It says in verse 6 that there
was a man. There was a man. He was nothing
more. Nothing more than a man. He said,
I am not the Christ. Don't look to me. He said, I
am not that prophet. Moses said, a prophet shall God
raised up from among the brethren, likened to me, him ye shall hear."
He said, I'm not that prophet. He said, I'm not really worthy
to unlace his shoes, the shoes of the one of whom I speak. He said, I'm only a voice, that's
all I am. I'm a voice crying in the wilderness,
and I know that I must decrease. I know that I must be forgotten.
I know I must fade in the background. I know that he must and he will
increase. There was a man, that's what
it says here, there was a man, nothing more, a man of like passions
as Elijah, a man who knew his valleys and mountain experiences,
a man who experienced fear and doubts, I'm the only one left. When this Ahab and Jezebel find
me, they'll kill me. A wretched man like Paul, old
wretched man that I am, a nothing, not one whit behind the chief
apostles, but all of them are nothing. Who is he that planted? Who is he that watereth? It is
God that giveth the increase. A dying man preaching to dying
men. There was a man. There was a
man. Don't ever lose sight of that
fact. No matter how powerful God speaks
through any man, it's still a man speaking. But here's the key. Look at verse 6 again. There
was a man. But he was sent from God. Oh, I tell you, that's what
makes him different. That's what makes him different.
That's what makes him special. That's what leads weight to what
he says. God sent him. God sent him. That's why his voice must be
heard and not the voice of another. He was sent from God. There was
a man, nothing more, just a mass of clay. I'm not the Christ,
he said. I'm not the prophet. I'm not
worthy to unlace his shoes. I'm just a voice. I'm just a
vessel of clay. I'm just a man of like passions,
weaknesses, a wretched man, a dying man. I must decrease. I must fade into the background.
I must be forgotten, my memory forgotten. But the thing that
makes him different, God sent him. God sent him. That's what lends weight to what
he says. That's what, that's why his voice
must, it just must be heard. God said, whom shall I send? Whom shall I send? Who will go
for us? Him I. Send me. Will God send a man like you? Will God send a frail creature? Will God send his message, the
message of the hour? Will God send his message through
a mere mess of clay? Will God trust such a sacred
treasure in such a frail vessel? He always does. He always does. There are not many who have listened
to angels. The shepherds did one day, but
most everybody else hears a man. He sent Abraham. He said to that
man Abram down in his father's house, worshiping idols with
all the other heathen, get thee out to a land I'll show thee.
There was a man on the backside of a desert. He at one time was
very powerful and rich and influential, but for the last 40 years he'd
just been taking care of his father-in-law's sheep. And God
came to him and said, Moses, go down to Egypt, the most powerful
nation in the world, with all of its gold and glitter and with
all of its treasures and all of its armies and power and influence,
Moses, go down to Egypt and go to the king of Egypt, the most
powerful man in the world, and tell him, I said, let my people
go. Lord, I can't even talk. Where's my army? What's that
in your hand? It's a shepherd's staff. Well,
you'll take that staff, and in the power of God, you'll divide
and disrupt a whole nation and deliver a people. Yes, sir, God sent Moses. He
sent a shepherd boy named David. The armies of the Lord were out
there in a stalemate with a powerful nation called the Philistines.
Another shepherd boy was out there tending his sheep like
Moses, and God came to him. Moses was 80 years old, David
was just a lad, probably in his early 20s or late teens, and
God came to him and said, Go down there and deliver Israel.
And he delivered Israel with a rock and a sling. He sent a
reluctant prophet called Jonah. He sent Elijah. And he sent John. And I want you to place your
hand there on John 1 and turn to Malachi. This is so important
that you see this verse of Scripture, the last book in the Old Testament.
