(John 1:26)
�John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, who ye know not.�
Now we begin to come to the twofold purpose of the ministry of John. He was sent to baptize men unto repentance. And, he was sent to tell of the Messiah Who would shortly come.
In the first part of the ministry of John the Baptist, his baptism, he submitted himself to Christ. If you�ll look back in the third chapter of the Book of Matthew you will find this dialogue between John and Jesus:
�Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee. and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him.� (Matthew 3:13-15)
There are actually a couple of things to be garnered from the passage in Matthew in regards to the ministry of John�s baptism. The first of these is to show the intent of the person being baptized to live a holy life.
When John saw Jesus approach, John said, �You have no need to be baptized. I have a need to be baptized by You.� John realized his place in God�s economy. But, the reply of Jesus was that, �...it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.� Jesus was, of course, righteous. Jesus still submitted to the ordinance of baptism so that others might see His adherence to the Law and follow His righteous example.
That says something to us, today, about our need to live righteously before all men. Paul, in the eighth chapter of I Corinthians considered this principle. Paul was talking about meat offered to idols when he said, �Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.� (I Corinthians 8:13)
The meat which had been offered to idols was often sold on the street. Paul noted that the idol was nothing (see I Corinthians 8:4) and could not �taint� the meat. The idol was powerless to affect the meat offered to it even as that idol was powerless to consume the meat. The idol was just a piece of wood or stone. It was nothing.
Still, Paul realized that some people might consider that using this meat, so offered, would be considered by some to make the users of it as giving a credence to the idol. Thus, the testimony to the true God would be compromised. Paul, basically, said, �There�s nothing wrong with this meat. But, for others sake, keep away from it.�
The baptism of John was a symbol of repentance, or of the desire to live a holy life. It was only a symbol. Still, Jesus submitted to this symbolism so that others might see Him being true to the Word of God. They would then be influenced to follow in His example of holiness.
So ought we to live in holiness before other people. It is not that our holiness has any power to effect our, or anyone else�s, salvation. It is that our life, so lived, gives evidence to others that we have been with the Master. We show that He has demonstrated power in our own lives. It shows that His power can also effect their lives for good.
The passage in Matthew also shows our need to work for God even when our power is limited. We all realize, or should realize, our limitations. We are a wicked and profane people when we compare ourselves with the glory and holiness of our Lord. Still we realize that we have been given a commission, from the Lord, to handle the holy things of this dispensation.
In the tenth chapter of the Book of Acts we read the story of a man named Cornelius. Cornelius had prayed for the leading of God. God sent an angel to Cornelius. It always struck me as strange that this angel did not tell Cornelius the way of salvation. Surely he knew the Gospel story of the death and resurrection of Jesus; but, he remained silent as to those facts. The angel, instead, instructed Cornelius to send for Peter to give the message of the way of salvation.
The reason for this is that the Great Commission was given to those of us who have been born again. We are responsible for relating the story of salvation to mankind. May we never shirk our duty to both God and man!
John may have been hesitant to baptize Jesus. But, John was never loath to speak of the coming Savior!
Notice that John, here again, spoke a word. �John answered them, saying...�
This ministry of John was a vocal ministry.
All of us are called to live a holy life before men. Some of us consider this as our complete duty to God. It isn�t! Romans 10:14-15 tells us:
�How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!�
Do you know to whom the Great Commission was given? It was given to the disciples of Jesus. Do you know who are the disciples of Jesus. Another word for disciple is follower. Are you a follower of Jesus? If so, you are a disciple! The Great Commission was given to you. Consider yourself as �sent� to preach the gospel.
The twelve were apostles. They were also disciples in that they followed the way of Jesus. All Christians are, we would note, disciples.
Preaching is a vocal gift from God. It is not, necessarily, a pulpit ministry. It is simply the giving forth of the message that God wants the world to hear. We know that God wants to save sinners. We know that mankind cannot be saved without Jesus. Therefore, men and women need to hear the message that Jesus Christ died in time so that we might live in eternity.
It is the charge of every single Christian to get out that message. This is where our vocal ministries engage. We don�t have to make great speeches. We only need to make mention that Jesus is important in our own lives. This can be as easy as leaving a gospel tract behind in a coin laundry where we do our weekly wash. It can be as involved as talking to people in depth about the need of their souls. God will lead each of us into that for which He has prepared our heart.
May I insert, at this point, that we ought always to do that for which God has prepared our heart. To �button hole� someone, when God has told us to leave a gospel tract, is as wrong as it is to simply leave a tract when God has told us to speak. Do what God has given you to do, not what He has given another as a task.
But, do!
Rest assured that God has given you a ministry. Be it intercessory prayer, friendship evangelism, tract distribution, whatever.... God�s task assigned to you is your, to put it in military terms, lawful order.
A military mechanic is not to stand guard duty unless ordered to do so. If he were to be out of service doing something else, who would prepare the vehicles for duty. Neither is a person placed on guard duty to spend his time tinkering in the motor pool. If he did, who would guard the base against infiltrators?
John also had a vibrant ministry. He worked at that to which God had called him. A preacher of a church is not in the ministry if he spends all his time watching T.V. and reading the newspaper. These things can be good as they would give �flavor� to his message. But, unless he is engaged in the things of God he is not doing his own duty to his God.
This is true no matter how well he preachers, or how often he preaches. Two Sunday services, a Wednesday night service, and meetings every other day of the week are no substitute for time spent on personal work in the service of the Lord!
