Sign Guestbook

View Guestbook

Copyright © 2006, 2007, 2008
All Rights Reserved.

Campbell Chapel
Free Will Baptist Church
1709 Campbell Drive
Ironton, Ohio 45638

Contact Webmaster

 

John the Baptist 

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

 Bob Bradley

_________________________ 

 

Matthew 11:7-15

 

11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.

14 And if ye will receive it , this is Elias, which was for to come.

15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

 

What do you know about the John the Baptist?

 

He baptized

Nasserite

He was beheaded

 

John was a great man.  He had an awesome responsibility.  From the days of Malachi until the days or times of Christ or the time, that John came on the scene, if you will look at Bible history, dates, times and so forth.  There were several hundred years of darkness here.  There was not a prophet in the land.  There were no open visions that came from God during this time.  It was a very dark time because of the nation of Israel's sin. 

 

One day, here comes a guy on the scene.  He was dressed in leather.  He had camel’s hair around him.  He ate locusts and wild honey.  He goes over in the desert or the wilderness; when you look at that word it means the uninhabited places, he did not go right in downtown Jerusalem and start preaching.  He did not go into the major cities but he went out into the wilderness/desert and began to preach.  He began to proclaim and tell people that they needed to repent and make things right with God.

 

The Bible says that all the people in Jerusalem and Judea go out to hear John.  John begins to preach and tell them that they need to get prepared to meet the Messiah.  The Messiah was about ready to come on the scene.  The other prophets spoke about Him too.  The other prophets spoke about a King coming or a Messiah was coming. 

 

The Jewish people, or not all of the Jews—I can say this today and you can understand what I am saying is that not everybody that comes to church today is really looking for Jesus Christ to come—not all the Jews that were living then were really looking for the Messiah.  However, many of them were.  The prophets spoke about a time of peace, a time of prosperity, a time that was going to be free from oppression, and a time that was there was going to be just a great time with peace on earth and good will toward men.  They spoke about a great time and here.

 

John is coming on the scene after it has been a dark lonely time for several hundred years.  He is saying, “Hey, guys it is time to repent.  You need to get ready to meet the Messiah because the Messiah is about ready to come on the scene.”  That would have been a wonderful message if you had been looking for the Messiah. 

 

John goes and preaches.  He is very forceful. He does a great job and he has a great following.  Many people follow John.  John takes them down and he baptizes them.  As he baptizes them, he is not baptizing them to save them, or to wash their sins away—like many people want to teach you today—but as he was baptizing them, they were believing, or saying that I believe the message that John is preaching.  I believe the Messiah is about ready to come on the scene.  That is what the baptism of John was all about. 

 

John continues to preach.  As he is baptizing one day, we know that Jesus comes along and Jesus tells John, "John, I need to be baptized of you."  Of course, John says, "It should be the other way around."  However, Jesus said, "John we need to do this so that it will be all righteous."  We know that John Baptized Jesus.  We know that the heavens opened up and the Spirit of God descended in the form of a dove.  We know that God spoke and said, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." 

 

We know that John understood some things about Christ.  Not only did John preach that Christ was coming, but John was the one that said, "Behold I am of God..."  Not only did John preach that He was coming, but John got to be able to see something and do something and announce something that all the other prophets did not get to do.  The other prophets knew that He was going to come.  However, John announced His coming and John announced Him as already being there.  That was something real unique about John's preaching.

 

We know that things go on.  Jesus starts preaching.  People are being saved.  People are being healed.  A great time is happening.  Jesus is getting a great big following.  Even John made the statement, talking about John speaking of himself, he said, "I must decrease but He must increase" talking about Jesus Christ and His ministry.  John knew that when Christ came and started His preaching that His mission was over.  He knew that he would decrease in popularity, but also he knew that Christ would increase.

 

John said something that is very important in this lesson.  John, as he was teaching, preaching, and talking about Jesus; told them that he indeed baptized thee with water unto repentance, but there is going to be one who is going to come after him whose shoes that he was not even worthy to stoop down and unloose, who was going to baptize them with the Holy Ghost and with fire. 

 

Do you remember that?  That is going to play a part here in a minute.  

 

John was a very rugged fellow.  We are going to talk about John here in a minute and we are going to learn some things about John. 

 

Do remember on Harod's birthday when a little girl came in and danced before Herod? You know that story.  Some things had happened.  Herod killed John the Baptist.  We know that he told Herod that it was not lawful for him to have his brother’s Phillip's wife.  John said that is wrong, you should not do that.  We know that the little girl danced and gets everyone all aroused.   We know that there were some things going on there.  The little girl was put up to some things by her mother.   Her mother says to go in and ask for the head of John the Baptist in a charger.  That is what she did. 

