Month: September 2020

14.p. ““I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,”

John 1:19   And 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?” And he answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

(Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Malachi 4:5    “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.

Matthew 11:13-14     For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.

Matthew 17:10-12   And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?”  He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things.  But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.”

Luke 1:17    and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

Luke 1:76-79     And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,  to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins,  because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high  to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

 With emphasis, John told the Jewish leaders who he was not. He did not come to focus attention on himself, because he was not the Messiah. His job was to point to the Messiah.  John rejected any claim that would elevate himself above the coming Messiah.  His purpose was to prepare the way not to get in the way.

Do you ever wonder if your life, the way you think, speak, and act points to Jesus Christ or prepares people to meet Jesus Christ through the Gospel?  We get lost in our day to day lives, lost in living, lost in self, lost in pride, lost in hate, lost in jealousy, lost in fear of rejection, etc…. and at the end of the day no one we have come in contact with is any closer, and quite possibly, is further away.  It is as if our shadow blocks the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The light of Jesus Christ should permeate out of us like the sun in a clear sky.  I think what happens is that we absorb the light of Jesus Christ but it does not shine through us.  Grace, mercy, love, hope, faith, joy, peace, godliness, kindness, gentleness, patience, truth, reliance, and obedience are the rays of light in our lives that should shine bright and point those we come into contact with to the reason for the hope that is in us, Jesus Christ.  The light of Jesus Christ gets absorbed and darkens when there is pride, greed, selfishness, hate, fear, worry, lust, and coveting things this world has to offer over humbly serving, honoring, glorifying, following, trusting, and obeying Jesus Christ.  If you look into a mirror of the life you live does the light of Jesus Christ blind you or is it so dim you have to squint to make out the slightest glimmer of a spark of light?  There is no better time than right now to confess and repent of the shadows in your life blocking the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It is an intentional choice to dim the light of self and shine bright the light of Jesus Christ.  This light will grow brighter and brighter as you spend more and more time in His Word.  It will grow Brighter and Brighter day by day as things of this world grow dimmer and dimmer in the light of His Word.  Spend more time in His Word with a heart, mind, and soul-deep desire to shine for Him today and every day until we unite with Him in eternity.

14.o. From Dr. Jeffress

He who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.
–John 3:36

Because every one of us is guilty before God, every one of us is deserving of the wrath of God. That is the starting place for answering the question: “What about people who have never heard the gospel?” The starting point is to realize they’re guilty. Every person is guilty before God, and therefore they are deserving of the wrath of the punishment of God.

Today, it’s very unpopular to talk about the wrath of God. People will applaud you if you talk about the love of God or even the justice of God, but nobody wants to hear about the wrath of God. It’s politically incorrect to talk about the wrath, the punishment of God. That sounds like something from the Victorian era or the Puritan era. It just doesn’t seem relevant today.

People don’t want to hear about it, yet the wrath of God is a reality. If you do a study in the concordance, you will find that the wrath of God or the anger of God is mentioned far more than the love of God. Both are true about God, but you can’t strip one attribute away from God just because you don’t like it. Throughout Scripture, you see the Bible talking about the wrath, the anger of God. For example, in John 3:16, Jesus uttered what became the most popular verse of the New Testament: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.” But did you know in that very same chapter Jesus also said, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (v. 36)? Or Romans 1:18: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” Or Romans 3:5: “But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He?” Or Ephesians 5:6: “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”

14.m. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”

John 1:14   And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Revelation 19:13  He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.

Hebrews 4:12  For the word of God is living and active,

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”  What is this Word?  We know the Word was there in the beginning with God.  We know the Word was God. We know all things were made through Him.  Jesus said in John 10:30 “I and My Father are one”.  The Word is Jesus Christ.  Jesus was with God prior to creation.  Jesus is eternal.  Why would the Creator take on the form of a servant and allow being rejected, despised, beaten, and crucified?  There is no other reason than Love.  God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”  Out of love, He chose to redeem, forgive, and restore all of the lost souls who would believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  He alone is the one and only true path/way to eternal life in heaven.  Not because they are good enough or have done enough good but because they believed the opposite in and of themselves.  Their minds and souls were awakened to their sinful nature and the Holiness of Jesus Christ.  There is no amount of good works that can bridge this gap between sin and holiness besides Jesus Christ.  In simple terms, they surrendered to this fact and wholly trusted in Jesus Christ alone.  In this surrender and trust, they were forgiven, redeemed, and promised eternal life.  The life they live now is, or at least should be, in humbler service, honor, obedience, and faith to the only one worthy, Jesus Christ.  The Creator did not redeem us to be critical of each other but to love one another, to build one another up, to encourage one another, to help one another, to pray for one another, and to worship, glorify, and praise Jesus Christ together.  There ought to be no room in our hearts, minds, and souls for anything other than our love, trust, and obedience to Jesus Christ.

14.l. I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

John 1:9   The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Isaiah 49:6   he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

1 John 5:20     And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

1 Corinthians 1:21     For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.

Acts 7:51-52    “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.

Imagine at the end of the day when you are very tired.  It is dark outside and you find yourself nicely settling into a much-desired sleep.  30 Minutes into this sound sleep  someone turns on a bright light and with squinting blinking eyes you plead or demand that the light be turned off. On the other hand, there are those who wake when the bright light is turned on and with squinting eyes seem to ask, with anticipation, what?  They aren’t pleading for the light to be shut off.  They want to know why the light is on. The human soul reacts to the bright light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the same two ways.  The soul will either want to know about the light of the Gospel or plead/demand that the light of the Gospel be shut off.  I sometimes wonder what causes the heart and soul to reject the light of the Gospel.  The message of the Gospel is grace, mercy, love, peace, hope, joy, strength, power, forgiveness, refuge, and eternal life.  There is nothing within the Gospel of Jesus Christ that is offensive but still, people will hate, reject, detest, resent, oppose, and become bitter and hostile.  When the Gospel is rejected there is harm to the heart and soul.  When the Gospel is accepted there is life.  But there is more.   Rejection will end in torment, destruction, and eternity in hell.  Acceptance will end in life, blessings, and eternal life in heaven.

14.k. “‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’’

John 1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

Malachi 3:1    “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.

Acts 13:24    Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

Matthew 11:10    This is he of whom it is written, “‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’

Acts 19:4    And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.”

1 Timothy 2:4    who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

2 Peter 3:9    The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

After Malachi, there was a famine. Amos 8:11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.  This famine lasted greater than 400 years and then there was John.  You have to know there were some Jewish people looking forward to this day.  They knew the scriptures that spoke of one coming to prepare the way.  They would be seeing every day as a new day closer to the coming of this messenger who was going to usher in the coming of the Lord.  And then all of a sudden there was John proclaiming repentance and the baptism of repentance. He was preparing the way for the new covenant, the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  He was not the light but was witness to the light.

When you give thought to this you start to lay the foundation of God’s Grace, Mercy, and Love in your heart. This foundation shows just how much God cares for every single person and how He not only sent a messenger to bear witness to the light but also to prepare the way for each of us to understand salvation and believe in Jesus Christ.  God’s plans and timing are perfect.  God’s plan was for a famine of hearing His Word, a messenger to prepare the way,  and to send His Son.  Whenever you might think God’s love is far off remember how He reached out to you and all of mankind through the messenger, John, and through the redeemer Jesus Christ.