Matthew chapter 14. I want to
take a look today at verse 1 down through verse 12. And I'm taking
the title for the message when I originally first read through
this. And often times when I read through
it, I'm looking for some kind of a title to the message. And
when I read through this, verse 12 caught my attention. And I
think we'll use the words found in verse 12 for the title. His
disciples came, that is the disciples of the prophet of God, John the
Baptist. They took up his body and they
buried it. They gave it a decent burial.
And then what did they do? They went and told the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's a good thing to do. Take
your burden to the Lord and leave it there. They went and told
the Lord Jesus Christ. The disciples of John received
the body of their dear beloved brother, who was indeed the prophet
of God, promised of God, the forerunner of Christ. They took
proper care to bury the body of John, looking forward to the
promise of the glorious resurrection of believers at the second coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ. But they went, after they had
done that, they went to the Lord the Lord Jesus Christ, the promised
Messiah, and told him all that they had done, they took their
heavy hearts, their heavy burdens, to the Lord. That's a good thing
for every believer to do. I text a scripture verse to someone
this week who was going through a very heavy trial, and the scripture
text that I sent with Psalm 55, 22. Let me read it to you. Cast
thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee. He shall
never suffer the righteous to be moved. So cast your burden,
whatever your burden may be, cast it upon the Lord, and he
shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous
to be moved, never moved away from the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
a very wise thing for us to do when we are burdened with trials,
and we all have that, don't we? When we're burdened with trials,
when we're burdened with heartaches, and we shall have them in this
life. Man is born of woman is few days and full of troubles.
May God always give us grace to take our burdens to the Lord
and pour our heart out before the Lord and leave those burdens
with him. Now that's easy to say, but it's
not so easy to do. Peter writes this in 1 Peter
chapter 5, and he knew something about these heavy burdens, didn't
he? Humble yourselves therefore unto the mighty hand of God,
that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon
him, for he cares for you. He cares for his own. We have
in these verses, Matthew 14, down 1 through 12, we have in
these verses the story of a cruel, wicked deed of a man named Herod. He's called in other places Herod
the governor or Herod the king. And these wicked deeds were against
a man called John, the one son of God, the Old Testament prophet,
John the Baptist. One of the first things that
caught my attention when I read through this was the vast difference
between these two men. The vast difference between these
two men. What a difference between wicked,
wicked Herod and the faithful prophet of God. What a contrast,
what a difference. Both were fallen sons of Adam
and Adam all sinned and Adam all died. Both had that depraved
nature. lost the Adam had after he sinned
against God. But Herod was left to act after
his own sinful will and wicked devices. Herod was unrestrained
by the Lord. Herod acted as his father did,
Herod the Great. You remember what Herod the Great
did when the Lord Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem and the
wise man told him about it? And Herod, because he thought,
they came and they said, where is he, this born king? He thought
his kingdom would be threatened, so what did he do? He went and
killed all the children in Bethlehem, two years and under. He killed
everyone. That was Herod the Great. Herod
the Less, his son, was not any better, was he? Herod acted as
his father did, Herod the Great. That's the story of Herod. Wicked,
wicked, born wicked, did wicked deed, died in his wickedness.
But John, here's another man, born of Adam, born in sin, shaped
in iniquity, just like us. But John was filled with the
Spirit of God in his mother's womb. and raised up to preach
the gospel of God, to declare, behold, the Lamb of God that
takes away our sin. He identified that promised Lamb,
Abel's Lamb, Isaac's Lamb. He identified that Lamb of God,
the Lord Jesus. He said, this is the one that
takes away the sin of God's people. Now, what a contrast between
Herod and John. What a contrast. Now, my question
is this. Who made these two men to differ?
Who made the difference? Well, let me tell you the difference.
