John 1:19-28 - Know Your Role

Main Idea: Devote yourself to the mission that God has for your life.

KNOW WHAT GOD HAS FOR YOU TO DO

• God wants you to know Him and His salvation.

• God wants you to know what His path is for your life.

• God wants you to faithfully follow Him in all circumstances.

KNOW WHO YOU ARE NOT (vs. 19-21)

• You are not God, so submit to His plan.

• You are not the solution, so don’t be prideful.

• You are not better than others, so give grace.

KNOW WHO YOU ARE (vs. 22-28)

• You are a beloved and chosen messenger of God Almighty.

• You are God’s representative to your world.

• You are God’s servant.

Sermon Transcript (Auto-Transcribed by YouTube)

We are in a study in the Book of John, the Gospel of John, chapters one through four right now. And John's Gospel was the last written of the Gospels. So Matthew, Mark, and Luke all came and were written before John's Gospel.

And so John is less concerned with maybe mentioning everything that Jesus did, all of his miracles, perhaps some of the big teachings that we would read about in some of the other places, like the Sermon on the Mount, different things like that.

And John writes his Gospel for a very specific purpose that he tells us about in chapter 20. It was so that we would know that Jesus is God, and so that we would take the action of believing in him and following him with our lives.

And this week, we're taking a closer look at the first person that the Gospel writer introduces us to, John the Baptist. As I've mentioned, John the Baptist is not the writer of this Gospel.

That would be John the Apostle, the brother of James, son of Zebedee, who is one of Jesus' 12 disciples. John the Baptist was a very special figure.

Now, just so we can get this out of the way, when I say John the Baptist, that's not like his denominational affiliation. That is the action that he did. He baptized people.

So I'll sometimes say John the Baptizer, just so you don't think, okay, well, wow, that's really weird that the Bible has John the Baptist. I wonder where John the Methodist went, or the Episcopalian. John baptized people.

Actually, we're going to be having a baptism today, so you can see exactly what baptism is. John the Baptist was a very special figure.

Scripture tells us that he was the last of the Old Testament prophets who were given a specific message by God to bring to Israel. John was born to some much older parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth. He wore some odd clothing.

He wore a camel hair garment with a leather belt around his waist, and his diet consisted of locusts and wild honey. He was a very, very interesting man. He was a preacher, but he didn't go where you might expect a wild preacher to go.

Maybe in the middle of the city streets where the most people are, calling out to them that they need to believe and turn to God.

Scripture tells us that he preached way off by the River Jordan, out in, as it calls it, the wilderness, where people had to go to find him. And they did go and find him, even as we'll hear more about today.

He invited people to repent, to turn from their own ways, and to turn to God's way.

And the specific message that he was given was initially preached by the prophet Isaiah hundreds of years prior, the same message that we sang, prepare the way of the Lord. Today's sermon, I've entitled, Know Your Role. Know Your Role.

I'm going to have Charlie, I'm going to have you come on up. I know, I know. John and Shelly, I'm going to have you come up, and Mary, I'm going to have you come up.

Don't worry, you don't, well, you do have to say something, but it's real simple. Real simple, okay? Don't say it yet.

Okay, John, I'm going to have you hold that. All right, Shelly, you're going to hold that. Okay, all right.

Name of the message, know your role. These are part of the newly minted acting group from Tabernacle Baptist. The Tabernacle Terrors, maybe.

Each person has their role, a specific part in this grand, very long play that they're going to put on for you. And as long as each person knows their role, this play will go on without a hitch. This play consists of four words.

It's the same message, actually, that John the Baptist preaches. I am not him. I am not him.

Okay, now I want all of you, you know, just the very first thing that you read. I want you all to read each of your parts, and it should be, I am not him. If everyone knows their role, that will be how it goes.

Just read, you know, that top line, just the easiest thing. Why don't you read them out? Just call it out, just your one word.

That's not it. Come on, guys, you got to know your role. All right, try it again.

Switch it up a little bit this time. If it wasn't that top line, the next one's got to be it. Okay, Charlie, you can start off again.

They're all fired. They're not going to make it. You'll never work a day in this industry again.

Let's try it one last time. Okay, one last time. Hey, everyone, give them a round of applause.

You can go back to your seats. I don't know if I'll use you guys again for that. Once they knew their role, what their purpose was became clear.

They were able to accomplish the mission that they had as they knew their role. Obviously, they played their role even as they played that they didn't know their role. Great.

God has a role for your life. God has a mission that He wants for you to experience. Throughout John the Baptist's life, he knew the role in life that God had for him, and he devoted himself to that mission wholeheartedly.

We're going to read through the passage, then we're going to look at the truths that we can learn from God's Word today. Going to read from John 1 and verses 19 through 28.

This was John's testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites, the religious leaders, to ask him, Who are you? He didn't deny it, but confessed, I am not the Messiah. What then?

