(John 1:35)
�Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples.�
For the past several weeks we�ve been looking at the life of John the Baptist. We have seen him examined by religious authorities for the content and manner of his preaching. We have his resolute defense of his God given mission. We have seen his reverence of the coming Messiah about Whom was the focal point of the teaching of his ministry.
This week we are looking at John the Baptist in a way that many people do not consider him. John was a teacher.
Yes, he was a preacher and a prophet. But, he was also a teacher.
Much of the teaching of the time was not centered upon a classroom as we consider schools to be in our time. Much of the teaching was done by a wise man imparting his wisdom to a group of men who had attached themselves to him.
John had disciples, even as Jesus had disciples. The disciples were those who followed teachers and sought to learn from them. In this sense Paul was a disciple of Gamaliel. (see Acts 22:3) There was no �diploma� or �graduation� from these �schools.� These disciples simply �sat at the feet� of their teachers until they felt qualified to attempt to gain a hearing for themselves.
The disciples of Jesus took His message, after His ascension back into the Heavenly realms, out into the world. This is what a true disciple was to do.
It is this idea of a continual teaching which should be the basis for our Christian lives. We do not get saved, and that�s it! We are saved and called into a fellowship of believers. We are saved and called into a walk with Jesus. We are saved and called into a work of spreading that same message which the Spirit is teaching us.
The meaning of the word �disciple� is that one has taken on the �discipline,� or manner, of his teacher and master.
John understood this dynamic of his teaching, and of his following of the Lord. John understood the succession of his service. �Again the next day��
John had been severely questioned by the religious authorities. His purpose and calling had been harshly examined by men who did not agree with his message or his methods.
Yet, after the ordeal, John continued to go about his business as a teacher of men and as an ambassador of God.
This displays a continual walk by John.
One of the saddest things about most Christians is that they consider a �committed Christian life� to be one where they are faithful in the church attendance. Obviously, I think that this is a good starting point. But, come on!, there�s more!
We should be regular in our attendance at our local church. By the way, by �regular� I mean faithful and often in that attendance. I made the point of �regular church attendance� to a man once. He said he was regular. Unfortunately, for him �regular� was every Easter and most Christmas services.
By regular I mean that we should be checking the door for each service to make sure it is unlocked. If it is, go on in! �Regular� means being there for the services, being on time for the service, and taking part in the services.
That is a good start. Don�t forget to take part in the offering. That is part of the service. It is an offering to God. I don�t like to preach on this. But, regular and faithful giving is also part of our service.
Most of us have some sort of budget. We decide what we can spend based on what we are taking in as a salary. God doesn�t really need your money to conduct His business. But, no church which is sound in its relationship to the power company, the phone service, the water and refuse bills, and all the other little things that beset us all, can plan its budget without a general idea that it can trust its membership to be regular in their giving.
This is part of our outreach into the world. This is part of our witness to the world!
We also need to consider the work of the church in Sunday School literature, mission giving, and general benevolence toward the community. This is outreach for our message!
You will notice that I didn�t even mention the pastor�s salary. A pastor does deserve to be paid for his labors.
We are constantly bombarded by the message that the public schools need more money to function. The teachers deserve raises. After all, we are reminded, they have spent years preparing themselves for their tasks.
Folks, the preacher normally has a little �book learning� as well. It is a terrible testimony to the world that the pastor is neglected in his remuneration. Most pastor�s don�t really consider this. Most have �second� jobs that support their families so that they can continue to do that which the Lord has given them as a special mission.
There is nothing wrong with this. I�ve always worked �on the outside.� I�ve found it to be good to have one foot in the �real� world even as I am walled up in the �sacred� world of books and study, and prayer!, for the furtherance of the Gospel. This isn�t a hardship.
But, neither is it always a good testimony to the world. If a church can afford to support the pastor and his family, they should do so.
If not� Well, most of the preachers I�ve known are going to be there anyway. It is their calling and mission. They will not shirk that duty. Their fidelity to God, and God�s people, is the most important thing in their life.
This is because the pastor, as did John the Baptist, realizes that this is a consecrated work.
This is part of the walk of the Christian. We go to services, and take part in them, in a local assembly of called out servants of God. Then, we go out into the world with the message of Jesus.
My wife was in charge of the local Labor Day Parade for several years before her death. It was a task. Every year she would say, �Not again. It�s just too much work for me. I don�t have time.� Every year she would find time. �If I don�t do it, who is going to do it?�
I suspect that she secretly enjoyed the task. But, the point is that she knew the work needed to be done. That is the type of woman she was. When she saw a task that needed to be completed, she just went ahead and did it.