John was sovereignly chosen of God and blessed with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenlies in the Lord Jesus Christ, while
Herod was justly left to his own wicked heart, his own wicked
deed, his own reprobate heart before God. God blessed one,
and pass the other one by. You know what we call that? Sovereign
mercy. We call that God having mercy
on whom he will have mercy. The Apostle Paul writes about
it this way, for who maketh thee to differ from another? What
do you have that you didn't receive? Now, if you did receive it, why
do you glory as if you hadn't received it? Everything we have
is by the grace of God. Everything I know, he taught
us. Everything I have, he gave us. Who has made us to differ
from those who hate the gospel of God and have no interest in
the gospel of God? Who made us to differ? Sovereign
grace, sovereign mercy, sovereign love. I am what I am by the grace
of God. But in these two men, we see
the purpose of God being fulfilled, don't we? You remember what John
said concerning his ministry? In John chapter 3, he said, the
Lord Jesus Christ, He must increase and I must decrease. I must decrease. John's ministry was now over. The Lord took him home to glory
quickly. Was his life cut short? No. Did his ministry end too soon?
No. It ended just exactly as God
had determined from all eternity. You see, my friend, our days
are determined of the Lord. We'll not die one second before
or one second after God's appointed death for His people. Our days
are determined of the Lord. The number of our months are
with the Lord. One old songwriter wrote years
ago, man's days are immortal here until their work is done. At our appointed end, at our
appointed time, the Lord's going to come and He's going to take
His people home. Now, let's go back to verse 1
for just a moment and we'll work our way down to verse 12. At
the time Herod, the teacher-arch, and that means a ruler, a governor,
he heard of the fame, the fame of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
heard of all the miracles going on and all these people being
healed, the cripple walking, the blind seeing, the demons
cast out, he heard of all these miracles that were going on,
and he's thinking in his mind, because he knew what he had done
to John the Baptist, he's thinking in his mind, verse 2, he said
to his servants, this is John raised from the dead. A year
and a half earlier, John was put in prison. He said, this
is John the Baptist, he's risen from the dead. Therefore the
mighty works do show themselves forth in him. They are wrought
by him. Now this man was a godless reprobate,
yet he had some sort of conscience that bothered him, didn't he?
Herod heard of the fame of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the ministry
of the Lord was a public ministry. He publicly preached to the people.
He publicly raised people from the dead. He publicly healed. His ministry was public, it was
open, as someone said, This thing was not done in a corner. You
remember when the Lord Jesus Christ, when Nicodemus came to
the Lord by night, the Pharisee not to be seen. You remember
what Nicodemus said? We know that thou art a teacher
come from God. Because no man can do these miracles
that you do except God be with him. Even the Pharisees recognized
the Lord Jesus Christ was something special. Someone that was sent
of God. And when Herod heard of this
ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, he's thinking in his mind, Well,
this is John raised from the dead. This is John come back
from the dead. It says over in Mark 6 20, and
you can read the other reference to this story in Mark chapter
6, Herod at first heard John gladly, it says, John's message
was that of repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And Herod at first heard him
gladly until John rebuked him for his sin against God. John
was a forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ, sent to identify
the Lamb of God. John was a voice of God to his
generation, pointing sinners to the Lord Jesus Christ alone
for all of salvation. And you know what? God's method
has not changed in this day. God has not changed His method
because God does not change. He's still sending out sinners
who were taught the gospel, who were made new creatures in Christ.
