Tag Archives: John the Baptist

More Proof, Please!

31 Wednesday Oct 2012

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Why did John the Baptist request for more proof? He asked, “Are you the Expected One, or should we expect another?” This is a puzzling question at face value, coming from John, because of his earlier statements about Jesus.

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29

Then John gave the testimony: I saw the Spirit of God come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. John 1:32

I have seen and testify that He is the Son of God.” John 1:34

 

So why did John ask for further evidence of Christ’s credentials as the Promised Messiah if he was previously convinced? Have you ever had such doubts? Do doubts mean we are not men and women of faith?

Some say John became discouraged while he was languishing in prison and needed assurance. In other words…he was experiencing the blues. Others have postulated that Jesus wasn’t carrying out His ministry the way John envisioned the Messiah should have. John’s mission had the distinct characteristic of judgment, while Jesus’ ministry had the distinction of mercy. Perhaps John was perplexed as to why Jesus ministry didn’t complement his ministry.

  • Why hadn’t Jesus called down the wrath of God on sinners?
  • Why hadn’t the King of Kings dethroned the despots of Roman tyranny?
  • Why hadn’t Jesus abolished the hypocritical religious establishment?

If you look closely at the content of John’s preaching and character of his lifestyle… this could be the reason he was having doubts. Everyone else misunderstood Jesus…so why not John. Thankfully, Jesus had an answer for John and he has an answer for us today as well.

Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.  Luke 7:4-6

 

Why didn’t Jesus just say… “Yes, I am the Messiah. Don’t worry John. Everything is on target.” Jesus didn’t take this approach, but the answer he gave John was even better. Jesus gave John evidence. Jesus gave John the same evidence to prove He was and is the Messiah as we have been given. Jesus reminded John of His mission and how He fulfilled scripture.

Yet still, some won’t believe in Jesus as the one sent from God. They say a skeptic is a person, who, when he sees the handwriting on the wall, claims it’s a forgery. You just have to wonder about some people – they think God is dead and Elvis is alive. The evidences Jesus listed in His answer to John were acts of compassion. It was what John needed to hear and it is what we need to hear some 2000 years later. The miracles of His public ministry were a precursor to His trip to the cross. There He would deal with mankind’s greatest problems – sin and death.

There is one more segment to Christ’s answer. “Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.” (Luke 7:6) The Greek word for “fall away” is “skandalizo”. It literally means “to trip up” or to “stumble“. Jesus is in effect saying to John, “John, don’t stumble over my willingness to heal, forgive, and have compassion on people. There will be a time for judgment, but now is the time for grace.” There are a lot of things we can get offended over in the religious world. People do a lot of crazy things in the name of the Lord. But Jesus Himself is NOT one of those issues we need to get offended over. If there is anything about Jesus’ ministry and life that offends you …change the way you believe.

This passage provides for help to those having doubts. It shows us step by step what to do for those having doubts.

1. Go to Jesus

The first thing John did when in doubt, he sent two disciples straight to talk to Jesus. Jesus didn’t chase them away or discourage them. He took their concerns seriously and gave them the evidence John needed to answer his doubts.

2. Remember The God of Your Youth

After Jesus had performed miracles, He answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see.” This reminds me of Ecclesiastes 12:1 “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth.” Sometimes when we are plagued by doubts, we need to think back to the simple days of our youth. This was a time when we knew and believed that God made the Sun, the moon, and the stars. There is nothing wrong with returning back to a time when faith was simple.

3. Remember Your Salvation and Blessings

When we begin to doubt, we need to remember that we were once like the blind man, we were once walking around in darkness, we were as the leper, we were unclean and dead spiritually.

When you doubt, you need to think back to the day when you as a sinner maybe hooked on alcohol or hooked on drugs, living a life of adultery, living a life with no purpose, full of sin….. But you came to an altar and God Almighty delivered you, and cleansed your soul. Back in those days you had no doubt that there was a God because you felt His presence.

Several years ago a newspaper in Biloxi, Mississippi ran an article about an attempted suicide. A young woman apparently thought her life held no meaning so she jumped off a bridge into the waters of the Mississippi River.

