Now if you have Luke chapter
1, I want to read this morning verse 15 and 16. Verse 15 and 16. For he shall
be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither
wine nor strong drink. And he shall be filled with the
Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. And many of the children
of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. I want to speak
this morning on our Lord's concept of greatness. Our Lord here is
speaking, the Word is speaking about John the Baptist. We read
the first 25 verses of this chapter to you in our opening reading
this morning and I was greatly interested in knowing why it
would be that our Lord would speak of John the Baptist and
say that he shall be great in the sight of the Lord. How is
it that he would be great in God's sight? Now our concept
of greatness is different than the Lord's. It's very different
than the Lord's. Now we look sometimes upon famous
people and we think that they're great. Now there have been many
famous people that I've read about through the years and heard
about who were not great as far as I'm concerned. But there are
many people who think of famous people as being great. Jesse
James was famous, but there's not any of us here that believe
that he was great. There are other personalities
that we could mention this morning that the world would look at
and say, well, there is a great man. But in our Lord's estimate,
I'm sure that would not be the case. Now we know that some equate
influence with greatness. If a man has the ability to influence
people around him, people say, well that man is great, he's
got the ability to influence. You know the Apostle Paul did
not have enough influence about him to keep himself out of prison. But he had enough power with
God that when he got put in the prison, he could pray up an earthquake
to break down the walls of the prison and to open the gates.
He had power with God, but he had no influence. And how important
it is for us to see this morning that the Lord's concept of greatness
is different than ours. And only if we could have some
curiosity this morning about this man John the Baptist. You
know, John the Baptist, the Bible says that he was the greatest
prophet born of a woman. He was the greatest prophet in
the world until our Lord Jesus Christ was born and came upon
the scene. And so, I'm very interested about
this, and therefore I sought to know, why would John the Baptist
be considered great in the sight of the Lord? Now then, what made
him great? Well, there's six or seven things
that I'd like to point out to you about the life of John the
Baptist that I think is very interesting and it may help some
of us to get a better idea of exactly what greatness in the
sight of God is all about. I know that John the Baptist
was a man who knew God. I know that he knew Him even
from his mother's womb because he was filled with the Holy Ghost
from his mother's womb. He knew the Lord. And he knew
something about the purpose of God for his life. You know, God
knows all men. The Bible says that all things
are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
Our Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet and said, Before I formed
thee in the belly, I knew thee. And before thou camest forth
out of the womb, I sanctified thee and ordained thee to be
a prophet unto the nation. So our Lord knows all men, and
certainly he had called John the Baptist. The Bible says he
was a man sent from God. We'll have a word to say about
that a little later, but our Lord sent John the Baptist into
this world, and God called him, and he was to prepare the way
for the Lord. God would greatly use him and
bless him. But why is he considered to be
great? Well, first of all, I think he
is great because he pointed men and women to Jesus Christ. In
John chapter 1, in verse 29, it says, Behold the Lamb of God
which taketh away the sin of the world. John the Baptist said,
Look! Look! He said, Behold the Lamb
of God! The Lamb of God, that one that
God has appointed, that one that God has sent, the one that God
has anointed to be the Savior, the one that God has sent into
the world to be the sacrificial Lamb. Look! Behold! Luke in our text this morning
and many of the children of Israel in verse 16 shall be turned to
the Lord their God John the Baptist was going to be used of God to
turn men and women to the Lord their God he would point and
men and women away from himself, and he would point them to the
Lord Jesus. I can think of nothing that we
should be more faithful in doing than attempting to find the message
of the Bible in concerning the gospel of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. And as Old Spurgeon said many
years ago, he said, I don't want to be famous for anything but
preaching the old gospel. He said nothing will touch the
hearts of men like the preaching of the old gospel. He knew who
Jesus was and he preached men and women unto the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now in our day and time we know
that there are other Jesus's besides the Jesus of the Bible
being preached. And there are many of these Jesuses
that we simply will not tolerate. We will not tolerate the thought
of them. We believe that our Lord Jesus Christ is a sovereign,
and we believe that God sent him into the world. John the
Baptist believed that. And we believe, along with John
the Baptist, that the Lord Jesus Christ would be a savior of sinners. He came to take away, John said,
the sin of the world. Now John the Baptist meant by
that that Christ took away the curse and the penalty of our
sin when he died as our substitute upon the cursed tree. He meant
that our Lord Jesus Christ stood in the room and place of sinners
and that he died in their room instead in place. ...body on the tree in order
to take away the curse and the guilt and... remembrance of our sin from the
book of God's mercy and from the book of God's memory in heaven.
