Good morning to everyone. Thank you, Mark and Jake and Sarah for leading us. I appreciate that. We're going to continue our look this morning at the testimony of John the Baptist in the first chapter of the Gospel of John. We'll be going back to Ephesians and working through Ephesians starting next week and then doing John the last Sunday of the month. But I wanted to finish up the message we started last week. 

So, I don't watch or read much news, really. I find it to be discouraging. But the only news I see is when I first click on my search page on my computer, on my laptop, and the headlines come up. And one such headline caught my attention this week. It was titled, *Meet the New Apostolic Reformation, Cutting Edge of the Christian Right.* The article was about a new book written about the growing influence of Christian nationalism. It highlights Donald Trump as a sort of leader of these things but also points to his affiliation with people like Paula White and Dutch Sheets. It's also interesting to note that the article names our new speaker of the house, Mike Johnson, although he's a Southern Baptist. I'm not sure about the legitimacy of his affiliation with some of these people. 

But we keep hearing this term, Christian nationalism. Those in power in our government now seem to be branding Christian nationalists as the greatest threat to democracy and are now allocating a stunning portion of the resources of the FBI and the Justice Department in order to investigate and monitor these, quote, domestic terrorists. Now, it's interesting to me for two reasons. First, I don't believe the world or our government, those in law enforcement, will distinguish between Paula White and Mike Johnson and John Neuse. There's a great distinction between the charismatic dominionists, like Paula White and Mike Bickel, and people like us. But the world doesn't see it this way. I believe when persecution comes, we all get swallowed up into this mire. 

So, it's interesting to see news stories. I saw three this week talking about these things. But the main reason I bring this up is because it matters that we as Bible-believing Christians at Living Hope Church have a clear understanding of the Bible, of God's salvation plan, and his purpose for the future. Because it really matters in real life and in real application. 

You may remember from our recent studies that the dominionists, or Christian reconstructionists, hold to a position that has the most continuity between the old and the new covenants under the umbrella of covenant theology. They believe that the old covenant law of Moses is still fully in effect for life and practice and for our world. Even the civil law should be enforced. Even the death penalty, for instance, for disobeying your parents, which maybe isn't a bad idea. They see virtually no distinction between the law of Moses and the new covenant and believe we should apply all of the law to every aspect of our lives, culture, society, through political means. 

In short, we should make the world Christian, partially through the force of the government. This is nothing new. Calvin believed in and even tried to institute a church state in Geneva. The post-tribulation view, which these people hold, was the most popular view in America until the early 20th century. Pat Robertson was a dominionist, as we've mentioned before. When he was running for president, he said, "Elect me and we will hand the kingdom to Christ." 

These people, about which the news article in this book were written, intend to make the world Christian through political means. That's their theology. The charismatic arm of this theology is the New Apostolic Reformation, and they hold to a doctrine called the Seven Mountains Mandate. They believe there are seven areas—family, religion, education, media, entertainment, business, and government—that Christians must infiltrate and take over in order to bring the kingdom and the coming of Jesus. It's clear that this movement is gaining great steam in our country. And it's also clear that those against Christianity in general are looking to deal with any threat of their vision of government and culture. 

So the reason I bring all of this up is because I want for each of us to see why it matters that we rightly divide the word of truth, that understanding God's word and correctly interpreting and applying it is crucial if we are to fulfill the true ministry that God has called us to and not be drawn into, in one degree or another, these kinds of false teachings. When we understand rightly the coming of Jesus to his own, the preaching and testimony of John the Baptist and his purpose, the offering of the kingdom to Israel and their rejection of the king, when we understand the tremendous change that came about with the institution of the new covenant and the ministry we have in this new covenant time, we understand that we are not here to right the wrongs of the world. 

We are not here to take over the world politically and enforce the law of God over all of society. We are here to preach the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are promised over and over and over that evil men are going to wax worse and worse, that the world is going to deteriorate more and more before the coming of Jesus. We are not promised health, wealth, and prosperity, but rather persecution, suffering, even death for our faith. This has been the experience of the church from its inception and the experience of many of our brothers and sisters around the world today. 

