet I'm not worthy to unloose. I'm not worthy I'm
not worthy in the least bit to stoop down and untie his shoes.
What true humility John shows here. This is a work of God. This man is a work of God. It's
a work of grace. Grace causes true humility. Nothing
else will cause true humility. Nothing else. But grace always
does. It will cause true humility.
John said, I'm not worthy to untie this one who stands among
you. I'm not worthy to untie his shoes.
This is the heart of a true child of God. Not worthy. Not worthy. We live in a day of where everybody's
trying to exalt themselves. Everybody's trying to feel good
about themselves. I tell you this, God has to make you feel
bad about yourself. He has to really make you understand,
know who you are, if he ever saves you. Because he said, God
said, there's none good, no not one. And then he said in verse
28, these things were done in Bethabara, beyond Jordan, where
John was baptizing. Bethabara means house of passage,
passing from darkness to light. from death to life. And the next
day, in verse 29, the next day John seeth Jesus coming unto
him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the
sin of the world. They were looking for a king.
They were looking for a king coming riding into town on a
white steed with his army. They wasn't looking for a lamb.
They were looking for a great prophet, not a savior priest. Jesus Christ is God's lamb. He
is God's spotless lamb. He's the lamb of God's providing.
And what God provides, God will accept. He's the sin offering. His blood is the blood of atonement.
He's the sin bearer. He bears the sin of many. They thought because they were
Abraham's seed, they were automatically in the kingdom of God, and the
rest were lost, but they were lost. They were lost. They thought
they had a corner on God. They thought they had a corner
on salvation, but they were lost. It also says here, that takes
away the sin of the world. Now what's that mean? That means
he takes away the sins of Gentiles. as well as Jews. That there are
some Gentiles whom God is going to save as well as some Jews. Because in Christ we are all
one. In Christ there is neither Jew
nor Greek, barbarian or Scythian, bond or free. They are all one
in Christ. He's the Lamb, as I said, He's
the Lamb of God providing. Let me give you a few things
here about the Lamb and I'll close. In Genesis 4-4 we have
the Lamb typified. In Genesis 22-8 we have the Lamb
prophesied. In Exodus 12 verses 5-7 we have
the Lamb slain and the blood applied. In Isaiah 53 verse 1
we have the Lamb personified. In John 1-29 we have the Lamb
identified. In Revelations 5 verse 6 and
verse 13 we have the Lamb magnified and glorified. And I say to every
one of you sinners who need mercy, who need forgiveness, behold
the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. May
God enable you to behold Him. Until next time, may God bless
His Word.