Hi, I'm Darrell Bailey. Thank you for tuning us in the Gospel of John as we continue in our series, The Identity or the Deity of Jesus. And as we had talked about the introduction last time and then also our first part of God comes to man in verses 1 through 14, we pick back up in verse 14 and going down to verse 28. here, October the 18th, 2023, the 3rd of Chesedan, 5784 of the Hebrew calendar. Here, this is the genesis of the New Testament. And so as we look, John begins his gospel by talking about the deity of Christ. He describes the ministry of John the Baptist, and then Jesus is baptized and he calls his first disciples. Now, we may not get that far as we just get down to verse 28, but here John wrote that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ. Now, you know, last time we talked about how Christ is eternal, that he's preexistent. that he was co-existent and that he was self-existent, amen. And so we talked about how Christ is the creator in verse 3, how that we realize that he said that the positive statement is he said all things, the Panta, And he said the absolute statement were made by him and without him was not anything that was made. Then we realize that Christ is the life in verses four and five. He's the source of light, the answer to darkness that shines in the darkness and that conquers all darkness. And so, we went on to verse 6 that John was a man sent from God, and then verse 7 that John was a man sent on a very special mission to bear witness that men might believe. It is all about the eternal security of every born-again believer. John was a great man, but he was not the light. He said, I'm just the voice. I'm just the messenger that he talked about in verse 8 last time. And then in verse 9, Christ was the light, the true light, and his mission was to give light to people, you and I, that we got indwelled by the Holy Spirit of God. And so in verses 10 and 11, we talked about how Christ was tragically rejected by the world. He was in the world, but he was not rejected. He was in the world But he was not rejected, in other words. He came to his own people, but they rejected him. And so Christ was wonderfully received by some. In verses 12 and 13, where he says that he came unto his own, his own received him not, but as many as received him, to them gave him the power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. And then he said, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. And so how were they received wonderfully? By believing. And the result is they become the sons of God. And the source of becoming a child of God is there was a brand new birth. And so it was not of man, but it was of God. And so it brought us all the way to where we left off on the 14th verse, and we're going to pick back up on that 14th verse. But I'm glad that here, as I said a while ago, as I gave an outline of how the living word, the first witness of John the Apostle, that Christ is eternal, that he was pre-existent, co-existent, self-existent, and Christ is the creator. the positive statement that all things mean every detail of creation not creation as a whole but every single detail was the positive statement that Christ that was talking about in verse 3 and the absolute statement that the words were made mean that it came into being All was the one who created all things, one by one, Jesus, from the very beginning. Then Jesus was the light of the world, the special witness of John the Baptist. In verses 6, 7, and 8, a man that was sent from God, amen, and I'm glad that he was only a man. A man, however, that was sent from God, that he was sent on a very special mission, amen. The man was named John and his name, John, John the Apostle means gracious. Amen? Gracious. And so he was a man sent from God but also a man with a mission in verse 7. That the man came to bear witness of the light and the purpose of a man's witness is clearly stated. That all men through Jesus might believe. Then we see the light. That Jesus is the light of men. The second witness of John the Apostle in verses 9 through 13. Christ was the light. In verse 9, the true light, that was Christ, and the mission of Christ was to give light to every one of us, men and women. And so in verses 10 and 11, that Christ was tragically rejected. Christ the word and the light was in the world, but Christ the word and the light came to his own people, but they too rejected it. But Christ was wonderfully wonderfully received by some in verses 12 and 13. Then Jesus, the Word made flesh, the third witness of John the Apostle. Here we see in verses 14 through 18, Christ became flesh. And I'm glad that Christ dwelt visibly among us that we're going to talk about here tonight. And then John the Baptist is the second proof that he bore witness of the superiority of Christ in verse 15. And then, That third proof, men have received the fullness and grace of our Lord and Savior in verses 16 and 17. In the fourth proof, God's Son alone, God's Son alone has seen God. You see, no one else has ever seen God. But because of that fourth proof that God has sawn, as we talk about that in verse 18 tonight, and so as we pick up and start to read the scripture, let's open up. Father, We come with thankful hearts. We thank you for our pastor Keith Dempsey and Bethel Crossroads Baptist Church. And Lord, I pray, Father, for the ministries, the many. I pray for the food pantry that's taking place on Tuesdays, Father. I thank God for the ministry of our Sunday school teachers. Amen. And Lord, for the Sunday morning. And Lord, for our pastor's messages that he labors over to give to us. I pray God for the many of our church families that, Lord, that may need a divine intervention from you, Father, to intervene on their behalf. And, Father, for our Wednesday night, for our kids, for all the ones that work in the kitchen to provide for those kids, Father. And, Lord, for, Lord, the many that are coming in the Wednesday night Bible study, Father, as we begin to bring things back from all the pandemic from past days. Lord, I pray that you'll continue to grow and mature our church family, God, and watch over them. And Lord, we want to thank you for saving us by your marvelous grace, Father, that you've indwelled us. And we're a tabernacle, Father, that has been, Lord, indwelled by your Holy Spirit. And Lord, I pray that the light of Jesus will go out through every one of us at Bethel Crossroads and all the ones of the born-again believers that are ministering all their jobs and where they are we're thankful father for our job and lord we pray for a divine healing in our knee god that by the time lord that we see the orthopedic that will be completely healed and father that we'll be able to return back to work and Lord we just have faith and Lord we believe Lord in your mission and your purpose the great commission that you have on all churches across the land we pray for our leaders and our countries and Lord we know God that there's not a happy thing that's happening as we get closer and