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The following program is provided by Renew Your Mind Ministries. Welcome to renewing your mind with the Word of God radio program an in depth study of the Word of God. The program name is from Romans 12:2 which says, And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Welcome back. Let’s recap from last week, I think we left off on verse 15. Again, we are in the New Testament, the book of John chapter one. And in our last program, we went through chapter one verses one through 15. And so let’s recap those before we go any further with the rest of the book as we renew our mind with the Word of God. On last week in verses one through 15. We learned that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. We also learned through Jesus all things were created and that word was going back. I mean, in that word, that was God as Jesus, we learned that Jesus is the light and life of the world. In last week, in chapter one, verses one through 15, we were introduced to John the Baptist, who told the children of Israel, the Jews, that Jesus was coming in to prepare for him by repenting. We learned that through Jesus the world was created. And when he came to the world that he created, we learned that the world did not recognize him, we did not recognize him, we learned that he came to his chosen people and the children of Israel, the Jews, but they did not receive him. Finally, we talked about and I think we ended the program, when we talked about the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, meaning that the word God became flesh Jesus, and dwelt among his creatures, us. And so this week, we’re going to pick up and book, John, chapter one, and we’re going to go through verses 16 through 28, if the Lord says the same, so let’s read through those verses then come back and break them down individually.

So if you would get out your Bible, or go to your Bible app, and go to the book of John, chapter one, and we’re going to read verses 16, through 28, verse 16, out of his fullness, we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the Law was given through Moses, Grace in truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. But the one and only son, who is Himself God, and is in closest relationship with the Father has made him known. Verse 19. Now this was John’s testimony, when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely. I am not the Messiah. Verse 21, they ask him, then who are you? Are you Elijah? He said, I am not. Are you the prophet? He answered, No. Verse 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? Verse 23. John replied, in the words of Isaiah the prophet, I am the voice of one calling into wilderness, make straight the way for the Lord. Now, the Pharisees who had been sent question him, why do you baptize if you’re not the Messiah? No, Elijah, no, the prophet. Verse 26, I baptize with water, John replied, but among you stands, one, you do not know. He is the one who comes after me. The straps of who sandals, I am not worthy to untie. And finally in verse 28, this all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Before we go any further, let’s pray. Father God, in the mighty name of Jesus, we thank you for this opportunity to be able to study Your Word, we thank you for being our God, we thank you most of all for sending your only begotten Son Jesus to die for our sins. Lord, as we study Your Holy Word, we ask that you open up our ears, our eyes to understand receive what you have said in your holy word. Lord, we pray that Your Word would not return to you void. We pray that it, it is heard by those who have intended it to be heard by that it changes their lives, that their mind be renewed in that they come to salvation, if salvation is needed, and if they’ve already saved to show more of you, and how we should live. So we Lord in the mighty name of Jesus, we pray and ask all these things. Amen, and Amen.

All right, so let’s go back to John one, chapter one, verse 16, and pick that up with states. Now again, I’m reading out of the NIV version. So your particular version, depending on which version you’re using, may not have quite the same wording that I’m, I’m about to read, going back to verse 16, out of his fullness, we have all received grace, in place of grace, already given this verse, verse 16, tells us that Jesus gives us grace. What is grace, grace is being given what you do not deserve. And that is His love and His salvation because of our sinful nature. We do not deserve God’s love and salvation, but He gives it to us. And that’s what it means about in his verse that he gives us grace. His grace begins with reaching out to us for salvation. God, as believers, constantly is constantly showering us with His grace, He also gives us mercy. Mercy means not getting what we actually deserve, which is death, hell and separation from from God forever due to our sins. So not only does he give us grace by extending salvation in His love to us, which we do not deserve, He also as believers, you have to be a believer in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Mercy not giving us those things we actually do deserve, which is hell and separation from Him forever. Moving on to verse 17. In John, chapter one which reads, For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Verse 17, explains an important difference between the ministries of Moses and Jesus. Moses ministries from the Old Testament brought the knowledge of law and sin, you know, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not covet, Thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shall have no other gods before me. And by virtue of these laws, they reveal to us human humans, how sinful we were, and how broken we were, according to God’s Word in Romans, chapter three, verse 20, because by knowing Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not covet. And when we saw, we were seeing that we were doing these things, and we realized they were in a fallen state. Now, Jesus ministry, on the other hand, provides a way for us to experience forgiveness for those sins, because by him, ultimately dying for our sin as the perfect sacrifice. He offered us through faith, a free gift of salvation and forgiveness of those sins, because we could never fulfill the law, every day, all day, our entire life, in order to come to be acceptable to God. We could not do that. But Jesus did, he became our substitute. And so when He, when He offered His life as the perfect substitute for obeying all the laws, all His life, everyday, all day, God accepted His substitute or His life for what we should have done, or did which is die for our sins. He took our place. So he bought a ministry of forgiveness, through His