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Our God and our Father, we look up to these. We would have this last reading before us now. And I, precious word open once again.
To, uh, receive what thou let's have for our souls from this wonderful gospel of John in this first chapter. And we, uh, thank you for the subject of it, the Lord Jesus Christ, uh, God manifest in flesh here in this scene, fully displaying all, uh, the heart of God, all his nature, all his character here below. And so he.
Come before thee.
Ravens, Spirit of God might, uh, guide and direct us and, and, uh, all of our thoughts and that our holy meditation of thy beloved Son might be that which produces fruit in our hearts, that which thou dost desire in the hearts of thy people. And that might draw us closer to the one who loved us and gave himself for us.
Lord Jesus, we thank thee to.
Uh, to to know that Thou art in the midst of two or three gathered to Thy precious name, and Thou dost have the blessing of thy Saints upon thy heart. And so we, uh, just pray that thou just unfold to us that which Thou is set for us, Thy precious and worthy name. Amen.
1St UH-15 perhaps?
To the end, OK.
John, chapter one, verse 15.
John bare witness to him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake he that cometh after me, as preferred before me, for He was before me, and of His fullness have all we received, and grace. For grace for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?
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And he confessed, and denied not, but confessed I am not the Christ.
And they asked him, What then art thou, Elias? And he said, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who? Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us, What sayest thou thyself? And he said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah. And they which resent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptize us, thou them? And if.
Thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet. John answered them, saying, I baptize with water, but there standeth one among you whom ye know not. He it is who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoes latched I am not worthy to unloose. These things were done in Bethlehem, Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and Seth, behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
This is he of whom I said, After me cometh the man which is preferred before me, for He was before me, and I knew him not, but that he should be made manifest to Israel. Therefore am I come baptizing with water.
And John Bear records saying, I saw the spirit descending from heaven like a dove.
And it abode 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 which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
And I saw on bare record that this is the Son of God. Again, the next day after John stood and two of his disciples, and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
Then Jesus turned and saw them following, and Seth unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, which is to say, being interpreted, Master, where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. They came, and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day.
For it was about the 10th hour. One of the two which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah which is being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jonah. Thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation a stone. The day following, Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and set unto him, Follow me.
Now Philip was the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip find it Nathaniel, and set unto him. We have found him of whom Moses and the law and the prophets did right, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
And Nathaniel said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?
Philip said unto him, Come and see.
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and set up Seth up him. Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.
Nathaniel said unto him, Whence Noah saw me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, When thou was under the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathaniel answered and said, Seth unto him, Rabbi.
Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believeth thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these. And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you hereafter.
You shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
Very great uh, testimony and witness for the Lord Jesus raised up especially of God, to uh, forerunner of uh, import.
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Set aside from his berth filled with the Holy Ghost and.
Faithful witness for the Lord Jesus.
Faith wavered at the end.
All of us would would have acted, would have displayed the same weakness, but the Lord spoke highly of him. Of those that are born among women, there hath not a risen of greater than John the Baptist.
But his baptism here was unto repentance.
The nation of Israel. It was not Christian baptism.
John could only point forward to the coming of the Messiah.
He could, uh, uh, direct the faith of the, of the godly remnant in Israel to the coming of the Messiah, but he could not give the assurance of salvation as we have. The baptism of John was, uh, to show that there were souls that were really waiting for the Messiah and, uh.
Conscious of their sins.
Baptism, George is gone. Bring the believers unto Christian ground. Or is John the Baptist part of the Church of God?
Very bright testimony.
Occupy the place a friend of the bridegroom in that coming day.
Not as part of the bride.
So, uh.
He always exalts Christ and humbles himself. He must increase. I must decrease.
So John always hid himself and pointed to his Lord.
Uh, and directed the faith of others to him.
The crowd said of John. John did no miracle.
And it's true he didn't and he didn't, uh, need to perform any miracles, wasn't given to perform any miracles as a proof of his, uh, prophetic utterances, because the Lord immediately appeared on the scene. So there was no proof needed of what he pronounced was coming. There he was, behold the Lamb of God. And so he was not needed, but he really culminated that great line of profits that began with.