closer to a time where there'll be another election and other people that father that voters will come out and make a difference and elect someone in lord that loves you and that looks to you father and lord that will not be uh punished uh through uh the bad choices of our lives and families and i pray for all families across america and a special blessing upon our church and church family god that you will send the anointing out upon every one of their lives and use them mightily in all that we do and say that we will bring a blessing into people's lives. Now touch our Wednesday nights and those farther through this PowerPoint. May it open up an understanding to their hearts and make them even grow closer to you and more mature as they begin to be the lights of the world today in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. And so we see in John chapter 1 verse 14, here we're reminded that the Indians of Central America often resisted the Spanish occupation of those times and sometimes with a temporary success. One group was really led by Agostino Aquinas, and he had declared war on the Spanish by dashing into the El Pilar Church in St. Vincent El Salvador. There he snatched the crown from the statue of St. Joseph and he put it on his own head as if to show power that he had overtaken from the church. Christ did just the opposite. He declared war on evil by taking off his crown and coming to earth as a man. And the more that you think about it, the more that staggering that it gets, because nothing in fiction is so fantastic as the truth of the incarnation of indwell Christ. in all of our lives as he came out of heaven and all of its splendor and majesty as an ordinary man that took on the flesh nature to be the sacrifice for all the sins of humanity great is the mystery of God's love for every one of us and so the story was told of a Hindu who could not believe in Christianity because he could not contemplate a God who would so humble himself and one day the Hindu came upon an anthill And he tried to get close enough to it to study it, but every time that he bent low, his shadow caused all of the ants to scurry away. And he recognized to himself that the only way in which he could ever come to know that the colony of ants would be is if he could somehow become an ant. himself, and that was the moment at which his conversion began. It was then that the light came on in his heart and he understood what Christ did for him, praise God. I hope and pray that many of us understand what Christ did for us here in verse 14, and the word was made flesh and dwell among us. And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Here we begin to realize that what was taking place was Christ became flesh for every one of us. The first proof that Christ dwelt visibly among us. Here we see the reference to the incarnation of Christ because the word was made flesh and in the translation of made flesh it means he became reference to the incarnation of Christ and here we see he talks about dwelt. It's talking about as if to pitch a tent to tabernacle to dwell temporarily. And I'm glad that as we talked about last time of how that the old way of the tabernacle and how Moses and them came up and God gave them a plan to build it to where that was the first place where God came down and dwelt and worshiped among them. Here we're glad that this Christ dwelt visibly among us, that he came and he gave us something that no one else has ever gave us. He gave us a Savior that could take all of the sins of the world on him. and that he stood in our place and did what none of us could do because none of us could be a savior because all of us have a sin nature about us. But I'm glad that one of a kind, that uniqueness of he was the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth, amen. He was that one of a kind that was unique. And so he was the one that came on our behalf to take our place. and that incarnation of Christ hallelujah that here we see he completely filled and saturated the fullness of that grace and truth that he give every one of us what we have today praise God we're reminded of that that tabernacle of those days when the days traditionally when men would wear a talith during the morning services in the non-orthodox synagogues many women also would wear a talith and in some orthodox of the congregation, only married men would wear a talif. To put on the talif meant many would first unfold it, hold it in both hands so their tariff is facing them. One may see people gathering the tizits in their left hand and kissing them with the paragraph of referring to that is cited before putting on the prayer shawl that it was customary to say the blessing of the Barakata Adonai, Elihu, Malik, I'm sorry I'm probably not saying that as good as Jewish do but what they would do was they would say blessed are you Lord our God ruler of the universe who has sanctified us with your mitzvah and commanded us to wrap ourselves in the tits as reciting the blessing of the person that will throw the talit over his shoulders like a cape and then position it on their shoulders after its position that they would then go and begin to place it on themselves and recite the customary prayer shawl. And as they did this, as they positioned it on their shoulders, they would bring their hands together in front of their face, briefly cover their head with the talif for a moment of private meditation, and then the talif was adjusted onto their shoulders. Now, there were two types of talif or talats. One that would descend from the tradition of some would believe Jesus wore the kind of talif of a large rectangular cloth with a hole in the middle worn over the head and under the outer arms and they would wear it during their waking hours never taking it off. Many Orthodox Jews would wear this type of talif to this day. and then there was the Talif of Gadah. This was more of a prayer shawl that was draped around the shoulders and it was a tight around the shoulders of times of prayer in the service at the synagogue that they would have a tradition of their time of life cycles of the birth that eight days after their birth the male child would be circumcised and they would call the Brits or the Brit of the Mala and a part of the circumcision rite of the father would wrap his baby son in the Talib for a few moments and then they would have prayers for the baby. In doing this the father symbolically wrapped the baby in the word of God in the protecting covering of Hashim. of Adonai, and the father would announce the name of his son and hold him on the lap throughout the ceremony as a sign that he would guide and protect and love his son. That sign that the name of God, not the father's name, that will live throughout the generations of the ceremony for the baby girls 80 days after birth, that they will be dedicated to God. And so the bar or by mitzvah of the Talith that's presented to the young girl or boy as they reach the age of 12, that the age of manhood or womanhood the new adult