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Chapter number one. You pray
for me this morning. I have a little issue with my
pride. And there's a good chance, I
don't know for sure, but there's a good chance I've probably preached
this here. And I struggle with that. I don't
know if you other men do or not, but I try to keep track and keep
a record of what I've preached and where I've preached it. For
the simple reason I don't want to preach it twice. I don't know
if y'all do that or not, but that bugs me. It's a pride issue,
I'm sure. And maybe y'all don't have no
trouble with your pride, but I really do. But I really believe
it's for the Lord. Have us be just for a few minutes
this morning, and we'll see what the Lord does. John chapter number
one. I'll begin reading in verse number one. The Bible said, in
the beginning was the word, And the word was with God and the
word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things were made by him. Let me pause right here and point
out to you, as we read, I want you to look how many times the
word him is used, all right? All things were made by him.
And without him was not anything made that was made. In him was
life. The life was the light of men.
The light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended
it not. There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
The same came for a witness to bear witness of the light that
all men through him might believe. He was not that light but was
sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light
which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was
in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew
him not. He came into his own, and his
own received him not. But as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name, which were born, not of blood, nor
the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. And
the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. We beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. 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 we all received, and grace for grace. For the
law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. Let's pray. Father, we sure are
grateful for the privilege you've given us to come this way this
morning. I do pray, Lord, that you'd have your will and have
your way throughout the rest of this service. Lord, please
speak the hearts and do what only God can do for the next
few moments of time. Touch me afresh, if you will,
please, Lord, give me liberty. Lord, whatever you do, we're
gonna try our best to thank you for it. Lord, for it's in Jesus'
precious name that we pray, and amen. We read the first 18 verses
of chapter one of the book of John, and I asked you to notice
with me how many times John used the word hymn. So we pick up
immediately, just in these first 18 verses, that there is a theme
developing to what John is writing. That theme is this, it's all
about him. I think we've done heard that
this morning. It's all about him. If we had continued reading
and we'd read the rest of chapter number one, that theme continues. It's still all about him. If we'd taken time to read chapter
two, guess what? It's still all about him. Chapter three, still about him. Chapter four, all about him. Chapter five, if we had read
the entire book, the gospel according to John, the theme is there. It's all about him. I wanna look at this book that
John was used of God to pin down and give to us. I believe one
of the greatest books that has ever been written. And I just
wanna take a few things out of this real quickly this morning,
and we'll go have lunch in just a little bit, all right? First
of all, we see the theme around the gospel of John. It's all
about him. Let me mention this quickly.
I thought about the timing associated with the Gospel of John. If you'll
look at history, study history, it's believed that it's somewhere
between 85 and 96 AD when John takes the pen and begins to write. If that be the case, he's been
in ministry over 50 years. He's an old preacher, if you
will. If it's between 85 and 96 AD,
then that means that Mark's gospel had already been recorded. Matthew's
work was done. Luke's work was finished, including
the book of Acts. That means that Peter's work
was done. James's work was done. Even all the Apostle Paul's work
had already been completed. He's the last writer for our
Bible. Many things have happened in
the life of John when the Holy Ghost leads him over to the desk
and he takes the pen, dips it in ink, and begins to write. We'll come back to that one in
a few minutes. There's a theme around the Gospel of John, the
timing associated with the Gospel of John. Let me mention this
one briefly. I believe there was a trust achieved before the
Gospel of John. I'm gonna make a statement, see
if you'll agree with me this morning. I believe if the Lord
Jesus had a best friend while he was here, I believe it's probably
old John the Beloved. What do y'all think? I don't
know if anybody got closer to the Lord than what John did. You might make a case for Peter
and for some of the others, but there's a couple of reasons I
believe that John may have been closer to the Lord than anybody
else. And before I go on any further,
I wanna make a statement this morning, you listen to me good.
You this morning are as close to the Lord as you want to be. He's not building any fences.