I wonder if Peter didn't have enough faith, and that's why he got crucified upside down. I wonder if Paul just didn't know about positive confession and taking over the government of Rome and binding Satan, and that's why he got his head cut off. Our brothers and sisters, doctrine matters. Our understanding of the scriptures as a whole and how we interpret it matters. The progression of his revelation to us—Israel, the church, the gospel, the purpose for which we are here and what we are to be doing, and his plan for the future and the consummation of all things in Christ—these things will guide us in our understanding of what is going on around us, what is happening in our world, what we should expect, and how we should live. 

The world is wicked. Wicked men prosper. David was saying that all those years ago. Wicked men prosper. They oppress. There's corruption. There's massive injustice everywhere you look. What are we to do? What manner of persons ought we to be? So many scriptures encourage us that we are to remain under, we are to endure, and to continue, and that we are to set our minds on Christ and focus on heavenly things, not on earthly things and earthly carnal means. We are to love God and love men, to preach the gospel, proclaim the truth clearly, so that men might hear and believe and be saved. 

Do you see how our view of the Christian life, our view of our calling and purpose, and the means by which God intends to accomplish it through us, these practical, vital truths and understanding come from our understanding of God's word as a whole, from a diligence to study and interpret in context, to apply rightly to our lives, to fit all of the pieces together, so that we form the right picture? 

So how does this all relate to John the Baptist and the Gospel of John, you ask? Well, I believe we began to see this last week, and now we will seek to more clearly relate it to our text this morning. 

Let's look at our text again, John 1, 6. John 1 at verse 6: *There was a man sent from God whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the light that all through him might believe. He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light, which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own did not receive him. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glories of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of him and cried out, saying, this is he of whom I said, he who comes after me is preferred before me, for he was before me. And of his fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him. 

Now this is the testimony of John. When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are you? He confessed and did not deny, but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, what then? Are you Elijah? He said, I am not. Are you the prophet? He answered, no. Then they said to him, who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah said. 

Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. And they asked him, saying, why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet? John answered them, saying, I baptize with water. But there stands one among you whom you do not know. It is he who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. These things were done in Betharaba, beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. 

The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, after me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me. I did not know him, but that he should be revealed to Israel. Therefore, I came baptizing with water. And John bore witness, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and he remained upon him. I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God. 

We have five points on our outline from last week: First, the testimony of John. Second, who are you? Third, his own received him not. Fourth, as many as received him. And fifth, behold the Lamb. 

Well, as we noted last time, John spends a great deal of time in this first chapter, 20 verses or so, centering on the testimony, the ministry of John the Baptist. So this is our endeavor to kind of go back and set that in its historical context and learn a little bit about what's going on there so we understand. 

Remember, John the Apostle's intent in writing the gospel is to show us who Jesus is, that we might know that Jesus is the Christ and believe, and believing that we might have life in his name. And John the Baptist is a powerful witness as to who Jesus is. Remember, he came out of nowhere, a voice crying in the wilderness as Isaiah prophesied. He came baptizing with water for repentance, preparing Israel for her Messiah. 

Why did John baptize with water? It's an interesting question. Why did John baptize? The Pharisees wanted to know this, too. Why are you baptizing? Verse 31 of our text—we just read that. John gives us the answer. It says, I did not know him, but that he should be revealed to Israel. Therefore, I came baptizing with water. 

The reason that John was baptizing with water and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, preparing the way, was for the express purpose that Jesus should be revealed to Israel as her Messiah. We spent a lot of time on this last week, so we're just going to work quickly through our first three points. But the point of John's ministry was to reveal the Messiah, Jesus, to the Jews, to Israel. 

We noted in Matthew 10 that the preaching of John the Baptist, of Jesus, and of the apostles in the early part of Jesus' ministry, was a whole different program and had a different intent than what's going on after Pentecost in the Church Age and the New Covenant. Remember, there was a different audience. They only went to the Jews, no Gentiles or Samaritans. They had a different message, nothing about the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Jesus only began to tell them about this, all the way into Matthew 16, in the latter part of Jesus' three-year ministry. They were preaching not the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, but the gospel of the kingdom. 

