The Forerunner of the Christ
Notes
Transcript
And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose. These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
introduction:
A lot of times new christians or christians just getting serious about glorifying God in their lives start reading their bible and they usually start in Genesis...
but every now and then one will ask me where should they start reading the bible?
and to be completely honest i firmly believe new christians and christians just getting started living a life thats glorifying to God should be starting in the Gospels…
and the Gospel of John IMO is kind of set apart in the Gospels and is special in todays world…
it was written by the Disciple John after the death of Christ
the theme of the Book is Christ, just like the rest of the Bible, but this book deals with the signs Christ gave during His ministry that prove his deity ...
these signs all had independent witnesses and the point here is John wants people to believe in Christ and receive the christ of the Bible and be saved
and in todays world lets be honest we are looking for a sign, but we are looking in the world for a sign that has already been given and that sign can be seen in the bible…
and we absolutely need to be careful looking outside the word of God for a sign because the devil can and does do wonders to confuse us…
we have to see that we will never see a spiritual sign in a sinful place…
And Right Now you may be thinking verse 19 is a weird place to start an expository sermon series on the Book of John… But i have a purpose…
at this point in the book we have seen the verses
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
and we know what that means… Jesus is the word, jesus was with God in the beginning or at creation, and Jesus is God… then it goes onto say that all things were made by him and without him nothing would be…
and then we see the sending of John the Baptist into the word as the forerunner of Christ in John 1:6-8
and understand that the world then was in a dark place just like it is now
but God sent his son to be that light and church please understand That light is the Light of the Gospel which is Christ...
and still today the world is in a dark place and the only light that will shine in such darkness is the light of the Gospel which is Christ
its not traditions, its not politics, its not the legalistic laws we place on our selves, its not all these other things that we try to put in the place of christ…
and the greatest thing we could do is start rejecting all these things and start promoting and clinging to the true light which is Christ
this is going to be a great study...
and right here in verse 19 we pick up where the forerunner of Christ is put on the spot a little bit…
I. The Question Asked (19)
I. The Question Asked (19)
And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?
A. Right here we see John the Baptist being Questioned by the religious leaders of the day
A. Right here we see John the Baptist being Questioned by the religious leaders of the day
These guys were on kind of a fact finding mission because the religious leaders of the time were suspicious of anyone doing anything in the nam of God without them...
we see in Luke 1:5 that John the Baptist father was a priest so its kind of expected that they would question him
and in those days the sons of priest became priests but John was not a priest like other priests
he was a nonconformist, he was not traditional, he was radically different and what he preached was a return to what the scripture really had to say about living righteously and honoring God…
Now i am not going to talk about the nepotism shown in the jewish traditions except to say that in todays church we have to start seeing that just because daddy is a preacher it doesn’t mean the son is going to be a preacher...
matter of fact i am a firm believer that nepotism has killed just as many churches as sin has…
But what i do want to touch on when it comes to this verse is doesn’t that sound just like the religious leaders today?
John did things in a nontraditional way, not a wrong way and was building a following where the religious leaders who had always been there were not…
one thing god has shown us in church history is he is not interested in our traditions, our legalist rules we place on self, and our
But what god is interested in is our authentic worship of him
Now Calvary has faced its share of criticism from “religious leaders” because we don’t do things the way they think it should be done
but one thing i see over and over again is when you don’t worry about what others think and just focus on pleasing God your life changes in a way it never could shackled to false rules of religious leaders…
and apply this where it applies, but if you just follow what the bible says and forget the man made man centered rules of men you will see your life changed and your hearts mended and God glorified in your life...
and what comes with that? the blessing of god in your life because the honor of God shown in your life…
II. Responds with who he is (20-24)
II. Responds with who he is (20-24)
A. He was a minister of God (20-22)
A. He was a minister of God (20-22)
And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
John knew who he was others may have questioned it about him but he knew who he was and who he served
he knew God personally and knew God had sent him into the word for a specific purpose
he was a called called, commissioned, and sent man who was to be the forerunner of the messiah
he also knew who he was not
he was not the messiah
because of the large crowds some probably thought he was
he was not Elijah and he was not “that prophet”
many thought “That” prophet was Jeremiah or Isaiah who would physically return and proclaim the christ
this was taught by tradition not scripture but we see that tradition then becomes as important as scripture to them
There are a couple things we have to point out here and the first one is this:
the servant of god cannot become prideful and start taking titles that are not his… if you’re after a title get out of the minister we have to many title seekers as it is...
they cant be a seeker of recognition as so many today are… you aren’t what is supposed to be magnified christ it
and they can’t assume honor that isn't theirs to assume… all honor belongs to God and too many so called leaders want honor today and we wonder why the church is in the shape its in…
The other thing we have to point out is that tradition is never greater than scripture....
Church the Bible is our authority not men, not mens traditions, and not mens rules...
but sadly once again we are at a point where traditions dictate doctrine instead of doctrine dictating traditions…
there is nothing wrong with traditions until those traditions become more important than what the word says…
and in todays independent baptist world so many churches have become more about traditions than the glory of god and you see it in how the operate...
i am an independent baptist and this church is an independent baptist church, but we are not now nor will we ever be as long as i am here be weighed down by the strangle hold of traditionalism, the bondage or legalism, or the false doctrines of men
we are now and will continue to be a church that is lead by the holy spirit and governed by what the bible says…
B. He was also only a VOICE and a FORERUNNER of what was coming (23-24)
B. He was also only a VOICE and a FORERUNNER of what was coming (23-24)
He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.