Samuel, uh, who was raised up of God in the day that Israel culminated their sin of that, uh, started in the wilderness. They said, give us a captain and take us back to Egypt. It culminated in demanding a king and God raised up Samuel. So from Samuel, all the prophets that spoke after him, there's a great line of prophets that pointed on to the true king. Samuel anointed David, a type of, uh, that coming king, a man after God's own heart and.
John the Baptist is the Word culminated that in announcing, uh, the appearance of one bill.
Stop.
John could speak of the fulfillment of a promise, but he could not point the people to a finished work as we can do now. We look back to a work that has been completed.
To God's glory in the sacrifice has been made. We have peace with God now through, uh, the finished work of Calvary. But John could not give a message of that character. But he was a very faithful witness to the Messiah and there was a revelation given to him. This is the Messiah. I knew him not, but he that he should be made manifest to Israel, uh, he saw the Spirit of God descending from heaven like a dog.
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Upon the Lord Jesus, the Spirit of God had been hovering over this world for 4000 years, could uh, it was only, uh, ruined and uh, and corruption everywhere. There was no place that the dove could find, uh, a place to uh, alight.
Rest for the sole of its foot, but here, when John recognized who was before him.
He sent one of the Father, and he saw the Spirit of God descending and a lighting on the Lord Jesus.
Without any sacrifice.
Umm, you'll notice in the Old Testament.
That first of all the the blood was put on the individual and then the oil was put on top of it. The Spirit of God only abides in US, which is in picture the oil being applied to the individual. He only abides in us because of the sacrifice of Christ and the precious blood that was shed. But in the Lord there was no need for that. There was no need for a sacrifice. There was no sin in Him.
So here the Spirit of God who had been waiting for someone to, uh, to, uh, to see someone whom he could find complacency and delight in for 4000 years and had never found an individual was able now to alight on the Lord Jesus back to people say, well, you don't have the Trinity any place in the Bible, but there's the Trinity right there, uh, Matthew chapter 3.
The Spirit of God comes down as a dove and the lights on Christ, and you have the voice of the Father from heaven, and the Lord is being baptized. There's the Trinity right there. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
So John points souls to that person.
He uh.
Yeah, it does. He does not exalt himself.
We're having the inauguration of the dispensation of Grace now. It's, uh.
It's beginning in the manifestation of the Lord Jesus.
Uh, that whole testing under the law for.
Several thousands years only brought out the, uh, the enmity of man. There was no fruit there. But here the Lord comes displaying, uh, the heart of God. Grace and truth are met together, righteousness and peace of kissed each other. How can you reconcile those two things? I'm a Sinner. The truth of God condemns me, shows me my ruined condition.
But in Christ we have the.
The fullness of God's grace, uh, revealed that God is not demanding something from me anymore. I can't. I don't have anything to offer, uh.
The old nature cannot keep the law, and the new nature doesn't need a law. So here we have the inauguration of a completely new character of dealing with man, no longer demanding something from him that has improved under law, and man has exhibited himself as a complete failure. But God says, now I'm coming out in grace to you. I'm bringing something to you.
And providing something for your deep need. Uh, bankrupt sinners aren't asked to do anything for salvation. And so the law was given by Moses, the fiery law from Mount Sinai. It made them tremble and makes us tremble. But here the Lord didn't come in that character. He came displaying grace, mercy, compassion, which is the nature of God doesn't mean that God's nature.
Change at all doesn't mean that he compromised, compromised his, his character, no, But here was one that the grace of God, the heart of God was going to be revealed and the way was going to be opened. That one who had, uh, broken the law so grievously could be brought into God's presence and, uh, fitted to have fellowship with, uh.
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The eternal God.
Verse 18 says No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared.
That phrase he hath declared him, is that the same thought as he has, uh, manifested him, is that the same thought he had declared him? He hath made him known.
