Well, let's take our Bibles and open them up this morning to the Gospel of John.
The Gospel according to John.
Last week we began our sermon series in the Gospel of John,
and this morning we're going to pick right back up where we left off in verse 6 of chapter 1.
If you're using the Pew Bibles there in front of you, you can find that on page 833 of those Bibles.
If you didn't bring your own Bible, I'd invite you to take that Bible and turn to page 833.
And we're going to read from verse 6 through to verse 13 this morning.
John 1, verses 6 through 13.
Follow with me as I read.
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.
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.
Let's pray once more.
Lord, this is your holy word, and we pray now that you would bless the preaching of your word.
May it fall on fertile soil in our hearts, we ask.
In Christ's name, amen.
In January 1947, that's 76 years ago now, one of the greatest songs in country music history was born.
A woman by the name of Miss Lilybell Williams was driving home from a dance in Fort Deposit, Alabama,
and the back seat of her car was her youngest son, Hank.
Hank had had a good time that night, and he was in an altered state of mind, as the story goes.
He was attempting to sleep it off in the back seat of the car, and as they made their way to the house,
they passed by a beacon light from the nearby airport.
And so Miss Lilybell Williams called to the back seat of the car to wake up her son, saying,
Wake up, Hank. We're nearly home. I just saw the light.
Legend has it that as Miss Lilybell Williams bore witness to the light,
between there and his home, Hank Williams penned the words to the now famous song,
I Saw the Light.
You know the words? I'm not going to sing it.
I saw the light. I saw the light.
No more darkness. No more night.
Now I'm so happy. No sorrow in sight.
Praise the Lord. Help me out. Come on.
I saw the light. Okay.
Well, this morning, as we come to the Gospel of John again,
continue our look here in this text,
we meet a man who truly saw the light.
He came as a witness to the light,
bearing witness to the light of the world.
He bore witness to a lost and a broken world,
calling them to respond in faith.
So when you look at this text,
verses 6 through 8 show us a witness to the light.
Verses 9 through 13 show us two responses to the light.
This will be our outline this morning.
If you're following along, taking notes,
one witness, two responses.
One witness, two responses.
First, verses 6 through 8.
First, we see a witness to the light.
Look there to verse 6 with me.
John the Apostle, who is writing this book,
he's introducing us to another man who goes by the name of John,
who we call John the Baptist.
So he says in verse 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.
And at first read,
this is a little bit jarring, isn't it?
If you're reading straight through,
this doesn't really seem to fit.
It doesn't really seem to flow nicely
from verses 1 through 5.
If you try to read this introduction to John's gospel
in a linear fashion,
you're probably going to get a little bit confused
because he doesn't speak in a straight line.
He doesn't speak like we would normally speak.
He kind of goes around in circles a bit.
And so we're introduced to John the Baptist here
for the first time in verses 6 through 8,
but then he picks him back up in verse 15.
Then he picks him back up in verse 19
before eventually beginning the narrative there.
He's just kind of running right by him quickly here.
So let me tell you what I think is going on here.
This introduction, verses 1 through 18
of the gospel of John,
is a beautiful mixture of theology and poetry.
It is theology and poetry.
You can't read it in a straight line.
It's truth communicated in a poetic way.
Many in the early church called this a hymn
of the incarnate Word.
So these verses in poetic,
theologically rich, beautiful,
sometimes confusing ways,
they show us who Jesus is.
But why does John just skirt by
and throw in John the Baptist the way that he does?
I have a few reasons.
One reason, one reason I believe
is that he is rooting these events in human history.
One reason why John is drawing our attention
to John the Baptist here
is that he's rooting these events in human history.
So verses 1 through 5,
you remember last week,
it showed us the greatness of Christ
being one with the Father,
creating all things.
But now we're brought down to earth,
so to speak,
to see that these events
that we're reading about in this letter,
in this gospel,
are rooted in human history.
They happen.
These aren't fairy tales.
They are real.
There was a man.
He was named John.
He was sent by God.
He witnessed these things
as a living, breathing witness.
He's validating the historical reality
of the events in this book.
But also,
he's rooting them in redemptive history.
Redemptive history.
The Old Testament prophesied the coming Messiah.
It foretold the coming Messiah,
and it prophesied a forerunner to the Messiah,
one who would come before him
and proclaim his arrival.
And so the last chapter of the last book
of the Old Testament,
Malachi chapter 4,
400 years before John the Baptist
pops onto the scene,
it says this.