would then read publicly from the Word of God wherein his or her new to leave and the new adult that was taken on the responsibility of following the Word of God today in the Baptist Church we do a ceremony that we dedicate a dedication of our babies in a similar fashion to ours as the Jews would do for theirs As we look at the young sons and daughters that would be coming of age, that would abide by the commandments of the late age of accountability, a child would recognize as a new adult that they would be responsible for his or her words and actions in the community. And then there would also be a delete in marriage. that would be used in the time of marriage that would place on and create a canopy over the couple. When I was in Jerusalem, I began to watch as I was way up. I looked down from my hotel room and began to see a Jewish ceremony taking place under the talib that was the canopy of the chuppah that they called it for them to speak of their vows. that the man and woman come together as a husband or wife when flesh under the protection of God and marriage representing the completion and the image of God hallelujah what a beautiful scene that it would show of this taking place amen and that how that they would come together with their hands as gathering their left hand and kissing them with the referring of the reciting of the Talif and putting on the prayer shawl and saying the blessings that we said of the blessed that blessed are you Lord our God rule of the universe who have sanctified us with your mitzvah and commanded us to wrap ourselves in the tits. After reciting the blessing, the person will throw the talif over their shoulders like a cape and position it on their shoulders. And after it's positioned, then they would bring their hands together in front of their faces and briefly cover their head with the talif for a moment of private meditation. And then the talif would be adjusted on their shoulders. Amen. And so here, as it talks about this Jewish Talib. This would be a time that during the time when there was no tabernacle that the Jews would cover themselves in their prayer shawls and that would be their tabernacle. I'm glad that every born-again Christian we're equipped with the tabernacle of the Holy Spirit that indwells every one of us today, praise God. And I'm glad that when the Holy Spirit indwelled us at the moment of salvation, that we are in the presence of the Holy Spirit and that we are reciting our lives as the shining light of the flesh that came and dwelt among us. and I'm glad that in John 15 he says John bear witness of him and he cried saying this was he of whom I speak he that cometh after me is preferred before me for he was before me praise God I'm glad here that we see that we often talk about the timing of events but you know if there was ever event in the timing that was right it was when the word became flesh and and at that time that here was culturally because Alexander the Great had established the Greek culture and the language throughout the known world and the Roman Empire had organized the whole Mediterranean basin into one fast communication network and how the Romans that at the right time politically begin to build roads that would go everywhere all over the country and how that it began to spread and take the peace across the world into the Roman areas and provided an economic and political stability and it enabled the Apostles to travel freely throughout the empire to do the missionary work that Paul, as we're in a series on Paul talking about, of the magnificent system of roads that were built by the Romans in Christianity to thrive, praise God. And so the timing was right that John, bear witness of him, that John began to talk about that there were no parables found in the book of John of the Apostle. seven miracles, five of which are found in none other of the Gospels of the synoptics of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Amen. The longest prayer in the New Testament of John chapter 17, the shortest verse in the Bible that Jesus wept in John chapter 11 verse 25, and now the repetitions of Jesus and Christ are found throughout numerous times that he talks about the belief of eternal and the purpose of it, praise God. the second proof that John the Baptist bore the witness of the superiority of Christ hallelujah and how that we look and we imagine how that as the word of God begins to tell us of the proofs of the bible amen that how he tells us that John bear witness of us and begin to share with us some of the greatest blessings that we'll ever experience in all of our lives, amen. And so to be able to experience this, amen, to know the proof of what Jesus was doing on our behalf for every one of us, amen, we're so gifted today to have this message, amen. that John bear witness of us, amen. Of the most important characters of the New Testament that John the Baptist, he mentioned no less than 89 times in the New Testament. His character revealed his greatness that Jesus said that he was a burning and a shining light. and that among women there had not risen a greater than John the Baptist, that we begin to see why he was that great portion of Scripture on all of our behalves, amen. That here we look and recognize that what he was doing for each and every one of us today, amen. That was a tremendous blessing that we look at and we begin to realize how gifted that we truly are, amen, today. And so as we look at this, we're given a great blessing because in John chapter 1 verse 16, and of his fullness, have all we received and grace for grace. As he tells us again in the scriptures of how truly gifted that we are, that the Lord has blessed us tremendously. as we look and realize that of all the things he says of his fullness, amen. And so he's talking about the Greek term, pleiorama. that he's talking about and it describes a ship that had been fully set out with everything equipped with sailors and rowers and everything that was needed for us to be able to totally, all that God is, that we could go out with a reference of a totally filled up with a cargo aid man. And so, in the Lord Jesus Christ, we're to dwell the totality of His wisdom, His power, and His love, praise God. And so, of that, I'm glad that we received life, we received peace, amen. Because, I thank God, we received the joy and we received His Word. A man can go to Jesus Christ with any need and find that need supplied, amen. this thought that continues on because he says grace for grace and this is the phrase that can be translated two ways grace for grace equals God gives us new grace to supply old grace because James said in James 4.6 he said but he giveth more grace wherefore he saith God resists us, the proud, but giveth grace under the humble. And I'm glad that we'll see the humbleness in John the Baptist, amen, out of this. But another way that we can look at this, a grace upon grace, is as the waves of the sea roll in the shore, God's grace comes to the believer being heaped. one upon another. Amen. Because