He's taken away the memory of our sin. You know, the Bible
says that our sins have been cast behind the back of God as
for as the East is from the West, never to be remembered again.
Well, the Lord has done this for somebody. Well, we read here,
and many of the children of Israel shall be turned to the Lord their
God. And then in verse 77 of this same chapter, let me read
verse 76 and 77. And thou, child, shalt be called
the prophet of the highest, for thou shalt go before the face
of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation
unto his people by the remission of their sins. We read here that
John the Baptist was to prepare the way of the Lord and to give
knowledge of salvation unto His people, unto God's people, by
the remission of their sins. We believe that God chose a people
in Christ before the foundation of the world, and that when our
Lord Jesus came into the world, He represented those people. And we believe that John the
Baptist was instrumental in drawing together a group of those people
and they became the first church of our Lord Jesus Christ. But
Christ was preached, the Christ of the Bible. Now, we do not
believe here in a Christ who is nothing more than a doormat
called Jesus. Some people think that Jesus
is a doormat, you can wipe your feet on Him, you can do whatever
you will, you can accept Him if you want to, you can reject
Him if you want to, and that He has no power to do anything
that you will not allow Him to do. Well, we don't believe in
that kind of a Jesus here. We believe in a Jesus who came
out from God. He was God. And he came out with
a purpose in mind. And he came out to redeem his
people. And John the Baptist pointed men and women to him
and said, this is God's Lamb. This is that Lamb that was slain
from the foundation of the world. This is that Lamb that was in
the heart of God from before the foundation of the world that
was slain in God's heart in old time and He's God's Redeemer. Now who is the true Jesus? Well,
of all of the adjectives that I could use to describe our Lord
in the Gospel, the one that seems most fitting to me is to call
Him the successful Jesus. The successful Jesus. The true Jesus is the one who
by Himself, He actually did purge our sins. Hebrews chapter 1 and
verse 3. He is the one in whose hand the
will of Jehovah prospered. Isaiah 53 and verse 10. He is
the one who is the word from God that does not return to God
void or empty, but actually accomplishes that that God sent him to do. Isaiah 55 and 11. The one who
has He's that very one who is called
the gospel, he is called the Lord's salvation, he is called
the righteousness of God, and he's the one that fills our hearts
as we believe upon him and as we trust in him. Now that Jesus
is that many preachers preach, they may some way or another
cause you to have a little feeling, maybe shed a few tears, or something
like that, but they cannot save your soul. Only the Jesus of
definite, successful, and particular redemption can deliver your soul
to God without spot and blemish. You trust Him, you tolerate no
other, but fix your soul fast on the Lord Jesus Christ and
your soul shall live. You trust any other Jesus besides
the one that John the Baptist pointed men to and you'll be
lost, you'll go to hell. The Jesus of the Bible is a successful
redeemer. And that's what separates him
from many of the Jesuses that is preached in our day. I have
no use for a Jesus that can't do anything unless wicked sinful
man who has a fallen nature, a depraved nature allows and
permits him to do so. I believe in a sovereign Lord
Jesus Christ that will save his people from their sin. All that
the Father giveth me shall come to me and they that come to me
I will in no wise cast them out. The Lord Jesus is a sufficient
successful anointed Savior, and he will not be disappointed. He will have his people, he shall
see of the travail of his soul, and he shall be satisfied. Now, beloved, in our day and
time, we sometimes ask the question, are men and women in our day
gospel-hardened, or are they ignorant of the gospel. Now down
south, down in Georgia and Alabama and Louisiana, Kentucky and Tennessee,
what is commonly known as the Bible Belt, people say that men
and women are gospel hardened. And in our part of the country
up here in this north country, people say that people are gospel
ignorant. They just simply do not know
the gospel. But the truth of the matter,
I just think everybody, all of these people are in the same
boat. I think they're all gospel ignorant, is what I believe.
