The Baptist Beheaded

Q: What does the Bible say about John the Baptist's death?

John the Baptist's death is portrayed in the Gospels as a tragic yet necessary culmination of his ministry, leading to his glory with God. The account of John the Baptist's death in Matthew 14:1-12 reveals the wickedness of King Herod and the unwavering courage of John in proclaiming God's truth. Despite Herod's fear of the people and his inner guilt over John’s rebukes concerning his immoral marriage, he ultimately beheaded the prophet to uphold his honor. This act was not merely a tragic end but a planned part of God’s sovereign purpose, using Herod's malice to bring John to glory. J.C. Ryle emphasizes that John's death was precious in the sight of the Lord and serves as an instructional moment about the nature of faithful ministry.

Q: Why is John the Baptist's martyrdom significant for Christians?

John the Baptist's martyrdom serves as a powerful reminder of the cost of faithfulness to God's truth and the hope of eternal life. The martyrdom of John the Baptist is significant for Christians as it exemplifies the cost of standing firm in faith and proclaiming God’s truth amidst opposition. John fearlessly confronted Herod about his unlawful marriage, prioritizing obedience to God over personal safety. His execution illustrates that faithful ministry can lead to suffering and even death, but it also highlights that God’s sovereign plans are fulfilled even in our trials. Ultimately, John's martyrdom affirms the hope of resurrection and eternal life for all believers, demonstrating that death is not the end but a transition to glory. This encourages Christians to remain steadfast in their witness, no matter the consequences.

Q: How do we know God's sovereignty is at work in difficult circumstances?

God's sovereignty is evident in how He uses even evil actions, like Herod's murder of John, to fulfill His divine purposes. The doctrine of divine sovereignty is foundational in understanding that God remains in control of all events, including those that appear tragic or evil, such as the beheading of John the Baptist. As illustrated in Matthew 14:1-12, Herod's wickedness was a tool in God's sovereign plan to bring John’s ministry to a glorious conclusion. This demonstrates that God can, and does, use the most adverse circumstances to advance His purposes. The assurance that 'all things work together for good' (Romans 8:28) for those who love Him reassures believers that no situation is outside of God's authority. Trusting in His sovereignty allows Christians to endure hardships with hope and peace, recognizing that God is working all things for His glory.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to uphold God's law in society?

Upholding God's law is essential for Christians as it reflects righteousness and provides guidance in a morally ambiguous world. Christians are called to uphold God's law not only in their personal lives but also in the broader society, as it reflects God's righteousness and order. In the case of John the Baptist's rebuke of Herod's unlawful marriage, we see the necessity for believers to stand firm against sin publicly. Declaring God's standards, as John did, serves to awaken consciences and guide societal morals, shaping a culture that aligns with God's will. While society may reject biblical principles, the role of the Christian is to be a voice of truth and integrity, demonstrating through their lives and words the importance of living according to God's commandments. Upholding God's law leads to justice and reflects God's character to the world.

Q: How should Christians view suffering and martyrdom?

Christians should view suffering and martyrdom as instruments of God's glory and opportunities for witness to faith. Suffering and martyrdom are integral to the Christian experience and often serve specific purposes within God’s sovereign plan. The example of John the Baptist teaches believers that faithfulness to God can lead to suffering, but this suffering is not without meaning. Articles of faith remind us that our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all (2 Corinthians 4:17). Recognizing that God allows suffering for His glory can transform the way Christians confront trials; rather than avoiding suffering, they can embrace it as a means to bear witness to the truth of the gospel. Moreover, the hope of resurrection provides the comfort that the sacrifices made for Christ lead ultimately to eternal reward.

Matthew chapter 14. We will read the first twelve verses together. At that time Herod the Tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, and said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist. He is risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him.

And we'll comment on this a little bit more later, but you try to get a picture of just how horribly afraid this man must have been. He thought John the Baptist had come back from the dead to get revenge. He was scared to death.

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 him a prophet.

But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod." One of the sensual striptease dances so common in that day in that part of the world, which have become so common in our day in our part of the world again, whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask.