It's beautiful, isn't it? Doesn't say which came from the bosom of the Father, but it says in the bosom of the father.
Never left God's heart.
So that's the, that's the character of the.
Of the uh, declaration then too, as one who was uh.
Ever in the father's bosom, he declares him and uh, what would you expect of that declaration that comes right from the father's bosom There he is there and that closest place and he's saying, this is what I'm going to tell you about the father. It's not a declaration from a distance, but a declaration of one who is in the closest intimate relationship and love in the bosom of the father. And that's.
How he's made him known and declared him to us that we might know him in that same way.
We were brought into that relationship with children in the same gospel, aren't we? So we're in the very same relationship toward God as Christ is. This was never known in the Old Testament. They had no knowledge of such intimacy, such nearness to God. God was at a distance in the darkness and, uh, His power was manifested, but they did not know His heart. Now we know the heart of God and we are also in relationship.
To God I ascend, unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God. What a marvelous, uh, intimacy we, we can enjoy as children of God in the family, which is the, uh, the subject of John's writings.
I kind of, uh, connects brother with what's, uh, brother Roberts brought out the other day about uh, to them, gave he the right, uh, to become the children of God.
Which were born the the point is, is those who were born of God, now that the sun has come and, and, uh, revealed the father, they put their trust in him and they come into.
And open and acknowledge the known relationship as God's children, though they were born of God before that relationship was not known in that way. Who were born past tense. It's not that they believed in God born again. That's not the the thought, it's who were born.
They put their trust in him and now they came into that open and acknowledged relationship that they could not have known before.
You find the same in the Apostle Paul. He goes lower and lower in his own estimation.
Till he says I am nothing. So you see this the same character in John the Baptist, only a voice crying in the wilderness.
Uh.
Yeah, there's no exalting of himself at all here. Uh.
And that is true greatness problem with us. We want to have a place in the reputation and be recognized. But here the Lord he went down to the lowest place, himself and Paul.
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Says I'm least lesser than the least of All Saints.
It goes right down to the very bottom and we see the same beautiful humility.
Uh manifest in the uh.
The Baptist here. Humility is not thinking about how bad we are. It's not thinking about ourselves at all.
We're not worth, uh, thinking about. We, uh, we need to have our eyes outside of ourselves on the person of our blessed Lord Jesus.
I guess we've all noticed that the word behold, the words behold the Lamb of God appeared twice here in this chapter, verse 29, behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. And then down to verse 36, behold the Lamb of God looking upon Jesus as he walked. He said behold the Lamb of God.
Well, there's, there is a difference in those two, uh, expressions. I believe in the first instance in verse 29, the Baptist, uh.
Sees Jesus coming unto him.
And he knew who it was. He says, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is more occupied with the work that the Lord would accomplish to put away sin, not only our sins, but uh, the sin of the world. Because this whole scene has been corrupted, contaminated by sin. The heavens are unclean in God's sight.
And the world has been vitiated and ruined by sin. Uh, what's what's the solution to it? Environmentally? In every way, sin has wrought havoc in this world. Who's gonna put things right?
That's the subject of Revelation 5. Who can open the book, the book of God's counsels and bring to pass to fruition the setting right, of everything in this world? It's in this, it's in a state of, uh.
Alienation from God.
And the corruption and violence. But who's going to put it right? It's not by man's genius, man's politics or peace accords or anything of that nature. It's going to be put right through the work of the Lord on the cross. Sin is going to be removed, every trace of it from this whole creation that is groaning because of the sin of man. Animals suffer because of the sin of man.
Men and women are in suffering and.
Sorrow and sickness and weakness and infirmity, it's all because of sin.
The whole world is a is a sepulchre, but the Lord is going to put things right.
He's gonna take away the sin of the world in the Millennium in large measure. The outward effect of sin will be removed. Not entirely. There will still be those who will rebel during the Millennium. They'll but there'll be no toleration of evil then. God impatience allows evil to go on now. Not that He is indifferent to it, but this is not the day that He is openly manifesting His, His Kingdom and His glory.
