John 1.6-8-The Prologue: The Light of the Baptizer
John 1.6-8 The Prologue: The Light of the Baptizer • Sermon • Submitted
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Please stand for the reading of the Word
Today, I believe, the text has lead us to shift gears a little bit…because we see in the text that the Apostle, the evangelist John is inserting something here in verse six that allows us to transition in time -from Jesus being in the beginning with the Father, to creating the Universe and the World, to the idea of Him being the very source of light and life-Him being fully God, and then now this week, we see the first shift in the text to God, the Son, stepping out of Heaven and accomplishing His intended work of salvation.
But the extraordinary thing about John’s gospel, especially before He is even getting out of the prologue here, is the change from John the Apostle, who is handing the torch back to John the Baptist. As if to say, if you don’t believe me, believe the prophet whom we all respect…you know, the Baptizer…He’s the one who first bore witness of the Christ.
John, who wrote this book of John is saying to us “I was there, I myself was one of the Baptist’s disciples, when Jesus first appeared to John the Baptist- then I was told to follow Jesus. So think about this, John the apostle was a follower/learner/disciple of John the Baptizer, until John the Baptist, told John and his other disciples to then follow Jesus the Messiah Christ.
The divine design and in same prophetic voice of the OT prophets, what we see, is that God sent one more prophet to Israel, after 400 years of quiet and silence, the final one(besides Christ) to foretell and introduce them(and us), almost like the handing of a baton, being handed to the ministry of God himself in Jesus Christ. Much of what we are going to be covering over the next several weeks is this handoff.
So who is this John the Baptist? One of you might be wondering “Is this man the reason that we are known as Baptist? Why is he so important? What is His real connection to Jesus?”
We know from Scripture that John spent much time in the wilderness alone, just him and God. We know that he didn’t care for the ways of men-like at all. His dress was shabby, He wore camels hair for clothes and ate locust and wild honey. He was a very gruff looking man, perhaps(cave man)
Then first thing that the this gospel tells us “there came a man” And what a man…we know John the Baptist was a lively character. The text tells us in another gospel( I believe mark) that all of Judea and Jerusalem went out to see him. He was without fear in confronting sin, constantly calling for Repentance, and baptizing many. All four gospels speak of His significance in being the forerunner to Christ.
We will also look at the prophecies in the Old Testament concerning this John the Baptizer. Jesus himself said about John that he was the greatest man that ever lived(Mt11.11)…think about that?
You mean greater than Abraham or David, or all the prophets? what about George Washington, or Davy Crockett, or even some of the great preachers like Billy Graham or Martin Lloyd Jones…what about Spurgeon or Luther, Wesley or Calvin…? Whitfield…this guy rode from town to town on horseback prior to the American Revolution preaching the gospel…up and down the east coast, sometimes hitting 5 towns a day, He was Spurgeon’s hero…and brilliant, He was the great evangelist…
I’m studying Acts and the journeys of Paul right now personally, and it’s hard for me to imagine anyone besides Christ himself that could stand taller than the Apostle Paul. surely they were greater…nope…
God the Son, gave this label, this title- to none other than this guy that we are looking at today…John the Baptist. Why…well, I want us to look at that today, maybe we might just get a glimpse…
“Sent from God”- I think The first reason for His greatness, is that He was sent by God. There was a divine commission from God…it was already prophesied and foretold that this was going to be the Elijah right before the Christ appeared as his forerunner(we see this in , Mt, 3.3, and ).
We also see foretold prophecy in and one of my favorite verses 4.5-6, the last verses of the Old Testament…pg 783 Now turn to .
Also, we have to recognize that he too was also a miracle baby…We read in Luke that Elizabeth, and many of you are familiar with the story, was not able to have children, and her and her husband Zacharius were well along in years…that’s a nice way of saying that they were old, to old to have children…in other words-miracle baby sent by God.