And there was a different set of circumstances in which they conducted their ministry. They did not need extra clothes. They did not need to plan. They didn't need to take any money or even a place to stay. They were empowered to heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons. These were works and circumstances typical of the kingdom time. 

And we saw in Luke 22 that all of this changed. This offer of the kingdom to Israel ended, and they rejected their Messiah and killed him. And now we live under a different program. And that's why Jesus said in Luke 22, when I sent you out before, did you lack anything? Referring to Matthew 10, no, we lacked nothing. And he said, but now. You better buy a sword. You better prepare. You better be ready. 

John came preaching the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The king is in your midst. It was all about preparing Israel, revealing Jesus to Israel. This was his purpose. And Jesus' early ministry, most of his ministry, in fact, was about offering himself as king to Israel, preaching the gospel of the kingdom. It really isn't until Pentecost that we see the real change in the apostles' understanding and the beginning of the church and the ministry and the time of the church age in which we live. 

For John's purposes, the testimony of John was this, Jesus is God, Jesus is the Christ. This was the testimony of John. Next, we see, who are you, verse 19. Now this is the testimony of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are you? And he vehemently denies that he's the Christ, implying that was what they were asking. 

And then they asked him, okay, are you Elijah? No. Are you the prophet? No. Remember we talked about the prophet was the prophet foretold in Deuteronomy 18, I believe, by Moses, and Peter tells us in Acts 3 that that prophet was Jesus. Elijah would be the forerunner. He said, I'm the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord. He was one to prepare the way. 

He denies he's the Christ, but he is the forerunner, making way for the Messiah. We spent some time last week looking at the question concerning Elijah and the coming of Elijah. John said, I am not Elijah. Jesus said, Elijah's yet to come before his second coming and judgment. But we did see a couple of very interesting statements concerning this in Matthew 11. 

Turn over to Matthew 11, we'll just recap those. Matthew 11, verse 7, you'll remember John the Baptist was in prison. He began to doubt that Jesus was the Christ. He sent a couple of his disciples to ask him, are you the one or should we look for another? And in verse 7, it says, as they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John, what did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 

But what did you go out to see? Certainly a man clothed in soft garments, indeed those who wear soft clothing are in king's houses. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written, behold, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you. Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women, there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist, but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 

And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who was to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. 

Verse 11 shows us that there's a very clear distinction between the Old and the New Covenant time. We saw this in John 3 as well where John the Baptist testified, I am not the bride but a friend of the bridegroom, an Old Covenant believer. Here we see that when the New Covenant promises take effect at Pentecost, a sort of pre-fillment now in the church age, the promises of Ezekiel 36 take effect. 

I want to just take a second and maybe explain that. I asked my wife yesterday, do you think people know what I mean when I say a pre-fillment? And I thought of an illustration, I don't know if it's good or bad, but what happened was when Israel rejected Jesus and the kingdom didn't come and God turned to the Gentiles in the church age, He still instituted the New Covenant. 

Those New Covenant promises in Ezekiel 36, Jeremiah 31 were made to the nation of Israel. So, there will be a real, literal, physical kingdom on this earth. I thought about it like our farm. On our farm, we follow a pattern developed by a man named Joel Salatin in Virginia who has polyphase farm. 

So, we have those principles in effect on our farm. But just because those principles are in effect on our farm doesn't mean that there isn't a real place on earth, polyphase farm. We are not polyphase farm, but we implement and have those principles in effect, but there's still a real place in Virginia where that farm exists. 

And similarly, those principles are in effect in the New Covenant now in the church age, what we might call a spiritual kingdom that exists now. But that doesn't mean that there isn't going to be a real physical kingdom on earth in the final fulfillment of those promises to Israel. I hope that makes sense. 

