(John 1:27)
�He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe�s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.�
John was a great prophet. John was a great servant of God. John was a well known minister of righteousness. John even died as a martyr to the cause of righteousness and morality. Yet, John was a sinner.
John was in need of a Savior.
We don�t normally consider that John had any doubts at all about his relationship to God and the Savior Who should come. After all, we see a great confession of John made in the next few verses after today�s text verse. �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.� (John 1:29-30)
This is a great affirmation of faith. This is a great affirmation of obedience to the will of God. This is a great picture of humility in a man who was, in the human sense, powerful as attested by the great throngs which crowded his preaching. This is a great picture of a man who is sold out to God and God�s program. John was an example of a man of faith!
And yet... We read in Luke this passage about John, �And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?� (Luke 7:19)
Yes, even John the Baptist was not above doubt!
God understands our human frailties. I think that is the reason that God put a little story from the Book of Mark into His inspired and preserved Record of Scripture.
It seemed that a certain father had a son with a real problem. The son was demon possessed. This possession caused the young man great distress and danger. The father came to Jesus and asked that his son be healed.
�Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.� (Mark 9:23-24)
That is a Biblical prayer. God does not get excited when we prayer that prayer. �Lord, help thou mine unbelief.� God understands that we all have human frailties and moods. It happens. God understands that Satan will attack us at our weakest points. It happens. Prayer, even this prayer, is our only defense against the wiles of the tempter and the weakness of our body of clay.
There is much said today about �Charismatic� gifts. The word simply means a powerful gift from God. All too often we consider ecstatic utterance, and such like, as evidence of this �charisma.�
But, consider the greatest charismatic gift of God to His saints in this life. �For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.� (Ephesians 2:8)
That verse says that grace comes to an individual through faith. But, that verse also says that faith is not something that has come from ourselves. Faith is a gift from God.
I�ve been drinking a cup of coffee as I sit at the word processor typing this message. The coffee became cold. I simply picked up the coffee pot and poured some more coffee into the cup. I, in the words of a coffee shop waitress, have �warmed up my coffee.�
Do you understand that this cooling of the coffee happens every time we just let the cup sit? Exercise your faith. Make room for God to use the �Coffee Pot� of the Holy Spirit to keep your faith strong. Don�t worry about running out. God has a �Bottomless Coffee Pot� policy in regards to His gift of faith.
God gives us saving faith when we respond to the gospel message. But, far to often, we tend to ignore the cup. Our faith grows cold. Refill. Ask God to refill your cup. That is His desire; we need to be warmed to the Holy task given us. This comes by faith. Faith comes from God.
In the twelfth chapter of I Corinthians Paul lays out the spiritual workings of a local church. He describes the various duties which God sends to his servants so that the church might carry forth her mission to spread the gospel message in their location. That chapter ends with this verse: �But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet show I unto you a more excellent way.�
The �best gift,� the �bedrock gift,� if you will, is faith. That is where we begin to do things for God. That is where God begins to do things through, and for, us. Pray for the most excellent gift - the gift of faith.
And, don�t feel down, as though you were the only one to feel your faith waver. Satan attacks us all. Every one of us! Count on it! When the coffee of your faith waxes cold, go to the counter of prayer and ask God to warm you.
About twenty-five, maybe thirty, years ago, I preached a series of messages on the people in the �Hall of Fame of Faith� chapter of Hebrews eleven. A thing that struck me was that each of these people had a flaw of some sort in their life. What a revelation and what a relief! God uses the weak things of this world, even among men. The success is not of our own will, or of our own worthiness. All is dependent upon the power and glory, and grace!, of God.
John knew this. Notice that John places Jesus before himself in preference. �He it is, who coming after me...�
There is an old joke that the chief purpose of children is that they are the replacements for their parents - and, in their teen-age years, some of them seem to be in a real hurry! Well, John looked into the future and saw his Replacement.