This is also confirmed from the Angel of the Lord telling them about their future son and his purpose of heralding, or being the announcer for the Savior of the World. While Zacharius was in the Temple, Remember, Zacharius couldn’t talk for His unbelief after Gabriel the angel told him about his son.
Next thing you know, once he confirmed his birth name was John, Zacharius is able to talk, and not just began talking again, but full on prophesying so that many in Judea believed and where asking…”What is to become of this child…referring to John”
To everyone that was around Judea and Jerusalem, the Baptist was great evangelist of the day with His Bold and daring preaching. The Holy Spirit was using Him mightily to prepare the hearts of many of the jewish people towards a receptivity to the ministry of Christ.
…Remember, they had not seen a prophet in 400 years. John preaching of the coming Christ and that His people needed to repent of their sin, was a really big thing in His day! For us, that would be like the time of the Pilgrims…that was the last time they heard from God.
The next thing we need to talk about was His message- which I believe our text puts very succinctly. And we will continue with his message as the forerunner and witness of Christ on and off over the next chapter. But look at the passage v7 (READ)
He was a witness, and a testifier, to who Jesus actually was…This is important, way more than we know, especially in light of Jesus’s claims and the Jewish culture of the day, concerning their law. In fact, it seems that Johns gospel is the only one of the gospels to use the word “witness in reference to John, with the other gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke using “Preaching”
So what…well, One of the accusations in (READ) Not only did the Heavenly Father testify to Jesus. In fact, John the Baptist even heard God say, “He whom my Spirit falls on is He”. So God the Father was His Heavenly witness, and John the Baptist, the last Yoda so to speak, or known prophet in His day…in 400 years… was His earthly one.…to do what? To testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. Jesus did in fact fulfill the Law perfectly.
3rd point— read with me v8. “He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the light”We have to remember that John was not great in and of himself, but his greatness came from His “sonship”(little s) to God.
Secondly, and this is where we are going with this today, it came from his very specific purpose- to be the messenger, a witness, an announcer, to welcome in the arrival of the ministry of the Incarnate Christ as Preacher.
“Repent for the Kingdom of God is near”. And “After me One is coming whom is mightier than I, to which sandals I am not even worthy to stoop and untie” What a profound statement. You see the difference in character…?
Johns whole mission was not to make much about himself, but of the Messiah to come, to testify about the Light. MacArthur says “Johhn is properly called the Baptist because he was sent by God to Baptize repentant sinners in preparation for the Messiahs coming. Yet the purpose of all he did was to bear witness to Jesus(1.15,23,29,32,34,36, 5.33,36), so that all might believe through him. People believe in Christ through the testimony of witnesses like John, …I love what he says next “They(we) are agents of belief, but Christ is the object of belief.”
Last week, we saw Jesus as the Light of the World, the Life and the Light of Men, we transitioned to Jesus speaking to the disciples as being the light of the world…that you might be the only Christian thing that someone hears or reads. This week we see John the Baptist(A MAN, not Jesus, not the Son of God, not the incarnate Christ, just a man) being introduced here. Why? Because He was the one chosen for the most prestigious task ever conceived…Introducing, testifying, and even Baptizing, bearing witness to the Christ of all Creation…think about that!!
“He was not the light”, but He came to testify about the Light…This is important for us to remember…we are not the light, we are not the hero…your pastor, I should never be your light…if so, I will let you down. I’ve got so many flaws… ask my wife and kids:). (brockman’s). Jesus is our Light and Life.
Why do I say this? Because this is the first step to being a faithful witness…is remembering it’s not about us. It’s not about YOUR church, it’s not about your new pastor…All I want to be at the end of the day, is the most effective messenger I can be…It’s all about, all worship is to go to the Incarnate Christ, who gave of Himself as the Lamb of God, that we might have salvation.
That this salvation means that some would be plucked from eternal separation and given Life and Light. What mercy, what grace…what good news!!
How many testimonies have you heard where it just seemed it was all about them…you don’t hear about Jesus, you don’t hear about repentance, you don’t hear regret or grace, or the mercy of God to forgive sin…?
