john 1:19-28 A voice in the wilderness

A voice in the Wilderness

19 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

john 5:33 “You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.”

20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

luke 3:15 “Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not,”

john 3:28 “You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’”

acts 13:25 “And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not He. But behold, there comes One after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to loose.’”

21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?”He said, “I am not.”“Are you the Prophet?”And he answered, “No.”

22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”

23 He said: “I am‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness:“Make straight the way of the LORD,” ’as the prophet Isaiah said.”

matt 3:3 “For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.’ ””

isa 40:3 “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God.”

mal 3:1 ““Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the Lord of hosts.”

24 Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.

25 And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

26 John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.

matt 3:11 “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

mark 1:8 “I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.””

luke 3:16 “John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

acts 1:5 “for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.””

john 4:10 “Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.””

john 8:19 “Then they said to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.””

john 9:30 “The man answered and said to them, “Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes!”

acts 13:27 “For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they did not know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning Him.”

27 It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”

john 3:31 “He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.”

acts 19:4 “Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.””

col 1:17 “And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”

28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

judges 7:24 “Then Gideon sent messengers throughout all the mountains of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites, and seize from them the watering places as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan.” Then all the men of Ephraim gathered together and seized the watering places as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan.”

Joshua lead Israel into the promised land in 1400 bc

matt 3:7 “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”

People do not like situations that do not fit their preconceived ideas of what the world should be. Their inflexibility makes them intolerant and their traditions become more important than truth. EXAMPLE: What are you? A Christian. What is your church? What denomination? What this, what that?

Dr. Dan Hill

John knew precisely who he was and what his mission was. He was a “voice”.

A voice - Doesn't make an issue out of personality

A voice - Doesn't make an issue out of heritage

A voice - Doesn't make an issue out of education

A voice - A voice is heard but not seen

A voice - The words endure long after the voice is silent

John the messenger recognized it was the message and not the man

Dr. Dan Hill

Philippians 3:7–9 NKJV

But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;

NOTE: John stayed with the Word of God, not personality, and not his relationship (he was the Messiah’s cousin!)

1. John did not need to defend himself, only put the attention on his Lord, Jesus Christ

2. Others were involved in credentials, personality, institutional religion - John was involved with a person, Jesus Christ

3. When questioned, John answered with Scripture, the Word of God which is the mind of Christ.

4. John is an example of the believer totally occupied with Jesus Christ and when we partake of communion we are reminded that our faith is wrapped up in Christ.

luke 9:20 “He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.””

Today, man's regard of the Savior, the Son of God, has fallen into basically four categories.

1. That Jesus was a great teacher, a great man, but entirely human. He is not to worshipped but to be followed as an example. We can believe the compassion of Christ but stories of his resurrection are later additions and totally fables.

2. A second view sees Jesus as a good man as are many good and sincere men of history. We are to follow his example in our relationships with others and our sincerity towards God, but he was not God.

3. A third view sees Christ as an example or model of all men. A man who had evolved to a higher point than any other man and set new standards of nobility for man. A standard which each person can obtain. If not in this life the next or the next or the next. Keep trying until you get it right type of theology.

4. The fourth view sees Jesus as a man upon whom came the spirit of Christ at his baptism, empowered him for 3 years and then left prior to the cross. This New Age view see this spirit of Christ (or Cosmic Christ) as a spirit that can descend upon any man today. Thus, there have been and will be other Christs.

John Walvoord, former President of Dallas Theological Seminary, states: “All modern defections from the doctrine of the deity of Christ assume that the Bible is not authoritative or final in its revelation of this doctrine. And where is the authoritative and final revelation according to these defectors? In their minds, as they in their wisdom attempt to understand the Christ who made them.”

As the Old Testament assumes without defense the existence of God, the New Testament assumes without defense the pre-existence of Jesus Christ. All that we find recorded in the Word of God is there for a single purpose: to reveal to us the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament we read of the Lord’s might and power, His perfect character, His care and control over His people. We read in the Psalms of His compassion and in Proverbs of His wisdom. The Scriptures teach us about Christ. In the Epistles we read of His perfect order and endless provision of grace. And in the Gospels we meet the one who is both God and man and came from Heaven to be our Savior.

Pocket Dictionary of Church History: Over 300 Terms Clearly and Concisely Defined (Caedmon, St. (d. c. 680))

Caedmon, St. (d. c. 680). Caedmon, revered as the “Father of English hymnody,” was a humble cowherd at Whitby Abbey. According to legend, one night in a vision he was given the gift of rhyming sacred verse. The Anglo-Saxon historian *Bede recorded all that we know of this simple Christian man. Sometime after Caedmon’s death, his shire became an important pilgrimage site in northern England. Only a fragment of one hymn remains extant today.

at a time when scripture was not spoken in the native tongue, a people hungered in the desert for the Word.... the message

Bishop of Sherborne turned the psalms to anglo-saxon for song {639-709}

1:19–21 “The Jews sent priests … to ask him, Who are you?” The religious authorities had heard of John and were alarmed: first, because many people in the first century were looking for the coming of the Messiah, second, because they wanted to keep peaceful relations with Rome. “The Christ … Elijah … the Prophet?” John immediately answered their first question—he denied being the Christ. The reference to Elijah refers to the prophecy in Malachi 4:5–6, which John partially fulfilled, but would not be totally fulfilled until the Second Coming. The reference to the “Prophet” is from Deuteronomy 18:15, which was a reference to the Messiah, though many in John’s day thought that the “Prophet” and the “Messiah” were two different people.

1:23 “The voice of one crying in the wilderness.” This quote from Isaiah 40:3 should have alarmed the religious leaders, for it clearly declared that John was announcing the appearance of the Messiah. “Make straight the way of the LORD.” The word “LORD” in the Isaiah prophecy is Jehovah, again showing that Jesus is God.