So it was with John the Baptist - but to an even greater degree. John knew that he was doing the work of God. John knew that God had called him to this task. John couldn�t have stopped if he had wanted to do so. His heart, his entire life, was so sold out to God that he had a compulsion to do the work of the Lord.
So should it be with us. If we really love Him, we will be committed to His message of love to the world. We will want to speak of Him because we can do no other.
I have been told that a drowning man will grasp at any straw to stay afloat. Why? It is because one of our primary urges is to take one more breath. That is just part of our make up as human beings.
Our commitment to Jesus should become just as much as a primary urge in our lives. We will simply live for Him, and witness for Him, because we can do no other!
Some people feel this way about their jobs. Some feel this way about social organizations to which they belong. Some feel this way in talking about their grandchildren.
These are transitory. These are of time. These will fail. Only the things of eternity are certain!
John had the great joy of knowing that he had a certain witness.
Our state high school basketball tournament is going on right now. There are eight coaches who believe that their team is the best. There are eight groups of fans who believe that their team is the best. There are eight groups of basketball players who believe that their team is the best.
Only one of these is correct.
There are many competing religious and secular philosophies in the world. Most of them will contradict all the others at some point.
None of these is correct.
The only thing correct is that Jesus Christ died in time so that we might live in eternity!
This isn�t religion. This isn�t philosophy. This isn�t even a belief system. This is the reality of the Spiritual world. This is correct!
There are many things I am wrong about. My granddaughter may not be the most beautiful little girl in the world. �even if I think so! My grandson may not be the best little boy the world has ever produced. �even if I think so! My wife may not have been the best woman to ever �come down the pike� (She drove up, and back down, Pike�s Peak once.). �even if I think so!
But I know, there ain�t no doubt about it!, that Jesus is the only Savior of the world. This isn�t my guess, my thought, or my belief. This is the Truth of God.
This is a certain witness that we need to take into the world. John the Baptist did this. The same God Which John served is in the world today. Are you serving the God of Eternity?
John knew that he was standing in security. ��after John stood��
In the sixth chapter of Ephesians Paul exhorts the Christian to stand. �Put on the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.� (Ephesians 6:11)
When the Roman armies fought in the field they were to stand in battle lines. They were to hold their shields. They were to hold their place as the battle raged. The reason for all of this was so that they would present a united front against the enemy. In this way they would defeat the foe.
Satan is our foe. He is the enemy of our souls. He has many foot soldiers. Some of these do not even realize that they stand as soldiers of Satan in spiritual battles. They may think that they are simply holding a greater truth than that which we hold. They may see themselves as very compassionate to their fellow man as they rail against the message of sin and salvation. They may even see themselves as part of the vanguard while will defeat the forces of �repression� that flow from what they view as a �narrow and bigoted� gospel message.
It is against these that we need to stand. John the Baptist did not belittle his accusers. He simply answered them with the truth. John made a stand of faith.
So ought we to stand for the things of God. We do not have to be hostile. We are on the winning side. We need to simply stand our Holy Ground and not forsake that clarion call that Jesus Christ died in time so that we might live in eternity.
John also made a stand of fidelity. He held to the truth. It wasn�t the truth as he understood it; it was the Truth as revealed to him by the God of Truth.
We need to stand against the forces which deny the Virgin Birth. We need to stand against the forces which deny the atonement. We need to stand against the forces which deny the full deity of Christ. We need to stand against the forces which deny the truth of God�s actions in history. We need to stand against the forces which deny the preserving power of God in regards to His Own Word of Scripture.
But, I want you to realize something. You can�t stand you place while running around. No retreat! That is a simple given. But, there is also no need to advance in our own power. We do not belittle the infidel or agnostic. We simply, respectfully, disagree. We back up our disagreement with our stand on the Truth. We, also - and more importantly!, back up our disagreement with prayer to the Spirit of God.
It is not our place to fight battles against the forces of Satan. We simply resist. We fervently pray. We always stand our ground on the truth as revealed in the preserved Word of God. Then we can watch God win the battles in His time, and in His way. He is still in charge.
Yes. We do fight in spiritual warfare. But, we never do this in our own power or prejudice. We do this in God�s power and in the prayer which links our hearts with His leading!
That prayer, by the way, needs to be grounded in His will. We find His will in the Scripture. We need to be always, and serious, in perusal of the pages of the sacred text!
Being in a regular, systematic, study of the Scripture, while being in a regular, and systematic, prayer life, is the method by which we are able to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us into the truth which God has for us. It is this leading which will lead us to pray in His will rather than in our anger and selfishness.
