John's Testimony of Christ: Part A

I would like you to turn in your Bibles this morning

to John chapter 1, and you follow as I read a portion of the passage that we're going to study together.

John 1 · chapter mention

John chapter 1, picking up in verse 19.

John 1 · chapter mention

And this is the testimony of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him,

Who are you? He confessed and did not deny, but confessed, I am not the Christ.

And they asked him, What then? Are you Elijah? He said, I'm not. Are you the prophet? And he answered,

No. And Seth said to him, Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us.

What do you say about yourself? He said, I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness.

Make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah said.

Holy Father, we are humbled to stop and consider that we, mere created beings,

have been given the blessing and the joy of knowing you as our God and our Savior,

of having communion with you through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And that you and your loving kindness have revealed yourself to us through your word.

And it is your express intention this morning that we who are your children would be blessed

by your word, by the enabling of the Spirit of God.

And Father, it is our prayer that this morning your word would have free course.

There are some of us here this morning that are snared deeply by sin

and desperately need the work of the Spirit to relieve.

Some caught in bitterness.

Some in unforgiveness.

Some in secret sins that only you know about, Lord,

but those who are your children

have not received the blessing of salvation to be in bondage ever again.

There are some here that desperately need to know Christ as their Savior.

And so, as the word is taught,

we who are your children will labor in prayer

that your word would produce fruit first in our own lives

and in the lives of others that you care about so deeply.

And it is our desire that the Lord Jesus Christ would be honored

this morning here

among us

as He is in heaven.

We ask this in your precious name. Amen.

Well, we are finished with the prologue.

Prologue means kind of the introduction.

And the characteristic of John,

it's a little different from some of the other books

that you will find in the Scriptures,

in that John's prologue does something that's atypical.

It lays out for us in the first 18 verses

everything that you're going to find

in the remainder of the book of John.

It gives us, in just little snippets,

all the pieces that later on are going to be expanded

and fleshed out so you can understand them more completely.

I think many of you can remember

when you were in either in high school or whatever,

in college,

and in the first day or two of your class,

the professor or the teacher would come in

and in broad terms kind of tell you,

well, here's what I'm going to teach you

and also talk about,

and here's what I expect from you.

And good students generally pay quite a bit of attention

at the very beginning

because it fleshes out.

You know up front what's coming.

John has finished his introduction.

And actually, as we look at this passage,

we are going to take verse 19 through 28 this morning

and look at this little statement about John the Baptist,

and we understand that really what we're looking at

in one sense is an expansion

of what we found over in verse 7.

Take a minute.

Put your finger on verse 7.

It says, speaking about John the Baptist,

he came as a witness to bear witness about the light

that all might believe through him.

And again, in verse 15, it says,

John bore witness about him and cried out,

this was he of whom I said,

he who comes after me ranks before me

because he was before me.

And so we know, as I pointed out earlier,

that John's introduction kind of gives us all the details,

and then we're going to expand them.

We're going to see them in greater depth

in the weeks and months to come.

And so as we look at this first part,

we're going to find in the verses that we look at today,

John the Apostle is going to explain

John the Baptist, the witness.

And as we get started on this,

one of the things that I want you to know

from the very, very beginning

is what the application is.

Now let me explain what application is.

Obvious, I would think.

But there are two different parts to a sermon in some ways.

There's the exposition,

that means explaining what the text has to say.

And then there is the application.

If you were following or reading one of the Puritans,

you would probably notice that in Puritan preaching,

and I'm not a Puritan, I'm far removed from that

in terms of age, et cetera,

but in Puritan preaching,

there was probably about one-third

that had to do with the exposition of the text.

Here's what God says.

And then there's probably two-thirds of it

that had to do with use.

That's the way they referred to it.

So how do we use this?

What is its application in our lives?

And so I'm going to tell you up front

what the application is.

This morning, as we study the passage of Scripture,

what I want to have happen in your life

is not just understand the historical details

of John the Baptist as the witness.

I want you to be sitting there thinking to yourself,

so how does this fit me?

What should I do if I am going to be faithful

to the calling and appointment that I have received,

very similar to John the Baptist's?

And so as we think about this,

let me begin by making this point

and having it stick in your mind.

We are all witnesses.

Get that clear.

We are all witnesses.

Now, some of you are sitting out there

thinking to yourself,

well, that's not my nature or my temperament.

