"John, A Faithful Preacher"

Q: What does the Bible say about repentance?

Repentance is a change of mind granted by God that leads to faith in Christ. Repentance, as preached by John the Baptist, is fundamentally a change of mind regarding one's relationship with God, oneself, and sin. It is a divine work in which God opens the heart and mind to understand the gravity of sin while directing one toward faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. As it states in Acts 11:18, repentance leads to life, showing its integral role in the path of salvation. True repentance demonstrates itself in tangible changes of behavior, reflecting a transformed heart and mind committed to following Christ.

Q: How do we know Christ bore our sins?

Christ bore our sins in His body on the cross, fulfilling God's judgment. The assurance that Christ bore our sins is deeply rooted in Scripture, particularly in 1 Peter 2:24, which states that He bore our sins in His own body on the tree, highlighting His sacrifice. This act not only signifies the weight of sin being placed on Him but also fulfills the justice of God towards sinners. In His suffering, Christ absorbed the wrath of God that was meant for His chosen people, effectively restoring our relationship with God by dealing with the penalty of our sins. It emphasizes the singularity of Christ's atoning work for those whom the Father has given Him.

Q: Why is baptism important for Christians?

Baptism symbolizes our union with Christ and marks our entrance into His body. Baptism holds significant importance in the life of a Christian as it symbolizes the believer's identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. In Matthew 28:19, the command to baptize is linked to making disciples, signifying that baptism is a public declaration of one's faith and commitment to follow Christ. Additionally, as per Romans 6:3-4, baptism illustrates our conversion experience, portraying how we have died to sin and are raised to new life in Him. Thus, baptism serves as both an act of obedience and a powerful reminder of the transformative work of Christ in the believer's life.

Q: How does God separate believers from unbelievers?

God separates believers from unbelievers through His sovereign grace and judgment. The separation between believers and unbelievers is a biblical theme that emphasizes God's sovereignty in determining who belongs to Him. As noted in Matthew 13:30, the wheat and tares grow together until the harvest, symbolizing the coexistence of the righteous and the wicked until the day of judgment. The parable illustrates that it is ultimately God's judgment that will separate true believers—those He has called and redeemed—from those who superficially associate with the faith but lack genuine transformation. This underscores the profound mystery of grace, where God actively gathers His elect to Himself while leaving others in their unbelief.

Good morning. Let's all stand together and sing hymn number 442. 442. Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus our blessed Redeemer. Sing, O earth, His wonderful love proclaim. Hail Him, hail Him, highest archangels in glory. Strength and honor give to His holy name. Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard His children. In His arms He carries them all day long. Praise Him, praise Him, tell of His excellent greatness. Praise Him, praise Him, ever in joyful song.

Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus our blessed Redeemer. For our sins He suffered and bled and died. He our rock, our hope of eternal salvation. Hail Him, hail Him, ♪ Jesus the crucified ♪ Sound his praises ♪ Jesus who bore our sorrows ♪ The unbounded ♪ Wonderful, deep, and strong ♪ Praise him, praise him ♪ Tell of his excellent greatness ♪ Praise him, praise him ♪ Ever in joyful song ♪ ♪ Praise Him, praise Him ♪ ♪ Jesus, our blessed Redeemer ♪ ♪ Heavenly portals, clouded with hosannas ring ♪ ♪ Jesus, Savior, reigneth forever and ever ♪ ♪ Crown Him, crown Him ♪ ♪ Prophet and priest and king ♪ ♪ Christ is coming ♪ ♪ Over the world victorious ♪ ♪ Power and glory ♪ ♪ Unto the Lord belong ♪ ♪ Praise Him, praise Him ♪ Tell of his excellent greatness. Praise him, praise him, ever in joyful song. Be seated. We'll sing hymn number 212. 212.

What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus Oh, precious is the flow That makes me white as snow No other fount I know Nothing but the blood of Jesus For my pardon this I sing Nothing but the blood of Jesus For my cleansing this my plea Nothing but the blood of Jesus Oh, precious is the flow That makes me white as snow No other fount I know Nothing but the blood of Jesus Nothing can for sin atone Nothing but the blood of Jesus Not of good that I have done Nothing but the blood of Jesus Oh, precious is the flow That makes me white as snow No other fount I know Nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my righteousness. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow.