They're all gospel ignorant. Now what have, you know we've
got where we are by what we've heard. That's how we got where
we are. You get a man, and he listens,
a man or a woman, boy or girl, and he listens as these preachers
drag Jesus down to the level of a man, and they drag him right
down there where you can do with him what you want to, whatever
you want to, and they tell you that Jesus is on your hands,
and you just do with him whatever you want to. And beloved, that
is a lie from hell. It's not true. You are on His
hands. He's not on your hands. And He
will do with you what He purposes to do and what He will do with
sinners. He does save. Thank God He does
save. And the Bible says He's going
to save a multitude that are more numerous than the sand on
the seashore. And He does save sinners from
their sin. But you're on His hands. You're
on His hands and it's time for you begin to seek Him for mercy
and begin to cry out to Him that He will spare you and save you. Now many preachers just preach
the law and they say don't do this, don't do that, and if you
do this, don't do that, then you at last will be saved in
heaven. That's a lie also. There's no truth to that. Beloved,
we know that the law discovers the disease, but the gospel is
the remedy. And we know that the law's not
enough. It's not enough. There's no good news in the law.
Somebody said, well, the law says this, the law says that.
It does indeed. But my friend, there's no good
news in the law. No good news in that. Now the
law is a one-way street. You break the law of God and
it condemns your soul to an eternal hell and there ain't no way you
can turn around. There's no way on that road.
But the gospel, the gospel my friend, tells us and that's the
good news. The gospel is that Jesus Christ
bore our sin in his own body, that Jesus answered to God, that
Jesus paid our debt and paid it in full and he did sure enough
purge our sin and by eternal and obtained eternal redemption
for us. He did sure enough do that. And
we praise His dear name. But now I know that there's others
who I think are very guilty of not pointing men and women plainly
to Jesus. Now beloved, we try to preach
men and women to Christ here in this place. We preach you
to Christ. We point you to Him. And I remember
old Charlie Spurgeon when he was only 16 years old. He was
a lost soul and he went to a Methodist church one morning, a Calvinistic
Methodist church. and he heard this preacher and
actually he was a lay preacher, the other preacher couldn't get
there because they had a big snowstorm and Charlie wouldn't
have been there either if it hadn't been for the fact that
it snowed so much he couldn't get where he normally would go
and he was a lost sinner and he came into that place and the
preacher got up and he read out of the book of Isaiah, look unto
me all ye, look unto me all ye ends of the earth and be saved,
look unto me And old Charlie, he looked right at him and said,
look into me and be you saved. And old Charlie looked and he
was saved and became that great English preacher that preached
to thousands of souls and as it were used as an instrument
in God's hand to bring many into the kingdom of God. But look!
And so we want to point men and women. We don't want to mislead
you. Now some people say all you got
to do is make a trip up front and God will save you. Well we
know there's no truth to that. You don't have to move a muscle
for God to save you. God can save you sitting right
in that chair where you are this morning. You don't have to move
for God to save you. And other people say, well, when
you get down front, you gotta hang on. And other people say,
well, you gotta turn loose. And another fellow standing over
here said, well, I had cold chills running up and down my back when
God saved me. Another fellow said, over here,
he said, well, you know, he said, I just had There's so many different
experiences, I couldn't tell you all the experiences I had.
