God’s Witness

If God’s people would take their
Bibles once again back into John chapter 1. Those opening verses completed. John now begins really to get
into the heart of his gospel message, his account. He has
already told us in such a profound way in heralding the Lord Jesus
Christ. He has told us about the nature
of Christ. He doesn’t identify Him as such. He referred to Him from the outset
as the Word. But He told us about Jesus’ eternal
nature. He told us about His relational
position with God. He told us about His divine identity,
that He was God. We saw in verse 2 that He had
a distinct personality, that He was God, but He was also distinct
from the Father. We saw His creational power in
verse 3. We saw His life-giving gift in
verse 4, that in Him was life. And that life was the light of
men. The light of conscience is given by Christ. We saw that
that gift is victorious. That it is a testimony. That there is none who has ever
been born that is completely without excuse. That everyone
knows just by virtue of being born that there is a God. And
that He is almighty. And He is the creator. Well,
John transitions rather quickly. Transitions rather quickly into
the beginning of the gospel according to John. He wants to tell us
about God’s witness. And that’s a fascinating concept.
Because what we just learned from the first five verses is
that God is in a very real way his own witness. Paul would ultimately
say in Romans 1 that we are without excuse to claim that there is
no God. We are without excuse in not
knowing that there is a divine being. God, in a very real way,
is his own witness in everything that is made, everything that
is created. And yet, out of God’s abundant
graciousness, he provides yet another witness, and not just
one. What John the Apostle wants to
do is unfold to us this one additional witness, but there will be many
more, as we’ll see this morning. As he unfolds to us God’s witness,
he wants to tell us about the ministry of John the Baptist.
And he wants to tell us about the particulars of his calling.
And we find this still in chapter one in verses six through eight.
If you would read along with me. Where the apostle John records,
there came a man sent from God whose name was John. He came
as a witness to testify about the Light, so that all might
believe through Him. He was not the Light, but He
came to testify about the Light. God had a witness. We know that
in a very real way, the Lord Jesus Christ was a witness. We
know that creation was God’s witness. We know that the scriptures
are God’s witness. But in a very real way, Christ
also had a witness. He had a forerunner by the name
of John the Baptist. And what John the Apostle wants
to do here is lay out for us the particulars of his ministry.
The first thing that we come across there in verse 6 is the
fact that John’s was a divine commissioning. This wasn’t something
that he cooked up on his own. It’s not something that he grew
into. It wasn’t his idea. In fact, he was assigned to this
even before he was born. Look at verse 6. There came a
man sent from God whose name was John. Now there are a variety
of contrasts here. you can probably already begin
to hear them. Everything that has been said
in verses one through five is essentially contrasted here in
verses six through eight. In those first three verses,
we learned that the word was. Here though, we learn that a
man came. There’s a distinction there between
the incarnate light that had been existing from eternity and
the prophet who would foretell his coming. One pastor very carefully put
together just a beautiful list of contrasts of which there are
five just in these verses. If you think back to those opening
verses, we learned that Christ was. He was from all eternity. When we were taken back to the
very beginning, we found that Christ was already. That John
doesn’t articulate a starting point for the Savior. He merely
existed from all eternity. John, on the other hand, came.
There was a point in time where John did not exist. There was
a point in time where John, by God’s design, came to exist. There’s another contrast. Christ
is the Word. We saw that even that title presented
Him as a profound and divine being and He was from all time
the Word. He was from eternity past the
Word. John, on the other hand, was
a mere man. There came a man. And even the Apostle John’s understatement
there is given for a purpose. This wasn’t just any man, but
in the final analysis, he was just a man. There was a third
contrast. Jesus Christ was himself God. We saw that. He was not only
with God, he was God. And he was separate and distinct
from the Father. John, on the other hand, was
commissioned by God. He wasn’t God. He wasn’t God
in the flesh, he wasn’t God from eternity past, but he was commissioned. He had a divine mission assigned
to him. There’s a fourth contrast. Christ is presented ultimately
as the true light, verse 9. We looked at the verse several
weeks ago as we began to distinguish what kind of light was being
spoken of in verses 4 and 5, and then again what kind of light
is being spoken of in verses 7 and following. Jesus Christ was the true light.
Jesus Christ was God’s revelation to mankind. John, on the other
hand, he came not as the light, he came to testify of the light.