There's no keep away signs. He desires a close walk with
his people, amen? And I believe John got closer
to Jesus than anybody else. Let me give you a couple of reasons
real quickly. Go with me in your minds, if
you will, to the upper room. And it's just a little while
before Calvary, and they're sitting there observing the Lord's Supper,
and the Lord is gonna make a statement there at the table. He says this,
one of you is gonna betray me. Do y'all remember that? And almost
simultaneously, one by one, they begin to ask a question. Do you
remember the question they asked? They said, Lord, is it I? Lord, is it I? John asked the
question, but he didn't word it like the rest of them did. Here's what John asked. He said,
Who is it, Lord? As if to say he knew it was not
going to be him. Amen? By the way, when he asked
that, he had his head laid over on the Lord's bosom. I don't
know that anybody got any closer to the Lord than what John did. If you're not convinced, go with
me in your minds to Calvary. I want you to look at the foot
of the cross and you tell me who was there. Who was it that
went all the way? It ain't Peter. Peter's following
from afar. I do see the mother of Jesus
and a couple other Marys are there, but the only disciple
I see at the foot of the cross is John the Beloved, amen? And while the Lord's hanging
there on Calvary, paying the sin debt of the world. He looks
down at the foot of the cross, he sees his grieving mother,
and probably right there beside his mother was that dear, beloved
disciple, oh, John. He looked down at John, and he
said, he looked down at his mother, and he said, woman, behold thy
son. He looks at John, and he said, behold thy mother. And
according to the scripture, the Bible said that John took her
into his own home from that very day. We'll see them together,
I believe at Pentecost. But after that, John steps off
the scene. You don't hear of John for a
long time. I do believe and I've tried to
find, I don't know how long Mary lived. I don't know when she
died. Don't listen to the Catholics.
Some of them will tell you she didn't die. Some of them will
tell you she died and God raised her from the dead three days
later. Amen? But I do not know how long she
lived. I don't know when she died. But I do believe this on
my heart. John took his mother, the Lord's
mother, and took care of her until she died. Amen. Peter's the one standing up on
Pentecost and preaching. Then Paul comes up on the scene,
takes the gospel to the Gentiles. Where's John at? Why is it 85
to 96 AD before we hear anything? He's not not doing nothing. Amen. He's been given a special task
of taking care of the Lord's mother. That's a trust achieved. I don't know anybody else achieved.
Amen? There's the theme around the gospel. I'm going somewhere.
There's the theme around the gospel of John. There's the timing
associated with the gospel of John. The trust achieved before
the gospel of John. Let me mention this quickly.
Then there was the thrills accumulated in the gospel of John. See if
you can picture this with me. The Holy Ghost has led the old
preacher over to a desk or to a table. And he's led him to
take the pen and begin to, y'all do believe it's Holy Ghost inspired,
don't you? Takes the pen and begins to pen down the word of
God. And what the Holy Ghost does,
Brother O'Malley, is takes John back down memory's lane. It's
been a long time since he actually walked with the Lord. But the
Holy Ghost begins to remind him. Gets over, hadn't even wrote,
but got into chapter two, and the Holy Ghost takes him back
to a time when they were invited to the wedding at Cana. My, John
now already knows what's gonna take place, but he's being reminded
by the Holy Ghost. And he's reminded of the first
miracle that he got to witness. when he took that wine and told
those servants to fill those water pots and they filled them
to the brim and God somehow miraculously turned that water into wine. I wonder what kind of thoughts
came to John's mind as he's pinning that down. No doubt, Brother
Stout, there was a smile on his face as he's reminded of that
first miracle that he got to watch the Lord do. Chapter 3,
I don't have time to preach all of these, but chapter 3 is reminded
of when Nicodemus came to the Lord by night. He's reminded
what God told him when he said, you must be born again. He's reminded of when the Lord
said, I like John 3, do you not? You can't do much better than
John 3. Say, preacher, that's too elementary for me. You need
to go back to school then if it's too elementary for you.
You can't do much better than John 3, amen? I like to hear
it in a song. I like to hear the little ones
quote it. I just soon hear a preacher take
his text from John 3, because you can't do no better than God
so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Could
you imagine hearing that roll off the lips of the Lord himself? I believe John put the pen down.
