Carefully Considered

if God’s people would take your
Bibles and turn to John chapter 10, once again, John chapter
10. For some weeks now, we have been
considering John chapter 10, the opening portion of that verse
we’re familiar with, that just incredible image that Jesus put
forth, the metaphor, the lengthy story that he told regarding
shepherds and sheep. I referred to it as a day in
the life of a sheep where Christ would go in and take out his
sheep and his sheep knew his name. But there were also other
shepherds and we noticed them as well. They were
poor shepherds and part of the reason for this analogy, the
story that Jesus tells, is really to indict those false shepherds. Well, they find themselves indicted
midway through John chapter 10. We found in verse 19 that quite
a stir was created by that analogy. They knew that they were in the
crosshairs of Christ’s indictment. They knew that they were The
suggestion was that they were false shepherds. And so there
was a great division. Some thought that Jesus was possessed
by the devil. Some thought that he was innocent
and speaking truth. At the least, there was division.
And so they come to Christ and in verse 24, they basically tell
him Let us in on the secret. Are you the Christ? Are you the
Messiah or are you not? Well, Jesus simply refers back
to his works, the deeds that he had done, the miracles that
he had performed, even his character. Jesus tells them first and foremost
in verses 25 through 30, that his works, the miracles that
he performed, were a representation of the Father, that he was there
on his behalf, and they were a testimony to all who witnessed
them. In verses 31 through 36, Jesus
again brings up the subject of his works and says to them that
his works come from the Father, and they come in great measure. John says he couldn’t even record
them all. They come in great measure and
they are inherently good. Jesus even goes so far as to
say, for which of these miracles that I performed, healing a blind
man, raising a crippled man, feeding 5,000 hungry people,
which one of those miracles is cause for you to hate me? Why would you want to stone me
for doing something that is inherently good? He poses a third position
to them. Not only do the works represent
the Father, oriented from the Father, Jesus says in verses
37 through 38, Jesus’ works are of the Father. They are from
the Father for the very purpose of engendering faith. They were
given for the purpose of stirring the hearts of the unbelieving,
to notice that something miraculous was taking place in their midst,
to stir their hearts, to placing their faith in Christ. Jesus
said it this way, if I do not do the works of my Father, do
not believe me. But if I do them, Though you
do not believe me, believe the works. Start there. Start with
the works and lead up to me if you don’t believe me. The works that Christ did are
in full view here in this passage. The passage is not yet complete.
The chapter is not yet complete. And you would think that just
by reviewing those that Jesus works, Jesus miracles had really
fallen on an entire society of blind, spiritually blind, but
not all. There were those that beheld
the works that Christ did and did come to faith. That’s what
verses 40, through 42 tell us. Just briefly this morning, three
verses. And he went away again beyond
the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing and
he was staying there. Many came to him and were saying, While John performed no sign,
yet everything John said about this man was true. Many believed
in him there. It’s a pretty simple passage,
pretty simple to outline, almost too simple. The place, the testimony,
and the result. This is Sermon writing 101 you
get a passage like this And you say the place Really? Are we really gonna spend 10
to 15 minutes talking about where Jesus stayed for a period of
time? More coffee, right and then the
testimony What did John say about Jesus well, we know that John
is Did say a lot about Jesus. We’ve seen some of those words
But it’s important to note before we even get charged up Where
he said what he said Because the Apostle John here points
out That a certain group of people in a certain area heard a certain
set of things about Jesus and And as they watched, and as they
witnessed Christ in his everyday life, they came to believe. Not just some of the things about
him, but everything about which John the Baptist had declared
to them, they beheld it, they reviewed it, they molded over,
they considered it, and they believed. They placed their faith
in Christ. And so it’s crucial insofar as
we’re able to find out what John said when he was in this particular
spot so that we can know what was it that led this group of
people to believe in Jesus. So first, let’s go back to the
place. We have a few clues here. John
was baptizing, John the Baptist was baptizing, and that helps
to narrow down the possibilities some. After all, if he’s going
to baptize, he needs water for that job. And it turns out that
John the Baptist was quite in the habit of baptizing. Even
if we look at the simple testimony of Scripture, it provided this
man, John, with one of the Best-known nicknames in all of scripture