I'm one of those kind of reserved, cautious persons

who really, if you drop me in the middle

of a large room filled with people,

I would be the person who would naturally gravitate

towards the very distant wall

and pin myself up against there

and just try being quiet.

Now, there are others who, guess what?

You put them on the wall

and guess what they naturally do?

They move towards the center

and they end up,

they know all different kinds of details

about who and what and how and when and where.

The fact of the matter is

is that we are all witnesses.

And as we read what we are going to look at

here in John chapter one,

I think it's very, very important

that we don't get caught up in the historicity

or the historical details of what John did

and miss the fact that

what we are going to discover here

has application in our own lives.

I want you to understand this

and make it clear in your own heart.

Every genuine believer is a witness.

Every genuine believer is a witness.

And I could probably get off

on a little side tangent here

and remind myself of the parable.

Remember, Jesus told the parable

about the talents.

One man received five.

One man received three.

One man received one.

And the one who received one,

what did he do?

He just kind of hit it in the ground.

He didn't do anything with it.

I don't want to go off on a sidebar there,

but I do want to encourage you to recognize

all of us have received all that we need

to be effective in the appointment

that God has given to us.

And so keep it in your mind,

every believer,

I,

you,

we are all witnesses

if we are a genuine believer.

In relationship to that,

it follows,

and it's intelligent,

that you should be sitting out there

saying,

oh yeah,

well can you prove that?

Well,

have just a second

and let's take a look

at a couple different passages

in relationship to that.

You're in John,

and so we're going to play forward

a little bit,

but turn in your Bible

to John chapter 15,

John 15:16

verse 16.

Jesus is speaking,

and he makes this statement.

He says,

you did not choose me,

but I chose you

and appointed you

that you should go

and bear fruit

and that your fruit

should abide.

He says,

I chose you.

I called you.

I put my hand on you.

The reason that I am

a believer

and that you are a believer

is not because we kind of

in the midst of a moment

of intellectual apprehension

to,

Jesus is a good idea,

I'll give it a shot.

No.

He and his grace called us,

and we,

by his grace,

came to know

the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let me have you look

at another passage

that I think is just

an absolute,

very, very pointed statement

in relationship to this.

Turn your Bible

to John 17,

John 17:18

verse 18.

John 17,

John 17:18

verse 18.

It says this,

as you,

remember we're dealing

with the question,

every genuine believer

is a witness.

It's not my personality.

Stop.

Every genuine believer

is a witness.

As you have sent me

into the world,

so I have sent them

into the world.

In my Bible,

I put a little note

for myself

to remind me

of the significance

of this verse,

and that little word,

as.

You don't need to know

all the Greek on it,

but here's what it is saying.

That word, as,

is making this statement

in the same manner

that God the Father

sent Jesus into the world,

I have been sent

to do the same thing

and to accomplish

the same purpose.

I am sent

like Jesus was sent.

And so I want you

to keep that in mind

as you think about that

this morning,

and we come to grips

with the fact

that as we look

at John the Baptist,

it says there

in John chapter 1,

John 1:19

verse 19,

and this is the testimony

of John

when the Jews

sent priests

and Levites

from Jerusalem

to ask him,

who are you?

It is evident

that what he had been doing

is witnessing.

I want you to recognize

I had an interesting

conversation not too long ago

with an individual

who was,

we were discussing

the matter of

the evangelical church today

being involved

in witnessing.

And as a broad term,

we'd have to say

that there are

far more people

that profess

to be evangelical,

to be orthodox

in their thinking,

to care a lot

about Jesus,

but the truth

of the matter

is that it has been

weeks,

it's been months,

it's been years

since they really

have shared their faith

about the Lord Jesus Christ

with anybody.

And we were having

a conversation

and the issue came up,

why is it that

more people don't share

about Jesus?

Do you know what

one of the natural

and normal answers is?

Is they lack information.

Did you hear that?

And one of the things

that goes along with that

is so that many,

many churches

are involved

in regular instruction

in how to share

the gospel.

And that's important.

But are you tracking me?

I don't think the problem

is the lack of information.

And the reason

I would say that

is let me give you

a couple examples of it.

Remember the woman

at the well?

Remember that?

John chapter 4,

John 4 · chapter mention

there's the Samaritan woman

and she's at the well

and Jesus comes to her

and he says,

give me a drink of water

and she says,

blah, blah, blah, blah,

you know,

and all that ends up,

she is convicted

of her sin

and once she's convicted

of her sin,

she then takes

a basic course in EE

before she goes into town.

