It is my earnest desire every
time I stand before eternity bound men and women to speak
in God's name, to preach as Martin Luther said he did. He said, I preach as though Christ
was crucified yesterday, rose today, and is coming tomorrow. Richard Baxter said, I preach
as if never to preach again a dying man to dying men. I want so much for you to know
the Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to trust him. It is
my prayer that you will leave here this day leaning your soul
on the Son of God. And yet I know that most people
I meet are assured that they know Christ and everything's
fixed up between them and God. They've been led down what's
called the Romans' road to salvation. They've been told that Jesus
is God, that Jesus came into the world to save sinners, that
he died for their sins and rose again, And if they just repeat
someone else saying a little sentence or two, they call the
sinner's prayer, everything would be all right, and they'd be saved.
And they've done what they've been told to do, and they're
real sure they're saved. They don't have any peace in
their conscience, have no joy in their soul. have no knowledge
of anything spiritual, no knowledge of the things of God, and the
things of the Spirit of God are as confusing to them as ever
they had been before. But everything's sewed up and
fixed because they've been told they're saved. If that is a description
of your experience, I want you to look carefully with me at
our text this morning, John chapter 1, verses 29 Here in the first chapter of
John, we find a man who knew the Lord Jesus Christ intimately. He knew him intimately as a man. He knew him intimately after
the flesh. He had an intimate, factual knowledge
of this man, Christ Jesus. He was his first cousin. He was his first cousin. Yet
he declares twice, I knew him not. That man was John the Baptist. John chapter 1, 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. This
is he of whom I said, After me cometh the man which is preferred
before me. For he was before me, and I knew
him not, but that he should be made manifest to Israel. Therefore
am I come baptizing with water. John bear record saying I saw
the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and it abode upon
him and I knew him not But he that sent me to baptize with
water the same said unto me upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit
Descending and remaining on him the same as he which baptizeth
with the Holy Ghost and I saw and bear record that this is
the Son of God. Now, we know that John the Baptist
knew the Lord Jesus Christ. If we had no other basis for
it than what is revealed in Matthew chapter 3, we know he knew him. Turn to Matthew 3. He knew the
Lord Jesus. He knew him as a man. He knew
him to be a man of honorable character, one whom he highly
esteemed and recognized as the Christ of God. All those things
john clearly knew and we see that because when the lord jesus
came to him to be baptized in verse 13 Matthew chapter 3 Then
cometh jesus from galilee to jordan unto john to be baptized
of him But john said whoa, wait a minute john forbade him saying
I have need to be baptized of thee and cometh thou to me And
yet, back here in our text, twice he says, I knew him not. Now,
I tried to deal with this passage when first Brother Darwin called
my attention to it a couple of years ago. And I started working
on it before I went in the hospital and have been working on it since.
I believe I've got something for you. In verses 31 and 33,
John twice declares, I knew him not. And that statement is significant. In this passage, the Apostle
John is describing for us by inspiration the ministry of John
the Baptist. John's message was the proclamation
of God's Christ. In verse 29, he tells us, behold,
the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. The
very first thing the Apostle John tells us about this man
John the Baptist, this great prophet, is that he was a man
sent from God. There was a man sent from God
whose name was John. Oh, a man sent from God. The Lord God speaks of false
prophets who have no message. Oh, they preach, and they talk
from the Bible. They lecture from notes on the
Bible. They write books about the Bible,
but they've got no message, and they profit not God's people. For this reason, God said, I
didn't send them. I didn't send them. How shall
they preach? The apostle asked by inspiration,
except they be sent. Those men who are called of God
to preach the gospel, who are gifted of God to preach the gospel,
are sent of God in the power of His Spirit with the message
of His grace in Jesus Christ the Lord. Oh, how I thank God
He sent a man to me to preach the gospel to me. How I thank
God for those men who are sent of him to preach the gospel of
his grace. John was sent to bear witness
of the light. Being a prophet of God, he only
had one purpose in life, one function, one work to do, only
one thing for which he was useful. He was sent to bear witness of