It says,
Behold,
I will send Elijah the prophet
before the great and awesome day
of the Lord comes.
And Jesus,
in Matthew chapter 11,
he says,
John is that prophet.
He says in Matthew 11,
he says,
All the prophets and the law
prophesied until John,
and if you are willing to accept it,
he is Elijah who is to come.
In other words,
this John the Baptist
is the last prophet of the Old Covenant.
He is the promised forerunner of the Messiah.
He serves as the hinge
between the Old Covenant
and the New Covenant.
So John the Apostle
is helping us to see
where we are in this story of redemption.
And he says the forerunner is here,
which means the Messiah is here,
and his name is Jesus.
But you know what else he's doing?
As significant as John the Baptist is,
by skipping right by him
the way that he does,
John the Apostle
is keeping the focus on Christ.
He's the main focus here, isn't he?
John the Baptist
is almost an afterthought,
and as soon as he draws
our attention to John,
what does he do?
Right away,
he makes sure that we know
that John is not the Christ.
There was a man,
not God,
not the eternal word,
a man sent by God.
He came as a witness,
to bear witness about the light,
not the light,
came to bear witness about the light,
the true light.
He's the focus of this book.
He's the focus of this story.
Let's talk about him.
See, John is fixing our attention
on the main focus of the book.
He's fixing our attention on Christ.
And if you know anything about John the Baptist,
you know that he would read these words
and say,
Amen.
This was John's message,
wasn't it?
He must increase,
I must,
what?
What does he say?
I must decrease.
He says,
I am not the light.
He is the light.
Don't look at me.
Behold the Lamb of God.
John is a witness to the light.
And here's the application for us,
church.
While you and I cannot
represent and imitate his position
as the God-appointed forerunner
to the Messiah,
we can and we must
imitate his posture
and carry on his proclamation.
We must imitate his posture
and carry on his proclamation.
Does your posture look like John's?
A posture that's just allergic to attention
that says,
Not me.
Don't look at me.
Don't think about me.
Don't make it about me.
Don't give me the credit.
Don't give me the glory.
Look to Jesus.
See,
one of the things that I love most
about John the Baptist
is that he is a living,
breathing rebuke
to our natural bent
towards self-exaltation.
What does he say?
He must increase.
I must decrease.
Imitate that posture
and imitate his proclamation.
How will our lost friends
and family members
and neighbors
and co-workers
see the light of Christ?
The way that God has chosen
to cause sinners to see the light
and be saved
is by using men and women
like you and me
to bear witness
to the light.
To proclaim the glory of God
in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And so,
so we must carry on
this Christ-exalting witness
of John the Baptist.
when we lived in,
when we,
when we lived in Charlotte,
we had the opportunity
to go to the Billy Graham Museum.
And Billy Graham,
as I'm sure you all are,
are all aware,
he was one of the greatest witnesses
to the glory of Christ
in modern Christian history.
He was,
was a powerful witness.
And we walked through this exhibit
after exhibit,
of,
of his witness
to the glory of Christ.
And as the tour ended,
we walked out,
one of the workers there
noticed that the gentleman
behind me
was wearing a LeBron James t-shirt.
And on the front of it,
it said,
witness.
LeBron
had a whole clothing line,
shoes,
shirts,
a whole marketing campaign
behind this idea
that,
that we are all witnesses
to his greatness.
Well,
as we came out,
the worker,
he looked at that man
and he saw
what was on his shirt
and he simply said,
witness to what?
And you could tell
that after walking through
that whole building
dedicated to a witness
of the glory
and greatness of Christ,
that that man wished
that he had worn
a different shirt
that day.
But church,
we are so quick,
aren't we?
To bear witness
to the greatness
of all sorts of things.
Athletes,
musicians,
food that we eat,
people that we know,
we bear witness
to greatness
when we see it.
How much more quick
ought we to be
to bear witness
to the greatness
of Christ?
we have seen
the light
and if we have seen it,
then we must
share it.
And as we do,
what we'll see
is that people
will respond
in one of two ways.
Two possible responses
to the light.
We'll see this
in verses 9 through 13.
Here,
we see two responses
to the light
of the world.
There are two
and only two
possible responses
to the gospel.
rejection
or reception.
There is no middle ground.
There is no such thing
as a safe,
neutral spot.
There are no
fence-riding Christians.
We have either
accepted
or rejected
the Messiah.
The first response
we see here
is to reject
the light.
Look to verses
9 through 11.
