Great Presentations — John 1

0:14 Good morning. Someone once said, you don't have a second chance to make a good first impression. I think that's very true. Really do, I think it's very true. You don't have a second chance to make a good first impression.

0:44 We use that quote in our seminars on open air evangelism that we train people with, And we say that to people because you don't. You don't have a second chance to make a good first impression. And how they view you is how they're going to view the gospel many times in that context, for sure. So a lot of presentations that people make. Isn't that true?

1:18 We're looking at the political realm of recent days. The last forty eight hours, it's just unbelievable. What's taking place, the way a pitcher presents himself to the opposing batters. It's just amazing. Presentations and how even you shake a hand, look in somebody's eyes, etcetera.

1:46 Presentations. And I want to sometimes our presentations are not too good. Sometimes when we present ourselves, it's not really well done. It's not a great presentation at all. But I'd like to talk about, this morning what the scriptures talk about in terms of presentations.

2:07 I'd like to talk about great presentations. And a passage I'd like us to look at is in the Gospel of John, chapter one. If you would turn there with me, Gospel of John, chapter one. And we're going to see here, we're going to focus on one person, but he's going to make three presentations of another person. That one person is John the Baptist.

2:34 He's gonna make three presentations of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he's going to present the Lord Jesus Christ. We're gonna look at this. We're gonna start in verse, actually, verse 15, but we're going to concentrate 19 through 34. And we're going to...

2:49 He's going to present... John the Baptist will present the Lord Jesus Christ as prophet, priest, and king. And we're gonna look at this, and this is absolutely stunning. Now can you imagine yourself, can you imagine yourself being in a situation in which for four hundred years, over four hundred years now at this juncture, over four hundred years, you've been waiting for the promise, for a promise. Now, four hundred years ago for The United States, we were not here.

3:27 The United States was not here. I mean, we probably, four hundred years ago puts us where? What is what is four hundred years ago? That'd be sixteen sixteen sixteen, right? Is that right?

3:41 Am I right? I went to MBI, not MIT. So 1616, were we even developed, was Leaf even here yet? Jamestown. Jamestown?

3:54 Okay, so you got, we're even here, we're here. Okay, 1492, he sailed the ocean blue. Yeah, there you go, Chris, good job. Yeah, that's right, that's right. Four hundred years ago.

4:09 Think about that. Over four hundred years ago. That's a long time. And that was the was the dearth of information that God had in terms of of when he spoke to them through the prophets. It was four hundred silent years.

4:29 And then you have a situation in which Messiah is going to come. And so you've been waiting for this Messiah for four hundred years and you've been told because you're not living that long at that time, you're not living that long, you're going to wonder is is this is this Savior, is this Messiah going to come, This anointed one really going to come? Is he going to throw off the yoke of Rome? Is he going to, what is he going to do? What is this savior going to do?

4:59 And you have a situation in which there was a promise in the Old Testament that there would be a forerunner coming and preparing the way for this Messiah to come. Right? And so you have here this this is the situation that John that John writes about. Now it's an interesting thing. The Gospel of John, and I know you have talked about Gospel of John, I listened to a sermon yesterday, a few sermons actually, on your website, figuring it out in in terms of preparation for this.

5:52 In other words, they have similar similar things. They view them differently. They view it. Matthew views it from the king, Jesus as king, Mark as servant, and Luke as... I get those mixed up.

6:12 Man and servant, okay? But John is going to handle it differently. And really, is going to act act as he's writing this. And the the Greek construction of the Gospel of John is very simple Greek, very simple construction of the sentences. It really is.

6:32 The reason why he did that is it's like a gospel tract. He wanted to prove, and look at John chapter 20, if you would, verses thirty and thirty one. To get... Look at that... Look at those two verses because you'll get from those two verses the the whole theme of the Gospel of John.