the light. That is, he was sent to point
sinners to Christ. Oh, for every preacher who hears
this word that I'm preaching today, you who are sitting here,
you who God may be pleased to call to the ministry, who have
not even thought of such yet, and those who hear the message
in other ways beyond the services here this morning, who are preachers,
hear me. Preachers have one business in
life. Just one business. And if you're
not prepared to devote your life to that one business, don't pretend
to be a preacher. Don't do it. Don't do it. Preachers
are sent to preach the gospel. That's all. And they are useless
for anything else. Either that or they're useless
as preachers. Preachers are men sent of God
to bear witness of the light John would not be turned aside
from this glorious work it it utterly consumed his life Now
look at verse 29 Here's his message the next day John seeth Jesus
coming to him and saith behold the Lamb of God Which taketh
away the sin of the world? When John saw the Lord Jesus
walking by, he called for all who heard his voice to behold
Christ, the Lamb. That is to look to him, to trust
him, to follow him. We know that's what the word
behold means. We know that they understood
that to be what it means because when they did, his disciples
turned and followed the Lamb. The Lamb of God. What a description
of our Savior. Scripture is filled with pictures
and promises and prophecies and types of Jesus Christ as the
lamb of God. He is the lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. He is the lamb set before us
in the scriptures. He is the lamb of God's providing
the lamb of God's acceptance. He is the lamb who is himself
God who taketh away what a word. who by the perpetual merit and
efficacy of his blood atonement perpetually and eternally taketh
away the sins of his people scattered through all the world. Taketh
away. That's a good word, Darwin. Taketh
away. Presence, tense, taketh away. But wasn't it done at Calvary?
Oh, yes. But as we confess our sin to him, he cleanseth us from
all sin. Afresh and anew in the court
of conscience, he taketh away the sins of his people. We multiply
transgressions, he multiplies pardons. We multiply filth, He
multiplies cleansing. We multiply sin, He multiplies
forgiveness. He taketh away the sin of His
people through all the world. All this John the Baptist preached,
and I preach to you today, that all men through Him might believe. That you might believe. That
you might believe. Believe on the Son of God and
you have everlasting life. That you might believe. Believe
on the Son of God and He's yours. That you might believe. Believe
on the Son of God and salvation and all the magnificent fullness
of that great Word is yours in, by, and through Jesus Christ
the Lord. So a preacher, what if I'm not
one of God's elect? Believe Him. But what if I'm
not one of those for whom Christ died? Believe Him. Believe on
the Son of God and your believing is proof, evidence, and fruit
of election and redemption. Your believing is the gift of
His grace. And then in verse 31, John throws
this curve. And I knew him not. In verse
33, he repeats it. And I knew him not. This is John the Baptist recollection
of his meeting Christ in the flesh. He says, I knew him not. He's not suggesting I had never
met him. He's not suggesting I had never
seen him face to face. We know better. When Elizabeth
entertained Mary, John's mother, in her home, the Savior's mother
in her home, Elizabeth, you'll remember, in Luke chapter 1,
was pregnant with John the Baptist. Mary had been given the marvelous
conception in her womb by the Holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus. And when Mary came into the house,
the scripture tells us that John the Baptist leaped in her womb
and tells us two things about it. One, he was full of the Holy
Spirit, and two, he leapt for joy. Now that might not fit anybody's
theological system, but that's what this book says. That's what
it says. You mean John the Baptist was
filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb? That's what
Luke says. And Luke said it by the Spirit
of God. You mean that baby, rejoiced
while he's in his mother's womb because of another baby in the
womb of his Aunt Mary? That's what the book says. He
leapt for joy. Now, I have no question at all.
My imagination is pretty vivid. I recognize it. But you don't
have to have a very vivid imagination to picture Elizabeth raising
John the Baptist in her home. Zacharias, his father, was convinced
of these things as well. In their home, how often Elizabeth
must have spoken to that boy. How often Zacharias, who because
of his unbelief had been stricken with dumbness until Elizabeth
gave the child his name, because he was sent as Elijah to prepare
the way of the Lord. And now his mother and his father
are raising this boy who has met the master even before he
was born. And they tell him, now, you've
been sent to prepare the way of the Lord, and this is He.