right all of history John the Baptist and so we We want to
look for where this ministry of baptism began And we’ve come
across even several such Occasions in this gospel John’s gospel
where John the Baptist was baptizing Turn if you would to John chapter
3 In John chapter 3, John is baptizing and he says some amazing
things about Christ. This is certainly a good place
to start for John the Baptist ministry. In John chapter 3,
look all the way down at verse 27, where he begins to compare
Jesus with himself, does John the Baptist. And he says, first
of all, his calling is greater. Verse 27, a man can receive nothing
unless it has been given him from heaven. You yourselves are
my witnesses that I said, I am not the Christ, but I’ve been
sent ahead of him. Not only is his calling greater,
his status is greater. Verse 29, he who has the bride
is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom who stands
and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice,
so this joy of mine has been made full. John the Baptist says,
look, I’m just the bridegroom. I mean, I’m just the best man,
if you will. I’m not the bridegroom. Jesus
Christ is the bridegroom. His status is greater than mine. Not only is his calling greater
and his status greater, but his destiny is greater. Look at verse
30. He must increase, but I must
decrease. Jesus Christ in his coming will
only grow and grow in his renown, in his notoriety, In his status,
Jesus Christ will grow and John will slowly recede into the background. Not only is this comparison that
John gives an interesting piece of data, but then he says that
he is from above and he is above all. That’s a pretty important
testimony for John the Baptist to provide. Look at verse 31.
He who comes from above, that is from heaven, is above all. He who is of the earth is from
the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above
all. In other words, he now distinguishes
himself from John the Baptist based on their orientation point. He says, look, I’m of the earth.
I was born here on earth. I am of the earth. I will die
and return to the earth. But Jesus Christ is very different.
Jesus Christ was from heaven. He also talks about his divine
testimony in verses 32 through 34. He tells about his divine
sovereignty in verse 35. The father loves the son and
has given all things into his hand. Powerful testimony. That he offers forth eternal
life. That’s all incredible testimony
of John the Baptist. Great things to consider about
Christ. There’s only one problem. Look
back at verse 23. In verse 23, it says, John was
also baptizing in Enon near Salem. Remember when I told you how
important this place was going to be? This isn’t just a simple
outliner. We can’t just breeze past it. Herein lies the problem. Enon near Salem is more than
20 miles away from the area where the Apostle John in John chapter
10 verse 40 says that Jesus came and stayed. That’s 20 miles away. And you could say that John is
just speaking generally. John records in verse 40, he
went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first
baptizing. And that presents an entirely
different scene. John the Baptist was not just
baptizing, but he was baptizing where he started his ministry
of baptism. And you know, the honest truth
is we could turn to any one of the four gospels, all four gospels
record the start of John the Baptist’s ministry. But as we’ve
already considered John chapter one, please turn to Matthew’s
very complete account of this occasion, Matthew chapter 3. We’ve identified the place. John says in chapter 10 verse
40, he went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where
John was first baptizing. He was staying there. That’s
exactly the place that Matthew points to. We’re still working
on point one of our short, simple little outline. The place. If you’re in Matthew chapter
three, look at the very first verse. Now, in those days, John
came preaching in the wilderness of Judea. It’s a different way
of identifying the same exact place where Christ came. Mark
refers to this area as the wilderness. and all the country of Judea
was going out to him. It was kind of a central place.
And they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River. So Mark says basically that John
first started in and around the wilderness area near the Jordan
River. Luke just refers to it as the
district around the Jordan. John’s gospel says that the area
was Bethany beyond the Jordan. All of those descriptives point
to the same basic area. All four gospels are locating
John the Baptist in that same general area, a wilderness near
the Jordan River just north of the Dead Sea. So that’s the place. And it’s
important because Jesus now is there again. And the Apostle
John refers back to the words that John the Baptist declared
to those people, the people in that area on this initial occasion
of his ministry. This is the place. What were
the words? Or according to our outline,
what was the testimony? What did John the Baptist say? What did he proclaim to these
people on that occasion? Because these are the people
that made note that everything that John the Baptist told them
was true. What did he say? What was the
testimony? Look at Matthew chapter three.
