John the Baptist

John chapter 1, please. The Gospel of John, chapter 1. John chapter 1. We'll read beginning at verse number 29. John chapter 1, verse number 29.

The next day, John seeth Jesus coming unto him and saith, Behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me. For he was before me.

And I knew him not, but that he should be made manifest to Israel. Therefore am I come, baptizing with water. And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.

And I knew him not. But he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God.

Again, the next day after, John stood and two of his disciples, and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold, the Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, which is to say, being interpreted, Master, where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and see.

And they came, saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. It was about the tenth hour. Now, just to be sure, this meeting goes on until 4.30. Is that right? Okay, good.

Because if it ends at 4, I'm too late. I thought maybe I just got a little too excited. John the Baptist was mentioned in Mr. Lavery's message, and as I was listening to him, I began to think that perhaps this is my time to fit in my message.

I appreciate all the ministry that has gone on before today, before during this day. I appreciate it as being very helpful, very uplifting, but most of all, very challenging to the people of God. The problem for me is that when the meeting starts off on such a high note and keeps on ascending right to the end of the day, I feel like maybe I should wait until tomorrow.

But we're going to talk a little bit about John the Baptist. First of all, his Gospel preaching, and second of all, what he told these people who were saved by or through his Gospel preaching. We're going to find out that John the Baptist was a preacher, a man who was sent from God, a man who was sent from God with a message from God, and he had to be faithful to the God who he was representing.

Very important that he was faithful in his preaching. And then it was also very important, in fact, I would say, brethren, it was his responsibility that he instruct these young men who had heard and preached the Gospel and were saved, that he instruct them, at least direct them in the right direction. And then we're going to think about when these men followed the Lord Jesus, what they found.

So very simply, there was a man sent from God whose name was John. That really is a statement that perhaps encapsulates the work of John the Baptist the most from the Gospels, isn't it? There was a man sent from God whose name was John. What must have been going through his head as he knew he had to present this message to this people? While he was no doubt out there in the desert getting ready to preach, getting ready to share with these people a message that God had for them, he would no doubt have been looking for content.

The preacher, he seeks out acceptable words, doesn't he? And he would have been looking for content. He would have been looking for words. And when he found out the words that God wanted these people to hear, perhaps he would have shrunk back a little bit.

Yeah. You know what he's going to have to preach, don't you? John came preaching repentance. John came as a preacher of repentance.

And preaching repentance, we know, is not just merely standing in public and crying out to people to repent. It's not what it was. John knew if he was going to fulfill his responsibility, he must preach sin.

He must preach it. He must preach the sin of those people to whom he was sent. If he would not preach their sin, they would never know what to repent from.

If he would not preach their sin, they would never know what their problem is. And if he did not preach sin, none of them would be saved. I believe that.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He didn't have an easy task. But he didn't shrink back from it.

Now, I don't see John the Baptist as being a man who was always jovial, or a man who always had a smile on his face. But I believe there was a man who had a peace in his heart knowing this, I am just going to do what God has asked me to do. Very simple.

He would stand there by the River Jordan. And the people would come to him. And he would begin to preach.

And I don't believe he made too many announcements at the beginning of his meetings. Not wrong to make announcements. And I don't believe that he would call the people ladies and gentlemen either.

Wouldn't have been wrong. I believe he cut right into his message. He would say to those religious hypocrites who had gathered there to watch these people being baptized, he would say he brewed a vipers who hath warned you to flee from the wrath which is coming.

Not easy, but he preached it. He would preach the sin of all of these people who were coming. Some of them were adulterers.

Others were covetous. Some of them were doing horrible things that we wouldn't mention. But he'd preach it.

And he preached until he found himself in a prison. A prison that was going to be his last stop here on earth. He was preaching.

And standing before that ruler, Herod the Tetrarch, that woman by Herod's side, you remember what he said? It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife. That was the last straw, wasn't it? We know that as a result of his faithfulness to the word of God, he lost his head. I'm going to be here for supper.

I hope there's nobody going to be going for my head. But brethren, he was faithful. You know what encourages me about John the Baptist? He was faithful to what God would have him preach.

And God took care of the results. The results were really a product of the working of God. That's what they were.

These men who would come, they were spoken to by God. These people being baptized, spoken to by God. And there came a day, I believe perhaps, the most joyful day in the experience of John the Baptist when he had opportunity, now not to just preach sin, but to preach Christ.

And he turned the attention of those people from John the Baptist to Christ. From the sin that they had been occupied with to Christ. And he says, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Wonderful message to fall on the ears of those people. But I would say a wonderful message to be able to preach. Those of us who have the privilege, and I say the privilege, to preach the gospel.

