Let us turn tonight to John chapter
1, Gospel of John chapter 1. Looking this evening at verses
19 through 28. And this is the record of John
when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask
him, who art thou? And he confessed and denied not,
but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, what then?
Art thou Elias? And he said, I am not. Art thou
that prophet? And he answered, no. Then said
they unto him, Who art thou, that we may give an answer to
them that sin us? What sayest thou of thyself?
He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make
straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. And
they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked
him and said unto him, Why baptize us? Thou then, if thou be not
that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet, John answered them,
saying, I baptize with water, but there standeth one among
you whom you know not. He it is who coming after me
is preferred before me, whose shoes latched I am not worthy
to unloose. These things were done in Beth-Avora,
beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. Last week we saw that
John the Baptist was a man sent from God to bear witness of the
light. We read that in verses 6 and
7 of this chapter. There was a man sent from God,
whose name was John. This is John the Baptist. Though
this is John the Apostle, who is writing this Gospel. And he was the last of the apostles
to die. We believe this was the last
of the four Gospels to be written. So John the Baptist had been
dead for many years when this was written. But John tells us
that he was a man sent from God. And he was sent to bear witness
of the light, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the light
of the world. And we looked last time at the
first witness, the first testimony that John gives us here of John
the Baptist's witness. There's four of them. The first
one we looked at last time in verses 15 through 18. John bare
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. And of his fullness have all
we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses,
but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God
at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of
the Father, he hath declared him." Let me just say this before
I go on. The man that God sends to preach,
John was a man sent of God. The man that God calls and sends
out to preach, preach for a verdict. We preach for a verdict. that
all, the scripture here says, John preached that all through
him might believe. John was not in the entertainment
business. He didn't care to entertain men
on their way to hell, but to exhort men to obey God's command,
to believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one
another as He gave us commandment. The Apostle Paul said, We are
ambassadors for Christ's sake. We beseech you then, be you reconciled
unto God. The man that God calls to preach
and sends out with a message, we preach for a verdict. And every time that we preach,
you who listen to us, you give us a verdict. Either you believe
the message or you do not believe the message. Either you receive
the message or you do not receive the message. But no one may be
indifferent. Everyone who hears the gospel
message from a man that God has called and put into the ministry,
that man preaches for a verdict, yea or nay. Yea, I believe. that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of the living God. Nay, I don't believe that. There's no middle ground. You
can't straddle the fence. You're either for Christ or against
Christ. That's true of all men everywhere.
You know, God told the prophet Ezekiel, when he called him to
preach, God told him this. He said he would be a prophet
to the house of Israel. And God told him whether they
will hear or whether they will forbear, for they are a rebellious
house. Yet shall they know that there
hath been a prophet among them. And when John the Baptist came
preaching, men knew whether they believed him or not, they knew
that a prophet of God had been among them. Now the passage we're
looking at this evening is his second, the second witness of
John the Baptist to Christ as the light of the world. In verse
19 we read, and this is a record of John when the Jews sent priests
and Levites from Jerusalem. Now these men who came, they
came from Jerusalem, and John the Baptist was in Beth-Avora
as we read in the last verse. which I'm told is about 26 miles. This is what Josephus, the Jewish
historian, said. About 26 miles they came. They were a delegation of men
who were sent from the Sanhedrin. Now the Sanhedrin was a group
of 70 men plus one. The plus one was the president
of the council, and he was always the high priest. And these men
who made up the Sanhedrin, they sat in Jerusalem, of course,
and they were taken, as we read in the Gospels, we find that
these men who made up this council, they came from the chief priests,
the scribes, and the elders. Now, in this passage, John the
Apostle tells us that those who came to John the Baptist were
Pharisees. delegation, probably part of
the Sanhedrin, but they were Pharisees, and they came to interview
John the Baptist. Now, at this time, when this
took place, the Sanhedrin, they dealt with the civil law among
the Jews, and in some cases the criminal law. But one of their
functions was to pronounce upon the claims of prophets. And it may well be, because the
common people, they took John the Baptist to be a prophet.