So, the church in the New Covenant time, he says, John the Baptist is the greatest up to that point, the greatest of all the prophets, an amazing statement when you consider Abraham and Isaiah and Ezekiel and all those great men of the Old Testament. But then he says the one who is least in the kingdom is greater. 

In verse 14, he makes this stunning statement, talking about the gospel of the kingdom, if you are willing to receive it, then John the Baptist is Elijah who is to come. This reinforces that the ministry of John the Baptist was to preach the kingdom as Jesus came offering himself as Messiah to Israel. And if they would have received him, John would have been Elijah who is to come. Interesting thing to think about. 

But since Israel rejected our Messiah, crucified him, God has now turned to the Gentiles in this age in order to provoke the Jews to jealousy, and there will come a time when God turns back to Israel when they receive their Messiah, then the kingdom will come as promised in Zechariah 12 to 14. 

So we see that John the Baptist is a witness, he's a voice announcing who Jesus is, and this is why he serves the gospel writer's purpose so well. He testifies that Jesus is God, that Jesus is the Christ. 

Well, I think we've covered our third point pretty well, his own received him not. He came to the Jews, came to his own, offering himself, his kingdom, but they would not, and thus we see him turn and set his face towards Jerusalem and begin to teach about his death, burial, and resurrection in order to prepare his disciples for the ministry they would have in the church age. 

Let's move on to our fourth point then, as many as received him, John 1:10. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own and his own did not receive him, but as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 

And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glories of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Well, as sad as it is to think about how the creator of the world came into his creation, and the world did not know him, and even more tragic that he came to his own chosen people, and they would not receive him. 

We see another significant adversative here in verse 12, but, but as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name. We see that even through the kingdom on earth, even though the kingdom on earth for Israel would not come yet, there would be a spiritual kingdom on earth established in the church. 

And the church would be made up of all those who believe Jesus. And this is the major theme of John's gospel. He uses the term believe 100 times. This is the faith gospel. John wants us to know who Jesus is, and he wants us to believe him so that we might have life in his name. And this is the good news. Those who receive him, and John clarifies that to receive him means to believe him, to place our faith in him alone, receiving him for who he is and what he has done. 

Those who believe him and him alone become the children of God. This is interesting in our world, isn't it? Because John's words here imply that before believing Jesus, we were not the children of God. All men are not children of God, as unpopular a statement as that is. In fact, Jesus said that lost men are the children of Satan in John 8:44. 

So we are all born in Adam, lost, not children of God. And Paul makes this clear in Ephesians 2. If you want to turn to Ephesians 2 at verse 12, Ephesians 2:12 said, "At that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ, for he himself is our peace, he who has made both one, who has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, that he might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, whereby putting to death the enmity." 

Here, speaking of Jew and Gentile, and we are Gentiles, far off, strangers—we may have been religious, fine, upstanding citizens, but we were lost, we were without God, we had no hope in the world, until we heard the gospel. Until we heard the gospel and placed our faith in Jesus and were saved, sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. And this is John's message over and over and over throughout his gospel, salvation is by faith in Jesus alone. 

A man hears the gospel, he hears a message about Jesus, literally, he believes, and he is saved. We see it again and again. You'll notice that it never anywhere says you are saved and then you believe. We'll get into that next week a little bit. Faith precedes salvation, faith precedes regeneration. We see this so clearly throughout John and the whole New Testament. Ephesians 1:13 says, "In him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also having believed, then you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." John 5:24, Jesus said, "Most assuredly I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment but has passed from death unto life." Romans 10:17, "Faith comes by hearing," literally hearing a message about Jesus. 

We hear, we believe, and then we are saved. This is a very clear message of John in the whole New Testament. So we see that those who believe gain the right to become the children of God. Now look at verse 13 with me, please. John 1:13, he says, "Who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." This is the new birth, this is regeneration, and it's not of blood, this means it's not of heritage or ancestry, it's not by means of inheritance or aristocracy. 

