Nothing is more truly a manifest token of God's
judgment upon a nation, upon a people, than for God to send
a strong delusion by the mouth of false prophets to lead them
everlastingly to destruction. And he does. And he does. The judgments of
God's providence that are manifest in the tidal waves and tornadoes
and hurricanes and earthquakes and volcano eruptions and wars
and pestilence and famine that we read about in our newspapers
is nothing to compare with the judgment of God that nobody seems
to observe when God sends prophets of deceit to deceive men. And nothing is more blessing
than for God Almighty to send chosen sinners a messenger of
grace proclaiming his salvation in his Son for the glory of his
name. How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings. that publisheth
peace, that bringeth good tidings of good things, that publisheth salvation, that
saith to Zion, Thy God reigneth." And I want to tell you something
about those men, every one of them, every one of them. This
is what God says himself in Isaiah 52, verse 8. They everyone see
eye to eye. All of them. They see eye to
eye. They're in perfect harmony with
regard to the gospel and the grace and the glory of God in
Jesus Christ. They see eye to eye. John the
Baptist was such a man. for 400 years God had sent darkness
and delusion and deceit to the people who loved him and then
God broke the silence of heaven and sent a prophet oh my what
grace and in Luke chapter 3 God the Holy Spirit inspired Luke
to give us 20 verses by which he describes that prophet and
that preacher John the Baptist. He wraps up the biography in
verses 15 through 20, and that's our text for this evening. In these verses of inspiration,
Luke gives us his final word about the life and ministry of
John the Baptist, and he speaks with such simplicity, with such
candor, that you You just don't even think about suspecting that
he's flattering the man. He's just telling the truth.
Listen as he speaks. And as the people were in expectation,
and all men mused in their hearts of John, saying, is this the
Christ? They mused in their hearts of
John whether he were the Christ or not. And John answered, this
is what he said to them all. I indeed baptize you with water,
you can see that, 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 thoroughly, purge his floor, and will gather the
wheat into his garner, but the chaff he will burn with fire
unquenchable." And many other things in his exhortation or
in his preaching preached he unto the people. But here is
the Tetrarch being reproved by him for Herodias, his brother
Philip's wife, things about the same then as they are now. Those
folks had the same kind of president we do. And John the Baptist wasn't
bashful about telling it. But Herod didn't take it lying
down. Herod the tetrarch being reproved
by him for Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the
evils which Herod had done. It wasn't just that John stuck
his finger in Herod's face and said, That wasn't just it. His preaching exposed Herod's
corrupt heart, and Herod couldn't stand it. Herod couldn't stand
it. Added yet this above all. He shut John up in prison. At
least I've heard it last year. He shut him up in prison. In
these 20 verses, the Holy Spirit directed Luke's pen showing us
the faithfulness of John the Baptist as a preacher of the
gospel, holding him before us as an example to be followed
by all who are called of God and sent of God into the glorious
work of the gospel ministry. In these verses we have before
us this evening, Luke uses John's example to show us five distinct
characteristics of a faithful preacher. But I understand I'm
not preaching to preachers tonight, I'm preaching to you. But as
I preach to you concerning this preacher and concerning the one
who's preaching to you, I'm preaching to you. I hope to your hearts
for the glory of Christ. You see, contrary to the opinions
of the day, that which is required of preachers is no different
from what's required of everybody else. That which God requires
of me is exactly what he requires of you. You read the listings
given concerning those things which men who are set apart for
the gospel ministry must be. That's the same thing, Gary,
you must be. Same thing your wife must be. They must be men
of faithfulness, men of uprightness. For you see, we are all, every
one of us, who are born of God. Every one of us who believe on
the Son of God. Every one of us who follow the
Lord Jesus Christ. We are all the servants of God
in Jesus Christ the Lord. And the one thing God requires
of Bill Raleigh and Don Ford. The one thing God requires as
his servants is that we be faithful. That's the one thing he requires.