This drunken old king, being pleased with this young beautiful girl dancing before him, said, you just ask anything, honey, and I'll give it to you. Just anything you want, up to half my king. And she, being before instructed of her mother, Herodias knew the old man pretty good. She knew what he'd do. And she said to her daughter, you tell him, give me here John Baptist's head in a charger.

I'd rather see that man dead than have your kingdom. I'd rather see that man with his head right here in my hand than have all your kingdom. And the king was sorry. Sorry because he was scared to death of John the Baptist. Sorry because he was scared to death of the people. Nevertheless, for the oath's sake, he was an honorable man, you know. For the oath's sake, he didn't want to be embarrassed. He didn't want folks to think he'd go back on his word.

And then that sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her. And he sent and beheaded John in the prison. He didn't do it with his hands, but he did it with his word, and he was guilty. And John's head was brought in a charger and given to the damsel, and she brought it to her mother. And his disciples came and took up the body and buried it and went and told Jesus.

J.C. Ryle's introduction to this chapter is so good and very brief. Let me read you what he said. We have in this passage a page out of God's book of martyrs. The history of the death of John the Baptist, the wickedness of King Herod, the bold reproof that John gave him, the consequence imprisonment of the faithful reprover and the disgraceful circumstances of his death are all written for our learning.

And then he quotes David who wrote precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. This execution of John the Baptist was God's act of grace by which he culminated John's life and brought him up to glory. It was no tragedy, it was no accident, it was not something out of God's control. But God used Herod and his wickedness to culminate and consummate the ministry of John the Baptist and bring this man up to glory.