we see what Paul said. He says in 1 Timothy 1, verse 14, And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. We need to have God's grace for every situation that we face in our lives today. Hallelujah. We need his grace for times of prosperity and adversity. We need in the days of our youth, when the shadows of age that begins to lengthen, that we need his grace. We need grace when we're persecuted, when we're accepted by others, amen. We need the grace of God when we're on the top of the mountain and when we're on the battle of despair, amen, of depression and discouragement. in order to bear the burdens and the burdens of others amen we need grace from the lord we need god's grace when life is stable and when it's confusing god's grace never fails to meet any situation where he gives new satisfying grace continuing and without any interrupting praise god and so i'm glad that here we see that proof that men have received the fullness and the grace of Christ, hallelujah. The ship that's been fully equipped with the sailors, the rollers that have totally filled with the cargo, hallelujah. Grace for grace, that God gives new grace to supply the old grace. Grace upon grace as the waves of the sea roll into shore and God's grace comes to the believer being heaped one upon another, hallelujah. And then we see in verse 17, for the law was given to Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Thank God every one of us as we look and we're reminded of how good that the Lord is to every one of us. Amen. That here as he's given us the greatest blessing that we could ever have. Amen. As we see here again that men have received the fullness and the grace of God. Amen. Because of that fullness and of the grace of grace that he has blessed every one of us with. No man has seen God at any time. begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." And so I'm glad we see that fourth proof, God's Son alone has been seen. Every one of us, we see the mystery of God that is unveiled. No man has seen God at any time. Moses saw the backside of God's glory and radiance in the book of Exodus chapter 33, verse 33. to. No man has seen God. Amen. God solved the problem. Hallelujah. And of this mystery by revealing himself to us by sending us his only begotten son. Hallelujah. I'm glad no man has seen God at any time. But I'm glad that here we see that the word son in the phrase the only begotten Son is used for the very first time in God's gospel as the title for Jesus, amen. I'm so thankful for his many blessings. But we see and look here that in bestowing that upon us, amen, that we're given the greatest blessing that we can ever be given because as doing this we see that God wants to give us something that no one else has ever given us. He gives us His presence alone. And so through the Only Begotten Son, and how that we look and see that God has blessed us tremendously every day as we come into the knowledge of the Word of His truth. Amen. God comes to man, to every one of us, as our title in this third section that we talk about. King James, Jesus referred to as the Son about 19 times. The demons of hell acknowledged that Jesus was God's Son in Mark chapter 3 verse 11. Amen. The words only begotten are from the Greek word that means, which means the single of its kind used uh of only sons or daughters in a relation to their parents uh there's no nothing like how unique and especially beloved that our children and our sons and daughters are to mothers and fathers as they look and there's no one else like the lord jesus christ christ the bosom of the father that he expresses the deepest intimacy in human life today praise god the intimacy with God for he is his son and Christ declared the message of his father hallelujah and so I'm glad that each and every one of us as we look and realize how truly blessed that we are of this proof amen that he alone has seen God no man has seen God at any time however Jesus Christ claimed that he that he was the only begotten son of the father in John 3 16 that he had come from the very bosom of the father in John chapter 1 verse 18 from the deepest part from the most intimate place for the most honorable fellowship hallelujah that he had come to reveal and proclaim the father hallelujah and I'm glad that that's the proof of the incarnation that he's the only begotten son which in the bosom of the father himself praise his mighty name that we look and realize and so we see of that single of its kind, used of only sons and daughters, used in this relationship to their parents, the unique specialty of its involvement of the begotten son. Hallelujah. And so we see that John was questioned by the religionists who were suspicion of him in verse 19, that he was a man who knew who he was. Thank you, God. I'm glad that John knew who he was. I'm glad I know who I am in Jesus Christ. I'm a born again. I'm one of his. Hallelujah. Saved in the uttermost. Hallelujah. From the depths of hell. glad he was a voice only a forerunner for the Lord in verse 23 he was a baptizer hallelujah verses 24 and 20 through 26 and he was an unworthy servant in verse 27 and lastly that we get down to verse 28 he was a man who brought honor to a place here we start out the testimony of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask it who you are he confessed and he said well I'm gonna tell you I'm not. I'm going to tell you what I'm not. He says, I'm not the Messiah. I'm not the Christ. He knew they were thinking that he must be the Messiah. Amen. But he was just John the Baptist. Amen. I'm glad. So I'll tell you who I'm not. I'm not Christ. Amen. With this humility and humbleness. Amen. And they said, well, what then are you? Elijah? He said, I'm not. Are you the prophet? He said, No, no, I'm not he said hey to him. Who are you there that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself? He said I'm the great son of Zacharias the priest or it doesn't say that he said that but he could have said that a man and so He said let me tell you who I am. I've got the credentials My dad's a priest in the temple And by the way, I've been filled with a holy ghost since I was in my mother's womb. Let's see now He didn't say any of those things thing. He was just humble. He said, no, I'm not. No, I'm not. I'm not the prophet. No, I'm not Elijah. No, I'm not the Messiah. He was humble. I mean, he had a whole lot of things that he could have said. He could have said I was miraculous in the birth by my parents. Hallelujah. But he did none of those things. Praise God. Hallelujah. I'm glad John aroused their curiosity. He had their attention. He had their interest. Why? Because his actions, his words, and the response of the multitudes grabbed every one of them. What's this crazy man doing with all this baptizing? Normally, they would only baptize. uh the the the jews that would be in the water but he's baptizing gentiles and jews praise god john the baptist was a relative he was a cousin of jesus his parents was elizabeth and zachariah and