Now in those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness
of Judea saying, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
For the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, the
voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight. Now John himself had a garment
of camel’s hair and had a leather belt around his waist. and his
food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem was going out
to him and all Judea and all the districts around the Jordan,
and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as
they confessed their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees
and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, You brood of
vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore,
bear fruit in keeping with repentance and do not suppose that you can
say to yourselves we have Abraham for our father for I say to you
that from these stones God is able to raise up children to
Abraham the axe is already laid at the foot of the trees therefore
every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown
into the fire as for me I baptize you with water for repentance,
but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am
not fit to remove his sandals. He will baptize you with the
Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his
hand, and he will thoroughly clear his threshing floor. He
will gather his wheat into the barn. He will burn up the chaff
with unquenchable fire. Those are the words. That’s the
testimony. And what we have in those words
is a validation that those words were absolutely true. The believers
in that area believed because of those words. They came to
see that because of Jesus’ works, those, and I will suggest to
you four specific things. Those four specific elements
of John’s testimony of Christ were absolutely true, and it
led them to faith. Now, since I’ve already introduced
point one, point two, and point three, let me switch my outline
up a little bit, embedding this under the heading of testimony,
part A. What was the first element of
Jesus Testimony, the first element of John’s testimony that these
believers discovered as being true. Part A is that Jesus Christ
was absolutely confirmed to be the sovereign Lord of prophecy. Look at the passage. Matthew says, in those days,
John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea saying,
repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is the one. This is the one referred to by
Isaiah the prophet. Let me tell you about Isaiah
chapter 40 from which this verse is taken. We all have our favorite
books of scripture. We all have our favorite, you
know, chapters of our favorite books. Almost everybody universally
loves Romans 8, right? I think we spent seven months
in Romans 8. drank in Romans 8, and chewed
on Romans 8, and enjoyed the precious truths of Romans 8,
there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
This, Isaiah chapter 40, is the Romans 8 of the Jewish world.
This is the great encouragement. If you would turn, turn to Isaiah
chapter 40. We won’t be there long. Turn
to Isaiah chapter 40. It will even remind you of the
sentiment that is communicated throughout Romans 8. This is
the Jewish nation’s Romans 8. Isaiah chapter 40. Comfort, O
comfort my people, says your God. speak kindly to Jerusalem
and call out to her that her warfare is ended. There is therefore
now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. That
her iniquity has been removed that she has received of the
Lord’s hand double for all her sins. His voice, verse 3, is
calling, clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness. Make
smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Let every valley
be lifted up and every mountain and hill be made low. Let the
rough ground become a plain and the rugged terrain a broad valley.
Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all flesh will
see it together for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. That’s
the same passage. That’s the passage John the Baptist
quotes, he says, I am here. I am that guy preaching in the
wilderness here to prepare the way of the Lord, the sovereign
Lord of prophecy. He goes on to give a series of
messages. We’re not going to spend the
time, take the time that it would take to go to each passage and
look, but the first message He basically talks about the eternality
of God’s Word and the frailty of human flesh. What a desperate
need there is for a living Word of God. Then he tells us in the
second part of that in verses 9-11 of a previously unknown
figure, a shepherding ruler. Get yourself up on a high mountain,
O Zion, bearer of good news. Lift up your voice mightily,
O Jerusalem, bearer of good news. Lift it up. Do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, here
is your God. Behold, the Lord God will come
with might, His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with
Him, His recompense before Him. Like a shepherd, He will tend
His flock. In His arm, He will gather His
lambs and carry them in His bosom. He will gently lead the nursing
youth.” Well, as you know, Isaiah is just getting started. He tells
them about the God of peace. He tells them of this contrast
of idols in his third message, verse 18. And then he concludes
with that Familiar and well-known and often misapplied passage.
It’s the strength of the Lord. Do you not know, verse 28, have
you not heard the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of
the ends of the earth? does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary
and him who lacks power, he increases power. Though youths grow weary
and tired and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those
who wait for the Lord will gain new strength. They will mount
up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired.
