Luke chapter 3. Luke chapter
3. This was a blessing to me, looking
at this. We're only going to get through
two verses, and I think you'll see why. Luke 3 in 1 and 2. Now, in the 15th year of the
reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea,
and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip, tetrarch
or ruler or governor of Hythiraea and the region of Treconitis,
and Licinius, a tetrarch or tetrarch of Abinadi. Annas and Caiaphas
being the high priests, the word of God At this time, the word
of God came unto John, the son of Zacharias, and the wilderness."
That's what we're going to look at, the word of God and the wilderness.
The word of God came. This will be a little bit of
church history, and it will be a blessing to you. Verse 1 mentions
these rulers, lists their names, and in verse 2, a couple of Jewish
religious leaders, some things we need to consider here. All
of these men were corrupt. Every one of them mentioned were
wicked, corrupt men. Right? Now, here's the first
thing we need to understand. All authority is of God. We've already considered this
so many times. In Romans 13, you know these
verses. Let every soul be subject unto
the higher powers, for there is no power but of God. The powers
that be are ordained of God. Whosoever resisteth the power
resisteth the ordinance of God." Now, that was written at this
time. These were evil men, all right? Who put them in power? God did. Why? because of idolatry,
because of the people's sin against God. So God put over them wickedness. The people, first Samuel, wanted
a king. They had a good man. They had
a prophet of God, Samuel. No, they said, we want a king
like the rest of the world. We want to have a kingdom like
this. So Samuel said, okay. He was
going to get one. And he was a bad man, king Saul. Thank God he had a king waiting
in the wings, David. And he's a type of our king whom
the world doesn't know, but Godspeed. Well, all authority is of God. And here's what Simon Peter told
us about these things, about these wicked rulers. He said,
honor all men love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. What king, Peter? Caesar was
king. Think of that. That's what he
said, alright? Because God's people are submissive,
meek, humble, lawful people. They're not rebels. They're not
rebels. The rulers in the days of Paul
and Peter were worse than ours now, much worse. Caesar, Herod,
do you remember? Herod sent out and had all those
children killed in Bethlehem. Pilate, what a wicked man. And they were all on the tape.
They were all in it for money. Look at Jeremiah chapter 29. Jeremiah prophesied of the captivity
of Israel because of idolatry, because of their sin. And so
they were. They were taken, and Jeremiah
was taken with them. He was taken with them. Remember,
they wouldn't listen to Jeremiah. He kept telling them, repent,
repent. It's idolatry. God's going to
send a wicked nation and take you captive. They didn't believe
him. They put him in prison. We don't want to listen to you.
Oh, no. God loves us. Everything's fine. So they were taken captive, and
Jeremiah was with them. He was captive. Look at Jeremiah
29, verses 4 and 5. Thus saith the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captive. whom
I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon.
Build ye houses, dwell in them, plant gardens, eat the fruit
of them, take wives, beget sons and daughters, take wives for
your sons, give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear
sons and daughters, that ye may be increased there and not diminished.
Seek the peace of the city, whither I have caused you to be carried
away captive. Pray unto the Lord for it, and
the peace thereof shall ye have taken." And I was going to have
you turn to Isaiah 42 and Daniel. Just listen to this as I quote
it to you. Daniel 4. He said this matter. Daniel was
in captivity. Remember? He was right there.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The only thing that they rebelled
against was where it came to worshiping their God. Right?
They didn't rebel against any politics or anything. They didn't
protest. They didn't talk about it. The Lord did. The apostles did. The prophets did. But when it
came to the matter of worshiping God, remember Shadrach, Meshach,
Abednego, Ananias, Mashiach, Azariah? They said, we're not
going to meet with everybody and worship. We're not going
to bow down to their God. We're not going to do it. Throw
us in the furnace. And they did. Well, did they come out? Yeah, they did. Because somebody
was with them. But Daniel was thrown in a lion's
den. He said, I'm not off with prayer.