Now, if you want to read this in more detail, read Mark's account. Maybe you can read it tonight before you go to bed in Mark chapter 6. Mark gives us a more detailed account of what took place here with regard to the martyrdom of John the Baptist. But tonight I want to show you six very practical and very plain, I hope, very instructive lessons from this passage of scripture. The first thing to be learned here is this. Herod was the vile son of a vile, vile man. Now that may seem insignificant at first glance, but understand that faith and godliness are never passed on from father to son. Only God can give a man faith. Only God can make an ungodly sinner godly by his grace and cause him to walk in righteousness. But ungodliness, wickedness, unrighteousness, these are things that fathers do pass on from sons to sons to sons, generation after generation. The Herod that is mentioned here in Matthew 14 is Herod the Tetrarch. You see that in verse 1. He was also known as Herod Antipas. Now he was the son of Herod the Great. Now why he was called Herod the Great, I'll leave to somebody else's imagination to discover, because he was anything but great. He was an infamously wicked man. Herod the Great was a Gentile who was descended from Esau. Herod the Great was infamous for his cold-blooded atrocities. The Jewish Sanhedrin, when he was placed in authority over them, questioned his authority. To handle that, he took those 70 men and slaughtered them. On one occasion, he had two of his wives murdered, or had one of his wives murdered, rather, and two of his sons, because he feared that his sons might take his throne and overthrow him. This Herod the Great is the man who killed all the infant males, two years old and under, hoping to destroy the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Now, for all of these things, he was a detested, detested man. He was a Samaritan, he was a Gentile, he was a son of Esau, and the Jews hated him for that. And add to that all of his cold-blooded atrocities. He was a man who was hated even by those in his own court, and his sons were just exactly like him. After Herod's death, the Roman government divided his prophets into three parts, giving three of his sons seats of authority. One was given the southern part, and one the northern part, and one the middle section. Herod Antipas was given the area that included Galilee and Berea. And here is this Herod before us in our text. This Herod Antipas, Herod the Tetrarch, was a ruthless, shameless, sensual, lustful man. He was a man who was given to all manner of vice. He was no better than his father, certainly. The only difference between him and his father is that he was hen-pecked and didn't have any backbone. The only difference between him and his father was that he lacked the courage and the defiance to carry out what he wanted to do in his own mind. Our text gives us a couple of hints at this. He wanted to put John the Baptist to death when he heard this scathing rebuke from John. But he feared the people because the people said he was a prophet. He was afraid of an uprising. And when he finally had him imprisoned. The only reason he did so was because of Herodias, because his mistress, whom he called his wife, his companion, had him under her thumb and he did what she told him to do. Now, while visiting Rome with his half-brother Philip, who was also a ruler in one of the provinces of his father, Philip and his wife Herodias were at Rome. And when Herod came back he had Philip's wife. I don't know who seduced whom, it doesn't really matter, whether Herodias set herself to get Herod in her bed, or Herod set himself to get Herodias in his bed, it doesn't matter. When Herod came back into Galilee, he was sporting a new wife, Herodias. Now in order to have her to be his wife in Roman law, he had to divorce his wife, he had to put her away. He had no reason for doing so, but he wanted Herodias. And so he betrayed his brother and he divorced his wife and almost lost his kingdom. His father-in-law, King Arctus of Arabia, came and destroyed his army and would have killed him if the armies of Rome had not intervened. Now, I have said all of that because I want to warn you and me once more. Beware, ever beware of our behavior in our homes. Our sons and daughters will most likely imitate our most unbecoming traits. Now you can bank on it. They will most likely imitate us in our most unbecoming traits. Godliness does not run in bloodlines and does not come by example. But wickedness does breed wickedness, and wickedness does follow wickedness. You watch sons and daughters generation after generation, and I know there are exceptions, but you watch them generation after generation. You take a boy or six boys who've been raised by a well-disciplined, hard-working father of integrity and principle. Those boys, more than likely, they're going to fall off right in their daddy's steps. You take those same six boys raised by a father who's do-less and careless and shifty and cunning and crafty, watch them, they'll be just like you. Nine times out of ten. Now, they will not exemplify godliness, but they do exemplify what we exemplify before them. Do you understand what I'm saying? Be careful of your example. Be careful of your example, particularly with those who know you best, because they will follow your example and usually they will do it in your weakest traits and in your weakest experiences. Secondly, Herod's marriage to his brother's wife was a matter of public scandal, a matter of public wickedness, and therefore it had to be reproved in a public manner. Now, I know that there are a good many people who say that John the Baptist was out of order here when he rebuked Herod with regard to his wife. After all, Herod was the appointed king. He wasn't really a king. He tried to get Caesar to name him a king, and Caesar said, well, you little pea onion, you're not a king. But he called himself king, and other folks called him king, and he sat in his province and acted like a king. And folks say, well, John the Baptist ought to have respected Herod's office and never to have mentioned this issue. Now, the gospel writers do not tell us how or where John and Herod were brought together. Somehow, I don't much suspect that John the Baptist just kind of strutted into Herod's courts and took it on himself to say, now, King, I've got a message from God for you. You ought not have your brother's life. I just, I don't suspect that being the case. It is possible and indeed most likely that Herod had summoned John to come into his court. And the reason is obvious. John was a man who was mightily known because of the mighty works and miracles that he did. And Herod had hoped maybe that John would come in and John would do some great work in his presence. That John would explain to him who he is and what he's doing and give him some accountability for his great popularity with the masses of the people. I don't know what the case was. The scriptures do not tell us. But obviously, John was brought into Herod's presence, as preachers generally are, religious leaders that is. brought into the presence of political statesmen and kings and rulers and such like. Our presidents and our politicians have their religious counselors, you know. It's been that way through the ages. It's that way now and it'll be that way tomorrow more than likely. But as a general rule, the preachers are very, very careful what they say in the presence of those who are employing them and giving them such a high honor as to come in and speak to them.

John the Baptist was not your average preacher. Being summoned to preach to the king, had John not rebuked him for his publicly known snub of God's law, had he not demanded of Herod repentance toward God, and demanded that he bow to the throne of God, acknowledging his sin and seeking God's mercy in Christ the Lamb of God, he would have been remiss in all his responsibilities. He would not have been faithful to Herod. He would not have been faithful to God. He would not have been faithful to the generation in which he lived. And whatever the occasion was, John said to Herod, it's not lawful for you to have that. You see that right there? He said in verse 4, it's not lawful for thee to have her. Just not right.

Although Herodias had been divorced from Philip for a long time, for several years, and insofar as Roman law was concerned, she was now Herod's wife and no longer Philip's wife. But notice that John and Matthew after him do not refer to her as Herod's wife, they refer to Herodias as Philip's wife. Why? Because this marriage was not to be recognized. It was in violation to God's law, and John and Matthew refused to recognize Roman law when Roman law contradicted God's law. And so she is referred to in this passage, and again in Mark, as Philip's wife, not as Herod's wife.