There's nothing we like to preach better than Christ, is there? There's nothing we like to preach better than the one who has the power and the ability to take away the sin of the world. Yeah. But we better not miss our responsibility to preach sin.

Have to do it. Joyful day when these men pointed to Christ, trust the Savior, and they're saved. Great to hear that, isn't it? Great to hear it.

Great to find out that someone who's heard the message responded positively to God's call in the gospel. They're saved. Saved.

We know what that means, doesn't it? Rescued from sin and the power of sin. Rescued from an eternal destiny separated from God. Saved.

And we all rejoice when a sinner gets saved. And they went home that night, no doubt, big smiles, telling everybody, we're saved. We come to know the Christ, the Lamb of God.

He's taken away our sin. It's a wonderful day. They might even have trouble getting to sleep that night.

Maybe. Maybe they slept better than they ever did. I don't know.

They had to wake up the next morning, didn't they? They wake up the next morning and they come now to John again. Come to him. And they're going to ask him.

They trusted him when he preached the gospel. Now, he has a place. Really, he has earned their respect.

And they're going to ask him, what should we do now? What should we do now? John. That was great yesterday, John. We got saved.

What should we do now? Now John has another responsibility. Doesn't he? Now he's responsible for directing these new converts. And I love what he says.

When he was preaching the gospel, he said, Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. And when these men come and ask him what to do next, he says, Behold, the Lamb of God. Stop.

No longer dealing with the sin question, right? No longer dealing with the problem of sin. If you're saved here today, have a real salvation through a real Savior that you trusted at a real point in time in your experience. And you're saved.

You'll never have to worry about the sin question again. Once saved, always saved. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish.

Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. The eternal security of the believer. And by leaving out the idea of sin in the preaching on the second day, if John was not insisting upon it, if he was at least insinuating it, the sin is taken care of.

But now you look at him. You look to him. Behold, the Lamb of God.

Not insignificant that it says, looking upon Jesus as he walked, right? As he walked. The walk speaks to us of the activities, really the manner of life. As we are considering the manner of life of the Lord Jesus Christ, we point you to him.

Watch him as he walked. Watch him as he moved. Listen to his words.

Behold, the Lamb of God. And these men who had now been wondering what to do next, they changed their focus and they put their eyes directly upon the man who was responsible for taking away their sins, the Lord Jesus Christ. They began to follow him.

That's what we want, brethren. Followers of Christ. We want sinners who are clearly converted.

Don't we? We want people who are clear in conversion, but we also want people, and I believe, brethren, if conversion is clear, then the next step in good spiritual development and progression is following. Following Christ. And as a person is following Christ, they will be following him in the Word.

They'll start to appreciate things that they never did appreciate before about this man in the Gospels. You will. You know what I mean, don't you? And they'll start to find out that the words that he speaks, not only are they good words, but they're words of authority.

And you'll find out from the Scriptures that the same authority is carried in the Epistles as is carried in the Gospels. And they'll start to find out the things that God wants them to do. Why? They're following him.

And as they're following him, they'll find out that baptism is something that people who are saved should do or be baptized. And then they'll begin to notice that there is a specific place that God would have them to be when you're following him. That's what you'll find out.

And these men were following him. Now, let's go to verse number 38. Jesus turned and saw them following and saith unto them, What seek ye? What seek ye? What are you looking for? That's a good question, isn't it? What do you want? Young sister? Young brother? Older? More mature? Brethren and sisters? What is it that you want, really? What do you want out of life? What do you want in your Christian life? I don't even like saying that because you only have one life.

Hopefully you're not one of those who separates all the compartments of your life and says, well, this is my work life and this is my family life and this is my social life and this is my Christian life. That's not how it works. It's all your Christian life because a Christian is not something you do, it is something you are.

So what do you want out of it? Too many times, oh, too many times, you've been hearing of it today, what happens is our dear brethren and sisters become self-centered. Not that we become that, it's that we allow it to take over our lives. And then we get this kind of an outlook that Christianity is that which centers around me.

God is focused on me. The assembly is focused on me. Everything should be focused on me for my benefit, for my happiness, and for my prosperity and that is not Biblical Christian living.

Biblical Christian living is everything is focused on God. Everything revolves around Christ. Not me, my, and mine, but His, Him, He.

So what is it that you want? I love the answer of these men. What do you want? We want to know where you are. That's what they're saying to Christ.

Where do you dwell? Where dwellest thou? That was their desire. You know why that was their desire? Because they wanted to be where He is. And if they could find out where He is, they would be satisfied with that.

And they were going to stay there. Oh, the simplicity of the local church. The simplicity of the assembly.

We already heard where two or three are gathered together in my name. There am I in the midst of them. But He's there.