I don't know if he's able to take a lap or not, but I guarantee
he got up and walked around a little bit. Amen. I can see him taking no hanky
and say, Lord, I don't know why you'd love something like me.
But I sure am thankful you love me enough to send your only begotten
son. Amen. Chapter four, he's reminded
of that encounter with the woman at the well. Chapter five, the
impotent man down at the pool of Bethesda. Chapter six, boy,
that was a thrill, was it not? When he took the lunch of the
lad and fed the multitudes. And then he don't get out of
chapter six and he's reminded when the Lord came walking to
him on the water. It's just thrill after thrill
that he's getting a pen down, put on paper. Chapter 10, he's
reminded when the Lord said, I am the good shepherd, and the
good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep. Chapter 11, he's
reminded of that time when they came running to the Lord and
said, he whom thou lovest is sick. Lazarus was sick and he's
reminded how the Lord tarried and they showed up what was considered
to be too late. They'd already buried their friend
Lazarus. He's reminded when the Lord said,
where have you laid him? Amen? He's reminded when they
go out to the cemetery and he tells them to move the stone
away. He's reminded when he cleared
his throat and he said, Lazarus, come forth. Every eye, you know
this for sure, every eye went to the opening of that tomb.
And they're thinking, ain't no way. Amen. But about that time, there he
came. Wrapped in grave clothes. Thrill after thrill. But I ain't
got time. Let me hurry on. Go with me to
Calvary. The Lord has been crucified.
He's, I don't know what all, Of anybody that really believed
and understood, surely it would have been John, but I can't help
but believe John's hopes are kindly being shattered as well.
Amen. But then the women were down
at the sepulcher early. And they found the stone rolled
away and the tomb was empty. And they came back up to tell
the disciples, you know, John got to pin this down. That other
disciple did outrun Peter. Amen. They got down to the tomb
and sure enough, the tomb, I'm talking about thrills now, the
tomb was empty. was empty. Amen. My, the thrills
that are accumulating. I'm hurrying. But then I thought
about this, the truths abounding in the gospel of John. John was
able to use simple terminology and put together the greatest
book, I believe, ever been put on paper. He didn't get real
deep. He used simple terminology, used
a word like know, K-N-O-W, translated to know anyway, used that 142
times. Simple terms like believe, that
translated out in John's writings 100 times. Used the word father
118 times. Simple terms, but put together
some of the greatest truths that's ever been recorded. You ain't
gonna do much better than John. It's been some time ago we had
the opportunity to go down to the country of Honduras and a
few months before our trip we loaded several containers of
supplies to send on down ahead of us. We put some hygiene items
and just things to be a help and a blessing to those people.
But also on board that container we put 11,000 John and Romans
in Spanish. I wish there'd been 11,000 Bibles,
but we didn't have that availability of that, so we did the next best
thing. Scripture portions, two books. Can I ask you a question
this morning? Why John and Romans? Why not Genesis? Why not Leviticus? Why not something else? I'll tell you why. No two books
of the Bible do a better job of introducing an old wretch
like me and you to the darling Son of God. Amen. John put down some of the greatest
truths ever been penned on paper. In chapter 1 alone, He's the
Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. He's the
Word that was made flesh and dwelt among us. He's a light
shining in darkness. Chapter 2, He's a miracle worker.
