And turn to some time back, I started a series on the four gospels. I haven't got too far, but we're still working on it. I think we'll begin this morning in the gospel of John. It's about the best place I can think of. Chapter one, the gospel of John. I want to take a brief look at someone named John the Baptist but our goal this morning is to take a look at the person that the Bible has written about, the person who wrote the Bible, the person who is the center of the Bible, the person who should be the center of your life, the person who you should have your entire thoughts on, the person who you should have your entire focus on, the person who means everything to you or should, and that is one person, the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Go you will in the gospel of John chapter 1 verse 6 if you will. We're going to look at a man by the name of John not the gospel not the man who wrote the gospel John the Baptist briefly. In verse 6 there was a man sent from God whose name was John. John the Baptist was born in his mother's womb was created in his mother's born and lived for one sole purpose present Jesus Christ to the nation of Israel. My one sole purpose, my one goal in life, my responsibility, my duty is one thing and that is to present Jesus Christ wherever I go. If I worry about what people think, I'm not serving the Lord Jesus Christ. If I worry about what people if they're going to get angry with me. I'm not serving the Lord Jesus Christ. My goal, my responsibility, my duty, and my privilege, wherever I go, is to present the Lord Jesus Christ. I've had people do many things when I do that. They've snicker at me. I've had people give me the finger. You know what that is, of course. I read people do all these things, but it's my responsibility and my duty to present the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It was John's duty, his responsibility. Many men are sent, some people send themselves in the ministry. Some people are sent by a church here and there, but if you're not sent by God then you're not sent. I remember years ago when I got into the ministry I had all this glorifying thing that I wanted to do to myself. I wanted to start churches and build them up and get a preacher in and then I wanted to move on stuff. I thought that'd be wonderful. Well, God had different ideas. I remember when I started the church in Rome. I told some of the people that I was going to start the church, try to fill it up and then have a pastor come in and take it over. But you know what they told me? Well if you leave we're leaving. So I have to stay. And here I am. And this is the result of that church by the way. We're not the biggest church in the world. We're probably not the prettiest church in the world. But I tell you one thing, when you glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, he will glorify you. When you serve Lord Jesus Christ you'll put you first. If you don't, he won't. You can go to church and glorify yourself if you want to, but Christ won't glorify you. Just a week or so ago the Pope came to the United States of America thousands and thousands and thousands people flocked to see him. They called him Holy Father. Well he's not. He's a man. He wasn't sent by God. He was sent by the church and sent by himself. He didn't glorify Christ, he glorified himself. Jesus Christ never rode around in an automobile with a glass double on it. He didn't have to. The Pope, the most holy father, quote, who he's not, came to glorify himself. Now I'll never be glorified by the news media, and I'll never have a flock of people come see me, but I don't care. I'm going to present the Lord Jesus Christ every chance I get and then every shape I can, every way I can. That's my duty and my responsibility and my privilege. One or all what I do that in the first place, very simple, good, a first one, if you will. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God who was at Jesus Christ. Did you know Jesus Christ created? He created all things. He created the smallest microbe, the smallest amoeba, the smallest cell that you have to see through a microscope. He created that. He created the redwoods in California. Those great, big towering trees. He created the atom that you cannot see, but he created it. I don't even know how they discovered the atom. You can't see it with a microscope, but they did. But Jesus Christ created the Adam and He sustains it. In the Bible in Genesis 1, 1 says, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. That was Jesus Christ. He created. And John the Baptist came to present Jesus Christ. I really wanted to get on the two baptisms this morning, but for some reason, we just kind of took a different route. All verse 3, if you will, in John. All things were made by Him. and without him was not anything made that was made. In him, Jesus Christ was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light shining in darkness, and the darkness overcame it not. Comprehended is your Bible may say, but the word is overcame it not. And then in verse 6 there was a man sent from God whose name was John, his duty, his responsibility was to present the Creator, the Lord Jesus Christ. John the Baptist, verse 7, the same came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all men through him might believe. You know something? If a preacher doesn't bear witness of the light of the Lord Jesus Christ, he's not serving God. And the light will not be manifest, and people will not believe. You know what I tell people? I tell them what Jesus said. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and God shall be saved if you don't, you won't. I don't care if they like it. I don't care if they respect me for. I don't care if they get angry with me for it. That's what Jesus told me to do and that's what I'm going to do. You know, Jesus wanted me to be a preacher. I didn't. I tell my wife constantly, how did I get into this? She can tell you that. What did I do to get into this? I've always happened. I have no idea. But that's what Jesus Christ wants me that's what he wants you to do. He wants you to present him wherever you go. When you present Jesus Christ I was going to get in on the two baptisms like I said. One of them is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Do you know what that is? The baptism of the Holy Spirit. That's the word. When you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, notice the first seven again if you will. That's right again. The same came John the Baptist for a witness who bear witness of the light that that all men through him might believe, through who? John the Baptist know, through the light. Jesus Christ. John the Baptist came bare witness of the light. Jesus Christ, that all men through him, Jesus Christ might believe, believe what? Believe the gospel. He was not that light, but was sent to bare witness of that light. That was the true light, which lighted every man that came into the world. You know what people say? I don't believe in Christ. You're a liar. I don't believe in the gospel. You're a liar. you believe in it, you just don't want to. You don't put your faith in trust in Christ, but you believe that he was real. Let me say something. I can prove that the Bible is the Word of God. I can prove it. I learned a long time ago to prove it, but I can only prove it to someone who's willing to listen. I can only prove it if you're willing to listen. Jesus Christ is real. He was real. He created. He came on this earth to die on the cross and shed his blood for the sins of humanity, but they rejected most of the time. That was the true light which led every man that came into the world. He was in the world, Jesus Christ, and the world was made by Him, Jesus Christ, and the world knew Him not, Jesus Christ. But I won't tell you something. Whenever I get a chance to speak, if there's one thing I speak about, it's Jesus Christ the Lord. And nothing else. I don't promote myself, but if I say it wouldn't work. I promote Jesus Christ. John the Baptist is one soul, duty, responsibility, and privilege. What's the print for present? Jesus Christ. That's why God created John the Baptist. Let's go if you will, over to, let's see here. Let's go to Luke chapter 1. Luke was there if you Well, Luke chapter one, where you go. Luke chapter one, try if you will, verse 17. We'll begin there in verse 17. Let's go to verse 16. No, let's back up to verse 15. For he shall be great and the side of the Lord and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's room, John the Baptist by the way. was chosen sent by God to present the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, that's an awesome thing. Think about this if you would. If you're a pastor or a preacher in the Euglaut and present the Lord Jesus Christ, can you imagine what God thinks of you? Can you imagine? Can you figure that out? Can you think about it? Can you do what I want? Does it make any sense to you? From his mother's womb and many of the children of Israel, shall he turn to the Lord their God. Listen, if you put your faith in trust in the Lord Jesus Christ at some point in time in history, do you know what you need to be doing? Turning people to the Lord their God. How do you do that? You present the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Hey man, that's simple to me. If you're not doing that, then don't expect any favors from the Lord Jesus Christ, don't expect him. He gave John the Baptist a favor, didn't he? Had his head cut off. He said, well, it's terrible. Why would God do that? He wanted him with him, didn't he? John the Baptist served his purpose. God said, I'm going to take you now. I'm going to make an example out of you. But you're going to be in heaven for all the time and eternity, John. Think about it. It's awesome. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah. In the book of Malachi, God said that Elijah would come, well, Jesus Christ said that John of Aptus was the Elijah that was supposed to come. In the spirit of power Elijah, and turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and disobedient to the wisdom of the just who make ready, a people prepared for the Lord. Now just turn over to the world of verse 76 over here if you will. John the Baptist in verse 76, and same chapter, and thou child shall be called the prophet of the highest, and thou shall go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways to do what. Next verse tells us, to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins. John the Baptist came to present Jesus Christ, so people could look to Jesus Christ, the knowledge of salvation for the forgiveness of sins. You know why Jesus Christ came into the world to die on the cross? The shed is blood. The pope didn't do it. Muhammad didn't do it. Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon Church, he didn't do it. There's only one person to die on the cross for you and that's Jesus Christ, the Lord, worship him, serve him, put your faith in trust in him. Amen? Or do they help with when you die? I bet people I don't like that fire and brimstone, your husband doesn't like that. What's fire and brimstone about that? Put your faith in Christ and go to heaven or put your faith in something else and go to hell. That's not fire and brimstone, it's just the truth. All I'm doing is presenting the truth. This is my responsibility. To give knowledge of salvation to a people by the remission of sins, through the tender mercy of God, word by the day spring from on high, from on high have visited us to get light to them that sit in darkness in the shadow of death to guide our feeden to the way of peace and the child grew and whacked strong in spirit and was in the desert still the day up his shone unto Israel and so forth. Now I just want to show you some of your verses here and if I can find them, I will be able to find them. Let's see here. Chapter 6 in Luke, same chapter. I want to show you the difference between people like John the Baptist and our religious leaders, if I may. You may have a religious leader. You may belong to a church or a nomination. I don't know. It's not my business. I don't care. But I do know this, if your religious leader doesn't present one thing and that's faith in Jesus Christ plus nothing, he's lying to you. The priest cannot forgive you sin. I don't care if you're a bachelor or a Catholic and I'm hurting your feelings. I don't care. The priest cannot forgive your sins And you can pray to Mary. Oh, you want to. It's not going to be darned by the good. She's dead She was a human being. She wasn't God. She's dead. She wasn't send us She had six children besides the Lord Jesus Christ She wasn't sendless She said my soul does magnify the Lord my savior. She needed a savior She's dead, folks. You can pray the wrong way, won't do you any good. There's only one way to have your sins forgiven that space in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Creator. And then we have our religious leaders, and I want you to notice in chapter 6 of Luke in verse 7, if you will. Jesus Christ came into the synagogue and in chapter 6, verse 7 of Luke, the scribes and the Pharisees watched him whether he would heal on the Sabbath that they might find an accusation against him. Jesus, we live on a religious society. You know what our society does? Constantly they try to find an accusation against Jesus. I was watching the history channel. They had a special on the Bible. They didn't want anything about it, but they're always having specials on it. And it has special on Jesus and one religious leader got up with his cloak on on this fancy robe and his garbage and he said, well we think Jesus may have been married to Mary Magdalene. You religious check ass. Where does the Bible say that? You religious idiot, you know what he was doing? He was a scribe or a Pharisee, he was trying to find accusation against Lord Jesus Christ. You'll pay for that someday, but that they might find accusation against him back up here in chapter 5, if you will. In verse 21, I like this verse. In verse 20, Jesus said, the man thy sins are forgiven them. Then in verse 21, I notice, if you will, and described in the Pharisees, began to reason saying, who is this who speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone? You got that right. You idiot. You can forgive sins but God alone. Yeah, Jesus Christ is God, don't you get it? You can forgive sins you've done me. Martin Luther said he could. He was a liar, a deceiver, and a hypocrite. The Pope thinks he can, the local priest thinks he can, and sometimes even a Baptist minister thinks he can. Hang it up. He can get it. The only person that can forgive sins is the Lord Jesus Christ. These people were right and didn't even know it. You know what a Pharisee was? I'll tell you what a Pharisee was. But I want to read one more verse, first 30 if I will, get down there. In verse 