Look with me in Luke chapter 3. Take back up Luke again. We've got several folks that's got problems. And, you know, life happens. Hearts get out of rhythm. Hearts get blocked. A lot of blockage in them. A lot of things happen while we go through this life.

But the Lord lets us know, these people let us know that we may be able to pray for them. And there's several that we need to remember. And the Lord knows every one of them. If I mentioned every name this morning, I'd be here a while. But the Lord knows every single one of them, knows who they are, what's wrong with them, what they're going through. And the Lord knows them. But so we want to remember, as Doc and Janie, Rick and Helen, Daryl's not here today.

Kathleen Burgess is in the hospital with her pancreas. Is that what it was, pancreas? Pancreatitis. She got real sick one time, and boy, she was in the hospital a long time with that. But there's so many things. I just mentioned those. And so we want to remember those folks. But let me read, start reading here in verse 15 down through verse 20, Luke chapter 3.

And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ or not, John answered and saying unto all, I indeed baptize you with water. But there one mightier than I cometh, the lachet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire, whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, will gather the wheat into his garner, but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable, and many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people. But Herod the Tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison.

Our blessed, blessed Father in Heaven, our Father Lord, we come first and foremost to acknowledge you, our need of you, our desire for you. And our blessed Savior, we pray that your will be done. Lord, we want more than anything in this world for your will to be done. And I know that it's being done in all of our lives. And Lord, it's our heart's desire to bow to your will, whatever it may be.

And Father, we know that you know all your people and you know where they are. You know what they're going through. You know the weakness of their bodies. You know the weakness of frailty of this flesh that we live in. And we know, Lord Jesus, that as we prayed and mentioned those people today, Please be merciful to them.

Please restore their health as it pleases you. Please raise them back up. May their bodies, under your will and power and grace, be restored. May they be able to come worship with us again in a public place. And Lord, we pray for them and ask for your healing hand, your blessed touch from the master's hand. If the master touches us, everything's well and all right. And Lord Jesus, we pray for this service today. Please meet with us. Please come among us. Please visit this vine. Visit us, Lord, today. And all your people that's traveling, going places today, protect them and preserve them. See them back safe with us.

And Lord, forgive us of everything that's unlike you. Oh, everything is so unlike you. And Lord, again, we pray for our children and our grandchildren. Lord, there's no hope for them except you. And for those in this congregation is not yet conveyor, confess their faith in Christ. We pray for them. Oh, Lord Jesus, that you would be merciful to open their hearts to the truth. May Christ be made real and vital. to their hearts and lives. We ask these blessed things in his name. Amen. Let's all stand together and sing the hymn of the day in the bulletin.

Hail, King of kings, eternal God, monarch of earth and heaven. The kingdom purchased by your blood into your hand is given. The kingdom purchased by your blood into your hand is given. Hail, Prince of Peace, your sovereign grace shall rule with peaceful sway while all your chosen saved by grace with joy your will obey while all your chosen Saved by grace with joy your will obey. Your laws are just, your statutes pure, no crown with yours can buy. Your throne forever shall endure. Your subjects never die. Your throne forever shall endure. Your subjects never die. ♪ Jesus, my King, to you I bow ♪ ♪ O rule this heart of mine ♪ ♪ Lay every rebel passion low ♪ ♪ And make me holy thine ♪ ♪ Lay every rebel ♪ Be seated.

You know, last week I preached out of Galatians, felt the need to, but we'll go back to Luke now. The last time I preached from here, remember that John was a forerunner for Christ. God's the one that named him. He told the angel, he said, his name should be called John. And his father couldn't even speak until he wrote on a tablet what his name was going to be. And the Lord named him, told him to be called John.

And then he began to preach repentance, began to preach repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. And about the fruits of repentance, the fruit of repentance. Now, let me tell you again what repentance is. Repentance is a change of mind.