A man nearby saw her jump, and without thinking, jumped in after her. It didn’t occur to him until after he was in the water that he couldn’t swim! Now there were two people in the water facing death. His screams for help and flailing limbs caught the attention of the young woman who pulled the drowning man to safety.

The writer of the newspaper article finished with this thought: “It wasn’t the gentleman who saved that woman’s life that night; it was purpose. No doubt, the man meant well. But what he provided for her was one moment where life offered meaning: the opportunity to save a man’s life. She had a clear purpose and objective… She tapped into the energy that was inside all the time when she finally linked up to a mission.”

Like John the Baptist, like the woman in the river, there will be times in our life when we too forget our purpose and reason for being. It is usually in these dark moments we begin to doubt and question God. If you find yourself in a dark place, return to the Lord and allow Him to restore your life. He loves you.

Blessings,

Pastor

 

Is Jesus Christ Enough?

30 Tuesday Oct 2012

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As a kid, did you ever want something for Christmas so badly, you swore you’d never ask for anything again if you simply received that special gift? Then, when you got what you wanted, you said to yourself, “this is not what I expected.”

As a teenager, you’ve heard so much about the prom or graduating and what it was going to be like. You spent all those years waiting, only to conclude afterward… “This is not what I expected.”

As an adult, you couldn’t wait to get that new car or that home, or even to get married. Then when you finally achieved those goals you thought to yourself, “This is not what I expected.”

Here is the point…. Life is going to be full of situations which are not going to turn out the way we hoped they would. Many times in life we may end up saying… “this is not what I expected.” Not only does this happen to us in the normal flow of life, it occurs in our spiritual lives as well. Anyone who has made a serious commitment to follow God is going to run into situations in which they say, “God, this is not what I expected.”

John the Baptist was sitting in jail one day and began to think these same types of thoughts. “God, this is not what I was expecting to happen to my life. Serving You and introducing the world to Jesus is not what I thought it would be.” Listen to his request.

 John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, 19 he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are You the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” Luke 7:18-19

 

Maybe John thought he would live a long and prosperous life. Even before he was born, an angel had told his father, “He is going to be a great preacher and will lead many back to the Lord.” As the boy grew, he kept hearing the stories about how his father could not speak from the moment he first received news he would have a son.

I am sure people would look at John and say, “One day that boy is going to be somebody. Do you remember his birth?” But even though his father had been a priest, John did not follow his father’s footsteps. Time passed and people had pretty much forgotten John’s so-called miraculous birth and his alleged mission from God. He was in his twenties now, and now when people saw him they would say, “now there’s one life that did not turn out the way I expected.” John was living in the desert, dressed in clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food consisted of locusts and wild honey. All this didn’t sound like the prophecies of old.

BUT, THE DAY CAME –

But then one day, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, the Bible tells us that the word of God came to John in the desert. God must have said, “John, I’ve heard your prayers time and time again, but the time was not ripe. But now it’s time to do what I promised your parents you would do.” It was about 25 years ago that God had made a promise to his parents.

Let me parenthetically say, part of the reason we do not get what we expect from God is because we think in terms of praying today and getting answers tomorrow. When God gives us a word it may take years for it to come to fruition. Our job is to get ready so God can make it happen… not make it happen ourselves.

People came from all around to hear John preach. They would fall on their knees in repentance before God. After repentance, they were baptized by John and his disciples. The size of the crowds kept getting bigger and bigger. John baptized so many people that they started calling him John the Baptist. Nothing like this had ever happened in Israel. Some were thinking John might be the Messiah. John said “No, I’m not the Messiah. Not me!”
One day John the Baptist saw Jesus, and he said, “There He is! This is the lamb of God. He’s the one I was telling you would come after me.” John’s disciples even began to leave him and follow Jesus.