He came to proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ. He came as his
forerunner, and there’s a fifth contrast. That Jesus Christ was
an object of trust. He was ultimately the object
of faith. that all who would have their
sins forgiven would place their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
for that. John, on the other hand, did
not desire people’s faith in him. Rather, he came as an agent
to lead others to the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet as one said, with
the fullest and most tender feeling John interweaves with this testimony
of the forerunner, his own testimony as an apostle. By means of the
most noble digressions in which he states the nature and grounds
of the Baptist’s office, and an explanation of his brief sentences,
he declares the full complement of his testimony. What he says
there so beautifully. is that what the Apostle John
does in this transition is take us to this incredible work that
God had done through a man named John the Baptist. Glance at verse
six again. There came a man, a special man,
a man with a special mission, but in the end, just a man, not
God, not an angel, there came a man sent from God, literally
having been sent. And the word from which we get
our word apostle is the word, the root word here. He isn’t
in a formal way suggesting that John the Baptist was an apostle,
but he was a sent one. He was sent literally from God
himself. He was charged with a divine
calling, a divine mission, if you will. He was God’s ambassador. He would be God’s messenger.
He would speak only what God told him to speak. John, the
way that this, the sentence construction has it is that John was sent,
as it were, from God’s side. He was God’s emissary. Mark introduces John the Baptist
in his gospel by quoting from Malachi chapter 3 verse 1. Malachi 3.1 says, Behold, I am
going to send my messenger, and he will clear the way before
me, and the Lord whom you will seek will suddenly come into
his temple, the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight.
Behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. He takes us, does
Mark, back to that Old Testament passage which was, for centuries,
held to be somewhat obtuse. They didn’t know exactly what
it meant. Who was this messenger? And when he arrived, what would
he say? Well, what Mark says is the completion of this prophecy
is that John the Baptist was this messenger that he would
go before the Lord Jesus Christ. He had a divine mission later
on in that same. Minor Prophet Malachi Malachi
4 5 behold I’m going to send you Elijah the prophet before
the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord in other words
He was going to send one like Elijah again into the Lord into
the world John John the Baptist was God’s
messenger John the Baptist was Christ’s forerunner. He was coming
to proclaim Christ and He received his calling, he received his
mission and his authority directly from God himself. If you know
John’s ministries, if you step back and look at John the Baptist’s
ministries, he didn’t work miracles. He didn’t claim that he possessed
revelation and visions. He didn’t come in the spirit,
in the manner of the Old Testament prophets with, thus saith the
Lord, so to speak. The first thing that you notice
from John the Baptist was just this unique life that he lived. We would say that he was an oddball
in our day, but in his own day he was even considered to be
eccentric, but it drew attention to what he would herald. John the Baptist wanted to stir
the hearts of the people toward the things of God, toward God’s
kingdom. He wanted people to know that
he was sent from God. And John, look down, if you would,
in chapter one, down at verse 23. where the apostle John here applies
Isaiah chapter 40 verse 3 to John the Baptist. Mark does the
same thing. Isaiah 40 verse 3 says, a voice
is calling, clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness, make
smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Well, that was John
the Baptist’s message, clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness,
make smooth in the desert a highway for our God, but he was the voice.
He was God’s voice. He was God’s mouthpiece. He was
the one that was sent from God on this mission. In fact, the
idea behind this verb carries a very specific idea that he
is an envoy on a very special mission, a commission from God,
if you would. Turn to John chapter three. In
John chapter three, We begin to see John’s ministry in full. John chapter 3, if you would,
look at verse 22. After these things, Jesus and
his disciples came into the land of Judea, and there he was spending
time with them and baptizing. John also was baptizing in Enon,
near Salem, because there was much water there, and people
were coming and were being baptized. for John had not been thrown
into prison, there arose a discussion on the part of John’s disciples
with a Jew about purification. They came to John and said to
him, Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan whom you have
testified, behold, he is baptizing and all are coming to him. Now
what he’s pointing to is Christ. Look at verse 27. John answered
and said, a man can receive nothing unless it has been given him
from heaven, they began to almost seem to pit John the Baptist
against Christ. That look, you know, he’s having
a pretty good ministry. He’s taking people away. Our
church is shrinking. Look at verse 28. You yourselves
are my witnesses that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have
been sent ahead of him. John the Baptist claimed this
divine mission even for himself. We know that his own parents were told prior
even to his birth that he had a divine mission. If you would,
since we have some time this morning, take your Bibles and
turn back to the book of Luke. One book to your left, all the
way to the beginning to chapter one. We’re just looking at the divine
commission, this divine mission that John the Baptist found himself
in. This wasn’t something that he
laid hold of. This is something that God dispatched
him to. Look at chapter one, beginning
in verse five. In the days of Herod the king
of Judea, there was a priest named Zacharias of the division
of Abijah, and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron,
and her name was Elizabeth. They were both righteous in the
sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements
of the Lord, but they had no child because Elizabeth was barren,
and they were both advanced in years. Now, what happened that
while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed
order of his division, in other words, what they’re saying is,
look, the priest would all take turns, and we went through this
when we preached through these passages, they would, in turn,
go into the Holy of Holies, and offer the sacrifices before God. According to the custom of the
priest of the office, he was chosen by law to enter the temple
of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the
people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering,
and an angel of the Lord appeared to him standing at the right
hand of the altar of incense. Now you can imagine, this is
a chance of a lifetime to go in and to do this priestly function
and to suddenly be greeted by an angel had to be utterly shocking. Zacharias, no doubt, look at
verse 12, was troubled when he saw the angel and fear gripped
him. But the angel said to him, do
not be afraid, Zacharias. for your petition has been heard,
and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will
give him the name John.” Well, we already have a number of miracles
that will unfold. Zacharias and Elizabeth were
advanced in age, but they were going to be given a son, and
the angel has already picked the baby’s name for him. Look
at verse 14, you will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice
at his birth. Well, that would be true of almost
anybody. Given to parents of advanced
age, this was a blessing. But the angel goes much beyond
that. This wasn’t just a baby. This
wasn’t just a baby born out of due time. This wasn’t just their
first born. This wasn’t just a boy, someone
for whom to rejoice. Look at verse 15. For he will
be great in the sight of the Lord. He will drink no wine or
liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet
in his mother’s womb.” This is going to be a very unique child,
a fantastic child, a child that was specifically and sovereignly
chosen by God for a mission. Look at the mission, verse 16.
He will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their
God. It is he who will go as a forerunner
before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts
of the fathers back to the children and the disobedient to the attitude
of the righteous so as to make ready a people prepared for the
Lord. He had a divine commissioning.
God sent him. As you’re in Luke, turn if you
would to chapter three. We begin to see John the Baptist’s
ministry in Luke’s gospel, and just this one last particular
verse. In Luke chapter three, look at
verse three. He came into all the district around Jordan, preaching
a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is
written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet. And Luke
quotes essentially the same verse that we alluded to a moment ago,
the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way
of the Lord, make his path straight, every ravine will be filled,
every mountain will be brought low, the crooked will become
straight, the rough road smooth, all flesh will see the salvation
of God. John had an amazing ministry. John had an incredible opportunity
and was all bestowed upon him by God himself. Check that, one last passage
in Luke, if you would. Turn to Luke chapter seven. Here we get to see Christ’s evaluation
of John, John the Baptist, and his ministry. And we’ll pick
it up, just a portion of this this morning. Look at verse 24. Luke chapter seven, verse 24. When the messengers of John had
left, he began to speak to the crowds about John. What did you
go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?
What Jesus begins to say is, were you just after novelty?
When you were pursuing John and watching John in his ministry,
were you just looking for the latest and newest and greatest
thing? Verse 25, but what did you go
out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing?
Were you looking for some kind of an executive? Were you looking
for some sharp-dressed character? That’s not what they saw when
they saw John. Those who are splendidly clothed
and live in luxury are found in royal palaces. But what did
you go out to see? A prophet? There were some that
held him to be such. Yes, I say to you, and one who
is more than a prophet, this is the one about whom it is written,
behold, I send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your
way for you. Jesus quotes the same passage. Lest you think
that any of the gospel writers just on a whim picked this passage
and applied it to John the Baptist, Jesus says from eternity past,
this passage was written about John the Baptist. And then Jesus’
final words there, I say to you, among those born of women, there
is no one greater than John, yet he who is least in the kingdom
is greater than he. Here is this humble servant who
came and came as the forerunner of the Messiah himself, and yet
he was as humble as could be, a nothing before other men. Back to John, if you would. Glanced just briefly, again at
verse 6, there came a man, just a man, and he came in time, he
was born, he wasn’t perpetual like the Lord Jesus Christ, he
wasn’t like an angel whose creation we don’t understand. This was
a man that had a birthday, he was born in time, we read all
about it in Luke 1, sent from God. on a special commission
whose name was John. Even that name, John, God shows
grace. Another described it, the gift
of God. The interesting thing, if you
go back to Zacharias and Elizabeth, the naming of the child was the
father’s prerogative. The father got to pick the name. Now, a lot of times there would
be this collaboration and the father would do the right thing
and talk to his wife and they would come up with a name. The
only problem is when it came time to give the name to the
child, remember Zacharias was mute. He had been struck such
by the angel because he doubted the angel’s announcement. And
so when it came time to give him the name, the friends and
relatives that had gathered decided that they would assign him a
name. They signaled to Elizabeth and
they suggested perhaps some names to her. One of which was Zacharias. And Elizabeth immediately insisted
that she would not do anything differently than what the angel
had done. That he would be called John. Well, the townspeople, the people
that were attending the birth, they were bewildered by this.