1:25–27 “I baptize with water.” John’s message and baptism required some form of authority. Later, Jesus would silence these very Pharisees by asking them where John’s authority came from (Matt. 21:23–27 “Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?” But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?” And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.” So they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.” And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

; Mark 11:28–33; Luke 20:1–8). The baptism of John was a symbolic baptism, but that of Jesus was spiritually transforming (Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:8)

The Lexham Bible Dictionary The Baptism of John

Josephus refers to John as “a good man” who “had urged the Jews to exert themselves to virtue, both as to justice toward one another and reverence toward God, and having done so join together in washing” (Antiquities 18:116). He also mentions that John’s baptism, while an outward symbol, was a purification ritual that took place only when “the soul had been cleansed already by righteousness” (Antiquities 18:116–117).

4. Baptism is a picture of the believer’s identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection (Romans 6:3-5). Romans 6 is speaking of a real baptism, not a ritual baptism. It is speaking of what happens to a believer the moment he is saved. At that moment, he is baptized (immersed) into Jesus Christ and fully identified with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. The believer is completely IN CHRIST, and fully identified with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. Although Romans 6 is speaking of real baptism (Spirit baptism) and not ritual baptism, and although there is no water in Romans 6, yet water baptism is a picture of these wonderful truths. Water baptism portrays what happened to the believer the moment he was saved. Water baptism pictures the believer’s identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection (compare also Col. 2:12). It should be obvious that sprinkling or pouring is not a fitting portrayal of burial. When a person is buried, he is totally immersed or placed in a tomb or under the ground. When we bury someone, we do not sprinkle some dirt on him or pour a little dirt on him. No, we place him totally in the grave with dirt all around him (or entirely in a tomb so that his body is totally enclosed

An ambassador does not appoint himself. We are appointed by Christ (2Co 5:18–20

2 Corinthians 5:18–20 (NKJV)

Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.

An ambassador does not support himself. God supplies all our needs (Eph 1:3

Ephesians 1:3 NKJV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

Philippians 4:19 NKJV

And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

An ambassador is not a citizen of the country where he is sent. We are citizens of heaven

Philippians 3:20 NKJV

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

An ambassador has instructions in written form. We have the Bible (2Ti 3:16

2 Timothy 3:16 NKJV

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

An ambassador cannot take insults personally; he is accepted or rejected not on his own merit but because of who he repre- sents. We are not to take it personally when we are despised and rejected by those who hate Jesus Christ (Joh 15:19–21

John 15:19–21 NKJV

If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.

An ambassador does not enter a country to profit himself. We are on earth to serve the Lord (2Co 5:15

2 Corinthians 5:15 NKJV

and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

An ambassador is a personal representative of someone else; everything he does and says reflects on the one who sent him. We are representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ by action as well as by word (Joh 13:35

John 13:35 NKJV

By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 17:23 NKJV

I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

An ambassador’s perspective is service; his prospect is reward. We are commissioned for service and will be rewarded (Mat 5:12

Matthew 5:12 NKJV

Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

2 John 8 NKJV

Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.

Revelation 22:12 NKJV

“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.

An ambassador is recalled when war is declared. The recall of all believers at the Rapture of the Church will announce the beginning of the end for Satan (2Th 2:1–12

2 Thessalonians 2:1–12 NKJV

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Victory Over Rationalism (1 Sam. 17:31–37) Saul was saying to David, ‚You can’t do this, you’re just a small boy and Goliath has been a warrior from his youth.‛ But David was saying, ‚Wait, you’re leaving God out!‛ David knew from experience that God was sufficient because he had a hidden victory in his life, a victory no one else had seen and he had never bragged about. When David won his victory over the lion and the bear, he did not immediately run into town and put up a poster that said, ‚David on this date killed a lion and a bear.‛ No, he won a victory in silence—a private victory that proved to him that God is able. So when Saul tried to deter him through rationalism, David brought something into the equation that human strategy does not consider: “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine” (v. 37). David was saying to Saul, ‚You’re talking about me fighting the Philistine. Forget that. I’m not going to fight the Philistine, God is.‛ That perspective totally changed the equation and Saul realized it. Remember that it was David’s victories in private that prepared him for victories in public. Do not think that you are going to win public victories if you are losing in private. If you cannot view things from God’s perspective in your private life, you cannot do it in public, and you will not be prepared for battle when your crises hit.

David walked out to the brook and chose five little stones. Then he walked up to Goliath in the power of Christ and said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands … for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands” (vv. 45–47).

Usage of the Greek word baptizo can be traced as far back as the ninth century B.C. The word had two basic meanings: "to change the nature of something" and "to identify something with its purpose." The first meaning was employed by Homer in The Odyssey to describe the tempering of a sword. When the hot metal was plunged into water, the sword was "baptized," changed from soft to hard metal. The second meaning was used by the Spartans who would "baptize" their spears before a battle by dipping them in blood. The process did not change the physical characteristics of the weapon, but served as a picture of its becoming a battle spear—one that had tasted blood.

Seven different baptisms are taught in the New Testament. Four of these are "real" baptisms in which a real change takes place. Three are "ritual" baptisms in which no change takes place, but something is simply identified with its purpose. In each of the real baptisms, where a real change takes place, no water is involved. In each of the ritual baptisms, where no change of nature takes place, water represents something spiritual.

real

The baptism of Moses (1Co 10:1–2).

The baptism of the cross (Luk 12:50)

The baptism of the Holy Spirit (1Co 12:13)

The baptism of fire (Mat 3:11)

riual

The baptism of John (Mat 3:11; Act 19:3)

The baptism of Christ (Mat 3:13–17)

The baptism of believers (Mat 28:19–20; Act 16:33; 1Co 1:17)