John 1:6
�There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.�
The text verse this week marks sort of parenthesis in the chapter. The narrative had been speaking of Jesus as the Word, but now moves to a short discussion of John the Baptist. Shortly after this verse John, the apostle, again picks up the story of Jesus.
This insertion, or parenthesis, is a natural progression in the time-line. Jesus� Person and work in eternity past has been discussed. The truth of His deity has been shown.
Now comes a citation about John the Baptist.
Malachi 3:1 records a familiar prophecy. �Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord who ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.�
John was that one who should come as a forerunner to the Christ.
In Matthew, chapter seventeen, we see Jesus and the disciples discussing those prophecies of Malachi concerning this forerunner. Jesus told His disciples that Elijah, the forerunner prophesied in Malachi 4:5, was personified by John.
Some have confused these verses to suppose that the Scripture teaches reincarnation. That is not the case. Hebrews 9:27 very clearly tells us, �And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.� Elijah was one of two persons in Scripture to be translated directly into Heaven. (see II Kings 2:11) Elijah did not taste death upon this earth. The other person was Enoch. (see Genesis 5:21-22) Comparing these happenings with Hebrews 9:27, one is drawn to chapter eleven of Revelation where two witnesses are described with supernatural power and results during the Great Tribulation.
Many will disagree with me, and I may be way off base, but I believe that the two witnesses of Revelation are to be Elijah and Enoch. It is appointed unto men once to die and these two have not yet died. I believe that they will suffer physical death through martyrdom (and supernatural resurrection) during this time of tribulation.
Since John the Baptist died (�...once to die...�) during the ministry of Jesus I do not believe that he was the physical restoration of Elijah. Jesus was pointing out the dual nature of the Malachi prophesies. This was something that was missed by many of the contemporaries of the physical Jesus here on earth. Most of the people were looking for a restoration of the Kingdom in connection with the coming of the Messiah.
Some may argue, �But what about Lazarus, for example, and the others who were resurrected from the dead through the ministry of Jesus?� Could not the Elijah/John connection fit in with these? No. In all the examples suggested, those people who were resurrected by the power of God were resurrected in their own physical bodies. In the first chapter of Luke we are told of the conception and birth of John the Baptist. This was a supernatural event in that his parents were elderly; but, this was a purely physical event in every other sense. John the Baptist had his own body which fell under the Hebrews 9:27 code. His was not the physical body of Elijah.
Also, in Scripture we are looking at two appearances of the Messiah upon the earth. The first time He came physically - as a ransom for our sin. The second time He will also come physically. But this second time He will come in the glory that is rightfully His as deity. At that point He will reestablish a physical kingdom on earth as He assumes the Throne of David according to the prophets.
The forerunner in His first coming was also a physical man. John the Baptist was so physical that Herod killed him by decapitation.
The second forerunner will also be physical. But, he will be supernaturally human as his resurrection from the death of martyrdom will show. Two different comings of Jesus. Two different circumstances. Two different men as forerunners.
Having spent so much time talking about John the Baptist, I am now going to ignore him for the rest of this sermon. I want to take this verse and look at a couple other servants of God and see how they grew throughout their service to him.
First, �There was a man...� Let us take a look at the persons which God empowered. Someone has said that there are no great men of God. There are only men of the Great God. We will see that truth in the lives of the three men I want to look at this morning.
But, before I begin that, I�d like the preachers who might be reading this sermon to consider something. As we stand before our congregations we assume the Biblical office of prophet unto those people. We are entrusted with the Oracles of God as we open the Scriptures unto the people of God.
Now, don�t take more into that statement than is there. We are not anything special. Not in any way! It is that office which we presume to assume when first we step into the pulpit. Therefore,
�I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.� (Romans 12:1-2)
This passage, of course, is written to all Christians. But, does not that simple fact make it even more important in the life of the pastor?
Stepping in the pulpit of a church is a sacred event. It is not a duty. It is not a job. It is not a profession. It definitely is not a �power trip.� It is accepting the responsibility to accept the leading of God. This does not cover just our thirty minutes each Sunday morning. This covers our study time, our leisure time, our family time, our private time, our devotional time, our whole life. The prophet was not a prophet only when he was prophesying.
Whether your church �work� entails only an hour each Sunday morning, or your church is open twenty-four hours a day seven days a week, your duty to those people who God has placed under your ministry extends even more than that. Our responsibility is to always live the life of a committed and consecrated Christian before the people of God - and behind their backs!