John says,
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.
I hope you see
how absolutely
absurd
this is.
Do you see this?
We move so quickly
here in these verses
from the astonishing
to the absurd.
The astonishing,
the astounding truth
is that the eternal
word of God,
the one through whom
all things were created,
the light of the world
was stepping
into the world.
This should astound us
that the creator himself
was entering
into his creation.
The one who exists
outside of time
and outside of space
was now entering
into time.
The author of history
was writing himself
into the story.
But how was he received?
He wasn't.
He was rejected
by his own creation.
The world did not
know him.
This is the
absolute absurdity
of rejecting God.
This is the depth
of spiritual blindness.
And this is what sin is.
We need to know
and see this
for what it is.
It is foolish absurdity.
Sin is a rejection
of God
and his rightful rule
over all things
including me
and including you.
It is blindness
to the reality of God
that he is creator
of all things,
everything in the universe.
It is blindness
to the rule of God
that he is Lord
that we belong to him
that we are accountable
to him
that we will all
give account to him.
It is blindness
to the reach
of God.
Now he is
through the witness
of nature,
through the witness
of the scriptures,
through the witness
of Christ himself
in the incarnation,
reaching out
and communicating
who he is
so that we are all
without excuse.
The psalmist says,
the fool says
in his heart,
there is no God.
Look what John
is saying here.
Look what John
is showing us.
John is showing us
that it is just
as absurd
to deny that
Jesus is God.
This is John's message
here.
The light has come,
our creator has come,
the Messiah has come,
and he was rejected.
This was a rejection
of God.
John wants us
to know
that to see Jesus
is to see God.
To hear the words
of Christ
is to hear
the words of God.
To touch him
is to touch God.
To be near him
is to be near God.
And to reject him
is to reject God.
We see this is exactly
what the Jewish people did.
Look at verse 11.
John says in verse 11,
he came to his own people,
and his own people
did not receive him.
Even if the rest
of the world
wouldn't recognize
God in the flesh,
surely,
surely the people
of God
would know him.
This Jewish Messiah
promised to Jewish people,
spoken of
through Jewish prophets,
came into the world
as a Jewish baby,
grew up,
and lived,
and walked,
and learned
in Jewish culture,
began to speak,
and to teach,
and explain
from the Jewish scriptures
that he was
the long-awaited
Jewish Christ,
and how did they
respond to him?
They murdered him.
They hung him
on a cross.
He came to his own,
and his own people
did not receive him.
This is the tragic
absurdity of sin.
And to this day,
some 2,000 years later,
what has changed?
Many ethnic Jews
still reject him.
Many who are of
Jewish heritage,
sadly,
to this day,
are still rejecting
Christ,
still waiting for
the Messiah to come,
still believing
that they are okay
with God
while they deny
and despise
his son.
But hear me,
because this is
John's point.
No one
is okay
with God
if they deny
his son.
No one
is okay
with God.
Jew
and Gentile
alike,
no one,
no matter how
kind,
no matter how
generous,
no matter how
spiritual,
no matter how much
they speak
about God,
no one
can claim
God
while denying
or ignoring
Christ Jesus.
We need to be
careful,
church.
In our witness,
as we share
the gospel
with our neighbors,
with our friends,
in our witness,
that we are not
content to see
people give
appearance of love
for God,
but zero evidence
of faith in Christ.
Christ.
That's not enough.
Apart from
faith in
Jesus Christ,
no one
can know
God,
no matter how
religious or
devout they may
seem.
Even as we
consider our
own personal
relationship
with God,
don't bypass
Christ on the
way to God.
You can't.
Jesus says,
I am the way
and the truth
and the life.
No one
comes to the
Father except
by me.
The more
you understand
that all
of your
relationship
with God
is in
Christ,
through Christ,
by Christ,
the deeper
and the more
profoundly
beautiful you
will see
your relationship
with God
to be.
Even as we
consider our
own practices
here as a
church,
as a family,
we exist
to magnify
the glory
of God
in what?
In the
gospel
of Jesus
Christ.
I was told
by an old
mentor to
never preach
a sermon
that I could
go and
preach at a
synagogue.
You understand
what he's saying?
Never preach
a sermon
that I could
go and
preach in a
synagogue and
not be booed
out of the
room.
every text,
every sermon,
every message,
every lesson,
preach Christ.
Bear witness
to the
light so
that everyone
in the
room is
now faced
with the
decision,
will I
reject him
or will
I receive
him?
