The church in Rock Valley, Iowa
had a flood, six feet of water in their basement. They've lost
their pastor, and now they've had this natural disaster take
place, and we want to help them as much as we can. And I thought
the Lord must love them a whole lot to try them like this. Tonight I'm going to be preaching
from 1 Corinthians chapter 8 on knowledge or charity. I've entitled the message for
this morning, The Greatest Commendation. The Greatest Commendation. And here it is in verse 41. And many resorted unto him and
said, John did no miracle, but all things that John spake of
this man were true. That is the greatest commendation. Everything John said, no higher
commendation could be given to a preacher. Everything he said
with regard to this man is true. And do you know that's the highest
commendation of a believer? You believe everything said regarding
this man that was true. Everything else will be taken
care of if you and I do that. if we believe everything with
regard to this man. It's true. In verse 39, therefore they sought again to
take him, to arrest him. They tried to stone him already
twice, and thereafter him again, but he escaped out of their hand,
not in terms of He was afraid and tried to get out from underneath
their rule. No, he controls everything. And I don't know if escaped is
the best word to use for that. He left. He left. And went away
again, verse 40, beyond Jordan into the place where John at
first baptized. And there he abode. Now, he was going to remain there
until he returned to Jerusalem to be crucified. His itinerant
ministry of going about preaching the gospel was now over. That
was not going to take place anymore. He's there until he returns to
Jerusalem to be crucified. Now this is the place where John
first baptized. I love to think of John being
out baptizing and the Lord comes to him at this time to be baptized
of him. He came to the place where he
was first baptized and that is where he stayed until his death,
when he would return to Jerusalem. And this is where John made the
great proclamation, behold the Lamb of God. Would to God that
that would happen here this morning, that every one of us would be
enabled by divine grace to behold the Lamb of God. That was John's
preaching. That was the crux of his message. Behold the Lamb of God. This is he of whom the people
said, John did no miracle, but everything he said with regard
to this man was true. What was his message? Behold
the Lamb of God. John the Baptist. I hate to tell the Baptist this,
but he was not the founder of the Baptist denomination. I've even heard Baptists say,
well, Baptists are not a denomination. Well, if you believe anybody
outside of the Baptist church might be saved, you believe Baptists
are a denomination. If you believe salvation's only
in the Baptist church, I guess you don't. But anybody that believes
somebody's saved outside of their quote denomination, well, you've
got a denomination. But John the Baptist is the only
man other than Christ in the New Testament that was foretold
in the Old Testament. He was foretold in Isaiah. He
was foretold in the book of Malachi. He was born of a barren woman,
well stricken in years, Elizabeth. And he was the first cousin of
Christ. And I love the way the scripture points out when he
was still in his mother's womb. Scripture says filled with the
Holy Ghost from his mother's womb. And he heard of the Lord
Jesus Christ being in the womb of Mary. The scripture says he
leaped in his mother's womb rejoicing at the message of him who has
come to save. Here's the Lord Jesus Christ
testimony with regard to this man, John the Baptist. He said,
of them that are born of women, there has arisen none greater
than John the Baptist. So Christ returns to this place
where John had been baptizing. Verse 40, And they went away
again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized,
where he first said, Behold, the Lamb of God. And there he
abode. He remained there and he would
remain there until he returns back to Jerusalem and is crucified. His itinerant ministry is over. And we read in verse 41, And
many resorted unto him and said, John did no miracle. Elijah did. Elisha did. John
didn't. He did no miracle. But all things that John spake
of this man were true. Now this is the greatest commendation
a preacher could ever receive. This is what I would covet to
be said of me with regard to preaching. He did no miracle. He did no miracle. No word about how John was used
by God to bring many to a knowledge of Christ. No word with regard
to how influential he was. No word with regard to the size
of the church he pastored. Here's the one commendation,
all things. He said about this man, it was
true. And look what happened as a result,
verse 42, and many believed on him, the Lord Jesus, there. They
recalled what John said with regard to him. And many believed
on the Lord Jesus Christ there. And let's examine what John said
that was true. And I pray that this takes place
this morning, that many will believe on him this morning,
right here in this place. I pray that every one of us will
be enabled by divine grace to believe on him. That's what saving faith is.
