I'd like to speak this morning upon the subject of our testimony. The question was asked of John in the verse 22, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. I think of the scriptures elsewhere that tell us that we are to be ready and prepared to give an answer to any man that asks, who are we? Who are you? And what are you doing? And why are you doing it? I'm going to come and answer those questions in a moment or two, but we're going to seek the Lord in prayer for the preaching of his word. Our Father in heaven, we ask that thou would bless thy word to our hearts as we have read it and now as we come to meditate and study upon it. Give help in the preaching and in the hearing of it, that we might do all things that bring glory and honour to thine name. And when the question is asked of us, who are we? Oh, that we might give testimony to the saving and to the keeping forward of the Lord Jesus Christ, who asked these things in his precious name. Amen. Back home, at times, in certain seasons, we would have what's sometimes called a testimony meeting. I'm not sure if it's something that you're familiar with here in Tasmania. Those that were in attendance, as the Lord would leave them, would maybe give a word of testimony, tell how the Lord had saved them, something about their life beforehand, how the Lord converted them, and how He's been with them ever since. And we would have testimony meetings. Somewhere along the way, in my years growing up within the church, I came to think or to believe that a good testimony had to be a kind of rags-to-riches story. In other words, it usually began with a prior life of wildness and wickedness that would be followed by a rock-bottom moment which led to a Damascus Road experience where the sinner would see the light and be converted. And in my mind, a good testimony had to have that 18-rated beginning and a Disney-rated ending, and the organ music playing just as I am somewhere in the background. Now we are thankful that God's grace is great enough to make those kinds of stories true, but they are not the only good testimonies. I remember one particularly poignant testimony that I heard. It came from a young girl that I knew. She gave her testimony as this. She said, I grew up in a home where both my father and my mother knew and loved the Lord. And I suppose I can hardly remember a time when I didn't love him too. What a wonderful testimony. Learning here in this Gospel of John, we find a reference to the ministry of John the Baptist. He's described as a man sent from God. His role was to bear witness to the light and to the life that's found in Jesus Christ. Now that the prologue is finished, the opening verses, the actual narrative begins, and it begins with the record of what John the Baptist had to say about the Lord Jesus Christ. And before we actually come to meet the figure of our Saviour later in the chapter, we're told something of the testimony of John. And what we find in this text is that the testimony of John the Baptist is a good one, not because of what he has to say about himself or about his own life, because he says very little about that. His testimony is good because of what he says about the Savior. Now what about you? What is your testimony? If you were asked to tell your own spiritual story, what would you say? Well, there are three questions that I want to pose to you this morning as we look over this passage before us, and to see how John the Baptist answered the questions in his day. And as we work our way through the text, I hope they will enable us to understand just what a good testimony really sounds like. The first thing that we notice is this, what we say about ourselves. Let me say about ourselves. Some time before the Lord Jesus left the carpenter shop in Galilee, John the Baptist had started preaching a new and powerful kind of message out in the countryside, just across from the Jordan River, outside of the city of Jerusalem. And even though John is literally out in the desert, in the wilderness preaching, People are beginning to flock to hear him. They're coming out of the nearby towns and villages. Indeed, they're coming from the city of Jerusalem itself. They're coming to hear the preaching of John. And this has put John on the radar of the religious leaders in Jerusalem. And in verse 19, We're told that the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are you? They've sent a delegation to find out who is this fellow that's creating such a buzz throughout all of Israel. And their question to John is very simple, who are you? Who are you? John's answer was clear and correct. Because he gives this word of testimony, who are you? He says in verse 20, he confessed and denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ. I am not the Christ. Immediately, and emphatically, John tells these men, I am not the Christ. I am not the Messiah. I am not the one that Israel has been looking for, for hundreds of years. And John reminds us of a very powerful lesson here, and it goes something like this, there is a God, and you're not him. And when we come to testify, to tell others about this spiritual life that we have experienced, we perhaps have to remind them, I am not the saviour. I am not the Lord. I am not the one that has the ability to redeem. We're not perfect enough to save anyone, and we're not powerful enough to help anyone. And if it were not for the grace of God that we have experienced in our own lives, we would be as spiritually dead as the rest. John begins by pointing out, I am not the Christ. Sometimes when we