05/26/26

John 1:19-28

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

John. John chapter 1 verse number 19 as it picks up with John the Baptist and the record of him was where we're going to be right here in verse number 19. But uh let's uh let's pray right quick. Ask the Lord to bless the reading of his word tonight. Let's just see what it what he's got to say. Matt? Yes, sir.

unknown 0:25

I'd like to give a prayer report.

SPEAKER_02 0:28

Y'all better pray over my eyes. They are better, my vision is better. I praise the Lord for that. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 0:43

All right, let's pray right quick. Dear God, we love you, God, and we thank you, Lord, for this day you've given us, Lord, for this time we get to come together as men and just to dig into your word and fellowship. God, such great, sweet fellowship today, Lord. I just thank you for it. I thank you for the food. But Lord God, more than anything, I thank you for your Son Jesus. I thank you, Lord, for this word tonight that we get to dig into that I pray that draws us closer to you. And as it draws us closer to you, I pray we draw closer to others. And they draw closer to you because of our relationship with you, Lord. Lord God, as I always pray, I pray a decrease and you increase. And Lord, the words out of my mouth will be of you, not of me, Lord, because I'm just called to be a voice for you, God. Lord, you are the word, and I just pray you speak tonight. And let us listen. In Christ's name. Amen. And he said in verse number 19, and this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask of him, Who art thou? And when he says that, this is the record of John, what he's saying is this is the testimony of John and what he has to say when they ask him, Who art thou? And when I get to thinking about this testimony, when they ask him, Who art thou? He had very many things he could have done right there. He could have said, you know, I'm the one that all these people are getting saved. This is the reason these people are getting saved. I'm the reason that these people are drawing close to the Lord. I'm the reason that that that person's not lost anymore. He could have said, I'm the one that's changing this community. I'm the one that's changing this church. I'm the one that's changing these people. He could have easily said that. He could have easily boasted himself up and got prideful about how good he is or how great he preached or all great these things. But all he wanted to do was glorify his Father in heaven. All he wanted to do was lift up this son Jesus that's fixing to come on the scene. That's all he's wanting to do. And it brings me to the point that we need to think about so many times is so many times we can boast about what we've got in life or the gifts God's blessed us with. But we need to understand that that gift cometh from above. That gift cometh from the Lord, and we need not to lift ourselves up because of what He's given us. It's to lift God up. It's to say, man, without this, I would be nothing. And I get to thinking about so many times about sport athletes thinking that they're so great and so good and how how great an arm somebody's got to pitch with, or how good a three-point shot somebody's got, or how many how many yards somebody can run because they're so powerful running as a running back. But man, that gift has been given from above. And how many times have you seen a guy that thinks he's everything and just he's just he's just one injury away? He's just one what one one time away from, man, you're gone. You're done. I mean, I experienced it in my own life. And we got to understand it, man, everything that that you have, your mind, your body, all these things God has blessed you with, don't take it for granted. And so many times I believe we do. Those things that God has given us. And you sit there and wonder, well, why did the Jews, why did the Jews send the priests and the priests and the Levites to ask him this question, who art thou? But but the Jews were sending them because, man, they had to know that people weren't just just saying anything on the street. They had to know that some people aren't just coming and just saying, you know what? It's kind of like letting just anybody into your church start to teach Sunday school, and you don't have a clue who they are. And what he what the Jews were doing, they were sending them, and to start with, it was really to know what's going on. Before you know it, you understand that these Pharisees, man, they weren't that. But but right here, we need to understand that they were sent there to find out exactly who this guy was. And the question I asked myself is why of all people did they ask John? Why this guy, why this guy named John? Because John was making a difference. Because John was making a difference in people's lives. And they wanted to know, what are you