6:50 In John chapter 20, when you look at this... And the reason I'm saying this, and it's not to be redundant with which people have introduced the book of the gospel or the gospel of John to you already, but it says in verse 30, as many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which were not written in this book. But these were written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ. Or if you wanted to go Hebrew on us, Messiah. If you wanted to go English, you'd say anointed one.

7:25 Because Christ means anointed one, Messiah means anointed one. He is the Christ, the Son of God, which is a divine title, by the way, and believing you might have life through his name. Now that's an interesting interesting comment. That's an interesting comment. And so this is the...

7:45 If you were to subtitle the Gospel of John or title the Gospel of John, you might say the Gospel of Belief. Or, and he's going to present Jesus as God in the flesh, which is really essential. It's not only true, but it is essential that we believe that. You must believe that Jesus is God in the flesh in order to be saved. You cannot have Jesus as some phantom.

8:12 You can't have him as some guy walking down and the Jesus coming on on him as the Gnostics taught, the the Cynic Gnostics and the Syrian Gnostics, they taught that. John's gonna go after him. Because he's going to tell us in the first epistle chapter one, that which we have seen, that which we have heard, that which we have handled, the word of life. Jesus is God in the flesh. He's a 100% God, he's a 100% man.

8:39 He is the God man. Don't ever reverse those either. He's not the man God, he is the God man. He is not like some some monstrosity that the Greeks would have us to believe in terms of like Centinar, half horse, half man. No way.

8:56 He's a 100% god and a 100% man. And we can show this in this first chapter. We see this in the first chapter because the first chapter, I mean, he's he's like, you know, I had a I had a time when a situation we were preaching at Wayne State University and a guy comes and starts yelling at me, and we were preaching in the open air with a sketch board, etcetera, and the guy starts yelling at me, show me one verse in the bible that Jesus is God. How much time do you got? And I said, anybody have a bible?

9:30 I had one in my satchel, I said, have a bible? And this black, beautiful black girl came up and she actually had the zippered cover bible, was the Scofield bible. I'm going, yeah, 60 edition because I know where the verses are in that book. You know, and so I I just started going through it. And you know, and my mind's made up, don't confuse me with the facts, it was that guy's attitude.

9:54 But I mean, in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Well you go, okay, okay, that's logos in the Greek and you say, okay, who's the Word? And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. Duh. You know, you gotta say that that's Jesus.

10:16 You have to say it's Jesus, who else would it be? I mean, who else would this be? The word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the only glory of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. You've got to say that is talking about this person that John is talking about named Jesus. So right off the bat, the Gospel of John is going to talk to us not only of the Gospel of belief, but what do we believe about him.

10:44 We have to believe that he's God in the flesh. So this is what John, and this is this is so cool because now you've got this guy coming and look at verse 15 if you don't mind. Look at verse 15. John bore witness of him. Now John is mentioned earlier in verse six.

11:22 All men through him might believe. First and... I mean, I mean, is it is it easy for us to understand that this is the whole gospel of belief? It's all through the whole gospel. And he was not that light, but he was sent to bear witness of that light.

11:40 And this is the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world, etcetera. And so, then you go to verse 15, John bore witness of him and cried saying, this was he of whom I spoke, that he came... Would you please, as we look at this, okay, park your eyes on this, because there's nothing wasted in the word of God. There's nothing wasted in the word of God. And I want to show you something that is just so cool, it's just incredible.

12:10 I mean, it is just so exciting to me, I just can't take it. It's just like I want to jump out of this skin and just go, ah, you know? This is so fantastic. It's incredible. Okay.

12:23 Okay. Okay. Okay. We'll just calm down now. Okay?

12:28 Okay. So John bore witness of him and cried saying, now this is John saying this, John the Baptist. This was he of whom I spoke, he that cometh after me is preferred before me, for he was before me. Just a little tidbit, I want to see how many times he says this in this little passage. Okay, just, let's just like study this one a little bit.