And all these people ask him, Master, what shall we do? What shall we do? What shall we do? And he told them what to do and what he would do. And you know, when you have, when God, when God grants you repentance, it changes your mind. I mean, changes it dramatically about God, about yourself, about the scriptures, about sin. and you learn so much, you know, you know the last person in the world that you think God would do anything would be you. So he asked these people and they said, oh my, and he gave all these different classes, ask what shall we do? And he told them bring forth meat for repentance and they did, and they did.

And there was a group that John wouldn't baptize, There's a group, look back over here in verse 7 of John chapter 3, a group that he would not baptize. Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, all generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come.

And oh my, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? God's wrath is coming. Our Lord Jesus in Revelation says they'll pray for the mountains and hills to fall on them, to hide them from the face of the Lamb. Hide them from the face of the Lamb. Hide them from faith of God. And then there was this group that he wouldn't baptize, but God was ordained of God, ordained to be a prophet, ordained to be a prophet. And he was filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb.

And our Lord Jesus said, of all the prophets that have been born, John the Baptist is the greatest. No prophet's ever been born greater than John the Baptist. That's what our master said about him. Said there's nobody like him. Nobody, there's never been a prophet like him. Prophet like him. All the other prophets was pointing to Christ and telling about Christ.

But John the Baptist came to be forerunner for Christ, to make his path plain, to make people be able to understand this is him that has come. This is him. And I tell you what, he was faithful to God who called him. Faithful to God who called him. That's what I want to talk about.

John, a faithful preacher. In order to find a faithful preacher, if you find a faithful preacher, If you find a faithful preacher, I heard old Ralph Barnard say one time, he said, if there's truth to be found in America, I want to find it. If there's a truth being preached, I want to know it. If there's somebody that's preaching the gospel, I want to go hear them.

And that's what he said about it. And I tell you now, I want to tell you something. I'm going to give you several little points, very simple message today. John, a faithful preacher, he is a faithful preacher. And look up here in verse 15 again. Start, let's start right there together.

And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he, whether Christ, or not. Men mused in their hearts. You know what musing means? It means to be held in suspense. It means to think, to reason things out, to try to you know, to make men understand what's going on, reason, you know, in your heart what you're doing here. Put a man into suspense.

And they were in expectation. They was, and the people were in expectation. What were they in expectation about? What were they in expectation about? They were in expectation of the Lord Jesus Christ coming. They knew it was time for the Messiah to come. And that's what John was doing. He was preaching, and they mused in their hearts. They began to think. They began to think in their hearts. You know, they began to wonder, who is this man? Who is this man that's doing this preaching? Who is this man that's baptizing these people? Who is this man that's talking about somebody that's coming after me? Who is this man? And they began to muse and think in their hearts and reason in their hearts. They were expecting the Lord Jesus Christ to come. That's what I'm expecting. I'm expecting the Lord Jesus Christ to come.

And I know if he don't come for all of us at the same time, he's going to come get me still. He's gonna come get us one at a time. There's an old song said, going down the valley one by one, one by one. And one of these days we're gonna walk into that valley of the shadow of death and we're gonna come out the other side where the life is and where Christ is.

And I'll tell you what, they were in expectation. I live in expectation, don't you? I live in expectation of Christ to come and get me. And I look in expectation for people to believe the gospel. What good would it do me to not expect people not to believe what I'm saying? Why would I not believe that what I'm preaching you would believe? I'm expecting you to believe. I believe you ought to believe. You ought to believe. There's no reason for you not to believe, if it's the truth.

And they were expecting music in their hearts. And they were expecting music in their hearts about Christ. And is John, are you the Christ? Are you him or are you not? And that's what it says there. They mused in the hearts of John whether he were the Christ or not. Oh my. And that's what they were musing in their hearts. Is John the Christ or is he not? Do you know, they thought about that. And how I would that my preaching, my preaching, would set me into musing in their hearts set men to musing in their hearts, reasoning in their hearts about the Lord Jesus Christ. If anybody would ever think about Christ, it's a wondrous thing that you'd even think about him, that he had crossed your mind.