doing differently? It's kind of like a you see a church booming or or or seeing things, people are gonna like, what are you doing differently? You know, and and and many times he can sit there and say, Well, it's because of what what I'm what I am. But but no, he's gonna he's gonna glorify God in all these things. That's just what he's gonna do. So we ask him, Who art thou? And the question I want to ask you, and then I want you to ask yourself tonight. And I want you to ask yourself before you go to bed tonight. Does anyone ask you why you testify him? Don't you think about it? When's the last time anybody ask you, why do you testify this man named Jesus? Or has it been a minute? That's that's the question that we have to ask ourselves. Even myself, it don't matter if I stand up here and speak to y'all. When's the last time somebody came up to me and said, Man, why do you love Jesus so much? I can just see him all over you. Because we're not careful. We'll live this life, this rat race of life, chasing life, and before we know it, man, we've chased everything and did everything except bring people to the cross. And that's what he's saying to us right here. That's what he's trying to make us understand. So the question is does anybody ask you about him? Because he's about you. Verse number 20. And he confessed and denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ. I had to read that a couple times. I'll be honest with you. Because I'm not, I didn't go to Harvard. I didn't even make it to college very long. I had to come back. Okay? So, so I'm gonna just give you what the Lord give me. He said, and he confessed and denied not, but confessed. And man, I got to thinking about that thing. He confessed that Jesus Christ was Lord. He confessed. He didn't deny him, y'all. You said, Well, Brother Mike, I ain't denied him. Yeah, but how many times you have a chance you just didn't do it? That's what he's saying right there. He had a chance to say, he had a chance to be like Peter when Peter was sitting around the fireman and he denied him. He had a chance to deny him and go on about his business and go on about his life. But he said, you know what? He means this much to me. Let me just tell you about this Jesus. I ain't never met him, but I know all about him. I've heard about him, I've read about him, and man, I even remember. I remember we talked about it a couple weeks ago. He leaped in the womb when he found out that Mary, that Jesus was inside the womb of Mary. He leaped inside Elizabeth's belly. That's just what he did. He was called for this moment. Just like some of you are called to something, something greater than what's going on in your life. Some of you have been called for something. Do you want to hear what it is? Do you want to experience what God has called you to? Or are you okay with just being okay? Man, I lived, I lived my life a long time. Being okay with being okay. Just going through the motions. Just showing up to church. Just showing up to a Tuesday night men's Bible study. Show up on Wednesday night and Sunday night and Sunday morning. Just show up. But man, God called us to more. Yes, you show up to those things so you can be taught, so you can be, so you can study up, but so you can go out and win those. There's so many people sitting in this room right now. You're going to impact people tomorrow, and you have the choice how you're going to impact them. You're going to face people that's lost, headed for a devil's hell, and you're going to have the opportunity tomorrow. Will you deny him or will you stand up for him like he did right here? He could have denied him and went on with his life. Went on with whatever he had to do, but Jesus Christ meant that much to him in telling people about him. He confessed and denied not, but confessed, I'm not the Christ. See, he wasn't worried about his status. He was worried about telling them there's one coming behind me that man, he's going to take away the sins of the world. He's letting them know that. He could have taken up all the stature and status right there, but he said no. Look in verse number 21. And they ask him, what then? Are they all are thou a liar? Are thou Elias? I want you to notice. I don't know why God focused me here today, but but he somebody somebody just needs a switch. Somebody's switch is off. Somebody just needs to flip the switch on. Somebody's just riding on that coastline. Somebody's just coasting. You know what I'm saying? When we get in the boat, many times my wife says, when we headed out to Sapalo, she said, why can't we just coast a little just at a lower speed? And I said, because I'm ready to get there. It's wide open. Okay? We got to go. It's this one speed. Let's go. And I'm saying rather, man, we got to go. It ain't time to stop. But what I want you to see right here in verse number 21, and they ask him, what then? Art thou Elias? And he