12:55 How many times does he say that, that little phrase, he was preferred before me because he was, he was, know, that that little phrase there. Yeah, that little phrase there. And the fullness, verse 16, and of his fullness have we all, all we received grace and for grace, and grace for grace. For the law of Moses, the law was given by Moses, and the grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at any time.

13:24 The only begotten son who hath... Who is in the bosom of the father, he hath declared him. And this is the witness of John, when the Jews when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are you? Who art thou? We don't say who...

13:42 Hey, how are you doing? Who art thou? I say that, but I'm weird. I mean, you know, who are you? Who are you?

13:50 And he says, and he confessed and denied not, but confessed I am not the Christ. And he asked him, what then? Art thou Elijah? And he sayeth, I am not. Art thou that prophet?

14:04 And he answered, no. And he said, and then said they unto him, who art thou? That we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? And he said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord as the prophet Isaiah, as said the prophet Isaiah.

14:26 And they who were sent were of the Pharisees. That's huge. This is huge. This is a big time huge. Okey doke.

14:37 And they asked him and said unto him, why baptize thou then if thou art not... If you're not the Christ, and you're not Elijah, nor that prophet? That's important here. John answered them saying, I baptize with water, but there standeth one among you whom you know not. It is...

14:58 He it is who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe latches I am not worthy to lose. Did you see that again? His before me. Do you see that? Remember I asked you to look at that?

15:12 You keep your eyes open on that one. Look at that. This is this is like monumental. Okeydoke. I'm not able...

15:21 I'm not even worthy to unlatch his sandals. Verse 28. These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan where John was baptizing. The next day, John sees Jesus coming unto him and sayeth, behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, sin of the world. This is he of whom I said.

15:46 This is like the third time. Okay? If you're counting. After me cometh a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me. And I knew him not, but that he should be made manifest to Israel.

16:05 Therefore, I am come... Am I am I come baptizing with water. And John bore witness, saying, I saw the spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode on him, 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 who baptizes with the holy spirit. And I saw and bore witness that this is the Son of God.

16:37 Wow. Okay. Alright. Alright. Don't get excited about this.

16:54 Who are you? That's what they were asking. Who are you? He's going to make three presentations. He's going to present Jesus Christ.

17:03 He is the forerunner. He's the one that says, I must decrease, he must increase. He's going to be off the scene. But now he's going to make a presentation, and he's going to present the Lord Jesus Christ as that prophet. Now I want you to notice something.

17:20 Understand something here. John the Baptist and Jesus are related. They're second cousins. First cousins, Mary and Elizabeth. And when she comes and is called the Magnificat, she comes and, you know, Lord God my savior, declares that, the baby in Elizabeth, in her old age, leaps in her womb.

17:44 That's John the Baptist. He's six months older. And so now he never really gets, he doesn't hang out at the family reunions or anything like that. He's out in the wilderness. He doesn't doesn't know who he is.

17:58 Except that God tells him who he is. But he is the second cousin of Jesus. But he doesn't present him that way. He doesn't do this. What he does do is he presents him as he is, and notice what he says.

18:13 Now I I tell you that to to, you know, six months older than the Lord Jesus Christ, and this is John the Baptist, because I asked you to look at how many times he said he was before me. How does that happen? How does that happen? And so you look at this, and there's no wasted words here. He's going to present the Lord Jesus as that prophet, the identity of the sent one, John.

18:39 And so notice what he says, are you... Who are you? By the way, in verse 18, I gotta tell you about verse 18. This is so cool. Notice verse 18.

18:49 He says, the man was sent from God. No man has seen God at any time, but the only begotten son who is in the bosom of the father, he hath declared him. The NIV renders it beautifully. I like this rendering. I'm not a real super fan of the NIV, but I love the way this is this is rendered.

19:09 It renders no man has ever seen God, but God the only son. But God the only son, but God the only begotten. You think of that just for a moment. No man had seen God, and he hath, he hath declared him. That Greek word declared in the Greek is exegesis.