We're told that in one passage of Scripture. They believed John
the Baptist to be a prophet. And word no doubt came to these
men, and one of the functions of the Sanhedrin was to pronounce
to authenticate this man is a prophet or this man isn't a prophet,
as far as they were concerned. And don't you know, there was
a great contrast. These Pharisees, we know they
loved to dress in long robes with wide phylacteries bordering
their robes, which distinguished them from others. You know, they
said, others are sinners. But not us. They were all dressed
up in their religious garb. Kind of reminds me of some things
I see today on television sometimes among religious people, all dressed
up with their fancy robes and their hats and all of that. Oh,
these people, don't you know, these that came after John, they
were all dressed up in their religious garb. What a contrast. Here's John, a man sent from
God, dressed in a coat of camel's hair, with a leather belt around
himself. What a contrast! Now, John Gill
says about this place where they came, and where John gives this
witness of our Lord, that it was a place where many people
resorted to cross over the Jordan. And so, as John is speaking,
as he's being interviewed and questioned by these from Jerusalem,
there were others, no doubt, who were listening in, and they
heard the testimony that John gives of Christ. And I see here they ask Him five
questions, five questions. Let's look at these five questions.
The first one in verse 19, Who art thou? Who are you? And John's response was to witness
of Christ. I am not the Christ. Just in case you might have that
idea or that thought may have come into your mind that he's
the Christ, who are you? I am not the Christ. I am not
the Christ. Now, there were two, at least
these two Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming of the
Messiah. that no doubt should have alerted
these men. Now remember, these men studied
the Scriptures. They were scribes, and that was
their work, to study the Scriptures, to look into the Scriptures,
read the Scriptures, copy the Scriptures. That's all they did. But there were prophecies in
the Old Testament, especially these two, that should have alerted
these men to the coming of the Messiah. It's time. It's time. We don't know exactly
when, but it's close. And history tells us, the historians
tell us, that men were generally expecting at this time the coming
of the Christ, and they should have from the Old Testament prophecies. Here are the two prophecies.
And I say this because you remember when those wise men came. The
wise men came. They followed a star. And that
took place, I would imagine, about 28 years before this we're
looking at tonight took place. About 28 years before this, these
wise men came from the East, and they came to Jerusalem, and
they asked, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? And
Herod was the king, and of course, he didn't want anyone to be king,
he was the And the very word, the very suggestion that there
was someone else born to be king upset him. So what does he do?
He sends to the scribes. He sends to the Sanhedrin, no
doubt. Where is the Messiah to be born? And they had no trouble. They
had no trouble sending him word back again from the prophecy
of Micah that the would be born in Bethlehem of Ephrathah. They told him exactly where he
would be born. But at the same time, these scribes
should have known from the Old Testament, it is the time. One prophecy is the one in Genesis
chapter 49 and verse 10 where Jacob, remember when it came
time for him to die. He prophesied concerning each
one of his twelve sons. And when he came to Judah, remember
Christ is of the tribe of Judah, and he prophesied of him. And
one thing he said is this, the scepter, that is the scepter,
the sign of rulership, the scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor a lawgiver between his feet until Shiloh comes. Shiloh is
the peacemaker, the peacemaker, the one who makes peace for us
with God until Shiloh comes. And unto him shall the gathering
of the people be. I wanted to preach from that
text, maybe I will one of these days. Unto him shall the gathering
of THE people be. All of God's people are gathered
to Christ. All of God's elect are gathered
to Christ. In the day of His power, all
of God's sheep are made willing, and we come to Christ. We're
gathered to Christ. Unto Him shall the gathering
of the people be. But the prophecy was that The
scepter would not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver, between
his feet until Shaddow come, until the Peacemaker, the Messiah,
come. John Gill made this comment.