He's still raising up prophets and sending them with this message,
behold the Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb of God. Verse
2, although Herod was a godless reprobate, He still had a conscience
that convicted him of his wickedness. He said, this is John, he's risen
from the dead, and he's come to get even with me. He's come
to take revenge on me. He remembered his wicked dealings
with God Prophet, and he was tormented. He had a conscience. He was a reprobate, but he had
a conscience. He fought the Lord Jesus Christ
with John, who he had killed, was risen from the dead, seeking
to get even with him, seeking to settle a score. He had enough
conscience to torment him, but not enough to change him. He
had enough conscience to convict him, but not enough conscience
to convert him by the grace of God. He had enough conscience
to scare him, but not enough to change him or bring him to
repentance. and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
One old preacher that I read after quite a bit, Matthew Henry,
he said on this point, a guilty conscience needs no accuser or
tormentor but itself. Your conscience torments, doesn't
it? There may be a terror of conviction,
Matthew Henry said, but there's never no true conversion. Everyone has a conscience. You
do, I do, even little children. Everyone has a conscience with
a sense of what is right and wrong. Even though we are sinful
and our conscience is defiled by sin, we still have one. Paul, when he writes in Romans
2, he said, the Gentiles which have not the law, they have the
conscience. The law of God is written upon
their conscience. Accusing them that they are sinners. Accusing them. The law of God
is written on the conscience. Accusing them. They know in their
heart it's wrong to murder someone. They know that because the law
of God is written on their conscience. Now, you ever had a guilty conscience? Guilty conscience. I'm not talking
about being caught that you stole a watermelon or something like
that, but a guilty conscience that you've sinned against God.
Do you ever have a guilty conscience that before the law of God, the
law of God says stop your mouth, the law of God says you're guilty.
Guilty as charged. The only thing that will quiet
purge a guilty conscience from dead works to serve a living
God and to speak peace to our guilty conscience before God
is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the gospel of peace,
the gospel concerning the gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now if you want to find Hebrews
9, you can turn with me. Hebrews 9 verse 11 and following. the book of Hebrews chapter 9
verse 11. I want to know how a guilty conscience
is purged. How can I have peace with God?
Only through the Lord Jesus Christ. Look what it says here in Hebrews
9 verse 11, but Christ being come a high priest of good things
to come by greater more perfect tabernacle not made with hands,
that is to say, none of this building, neither by the blood
of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once
into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us, we
are redeemed with his precious blood. For if the blood of bulls
and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctify
to the purifying of the flesh, that is in way of ceremony according
to the law, but look at verse 14, but how much more shall the
blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to
serve the living God. And for this cause, he is the
mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death for redemption
of the transgression that were under the First Testament, that
they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. The only way our conscience can
be purged is by the blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
only way our guilty conscience can find peace, we have peace
with God only through the Lord Jesus Christ. So Herod, can't
you see he's tormented here? He's terrified. He's terrified. Now look at verse 3. Now verse
3 and verse 4. For Herod, and here he tells
us how John was killed. He tells us
how Herod had killed John. For Herod had laid hold on John,
and he bound him, and he put him in prison for Herodias' sake. That was his wife that he stole
from his brother Philip. And John said unto him, verse
4, it's not lawful or right for you to take your brother's wife.
Well, that upset both of them, and they went about to kill John
because he dared tell them the truth. John was a bold, courageous preacher
of the gospel who told the truth no matter what the consequences
were. When Herod heard the public rebuke
of John, he put him in prison. But John would not compromise
his message to satisfy Herod or Herodias, regardless of the
consequences, even though it cost him his life in doing so.
John was a faithful, God-sent preacher. God was faithful. John was faithful unto God, and
he, declared the truth of God, no matter what it cost him, he
would not compromise. And here's my thought about this.
Here's my thought about this. May God be pleased to raise up
and send out more men just like John, just like John, who would
not compromise to satisfy this wicked king. May God be pleased
to raise up and send out more preachers just like John, who
know that salvation is of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ,
and determined as Paul to preach Christ to him crucified as all
of our salvation. We're not ashamed to tell us
that we're guilty sinners. We're not ashamed to tell us
that Christ is all of salvation. It's by his grace. We're not
afraid of the frowns of men, but would rather preach to please
God rather than to compromise and please men. Paul said, if
I preach to please men, I'm not the servant of God. Let me read
this scripture to you in Galatians chapter 1. If any man preach
any other gospel unto you than that which we have received,
let him be accursed. For do I not persuade men of
God? Or do I seek to please men? For
if I yet please men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached
of me is not after man. It's of God, the gospel of God
concerning Christ. Now, in your bulletin, don't
look at it now, but in your bulletin, there's an article there on the
inside page by my pastor, Henry Mahan, and the last paragraph
of that article says this, I find God's prophets and apostles and
preachers who have been used in the past to be compassionate
men, but never compromisers. never compromisers, to be comforters
but not cowards. Remember Isaiah 40, comfort you,
comfort you my people. They are willing to take the
offense out of their manners but never take the offense out
of their message, out of their message. They all preach the
same thing, Christ, Christ, Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ is all.