19:41 He hath explained him. This is where Philip comes up and says, hey, show us the father Jesus, show us the father. If you've seen me, you've seen the father. He's not claiming to be the father, he's just saying, I'm going to explain him. I am God in the flesh.

20:02 Did Jesus ever declare himself to be God? You betcha. You betcha he did over and over. And this whole idea of the son of God, you have the son of God, that's a divine title. Jehovah's Witnesses don't realize this when they try to tell us that, oh, I believe he's the son of God.

20:22 Wait a second, if you say that Jesus is the son of God, you're saying that he's God, biblically speaking. Oh, no, we're sons of God, the bible teaches that, but we're not the same as Jesus. We are made sons of God. He is the son of God. He is the eternal son of God.

20:43 Isaiah nine:six, unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. You're not going to be given unless you are. And so you have to, you know, he is the eternal son of God, has always been the son of God. And so you have here this, he had declared him, and and so...

21:05 And this is the witness of John, verse 19, when the Jews and the priests and the Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are you? And he confessed and denied not, But confessed, I am not that anointed one. I am not the Christ. I am not Messiah. It's good.

21:23 It's good because he wasn't. He wasn't. So they really they really freaked out. They said, okay, what... Who are you then?

21:31 Are you Elijah? And that was from Malachi. And you already got that. They've already talked about that passage in Malachi, the last the last few verses of Malachi, making straight the way of the Lord and is Elijah is going to come in his power and this kind of thing? Are you him?

22:05 And it's really interesting too, when take that and transliterate, it's called the and what they had is they did the miraculous to prove who... What they were doing. When you take that and transliterate it into the New Testament, it's apokalistos, or in other words, apostles. And so what they did, they, the apostles, did the miraculous to prove what God was doing in the in the early church. They did the miraculous as well, but only three had this.

22:33 They're asking him, are you Elijah? Well, hasn't done anything miraculous. But there's one that's going to come. And in chapter two, you've already seen in chapter two, the wedding feast of Canaan, where he changes the water into wine. And we're not talking like a little cup, We're not talking little juice bottles.

22:54 We're talking about 60 to 70 gallons of it. Friedkins. Right? We're talking big big jars this high, and this, and these guys are dipping. And he says it's better than the old, than the first stuff you had.

23:09 Which tells me this, I don't have a hard time when when God says, let there be light. I don't have a hard time when I go to the creation institute down in Kentucky and look and they talk about how God spoke at exonilo and he just said it out of, you know, he did it out of, just did it out of nothing. I don't have a hard time with the six days of creation. I don't have a hard time with it because the Bible says it in the story. So when you got this Lord Jesus, you've got this Jesus coming onto the scene, and he does this miraculous.

23:49 What is he doing? He is coming in this incredible power. By the way, the Lord Jesus is never going to say, thus saith the Lord. We've got him here, he's going to be presented as that prophet of God. And I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I want you to notice, what did the prophets in the Old Testament say?

24:12 Thus saith the Lord God of Israel. Right? Stuff like that. Really cool. Thus saith the Lord.

24:18 And by the way, if you were to look in Deuteronomy 18, and I suggest you go there and look at that, Deuteronomy 18 and put your finger there because we're gonna go there in a second. Because Moses is going to talk about it, but if you were not, in Deuteronomy 13 and as well as 18, if you were not a 100% accurate as a prophet, you said you were a prophet of God and you weren't a 100% accurate, they stoned you. It's over. One time you're wrong, it's over. You're gonna get stoned.

24:49 And it's gonna be bad news for you. And you have to be 100% accurate. But what does Jesus say? He doesn't say, thus saith the Lord God of Israel. What does Jesus say?

25:02 I say unto you. He is the author of eternal words. That blew those guys away. I say unto you. Moses said this, but I say unto you.

25:18 What? What? You are... I mean, it wasn't lost on those guys. It wasn't lost on the Jews at all.

25:27 They understood exactly what he was saying. And so what he was, you know, so they asked him, who are you? Are you Elijah? He said, I am not. Are you that prophet?