death, burial and ultimately his resurrection from that diff. So that was verse 17, talking about the difference between Moses showing how simple we were in our and the ministry of Jesus offering a ministry of forgiveness of our sins by accepting that he made the ultimate sacrifice through faith. Moving on to John chapter 18. No one has ever seen God but the one and only son, who is Himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father has made Him known. Verse 18, when it says seeing God is meant in a sense of seeing God the Father in a physical literal sense, God the Father has revealed himself had revealed himself in the past in different forms, for example, as a burning bush to Moses in the book of Exodus, chapter three, but God and is essentially a spirit. John, chapter four, verse 24, tells us, but Jesus has seen the Father according to verse 18, because they are in close relationship with one another and are the same. And the reason and that verse concludes and say, it has made him known Jesus has made him known. Because by Jesus coming in the flesh, or God coming in the flesh, we can relate to him when we see him doing the things that we ultimately going to see him doing this, in his book, showing mercy and compassion, offering salvation. We’re seeing his representation of the Father, which he tells us that everything he said, he got from the Father, everything he did, he did, because the Father told him to do. So Jesus is coming as a way to show me although you may have not seen him physically, God the Father, by the works, and by the things that I do, you’re seeing who the Father really is. Moving on to verse 19, again, when John, the first chapter, now we’re looking at verse 19. Now, this was John testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites, to ask him who he was. And when they say the Jews, they’re generally meaning the high level political and religious leaders at that time. So when we, when the word uses the word Jews, they’re not talking everybody, because we will see in this chapter in other books of the New Testament that the ordinary people, they accepted Jesus. And we know they accept them, not only because the words stated, but by their acceptance of Jesus, and the testimony of him has lasted throughout present times. So when I say the Jews, I’m not talking about everybody talking, particularly that high level, political and religious leaders, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, which we’re going to get into, we’re introduced to the Pharisees, a group of Jews who were at the high level of the political spectrum of society. They were the educated class, they could actually read the the the Old Testament scriptures, because during that time, most people could not read and write, but this group of people, and they were educated they could read, and the common people was really dependent upon them to be able to tell them what the sacred scrolls the Old Testaments actually say it, the Pharisees, they were very, extremely devout, and had a tendency to be cold and arrogant, because of their education because of their knowledge of the Old Testament, scriptures and how the general public look to them in high esteem, they became arrogant. But John, and so these individuals came to John, to ask him, What was he doing? And his ministry had to be popular in attracting this kind of attention to what to have the hierarchy or the leadership to come down to ask John, you know, what are you doing? Why are you baptizing people? Because that’s what he was doing and selling them to repent. Moving on to verse 20. He did not fail to confess talking about Jamna Baptists, but confess freely, I am not the Messiah, John the Baptist made it clear that he was not the Messiah, nor was he claiming to be. And I think we talked about this last week, the Messiah is just a Hebrew word that means the anointed one or the Savior. And in the Greek is Christ the word Christ. So oftentimes we hear the word Jesus Christ, Christ is not Jesus last name is a title, that he’s the the, the Savior or the anointed one. So when you hear the word, Messiah or Christ, you’re talking about the same thing, which is a title for Jesus, the Anointed One of the Savior. Going on to verse 21. Going back to the religious leaders of the Jews, speaking and in questioning, John the Baptist, they asked him, then who are you? Are you Elijah? He said, I am not. Are you the prophet? He said no. In verse 21, the Pharisees in the Sadducees asked John the Baptist about a particular Old Testament prophecy of Elijah coming back. And Moses in Deuteronomy 18, Chapter 18, verse 15, Moses predicts that a prophet referring to Jesus is going to come back. So in essence, they were asking John the Baptist, are you the reincarnate of Elijah, or the Prophet? Because they knew the Scriptures. And they knew the scriptures talked about these people coming back. And John clearly told him that no, he was not a Elijah, nor the Prophet. And going on to verse 22, they finally say it, who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself? So in essence, they were saying, since you’re not Elijah, you’re not the Prophet. Who are you? Why are you doing these things that ordinarily only people like us, the Pharisees, the priests do. So they finally gave him an opportunity to speak for himself. And in verse 23, John replied in words, John replied, in the words of Isaiah the prophet, I am the voice of the one calling in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord. So John the Baptist, makes it clear, crystal clear that he is not the Messiah. But he is the one that Isaiah prophesied about in his book, Isaiah, the 40 of chapter, verse three where it says, there will be one coming out of the wilderness to say, Make straight the weight of the Lord. He is saying, I am that person, I am fulfilling that prophecy. I am the one that Isaiah spoke about, that will come before Jesus, letting the people know he’s here. He’s coming, repent and get ready. That’s who I am. And that’s what he’s talking about in verse 23. Going on to verse 24, and 25, we’re going to take them together. Now the Pharisees who had been sent to question him, why did you baptize if you’re not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophets? And what they were getting at is that since you’re not either the Messiah them, the Elijah, or the Prophet, why are you baptizing these? Are you baptizing people, particularly Jews, because that’s who he was baptizing. And during that time, the priests the Sadducees, there were baptisms of Gentile converts. People could convert during that time, people could convert to Judaism. And because they were considered unclean, they will go through the ritual of baptism. So baptism was not new to the