John 1:6-8

Fulfill Your Divine Calling

There were two male friends in their late 50’s who are about to retire from their work and they were talking during lunch time. The one man said how much he was looking forward to the end of his career. Gipangutana daw siya sa iyang asawa unsa iyang buhaton kung mo retire na siya. Nitubag pud siya, “aw ang akong buhaton mag higda-higda na lang ko diha sa among sala mag tan-aw ug tv kada adlaw.”

Ang iyang amigo nahilom kadiyot ug mitubag, “ug imo nang buhaton kada adlaw brod, mamatay kag dali ana!” Nitubag pud siya, “ngano man?”

Nitubag pud iyang amigo, “na kung dili ang pag kawala nay purpose sa kinabuhi ang mopatay nimo, ang imong asawa mo patay nimo!”

Kidding aside, purpose is very important. We all have a God-given purpose and calling and we are created by God for a purpose. To understand more about purpose and calling, let’s open our Bibles to John 1:6-8.

I have entitled this morning’ sermon “Fulfill Your Divine Calling”

Knowing Christ is A Priority, that is why God calls people and sent them as witnesses to tell other people about Jesus so that they might believe in Jesus and receive eternal life.

How would people know without someone telling them?

God can do it on His own but somehow in His wisdom, He chose to give humans the privilege to experience the joy of seeing people being come to faith and receive eternal life.

In our passage, the author changed the subject from the WORD (Jesus Christ) in verses 1-5 to the WITNESS (John the Baptist) from verses 6-8.

V.6 - God chose John before he was born for a specific purpose. John was sent from God, a divine appointment to fulfill the Old Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah’s forerunner.

The Old Testament closes with Malachi’s prophecy of the Elijah-like prophet to come before the Day of the Lord . Malachi 3:1“1 “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts.”

which the angel of the Lord told Zacharias referred to John - Luke 1:17

Luke 1:17 NIV

17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

God equipped and prepared John for a specific purpose in life.

Many of us would ask the question, “what is my purpose in life?”

But I believe that the right question that we must ask ourselves is, “what is God’s purpose in my life?

V.7 - God’s calling for John is to be a witness for Christ

John came as a witness. What is a witness?

Witnesses are individuals who, having observed something take place, are able to give an accurate and full account of what has happened.

The legal terms witness (marturia) and testify (martureō) are words related to fact, not opinion, as in a courtroom setting.

What he received from God and what he knows about Christ, he is to tell an accurate information to the people around him.

Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (John 1:6–14)

The matter of his testimony: He came to bear witness to the light. Light is a thing which witnesses for itself, and carries its own evidence along with it; but to those who shut their eyes against the light it is necessary there should be those that bear witness to it. Christ’s light needs not man’s testimony, but the world’s darkness does. John was like the night watchman that goes round the town, proclaiming the approach of the morning light to those that have closed their eyes, and are not willing themselves to observe it;

V.8 - John came and fulfilled his calling (he came)

That all men through him might believe; not in him, but in Christ. At this point, some of John’s followers were now focusing on John rather than Jesus so the author make it crystal clear that John the Baptist is not the light but a pointer to the LIGHT!

John the Baptist was sent for people’s benefit to be an additional pointer to the truth of Jesus, the Revealer of the Father. People in sin are in such darkness that they need someone to tell them what is light. John’s goal was that all men might come to trust in Jesus.

He prepared men to receive the gospel, by awakening them to a sight and sense of sin so that there eyes will be opened..ug ang kahayag ni Kristo modan-ag sa ilang mga nawong ug sila mapuno sa kalipay ug paglaom.

How did he fulfill his calling?

Matthew 3:1–3 “1 Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 3 For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight!’ ””

- Like John, we must preach repentance so people will receive restoration through faith in Jesus.

John even rebuked Herod, “on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her. For John had been saying to Herod, ‘It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife’ ” (Mark 6:17–18).

Like John we must be courageous as well.

Proper Response:

I. Recognize your divine calling - You are chosen and sent by God (high calling)

Cotton Mather, the Boston Puritan (d. 1728), taught the Christians two callings—“general” (“to serve the Lord Jesus Christ”) and “personal” (“a particular employment by which his usefulness in his neighbourhood is distinguished”). “Every man ordinarily should be able to say, ‘I have something wherein I am occupied for the good of other men.’ ” The two callings should be pursued in balance. In this the Christian is like a man in a boat rowing toward heaven, and pulling hard on both oars.

Believers of Jesus are called “Children of God” because that is part of their calling - a changed life and identity.

1 Peter 2:9 NASB95

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

II. Represent Jesus - You are God’s witness - to testify about Jesus

We are not called to be attorneys. We are not called to debate, argue, convince. We are called to be witnesses—to share the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth concerning what the Lord is doing in our lives.

Ex. “I see you got a new car,” someone says to you. “Wow. You sure are lucky.”

If you’re a faithful witness, you’ll tell the truth and say, “I’m not lucky. I’m blessed. The Lord provided this car for me.”

or

“I see your new car was towed away,” “You must be angry.”

If you are a faithful witness, you’ll tell the truth and say, “I know God will work this out for good. He always does.”

Witnessing for Christ is not about confronting nor convincing people. It’s about telling them about Jesus whether they believe or not.

Acts 1:8 “8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.””

Represent Jesus and be his mouthpiece wherever you go!

Use your time, talent, and treasure to promote Christ!

III. Reach out the unbelievers - You are an agent of light (not of darkness)

You have the most powerful device to defeat the darkness and give hope to the hopeless.

We have the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!, the power of God unto salvation.

1 Peter 3:15–16 “15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; 16 and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.”

Go out and make contact with unbelievers! Don’t be afraid to give your testimonies and to give them the reason of the hope that you have!

Illustration:

If I know my own heart today, I would rather die than live as I once did, a mere nominal Christian, and not used by God in building up His kingdom. It seems a poor empty life to live for the sake of self.

Let us seek to be useful. Let us seek to be vessels meet for the Master’s use, that God, the Holy Spirit, may shine fully through us. - D.L Moody.