The last book in the Old Testament. Malachi 3, verse 1. Malachi 3, 1. And you know, the
Jewish people of this day amaze me. They worship a God who hasn't
spoken since Malachi. Do you know that? They worship a God who has not
revealed himself since Malachi, 400 years B.C. Totally silent. We believe he's
spoken. He spake to our fathers through
the prophets, and he hath in these last days spoken to us
through his Son, but their God hadn't said a word. But where
they fail, they fail to hear Malachi. And Malachi told about
the forerunner John, the man John sent from God, the messenger
sent from God, who would tell about Jehovah coming to his temple.
Look at Malachi 3.1, Malachi 3.1, Behold, I will send my messenger,
I'll send my messenger, my forerunner, And he shall prepare the way
before me, and the Lord whom you seek shall certainly come
to his temple." Jehovah is coming to his temple. That temple is
gone now. He came and he stood and he said,
In the temple, if any man thirst, let him come to me." He stood
in the synagogue at Nazareth, and he said, This day is the
scripture fulfilled in your ears. John the Baptist, the forerunner,
came and told him, he's coming. And when he came to Jordan, he
said, Behold the Lamb of God. But they didn't hear the forerunner,
and they didn't hear the messenger of the covenant. And God's not
going to speak any more until he speaks in judgment to Israel
or anybody else. This is my beloved son, hear
ye him. What a verse that is in Malachi
3. Behold, I will send my messenger,
John the Baptist, the forerunner. He shall prepare the way before
me. And the Lord, whom you see, the
Christ, the Messiah, Jehovah, that's the word there, shall
come to his temple. Even the messenger of the covenant,
whom you delight in, behold, he shall come." There was a man sent from God,
a frail man. And his name, look at verse 6
again, his name was John. That's all. Oh, the simplicity
of Christ, the simplicity of the gospel, the simplicity of
worship. Oh, how complicated is our modern-day
worship, how complicated our theology. Nobody understands
it but the theologians. But God's Word is so simple,
so plain, there was a man. flesh and blood and bones, a
man, just like you, a man. But he was sent from God. And
his name was John. Oh, they called him John the
Baptist, as a nickname, John the Baptizer. They tried to call
his name Zacharias. You remember that? They said,
he'll be called Zacharias. God said he'll be called John.
John. Not Pope John. Not Father John, not Dr. John, not Bishop John, not Reverend
John, just John. Let the religious people of this
world exalt their champions, God exalts his, Christ. And he uses all who know him
to exalt him. You just call that messenger's
name John. Oh, I know none born of woman
greater than he. I know conceived by his father
after he was an old man. I know all the miracles surrounding
his birth. I know he's the first cousin
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know all those things. I know
he's filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb. But all
that's of God. John is still a man. John is
still a man. And verse 7 says, but he came,
John came for a witness. Now listen to me, if you ever
heard me, hear me now. A witness. They're writing this
word to death today, be a witness, be a witness, go out, witness
for the Lord, witness for the Lord, be a witness, be a witness. Let me tell you something. A
witness is a person who's seen something, heard something, and
knows something. And a man is not a witness, he
is not a witness unless he has seen, heard, and known for himself. The judge puts a witness on the
stand. He's sitting there as a witness.
He said, all right, tell us what you've seen. Well, I really didn't
actually see anything myself, but my brother saw it. Step down,
please. He sets a witness on the stand,
and he says, tell us what you heard. What noise did you hear? Did you hear the firing of the
gun at 1145? Well, actually, I really didn't
hear it, but my neighbor heard it. Step down, please. Tell us what you know about this
case, just what you know, what you've seen, heard, and know."
Well, firsthand, I don't know anything, but I have been told, John, the beloved John, writing
the first epistle, said, that which we've seen and that which
we've heard and that which our hands have handled, declare we
unto you. A man's got no business, he's
got no business trying to be a witness if he
hasn't seen anything, if he hasn't heard anything, and if he doesn't
know anything. A man may play at religion, he
may mimic a preacher, he may tell what he's heard, he may
tell what he's read, he may tell what others have said, but he's
not a witness. unless he has seen the Lord, unless he has heard the voice
of the Lord, unless he in his heart knows. Let me show you
an example of that. Turn with me to the book of 2
Samuel. Here is a vivid, vivid picture,
2 Samuel 18. I'm talking about a witness. There was a man. Sent from God. That's all you've
got in any pulpits of man. But oh, what a treasure if you've
got one sent from God. We need to quit magnifying and
exalting this flesh and remember that his name is John. But I'll
tell you this about him. Being sent from God, God sent
him as a witness. But he's a witness of what he's
seen and what he knows and what he's heard. And here in 2 Samuel
18, let me bring you up to date on it. David was king. His son Absalom won the hearts
of the people away from David. And David had to leave the throne.