So they threw him in a lion's den. But when he was in a lion's
den, remember, the king said, Is thy God able? He said, O king. God saved the king. Daniel 4.17 says,
This matter is by the decree. of the watchers," that's the
prophets, and demand by the word of the Holy One, "...to the intent
that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom
of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will according to his purpose. And he setteth up over it the
basest of men." The Word. He's the One. God did it. His
own protector. We've already looked at that
many times. Look at verse 2 in Luke 3. Annas and Caiaphas were the high
priests. These were the religious leaders.
Annas and Caiaphas, Jewish religious leaders. High priests? Anybody catch that? It's only
supposed to be one. It's only supposed to be one.
One man is to enter into the Holy Holy every year, not without
blood. They weren't sacrificing. Do
you see anywhere in the Gospels where the Pharisees were sacrificing
lamb? No. No, you know. I think it's been done away.
By demolition and desolation, entered the temple. Two high priests, and I was going
to have you turn to 2 Kings, But I'm going to be short on
time. But this all started with a servant of Solomon. Solomon is the one who started
this idolatry. He married unbelieving women. And to appease them, he sacrificed
to their gods. It would be like a believer,
well I'll go to church with you today. A place where they don't
preach the gospel. I'll go with you, to satisfy, to placate,
to pacify, to keep her happy. So God split the kingdom. And
he took a man named Jeroboam who was not even a son of Solomon. Jeroboam was a servant and made
him rebel against Solomon. And Jeroboam was a king over
Israel. Rehoboam, who was Solomon's son,
he was a bad man. He was over Judah. That's the
remnant. Because God said, I will not
take away the kingdom from David. I'll leave him a remnant. Rehoboam. Jeroboam, this servant, he wasn't
even in the line of kings. He wasn't the blood of kings.
But he was over Israel. Jeroboam was a bad man. What
he did, what he said was, if the people keep coming back to
Jerusalem, and the high priest offered the blood of a lamb.
If they keep coming back to Jerusalem, then I'll lose the kingdom. They'll
be united to Rehoboam, and here's what I'll do. Now remember, God
said there's one place, one way, one priest, one way of blood,
one place, Jerusalem, the temple. All is a picture of pride. These
three are one. And not many faiths. Whatever
you think, you're sincere, we're sincere, no sir. One way. So Jeroboam said, now the kingdom
will be taken from me if all these people come to Jerusalem.
Here's what I'll do, I'll make it convenient. I'll put high
places here, I'll put high places there. Wherever the people are,
I'll take it to them, and they can worship conveniently. They
don't have to go, and I'll save my kingdom. And that's what they
did. They weren't sacrificing the
way God said to, by one man. Until this thing corrupted so
bad, and it says in 2 Kings 17 that they worshipped, they feared
God and worshipped idols. They feared God and worshipped
idols. He can't devote. But that's religion
today. It's full of idolatry. And yet
people claim to believe the God of the Bible. They claim to fear
God, believe God. They claim to believe Jesus Christ
is the only way. Yet you've got all this stuff
in religion today. It's a mess. It's a mess. That's
where it started, the sins of Jeroboam. Okay. And it got worse and worse and
worse after Jeroboam. Worse and worse and worse. Up
to the time our Lord came. You know, I want to talk a little
bit about the reformers. You know who the first reformer
was? Jesus Christ. He's the one. He's the purifier
of his temple. He's the one that came like a
refiner's fire for his soul. He came into his temple and cleared
it out and he said, my house shall be called a house of prayer.
He made it a den of thieves. Merchandise was sold. It's all
about money. It's all about convenience. It's
all about, it's all corrupted. Our Lord said, he came and said,
find a way. Find the truth. Find the light. There's one way to worship God.
