Temple Baptist Church - 8-10-2022
John 1:11-12
Introduction:
A. Last week, we dealt with verse 11 and made it a “stand alone” verse that is actually now such. We made a biblical interpretation and then a practical application “but!”
B. “But” is a continuation of context which draws a contrast, not a similarity. Verses 11-12 are to be interpretated together, not separately. Israel, as a nation, rejected their Messiah. That was their choice and they made it clear when, at the “trial,” (I place the word in quotations because it was a mockery of justice) the people cried, “His blood be on us, and on our children.”
Matthew 27:24-25 When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. (25) Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.
That statement is about as wicked and calloused as it gets, to call down a curse upon their own children.
C. In verses 11-12, two types are mentioned:
1. A Nation: “His own” speaks of the Nation of Israel, not an individual. Not everyone in Israel rejected Christ! We have that on record in our Bible. The Nation of Israel is blinded, not the individual.
2. An Individual: “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”
D. Now, by application, these two verses are typical of what Christ described in the Sermon on the Mount:
Matthew 7:13-14 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: (14) Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
1. Two different types of people: the unbeliever and the believer. “Enter ye” or “Enter ye not”
a. Those who reject Christ have “made their bed hard” and will have to “sleep in it!” They have chosen Satan and the world over Christ and traded heaven for hell in eternity. A Bad Trade!
b. Those who receive Christ have traded their sin for salvation and an eternal home with Christ! A Good Trade!
c. The only middle ground is that of innocence and the sinner does not fit in that category!
2. Two different types of travelers: “many” and “few.”
a. The unsaved – the many. They are unsaved because they have no desire to “find it.” They travel the “wide gate” and the “broad way.” The “there are more than one way to heaven” outlook of our religious world. “It does not matter what church that you attend.” The way to hell is often said to be paved with good intentions. They way of the many is the most traveled road.
b. The Saved – the few. Those who have desired to “find it.” These enter at the “straight gate,” (Christ and His finished work of the gospel alone!) and the “narrow way.” The religious world thinks us as narrow minded and judgmental. We simply believe what the Bible says instead of what religions accepts. Sin is still sin and we that are saved try (and often fail) to follow the road less traveled which lined by biblical parameters.
3. Two vastly different final destinations: “destruction” and “life.”
a. Destruction. This does not speak of soul annihilation as every soul is eternal. It speaks of the destruction of hell and the lake of fire. Not long ago, thousands of people were subjected to the total destruction of a horrific tornado. Some lives were lost but most survived but woke up to destruction. These were able to begin cleanup and rebuilding, but hell is not so. It is eternal fire, eternal destruction, and eternal consciousness!
b. Life. This speaks of both eternal consciousness and eternal joy in surroundings. Eternal happiness while living in a placed prepared for them by God which exceeds our imagination. Heaven is experiential: that which can only be fully known by those who will experience it.
4. Two choices: “reject” or “receive.”
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