boy he was born six months as the forerunner of jesus hallelujah and when mary came over to see elizabeth hallelujah What a leap from the Holy Spirit in the womb that took place because of her coming around. And the gospel of Luke, John's birth was foretold to Zechariah, a temple priest, because he did not believe the angel. And Zechariah was struck mute until after. John was born in Luke chapter 1 verse 7 John was born in Judea and so we see well I'm sorry I skipped through that but it was talking about how that he was a Nazarene and that a Nazarene was consecrated and that a Nazarene could not take any strong drink or be around anything dead he was consecrated to the Lord he was a Nazarene like Samson was hallelujah he was a Nazarene amen and because of that He had to keep himself whole and holy away from all of the other things, amen. And so I'm glad that he carried on like some of the others, amen, before him, like Elijah, amen. And so in this record, verse 19, this is the record of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who art thou? John was questioned by the religionists who were suspicious of him and he confessed that he died not but confessed I am not the Christ, amen. I'm glad the Messiah was brought to be several things. Nationally, he was to be the leader from all of David's line who would free the Jewish state and establish it as an independent nation, leading it to be the greatest nation that the world had ever known. Praise God. Militarily, he was to be a great military leader who would lead Jewish armies victoriously over all the world. Amen. Religiously, he was to be a supernatural figure straight from God who would bring righteousness over all the earth. Hallelujah. And then personally, he was to be the one who would bring peace to the whole world. Jesus Christ accepted the title of Messiah on three different occasions. Amen. In Matthew chapter 16, verse 17. Mark chapter 14, verse 61. John chapter 4, verse 26. Amen. And the name Jesus shows him to be man. The name Christ shows him to be God's anointing, God's very own son. Christ is Jesus' official title, and it identifies him officially as prophet. In Deuteronomy chapter 18 verse 15 down to verse 19, he identifies him not only as prophet out of the book of Deuteronomy, but as priest out of Psalms 110 verse 4, and as king as 2 Samuel chapter 7 verses 12. And so I'm glad that when we look at all of the credentials of everything that we could, we see all of the titles of what Christ was for every one of us. 2 Samuel 7, verses 12 through 13, that He gave Him the title of King. And so I'm glad that He was a man who knew who He was. Amen. in John chapter 1 verse 20 and he confessed and he denied not but confessed that I am not the Christ statement. And so every one of us when we look and we begin to realize that as Jesus begins to talk to us and he tells us of all the things here in verse 20. that we're learning about him in the Gospel of John, amen. We begin to realize a lot of things that he was a man who knew who he was, amen. He knew exactly who he was and he knew what he was doing. John was not the Messiah. He was not Elijah. He was not that prophet, amen, that many of them. thought that he was a man and so we go on and he says that and they asked him what then art thou Elias and he said I am NOT art thou that prophet and he answered no he was a man who knew who he was he was a man from God called and commissioned by God. And so I thank God that he knew exactly who he was. Amen. John was not the Messiah, but he was the voice. He was the one that would speak on his behalf. Amen. And so I thank God, every one of us, that he began to tell them exactly that he knew who he was. Amen. And what that he would be doing. Praise God. Others had questions about John, but not John. He knew exactly who he was. He knew God. personally and he knew God had sent him into the world for a pacific ministry. He was from God called and commissioned by God and therefore he knew exactly who he was, he knew what he was doing and I'm glad that each and every one of us he knew exactly that he was not Elijah. Elijah was expected to return from the dead to proclaim the coming of the Messiah out of the prophecy of Malachi chapter 4 verse 5. Amen. He was expected to do several significant things to warn the people to anoint the Messiah to be to his kingly office. Amen. And so every time they did a Seder, the Jews would set a plate for Elijah. And so he was to raise the dead. Amen. To help select those who were to have a part in the Messiah's kingdom. Amen. But John denied that he was Elijah in person. It should be noted that Jesus did later identify John with Elijah in Mark chapter 9 verse 11. However, what Jesus meant was that John was Elijah in the spirit, not in person. Amen. He was from God, called and commissioned by God. And so what? He knew exactly who he was. He knew what he was doing. John was not the message, the Messiah, but he was the messenger. And he was the voice that cried in the wilderness, that quoted Isaiah 40. John was not Elijah. He was not that prophet, amen. And so I thank God this prophet was thought to be another forerunner of the Messiah. In John chapter 7 verse 40, some persons thought that he would be either Jeremiah or Isaiah. And this belief was based on the writing of Moses' prediction that there would be a prophet like unto himself out of Deuteronomy chapter 18 verse 15. And so today most Christians interpret the prophet predicted by Moses to be Christ himself. out of Acts chapter 3 and Acts chapter 7, but the lessons are very clear. The servant, the minister, the layman of God must not claim to be the Christ nor any other great prophet, but and pretend to be some great man of God and seek some kind of recognition. But we assume some honor that does not belong to us. But that is every bit of it, that we're the masterpiece for our Lord and Savior. We got to allow God's power upon our life and ministry to turn our heads away from the pride and not to think more highly of ourself than we should as ministers and as pastors and as deacons. Amen. Some people just want to sop up all of that stuff. And when they do, they mess up things around the church. And so he was a man who knew who he was. And then said they unto him, Who art thou that we may give an answer to them that sent us? And what sayest thou of thyself? Amen. And so you've heard clearly what he said. He said, I'm the voice of the one cried in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord as said the prophet Isaiah, said man. Baptism was invented by the Jewish people. And so what did he need to make straight? Well, someone wanted to convert to Judaism, they had to go through three rituals. They had to have instruction by the scribe, circumcision by a priest, baptism by or with a witness. But the symbol of conversion from paganism into Judaism was baptism. And so, a lot of folks were confused because of this and what was transpiring that they didn't understand. But he was only a voice, only a forerunner