25:38 Would you turn with me to Deuteronomy 18. Turn there to Deuteronomy 18. That's in the Old Testament, I think. Deuteronomy 18. Yeah, it is.

25:51 And it's in the first five books of the Old Testament. It's the fifth one. And it is an incredible revisitation. But look at verse 15. The Lord thy God...

26:06 This is Deuteronomy 18 verse 15. The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee. Of thy brethren, like unto me, unto him shall you hearken. Interesting. You hearken to him.

26:25 According and according to all that thou hast desires of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly saying, let me hear, not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire anymore that I die not. And he talks about that prophet. Then he goes in in verse 20 with the test of a prophet. With the test of a prophet. You gotta be a 100% accurate.

26:53 But notice what he says, I'm gonna talk to you about that prophet. In verse 18, I will raise up to him a prophet among your brethren like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto my words, which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. And so they they were looking for that prophet, not just a prophet, but that prophet. They were looking for that specific prophet who God was going to anoint and do and, right?

27:50 His response was, you know, hey, because John the Baptist was one of the greatest prophets, right? New Testamentally, he was one of the greats, and he said, no, not him. What? Then who are you? Then who are you?

28:10 That we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest of thyself? Now you've to understand, they're looking at this guy who is not afraid of them. He's not worried about them. He's out in the desert, man.

28:24 He's eating locusts. He's eating whatever he can scrounge around. He's in this, probably this not great smelling garb, and he's not smelling great himself, and he's... But he has got such an authority about him, he just does not. And he's scary.

28:41 He's scary. I mean, he's scaring those guys. That's what he is doing. He's standing out there, and then he's going to be baptizing. He's baptizing, and he's he's come prepare ye the way of the Lord, and he's asking them to get right.

28:54 That's what he's doing. First time I ever preached in Wall Street, I preached right in front of the Sub Treasury Building on the side of a van with a canopy, with a sketch board hooked to it, and on a platform. And it was a beautiful summer day, and the Sub Treasury Building steps, this is where George Washington took the oath of office in New York. First capital of The United States was not DC, it was New York. And that's where he took the oath of office on these steps, and right there, right?

29:27 Okay, the place was packed. You know, they're sunning themselves, they're having lunch and all this kind of stuff, and we pull up, open it up, and start preaching, right? As I am preaching, I was so nervous I couldn't draw a straight line. Everything looks squiggly. That's true.

29:44 And so there's two guys in burlap sacks with a rope around them. There's, you know, around each thing, right? Just pacing back and forth. And they were going back, you know, one guy would come this way, he'd get past, you know, these two guys. I'm going...

30:03 As I'm preaching, I'm going, oh, I don't want these weirdos. I don't want them. But they didn't say a word until after I was finished. I never heard guys so loud in my life. And I've heard a lot of open air preachers.

30:16 It hurt the ears, you know. They thought they were the two witnesses of revelation. They did. They thought they were scary looking. They were.

30:28 Not because I thought they were a little weird. That they were. But they were very serious. Can you imagine what the Pharisees and the scribes and those guys were looking at John the Baptist? And how they were looking, he was coming off with such incredible authority?

30:48 No gamesmanship, no like, no weirdness, none of that kind of stuff. He said, no, I'm not him. Who are you then? What do you say of yourself? And so he says, I am, verse 23, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet said, as said the prophet Isaiah, that and they who were of, they were of the Pharisees.

31:17 Now the Pharisees, now that's important because the Pharisees, they believed in the miraculous, they believed in the supernatural, they believed in angelic hosts, they believed in the Old Testament, they believed in Jehovah God. They were not like the Sadducees who were more political. These guys, I mean they're like, let's what does the scriptures teach type of thing. We have Paul who was a Pharisee and calls himself a Pharisee of the Pharisee. Probably had these books of the first five books of the Old Testament memorized called the Torah or the law.