They will walk and not become weary. This is the message of
hope. This is the Romans 8 of not just
Isaiah, this is the Romans 8 of the entire Old Testament. And
any Jew, any Jew who really knew His Word would know that what
John the Baptist was proclaiming there was absolutely profound.
that he was the forerunner. He was the one that was going
to come into the wilderness. He was the one that was going
to come say, prepare the way of the Lord. And that’s his message. In John’s gospel, John the Baptist
even proclaims this about himself. He says, I am that guy. I am
the one whom God has sent to be the forerunner of the Messiah. I’m the voice calling in the
wilderness. And here, the imagery is so simple.
I’m the voice of the one crying in the wilderness. He’s not the
one in focus. John the Baptist isn’t putting himself forward
as the one who is in focus. He’s there merely to call out,
to cry out, to make the way ready. It’s a simple illustration. In
those days, the king traveled by transport, wagon if you will,
chariot. And it could be a bumpy ride
for the king and the king didn’t care for that much. And so the
imagery was that of going before the king to level out those potholes
and straighten out and to smooth the road, to take the large stones
out of the path so that the ride was smooth. It’s an image that
he brings. An image of preparing and readying
ourself for this guest of honor, whom he calls Lord. Make straight the way of the
Lord. Now in Isaiah, there were probably
a lot of Jews. that took this very generally
to mean that we should be we should get ready for the the
way the path of God. But the application of it in
the New Testament points clearly to the Lord Jesus Christ. The
Lord means that he is the owner, the possessor of all things. He is the master of everything. He is the sovereign ruler over
all. He is the Lord. You know that
that Title is used of Christ. It’s used in the New Testament
more than 700 times. It’s common for us. But it’s
still being introduced. It’s still being taken in by
those that were listening to John the Baptist. Make ready
the way of the Lord. And you are the man, you are
the one who is here in the wilderness proclaiming the readiness of
the Lord himself. It had to be gripping, astounding. It had to be shocking to those
that were listening that you’re telling me that the Messiah is
here? That’s exactly what John was
proclaiming. That word Lord, this is the first
time that it occurs in John’s gospel is in this particular
context. Same verse, same quotation, I’m
a voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the
way of the Lord. But John’s gospel, as you know,
as it unfolds, it was used of the apostle John referring to
Christ. In chapter four, it’s used of
the man born blind. That’s how he referred to Christ
and Christ didn’t rebuke him. Christ didn’t say, why are you
calling me Lord? It was introduced to the shepherds
by the angel himself, remember in Luke 2. Behold, today in the city of
David, there has been born for you a Savior who is Christ, the
Lord. This title used of Christ may
have been astounding at first, but it was absolutely appropriate.
And what it pointed to was that Jesus Christ is the anointed
one. He is the Messiah. He is the
Lord. He is the sovereign God of the
universe. And in the Gospels, almost invariably
at points, it’s used so clearly of Him as the Christ, the Messiah. He is the Lord. This was one
of Paul’s favorite designations of the Lord Jesus Christ. When
he said that we do not preach ourselves, that’s one of the
big problems in our churches today is that people are drawn
to and they feed off of personality. Paul said, we don’t want anything
to do with that. We do not preach ourselves. I
can only go so far in my help of you. But we preach Christ
Jesus as Lord. He’s not just the kindly little
baby in the manger. He’s not just a good example. He’s not just a kindly Savior
Took a brutal beating and a and ultimately a crucifixion on the
cross. He’s not just a good example
of martyrdom He is the Lord He is the sovereign ruler of all
creation Paul so readily uses this term over and over again.
It spills off his tongue therefore Romans 5 1 having been justified
by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. One of the most frequent ways
that Paul refers, he doesn’t refer to him as just his common
buddy. He refers to him as the Lord
Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ validated that claim. As he lived his life, as they
observed, as they heard His words, as they saw His deeds, people
came to realize that Jesus Christ was absolutely confirmed to be
the sovereign Lord of prophecy, but there was a second testimony.