And he says, not the will of the flesh, it's not because of some personal effort on my part, some personal moral quality or spiritual effort or religious activity, nor the will of man. This speaks of some man-made system, religion, the acts of others, mediators, sacraments, etc. It's not designed or created by men. But we were born of God. The new birth, the work of regeneration, salvation is a work of God. For those who believe Jesus, God causes them to be born again, He recreates them and makes them new, He places them into Christ. 

Spirit baptism, we looked at that, I don't know, a month or so ago. Spirit baptism, John the Baptist foretold, I baptize with water but there's one coming who will baptize with fire. We looked at the first time that happened was at Pentecost. And 1 Corinthians 12 tells us everyone who's in the church was placed there, who's in Christ was placed there by Spirit baptism, the Holy Spirit placed you into the church. 

So we've seen in our text the testimony of John, we've seen who are you, we've seen his own received him not, and we've seen as many as received him. Now our final point is, behold the Lamb, John 1:29. Behold the Lamb. That day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." This is he of whom I said, "After me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me. I did not know him, but that he should be revealed to Israel. Therefore, I came baptizing with water." 

And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and he remained upon him. I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God." 

We've seen in our study that the apostles, the leaders of Israel, the Jews as a whole were looking for a ruling and reigning Messiah to take over and bring the kingdom for Israel. But that was not going to happen at this time. When John makes this statement, behold the Lamb, this would be kind of a shock. The Lamb, what does this mean? What can a lamb do? We're looking for a lion, the lion of the tribe of Judah. 

But John says, behold, look at, study intently, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The Messiah would be a sacrifice, a perfect, spotless, sacrificial lamb to take away the sin of the world. This is Jesus, this is who we must behold. John also wrote in 1 John 1:1, he says, "That which was from the beginning which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked intently upon and examined, and our hands have handled concerning the Word of life, the life was manifested and we have seen and bear witness and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us, that which we have seen and heard we declare to you that you also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ." 

John says the Logos, the word that was from the beginning, came as a man and we heard him and we looked intently at him, we examined him, we touched him, we handled him, the word of life. This is the call of John the Baptist, the witness. He says, behold, behold. 

How do we look at Jesus now? How do we examine Jesus now? Only through the Word of God. God has spoken to us through his Son and he has revealed himself through his Word. Behold, look, see, examine, study, look to know him, to know that he's the Lamb, the sacrificial Lamb who will die for you in your place for your sins and take the wrath of God which you deserved. 

My friends, this is the way to life and it's the way of life. We come to life, eternal life, when we behold the Lamb, when we see Jesus for who he is, what he has done in our place, in our stead, when we believe him, place our faith in him alone and what he accomplished on the cross, we come to life, we gain eternal life, we gain the right to become children of God, and then we live each day, one day at a time, by looking to Jesus, by beholding him, by knowing him more and more through the Word, through prayer, dependence on him, abiding in him. 

He is life. He is light that is life. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and he gives us abundant life, his life, when he comes to live in and through us. And we abide, abide by faith. We live by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us. It's the grace of God. Notice that he says, the law came through Moses, but grace and truth comes through Jesus Christ. Grace upon grace, John says. We stand in grace. We experience abundant life as Jesus lives in us. 

It's the grace of God found only in Jesus Christ that is the means and power by which we live and bear fruit and bring glory to God. Behold him. Behold Jesus. This is our life as believers. This is the way to life, yes, but it's also the way of life. We walk by faith. We stand in grace. So praise God for the good news that those who receive him pass from death unto life and have eternal life. That's now, my friends. You have eternal life now. You possess it now and it's for all eternity. 

Let's close in prayer. Father, we thank you. Thank you for the truth, grace and truth manifested through Christ, the eternal Son of God who took on flesh. We can behold his glory. We can look at him and see you. Help us to understand that that's our lifelong goal is to see him, to pursue him, to look to him, to know him and that through your word, your truth. Just help us to continue to seek him and to have wisdom and understanding as we discern your word, as we study, as we seek to apply it in our lives so that we might live holy lives, that we might be a witness for you, that men might be saved and you would be glorified in all things. In Jesus' name. Amen.