31:50 And so they had those probably had... And probably had a whole bunch more memorized. So they're asking them, they're grilling John the Baptist and say, who are you? We've got to give an answer. And they were they were...

32:03 They who were sent were of the Pharisees. Now look at verse 25. So John's denying all this. I mean, John is saying, okay, okay, I am I am not him. I am not him.

32:19 Please, I am not him. But who are you then? He already said to him... Well, actually, this was said of him. John verse...

32:28 Look at verse 15. John bore witness and cried, saying, this is... Was was if... This was he of whom I spoke, that he cometh after me as preferred before me, for he was before me. What?

32:48 What? The wedding feast of Cana, you have Jesus at about 30. John the Baptist is six months older, and he just said that he was before me. And he's going to say it again. How how can you possibly...

33:28 I mean, he's killing them, and he's talking to them, and his authority is incredible. And he says, they're asking him, who are you? Who are you? And verily verily, verse 51, verily verily I say unto you, if a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. What?

33:52 He's not saying thus saith the Lord. In Deuteronomy 18, I will put my words in his mouth. I will do this, you keep, and Jesus is saying, you keep my saying, you'll never see death. They're going, what are you talking about? What are you speaking about?

34:11 Then said the Jews unto him, verse 52, now we know that you have a demon. Abraham is dead and the prophets. And thou sayest, if you men keep my saying, he shall never taste death. Art thou greater than our father Abraham who is dead and the prophets who are dead? Who makest thou thyself?

34:31 Who makest thou thyself? And Jesus answered, if I honor myself, my my honor is nothing. It is my father that honors me, of whom you say that he is your God. Yet you have not known him, but I know him. And if I should say that I know him not, I would be a liar like unto you.

34:49 I guess he never read how to win friends and influence people. I shall be a liar like unto you, but I know him. And keep us saying, your father, listen to this, your father, rejoiced to see my day, and was saw it, and was glad. What? Look at the reaction.

35:11 Then said the Jews unto him, thou art not yet 50 years old, and you have seen Abraham. Here's the killer verse. Jesus answered unto him, verily, verily, I say unto you, or truly, truly, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am. What was their reaction? They wanted to kill him.

35:32 Pick up stones to stone him. Why? Why would they stone somebody? For blasphemy? John chapter 10, he says for what good work do you want to stone me?

35:42 They said for blasphemy because thou being a man makest thyself God. They understood he was claiming to be God. The Jews understood that he was claiming to be God, that's John chapter 10. And he said, so he's claiming before Abraham, if you wanted to translate this, before Abraham sprang into existence, I am. Invoking the divine title of Exodus three fourteen.

36:10 Those Jews understood that. He was... They understood that he was claiming to be God. So that guy in Wayne State University, where does the Bible say that he was God? My word.

36:22 But you have here that he is that prophet. He is that prophet. And John answered, going back to John chapter one verse 20, you know, verse 26, John answered and said unto them, I baptize with water, but there is one that stands... Standeth among you whom you know not. He it is whom comes after me is preferred before me, whose shoelatches I am not worthy to lose.

36:51 Why? Because Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. He's the eternal Son of God. Now, I was reading the Psalms today. I was reading the Psalms this morning.

37:05 It was just really beautiful. And it talked about one generation declaring about another, to another generation. Psalm 146 to 150, and it says, praise the Lord. Right? We praise him for all this, and we praise him with the trumpets, and we praise him for his acts, we praise him for the moon.

37:24 The stars will praise Him, the moon will praise Him, the sun will praise Him. All of creation will praise Him. All this. Right? The question is, why?

37:38 Because of who He is. There is no one like Jesus. And when you make a great presentation that he is that prophet, he is that prophet, he is the prophet. He is the prophet. See, Jesus is prophet, priest, and king.

37:54 The New Testament tells us that, and John is telling us that. But he's that prophet. There... The depth of the knowledge is like you standing on the... On Gibraltar and saying, I'm standing on a pebble.