In him goes all the fullness of a Godhead bodily, and we are
complete in Christ. Matter of fact, the Apostle Paul
wrote this. For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to
glory of, for necessity is laid upon me. Yea, woe is unto me
if I preach not the gospel of God. Woe is unto me if I don't
preach the gospel. But woe is unto you if I preach
the gospel and you won't listen, and you won't have it. That's
on you, not me. Now look at verse 5. Matthew 14 verse 5.
And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude
because he was a prophet. Now notice what it said there.
He feared the multitude. He didn't fear God. He feared
the people. Herod and Herodias both desired
to have John murdered. If you read Mark chapter 6, verse
17, 18, and 19, they plotted and planned to have him brutally
killed, but they feared the people, but they did not fear God. Now,
you remember what our Lord said about John? Turn back over here
to Matthew 11. Remember we had this back here
in Matthew 11, when the Lord asked, what did you go out to
see? Matthew 11, verse 7. As they
departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitude concerning
John, what did you go out to see in the wilderness? A reed
shaken by the wind? He's not a compromiser. He's not going to bend. Verse
eight, what went you out to see, a man clothed in soft raiment?
Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in king's houses. What, went
you out to see a prophet? Yea, I say to you, more than
a prophet, for this is he of whom it is written, behold, I
send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy
way before thee. Verily I say unto you, among
them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater
than John the Baptist. Notwithstanding, he that is least
in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John
the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffered violence.
and the violent taken by force. For all the prophets in the law
prophesied until John, and you will not receive this, and you
will not have this. John was God's prophet, and Herod
didn't fear God's prophet. Herod didn't fear God. It says that he feared the people. He feared the people. Remember
the description of our depravity in Romans chapter 3, there's
no fear of God before their eyes. Men fear the wrath of people,
don't they? And they think nothing of the
holy wrath of God. That's what we should be concerned
with. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides upon them. Now look at verse 6, 7, and 8. When Herod's birthday was kept,
the daughter Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod,
whereupon he promised with an oath that he give her whatever
you want. He said, to the half of my kingdom,
I'll give it to you. Little did he know what the request
would be. As she said, being foreinstructed
by her mother, said, give me here John Baptist's head. And the Charger and the King
were sorry, but he said, nevertheless, because I said my oath, and then
which set with him, he commanded it to be done. We see something
here of the total depravity of sinners in this wicked plot of
Herod, his wife, and his daughter. We see in this horrible story,
a true story, we see the same thing every day in our lives,
don't we? We see wicked people doing wicked
things in order to satisfy the lust of their flesh. I mean,
you flip on the news every night, it doesn't matter if it's Huntington,
Charleston, Ashland, or Lexington, or Louisville. Every night you
flip on that channel, somebody getting shot, stabbed, murdered,
robbed, I mean it goes on and on and on, doesn't it? There's
no end to it. We must never be surprised. Our flesh is no different. Our flesh is no different. It's
only by the sovereign grace of God that restrains us from doing
vile and wicked deeds ourselves." Now, don't ever be guilty of
saying to your heart, in your heart, well, I'd never do that.
That would never be me. That would never be said of me.
My friend, it's only the grace of God that restrains us, that
we're not all wicked and malicious as these people that we're reading
about. Our flesh is just like their
flesh, fallen, depraved and sinful. The psalmist said, surely the
wrath of man shall praise thee and the remainder of that wrath
thou shalt restrain. God even uses the wicked deeds
of men to accomplish his eternal purpose. Now get a hold of that.