Though the government was not wholly departed from Judah, Yet
they could not help but observe it was going away apace, and
Idumean, that is Herod, having been upon the throne for some
years. So this prophecy, they should
have known the time of the Messiah. Maybe not the exact year, but
it's close. And then the prophecy in Daniel,
in Daniel chapter 9 and verse 25. The prophecy was, know therefore
and understand that from the going forth of the commandment,
when Cyrus the king, from the going forth of the commandment
of the king to restore and rebuild Jerusalem unto the Messiah the
prince shall be seven weeks and three score and two weeks. In
other words, 69 weeks, 470 years from the time that that edict was issued by
Cyrus to rebuild Jerusalem, or the Temple, it would be 473 years,
and in that 70th week, that's when the Messiah would bring
in everlasting righteousness, and that's when the Messiah would
be cut off, too. You can read about that in Daniel
chapter 9. But that was their first question
to him. Who are you? I'm not the Christ. You see, he witnessed of Christ
by denying himself to be the Christ. I'm not the Christ. Now the second question, what
then? Are you Elijah? Now the Jews
had the mistaken belief. that the prophecy, Malachi's
prophecy concerning Elijah coming meant that the same body and
soul, Elijah, that went up to heaven in that chariot of fire
would come again before the Messiah came. And so John answers them. Now listen, John answered them
according to their understanding of Elijah's coming. Are you Elijah? What did he say? I am not. Now obviously, obviously he was
Elijah who was promised to come. But you see, they understood
that literally, physically, materially, the same Elijah who went up into
heaven, same body and all, would come again. But Elijah did come. You say, well, how do you know
that? Well, look with me in Matthew chapter 11. And I think, personally, this
is one of the more important verses of Scripture in understanding
prophecy, understanding future things. is this passage here
which tells us about the coming of Elijah. Let me go back and
read Malachi's prophecy concerning his coming, and then we'll read
this passage in Matthew chapter 11. But in Malachi chapter 4, it
says, Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the
coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, and he shall
turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart
of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth
with a curse." Now, here in chapter 11, and you see in this passage
that our Lord's disciples, they thought that Elijah would come
physically. They've been taught that. That
was just a general understanding among the Jews. But here in Matthew
11, verse 13, it says, For the prophets and the law prophesied
unto John, this is the Lord speaking, And if you will receive, if you
will believe this, this is Elijah that was to come. He that hath
ears to hear, let him hear. So when they asked John, Are
you Elijah? No, I'm not the Elijah that went
up in a chariot of fire. But yes, he was the Elijah that
was promised to come. He came in the spirit and power
of Elijah. Now here's the third question.
Art thou that prophet? The first question, Who are you?
Second question, What then? Art thou Elijah? Third question,
Art thou that prophet? Now some understand that they
are asking if He is the prophet. And I've always leaned to this
understanding. They were asking, Are you that
prophet that Moses spoke about and wrote about in what we have
in Deuteronomy chapter 18, verses 18 and 19. Let me go back here
and read this. Deuteronomy chapter 18. Verses 18 and 19, I will raise
them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee,
God speaking to Moses, and will put my words in his mouth, and
he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. Remember
our Lord, He said, The words that I speak unto you are not
mine, but His who hath sent me. This is what this verse is saying,
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto
my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it
of him. Now, if this is what they meant,
what they meant when they asked, Are thou that prophet? Then they
were mistaken to suppose that that prophet was not the Christ. In other words, they were looking
for, if that's the way they understood that prophet, they understood
that that prophet would not be the Christ. But we know that
that prophet, he is the Christ. But listen, there was also a
general belief among the Jews at this time, and I don't know
where this came from, that Jeremiah, the prophet Jeremiah, that he
would rise before the coming of the Messiah. You remember
in Matthew 16 when our Lord asked His disciples, ìWho do men say
that I the Son of Man am?î And they said, Well, some say you're
John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and some Jeremiah, Jeremiah. So some believe that, and I don't
know why. But the answer are them, that
prophet. Are you that prophet that Moses
promised? Or maybe their question was,
are you that prophet, Jeremiah? But his answer to both questions
would be the same. No, I'm not that prophet. Well,
here's the fourth question. Who art thou? Who art thou? What sayest thou of thyself? All of John's answers to this
point, to this fourth question, they'd all been negative. I'm
not the Christ. I'm not Elias. I'm not that prophet. Well then, who are you? We've
got to have something to answer to say to those who sin us. Tell
us, who are you? John answered the question with
the Scripture. With the Scripture. Notice that
in verse 23. Verse 22, the question. Then
they said unto him, Who art thou, that we may give an answer to
them that sin us? What sayest thou of thyself?