30, but the Pharisees and their scribes murmured against his disciples saying, why do you eat and drink with publicans and sinners? They were talking about Christ and his disciples. Why would he eat and drink with you religious idiots? I'm gonna say some folks. I'd rather hang around with a tobacco chewing, a hard drink, and a cousin, a good old boy any day than a self-righteous religious hypocrite. Like, you know, if my kind of guy is, I won't tell you. I just thought this. My kind of guy is a guy with no sleep on a shirt or a tank top, got a sparse beard because he really can't grow one. He got a tattoo on one arm that says USMC, he told him that there was a ring. Tattoo on the other arm that says mom, which gives him a little bit of credit, right? And he got a fat cold chewed back on his left cheek and a rubber snuff under his lower lip here. That's my kind of guy. One of the many carton verbal when they told him he didn't have a level, he said, you're crazy. So he went to work in a junkyard and said, these people know what they're talking about. Drives pick up truck. This is just my impression. Okay. Drives pick up truck with rusted outbender wells got big tires on Racing stickers all over it so it'll go faster. That's my kind of guy. Got a knockout bleach blowing hanging all over him. I don't know what he's got but she does That's my kind of guy. Give me that kind of guy any day Better than the stuff I can sit That's right. I like them kind of guys. Good old boy. Luke chapter 9 verse 22, if you will. One of these days I want to tell you how this person looks to strive to work. Luke chapter 9 verse 22, Jesus said saying, the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes. These are the religious leaders by the way. They reject and he said so. He told him, the son of man must suffer many things. That's Christ and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be slain and be raised a third day. You know nothing's changed? They reject him today. I religiously just rejected. The Mormon church says he wasn't God. He wasn't God. He's even really dying across for your sins. That's what they say. But you hope what it says you can't believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. You've got to be good enough to go to heaven. You've got to work at it. The Catholic church says to fetch your sins to the priest and you'll be saved. No, you won't. The Baptist church says, run down the aisle. Every church says something or other, but the Bible says what it says. A scribe, the word scribe, comes from the Hebrew word secerim and it means to write, to say in order, to count. There were scribes all the way back in the Old Testament. They classified, arranged, wrote the precepts. They put it in order. You And what they would do, they would take the Bible, the Old Testament and they would write it day after day after day, hour after hour after hour and then after they got all through they greeted and if it was wrong they throw it away and start all over again. You know what these people should have known the Bible, shouldn't they? I mean they wrote the book of Isaiah, the book of Jeremiah, I could take it through all the Old Testament where the Bible says that Jesus Christ was going to come and die on the cross. They should have known that. They should have knew he was God. They should have knew he was a Messiah. But no, not these idiots, you know what the problem was? They didn't want to give the glory and honor to Jesus Christ. They wanted it all. What is that sound like the religious leaders today? I was noticing there were a couple of ads on television the other day, Pat Robertson, and what's that guy's name? How short? Pat Robertson how short? And did a commercial together? see it, these two religious leaders. And they have the commercial was all about global warming. We have to protect the earth. Can you believe that? You know what if I'm a preacher and I get a chance on and you know who paid for the commercial and who paid them for that wonderful. And then we had a couple of politicians get on there, one Democrat and one Republican, they can't agree with with each other at all, but they got on there, they were sitting right next to each other. Nancy Pelosi and Newt Gingrich, and we got a dip together and we got to protect the earth. I got news for you. This earth belongs to Jesus Christ. I am not destroying it. If he thought I was destroying it, he'd kill me in a minute. You're not destroying the earth. But anyway, these are our leaders. I'll sharpen in Pat Robertson. I wish I would go and pay me to get on TV. Oh, I love it. I'd take as money and run, but I wouldn't tell me anything about global warming. I'd say the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for you and you're a sinner. You need to put your faith in trust in Him. I don't think they'd get televised, but that's what I do. I still take out of course money. Give me a try. Turn over to chapter 11 and Luke, if you will, verse 44. Like