careful attention to the words
of John the Baptist. John was no ordinary man. The Old Testament is filled with
prophecies concerning John the Baptist. Isaiah called him the voice of
one that crieth in the wilderness. you the way of the Lord, make
straight in the desert a highway for our God." The voice said, cry. To whom
was the voice speaking? John the Baptist. And he said,
Well, what shall I cry? The voice said, You cry, all
flesh is grass, and the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the
field. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. All
the people, surely, is grass. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, but the Word of our God. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us. That's the message of John
the Baptist, prophesied in the Old Testament. Then the last
spokesman, Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, 400
years before our Lord came, prophesied of John the Baptist. And he wrote,
Behold, God will send his messenger, and he shall prepare the way
before the Lord whom you seek. And the Lord, the messenger,
the covenant, shall suddenly come to his temple. Behold, he
shall come, saith the Lord of hosts." John the Baptist. Before
Malachi closed that book, one more time he said, Behold, I
send you the prophet before the coming and the great and dreadful
day of the Lord, and he'll turn the hearts of the fathers to
the children, and the children to their fathers. And our Lord
said, of all the men born of women, there's none greater than
John the Baptist. So that's the reason I've devoted
three messages to this messenger and to what he had to say. And
if you look at John 1, verse 15, John bore a sevenfold witness
to Christ. His excellency, his glory of
our Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 15, John bear witness
of him. John 1, verse 15, saying, This
is he of whom I speak, he that cometh after me. What does that
mean? He was born six months later
than John the Baptist. But he that was born after me
is preferred before me, because he was before me. His goings
forth have been from of old, from everlasting." He's the Son
of God, in the beginning was the Word. So he bore witness
of the eternality of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is,
was, and always shall be. Then in verse 23, he bore witness
to the Lordship and Deity of Christ. Look at verse 23. They said, Who are you? He said,
I'm a voice, crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the
Lord. As the prophet Isaiah said, make straight the way of the
Lord. This is the Lord. That's what the Lord declared
in Psalm 110. The Lord said to my Lord, Sit
thou at my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Jesus of Nazareth is God. He's the Lord of Glory. His name
is Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God. The Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. Let there be no doubt and no
misunderstanding what we're saying. He's God. Great is the mystery
of godliness without debate. God was manifest in flesh. And
we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father. And then in verse 27, John and Bull witnessed to his
preeminence. In verse 27, his preeminence,
he that cometh after me is preferred before me, because he was before
me. And whose shoestrings I'm not
worthy to tie, he has all preeminence. Every knee, God said, shall bow. Jesus Christ made himself of
no reputation, was born of a woman, took on himself the form of a
servant, was made in the likeness of men, and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. But God hath highly exalted
him and given him a name above everything. That at the name
of Jesus, every knee shall bow in heaven, earth, and under the
earth, and every tongue shall confess, He's Lord, He's God. He has the preeminence. That's
what Paul wrote in Colossians. Let me read you this in Colossians
chapter 1. Christ has all preeminence, more
excellent than the angels, all of them put together to the prophets,
Moses and all the prophets, and to all things. Colossians 1 verse
17, he's before all things. And by him all things consist.
And he's the head of the body. The church, who is the beginning,
he's the firstborn from the dead. That in all things, he might
have the preeminence over all things, except one. Except one. Paul wrote in Corinthians, listen
to this, God hath put all things under
his feet. He has preeminence, all things.
When the Lord said all things are put under him, it is manifest
that one is accepted. One is accepted, the one who
put all things under, God the Father. That's right. But in
all things, Jesus of Nazareth, our Redeemer, has all preeminence
in heaven, earth, and under the earth. Only one, over which he's
not in supreme authority. And that's the one who put all
things under. And then John, in verse 29, look
at verse 29, declared him to be the effectual atonement. The
next day, John, seeing Jesus coming to him, he said, The Lamb
of God. The Lamb of God. I'm sure he's
referring here to Abraham's prophecy. God shall provide himself the
Lamb. And John says, here's the Lamb.
Here's Moses' Passover Lamb. Here's Abel's sacrificial Lamb.