There was a second element of John’s testimony that he gave
there in Matthew chapter 3, which validated Jesus Christ’s claims. We would call this part B. Part
B of John the Baptist claims, look at verse 11, where we see
there that Jesus Christ was not only confirmed to be the sovereign
Lord of prophecy, he was authenticated as the almighty God of worship. Look at verse 11. As for me,
I baptize you with water for repentance, but he, he who is
coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove
his sandals. Jesus, he says, is an astounding, astonishing,
awesome individual, greater by far than anyone you have ever
met. John the Baptist was a likable
guy, right? I mean, Grasshoppers for lunch
notwithstanding, he was a likable guy. People liked John the Baptist. His first sermon notwithstanding,
you brood of vipers. John though moves quickly to
talk about his own unworthiness, his absolute unworthiness to
even untie Jesus’ sandals. That was one of the most menial,
basic, grungy tasks that only a slave would perform. And what
John the Baptist says in uttering this is that this coming one
was so awesome, so outstanding, so overwhelmingly good, so different
from anyone that they had ever seen. He was God blended with
humanity. And he’s so astounding that John
the Baptist, one hand selected by God himself, wasn’t worthy
to fall on his knees and untie his shoes. Look at what he says, he’s coming
after me as mightier than I am. It wasn’t just that he had a
superior position, John the Baptist has already made that point.
But he’s more powerful, he is infinitely more powerful than
John the Baptist would ever be. Not just political power, spiritual
power. Namely, the conversion of souls. Through his powerful preaching. And by the grace of God, attending
that powerful preaching, John could bring about visible repentance. And he did. Remember, he went
about preaching and calling people to baptism as a mark of that
repentance. And he had quite a following. He brought about a visible repentance,
a remorse for and a turning from sin. But John the Baptist couldn’t
grant forgiveness. John the Baptist couldn’t bestow
salvation. John the Baptist couldn’t convert
men’s hearts to Almighty God. But he says he’s not only mightier
than I, he has spiritual power, he is able to do what no man
can. I’m not fit to remove his sandals.
This is worship on John the Baptist’s part. I don’t know if these words
have ever been put into lyric, but that’s some good thought
there. Because to untie the sandals
of the master when he came in after a day’s work or after a
journey, it didn’t mean just to untie the sandals, but the
slave was then to carry and transport those sandals to wherever the
master needed. A shoe carrier. A shoe carrier? Dirty, smelly,
dusty shoes. That was the job of a slave.
This low, menial task to bend down on your knees and unlace
whatever was involved and untying the sandals of the slave’s master. And to carry them about. John
the Baptist, who, may I remind you, was Christ’s
earthly cousin and his elder at that. If anybody, from a human
perspective, should have been untying shoes, it should have
been Jesus untying John the Baptist, based purely on earthly perspective. John the Baptist, Christ’s earthly
elder and cousin, declares absolutely that he wasn’t even worthy to
untie his shoes, wasn’t worthy to even carry his sandals about. This is abject humility. One
called it a picture of self depreciation and humility. And I suppose if
that’s all we take away from this, We lose sight of it completely. Another one said, there was a
qualitative difference between the infinite and the finite,
the eternal and the temporal, the original light of the sun
and the reflected light. I get all that. This isn’t an
example of humility by John the Baptist. This is an acknowledgement
that the Lord Jesus Christ is worthy of all worship. It’s not
just an indicator of John the Baptist’s humility, as if John
was a greater sinner than other men. Instead, it points out to
Christ’s greatness, Christ’s incredible stature, Christ’s
lordship, that he was infinitely great. One pastor calls us all to that
kind of humility. You see, people had begun to
glimpse who Christ really was. They hadn’t even seen the cross
yet, but they knew that it was of his character. They knew that
it was of his character to live this sinful, sinless life, rather,
and to go on behalf of sinners to the cross. They knew that
he had it in him. One pastor then said, how can
we be proud? Stand at the foot of the cross,
count the purple drops by which you’ve been cleansed. See the
thorn crown, mark his scourged shoulders, still gushing within
crimson drills. See hands and feet given up to
the rough iron, his whole self to mockery and scorn. See their
bitterness and the pangs and the throes of inward grief. Think
of that. And as Jesus stooped for you,
bow yourself in lowliness at his feet. A sense of Christ’s
amazing love has a greater tendency to humble us than even the consciousness
of our own guilt. That’s where John the Baptist
was. John the Baptist knew who the Lord Jesus was. John the
Baptist knew that he wasn’t even worthy to untie his dirty shoes. Jesus Christ was worthy of all
worship. He was authenticated. He was
seen as such. Jesus Christ was absolutely validated
in all of the elements of John’s testimony, but we’ve only seen
two. Not only was Jesus Christ confirmed
to be the sovereign Lord of prophecy, Not only was he authenticated
as the almighty God of all worship, part C, Jesus Christ was proven
as the giver of eternal life. Look, if you would, at the last