And he went wandering in the wilderness. And Absalom led the
armies against his father. And Joab, David's general, went
out and intercepted Absalom and defeated him. And Absalom had
beautiful black long hair and he was riding his horse, a mule,
and his hair caught in a tree and the mule ran right out from
under him and left him hanging there by his hair. Somebody said
one time, those things in which we glory will probably be our
downfall. Where our pride is instead of
in God, our glory, usually will be our destruction. But he was
hanging there in those locks of hair he was so proud of. And
Joab came up and put three darts through his heart. And some of
the young men ran him through and killed him. And so then they went on back
to camp. Verse 19, a young man named Ahimez,
the son of Zadok, verse 19, he said, Now let me run and bear
the king tidings, how that the king hath avenged him of his
enemies. Joab said, Ahimaaz, Ahimaaz, he said, you're not
going, you're not going to bear tidings, you'll bear tidings
another time. But today you shall not bear any tidings because
the king's son is dead, but you hadn't seen anything. Ahimaaz
didn't see it. He wasn't a witness. He didn't
see it. He heard, but he didn't see it.
And he had nothing to tell. And Joab said to him, you've
got nothing to say. You've got nothing to say. And then the
king said to Cushi, see Cushi there, he said, you go tell the
king, tell the king what? What's that say there? What you've
seen. You go tell him. That's a witness.
You go tell him what you've seen. And so Cushi took out, running,
bowed himself to Joab and ran. And old Hamas, he wouldn't be
satisfied. Verse 22, he came back again
to Joab and said, let me, let me, I pray thee, run with Cushi.
And Joab said, what do you want to run for, son? You've got nothing
to say. You've got no tidings. You don't
know anything, but what you've heard, you haven't seen anything. Verse 23, but he wouldn't be
still. He said, I said, let me run anyway. Well, Joab said,
go to it, boy. And he took off. You know, the
amazing thing is he caught Cushion and overtook him right on by. And the watchman was up on the
tower with King David, and he said, I see some men running.
I see two men running. He said, that person looked like
Ahimaaz. He said, he can run, that boy
can run. He said, that looks like him.
Well, David said, he's a good man, and babies bring good tidings. And so Ahimaaz came up out of
breath and bowed before the king, verse 28, and he said to the
king, all is well. And he fell to the earth upon
his face before the king, and said, Blessed be the Lord thy
God, which is delivered up the men that lifted up their hand
against my Lord the king. And the king said," and this
was uppermost on David's mind. He was worried about Absalom. He wanted news of Absalom. He
wanted news of his son. He wanted news of a particular...
You see, Ahimaaz had a lot of information about how the battle
went and how this went and that went, but he didn't have any
information about the one in whom David was most interested,
Absalom. And there are a lot of preachers
that have a lot to say about a whole lot of things, but they
don't have any information about him in whom my soul delighted.
and in whom I'm interested. And David said, what about Absalom? That's who I'm interested in.
I'm not interested in how the battle's going. I'm not interested
in all these particulars and details. I want to know about
Absalom. And verse 29, old Ahimeh said,
well, he said, tell you the truth, I saw a great tumult, but I didn't
know what was going on. I didn't know, but everything's
all right. David said, would you just stand aside? Would you
stand aside? Now here comes the man sent from
God. Here comes the man sent from
Joab. Here comes the man with the news. Here comes the man who knows
something about Absalom. Here comes the man who saw what
happened. He was there when it happened.
