This Week\’s Sunday School Lesson, \”Defending Your Belief In Christ\”, John 1:15-28, 12/6/2020

DEFENDING YOUR BELIEF IN CHRIST

John 1:15-28

CHRIST THE HEAD, YOU THE DISCIPLE
V:15 John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, \”This was he of whom I said, \’He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.\’\”
A. John was born six months before the birth of Jesus in the flesh.
1. John spoke of the eternity of Jesus.
2. Jesus, the Son of God was not born, He always was.
3. Jesus is spirit.
4. The spirit of Jesus was placed in the body of Mary by the power
of Holy Spirit where it took on human flesh and became man.
B. The ruling Jews were blind to this fact and refused to accept it.
1. John was a godly man, but Jesus was God in a human body.
2. Jesus is Immanuel, God with us.
3. John had human abilities, Jesus has supernatural abilities
4. John was limited, Jesus has no limits
5. I can talk about John in the past, but Jesus is present.

THE BLESSINGS OF HIS BIRTH
V:16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.
A. God\’s grace is limitless. It flows continually.

1. Grace is God\’s divine favor. It is only limited by our disobedience.
2. Every day God, favor is fresh and new.
3. Every breath we take is by God\’s grace.
   B. Man may favor you from time to time, but God\’s
   favor is all the time.

THE SAVING VALUE OF GRACE
V:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
A. The first five books of the Bible, the Torah, is the Jewish law.
1. God dictated these books to Moses, who gave them to the nation
of Israel.
2. The law is God\’s commands which no man has been able to keep.
3. The law condemns.
B. Grace saves.
1. Truth is the entire body of the Bible.
2. Standing by the truth, we all deserve to die.
3. Truth without grace is condemnation by the Law.
4. It is the grace of God that redeems sinful man,

THE FATHER TESTIFIES FOR THE SON
V:18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the
Father\’s side, has made him known.
A. The eternity of Jesus is made known here.
1. His oneness with Father is identified.
2. His position at the right hand of the Father is identified.
B. It is God the Father who proclaims the position of the Son.
1. We see the unity of the God head and separation of the
persons of God.
2. The person of the Father in heaven.
3. The person of the Son came to earth as the redeemer,
4. The person of the Holy Spirit indwells us.

PREPARE YOUR DEFENSE FOR YOUR BELIEF
V:19 Now this was John\’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, \”I am not the Christ.\”
A. At some point in your life, you may have to defend your faith in Jesus.
1. We should always be on guard to defend our belief in Jesus in
the present of church members and outside the church.
2. You will never know where a person is in his/her spiritual
growth.
B. Our first obligation is to confess who we are.
1. We are not holier than Jesus.
2. We have made some mistakes in life.
3. We are God\’s work in progress.
4. We are not as bad as we use to be, but we are not as
good as we should be.

HOW DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN CHRIST?
V:21 They asked him, \”Then who are you? Are you Elijah?\”
He said, \”I am not.\” \”Are you the Prophet?\”
He answered, \”No.\”
22 Finally they said, \”Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?\”
A. People will always evaluate your worth.
1. Beat them to the punch, take a self-assessment.
2. Look into the mirror and see who you really are
3. If you are realistic, you will say you are nothing but
dirty rag in need of God\’s grace.
4. No thought of grander will enter your mind.
B. People need to see the real you. In fact, you need to
see the real you.
1. I am not a prophet, I am not Elijah. I am a person
who loves Christ.
2. I I believe in Jesus and I am growing in Christ.
3. Don\’t look to me to see perfection, you will be
disappointed.
4. My goal is to be like Christ, but my flaws continue to
surface.

DISCIPLES PROCLAIMING JESUS CHRIST
V:23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, \”I am the voice of one calling in the desert, \’Make straight the way for the Lord.\’\”
24 Now some Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, \”Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?\”
A. Who are you?
1. You are the one fulfilling the great commission.
2. You are the one proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ,
with the hope of making disciples.
3. You leave the saving to Christ, who baptize them in the
name of the Father. The Son and the Holy Spirit.
B. Who are you?
1. Just a servant of the most High God.
2. I have been redeemed, I am joyful, full of hope
and at peace with God.
3. I proclaim Jesus as Lord, because….
a. When I was blind, He gave me sight.
b. When I was lost, He found me.
c. When I was down, He lifted me up.
d. When I was sad, He gave me His joy.

OUR MISSION
V:26 \”I baptize with water,\” John replied, \”but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.\”
28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
A. It is sad that most of the world doesn\’t know Christ.
1. Most of the world stand in the pride of self-aggrandizement.
2. Most of the world is unaware that Christ is in their midst,
with open arms waiting to receive them.
B. You are a humble servant standing in the glory of God.
1. Our prayer is that all come to know Christ as their
Lord and Savior.
2. What we do is proclaim the Word in our unworthy position
3. What we know is Jesus, king of kings, Lord of lords,
our redeemer, keeper, and provider.
4. Like Paul, I determine to no nothing, but Jesus Christ and
Him crucified.

THANK GOD FOR JESUS

Rev. M. Mitchell
Asst Pastor of Greater Macedonia Baptist Church
5510 West Sam Houston ParkWay North
Houston, Texas 77041.

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