Okay? So Ananias and Caiaphas were
the high priests. If you don't care, but Matthew
26, it says the Pharisees met together in Caiaphas's palace. That man lived in a palace. Revelation 12. Turn to Revelation
12. I'm sorry, Revelation 17. Revelation
17. It was a corrupt government.
See, back then when our Lord came, when John the Baptist came,
corrupt government and corrupt religion. God had not left himself without
a witness. The Word of God came as light
in a dark place. Corrupt government, corrupt religion,
and they were in bed together. That's what the Scriptures call
it. being in bed with the great whore. Look at Revelation 17,
verse 3. He carried me away in spirit
to wilderness. I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-colored
beast full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked
with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup
in her hand full of abomination, filthiness, and Upon her forehead
was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER
OF HARLOTS, AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. Verse 6, I saw
the woman drunken with the blood of the saint, with the blood
of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wandered
with great admiration." Even John could not help but be amazed
by the beauty and splendor of this great poor, and her edifices,
her buildings, and all of her trappings of religion and decor
and all that. It's speaking about the false
religion. It's certainly true of Catholicism, but Protestantism
is no different. Chapter 18, look at chapter 18,
verse 1. After these things I saw another
angel coming down from heaven, having great power, and the earth
was lightened with his glory. He cried mightily with a strong
voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has
become the habitation of devils, the hold of every foul spirit
cage of every unclean and hateful bird. All nations have drunk
of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. Kings of the earth
have committed fornication with her. Merchants of the earth are
waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacy." That's the
way it was then, that's the way it is now. It's much, much worse
now. Corrupt government, corrupt religion. The crown jewels of England.
23,578 precious stone, including the
largest diamond in the world, 530 carat. The value is over
$4 billion. And there are people starving in
the streets. The Vatican Art Collection. The
Vatican art collection, not to mention the real estate holdings
all over the world, the Vatican art collection is valued anywhere
between $10 and $15 billion, and people are starving already. Billy Graham's net worth when
he died was $25 million. Oh, don't call names, preacher. That's why I'm standing up here.
That's what I'm to do. Watchman, you cry wolf. Franklin
Graham, his son, he now took over his empire. More money than
that. He has a salary from a non-profit
organization called the Good Samaritan. They're supposed to
give money to poor people, and he takes a $600,000 a year salary. Jerry Falwell, when he died,
was worth $10 million. Liberty University is over two
and a half billion dollars and they receive government aid. It's corrupt. Always has been. Always will be. The truth is
in the minority. These are the leaders of Christianity.
Christ's followers. Christ had nothing. He had nothing. He said, I have
nowhere to lay my head. Are his followers rich and increased
with good? Christ said you cannot
serve God and man, didn't he? He said, how hardly shall they
that have riches enter the kingdom of heaven. Isn't it easier for
a camel to go to the avenue? That's the words of the one that
men and women claim to follow. It's hypocrisy, it's abomination.
It's not wrong to call them out, it's wrong not to. Well, in the midst of this dark
political and religious corrupt times, look at our text in verse
2. It says, The word of God came
unto John, one man. Oh no, John, there are more people
than you. Where are they? Do you see any other name? Our Lord said the prophets prophesied
until John. He was the last of the Old Testament
prophets. Yes, our Lord did raise up some, but comparatively to
the general population, it's just a little, just a minor,
just a remnant, a few, out of millions of people, just 70 million,
12 apostles, Well, the Word of God, here's
the blessing, here's the glory, here's the mercy and the grace.
The Word of God came unto John. His name means favorite of God,
son of Zacharias, according to the Word of God. Remember, this
was prophesied in the wilderness. The Word of God was in the wilderness. It wasn't in the temple. You couldn't go to the temple
at this time and hear the Word of God. You had to go outside
the camp, didn't you? You had to go out there. John,
as a man out there, he thinks he's right and everybody else
is not. He is. John. Bless God he's not left
himself without a witness. Listen to Psalm 105, verse 8.
He hath remembered his covenant, the word that he commanded to
a thousand generations. To a thousand generations, God
commanded. Not going to be one generation
left without some light. Some light. God's Word is light.