says, I'm not. Art thou the prophet? And he said, and he answered, no. They're talking about the prophet that was that was spoken about in Deuteronomy 18. They're asking, are you him? Which is he that? No. But what he's asking right there, he's trying to, they're trying to figure out what he is. But what I want you to notice tonight, what the Lord wants us to notice tonight, notice that they're looking. They're looking to see who's coming. They was anticipating Christ. They was anticipating that coming. And the thing that we need to be anticipating, man, and the Lord got all over me this week about this. Are you anticipating heaven like you ought to? Are you anticipating seeing my face? Are you anticipating getting to experience what heaven's going to be like? They were anticipating Jesus Christ coming, man. They'd read all about him. Those priests and those Levites, man, they had studied the Torah. They'd studied the first five books of the Bible. They knew it. They knew there was a Messiah coming. They was looking as if it was Him. But I'm just excited they were looking. And the thing that I believe that God is saying to us is, are you still looking or are you just riding? Are you still looking? Or are you just riding? It's kind of like any anybody ever went shining deer at night? Guilty. Guilty. And I noticed the other night we were we were riding and just shining for hogs. We went shining for deer, I promise. We're shining for hogs. But if you notice, before you look, before you know it, I look over there and I'm like, are you looking? Are you just looking or are you are you looking for what you need to see? And man, I got to thinking about that thing of preach. Because if you're not careful, you're just going to be riding and you ain't looking for what you need to see in life. And what God has called us to see, if you're saved by the grace of God, if you've asked Jesus Christ to come into your life and to save you, the next thing that He's calling you and I to is, man, you got to find the next one. Where's the next one that you get to witness to? Where's the next good one you get to witness to and them come to Christ? Or maybe you just need to help somebody out. There's all stages of that. Not that you need to increase because somebody got saved when you spoke to them, but man, somebody just needs you to go by and throw some water on that plant, man. Somebody needs you to be a little bit of fertilizer. That's just what they need sometimes. Then they said unto him, Who art thou that we may give an answer to them that sent us? What sayest thou of thyself? You notice when when they started interrogating Jesus Christ there right at the end, he didn't have many words to say. John's the same way. You know these people in your life that's that do things to entice you. We were talking about that beforehand. Uh you got some people that's just different. Could I just say that that word? They're just different. And they do what they can to try to stir your pot, so to speak. And the best thing we can do sometimes is just be a few words. Because when you're many words, usually get they get uh enhanced, um they get louder, and before you know it, they become sin. That's what that's what they're trying to do to us. That's what they're trying to do to us many times. I know I was there. Anybody else? Anybody been there today? That's right. At least we're honest in here. No place for honesty, but that's great. Um verse number 23. He said, I am the one that crieth in the wilderness. He said, I am the voice of the one crying in the wilderness. See, he knows that Jesus is the word, but he's the voice. He knows that Jesus is the word, but he's the voice that's got to get the word out. The same, there's no difference in John than there is you and sitting in this room tonight. You are still called to be the voice of the word of God that should get out there and tell people the mighty to save. That's just what you and I are supposed to do. It don't matter if you want to, it don't matter if you like it, it don't matter if you like to be around people. God called you to be a voice. You can be a voice texting on the phone, you can be a voice wherever you, but God called you to be that voice, and you've got to go put the word out there and let people know that Jesus Christ still saves. That Jesus Christ is Lord. That's just what you and I are called to do. But look what he says right there. And I want to ask this question before I look, look in that next part. I wrote this down. If you're called to be the voice in your life, then how far up is your volume knob turned? Just something to think about. Because if a good song comes on you, you gonna turn it up, ain't ya? So what God's saying is, man, as much as you love to hear whatever your song is, I don't know what your song is. Some of y'all's got some of them old. Some of y'all's old, okay? Y'all just old. But anyhow.