Now, with those things said, I want to make some very practical and plain application of that tonight to you and those who will hear this message on tape. I have, in the last seven days, been called or had folks write to me somewhere around a half a dozen times about the business of marriage and divorce and things of that kind. a telephone call and a letter this morning with regard to it, people in different parts of the country. It's something that troubles most every household, something that we all have someone close to us that we have to come to deal with this thing sooner or later.

Now, I want to say some things here about marriage, and I wish the whole world would and could hear what I'm going to say. I'm just going to say them plainly. I'm going to say them briefly, but I want you to hear what I'm saying. I'm not speaking for myself. I'm not just giving my opinion. Folks call and say, what do you think? What I think and what you think is totally irrelevant. What my opinion is and your opinion is totally irrelevant. It just does not matter. What does God say in his word?

First, understand this. The law of God never changes. Do you get that? The law of God never changes. That which God declares to be adultery is still adultery. That which God declares to be wrong is still wrong because God declares that it's wrong. Secondly, because the law of God and the word of God never changes. Now, we're not under bondage to the law, not at all. Believers are free from the law. That means we're not motivated or ruled by the law. But, buddy, we don't violate God's law. We live in obedience to the whole revelation of God, or we seek to do so.

So, secondly, marriage, according to this book, is a lifetime business. Rex Bartley got married, what, 23, 24 years ago? It's forever, buddy. It's forever. for better or for worse. I know sometimes you... Well, I shouldn't say that. Maybe Debbie looks at you and says, I didn't know it was going to get this worse. I didn't know it was going to be this bad. That don't matter. This is forever. This is forever.

But, preacher, you know that's Stone Age philosophy. It's not philosophy, Ron. It's God's Word. It's God's Word. Marriage is forever.

Now, I have believers frequently contact me, some who have no pastor, some who are struggling and they have difficulties in their family. The wife has done this, the husband has done that. I say, well, I'm just not compatible. I can't tell you how many times over the years of that somebody walked through my office door and said, I'm just not, we're not compatible anymore. And I'll be honest with you. I'll be just honest with you. I'm thankful Shelby and I are very compatible. But if we weren't, I'd a whole lot rather be incompatible with her than be incompatible with God. Now, that's just that. And my being happy with her, my being compatible with her, our being mutually agreeable to one another has absolutely nothing to do with our responsibility to one another before God Almighty.

Twenty-five years ago, I said, I'll take her to be my wife. And divorce is not an option. It's just not an option. But what is? It's not an option. It's just not an option. We're believers. We'll work things out. And this is my counsel to folks all the time. It has been my counsel to people for all the time I've been preaching the gospel of God's grace since I was 17 years old, not just with regard to marriage, but with regard to everything else. You know what's right. Do you know what God says? Now, if you do, just do it. It's just that simple. It is just that simple. You just do what you know is right. Or you say, forgive me if I offend. To hell with God, to hell with his word, I'm going to do what I want to do. And I'm telling you, if that's your attitude, you don't know God. You just don't know God. Believers submit to the Word and they give themselves to the rule of the Word.

Thirdly, recognizing that marriage is for life. The marriage bond we recognize can be broken by only three things. I know I'm going to have some response to this, but I've studied it carefully and I've given myself a number of years before making public comment concerning it. But I know this is according to God's word.