The entrance of God's Word gives light. If they speak not according
to the Word, according to the law and the testimony of Isaiah
820, it's because there's no light in them. They're preaching
anything but God's Word. There's no light there. Christ
is the light. He is the Word. He's even called
the Word. People that sat in darkness have seen a great light. How many people? Just a few, really, sorry. Do
you remember in the beginning when God created the heavens
and the earth, the world was without form and darkness was
over the face of the water? Without form and void and darkness
was over the face of the water? That's the world now. Well, what
did God do? What was the first thing God
did to dispel the darkness? He said, let there be light.
And there was light. What came after light? Life. Life. Christ is the light. Christ is the light. So the word
of God came to John. What was John's word? What did
John preach? He was a preacher. John was a
preacher, the next verse says, he came into all the country
of Jordan preaching. Well, that's out of style in
most places today, isn't it? Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him
in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach? How shall anyone preach
except they be sent? They may call themselves preachers,
but God didn't send them. They're not. They're false prophets. Well, they preach. Well, that's
Romans 10. Paul spent several chapters saying,
we preach Christ. And he says, oh, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel. So the word of God came to John. Bless God for his word. Bless
God for preaching. Our Lord said in Revelation 1,
blessed are those that read the words of this book and hear it.
Even more blessed to hear it. Bless God for sending preachers. There were many scribes and Pharisees
and Sadducees, but there was one true preacher. And some of
them went out to hear Him. It's always been the case. Noah
was a preacher of righteousness, what, 120 years? Do you read
of any others? There weren't any. Moses, Aaron,
the sons of Korah, they were preachers then, sons of Korah.
And they said, we've got something to say. Well, God opened the
earth and swallowed them up. Elijah, remember Elijah? Eight
hundred and fifty prophets came out against him, one man. Samuel,
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, up to John. And as said, although
there were twelve apostles and seventy later on, that's few
compared to the general population. So the word of God came in the
wilderness. I'm going to give you a little
church history. marvelous, God's providence in raising up his
church. Now, the Lord said, this is condemnation. Light has come into the world,
but men love darkness rather than light. Why? Because their
deeds are evil. Well, they know that light will
expose them to darkness. And Christ said, I am come. Now
they don't have any cover. has no cover. But he said in
one place, he that doeth truth cometh to the light. Sinners
came to Christ. They wanted light. Not the Pharisees. He said to his preachers, he
said, you'll be hated. You're going to be hated. Why?
Because you're going to expose. You're going to expose corruption. And men don't want to expose. Now, there's been much persecution
down through time. Anyone who tells the truth is
hated by those in darkness, except those whom God has chosen to
one night. And man has been trying to put
out the light for years. Word of God. Been trying to put
out the light so they can go on sinning without consequence. In the first 400 years, the Gospel
went all over the world. Persecution of the early church
in Jerusalem. I remember God did that. To the people at the church in
Jerusalem, they thought, this is horrible, this is terrible
what's happening. And they were scattered all over the place
when the persecution came. It was said that the dusk in
the Colosseum in Rome was made of the bones of the Christians. Probably true. And thrown to
the lions as sport. And the people loved it. I mean,
the Roman people. But the believers were spread
out everywhere. They went everywhere. Well, that
was of the Lord. Why? Well, you and I have this
gospel because of that. Because somebody's bones are
in the Colosseum of Rome, we have the gospel. The first 400 years, the gospel
went out all over the world, beginning with Christ crucified.
He was killed for the truth. How was Christ crucified? For
the truth. Then John the Baptist, next,
James, and many, many, many more. Many more. Then you had the Dark
Ages after that, about a thousand years. Medieval time. Middle Ages. Very little light. Very little light. Dark Ages.
No light. The reason it's called the Dark Ages, no word. People
didn't have the Bible. No word. Very few preachers of
it. Hard to find. Only a little candle
here and there. candle here and there. At the
11th century, God began to give more light. Bless God. It should have moved to completion.
It should have just destroyed the work. It should have. It
should have done that to Adam. But God's mercy. God's gracious. In the 11th century, God began
to give more light. Until the 13th, 14th century, God, as it were, in the creation,
said, and you let there be light. The world was in darkness, covered
in the face of the water. People are like waters in the
Revelation. They're compared to water. Darkness
covered the face of the earth, and God said, let there be light.