It's to believe on him. Now, turn back to John chapter
one, verse six. There was a man sent from God
whose name was John. Now if a man has actually been
sent by God, I want to hear what he has to say, don't you? There
was a man sent from God whose name was John. Verse 7, the same came for a
witness to bear witness of the light that all men through him
might Believe. He was sent to bear witness.
You only bear witness of what you've seen. He was sent to bear
witness of the light, the light of who God is in the person of
his son. The light of how God could accept
somebody like me, as sinful as I am, through his son. That's what he came to bear witness
to, the light. Remember how the Lord said, I am the light of
the world in John chapter 8, 12? It was right after he looked
at that woman who was taken in adultery in the very act and
said, I do not condemn you. How could he do that? Well, he's
the light as to how that can take place. He's the light as
to how he cannot condemn me. And he's the light as to how
he cannot condemn you. Verse 8, he was not that light,
but was sent to bear witness of that light that was the true
light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. That'll
pick up in verse 19. And this is the record of John,
this one of whom they said everything that he spoke with regard to
this man was true. And this is the record of John
when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask
him, who art thou? And he confessed and denied not,
but confessed, I'm not the Christ. And they asked him, what then?
Art thou Elias? He said, I'm not. Art thou that
prophet? He answered, no. Then said they
unto him, who art thou that we may give an answer to them that
sent us? What sayest thou thyself? He said, I'm the voice. of one
crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord,
as said the prophet Isaiah. And they which were sent were
of the Pharisees, and they asked him and said unto him, why baptizest
thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that
prophet? Jesus answered them, saying,
or John answered them, saying, I baptize with water, but there
standeth one among you whom you know not. He it is who coming
after me is preferred before me, whose shoe latched I'm not
worthy to unloose. These things were done in Bethbara,
beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. Now that's the place
the Lord went back to. Now, three things I want to point
out in that passage we just read. To hear from God, you're going
to have to go to the wilderness. You weren't going to hear from
him in organized religion, man's religion. He wasn't there. To hear from God, you're gonna
have to go to the wilderness to hear from him. Me and you
are too. Not in man's religion, not in
man's organized religion, but you're gonna have to go to the
wilderness. The next thing that I would notice is he speaks of
the pre-existence of Christ. He says, there stands one among
you whom you know not. You don't know him. You know
it's a blessing to find out you don't know him. When you find
out you don't know him, that's when you start wanting to know
him. He said, you don't know him. This one I'm speaking of.
You don't know him. You're ignorant of him. He it is who's coming after me
is preferred before me. Now, John the Baptist was older
than the Lord Jesus Christ in terms of days, months, and years. They were first cousins. And
he was older. But he says, he was before me.
He's speaking of the pre-existence of Jesus Christ. He is God the
Son. He never had a beginning. And he's preferred before me.
Look what John says next. He says, who shoelatch it. I'm not worthy to unloose. Now
this is the man that Christ said he's the greatest of them born
among women. What a commendation. And what does John say about
himself? Do you know the lowest slave was the one who would untie
your sandals and wash your feet? He said, I'm not even worthy
of that. You know what that tells me? Whenever someone finds out
who the Lord is, there's absolutely no sense of entitlement. He knew
he was not worthy. He didn't, he could have said,
well, I'm the one Malachi spoke of, or I'm the one that Isaiah
spoke of. But no, he said, I'm not even
worthy to unloose his shoes. That's who he is. When we know him, all sense of
entitlement is gone. We're like that leper. He came
and worshiped Him. He knew who was the object of
worship, Lord. He knew who He was, Lord. If
you will, you can make me clean. No demanding. If you will, you
can make me clean. Now let's look in verse 29. The
next day, John seeth Jesus coming unto him,
and he saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the
sin of the world. Now here's a summary of John's
message. Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world. Now when he says the world, don't
think of terms in terms of math, numbers, representing a certain
number of individuals. He's talking about this wicked
world that he so loved. Behold the Lamb of God." Now
I know exactly what he was talking about. He's saying this is the
one that every Old Testament type prefigured. He is the Lamb
of God. He's that one when Abraham said
to his son Isaac, his son Isaac said, Here's the fire. Here's the wood. Where's the
lamb for the burnt offering? And he said, my son, God will
provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. John saying, this is
him. This is the lamb of God's provision. You can't provide anything that
God would accept. God provides who he will accept
in the lamb of God. This Lamb is the Lamb for God,
for God to do something for me. He first had to do something
for himself, and that's what he did in the Lamb. He made the
way to be just and justify the ungodly. This is the Lamb of
God. This is the Lamb of God's providing.