So you got a fella turning loose, you got a fella hanging on, you
got a fella waiting for cold chills running up his back, another
fella over here waiting for his hair to stand on end. There ain't
no salvation in any of that. Ain't no truth in that. Fact
is, if a fellow's hair had to stand on end to be saved, some
of us would only get half saved because we ain't got that much
hair. And then there's some, I know brother Dennis Dahlman,
he wouldn't get saved at all because he didn't have any hair
to stand on end. But anyway, I'm just trying to
point out to you there isn't any truth to all of this. And
what we need to do is look, look to the Lord Jesus Christ. John
the Baptist said you look! Look to Him and you'll be saved. I do not want people to be in
any way confused when they hear me preach. Christ is salvation. John of Acts said He's the one
that takes away sin. And when you hear me preach,
whether you ever get saved or not, I do not want you in any
way, shape, or form to be confused. I want to make it clear and plain
how God saves rebel sinners and delivers them from eternal wrath
and after After you hear some preachers, you're like the old
boy said, you're more confused than a termite in a yo-yo. You
don't know whether or not you're hearing the truth or whether
you're not. But you better get your Bibles down and begin to
read it and begin to study it. John the Baptist was great because
he made the gospel plain and because he pointed men and women
to the Lord Jesus Christ. In the second place, he was great
because he was filled with the Holy Spirit. Luke chapter 1 and
verse 15. We read it to you just a few
minutes ago. It says that he shall drink neither
wine nor strong drink and he shall be filled with the Holy
Ghost even from his mother's womb. Now most of us here that
know the Lord believe that the Holy Spirit dwells and lives
in our hearts. We believe that we were baptized
with the Holy Spirit when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.
When we were regenerated by the Spirit, that we were also, we
participated in the baptism of the Holy Spirit that took place
on the day of Pentecost. And we believe that the Spirit
of God does fill the Lord's people. And we've been seeking it. We
seek the filling of the Spirit all the time. And we ask that
we might be blessed by the Spirit of God to be strong in the Lord
and in the power of His mind. Now, beloved, let's turn to John
chapter 7. I'd like to read a scripture
to you here. John chapter 7 concerning the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist
was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb. And that
means that John the Baptist was regenerated in his mother's womb. That means that he was a child
of God before he ever was born into this world. He was born,
regenerated by the Spirit, filled with the Holy Spirit from his
mother's womb. I do not believe that that has
ever happened since that time, but I do believe that it happened
in the case of John the Baptist, and if God willed it to happen,
it could happen again. But I don't believe that there
are some children born of natural parents that are already saved. I don't believe that. I don't
believe that. But John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Ghost
from his mother's womb. And we can't deny it. The scripture
tells us in this special man he was great because he was filled
with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb. But here in John
chapter 7 and verse 37 He says, In the last day, that great day
of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst,
let him come unto me and drink. Take note of the fact, he said,
that if any man thirst, he that believeth on me, as the scripture
has said, verse 38, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water. But this spake he of the Spirit,
which they that believe on him should receive, for the Holy
Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified. So we see here that the Spirit
of God, Jesus spoke of it, and he said if anybody thirsts If
any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth
on me out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."
The Spirit of God being in him. And this, we have testimony here
in verse 39 that he was talking about the Holy Ghost. He was
talking about the Holy Spirit of God that came down on the
day of Pentecost. But beloved, I want you to understand
something this morning. That every one of us is the Lord's
children in this world. We need to walk in the Spirit.
