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Intro

How do you live out the Great Commission? How do you make your life count?

Christians are Lamps sent to shine the light Of Christ’s salvation on a dark and dying World.

I. Christians are Called to Be Lamps to the Gospel

John 1:6-8 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

Let me remind you where we are.

This is the beginning of John’s gospel.

The gospel written, John 20:31 that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Its written so that you would believe in Jesus Christ and have eternal life.

In verses 1 and 2, John says Christ is eternal God.

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

Then in verse 3, John talks about Creation.

All things were made through Him.

Verses 4-5 then talk about Christ’s incarnation and ministry.

In Him was life, that is eternal life, and that eternal life was the light, or the salvation, of men.

And the salvation of Christ shines out in a dark and dying world, and the darkness has not overcome it.

And then in verse 6, There was a man sent from God whose name was John.

Wait what? What happened to Jesus?

You’re talking about Jesus the whole time and then, seemingly out of nowhere, John the Baptist shows up?

Why does John right it like this.

In fact, if you keep reading, he goes right back to Jesus, and doesn’t even get to the main story of John the Baptist until verse 19.

Why not get through Christ and introduce John the Baptist later? Wouldn’t that make more sense?

Well John could have wrote it that way, but he didn’t. Why?

I think there are two reasons.

Who John was?

Number 1, you need to remember who John the Baptist was.

John tells us. John the Baptist was a witness to Christ.

That doesn’t mean that John the Baptist just saw Christ, like someone who was there to witness something happen.

It means that John the Baptist was a witness that Christ was who He said He was.

A witness in a court case is someone who by their testimony establishes something to be true.

They say I know its true because I saw it happen.

And that’s John the Baptist.

In verses 1-5, John tells us who Jesus was and what Jesus came to do.

He was eternal God who came to give eternal life and salvation to everyone lost in darkness.

And now in verse 6, John the Baptist, as a witness, gives testimony to that fact.

John the Baptist is a credible witness that Jesus really is God and He really does give us eternal life and save us from Darkness.

Well why? What makes John such a credible witness?

John tells us that too. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

John the Baptist was sent from God as a Forerunner of Jesus Christ, sent by God Himself.

This is obvious from the fact of how John the Baptist was born.

His birth itself was a miracle.

Zechariah and Elizabeth, John’s parents, were both advanced in years (Luke 1:7). That’s a really nice way to say, old as dirt.

And if that weren’t enough Elizabeth, herself, was barren (Luke 1:7). She had never had a child after all their years of marriage.

But the angel Gabriel, said none of that mattered.

Elizabeth would conceive and bear a son who would be great before the Lord and set apart, filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb.

And God set him apart and sent him to prepare the way for Christ.

Isaiah prophesied about what John the Baptist would do...

Luke 3:4-6 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”

Every valley filled every mountain made low.

Every crooked path made straight and every rough place made a level way.

In other words, John the Baptist was going to make a highway leading people to Jesus Christ.

And how John did that, how John prepared prepared people for Jesus Christ was by preaching repentance.

Luke 3:3 He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

John the Baptist made a highway of salvation by calling out people’s sin and showing them their need for God’s grace and mercy.

The very grace and mercy that would arrive with Jesus Christ.

This shows us how we prepare the way. How we can make straight paths.

Its not Jesus wants to be your friend. It’s Law and Gospel.

We broke God’s Law and deserve death, but God gives us grace in Jesus Christ. But we’ll get to that.

The idea here is that John the Baptist, as the Forerunner of Christ, tells us something about God’s amazing grace and heart for sinners.

Jesus didn’t just show up on the scene.

God sent John the Baptist to prepare the way.

God wanted people ready for Christ. Looking for Christ. Desperate for Christ.

God sent John because God does not want any to perish but all to reach repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

That’s the missionary heart of God.

So John the Baptist gets put here as a corroborating witness to say Jesus Christ really was God in the flesh.

In Him and Him alone was eternal life, and that life was the light, the salvation of mankind.

How do you know? Because John the Baptist said so, and he was sent by God.

Light and Witness

The second reason John the Baptist gets put here, and really the big idea that we are going to focus on today, is to show that God’s way of shining the light of Christ in the world and pushing back the darkness through human witnesses.

Messengers. Missionaries, like John the Baptist, who are sent by God to carry good news to the world.

The light shines in the darkness, verse 5, and John 1:6-7 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light that all might believe through him.

That through him is not through Jesus Christ. People believe in Christ.

The through him is through John the Baptist.

God pushes back the darkness...He opens the eyes of the blind, frees the captives from their sin, and gives eternal life, through human witnesses, like John, bearing witness about the light.