for the Lord. And it says in verse 24, and they which were sent were of the Pharisees. Now, as we move south to the capital city of Jerusalem, where the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court of Israel was in session, Cassaveth the high priest, And the president of the Sanhedrin might have been speaking and saying a couple of things. And probably they were saying something like this, where our next order of business concerns this man, John the Baptist. What do we know about him? I've heard that he's preaching repentance. That's nothing new that somebody probably said. Well, he's against the religious establishment of us. He's baptizing Jews. He's doing what? Can you just hear him talking? He's baptizing Jews and he says that he's preparing them for someone who's coming. And so they were so confused about everything. And some people think that he's the Messiah. And I suppose that we ought to get together and send a delegation and go down there and let's question this John the Baptist and all what's going on. And so he was a baptizer, a member of the ancient Jewish group, the Pharisees, that carefully observed and of the written law that's accepted to all the traditional law advocated the dramatization of the religious practices. And so The business between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the Pharisees was all about the law, the interpretation of the Torah, the middle class, the resurrection of the dead, the belief in the afterlife, rejecting the Jewish leaders. But the Sadducees were sad indeed, because they were all about just the temple. They were about the Torah alone. They were the upper class. They didn't believe in the resurrection. They didn't believe in no afterlife. They supported the Jewish leaders, right the opposite of the Pharisees. And so we see of all the things that the word Pharisees means separated ones, amen, that studied the law. And remember when they were in Babylonian captivity, there was no synagogues. Every bit of the synagogue came in. when they had no temple to worship in and no sacrifice, that they invented the synagogue during the time of the Babylonian captivity in order to get more familiar to study the law. And that's when the synagogues came on the scene. They became the separated ones, amen. That because of the common people that they considered themselves religiously unclean and so they got their start under the Maccabees about BC 160 emerging as a class dedicated to the teaching of both the written and and the oral law stretched to the internal side of Judaism, and the historian Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian, numbered them at about 6,000 in Israel at the peak and described the Pharisees as maintaining the simple lifestyle of the affectionate and the harmonious in their dealings with others, respectful of elders and influential throughout all Israel. And so, because they taught that the way to God was by obeying the law. And the Pharisees gradually changed Judaism from a religion of sacrifice to one of keeping the commands of legalism. Animal sacrifices still continued in the Jerusalem temple until it was restored by the Romans in 70 AD, but the Pharisees promoted works over sacrifice. And so we saw the problem. that later on they added more of the 613 commandments of the red tradition of the Tanakh of the Torah to teaching of the 600 Misfah commandments that begin to take from all of the Old Testament scriptures that they would reiterate some of the many things that they did. Now there's another set of these that are more that goes more into of the traditional of a newer testament style of trying to be more correct in this as well but not stay on this long how that we see that this teaching that went into effect we begin to realize in verse 25 and they asked him and said unto him why baptize thou then remember what we said about baptism earlier if thou be not that Christ nor Elijah nor that prophet and so they needed to be made strict because what did he say of Isaiah 40 Prepare, make straight the way of the Lord. What kind of preparation needed to be done? The people needed their concept of the Messiah straightened out. Their concept had deteriorated through the years. And so first, few had ever seen the seed promised to Abraham and Adam as referring to the Messiah. And so when we look and realize that they interpret the seed of the nation Israel as all circumcised Jews, we be Abraham's seed, and they were later to tell Christ. But they saw Christ as being the seed of Abraham only in the sense that an ordinary Jew was. He was just an ordinary man born through Abraham's line. Few ever saw the Messiah as the seed in whom all the promises made to Abraham were to be fulfilled. Secondly, the Jews saw the Messiah primarily as the son of David. David had liberated and led their nation to its highest peak. And so they saw the Messiah as following in David's footsteps. But also we note that at first the Jews saw the Messiah as a liberator, one who was going to deliver them from all of their enemies and restore their nation to its greatest glory. But keep in mind how awful the Jews had been treated and persecuted throughout history. as even the Hitlers in all of the consecration camps of the extermination of the Jews. However, as centuries rolled on and as they suffered brutal violence after violence, their concept of the Messiah deteriorated into anger. And the Messiah was one who would not only deliver Israel, but one who would exact vengeance over all of their enemies. And so the Jews saw themselves as the subjects of the Messiah's salvation, deliverance, and saw all other people, Gentiles, as the subjects of the Messiah's judgment. And so the Jews were the ones acceptable to God. All others were unacceptable. You know what? As I would talk to a Jewish man, and try to tell them about Jesus Christ. They say, I don't need that salvation. I'm a Jew. I'm a Jew. I don't need your salvation. It's a given thing. And that's why a lot of Jewish people. But I'm going to tell you, the cross is equal at the foot. And everyone, no matter who you are, got to come by the way of the cross. Now, God chose his chosen people as the Jews. He blessed them. He blessed them in their skills. He blessed them in their medicine. He blessed them in their technology. That's why later on in the book of Ezekiel, when those ones of the Gog Magog war come against Israel and surround them, that they're going to come for all of the great resources that Israel will have in their means of that time. And so they're going to come against him, but God will wipe them out and fight the battle for him. But the Messiah was to come and free Israel and elevate the nation to rule over all the nations of the earth. This is how they looked at everything. And so this, of course, led to two tragic faults. First, the Jews became blind to their own sinful condition and their personal need for salvation. And then secondly the Jews saw salvation as a matter of national heritage and a personal rights being