Bless God. And with light comes life. The
light, the knowledge, the glory of God, where does it say? In
a person. The Lord Jesus Christ, preaching
of Christ crucified. Eleventh century, there was a
Frenchman named Peter Waldo, and his followers were called
the Waldensians. Read it. It's a wonderful reading
about them. John Wycliffe, actually one of
the first English Bible translations from the Latin, not from the
Hebrew and the Greek, but the Latin he translated the Bible
into English. John Wycliffe. Wycliffe. Remember
that name. Bless God for John Wycliffe. So many, so many that named them
all. There was a Czechoslovakian named John Huss. There was a
Hussites that followed him. They condemned them all as heretics. John Huss was burned at the stake.
John Huss preaching gospel. Jerome was a man named Jerome,
one of the early church fathers. He was burned at the stake preaching
the gospel. This is one of the best books.
ever written on the history of the Church and the Reformation.
Bill Ben, a Frenchman, wrote this, and listen to this. Just a few examples of a little
light here and there. A little light here and there. There's a man named Bernard back
in the 15th century. Saint Bernard. Here's what he said, and it's
just a voice in the wilderness. He said, look to the merits of
Jesus Christ. This is what he preached. If
my sin comes from another, I need my righteousness from another. He said, assuredly it's better
for me that righteousness be given to me than I should try
to earn it. That's what I'm preaching. Here's a man named Arnold. He
says, O Lord Jesus Christ, I believe that thou alone art my redemption
and my righteousness. There's another man named Christopher.
He said, My hope is in the cross of Christ. I seek grace, not
works. Here's a monk, a Carthusian friar
named Martin. He says, O merciful God, I know
I cannot be saved and satisfy thy righteousness, otherwise
in the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. By the death of thy dearly
beloved Son, all my salvation is in his hands." There weren't many. This was
at the height of Roman Catholicism, covered the world, but there
are a few. This is before Luther. Here's a fellow, another friar. Let's see, here he is, in 1475. He said, None are saved by their
own works. No man can boast of himself in
the presence of God. We should all ask to be justified
by the merits of Jesus Christ alone. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us. O God, we seek thy mercy. We bring not our own righteousness,
but it is by thy grace we are justified. Grace is the righteousness
of God. O God, save us by thy righteousness,
that is to say, in thy Son, who alone among men was found without
sin. I could go on and on, but there
were a few, just a few here and there. God has not left himself
without a witness. We owe a debt of gratitude to
our God for raising these people up, for sustaining them, and
we owe a debt to them. They laid down their lives. We
intend on it. Thank God for we intend on it. We have this Bible we have because
of him. He was burned at the stake for
translating God's word so that people could read it. His dying
words on the cross, listen to this, this was in 1536, October
of 1536. William Tyndale's dying words
while they were lighting the wood under his stake were this,
O God, open the king of England's eyes. The king's name was James. A few years later, four years
later, King James said, we need a Bible in English for him later
in. This is God answered prayer.
Do you remember Ridley and Latimer? Hugh Ridley and Nicholas Ridley
and Hugh Latimer being burned at the stake for preaching the
truth? Ridley said to Latimer, Brother, Ridley played the man. He said,
we're going to light a candle today such as never will be put
out with our own bodies. The Word of God came in the wilderness. See, the world is called a wilderness.
Revelation 12. Turn over there quickly. Revelation
chapter 12. The Word of God, or the world
is called a wilderness. All through the Word of God,
it's called a wilderness. It was a paradise, remember?
The world was a paradise when Adam was created. Why? Man knew
God. Man glorified God. Man was righteous,
right? He knew God. The world was a
paradise. What happened? Sin entered it. Darkness. Then it became a wilderness. Israel, God's elect, were wandering
in the wilderness. Deuteronomy 32, it says, the
Lord found Jacob in a waste, howling wilderness. The church is in the wilderness.
Like when John was here, the Word of God came to John in the
wilderness. You couldn't go to the temple
in here. That's where the majority of
people were, where the Word of God wasn't there. There wasn't
a preacher there. The old Christ came in, remember?