And the Bible says if you walk in the Spirit, then you will
not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And to do the work of God in
this world. Now you might as well try to
beat back the tide with a pitchfork as to try to do the Lord's work
without the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit. Now
those who have tried to preach They do not want to preach without
the anointing of God's Spirit. The Bible says, if any man minister,
let him minister with the ability which God gives, that God in
all things may be glorified. Anybody that ministers the Word
of God wants to minister in the power of the Holy Spirit. And
if we ever get up to try to preach, and the Spirit of the Lord is
not there to anoint and to bless, then we know what that's about,
and it's a useless activity. But I certainly, this morning,
have this desire. We read in Ephesians 5 and verse
18, I'm thinking about that thirst now. About that thirst, Jesus
said, if any man thirst, if any man come to me in thirst, I'm
thinking about that thirst. And the scripture says, be not
drunk with wine, Ephesians 5 and 18, wherein is success. but be
filled with the Spirit, God working in and through His people by
the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist was great because
he was filled with the Holy Spirit. I don't believe in any second
work of grace. There are some people that do. I don't agree
with their terminology, some of their experience. I appreciate
it and I like some of their experience. Back when I was a kid, my dad
was a primitive Baptist because all of his relatives were, but
one of my uncles one time, he got into a Nazarene church and
he talked my father into going. We had a large family, eleven
of us kids, and so my dad loaded us all up and took us to a Nazarene
church, and I remember hearing a tongue-tied Nazarene preacher
get up and talk about the second work of grace and oh what he
had to say, I mean he couldn't say it very well because like
I said he was tongue-tied, had a hair lift and but yet he talked
about hearing this preacher preach, he said he preached about heaven
until I wanted to go there. And then he said, I heard him
preach about hell until I was sure I was going there. And then
he said he preached about the Holy Spirit. And he preached
about the Spirit until I wanted, I wanted desperately, I was thirsty
and desirous and hungry for the Holy Spirit to come into my life
and to fill me. and to bless me and to give me
the second work of grace that he mentioned. Like I said, I
don't believe in any second work of grace, but this old preacher,
he had some good things to say, and he said when he first felt
this urge and this thirst for the power of the Holy Spirit.
He said that he went home and told God, he said, I'll put my
two mules on the altar. And he said, I'll put a bale
of hay on there. And he said, if I have to, I'll put my mother-in-law
and my wife on that altar. Whatever's necessary, but I want
the power of the Holy Spirit. He was thirsty, he was hungry.
And then he said, I'll make everybody, all of my neighbors here a jug
of molasses if you'll give me the power of the Holy Spirit.
He said, I'll make the best molasses of anybody around in that countryside
if you'll just give me the power of the Spirit. He was thirsty
in his soul. But my friend, I'll tell you
what, when God is pleased to give it to us, We'll have it.
We won't have it until He does. But we're seeking it. We're thirsty.
And I wonder this morning, I wonder this morning, when you read the
book of Acts, do you get hungry? Do you get thirsty for the filling
of the Spirit? You know the book of Acts is
the Acts of God's Spirit in the hearts and lives of the early
church. It's the Acts of God the Holy Spirit in the lives
of the early church. Now, then, I wonder this morning,
If you feel in your own soul, do you feel in any way, shape,
or form this thirst, this hunger? Are you one this morning that
would cry with me? Would you walk the road? Would
you go out and would you cry to God? And if you're not interested
yourself, pray for me. that the Lord might fill me with
the Holy Spirit. I know I'll never be great in
the sight of men. I know that if I ever am great
in the sight of men, probably I'm not great in the sight of
the Lord. But I'd like to be useful in the Kingdom of God.
Pray for me. Pray for me. That the Lord might
fill me with His Spirit. Now in the third place, John
the Baptist was great because he pointed men to Christ. He
was great because he was filled with the Spirit. And in the third
place, he was great because he stressed the importance of prayer. In Luke 11, verse 1, you remember
the disciples came to Jesus and they said, Lord, teach us to
pray as John also taught his disciples. John the Baptist was
a man who prayed. He prayed. That means that he
cried to God out of his heart, out of the depth of his soul.
That means he had a burden on his soul and he took it to God. That means that what was in his
heart he brought to the Lord and poured it in God's ear. That's
what it means. He taught prayer because he taught
his disciples to pray. I believe that a man will never
be great in the sight of the Lord if he doesn't pray and if
he doesn't teach prayer to his children and teach those around
him to seek the Lord in prayer. And he believed in it. He believed
in prayer. Now some of us, when we get together
with each other, we would all agree we believe in prayer. But
how much do you really believe in it? Do you believe in it enough
to practice it yourself in private, at home, in your closet? Do you
believe in prayer? Well, John the Baptist did. Now
listen, somebody said this and I believe it's the truth. They
said you'll never travel any further than you travel on your
knees in this world. You will never travel any further
in this world than you travel on your knees. A.J. Gordon said
that there is more you can do after you pray, but there is
nothing more you can do till you pray. God's people need to
be praying people. We ought to pray about everything
and worry about nothing, Paul said. Don't worry about anything
but pray about everything. I must pass on quickly. The next
thing, John the Baptist was great because he was obedient unto
God. Now the man As we have read the
scriptures and thought about these things, we remember when
the Lord Jesus came to John the Baptist, turn to Matthew chapter
3, and the Lord Jesus asked John, he said in verse 13, Then cometh
Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him.