Here's Abraham's promised Lamb. Here's the Lamb. The Lamb of
God. God's providing. and the Lamb
himself is God, and by one offering he put away all sin. Behold the
Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Every believer
of every generation, of every tribe, of every nation, of every
tongue unto heaven, Christ put away sin. He appeared in the
flesh and put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. over in 1 John, chapter 3. Listen,
let me read it right here, 1 John 3, 5. You know, he was manifested
to take away our sins. That's why he came. This is a
faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. Jesus Christ
came into the world to take away our sins, to save sinners of
whom I'm chief. Call his name Jesus, he'll save
his people from their sins. You know he was manifested to
take away our sin. And having done that, listen,
in him there is no sin. There is no condemnation to them
who are in Christ, because in Christ there is no sin. That's
effectual atonement. That's not an effort. That's
not an offer. That's not an invitation. That's a proclamation. He was
manifested to take away sin. Behold the Lamb of God. who takes
it away. He doesn't offer to or promise
to, he takes it away. You have to say it's gone. There
are sins I remember no more, God said. I cast them into the
depths of the sea. Separate your sins from you as
far as the east is from the west. Infinity. In verse 32, he says this. John by record, I saw the Spirit
descending from heaven like a dove, it abode upon him. What's John
declaring here? The holiness of Christ. He's
the only one who has the Spirit without measure. Christ Jesus. The Spirit of God descended and
abode upon him. The Spirit of God blesses us
and fills us and uses us. He's the Holy One without sin,
without sin. The Spirit descended and abode
upon Him. I always do those things that
please my Father. Father, I've glorified Thee on
this earth. Only man, person ever lived can
say that. Perfect. Tempted in all points
as well, yet without sin. In Him, no guile. In Him, no
sin. our perfect substitute, who is
our righteousness. Then verse 33, he declared his
crown rites. I knew him not, but he that sent
me to baptize with water, the same said to me, Upon whom I
shall see the Spirit descending, and remaineth on him, the same
is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. He gives It quickens
whom he will. Turn to John, chapter 5, verse
21 and 22. He baptizes with the Holy Ghost,
with fire, with life. John 5, verse 21. For as the
Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the
Son quickeneth whom he will. For the Father judged no man,
but hath committed all judgment to the Son. Our Lord said this,
Father, thou hast given me power over all flesh, that I should
give eternal life to as many as thou hast given me. He's the
one that baptizes with the Holy Ghost. He's the one that quickens
the dead sinner. He's the one who gives life and
the only one. Then in verse 35, John's declaration
here, John 1, verse 35. And the next day, John stood
with two of his disciples, and looking upon Jesus, he said,
Behold the Lamb of God. But back in verse 34, he declared
him to be the Son of God, the Son of God. Now, God has many
sons, but only one only begotten son. the son of his love, the
kingdom of his son. Then here in verse 35, on this
particular day, John stood with two of his disciples. Who are
these men? One of them is Andrew. Look at
verse 40. One of the two which heard John
speak and followed Jesus was Andrew. So we know who one of
them was, Andrew. Who was the other? I believe
the other was John. John, when you say didn't call
his name, he never does. In all the 21 chapters of the
book of John, he never calls his name. He refers to himself. He refers to himself as the one
who leaned on the Master's breast at the Last Supper. He refers
to himself as the one that Christ loved, the disciple whom Christ
loved. He refers to himself as that other disciple, but he never
calls his name. Humility. So the two disciples
with John the Baptist, now these men were fishermen, Andrew and
John were fishermen. And they, John the disciple,
they were disciples of John the Baptist. Andrew and John were
disciples of John the Baptist. They heard John the Baptist preach,
this forerunner, this messenger that God sent. They heard him
preach and believed John the Baptist to be a prophet of God.
And John the Baptist told them of the coming Messiah. And these
two men, Andrew and John, were baptized by John the Baptist,
and they were waiting for the Messiah, whom John said will
come, and of whom John just spake here. And these men, when they
heard John, look, and looking upon Jesus, verse 36, He said,
there's the Lamb of God, there's the Messiah, behold, behold,
look, look men, the Lamb of God. And these two disciples heard
John say that, and they followed Jesus. They left John. They'd
been sitting at his feet, listening to him talk about the Messiah,
the Messiah's coming, the Messiah's coming, the Son of God's coming,
the Redeemer's coming, the King of Israel's coming. And now John pointed at Christ
today. And these two men just left him
and followed Jesus. That's the reason I call this,
I think these are the key words here. They heard John, these
men heard John and they followed Christ. Is that not the desire
and goal of every true preacher? There can be no greater blessing
to the witness or to the hearer. than for them to leave him and
follow Christ. That's right. They heard John. John preached Christ. And when
they saw Christ, they left John and followed Christ. Last Sunday
I was preaching up at Fairmont, West Virginia, for Brother Scott
Richardson and his congregation. And before I got up to preach,
Brother Scott introduced me. And he said to his congregation,
48 years ago, when I was 30 years old, I was a student in a Bible
college in Lexington, and Brother Mahan came down to preach, 1954.