38:11 The big rock Gibraltar, if you... It's like you standing on, man, this is like a small little pebble or something. It's so vast, so incredible, so unbelievable, it's past finding out in its totality. That's who John the Baptist is presenting. Not presenting some guy out there that, you know, he's gonna help us out and give us, you know, a better life type of situation and throw the yoke of Rome off us.

38:44 No. He is God in the flesh. He is the one who spoke the who spoke the world into existence. He's the one that said, let there be light, and there was. Colossians chapter one verse 15 and following.

39:02 And this is the one that John is talking about. And so they're they're like blown they're like blown away from it, about it. And then so... And then he talks to them about... Notice this.

39:46 To the Jew who used to slaughter these lambs over and over, year after year, and you were in, Mark, were, I mean, Scott, you were in during Yom Kippur in Israel, it's a high holy day, right? But they can't do what they did in Jesus' time, is slaughter a lamb. Yom Kippur was the day of atonement. They took a lamb and conferred the sins of Israel on that lamb, and only the high priest could go in and slit slit his throat. And if he didn't do it right, he died.

40:19 They had bells on his garments so they could still hear him because nobody else could go into there, into that holiest of holies. And if he went into the holy, the high priest go into the holiest of holies without blood of the spotless lamb, he would die. So tradition tells us that they would tie a rope around him. Because nobody could go in if he did it, if he blew it and didn't do it exactly the way Leviticus tells him to do it. Putting it on a certain way with his thumb on the tips tips of the wings of the ark of the...

40:50 You know, if he didn't do that, he would die. Nobody could go in and get him. So they would drag his body out with the rope. That was the idea. But they would listen to the bells to see if he still was alive.

41:05 Right? Every year. It was an illustration by God to the nation of Israel, I am going to send one who is going to fulfill that substitutionary death. He's going to fulfill this. I've come not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it.

41:28 The lamb of God. And so when John the Baptist baptizing, and he sees his cousin of six months, his junior, and he sees Jesus on the bank of the River Jordan, and he baptizes him, right, and he says this, but he says first of all, behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Ah, who? Who? The lamb of God.

41:56 And then when he was baptized, and the other gospel says, hear ye him. Listen to him. He has the words of eternal life. Because he's not only the the lamb of God, the priest, he's also a prophet. Listen to him.

42:18 And this is exactly, Paul writes it this way, he who knew no sin became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Second Corinthians chapter five verse 21. He who knew no sin, he is that one, that substitute. And I I just want to say this morning, I... Listen, I don't know who you are.

42:41 I mean, I know some of you, but I don't know your spiritual condition. I don't know whether you're born again or not. The only way you can get to heaven is to receive Jesus, who is God in the flesh, and your substitute, who died on the cross on your behalf, because he is that lamb of God. He is that one who paid the penalty and paid it in full for you. And all you have to do is believe on him and you have everlasting life.

43:10 That's exactly what John is saying. That's exactly what John is saying. To the Jew, this is it. Four hundred years. And the promised Messiah who has been promised over 300 times in terms of the way he would be, how he would die, the manner of his birth, all these things fulfilled in one person is here.

43:37 Wow. In fact, you have the disciples of John leaving him and going with Jesus. It's amazing. It's absolutely amazing because now, John the Baptist presents him as the priest, the lamb of God, and then he presents him as the son of God, the king. And notice what he says about this.

44:01 Verse 30. And you know, he's before me, of course. And then verse 31, and I knew him not, but that he should be made manifest to Israel. Therefore, I am come baptizing with water. Baptizing...

44:14 Baptism not gonna save you. It's the Lord Jesus Christ who saves you. Baptism is never gonna do it for you. John bore witness saying, I saw this spirit descending on him, descending from heaven like a dove and abode upon him, and I knew him not. But he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, upon whom he shall see the spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he who baptizes with the holy spirit.

44:46 And I saw and bore witness that he is the son of God. Let me just say something to you about this. This whole scene is just absolutely incredible when it took place. Absolutely incredible when it took place. Now I know you're kind of tired.

