The Lord comes up to this man
he had healed, and he said, does thou believe
on the Son of God? And I love his reply. Who is he, Lord, that I might
believe? I've entitled this message, Do
I Know Who He Is? Do I know who he is? If I know who he is, I will believe
on him. All who know who he is, believe
on him. And this is included in knowing
who he is, loving who he is. If I do not love who he is, I
really do not know who he is. Do I know who He is? I'm not asking do I know that
I'm saved. I'm not asking do I know that
I'm a Christian. I'm not asking do I know that
Jesus Christ died for my sins. I'm not asking even do I have
faith. I'm asking this, do I know who
He is? Now before we get into our text,
In John chapter 1, we have a beautiful illustration of what this means
in the thief on the cross. When he was first nailed to that
cross, he did not know the man beside him who was nailed to
the middle cross. But during that time, He came
to know who he was. When he said, don't you fear
God? How did he know that Jesus Christ
was God? Because everybody that knows
who he is knows that. Everybody who knows who he is
knows that. He said concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ, this man hath done nothing amiss. Have you been around him all
of his life? Can you certainly know that he had never done anything
amiss? Yes, I can, because I know who
he is. He's incapable of doing anything
amiss. He's impeccable, he's perfect,
he's holy. He can't do anything amiss. Lord, remember me. How did he know he's Lord? I
mean, he didn't look like Lord, did he? He was nailed to a cross,
everybody had forsaken him. How did he know he was Lord? He knew who he is. He's the Lord. He's the Lord of glory. Remember me when you return in
your kingdom. Now, how do you know that he's
going to return as a mighty reigning king? Because I know who he is.
It's that simple. He can't fail. He can't be discouraged. Whatever he intends to do, he
must do because of who he is. Lord, if you just remember me,
nothing else will be needed. How do you know that? Because
he knew who he is. That is the very foundation of
faith, knowing who he is, and everything we believe is predicated
on us knowing who he is. For instance, why don't I believe in free will?
Because I know who he is. No man is gonna be able to trump
who he is. No man is free from his sovereign
purpose. The reason I don't believe in
free will is I know who he is. It's ridiculous to even think
of something like that in the knowledge of him. I know that everybody he died
for must be saved because I know who he is. He's incapable of
failure. Whatever he intended to do, he does. This is his person. We know who he is, and everything
we believe is predicated on knowing who he is. Now, in John chapter one, John bore record of who he is. John chapter one, verse 34, and
I saw and bear record that this is the Son of God. Dost thou believe on the Son
of God? Who is he, Lord, that I might
believe? Well, let's just look at this
chapter. I'm not gonna spend much time
on anything, but this chapter tells who he is perhaps more
clearly than any other passage in all the Word of God. In the
beginning was He is the word of God. What is in my mind, my thoughts,
are only expressed by the words that come out of my mouth. He
is the thought of God. He is the expression of God. When God speaks, this is the
word that comes out of His mouth. This is my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. He's the express image of God,
the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His
person, the image of the invisible God. In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God. Literally, face to face with
God. Don't you love thinking about
that? Throughout eternity, beholding the face of God. And if you know
who he is, you know this is so. I don't have to explain, I don't
have to try to convince you of it. If you know who He is, you
see salvation is knowing who He is. That's the very foundation
of faith, knowing who He is. You young people, the most important
thing that can ever happen to you is for Him to tell you who
He is. In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Jesus Christ is God. And if you know who He is, you
know that so. Somebody that doesn't know that,
it's because they don't know who He is. He is God. Verse two, the same was in the
beginning with God. Who is He? He's eternal. In the beginning, He already
was, because He's eternal. And anybody who knows Him knows
He's eternal. Now we can't grasp eternity,
I realize that. When I start thinking about how
the fact that He never began to be, that He's always been
there, He never had a point in which He came into existence,
He's the eternal God. Only God is eternal. And if you
know Him, you know He is eternal God. Never had a beginning. Verse 3, all things were made
by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. If you know who He is, you know
He's the Creator. It was He who said, let us make
man in our own image. Colossians 1, 16, for by Him
were all things created that are in heaven and that are in
earth, visible and invisible. That covers everything, doesn't
it? Whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or
powers, all things were created by him and for him. And he's before all things. By
him, all things consist. And if you know who he is, you
know that's so. He's the creator. He's the one who spake this universe
into existence as an act of his own will. Verse four, who is he? In him was life. He said in John chapter five,
for as the father hath life in himself, even so hath he given
to the son to have life in himself. You know what that means? How
dependent are you to continue to live on so many things outside
of yourself? Breathing. Eating. These are things that come outside
of you. We're totally dependent on Him. But do you know He has no needs?