Is that what happened?

She scampers into town

and she says,

come meet the man.

And everybody shows up

to hear,

what is this?

Let me give you another one.

I like this one too.

You remember the man

who was born blind?

You remember that story?

And there is the Sanhedrin,

all the Jews are kind of,

tell us about this man

and he cuts down to the chase.

He says,

you know,

who he is,

I don't know

but I will tell you what,

I was blind

and now I see.

You got that?

The best one.

A low,

trained,

evangelistic,

impact person.

And I think you ought

to look at it

because it's a good one.

Luke chapter 8,

Luke 8:39

verse 39.

Luke chapter 8.

Luke 8 · chapter mention

Here's my argument.

You don't need more information.

You need something

to happen to your heart.

Luke chapter 7

Luke 7 · chapter mention

is all about the demoniac.

Do you follow that?

The demoniac

is the one

who Jesus delivered

from all those demons

and after,

I love it,

when the townspeople

come out

to find out

what had happened

to their pigs

and they found

the demoniac

sitting clothed

and in his right mind.

It's one of my favorite

little lines in the Bible.

Clothed and in your right mind.

You know,

it's like,

ah,

this guy had been

radically transformed

by the power of Christ.

And there he is

sitting,

clothed and in his right mind

and the neighbors

all show up

and say,

Jesus,

would you please leave?

I mean,

they were scared to death

at the power

of Christ

to transform lives.

They said,

would you leave,

please?

And Jesus does.

But then the man says,

hey,

can I come with you?

Can I come with you?

Does anybody remember

what Jesus said to him?

Verse 39,

no,

no,

no.

Why don't you go into town

and tell him

what great things

I've done for you?

How many weeks

of evangelistic training

do you think he had

before he scampered

on back to town

where he had been

an absolute,

disgusting,

revolting individual

and he begins

talking about

Jesus

who could change life?

Everybody smile at me.

so you know

I'm talking to you.

Everybody look.

The thing that brings

deficiency

to witnessing

is not a lack

of information.

It is a lack

of confidence

in the transforming

power of Christ

that can take us

from being

the miserable,

unhappy,

unforgiving,

just miserable people

and we can turn

our lives inside out

and we can say

to other people,

come see the man

who did this to me.

Do you follow that?

Hey,

you're not going to witness

when you're all

scuzzed up about

who you are

or who other people are,

you know,

but when you get

locked up on who Jesus is,

guess what happens?

naturally.

You don't need

more education.

You need to have

a fresh touch

of who Jesus is.

Amen?

Amen.

Most of our failures

to witness

for Christ

can really be

tracked back

to where our hearts are.

You know what?

people

always

witness.

The sad thing is

a lot of their witnesses

are about

themselves,

their own

interests,

their own

affections,

their own

petty issues,

and not about

Jesus.

And as we study

the scriptures

this morning,

what my

prayer has been

is that we

who know Christ

would get rid

of some of this

stupidity

about ourselves

and we would be

locked in

to the glory

and the supremacy

of Christ

and he

would dominate,

dominate

our affections

because when

he dominates

our affections,

he will

control

our

conversations.

Well,

let's learn

about John.

And as we

learn about John,

let's learn

about witnessing.

In principle,

what we're going

to find

in verses

19

on down

through

to verse

24

is that

a witness

is not

self-focused.

A witness

is not

self-focused.

We find

there in

John

1.19

that

after John

began his

public ministry,

he really

did rattle

the cages

in Jerusalem

and the

Sanhedrin.

Now,

the Sanhedrin

were the

70 men

that were

kind of

responsible

for the

leadership

and the

decision-making

in the

nation of

Israel

and when

they heard

that John

the Baptist

was preaching,

after a period

of time,

he really

began to

have an

impact

and so

they sent

a delegation

down to

kind of

do a little

bit of

study.

Who are

you?

That was

their first

question.

Who are

you?

It's

implied

that they

thought he

might be

the Christ,

but there

in verse

19,

and this

is a

testimony

of John

when the

Jews sent

priests

and Levites

from

Jerusalem

to ask

him,

who are

you?

This is

a formal

delegation,

do you

follow that?

on a

fact-finding

mission.

Here's

John the

Baptist

preaching

without

official

recognition,

and so

they send

an official

delegation

and they

say,

hey,

who are

you?

Now let me

have you

think with

me just a

little bit

about the

significance

of John

the Baptist

and his

ministry.

