施洗约翰
约翰福音 • Sermon • Submitted
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Intro:
Why am I here? - that is one of life’s biggest questions.
Another way to say it is, “What is my purpose?” What’s my job”
Can you imagine one day that some person walks up to you and says, “You’re hired!” “You’ve got the job!” but you have no idea what they mean.
got the job!” but you have no idea what they mean.
They say, “Come with me”
They take you to an office and say, Time to start
No training, no introduction to the job, you do not even know the company you work for!
I imagine that is what many people feel like if they really think about the question, “Why am I here”
here”
No one really thinks about that question because it is scary
Think about a doctor
A doctor’s job is to help people get better
A doctor can help someone get better from cancer, but then later on, they still pass away
A doctor can fix a broken bone, but one day, that bone will be dirt 泥土
治好骨折
If we think too much about this, we can think this life means nothing
Solomon had this exact problem
He said, “Vanity of vanity, all is vanity”
He learned money and things could not satisfy him
He learned that getting knowledge could not satisfy him
He found life to be empty
As Christians, we can look at our lives and realize that we do have a purpose
Many people have purpose, but their purpose is usually temporary - money, things, knowledge
knowledge
But we have a real purpose, an eternal purpose
And here in John’s Gospel, we come to a man named John - not the same John who wrote the book, but a different John
the book, but a different John
This is John the Baptist
And John the Baptist had a job given from God given to him to do
And I believe, a job very similar to our own
Let’s examine John the Baptist and a little bit more this morning
有一个人，是从 神那里差来的，名叫约翰。
这人来，为要作见证，就是为光作见证，叫众人因他可以信。
他不是那光，乃是要为光作见证。
那光是真光，照亮一切生在世上的人。
他在世界，世界也是借着他造的，世界却不认识他。
他到自己的地方来，自己的人倒不接待他。
凡接待他的，就是信他名的人，他就赐他们权柄作 神的儿女。
这等人不是从血气生的，不是从情欲生的，也不是从人意生的，乃是从 神生的。
施洗约翰
施洗约翰
• Every business card has a title ; president, vice president, manager, salesman
• John the Baptist’s business card could have said this: A man sent from God
• That is really a great position
• But it is one we can all have
Many times we look around and think we aren’t not good enough, not smart enough
A. He was just an ordinary man
A. He was just an ordinary man
How do we recognize a person is a great person?
他的父母是谁？
他有什么成就？
施洗约翰有特别的故事
他的父母很老，其实，他的母亲不能生孩子，太老了
照祭司的规矩掣签，得进主殿烧香。
利未支派
你要给他取名叫约翰
他的父母的地位有点儿低
He was not the high priest
He was not a great leader of a country
He was not a great leader of a business
If he were here today, most would think him as just some strange person
We do not see him perform a single miracle in the Bible
Many Old Testament prophets did miracles - Elijah (yǐlìyà) and Elisha (yǐlìshã) certainly did
did
Yet, Jesus says that there was not a greater prophet than John the Baptist
It was because of what God had him do
B. He was sent by God to be a witness
这人来，为要作见证，就是为光作见证，叫众人因他可以信。
Now this is where our lives and John the Baptist’s are different
He was sent by God - let me explain
Before John the Baptist was born, an angel came to his dad
He said that they would have a son and this son would point people to the messiah
I do not know about you, but I am pretty sure about me
Before I was born, an angel did not visit my parents
Before birth, John had a job to do
That job was to be a witness
Three times in two verse, the Bible calls John a witness
According to God, John was a great man and a great prophet
But he was only a witness of that light, not the true light
他不是那光，乃是要为光作见证。
A good witness does not draw attention to himself
不会指正自己
A good witness focuses on the person or facts he knows about
And John the Baptist was great at this
He was sent so that others might believe the Light
He was a sign on the road pointing to Jesus
他是只想耶稣基督的路标
Because he was a witness, he was a reflection
因为他作见证，所以他是个反省着
As a reflection, he directed the light
Think of the sun and the moon
The moon does not have its own light
It only reflects the light of the sun
月亮反射太阳的光 （fǎnshè)
That’s just like John
He was saying, “I am not the true light, but the true light is coming!”
Today, we can say the same thing!
“We are not the true light, but the true light has already come and is coming again!”