Look what Zechariah, John’s dad, prophesied about Him when he was born.

Luke 1:76-79 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby...

That whereby is important there.

In other words through. Through John’s ministry and bearing witness to the light....

the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

God sent John to bear witness about the light, and through his witness, shine the light of Christ on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.

Or in the words of our passage, John 1:7, John was sent by God to prepare the way of the Lord and preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins that, or for the purpose of, all might believe through him.

Does that not sound like the mission of the Church?

God is a missionary God.

And God sends missionaries to shine the light of Christ on a dark and dying world.

John the Baptist was sent by God.

Over and over again in John’s gospel we are told that Jesus Himself was sent by God.

And in John 20:21 Jesus said to the Disciples, and in doing so, us...“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

Ambassadors

We have all, both individually and corporately been sent by God as missionaries to bear witness to the good news gospel and the salvation that is in Jesus Christ.

We have all been called to a John the Baptist ministry.

Now don’t get me wrong. John the Baptist was totally unique.

Jesus said he was the greatest man that ever lived (Matthew 11:11).

He was the last of the Old Covenant Prophets of God called to prepare the way of the Lord at a unique time in history, Christ’s incarnation.

But that doesn’t mean we aren’t also called to prepare the way of the Lord ourselves and bear witness to the light by preaching repentance and the forgiveness of sins.

A John the Baptist Ministry.

What did Paul say?

2 Corinthians 5:18-20 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

We are ambassadors for Christ.

We have been sent by God and entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation.

The word entrusted means God has given us something precious.

And He doesn’t want us to just hold on to it. He wants us to share it and take the gospel to the whole world with the good news that the light of Christ has dawned.

And through our witness, God makes His appeal through us.

What an amazing thought!

You are never alone when you are sharing good news.

God is with you, working through you to call sinners to be reconciled to Himself in repentance.

Urging them to trust in Christ and be forgiven of all their sin.

So if God the Father has a missionary heart, so should every Christian.

We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Our goal, the mission of our life should be the same as John the Baptist.

Bear witness to Christ, that all might believe in Him through us.

Is that our heart? Is that our life’s ambition and desire?

Are we living as missionaries sent by God to prepare the way for the Lord and shine the light of Christ?

That is how God pushes back the darkness of the world.

Everywhere the light goes the darkness flees away with no place to hide and God brings sinners to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:5).

Do you understand what that means?

Every Christian and every church, including you, is instrumental in God’s plan to shine the light of Christ in the world and overcome the darkness of sin and death.

Mission Field at Home

Every Christian is a missionary. An ambassador for Christ.

You don’t have to go to China or Africa or the Middle East, to be a light for the gospel.

Now God might call you to it, and if He does you must follow it, we all know what happened to Jonah...

But I don’t know if you’ve noticed...its pretty dark right here.

And I hate to break it to you, but Northwest Arkansas is getting darker all the time.

There are less and less churches preaching the gospel and the full counsel of God’s Word.

A majority of people that call themselves Christian seem Christian in name only or have so little discipleship they are no different than the world.

And then there are lost all around us in our families, in our jobs, at the supermarket, and more and more people are moving here all the time that need the gospel of Christ.

And God calls us to be a light here. You are ambassadors for Christ.

Think about that. Think about the impact we could have for the Kingdom of God where we already are.

The lives that could be changed.

The Marriages and families that could be healed and restored.

Freedom people could have from their sin.

And what impact that could have on our lives, on our families, and on our cities as more and more people trust in Christ and apply the gospel to every area of life.

The only way to make an impact for the Kingdom of God isn’t just by moving to a far away land.

You can make one right here by simply bearing witness in the darkness God has already placed you in and shining the light of Christ where you already are.

Don’t waste your life. Make it count for something. Make it count for the glory of Christ and the Kingdom of God.

Now lets be honest…that sounds daunting.

And let’s be even more honest.

We all know we are supposed to applaud evangelism. We all know we are supposed to be ambassadors for Christ.

But what typically happens with sermons on mission and evangelism is we all, myself included, get guilt tripped, where on the outside we say what we all know we are supposed to say, “Yes! Evangelism! Take the gospel to the nations!”

But on the inside, “I don’t really know how to do that, and if I was really honest, I’d rather just have a sermon that just talks about the gospel and repenting of my sin because that’s more comfortable to do anyway.”

No? Just me? I’m the only bad Christian? No I’m just the one that’s honest.

So let me try to help give you a new frame of reference for how to think about mission and being an ambassador for Christ.

Because when you see how the Great Commission is God’s plan for pushing back the darkness of this world with the Light of Christ, you can be so intimated by the job in front of us that you don’t even know where to start in the first place.