ancient Israel’s, but it was reserved for Gentiles, non Jews. And so when John the Baptist came on the scene, baptizing, baptizing Jews, these Pharisees who was question like, well, basically, who are you? Why are you doing this under what authority because we don’t know you? You’re not a Pharisees you’re not a Sadducees you claimed you just told us you’re not the Messiah. You’re not Elijah. You’re not the Prophet. So why, under what authority are you doing this? So that’s what they were. That’s what they’re talking about in verse 25. And, excuse me, 24 and 25. Moving on to verse 26, through 27, John said, I baptize with water, John replied, but among you stands, one, you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the straps of who sandals, I’m not worthy to untie what John the Baptist is saying here. John the Baptist responds that his ministry only uses physical tools such as baptism with the war. But the ministry of Jesus who’s coming after him, we go far beyond physical ritual. John the Baptist didn’t immediately that there is someone present among the Pharisees, they did not know Jesus. And in John one, verse 27. John explains that this one is so much greater than him, that he’s, he’s not worthy to untie His sandals. And what he meant by that is that in that during that time, you have to understand people walk everywhere, they didn’t have Nikes and church shoes, they wore sandals and because they wore these open toe sandals, their feet were often covered in dirt, dust and animal waste, because they didn’t have paved roads. This is doing got to think about this not modern time where you have paved roads, they had dirt roads. So it was dust everywhere, you had animals everywhere, because it was a farming system. So you had animals everywhere. And animals, you know, have waste product. And so people stepped in waste products. So, knowing that time, tending to someone else’s shoes, was the lowest chore of the lowest servant, you know, to take someone shoes off who had dust on them, animal waste that was reserved for the lowest person in society. And so John is saying that he was beneath this is how far beneath the promise one Jesus, that he saw himself, that he was so below Jesus, that he was not even worthy to do that job in taking off his sandals, which was the lowest position in that society. So he’s getting them ready for Jesus. But the Pharisees were coming to John the Baptist, to figure out what he was doing. And the reason why he was doing it, because what he was doing because he was sent by God was catching on. It was spreading. People was talking about John the Baptist, and not only talking about him, there was a rush and mass people repenting the Jews, the children of Israel, repenting, and getting baptized in preparation for the coming of Jesus. And it got so popular that it reached the higher level of societies of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. And they want to know, what was he doing? And under whose authority was he doing? Because he was not a part of them. He was not part of the high class and the religious class. And why was he doing that if you were not a part of our clique, and he explained to them, why he was doing it and who was to come, Jesus. So finally, in John one, verse 28, this all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan with John was baptizing. So they tells us finally in this verse that they came to John John was doing is what God had called him to do, baptizing people, bringing them to repentance, and baptizing them preparing for Jesus to come on the scene. And so today was questioned him while he was doing the very thing that God had called him to do, baptizing people. Amen, and Amen. That’s our time for today. We would like to end the program in prayer. If you would join me in this prayer. Father, God, in the mighty name of Jesus, thank you once again for being our God. Thank you for your presence. Thank you for your son Jesus, in sending him the die for our sins. Lord, thank you for the time that we have to together. Today, studying Your Word, oh Lord, we pray in the mighty name of Jesus that your word, go forth, and enlighten those who have you have attended to enlighten. We also pray in the mighty name of Jesus. For those who are not believers and who have not accepted your son, as their Lord and Savior, they may be hearing this program, that you change their heart from a heart of stone to flesh, and give them faith, to accept your son Jesus as our Lord and Savior, that they are sinners, that they repent of their sins, and recognize that Jesus died for their sins. And you raised him from death by the power of the Holy Spirit, for their salvation. We thank you for this, oh, Lord, we praise you, we lift you up. And all these things, we pray and ask in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen, and Amen. And if you are listening to this program, and you have not accepted Jesus, as your Lord and Savior, now’s your time to do so. God in His word said, if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart, that God raised Him from the dead, that He died for your sins, and you can be saved. So if you would, if, in this moment you’ve been touched by God, to give your life to him to confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, pray this prayer would me. Father God, in the mighty name of Jesus, I am a sinner. I confess my sins and I ask in Your Son’s name to forgive me. I believe that your son Jesus died for my sins. I believe that you raised him from death. I accept Him as my Lord and Savior. I ask for forgiveness in his mighty name, Jesus. Amen and amen. And if you prayed that prayer, and you believe it in your heart, according to God’s Word, you are saved. And heaven rejoice that you will spend eternity with your heavenly Father. That’s our time for today’s program. If the Lord says the same, we will pick up on next week where we left off. We pray that this Bible study has blessed you. If you have a prayer request, you can email it to us at renewyour mind, the letter m@gmail.com That’s renewyourmind,m as in mary@gmail.com. If you would like a free copy of this recording, you can email your request to renew your mind the letter m@gmail.com That’s renewyourmindm@gmail.com. We also encourage you to return next week at this time to continue the journey of renewing our minds by the word of God. We encourage you to tell others about the program and share the email and link to get the program if they missed it. Jesus says in Mark 16:15 Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. By telling others about the program, you are doing your part to spread the gospel into all the world about our Lord and Savior, Jesus. Until next time, this has been renewing your mind with the Word of God.