SPEAKER_02 16:21

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 16:25

Man, I lost my train of thought right now.

SPEAKER_02 16:32

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

I was stirring the pot, wasn't it? Burn Gosden, that's right.

SPEAKER_01 16:43

Um, we ought to be burdened about it. As much as you want to turn that voice of that song up and you love to hear it, I want you to think about it the next time put somebody put somebody in your face and you have that opportunity. I want you to see it, man. I think God wants us to see it. When that next person that you have that opportunity, are you gonna turn your knob up or are you gonna hit mute? Because you're worried what they might say. Man, I want to encourage you to rip the mutant button off your life and have nothing but something that can turn that knob up and let that person know that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but through him. That's what he's saying, guys. Look at the last part of verse number, or the middle part of verse number 23. He said, I'm voice of one crying in the wilderness. I look this up in the strong concordance. The word wilderness. A desolate place, a desert. Uncultivated, here this hear this uncultivated region fit for pasture. So I'm guessing when these Levites and these Jews they come to this man and they're supposed to be holy, they're supposed to be good, and they and this man says, I'm preaching in the wilderness. They said, wait a minute, we're not in the wilderness, we're in the city. What are you talking about? What are you talking about in the wilderness? See, if you'll jump over and look in verse number 28, it said, These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. Listen, what he's saying is, man, I'm preaching in a place that ought to be prosperous, but it ain't nothing but a desert here, man, because y'all ain't doing what you're called to do. You're called to be priests and Levites, you're called to be children of the king, but you ain't telling people about the king. You ain't telling people about the one that's coming, the one that's coming behind me. That's what he's saying right here. That's what he's trying to explain to us is listen, there's one coming, and you need to be telling people. He said, I'm in the wilderness. When it ought not to be the wilderness. But then he says, make straight. Then he says, make straight the way. The only way to make something straight is to get the crooks out, isn't it? To get the crooks, the curves, the valleys, the stumbling blocks. You gotta get it all off the road if you're gonna make it straight. And I believe that's the next point that he's saying to us is you know what? If you're gonna make straight, if if you're gonna pave that path, and I get to thinking about my boys all the time when I think about the path, because I worry about the steps that I left behind that weren't right, is the one they step in. I worry that I've got to make sure that I'm not leaving curves and creeks and valleys and stumbling blocks for my children that make sure that they know the way, that the way is the Lord. That, hey, some people stumble, some people mess up, but listen, I don't want you to worry about the stumble. I want you to worry about the way that I've tried to show you the right way. Because the Bible says there's none righteous, no, not one. We've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. But my goal is to paint that path, paint that straight way so they'll know where to go. That should be our desire. That should be every one of our desires. Get the stumbling blocks out of the road so we can make straight, because listen, there's one coming, man. And that's what we've got to understand, and that's what we've got to see ourselves is listen, there's one coming, and he's gonna part the eastern sky, man, and when he comes, hey, it's too late. It ain't time, it ain't time to worry about, man, can I get can I get ready tomorrow? Can I do these things tomorrow? No, you ain't got time, man. Hey, he's coming. We've got to make straight the way now. We've got to let people know now that Jesus Christ is the only way. There's no time to wait. No time to wait. And he says in verse number 24, and they were sent, and they which were sent were sent of the Pharisees. You ever you ever you ever had a Pharisee in your life? A legalistic Pharisee? One that, man, they're in your ear, and if you're not careful, they'll uh they'll get you in the flesh. But you know, if if you're if you're if you're in if you're in touch with the Lord, if you've got this word, if you've got this word like you ought to have this word, the Spirit will teach you what it hears. He'll show you that, hey, you know that person. That's trouble. That's trouble. The thing you need to do is run as far away as you can from that person because that person's gonna drive you and drag you in the mud as much as they can. That's trouble. And you can see it, listen, you can see it here, you can see it at your work. Place, listen, you can see it in your churchhouse if you ain't careful, man. They'll drag you right through the mud and do what they can to just beat you down. That's just what'll happen. I'm not trying to be negative, I'm just trying to be honest. And then they ask him right here, they said, they said in the next verse, it said, and they ask him and said unto him, Why baptize thou then if thou not be the Christ, nor Elias, neither the prophet? So what they're saying in those times, there was only certain people that could baptize. There was only certain people that that was legally allowed to baptize, but they asked him, Why are you doing this then? Why are you doing what you're doing? Anybody ever told you you weren't qualified?

