A Witness to the Light

If we were to ask a bunch of people what they though the world’s greatest problem was right now, we’d get all sorts of answers, right? The war in Ukraine, global hunger, energy crisis, global warming, COVID-19, lack of widespread education, inflation...

As John is introducing Jesus, he tells us what he thinks the world’s greatest problem is, right? The world is in darkness and needs the light. The world is dead and needs life.

John 1:4 CSB

4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

And the solution to that problem, John says, is belief in Jesus. Remember from John 20, his thesis statement, his big idea:

John 20:31 CSB

31 But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Life comes from Jesus.

Turn to John 1, please. We are continuing through John’s prologue this morning, where he introduces the themes of the rest of his gospel. John 1 on page 603 of the pew Bible.

We’ve already seen several words that will pop up again and again in John’s gospel. If you are a person who writes in your Bible, it might not be a bad idea to write those words at the beginning of John. We’ve seen the words light (23), darkness (8), life (36), believe (98). Today we’ll see two new ones, witness and the world. Those are some of the themes and important words that John will use throughout his narrative.

Back to our thoughts about the world’s problems, though. Don’t get me wrong. War is horrible and we ought to do all we can to prevent it. COVID has killed nearly 1 million people in the US and we ought to take it seriously. Energy crises are real and we ought to steward the resources of our planet well. Christians ought to care about those things.

But none of these is the ultimate problem of this world. They are real problems. But the ultimate problem is that we are separated from God because of our sin. God is holy, and the guilt of our sin of rebellion against him has placed us under his proper condemnation, which is death. Additionally, the continuing effects of sinfulness and our individual sin darken our minds to the truth so that there is nothing we can do about it — in fact, in our natural state we don’t want to do anything about it.

If these are our great problems—God’s condemning judgment of death and the darkening effects of sin—John says the answer is Jesus Christ, the Savior whom God has sent as a light to this darkened world and life to a dead world.

Our greatest problem is sin and the greatest need is belief in Jesus the Christ.

Read with me our text for this morning,

John 1:6–13 CSB

6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light. 9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name, 13 who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.

PRAY

Witness to the Light

Our greatest problem is sin and our greatest need is belief in Jesus the Christ.

And because God loves the world, not only did he send a Savior, he also sent witnesses to testify about him.

If our greatest need is to believe in Christ, then what a blessing it is that God has sent us witnesses to him. John’s purpose in writing is to prove that Jesus is the Savior and the Son of God, and to do this he gives multiple witnesses.

In our legal system, when multiple credible witnesses agree about an event, we consider it to be solid testimony and a basis of fact in what happened.

In the Old Testament, the facts about an event, particularly a crime, was accepted only on the testimony of two or more witnesses.

John presents us with multiple witnesses to Christ, and on the basis of the testimony of those witnesses, he calls us to believe. One pastor wrote this, “John is insistent that there is good evidence for the things he sets down. Witness establishes truth.”

Now, before we move on, we need to understand how John uses the word witness. It has evolved to mean someone who saw something, right? The witness is on the stand because they saw what happened.

Like I said, it’s evolved into that meaning. When John uses it, he means someone who gives testimony. For John, you become the witness when you start testifying. In fact, the words witness and testify in the Bible come from the same word, martus. It’s where we get the word martyr. When someone died for the faith, they were called a martyr because they were giving the greatest testimony to its truthfulness. They were the ultimate witness in being willing to die for it.

Later in the gospel we will see lots and lots of witnesses, those who testify to the truth of Jesus’ person and work. All three persons of the Trinity give witness about Jesus. Jesus’ miracles, the seven signs, witness about him. His disciples, the people he heals, the Scriptures. John brings all of those in to testify or bear witness about Jesus.

John’s Witness

And there is one more who came to bear witness about the light, Jesus, whom the prophets had spoken of in the Old Testament. One who would be a forerunner to the Messiah, whose ministry would be like that of the prophet Elijah. The other gospel writers call him John the Baptist, actually John the Baptizer is probably better, he wasn’t Baptist in the way we use it today. John the Baptizer was the one of whom Isaiah prophesied saying:

Isaiah 40:3 CSB

3 A voice of one crying out: Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.

John the gospel writer simply calls him John and his main focus is how John testifies about Jesus. He doesn’t really get into the ministry of baptism or how he called the people to repentance like the three other writes do. For John the Evangelist, John the Baptizer’s main ministry was encapuslated in verses 6-8:

John 1:6–8 CSB

This morning, I want us to look at a few characteristics of John’s witness, and see how they can apply to us as we are called to be faithful witnesses to Jesus. Remember, the mission of the church is to make disciples of Jesus, we are called to be faithful witnesses to the person and work of Jesus.

Here’s our big idea for today:

Christians are called to a faithful testimony of Jesus, and our testimony must focus on Jesus and call people to believe in his name.

My sermon is going to have two major points today: The focus of Christian testimony and the function of Christian testimony. Or, what we testify to and why we testify to it. The focus and the function.

The Focus of Christian Testimony

Let’s consider first, the focus of our Christian testimony by looking at John the Baptizer’s ministry.

John 1:7-8 says that John “came as a witness to testify about the light…he was not the light, but he came to testify about the light.”

And, at the risk of sounding obvious, the focus of our testimony ought to be the light, that is, Jesus. The focus of our testimony is Jesus himself.

And that means the focus of our testimony is not ourselves. I’ve noticed that when many Christians “share their testimony,” they talk about themselves. We tend to tell people about our conversion — when we did this thing — and then how Christ has helped us since.