Because of his stand upon the Words of God, and the leading of the Spirit, John was able to stand in firmness.
The walk leading from the door of my home to my driveway is on the North side of the house. Because of this, in our cold Midwestern winters, this tends to become iced over quite regularly. I have learned to walk on the grass in the winter. �well, where the grass was in the summer. I tend to get a much firmer footing here than I would on the side walk.
The grass is natural, it is the creation of God. The sidewalk is not natural. It is the work of man.
The only firmness we can have in our spiritual lives is to walk on the things of God. To take a walk on the things of man is to invite a fall.
We need the preserved Word of God to tell us of doctrine. Man�s theories may sound reasonable; but, they are not certain. They are as shifting as is culture.
When we try to understand the innate depravity of the human soul without Christ, we need to see man as God sees him, as presented in the pages of Scripture. If we attempt to understand mankind from the natural standpoint we will get a false picture.
My granddaughter has a �3-D� cartoon DVD. When she watches it she uses a set of eyeglasses that have red and green lenses. This looks silly. But, the cartoon looks really bad without the glasses.
Mankind may not understand our purpose. Mankind may not understand our doctrine. Mankind will not understand the things of God. They do not have the
�3-D� glasses of the preserved Word to correct their view.
John stood firm because God stands firm. God does not change, or �evolve.� neither does His Word change or evolve. This is the Word which He inspired. This is the Word which He has preserved. This is the Word He has delivered unto us in this day so that we might understand the need of men�s souls. �and so that we might understand the remedy which God has provided for that soul need.
As John walked through the sea of his life, he realized that he was sailing under scrutiny. ��and two of his disciples.�
�Do as I say, not as I do.� So goes the teaching method of many parents. They come home with a bottle of whisky and a pack of �smokes.� Then they just can�t understand why little Johnny and Jenny have no resistance when the kids at school offer them drugs.
It does no good to �preach� love to someone while we are spewing hate toward them. Our actions tend to be so loud that they can�t hear our words.
That is just one aspect of the firmness of John�s teaching. He walked the same message as the one he talked. Everyone knew this was true. They didn�t look at John and say, �Hypocrite!� They didn�t look at John and say, �Fraud!� They didn�t look at John and say, �You can�t even hold to all the standards you accuse me of forsaking.�
Part of the reason that the message of John had power was because that very power of the Spirit was displayed in his own life. It wasn�t a theory he taught. He taught something that he knew, from personal experience, was true.
He also taught a thing that he displayed, by his personal actions, as being true and powerful.
But, the firmness of his teaching also was based on the base of that teaching.
I have several books which were written during the 1960�s. They were written to be �relevant.� They are so laughable now as to be almost useless. The same could be said of text books from an earlier period.
But, I have Bible commentaries that are hundreds of years old. They are still relevant and useful. Why the difference? One was based on the fleeting culture of the moment. The other was based on the timeless truths of the preserved Word of God.
Culture comes and culture goes. Styles come and styles go. The �catch phrases� of youth and adult both come and go. But, the teaching of the preserved Word of God never goes out of style because It is based on the truths expounded by the Creator of the Universe.
God truly is our Constant Contemporary.
There was also a concern, by John, over the future of those John taught.
John taught his disciples to follow Jesus. John said, �There He is! He has the message of life. He is the anointed of God. He is the One Who must increase while I must decrease.�
John knew where the resided.
Many ministers build up a congregation, or a following, based on their personality. This isn�t totally wrong. It is good to be so cognizant of our reputations that we would live so that people might follow us as we follow the Savior. Better, however, that we teach people to simply follow the Savior.
Men will eventually fail. Women will eventually fail. Jesus will never fail.
We do people a great service by following the Bible and pointing them toward Christ!
People will often say, �What we need today is Dwight L. Moody.� Well, if that was who we needed, God could get him. The truth is we need more of Jesus. When we allow Jesus to permeate our lives, we become the person that God can use in this day.
Read that last sentence and realize the joy that lies within our obedience to the Lord of Glory.
We can work with the Lord to make new disciples for Him even in this day.
The wonder and glory of the thought!
All of this in the life of John was possible because of the faithfulness of John�s Target. John pointed people to Jesus. Jesus, in turn, was faithful to His mission to redeem all that would call upon His name.
Jesus is still doing this today.
Christian, get out the message that Jesus died in time so that we could live in eternity. And, while you�re at it, don�t forget to mention that Jesus lives today to energize lives!
To those who are not yet Christians, why not accept Him as your Savior? Why not begin to become a disciple of Jesus, the Savior of the world? I�ve tried this walk. It works!
Accept Him today.