messenger, and he shall prepare the way
before me. And the Lord, whom you seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant. Behold, he shall come, saith
the And here's the fulfillment, John chapter 1, of that prophecy. John the Baptist, that forerunner,
that messenger, sent to prepare my way, gave a sevenfold witness
to the excellency and the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
messenger of the covenant, the Lord, who came to his temple. You underline these statements.
In John 1, verse 15, John 1, the last line,
He that cometh after me. John was six months older than
the Lord Jesus Christ. A cousin through Mary. He that cometh after me. born after me is preferred before
me. He was before me. That's his
pre-existence. He was before me. Whose goings
forth have been from of old, from everlasting, the eternal
God. Verse 23, underscore this. He said, I am the voice. That's
all I am. The voice of one crying in the
desert, make straight the way of the Lord. Make straight the way of the
Lord. Your King coming. The messenger
of the covenant. The Lord Jesus Christ, eternal
God, is coming. Having salvation. All right,
verse 27. He was before me, He's the Lord. Verse 27, underscore this, He
it is who's coming after me is preferred before me. Now here
it is, who's shoelaces, shoelaces. This is the greatest man born
of woman speaking. Now, where did you get that picture?
Christ said, John the Baptist. None born of woman greater than
He. with a holy ghost from his mother's
womb. Strangely, supernaturally born
to an old man. He said, I am not worthy to lace
his shoes. His superiority over every creature,
even over the greatest born of woman, who is not fit to tie
his shoes. That's my Lord. All right, verse
29. This is John's witness. Underscore
this. The next day, John seeing Jesus
coming unto him, he said, here it is, Behold, lo, look, the
Lamb of God. Oh, there have been a lot of
lambs, many a lamb, but only one, the Lamb. Look, behold,
The Lamb of God, not a lamb, not just any lamb. This is THE
Lamb. This is THE Lamb. Isaac said to Abraham, where
is THE Lamb? Abraham said, the Lord shall
provide Himself THE Lamb. Here is the Lamb of God. The
Lamb to fulfill every type and shadow of every lamb that ever
existed. This is the final sacrifice.
There remaineth no more sacrifice for sin. Verse 32, John said, John bear
record saying, listen, I saw the Spirit, the Spirit of God,
descending from heaven like a dove, and the Spirit abode upon him. The Spirit abode. This indicates
his holiness. The Spirit of God came upon him
without measure in totality. The Spirit of God literally abode
in and upon him. The Spirit of God is actually
called the Spirit of Christ. Perfect holiness. The Spirit
of God abode upon him. Verse 33, I knew him not, But he that sent me to baptize
with water as the Father commissioned John the Baptist. The same said
to me. You watch and upon whom you see
the Spirit descending and remaining on him. The same is he which
hath the crown rights, all power to quicken whom he will. He's
the one who'll baptize with the Holy Ghost. He's the one who'll
give life. He's the one who'll quicken men
to life. He'll quicken whom he will. He
has the crown rights. Father, thou hast given me all
authority over all flesh that I should give eternal life to
as many as you gave me. I give life. I baptize with the
Holy Ghost. The wind, our Lord said to Nicodemus,
is mysterious. You can't tell whence it cometh
or whither it goeth, and you have no control over it. Who
does? God does. Who is the wind? The Holy Spirit. Even so, are
they that are born of the Spirit, the Spirit of God, which abides
and abodes upon Christ, gives life to whom He wills. And then
verse 34, And I saw in bare record, I saw in bare record, this is
the Son of God, the Son of God, preexistent, eternal King, superior
over all, the supreme sacrifice, the Holy One who has the crown
rights, to save whom he will, to quicken whom he will, to baptize
whom he will with the Holy Ghost. This is, listen, the Son of God. There are many sons of God. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called sons
of God. There are many sons of God, but only one who is the
Son of God. as he is, the only begotten,
the well-beloved, the eternal Son of God, in a sense that you
and I will never be sons of God. He's the heir, the son. We've found the Messiah. Turn
to Hebrews 1 just a moment. We'll come back to John 1, but
Hebrews 1, who is this? Who is this John's talking about?
Hebrews chapter 1, I saw in bare record, this is the Son of God. Hebrews 1, God who at sundry times and in
different manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son,
His Son, the Son of God. Now here he is, "...whom he hath appointed heir
of all things." Secondly, "...by whom he made the worlds." Thirdly,
"...who being the brightness of his glory." Fourthly, "...and
the exact image of his person." Fifthly, "...and upholdeth all
things by the word of his power." Sixthly, "...and when he himself
purged our sins." He's the Son that sat down on the right hand
of the majesty on earth. That's who He is. Now then, my
text, verse 35. And the next day, after John
stood, said these things, he stood with two of his disciples.