And he came up and bowed before David, and David said, What about
Absalom? I saw it." Of course, it broke
the heart of the king, but the king got his message. And that's
so important there, this thing of a witness. There was a man
who was sent from God, and his name was John, very simple, very
plain, there down to earth, identified with the people. And he came
for a witness. Well, what was it all about?
Well, look at verse 1. a witness of the light in the
beginning, in beginning. Go back, my friend, imagine the
most remote, remote point possible in the eons of eternity. Can
you just take your mind back, and I don't know why I point
that way, just back yonder, in the eons of eternity, in the
furthest point, the most remote point possible. And just remember
that he goes further back than that. in beginning. He is, he was, he ever shall
be, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Christ Jesus the
Lord. That's John's message. It's Christ
the Lord. And he's called here the Word.
In beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. Why is Christ called the Word? What is a Word? Well, you're
listening to me, say Word. Some of you are. Word. A word is an expression. Christ
is the expressed image of the Father. He's expression. He that has seen me has seen
the Father. We beheld God's glory in the
face of Christ. The word is an expression. I
express to you my feelings. I express to you my thoughts.
I express to you how, by words. Secondly, a word is a manifestation. Christ is a manifestation. He
hath manifested the Father. I manifest myself with words. A person manifests his character
by his words. And then a word is a revelation. A word reveals a person. God reveals himself through his
word. And then a word is a communication. God communicates his love and
his mercy and his grace through Christ. It's like a son, a daughter
comes and says, Father, I wish to marry so-and-so. And
he puts his hand upon her hand and he said, You have my blessings. That's communicating with words.
You have my blessings. See what I'm saying? So God,
through Christ, communicates to us. And this Word, this expression,
manifestation, communication, revelation of God, was with God. And that's the Blessed Trinity.
I don't propose to argue the Trinity with any man. The fact
of the Trinity, the truth of the Trinity, I know there are
a lot of people running around saying the Bible doesn't use
the word Trinity. I know that as well as you do. It doesn't
use the word substitute either, but teaches it. Christ is our
substitute. The Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit is revealed throughout this book. God said, let us make
man. Who will go for us? The Father spake from heaven,
and said, This is my beloved Son, and the Holy Spirit descended
on him like a dove. Christ said, Baptize in the name
of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. John said there
are three that bear record in heaven, the Word, the Father,
the Word, and the Holy Spirit. The Father is not the Son, and
the Son is not the Holy Ghost. Christ said, I and my Father
are one, not is one. Bob's father-in-law and Becky's
father is one. I don't say are one, is one. But Bob's father-in-law and mother-in-law
are married and become one. That makes sense to you? And
Christ said, I and my father, not is one, are one. One God, the Lord our God is
one God, but Father, Son, Holy Spirit. I'll find out about that
when I get to Glover's. But I'm going to accept it by
faith in time. The word was with God, and here,
this will throw you, and the word was God. See, Pete, preacher,
you've contradicted yourself. I know I have, but I haven't
contradicted God. I contradict myself a lot, because I don't
know. See, this book is not logical,
humanly speaking. It comes not by education, but
by revelation. When you figured it out, you're
wrong. That's exactly right. I don't mean to be confusing.