You know, there are so many that God is not at all in their thoughts. I've met people that God is not at all in their thoughts. He never crosses their mind. God never, they never get up of a day and think about God, think about eternity, think about death, think about life. They don't think about nothing but getting up, go to work, getting a paycheck and going on vacation. That's all they think about. They don't think about nothing else. What they accomplish in this life or what they haven't accomplished. Oh my.

And I tell you, if men start musing in their hearts about the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm telling you, that's the greatest blessing God can give you. If you start thinking about Christ and your mind starts considering Christ, if you start considering who He is and what He did for men and women in this world, that He Himself bore sin in His own body on the tree, And I pray that he and his sovereign mercy bore your sin in his body on that tree. Because he didn't bear everybody's sin on that tree. But he bore a particular people's blood on that sick tree. And I'm telling you what, I pray that God makes you to understand that when Christ died, oh I make you understand that when Christ died, he died for you.

You in particular. Oh my. I tell you, there's some people that God never crosses their mind, never crosses their mind. Oh, and if you try to say something to them about it, I remember several times over the years, I've tried to talk to people fixing to go into surgery or having heart problems and different things going on in their life, trying to talk to them about Christ and about eternity.

And I couldn't tell you how many people told me, I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear it. Men with men that's getting ready to go into open heart surgery have five bypasses. I don't want to hear what you got to say. And then my mind was dying. I said, listen, you want me to pray for you? No, I don't. I don't. People, that's what I mean, God is not in their thoughts. But oh my.

But it's a hopeful, hopeful thing. It's a hopeful thing that your mind starts thinking. Think about your relationship with God. When your mind starts thinking about how your relationship with God, that's a blessed thing. Oh my. And I tell you, whenever you start thinking about God, start thinking about Christ and your relationship with Him, and what this world has for you, and what this world's doing for you, oh my. But one of the characteristics of unconverted men and women is God is not in their thoughts. Don't be one of them people. Don't be one of them people that God's not in your thoughts. Don't be one of them.

But if anything I say or we say, cause you think about Christ and your relationship with Him, bless God for it. Bless God for it. Bless God for it. And so, listen, he had people thinking. He got people thinking. He got people thinking. And thinking about who he is. Who he is. And here's the second thing you know about John. He was faithful not only to his gospel in the Lord Jesus Christ, but he was faithful, very, very faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ to exalt him.

Look what it says in verse 16 and 17. John answers, saying unto all, I indeed baptize you with water, but one mightier than I cometh, the lachet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire, whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor and gather the weed into his garner, and the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable. He was faithful to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ. Point a people away from himself and point them to Christ. Point them to Christ.

And he said his power, he dealt with his power and his authority. The first thing he said, there's one mightier, mightier than I. You think I'm something. You think I'm something. You wait till you see him. You wait till you hear about him. You think I'm a preacher. You wait till Christ comes. And I tell you, that's what he was talking about. There's one coming after me. He's so much, he's the mighty one. He's the everlasting Father. He's the Prince of Peace. And he said, there's one mightier, got all the power, got all the glory, got all the majesty.

Oh my, I tell you what, he said, oh my, he said, I'm so unworthy. I tell you what I think about myself in the light of the Lord Jesus Christ coming. He said, He said, I'm not fit to get down and take the shoelatching on his shoe and unloosen it, not just to take it off, but unloosen it. I'm not fit to touch his feet. I'm not fit to come down. I'm not fit to do anything for the Lord Jesus Christ, except talk about it.

You know, the apostle Paul, this is the way it happens with men and women. When Paul, God saved him on the Damascus Road, after he became an apostle, he said, I'm the least of the apostles. And then he says, I'm nothing. Now this is an apostle saying, I'm nothing. And then you know what he said when he's getting ready to depart from this world? He said, I'm the chief of sinners. Started out as an apostle, the rest of them, and then he became nothing, and then he became the chief of sinners before he left here. He went down, down, down, down, down. And that's what John says about me. I got to go down, down, down, down. He got to go up, up, up. Huh? Oh, my. His coming, that's what I'm here for, to prepare His way. He's so much greater and glorious I'm not worthy to do anything. And he wouldn't take any honor to himself. He wouldn't allow anything about himself to detract from his master.