Chapter 3, He's the only begotten Son. Chapter 4, He's the living
water. Chapter 5, He's the one that
can make you whole. Chapter 6, He's the bread of
life. Chapter 7, He's the living water. Chapter 8, He's the light of
the world. Chapter 9, He's the giver of
sight to the blind. Chapter 10, He's the good shepherd. Chapter 11, He is the resurrection
in life. Chapter 12, He's worthy. Chapter
13, He's a servant to be served. Chapter 14, he's the way, the
truth, and the life. Chapter 15, he's divine, we're
the branches. Chapter 16, he's the comforter. Chapter 17, he's the interceder. Chapter 18, he's tried and found
innocent. Chapter 19, he's the one that's
finished. Chapter 20, he's alive. Chapter
21, he bids us to come and die. Some of the greatest truths ever
been penned on paper. But then I thought about the
tears that accompanied the Gospel of John. I'm not talking about
John 11, 35 or Jesus swept. I'm thinking more of John's tears
that accompanied this book. I believe, first of all, John
shed quite a few tears by the time he's pinning this book down. I believe, first of all, he probably
shed a few tears over a place. It's believed that he wrote this
in Ephesus. And the reason for that is, in
70 AD, Titus came through Jerusalem and destroyed it. Y'all remember
your history. If that be the case, then his
church has been destroyed. His home has probably been destroyed. There's a reason he's in Ephesus. I don't know what that would
do to you, but what if somebody came through your area? Preacher,
they destroyed your church. They destroyed your home. That's
enough to break a heart. I believe he probably shed a
few tears over some places. I believe he shed a few tears
over some personal things. According to history, I'm told,
some of you might can clear me up on this if I'm missing it,
but I'm told that according to history, at one time they took
old John and dipped him in boiling oil. History. They've not been kind to the
old preacher. Brother McBriar, he suffered
quite a bit. We probably don't really know
just what all he has suffered. A few tears. But I do know this,
maybe I missed it on the first two. But I'm convinced of this
one. He shed some tears over some
people. If he penned this between 85
and 96 AD, then that means, of course, Stephen has already been
stoned to death. You know he got word of that,
don't you? Somebody has told him. If it's between 85 and 96
AD, we know that James has already been beheaded. We also know this,
we know that Matthew has already been slain with a halibut. Mark has already been dragged
to pieces by the people of Alexandria. That also means that Luke has
already been hanged in an olive tree. If he wrote this between
85 and 96 AD, that even means that Paul has already been beheaded
in Rome. It also means that Peter has
done been crucified upside down. I wonder where John was when
he got word of Peter. John and Peter used to lay out
under the stars at night. No telling what they talked about,
preacher. Don't you know it's heart-wrenching
when John heard about Peter. If he wrote this between 85 and
96 A.D., then that means that Thomas has already been thrust
through with a spear. That means that Philip has already
been beaten and then thrown in prison and then crucified in
54 A.D. Jude has already been crucified. That was 72 A.D. Andrew has already been crucified
in Asia. That means that Bartholomew has
already been beheaded, skinned alive and beheaded. That means
that James the Less has already been beaten to death with a club. That means that Matthias has
already been stoned to death in the streets of Jerusalem.
If he wrote this between 85 and 96 AD, listen carefully, he's
the only one left. They are all gone. My. But we look at the gospel according
to John. You don't see no evidence of
the heartache and the tears that have been shed when he begins
to write. No evidence of that. I wanna
ask y'all a question. Would you blame John if he just
took a chapter or two and unloaded on us just a little bit. Just
let us know how tough it had been to be a follower of Christ. How unfair life can be at times. Would you have blamed him if
he just unloaded a little bit and told us about some of the
hardships and the struggles he's had in ministry? How tough it
can be trying to tell people that don't wanna hear about Jesus
to try to tell them and sow the good seed. Would you have blamed
him if he just unloaded just a little bit? I wouldn't blame
him if he took a little. I'll be honest with you, Brother
Sexton, I wouldn't blame him if he'd wrote a book about it.
What about you? Amen. I sure wouldn't blame him if
he took a chapter and just shed a little bit of, give us a little
light on how hard it is, okay? But not John. When John began
to pin down, he said, no, if I'm going to write a book, it's
going to be all about him. He says, if I don't get but a
chapter, it's going to be all about him. You don't give me
but a verse, guess what you're going to get? It's going to be
all. Help me, Lord. I want it to be all about Him. I don't want it to be all about
me. It don't need to be all about
ministry. It's not all about getting your
support. Let me tell you what it's all
about. It's all about Him. Can I help you right here? If
you're making it all about support, you're gonna be miserable throughout
your deputation. Amen. If it's all about your
family and your problems, you're gonna struggle not only on deputation,
you're gonna struggle when you get to the field. But while you're
on deputation, and once you get to the field, if you'll keep
it all about Him, Hey, man, you won't have near the problems
that you think you're having or going to have. Amen? I'm telling
you, say, preacher, I'm not writing a book. Oh, yes, you are. You've
got a pen in your hand, and you're putting your life down on paper.