 

Now Herod goes down and is going to cut off John's head.  Before we get to that, is where we are at in this story. 

 

John is in prison because he has told Herod that it is not lawful for him to have, his brother, Phillip’s wife, so he is thrown into prison.  John is a rugged fellow.  He is an outdoorsman.  He is a very active individual, but now he is chained up in a dungeon. 

 

How would you have felt?

 

It would have been hard to do that.  If you are an active individual and you like to do things, then because of sickness or whatever reason that you cannot do things, it gets very hard to do sometimes.

 

As John is in prison, he is hearing all kinds of things about Jesus.  He is hearing about Him teaching.  He is hearing about Him preaching.  He is hearing about His love, concern and compassion that He has for all kinds of people.  However, what he does not see is Jesus coming in judgment. 

 

John knew what the scriptures said.  John knew that He said that He was going to baptize people with the Holy Ghost and with fire.  Fire means judgment.  John knew that when Christ comes that He would be a Messiah of love and kindness because of what Isaiah said.  When the Messiah comes that the deaf is going to be able to hear, the blind is going to be able see, and the lame is going to be able to walk.  John knew all of that.  He knew what the prophet had said and he has been hearing about what Jesus had been doing.  He was hearing about the blind being healed, the deaf being able to hear, and lame being able to walk.  John had been hearing all of that. 

 

Here he is in prison.  He does not know when he is going to die.  He does not know when the executioner is going to come and kill him.  Now, he is wondering about some things.  The Bible says that he sent two of his disciples down to ask Jesus, "Art thou He that should come or should we look for another?"  John was asking a question.  "Are you the Messiah?  Are you the one that is going to come?  Are you the one that we have been looking for?" 

 

Over the years as we have heard people preach and talk that, John was doubting that this was the Christ.  I do not think that at all.  John was there when he baptized Him.  He was there when the Spirit of God came.  John knew that He was the Lamb of God. 

 

I would to God today that men would do the same thing that John did.  John wanted to make sure that his followers were following the right man.  I would to God that people would make sure that they are following Jesus Christ.  If you are not sure, whom you are following, then you need to find out whom you are following.  There are many people today following the wrong voice, the wrong person.  If we are not following Jesus then we are following the wrong person. 

 

John is asking a question, not doubting, because he knew who He was, but he wanted his disciples to know for sure that this was the Messiah.  John knew that he was going to be going off the scene.  John knew that he was not going to be here to lead these men (lead these disciples), but he wanted to leave them in the hands of Jesus. 

 

Let us point people unto Jesus Christ.  Let us not point them towards a person here on this planet.  Let us not brag up people because people will let us down.  I am glad that Jesus Christ will never let us down.  He will be there through thick and through thin, through good and bad times; Jesus will be there.  When I mess up, He is still yet there.  When I sin, He is still yet God.  That does not change the fact. 

 

The Bible says:

 

7 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?

 

There had been a crowd gathered, and when the disciples of John came and asked the question about, "Are you He that should come or should we look for another?"  Jesus told them, "You go and tell John again the things which you do, hear, and see, that the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised up and the poor has the gospel preached unto them and blessed is he that whosoever shall not be offended in me."  There was a multitude listening to what Jesus had to say.  The Bible says, “that when they had departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes...”  In other words, when the disciples of John, those that John had sent, when they had left the crowd then Jesus began to speak to the multitudes...  He said, "...What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?"  He said that I want to ask you a question and I want you to answer me.  "What went ye out into the wilderness to see?"  He is talking about the time when John started preaching and that whole region went out into the wilderness to see John.  Jesus was asking, "What did you go out into the wilderness to see?  Did you go out there and see a reed shaken with the wind?"

 

Do you know what a reed is?  It is a little weed.  In the Jordan, where John was preaching, in the spring of the year, that whole place would flood and there would be thin weeds that would grow up.  They were tall things that had no strength in them at all.  Every time the wind would blow this way or that way, they would just blow with the wind.  He said, "What went ye out into the wilderness to see?  A reed shaken with the wind?" 

 

They did not see a reed out there when they saw John the Baptist.  They saw an individual that was very steadfast and very strong.  He may have looked like a rugged man, and that He was; but he had one purpose on his mind and that was telling people that the Messiah was coming.  He was not worrying about being popular.  He was not worried about what the crowd said or what they thought.  He simply had one message and that was that Jesus Christ or the Messiah is coming.  That is all he had on his mind.  We have many reeds today on our pulpits.  They get blown this way by the crowd, then they get blown back this way by the crowd.  They get blown all over the place because they don't have a backbone to stand. 

 

We need more John the Baptists.  We need more people to be determined.  We need more people that are settled in what they need to be doing.  We need more people like that. 

 

8 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment?...