The one thing. Faithful. Faithful. You hire a man to do a job, you
say I'm going to give you $5 a day or $5,000 a day, it doesn't
matter. The man says I'll take it and
I'll do the job. You ought to be able to walk off, never consider
it again, the job's done. That's the way it is with faithful
men. That's the way it is with faithful
men. But there ain't many around. But I want to tell you something
about God's people. They are. They are. The Lord God has put
us here in his venue, and we have sailed in the waters of
baptism as we identify ourselves as his servants and his people.
I'm here to serve you. I'm here to serve you. And believers
do, to find themselves serving him perfectly in glory. Let a
man so account of us, the Apostle says, as the ministers of Christ,
servants of Christ. Servants, oh, that's what preachers
are, that's what you are, servants of Christ. And stewards, stewards
in a household, stewards to whom the master of the house commits
his treasure. stewards of the mysteries of
God. Moreover, it is required in stewards
that Lindsay Campbell and Don Fortner be found faithful. That's
it. That's it. One of my unceasing
daily prayers is that God would be pleased
to make me faithful in all things as his servant. Knowing something of the fickleness
of my own heart, I know, oh I know, if faithfulness is found in me,
it'll be God's doing. And if faithfulness is found
in you, it'll be God's doing. The Lord has made this a matter
of constant prayer with me for more than 30 years. And the older
I get, the more I know of the things of God, the more I know
of my own nature, the more I know of my own heart, the more I know
of the power and deceitfulness of the cares of this world, the
more earnest I am in asking this of my God. Oh, for grace to be faithful to my God, His
Son, His Word, His glory, His will, and you, His people. But
what does this faithfulness involve? Perhaps as a preacher it involves
some things different than it might with you, but not so much
different as you might imagine. In this passage before us, Luke
shows us five things that are characteristic or were characteristic
of John the Baptist as a faithful preacher. First, a faithful ministry. disturbs men. Deliberately, purposefully disturbs
men. It disturbs sinners. It disturbs
folks in their smugness. It disturbs folks because it
never lets men at ease until they find themselves at ease
in Christ. Look at what the scripture tells
us here. Luke tells us that when men and women heard John, now
not just ordinary fellows, these were not just the ordinary Jews.
These were not just the folks you'd find on the streets. These
weren't the folks you'd find down in the brothel and the bars.
No, no, no, no, no. These were religious folks. When
they heard John, men and women who presumed that they knew God,
just about like almost everybody I've ever met in my life, Who? When was the last time you met
somebody who just flat told you, no I don't know God? Where did
you ever find such a fella? Everybody in the world presumes
they know God. Because they said a little prayer.
Because they've been through a little religious exercise.
Because some fool, deceiver told them they knew God. And they
believed him. Everybody presumes they know God. These folks to
whom John preached, wow we know the Lord. We've been, we're Abraham's
children. We're God's people. We've been
in church all our lives. When they heard John the Baptist
preach, listen to what scripture says. They were in expectation. And all men mused in their hearts. Have we been messed up? Have
we been confused? Have we been lied to? Have we
been deceived? They mused in their hearts of
John. So confused now are they, so
disturbed. They ask, is this the Christ?
Is this man? John the Baptist, the son of
Zacharias, is he the Christ? The word mused means they sat
down and began to think. They began to weigh, Merle, all
they had heard and experienced in the light of what they now
heard and experienced. They began to consider. When people heard
John preach, they were provoked to thoughtful consideration of
his message. You see, when a man comes from
the throne of God with a message from God, now that's preaching. When a man comes from the throne
of God with a message he has fetched from God Almighty, preaching
with God-given knowledge and understanding, authority, and
power, you simply can't ignore it. Can't be done. Those who
hear his message are compelled to weigh his words. And that's
always a hopeful sign. I'm always delighted to see folks
begin to consider the things of God. When men and women begin
to think, I rejoice. Now, thinking is not faith, and
consideration is not conversion, but it's a hopeful sign. You
see, the gospel of the grace of God, the word of God, the
truth of God, is always verified by honest investigation. You
got that? It's always verified by honest
investigation. Always. You cannot, you cannot,
you cannot honestly investigate the truth of God and find it
falsehood. It can't be done. You cannot
honestly investigate the word of God and find anything false
in it. And if a man's preaching the gospel to you, you cannot
honestly investigate what he says and find falsehood in it.