this verse 43, I want to let's back up to 43. Blow on to you, Pharisees. For you love the chief seats or the upper seats or the uppermost seats. In other words, you want to be sitting where everybody can see you. And the Sunday gogs and sound mutations or greetings in the marketplace. Blow on to you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, were here as graves, which appear not. And the men that walk over them are not aware of them. Isn't that something? How would you like to be a grave that people aren't aware of? But these people were still alive. In other words, you say, you guys are dead. You're not really alive. You just think you are. You think people like you. But you're really dead. You just don't know it. Or a lot of people like that, didn't it? And then we could go on and on. But you know, in our society, We either have those who present the Lord Jesus Christ because they're sent by God, or we have those who present themselves, or those who present a church because they're sent by themselves or they're sent by the church. This may make you angry, but the Pope was sent by himself. God didn't send it because he sure as hell didn't have the right message. Turn over if you will to the book of Colossians. Excuse my language, or don't, I was in over there. Colossians, if you will. Who created all things? Well, only one person. I've never seen Jesus Christ of you. I've never seen you personally. I've seen him up here. I've been visiting him up here. I can almost picture what he looks like, although I haven't seen him. But when I do see him up here, mentally, when I see him mentally, I'll say what I see. Verse 15, Washington's chapter one. Who is the image of the invisible God? You can't see God, by the way. You can't see God the Father. You cannot see Him. He's invisible. John chapter one verse 18 says, no man has seen Him. God the Father at any time. You haven't seen Him. If you have a vision and think you've seen God, then go see a psychiatrist because you need help. You have not seen God, but But Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all every creature, or it should say in the Bible, all creation. For by hand, Jesus Christ were all things created that are in heaven and that are in error, visible and invisible. whether they be prongs, or dominions, or principalities, or powers, all things were created by him and for him, Jesus Christ. Think about it. He created all things. The things you see and the things you can't see. You know, let me tell you some of the things you can't see. Well, a lot of things you can't see. A lot of things I can't see because I don't have blind. But you can't see the Adam, but God created it. You ever do any study on the Adam? Good library someday and pick up a cycle pede and do a little study on the Adam. It's an amazing thing. Do you know the Adam should blow up? Should explode? Anyway, I don't have time for all that. But God, Jesus Christ created the Adam. On the head of the pen are millions of Adam's, millions of them. They should explode. Do you know why they don't explode? Read the next verse. And he is before all things, and by him all things consist or are held together. Jesus Christ holds all things together. His power, his glory, his omniscience. He holds all things together the creator, the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If I would do anything, wherever I go to speak, whatever chance I get, and I take every opportunity, I get the opportunity to do it. There's only one thing I do, and that is try my best to glorify, promote, and present the Lord Jesus Christ. And if I'm going to do something that will not glorify or not make him look bad quite frankly, I'm going to try to do it in private so nobody sees it. If you've got anything in your life that doesn't glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, just don't let anybody see it. Keep it to yourself. I'm serious. I've got problems in my own. Just like everybody else. I'm not perfect. But I try to keep those failures and those shortcomings out of the public view. I don't want to do anything that will not glorify the Lord Jesus Christ or make him look bad. And if I'm going to do something and make him look bad, I'm not going to tell anybody I'm a Christian because I don't want to do anything to hurt Lord Jesus Christ. I don't want to do that. But if you're opportunity I get, when I get the opportunity, there's only one thing to speak about, or the only one thing to present, and that's Jesus Christ, turn over to you will, the book of Hebrews chapter 1. In Hebrews chapter 1, verse 1, God, who at sundry times and in diverse manner, spoke in time pass unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son whom he had the point of error of all things by whom also he made the worlds. Jesus Christ made the worlds. You know, scientists are still finding things in outer space that they didn't know existed. Outer space is so big that we can't even fathom how big it is. There are