But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of
thee, and comest thou to me? John the Baptist, you know, was
a very humble man. John the Baptist said, I'm not
worthy to unloose the shoe latches of his shoes. I'm not worthy
to do that. He said, he must increase and
I must decrease. Jesus came to him. John said,
why wait a minute here. He said, I can't baptize you.
He said, I have need to be baptized of you and you come to me. Well,
Jesus answered and said to him, suffer it to be so now. He said,
you do it now. You baptize me. And he says,
thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered
him. Then John the Baptist gave in.
John the Baptist became obedient unto what his Lord wanted him
to do. You know, many, many times, and I think of old Moses, when
I think about this, how that old Moses, you know, he had such
a hard time believing that God ever called him to do anything.
And the Lord said, you go and say this and say that. And Moses
said, Lord, I can't talk. I can't do that. I can't do it.
Well, Moses was right in recognizing his inability, but he was wrong
in not believing that God could enable him to do it. You remember
that man who was sick? And Jesus said, well you take
up your bed and walk. And he was sick of the palsy. And he didn't have any strength
in his body. And Jesus looked him in the eye
and said, you take up your bed and walk. And you know what that
man did? Let me tell you what he did.
He just took up his bed and walked. That's what he did. And listen,
when God tells you to do something, you do it. The Word of God is
your only warrant. It's the only warrant for our
obedience. The Word of God. If God said
it, you do it. Somebody says, if God said it,
I believe it, and that settles it. I don't settle it at all. If
God said it, that settles it, whether you believe it or not.
The Word of God is plain and clear, and you obey it, and you
walk in the light of it. So he was great because he obeyed
the Lord. And then he was great because
he stood for his convictions, even when it cost him his life. In Matthew chapter 14, turn there
with me if you will, Matthew chapter 14, and let's look here
at verse 3 and verse 4 of Matthew 14. For Herod had laid hold on
John, and bound him and put him in prison for Herodias' sake,
his brother Philip's wife. For John said unto him, It is
not lawful for thee to have her. And when he would have put him
to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted John to
be a prophet. But there came around a birthday,
And when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias
danced before them and pleased Herod, and he promised with an
oath to give her whatever she would ask, and her mother, having
been offended at the conviction of John the Baptist, who said,
it's not lawful for Herod to have you, you belong to Philip,
his brother. And it's not lawful. And so she
said, you asked for the head of John the Baptist in a charger.
And so John the Baptist, my friend, he had convictions, and he stood
for them convictions, and it cost him his life. And if you
believe something, stand for it. Stand for it. If you believe
something is taught plainly and clearly in the Word of God, stand
for it. God expects you to, and He expects
you to be faithful in the doing of it. Stand for your convictions.