circumcised and a ritual religious observances that it took place. They believed that they were safe because they had been circumcised and that their forefathers were godly people and their forerunner John the Baptist had to begin cracking through the crust of these eras and straight make way the straight of the Lord. Salvation was not a national thing, not an institutional thing, not even a religious thing. It was not a matter of heritage. It was not a matter of rights. Hallelujah. It was a personal matter It was a spiritual matter of the heart and life and a man had to personally won't Forgiveness of his sins and then repent and be baptized if you wish to be saved This must be the message of the Messiah. Therefore, because of the hardness of people and the understanding and the personal need for salvation, God had to send a forerunner to begin breaking through the crust of the self-righteousness that had been established by these Levites and these Pharisaic, make straight the way of the Lord, which had become a cemented in the mind of man at that time. and just how deeply rooted the false concept of the Messiah was and can be seen in the enormous struggle that the disciples had with it, praise God. And so the people needed their religious straightened out. They had allowed their religion to become formal, institutionalized, that it was just a form of godliness, which denied the power thereof of 2 Timothy chapter 3. And so many were going through the motions of religions and services. It's right, and yet they were living as they wish. God, and personal righteousness were of little concern. How sad, but the Messiah was to bring a new message, a message of God's love, a love so strong that it would proclaim the truth that man is sinful and perishing of John 3 16. That man must repent of Mark chapter 2 verse 17. Hallelujah. That man must prepare for the kingdom of God is at hand. in Matthew chapter 4 verse 17 hallelujah the message was so radical that some preparation of the people was needed before the Messiah appeared on the scene and therefore God sent the forerunner of John the Baptist the voice of crying in the wilderness. The world needed to know about the Messiah as the Son of God, the Messiah that was so different, so pure, so holy, so truthful that men would not tolerate his presence too long. His proclamation of the truth of salvation would be very short. Men would destroy them, and therefore men needed to be stirred to a high pitch of excitement when the Messiah arrived. He got their attention, hallelujah. Men needed to have the glorious news that the Messiah had finally come. People would need to sit up and take a notice, and they may not respond. They might not even react violently, but they needed to be aware. of the Messiah's historical coming that claims to be the Son of God. The military, the religious, the forerunner was to arouse and stir the people to expect the Messiah immediately. Hallelujah. And so many need their concept. of the Messiah straightened out even today. Some have never seen the promised seed that is Christ. Some still think of themselves as being special to God. They're blind to the sin and need for a personal salvation. Many need their religion straightened out. Many need to hear about the Messiah. They've never heard that and that he's come. And it's sad that many of them are missing that. That's why the tribulation is just for the Jewish people themselves. It's the last hope and ray of hope of sunshine to bring them back of a way of escape that a small remnant that Paul talked about that'll survive during the tribulation time when everything breaks loose and all people are looking for the exit sign to come on when they're in the theater somewheres of life. And they say, I got to get out of this place, but they're in it for the long haul. Boy, I'm glad John answered them saying, I baptize with water, but there standeth one among you whom you know not. I baptize as Jews did, that I'm glad that every one of us, it is of that water, hallelujah, that he does that. And so each and every one of us, when we look and we begin to realize how truly blessed that we are today, to see the great blessings that God has in store for us. That people needed their concept of the Messiah straightened out, amen. That few had ever seen the promised seed of Abraham whatsoever, amen. And so I thank God each and every one of us, John was asked about what this meant and what it was all about, amen. What the Pharisees were doing, amen. And so he was a baptizer, hallelujah. And so when we look at this and we're reminded of what it was talking about, the same confession of unworthiness must be made by every servant of God today that John began to proclaim that Jesus was preferred before him. John proclaimed that he was not worthy even to unloosen the shoes of him. He it is who's coming after me is preferred before me, who's shoelatching. I'm not worthy to unloose. Amen. I'm just the voice of the one. Crying in the wilderness, make straight the ways of the Lord. I'm the road worker. That's what John was saying. I'm just the road crew. Hallelujah. He's the way. He's the path. He's the road. I'm just the person that's working on the road. Amen. I'm the one pointing. I'm the one getting the road straight. But he's the road. He's the message. I'm just the voice that's walking on that road. Follow Him. Serve Him. Hallelujah. Jesus is the message. Keep Jesus the center of your life. Learn His Word. Learn His Word and get it in you. Take it in you. Learn to love it. It's the Word that's personally Jesus that He's provided for every one of us. Hallelujah. And so I thank God as we look and realize that He's provided a way of escape. for all of us that he's proclaimed the greatest gospel he was an unworthy servant that he said hallelujah and so we see uh here in Jordan the place of the crossing here uh that we look and realize that uh that the Jordan River runs for 60 miles and it winds its way quietly southward from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. At times, there are narrow rapids, but for the most part, its progress is quiet and it's peaceful. As we got baptized with John and Matthew Hagee Back in 2008, one of the greatest times that the Bible came alive when we went over there. We'd already been baptized. We were saved. But who won't pass up an opportunity to be baptized in the Jordan River? Whoo! What a cold water that we went down in. Hallelujah! When we come up, brother, ahold of Matthew and John Hagee. Hallelujah! Man, I'm gonna tell you, we is on shouting grounds. Praise the mighty name of Jesus. I'm glad that when we look and that we realize that here was the place of the crossing where the Israelites had crossed over the Jordan River into the promised land in Joshua chapter 1. The place where the nation was baptizing after wandering in the wilderness. Hallelujah. John was baptizing in this very spot. Baptism that was invented by the Jewish people. that as we talked about earlier. Amen. And so I thank God if a Jew