Number one, the marriage bond can be broken by death. Obviously. Obviously. We have a widow we're sitting here tonight and we have a widow in the hospital in Lexington in our congregation. Brother Hubert has been married to two women and that's perfectly alright. His first wife died. His daughter was at his wedding with his second wife. Perfectly alright. immoral, nothing questionable, nothing in the least bit shady concerning that. When I'm dead and gone, if Shelby can find her another fellow as good as I am to her, she ought to get him. Now she says she won't, but I'll guarantee you when she's dead and gone, if I can find somebody just close to as good to me as she is, I'm going to take her. Because I'm not made to live by myself. And Romans chapter 7, verses 1, 2, 3, and 4 say that's perfectly all right. That's perfectly all right. The brother or the sister is not in bondage in such cases. That's just as plain as it can be, plain as nose on your face. So, it's perfectly all right for a man or a woman whose companion has died to remarry and to have no obligations, no constraints, no duties whatsoever to the former husband or wife. I know sometimes ladies get to thinking sentimental and men do too, and they say, well, I don't want my wife to do that again. Oh, I want her to be happy. I want her to be delightful. I want her to enjoy life all her days. And the scriptures teach that it's best for a widow to marry, especially if she's young. All right? Here's the second thing. Turn to Matthew chapter 19. We didn't look at Romans 7 because that's a given. Everybody agrees with that. Death breaks the marriage bond. Matthew chapter 19. The Pharisees asked the Lord concerning this matter of divorce and remarriage. They said in verse three, is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? They were trying to trap the Lord. They said, can a man divorce his wife just because he don't like the way she looks anymore? She was skinny and she got fatter. She was fat and she got skinny. No, no, that's not basis. That's trivial. And the Lord answers. He says, Have you not read verse 4, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female? And he said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. Wherefore, they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. And they say unto him, Why did Moses command to give her a to give a writing of divorcement and to put her away. And the Lord said, Moses did this because of the hardness of your hearts. He suffered you to put away your wives because he knew you'd kill him. But from the beginning, it was not so. And I say unto you, whosoever shall put away his wife, and he makes an exception, except it be for fornication. I do realize there is a difference between fornication and adultery. But the word fornication that is used here is the word that is commonly used for pornography. It's the word, in fact, in which we get our word, pornography, and it implies all illicit sexual behavior. And shall marry another, committeth adultery. And whoso marrieth her which is put away, committeth adultery. So, the marriage bond can be broken by adultery or by fornication. Now having said that, let me be very careful to add this. It may very well happen among believers that a man or a woman falls into the sin of adultery and has difficulty in that regard. I do not recommend, I do not recommend that you throw away a lifetime together because forgive, forgive. But a persistency in this fornication, a persistency in this adultery, an unwillingness to break off this relationship is that man or that woman abandoning their companion. They're just kissing them goodbye, just kissing them goodbye. And in that case, the believer is absolutely free from the marriage bond. I want you to see this. 1 Corinthians chapter 7. 1 Corinthians chapter 7. Here's the third case in which the marriage bond can be broken. Abandonment. Believers work things out. But sometimes believers, either through their folly, or because they were converted after God saved them, find themselves married, or after they were married they were converted, they find themselves married to unbelievers. In that case, the unbelieving man, if he is pleased to dwell with his wife, or the unbelieving woman, if she is pleased to dwell with her husband, the scripture says, now you abide in that state. You stay there. Let me illustrate it for you. We have an example sitting right here. In God's providence, Bobby and Judy were married. He was an unbeliever. He was religious, but he was an unbeliever. He was a testament. Now, what are you going to do? Start to have difficulty, conflict. Well, Judy, you stay with it. You just stay with it. Stick it out. No matter what. Who knows? He might be sanctified by the wife. In God's providence, he was. You see that? He was won by his wife in God's good providence. But if he leaves, if he leaves, look what it says right here, 1 Corinthians 7, 15. If the unbelieving depart, let him go. Just let him go. If he's going to leave you, you're better off without him. If he's going to leave you, painful as it is, you're better off Don't put them away, don't push them out the door, but if they'll depart, if that's what they want to do, let them go. A brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace. Now, that word bondage refers, the only thing it can possibly refer to, is the bondage of the marriage law referred to in Romans chapter 7. And the apostle is saying here, if the unbelieving man forsakes his wife, or the unbelieving woman forsakes her husband, then the brother or the sister looks upon that man or that woman as being dead, and they're no longer in bondage. And they're free to marry, whom they will, only in the Lord. Now, I know that some folks who hear this