Understand

that for

400 years,

the nation

of Israel

had heard

no preaching

prophet.

That's

pretty

significant.

When

Malachi

finished

his

revelation,

the nation

of Israel

did not

enjoy

another

preaching

prophet

for 400

years.

That is

very

significant

to a

people

who had

one after

another

received

a prophet

who would

come.

Now by

the way,

I want

you to

understand

that every

time a

prophet

showed up,

the people

weren't

going,

woohoo,

we need

this message.

That's not

the way it

usually went,

but they

still respected

the fact God

was communicating

to them.

400 years

of silence.

And then

out of the

wilderness

comes this

guy,

not endorsed

by the priests

in Jerusalem.

He didn't

have any

neatly printed

brochures

that explained

how wonderful

his ministry

was.

He didn't

even dress

sharply.

Do you

understand

that?

He came

out in

camel's hair.

Now that

was the

blue jeans

of the

day.

Do you

follow that?

I'm not

doing blue

jeans this

morning,

but do

understand

this.

I mean,

the thing I

want you to

remember about

a man who

stands behind

the pulpit

is not what

tie he wears,

but whether

or not he

speaks with

the authority

of the

word of

God and

the power

of the

spirit.

spirit.

And here

was John

the Baptist

who walked

out, and

what were the

scribes and

Pharisees all

about?

Do you

remember how

they dressed?

Oh, they

were, I

mean, hey, you

could see a

scribe and

Pharisee and

kind of know

about their

holiness by the

way they

dressed.

You know,

they were

really, they

were into

style, and

you know, oh,

you've got the

big robe, and

you've got the

blue, and

you've got the

bells, and you

are really

hot, you

know, and

here is John

the Baptist

kind of strides

out there, blue

jeans and

dungarees, and

he's saying, hey,

you guys need to

buck up because

Jesus is coming.

Well, I want

you to understand

something.

When this

spirit-enabled

preacher, John

the Baptist,

strode in

down to the

wilderness, he

blew the doors

off the shallow

religion of the

day.

Turn back, if

you will, just

for a moment to

Luke chapter, well,

you've got to

turn back, that's

right, go back.

Luke chapter 1,

Luke 1:15–17

verse 15 through

17.

Do not miss

the fact that

John the Baptist's

ministry was one

that was

characterized by

the work of the

spirit of God.

Luke chapter 1,

Luke 1:15–17

verse 15 through

17.

Here is the

Holy Spirit

speaking to

Zechariah

regarding his

son.

He says,

for he will be

great before the

Lord, and he

must not drink

wine or strong

drink, and he

will be filled

with the Holy

Spirit even from

his mother's

womb, and he

will turn many of

the children of

Israel to the

Lord their God.

And he will go

before him in the

spirit and the

power of Elijah.

And so what you

understand is that

here is someone

who came onto

the scene in

Jerusalem and in

the nation of

Israel.

And by the way,

listen to me

carefully.

John the Baptist

never did a

single miracle.

Israel.

Hmm?

And yet, he

turned the nation

upside down.

Do you know how he

did that?

By preaching in the

power of the Spirit

of God that brought

conviction to the

hearts of broken-hearted,

miserable sinners.

sinners.

I want you to

understand something

about John.

He was not caught

up in self.

Verse 19, who are

you?

The fact that they

had to ask him

sequential questions

indicates that he

didn't launch into,

well, let me give you

my business card, and

here are all the

details about who I

am and how important

I am.

Do you follow that?

They had to keep on

prodding, who are

you?

Look at the

questions.

Verse 20, he

confessed and did

not deny, but

confessed, I'm not

the Christ.

I mean, that was a

logical question that

they were asking.

Here, after having

had all this insipid,

worthless preaching

that was

characterized, or

characterized the

preaching of the

scribes and

Pharisees.

If you ever want to

have a little

interesting discussion

on what

Pharisaical preaching

was like, just read

Alfred Edersheim,

Life and Times of

Jesus Messiah.

I mean, hey,

trying to think, who

was the crystal

cathedral?

I mean, not who

was, who preached in

the crystal, let's

try this.

If you want to know

what the ancient

Pharisees preached

like, you can try

Joel Osteen.

Okay?

I mean, it was all

about feeling good

about yourself and

all about, you know,

well, you've got to

do the right kind of

things, and you've

got to be, but you

know what?

God's all for you.