They asked him, Are you Elijah? I am not, he said. Are you the prophet?

No, he answered. Who are you then? They asked.

We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What can you tell us about yourself? He said, I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness.

Make straight the way of the Lord, just as Isaiah the prophet said. Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. So they asked him, Why then do you baptize if you aren't the Messiah or Elijah or the prophet?

I baptize with water, John answered them. Someone stands among you, but you don't know him. He is the one coming after me whose sandal strap I'm not worthy to untie.

All this happened in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing. I want to challenge us today as John the Baptist discovered in his life, devote yourself to the mission that God has for your life. Let's pray.

We'll get into the message. Dear Jesus, thank you for today. Thank you for your word.

God, we pray that you would speak to our hearts. God, thank you for the encouragement that today has already been, Lord, in my heart. And God, I pray that Jesus would be lifted up.

Help me to only say what you would have me to. Love you, Lord, and pray all this in your name. Amen.

First, if we're going to devote ourselves to the mission that God has for us, if we are to know our role in God's story for our life, then first, we have to know what God has for us to do. We have to know what God has for us to do.

First, I want us to see today that God wants us to know him and his salvation. John made it clear to his listeners, to anyone asking that he was not Jesus. He was not the promised Messiah, but everything he was doing was pointing to Jesus.

God's salvation has been summed up in a few words. God, man, Jesus Christ, and our response. First, God is holy.

He is perfect. He is loving, just, and righteous. He created this world without sin and evil, but he gave us the freedom to choose whether we would follow his path and his righteousness, or follow our own way.

And us, as mankind, we have sinned. We have said, done, and thought things that were contrary to God's law and his character. And in doing so, we invited evil, corruption, death, and eternal condemnation on ourselves as a result.

But that's why Jesus Christ came. He was God incarnate, God the Son. He came to earth and he lived a sinless, perfect life, doing good and teaching us about God's desire for us to be reconciled to himself and his way of life.

He died on the cross in our place, taking all of the judgment and justice that we deserved. He took it on himself. He paid the price for us.

He was buried in a tomb for three days and rose again from the dead, then ascended into heaven. And now he calls on us for our response to repent. To repent is to turn from our way to God's way.

And we're called to repent and believe, that is to trust in Jesus' goodness alone for our salvation. God's not interested in how holy you can make yourself. God's not interested in the amount of money that you can give to charity or to a church.

God's not interested in just all of the sins that you don't commit. God wants you to accept Jesus' free gift of salvation, of reconciliation to God himself.

So first, if you're going to know your role in the story that God has for your life, you must know God and His salvation. Without that, there's no point in hearing any of the rest of the message.

If you do not know Jesus, I would love to talk with you today about Him. Secondly, God wants you to know what His path is for your life. And John made this clear to the people that were coming out to hear him preach.

We can read this in Luke chapter 3. John said to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, brood of vipers who warned you to flee from the coming wrath. Therefore, produce fruit consistent with repentance.

And don't start saying to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father. For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. The axe is already at the root of the trees.

Therefore, every tree that doesn't produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So John lets them know, your souls are in danger. You need to turn to Jesus.

You need to turn back to God. The response of the people was, what then should we do? He replied to them, the one who has two shirts must share with someone who has none, and the one who has food must do the same.

Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they asked him, Teacher, what should we do? He told them, don't collect any more than what you have been authorized. Some soldiers also questioned him, what should we do?

He said to them, don't take money from anyone by force or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.

God's path for your life, what God wants you to do once you know Jesus and His salvation, is that He wants you to know Him and His love, and that you would obey His commands for your life.

His commands will bring life to your soul, freedom and peace in your relationships, meaningful joy in your sorrows, and unavoidable, unassailable hope in your God and your Savior.

God doesn't just want you to be saved and then never interact with His way again. He wants you to, as we sang about, He wants you to abide in Him, to continue walking the path that He has for your life.

But not only does God want you to follow His path, God wants you to faithfully follow Him in all circumstances.

You see, John the Baptist's story, part of the reason that he didn't write the Gospel of John is that his path that God had laid out for him in his story involved some heartache.

I believe it's Matthew chapter 9 or 10 says, but when John rebuked Herod the Tetrarch because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and all the evil things he had done, Herod added this to everything else. He locked up John in prison.

Herod the Tetrarch was one of the rulers over the kingdom of Israel at that time. He was an incredibly wicked man, even as you look at world history and some of the horrible things that he had done.

One of the things that he did was he stole his brother Philip's wife and made her his own wife. And John the Baptist, he preached against this. He said, this is not God's path for your life.

This is wrong. This is wickedness. You should not be doing this.

And as a result, he was thrown in prison. And eventually, Herodias had hered the head, John the Baptist, which happened about the midpoint of Jesus' earthly ministry. The truth is that following God's commands is the way he designed your life to go.