Amen? Last week has already been put
in the books. I want to ask you a question.
Did Jesus even make the page? Amen. Today, you've got the pen
in hand. I know if you're on a Friday
spending all day in church, surely Jesus will be on the page today.
But what about when Monday rolls around and you're back on the
road, amen, and you don't have a meeting and you don't have
to perform in front of a pastor? Is Jesus even gonna make the
page on those Mondays? Is Jesus gonna make the page
on them Saturdays? I'm wondering what it's all about
What's it all about? It's not about another supporting
church. Amen. It's not about another
tank of gas. I understand all of those things
are important, but if we'll get our heart and our focus on Him,
and them problems won't seem near as big, the struggles won't
be as hard, and the bigger God gets in your life, the smaller
everything else again. You and I have got to make it
all about Him. This ain't about me and you. Are y'all like me? I like to
make it about me. I can't help it. I guess it's
my flesh. I like me pretty good. If you'll be honest, you care
about yourself pretty good too. If we ain't real careful, we
make everything about us. Amen. Woe is me. I've got so
many problems. I've got this. Nobody cares.
You get your eyes off you, and you get your eyes fixed on Him.
Amen. That's the only way you're going
to make it. It's got to be all about Him. I'm hurrying. Let me give you just... One more
real quickly. It's 1153. That's not too bad,
is it, Preacher? Okay. Tears that accompanied the Gospel
of John. Then I thought about the trial that came after the
Gospel of John. Let's see if we can picture the
old Preacher. Again, I may be playing him wrong. I don't know. Well, life hasn't
been kind to him. It's been hard on him. He's an
old preacher. And I don't know, he may not
be able to walk too good. May not be able to stand up too
straight. Josh may have to have a stick or a cane when he gets
around. I'm not real sure. But I do know this. I think it
was more than just on paper that John made it all about the Lord. I really believe that. What makes you think that? Well,
I believe that's what got him in trouble. Amen. I can see him, if he's in Ephesus,
I can see him going to the marketplace, can't you? If anybody got near
him, it's something like this. Excuse me, sir. You got a moment? I'd like to tell you about my
best friend. Instead of saying, excuse me,
I'd like to tell you how hard it's been. I think it's all about him. Ask
you, why else would they want to exile an old preacher that
don't seem to be able to do much harm? Why else would they want
to send him to a prison camp? An old rocky island called Patmos. Why would they want to get rid
of him? He's not able to do no harm. I believe he's tired of
hearing all about him. Amen. So they exiled him. They said,
well, we'll fix him. We'll get rid of him. We won't
have to listen to the old preacher no more. So they put him on Patmos,
thinking that would take care of the old preacher. I'm gonna
be honest with you now, help me here. If that'd been me, I
don't know how well I'd handle that. Maybe I'll never do this, but
I throw a pity party every now and then. I don't know if y'all
do that or not. Nobody wants to come to it, but
I still throw it. Seems like I'm the only one there.
I'm the only one enjoying myself at my pity parties. Maybe you
do that. I don't know. If you don't, you're
blessed. You really are. I'm too open, I guess. But I
get feeling sorry for myself every now and then. Do you? I mean, really, do you?
Somebody help me. Please tell me you do. I hope
I ain't the only one. I don't know how well I'd handled
that. Lord, I've tried to be so faithful. I've tried to walk it, talk it,
live it, and all it does is seem like getting me in trouble. You know what I've already been
through, and then Lord, you gonna allow them to exile me to an
old prison camp? Better hope John don't get the
pen again. Surely he'll unload on us the next time. But wait a minute, he got the
pen again. And when he did, guess what? Something like this. I was in
the spirit on the Lord's day. And it's still all about him. In spite of what he's been through. Nobody told you it's gonna be
easy. If they did, they lied to you.