I want to show you something in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, chapter 4, excuse me. I want you to see this. You know, John said he must increase and I must decrease. He said he goes up and I go down. That's Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 5. You know, and that's something, boys. That's something. We got to... Old Scott used to say all the time, make your headquarters into dust and don't ever get up. Make your headquarters into dust. Where's your headquarters at? Dust. Where you live at? Dust. Why do you live as dust? Because God said we're dust. Oh, listen. Old Joe Terrell used to say this.

I'll get to this verse here in a minute. He used to say, when you're on a seesaw, he said, when you go down, the other fellow goes up. When he goes down, you go up. He said, that's the way it's supposed to be. We're supposed to stay down here on the seesaw. Christ's supposed to be up here. We're on the bottom. He's supposed to be up there. And that's right. I mean, you know, we are down here. He's up there. But look what he said here in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 5. This is what John did not do.

He said, we preach not ourselves. but Christ Jesus, the Lord, and ourselves, your servants, for the Lord Jesus' sake. What is it to preach yourself? What is it for a preacher to preach himself? How successful he is. Talks about his ministry, talking about what he's accomplished, how many converts he has, how many churches he's helped establish, and he starts bragging about all the things that he's done.

John the Baptist didn't do that. John the Baptist didn't do that. And oh, look what he says now. We don't preach ourselves. We got nothing to say about ourselves. Worms. Oh my, when people brag on something, you know, it's just one worm bragging on another worm. And oh my, look what he says now.

But we preach Jesus Christ our Lord. We preach Christ Jesus, the Lord of glory. We talk about the Lord of glory. We talk about Him who's high and lifted up. We talk about Him that's holy and undefiled, separate from sinners. Him that's holy in every way. Him that sits right now on the throne of God. That's who we preach. And all we are is just servants. Just servants, that's all we are. We're here to do.

I've told Shirley this time and time again, you know, I told somebody the other day, said, like, somebody come take their place as a snowbird. I said, I'd love to do that, but I got too many responsibilities. And my responsibility is first and foremost to the Lord Jesus Christ. If I could retire, I would. If I had somebody take my place, I'd do it. But that's not what God will. God's will is me to stay right here and keep preaching the gospel. You know, it won't be long before I'll be 80. And you know, when I get 80, that makes you four years older, too, you know. But that's going to be something, ain't it? That is something.

That I'm here, first and foremost, as the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ and somebody, by God's grace, to serve you, to set a meal before you, set a meal before you, wait on you, pray for you. And look what he says now, back over in our text. He said, John answered and said, I baptize with water, but one mightier than I cometh, whose shoe latcheth, whose shoes I'm not worthy to even unloose, unloose. How can we tell whether a preacher's sound in the faith or not? Well, where's Christ in his preaching? That's the first thing you ask. Where's Christ in his preaching?

Where is the lamb in his preaching? I remember, and I use Scott all the time, but I remember one time, we was in a service one time, and a preacher got up and preached, and Scott asked him, when he got done, he said, where was the lamb? Where was the lamb? I didn't hear nothing about a lamb. I didn't hear nothing about a substitute. I'd hear nothing about somebody bearing sin in his own body on the tree. I never heard nothing about a lamb that takes away the sin. Boy, I tell you what, I didn't want him to confront me over something like that. But oh my, oh, he said, you know, John said, Christ is coming. He said, he cometh after me. He that's coming after me. He that's coming after me. Now we're preaching Christ has come. John said he's coming. We said he's already come. He's come. And I'll tell you, let's ask yourself this, and I ask myself this, Lord have mercy on us. Is Christ magnified before my heart? Is Christ magnified big? I remember Dion when she come to talk to me about her profession of faith.

I was up here and she come She's just a young lady. She wasn't married or nothing She's just a young young woman and she come here and she knocked on the door and come in. She said Donnie said She said, I won't tell you about Christ. And she said, you know, he is this, he is so, so, so, so, so big, so great. She said to give me her profession. She said, he's just so great. That was her profession when she come talk to me. He's just so great. And he is.