unknown 22:50

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

I think that's what these legalistic Pharisees were asking him, saying, you know what? You're not qualified to do what you're doing. You're not qualified. You haven't had the right schooling. You haven't had the right this. Listen, that's hogwash, man. Jesus Christ will take this word and he will amplify itself through you. If he wants to use you, man, he'll use it. He'll use whatever he needs to. Hey, if he can use a donkey, he can use you. He can use me. That's just what he can do. And we need to understand that. There's nobody too far gone. There's nobody that's that's not got enough knowledge within them. This Bible is alive and it's still working today. It's still alive. It's not dead. The Old Testament's not dead. The New Testament's not. This Bible is not dead. This Bible is alive and it's working. And we need to allow it to continue to work in our lives. Don't ever let somebody tell you you're not qualified. And John answered and said to them, saying, I baptize with water. But there standeth one among you whom you know not. That reminds me of John 21. We're like a year and three months from John 21 in y'all's times. Some of y'all catch that in a minute. But in John 21, Peter got tired of waiting on the Lord. And they went fishing. And they went fishing. They were out, they were they were there in Galilee to see Jesus. But they were out fishing, they weren't paying attention, yada yada, whatever. I'm paraphrasing to get to the point. Jesus Christ was sitting there and he asked them, he said, children. He called them children because they were acting like children. They didn't do what they ought to have done. But they said, have you caught any fish? And they said, No. And he said, Cast your net on the other side. But you the point is, Jesus Christ was right in front of them. They didn't even see him. They didn't even see the king of kings. The very thing that they were in Galilee waiting to show up, man, they didn't even see him is right on the bank in front of them. And if we're not careful, if we're not careful, he'll be standing among you and you won't him feel him. If you're not careful, you'll get your own ways and your own sins in front. And the Spirit will leave you. The Spirit won't be there. I can tell you from experience. That's no place to be, is to be out of God's will. When you go to pray and you you feel like it's getting no higher than the hairs on your head. Has anybody ever been there? Rest of you're liars. So I'm just being honest. We've all been there. We've all been out of God's will at times in our lives. We have. But our desire should want to be back there. When you lay your head down the night, and you listen, a group decides, I'm gonna be I'm willing to bet somebody might not be where they ought to be. Somebody might not be as close as you've ever been. And I'm willing to bet, man, when you lay your head down the knot, or or you get you get you get on your knees beside your bed, or you go to your prayer closet, you do whatever you do, and you go to pray, and that that that thing doesn't, man, you don't you don't feel that prayer is getting any higher in your head? Man, it ought to break you. It ought to break you to the point that you weep. It ought to break you to the point that you can't sleep and know that there's there's not a there's not a reaction, there's not a there's not a feeding with the with the spirit anymore. That Jesus Christ and you aren't talking and he's not speaking to you, man. That's a that's a bad place to be that know that your father, man, you you're trying to talk to him and he ain't hearing you. It ought to bother us, church. It just had. And we we ought to want to have that fellowship with Christ again. When you go to pray tonight, man, if you don't feel like it's getting up, man, get down. Get down on your knees and ask God, will you just show back up in my life? God, will you cleanse me of whatever? Show me the sin that's so it does easily beset us. Show me, God, because I can get right back with you again. Man, I want to feel you, Lord. Has anybody been in that spot where you just want to feel him? I just want to feel him show up. But there standeth one among you whom you know not. And then I get to thinking about that. And I'm gonna close in just a minute, but I get to thinking about, he said, whom you know not. And I've said this before, but when you see this verse right here, when you see the last part, these people knew all about the Bible. They could quote the first five books of the Bible. I can't quote the first five verses of the Bible, okay? They had it memorized. They were the elite. They were the elite. It's kind of like you, man. If you're here on Tuesday night, man, you're elite. You've showed up, you're showing up Tuesday, Wednesday, Sunday. You're the elite. But I'm not gonna sit here and believe, just because you showed up on Tuesday night and believed that you know the Bible, that he said, Man, there standeth one among you whom you know not. It don't matter how much you show up to church, you got to know him. You got to know him. You've got to have that time when when he was knocking on your door and you asked Jesus Christ to come in and save your life and change you forevermore, and you meant it. It wasn't something, it wasn't a just get out of hell ticket, man. It was something that was real in your life, and your life is changed forevermore, and you desire not to go back. Are you gonna sin every now and again? Yes, I'm not gonna say no, you're never gonna sin again. But your desire is not to be there anymore. He said, He it is who cometh after me is preferred before me. Whose shoe latchet I am not worthy to unloose. John, who was a great disciple, put himself as a servant right there and said, You know what? I'm not even worthy to loose the latched off his shoes, man. He's that great. He's that great. And they're probably looking at him like, what are you talking about? But just in a few more verses next week, they they're gonna understand. They're gonna see the power of God unleashed. They're gonna see God in his power. They're gonna see those things. Man, I pray that this is our this is our prayer as he says this in verse number 27. 27, I'm sorry. If you're gonna be the if you're gonna be the disciple, if you're gonna be the example, if you're gonna be the servant that God called you to be, then you've got to humble yourself to be a servant. I don't care how great you are, you've got to humble yourself to be a servant. And that's that's tough sometimes. But in all aspects of life, when we can humble ourselves right here and say, you know what, I'm a nobody trying to tell somebody about the one that changed my life. That's when God will start using you. That's when God will start using you. Be obedient, be humble. As John was showing how humble he was, then God will use you. Greater than you ever understand. Let's pray. God, I love you for your word. God, I love you for man. You never turned your back on me, God. Even when I did. God, thank you for cleansing me when I was uncleansable in my own eyes, in my own life. Lord God, I pray for somebody here tonight, Lord Jesus, that you're just trying to encourage them to go on and flip the light switch on. Go on and put it all in. Because you're worth it. Ain't nothing worth holding back anymore. Just say, okay, God, I'm all in. Do whatever you want to do with me. Wherever you lead, I'll go. Lord, I thank you for the rain you've sent our way. God, I thank you for all you've blessed us with. Lord God, I pray for the ones again that have been mentioned here tonight, dear God, because we know that you can heal. It's not just a prayer request so we can just say the person's name to make us feel good, God. I just pray you'll heal people. Lord God, I pray you'll take that infection out of Tony, dear God, right now. And I just pray for him and lift him up, dear God. And I just pray, Lord, that you'll touch him. God, I pray your hand will be on him. And Lord God, I just pray that you'll bring him back to us, Lord. Lord, there's ever that need a touch from you, the ones that we mentioned, God. I can't mention them all, but you know them all, Lord. And we ask for your touch. And we're going to praise you and honor you for all of it, Lord. We pray. I love you, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen. And amen. Anybody, uh anybody got any?