Read the thirteenth chapter of Hebrews and you will find a phrase concerning the pastor in verse 17. �...they must give account...�
Don�t ever enter the pulpit to exhibit your oratorical or rhetorical skills. Don�t consider the pulpit as an �off Broadway� chance to gain the adoration of men. Don�t look upon a chance to be a preacher as a means of earning your daily bread. Consider your position before God as did Isaiah in Isaiah, chapter six. Consider your position as so holy that you would not even consider it were it not given as a direct order from the Holy God of the Universe. Consider yourself as unworthy to step into public with the Words of the Holy Scriptures - because you are! Consider, as did Martin Luther concerning his realization of the doctrine of grace, that you stand, �Because I can do no other.�
Even then you, and I, do not have the right to stand in the pulpit of God, Almighty. We have only the responsibility!
Consider people like Jonah. I have often said that I consider Jonah to be my �Patron Saint.� Now, I do say that in jest. If you�ve not read the Book of Jonah, do so. It is a short Book of only four chapters. In this Book we find a man who just never got around to agreeing with God.
At the first, Jonah was so in disagreement with God that he ran from the leading which God had given him. Joe Louis, the great former heavyweight champion of boxing, once said of an opponent - when told that this man was too fast and would outbox him, �He can run. But, he can�t hide.�
We can run from the presence of God. But, we can�t hide. Somewhere, sometime, somehow, a great fish is going to swallow us up in our prideful disobedience. Our reactions will tell the tale of our love of God. We will either be digested by the acid of our surroundings, or we will become unpalatable to the world of sin.
In the belly of that great fish Jonah decided that he would rather have the leading of God than the right to choose his own path. Jonah showed one of the greatest faith decision I have every seen in history: He decided to follow God even when he didn�t agree with that leading.
That is faith. To be able to say, �God, I just don�t think this is a very good idea. I think it�s a wrong idea. But, if you say so...� That is trust.
And then there was Moses.
You may recall this great man on the backside of the desert. As he stood before the bush which burned but was not consumed by the fire, as he stood in the presence of God, as he was given the call to enter into his great work, Moses uttered those words which have inspired so many down the ages: �Lord, here am I. I have this brother named Aaron...�
We often preach about the meekness and humbleness of Moses. We use this incident as an illustration. But, is that really what this occurrence shows about Moses? I suspect that, at this time, had Moses been a modern day preacher praying, �Hide me behind the cross.�, he would have added the phrase, �So they can�t hit me with their rocks!�
Moses may well have been �slow to speak,� as he protested to God. But, consider just why Moses was tending sheep on this mountain instead of lounging in the palace of Egypt. He had fled from Egypt when he had killed an Egyptian overseer of the Jewish slaves.
Do you think it is at all possible that Moses was just a little worried that returning to Egypt might not be the best life decision he could make? I do.
Moses did not, as would Jonah, disagree with the purpose of God. I would gather that he heartily agreed! But, he did not believe that he was the person to fulfill that purpose. He probably wouldn�t have really minded; but circumstances just made it impossible for him to go.
Do any of us have that same sort of fear? Do we think, I�d like to do what God has in mind. But, there is just no way that I can do this. What does the power of God have to say about our fear of the future? When the �rubber meets the road,� what do we believe - in our heart of hearts - that His power can really do?
And then there is Peter. Peter the impetuous. He would defend Jesus to the death. Just ask him! Peter was a lot like me when I was younger: a lot of talk, a lot of kinetic action. But, very little results. The difference between the two of us may be the fact that Peter matured and I just got older. O.K.; one of the differences!
I had this self image that I could do anything. I would guess that this is a common mistake of youth. And, I was about as common as one could get.
Peter�s first brush with gaining maturity may have been shortly after the arrest of Jesus. Why did Peter go to that interrogation hall? Looking at the picture of Peter we get in the New Testament, I would surmise that Peter�s intent, at least when he began the walk to that mock trial, came from too many television shows. �After all,� Peter might have reasoned, �I saw James Bond do it in a movie on channel 26. I can go rescue Jesus.�
O. K. Maybe not exactly those words. But, I would hazzard a guess that something like that was in the mind of Peter as he set off to walk to that place where Jesus, the Rightful Judge of the world, stood before the judgment bar of wicked men.
Then Peter arrived. He noticed that there were a whole lot of other swords at that place. And, each of these swords was attached to a soldier. A whole lot of soldiers.