I know who they are. One of them was Andrew. Look
at verse 40. One of the two which heard John
speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. That's
one of them. Andrew. Now, I think I know who the other
one was. I believe it's John. John himself who wrote this epistle.
John the Apostle. It was Andrew and John. And I'll
tell you, Why I believe it was John, see John never mentions
his name in this entire book. The entire gospel of John written here,
21 chapters, he never mentions his name. Never identifies himself,
never called by his name. And this is the character and
trait of a true servant of the King who wishes to magnify and
exalt the Son of God. He doesn't promote himself. He
doesn't call attention to himself. He doesn't mention his name.
In fact, they asked John the Baptist, well, who are you? He
said, I'm a boy. And my purpose is to prepare the way of the
King. And that's John's purpose in this whole book, to declare
Jesus of Nazareth, I bear record, this is the Son of God. Now what's
the next verse? And the two disciples heard him
speak, heard what he had to say about the Lord Jesus Christ.
And what did they do? They followed Jesus. These men
were disciples of John. Andrew and John were disciples
of John the Baptist. They were interested in the Messiah.
They wanted to know the Messiah. They expected the Messiah to
come. And John was teaching them about the Messiah. And they were
following John. But when John pointed them to
Christ, they heard John and they followed Christ. They heard John
and they followed Christ. This is the sum and substance
and ambition and goal and work of every true preacher, two things,
to give a faithful witness to the person and work of Christ,
like John the Baptist did, to tell the truth about Christ,
who he is, what he did, why he did it, where he is now. And
secondly, to have every one of his listeners follow Christ. That is the ambition. Isn't that
your ambition? You stand here. See, they heard John. They heard
him. They heard John. Not brag on
himself and call attention to himself. They heard John give
a witness to who Christ is. And when they heard John speak
of Christ, they left him and followed Christ. And that's the
sum and substance of the ambition, the life of every true preacher,
true messenger of God, is to preach Christ so clearly, so
plainly, so magnificently, so gloriously, that his hearers
would just turn away from him completely and follow Christ. I tell you this, a little secret,
all who really hear us will do that. All who really hear, not just
hear but hear, who he is, Christ is, who Christ is, from whence
he came, what he did, where he is now, when they really hear
us, They'll follow Christ. Because Christ said, my sheep,
here are my boys, they follow me. They follow me. All right, verse 38. And then
John, and then Jesus turned. He was walking, these two men
were following him. And he turned and he saw them
following. And he said to them, what seek ye? What seek ye? It may seem strange to you and
to many people why the omniscient Lord, omniscient, all-knowing,
omnipresent, should ask a question of any man. He knew what was
in man, the scripture said. He needed not that any should
testify what was in man. He knew what was in man. But
he asked them, what seek ye? Well, the questions our Lord
asks, the questions our Lord asks are never for information.
He knows all things. But the questions He asks, they
are to reveal to us what's in the heart. Reveal to us and to
those about us what's in the heart. For example, He said to
the Pharisees, what think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? They
knew. He knew what they thought. He
wants to hear it from them. He asks Cain, where is your brother?
He asks Adam, where art thou? Our Lord knows all things, but
our Lord asked the question to hear it from you. And He turns
to these men, and He said, what are you seeking? See, a lot of
people follow Him because of the miracles. In John 2, He turned
to some people that were following Him. He said, I know why you
follow Me. You follow Me because of the miracles. You saw the
miracles. Another group of people followed him, and he said to
them, I know why you follow me. You follow me for the loaves
and fishes. Those people, when he came into Jerusalem, who put
their garments in front of him and the palm branches and said,
hell, here he comes, the king of the Jews, they followed him
for the kingdom. What are you seeking? He turned
to these two men. What are you seeking? Listen
to their reply. They said, Master, being interpreted,
Master. Where dwellest thou? We're not seeking a what, we're
seeking a whom. Oh, that's what Paul said, to
win Christ and be found in Him. To know Him and the power of
His resurrection. You'll seek me and find me when
you search for me with all your heart. Where do you dwell, Master? Where do you dwell? We want to
know where you dwell. We want to be where you are.