 

Did you go out here to see a little man that was weak just like a little reed?  Did you go out there to see someone that was dressed up in street clothes or city clothes? 

 

The Bible says that John had a leather belt about his loin, he had camel's hair about him, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  John did not know anything about Saks Fifth Avenue or the Lazarus store.  He did not know anything about that because the raiment that he had on, he was going to work in.  He had on raiment that would stand the test of where he was at. 

 

Jesus said, "...they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses." 

 

John the Baptist was a rugged individual.  John the Baptist was someone that stood for the truth and was not blown about by every wind of doctrine.  John stood for the truth.  John had a message and he was not going to change his mind. 

 

If I am going to dig a ditch, then I am going to put on work clothes.  If I am going to cut grass, be in the briars hunting then I am not going to wear a pair of linen pants.  You will put on your work clothes because they can stand the test of working.  People that work in welding shops wears one type of clothing.  However, if you are a president or a king then you wear a different type of clothing.  Many times, we see people that are in politics and leadership and they do not have any calices on their hands.  The only thing they do is lift an ink pen or a cup of coffee.  However, a guy that digs a ditch usually has calices all over his hands.  He is a rugged individual. 

 

They were looking for someone that was coming from the king's house.  They were looking for someone that was going to be soft and gentle.  They were looking for someone that knew nothing about calices.  However, they did not see a reed shaken with the wind, or someone that came from the king's house because of the clothes he wore. 

 

9 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.

 

John was a prophet, but he was more than a prophet.  He was preaching and telling people that the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed One was coming and was on the scene.  Not only did he get to do that, but also he told people that this is Him.  This is what Isaiah spoke about a long time ago; 750 years ago.  This is the one of whom Isaiah spoke. 

 

This is the one that when Abraham went on the hill way back yonder and offered his son, this is the one that all of that was pointing.  This is the one that Moses, when he saw the burning bush, was all about.  John told people not only that He was coming, but that He was here. 

 

John was more than a prophet.  He was a great individual.  What made him great was that he stood, preached and taught the Word of God.  He was not worried about popularity.  He was not worried about what people thought.  He simply wanted to please God.

 

Ask yourself a question.  How important is your relationship to God? 

 

For most of us, I am sure it is a top priority.  However, for some of us, I wonder sometimes how important it really is.  It was important to John.

 

10 For this is he , of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.

 

We know that Isaiah said that.  We know that Isaiah 40 says that.  We know that as we read Malachi 3, that he also said that.  John was the fulfillment of what these prophets had said.  The prophets had said that God was going to send a forerunner before Christ to get the people prepared to meet Christ. 

 

Here Jesus is testifying that John who is in prison, that he is the fulfillment of what the prophets said.  In addition, not only was John the fulfillment of what Isaiah said and the other prophets about him being the messenger, him being the runner who was going to prepare the way for the Messiah.  He is also going to say that he was preparing the way for me.  John had a great privilege and a great responsibility because he was doing something that was prophesied many years before. 

 

I wish that we would find a place to pray somewhere and if we are not saved then we need to get saved and when we get saved, we will get on our faces before God and say, "God what do you want me to do." 

 

Every one of us has a job to do.  There are all kinds of work to do but there is a shortage of people working today.  If you do not have anything to do...If you want something to do, it would be a good time to get on your face before Almighty God and say, "Lord, what do you want me to do?"  You need to pray until you hear from yonder's world.  I promise you that God will give you something to do and when He does; then do it.

 

What happens is that God asks us to do something simple, but we do not like to do simple things.  We want to do the big things.  We want to do the things where everybody is going to come around and pat you on the back.  If you are looking for that, you need to be about 250 miles down the road in Tennessee to Nashville, or to Hollywood because if you are looking for somebody to pat you on the back, because of the things that you want to do for the Lord, then you are in it for the wrong reason. 

 

Your ministry, whether it be singing or whatever will never amount to anything if you are more interested in pats on the back than you are in bringing glory to God.  You will never do anything that will bring glory to God.  You may get many pats on the back and you may have people walk by and say that you are the best singer that I ever heard, and you may make all kinds of money doing it, but just because people pats us on the back, does not mean that God is pleased with it.  We need to learn that in the church world today.

 

11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

 

That is a tremendous statement for Jesus to be making about John the Baptist.  When Jesus looks at this crowd and says, "I want to tell you something about John.  Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist..."  Even when you look at Zachariah, Malachi, and Zephaniah, Haggai, Habakkuk and all these other prophets; as great as they were, Jesus looked at them and said, "There has never been a greater than John the Baptist."  He was a man that had a desire simply to do the work and the will of God.