BUT THE DAY WENT –

Even after Jesus began His ministry John continued to preach, but the crowds were getting smaller because the people were following after Jesus. One day, one of John’s disciples was a little upset by this and he told John, “You know teacher, that guy you pointed out as the ‘Lamb of God’, well everybody has started going to Him to be baptized. What are we going to do about this? This is not what we expected to happen.” John said, “I didn’t come to compete with Him. I came to prepare the way for Him. I’m glad. ‘He must increase, and I must decrease.‘”

John kept on preaching. He preached a message one day on marriage and divorce. Herod and Phillip came up in the sermon. John was arrested, thrown in jail, and almost forgotten. After being there for a month, I’m sure John was thinking, “This is not what I expected.” There he sat looking at the cold, damp walls of his prison cell. The first month turned into two, the two into four, and the four into eight. The large crowds he had preached to were only a memory now. He kept hearing reports about what Jesus was doing.

It was in this prison cell John began to have doubts. He just had to know…”Was Jesus the Christ, the Expected One?” John had given his entire life to prepare the way for the Messiah. Now, he was in jail for his efforts. The prophecies didn’t mention jail. The prophecies didn’t mention that John would be forgotten. How could John continue to prepare the way for the Lord if he spent the rest of his life in jail? It was here in this dark place that John had to ask and answer the question every follower of Jesus Christ has to ask and answer… Is Christ Enough?

 

 

Is Christ enough for you? Do you have expectations of the Lord which are not being met? I will address this more in the next few blogs, but suffice it to say, there is nothing wrong with asking these types of questions. If we neglect to address our doubts, they will eventually eat us up from the inside out. John took his doubts to the Lord, Himself. If John took this course of action…so should we. The Lord knows exactly what we need to hear.

There is a story of a philosopher who took a stroll one evening to ponder the meaning of life. With disheveled hair and dressed in ragged clothes, he wandered in the rain through dimly lit streets in a state of deep reflection. The police noticed him and thought he looked suspicious.  They abruptly cornered him and asked, “Who are you?” and “Where are you going?” To which the philosopher replied, “Those are the very questions I’m trying to answer. Can you help me?”

We do not have live like this puzzled and bewildered philosopher. Christ is enough. We only need to go to Him and allow Him to speak to the issues of our life.

Blessings,

Pastor

 

You Might Be A Great Servant… #3 If You Find Your Joy From the Groom’s Joy

18 Tuesday Sep 2012

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I said yesterday once the negotiations have been made and the groom and bride are finally joined… the best man’s job is complete. He steps aside and fades quietly into the background.

This illustration speaks for itself. Have you ever been at or in a wedding and waited for the Bride to make her entrance? Everybody is so excited. Why? You know the couple and are excited… their joy becomes your own personal joy.

I am sure many of you saw the recent Royal Wedding between William and Kate. It took the bride over four minutes to walk down the aisle. WOW. As she arrived near the front, Prince Harry was looking back, smiling in a grand fashion. Then he started whispering to William, getting him excited about his approaching bride. This is part of the best man’s responsibility. He stands beside the groom and shares in his joy.

The groom is joyous because of the bride — she belongs to him! In all weddings the best man stands off to the side once the bride arrives. We need to be like John the Baptist. Our joy needs to be discovered, not in what we receive from Christ, but in what Christ receives from being married to His church. John said, “That joy is mine, and it is now complete.” John wanted people to be drawn to His Lord, not to him personally.

John Brodie, former quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, was once asked why a million dollar football player should have to hold the ball for field goals and extra points after touchdowns. Brodie said, “Well, if I didn’t, it would fall over.” The Church works best when there are enough people who are willing to hold the ball so someone else can kick. These are called great servants. Receiving glory and honor is not their goal. Their joy is found when Christ receives all the glory and honor.

Once we learn our job as best man, Jesus views us as friends, not merely servants. The source of our own personal joy can reveal to us if we have moved from merely being servants of the Lord to being His friend. If our real joy is found in seeing that Christ receives all the honor and glory instead of ourselves, then we are moving to a more intimate level with the Lord.

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. John 15:15

Our friendship with the Master means we’re more than just servants. Jesus lets His friends in on His plans. A great servant and friend is one who recognizes God’s plan at work. John was saying, “I love it when a plan comes together! It’s working… Jesus is front and center! This is my real service!” Are you intimate friends with Jesus? Jesus needs true servants who are willing to lay down everything to become His friends. We are all called to servanthood. Some realize Jesus wants more than servants…He desires everyone to walk the path to become His intimate friend. Let the Master’s joy become your joy today!