Joe Louis was a great boxing champion. No one could replace him. Then, about twenty years after Louis was replaced as the champion, �Sonny� Liston was the champion who could not be beaten. Yet, for both of these men there was a day when they lost their title. Both were replaced by others.
That is part of the sport of boxing.
Preacher, Christian, that same thing will happen to you. Great evangelists have come and gone. Great theologians have come and gone. Great ministries and movements have also come and gone. But, the work of God continues.
This same thing happens in every era. So called �Great Men of God� are replaced by others. The God Who Energizes His Servants continues to find men and women to call into His great work.
Men may begin great works for God. God will raise up others to take their place.
John knew that this would happen to him as well. But, John also knew that the One Who would replace him was not another human instrument of God. The One Who would replace John was to be the Savior of the World.
We, also, are expendable. We need not count our work, or witness, or even our own life as necessary to the work of God. That should give us great freedom to act as He gives us purpose and direction. We, mortal men that we are, have a part in the great eternal work of the Great Eternal God. He has called us, expendable and finite, to work with Him in the work that is most important in the entire reach of history and eternity.
Many work for a �legacy� in their field. My wife was the first woman president of the Galesburg Trades and Labor. I was, am still, very proud of her accomplishments. There is even a monument to her in a small park behind the office building. Yet, one day I went over to one of the offices and mentioned her name. Linda had graduated to glory just a few years prior to this. The person I spoke with did not remember her.
All of our pride and accomplishment is the same. It is the stuff of dust and decay. But, that which we have done in subjection to the Lord will be an eternal monument. It will ensure us a �crown of glory� in the portals of Heaven.
Yet, all of this pales in the reality of the Majesty and Glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
John knew the glory of the Lord. That is why he lectured about the Restorer.
My son has been busy at work laying new tile in his kitchen. There was a leak in the kitchen sink. The floor was ruined. He took up the old tile and has been laying new. He is �restoring� the flooring of his kitchen.
But, this floor will fail again at some time. Unless the house is somehow destroyed, or the Lord delay His coming, another person will spend another season of repair to restore this same floor. That is a fact of the nature of human existence.
But, the restoration which Jesus accomplished on the Cross of Calvary is such that it will live throughout the unending eons of eternity. Jesus performed the Work which allowed lost mankind to reunite in fellowship with the Creative Lord of Eternity. Jesus died to cleanse the sin from our lives which had resulted from the fall of Adam.
No one could have done this work except Jesus, the Son of God!
No wonder John the Baptist longed for the Redeemer of mankind.
John preached a doctrine of repentance. John baptized a baptism of repentance. Jesus preached a doctrine of redemption. Jesus baptized with the baptism of adoption.
John called people to walk a new life. Jesus called people to a salvation which is, itself, a new life.
John called for people to find the way to true religion. Jesus came to be the Way to true salvation. (John 14:6)
It was not without reason that John was anxious for the emergence of the Messiah of God to begin His ministry in the world. John was eager to step back and adore the Lord Who was to come.
John realized that the coming Redeemer was before John in preeminence. �...is preferred before me...�
It probably should be noted that the culture of the day was very interested in the rights and privilege of the first born male. He was the principle inheritor of the property and prestige of the family. It was more than a ceremonial position as it carried legal rights to property and inheritance.
This, however, isn�t the meaning that John associates with Jesus at this point. John was, after all, about six months older, in the natural sense, than was Jesus. And, it must be noted as well that John was from a different earthly family even though they were cousins.
Still, John was predated by Jesus.
Although Jesus was born into the family of man in Bethlehem, He was in existence long before this. Jesus, we have seen earlier in this very first chapter of John, as the Creator God, was in existence even before the world began.
This is the fact to which is referred when John says that Jesus was preferred before him. Jesus is fully human. But, Jesus is also fully divine. As such He is in a position of superiority to John the Baptist. This is a fact that John recognized and accepted.