He is absolutely independent. He has life in Himself. Utterly
and completely independent. No needs at all. You know what
that means? He does not need me or you. Me and you need him, but he does
not need you and I because he has no needs. I love John 14, six. He said,
I am the way, the truth and the life. His life is the only life
that God will accept. And if I have life before God,
it's his life before God. He's the source of all life.
I don't care if it's a one-celled amoeba, if there is such a thing,
I'm just pulling out words, or if it's an angelic being, he's
the source of that life. He's the source of plant life.
You know, we can... make a pretty good representation
of what a plant looks like, and it can look alive. Now, Lynn
says she, when I say, that looks real, she says, no, it doesn't.
It does to me. But one thing I can't do is make a living plant. Only he can do that. He's the
source of animal life. He's the source of human life. He's the source of spiritual
life. He is life. He is the life. And if you know who he is, you
know he is the life. You know that so. Verse four, in him was life,
and the life was the light of men, and the light shineth in
darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. Now, not only is he life,
he is the light of men. Now, I know exactly what that
means. That's talking about there in John 8, verse 12, where he
said, I'm the light of the world, right after he said to that woman
who was taken in adultery, the very act, and there wasn't any
question with regard to her guilt. He said, hath no man condemned
thee? Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. Now, how
is it that he could say, I do not condemn you, when she had
committed adultery and everybody knew it? because there was nothing
to condemn her for. That, my dear friends, is the
great mystery of godliness. That is the gospel. He is the
light as to how God can look at me and see somebody without
sin and without guilt and be perfectly pleased with me. The only light there is is the
light that the Lord Jesus gives us. He is the light of the world. And if I know who he is, I know
that. Look in verse 10. He was in the world, and the
world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto
his own, and his own received him not. Now if I know who he
is, I know he's the one the world doesn't receive. If I see the world going after
a religious figure, I know it's not him, because the world has
no love for this one we're preaching. The Lord Jesus Christ, the world
doesn't receive him. He came unto his own, his own
received him not. They didn't believe who he is.
Now, if I see some, if I preach a sermon, for instance, that
the world goes after and says, that's the greatest, we love
that. I didn't preach the gospel. You can write that down. Didn't
preach the gospel. He's the one that the world doesn't
receive. He's the one the world doesn't
love. And if you know him, you know
that so. And I know when the one I'm hearing
preached is not him because I know him. You know, I can hear preaching
and that's not him. That's on him. How do you know?
I know him. I know it. And that is not him. When you know him, you recognize
when what you're hearing is not him. He gives you that discerning
ear, but that comes as a result of knowing him. Look in verse
12. But as many as received him, He is the one we receive. Willingly, gladly, oh, we're
so thankful. We receive him because he gave
himself to us. This act of reception, I know religion makes that the
act of salvation. He wants to save two people,
one receives him, one doesn't, and the one who receives him,
he's the one who's saved. That's foolishness. If you didn't receive
him, it's because he never gave himself to you. But He is the
one we receive, we bow to, we delight in, and we love. As many as received Him, to them
gave He power to become the sons of God. Now you know that if
you're a son of God, it's only because He gave you the power
to become the son of God. That's the only reason you know
that, because you know Him. I mean, this stuff is great school
stuff, isn't it? I mean, it just comes naturally.
Yeah, that's true. The reason I receive him, the
reason I'm his son, is because he gave me the power to become
the son of God. And we know what receiving him
means, even to them that believe on his name. We know his name
is who he is. We know His name is every one
of His attributes. He's so glorious. Everything
about Him is altogether lovely. We love His sovereignty. We love
His holiness. We love His justice. We love
His immutability. We love His power. We love His
wisdom. We love His independence. Every
attribute of God we love. We love His name. That's the
name we call on to save us. We know Him. Verse 14. and the Word was made flesh. Now if you know Him, you know
the Word, God, was made flesh. Now you've never seen Him in
the flesh, and if someone claims to have seen Him in the flesh,
they're lying. No one knows what He looks like.