universes out there, our universe is just a little thing compared to all the universes and all the galaxies and all the Milky Way's out in our space, it's unbelievable. And God is out there in His heaven, somewhere. We'll never know where until we die and get there, but it's there somewhere. The universe is so big, scientists are still trying to discover it. They don't even know how it got there, what made it. that he came from an explosion somewhere, but God created it so simple. In verse 3, who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person and upholding all things about the word of his power? You know how things stay together? Jesus Christ holds them together. I mean if you walk out this door today and you get in your automobile and you drive down the street and you breathe fresh air, thank God for it. Jesus Christ, He gave it to you and you walk on that had no green grass that's coming up this spring, thank Jesus Christ for He created and He gave it to you and He upholds it by His power. And then while you're walking on that green grass and taking the dandelions, which I like, I think dandelions are pretty out from He nuts. I think they're pretty yellow things. They're like nice ones too. Maybe that's why I think they're pretty. I don't know, but they're pretty. But I do know this, Jesus Christ created really did. He upholds them and the next time you walk on that green grass that you didn't think too much about before just remember this. The reason that green grass is there is because Jesus Christ died on the cross. Now once I got to do a green grass I'll tell you why. Because of the fact that Jesus Christ died on the cross, he is in charge and he's going to reclaim this earth someday and he keeps it the way it is because he died on the cross. It's his, belongs to him. He died on the cross for this world that you live in. Think of it. That's what the Bible says. Romans chapter 8, he died on the cross for his creation. It's not that simple, but that's what it says. Jesus Christ is God. John the Baptist came to present him. Maybe next week we'll get on the two baptism sides and open, trying to do that for three weeks this can't seem to do it. The scribes and Pharisees were religious hypocrites would like to get rid of Jesus Christ. Even today nothing has changed. Our religious leaders would like to eliminate him and eradicate him. They'd like to tell you that just believing in him is not enough. That's a lie. They'd like to tell you that you need to do this. You need to do that. You need to go to church, read the Bible, quick you're sending, do all these, that's not, that's all a lie. Jesus said, who's whoever believe it than me had ever lasting life. That's the truth. In closing, we are out of time. But if you're here this morning, consider John the Baptist who's one duty and one responsibility will present Jesus Christ. And the reason he did that was so that you could picture Jesus Christ. Let me ask you something. Try to picture in your mind Jesus Christ being nailed to the cross. Try to picture that. Nailed to the cross. Bloody. Beat up. A crown of thorns on his head. You know why that was there, by the way. Remember when God told Adam that he's going to kick him out of the garden and the earth would bring thorns and briars. Remember that? While Jesus Christ wore those thorns and briars. Think about it. Jesus Christ died on the cross for years and the Pope didn't do it. That pretty little boot it didn't do it. That fat little bugger. Muhammad didn't do it. He was demon possessed. Nobody had on the cross for you, but Jesus Christ. Picture it in your mind. And if you can picture that in your mind and not put your faith in Christ, you've got to be a fool indeed. for his morning and you don't know you're going to have him when you die just before we close just between you and the Lord say Lord I believe you died on the cross for my sins and you know what will happen they'll be paid just like that. That's what it's all about isn't it? Nothing else. Let's have word of paramal close. Dear Lord we do thank you for Jesus Christ He is the King, the Savior, the Messiah, the Creator. The world will not accept it? They don't believe it? They don't want to. They don't want to give him credit for being Christ the Savior. They don't want to give him credit for being God, but he is no matter what we do. We can't change it. He is God. Believe in Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved. Your sins will be forgiven. You can do it right now if you like, probably be a wise thing to do. And then just sometimes today just say, Lord, I thank you for it. It's that simple. You don't have to tell anybody about just coming in here and Lord, I believe you died on cross for me and your sins are paid. What a blessing. Me personally, I'm going to present Christ everywhere I go, every chance I get. That's my privilege. And I thank Him for it in His name. Amen. Okay. See if I can operate Make this restful here, and on seating.