We need to be active in the things of God. By �we� I don�t mean just those involved in a �professional� ministry. I mean every single Christian. We need to be engaged in reading His Word. We need to be engaged in prayer. We need to be engaged in considering the progression of the Gospel in all that we do.
We need those things to prepare us to be ready when the Lord �calls us up� to active duty in His work! We may not, again following the military analogy, be called to a �fire fight�; we may be called to support. We will be called upon to do that which God has for us to do when we are in His will. We are kept more closely in His will when we are active in the �drill� of Scripture and prayer.
These things are needful!
Notice, also, that John had a victorious ministry. Some would argue this point as they consider that John was beheaded by Herod. But, consider what it is that John accomplished. He accomplished those things which God had given him to do.
No man can do more!
As for the beheading of John because of his stand for the message and morals of God, I heard a minister say, �No man can scare me with Heaven!� To be brought into the full spiritual presence of the God of the Universe is not an evil thing. When God calls us home, that is a Promotion to Glory!
Christians do not �lose� the fight with the �grim reaper.� We are welcomed to our reward by the hand of the Savior!
Look and see that John worked a work. �...I baptize with water...�
Notice that John worked with what he was given as his mission. I am not called to preach to millions of people in outdoor stadiums. I am called to speak to a few, as God gives the leading.
I am not called to teach the mysteries of the Word of God to a group of college students. I am called to open the Scripture to those who would read what it is that I do teach.
I am not called to great mission fields. I am called to be available to those who are thus called.
Simply put, I do what God has given me to do. To do otherwise is to be out of His will.
That was also the position of John. John was to baptize people with the baptism of repentance. John was to point people to the coming Savior. John was not to die on a cross for the salvation of men. It was not possible that he do so. That was to be the work of the Savior that was to come.
Find what God has given for you to do and do that. To do something else is to be out of His will!
John also waited upon marching orders from the Lord.
There was an article in our local paper a few days ago. It seems that one of our local policewomen is in the National Guard. She has received orders that she is being called up to active duty. She said something to the effect of, �I don�t know yet what I�m going to do. I�m just waiting for my final orders.�
Now, that is the attitude of a good soldier.
In 1965 I entered into my first semester at a Bible College. In 1970 I entered into my first pastorate. could I have entered into the pastorate in 1965. Of course. There are hundreds of pastors, probably much more, who have labored for the Lord with great success who never sat in a college class room.
That was not the instruction of God for me.
At one point I was on a list for a selection committee for a new pastor in another church. They showed great wisdom and choose someone else! That was the will of God.
I know another man who was, in his younger days, the youth group leader at his local church. He never did enter into a pulpit ministry. Was he in the will of God by doing what he did? Well, I can name several young men who were members of his youth group. These are in �full time� gospel work today.
This man, the youth group leader, worked at his secular job during the week. On the weekend he worked with �his� youth group. He was under the spiritual tutelage of several pastors during this time. That did not keep him from doing a wonderful work for the Lord.
Do you see my point? Obedience to the leading of God is more important than our deciding what it is we think we should do. We need to follow the leading of God. He will place each of us, as we yield our obedience to Him, where we are most needed in His work.
As John was obedient to the leading of God, he watched God�s results through his obedience to God�s Word.
That is what we all need in this day. We need to be true to the truth of the preserved written Word of God even as we obey the Living Word of God speaking to us through that Word.
John also awaited a wonder. �...but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not.�
Did you notice that Jesus was already on the scene. Jesus was only a few months younger, in the natural, than was John the Baptist. But, Jesus delayed His Own ministry until His time had come.
God always does things in His Own time.
I have a cataract on my right eye. I am under the VA health care system. They have said that they will take it out in July of this year. That seems a long time to me. Still, that is the schedule which they have given.
Now, on the plus side, the operation will be free! Good price! I am very happy to wait for their schedule.
God even held back the coming into the world of Jesus. �But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.� (Galatians 4:4) But, notice that His time was the right time. Roads had been built by the Roman Empire. Peace was kept by the armies of Rome. Most of the world was conversant in the Greek language. The fulness of time was the time, among all of history, when the message of sin and salvation would be most easily carried about the world.
Let us never be anxious to move more quickly than God has ordained. First, we need to be obedient to His will. Wait when He says, �Wait.� But, we also need to trust Him. His time is the right time.
Let us be anxious to do His work. Let us be even more anxious to remain in His will. Without moving in He power, we will fail. Moving at His time, with His power upon our obedience, we can not but prosper spiritually!
Jesus was soon to be available.
To us, Jesus is now available. Salvation from your sin awaits only a conversation with the Master.
Notice that, although John was preaching a baptism of repentance, he recognized that salvation was not in the water.
There are some who would preach that we need to be �baptized into salvation.� What do you consider the apostle Paul would say about this? Paul was ever vigilant to spread the Gospel message. Paul�s life was spent bringing people to Jesus. He was ardent in his pleading for souls to respond to the Master. Yet, Paul once said, �I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius.� (I Corinthians 1:14)
Can you really believe that Paul would have been happy to have only baptized two men if salvation were to be found in the waters of baptism? Of course not.
John was leading people to Jesus. He realized that his baptism was only a signpost along the road.
The stand of John was to lead to the Savior. John wanted people to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior.
So do we!
Have you accepted Jesus? Have you had your sins forgiven?
If you have never done so, accept Jesus right now. Ask Him to take your sins and make you a new creature fit for the kingdom of Heaven.
Do it today!