As a matter of fact, John gloried in the fact that Jesus was the promised Messiah. This wasn�t simply a matter of pride in John as to his part in the ministry and mission of Jesus. this is purely a feeling of awe at the Person of Jesus.
John�s purpose, besides his baptism of repentance, was to prophecy of Jesus, Who was to come into His Own ministry in a short time.
We often get a false impression of just what prophecy consists. We consider prophecy to be almost a sanctified method of fortune telling. It is not. Prophecy is simply the relating of the message of God toward mankind.
Although prophecy can be the prior relating of events yet future, this was not the primary task of John the Baptist. His purpose was to tell of Jesus.
That should also be our primary purpose. There is much we can do as Christians in this world. We can take part, really should take part!, in acts of Christian charity where we may. But, even this has the purpose of prophesying about Jesus. We need to tell the story that Jesus died in time so that man might live in eternity.
In doing this task John was preparing others to meet Jesus.
Again, this should be a primary purpose of both the churches, and the people, of God. We are to be like the late show announcer. We are not the star. We are given, however, an important role. We are to announce the Person of the Star. Jesus is that Star of the cosmic late show of salvation. We need to let people look upon Him for therein lies their hope of eternal salvation.
Part of this act of preparation, an important part, is that we pray - by name - for those who we know need the salvation which Jesus offers. By doing this we engage the power of the Holy Spirit to exert His influence and convicting power upon those who need salvation from their sins.
I honestly, and Biblically, believe that part of our purpose in the economy of God during this dispensation is that we are to be prayer warriors. Remember how Daniel prayed for the people of his day? So ought we, with an even higher purpose as it entails the relating of the Story of the work of Jesus Christ, do in this day!
Notice, finally, that John knew that Jesus was before John in performance. �...Whose shoe�s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.�
�Before,� at this point, refers to that position of Jesus as the divine Savior of mankind. It is important to remember, as we have seen throughout this first chapter of John, that John knew his own position. He was a forerunner. He was not the primary focus of the purposes of God. That position belonged to Jesus.
In order to convey this truth, the method of John was to preach Jesus. That should also be our overriding purpose! It is good to preach morality. It is imperative to preach Jesus. It is good to preach right living. It is imperative to preach Jesus. It is frivolous to preach politics. It is of eternal importance to preach Jesus.
Other things must be touched upon as we preach the entire council of God. But we must first put the foundation of the house by preaching Jesus.
When I was a young boy my father built our house. I watched as large holes were dug in the yard where our house was to stand. I didn�t consider that these large holes were to lay the foundation which would hold up the structure of the entire house. Without that foundation the rest of the structure would be unable and fail in a short time.
We need to get people saved if we are to be in the true work of God. Without the salvation of souls we cannot build a true church. Without the salvation of souls we cannot do the work which God has ordained that we do. Without the salvation of souls anything else we build will not carry on the message of God. It cannot do so without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; that comes only to those who have received the salvation which Jesus has offered, and supplied, to mankind.
The manifestation of the task of John was carried forth because he preached Jesus. Other things we may well do. Other things, even good and �religious� things, we may well do. But this will not bear the fruit of the salvation of souls unless we preach Jesus Christ, and Him crucified!
John must have been encouraged by the large crowds which gathered to hear him preach. How easy it would have been for John to have had a sense of self importance. He did not join in this conceit because he considered the majesty of Jesus when he preached.
John�s entire focus was upon the Savior Who was to come.
This ought, also, to be our first consideration.
With this in mind, might I ask that you consider your own need of Jesus?
Jesus can save you from your sins, make you fit for fellowship with God, and give you the absolute assurance of a home in Heaven. And, it is all free to you. Jesus paid the entire price on the Cross of Calvary. All He asks in return is that you accept Him as your Savior.
It is a free gift. It is a certain gift. It is a gift that you cannot earn. It is a gift you may freely accept. �It� is the very salvation for which Jesus died on the Cross so that you could be called to redemption..
Why not do so right now?
Accept Jesus as your Savior.
Do it today!