I can't wait to see His dear face. I look forward to that.
I want to see Him, bow before Him, But right now, nobody knows
what he looks like, but we do know this. He was made flesh
for this reason. I'm flesh. And the only way I
can be saved is if he took upon flesh and became like sinful
flesh. Not sinful flesh, but he became
like sinful flesh. And in the flesh, he worked out
a perfect righteousness for me. In the flesh, He suffered to
put away my sins. And in the flesh, He was raised
from the dead. The Word was made flesh. And if you know Him, you know
Him as that, the God-Man. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. And we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father. Now, the only
begotten of the Father is mentioned five times in the book of John,
a couple of other places in other epistles. This only begotten
of the father is a reference to his resurrection from the
dead. That's what Acts chapter 13 tells us. The only begotten, this day have
I begotten thee. Acts chapter two, I mean, Psalm
chapter two, verse seven. And Paul says that's referring
to his resurrection. If you know him, you know that
his resurrection is the only ground of your confidence. You
don't have any, and your conscience is satisfied with that. When
God raised him from the dead, God was completely satisfied
with what he did. And if you know him, you know
that God raised him from the dead, and he is my salvation. And the word was made flesh and
dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John, bear witness of him. Now
that is what I want laid to our charge more than anything else. John, bear witness of him. I wouldn't want to be somebody
that bears witness of anything else. I want to bear witness
of him. And if you bear witness of him,
you bear witness of all things. John bear witness of him and
cried saying, this was he of whom I spake, he that cometh
after me is preferred before me for he was before me. This is the witness John bore
because he knew who he was. That's why he said what he said.
He knew who he was. Verse 16, and of his fullness.
Boy, there's a lot that could be said about that, isn't there?
And I wouldn't know how to get into it all, but there's nothing
about him that's part of his fullness. Fullness of sovereignty,
fullness of holiness, fullness of omnipotence, fullness of wisdom. I mean, everything he is, there's
a fullness of it, a completeness. Nothing can be added to it. Nothing
can be taken away from it. And Paul put it this way in Colossians
2.9. In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And you know if you know Him,
you know that so. You're mystified by it, you worship
Him for it, you see His glory, but you know this is so because
you know Him. In Him dwelleth, resides all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily and you are complete in Him. Verse 18 and verse 17, for the
law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
You see, if you know him, you know that so. No man has seen God at any time,
verse 18. the only begotten son which is
in the bosom of the father, he hath declared him. Knowing who
he is, we know he's the declaration, he's the exegesis of the father. So much so that the Lord said,
he that has seen me, what? Hath seen the father. He didn't say he that seen me,
it's as if he had seen the father. He said, he that hath seen me
hath seen the Father. Do you know all you're ever,
all I'm ever gonna see of God is Jesus Christ. God is spirit. God the Holy Spirit is spirit,
immaterial. The only one we'll see in heaven
is Jesus Christ. He is the declaration of God. the only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." Now, the Lord said to Peter, who do
you say that I am? He said, thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God. Can you say that? If he said
to you, whom say ye that I am? Thou art the Christ. God's prophet,
the very word of God, God's priest, the priest of God's providing
that can come into God's presence and cause everybody he represents
to be accepted. God's king to make God's will
be done. Thou art the Christ, the son
of the living God. Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
that to you. But my Father, which is in heaven. Now if you know
who he is, here's the one reason you know who he is. The Father
revealed him to you. What a thought. The Father revealed
him to you. If I don't know who he is, it's
because he's never revealed himself to me. Look in verse 19. 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. He denied not,
but confessed. I'm not the Christ. Now, this
is simplistic, I suppose, but it's very important. If you know
who he is, you know you're not him. You're dead sure of that. If you know who he is, you know
you're not him. John did. He said, I'm not the
Christ. And they asked him, who are you?
Are you Elijah? And he said, no. Are you that
prophet? No. Then said they unto him,
who are you that we may give an answer to them that sin us?