There's
another
response
here.
Second
response in
this passage
is to
receive
the
light.
John the
Baptist came
bearing witness
to the
light.
Why?
Verse 7,
why?
That all
might believe
through him.
We'll see in
this book that
John has a lot
to say about
believing.
This is the
first time that
we see that
word here.
We're going
to see that
one word
97 more
times in
the book
of John.
His aim
in writing,
our aim
in witnessing,
our aim
in gathering,
here and
singing and
praying and
preaching this
word is that
all might
believe in
Christ Jesus
and live in
light of that
faith in the
Son.
Look here to
verse 11 again.
It says,
He came to
his own,
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.
John is
showing us
here the
unfathomable
richness of
grace toward
those who
believe.
all who
deny him,
Jew and
Greek alike,
are denying
God and
are separated
from him,
but all who
receive him,
Jew and
Greek alike,
man and
woman alike,
rich and
poor alike,
boys and
girls alike,
people from
every tribe,
tongue,
and nation
alike,
to all who
did receive
him,
he gave
an
unchangeable,
irrevocable,
eternity
changing
right to
become
children of
God.
How much
do you
make of
the fact
that through
faith in
Christ you
have been
made a
child of
God?
J.I.
Packer,
he says,
if you want
to judge how
well a
person understands
Christianity,
find out how
much he makes
of the thought
of being
God's child
and having
God as
his father.
If this is
not the
thought that
prompts and
controls his
worship and
prayers and
his whole
outlook on
life, it
means that he
does not
understand
Christianity
very well
at all.
See,
this right
is an
incredible
gift.
If you
are in
Christ,
if you
have been
given this
right to
become a
child of
God, you
have been
united to
Christ by
faith, you
have been
given the
right to
become his
child, and
you have been
given all the
rights of
being his
child.
Think about
this with
me.
Think about
this.
Because as I
was studying
this passage
this week, I
could not get
past the depth
of this word
right.
He gave us
the right to
become his
children.
Those who
receive him are
given the
right.
He didn't
just make us
his child, he
gave us the
right to
become his
children.
We make so
much out of
our rights,
don't we?
Especially as
Americans, my
goodness.
We hold these
truths to be
self-evident, that
all men are
created equal,
that they are
endowed by
their creator
with certain
unalienable
rights, that
among these are
life, liberty,
and the pursuit
of happiness.
I want to
very gently
poke a hole
in that,
because that's
simply not
true.
In relation
to fellow
man,
horizontally
speaking, in
relation to
one another,
man to
man, yes,
of course,
we have to
protect and
uphold certain
man to man
horizontal rights
in order to
function as a
society.
It is not for
man to take
what is only
God's to give
and to take.
So yes,
horizontally, amen.
But vertically,
before God,
we need to
know that we
have no such
rights.
Who among us
can look at
God and claim
a right to
life?
You forfeited
your right to
life when you
first sinned
against God.
What does
Romans tell us?
The wages of
sin is
death.
It's by his
mercy alone
that we are
breathing right
now, not by
right.
You forfeited
your right to
liberty when you
became a slave
to sin.
You squandered
your pursuit
of happiness
when you
pursued it
outside of
the only
source of
true and
lasting joy
and happiness.
What right
can anyone
claim before
God?
No one
who has
rejected
Christ can
claim before
God any
right to
life, to
liberty, to
happiness, to
anything
whatsoever.
But
John tells
us those
who have
received
Christ
have been
given a
right
right to
become
children of
God.
And as
his
children,
they have
an irrevocable
right to
eternal life,
to freedom
from sin,
to pleasures
forevermore
in the
presence of
God, their
father.
Do you see
what a blessing
it is to be
called a child
of God?
What a
privilege.
That's not
shared with
everyone
everywhere.
Not everyone
is a child
of God.
This is
no one's
natural
right to
be his
children.
Yes, we
are all
his creation,
but no, we
are not all
his children.
To call
God
father
is a
precious
right.
So how
do we
get in
on this?
That's the
question, isn't
it?
How is
anyone given
this right?
Well, we
see, John
tells us,
it's not of
blood.
It cannot
be earned
by a natural
belonging to
any earthly
race, to
any earthly
family, to
any earthly
nation, to
any earthly
culture.
You cannot
be born
naturally into
the kingdom
of God.
God has no
grandchildren,
only children.
This was a
problem for
the Jews.
It may be a
problem for
some of you.