I'm just saying this is so. When you figure it out, you're
wrong. Your thoughts aren't God's thoughts, and your ways are not
God's ways. In the beginning was the Word,
in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. It
says that in verse 2, the same. I'm talking about the same. I'm
talking about the same who was with God was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. And all things were made by him. All things were made by him. All things in heaven, earth,
and the seas, and all deep places were made by him, and through
him, and for him. And without the word, him was
not anything made that was made. And in him was life. He's the
life giver. He's the fountain of life. All
life comes from him. Not only our spiritual life,
and that's not what that's referring to there. That's talking about
all life. All life is from him. He's the life giver. Somebody
said yesterday, nobody can love who doesn't know God. That's
true. Nobody can truly love who doesn't know God. Somebody can
have a self love and not know God. But they can't have a true
love and not know God, because God is love. And the same thing
is true of life. Even the heathen hot-and-totten
Africa lives because of Christ Jesus. He's the giver of life. He's the fountain of life. He
is the light, and the light was the light of men. He's the light
shining in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. And John, he says, came for a
witness to bear witness of that light. Let me ask you something
here. Do you see some significance
here, some reference to the fall? Now here we're talking about
that light. John, the man, sent from God,
whose name was John, came to bear witness of the light. peanut of a man who has come
to a world that God made himself to bear witness of the light,
the light, the infinite, everlasting, glorious light of God. Why in the world would we need
such a frail thing as John to tell people the light is because
the people are blind. That's why. See what I'm saying? The people are blind. I got up
this morning and pulled the drapes, and that light sunshine just
came flowing in the room. Darcy's there. See, I'm trying
to get her up every morning. I have to turn the clock off
and make the coffee and then try to wake her up. You believe
that, don't you? But anyway, I pull the drapes
and the sun, wouldn't I have been silly to turn here and say,
hey, look at the light? She'd say, in that time of morning
I can see the light, you know. But if she were blind, lying
there in the bed, blind, in darkness, I'd have to tell her, the sun
is shining this morning, honey. The sun is shining. Oh, is it? See, that's what happened to
us when Adam fell, blind. And God has to send a man. And
I know people think this preaching is foolishness, and most of it
is today. Most of it is not worth listening
to. Most of it ought to be turned
off. Roth said he wished they'd put a bounty on free will preachers
about $25 a head and let him get rich. Most of it ought not be permitted
or tolerated. But I'll tell you, when God sends
a man to who's seen that light, whose heart's been warmed by
that light, who has heard the voice of that light, who knows
that light, and life and love and truth. And he comes to the
blind men of this world and he says, the light is shining. The light is shining. And I'll
tell you, he'll keep talking about the light because there's
nothing greater. There's nothing more important. And he says here
in verse 10, that light, verse 9, now verse 8 says, John wasn't
that light. He was sent to bear witness of
the light. He's not the light. Don't confuse
the two. Don't ever do that. Don't ever
confuse the two. He is not that light. The Church
is not that light. The water is not that light.
The bread is not that light. John is not that light. Nothing
associated with the means is not the light. That was the true light we're
talking about, that lighteth every man that cometh into this
world. There's a common grace given to all men. That's right. There's a conscience. But let
me tell you something here quickly. He, that light, was in this world. The world that was made by him,
he was in this world. You see, he came down here in
the flesh. God, in the fullness of time,
God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.
And he took on himself flesh and bones and walked this earth. He was in this world. I know
that's hard to understand. But it's not hard to believe.
No, it isn't. Not for a believer. And I'll
tell you why. Because Christ must be a man. He must become
a man to fulfill what's required of him as a mediator. Let me
show you that in Hebrews 2. He must. It's not a prerogative
or a choice, multiple choice. Christ
must become a man. He must. If he's going to save
anybody, Hebrews 2.16, now watch this, Hebrews 2.16, "...for verily
he took not on him the nature of angels," fallen angels, "...but
he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behooved
him." It was necessary to be made like unto his brethren that
he might be a merciful, faithful high priest in things pertaining
to God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. He
must be a man. He must be like his brethren.
You see, the holy law of God, it was required of a man that
he obey it. And Christ had to become a man.
The law is binding on us, on us, you see. And the justice
and holiness and righteousness of God says the soul that's in
it, it shall die. That soul that's in it, it shall
die. So Christ had to become one of
the its. He had to become a human soul.
He had to become a man. He had to become like his brethren.