tell people that we're Christians, they have a certain expectation of who we are and what we are and what they expect from us. There's a little poem that goes something like this, when I say I'm a Christian, I'm not shouting I've been saved, I'm whispering that I was lost. When I say that I'm a Christian, I don't speak with human pride. I'm confessing that I stumble, needing God to be my guide. When I say that I'm a Christian, I'm not trying to be strong. I'm professing that I'm weak and need God's strength to carry on. When I say that I'm a Christian, I'm not bragging of success. I am admitting that I feel and cannot ever pay my debt. When I say that I am a Christian, I am not saying I know it all. I submit to my confusion, asking humbly to be taught. When I say I am a Christian, I am not claiming to be perfect. My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it. We say that we are Christians. We're telling the world around us of our need of a Saviour too. We can't save those around us. We can't lift and carry them to the cross and open their eyes that they might see Him who hung upon them. So the delegation came and asked John, who are you? He said, I'm not the Christ. I'm not the Saviour. I can't redeem you myself. Well then, they said, verse 21, are you Esaias? Elias? Are you Elijah? Are you that prophet of whom Moses spake? And to both of those questions, John's answer was simply, no I'm not. No I'm not. John's testimony reminds us not only that are we not God, but perhaps we're not even what other people expect us to be either. John didn't sit into one of these neat little categories that these religious leaders wanted him to. They said he had to be one of these three things, but he says I'm not any of them. I am with God's mainly. What do we say about ourselves? We can think of the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 and 10. He says, by the grace of God I am what I am. I am what God has made me. John Newton is famed for saying, I am not what I ought to be. And I am not what I want to be. And I am not what I will be in a world yet to come. But still I am not what I used to be. And by the grace of God I am what I am. John's testimony about himself ought to be our testimony about ourselves. In and of myself I am nothing. Nothing special, nothing wonderful, nothing different than anyone else. I am what I am because of what God's grace has done. Those religious leaders were not satisfied with these answers. They weren't content with knowing who he wasn't. They ask again, verse 22, Who art thou that we may give an answer to them that sent us? What sayest thou of thyself? You told us what you are not, now tell us what you are. And John's answer is this, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah. John is referring back to Isaiah 40. Describes there again just a picture of one who goes before the king to make sure that the roads and the paths are clear for his arrival. This was his unique calling in the kingdom of God to make ready the way for the Messiah. Now while none of us have exactly the same ministry as John the Baptist, we are yet uniquely gifted and called of God for a similar purpose for the service of our King. And it doesn't matter whether you're a preacher or a plumber or a stay-at-home mum or whatever it might be, we are to be path-makers and bridge-builders and sign-pointers for the Lord. Our lives, whatever they might be, ought to be pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ. The world asks us who we are. We can say we're no one special, but we know somebody special. And our lives are lived out to glorify and to make way for King Jesus. That is our duty. We're just a voice crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord. So it's interesting what John has to say about himself. And it's interesting what he has to say about his service. See, what has originally drawn the attention of these religious leaders is not just the numbers of people that are coming to hear John preach, but that they're heeding his message. They are being baptised. John was baptising left, right and centre. Now, the Jews were familiar with baptism. It was usually reserved for someone who converted to Judaism. It was a ritual washing that was expected of them. But these are natural born Jews being baptised and this was highly unusual. And so they ask in verse 25, Why baptisest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?" If you're not one of these major figures, why are you engaged in this very serious work of baptism? In other words, they're asking, why are you doing what you're doing? That's a great question for us to ask. Why do we do what we do for the glory of God? Why do we work? Why do we labour? Why do we serve the Lord? Why do we preach His Gospel? Why do we share the Gospel with those around us? Why do we do it? Do we recognise the privilege of serving the Lord? Now we can picture the scene, the people that were lined up all around John, perhaps some of them still wet from their own baptism. Here's an opportunity for John to promote his own success, but notice how he responds. He says, I baptise with water, for there standeth one among you whom ye know not. He it is who cometh after me is preferred before me, whose shoes latcheth. I am not worthy to unwish." And rather than pointing to his own baptism statistics and pointing to those that have come and been baptised as he has preached, he's not worried about the numbers that have come, he's not counting heads. He's saying what I'm doing is not really about me at all. He says, there's one in your midst