And they said, there’s no one among your relatives who was
called by that name. It’s just highly unlikely. So
they gave Zacharias a pad to write down the name. After all,
it was his prerogative. You remember he wrote, his name
is John. Zacharias had learned. to obey
the angel, and no sooner did he give his son the name of John,
his mouth was opened, his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak
in praise of God. The interesting thing about this
passage is that this is the first of many times where the apostle
John, remember the one that wrote the book? Not only does he never
name himself in all of this gospel, He never says, I am John who
wrote this gospel, or this is the gospel according to John.
Those things have all been appended over the centuries. The fascinating
thing is, just as he does in this verse, the only time that
he refers to John, he doesn’t call him John the Baptist like
the synoptic writers do. He just calls him John. As if
there was no other John. He doesn’t clarify. Remember
what we said when John referred to, John the Apostle referred
to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. I believe what he
was doing when he did that was stepping to the back. John didn’t
want to take the forefront. John didn’t want to be noticed.
John didn’t want to be recognized. And now he doesn’t even want
to be on the same page. He doesn’t want to be compared
with God’s emissary, John the Baptist. One pastor said it this
way, it is remarkable that the apostle John simply uses the
name John without adding the title Baptist, which had early
become inseparable. The first three gospel writers,
almost every time they speak of John the Baptist, refer to
him as John the Baptist. The apostle omitted the title
in order that he might not attract attention to himself by the contrast. John the Baptist was divinely
commissioned. But there’s another particular
that the Apostle John addresses here. John the Baptist was on
an evangelical mission. Look at verse seven. He, that is John the Baptist,
came as a witness to testify about the light so that all might
believe through him. He, and literally, this is a
fascinating passage, this section, verses six through eight. When
it says he, we have pronouns that are very specific in English.
And they could have referred to him as he, but literally here,
it’s this one. He doesn’t even say his name
again. This one came as a witness. This
same guy that I talked about in verse six, he came as a witness. And the word isn’t even referring
there to a person who comes, that he came as a witness to
stand on the witness stand. He came to witness. He came to
give testimony. And in, In and throughout this
entire gospel, this idea of witness and testimony is so replete,
it is from cover to cover. Over and over again, John will
refer to witnesses and call witnesses one after another as if it is
some kind of a court case, and he brings them and puts them
on the stand and has them deliver their testimony. It’s a fascinating
thing. one of the characteristic words
of this epistle. It occurs almost 50 times in
some form or another. And what he says is that when
a witness comes forward, they’re called to come and give competent
testimony. They’re called to come and tell
not what they think about a thing, not their opinion, Not their
particular views, they’re called to come and state facts. What
they had seen, what they had heard, what they experienced. As one said, the office of the
prophet, in the fullest sense, is to make known another. And
what John the Baptist did was to come and testify of someone
else, namely Christ. He came as his predecessors,
prophets, but with a clear charge to bear witness concerning the
light to interpret to men the signs of a divine will and guidance
to point to him who was himself the light. But as I told you,
the amazing thing is John the Baptist is positioned here as
the witness. And yet he is by far not the
only witness that the apostle John will mention. Turn, if you
would, to John chapter 5. In John chapter 5, Jesus is addressing
the same thing. We almost step into the middle
of the courtroom. And Jesus is involved in this
discussion with his detractors about the nature of the witnesses,
about the nature of the testimony that they have heard. We know
that the forerunner, John the Baptist, has been a witness and
will be a witness, but there are others. And that’s exactly
how this unfolds. Pick it up in verse 30. Jesus
says, I can do nothing on my own initiative. As I hear, I
judge. My judgment is just because I do not seek my own will, but
the will of him who sent me. If I alone testify about myself,
my testimony is not true. We can’t think of a trial where
somebody would stand up and think that just by virtue of the fact
that what they say up there is going to be held by the jury
or the judge to be the only element of truth. You would have to be
a fool. And Jesus says, if that’s all
that I have testifying is my own testimony, then my testimony
is not true. You don’t have to believe it. There is another who testifies
of me. And I know that the testimony which he gives about me is true.
