Hello, everyone. Some more food for thought from the Gospel of John. We've been talking about new beginnings and who was in the ultimate beginning before there was time and space and this planet or anything else that we know. Someone called the Word was there. The Word was with God and the Word was God. Well, I was looking at my next subjects here in John chapter one, and even though I'd love to say more about Jesus from those first 17 verses, gotta move along. A whole lot of the next part of chapter one is devoted to a person called John the Baptist, or John the Baptizer. And it's still about Jesus, but John's a unique man that was called to introduce him, announce him to others. to prepare people to follow Jesus. So it's going to be talking about Jesus through the words in the heart and the mind of John the Baptist. I'm going to start with a scripture reading that's actually in the prophet Isaiah. Two prophets particularly mentioned John the Baptist, Isaiah and Malachi. But Isaiah chapter 40, I'm going to read these first five verses. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, says your God. Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she has received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. The voice of one crying 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 or smooth. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it." You may have caught on at the very end there that this is used at Christmas time the glory of the Lord being revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. That's about Jesus coming to earth, his first coming. But prior to that, there's one called the voice of him that cries from the wilderness. That is our guest for consideration here now in the gospel of John. Let me go right on over to John's gospel, chapter one. I'm gonna repeat some words you've heard already, but I'm gonna go a little farther. John chapter 1 verse 1, 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, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. That's referring to Jesus. And the light shines in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. That's talking about how the world could not understand nor control, let alone appreciate, who Jesus was. But then John mentions in verse 6 through 8, there was a man sent from God whose name was John. Now I'm going to mention John the disciple who wrote this book and John the Baptist who this John is talking about. 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. Okay, so even as the coming of the Messiah was prophesied of old by Isaiah and Malachi, and of course other prophets, But so was a special messenger, also mentioned, one who would be a witness, one who would be an announcer, who would prepare people for Christ and his kingdom. Now, if we were studying Mark's gospel, right in the first verses, Mark gets right to the point. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and bam, the next thing he talks about is John the Baptist. And he cites prophecy about one coming voice in the wilderness, which we just read from Isaiah. Well, uh, this is how it looked to most of the world. Most people at that time, weren't keeping an account of someone who was born in Bethlehem in a manger and shepherds announcing that they don't have any of that in their minds. Mary does. Joseph does a few others do, but most of the world isn't. But all of a sudden, here comes this man out in the wilderness, a rugged man, in some ways rough and crude. He wasn't a scholar. He wasn't a priest. He was a hard preacher. And he's announcing that the Lord is coming with a kingdom, and we better repent. OK. Other references to keep in mind. Malachi chapter 3 and verse 1, Mark will mention prophets, and then he cites of Isaiah, and he cites Malachi 3.1. If you're making any notes, Isaiah 40 verses three through four, these are prophecies of John the Baptist, or more correctly, he's John the Baptizer. We have churches today that are called Baptist churches, and it's probably too long of a story for me today to explain why they're called Baptist. But I want to clarify one thing, is that John the Baptist did not, become the founder of those churches. He was not the one who established them. We are not named after John the Baptist, but we are like him. We are like him in this sense. He was a baptizer. He preached the Lord. He preached his kingdom. He preached his coming. In his case, the first coming was his concern. and that people should be prepared for it. You may be noticed there in Isaiah, the things that are high have to be brought down, the things that are low need to be brought up, and things that are rough and crooked need to be made straight and plain and flat. And this goes back to old times when a king would tour his kingdom, he would send out announcers to let them know when the king is coming. They were to have their roads in good repair. They didn't want to have to climb big, high, steep mountains or go down big descents or go into low valleys or go in crooked, bumpy things. They needed to fix their roads and make them suitable for a king. And of course, John, his ministry, this is going to be applied to the people, not a physical road, but that people, the highness of pride, the depravity, the low depravity of sin, crooked, uneven, unequal, unrighteous ways. Straighten those out. You know, bring down the pride and bring up the morality. You know, all of these things are implied here. John was getting people ready to meet Jesus Christ. And so we should resemble him. In that sense, we're preaching faith in Christ. We're preaching that people should repent. And we're not only announcing that Christ has come. We get to also mention he's coming again. But that's another story also I can't delve into. So basically I emphasize verses six through eight, there was a man sent from God whose name was John. So John the disciples writing about John the Baptist. And he came to point to the light. He himself was not the light. He himself was not the savior. John the disciple is going to bring them