Blessings,

Pastor

 

You Might Be a Great Servant If… #1 You Know Your Gifts Are From God!

13 Thursday Sep 2012

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Have you finally arrived at the conclusion that who you are and what you can do is from the Lord? Many of us know this in principle… but has it sunk deep down into your soul and spirit yet?

The Bible doesn’t shirk away from controversy. Listen as a disagreement arose over “ceremonial washings or baptism” in John’s and Jesus’ day.

Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized. (This was before John was put in prison.) An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan–the one you testified about–well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.  John 3:23-26

 

A controversy like this can crush a ministry more quickly than a frontal assault. This is especially true when God is moving and people are being impacted for good. I don’t want to go into the details of ceremonial washings now, but when someone comes in and says…”Your doing it all wrong. You are not doing God’s ministry like others. So-in-so is doing it better up the road and God is blessing. You have lost your crowd to the new guy, Jesus. You are yesterday’s news.” — Your inner man has to be ready to absorb it and you must be comfortable with your calling.

Now in reality, John is supposed to lose his following to Jesus. But what does this kind of talk do to some people, especially those who are new and a little weak in their faith? I have seen many new believers stumble and fall, not because of being attacked by a non-believer, but because another believer questioned some aspect of their new faith. It is true… “The Christian army is the only army which shoots its own wounded.”

These types of controversies didn’t derail John the Baptist. In fact, it only served to reveal his true character. He was a servant. From these last few words of John we can learn what it means to be a great servant of the Lord. John’s reply was simple… “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven…” (John 3:27) John wasn’t personally threatened when others succeeded, because it wasn’t his ministry in the first place.

One of the stages every believer must eventually arrive is to realize their gifts and abilities are not given for their own personal fulfillment, but are given for God’s uses and purposes. Knowing this keeps the focus upon the Lord and not on the believer. It keeps you from becoming proud of yourself, because you realize that anything you’re able to do, any good that comes from your effort, is really God’s doing. Like John, you aren’t threatened when someone else begins to receive recognition. You can be at peace if God sees fit to remove your ministry, change your ministry. or even change you. You’re at His disposal. It is true “the gifts and calling of God are without repentance;” but ministry and placement can change many times, if you are listening to the Lord. I have had to learn this lesson several times, because I wanted my ministry to go and flow a certain direction.

The Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century postulated that the earth was the center of the universe. This meant the earth was still and the other planets orbited and rotated around it. All this made sense, and people believed it for over 1400 years. It wasn’t until the 16th century that Copernicus began to question the status quo. In his mind the old model just didn’t work. Copernicus figured out that not only did the earth itself rotate, but it also revolved around the sun.

Scandal! Heretic! Unbeliever! The world must revolve around us personally. This was hard for people to accept. Galileo came along advocating for these same lines of thought. The church promptly kicked him out and the state put him under house arrest. Both Copernicus and Galileo pointed to the sun and said “the center of the universe.” It took a long time for people to accept their personal world was not the center of the universe.

Max Lucado, in his book It’s Not About Me, writes, “What Copernicus did for the earth, God does for our souls. Tapping the collective shoulder of humanity, He points to the Son – His Son – and says “Behold the center of it all.”

Here is the point… God does not exist to make a big deal out of us. We exist to make a big deal out of Him. Is the Lord the center of your universe today?

Blessings,

Pastor

 

How God Creates a Man or Woman He Can Use (Part 3) Prophetic Utterances Hovers Over Them

03 Friday Aug 2012

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Even before a great leader, prophet, man or woman of God is raised up… God uses the voices of the previous generations to prophetically speak to the future generation. This is why it is always important to speak and pray back to God the words He gives you. It is the job of each generation to speak God’s words of destiny to the next generation. I think this has been one of the failures of my generation. We have been so intent on building kingdoms for ourselves, we have neglected to speak into and bless the next generation. Our spiritual myopathy has not allowed us to view life in a generational way. This is why large ministries and mega churches struggle to pass the baton to the next generation.

Listen to the words of Gabriel as he prophetically speaks into John the Baptist’s life.  Where are the prophets and leaders prior in John’s generation. These words are important because John is going to need these utterances later in life.