Not so. No sir. The gospel will always
be verified by honesty. The problem with most people
is that God is not in their thoughts. They never consider truth. They
don't even think about it. Don't even think about it. They
hear the word, and they just flat out reject it. And I don't
believe that. I've never met anybody who believed that. Why,
you're the only nuts I ever met who talked like that. No, they
don't even think about it. Listen to this, the wicked through
the pride of his countenance, and that's the problem, will
not seek after God. God is not in all their thoughts.
God's just not in their thoughts. Our Lord said the ox knows his
owner and the ass his master's crib, but Israel does not know. My people don't know because
they don't consider. Now if you're not in too big
a hurry to go to hell, you'd be wise. You'd be wise, everybody
here. You'd be wise, old and young. You who profess faith and you
who do not, you'd be wise to go somewhere, get alone with
God and this book, and consider some things. You'd be wise to
consider some things. Consider yourself. Consider who
you are and what you are. Consider your heart. If it doesn't
drive you absolutely bedbug insane crazy, stop and consider what
you are. Sin. Corruption. Vileness. And nothing else. Nothing else. Take a little time
and consider who the Lord Jesus Christ is. Don't pay any attention
to all the tradition and religious tomfoolery that folks talk about.
Get this book and find out who he is. Find out what he did. Find out why he came down here.
This is what the apostle says over and over again in the book
of Hebrews. Consider him. Consider how great this man was.
Stop and consider. Stop and consider. Oh, I wonder if you'll stop for just
a little while and consider your end. Turn to Psalm 50 for a minute. Verse 16. It's strange how men and women
figure a way. I don't know how. We manage to
find a way to pretend and convince ourselves that when we're dealing
with God, we're just dealing with a man. We're just dealing
with somebody sort of like we are. Look here in Psalm 50, verse
16. Under the wicked, God says, what
hast thou to do to declare my statutes? You dare stand up and
talk about God, talk about religion, talk about morality, talk about
uprightness. I read in the paper today where
Prince Charles on his New Year's address to the nation said, we've
got to maintain a spiritual guidance. How dare you? How dare you talk
about God? and stand up in his moral decadence
and say, now we need to turn to the Lord, we need to turn
to God, we need to pray. How dare you? How dare you? Of what are that thou shouldest
take my covenant in your mouth? How dare you pretend to be my
people? Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind your
back, when thou saw'st a thief, Then thou consentest with him,
and hast been partaker with adulterers. Thou givest thy mouth to evil,
and thy tongue frameth deceit. Thou sittest and speakest against
thy brother, thou slanderest thine own mother's son. These
things hast thou done, and I kept silence. Thou thoughtest! Thou
thoughtest! Here's your problem. Thou just
likeest. that thou art altogether such
and one as thyself, just as vile, just as insignificant, just as
corrupt, just as weak as you. But I will reprove you and set
them in order before your eyes. Now consider this, you that forget God, lest I tear
you in pieces and there be none to We make no effort to abort examination. Oh, no. Stop and consider. I want you to. I want you to. I want you to weigh everything
you hear. I want you to search the scriptures, see if these
things are so. We court examination. You see, I know. I don't have
any question about this. I know. I know as surely as I'm
standing here. I know. Bobby, the gospel I preach
will meet every demand of your heart and every demand of your
conscience. It'll do it. And I know nothing
else will. Nothing else will. Here's another
thing. A faithful preacher always exalts
Christ. When men came to John seeking
to confer a great honor on him. Boy, that's tough to deal with.