up several other times. I will be talking about John in the future, but I want to get us started now because a large portion is devoted here in chapter one, that we understand this man's ministry. Number one, it's another prediction come true. It's another verification Jesus truly is the Christ because all that was said about John, except they didn't name him John, all that was said about the announcer, the witness, The one in the wilderness, John the Baptist fulfilled that. It's another verification that the scriptures point to Jesus as the true Christ. So, and then secondly, all the things Jesus, all the things John said about Jesus are true. And he opens up our understanding about a lot of things. So let me, let me go on with that. I'm going to skip ahead, call it a teaser. or a spoiler, or whatever you want. But John chapter 5, which we will get to some other day, I want to read a few verses to show how powerfully important the ministry of John the Baptist is. So I go to John chapter 5, and I start with verse 30. Jesus says, I can of my own self do nothing. As I hear, I judge. and my judgment is just because i seek not my own will but the will of the father which has sent me okay jesus says this often that he he's not um establishing a self-seeking kingdom he's not establishing self-seeking purposes he's on a mission he was sent by the father and he's here to only relay the truth as it has been given to him now in verse 31 he brings up something that's It's an issue that is found in the law about establishing if somebody is telling the truth. So Jesus says in verse 31, if I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. So you can read this in the law, in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. If you're bringing someone to trial and you make an accusation, there better be two witnesses. And that will verify the truth. In one place, they said, you're bearing witness of yourself, and your witness isn't true. And he turns right around and says something just like this. There is another that bears witness of me. I know that the witness which he witnesses is true of me. You sent unto John, John the Baptist, and he bear witness unto the truth. Now, there's his first witness. Okay, that's human. Now, mind you, he's not like normal humans. He's one who was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb. That's a little bit unique and unusual. But he says in verse 34, John 5, 34, but I received not testimony from man, but these things I say that you might be saved. In other words, if you want to actually be delivered from the wrath to come, if you really want to be saved, then you need to listen to what John says. So he is an important witness, but I've got something better than John. I've got a second witness. He says this, he, John, was a burning and a shining light, and you were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. He's falling into disfavor, but that's another story. Jesus goes on to say in verse 36, but I have greater witness than that of John. For the works which the Father has given me to finish, the same works that I do bear witness of me that the Father has sent me. He's doing miracles. He's doing righteous things. He's not sinning. And he is doing very good things. And he's doing miraculous things. And the scriptures foretold this, as Jesus is going to explain here. The Father, verse 37, himself, which has sent me, has borne witness of me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And you have not his word abiding in you. For whom he has sent, you believe not." Now, let me start explaining, because the next verse I'm about to read has often been misused. The Father is not just bearing witness by the fact he does miracles. We have people all the time trying to prove that they're the real deal because they can do miracles, but It's more than that he just did miracles. He is doing exactly what was predicted, prophesied of him. The father establishes in the word of God. Jesus says, you haven't seen him. You haven't heard his voice. What you need is to have his word in your heart. Now, these are people who thought they were experts at the law. They thought that they were the masters and the teachers and the rulers over everybody else. But Jesus is saying something pretty powerful here. You don't have his word abiding in you. And one reason I know that is you're not recognizing what was said of him and how it points to me. You don't get it. Now here's the tough scripture, verse 39. Jesus says, search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. Now, if you're really interested in this conversation, you get back to John chapter 5 and keep reading. It gets hot. It gets very interesting. But I'm stopping here for the sake of this matter of the witness that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Number one, there's a man sent from God, a God, excuse me, a man that God talked about in Isaiah and Malachi. And he comes and he verifies this is the Christ. But better than that, the Father himself talked of him in the Old Testament scriptures. And I am fulfilling those scriptures, and you need to connect the dots. But the problem is you don't read your Bibles right. You can quote scripture, and you try to keep some of it, but you've added to it, you've taken from it, and who knows what else. This verse, search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life. That's great, because by reading the Bible, you can establish to yourself that you are a child of God, you're a follower of Jesus. There's evidences from the scriptures, promises and instructions and evidences, and you need to work on that. But to the Pharisees, he isn't just giving them the encouragement to read their Bible so that they can know that they love the Lord, because right now he knows they don't. What he's saying is, you guys think you know the scriptures? You need to go back and search them some more. You think you have eternal life, emphasis mine, You think you have eternal life. However, these scriptures are talking about me and not