John¡¦s Witness
John 1:19 ¡V 23
I. Introduction
a. Greetings and personal intro.
b. Recap of last lesson
i. The Word Became Flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14a)
1. Word ¡V logos the essential Word of God
2. Dwelt ¡V tabernacled
a. tabernacle as a type of Christ
3. Among Us ¡V no division
a. Christ¡¦s crucifixion
ii. We beheld his glory (John 1:14b)
1. Special dispensation ¡V God on earth, miracles
2. They realized He was the Son of God
3. Full of Grace and Truth
iii. John¡¦s Witness
1. He was sent to herald Christ
2. All His fullness we have received
iv. The Law vs. Grace and Truth
1. The Law ¡V given by Moses
a. Harsh, strict
b. Not a system to perfect man, but show him his shortfall
2. Grace ¡V Jesus is the embodiment of grace
3. Truth ¡V John 17:17 ¡V thy Word IS truth
a. Jesus is the Word, the Word is truth
v. No One has seen God
1. God Is Holy
a. Moses
b. Uzzah
II. Illustration ¡V Let us be satisfied with nothing less than leaving the deepest mark on our generation - John R. Mott ¡V missionary, evangelist, nobel peace prize winner
III. The Confrontation (John 1:19)
a. Testimony ¡V Greek word marturiva
i. Defined ¡V a testifying, as a prophet, or, testifying, as before a judge.
ii. The same root word martus that we get the word martyr from today. Many have died for their faith down through the years.
1. Fox¡¦s book of martyrs
2. Tortured for Christ by Richard Wurmbrand
iii. Ron¡¦s Corrie Ten Boom story
iv. Practical - Like John, each of us has a testimony ¡V what did you do with your life.
1. Deut. 30:1 ¡V choose life
2. Great white Throne of judgment ¡V Revelation ¡V blood of the Lamb and the Word of their testimony
3. Personal
b. The Jews sent priests and Levites to ask ¡§Who are you?¡¨
i. The Jews doing the sending was the Sanhedrin ¡V the Jewish assembly ¡V the priests and Levites sent were probably members of the Sanhedrin. They were sent to test the validity of John as a Prophet, as there had not been a prophet in the land for over 400 years, since Zechariah¡¦s death.
ii. The distance of this place on the Jordan to where John was baptizing was about 26 miles, a full days¡¦ journey. The general feeling would be that it was an honor for John to have these representatives come to John here.
iii. It also showed that there was a great clamor among the Jews concerning John and his ministry, as we are told in Scripture that the people regarded him as a prophet.
iv. John was not a respecter of persons, though. He did not seek to please man, but God.
IV. The Confession
a. John Confessed ¡V Greek homogleo ¡V meaning to profess openly
i. Same word used in Matthew 10:31
ii. It is essential that we make an open profession of our faith.
iii. Next verse ¡V Matthew 10:32
b. I am not the Christ!
i. John confessed openly, in front of the people, the priests, and the Levites.
ii. John knew his place in ministry, and the job at hand.
iii. The people were looking for the messiah to rescue the nation politically
iv. John 3:30
V. The Question (John 1:21-22)
a. Questions
i. They asked him, what then? Are you Elijah?
1. I am not.
2. Not ¡V Greek ou ¡V a strong negative
3. The Jews has a tradition that Elijah would return before the Messiah (Malachi 4:5)
4. He was not Elijah, and that was not the meaning of the prophecy
a. Matthew 17:11-15
ii. Are you the or that prophet? And he answered, No
1. Again strong negative ¡V ou
2. They were referring to the prophet Moses spoke of in Deuteronomy 18:15, who was Christ
b. More Questions (verse 22)
i. Who are you?
1. John¡¦s answers to this point had been all negative.
2. They were kind of frustrated at this point, I¡¦d imagine.
ii. That we may give an answer to them that sent us
1. As I stated above, they were sent by the Sanhedrin
2. They had traveled a day¡¦s journey,
3. They needed some kind of answer for all of the commotion in Jerusalem stirred up by John¡¦s ministry
iii. What do you say about yourself?
1. They wanted to pin John down
2. They needed an answer for their leaders
3. They wanted it from John¡¦s mouth, since there had already been much speculation and rumor about who he was.
iv. Practical - Just like those priests and Levites, I stand here this evening and ask ¡V Who are you, and what do you have to say about yourself? Your entire life is you boil it all off, comes down to this one question ¡V Who are you and what do you have to say about yourself? Are you identified with Christ? Have you been born again, and exchanged His new life for your old one? That is by far the most important question you will ever be asked. One day, Almighty God will ask you. You have a choice tonight, do you want to go into eternity prepared, by asking Christ to come into your life, or unprepared?
VI. The Crying Voice (John 1:23)
a. I am ¡¥The voice of one crying in the wilderness¡¦
i. Here we see that John identifies himself as the fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah, in Isaiah 40:3
ii. John was not only in the physical wilderness, 26 miles from Jerusalem, but there was a spiritual wilderness in the land as well.
1. The Pharisees, which was started as a revival of the Jewish nation, had slipped into a fatal case of legalism. They obeyed the letter of the law, but their hearts weren¡¦t changed.
2. The priesthood had fallen into a political office, with a lot of politics and government influence
3. The temple had become a ¡§den of robbers¡¨, people making huge profits on money-changing, because the temple couldn¡¦t be paid with foreign currency, and others scalping people for animals to sacrifice.
4. Practical ¡V we can learn a lot from this in the church today
b. ¡§Make straight the way of the Lord!¡¨
i. John was calling people to three things:
1. Repent and turn from their sins
a. Repent means a 180„a turn away
b. The old life is left behind
c. Pressing on to what is ahead
2. Believe in the coming Messiah, or Christ
a. He told the people He was coming soon
b. John was just pointing the way
c. This was their salvation, not the mere repentance or baptism
3. Be baptized and make a public profession of your changed life.
a. As I stated above, Christ tells us to confess Him before men, and He will confess us before the Father.
b. It is important, not in and of itself, but because the Lord commands us through the apostle Peter in Acts 2:38 to repent and be Baptized.
VII. Conclusion ¡V Altar Call
a. Question ¡V what have you to say about yourself?