Then came the questions. �Weren�t you one of those with this man?� �Aren�t you a follower of Jesus?� �You sure sound like one of those Christian types.�
Peter found that �Real Life� is very different from �Reel Life.� I would not argue that he was a coward. I don�t know that I would ever find the bravery to even go as far as did he. Peter did, however, succumb to the reality of the situation. He denied his Lord and skulked off in revulsion of his denial. He wept bitter tears that he had not stood up for his Lord.
At least Peter had a reason to deny Christ. Had he not done so there may well have been four crosses on Golgotha that day. What are the reasons that we deny our Lord? Fear of what someone might say about us is the most often felt in our hearts. Maybe we just don�t feel that we are qualified - even though the only qualification is to trust Jesus to use what we give Him.
Remember Jesus feeding those thousands on the hill side? How much food was brought to Him to perform that miracle? He used what was provided; and, he used this in a mighty way. It could be the same with us if we would �present our bodies� to him.
Very rarely is real persecution the cause of our real trepidation.
Second, in this verse, we see the man who was �...sent from God...� Did you ever hear someone called a �powerful preacher?� If they really are so, the power comes from God.
Consider what the power of God produced in these three men.
Jonah�s preaching resulted in a great revival of repentance. Jonah was not even looking for this; he was just acquiescing to the will of God. Jonah actually became quite upset with God for accepting the repentance of the people of Nineveh.
The Book of Jonah is one of the hardest Books in the entire Scripture, at least for me, to understand. How did an unwilling servant produce such great results. There is much in this Book to be considered. This Book deals with race relations, service to God, the relationship of the devout to the leading of God, and more.
The main thing I find in this Book, however, is the overriding power of the purposes of God. He is in charge! God can use anyone He chooses. Our sole responsibility is to be available when He gives the order to march.
I have mentioned this before, I missed the airplane back to the U.S. when I left the Viet Nam war. The army saw no humor in this at all. The army, as a matter of fact, gets very upset when one is not where one is told to be when he is told to be there! The army didn�t care one iota whether or not I supported the war effort. The army didn�t care at all whether or not I agreed with the conduct of the conflict. The army did care, a whole lot, that I was at my duty station when they told me to be there.
The Book of Jonah teaches us that God highly prizes our obedience. It is always good to be in agreement with the Lord. But, the important thing is that we be in obedience. We may not always understand the reasons, but a true faith in God will allow us to be faithful in all that he has asked that we do.
In Moses we find a man who was committed to trust in the leading of the Lord. Once he had accepted the concept of the power of God, he had no arguments with his assignment.
Preachers are a strange breed. We commit ourselves to the people and work of our churches - until a larger church issues us a �call.� Did you ever notice how few preachers are �called� to a smaller church? The fact is, however, that as we continue to grow in the Lord, and follow His leading, God will tend to give us more responsibility than we have seen previously. In the healthy spiritual life of the pastor there should be a progression. It may not be a geographical progression; but, there will be a progression. New �problems,� and trials will strengthen our spiritual muscles and allow us to further show the grace of God to the people of God.
Moses went. God did allow Aaron to accompany Moses as he marched forward in the service of God. Sometimes God works with us in that way. He allows us that which we think we need. He is a gracious God to those whom He calls and who trust in Him.
Moses felt the hand of God move upon his mission. At, at the least, one point the people of Israel told Moses that they really weren�t interested in his leadership. Things had been bad before; but, now the he had come along, they had become worse. (see Exodus, chapter five)
Sometimes the world fights back as we try to move forward in the work of the Lord. (Sometimes?) What was the reaction to Moses when this happened? �And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.� (Exodus 5:22-23)
The first thing Moses did was to take the problem to the Lord. He explained the problem to the Lord. God already, of course, knew the events. He wanted Moses to realize that the walk they were to embark upon was not an easy task. There were hardships on the way. Yet, there was glory at the end of the path. Moses, in adversity, continued to commune with God.
Moses trusted God to the extent that he continued to pray for the people and follow the will of God.
What happened from this leadership and trust was a freedom from bondage for the people of God. They were allowed to walk away from the bonds of slavery.
The story of the people of Israel was a story of salvation. At first they didn�t want to go. The soul under conviction may well fight that conviction. It is hard for many people to �walk the sawdust trail.� Even with the convicting power of God upon their soul, many people find it hard to accept the reality that salvation comes through simple faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
After this freedom from bondage, Moses led the people to Sinai. There God gave that great code of the Ten Commandments and the various Laws of the Written Word.
A new Christian should also be led into the Word of God. We may be saved on the basis of faith, not knowing much else about the Bible or Jesus; but we should then be taught the Written Word. Teaching doctrine is part of the Great Commission. The Book of Matthew ends with this verse, �Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.� (Matthew 28:20)
Some time after Moses, and the prophets, had given the Written Word of God, the Living Word of God came into the world.