The Lord was in Mary's womb. You leapt for joy when you saw
Him. You leapt for joy in his presence. And the Lord has prepared you,
a Nazirite from the womb, to preach the gospel of the kingdom
of God, to prepare the way for him who is the Messiah, the Christ
of God. And as they played and visited,
whenever they visited together, I don't have any question at
all when the Lord Jesus would leave Mary Zacharias in the days
coming. He can be made manifest. And
you're the man. You're the man who must introduce
Him. John knew the Savior. He knew
Him. I have no question at all. He
knew Him and knew Him very clearly after the flesh. Knew everything
a man could know about Him after the flesh. And yet, he says,
I knew Him not. What on earth is he talking about?
Look back at verse 26 and you'll get a hint. The Pharisees were talking to
John. And he answered in verse twenty
six, saying, I baptize with water, but there standeth one among
you whom you know not. He, it is who's coming after
me is preferred before me, who shoes latched, I'm not worthy
to unloose. Now, that word, no. I kept looking
at this and looking at it late last night. I decided I'd get
my concordance out and look up the word no. It's the same word
that's used by John when he twice says, I knew him not. But it
is not the more common word that is translated no. This word doesn't
mean mere factual knowledge. This word is not merely the acquirement
of knowledge by learning, by reading, by study, or by communicating
facts from one person to another by any means. This word, no,
means to gaze upon with wide open eyes as one astonished,
amazed in adoration. John says to the Pharisees, they
knew who the master was. They knew where he was born.
They knew what his history was. They even knew his pedigree.
Do you know the one thing the Pharisees never questioned our
Lord about? Never one time did they raise
question about his pedigree as the Messiah. They knew the genealogy. It was kept in the temple. They
understood many things about him in great detail, but there
was no astonishment in their hearts for him. John says, you
don't know him. And I was once just like you.
I did not know him with astonishing wonder. I did
not gaze upon him with amazement. When he'd come to the house and
we'd have pinto beans together and go outside and we'd throw
horseshoes afterwards, I didn't particularly pay much attention
to him. When we'd go out and play ball together, I didn't
pay much attention to him. When we'd run up and down the
streets together, I knew who he was, he was my cousin. but
I didn't pay much attention to him. I knew he was the Messiah,
the Christ, but I didn't pay much attention to him. I knew
I was to be a prophet to announce him, but I didn't pay much attention
to him. But one day, I saw him, and things
had never been the same since. My eyes were opened wide, and
I beheld him. in whom is the glory of God Almighty,
Him who is the glory as of the only begotten, the Father, full
of grace and truth. I beheld Him with wide-eyed astonishment. Turn over to Matthew chapter
9. Let me show you two other placages. I want you to see how
this word is used. Two other places where the word's
used. It's used many times in Scripture, but this particular
word, knowledge, has the idea of wide-eyed, gazing astonishment. Matthew chapter 9, our Lord had
said to the man brought to Him who was sick of the palsy, He
said, your sins are forgiven. And the Pharisees looked at Him
like, who are you? How dare you forgive, tell a
man his sins are forgiven. Verse 6, the Lord Jesus says,
but that you may No. There's that word. That you may
just flat be astonished. That the Son of Man hath power
on earth to forgive sins. Then saith he to the sick of
the palsy, Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. Look at Mark chapter 4. The Lord
is teaching in parables. And he says to his disciples,
Mark chapter four, verse 11, he said unto them, unto you,
it is given to know, to know the mystery of the kingdom
of God, but unto them that are without all these things are
done in parables to you. It is given to stand back. and
gaze upon the things of God with wide-eyed astonishment. To the rest of the world, it's
like looking at a blank piece of paper. John is telling these Pharisees,
I was once in the same boat you are. Though I knew much about
the Son of God by the instruction of my parents, though I was like
you looking for the Messiah, the Christ of God, of whom the
prophets spoke, though I knew I knew him after the flesh, I
didn't know him. I had no revealed knowledge of
him, no heart knowledge of him, no revelation of him. that caused
Him to ravish my heart. I didn't know Him. This is what it is to know God
and Jesus Christ whom He has said, which is eternal life. It is to know Him. Isaiah had
such a revelation of him, didn't he? In the sixth chapter of Isaiah,
he says, I saw the Lord high and lifted up his train filled
the temple. He he filled the whole holy of
holies all the way out into the outer court. And I saw the I
saw the seraphim standing, looking over the mercy seat, looking
upon the sacrifice And I saw them cover their eyes and cover
their feet. And I saw them swiftly, swiftly
flying to do his will. And one of them took tongs from
off the altar. And he came flying toward me.