message will be people who've experienced things in the past. been through divorce, maybe been through divorce and remarriage several times. That's getting common in these days. And now God saved you and you're plagued and disturbed. This thing constantly bothers you. I realize they're not sitting here tonight, but let me say something to them. Don't let it bother you anymore. God's forgotten the past. The best thing for you to do is forget the past and walk today with God in peace. There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, to them who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. Now, that's so very, very important. Be sure you get it. God's law does a change. Marriage is for life. And the marriage bond can only be broken by death, adultery, or abandonment. John the Baptist was a faithful, faithful servant of God. The first Baptist preacher in history was John the Baptist. He set the standard. He laid down the example for all who would come after him to follow. His message was plain and clear. Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. That's what every servant of God was sent to preach. Behold the Lamb of God. His method of ministry was equally plain and clear. John was not a counselor. He was not a religious psychologist. He was not a religious educator. He was not a man sent by God to put on plays and concerts. He was not a man sent by God to build hospitals and shelters for poor folks. When you hear me say that, I'm not suggesting that those things are wrong. I am stating clearly they're wrong for God's preachers. God's servants are sent to do one thing, preach. That's all. That's all. The servant of God must give himself relentlessly to prayer, to study, and to preaching. That's the method which God has employed and ordained for the saving of his elect. And John's manner in this thing was faithfulness. He counted himself the steward of God and is one thing God requires in stewards. Responsible for whether folks heard him or didn't hear him. He wasn't responsible for whether there were great throngs gathered around him or nobody heard him. He wasn't responsible for whether Herod got his name in the right place or Herod took his head off his shoulders. That was not his responsibility. He was God's servant. That meant he was responsible to speak for God and he was neither a compromiser nor a diplomat. And I'm going to tell you something, none of God's servants are. None of them are. I want to speak things in such a manner as to avoid with personality offending people. I want to do that. I realize I've got by nature a bulldog personality that needs to be kept on leash and chained a little bit. But at the same time, at the same time, they're able one way to tell anybody the truth, that's just telling the truth. That's all. And any other way is compromise. God's servants can't compromise. God's servants don't go to the school of diplomacy to learn tact. They go to the school of Holy Scripture to learn truth, and they're sent to proclaim God's truth, regardless of cost or consequence. John was a faithful gospel preacher. He was a man who was no more reluctant to confront Herod and Herodias. with the claims of God in the gospel than it was to confront the scribes and Pharisees in the wilderness. He simply feared nothing but God. Poverty, he knew what that was, no need to be afraid of that. Unpopularity, he knew what that was, that's not so bad, no need to be afraid of that. Why the whole religious world looked on him as a fool. He wasn't afraid of being isolated. The only thing he feared was God. Oh, find me a man who fears nothing but God and God just might use him. Who fears nothing and nobody but God. Who wants nothing but God's power, God's will, God's glory. I guarantee it's gotta be you. A.T. Roberts said, it costs him his head, but it's better to have a head like John the Baptist and loose it than to have an ordinary head and keep it. God's servant is God's servant everywhere. If he's in the king's court, he's not the king's servant, he's God's servant. If he's in the pulpit, he's not the church's servant, he's not the servant. If he's downtown, he's not the servant of men in town, he's God's servant. If he's out in the field, he's not the servant of folks out in the field, he's God's servant. Wherever he is, he's God's servant. And nothing changes in the pulpit. Our text speaks clearly concerning the conscience of man. The conscience of man is a powerful, powerful force. It had been over a year since Herod had beheaded John the Baptist, and he began to hear about the fame of Jesus. There's a man come, Herod, this fellow, he speaks a word, blind folks say. He speaks a word and lame folks walk. He speaks a word and dead folks get up and walk away from the grave. Oh, terror seized him. And he said to his servants, it's John the Baptist. Never have forgotten that man. That gruff old leather-faced, poorly dressed, scraggly man. who dared come to me with his gruff voice and speak to me in God's stead, told me it's not lawful for me to have my brother's wife. Hadn't told you nothing about it, but I've spent many a night pacing the floor before I couldn't go to sleep listening to that man's voice. I've seen his face as his head sat on that charger every night for a year. And now he's come back to the dead. Well, obviously, John had to come back from the dead. The problem was, here is conscience for me. You see, we all have a conscience by nature. Conscience is not a good guy. Conscience is blind and depraved by nature, but we've all got a conscience. And according to Romans 2.15, your conscience is always either accusing you or excusing you because of your sin. It really doesn't need much explanation. Everybody here knows what I'm talking about.