Oh my, is Christ magnified before my heart? Do I see him before my heart as everything? Oh, a preacher who's doing us any good, those ones who do me good, is one makes Christ to be everything. Makes Christ to be all in all. that makes Christ the only Savior, makes Christ the only Lord, makes Christ the only King, makes Christ the only prophet, makes Christ to be the intercessor, makes Christ to be on His throne in His glory. In His glory. Oh, my. That's who does us bad. That's who does me. When I listen to a preacher, that's what I'm listening for. And the vast difference between the Lord Jesus Christ and the greatest prophet and the holiest man is look what he said.

He said, verse 16, I indeed baptize you with water. And down the last part of the verse, he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire. All I can do is baptize you with water. And that don't change a thing. But He, when He baptizes you, when He baptizes you, He baptizes you with fire.

Now, what does it mean to be baptized by Christ? It means be immersed in His body. You know, by one Spirit, we're all baptized into the body of Christ. And over in Galatians 3, when it talks about baptism, that's what it's talking about, our baptism into Christ. You know, when you're put in Christ, Christ is in you. And so what it means is, is that here, the body of Christ, we're the body of Christ. The Lord's people's here right now. God takes a sinner, and he takes that sinner and puts him into the body of Christ. And when he puts him in the body of Christ, you know what happens when that happens? Christ baptizes you with fire.

And you know what fire means? Fire means, God's a consuming fire. And fire is always emblematic of judgment. And it also means to burn out the dross. When you put fire on gold or put fire on silver, it'll burn away all the dross. And we think it not strange concerning the fire trial, which is to try you.

And that fire represents when God, the fire come down to consume the sacrifice. and under the law, the fire of God would come down and consume the sacrifice. Well, our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, when He was on that cross, God come down and in, and our Lord Jesus Christ, when God came down, instead of God's fire consuming Christ, as He did in the Old Testament, Christ took God's wrath and consumed it. He bore the judgment and consumed it all.

And I tell you what, that fire, Jeremiah said it like this, he said, I'm not speaking about God anymore. These folks are so mean, so hard hearted, I ain't gonna talk to them anymore. Then he said, it's like a fire in my bones. He said, is not the word of God like a fire? Is it not like a hammer? Fire to burn, to cleanse you and to wash you and purify you. And a hammer to just break that heart, break that mind, break that stubborn will. Bam, bam, bam, bam. He can break it. And when it's broke, it's broke.

Oh, he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. And I tell you what, that's what he does. He gives us a Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit of God. That's the only way we can see Christ in no ground. All John could do is baptize you in water, and the only thing he could reach is the man's ear. But our Lord Jesus Christ can reach the heart, can reach the heart.

Oh my, he can reach the heart. You know, that's what he says, the axe is laid to the root of the tree. And that's our hearts is what God deals with. It's our hearts that he deals with, that inward nature. And the baptism, you know, water can cleanse the body and make the body wet, but only Christ can deal with a heart, that inward nature of a heart, that nature that's wrong. And he changed that nature, give a new nature. something worth having.

And oh my, we can, I can, you know, we can have the Lord's table. We need to have it real soon. We'll have it on Wednesday night. But here's, here's the thing. We can give out bread, unleavened bread, and we can give you a little cup of wine. We give you bread and we give you wine.

But only the Holy Ghost and only Christ can cause you to eat his flesh and drink his blood." And he says, my flesh is meat indeed, my blood is drink indeed. What he's saying is that I'm all you need in this world to eat and to drink. I'm your bread, which came down from heaven. That's why he said, my flesh is meat indeed, my blood is drink indeed, And what he's telling us is that you got to have me.

You can only live by me, by what I did in this world, by what my blood does for you in this world. You cannot live by anything else in this world, have spiritual life, or anything from God, except you eat his flesh and drink his blood. And you know what they said about that? Said, that's just too hard to say it. It is hard for people who don't get it, but it ain't hard for me.

Every time we hear the gospel, we're eating his flesh and we're drinking his blood. It's the body of Christ. It's what Christ did in his body. It's what Christ is our substitute and our representative did in his body in this life. And it's the blood that he shed on that tree.