Our experience might be of comfort to someone, and it might assist as experiential proof, so to speak…but we need to remember that our experience is not the gospel. Our experience is not what saves someone…and their experience will not be their salvation, either. And so, the focus of our testimony needs to be centered on the facts of Christ coming into this world to save sinners.

There are many people in the world who look to religion to help them in their circumstances. And if our goal is just to be “helped,” then honestly pretty much any religion will work. Buddhism has “helped” many people get their minds off of their problems and see a greater purpose in the world. Mormonism is a great way to live a nice, clean, quiet life. Islam, with its legalistic demands, is effective in cleaning up one’s life.

If someone’s greatest need is just to get out of their bad circumstances and start being a nice, clean, sober person, then…really you don’t need Jesus. Most false religions can help you do that. BUT, if our greatest need is to be brought from death to life, then only Jesus can do that. And so our testimony as Christians ought to first and foremost be, “look at him.”

When John testified about Jesus — and John includes John’s specific testimony in verses 19-35 of this chapter, we’re going to look at those in a couple of weeks — we ought to notice that John the Baptizer is always deflecting focus from himself and pointing to Jesus.

When the Levites ask him, what can you tell us about yourself? He quotes one sentence from Isaiah, I am a voice crying in the wilderness, then he immediately start talking about the one who is coming to baptize with the Holy Spirit. He doesn’t respond with, “Well, let me tell you about my experience with Jesus,” or, “Here’s how I feel about Jesus in my life.” No, he says “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Behold! Look at him!

It is so important that we remember that our activity for Christ is not of ultimate importance. Christ is. Yes, it is important for us to lead lives that confirm our witness to Christ, but our testimony is never based on what good people we are or what we ourselves have to offer non-Christians. Like John, we need to deflect the conversation from our activity and focus in on the work of Jesus.

And we have to make sure that we never let people glorify us for the work God has done in us through Jesus. The glory belongs to him alone. If people notice that you have changed, you must praise God and tell them that it is Jesus’ work; the only way for them to gain what you have is not by admiring you but by believing on Jesus.

When someone asks, “What’s different about you?” our response must be, let me tell you about Jesus. He is the Savior who came to do God’s will by God’s power. Let me tell you about Jesus, He is God the Father’s only-begotten Son and our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

That is the focus of Christian testimony. It’s all about Jesus.

The Function of Christian Testimony

Look at verse 7 again, and we’ll consider our next point, the function of Christian testimony:

John 1:7 CSB

7 He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him.

Why do we testify to Christ? What is the goal of our testimony? So that all might believe...

Our goal is for others to believe through our witness to Jesus. And again, just to reiterate part of our last point: our witness is the spoken testimony of the person and work of Jesus. It’s possible that you’ve heard the adage: “Preach the gospel always, when necessary, use words.” While I understand the sentiment, that our lives ought to be a display of the transformative power of the gospel, our lives are not the gospel.

The gospel is that the true light that gives light to everyone has come into the world and he is Jesus, believe on him. The gospel is news and news must be spoken. Our lives can affirm the truth of the gospel, but our lives are not the gospel.

And so, if the goal of our witness to Christ is for others to believe through that witness, we must faithfully tell them. And it’s not about winning arguments about religion. Apologetics is a good field of study, but honestly I think it’s better served to confirm the belief of the believer rather than to try to persuade someone to believe. Apologetics doesn’t save, Jesus does.

Our goal must be for others to believe through our witness to Jesus.

I’m going to be really open and transparent with you all right now. I’m going to say something that is going to be hard for many of us to hear, but it is the truth.

If we want Gore Springs Baptist Church to exist 15 years from now, we must take seriously the call to bear faithful witness to Jesus by telling people about him. This local assembly, Gore Springs Baptist will not last if we are not focused-outward and accomplishing the mission that Jesus gave to us, to make disciples of every tribe, nation, and tongue. And really, it shouldn’t. What is the point of this church existing if it is not doing the main thing Jesus told us to do?

I’m serious, y’all. If Gore Springs Baptist is just going to be looking at ourselves, if we’re more worried about spending our money on things that we like rather than things that accomplish our mission, if we are more concerned about keeping things the way they always have been rather than looking for ways to get out a tell people about Jesus then we need to lock the doors and give everything we have in the bank to a church that will.

Jesus said in John 15,

John 15:1–2 CSB

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit.

That goes for churches, too. If we are not bearing fruit, then we will be rightly removed to make way for a branch that will bear fruit.

But hear me say this clearly. I am committed to serving you all and serving our community so that does not happen. I am committed to being here and proclaiming Jesus to Gore Springs and Grenada county and the world. Will you join me in that?

We don’t live in the world that you grew up in anymore. We don’t live in the world that I grew up in anymore. We don’t even live in the same world as we did 2 years ago.

The methods of our proclamation may change. Our experience of church may not look the same as it did 30 years ago. The building may not look the same as it did. The way in which we do things might and probably will change. But the gospel doesn’t.

Our methods may change but our message never will. The gospel remains the good news for the world. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. The gospel is still the old, old story of how a Savior came from glory, we just don’t live in the old, old world anymore.

And that is both scary and exciting. But, what an incredible opportunity we have to bear witness about the light to a world in darkness.

We are called to a faithful testimony of Jesus, and our testimony must focus on Jesus and call people to believe in his name. Let’s get excited about that and what God may do in the life of this church if we are faithful to our mission to go and tell.