What sayest thou thyself? He said, I'm the voice. My name is not important. I am a voice crying in the wilderness. There's only one name that's
important. That's the name that's above every name. The name at
which every knee is gonna bow and every tongue is gonna confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father at
the name of Jesus. That's the name. That's the only
name that can bring me into heaven. His name. You know what I thought
about John the Baptist calling himself a legacy? I mean a voice. What he's saying is I'm not trying
to leave a legacy. I'm not trying to leave something behind that
people say, well, look at what John did. I could care less about
leaving a legacy. I'll be dead. Why would I care?
John the Baptist didn't care anything about that. He said,
I'm just the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight
the path of God. Let's go on. Verse 24. And they which were sent were
of the Pharisees, and they asked him, and said, Why baptizest
thou then, if thou be not the Christ, nor Elias, neither that
prophet? John answered them, saying, I
baptize with water. But there stands one among you
that you don't know. He it is whose coming after is
preferred before me, whose shoe latchet I am not worthy to unloose. Now, if I know who he is, I know
that even untying his shoes would be an honor far above me. Do you know that? If you know
who he is, you say that with just as much conviction as John
did. The one whom the Lord said, among
them that are born of women, none have risen greater than
John the Baptist. Here was his take on it. I'm
not even worthy to untie his shoe. And every one of his people
are in agreement right there. How come? Because we know who
he is. That's the difference. We know who he is. Verse 29. Next day John seeth Jesus coming
unto him, and he saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world. All who know who he is know him
as the Lamb of God. The Lamb of God's providing. The Lamb that God provided a
way for himself to do something for me. God the Lamb, and we
know that the only way our sin is taken away is by Him. He's
not the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world if we fill in
the blank. No, not at all. He's the Lamb
that taketh away the sin of the world. He took away my sin. It's gone. That's because he
took it away. You see, I know who he is, and
he is incapable of failure. If he intended on taking my sin
away, you know what? It's gone. It's gone. I may feel
it, think it, doesn't matter. It's gone because he took it
away. And everybody who knows him knows
him as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. All
your hope is right here. It is finished. He took it away. He was manifested to take away
our sin, and in Him is no sin. It is finished. Verse 30, this is He of whom
I said, after me cometh a man which is preferred before me,
For he was before me. John, he's always reminding us
of the eternality of Christ that let us know that he's God. He
never had a beginning. And I knew him not. You know,
if you know who he is, you know there's a time when you didn't
know him. There was a time when you didn't
know who he was. I knew him not. not but that
he should be made manifest to israel therefore am i come baptizing
with water now if you do know him it's because he was manifest
to you verse 32 and i'm going to spend
more time on this next week lord willing in John Bear Record saying,
I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and an abode
upon him, and I knew him not, but he that sent me to baptize
with the 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. Now, somebody says, what
in the world is the baptism of the Holy Ghost? Because there
have been more horrible evil things brought out of this. It's
looked upon as a step to perfectionism, a second work of grace. If you know Him, and let me make
this real simple, if you know Him, you've been baptized by
the Holy Spirit. And let me tell you something
about the Spirit of God. He shall not speak of Himself. That's
what the Lord told us. But whatsoever he shall hear,
that shall he speak. He'll take the things of mine
and show it unto you. He shall glorify me. Now that's what the baptism of
the Holy Spirit is all about. Jesus Christ and him crucified. Anybody who knows him They have
been baptized with the Spirit of God. They've been regenerated,
they've been born of God. That's how they know who He is.
You can't know who He is apart from the glorious work of the
Spirit of God in you. And John says, I saw and bear
record that this is the Son of God. Dost thou believe on the
Son of God? Who is He, Lord? Well, here He
is. This is who He is. And you know what? Yes, I do
believe on the Son of God. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your
word. How we thank you for your son. How we thank you for the
revelation of his person. How we thank you of the completeness
of his salvation. How we thank you for the beauty
of his person. Lord, how we thank you that you
were pleased to make him known to us. How we thank you for your
spirit and being baptized into your spirit. so that we see who
He is, that we know who He is, we trust who He is, and we don't
want anything but Him. We simply want to be found in
Him. We give thanks for the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, cause everybody
in this room to know who he is by revealing yourself to them.
And Lord, we know that when by your grace we know who he is,
we will believe on him. Create faith in each heart here
according to your will. In Christ's name we pray.