And his judgments that not at the present time, it's the day of grace, but, uh, sin is going to be put away. And in the Millennium, in large measure, the effects of the curse will be removed. But it's all a result of the Lamb of God and his work. When it's the Lamb of God, it's always the thought of sacrifice. Our brother referred to it this morning, I think in Genesis 22.
And Isaac said to his father.
Father, where is the Lamb for the burnt offering? Well, there was 4000 years or 3000 years passed before there was the answer to that question, and here is the answer to it. Here, Here is the Lamb for the burnt offering. And that worked not only meets our deep need, but it also glorifies God and puts away lays the foundation for the new heavens and the new earth, when every trace of sin will be obliterated from this creation.
And there will be no more sorrow or.
A a trace of sin in the in the new heavens and the new earth and it's all a result of the work of Christ from the cross. But then coming down to verse 37 to 36, we see here John.
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Uh, it also makes the same remark. Behold the Lamb of God. But it's not now in relation to His work. It's now in relation to His person. He's just contemplating the Lord Jesus as he walked.
And he, his heart is, shall we say, uh, enraptured with the person of the Lord Jesus. And it's just a, uh, involuntary expression, you might say.
Spontaneous expression. Behold the Lamb of God. He had his eyes upon Christ as he walked, and his life down here his soul was occupied.
With the person of the Lord Jesus. So should we be Lord's Day morning and also throughout the week.
It's interesting in those two.
Uh, declarations of John that it's the second one that's connected with the two disciples and turning and following the Lord. The second one's the breathing of his heart. And they just picked up on that and they said, oh, that's what we want too. And they followed after the Lord.
And that was the purpose of John's ministry, wasn't it?
I'd like to look at a verse in the book of Hebrews.
And umm Hebrews chapter 2.
Just to show how beautifully.
John the Baptist really wanted to take any attention at all off of himself in In Hebrews chapter 2 we have the Spirit of God.
Umm, having the apostle write these words in umm, in verse 5, front of the angels happy, not put into subjection the world to come wherever we speak, but one in a certain place testified saying, What is man without mindful of him, The Son of man, that thou biddest visiteth him. Now the apostle well knew who that one in a certain place was. He could have said, you know, David says in the song.
But he doesn't do that. He doesn't want any attention put on the day that whatsoever. He wants all the attention to be on the Lord. So he just says, you know, want a certain place says and he, he, he quotes from the songs here. Well, I just mentioned that to show what John the Baptist does in the chapter that we have before. He does exactly the same thing. Let's look at it in umm, in chapter one.
We have in 19th verse it says this is the record of June when the Jews sent priests and Levi's in Jerusalem to ask him, who art thou? So they asked this question, Who art thou? Now first of all he answers in five words, then he answers in three words, then answers in one word. And so we have here in the 21St I am not the Christ 5 words. And so they pursue this. They said, what art thou? Art thou a lion? And his ministry was so close to Elijah's that they they said to him, you know, are you Elias? Elijah was, was, was occupied with seeking to bring the people of God.
He wanted only the focus to be on the Lord Jesus, and I just enjoy that spirit of John the Baptist that we see all through. His ministry was totally to show who that one was that was to come.
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I gotta ask a question. It's really struck me here. I've never noticed this before, but I think they were expecting, you know, John, the Pap just came in the ministry of Elijah as the one to introduce, introduce the Messiah, right? There was supposed to be this one crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord and to introduce.
The Messiah. And I guess they're they were expecting a king, right?
And, uh, and he introduces him and says, behold the Lamb. And would that have been in their concept from, from the Old Testament that he would introduce the Lamb of God? I would think they would be expecting him to introduce their great king.
But he says behold the lamb and I don't. They don't seem to be surprised by that, but I am. Maybe someone hasn't thought about that.
Ethiopian eunuch says this prophet speak of himself or some other.
There's a shape before her shears is dumb, so he opened not his mouth, but there an axe where it's quoted.
You just have to turn to it, uh.