portion of verse 11. He will baptize you with the
Holy Spirit and fire. A lot of times we tend to read
right over things. without even wondering what on
earth is this talking about. Jesus, or John rather, is contrasting
his own practice of baptism, which had gained him quite a
notoriety, a nickname for all time. But John basically begins
now to put into perspective his own practice of baptism with
that of Christ who is coming. And he says, look, all I can
do is administer this outward Right, R-I-T-E, called baptism. Immersion into water, not a washing
of the flesh, not a purification in that sense, but a symbolic
step that says that you want to be right with God, that you
are done with your life of sin. That’s all I can do, John the
Baptist says, but Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ has another kind
of baptism, another kind entirely. Jesus Christ is going to administer
a baptism of an entirely different kind, a new and better, totally
different baptism. And I want you to note, some
people tried to make a big difference between baptism with the Holy
Spirit and fire. Some even pointed to the idea
that maybe fire represents judgment. Jesus Christ is going to bring
judgment. We’ll get there in a minute. But fire here doesn’t mean judgment
because the same person is being baptized. The same person is
being baptized with the Spirit and with the fire, referring
to something other than judgment. I would suggest to you that when
he says, first of all, he comes to baptize in the Holy Spirit,
that Jesus Christ is the one who ultimately imparts the Spirit
of God. John the Baptist came baptizing
in water, stirring up men’s hearts, bringing them to repentance,
making them to desire and long for holiness. Jesus Christ comes
and he imparts the means. He gives us the Holy Spirit resident
within. He takes us, does the Holy Spirit,
through this process of regeneration, awakening us from sin, calling
us to a life of righteousness, and beginning the actual work
of sanctification in our lives. That’s the Holy Spirit’s job. One pastor said it this way,
the Spirit leads men into the infinite divine spiritual resources. That’s why what Calvin called
the spectacles of faith, the ability to look at the Bible
for the first time and understand what was being written, what’s
being said, what’s being communicated. That’s because now we have the
Holy Spirit resident within us, giving to us the very needed
divine resources. This was a gift that Christ gave
that he made available to us. Baptism in water essentially
had almost a negative connotation, doesn’t it? It was the image
of washing, the image of dealing with one’s sin, the image of
longing for righteousness, cleansing, if you will. But the baptism of the Spirit
is a baptism of a completely different kind. It’s positive,
it’s an infusing the spirit of God himself that takes the child
of God in a whole new direction, heavenward. But he comes to baptize not only
in the Holy Spirit, but with fire. There’s no doubt that the Holy
Spirit resident within the heart and life of a believer brings
illumination that certainly could be an indication of light. I
take it here to mean a refining. That Jesus Christ came to baptize
not only in the Holy Spirit but with fire, the refiner’s fire. To burn off the dross, to burn
off all of those sinful tendencies and habits, to purify us by removing
the pollution of sin. That’s what Jesus Christ came
to do. John brought us the Great Baptist
commentator said that while John immersed men in water, the symbol
of a new and pure life, the mightier coming one would immerse them
in the Holy Spirit who really produces such a life. Souls would
be plunged into that creative and informing spirit which was
the source of life and holiness and wisdom. Different kind of
baptism. Jesus came to do more than John
ever could in people’s lives. John had his role. John had his
place and purpose. It was God given. But only the
Lord Jesus Christ could impart the spirit of God. Only the Lord
Jesus Christ could literally immerse believers into the spirit
of God and the spirit of God into the heart of the believer.
Jesus Christ was absolutely validated. He was that one. Jesus Christ
was proven as the giver of eternal life as many had already been
bestowed that eternal life. But there’s a fourth part of
John’s testimony. We’re looking at the validation
of those specific elements of John’s testimony of Christ. Not
only was Christ confirmed to be the sovereign Lord of prophecy,
He was authenticated as the Almighty God of all worship. He was proven
as the giver of eternal life. And fourth, part D, Jesus Christ
was verified as the righteous judge. They knew it. They knew
who He was as the Messiah. That not only had He come to
impart life, eternal life, He had also come ultimately as the
judge, the judge of all humanity. Look at verse 12. His winnowing
fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clear his threshing
floor. He will gather up his wheat into
the barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Now either somewhere between
verse 11 and verse 12, Jesus takes up farming, or this verse
has an entirely different significance. Jesus Christ is not a farmer. The metaphor being used here
is of that farmer who having harvested his wheat would scoop
it up with a pitchfork and flip it in the air and let the gentle
breeze take the chaff. While the heavier grain fell
to the earth and was gathered up, And he says it so simply,
he will thoroughly, there isn’t anybody that’s going to be missed.