He was sung this morning as power, was that what we were singing, power in the blood or worst in the blood? Are you worst in the blood? Which one are we singing? I don't, anyway, we were talking about the blood, singing about the blood. Shirley and I were singing it yesterday. Are you washed in the blood? Are you washed in the soul-cleansing power of the blood? Are you washed in the blood?

Well, you know I can't sing, but at least you know what I'm talking about. You know what I'm talking about. Oh, my. Oh, my. Oh, we may have this experience of baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire. Huh? Oh, we've been baptized with water, but have we been baptized with the Holy Ghost? Has Christ taken up his abode in us? Has Christ got our mind? Christ got our hearts?

And then look what he says in verse 17. He's the great separator. John's talking about he's the one that has to separate people. I can't separate people, but he can. What he says, look what he says. whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly perch his floor and will gather the wheat into his garner, but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable."

Oh, my. Here's the gate separate. And look what it says. The fan's in his hand. You know what? Everything's in his hand. But when he talks about a fan in his hands, that's what they used to do. They would take a fan and separate You know, separate things. And our Lord Jesus said His fan is in His hands. And everything's in His hands, but He has a fan in His hands. A fan in His hands. And what does He do? He'll thoroughly purge His floor. It's His floor. It's His fan. It's in His hands. And look what He does.

He knows the difference in the wheat and the chaff. You know, our Lord in Matthew 13, He says, there's a man that sowed seed in his wheat in his field. And while he slept, an enemy come in and sowed tares among that wheat. And he got up the next day and his men went out there and said, Lord, they said, there's tares in your wheat. It looks just like wheat, but it's not real wheat.

He said, there's tares in there. He said, you want us to separate them? He said, no, no, no, no, don't do that. You'll end up messing up some wheat when you try to get rid of them tares. He said, just leave the wheat alone. He said, it'll be separated when it comes time. And that's what our Lord is saying to you.

It's my floor. Everything I'm talking about is mine. My fan, and my hand, and my floor, and look what he said, and I know the difference between the wheat, and I know the difference between chaff. I know the difference in what's mine, and what isn't. I know the difference between what is, and what's not. I know the difference between something that produces fruit, and I know the difference between things that don't produce anything. Chaff don't produce nothing. Oh my, and I tell you what, And he's the only one that knows the difference. I don't know the difference. Do you? I don't know the difference.

I would be, I would be, I would be scared to death to go and tell somebody that they know Christ when they didn't. I would be scared to death to rob a sheep of one of some of his assurance. So what I do, the Lord knows where the chaff is and he knows where the weed is.

And he's the one who's going to have to deal with it, not me. I'm just telling you what he said. And look what he says now. He goes on to say this. And, oh my. He goes, and in a visible church, you know, there's mixed multitude, believers and unbelievers, sitting side by side. I'm not able to judge between them. And there's some false professors who who pass for the real thing, and then there's some, now listen to me, there are some that's so weak sometimes, and so feeble, that you know, our Lord said I wouldn't, I won't quit smoking flax or amber, a fire. And what he's saying is, he says some people's faith is so weak and so frail sometimes that it looks like It's just about to go out.

He'll blow on it, get that flame going back again. A bruised reed, I won't break it. That reed that's broken, that's bent, feels like it's gonna fall over, he said, I won't break that. I'll cause it, I'll strengthen it, I'll cause it to grow back up.

That's what our Lord does. And oh, who could tell the difference, only Christ can. But look what he says, the fan is his, the floor is his, and he'll gather the wheat, and the garner's his. And the wheat is his, and what does he do in the gathering when he gathers it? When he gathers it, it's what he says, he will gather the wheat into his garner, but the chaff, that's not worth anything. He said, I'm going to burn it. Burn it. And then let me hurry on here and give you this. In verse 18 it said, and many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people. Now I want to talk about John's reward was not in this world. He knew his reward wasn't in this world.

But Herod the Tetrarch Now, that means a king. He has a little king. He's a small king. The Caesars put him in his position. But Herod the Tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and all the evils which we had, Herod had done, and yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison. You know, John wasn't of this world, and his reward wasn't this world. He wouldn't compromise the Word of God.

Now, I want you to keep this and look back over with me in Mark, chapter 6. Look what happens to John here. It tells us over here everything about John we need to hear. Matthew 6. He wouldn't compromise, not even for a king. Look what it says in verse 17.