 

...risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

 

That may sound like a contradiction but John had a message, had a knowledge about the Messiah coming and setting the captives free, about a time when He was going to set, rule, and reign with a rod of iron.  When all the countries that were oppressing Israel, were going to be broken down and cast down and a king was going to rule and reign. 

 

That is what John was looking for.  John was a great man.  John knew nothing about the cross.  John preached not one message about the cross that Jesus was going to hang on.  John preached not one message about the resurrection.  He did not know anything about that.  He had a message, about the king coming, a knowledge about the Messiah but that is as far as it went.

 

You and I today, we have a greater knowledge than John the Baptist ever had about God.  We have a greater knowledge today than Abraham ever had about God.  Do you know why?  We have the full Revelation today.  We have the Word of God.  We know about the cross.  We know about Him dying on the cross.  We know about Him going and being raised from the dead.  We know about the Spirit of God coming and indwelling us.  We know about all that.

 

John did not know about none of those things.  That is the Bible.  He did not know.  As far as, knowledge about God, John was great but Jesus makes a statement here:  "...he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."  No, not in character, that is not what He is saying. 

 

We are not any better and God does not pick and choose.  God does not have favorites.  However, our knowledge about God is so much greater than what John ever knew because we know about the cross, the resurrection, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God.  We know about conviction.  We know about sanctification.  We know about Baptism.  John knew nothing about that.

 

Any child that is in the kingdom of Heaven knows more about God than what John did.  If I am saved, living in the Will of God, we know more about God today than John ever did.  That is the Bible. 

 

Abraham was a great individual.  Abraham was justified by faith.  We are saved by Grace through Faith. 

 

Noah was justified before God because he believed God.  He believed God. 

 

When it talks about you and I today, we are being justified by Faith.  We have been declared righteous by amputation.  We have been saved.  God has placed within us His presence and the Holy Spirit of God is a down payment.  He said that we are sealed to the day of redemption.  The Holy Spirit of God is just a down payment of what we are going to be able to see one of these days. 

 

He that is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than John.  Our knowledge , our understanding, our relationship; if I am saved and I am living in the Will of God, the Spirit of God is being active in my life/in your life, whoever that person may be, knows more about God than John ever did.   The privilege that we have and the position that we have is an awesome place simply because God loves us.

 

12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

 

John came preaching.  If you look at Luke 16:16, the law of the prophets were until John but when John came preaching the Bible says that men pressed unto the kingdom of God.  John came preaching, "...the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force." 

 

John suffered violence because of his preaching and so did Jesus Christ.  Just a short time after this, John was going to suffer violence.  Not only that, but John suffered violence and ridicule and different things. 

 

When men today hear the gospel message preached and when they want to get saved they rush towards that.  If an unsaved individual really wants to be saved, they hear the gospel message preached, they rush towards that. 

 

When you read this verse in the Hebrew the word "violence" it brings out the idea of a soldier that is steadfast that is determined to rush a city and take a city; when you and I—when anyone—hears the gospel and they want to get saved they do not worry about anything else.  If you come and get saved it will because you have put everything else away.  You are not going to worry about what people say about you.  You are not going to worry about what your wife or husband is going to say about you.  You are not going to worry about what your classmates say about you.  You have one thing on your mind and that is getting to the place that I can be saved.  That is what this verse is talking about here.

 

When John preached, and Jesus preached people came.  There is a tremendous spiritual lesson in all of that. 

 

13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.

14 And if ye will receive it , this is Elias, which was for to come.

15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

 

One thing I want you to hear is that John was steadfast.  John was not like a reed.  John was not like those that lived in king’s courts that were bent this way and bent that way.  John was very steadfast.  John was singular in his goal.  The message he had was "repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand."  That was his responsibility.  That was what God had called him to do.  

 

What has God asked you to do?

 

What is it in life that God has asked you to do?

 

What is it that you can do?

 

Some can pray.  Some can sing.  Some can preach.  Some go visit.  Some do many different things.  Some do not do anything. 

 

I know how blessed it is that when you are doing what God asked you to do.  I know how happy you can be.  I know how blessed you can be.  Since I know that, I want you to have that. 

 

Just examine your heart.  Most of here knows what God has troubled our heart about doing.  Somewhere along the line, we may have laid it down.  We may have quit and said, "What's the use?" 

 

Let us pick up the cross.  Let us pick up the responsibility that God has asked us to do; the responsibility that He has laid upon us to do and do it with vigor and with a passion like we have never done before. 

 

Jesus Christ is coming.

 

 Back • Up • Next

|  Home |  Pastor  |  Sermons  |  Testimony |  Salvation  |  Sunday School  |  Youth  |  Men  |
|  Ladies  |  Classes  |  Photos  |  Choir  |  History  |  Contacts  |
|  Sign Guestbook  |   View Guestbook   |

EXIT to CalvinEvans.org