I never met Brother Mahan, never heard him, but I heard him preach
48 years ago. And he said, I remember the message
like yesterday. He preached Christ and how God
can be just and justify the ungodly. And he said, I heard it. I heard
it. And I knew that was it. How God
can be just and justify sinners is only in Christ. And he said,
now I'll hear him again and he'll tell you the same thing. And
in that congregation that night was a young man. I call him young. I believe he said he was 56 years
old. And he said this, he said to
the group of men there, he said, 36 years ago, at Randolph Street
Baptist Church in Charleston, I was 20 years old. 36 years
ago, I was 20 years old. He said, I heard Brother Mahan
preach. Christ and him crucified. And he said, here, I'm here tonight
with my 20-year-old son. And he's going to sit and listen
to him tell about Christ. Oh, that pleased me. That was
such a blessing to me, such a blessing. They heard me, but they remembered
only one thing, who I praised. They followed him. They heard the witness, and they
turned to the Savior. That's the ultimate. both for
the witness and for the disciple. That's the ultimate. They heard
John follow Christ. In verse 38, And Jesus turned
and saw them, these two men, John and Andrew, follow him.
And he said, What seek ye? What seek ye? You ought to remember
the Lord of glory never asks a question for information. He
knows all things. He knows the hearts of all men.
But the reason the Lord asks questions of people is to reveal
their hearts. Let them say it. Let it come
out. Adam, where are you? He knew
where Adam was. What did Adam say? I was naked
and I hid. I was afraid. Cain, where's your
brother? Am I my brother's keeper? Boy,
that's a belching out wickedness, isn't it? To the Pharisees, what think
ye of the Christ? Whose son is he? Well, they said
he's the son of David. Then how come David called him
Lord? How can he be David's Lord and David's son? That must never
open their mouths again. So he asked questions. So he
asked these two fellows, what do you seek? What do you seek? You know, some followed him because
of the loaves and fishes. Christ turned to a group of people
one time and said, I know why you're following me. Because
you ate the loaves and were filled. That's why you're following me.
You're following me to get these provisions for the flesh. Another group one time were following
him and he said, I know why you're following me. You saw the miracles.
You want to be healed. That's the reason you're following
me. You want to be healed. But he didn't reveal himself
to either one of those groups. Another bunch, he said, you're
seeking a kingdom, the kingdom of God. It doesn't come with
show, outward show, the kingdom of God's inside of you. He didn't
say anything to them either. So he turned to these men and
said, what are you after? What are you after? What do you
want? Boy, they gave a good answer. Listen. Rabbi, which is being
interpreted master, Where dwellest thou? We're not interested in what,
we're interested in whom. That's the difference. Where
dwellest thou? Where do you abide? We want to
know where you dwell because we would follow you and sit at
your feet. Anointed eyes look to the person
in whom is all fullness. Anointed ears listen for the
words of life, the words of Christ. Anointed hearts long for the
promise of peace in the person Christ Jesus. That's right. Paul came out of religion into a knowledge of a person.
Pleased God to reveal his Son in me, he said. And that which
was important to me, I counted lost for Christ. Yea, doubtless,
I count all things in this world but loss for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ my Lord. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in him, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection.
So many of us can identify with this poem. I can. Can you? Once it was the blessing,
now it's the Lord. Once it was the feeling. Now
it's his word. Once the gifts I wanted, now
the giver I own. Once I sought for healing, now
for him alone. Once it was my working, now his
work it shall be. Once I tried to use him, now
he uses me. Once the power I wanted, now the sovereign one. Once for
self I labored, now for Christ alone. And once it was what I
wanted, now it's what my Lord says. Once I was constantly asking,
now I'm constantly praising. Once for death I waited, now
his coming I hail, and all my hopes are anchored in him. within the veil. What do you
fellows want? They said, Master, where do you
dwell? We want to sit at your feet and learn of you. Verse
39, and he said, Come and see. Come and see. Arthur Pink said
this, Our Lord knows the hearts and desires of true seekers.
John and Andrew were seeking the Lord, seeking his presence,
his person, his words, his fellowship. And the Lord never turns away
one who would know him. He says, come and seek. Come
and you will see. For you that come to me, who
are laboring and heavy laden, I'll give you rest. You who thirst,
come to me, and out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water. All who are weary, heavy laden,
all who thirst, all who long to know God, come to me, and
you'll see. You'll see. And the next line
says, And they came, and they saw where he dwelt. They not only saw, but they stayed
with him, they abode with him. His abiding place became their
abiding place, wherever it is. To abide with him means spiritual
fellowship. That's what he said in John 12. Look over that John 12. In John
12, verse 25, listen to this. They came and they saw and they
abode with him. Where he dwells, where they dwell.
That's what Ruth said, where you dwell, I dwell. Your people
be my people, your God my God. That's what our Lord says, John
12, 25. He that loves his life shall lose it. He that hateth his life in this
world shall keep it unto life eternally. If any man serve me,
let him follow me. And where I am, there shall also
my servant be. And if any man serves me, him
will my Father honor." That's what he said in John 15, turn
over there. John 15, verse 5, I'm the true
vine. You're the branches, he that
abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit,
for without me you can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he's
cast forth as a branch, he's withered. Men gather them and
cast them into the fire and they're burned, but if you abide in me, And my words abide in you, you
ask what you will, and it will be done unto you." They came
and they saw and they abode with him. Then these men began to witness. They began to tell others. They
were so thrilled and excited and blessed with the presence
of their Lord. They weren't preachers, they
were going to be someday, but they weren't now. They hadn't read Burckhoff's
theology, hadn't read Dr. Gill's Body of Divinity, Thomas
Watson's Body of Divinity. They'd met the Lord. They didn't
have a whole lot to argue about, debate, but they didn't argue,
they didn't debate. I want you to see how they witnessed, and
go thou and do likewise. John 1, verse 40. One of the
two which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon
Peter's brother. He first founded his brother
Simon, and he said to them, Simon, we found the Messiah. We found the Messiah. That's
pretty simple, isn't it? We found the Messiah, which is
interpreted to Christ. And he brought him to Jesus.
And Jesus beheld him, and he said, You are Simon, the son
of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas, which is by interpretation
a stone. The day following Jesus would
go forth unto Galilee, and he found Philip, and said unto him,
Follow me. Now, Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew
and Peter. Then he went and found Nathanael. And he said to him, Now, these
men, when When Andrew found his brother
Simon, he didn't say, now you're in the wrong denomination and
everything you're doing is wrong. He didn't debate with him. He
didn't say, now I know, I've learned all this theology and
I want to tell you what's right and what's wrong. He said, I
found the Messiah. I met the Lord. And this Philip here found Nathanael,
and he said to him, listen, we found him of whom Moses and the
law and the prophets did write. He's Jesus of Nazareth, the son
of Joseph. Well, Nathanael put up an argument. When Philip said he's Jesus of
Nazareth, that town of Nazareth was kind of a poor place. backwoods and famous for nothing,
he said, can anything good come out of Nazareth? No argument. He said, come and see. I don't
know any better way, and our Lord gave this example to us. If you turn to Luke 8, Luke chapter
8, verse, I don't know of any better way to witness and to
tell people about Christ. about the fact that you bet Christ,
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not a question of denominationalism
or mode of baptism or church government or antiquity or who's
famous. The issue is Christ. What do
you think of Christ? We found the Messiah. Now listen
to Luke 8, verse 39. Luke 8, verse 39. Verse 38, Luke 8 verse 38, Now
the man out of whom the devils were departed, besought him that
he might be with him. But Jesus sent him away, saying,
Return to your house, go home to your people, and show them
how great things God has done for you. We found the Messiah. We found
him of whom Moses and the prophets did write. And no matter what
argument they put up, it's not ours to explain to them the mysteries
of the everlasting covenant. I don't know and I can't answer
all the mysteries. It's not ours to try to explain
to them how all the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament
are fulfilled in Christ. They just are. The wonders of
Bethlehem, the wonders of Calvary, the wonders of the resurrection,
the kingdom of Christ, Come and see! That's the best thing I
know. Like Moses said to his father-in-law,
come with us, we'll do you good. Come with us. Because after all,
if you turn to John chapter 6, it's the Lord who must teach
people these mysteries. No man has seen the Father at
any time, the Son reveals Him. It's the Son, it's the Spirit
of God who takes the things of Christ and shows them to us.
So when we come to people and tell them we found the Messiah,
we found Him of whom Moses and the prophets wrote, we found
the Christ, we found the Redeemer, we found Him who is the desire
of all nations, the bright and morning star, the rose of Sharon,
the lily of the valley, we found Him. Our religion is not a denomination
or a creed or a catechism, it's a person. And that person wants
to argue, he says, just come see. Come see. Come and listen. Here in John
chapter 6, verse 41, here's some of these religious people. Verse
41, the Jews then murmured at him because he said, I'm the
bread that came down from heaven. They murmured. And they said,
Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother
we know? How is it he saith, I came down
from heaven? And Jesus therefore answered
and said to them, murmur not among yourselves. No man can
come to me, except the Father which sent me draw him, and I
raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets,
and they shall all be taught of God. They shall be all taught
of God. Every man that heard, has hath
heard, and hath learned of the Father, he'll come to me." So
in gentleness, in kindness, in confidence, in boldness, I found
the Messiah. I found the way of life. I found
the truth. It's Christ, it's the Messiah.
How can I know that? If he's one of God's own, he
will. He'll come, and he'll see if he's one of God's own, too.
If he's not, all the argument, persuasion, nagging, ultimatums
are doing no good. Come see. Isn't that a wonderful
example? Andrew found his brother and
said, Well, I found the Messiah. Come see. We found him of whom
Moses wrote. Nothing could come out of that
time. You come, say. Come and say.