He had to be so identified with us that when he was killed, we
were killed. He had to be so one with us. He never ceased
to be God. Somebody said He laid aside His
deity and became a man. Uh-uh. No, no, not for one minute. Not for one minute. Our throne,
oh God, is forever. He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. But somehow He had both natures,
God and man. And He was such a man. such a
perfect man, so much like us in all things, he was tempted
as we are in all points, yet without sin, but so identified
with us, so much one with us, that when he obeyed the law,
we obeyed it. And when he bore the judgment
of God, we bore it. When he died, we died. And when
he was buried, we were buried. When he was exalted and seated
at the right hand of God, all who were in him were seated and
exalted. In Adam, identified with Adam,
we died, in Christ we made a life. I can't explain that, I just
know that's so. He was in this world, but he
must be, he must be, it behooved him in all things to be made
like his brethren that he might be for them under God, before
God, a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining
to God. in things pertaining to God,"
that's his office, that he might make reconciliation, bring the
two together who have been divided, God and men, for the sins of
his people. But here, listen to verse 10,
the world didn't know him. He neither know me nor my Father.
The world didn't know him. The light shineth in darkness,
and the darkness comprehended it not. Comprehend, do you comprehend? He doesn't comprehend the life.
Look at verse 11, he came to his own. His own what? His own people, Israel, his own
temple, his own sacrifices placed to it, and they didn't receive
him. Jehovah has come to his temple! And they received him not. There
wasn't any room at the end when this whole thing started, when
Mary, big with child, came struggling into town. to meet in the little
town of Bethlehem, her an heir to the throne of David, no room
for him in the inn, even till he was taken out yonder on Calvary's
hill to be crucified. And they cried, We'll not have
this man reign over us, we have no king but Caesar. And I'll tell you this, like was it Amos that said, I'm
not a prophet nor the son of a But I was a sheep herder. I don't know a whole lot about
signs of the times and these other things, but I do know this.
He came unto his own, and his own received him not. And they despised and rejected
the Messiah in God's judgment and wrath. They said, Let his
blood be on us and our children. And I'll tell you, the nation
Israel has certainly realized the fulfillment of that call
when they said, let his blood be on us and our children. It's
been there for 2,000 years in darkness and judgment and a veil
is on their faces right now when Moses is raised. It's heartbreaking. But they received him not. Wait
a minute now, but, oh, here we get to the but, as many as received
him. And brethren, to receive him
is to receive him, him now, please don't miss that. It's not to
receive the one who comes in his name, it's to receive him.
It's not just to receive his doctrines, it's to receive him.
It's to receive him as prophet, to reveal God as priest, to redeem
us as king, to reign over us, to receive a person. And not
just his plan for your life, like we're talking today. I'm
talking about receiving Christ. To receive him, to them gave
he the right to become sons of God, even to them that believe
on his name. You see, there's a twofold thing
here. Believing on his name is believing as he's revealed in
the Word. It's believing the record God has given concerning
his son. And make it a point to read the
record. And it's believing the record,
but it's receiving him consciously, intelligently, willingly, lovingly,
eternally, perseveringly, continually receiving Christ. All my life
and nourishment and all from him. And then it tells us why
they received him and why they believed, because they were born.
They were born. But they were not born of blood,
that is, of family heritage. They were not born of their own
wills, the will of the flesh. They were not born of the will
of a preacher. We're going to take this city for Jesus, are
you now? I'm going to come preaching Christ.
But God will have to take this city for Christ. I can't do it
if it's taken. It belongs to him anyway, whether
in grace or judgment. And these were born not of the
will of man, but they were born of God. In closing my message
one more time, I want you to read those two verses together,
verse 1 and verse 14. And the Word was with God, and
the Word was God, and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among
us, tabernacled among us. And we beheld his glory, his
glory. Our glory is his glory. Our participation
in glory is a participation in his glory. And that glory is
the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of truth
and grace. Our Father, thank you for your
word. What a treasure, what a blessing,
not just to have the book, but to have some understanding of what this book is saying,
of the person whom this book reveals. Father, thank you. Who am I and what is this place
and this congregation that you should show such mercy to us
beyond our imagination, beyond our comprehension? But we know
whom we have believed. We have seen him with eyes of
faith and heard him this morning speak through his words. and
can rejoice in him and have received him and believe on him. And we
thank thee to enable us to love him more, to know him, to win
Christ and be found in him, if by any means we might attain
unto the resurrection of the dead, through Jesus Christ our
Lord. We pray in his name. Amen.