And also, think of how easy it is to be a good moral person today? The text says that John “came to TESTIFY about the light” last phrase…Im telling you I have family, and I love them, but I’m telling you they are as moral, and upright as they come…but many of them don’t have Christ…their lives don’t really have a need for Him…it grieves me deeply and I continue to pray for them and hope that one day, that God will use me or someone else to be a witness to them.
Listen to what James Montgomery Boice tells us “There are always many shy or uncertain Christians who feel that they are bearing a witness simply because they are “living” the Christian faith or refusing to do certain things and doing others. They “live” it at work, at school, in their homes.
Unfortunately, important as it may be, this is not in itself witnessing…Witnessing is speaking to others about Jesus Christ. Listen to this…(paraphrased) He says “what this means, is that when a witness is given-that it is with the understanding that he or she that is giving the witness is not the Light, but is in fact pointing to the Light.
He notes “There are seven different kinds of witnesses in the pages of John’s Gospel. The witness of Jesus Himself, the witness of the Father, the witness of the Holy Spirit in chapter 16.13-14, He also includes the Scriptures themselves being a witness to Christ, but also Christ’s works, and the witness of John the Baptist, which we are looking at today, but there is one more…
It’s the people He healed, God’s children whom he called…the Samaritan woman, Lazarus, the disciples, the numerous others of witnesses…all through the ages of those whom have come to an understanding of who this Savior was and IS…the Light.
The other day, we were finishing up packing, it was our last morning in Coleman. I went to the donut shop to pick up some donuts, and there was this man, I’ve seen him a few times before, and I don’t know what it was…Ive seen him walking to the bad side of town, I saw him that morning drinking his coffee-down, depressed looking.
After paying, I walked out, and thinking…I ain’t got time for this guy…were leaving anyway…I shut the door, and I could feel the Lord tugging on my heart to be a witness, this doesn’t happen all the time…but the point was…I didn’t, but I should have…I’m sorry, Lord.
The thing is, I don’t think that I’m the only one here in this category. In fact, I bet everyone of you know at least 1 person, that you could be a witness to…and yes it will require doing some, as Little would say “pre-evangelism” work like 1)praying for them 2) Living your faith
But at some point, we must cross the line and actually witness to them. Their is a reason that God is putting them on your heart. At the very least, invite them to Worship. Tell them what Christ has done for you… Some of you have already been doing that…and look how we have begun to grow again…let’s make much of this Savior Jesus Christ, not just at church, but everyday in every place!!
This week, I don’t know how many of you noticed, but here we’ve been talking about the Light of the World, and how we are suppose to shine…and I didn’t even know this, but the cross on the front of the building, I guess I was told that the light had been out for a while…well not anymore thanks to some of our men…isn’t that awesome? I know it might seem like a small thing, but I pray that it might signify a monumental thing, a movement that is being worked by the Holy Spirit in this community.
I know, there is nothing that can bring the light in like Jesus Christ!! No drink, No drug, no relationship, no riches, or materialism, not a 1000 head of cattle on 10000 acres, can bring you the joy that our salvation ought to bring us. That farm or ranch, is always somebody else’s within a generation or two- Make sure that’s not what you’re living for.
I was just talking with Mrs Beatrice yesterday about how God has had to somehow remind Jenn and I that this is not our home…not for any of us…that there is a better one awaiting. And those we love, ultimately, we want them there!! The clearer we see it, the more sure we are of this truth!!
I guess what I’m saying is that the new birth will cause you to cry out…my niece just had a baby this last week, and so we went up to see her. She like my wife and my two mother in laws their husbands, my sister in law, and my other niece are all nurses.
And so right after birth, knowing how a newborn ought to respond and act, after being born-Well She did not hear the baby crying for a while…and so knowing this, she automatically asked if the baby was breathing, was the baby alive…when you’re alive in Christ, you will inherently cry out, you testify to the great things he has done for you…and how wonderful He is!!