Fellas come and they want to exalt you. They want to honor
you. They want to make you somebody. We all love it. We all love it. We want folks to look at us and
clap. We want folks to look at us and say, wow. We want folks
to just be astounded by us. There goes Dr. Fortner. Do you
know what he's done? Do you know what he said? Do
you know where he's been? Do you know who listens to him?
There he goes. Well, they came to John. And
they wanted to confer the highest possible honor on him. They looked
at him as being himself the Christ. The Christ. He turned their thoughts
away from himself just like that. He turned their thoughts directly
to Christ. You see, as the friend of the bridegroom rejoices in
the glory of the bridegroom, the servant of God rejoices in
the glory of Christ and seeks none for himself. Turn to John
chapter 3 for a moment. Things were different in these
days. Jewish culture at least, when folks got married, the attention
didn't focus on the woman. It didn't focus on the woman. She wasn't the centerpiece. The
bridegroom was. The bridegroom was. And here
we have an illustration of exactly the relationship between a preacher
and Christ. John says in verse 29, he that
hath the bride, he's the bridegroom. He's the bridegroom. But the
friend of the bridegroom, now that's me, that's me. The friend
of the bridegroom, he's the fellow standing by, and his business
on this great day, his business on this magnificent day when
the bridegroom comes and takes his bride, is to exalt the bridegroom. That's his business. The friend
of the bridegroom which standeth and heareth him rejoiceth greatly
because of the bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled. Do you see that? And look at
verse 30. He must increase. I must increase. You see, faithful
men serve Christ. They exalt Christ. They point
sinners to Christ. They preach Christ. They don't
serve their own interests. They don't do it. They don't
do it. I could look at a number of passages,
but turn to 2 Corinthians 4 for a moment. In recent months, I've heard
two or three preachers make this statement. I just can't afford
to go there. I can't afford to pastor there. I can't afford to serve there. What volumes they speak, Lindsay.
What volumes. What volumes. How am I going
to feed my family? I haven't fed my family in 33
years. My master's been feeding my family.
That's not my business. I'm his servant. That's exactly
right. How are we going to exist? If
God can't keep beans and butter on my table, then he's not much
of a God. It's just that simple. Look here
in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, the Apostle Paul talks about himself
as a preacher. And what he says concerning himself
is true of every preacher. Every preacher. Therefore seeing
we have this ministry as we have received mercy, we think not,
but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty. I don't
have any secret agenda up here. Not walking in craftiness. I'll
tell you exactly the same thing back here in my office as I'll
tell you from the pulpit. Nor handling the word of God deceitfully,
we don't try to make this book say what it doesn't say, but
by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every
man's conscience in the sight of God. Well, I'm not just standing
here in front of you, I'm standing here in front of God Almighty,
in the sight of God. But if our gospel be here, it's
not our fault. Not because of something we did. It's said to
them that are lost in whom the God of this world has blinded
the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious
gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto
them. For, because we preach not ourselves. What? We don't preach about ourselves?
And we don't preach for ourselves, but rather Christ Jesus the Lord. We preach by Him, and we preach
for Him. And ourselves, what are we? Your
servants, for Jesus' sake. Now, Rex Butler, this is what
that means. It doesn't mean that the pastor, the preacher is a,
you know, he reports to the deacon board and they tell him what
to do. Young preacher talked to me just the other day and
said one of the deacons in the church told him, he considers it his duty
as a deacon to keep the preacher in line. That's what most deacons
think. That's not what the book teaches.