There’s anybody that says, well, I attended such and such a church,
or I did this, or I did that. You overlooked me. There isn’t
anybody. He says, I will thoroughly clear
the threshing floor, and he will gather the wheat into the barn,
and the chaff will burn up with unquenchable fire. The Messiah will come and he
will differentiate between the repentant and the unrepentant
between believers and believers and he will gather like wheat
the repentant to himself and the unrepentant he will exclude
from the kingdom like chaff for eternity. Well that’s the testimony. That’s
what Jesus said. Rather, that’s what John the
Baptist said, that’s what he told these people in this location
in the wilderness when he started his ministry of baptism. And
so our outline is almost complete. That’s the place we heard the
testimony that Jesus Christ was the sovereign Lord, the almighty
God, the giver of eternal life, the righteous judge. Verse 42 of John chapter 10 says
that many believed in him there. Everything that John said about
this man was true. They had seen and they had heard
the miracles of Christ. Feeding 5,000 people with just
a couple of fish, a few loaves, Healing a man crippled, so crippled
that he couldn’t even scoot himself into the pool, thinking that
that might heal him. Healing a man never before heard
in the history of humanity, a man born blind. They had seen and
they had heard the miracles of Christ. They had watched and
they had witnessed His character, His sinless character, His gentleness,
His sweetness, His kindness to sinners. They had heard and evaluated
His words, words that proclaimed Himself as the Lord, proclaimed
Himself as the Savior, the sacrifice for all humanity. They had listened. And now they were heeding His
call. It was a call of repentance and
faith. And as Jesus came into that area,
this wilderness area where so many had come and gathered for
John the Baptist, they came again. Only now they came not as skeptics,
they came as those having witnessed Christ, having watched His life,
having seen His miracles, having heard His words, they came now
in faith. They came now believing. They
came now believing in Christ alone for salvation. Gone was
this idea of working their way to heaven. It was gone. Their
commitment now was to Christ and to Him alone. Their commitment
now was to exchange a life of sin for a life of righteousness. and eternal life. Matthew Henry said, we are too
apt to rest in a bare profession of faith. Did you hear that? I’d say that’s where most people
are. In a bare profession, I was in a church one time. I did this,
I did that. We are all too apt to rest in
a bare profession of faith and to think that this will save
us. It is a cheap and easy religion to say we believe the articles
of the Christian faith. That’s where most people are,
isn’t it? They believe a creed, they believe a set of things,
a certain set of identifying marks about Christianity that
they say that will save them. It’s a cheap and easy religion.
Henry says, it is great delusion to imagine that this is enough
to bring us to heaven. It is faith alone in Jesus Christ
alone and in all that he is. He is the sovereign Lord of all
the earth. He is the almighty God who is
worthy of all of our worship. He is the giver of eternal life. He is the righteous judge. Let’s
pray. Our merciful King, we humble
ourselves in your glorious presence. And Lord God, we lay ourselves
before you. And we plead and pray. That you
would examine our hearts. Show us whether we are in and
of the faith. We don’t want to stand between
belief and unbelief. We don’t want to put our profession
as bare testimony. Lord, it’s the Lord Jesus Christ
and all of Him that we desire. We desire that sovereign Lord. We yield to His sovereign Lordship. We know that He is our King and
in all control. Father, we pray. We pray for any and all who do
not know the Lord Jesus Christ, who still vacillate between some
measure of faith and some great degree of unbelief. We pray that
your own Holy Spirit would do the same work that it has in
every believer in this room. that you would go and that you
would stir the heart and awaken not only the conscience, but
awaken their sin-sick life, bring them to repentance and faith. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
It’s in His name that we pray. Amen.