This is the Lamb God provided for himself. God himself is the
Lamb, the Lamb of God. God the Lamb, the Lamb having
been slain from the foundation of the world. Behold the Lamb
of God. This is that Paschal Lamb. Oh,
I love the story of that. You take a lamb without blemish,
and you're gonna watch him for two weeks. Why two weeks? Why 14 days? Well, two sevens. This speaks of the two perfect
natures of Jesus Christ. Perfect humanity, complete perfect
humanity, perfect and complete deity. And you're to slay that
lamb. And you're to put his blood over
the door. And God said, when I see the blood, I will pass
over you. What was God looking for? Your
faith, your sincerity, your obedience? No, he said, when I see the blood,
That's all he was looking for. And he said, I will pass over
you, the successful savior. When I see the blood, I will
pass over you. Behold the lamb of God. This is that lamb having been
slain from the foundation of the world. Here he is in the
world. He's come to take away the sins of the world. Oh, I'm
interested in that. I want my sins taken away, don't
you? There's nothing I can do to get rid of them. Only He can
do it. Behold God's Lamb, which takes
away the sins of the world. Verse 30, this is He of whom
I said, after me cometh a man which is preferred. before me,
for he was before me. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God as a distinct person, and the Word
was God. The same was, infinitely was
in his great isness. for the foundation of the world.
John said, he's preferred before me. Verse 31, John says, and
I knew him not. I didn't have a clue who he was
until he was made known to me. You know, I love to think of
the Lord Jesus Christ, even as a young man growing up, nobody
got it. Nobody knew who he was. His brothers
and sisters didn't know who he was. They had perfect holiness
growing up in their midst, and they didn't get it. John said,
I didn't know who he was. I knew him not, but that he should
be made manifest to Israel. The only way we know him is when
he is manifest. Therefore, my come baptizing
with water, and John bear record saying, I saw the spirit descending
from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. You know,
the Lord told him that's gonna happen. On whom you see the spirit descending
from heaven as a dove, the same as he. John said, I witnessed
it. I'm bearing witness with regard to who he is. He's the
eternal son of God. And he says, once again, and
I knew him not, once again, you won't know him and I won't know
him unless he's pleased to make himself known. I can't make him
known to you. You can't make him known to me.
The only way you and I are going to know him is if he makes himself
known. And so what do we say, Lord,
make yourself known to me. Don't pass me by. Don't leave
me to myself. Reveal yourself to me. And I knew him not, verse 33,
but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto
me, upon whom thou see the Spirit descending and remaining on him,
the same as he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost. And I saw
and bear record that this is the Son of God." Here's John's
message. This is the Son of God. This is God the Son, as Mark
said in Mark 1.1, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
the Son of God. The one who is with God, the
one who was God. Equal with the Father. You know,
that's what the eunuch believed. Remember when he said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. God the Son. Can his will be thwarted? No! He's God the Son. Whatever he wills must take place. He's God the Son. Who is he that overcometh the
world, but he that believeth that Jesus Christ is the Son
of God? So much so that he said, he that
has seen me, hath seen the Father. Verse 35. Again, the next day,
after John stood and two of his disciples, and looking upon Jesus
as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God. If God has sent a man like he
did John, he has only one message. And he repeats that message in
some form every time he preaches. It has something to do with behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Now look in John chapter three.