And here is John

the Baptist came

thundering out,

clothed in blue

jeans, and he says,

hey, you guys are in

trouble.

Paul.

And John was

asked, are you the

Christ?

No?

No?

Well, okay, are you

Elijah?

And the reason they

were asking him that

is because if you

return your Bible, you

don't need to this

morning, but in

Malachi chapter 4,

verse 7, the last

thing that Malachi had

to say is that before

the great and terrible

day of the Lord,

Elijah's going to

come, and what he's

going to do is his

preaching is going to

turn the hearts of

fathers back towards

their children and the

hearts of children back

towards their fathers.

Stop.

Do you know what

that's saying?

Everybody smile.

It's saying that

genuine conviction

touches on the

closest relationships

we have.

Huh?

Everybody said,

yeah, that's right.

If God is really at

work in your heart,

those who are

closest know.

You can be really

sweet in the lobby,

but your kids know if

you're a skunk at

home.

And here is what

Malachi said.

He said,

when revival

comes under the

ministry of the

prophet Elijah,

it's going to get

a hold of those

close relationships.

A revival that does

not reconcile

the closest of

relationships really

has no spiritual

zing.

People that are

persistently

bristly,

that are upset

with one another

spiritually,

are really not in

tune at all.

I want you to turn

just for a moment.

Let's kind of go on

a sidebar here for a

second.

Just go over to

James chapter 3,

James 3:14–18

verse 14 through 18.

Here's what I want

you to do.

Everybody look at me,

brother.

Underline this and

show it to your

wife.

Do you follow that?

Now, what does that

really mean?

It means take it

personally, don't apply

it to somebody else.

Let me read it to

you.

But if you have

bitter jealousy and

selfish ambition in

your hearts, do not

boast and be false

about the truth.

I'm not there, is

what this is saying.

This is not the

wisdom that comes

from above, but is

earthly, unspiritual.

Now, nail the next

one.

Demoniacal.

Well, I'm having a

little bit of an

attitude, but you

know what?

It's well-deserved

because the people I

deal with are just

absolutely fruit

cakes.

No.

This is a problem

you have.

Well, let's keep

going.

For where jealousy

and selfish ambition

exist, there will be

disorder and every

evil practice.

For the wisdom

from above is

first pure, then

peaceable, gentle,

open to reason, full

of mercy and good

fruits, impartial and

sincere.

And the harvest of

righteousness is

sown in peace by

those who make

peace.

people came to

John and said, Who

are you?

I'm not the

Christ.

I'm not Elijah.

Well, are you the

prophet?

Incidentally, and because of time, we're not going to get there,

but that question, the prophet, is really a reference to Christ.

In Deuteronomy chapter 18, verse 15 through 18,

Deuteronomy 18:15–18

there Moses speaks of the fact that the day would come

when there would be the prophet who would arrive.

You're listening to him.

What it's saying is that God would send his son

who would be the complete and full revelation of the truth.

They didn't connect the messianic role and office of Christ into that,

but they said, are you the prophet?

No, I'm not.

I love what John has to say about himself, though.

Look, if you would, there at John chapter 1, verse 22.

John 1:22

So they said to him, who are you?

We do need to give an answer.

I mean, you know, we were sent as a delegation,

and we've got to give some kind of answer to people

when we show back up in the office.

Who are you?

I'm nobody.

I'm just the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,

make straight the way of the Lord.

So let me ask you a question.

How faithful are you at being the witness

you've been divinely appointed to be?

Hmm?

How faithful are you?

Well, let's come to a second characteristic

and try to wrap this up.

First is a faithful witness is not self-focused.

All about Jesus.

Second, a faithful witness really is convicting.

Convicting.

And we understand that because immediately after him saying,

well, I'm nobody special,

then what we find there in verse 25,

they say, well, then why are you baptizing?

Well, what are you doing baptizing people

if you're not anybody special?

At the heart of the question that was being asked to John

was, okay, if you're not special,

why are you calling people to repentance

and working as you are to indict people of sin?

I want you to understand here,

if you have friends that are into sprinkling

or whatever else as a mode of baptism,

I do want you to understand that underlying this question

that was being asked in John

is a very clear indication that baptism

in the Jewish culture in which John stepped

was one of immersion.

The word baptism, actually baptizo,

in the Greek means to immerse.

How many of you know

that the Jews baptize all the time?

Raise your hands if you know that the Jews,

Joe Holloway, we have one who knows

that Jews baptize all the time.