But we live in a sin-cursed, imperfect world with imperfect people and imperfect circumstances. There will be days when you lose a job, a loved one passes away, a friend misunderstands you or betrays you and cuts you off.

And in those moments, God wants you to continue to follow and trust and obey him. Is it easy? No.

But I promise you, life with Jesus is infinitely more meaningful and grounded than a life lived on your own terms and driven by your own emotions. So first, you must know what God has for you to do if you're to know your role.

But secondly, you must know who you are not. If I brought all of the people back up here and each of them were saying each other's lines, it would all be madness.

You have to know who you are not, what is not your role to play in the story that God has for you. We can see John's recognition of this in verses 19 through 21.

This was John's testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, who are you? He didn't deny it, but confessed, I am not the Messiah. What then?

They asked him, are you Elijah? I am not. He said, are you the prophet?

No, he answered. First, from John's reply, I want us to see that you are not God, so submit to God's plan. We can see this in John's denial that he says, I am not the Messiah.

I'm not God. Matthew 11, when John heard in prison what Jesus Christ was doing, he sent a message through his disciples and asked Jesus, are you the one who is to come or should we expect someone else?

Even as we'll see next week, John had been one of the initial people to say that Jesus was the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

He was the one that said that Jesus was the Messiah, the one that he wasn't even worthy to undo the straps on his sandals. And yet here in prison, John's sending to Jesus to ask him, Hey, I'm in prison right now.

I thought this whole Messiah, you know, great sandal straps thing, I thought this wasn't going to end up with me in prison. Are you the Messiah? Are you the one that we were expecting?

Jesus replied to John's disciples that he had sent from prison, go and report to John what you hear and see.

Here he quotes from Isaiah, the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor are told the good news, and blessed is the one who isn't offended by me.

Many people begin the journey of Christian faith, but not everyone finishes it. Jesus in Mark 4 gives us some reasons why this takes place.

The allures of sin, perhaps drunkenness, partying, sexual immorality, greed, power, these all convince people that following Jesus is too much of a drag. Spiritual forces can convince the person that they don't need to repent and believe in Jesus.

For others, they joyfully start off on the path, perhaps even praying a prayer or receiving baptism. But then difficulties and trials come, and they decide they don't like God's plan for their life, and they reject him as Lord.

Can I challenge you today, those that are new in your faith and those that have had faith in Christ for many years, don't hold God hostage to your life plans. You don't know the meaning and the impact that God has for your life.

You don't know the joys and comfort and purpose that He will bring you in your hard times. Choose today, whether you're on top of the world or in the darkest valley in the shadow of death, that you will obey and follow and trust in your God.

If you are not the Messiah, if you're not God, then trust God's plans, even if it's not the same plan that you would adopt. Secondly, you are not the solution, so don't be prideful.

We can see this in John's statement that he says, I am not the prophet.

Here he's referencing the prophet that Moses had prophesied about 1200, 1400 years prior, when Moses said, there's going to come a prophet like me, and everyone will need to listen to that prophet.

Whoever does not listen to him will not be one of God's people. So John says, I'm not the solution. That's talking about Jesus.

Jesus is that one that everyone must listen to. He says, I'm not the solution. Today, me and you, we are not the solution.

So let's not be prideful. You are not the solution to people's lives and problems. So don't act like you are.

If someone doesn't listen to your idea, or perhaps include you in the group of people that give them advice, or if they don't do everything the way you tell them to, it's okay. What people truly need is Jesus. So point them to him.

Don't be offended when you're not calling the shots. Don't hold on to anger when people reject you.

Realize that if Jesus said that he didn't come to be served, but to serve others, and they give his life as a ransom for many, then we can just be simple servants, slaves, here to bless and encourage and benefit others through our life, not looking

for others to give that to us. What's your response when people tell you no, or don't do things the way that you would? It's a pretty good indicator of whether or not you think that you are the solution for their life.

And third, if we're going to know what we are not, we're not God, so we need to listen to His plans. We're not the solution, so we shouldn't be prideful. We're not better than others, so let's give grace.

Here, Elijah, this is referencing a prophecy from the prophet Malachi that would say that the prophet Elijah would come before the great and terrible day of the Lord.

So here these priests and Levites, they're coming and they're asking John the Baptist, are you the one that's coming before the Messiah?

Jesus would later clarify to His disciples that John the Baptist was in fact Elijah in the sense that he had the same tenacity and faith and prophet boldness that Elijah had, but that's not how John the Baptist talks about himself.

Though Jesus would say that there was no human greater than John, John just says that he was a voice, a carrier of God's message. How would you describe yourself? How would you describe your worth?

Are you validated by your title, your work tenure, your position in a place of importance? John would challenge us today, we are no better than any other person.