That chapter 8.
Chapter 8 and verse 32 in the place of the scripture where he read was this He was led as the sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb.
Dumb before a sheer so opened he not his mouth.
So perhaps there from that.
That scripture they ought to have been expecting the Lamb of God.
Right, they ought to have been.
It seems the, uh, the Jews, the Pharisees, the chief priests, they were, they were waiting for a deliverer from captivity to Rome and uh.
No thought about the fact that they needed their sins cleansed, that they needed a lamb.
Uh, to be sacrificed for them?
It's interesting that word lamb appears twice in John in our chapter, and then there in Acts 8, and then one other time in, in, uh, Peter, uh, a lamb without blemish and without spot. And you don't get the word lamb again until Revelation. But it's a different word and revelation than what you have in these other 4 occurrences.
In Revelation, it means a little lamb. It's a diminutive form. Or a lamb can.
Something very small, you know, just like a baby lamp and the rest of the, uh, scriptures that, uh, those four occurrences, it's something more full grown. And the, the thought of it is it's the, the land that fulfilled all the Old Testament types of, uh, given to us of sacrifice from the Passover and from Genesis 22, God will provide himself a lamb. Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice.
And so on.
And so it's that Lamb who was offered and sacrificed to God, wholly satisfying God. And that's especially John's Gospel, but as well, uh, bearing our judgment.
When you get to Revelation, it's a little lamb and it's in contrast with what Revelation takes up as to the earth, the beasts of the earth, especially the, the Gentile beast. But there's also, uh, the Antichrist pictured as the beast, the beasts of the earth and the little lamb in heaven. And he appears there as a lamb that had been slain. Now it's not slain in the sense of.
Uh, the Passover lamp that they took out and slew, or if you brought a burnt offering and laid your head on the, on the head of that, uh, lamb, and then slew it and the priest would take it and offer it. Not in that sense slain.
But slain by the beasts of the earth. And what's going to happen in Revelation? The Lamb is coming back.
Guess what, that lamb that you hung on the cross and slew, he's coming back until you get the wrath of the lamp. It's the same word, lampkin. It seems like they wouldn't go together, a lampkin and rat, but that's the thought of it. It's not the Passover lamb sacrificed so much, uh, for us, umm, as it is that holy sufferer that, uh, was persecuted by the beasts of the earth and hung on a cross.
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And now God is going to, uh, bring vengeance upon this earth because of how they treated his Son. And so that's why he appears as the Lamb, which had been slain. There is the evidence the earth is guilty. Look at the Lamb. He's been slain and they made their furrows long upon his back, and God has not forgotten it. He's going to bring this world in judgment because of it. So there's two different ways, the word lamb.
Is used in the scripture. One's unique to Revelation, the other we find in those other 4 instances.
That's true. Uh, it's just Steven that, uh, you know, I've often done it myself is apply that verse in, uh, Revelation 5 to the, uh, toning sufferings of Christ. But what you have given is precisely correct. It's not the Lord there in, uh, in suffering and atonement, but it's what man has done to Christ that is the dominant, uh, subject there.
A llamas that had been slain and the the grounds for God's judgment, uh, the treatment that they gave to his beloved Son, the Lamb of God.
And yet they do worship him as the Redeemer there. Yes, redeem to God by thy blood out of every kindred tongue and nation. And again, those redeemed to God by thy blood are the tribulation Saints, the Saints in heaven are singing about.
Uh, the lamb and actually those redeemed there in that verse nine out of every kindred tongue and people and nation are the tribulation Saints and, uh.
In verse eight of Revelation 5, the odors which are the prayers of Saints are also.
The prayers of the suffering tribulation Saints as well. So it does touch on, uh, the, uh, effect of the sacrifice, but it's not really the, the subject in itself. It's in a certain sense on the side that.
But I wouldn't want that to take away the enjoyment of that scripture as we remember the Lord and we've often read those portions in Revelation. Umm, I still think that, uh, they have their application and for the enjoyment of our hearts in that way.