45:01 I am too. I was up to one listening to sermons from Westlake Bible Fellowship website, which it said, you put them on. You put them on those. You're the... At fault for my lack of REM stage.

45:30 I'll put it this way. I had a friend of mine, he was standing in line buying something. This guy is kind of intense, an evangelist friend of mine, kind of intense guy. And he'd go, he would like, get in your face. Jesus loves you.

45:48 Me, I'm laid back compared to him. True. Oh, yeah. So he's buying something, and he bends over the whatever, you know, he goes, Jesus is real. That would scare me, you know.

46:06 I'd be going, oh, you know.

46:08 That's what I'd be doing. In the line, somebody said, scratch a Christian, you find a hypocrite. He didn't miss a beat. He said, scratch Jesus, and you'll find reality. Right in front of everybody, he said that to this guy.

46:27 The more you look and examine Jesus Christ, the more you like Him, the more you love Him, the more you appreciate Him. Because if you were to look at my life and you were to examine me and are there skeletons in the closet and are there whatever, you're gonna not like me. Maybe you don't like me now. I don't blame you. I don't like

46:51 me

46:51 either. But the more you examine the Lord Jesus Christ, the less you can ever... You could never say that about him. You'd have to say, the more I examine him, the more I like him. The more I love him because he is the real thing.

47:06 And you scratch Jesus, you do find reality because he is the son of God. He is God the son. And there is no way to get to heaven apart from that. It's not Donald Trump that's going to be the savior of this country, and it's not Hillary Clinton, and it's not anybody. It's not anybody.

47:31 The only way, and I'm not talking about is America a Christian nation. I personally do not believe that. We have just enough Christianity in America to inoculate us from the real thing. It's really true. Oh yes, I'm a Christian.

47:50 What is that? How do you define that? What does that mean? Well, it's all revolves around the Lord Jesus Christ. All revolves around the Lord Jesus Christ.

48:04 He is the savior of the world. Over there. Over there. He is the savior of the world. And the more you look at Jesus, the more you'll like Jesus.

48:16 So I suggest to you that you believe on Jesus. You have more information about trusting Christ as your personal savior than I did when I trusted him as my savior. If you've not been sleeping, and some of you are on the precipice, but if you have not been sleeping and if you've been listening at all about this person, the Lord Jesus Christ, He's the only answer for you, and He's the one you've been looking for your whole life. It's true. And what you need to do is believe on him as your personal savior.

49:21 I'll pray with you. Okay? And then if this prayer expresses what you would like to say to God, make these words your own words and pray them to him. Okey doke? Pray something like this with me.

49:33 Dear Lord Jesus, know that I am a sinner, and I know that I cannot wash away my own sin by anything I can do. And I ask you to come into my heart and life and be my own personal savior. Because I believe that you are God in the flesh, that you did die on that cross and rose again from the dead physically for me. Thank you. Help me to be the person you want me to be according to your word, the bible.

50:19 Be my savior right now, and help me live for you. I mean this with all my heart. Amen. If you prayed that prayer for the first time, see the elders here, see Don, see... I know he retired from being an elder, but he's still alive.

50:42 You can see him, and there's a number of people you can talk to, and see them, and just talk to them. They're not going to sign you up to join the joint. They're not going to do it, because if you've trusted Christ, you already belong. Cool, Hey, thanks for letting me come, and let's close in prayer. Father, I just ask you that you would just help us as we ponder these things.

51:07 And as somebody beautifully said, if you want to renew your love for Christ, review his love for you. We want to do this, and we thank you. I say, ask you, Lord, that you would confirm to those who have trusted Christ today, confirm it to their hearts and minds, and also those who are kind of in doubt, that have already done it, but kind of in doubt, that you would confirm it to them as well. And it's based all on

51:35 you, and we

51:37 thank you. And we ask these things in your son's name, Jesus. Amen. Thanks, folks.