Remember, we're trying to see what this man said. John chapter
three, verse 25. Then there arose a question between
some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying. You know, this is always the
issue with religious people. How do you get purified? What's
the best method of being purified? What's the best way of cleaning
yourself up? And one says this, one says that,
there was an issue. And they came unto John, verse
26. These people who are having this
religious discussion, about sanctification, I guess, purifying. And they
came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with
thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou bearest witness, behold, the
same baptizes, and all men come to him. Why, you're losing all
your influence. You're not baptizing anybody
anymore. What's happened? Everybody's coming to him. We
don't like this. Surely you don't like it. You're
going downhill. You're losing popularity. You're
losing influence. Everybody's going to him. Something's wrong. Verse 27, John answered and said,
a man can receive nothing except it be given him from above. You know the reason everybody's
coming to him? Because that's what was given to him from above. A man can receive nothing except
it be given him from above. You can't receive Christ except
it be given you from above. What do you have that you didn't
receive? Who makes you to differ from
somebody else? Oh, John knew that, and you know
it too if the Lord's taught you anything. You know you can't
even receive him. except he gives you the grace
to do it. John knew that. A man can receive
nothing except it be given him from above. You yourselves, verse
28, you yourselves bear me witness that I said I'm not the Christ. I never claimed to be anything. I never said I'm the Christ. But I'm sent before him, verse
29. He that hath the bride is the
bridegroom. Now here we're told that the
church is the bride. And this is the significance
of the elect of God. They are those whom he has given
to his son for his precious bride. If I'm a believer, I'm his wife. He's my husband. That's the significance
of every believer. You were given to him by the
Father. to be his bride. And John says, I rejoice in that. I rejoice to hear the bridegroom's
voice. He that hath the bride is the
bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom
which standeth and heareth him rejoices greatly because of the
bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase. And I must
turn into nothing. And that makes me happy. Don't you love what John says
with regard to the Lord Jesus Christ? He's the bridegroom. He must increase. I must be a zero, is what he's
saying. Anybody that knows the Lord knows
that so. Now look what he says next. Verse 31. He that cometh from above is above all. How many times did the Lord say,
I came down from heaven? Oh, he said it many times. I
came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will
of him that sent me. And this is the father's will,
which has sent me that of all which he has given me, I should
lose Nothing. But raise it up again to the
last day. He said, I came down from heaven. He that cometh from
above, John says with regard to him, is above all. Who can compare with the Lord
Jesus Christ? He's above all. He's God. He's perfect man. He controls everything. He's
the creator. He controls everything going
on in Providence. Everything is His will being
done. If you're saved, it's because He willed your salvation. That's
why you're saved, not because you willed it, but because He
willed it. You and I are in His hand. He's above all. He's above all. And by His grace, we bow. We love Him being above all. Verse 31. He that's of the earth
is earthy and speaketh of the earth. He that cometh from heaven
is above all. He that's of the earth is earthy.
You know what John the Baptist is saying? I'm earthy. We have
this treasure in earthen vessels. And John the Baptist realized
what he was, earthy. Fleshly. Do you realize that
about yourself? Earthy. Fleshly. Carnal. We have this treasure in earthen
vessels. He that's of the earth is earthly
and speaketh of the earth. He that cometh from heaven, there
it is again. He came from heaven. He is above
all. That means everything's beneath
him. Everything's under his thumb. Everything's under his foot. He is above all. Verse 32. And what he has seen
and heard, That he testifieth. He's given testimony to what
he's seen. He's the faithful and true witness.
He's the only one who's gonna tell you and I the truth concerning
who God is, who we are, and how God saves. He is the faithful
witness. He brings God's word. And no
man receives his testimony. Not one person will receive his
testimony. If you and I are left to ourselves,
we will not receive this testimony. It's not gonna happen. No man
hath received his testimony. He that, verse 33, he that hath
received his testimony. Now there's some who will receive
his testimony. Well, you just said no man will.
I know I said that, but there's some who will. You know who they
are? As many as received Him, to them gave He the power to
become the sons of God, even to them which believe on His
name, which were born, which were birthed, not of the flesh,
not of the will of man, not of the will of the flesh, not of
blood, but of God. Birth, you know who's going to
receive His testimony? Everyone who has been birthed
of God. If you're birthed of God, if
you're born of God, if he does a mighty work of grace in your
heart and gives you life, you will receive his testimony. He that hath received his testimony
hath said to his seal that God is true. You know what's said
to your seal if you have received his testimony? God is true. God is true. God is truth. God is, in all
his glorious isness, and God is true. You have that set to
your seal. Do you believe that right now?
That God is true. Anything contrary to him is a
lie. God is true. And my response to that is amen. I believe that. Now let's go
on reading. Verse 34, for he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God. Jesus Christ is the one who God
has sent and his words are nothing less than the very words of God. I think of what he said in John
chapter 6, the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit. They are life. He speaks the
very words of God. For God giveth not the spirit
by measure unto him. He was filled with the Holy Spirit
immeasurably. Now any believer has a measure
of the Holy Spirit, but you've also got the measure of yourself,
it's still there. But he had the Spirit without
measure. Now verse 35, the Father loveth
the Son. I wish I could say what ought
to be said about that, but I know this, the Father loveth the son,
how he delights in his son. He said, this is my beloved son,
the son of my love in whom I am well pleased. And if you're in
him, he's well pleased with you. This is my beloved son. The father loveth the son and
has given all things into his hand. Did you know you're in His hand
right now? You say, no, I'm not. Yeah, you
are. Everybody in this room, you're in His hand. Everybody
outside of this room, you're in His hand. And your eternal
destiny will be determined by Him. He's Lord. He's the Lord of glory. He's
the Lord of creation. He's the Lord of providence.