And I went online Friday

and I checked out where I could have

a Jewish baptism here in town.

It's called a mikvah.

And mikvahs are, in fact, you can,

go ahead, you can Google it when you get home.

Jewish baptism.

Where can I be baptized here in town?

And there's a website.

There's an email address.

And there's a scheduling system

where I can schedule to have a mikvah.

That, and the word,

it's talking about entire immersion.

Immersion.

Do you know what immersion means?

All wet.

100%.

In fact, as a pastor,

you know, when I'm involved in baptism,

I want to be sure that they're down.

Okay.

All wet.

It was a regular part of ancient Judaism.

baptism.

And it was part of,

A, any Gentile who wanted to become

a Jewish convert had to be,

one, if he was male, circumcised.

Two, baptized.

Three, sacrifice.

Okay.

And so baptism was just woven in

to part of becoming a believer,

a Jewish convert.

But there were other kinds of baptisms

that took place

that had to do in particular

with a desire of purifying your heart

from just all the nasty scuzzies

of the sinfulness of life.

Do you follow that?

And so periodically,

you know,

good,

sincere Jews

would go get mikvahed.

And here was John the Baptist.

He had no endorsement.

Well, right,

do you have to baptize people?

Were you,

were you a graduate of,

you know,

Jerusalem Academy

and baptismal skills?

No.

I never took any of those classes.

Have you been endorsed by the Senate?

No.

I haven't had that either.

Why are you baptizing?

On top of that,

if there was anybody in Israel

that should have been involved

in convicting people of sin,

it should have been the,

guess what?

The professional religious people, right?

Scribes, Pharisees,

the Levites,

the priests,

you guys are having a problem with sin.

It's time to take care of it.

And nobody was doing that in Israel.

And along comes John the Baptist

and he rings the bell

and he says,

you guys are just a pack of sinners

and the king is coming

and when he shows up,

you guys are in a heap of trouble.

And actually,

there were people

that believed his preaching.

You got that?

They started flocking

to where they could be baptized

for repentance.

Over Mark chapter 1 verse 4,

Mark 1:4

we see this reference

to the fact that baptism

had to do with repentance.

And so here come these people

from Jerusalem,

from the Sanhedrin saying,

all right,

you need to understand this.

So you're not the Messiah.

No, no, no.

You're not.

And you're not Elijah.

And you're not the prophet.

Well, why are you convicted?

I mean,

what right do you have

to convict people

of being sinners?

And by the way,

do you know what sin kind of was

in the Jewish culture of the day?

It was dragging a chair

on the Sabbath.

Those really important things, right?

Remember what Jesus said?

You guys tithe on the mint

and the anise

and you have completely collected

the more weighty matters

of the law.

And so they come stomping out

to John the Baptist

and say,

well, what are you doing?

Well, quite evidently,

what was at work

is as John the Baptist

was preaching,

the Spirit was at work

convicting many

of their sinful hearts

and the judgment

that they had

to face under God.

The fact that people

came to be baptized

indicates that John's preaching

identified sin

and called people

to repent of it.

If you have any question

about that,

you can turn in your Bible

for your own study

and Liberty,

go to Luke chapter 3

Luke 3 · chapter mention

and remember

when John the Baptist

is preaching

and he doesn't say,

well, I am so glad

all of you showed up here today

to listen to my little talk

about how you ought

to feel better for yourself.

Remember what he says?

How many remember that?

He just blasted them.

He says,

you know,

the axe is laid

to the root of the tree.

You know,

what are you doing,

you snakes in the grass

kind of thing?

He says,

bring forth fruit

worthy of repentance.

And then the soldiers said,

well, what should we do?

And the others said,

well, what should we do?

And he laid out

what genuine repentance

looked like.

I do want you to understand

that not everybody

who heard John preach

believed John

or was baptized.

How do I know that?

Track with me.

This is important.

Matthew chapter 21,

Matthew 21:25

verse 25.

Jesus,

he has now finished

cleaning the temple.

Remember cleaning the temple?

One man

walking in,

just kind of imagine this,

walking into the White House

and turning it upside down.

That takes some kind of power.

And all they could do

is come up to him.

Well,

what right do you have

to do this?

I mean,

that's what they were asking him.

He says,

well, hey,

I got a question for you.

What is it?

Well,

hmm,

yeah,

here it is,

here it is.

It was John the Baptist

baptism from man

or from heaven?