You are not
his child
simply because
you were
raised in a
Christian home
or because
you were born
into a
nominally
Christian
culture.
John says
no one is
his child
by blood.
God.
We see, it
is not of
the will
of the
flesh.
This
right cannot
be earned
by our
doing.
It is not
by works
so that no
one may
boast.
You cannot
work your
way into
the family
of God.
You may
have gone
to church
your whole
life,
come and
sung the
songs,
prayed the
prayers,
walked an
aisle,
and still
not get
it.
There are
so many
who think
that if
they are
just good
enough,
they are
not as
far gone,
not as
bad as
some other
people,
that they
know that
they are
fine in
the sight
of God.
This is a
lie.
You cannot
work your
way into
the family
of God.
It is
not of
the will
of man,
John says.
this right
cannot be
earned by
our
willing.
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.
There are
so many
professing
Christians who
when you
begin to
peel back
the layers
of their
relationship
with God
at the
bottom,
at the
foundation,
what you
find is
not the
saving grace
of God
and the
will of
God,
it is
their
will.
John says,
no,
the foundation
of your
new birth
as a
child of
God is
not your
will,
but God's.
John is
laying the
groundwork
here for a
topic that
he's going
to come
back to
again and
again,
which is,
as he says
later,
that a
person cannot
receive even
one thing
unless it is
given to
him from
heaven.
This is a
right given
from God.
So how is
it given?
It's given
simply through
the gift
of faith.
To all
who received
him,
who believed
in his
name,
he gave
the right
to become
children
of God.
Sounds
almost too
simple,
doesn't it?
You and I,
we're so
hardwired,
aren't we?
To want to
work for
what we
get.
To want to
try to earn
our keep,
to try to
work and
to labor
and to
strive and
to do and
to do.
John says
you can't
earn this.
This is
given,
simply
received by
genuine
faith in
the Son of
God,
Jesus Christ.
Do you
believe that
Jesus is
God?
Do you
believe that
he is
worthy of
your worship?
Do you
believe that
he's risen
from the
grave,
that he
and he
alone can
conquer and
save you
from your
sin,
that he's
defeated
death,
that he
stands to
intercede
between you
and the
Father,
that he
brings us
back into
right relationship
with God?
If so,
rejoice
and rest.
You have
been made
his child.
And if
not,
the time
has come
for you
to stop
rejecting
God
and to
turn,
to believe
and to
receive him
by faith.
Last week,
we got to see
three of our
members baptized.
I call that a
low country
baptism,
y'all.
Outside,
in the rain,
in my church
clothes,
in the hot
tub,
that's a
low country
baptism.
I don't
know if you
could hear
the questions
that I
could,
I was
asking them
over the
rain and
the noise.
I asked
them a
series of
questions.
I said,
do you,
do you
believe that
you have
sinned
against a
holy God?
That you've
offended him
with your
sin,
that your
sin has
earned you
his wrath,
every one of
them,
all three?
Yes,
I do.
Have you
trusted in
Christ Jesus
alone for
the salvation
from your
sins,
the light of
the world,
that he has
lived perfectly
where you
have failed,
that he
suffered and
died in
your place
on the
cross,
that he
bore the
wrath of
God that
you deserve
for your
sin?
Yes,
I have.
Yes,
I do.
And do you
commit now
to live out
the Christian
faith by
the power
of the
Holy Spirit,
to put
sin to
death and
to walk
by the
power of
the Spirit
and newness
of life?
Yes,
I do.
Church,
I want to
see more
people in
the hot
tub.
Don't
you?
I want
to see
more and
more come
into the
kingdom.
I want to
see more
and more be
given eyes
to see
the glory
of Christ.
I want to
see more
given this
unchangeable
right to
become children
of God.
How will
that happen
unless we
go and
bear witness
to the
light?
Let's pray.
Lord, the
decision is
placed before
us, not
just now, not
just once, but
every moment.
Will we
receive you?
Will we
believe upon
you?
Will we live
as your
children?
We pray,
Father, that
if there are
any here who
don't know
you, who
are standing
and living in
rejection to
Christ, would
you change
that right
now?
Give them
eyes to
see.
And for
those who
know you,
Father, as
your children,
we pray that
our eyes would
be open to
understand the
depth of
that gift,
that we've
become children
of God.
Lead us to
live in light
of that glorious
truth.
And Father,
we pray that
as we go from
this place,
would we take
something of a
witness to
share the good
news of Christ
with those around
us.
We pray all
this in Jesus'
name.
Amen.