A Message by Pastor
Michael Palmer
Given to
March 14, 2010
JOHN
THE BAPTIZER:
POWERFUL
WITNESS TO THE LAMB OF GOD
John 1:19-34
John had shaken the status quo of the religious
scene with his radical message of repentance and preparation for the Messiah.
Before we talk about John’s witness and our witnessing task lets look at the
religious establishment.
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.
The Jews were the ones acceptable to God; all others unacceptable. Therefore,
the Messiah was to come and free
The forerunner, John the Baptist, had to
begin cracking through the crust of these errors. Salvation was not a national
thing, not an institutional thing, not even a religious thing. It was a
personal matter, a spiritual matter of the heart and life. A man had to
personally want forgiveness of sins and then repent and be baptized if he
wished to be saved. This was to be the message of the Messiah. Therefore, because
of the hardness of the people in understanding the personal need for salvation,
God had to send a forerunner to begin breaking through the crust of
self-righteousness which had become so cemented in the mind of man (just how
deeply rooted the false concept of the Messiah was can be seen in the enormous
struggle the disciples had with it).
Taken from the
Preacher’s Outline and Sermon Bible on John p.23
I.
THE SECULAR RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENT WILL ALWAYS BE
SUSPICIOUS OF A RADICAL REPENTANCE AND REAL SPIRITUAL FREEDOM.
·
Pseudo spiritual religion always feels threatened by real
repentance.
·
There will always be some in the “establishment” who are
suspicious.
·
The Jews (Pharisees, Scribes, Sadducees, Levites, and
Sanhedrin) were fully aware of prophecies concerning the Messiah, but their
understanding of them was that He was to deliver them FROM the Gentiles
not to make them a vehicle of grace to the Gentiles!
·
“The Jews” represents a melding together of the religious
AND the political establishment-apparently John had caused enough “good
spiritual ruckus” that he caught the attention of the religious and political
leaders.
II.
JOHN’S RESPONSE TO THEIR INQUIRY SHOWS US MUCH ABOUT HOW
TO WITNESS: THEY WANTED TO MAKE IT ALL ABOUT JOHN- JOHN WANTED TO MAKE IT ALL
ABOUT JESUS!
The Jews inquired hard of
John. Note their progression of questions was based on their knowledge of the
scriptures, and John answered with Scripture.
JOHN’S WITNESS AND HIS
BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE TEACHES US THAT MANKIND MUST COME TO JESUS ON HIS
TERMS NOT THEIR EASY BELIEVISM (NO BROKENESS OR REPENTANCE)
The Jews were the “Gospel
People” and yet John was telling them that in order to see the coming savior
they must repent!
1. We must
be truthful in our witness.
2. We must
be bold.
3. We must
be intentional- always get to and get back to Jesus.
4. We must
be continual.
5. It will
be both verbal and lifestyle.
6. It will
include an invitation to receive- “there stands
One among you whom you do not know” …but you
will know Him and have a chance to respond!
III.
JOHN’S WITNESS IS THE PERSON AND WORK OF JESUS: THE LAMB
OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD
The designation of Jesus as
the Lamb of God has major connection to the Old Testament “figures” pointing to
Jesus.
1. The
Passover Lamb (Exodus 12:11-13)
2. The
daily sacrifice of the two lambs in the temple for the sins of the people.
Every morning and every evening a lamb was sacrificed (Exodus 29: 38-42)
3. The
picture of the Lamb in the prophets: Jeremiah 11:19 “but I was led like a gentle
lamb to the slaughter,” and Isaiah 53:7 “brought like a lamb to the slaughter.
4. The
Lamb’s function was to “lift away” or to “carry off” ones sins. The Lamb was
and is a SUBSTITUE for us! See 1 Peter 2:24, Hebrews 9:28
5. Note
that it was the collective sin (singular) of the world. Jesus’ sacrifice
for sin was for all, but it is only applied to those who see their need
and repent and trust in Him.
IV.
JOHN’S WITNESS OF TH SPIRIT COMING ON JESUS WAS
CONFIRMATION OF HIS UNIQUE PERSON AND WORK
Note that the Spirit
discovered and remained on Him. This means that Jesus was 1. The
mediator ordained by God for His specific task and 2. He was qualified to carry
it out!
V.
THE WORK OF JESUS IS NOT ONLY THE SIN BEARER BUT HE IS
THE BAPTIZER WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT
Baptize= dip, submerge– used
of clothes being dipped in dye, or a ship submerged beneath the waves, it means
to be saturated or flooded with the Holy Spirit!
The other gospel writers added
the phrase “and with fire” but John did not say this.
Many people forget this
component of Jesus’ work in their lives! Jesus is our sin bearer (PRAISE THE
LORD!) BUT He is also the Baptizer! This is very important. This speaks to the
supernatural change that the Holy Spirit alone can make in a person’s nature-
HE REGENERATES OR MAKES ALIVE, and He continues to change our life. When Jesus
baptizes with the Holy Spirit (at the time of conversion):
1. A persons nature is changed.
2. Their life is illumined, they
see things from God’s point of view.
They know
God’s purpose, they see their responsibility.
3. Their life is strengthened = Grace.
There is power to now
obey God a person can cope with “life” better because of the work of the Holy
Spirit within.
4. Their life is purified
Like the purifying of
gold, the dross of evil things, the alloy of the world’s mixture, the “lower”
things, all there are burned away over
time.
Like John we can be witnesses
to the fact that Jesus “is the Son of God.” He has radically changed our life
through His sin bearing and baptizing work for us and in us! As a result we
love others and are broken for them to meet this wonderful Savior!
1. Think
about your sins (all of them) being placed on Jesus as He suffered as the
innocent Lamb of God for you.
2. Can you
remember the day he baptized you with His Holy Spirit?
3. Do you
sense the continuing presence of His Spirit today?
4. Are you
willing to engage your family and friends in ministry and conversation about
Jesus?
5. Would
you be willing to join us (at Green Ridge) in prayerwalking
and door to door scripture distribution as we approach Easter?
Have you genuinely turned from
sin and received Christ today? You can receive Jesus right now if you would
like to, simply come forward during the invitational hymn and one of the
pastors or a deacon can go to the prayer room with you and guide you in that
process. If you would like to become a member of Green Ridge you can also step
forward and let a pastor know that. GOD IS CALLING PEOPLE TODAY- COME!