You think deputation's hard, wait till you get to the field.
It's not gonna get any easier. Loneliness, and talking about
feeling like you're by yourself, it's coming, it's coming. Struggles, you're gonna have
them. But Tyson, maybe I shouldn't
discourage them. Maybe I should lie to you and
tell you, oh, it's just gonna be wonderful if you'll just stick
in there and you're gonna have it made. Everybody's gonna treat
you like royalty. Everybody's gonna love you and
wanna hear what you've got to say. Churches are not gonna forget
you. They're gonna communicate with
you regularly. Nobody's ever gonna drop you. I mean, maybe I should tell you
that, but I'd be lying to you. You're gonna get to the field,
especially those of you that go and stay. You're gonna get there
and you're gonna feel like there ain't nobody else trying to do
anything for God but you. It's coming. I don't know what to take, but
it's the truth. It's gonna get tough. And if it's gonna be all
about you, I'll tell you what's gonna happen. One of them pity
parties is gonna be the one that causes you to decide to throw
the towel in and go to the house. One of them, you're gonna do
that. But listen to me carefully. If you'll keep it all about Him,
and you keep your focus on Him, and get your eyes off of you,
I think you'll make it. The way the more we're losing
too many. And got nobody else to take their place. I don't
think it's just prayer baptist, Brother Brian. I don't think
it's just y'all. I ain't seeing nobody coming. Very, very few. Maybe we just need to focus on
strengthening the ones we still have. I still beg, please go
for God serving. Take the gospel somewhere. We
need some people to go. But I sure do want to try to
encourage them. It's gone. They've gone. Keep your focus on Him. Please. For Jesus' sake, for
your sake, for your people's sake, keep your focus on Him. That's not just for the missionary
on the foreign field. That's for Ridgeview Baptist
Church. Keep your focus on him. Amen. We can keep our focus,
make it all about him. How you do that, preacher? Well,
I'm done. 1201, I've gone past. Let me say this. You know what are you making
it all about? I can tell you. It's whatever you love the most. It's whatever you love the most.
I know where I'm at. I'm in East Tennessee. And it's
not football season right now, but if it was, we'd know about
it with some of you. You bleed orange. I know how
it is. I'm not against that, but you
love it so much. I don't know if that's somebody
here or not. Maybe I missed it. If it's not, if it's not Tennessee
football, it's usually something else. Just something you really,
it's your passion. I would start asking some of
you what it is, but I'm afraid to embarrass you. We've all got
it. We've got that, that we really.
Can I give you something of mine right quick? I've got another
grandbaby since I was here last time. I got 10 of them now, preacher. 10 of them. I love my grandbabies. Is that okay? I think, Brother O'Malley, I
might love them a little too much. Because you know what I'll do?
I'll make it all about them. Can't help it. That's what I
love. Missionary, church, if you love
Him more than anything else, you'll make it. You'll make it. Don't go into these churches
and try to convince them that you really love the Lord when
you're about everything else. You fall in love with Him. I
was asked one time by a sick, how do you fall in love with
somebody like that? How do you fall in love with Him? You've got to spend
time with Him. If you don't spend no time with
Him, you'll never love Him. like you should. Here's my question
for you. What's it all about this morning?
Some of you get way more excited over a church taking you on than
what the Lord's done for you. That's exciting. I understand.
I know how that is. But oh, help us. Don't make it
all about that. Father, we love you this morning.
Please, please help us, Lord, to love you more. I want to say, Lord, this morning,
I'm sorry for making it all about me, making it all about everything
else but you. Lord, if I only loved you more, I'd make it more about you. Have you in our hearts, Lord,
thank you for this meeting. Thank you for Brother Sexton
and these people. Lord, how they work so hard. Bless them, Lord,
I pray. Have you in our hearts, in Jesus'
name.
It's All About Him
| Sermon ID | 272517541928 |
| Duration | 38:57 |
| Date | |
| Category | Special Meeting |
| Language | English |
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