You say, How is little old me supposed to do anything about the darkness all around me. Its so great, and I’m so small.

Well let me encourage you. Its not your job to save the world. Its Christ’s.

He’s the light of the world. Not you.

Verse 8, makes it clear that John the Baptist was not the light, but only a witness to the light.

And Look at what Jesus said about John the Baptist in John 5:35. What it meant that John was not the light, but just a witness to the light.

John 5:35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

All John was was a lamp. A lamp that shined the light of Christ to a lost and dying world.

And all you have to be is a lamp. That’s it. Just a lamp of the light of Christ.

To be who God’s called you to be, and do what God’s called you to do.

And like John the Baptist be a burning and shining lamp for the gospel for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I think this is the key.

I think this gives us the paradigm shift that takes the Great Commission from this grand impossible task ridden with guilt, to something we can actually do.

How do you be a lamp for the gospel and live out God’s mission to shine the light of Christ on a dark and dying world?

That’s our next two points...

First...Lamps shine out the truth of the gospel.

And second...Lamps burn with zeal for the gospel.

Number 2...

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II. Lamps Shine Out the Truth of the Gospel

This has to do with the content of our message. What we preach.

John 1:7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.

John bore witness about the light.

His whole ministry was just pointing people to Jesus.

Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.

Why?

That all might believe through him.

That’s it. He preached Christ.

John 1:29 “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

The way John bore witness about Christ and prepared the way of the Lord was pretty simple.

He said we are all sinners and Christ alone can forgive all our sin.

And that’s our mission. Take the gospel to the whole world.

If we want to be lights for the gospel, lamps shining in the darkness and the shadow of death, we must preach Christ and Him crucified.

That’s how the light of Christ shines forth into the world.

Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17).

So the first step in living out the Great Commission is preaching Christ. He is our message.

The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Clear Gospel

Here’s what that means. We need to be clear on the gospel we are called to carry out to the world.

Let me give you a simple definition of the gospel that if you can memorize this, you’ll be able to explain the gospel everywhere you go.

Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and rose again three days later.

That’s it.

Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and rose again three days later.

First you have Jesus Christ.

He is the Son of God and the Christ, the Anointed, the Messiah God sent to be the Savior of the World.

He died on the cross for our sins.

The wages of sin is death and All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

All of us deserve to die for our sins, but Christ died for us.

He suffered as our substitute and satisfied the wrath of God on our behalf so that we could be forgiven of all of our sins.

And He rose again three days later.

God raised Jesus from the dead declaring once and for all He really was the Son of God and that His sacrifice made full atonement for our sins.

And now Christ lives forever to give eternal life to everyone who believes in Him.

We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

That’s the gospel. That’s the message God has entrusted us to carry out into the world.

And that’s the only gospel that has the power to save.

Now that means…we have no right to tamper with it.

1 Cor 1:23 We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews (religious people who don’t like being told they can save themselves) and folly to Gentiles (unbelievers who don’t like being told they are sinners who need a savior at all),”

don’t twist it. so many peddlars. Don’t make it palatable. Its God’s message and we have been entrusted with it. THat means we have no right to change it.

Romans 1:16

Shine as a light. Get the gospel really clear and bring people to it. Its always accomplishing its purpose - salvation or condemnation. We are ambassadors. God’s representatives.

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III. Lamps Burn with Zeal for the Gospel

if our goal was that al might believe what might look different in our life

How appealing is a Christian home?

A husband and wife that love each other.

Children and Grandchildren who honor their parents and fear the Lord.

That’s unheard of out in the world. What’s the difference?

The Christian home is for Christ. A simple life. Not chasing wealth or opulence. Prestige or fame.

Just day in day out faithfulness to God.

Being content to faithfully do all that he’s asked you to do, as a husband, father, wife, mother, child, employee, employer, church member....

A simple godly life shows a radical zeal for the Lord

4. Gospel Simplicity

This again is hitting at that idea that every Christian is a missionary no matter where God has placed them.

John the Baptist lived a simple life.

He lived in the wilderness and wore a simple cloak of camel’s hair with a weather belt around his waste eating locusts and wild honey (Mark 1:6).

All he did was do what God asked him to do.

That’s it.

You don’t have to fly across the world or head up some huge ministry to make an impact for the gospel.

You can just live a simple godly life doing what God has asked you to.

In 1 Timothy 2: 1-4 Paul says one of the things we should pray for is...

…That we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Simplicity is a powerful testimony to the gospel and the glory of Jesus Christ.

Just day in day out faithfulness in what God has asked you to do,

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Conclusion

Christians are Lamps sent to shine the light Of Christ’s salvation on a dark and dying World.

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