That's not what the book teaches. When it says we're your servants,
for Jesus' sake, It means we serve the interest of your souls
under Christ for the glory of God, no matter what the cost,
no matter what the consequence. By this standard, every man's
ministry must be judged. Does he exalt Christ? Does he
preach Christ? Does he point sinners to Christ,
magnify, extol, and honor Christ in all the glories of his person
and work? Doesn't matter how learned he
is, doesn't matter how well he speaks, how many degrees he wears,
how well he dresses, or even how well he speaks to men. Doesn't
matter. The one thing that matters is
what does he speak. When he opens his mouth, does
he take you to Christ? By this standard, judge all doctrine,
all religions, all religious practices and ceremonies, all
religious instruction, all of it. Does it point you to Christ
or to yourself? Does it cause you to look to
Christ or to yourself? Does it cause you to lean on
Christ or lean on yourself? Does it cause you to be focused
on Christ or on yourself or the church or the preacher? Thirdly,
a faithful preacher knows and will always acknowledge his own
inability. When the people presumed that
John was himself the Christ, he quickly pointed out that he
not only wasn't the Christ, but he was utterly incapable of doing
anything for their souls. Look at verse 16. John answered,
saying to them all, I indeed baptize you with water. I can
do that, that's no trouble. But one mightier than I, the
latching of whose shoes I'm not worthy to unloose. He shall baptize
you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Now John's telling us three things.
Number one, he says I can't save you or damn you. I can't do it. I'm neither your savior nor your
judge. You shouldn't expect anything
from me and you needn't confess anything to me. Wow. That's a different kind of preacher,
isn't it? Don't expect anything from me,
and don't confess anything to me. I'm not your priest. I'm
not your savior. I'm not your judge. Do business
with God. Do business with God. Oh, my
soul, I wish I could get in to hear this. Do business with God.
Secondly, John says, I'm not worthy of your slightest esteem,
reverence, or praise. I'm not fit to even untie my
master's shoes. If he does me the honor of letting
me unlatch his sandals, I count myself to be greatly honored. Don't call me master, rabbi,
reverend. I'm just John, just John. The Lord Jesus Christ, he tells
us he is both the savior of the world and the judge of the world. He's going to baptize every one
of you with the Holy Ghost and with fire, one or the other.
Either he's going to, by his grace, put you in the realm of
the Spirit, immerse you in the Spirit, cause you now to be spiritual
creatures walking in the Spirit, born of God, or he's going to
immerse you in the fire of his wrath, one or the other. That
brings me to the next thing. Faithful men faithfully point
eternity-bound sinners to death, judgment, and eternity. Whose fan is in his hand, and
he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather his wheat into
the garner, but the chaff will he burn with unquenchable fire. Oh my God, one of these days
soon, Paul Wendell, you and I are going to take our last breath
and we're going to stand before God Almighty, the judgment seat
of Christ to be set, the great white throne, and we're going
to be judged. He's going to separate the wheat
from the chaff, I can't, but he will. He's going to separate
the precious from the vile, I can't, but he will. He's going to separate
the mere religious professor and hypocrite from that man who
possesses grace and walks before him in faith. I can't, but he
will. You haven't fooled anybody but
yourself. That's all. He's going to purge
his floor. Let us then give diligence to
make our calling and election sure. Let us, as the Apostle
says, judge ourselves. lest we be judged with the world. There's one more thing in verses
19 and 20. Luke shows us John's example
in this regard. Faithful men, every one of them,
buddy, are faithful to the end. They're faithful to the end. I didn't say they don't sin,
they do. They acknowledge that. but they're faithful. You'll
still see them hanging around Christ till they draw their last
breath. They're faithful. Time's a great
redeemer. Oh, it tells almost everything.
Sooner or later, we're everyone gonna show our cards. Sooner
or later. I was thinking about this, and
I recall several years ago, Lindsay Diane came over one night, we
were playing rook. She doesn't have a good poker face. When
she'd get the bird, You spot it every time. I mean she showed
it every single time. No difficulty. Sooner or later, we're everyone
going to show our cards. Time will tell. Time will tell. God make me faithful. And that'll take care of everything
else. Everything else. Amen. All right, let you come
with me.