Well, the circumstances of the Lord's death is all part of his work, isn't it? What he suffered from in, in, uh, you know, the first three hours, maybe the young people.
Are not always clear about this, but the first three hours of the Lord's work on the cross were not in atonement. But we remember the whole work on Lord's Day morning, what he endured from the hand of man, although that was not in atonement.
It it showed the heart of of man and it showed the marvelous grace of the Lord. The second three hours were the hours of darkness were in atonement. And there we have the Lord as the Lamb of God, the sacrifice.
Bearing the judgment for us.
In between these two declarations of the Lord Jesus as the Lamb of God, uh, just enjoyed, uh, part of the preparation that umm, that John used here in connection with introducing just who the Lord was. And so in verse 33, we have, I knew him not, but he that is sent, sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, unto whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same as he which baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Now we know that there, we don't know who it was that heard these things. We know that in the, uh, in the 35th verse, uh, prior to the next declaration of, umm, of John saying, behold, the Lamb of God, there's, there were two of his disciples there. The first recorded words that we have of the Lord Jesus to anyone was to Andrew. But here we find this, this, umm, this, uh, statement that John makes that shows that, umm, what he's introducing is different than what we have in, in Old Testament times. And so in Old Testament times, we have the Spirit of God was coming and going.
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And that happened through an Old Testament times. It came on someone that perhaps left him, then it came on him and left him. But now he introduces something that's different here. And so he says here, if hard way through the 33rd verse, upon whom thou shalt see the spirit descending and remaining on him.
Now that's a different character than what we have the Spirit of God through it the Old Testament time. So he introduces the Lord Jesus that that way as the Spirit of God coming like a duck and remaining on him something they haven't seen before.
It's very much anticipated in this verse, isn't it, David? Because these baptism of the Holy Spirit had not taken place, of course, at this point in time, nor did it take place during the Lord's life on earth, the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Only took place on the Lord's.
Resurrection and His ascension to the glory. Then at Pentecost, when the Spirit of God was sent down by an ascended Christ, filling the house and filling the believers.
And uniting them together into one body. I have a a bowl here with 120 beads.
I can pick them out and they're individual individuals in that bowl, so to speak. But if a girl comes along and puts a thread, takes a thread and puts all of those beads onto the thread, puts it together and ties it, she has a necklace. It's the same beads. But now they are united in a in a union that they didn't know before, they didn't exhibit before. So the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
An awful lot of wrong doctrine going around about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It does not take place now. It took place at Pentecost once and for all. It is not repeated. It is collective. There might have been a second installment to it in the time of Cornelius.
But it was all part of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and now we are not baptized.
Again, into the body of Christ. That's not correct. We are added to the body of Christ. The body of Christ has been formed at Pentecost. The baptism of the Holy Spirit spoken of in verse 33 took place at that time and it's not repeated. It's never individual, It's always collective.
And uh.
It's not something that it is is occurring today. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit and in that way we are brought into the body of Christ. We're not baptized into the body of Christ. That's not a scriptural expression.
I just mentioned those few things because there's an awful lot of error around in evangelical Christen Christendom about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Is that right, Steve? Yeah. Nor, nor was the Lord's baptism by water in Jordan the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
He received the Holy Spirit, and it says him hath God the Father sealed. And so we too, when the Spirit of God indwells us on receiving the gospel of our salvation, we're sealed with the Spirit.
That baptism took place once, as you say, at Pentecost.
But he received the Spirit twice.
Umm, here at, at Jordan, and then again, uh, Peter says that Pentecost, that, that, uh, being ascended to God's right hand, he hasn't received a well, I'd better turn back and quote it because I'm not going to be able to, umm, Acts chapter 2.
Verse 33. Wherefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, hath he shed forth this which ye now see and hear? So he received the Spirit of God here at Jordan, because of the purity and spotlessness of his Person.
But when he was exalted at God's right hand, it was as the consequence of his finished work, and we could be then indwelled by the Spirit of God as well because of the consequence of that finished work.