We want to know you. Now to what? Where dwelleth thou? Now watch this. He said to them,
Come and see. Come and see. And bless your
heart, listen. They came. They followed Him. And they saw where he dwelt. And they abode with him. John exalted that glorious person. These disciples heard him. And
they left John and followed Christ. And he said, What are you looking
for? We want to know you. He said, You come and see. And
they came with him. And they saw. And they never
left him. Andrew and John never left him. Never did. They abode with him
that day and every other day. They came and they saw. Not just
with these eyes. He wasn't much to see with these
eyes. There was no beauty about him we should desire him. No
comeliness. He despised of men. A man of
sorrows, a carpenter, acquainted with grief. We hid as it were
our faces from him. But they came and they saw. And they stayed around. And then what did they do? And
one of the two which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew,
Simon Peter's brother. And he couldn't wait. He found his brother Simon. And
he said to him, don't you want to go to heaven? He came and he found his brother
and he said, Won't you accept Jesus?" Now,
here's what he said. He said, Simon, we have found
the Messiah. We have found the Messiah. We have found the Christ. It's
just like Nathanael said down here. Look at Nathanael's word
in verse 45 when he went and found Philip. What Philip's word
when he found Nathanael. He said, Nathanael, We found
it, of whom Moses in the Law. We found the seed of woman. We
found the priest after the order of Melchizedek. We found the
Passover. We found the man of the rock,
the serpent lifted up, the tabernacle, the priest. We have found Him
of whom Moses in the Law and the prophets did write. We found Him. We found the Christ. We found God's Redeemer. We found the King who has come
to redeem His people. We found Him! Oh, my soul. We have found the Messiah. We have found the Christ. And
you know, verse 45, and Philip said, He's Jesus of Nazareth,
son of Joseph. He's a man. This whole Old Testament, the
whole The Old Testament from Genesis 1, Genesis 3.15, the
seed of woman shall bruise the serpent's heel. The Passover
lamb, the tabernacle is preached to all the way through the Old
Testament. It just keeps saying, someone's coming. Unto us a child is born, a son
is given. Behold, the Lord will give you
a sign. A virgin shall be with child. Call his name, Emmanuel,
God with us." And these men ran and told. They came to Christ
and they listened to Him and they saw. And they stayed with
Him. Then they ran and got their kinfolks
and they said, Hey, we have found the Messiah. We found the Messiah. Sometimes people preach and witness
today, assuming that everybody knows who Christ is, they don't
know who He is. They don't know who the Messiah
is. That's what we've got. That's
the message we carry. That's our witness. We have found
the Messiah. He's the Jew's Messiah, the Gentile's
Messiah, the woman's Messiah, the man's Messiah, and the old
and the young and the rich and the poor and the black and the
white and whomever Messiah. He's the only Messiah. We've
found Him. The Old Testament says someone's
coming. He's here. He's here! You know, Simon, you
know when Malachi said the messenger of the covenant will come to
his temple? He's here! He's here. Well, you can expect debate.
Look at verse 46. You can expect an argument. You
can expect debate. You can expect skepticism. And
Nathanael said in verse 46, Nazareth, Nazareth. Can any good thing come out of
Nazareth? The Savior's lowly birth is offensive. No beauty that we should desire.
The Savior's humble character. They looked for a lion. They
didn't look for a lamb. They looked for a pompous king. They didn't look for a humble
servant. Our Lord's friends were sinners. His surroundings. Can any good
thing come out of Nazareth? And Philip said, Philip didn't
argue with him. Philip said, come and see. Isn't that a good witness? I just really touched my heart
there when these men heard John preach Christ. They left John
and followed Christ. And they came and they saw and
they abode with him. And they went to their loved
ones. They said, we found the Messiah. One of them said, and
he said, it was Jesus of Nazareth, son of Joseph. Can any good thing
come out of Nazareth? Come and see. Come and see. Well, verse 47,
Our Lord saw old Nathanael coming. He came. He came. He saw Nathanael coming to Him,
and He said, Behold, there he comes, behold, and it's a Jew. Here comes a Jew. Indeed, in
whom there's no guile. Here comes a man who's sincere
and honest. He didn't say he wasn't a sinner.
He didn't say he wasn't a sinner. But he's saying he's a forthright
man. He's an honest, sincere seeker. Here comes a man that
means business. He's not playing games. No hypocrisy. Grand Nathaniel looked at him
and said, you don't know me. Well, it's Noah's foundation.