that you don't even recognise, that you should be paying more attention to than to me. And John speaks of his relationship to the Lord Jesus. He says, I'm not even worthy to unlatch a tissue In that day, when a person became a student of a teacher or a great rabbi, they had to do everything for them that a slave would have had to do, with one exception, taking off their shoes. That was considered to be beneath them. John is saying, I'm here baptizing because of the one who is coming, one that I am not even worthy to be his slave. It's a very sad thing when people serve the Lord and His church and they act as if they're doing both of them a favour. They strut around as if their presence ought to be noted and they talk about the great sacrifices that they have made and the great things that they are doing. Well, in reality, at the end of it all, what are we but unprofitable servants unto the Lord? And even if we were to pour our whole lives out in service for the Lord Jesus Christ, listen, it's a privilege to do so. It's not a sacrifice. The great missionary David Livingstone, his life was spent in opening up the continent of Africa for the Gospel, once talked about the life that he lived, and listen to what he had to say. People talk of the sacrifice that I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. I say emphatically, it was no sacrifice. Say rather, it is a privilege. It's a privilege to serve Christ. That's how John is expressing his work. It's not about me, you see. I'm not the important. The one who is important, I'm not even worthy to unloose his shoes. And so these religious leaders that are asking John why he was baptising, though their question is in verse 25, the answer doesn't really come until verse 31. but that he should be made manifest of Israel, therefore am I come baptising with water." John saying that I do what I do so that the people around me will see the Messiah for who he is. He wanted to baptise those Jews around him, preparing them for the appearing of the Messiah, for the inauguration of his kingdom. These religious leaders have come out to see John. He's the big name in town at the moment, but John doesn't care about his own publicity. He's not interested in getting his name in the papers. He's not looking for the applause of the other preachers in town. The purpose of his ministry is to prepare the people and to point them to the Messiah who is coming. He wants them to see Jesus the Saviour, not John the Baptist. What is the motivation behind our service? Is it that someone will pat us on the back and say, well done? That we get a little bit of attention so that we can feel better about ourselves and our lives? Is it so that our agenda can be promoted and we get our own way within the church? Not everything that's done in Jesus' name is really about the secret. Not all service that is rendered is really service at all. Sometimes it's nothing more than selfishness. Just to be seen and to be heard and to be recognized. Paul reminds us that such service will just be kindling for the fires of God's judgment. When we look at the testimony of John here, it's not just what he has to say about himself, who he is and who he isn't, and about his service, which isn't really about promoting John the Baptist ministries, but pointing to the One, the Messiah, who's coming. Really, it's all to do with the Savior. Three times in our text we are told about the record or the testimony that John gave about the Saviour. Yes, John baptised and he preached, but his real testimony consists in the things that he says about the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, one of the greatest statements about the ministry of John the Baptist came after his death. If you turn forward a few pages in your Bible to John chapter 10, verse 41. Now we'll read verse 40 just for the context. They went away again beyond Jordan, into the place where John at first baptized, and there he abode. And many resorted unto him and said, John did no miracle, but all things that John spake of this man were true." What a wonderful testimony. All things that John spake of this man, the Lord Jesus, were true. He is the important aspect of our testimony. It's not about how bad we were before we were converted, or how busy we have been after we've been converted. The important part of our testimony is what we have to say about the Lord Jesus Christ. O that it might be said of us, as was said of John, all things that they spake about him were true. We must have a consistent testimony. You read through that first chapter of John's Gospel, there are some phrases that are spoken of by John the Baptist in regard to Jesus that are very important. Verse 15 for instance, John bore witness of him and cried, saying, This is he of whom I speak. He that cometh after me is preferred before me, for he was before me. Verse 27, he it is who coming after me is preferred before me. Verse 30, this is he of whom I said, after me cometh a man which is preferred before me, for he was before me. Every time that John spoke of Jesus, his message was the same. He has a consistent testimony. Jesus is more important than me. You'll never find John saying anything that indicates that he puts himself before the saint. In John's mind, Jesus must be increasing and John must be decreasing. We've met Christians through the years whose testimonies have not been as consistent as John the Baptist. One day when you meet them, Their conversation is all of Jesus. They want to talk about him. They're filled with praise for him and they're interested in telling