He came in, was preaching in the temple, but they came in
and re-erected him through a woman at his feet, remember? That's who he came for. And as
soon as he saved her, he left. And the Word of God, the church
is in the wilderness. That's what Acts 7.38 calls the
church, the church in the wilderness. Acts 7.38, the church and the
wilderness. When you think of wilderness,
what do you think of? Wild beasts? Wild beasts? Calvin, I believe
it was, said man is worse than a beast. Apology to the beasts. Ox knows his owner and asks his
master to free him. Man does. When you think of wilderness,
you think of a desert, no pasture, no bread, no water. Huh? That's his world. When you think
of wilderness, do you not think of darkness? Exodus 10 says that
the children of Israel, going through the wilderness, they
had light. But the Egyptians had darkness. It said it was
darkness right before the killing of the firstborn and then when
the children went out. Remember what that last plague
was? Darkness. It said it was darkness that
you could feel. It says people couldn't see one night. That's
just where it all ended. What do you think of the wilderness?
You think of dangers, perils, dangers, perils of man, robbers,
thieves. This is where it all started.
And the worst kind are in religion. You think of enemies everywhere. Look at Revelation 12, verse
6. It says, this is speaking of
the church, the woman fled into the wilderness. She's been persecuted. For she
had a place prepared of God that should feed her there a thousand,
two hundred and three hundred. Look at verse 14. The woman was given two wings
of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness, into
her place. That's where you find her, out
in the wilderness, outside the camp, where she's nourished for
time and time and half the time from the face of the serpent.
See, the woman was found in the wilderness. So is Jerry. Are
you with me? Close with this. 1 Corinthians
10. Go there. You've got to see this.
We need this worse than ever. Worse than ever. You've got to
read this. We've got to read this. I need this. We need this. We're in the wilderness. You
know where the children of Israel, most of them fell? In the wilderness. Most of them
didn't make it, they promised me. All right, look at it. First Corinthians 10. One, I would not have you ignorant,
brethren. All the fathers were under the cloud and passed through
the sea, baptized into Moses in the cloud, all ate the same
spiritual meat, didn't drink the same spiritual rock. They
drank that spiritual rock. That rock is Christ. They heard
the gospel. That, verse 5, with many of them,
God was not well pleased. They were overthrown in the wilderness. Why? What were they doing? These
things are examples that we should not lust after evil things, as
they also lusted. Don't be idolaters, as some of
them were. They sat down to eat and drink,
rose up to play, merry little thoughts of God. Neither let
us commit fornication. That is, they were mingling with
the people of the world. They weren't lights in the world,
and they fell in one day twenty-three thousand. Let us tempt Christ,"
so they said to Moses. That's who he was talking about,
Moses. God sent the serpents. Verse
10, "...neither murmur..." Oh, my! Ain't no murmuring. Ain't nobody complaining? What
in the world do any of us have to complain about? Why should
a living man complain for the punishment of his sin? We've
got everything. Our next message is rejoice. Now, verse 11, these things happen
unto them for examples. They're written for our admonition,
upon whom the ends of the world are come. Let him that thinketh
he standeth take heed, lest he fall. There's no temptation.
taken you, but such is common to man. But God is faithful.
He will not suffer you to be tempted above your able, but
will with the temptation make a way to escape that you may
be able to bear it. Brethren, dearly beloved, flee
from idolatry." I speak to wise men. What's the way to escape?
What's the way out of darkness? What we're doing right now. Come
and sit and bask in the light. What a privilege we have. This thing you have in your lap. We don't deserve it. That's right.
Some people laid down their lives for it. I saw a video one time
on YouTube or whatever, of some primitive tribe over in communist
wherever it was, I forget the country. But they smuggled Bibles
in for these people. And they were unwrapping these
Bibles and they were looking at it like it was the greatest
thing they'd ever seen in their life. Some of them fell down
on their knees. We're a blessed people. The Word
of God came to John in the wilderness. Let's come to Australia. OK.