He controls everything. He controls the things going
through your mind right now. He's Lord of salvation. Leper understood that. Lord,
if you will, you can't make me clean. He's Lord. All things
are in his hand. He said, all things are delivered
to me of my father. So right now you are in his hand. Are you glad it's that way? I am. I wouldn't want to be anywhere
else. Oh, I love being in His hand,
the hand of the Lord. All things are given unto His
hand. Now, verse 36. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. Now I want you to turn to Romans
chapter 4 for just a moment. Verse four, Romans chapter four. May the Lord bring this home
in power by his spirit to our hearts. Romans chapter four,
verse four. Now, to him that worketh. What's that mean? If there's anything that you
think you must do before God can save you. There's some work
you must perform, some sin you must stop committing, some great
work that you must do before God can save you. That's works. That's working. Working. To him that worketh is the reward,
heaven, likeness to Christ. Acceptance in the beloved, not
reckoned of grace. It's not a gift of God's grace,
but God's paying you what he owes you. You did this, therefore
he has to respond to you. It's called salvation by works.
To him that worketh. Now, I don't care what work you
put in there. It's works. If there's something
you must do or not do before God can do something for you,
that is salvation by works. You believe that? It's so. But, verse five, to
him that worketh not. Are you one who works not? You see, by the grace of God,
that your personal sinfulness makes salvation by works. forever
impossible for you. Do you see that? If salvation,
if your salvation is dependent upon something you must do, there
is no hope for you being saved. To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him, that justifies the ungodly. You believe that
what Christ did justified the ungodly. You believe that what
he did is all that is needed to make you stand just before
God. You rely, you believe on him
who justifies the ungodly. That's what faith is. It's not
working. This is part of it. If you believe
in works in any way, you can't have saving faith. It's impossible
for you. But to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. I believe that God
made a way to be just, absolutely just, perfectly righteous, and
yet justify. That means make me to where I
never sinned, even though in and of myself I'm ungodly. You
see, Christ, when we were yet without strength, Christ died
for who? The ungodly. Do you believe on Him who justifies
the ungodly? Back to our text in Romans chapter,
or John chapter three. Verse 36. He that believeth on
the Son, hath everlasting life. You know
why you believe? You have everlasting life. That's
the only reason you believe. God gave you life. You have it. Not you might, you got it if
you believe on the Son. It's because you have everlasting
life. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life. You don't have life and you'll
never see it. But the wrath of God abides on that man, that
man who does not believe. God's wrath is abiding on you
if you don't believe the Son. You see, unbelief is the greatest
sin. It's the mother of all other
sin. To not believe the Son? If I
don't believe on God's darling Son, the Son of God, the Lord
Jesus Christ, if I do not trust Him only as everything in my
salvation, God's wrath, and God's wrath is a holy wrath, it's a
just wrath, it's a right wrath. The punishment fits the crime.
God's wrath abides on me. If I die in unbelief, I'm going
to have the wrath of God abiding upon me. That's too terrible
to even describe. But I'm going to have God's wrath
abiding on me for eternity. Now everything John said with
regard to this man is true. Do you believe that? Everything he said with regarding
this man is true. And I want to be one of these
people that are described as the many that believed on him
there. With regard to what John the
Baptist said, with regard to the Son of God, I believe it.
And I'm relying I'm all my eggs are in this basket that he is
who John the Baptist said he was the lamb of God that takes
away the sin of the world. And I am relying on him only. And I pray God all of us will. Let's pray. Lord, we believe. that all that
John the Baptist said with regarding your son, the Lord Jesus, the
son of God, the lamb of God that takes away
the sin of the world, the one that we can't know unless you're
pleased to make him known. Lord, we believe that everything
John the Baptist said was true. And Lord, we ask that we might
be like this number of people that believe on Him. Lord, work
saving faith in each heart here according to your will for the
glory of your name. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.