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Welcome to Day 2135 of Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom The Gospel of John – 3 – A Man Sent From God – Daily Wisdom Putnam Church Message – 02/06/2022 The Gospel of John – Part 2 Presentation Of The Word – A Man Sent From God Today we continue our Good News series according to John the Apostle. This message focuses on the forerunner of Jesus Christ, John the Baptizer. Before we examine the one who announced the light of the world, I will read John 1:19-34. Please follow along on Pages 1646-1647 in the Pew Bible. I would recommend keeping this passage open as we go throughout the message today: John 1:19-34 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.” They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” Now the Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” “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 whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”   John the Baptizer is a shadowy figure in the minds of many Christians. Most could fit all they know about him on one side of a 3 × 5 card with plenty of room to spare. (Hold up card) Clearly, he baptized people. Some know he lived in the desert and subsisted on a diet of locusts and honey. Those interested in theology realize he was the forerunner of the Messiah. But, unfortunately, that is about all most people know. Yet Jesus said of him in Matthew 11:11,  “I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is! The Gospel of John gives us very little information about the man, where he came from, and what he was like. This is, of course, intentional. Nevertheless, the lack of information...