you just how wonderful a saviour he has been to them. Then a little down the line you speak. It's less about Jesus and more about them. The things that they're doing. The work that they are engaged in. How sad it is when the name of the Saviour all but drops from our conversation. How tragic it is when we talk about everything and everyone else except Him, but not John. Every time that we read of the testimony of John, He speaks of Him who is preferred before Him. Because He is before me. He must increase, I must decrease. He had a consistent testimony. He also had a testimony that brought about conviction. Testimony that John gave concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. There's a legal urge to all of this talk of witness and testimony and record. There are legal terms there, the words that are given to describe those that bear testimony in a court of law. John, as a witness, has been sent by God to give a heartfelt and honest testimony concerning the future. And so John testifies about the role of the Lord Jesus Christ. There in verse 29, The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. Many of the Jews were looking for a political messiah, one that would lead them in rebellion and revolt against the powers of Rome. That, however, was not the testimony that John gave concerning the siege. John says he is the Lamb, the sacrificial offering of God sent to take away the sins of the world. And John reminds us that whatever else we have to tell the world about the Lord Jesus Christ, we must first proclaim to them, He is the Lamb of God. He is the sacrifice crucified upon the cross for the sins of men. Jesus the Teacher is not enough. Jesus the Friend is not enough. Jesus, the example, is not enough. The deep conviction, let our testimony be that of John, Jesus, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. No salvation found anywhere else but in him. So John speaks about the role of the seat And the reality of his testimony is borne out in verse 31. There's something critical here, we can't afford to miss it. John said, and I knew him not. I knew him not. But that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptising with water. I knew him not. Look at verse 33. And I knew him not, but he that sent me to baptize with water, that's God of course, the same said unto me, upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. Do you see that? Not even John always knew who the Messiah was. He knew he was coming and he was appointed by God to prepare the hearts of the people that through repentance and turning from their sins that they might be made ready for the arrival of the Messiah. But John didn't know who it was and wouldn't know. Until the day that Jesus was baptized, and the Father spake from heaven, and the Spirit, like a dog, descended upon the Saviour, and rested upon him, and then John knew, upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same as he which baptized with the Holy Ghost." And after that revelation of who Jesus was, John says in verse 34, And I saw and bear record that this is the Son of God. John's testimony comes from a sure and certain heart, because there was a time in his experience that he was convinced by God that Jesus was the Son of God, the Lamb of God, who was preferred before him. Being convinced of such, he preached Christ. And his life and his testimony is not about who he was or what he was doing. It's about the one thing with Stephen. Let me ask you about your testimony this morning. Let me ask you firstly, do you have it? Have you that day in your life, that experience, that moment when the light of heaven broke in and shined upon your soul? And you realize perhaps for the first time just who Jesus of Nazareth truly is. The Lamb of God sent to bear away the sin of the world. John said, I saw on bare record. He says, this is my testimony. This is where I stand, this is my belief, this is what I preach, this is what I tell others. Jesus is the Saviour. Is that your testimony? That your hope for eternity is bound up in the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ? Can you say that without Him I have no hope? No heaven. Is that our testimony? That it's not what these hands have done? It's not what work we have rendered. It's not what good deeds we have sought to attain. It's all about Jesus. Is that our testimony? The songwriter said, I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus. Since I found in him a friend so strong and true, I will tell you how he changed my life completely. He did something that no other friend could do. Have you been transformed by the Lord Jesus Christ? Your sins removed from you, and his righteousness given to you? Is that your testimony? It's not about me. It's all about Him. This is my prayer. Father in heaven, we ask that thou would please grant to us a testimony to the saving and to the keeping power of the Lord Jesus Christ. That we might realise that it's not what we have done or what we can do that can ever save us. And only that the Lord Jesus Christ should be that lamb slain from the foundation of the world for the sins of his people. Oh, that we might give that ready answer to all that ask of us, the reason of the hope that lies within us. Oh, that we might not point them to a church or point them to a sacrament, or to some rite or ritual that we've gone through. Oh, that we might ever point them to the Lamb of God which has taken away the sin of the world. Oh, that our lives might be like John's, and point to the Saviour. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.