The people needed their concept of who the messiah was straightened out
the needed to understand that some of the things they had been taught or they had thought simply wasn’t true
the coming messiah was not just an ordinary man or prophet like some thought
the coming messiah was not a liberator or warrior king as some thought
and because all this was being taught the people also needed their religion straightened out
their religion had become institutionalized and formal without godliness or right-living, and it had a huge emphasis on works not a clean heart
they thought they were good people who didn’t need to repent and get right with god
and they needed to know it was almost time for the messiah to come so they could start seeing things the right way before it was too late…
they wanted it there way but god sent John to let them know thats not what was going to happen
people listen to me know we need our idea about who the messiah is straightened out...
the jesus of the bible is not the jesus that is being taught in most churches today
the jesus being taught in most churches today is either:
the pro America Donald Trump jesus or the super liberal hippy jesus
and neither of those jesus is the jesus of the Bible... christianity is not American and god will be in control no matter who the president is… and living for christ isn’t a free for all
right is always right and wrong is always wrong
people also today need to get their religion straightened out…
if it isn’t in the bible stop acting like it is and stop believing it when someone tells you just to take their word for it ask for a chapter and verse
and people today need to hear about the messiah...
not everyone will go to heaven only the saved will go to heaven and if you don’t trust in christ as your savior have faith in him as your savior and follow him as lord of your life you are not saved and if today is your last day you will wake up tomorrow in a devils hell…
people need to hear about the savior today
John was a voice and if your saved you are a voice today crying out in the wilderness that is America...
your voice must be clear and honest and loving and direct in proclaiming the message of salvation because peoples eternity depends on the church taking the message out to to them
and if you are not preaching a message of preparedness and repentance then you are not preaching the message of the bible and you better egt that right because one day you will answer for every word that comes out of your mouth
III. John responds with what he is doing (25-27)
III. John responds with what he is doing (25-27)
A. He was a baptizer (25-26)
A. He was a baptizer (25-26)
And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;
now this is important so pay attention to this part if yo have an interest in church history…
John was not called John the Baptist because he was a baptist regardless of whatever uneducated person told you what...
i heard a message preached last week online from a church down the road that blew my mind when the preacher said john was a baptist and thats why we are baptists
John was called John the Baptist because John baptized people in a day when people were not being baptised...
John baptized with water for the remission of sin, they were under law at this point not grace…
so he was symbolically baptising them to show a washing of sin so they could live rightly for god in a world that lived for outward appearance not inward honor for god
This was radical, different, and turned heads because at the time jews baptised gentiles when they wanted to become jews…
But john was preaching of the coming Messiah and baptizing for the sins of the people to be washed away in a legal setting…
he was carrying out what the old testament prophets were calling for when they told the people to be washed of their sins
john was not the start of the baptist church… and this isn't the setting for the denominational conversation,
but we are baptists because we are fundamental and literal in our approach of Gods word, but even the baptist have gotten away form the some aspects of the truth especially when it comes to the holy spirit (but thats a sermon for another day)
John was trying to get his people to see what the scripture actually had to say… and christian you better pay attention and get back to what the scripture actually says
and if you have not been baptized we will discuss that next week… but its somehting we are called to do to show the relationship we have with God…
it wont save us just like this didn’t save them, but it shows the world who’s we are and symbolizes the remission and the washing away of sin
this baptism then and now wasn't a sprinkle and it wasn’t done to babies… it was only done when a person embraces the savior and follows after him…
John was telling people who he was but also who was coming and he was doing it the right way...
B.He was a humble servant in his Ministry (27)
B.He was a humble servant in his Ministry (27)
He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
John made it known that the one coming (jesus) was preferred above him or was more important than him
and then he went a step further and told them he wasn’t even worthy to unlatch his shoes
keep in mind the culture of the time was that only slaves would unlatch shoes
he was telling them he was nothing but the pone coming was everything…
wow how we could learn form that today in the age of super christians acting better then those around them…
its not about us and it has to be all about him, and just because you don’t sin the way those around you doesn’t mean you are any better…
John understood this and John made it clear he knew his place in the big scheme of things and christians we better get that into our hearts that we are servants of the most high God...
we can glory in him but we cannot glory in ourselves like so many today do…
christianity is not now nor has it ever been about us it has always been about the savior jesus christ…
and jesus was the messiah John was talking about here… and jesus needs to be the one we are talking about as well…
Quit taking pride in you and start taking pride in the God we claim we serve…
1st Conclusion:
we end today in verse 28
These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
this city would have never been known if not for the ministry of John the Baptist… and there is a lesson here for us…
God honored this city because fo the ministry of his servant… God honors a place where his name and message is proclaimed… again it goes back to don’t take pride in a place take pride in your God… are we bringing honor to God in the place he has us?
Let me ask you a few questions:
John was not a traditionalist he was a person who followed God literally based on his relationship with God and knowing the scripture
John knew who he was and why he was doing what he was doing
and John kept christ first in all his works...
are we following Christ today or are we following men...
do you know the savior fo the bible or do you know the false savior of the world??
are you following Bible or men in your worship of God?
Do you know what God has for you to be doing?
if not why? all of us have a job and a calling to do for the glory of god why are we not doing it…
are we keeping Christ first in all things?
or is it more about a group of people, ourselves, or a place more important…
Next week we will discuss the baptism of Jesus, but this week we have to understand that we have to be a church and a people who keep it all about the savior like John did…