He said, Here's my answer. I am a voice. I am the voice of one crying
in the wilderness. He quotes from Isaiah chapter
40. Turn back with me. Isaiah chapter
40. Isaiah chapter 40. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins. Now notice, here's the
prophecy. The voice of him that crieth
in the wilderness, Who are you then? We have something to tell
those people. I'm a voice. I'm the voice. I am the voice of him that crieth
in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall
be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and
the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. Now
notice this, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed. Who are you? I'm the voice crying
in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. and the glory of the Lord shall
be revealed. Now the comfort, this passage
begins, Comfort ye, Comfort ye, my people. One of the names of
the Lord Jesus Christ is the Consolation, or the Comfort,
the Consolation of Israel. All of the comfort, now hear
me, if you don't hear anything else, hear this. all the comfort,
all the comfort, all the consolation that God has for any and every
chosen sinner is in Jesus Christ. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. And what would happen? The voiceless
crying in the wilderness and the glory Christ, the glory of
the Lord, would be revealed. The glory of the Lord. We know
in the New Testament He is referred to as the express image of the
Father, the brightness of the Father's glory. And you notice
in Isaiah chapter 40, down in verse 10, He is referred to as
as a shepherd. Behold, the Lord God will come
with strong hand, and His arm shall rule for him. Behold, His
reward is with Him, and His work before Him. He shall feed His
flock like a shepherd." The Lord Jesus Christ, the glory of the
Lord, the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd,
God's Shepherd, the Shepherd of God's sheep. And I want to point something
out here in Isaiah 40 before we go back to John. The ministry, the ministry of
every creature that God calls is two-fold, two-fold. All flesh is grass. Notice that. Isaiah chapter 40, verses 6 and
8. Then said he, what? The boy said, cry. And he said,
what shall I cry? What's my message? Am I to go and compliment men
and women and talk about how good they are? How God would
be so benefited if they were pretty pleased? Turn to God? No, no. You go and you cry this,
all flesh is grass. You see, a person has to be lost
before he will ever be found. And God always stains the pride
of those that He saves. By nature, we're all proud and
haughty, self-sufficient. We don't need God. We can take
care of ourselves. You cry this. All flesh is grass. It's here for just a little while,
isn't it? Grass is just a little while. And we are. And the flower,
the glory of the grass, the glory of man, it soon withers, thrown
into the oven, burned. That's our life in this world.
All flesh is grass. I don't know if any of you heard
this star baseball player was killed this morning early. Pitched
for the Miami Marlins. Their ace pitcher. And I saw
the manager in tears talking about him. I mean, a man 23 or
24 years old, I believe. Prime of life. Strong. Had his
career. Had all the money. ever spend,
and then some, all of his life before him. But all flesh is
grass. It appears for a little while,
and then it vanishes away. You cry this, all flesh, the
goodness of man. There's none good, no, not one. That's the first part of our
message, and I'm thankful that's not all of it. But that's the
first part. But notice in verse 9, Behold
your God. Behold your God. O Zion, that
bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain. O
Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with
strength, lift it up. Be not afraid, saying to the
cities of Judah, Behold your God. And the Lord willing, next
time we'll see that testimony of John the Baptist, won't we?
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world. Now let's go back to John just
a moment. Here's the last question that
they ask him. Why baptizeth thou then? You're
not the Christ, you're not Elijah, and you're not that prophet.
Why are you baptizing? Who gives you that authority? John answered and witnessed of
Christ. He said, I baptize with water.
That's all I can do. That's it. I can take somebody,
and I can put them under the water, and I can bring them back
up. And they get wet, but that doesn't
deal with their sins. There's one that stands among
you, the Lord Jesus Christ. He baptizes with the Spirit. And I'm not worthy, John says. I'm not worthy. He's testifying
of Christ. Now, John, think about this.
Two times in the Old Testament, There are prophecies concerning
John. He was someone, right? He was
somebody, but not in reference to Christ. No, he said, there's one among
you. I baptized with water, yes, that's
all I can do, but there's one who baptizes with the Spirit
of God among you, and he's such a person. that I'm not worthy
to even bend down and unlatch His shoelatches. He testified
of Christ. He's so much above me in person. I'm so much below Him. I'm not
worthy to unlatch His shoe. I'd like to close with this practical
word to Those of us who know Christ as our Lord and Savior.
I want you to turn to 1 Peter. We'll just read a verse here.
1 Peter chapter 3. In verse 15, we see that John testified of
Christ. He witnessed of Christ. The Apostle
tells you and I, sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be
ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you
a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. John was ready, wasn't he? They
came bombarding him with question after question after question,
but he was ready. And his answer was Christ. He's the reason of the hope that
was in John, and he's the reason of the hope that you and I have,
who know him as our Lord and Savior. Set him apart in your
heart, and be ready, be ready, when someone asks you, what is
your hope? Don't hymn all around and say,
well, I tell you what, I'm a Baptist. I'm a member of that Baptist
church. I believe in Calvinism. Oh, no. The reason of the hope
is Christ. From A to Z, from beginning to
end, is Christ. I trust the Lord will bless this
word to all of us here tonight.