We are all sinners in need of a Savior, and nothing that we've accomplished here on this earth makes you more deserving of respect or love than another.

Jesus said in Mark 10, You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. But it is not so among you.

On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave to all.

The next time someone frustrates you, the next time you're disappointed or infuriated, realize that you have been given unlimited, immense grace and forgiveness by Jesus, and extend some of that grace and forgiveness to others.

And lastly today, not only ought we to know the path that God has for us and know who we are not, but if we're going to devote ourselves to the mission that God has for us, we need to know who we are.

We need to know if we're the person that says, it, her, him, or for the person that says, I. We need to know who we are in God's path for our life and his story. This is what the priests and Levites asked John.

They said, who are you? Then they asked, we need to give an answer to those who sent us. What can you tell us about yourself?

He said, I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord, just as Isaiah the prophet said. Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.

These were the people that really took the Old Testament and the laws of God very seriously. They were very stringent. So they asked him, well, then, who gave you the authority to baptize people if you aren't the Messiah, Elijah, or the prophet?

I baptize with water, John said. He says this water isn't transforming anyone.

In some of the parallel accounts in the Gospels, he would say the one that's coming after me, whose sandal strap I'm not worthy to untie, the Messiah, he's going to baptize with the Holy Spirit.

He says he's going to give God's own presence into people's life. All I'm doing is getting them wet. First, if you're going to know who you are, realize that you are a beloved and chosen messenger of God Almighty.

2 Corinthians 4 says this versus reference often, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ.

Since God is making his appeal through us, we plead on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. God could have chosen angels to preach the gospel. They know Jesus, they've seen Jesus, and they're impressive and otherworldly spiritual beings.

But God chose the most important mission of all time, and he gave it to you. He loved your friends and family and neighbors and coworkers so much that he died on the cross for them.

And instead of just waiting to see if they would find God themselves, he entrusted you with the opportunity to tell them about it. Don't ever think that you aren't important or valuable.

You are so important that God has placed you in the middle of other people's lives that he loves to death more than you could ever love them. And he's entrusted you with telling them about his love. Who can you tell about Jesus this week?

Not only are you God's beloved and chosen messenger, but you are God's representative to your world. 1 Corinthians 6 says this, Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, who you have from God. You are not your own.

You don't belong to yourself because you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body. Do people around you think that God is kind?

Why don't you show them as a Christian how God is kind by being kind yourself? Do people around you know what God thinks about honesty, hard work, or integrity? Show them through your words and actions.

You are the image of God, the one who shows your family what God is like. Do we fall short of that calling? All the time.

But when we fall, we have a recourse to turn to. We are able to say, I'm sorry I did that, or I'm sorry I said that. That's not how a Christian should behave or talk.

My God wants me to be different, and I messed up there.

When we do that, what a great testimony to our world, that we would realize that we are not perfect or sinless or always right, but that we know the one who is and we are chasing after him with everything we are.

You are God's representative to your world. And lastly, you are God's servant. When I think of a servant, it's someone that's waiting on their master to hear what he needs.

Humorously, I always think of Alfred serving Bruce Wayne. He's someone that values his master's directives and tries to carry them out to the fullest. It's someone that genuinely cares about the master's family and protects and loves them.

It's someone whose entire purpose is wrapped up in this one person. Who or what is your life wrapped up in? If I were to ask your friends or your family, what is Marla passionate about?

What motivates Shelby? What makes Andy happy or excited? What would they say?

Sports, engines, Netflix, family? Would Jesus make the list? Is he the one that you wake up to talk to?

Is he the one that you tell your kids or grandkids about? Is he the one that you talk about with your spouse? Do your co-workers know that you love him?

Or is he a secret relationship you only talk about in pre meal prayers and in reminiscing about deceased loved ones? Make Jesus your whole life. There is nothing more valuable.

There is no one more worthy. He is your Lord and your God, but he also wants to be your friend. He is holy and he is lofty, but he wants to spend every day with you in his word and in prayer and with his Spirit directing and guiding you.

Will you serve him? Today, we're going to know our role. And there's a couple of questions we got to ask ourselves.

Am I following the path that God has laid out for me in my word, in his word? Do I know Jesus? Am I following God's instructions for my life?

And am I choosing to faithfully follow him even if it doesn't go the way that I want it to? Am I refusing to pursue a role that God does not have for me? Am I telling myself I'm not God, I'm not the solution, and I'm not better than others?

Do I realize how much God values me and the importance of the role that he's given me? He has made you his beloved and chosen messenger. He has made you the picture of what God is like to those around you.

And he has chosen you to be his servant, the one who would spend time with him, the one who would care about his family and his goals. Today, do you know Jesus as your Savior and your Lord?

If you don't, please talk to me today after the service or meet with me this week. I would love to introduce you to the God who loves you. Today, will you devote yourself to the mission that God has for your life?