The purpose of teaching doctrine to the new Christian is that he may learn more about Jesus. This learning will make the Savior more real in the life of the Christian. He will then be led to take the story of Jesus out into the world.
With the teaching, and preaching, about the Living Word will come the result that even more persons will come to a saving knowledge of the Lord. That will result in freedom from bondage to sin.
The cycle of salvation will never be complete; it will �roll on� like the wheel of an automobile! That is the plan of God.
Moses saw the beginning of this cycle because he was yielded to the will of God.
Peter became one of the stalwart defenders, and more importantly propagators, of the Christian faith into the world. If you will read the tenth chapter of Acts you will find the story of Peter being the first of the Apostles to take the Gospel message to the Gentiles.
Peter, who had once departed in tears and defeat from the presence of Jesus, was greatly used and honored by that same Lord because he gave his life to give forth the Message of that Lord.
These persons who accepted the power of God also retained the personalities of who they were. They were not marionettes who were connected to the holy strings of a celestial Puppet Master.
Jonah, for instance, seemed to have never gotten over his predilection to disagree with God. He continued to argue. But, notice, in that argument he continued to commune with God.
We have friends like in the natural - the arguing part.. Some of us are like that. When I was young I wanted to be fiery young preacher; instead I became a cantankerous old man! With some of us that is just our personality. We tend to moan and groan about everything.
Now, is that the proper way to approach God? Of course not! We should approach God in thankfulness and joy at the privilege of being able to commune with Him. I think part of the story of Jonah is that God loves us in spite of ourselves. We have nothing within us to elicit the love of God. We are sinful and profane people. We stand as sinful beings in the presence of the Holy God.
I had some baseball caps made for our ministry a few years ago. At the time there was a popular fad among many to wear jewelry which read �WWJD.� This stood for �What Would Jesus Do?�. I had these caps made with the letters �WDJD� upon them: �What Did Jesus Do?�.
Under this, I put �Romans 5:6.� This verse says, �For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.� Isn�t that a precious verse? Isn�t that one of the most precious verses in the Scripture!
What of Moses?
There was a time when he struck a rock to get water for the people. Now, this had been his instructions at another time. He had seen the power of God. Read about this later incident in Numbers 20:7-12.
�And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand: and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.
Did you notice what Moses did that was wrong? Actually I find three things wrong here.
First, and most importantly, Moses disobeyed the leading of God. God said, �Speak ye unto the rock.� Moses did not. Moses disregarded the commands of God and did what he felt right. The reason why Moses felt that this was right is shown in his attitude toward the people.
Moses chided the people. Now, there is a time for this. But it had better be God�s time and not our own! Too many preachers spend too much time finding fault in people. These preachers say they are fulfilling the Biblical office of prophet in that they point out the sins of the people. They forget that the purpose of the prophet�s message was to bring the Word of God to the people.
Most of the time people need to be shown the love of God rather than the wrath of the preacher. Moses� anger got in the way of his mission.
Finally, Moses took credit for the work of God. Verse ten, �...Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you forth water out of this rock?� �Excuse me, Moses, who is it that is getting the water from this rock?�
This may seem like such a small sin to us. We�re used to much bigger ones - in other people, of course.
But, consider just what was involved here. There was anger toward the people of God. And, this anger was on a personal level. We ought never to be angry with the people of our congregations. We can be heart-sick about their sins. We can be grieved about the shortcomings of them. We can even be in solid disagreement with some of (sometimes, all of) their choices. But, anger?
Our purpose is to show the leading of God, not the backside of our hands! Jesus never compromised the holiness of His message to men. He also never displayed an anger toward them which would have driven them away. Winning an argument is not the same thing as winning a soul!
Moses also added to the Message of God. My wife and I once sat in a service where the evangelist had a wife who was quite accomplished at opera. He spent an inordinate amount of time explaining why the only truly spiritual music was opera. I don�t care what type of music you care to mention, from the gospel of Ira Stanky to the metal of the Rolling Stones, it was unGodly unless it was opera.
We need to stick to the Message of God. Romans 1:16 says, �For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation...� We need the power of God not the constraints of culture. Culture changes. The Word of God does not change.