And that's what attracts. And that's what keeps. And that really is what sustains the local church.

He's there. These men say, Rabbi, where dwellest thou? Maybe there's someone here today. You're baptized.

Good for you. It's really the least you could do. In fact, the New Testament never once envisions an unbaptized believer.

They believed they were baptized. So you're baptized. But what next? What do you want? It's our prayer today that you'll be like these men.

And you'll want to know where He is. And have a desire to be there. And to stay there.

So He says, come and see. Still now you get the idea of following the Lord Jesus to the place where He is, don't you? They're following Him to the place where He dwells. Come and see.

And they came. That's obedience, really. They came and they saw where He dwells.

They saw. John uses, I'm going to say, at least three different words for seeing. At least three, maybe more.

You'll recall that when John and Peter were running to the tomb, to the sepulcher that was empty, to look in, when they arrived, it says that John, he saw. That means he looked at it. His eyes saw it.

It says Peter, he looked. It says Peter see it. That means Peter, he looked and he considered it.

It was a look of consideration. But then it says, John saw again. And that word that is used for John seeing the last time is a word that is closely connected in our New Testament for knowing.

So when John looked in, he saw and he knew something. He realized something that he had never realized before. He's risen.

Same word used here. It is. They came out of obedience.

And they saw. They didn't just give it a glance, brethren. Nor did they just look and consider.

But they looked and they realized something that they had never known before. This is where he is. That's what they realized.

This is where he is. You ever realize that? You ever see it? Oh, I know. So often we see it, you know.

Our eye sees it in the Bible. Less often do we actually consider it. But you know what's a really valuable thing is when we know it.

This is where he is. The assembly. And I also am one who believes that there's no place like it.

You know what? It doesn't matter if I believe that or not. The fact is the Scriptures describe the local church, the assembly, as a place that is absolutely unique. Unique.

You know what unique means? It's not just better than the church down the road, brethren. And it's not just better or the best place you can find in Waterloo or Cedar Falls to meet with people. No, it's unique where he is.

I trust we all see it. And it says here, they abode with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. John is the only gospel who uses the different measurement of time, I'm going to say, based on memory that this perhaps is 10 o'clock in the evening.

10 o'clock in the evening, they found out where he was. And they weren't leaving. And it says, they abode with him.

They abode. We know what the idea of abiding is, don't we? It doesn't mean that they had a little visit and a little chat and a cup of tea. That's not what it means.

Abiding has the idea of remaining. Remaining. Now, I know that they were going to leave this little house, but not before he left.

The next day, I believe, they followed him as he left that house. They were going to be where he was. And they were not about to leave.

They abode. Draw your attention, of course, to Acts chapter 2. They continued steadfastly in the Apostles' Doctrine. The idea of a local testimony, brethren, is not occasional fellowship, for I don't believe that occasional and fellowship are words that go together.

The fellowship, which is spoken of in Acts chapter 2, the fellowship with the definite article before it, is a unique fellowship that is characterized by having the Lord in the midst and the people continuing steadfastly in the Apostles' Doctrine, breaking of bread, prayers. You get the idea? They continued steadfastly. You know what it's saying? They stayed right there.

It's where they stayed. It would be sad if they left. Acts chapter 19.

What does Paul come across? He comes across men. Men who had only known the baptism of John. Had they heard the preaching? Heard the preaching.

Had they repented? They'd repented. But they spent 25 years of their life wandering around directionless, aimless, not knowing the truth of God. I find that sad.

I do. You know why? They didn't follow. It has a happy ending, of course.

They did hear the truth. They did come to know. They did come to see.

They came in. Our brother spoke to us about our heart today. Doesn't it sometimes touch your heart, brethren, when for whatever reason somebody decides not to abide? Touches your heart, doesn't it? Breaks your heart to know that they're leaving the only place.

You say, you're proud. I've had people tell me that. I'm proud saying that the assembly is the only place.

I'm not saying I'm the only man. Nor am I saying that these are the only people. I am saying that according to the Scriptures, the assembly is the only place.

That's what I'm saying. Not proud. You see them leave and you know, we know, all that awaits them out there is directionless, confusion, heartache, and dissatisfaction.

Don't leave the place. Abide. Abide where He is.

Think about it. Think about John the Baptist, the man faithful in the preaching. The results of that preaching were results that were produced by God.

Real converts with a real desire to go on. And they don't all take off, I should say this, just for clarification, they don't all take off like a race car at the first. Sometimes it's the race cars you got to be careful of.

It's nice to see a Christian who has a desire to obey. Person who has a desire to follow. Not to run a sprint, but to start a marathon.

Yeah, the long run. And he saw these men and they came to him and he said, if you are going to be anything for God, behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.