Somebody said, I've been praying for the courage of my convictions. Well, that's all right. But if
you've got conviction, that's courage, is what that is. And
so don't think that the two things are different. If a man has convictions,
it's because he's got some courage to stand for something and he
needs to stand stand for what he believes in his heart. Now
we better know what the Bible teaches and stand where the scripture
stands and not take a position that's contrary to the Word of
God. But whenever you know the Bible teaches something, then
stand with it. And in the next place, John the
Baptist was great because he was sent from God. In John 1.6,
it says that he was a man sent from God. It doesn't say that
he was sent by God. It says that he was sent from
God. Now if I come in here this morning
from Fairfield, it means that I was in Fairfield. And he was
sent from God, so he must have been with God. Amen? He must have been with God, so
he came out from God, having been sent from God. Now, if I
had to give you some advice this morning, I think I would say
this, walk with God. I would say, stay near God. I would say, just be in fellowship
with God. Draw up near God. And be close
in your heart to the Lord. Be in fellowship with God. Because, beloved, we're useless
in this world if some denomination sins us. Well, what good would
it do for a denomination to send me? Wouldn't do any good at all. If God hadn't sent me, it ain't
gonna help. It ain't gonna help for some denomination to send
me. But if God sent me, if I came forth from God, if God sent me,
then, beloved, That's different. That's different. And so I want
to come from God every time I come into this pulpit. I'd like to
come from the Lord into this place. John of Addis was great
because he came from God. And then next he was great because
he was like his Lord. I like this. This is blessed. I want you to turn with me back
to the 14th chapter. the 14th chapter of Matthew,
and we read a couple of verses there a while ago, but I want
you to turn back there with me and listen to this. John the
Baptist was great because he was like his Lord. Now listen
to these words here. At that time, verses 1 and 2,
Herod the Tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus. at that very time
the Lord Jesus came on the scene and we can read about this also
in Mark chapter 6 verse 13 through 16 but nevertheless Jesus had
come on the scene and he was healing and he was blessing and
uh... Herod heard the fame of Jesus
now listen to what he says in verse 2 and said unto his servants
this is John the Baptist that's who this is This is John the
Baptist. He is risen from the dead and
he shows forth these mighty works. This is John the Baptist. I like that so much. Turn back
there with me and Mark. Let me read just a couple things.
I want to read to you again so you get the thrust of this. And
in verse 12 it says, And they went out and preached that men
should repent, and they cast out many devils, and anointed
with oil many that were sick, and healed them. And King Herod
heard of him, for his name was spread abroad, and he said, That
John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty
works do show forth themselves in him. Why this is no less than
John the Baptist. So what that teaches me is that
John the Baptist was like our Lord. Was like our Lord. Now wouldn't it be wonderful
if we lived so much like Christ that people would get us mixed
up with Jesus. Wouldn't that be wonderful? If
we lived so much like Christ that people would get us mixed
up with Jesus. I heard a story about a little
boy that lived in a big city, I think it was Chicago,
Illinois, and he was standing in an alley, and he didn't have
his shoes on, didn't have a coat on, no hat. It was cold out. He was standing in an alley where
there was a pipe coming out of the wall of a cleaner's, just
a little pipe there, and every once in a while, there'd be steam
shoot out of that pipe. and he was warming his feet there
by that steam coming out of that pipe and there was a lady that
passed by on the sidewalk and she looked down the alley and
she saw this little boy and she was moved with compassion for
him and so she went down the alley and got this little boy
by the hand and took him around into a department store and bought
him a hat and a coat Bought him some socks and some shoes. And
this little boy got real excited, he got so excited about these
socks and shoes and this coat and all that he was just running
around in circles and not paying any attention and a woman just
walked off. And she started down the sidewalk and directly the
little boy discovered that she wasn't there so she ran after
the lady and grabbed her sleeve of her coat and tugged at it
and said, lady, lady, lady. He said, are you God's wife? Are you God's wife? Oh my friend,
you know, when I thought also about Judson, Judson the missionary,
and when he landed, the reporters met him, they met him and they
said, they're writing you up, they're writing you up as another
Apostle Paul. How does that make you feel?
And old Judson began to cry. And they said, what are you crying
about? And he said, I wanted to be like Jesus. I didn't want
to be like Paul. I wanted to be like Jesus. Well,
John the Baptist was great because he was like, he can find a suitable
showcase. Now listen to me now. God has
some great and wonderful things to display if he can find a suitable
showcase. There was a lady speaking to
a group of children and she said, I have Jesus in my heart. I have
Jesus in my heart. And one little boy said, take
him out and let us see. take him out and let us see him.
The world says if you have Jesus in your heart then let us see
him. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we
live so much like the Lord Jesus Christ that we got mixed up. People said well I think that's
Jesus again walking the streets. I think that must be God's wife.
I think that must be Jesus walking again, consecrated, yielded,
surrendered, available? Does that describe you? Does
that describe you? I mean, could the Lord show great
and wonderful and marvelous things? Could the Lord make you a showcase?