I've never seen you before. Yes, I've seen you. You've never
seen me. Which knowest thou me?" And the
Lord Jesus said, Nathanael, before Philip ever called you. And I'll
say this. Some of you have come here to
this place and you've seen the Messiah. You've heard the Gospel. You've heard Christ. And He'd
say the same thing to you that He said, to Nathanael, before
you ever saw me, I saw you. Before you ever loved me, I loved
you. Before you ever chose me, I chose you. That's what he's
saying, Nathanael. Before Philip called you. And
here's a little proof. I've always known you, Nathanael.
There's never been a day I didn't know you and see you. Known unto
God are all His works from the beginning. The Lord knoweth them
that are His. Whom he foreknew, he predestinated
to be conformed to the image of his Son. Whom he predestinated,
he called. But before he called Him, he
knew Him. Nathanael, I knew you, and to give you some evidence,
when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. I don't particularly believe
that Philip found him under the fig tree. The fig tree might
have happened months or years before. And I don't know what
happened under the fig tree. I sort of sat around and thought
about it a little bit. Maybe he was sitting under the fig
tree searching the Scriptures like the eunuch was searching
Isaiah. Maybe he was sitting under that fig tree by himself
one day and he was searching the Scriptures and said, or if
I only knew the Messiah. And the Messiah said, I saw you
under that fig tree. It might have been when he was
a young boy out picking figs for his mom. And she had taught
him, and his dad had taught him from a child. Now it's known
in the Holy Scriptures, Paul said to Timothy. Maybe it was
when he was a child, a boy, and his mom and dad had taught him
about the Messiah. And he was out picking figs one
day, and he got to thinking about the Messiah. I hope he comes
in my lifetime. I hope he does. That might have
been. I've been talking to a friend
one day under a fig tree. I don't know, but when the Lord
said that to him, it was a special experience, it was a special
time. He said, you're the Son of God. And Nathaniel Anson said, Master,
you are the Son of God. You are the Messiah. And nobody
knows my thoughts but my Messiah. You've got to be the Messiah.
No doubt about it. No doubt about it. If He knew us, we'll know Him.
I'm thankful for that. I hold that confidence. And Brother
Barnard had one daughter. He had a child that died early in
life. He had one daughter who to my
knowledge, I'm speaking from my knowledge, had no interest
particularly in the gospel during his whole lifetime. And he died
when he was 65. And several years later, this
one daughter called me and wanted me to tell her a little bit about
her daddy and what he preached. She said, I've heard people say
that my father did not preach the gospel. I said, Young lady,
the people who said that don't know the gospel. Your dad was
one of the few men who did preach the gospel. Maybe the fig tree way back yonder,
but I saw it. If you're here, you'll come.
You'll come. I'm confident of it. And our
Lord answered, built up, and he said, or answered Nathaniel,
and he said, Because I sat under you, I saw
you under the fig tree, do you believe you're going to see greater
things than these? Oh, my friend, when you come
and you see and you see and you'll see, because it's all revealed
in Him. Everything God has is in Christ.
In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead body. And you'll
come, you'll see Him as the Savior of your sins, Redeemer from your
iniquities, You'll see him as your great high priest, you'll
see him as your comforter and as your friend and as your husband,
and you'll grow in grace and in the knowledge. You'll see
more. You ain't seen nothing yet. Listen, verse 51, "...and
he said to him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter," one
of these days, you're going to see heaven open, heaven itself,
"...and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of
Man." One commentator says that's Jacob's ladder. Maybe so. Let's look at Daniel, see what
it says. And then John, and I'll quit.
Daniel chapter 7. Daniel 7. One of these days you're going
to see with these eyes, these redeemed eyes, spiritual eyes
and human eyes, Daniel 7.13, I saw in the night visions, in
the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came
with the clouds of heaven, came to the Ancient of Days, and they
brought him near before him. And it was given him dominion
and glory and a kingdom, that all people, nations, languages
should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom, that which
shall not be destroyed. You're going to see that. But
here's something else. Revelation 21. Revelation 21. And John, who
came and saw in a bold, said, chapter 21 of Revelation, And
I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and first
earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John,
saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven,
prepared as a bride adorned for a husband. And I heard a great
voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God
is with men. He will dwell with them, and
they will be his people. And God himself shall be with
them and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes. And there shall be no more death,
neither sobbing nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain.
For the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the
throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me,
Right. These words are true and faithful. We found the Messiah. What a
blessing. What a gift.