Moses also took credit for the Work of God. Charles Simpson, a noted charismatic teacher, once told a story. He said that he had been praying for revival when he felt God impressing upon him, �I�ll send a revival. Would you mind if I send it via the church down the street rather than through your church?�
The point he was making was that we need to be more interested in seeing God work in the hearts of men than we do in seeing our own selves lifted up. We do not have a ministry; we have a mission. God is the Commander of the Army of the Redeemed. We are only His foot soldiers. We should strive to be the best soldier of the Cross that we can possibly be; but, we must never lose sight of the fact that we are not irreplaceable.
We have a need to be tireless; but, never have a reason to be boastful! After all, what have we of which to boast? �Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.� (Romans 8:34)
And now, there is Peter.
Peter seemed to be one who really cared what others thought of him. This is not a bad thing, of itself. We really ought to keep our reputations clean so as to not bring reproach upon the churches of Jesus Christ.
Also, we are reminded that this is one of the commands of God toward the pastors of His churches. II Timothy 3:2 says, �A bishop then must be blameless...� Now this does not mean sinless, of course. But, it does mean that he needs to live a life of purity before all people, and even behind their backs. We have seen too many examples of failure in these areas in the past in minsters of national reputation. Think of the harm that has been caused by these.
A quick word of explanation here. The terms �bishop� and �pastor� are synonyms. They mean the same office. Both are undershepherds of the flock (people) of God in a local church body. There is no, except in formal ecclesiastical hierarchies, difference in the office.
I might add that those ecclesiastical hierarchies which make distinction are moving beyond the revealed Word of God. That distinction comes not from Biblical teaching but from human reasoning and pride.
There are often things in the life of the Christian which are not wrong in and of themselves. But, they allow the tempter to cause us to sin against our Lord. I, personally, am fat. I am not �overweight.� I am not �plus size.� I do not shop at a �big and tall� section of the store. I look for the �short and fat.� I am fat.
This illustration is not perfect because there are Biblical injunctions that would have prohibited me from ballooning to this size had I simply obeyed them. But, my physical condition of obesity is a terrible testimony to the world of the power of Christ to transform even the physical life of an individual. My profile is an advertisement that I am gluttonous and slothful. That does not give a good impression of the Savior�s power to the world at large. That, in truth, gives the world of sin a reason to scoff at, and to reject, the Message of the Savior I would try to share.
You can fill in your own bad habits, (Why is it so hard for us to admit the simple truth of sin in our own lives! We keep calling them �bad habits.�) here.
In the tenth chapter of Acts we see the vision of Peter where the symbolically unclean food was placed in front of him by God. Peter reacts as might be expected considering his background. He declines. God then tells Peter that what God has called clean Peter has no right to call unclean. This is all in preparation for Peter to extend the reach of the Gospel to the Gentiles.
In the fifteenth chapter of Acts, we see that the church council at Jerusalem follows this leading and does not require the Jewish circumcision and ordinances to be binding upon the Gentile churches. They realize that salvation is based solely upon faith in Jesus. Salvation is re-affirmed to be by faith and not by works.
I would like to draw your attention now to Galatians, chapter two and verses eleven through thirteen:
�But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; inasmuch that Barnabus also was carried away with their dissimulation.�
One thing to be noticed here is that James seems to have been in the leadership role of the early church. Peter was not, never was!, the leader of the churches of Jesus Christ. That is a fiction put forth by the Roman Church to justify her dominion over her church system.
The important thing here, however, is that Paul found it necessary to stand against Peter because Peter was causing dissension within the Gentile churches over the idea of keeping the Jewish dietary laws and customs. He was even leading others, Barnabas was mentioned here, into this error.
After the debacle at the judgment hall we will never see Peter again deny his Lord. Tradition, an uncertain voice, would say that he endured martyrdom via the cross, as did Jesus, except that Peter requested that his crucifixion be upside down because he felt unworthy to die the same death as did his Lord.
But, Peter by no means lived an entirely exemplary life after his denial of Christ at that judgment hall.
The point in all this is that God uses His servants even through their failures if they yield themselves to His leadership.
And, the important part of the equation is God. We are not important. We need to hold ourselves, and especially so, our �leaders,� to the highest of standards. But, we need to remember at all times that all Glory belongs to God.
There are no great men of God. There are only men of a Great God!
What about you? How is it with your soul? Are you certain of a life in heaven and fellowship with God?
Don�t tell me you are too bad. Look at the lives of just these three men who were mightily used of God. Jesus said, �...him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.� (John 6:37b)
Why not accept Jesus right now as your own Savior. He went to the cross for the express purpose of saving your soul. That is the Gospel Message.
God does love you. God love�s you where you are. Why not respond to His love?
Accept Jesus right now.
After all, What Did Jesus Do? Jesus died for your sins.