And they're sitting there

thinking,

well,

if we say it was from man,

we're going to get stoned

because a lot of the people

around us think that

John really was

a messenger from God,

so we don't want to see that.

Well,

but if we say

it was from heaven,

then Jesus is going to say,

and then why weren't you

repentant and baptized?

Do you follow that?

Had him on the hook.

It's quite evident

that the Pharisees,

the scribes,

the Levites,

the priests,

these guys didn't buy in at all

to what John was selling.

You see,

in their idea,

their religion

really consisted

of superficial things,

of showing up

and doing up

and whatever else,

but it really didn't have to do

with anything but the heart.

John the Baptist

came along and said,

hey, listen,

the King of Kings is coming,

and it's time

for you to repent.

Now,

I want to explain

something about

John the Baptist's

baptism,

just for a moment.

John the Baptist's

baptism

was not a baptism

to salvation.

It was a baptism

that was,

in some sense,

a public recognition

of the lostness

of their condition

and their desperate

recognition

of their state.

Broad terms.

John the Baptist,

when he was explaining

this matter,

he says,

hey, listen,

I baptize you

with water,

but there is one

coming after me

that will baptize you

with the Spirit.

Oh,

I like that.

Do you know why?

Because,

not by might,

nor by spirit,

nor by power,

but by my spirit,

saith the Lord.

One of the things

that Scripture makes clear

is that there's nothing

I can do

to the outside of me

or even to,

well,

let's think five positive

thoughts in a row,

and maybe I'll be spiritual.

You know,

it doesn't work.

It has to be the Spirit

of God that transforms

our life through the power

of the cross.

Isn't that right?

And here is John saying,

there's someone

coming after me

that is going to make

all the difference

in the world.

He is the only one

who can save you

from the desperation

of your sin.

Let me come back.

As John came out

of the wilderness,

his message was not

about himself.

His message was convicting.

And he summarized it

by saying this

as we find there

in verse 23,

make straight

the way

of the Lord.

Being a faithful witness,

I don't want you

to miss this.

Being a faithful witness

takes living the truth

and then saying the truth.

I want you to write

that down somewhere.

Because you know what?

My prayer this last

couple weeks

has been this.

I have had the privilege

of being away

for vacation

and I got to tell you,

I come back

and I look on your faces

and you are people

that I love,

I care about.

And I want you

to know the fullness

of joy that comes

with being

all that God

has called you to be.

Do you understand that?

And you can't be that

when you're consumed

with yourself.

You can't be.

To be in a spitting match

with God

is just profoundly stupid,

right?

And He is bent

on helping you

grow to be faithful

as a witness

to His glory.

It takes living the truth

and then saying the truth.

So let me put this together

in closing.

There are some of you

here today

that do not know Christ.

And John the Baptist's message

from 2,000 years ago

is applicable.

Make straight

the way of the Lord.

The day is coming

when the Lord Jesus Christ

who is the Savior

of the world

will also be

the judge of the world

and He is going

to call you

to a task

and to accounting

and if you are standing

there before Him

and you are not clothed

in His righteousness

and you are not clothed

in His finished work

on the cross

and you hope

to lift up to Him

the miserable pittance

that your life is,

you will not endure.

And one of the purposes

of preaching

is to bring you

who are here today

that desperately need

the Lord Jesus Christ

to the point

of confessing,

I am a sinner

who stands justly condemned

before a holy God

and I need His help.

And there's some of you

here today

that know Christ.

And truthfully,

you're a heartbeat away

from being in His presence.

Do you understand that?

We're all a heartbeat away.

But you are living a life

that is distant

to that divine

and holy purpose

for which He redeemed you.

How do I know that?

I've been there.

I don't want to ever

be there again.

I've called you,

He says,

to be my witness.

You cannot be bent

on yourself

and bent on Jesus too.

And if you are going to

see His glory

in your life,

it will take

humility

and repentance

and a pleading with Him

to change the way

you think.

Let's close in prayer.

Father God,

this morning,

I am mindful

that the purpose

of preaching

is to bring

Your glorious people

to the place

of saying yes or no

to the Holy Spirit.

You've called us

to be witnesses.

We do not want

to play

with so awesome,

so majestic

an appointment.

We're frail,

easily distracted,

often discouraged.

And yet,

we have been given

the gift

of salvation

and the enabling

of the Spirit of God.

So help us

in our divine call.

We ask this

in Jesus' name.

Amen.