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This is the anointing of the Spirit in view of the Lord's public ministry beginning the anointing of the Spirit here in the case of the Lord Jesus was for power in his public ministry. Every act in his pathway down here was in the power of the Spirit of God, and he was stepping forth now into his public ministry, uh, among the, among the nation.
The Lord, when he spoke to the disciples, he related the baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost to public ministry as well, right?
He said don't go out, you remain until you're endued with power from on high. That was for ministry, so it was the same.
But there's no indwelling of the Holy Spirit in John's Gospel. It's foretold of the coming of the Spirit of God. In fact, there is no indwelling of the Holy Spirit at all before Pentecost. And there will be no indwelling of the Spirit of God among the remnant during the tribulation period. After the rapture in the church is taken from this world, the Spirit of God will go as well. And as David mentioned, he will continue to work coming upon people saving a godly remnant during the Millennium.
All the work of God will still be by the Holy Spirit, but He will not be indwelling.
The believers at that time, as he is indwelling us on our, uh, confession of faith and the in the finished work of Christ, then we are, uh, sealed by the Spirit. He is the earnest of our inheritance. We're anointed and, uh.
He is indwelling the believer to reveal to us the things of Christ to make to make them precious to us.
Maybe we could look at the account that we have before us in Matthew's Gospel just to hear the commendation of the Father in Matthew's Gospel chapter 3.
It's umm instructive to read the chapter, but we'll just maybe read from verse 13. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized at him. But John forbade him, saying, I need to be baptized of thee, and cometh thou to me.
Jesus answering, said unto him, Suffer it be so now, for thus it become all righteousness. And he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway under the water, and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him. And lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Enjoy two brother Dave when you go to the next chapter. The indwelling of the Spirit of God and the Lord Jesus Christ there at the Jordan commenced his public ministry. The very first words you get from the Lord are.
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Had a wonderful commencement to the ministry of the Lord Jesus.
The father's words and the words of the Son, beautiful together.
Our time is going here, and we.
Should make some comments on the latter part of the chapter before the end of the meeting. Umm, it's a beautiful example here of being attracted to the Lord, uh, and uh, a good example for us in our testimony for the Lord, uh.
Here we, uh, we find uh.
These words then Jesus turned and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They say unto him, Rabbi, where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. They came, and saw where he dwelt and abode within the that day, where it was about the 10th hour.
They spent about two hours with the Lord in fellowship. That's a searching question. What seek ye for each one of us.
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What is our object in life? What are we living for? Well, they said they wanted to be in the presence of the Lord, and they were invited to come. They came and spent those hours with the Lord, where he dwelt wherever that was. Umm. And one of the two which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. First find his own brother Simon, and Seth unto him. We have found the Messiah which is being interpreted to Christ, and he brought him to Jesus.
I guess our brother David could, uh, give us some, uh, nice thoughts on this passage because he's been speaking on the disciples. But the thought that I had was.
It was. There was nothing official here. There was nothing, uh.
Shall I say.
That was routine. It was simply a, uh, response to the person of Christ. Uh, their hearts were filled and no one told them to go. They, uh, they wanted someone else to hear the good news. They wanted to share. Like these that have found honey. They go out and tell their fellows where it is.
So they wanted others to be brought into this blessing. And if we are really in the enjoyment of what Christ has done for us, we want others to be brought in and it won't be hard to witness. Uh, sometimes we live at a distance from the Lord and, uh, we're not ready when the opportunities arise. But, uh, here he just spoke of Christ and it, uh, LED, uh, Simon Peter, that great apostle to the Lord's feet.
That right, David?
You know, I I enjoy the umm.
The question here that umm.
It's a good question for us all to ask in the 38th verse.
The Lord says, somewhat Seek ye. And they said unto him, Rabbi, which is the saving interpreted, Master, where dwelleth thou? Very good question for us all to answer. Now you know, the Lord could have answered and said, Well, you know, it's on such and such a street, at such and such a number. And they could have gone, and they could have looked up that street, and they could have looked up that number, and they could have seen where the Lord Jesus dwelled.