became ritualistic, unclean, they had to self-baptize before entering the temple to worship in a mitzvah, a ritual bath or a bathing place for purification in accordance with the Jewish law. The Pharisees was puzzled because John was not calling pagans or Gentiles to convert to Judaism. He was calling Jewish people to repent and to turn to God fully, a baptism unto repentance. Hallelujah. Boy, I tell you, these things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan where John was baptizing. Praise the name. The essence of the strict monastic sect of Judaism practiced baptism for purification only upon Gentiles. Baptism then was a very big deal to them. Baptism at the hands of men was not for Israel at all. An Israelite was never baptized because he belonged to God already and did not need any cleansing and thus did not need to be baptized. This, however, it was what John was doing that got the attention everywhere. It was the proselytes, the incomers from all the other faiths and Gentiles that needed to be baptized, cleansing, but not Jews. John was making Jews do what Gentiles had to do because God's people needed cleansing in their hearts. John was saying that the king is coming and you need cleansing as much as the Gentiles. The Pharisees were challenging John's right to treat the Jews like Gentiles, they said. So he was a man who brought honor to a place. the place of crossing where the Israelites crossed over the Jordan River in the Old Testament of the Promised Land, the place where the nation was baptized after wandering in the wilderness, John was baptizing in the very spot. And I'm glad that we see in Bethlehem here in this place. Amen. as we look and realize everything that was needed to be done. Sorry, I just knocked off my mouse and so I'm very sorry about that. But I hope and pray that each and every one of you, as we look at this and how good it is to be able to do, this happened in Bethany on the east side of the Jordan River where John was baptizing. Here next time when we get and continue on, we'll pick up as that first day we got down to the 28th, the Pharisees, and explains John's baptism. That second day we'll get into verses 29 through 34, the people. and it describes the events at the baptism of Jesus. Then later on in verses 35 to 42, two of John's disciples, the testimony that Jesus is the Lamb of God. And then in John chapter 43 verse 51, Philip and Nathaniel, the testimony that Jesus is the Son of God. And as we do this, hope and pray that as we continue on, there was once a man that as he was going to be able to go forward from an old story that he didn't believe in God. He doesn't hesitate to let others know how he felt about the religion and the holidays and all that was transpiring. And so one of the things that he would do is that he would basically as his wife and them would start to go out and go to church. that he would tell of a story. He didn't hesitate to let them know that he didn't have faith. He didn't believe in God. And so one of the things that would transpire about this is that one snowy Christmas Eve, his wife was taking their children to a service in the farm community in which they live. And she asked him to come, but he refused. and saying that that's nonsense. Why would God lower himself to come to earth as a man? That's ridiculous. And so she and the children went on the church and a snow blizzard began to come in. He sat down to relax before the fire for the evening. And then he heard a loud thump. Something had hit the windows and he looked out, but he couldn't see anything. He walked outside to see what had been beaten on the window. And there he saw a flock of wild geese. and they had been flying across and all of a sudden they had got hurt and they were in a bad way. He thought if he could just get them to the barn it would be a great place for them to stay. He thought it's warm, it's safe and surely they could spend some time in the night. They would recoup and he walked over the barn, he opened the doors wide and he watched and he waited hoping that they would come in but they aimlessly fluttered around, and they didn't seem to notice the barn and what it meant to go in. He tried to get their attention, but he just couldn't get them in there. Finally, he tried to run them in, but it didn't make out. He goes into the barn finally, and he gets another one of his geese, and he takes it out and places in front of them, thinking that if they had one of their own, maybe they would follow it. And so if he could just be like them, that they could see that it was the only place that they would be able to go, he thought for a moment, he realized that if he were a goose, then they would save, he could be able to save them. And he said out loud, then he had an idea. He went in, he got one of his wild geese, he released it, his goose flew straight through the flock and straight into the barn. And there, as he did, All of the other geese begin to follow that one into the barn. He thought about, wow, what would God want us to be like? Why would God want us to be like us? That's what his wife said earlier. Why would God want to be like us? And he said, that's so ridiculous. But suddenly it all made sense. That was what God had done. We were like these geese that were blind, that was lost. and that was perishing. God had his son become like us so that he could show us the way and so that he could save us. And years of doubt and disbelief vanished with the passing of the storm. He fell to his knees in the snow and he prayed that his first prayer, thank you, God, for coming in human form and for making a difference in my life. and saving me as the greatest need that he had ever need was to be able to have the Lord as his personal savior. Our greatest need today is not all of the material things, not all of the things that the world provides. Our greatest need had been not the pleasure, but not entertainment. but we needed forgiveness so that God sent us a Savior. The Word became one of us that He might be one for us. The Word became a man that He might die for all men. And the Word came to dwell among us that He might die for every one of us. The Word became one for us. I hope and pray that you got something out of this because Matthew said what Jesus said, Mark said what Jesus did, Luke what Jesus felt, but John said what Jesus is, the deity. He came to man. Father, thank you so much for saving us by your marvelous grace. Forgive us of our many sins. And if there's a sinner out there that's never come to the understanding, I thank you for all the years that it took to save Brother Charles out over, Lord. And Lord, I thank God many. It took a lot of time. It took a lot of going for some people to get saved. But thank God for the many that take you at your word and step out on your faith, Father. Lord, I thank you for those ones that have come under the acceptance and the convicting power of the Holy Spirit of salvation in Jesus's marvelous mighty name. Amen. Thank you so much for tuning us in. God bless.