Could you be like Jesus? Well, John the Baptist was great
because he was like his Lord. Well, God can, you know, sometimes
we despair, don't we? We say, well, we're so weak in
people. And, you know, we have such little ability. We stammer
and stutter, and we can't, we can't, sometimes we just can't
make ourselves clear. And there's so many, many things
about us. We fail so much, and we just,
we aim at the bull's eye, but we miss it all the time. And
we're just, we're just, we're just not much. You know, I said
last Sunday that we're not much, but we can be faithful. We can
be faithful. But listen, I want to tell you
something here. God, and I've noticed this many a time, and
that's the reason why I still got some hope. God can hit a
mighty hard lick with a crooked stick, brother. I've seen it
many, many times. And you may sit there this morning
and despair and say, that preacher is talking about John the Baptist
being like his Lord so much that old Herod thought it was John
the Baptist raised from the dead when Jesus came on the scene.
But it'll never happen in my case. It'll never happen with
me because I'm nothing and I couldn't be anything. But I'll tell you
what, God can hit some mighty hard licks with a crooked stick.
And when God's looking for somebody to use, He don't very seldom
ever pick up a polished shaft. He most generally gets somebody
that's rusty, somebody that doesn't feel like they're much in themselves,
doesn't feel like there's anything they could do in order that he,
that no flesh would glory in his presence, and he'd get the
glory. And so don't sit there this morning and say, well, there's
no hope for me to ever mount anything in the things of God
because of who I am and what I am. Trust God, believe Him,
and depend upon Him. And God just might do something
in your life and reveal Himself to men and women around you.
And people may one day say, well, I've seen more of Jesus in that
woman. I've seen more of Jesus in that man than I ever saw anywhere
else. I told you a few weeks back about,
I don't think I mentioned his name. Fact is, I think I forgot
his name, George Truitt. And he was walking down the street
in Dallas, Texas, and there was a lady walking toward him. And
she stared at him, kept staring at him. And he noticed it, he
could feel it. And so the lady got up near him
and she passed him, and then he turned around and looked,
and she was looking back at him. And he said, lady, lady, what's
your name? And she said, well, my name's
not important. And he said, well, do you know
me? And she said, no, I don't know you. And he said, well,
I don't know you. Why are you staring at me? And she said,
I see more of Jesus in you than I've seen in any man I ever looked
at. I just see more of Jesus in you,
in your appearance, in your countenance. And isn't that amazing? Isn't
that amazing? Well, I'll tell you this. that
we need to submit ourselves, consecrated, yielded, surrendered,
available, those words I mean work on it until you can say
those words apply to me. I am that before God. John the Baptist was great because
he was like our Lord. Among them Jesus said that a
born of a woman there has not risen a greater than John the
Baptist for he shall be great in the sight of the Lord. He
shall be great in the sight of the Lord. That's what our Lord
Jesus said and he never lied. And I recommend to you this morning
that you study further the life of old John the Baptist, and
I trust that the Lord might be pleased to in some way or another
challenge, stir up, create, build a little fire in each one of
us out of these things that we've mentioned to you this morning
and talked to you about. If you're here and you don't
know the Lord Jesus Christ, then seek Him. Seek Him with all of
your heart. If you're able to seek Him, And
if you're genuinely sorry for your sin and you seek the Lord
Jesus Christ, that's evidence that He is seeking you. Because
He loved us, we love Him because He first loved us. And if we
choose Him, it's because He has chosen us in eternal election.
Before the foundation of the world, He set His love upon us
and called us. Is your heart desirous? for a
relationship with the Son of God. Would you seek Him? Would
you seek Him? Father, in the name of Jesus,
we thank you for the privilege we have this morning of gathering
and having this time of fellowship together. I ask that you'll own
the message and bless it and use it in the hearts of these
that have heard it today. And may it please you to anoint
us and to fill us all with thy spirit, that we might walk circumspectly
in this world, and that we might glorify God, and that men might
see our good works, and glorify our Father which is in heaven.
We pray it for Jesus' sake, in his name, amen.