We can live our lives and point to Jesus
We do not have to be special people
We do not have to be great leaders
We do not have to have special abilities
We do not have to perform miracles
God doesn’t love us because we are great, he loves us because He is good
We can show the love of Christ and give His message to all
We also can be a witness just like John
John was not wearing the most expensive clothes clothes
He did not live in a house but in the desert
沙漠里
Many people came to see and to hear him speak
He could have made a large group to follow him
But instead, he pointed them to Jesus
指向
We can think, I do not have anything to give to people
But we have Jesus Christ
We have something worth giving!
And that brings us to the next point
施洗约翰的信息
施洗约翰的信息
His message was the Light
那光是真光，照亮一切生在世上的人。
他在世界，世界也是借着他造的，世界却不认识他。
This world is a world of darkness
Ever since Adam and Eve, it has been in darkness
When we see the news, we cannot forget the darkness
Friday, my family and I went to visit a taoist temple
We saw several people there praying to gods who cannot hear their prayers
All around this world, people are lost in darkness
But we have the Light!
That Light is Jesus Christ
John’s message was simple:
Jesus Christ is coming
The true light of this world is coming into this dark world •
I. The response to the message
A. The Creator comes into the created and was rejected (vs. 10)
他在世界，世界也是借着他造的，世界却不认识他。
This is the One who made everything,
He picked up a piece of grass and knows more about that grass than anyone else
他见起草，比人都更了解那草
He knew more about man than man knew about man and walked among them
他比人都更了解人
If God came to you tomorrow, wouldn’t you have questions?
Wouldn’t you want to know something about Him?
They missed it!
他们不认识上帝来看他们
This is a sad story
这是悲伤的故事
They met the Creator of the universe and missed Him
But there was even more to the story (vs 11)
他到自己的地方来，自己的人倒不接待他。
We can understand this by looking at the nation of Israel in the Bible
When man sinned, God promised a deliverer
God chose Abraham
From Abraham, God would make a great nation
This nation would be given a land of their own
It would also be that the Messiah would come through Abraham’s people
Long story short, Israel disobeyed God
God caused them to have to leave their land
But God promised He would bring them back into the land
Once again, he reminded them that a deliverer would come
So we come to this time
And now, Jesus, the Messiah, was there and they didn’t receive Him
To say it again: This was the Who they were to be looking for!
And they missed it!
The problem was that they were wrapped up in what they thought was true
They thought by keeping the law and doing good things that they would be all right
They thought, “we’re God’s people so there is no problem”
But there was a problem
•
•
• They trusted in themselves and not in Jesus Christ. There were some who did receive Him
Not everyone rejected Jesus
There were some that received Jesus,
凡接待他的，就是信他名的人，他就赐他们权柄作 神的儿女。
Who were those: Those that believe on His name,
are given the power or the right to become a child of God
Aren’t all the children of God? No.
We may all be creations of God but not all His children
All will stand before God but the question is which attribute of God will you stand before?
I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except
耶稣说：「我就是道路、真理、生命；若不借着我，没有人能到父那里去。
through me
You will stand before God either as a judge or as a father
You will stand before God either as a judge or as a father
You can’t stand before Him as your father unless you are His child
You can only be his child if you believe in Jesus
这等人不是从血气生的，不是从情欲生的，也不是从人意生的，乃是从 神生的。
这等人不是从血气生的，不是从情欲生的，也不是从人意生的，乃是从 神生的。
道成了肉身，住在我们中间，充充满满地有恩典有真理。我们也见过他的荣光，正是父独生子的荣光。
(They are born not of blood)
qíngyù
凡接待他的，就是信他名的人，他就赐他们权柄作 神的儿女。
Sometimes people think, I’m a certain race so i am a child of God
The jews really thought this
Your parents cannot make you into a child of God
(Nor of the will of the flesh)
Being human just means you were created by God
It only means we must stand before Him
(Nor the will of man)
God makes you His child, you don’t make you His child
I could wish all day I was the son of a very rich man
I could even show up at a rich man’s house everyday
I could call myself the son of a rich man or a famous person, but that would not make me his child
his child
He has to make me his child
In the same way, we cannot make ourselves into God’s children
Those that have received Jesus, did not save themselves
You can’t save yourself
You can’t try really hard and save yourself
It is only because we believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior that we are His child
Conclusion
• God does not need anyone special, He only needs a person
• A person who can be His witness
• A person who can shine the light of Christ
• Not everyone will receive Christ
• Many will reject Him
• That’s not a problem.
• Ourjobistobeawitness
• How are you as a witness?
• Do you show the light of Christ?
• Do you realize that we have an amazing truth to tell?
• We can be like John the Baptist if we will reflect Christ