 

13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zachariah, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John. 14 You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. 17 It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Luke 1:13-17

 
This prophecy about John is mentioned several times in the Old Testament and now in the New. Jesus also had many prophetic utterances about His life. The question is WHY? These words are prophetically spoken so God’s man or God’s woman will know their purpose and destiny.

 

“There is a difference between knowing the good news and being the good news.” Dieter Zander

 

 

There are many good and faithful believers who understand scripture and can teach it effectively. We need these folks. But there is a difference in a believer, when the Lord or someone spiritual speaks prophetically about their future and destiny. Prophetically spoken words become their spark plug. Then they not only present the good news, they become the good news of the Lord. There is a difference between knowing and being. This is why Jesus said of John, “If you care to accept it, he himself is Elijah, who was to come.” Wow! How could John be Elijah? The prophetic word was so formed in him, he became Elijah to his generation.

We need Elijahs, Johns, and of course Jesus, in our generation. Listen, don’t wait around for someone to come along to speak into your life. Ask the Lord Himself to speak prophetically to you. God is not short on words. His words have not all been consumed by other men and women. The Lord’s words will hover over you for the rest of your life. God’s words will spark and propel you forward when nothing else will.

When I was seventeen years old, I was a green believer. I didn’t know much about scripture or the things of God…But I loved the Lord. One day, out-of-the-blue, the Lord called me into the ministry. On this occasion, I heard clearly the words… “preach and preacher.” I have heard it numerous times since. At the time, I really didn’t know what to make of it, except this was my calling. In the beginning I was an awful speaker. Like Moses, I thought the Lord could have chosen someone more eloquent for the task, but He didn’t. I have since learned this truth… I am what the Lord says I am. If He says I am a preacher, then I am a preacher. I am what He says I am. You are what God says you are. You will become what He says you will become. It really makes no difference what the circumstances or conditions in your life are like. If God speaks it, it will come to pass. If God speaks something into your life, it is your job to walk it out. Today, become what God speaks. You will change the world.

 

Blessings,

Pastor, but really a Preacher!

 

How God Creates a Man or Woman He Can Use (Part 2) He Allows a Life and Death Struggle Exhibiting His Providence

02 Thursday Aug 2012

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This issue blows my mind. Why would God allow threats to wipe out His plans? Yet, this is the Lord’s modus operandi. Little Moses was sent down the Nile in a homemade boat constructed by his parents. Can you imagine the Lord putting the next great spiritual leader under such peril? Samuel’s mother, Hannah, almost didn’t conceive him. It was only through ardent prayer she prevailed. Think about it, the next prophet or great leader might not even be born if the mother succumbs to discouragement, depression, and stops praying. John the Baptist faced a similar situation. His faithful parents kept at it and ultimately believed the angel’s word to them. King Herod tried to wipe-out all males born in and around Bethlehem when Jesus was born. A dream told Joseph to flee to Egypt. God allowed his very own Son’s life to be threatened. The question is….WHY?
We are given some insight in the birth narrative of John the Baptist. After he was born and dedicated to the Lord, his extended family, friends, and community were amazed. Listen to the words of Luke.

57 Now the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her.
59 And it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zachariah, after his father. 60 But his mother answered and said, “No indeed; but he shall be called John.” 61 And they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by that name.” 62 And they made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. 63 And he asked for a tablet and wrote as follows, “His name is John.” And they were all astonished. 64 And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God. 65 Fear came on all those living around them; and all these matters were being talked about in all the hill country of Judea. 66 All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this child turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was certainly with him. Luke 1:57-66

 

When God’s plan faces total annihilation but prevails, it is sign to everyone that the “hand of the Lord” is certainly upon these men and women of God. Martin Luther, John Wesley, and numerous others almost passed away before they were used of the Lord.  Are you one of these people who has faced death only to be preserved by the hand of the Lord? This is providence. There is destiny in your future. Don’t waste your sorrows. Don’t waste the opportunity which has been afforded you. It is time to seek the Lord and discover exactly your purpose, destiny, and future. The Lord is not trying to keep this information from you. He is desperately trying to get you to understand why you have been left here on earth, when so many others are still asleep.

 
Blessings,

Pastor