And I'm crying, woe is me. For I'm a man of unclean lips.
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. I'm a sinner. And everybody around me is in
the same boat I am. And nobody can help me. But this
seraphim, brings alive coal from the altar of sacrifice. And he
put it right on my lips. And he said, your iniquities
purged. Isaiah said, now I know it. Saul
of Tarsus was on his way, hailing prisoners who followed Christ,
seeking to destroy the name of Christ from off the earth, hauling
men away to prison, and had orders from Rome to do so. when the
Lord Jesus appeared to him in heaven in dazzling, brilliant
glory, such as no man could describe who was even standing around.
All they did was heard a noise but understood not the words.
And the Lord Jesus spoke to Saul the Tarsus, and that man gazed
upon him with astonishment, adoration, from that day on. Peter, James,
and John were in the mouth of transfiguration, and the Lord
was transfigured before them, so that his face shined like
the sun, and his apparel glistening white in glory. Moses and Elijah
standing beside him, speaking of the death he should accomplish
at Jerusalem. fell asleep. But when they awoke,
the Lord Jesus was still there, and they saw no man save Jesus
only. Oh, how they gazed upon him with
astonishment and wonder. John writes of him later in 1
John 1, and he says, this is he. whom we have seen, our eyes
have seen, and our hands have handled, and we've gazed upon
Him. That eternal life which was with
the Father, the Apostle Paul said, it pleased God to reveal
His Son in me. This is the knowledge John's
talking about, is there was a time when I didn't know Him, and then
God revealed Him to me. And now I know him. Now I know
him. How was the Lord Jesus revealed
to John the Baptist? How was he made known to him? We're told plainly how the Lord
God spoke to him and made himself known in a spiritual way. Hold your hands here in John
chapter 1 and turn to 2 Corinthians 5 again. I want you to see this. John is saying, though I knew
him not, I now know him by the Word of God, by the Spirit of
God, and by the faith God's given me. I know him not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 5, 14. The love of Christ constraineth
us, because we thus judge. that if one died for all, then
we're all dead. Now let me give you a plain commentary. This is what we judge. When Christ
died, all for whom he died, died with him. And because we thus
judge that we died with Christ, our lives are ruled by the love
of Christ. By the love of Christ, not by
the Ten Commandments, not by laws and regulations, not by
religious rules, not by church dogma. Our lives are motivated
and ruled by the love of Christ, the cause of his great love for
us. Verse 15. And we judge this, that he died
for all, that is, he died for all those who died with him.
that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves. He died for me to make me his. Lindsay Campbell, he died for
you to make you his, his own peculiar people that you should
not and I should not anymore live for ourselves but for him. to live unto Him which died for
them and rose again. When I call for you to believe
on the Son of God, I'm calling for all-out surrender to the
Lord of glory. All-out surrender, lock, stock,
and barrel. Total surrender. Everything. Every hour of every day. Every
possession of your hand, every possession of your life, every
relationship, lock, stock and barrel, surrender to the Son
of God. Which that's too much. Would be except for one thing.
He died for me. He died for me. Not just he's
willing to, he did. He died for me, and rose again. Read on. Wherefore, henceforth, know we
no man after the flesh, though we have known Christ after
the flesh. Yet now, henceforth, know we Him no more. Paul is saying, This knowledge of Christ, this knowledge of Christ that
consumes a man's life, this knowledge of Christ that makes you willing
every day to devote yourself to him, this knowledge of Christ
that is so overpowering that it causes you to stand back and
gaze with astonishment upon the Lamb of God. This is not after
the flesh. It's after the Spirit. It's after the Spirit. Therefore,
if any man be in Christ, Any man in Christ by the blessed
saving union of faith in him, it's because he's a new creature.
Old things are passed away and behold, all things have become
new. All right. How is it then that
this man who says I knew him not came to know the Lamb of
God? How is it that you must come
to know the Lamb of God. Let me describe for you how John
came to know him, how I came to know him, how you must come
to know him. First, John knew Christ by the
Word of God. Because the Father spoke from
heaven, he who sent him, saying, upon whom thou shalt see the
Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he that baptizeth
with the Holy Ghost." Now this is a plainly revealed fact. By
one means or another, by an articulate voice, by divine impulse on his
mind, by special revelation of his spirit, somehow God Almighty
had declared to him who Christ was. And faith in Christ is conveyed
to chosen, redeemed sinners by the Word of God. God, the Holy
Spirit, taking the Word and driving it home to your heart. Of his
own will begat he us with the Word of truth. Faith comes by
hearing and hearing by the Word of God. We're born again, not
of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the Word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. There's no separating gospel
preaching and faith in Christ. There's no faith in Christ without
gospel preaching. I'm not talking about just preaching.
We've got preachers enough. My soul, we've got preachers
enough. These days, everybody presumes he can fill the pulpit,
presumes he can preach. And after all, nothing to this
business. man who sent of God, preaches
the word of God, preaching Jesus Christ crucified, the message
of this book. And only by the preaching of
the gospel does God give faith to sinners. But it takes more
than just the bare preaching of the gospel. It takes the spirit
of God. That's the second thing. If we
would know Christ, We must have the word made effectual to our
hearts by God the Holy Spirit. I cannot communicate anything
to your heart. I can't do it. I can't speak
to your heart. I have a message from God, but
it's a message that only God can deliver to you. I keep praying
like old John Warburton, Lord, will you speak through this rusty,
dirty, useless pipe? If he will, somebody's going
to hear. And I'll tell you who's going
to hear everybody to whom he speaks, but it's only by the
spirit of God. John said, he that sent me said,
when you see the Spirit descend and abide on him, that's the
man. That's the one of whom the prophet
spoke. That's the Messiah. That's the
Christ. And John saw. That's the third
thing. As soon as Christ was revealed,
he beheld Christ and knew him by the gift of faith God bestowed
upon him. He said, I saw and bear record. That is, I saw and confessed
this is the Christ. Hold your hands here and turn
back to Zechariah chapter 12. In the new birth and the conversion
of sinners, this is the ordained equation, the word of God, the
Spirit of God, and faith in Christ. All are gifts of God's grace,
all are necessary, and all are made effectual to the saving
of our souls by the grace of God. Here in Zechariah 12, verse
10, the Lord speaks of the day when He pours out His grace.
He says, I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants
of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication. And they shall
look upon me whom they have pierced. And they shall mourn for him
as one mourneth for his only son and shall be in bitterness
for him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. The words
of John the Apostle explaining John the Baptist experience was
prophetic of every believer's experience of grace. You are
made to see. and confess that Jesus Christ
is indeed the Son of God. Now clearly, there's an indication
of something else here, and that is of God's sovereign election.
John said in verse 26 to these Pharisees, you don't know him. And I didn't know him at one
time, but now I do. It appears then that to see Him, to behold Him, to gaze upon Him,
to believe Him, is the result of God's free grace by which
He distinguishes Israel from the Egyptians, by which He separates
the precious from the vile. by which he identifies his elect,
distinguishing them from the reprobate, by which he calls
his own sheep by name and leads them out." John says, I see him. I tried. I really did. Skip, I tried for a year to see
him. For a year. I went to bed at
night tormented in my soul, fearful of everlasting damnation, guilt
pressing heavily upon me, and I couldn't see. And I'd go to
church, and I'd listen carefully, and I'd try to read my Bible,
and I'd read it, and I'd read it, and I'd read it. After I
read it, it was nothing. It was as empty as any newspaper
I ever read. It was meaningless. All it did
was minister condemnation to my soul. I'd pray, and I couldn't
pray. And one day, sitting back just
about where Billy is, maybe a row or two up, large congregation
full of people, and I heard a man declaring the Christ of God. And something happened. All of a sudden, I gazed upon him with overwhelming astonishment
and adoration. And the light of his glory has
never diminished, but only increases. I behold Him as the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. And Him I preach to you. Oh, may God the Holy Spirit,
who alone can do so, give you now to behold Him who says, look
unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. For I
am God, and beside me there is none else. Amen.