If you do something, it doesn't matter, buddy, whether you do something, you and Mark do something at work, or whether you and Shirley do something at home, or whether you and your daddy do something over in Junction City, it don't matter. Or if it's just you by yourself, driving down the road and you have some thoughts. When you do something, your conscience either says, that's all right, or, man, that's horrible. Conscience says, you don't need anybody else around you. Conscience says so. God's written on your heart. It's written on your heart by nature.

Now, unless you've been given a seared conscience, been given over to a reprobate mind, the only thing that will cause the conscience to be peaceful and at ease before God, the only thing that will do it, Here I stand, a man with a conscience before God that no longer abuses and condemns me. So I can sleep at peace at night, can you? Pastor, how on this earth can you have a conscience before God that doesn't condemn you? Because the blood of Christ, Hebrews 9.14, has purged my conscience. My conscience testifies with the Word of God and the Spirit of God, the blood of Christ is enough to satisfy the justice of God. The righteousness of Christ is enough to make me accepted before God himself. All right, that's all right.

All conscience is powerful. Fifthly, this passage of Scripture certainly teaches us that we must never look for reward or recognition in this life, not in this world. If ever there was a case of godliness and faithfulness unrewarded and unrecognized in this world, it was that of John the Baptist. It is enough for us that there is a day of judgment appointed by God when God will set the record straight.

I wrote a man last week, a bit sooner, about a scathing letter. And my response to him was one of two things. It was neither an act of utter arrogance and pride or just a calm, peaceful statement of faith. I said to him, I'll meet you at the bar of God and we'll see who's right. I'll meet you at the bar of God, and we'll see who serves God. I'm confident. I'm confident. Paul said, with me it's a very small thing to be judged if you remain in judgment. Why? That's insignificant. There's one who judges me, even the Lord. One of these days, God Almighty will show the world. You bet it. Ephesians 2, 7. He will show the world who are equals, who serve Him. who honored him, who saw his glory. He will vindicate his servants and his people before all the world, before hell itself, and before the angels of God.

In the light of that fact, man's approval or disapproval is insignificant, totally insignificant. In that great day, God will more than make demands for all that we are called by his grace and providence to suffer here and now. Our light of fiction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. For we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are unseen. For the things that are seen are temporary, the things that are unseen, they're eternal. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time, while they're not even worthy to be compared, not worthy to be laid in the balance with the glory that shall be revealed. One last thing. Be sure you get this. In times of trouble, heartache and sorrow, Children of God, we must do what John's disciples did if we're to find comfort, instruction, and help. Look at verse 12. And his disciples came and took up the body, not the man, just the body, his mutilated body, in tenderness and love and care, honoring their master teacher, their their leader, their pastor, their preacher, the prophet God had given them. They took up his body and buried it. They didn't take up his body and cremate it, they buried it. They buried it because burial implies hope of resurrection. And so they laid him in the ground waiting for the Lord to raise him up in the resurrection. And then they went and told Jesus, Something ringing your heart, troubling your soul? I'm your friend, your brother, and your pastor. And I want to help you. I want to help you. My heart, my office, my home is open to you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can call me anytime for anything. But the best help I can give you is to tell you I can't do it. I can't. I can listen. I can tell you what I've experienced and felt. But the only place on this earth you're going to get understanding in your trouble and help through your trouble and comfort in the midst of your trouble is to tell it to Jesus. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to hell in time of peace. That's good enough.

The Baptist Beheaded

What does the Bible say about John the Baptist's death?

Why is John the Baptist's martyrdom significant for Christians?

How do we know God's sovereignty is at work in difficult circumstances?

Why is it important for Christians to uphold God's law in society?

How should Christians view suffering and martyrdom?

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The Baptist Beheaded

What does the Bible say about John the Baptist's death?

Why is John the Baptist's martyrdom significant for Christians?

How do we know God's sovereignty is at work in difficult circumstances?

Why is it important for Christians to uphold God's law in society?

How should Christians view suffering and martyrdom?

Sermon Transcript

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