And he’s alluding here already to John, John the Baptist. You
have sent to John and he has testified to the truth, but the
testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these
things so that you may be saved. In other words, he already begins
to drive them to the point where, you know what? John the Baptist
is testifying to you, but he’s not alone. He’s not alone in
his witness to you. why there were works, miracles
that I’ve done. Those are also a testimony. Look at verse 36, the testimony
which I have is greater than the testimony of John. For the
works which the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works
that I do, testify about me that the Father has sent me. He says
that makes me legitimate. That is an argument in my favor. Not only my own testimony, but
now you have the apostle John, or John the Baptist, and you
have the works, the miracles that I have done. But he’s not
done. The trial continues. And there’s
another witness to be called to the stand. Look at verse 37.
The Father, the Father who sent me, He has testified of me. You have neither heard his voice
at any time, nor seen his form. You do not have his word abiding
in you, for you do not believe him whom he sent.” So he says, not only do you have
my testimony, you have the testimony of John the Baptist, you have
the testimony of my miracles, you have the testimony of God
the Father. What other testimony do you need? Well, all provided,
There’s the testimony of the scriptures. Look at verse 39. You search the scriptures because
you think that in them you have eternal life. It is these that
testify about me. Jesus says there are so many
witnesses and you almost picture one after another of these witnesses
coming and taking the stand and proclaiming the validity of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And John 5 isn’t the end of it.
John 5 isn’t the end of the list of witnesses, the Spirit. Jesus
Himself testifies in John 8.14 again, but the Spirit, He says
in John 15.26, when the Spirit comes, when the Helper rather
comes, whom I will send you from the Father, that is the Spirit
of Truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about
Me. You have a witness. You have
a witness in the Holy Spirit. And then as the gospel unfolds,
we find that the disciples themselves become witnesses. Jesus says,
you will testify of me also, John 15, 27. And then at the very close of the
apostle, of the gospel, the apostle John, becomes the final witness. He opened with the witness of
John the Baptist, he closes with his own testimony. John 19.35,
he who has seen has testified and his testimony is true and
he knows that he is telling the truth so that you may believe. Then in a final statement, John
21.24, This is the disciple who is testifying to these things
and wrote these things and we know that his testimony is true.
John the Apostle stands before them and puts the cap on all
of these testimonies. The cap that this is the Christ.
This is the Messiah. If you would, back to John chapter
one. In John chapter 1, verse 7, the
apostle had just told us that John, John and his purpose came
in his divine commissioning, but he came for an evangelical
mission. He came as a witness, he came
to testify, and he came to testify specifically about the light. He came to testify about the
light. He wasn’t going to do miracles. He wasn’t going to build a ministry
on his own gifts and talents and skills. Everything in him,
his passions, his experiences, everything in him was to point
to one thing. It was to point to Jesus Christ as the light. One pastor said, a witness is
one who knows what he says and says what he knows. He deals
not with speculations. He speaks not of his own opinions,
but he testifies to what he knows to be the truth. That was John’s
calling. And as he entered the witness
stand to tell what he knew, what he had seen, what he was told,
John the Baptist came and began to declare and reveal everything
concerning The fascinating thing here, as a
number of commentators pointed out, it’s strange that the world
had to have somebody to come and testify about light. One person said it this way,
light is a thing which Witnesses for itself. Carries its own evidence
along with it. You walk into a room and you
turn on the light, you don’t have to announce the fact that you
just turned on the light because the only people for whom it matters
plainly see that the light is shining. What he points to here
is this idea that John the Baptist was coming in a very real way
into a spiritually dark world that had not even seen and dealt
properly with the light that they’d been given. They hadn’t
dealt with the light of creation. They couldn’t see God clearly
in all that was made. Another said it this way, when
the sun is shining all its beauty, who are the ones that are unconscious
of the fact? Who need to be told that it is
shining, the blind? Now granted, blind people can
feel the warmth of the sun and they know just conceptually what
the sun is, but they cannot see its light. He continues, how
tragic then when we read that God sent the sun, God sent John
to bear witness of the light, how pathetic that there should
be any need for this. How solemn the statement that
men have to be told the light is now in their midst. So when the apostle John tells us of
John’s evangelical mission here, the first part of it is a strange,
it’s a strange mission. You’re going to go tell people
that the light is shining. And that this blindness that
they find themselves in is egregious in God’s eyes. He says you’re going to tell
them about the light. The light is the Lord Jesus Christ. We
saw this several weeks ago as we began to back away and determine
what is the difference between the light in verses four and
five and the light in verses seven and following? Light here
clearly points to the Lord Jesus Christ. If Jesus Christ had come in all
of his heavenly glory, he wouldn’t need a herald But the bottom
line is, Jesus Christ came, came in the context, he came in the
form of a man. He came and took on human flesh. We sing about it at Christmas,
right? Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see, and because of that, the
light needed a witness, the light needed a testimony. Look again
at verse seven. What was the nature of this mission?