all the rituals and forms and rules and regulations that you dwell in. Okay. Powerful thought. It'll be talked about at a later time when we officially get to the fifth chapter of John. But let me just say a few things about John the Baptist. John the Baptist was carefully prepared to be one who would point people to Jesus. Carefully prepared. He told the truth about who Jesus is and called people to repent of their sin and believe on Jesus, the Son of God. He called for commitment and a public confession of their faith by baptizing those who believed. Now in Jewish minds, John's baptism was a washing, it was a ritual, it was a rite. And they would identify that they're coming to the Lord in repentance and wanting their lives changed and it was a sort of a washing thing. But this act actually becomes the ordinance by which we identify with Jesus. Now you know Jesus got baptized by John and Jesus didn't have any sin. So no sins are being washed away here. But as people identified with the Messiah in that act of baptism, so Jesus identified with them. They who said, I repent and I'm waiting for the Messiah, he identified with them. So he got baptized too. So this became a way of publicly confessing your faith in the Messiah. And that's what I believe it is today just as well. But he emphasized not only Christ's work of being our savior and taking away our sin, but he also emphasize that Christ is our Lord and he's here to establish his kingdom. So there's more than just saying, oh, I'm getting my sins washed away. I'm getting forgiven. I'm going to be okay. No, it's also the initiation to bring us into an active kingdom in which we're going to follow and serve the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Now, one more little tidbit from John's Gospels in chapter 10, verse 41. The debate is getting harder and harder as the gospel of John proceeds about who is Jesus? Should we follow him? The Pharisees don't approve of him. The Sadducees don't approve of him. Well, it says here in John 10 41, and many resorted unto him and said, John did no miracle, but all things that John spake of this man were true. Now that is a great statement. A statement I hope that is true. of us today. We don't have to do miracles to prove that Jesus is the Christ. We don't have to do supernatural things to dazzle people and convince them that our gospel is the true gospel. The power of a changed life is enough, but that we speak the truth about Jesus. John never did miracles. He didn't need them, but he told the truth about Jesus. And that made many wanna resort to Jesus Christ. That's what it says in verse 42. And many believed on him there by what John said. Okay, so we wanna ask, where do we fit in with this message? Well, here's some questions. Have you repented of your sin? Have you believed on the only begotten Son of God? You put your faith on him? In repentance, you're changing your mind about your agenda, your righteousness, your direction with your life. You're saying, I need to follow Jesus. And it's only Jesus that can change us. But the change of mind goes along with the change of heart in which we not only turn from sin and turn from the world, but we must turn to Jesus Christ. Second question, do you trust what Christ did on the cross? Do you trust that he paid for your sins and that his payment satisfied the father's righteous demands. If you don't believe that, then how can you know you're a child of God? How can you know you're going to heaven? Some people don't think you can know, but Jesus came to give us assurance. And we've got to believe that this was God's way all along and not follow some system of works and of ritual. Okay. Third question. Have you also surrendered to his authority and kingdom? Are you following Christ and serving in his kingdom? It's not enough to say, oh, I believe in Jesus. And I believe he did this, this, and this in the past. And he's a historical figure. And I believe he rose from the dead. And someday I'll meet him. And that'll be nice. And meanwhile, life is mine. And every now and then, I'll just ask Jesus to help me have a nice life. No. not only believers in Christ, we must be followers of Christ. And he comes with authority and he comes to get a job done and he wants to use you and me. So have you confessed your faith in Christ to others? Are you reaching out? Have you followed the Lord's example and his ordinance of baptism? I can't explain that deeply right now, but it's Every place I read in the Bible, baptism was for people who believed. They heard the gospel, they understood it, they repented, they believed, and then they were baptized. It was not something you do to an infant to somehow prepare them or get them safe in the kingdom through that water baptism. If you have questions, contact me. I'll be getting information out in a while on how to do that. But have you followed the Lord's example? He was baptized. Have you followed his ordinance that he commanded to be baptized and show your faith to others? And not just by baptism, but are you reaching out to others and calling them to faith, calling them to believe, calling them to repent from sin like John did? These are the things we want to gain, the verification of who Jesus is and a good pattern of some of the things we need to be doing today, calling on others to know the Lord and to follow him. Well, I'd love to say more, but an old clock's just a-rolling here. Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for what you've given us. Thank you for the truth as it is in Jesus. Thank you for the faithful witness of John. And thank you that the scriptures document all of this in the Old Testament, that these things were no accidents, no coincidence. They're part of your plan. And we'll pay attention to you, Father. You'll show us who Jesus is and what he means to us, as well as what he means to you. Teach us and guide us to search the scriptures today, to get our confidence and our sense of direction from them as we learn of Jesus. We ask it in his name. Amen. Thank you very much.