For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife, whom he had married. He took his brother Philip's wife, His blood brother said, I want her, and I'm going to have her. And she married him, left her husband and married somebody else, married his brother. Could you imagine that, how awful that would be? Mark 6, 7. For Herod himself had set forth and laid up on John, bound him, for he had married her.

For John had said unto Herod, listen to this now, it's not lawful for you to have your brother's wife. what God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." And that's what he said here. He says, listen, it's not lawful for you to have your brother's wife. There's nothing right about you having your brother's wife.

And oh my, therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him. You know what it says in the margin? An inward grudge. A grudge. I'm gonna get even with him one of these days. And look what he says now. For Herod feared John. You talking about something now. Listen, Herod feared John. He was afraid of John.

Knowing that he was a just man. Not only is he just, but he is a holy man. He was holy. And he observed him. That means he watched him. You know, done everything he could, he observed him and paid attention to what he had to say. And when he heard him, when he heard John preach, he did many things. And listen to what else he said about him. He heard him gladly. Heard him gladly. He's glad to hear old John.

But look what happens now. And of convenient day, was come, and Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, his high captains, and chief estates of Galilee. And when the daughter of the set Herodias came in and danced, it pleased Herod, and them that sat with him.

The king said unto the damsel, Ask me of whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee. And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I'll give it thee unto the half of my kingdom. And she went forth and says, mama, mama, what should I ask for? He said, go give me half of his kingdom. He said, he made a promise to me. What should I ask for? What should I have to? What shall I ask for? And he, you know what she said? I want the head of John the Baptist. He's embarrassed me. He shamed me. He told me I'm wrong. He told me that everything about me is wrong. My marriage is wrong. My love is wrong. Everything about me is wrong.

And I've got a chance to get even." Now watch what he says. And she went forth and she said, the head of John the Baptist. And she came in straightway with haste unto the king and said, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger. And it charges a big old plate. Big old plate. And they said, I want you to go down there and get John the Baptist's head. The head of John the Baptist.

And the king was so sorry. Oh, what have I done? What have I done? Yet, for his own sake, and for those sake we sent with him, he said he couldn't reject her. And immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded his head to be brought and beheaded him in prison.

And oh my, everybody's around at that big birthday party. I mean, this is a birthday party. And you know what the gift that they gave for his birthday party? Brought in John the Baptist's head. Here it is. Oh, now you know what happened? John's been in glory now for over 2,000 years. And his head's back with him. They come and took his corpse and buried him. But John the Baptist's been with the Lord Jesus Christ now all these centuries and centuries and centuries. His reward for this world is an exceeding weight of eternal glory. And I'll tell you something. You know where Herod is? He's been in hell as long as John's been in heaven. And you know what he hears? John the Baptist's voice. Pretty heard him gladly. What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? I'd rather be John the Baptist, wouldn't you? Go ahead and take the head.

But I tell you what, he was a faithful preacher, a faithful preacher, faithful to Christ, faithful even unto death for the glory of Christ. What a blessed, blessed Savior. What a blessed man that points men to Christ and Him alone. Our Father, in the precious, precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for meeting with us today. Thank you for your word. Thank you for the truth.

God help us to always be faithful to our master. Be faithful to him and exalt him and point men to him and tell about everything's in his hands. Everything is his. Everything is his. And Lord, you got power over all flesh that you should give eternal life to as many has been given to you.

Lord, please, for Christ's sake, save your sheep in this place. Save your sheep in this place. Bring glory to yourself for Christ's sake. Amen. Amen. Turn your eyes upon Jesus Look full in his wonderful face And the things of earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. And that's true. That is so true. I'll see you Wednesday, God willing. Lord bless you.

"John, A Faithful Preacher"

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Why is baptism important for Christians?

How does God separate believers from unbelievers?

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"John, A Faithful Preacher"

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about repentance?

How do we know Christ bore our sins?

Why is baptism important for Christians?

How does God separate believers from unbelievers?

Sermon Transcript

About Donnie Bell

Comments

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