But that's not the way he answers them because he desired their company. And so when they ask that question, where, where dwelleth thou? And we might ask the same question. And sometimes we like a mechanical answer like that. We like something that's, umm, that's, uh, as I say, mechanical, a street with a number on it that at our own leisure, we can perhaps look up, umm, when, when we're good and ready. But no, they ask this question, where dwelleth thou. And it's just beautiful the way the Lord Jesus answers.
The beautiful little uh.
Picture to us there's days mentioned here and then at the end of the book we get some days and succession that have their own lesson but.
In uh, verse 35 it says again the next day after John stood and the Lord invites them come and see and.
He becomes that attractive center. And so first you get John's testimony and now we get the Lord's testimony. What's the result of that?
He becomes the attractive center to the disciples and gathers around himself. And that's the day that we're in. Now then there's verse 43, the day following, and we get the account of Nathanael, and he makes that wonderful confession that Israel, repenting the remnant of Israel will make in the coming day. Thou art the king of Israel, and he says Thou art the Son of God. And he makes that beautiful confession then.
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Verse chapter 2, verse one. And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee. Oh, it's the millennial blessing that's going to be ushered in. And the Lord there in that chapter, he turns those water pots full of water into wine and brings joy to that feast that, uh, was lacking and brings blessing in, in a, in a wonderful way. And it just culminates those days, John's testimony, the Lord's now gathering around himself.
And in the coming day, in Israel's restoration and on into millennial blessings.
I suppose, and maybe this is, uh, kind of what you're getting at, Dave. Lord could have told him where it was. Maybe they say to themselves, well, maybe if we have some time this afternoon we'll go, or maybe tomorrow.
But he wanted he wanted them with him right then. So he doesn't tell me, just says come and see. That's beautiful.
Just one comment, our time is gone, but just in connection with Nathaniel.
Uh, the Lord says to him, umm, says about him.
That, uh, an Israeli, there is no guile now in this portion. He really brings before us two portions, uh, in connection with the life of Jacob. One is when his, his name was changed to Israel, Umm, and the other is the latter in the 28th chapter. So we have the 28th chapter and the 32nd chapter, but here at the end of the chapter.
He says unto him, you know, after Nathaniel responds and says, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God and thou art the King of Israel, for the Lord Jesus now opens up and he says in the last verse here, and I just enjoy that in connection with what we had before us in our open being.
Hereafter ye shall see heaven open and the Angel of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. You know our our brother Clyde brought before us the the thought of suffering and I just was enjoying in connection with that how Nathaniel when he saw got a glimpse of the Lord Jesus here he says, oh, behold the Son of God. Behold the king of Israel. But you know as the Son of God. Maybe that would be a little bit difficult to follow.
The footsteps that were put down and he said, you know, the king of Israel well, you know nothing from a line of royalty. That too might be a little difficult to follow in connection with the the footsteps of Lord Jesus and laid laid out. But what he presents himself here to Nathaniel, he presents himself and the Son of man and it's beautiful, isn't it, to see the Lord Jesus has walked this pathway before us as a man. We've had before us the deity of the Lord Jesus, but he's walked the pathway as a man. He knows all the feelings that we have.
#109.
01:05:06
Call Jerry McDonald's.
Hmm.
50 Three.
234.
2012.
God bless the God and our Father. We thank you again for this wonderful time we've had under the sound of Thy precious Word, and we thank You, Thou hastened. You've spoken to us in these last days by the iceman, so think of the refreshment and the goodness we have in this way gathered in simplicity.
And being honored to sound of these troops and we just pray that we could put it in practice all these things that we know.
Apply with our needs and our block as we seek to represent the here in this world that we would always do it properly using thy words, not our own, bringing all the honor upon thee and not upon ourselves. So we thank you now that we know these things, they are precious tooth. We thank you that doesn't work in the cross finish and we are completing these crazy, generous or precious boarding and our Lord and Savior, Amen.