evangelical he came as a witness to testify about the light so
that all might believe through him the prophets the prophets had
set about their whole job Israel’s whole purpose was to be a light
to the nations not just one nation they were supposed to spread
God’s news of salvation to all the people on the earth that now is what the ministry
of John the Baptist is going to finally do. Said one, he spoke to men as
men. Outward descent, national privileges disappeared from their
place, the basis of his preaching was repentance and the end was
faith. Nation, sect, descent, all other
considerations paled. John the Baptist wasn’t coming
to preach only to the Jewish nation. He wasn’t coming to preach
just to Israel. John the Baptist was coming to
preach to all. He was opening salvation to all. Look at the close. The last portion of his amazing
mission was a clarifying distinction. And this is really fascinating
as it unfolds. particulars of John the Baptist’s
ministry, not only a divine commission and an evangelical mission, but
a clarifying distinction. Look at verse eight. He was not
the light, but he came to testify about the light. This much we
already know. We’ve already heard it and seen
it. Why does John repeat himself
so often? I don’t know about all the other
places, but I know exactly why he did it here. There were those
people that began to think that John the Baptist was not just
something special, but that he himself might be the Messiah.
That he might be a prophet and that this idea of a Messiah is
moot because we have a prophet here in our midst. They began
to think more about the ministry of John the Baptist
than even the ministry of Christ. But John the Baptist from the
very start knew his place. Remember when Jesus asked him
to baptize him, John the Baptist said, whoa, wait a minute, I
need to be baptized by you. John the Baptist knew his place. And so John, the apostle, says
he was not the light. But he came to testify about
the light. His whole mission was to come and tell us about
the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s absolutely astounding to
me that in a book of the Bible in which there’s so much focus
on the sovereignty of God and salvation, so thorough a treatment
of the doctrines of grace, divine election, predestination, and
all the rest, and we’ll get to it, that the first discussion
with regard to the gospel forgiveness and salvation through Jesus Christ
has to do with man’s response. The volitional element of faith. And this focus on faith, likewise,
is replete throughout John’s gospel more than 100 times. Of
the nearly 250 times that this word, quistuo, faith, belief,
occurs in some form or another, More than a third, almost a hundred,
occur in this gospel. So prevalent is the Apostle John’s
focus on this theme that we may well call this gospel the gospel
of belief. It’s the gospel of faith. When
he says that John came as a witness, he came to testify about the
Lord Jesus Christ, the light, so that all may believe. through him. What’s your burden? Let’s pray. Our merciful God, we thank you
and praise you that John the Baptist’s ministry was so specific,
so necessary in a darkened world, so glorious that he came As announced
even from before his own birth, he came as the forerunner of
the Lord Jesus himself. He came to tell us about Christ
and announce Christ. And Father, for those of us who
stand here this morning, we rejoice. We rejoice that our own blind,
darkened eyes were opened and enlightened by the light of our
Savior. We thank you that when our hearts
were black and turned against you and contrary to you, you
came. That flicker of light that was
life itself came into our sin-darkened hearts and revealed the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Savior, to us. O Lord God, as we have prayed
from the beginning. If there are any in our midst
who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, who even still are in
darkness, who have no hope, they do not know the Savior, they
are trying on their own to deal with their own sin. They’re trying
to reason through it and decide whether it exists and decide
whether God exists. These passages tell us that not
only does God exist, that we are without excuse, that we have
a full testimony, we have a full line of witnesses that tell us
about Christ. And He calls us to faith. calls
us to place our faith in Him for salvation and in Him alone.
Not in our efforts, not in our contribution, but in Christ alone. Lord God, we pray that you would
work in the hearts of those who do not believe and cultivate
in them, bring them to knees of repentance and a heart of
faith. It’s in Jesus’ name that we pray.