THE PEOPLE GOD CHOSE TO BE PART OF

THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD

JOHN THE BAPTIST

THE NEW TESTAMENT THUNDERING PROPHET

Luke 1:57-80

Zacharias and Elizabeth's little baby boy was the talk of the town. Can't you just imagine the excitement in the little village when this elderly couple, who, for their entire marriage was barren, is now having a baby shower!

The time for naming the little boy in preparation for his circumcision, had arrived. The people were going to name him Zacharias, after his father. (People who haven't heard from God never quite know what's going on!)

Elizabeth declared, "His name if John." "John?" the family protests. "No one in the family is named John."

Disbelieving, they tried a sort of sign language with Zacharias to get his opinion. He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, "His name is John." So they all marveled. REMEMBER ….. (People who haven't heard from God never quite know what's going on!)

Suddenly, Zacharias began to speak. And, oh, what a prophecy he did speak.

Read Luke 1:67-79

Nothing is known of John's childhood. Like Jesus, his childhood was kept hidden. (I think God planned it that way. After all, look at the icons and idols people make of the baby Jesus.)

VERSE 80, simply states that John grew and became strong in spirit and lived in the desert until time for his ministry.

I like the way the Apostle John introduces John the Baptist.

John 1:6 - "There was a man sent from God whose name was John."

WHAT A TREMENDOUS ASSIGNMENT. SENT FROM GOD.

Matthew simply states, "In those days, John the Baptist cam preaching in the wilderness."

Mark wrote, "John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins."

Let's look at John.

  1. He lived in the desert. He was a desert rat; a sort of nomad.
  2. He wore clothes made of camels hair.
  3. He ate locusts (grasshoppers) and wild honey. He was the original "health nut." He was a real nature man.

He burst on the scene at about 30 years of age, preaching repentance and demanding baptism to prove the repentance. In fact, he demanded Jew and Gentile to repent and be baptized.

His ministry would only last a brief time. He had a special assignment: Prepare the way of the Lord. John would often declare, "I am not the One who is to come. He comes after me and will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire."

  1. It's hard to play second fiddle - to be the opening act.
  2. It's the nature of the human heart to want first place.
  3. Competition demands that someone comes in second place.
  4. How would John handle this human trait?

Simple. He defeated it from the beginning. He proclaimed that the One coming after him is preferred before Him. He said "I am a friend of the bridegroom." "He must increase, but I must decrease."

Doesn't sound real 1990's to me.

Some notable events in John's life.

  1. His preaching and his condemnation of wrong doing.

    2. To the Pharisees

    (Mat 3:7 NKJV) "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"

    (Mat 3:8 NKJV) ""Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,"

    (Mat 3:9 NKJV) ""and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones."

    (Mat 3:10 NKJV) ""And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

    To the tax collectors

    (Luke 3:13 NKJV) "And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you.""

    To the soldiers

    (Luke 3:14 NKJV) "Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?" So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.""

    To new converts

    (Luke 3:11 NKJV) "He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.""

    To the world

    (John 1:29 NKJV) "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

  2. His declaration of Jesus as the Son of God.

    3. After baptism

    (John 1:29 NKJV) "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

    (John 1:30 NKJV) ""This is He of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.'"

    (John 1:31 NKJV) ""I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.""

    (John 1:32 NKJV) "And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him."

    (John 1:33 NKJV) ""I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'"

    (John 1:34 NKJV) ""And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.""

    Upon seeing Jesus walking

    (John 1:35 NKJV) "Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples."

    (John 1:36 NKJV) "And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!""

    (John 1:37 NKJV) "The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus."

     

  3. His imprisonment for preaching against the King's sinful marriage.

    4. John preached against sexual sins

    (Mark 6:16 NKJV) "But when Herod heard, he said, "This is John, whom I beheaded; he has been raised from the dead!""

    (Mark 6:17 NKJV) "For Herod himself had sent and laid hold of John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife; for he had married her."

  4. His death by beheading.

Robert Schuller says, "Bad things happen to good people."

(Mark 6:19 NKJV) "Therefore Herodias held it against him and wanted to kill him, but she could not;"

(Mark 6:20 NKJV) "for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and he protected him. And when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly."

(Mark 6:21 NKJV) "Then an opportune day came when Herod on his birthday gave a feast for his nobles, the high officers, and the chief men of Galilee."

(Mark 6:22 NKJV) "And when Herodias' daughter herself came in and danced, and pleased Herod and those who sat with him, the king said to the girl, "Ask me whatever you want, and I will give it to you.""

(Mark 6:23 NKJV) "He also swore to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.""

(Mark 6:24 NKJV) "So she went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask?" And she said, "The head of John the Baptist!""

(Mark 6:25 NKJV) "Immediately she came in with haste to the king and asked, saying, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.""

(Mark 6:26 NKJV) "And the king was exceedingly sorry; yet, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he did not want to refuse her."

(Mark 6:27 NKJV) "Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded his head to be brought. And he went and beheaded him in prison,"

(Mark 6:28 NKJV) "brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother."

Some might say, "What an ignominious end to a human life."

    1. Seems like a such a waste.
    2. How could God allow this thing to happen.
    3. What might his parents think and feel about their boy?

But John, himself, didn't labor under such apprehensions. He knew from the beginning that he would preach hard and die fast. He knew he was merely a firefly in the evening sky. He understood the real commitment of being used in God's plan

No …. Don't feel sympathy for John. He'll have none of it, for he did what God sent him to do. No one could achieve a higher purpose in life than that.

I close by telling you what Jesus said of John.

Jesus said of John - "For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist."