The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

John 1:25-29, “And they asked him, and said to him, ‘Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?’

26 John answered them saying, ‘I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know.

27 “It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.’

28 These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’”

In was June of 1971 and my family and I were in Israel, attending the Jerusalem Conference on Evangelism. Various non-descript speakers had occupied the platform, when suddenly the announcement came and there at the podium stood David ben Gurion, the primary national founder of the State of Israel and her first Prime Minister! Was that a surprise!! Ben Gurion was the preeminent leader of the Jewish community from 1935 until the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948!

Remember those insincere questioners of John the Baptist to whom we introduced you last night? Well, they’re back, and they’re in for a big surprise, too! John the Baptist was called “the Baptist” because he went about baptizing people. He was repeatedly asked who he was, and he consistently replied that he was not the Christ, but a mere messenger ordained to introduce Him to a lost and dying world. No reply ever seemed to satisfy his critics.

Among their endless questions was this: “Why then are you baptizing?” they continually asked. And John’s reply was always the same: “I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” The religionists were stymied for the moment, but their big surprise was to come the very next day.

It was while John was still busy baptizing repentant sinners, “he saw Jesus coming to him, and said aloud, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’ It was a far more grandiose introduction than that Ben Gurion was to receive many years later. Furthermore, it was far more significant and encompassed the entire world. Jesus was His Father’s sacrifice; and it is the sacrifice destined to erase sin from the human heart and life of everyone – if those hearts and lives repent of their sins and accept Jesus Christ as God the Father’s Sacrifice for their sin.

If this Great Announcement is a surprise to you, you need to repent and trust Him right now. Say a prayer

like this and mean it in your heart:

Dear LORD, I know that I am a sinner. I know I’ve done many wrong things

in my life. I’m sorry for my sin. I know that Jesus loves me, and that He died

and rose again to save me from my sin. Right now, in my heart, I willingly

turn from my sin, and by faith I receive the LORD Jesus Christ as my Savior.

In Jesus’ Name, I pray. Amen.

Now, if you sincerely prayed that prayer, take God at His word and believe that you are a “born again”

Christian! Jesus said, “…him who comes to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). Nor can you ever

again be lost outside of Christ. As a born-again believer, you are thoroughly and forever secure in

Jesus Christ! God bless you!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”