He uses the wicked deeds of men to accomplish His eternal purpose.
Don't we see that exact same thing happening in the death
of the Lord Jesus Christ? You remember what we studied
in Acts chapter 4? Let me read it to you again. The kings of
the earth stood up and the rulers were gathered together against
the Lord and against the Lord's Christ. This is Acts chapter
4 verse 26 and following. For of a truth against thy holy
child Jesus, whom thou has anointed both Herod, same man, and Pontius
Pilate, he was the Roman ruler, Herod was the Jewish ruler, with
the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together
for to do whatsoever thy hand, thy counsel determined before
to be done. Even the wicked deeds of men
accomplish God's own eternal purpose. Don't expect me to explain
that to you, I just know it's so. God is either absolutely
sovereign over all things or He's not sovereign at all. Verse
9 says, the king was sorry, nevertheless, Because of his word, he took
an oath. He made a public oath. Whatever
you want, I'll give it to you. And them that heard it, that
sat with him, they heard that. He commanded it to be given her. And he sent and beheaded John
in prison. Herod was sorry because of the
rashness making this vain boast, but he could not back down and
he proceeded to have John murdered. Guilty of murder. He ordered
his murder. He ordered his murder. Remember in Revelation chapter
20 when we studied, and it says there, I saw the souls of them
that were beheaded for the witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. John
was one of them. Paul was one of them. Herod later
on, this same man in Acts chapter 12, you remember the apostle
John had a brother named James, this same man named Herod, remember
what happened? He took his head off and he sought
to have Peter killed. He put Peter in prison and was
going to determine to kill Peter, to behead Peter as well. Remember
what happened? The angel of the Lord came and
broke Peter out of jail. God spared him. He wasn't done
with him. If you look back at church history,
all the apostles were killed by wicked men. But we also know
this was the Lord's will in this matter. It was according to the
Lord's purpose. Our very days, as I said earlier,
are determined of the Lord. Now listen to this statement.
Listen carefully. John lost his head, right? He
didn't lose his life. Did you get that? John lost his
head, but he didn't lose his life. He seemed to be absent
from the bodies to be present with the Lord. For to live, Paul
said, for me to live is Christ, to die is gain. Gain. The Apostle Paul suffered the
same thing when he was imprisoned in Rome for two years, and after
two years the Apostle Paul was beheaded just like John. for
the gospel's sake. And he writes this when he writes
his last letter to young Timothy, his last chapter, his last words. He said, I'm ready to be offered.
The time of my departure is at hand. I've fought a good fight.
I've finished the course. I've finished my race. I've kept
the faith. I'm ready to be offered. I'm
ready to depart. Paul, where are you going? To
be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord. Look
at verse 11. His head was brought on a platter. Now, this is just gross, isn't
it? I mean, this is just repulsive,
isn't it? Just to think about someone wanting
to have a prophet's head removed and then presented at Herod's
birthday party. I mean, it's vile, isn't it? It's repulsive, isn't it? How
depraved we really are. That's what that displays here.
Herod had John beheaded. Apostle Paul lost his head. All the apostles suffered martyrdom. Bloody minds are pleased with
bloody sight, aren't they? How wicked is our own depraved
heart. And it's on display all around
us. All of us have sin that comes
short of the glory of God. In closing, verse 12, and his
disciples came, this is John's disciples, and they took up his
body. Now some I read, and historically
they think that his head was buried separately, and I don't
know, but in my mind, when it says they took up the body or
the corpse, I've just got in my mind it included John's whole
body, and they took it and buried his body. They took it, buried
his body. Now notice, it says they took
up his body and buried it. It doesn't say they took up his
body and buried John. They didn't bury John. John wasn't
there. John is with the Lord. John went
home to be with the Lord. They took the body of John and
buried it. But they didn't bury John. The
Lord took his faithful servant from prison. Now listen to me.
He took John. The Lord took his faithful servant
John from prison to paradise with the stroke of a sword. That's
what happened. It's just like that dying thief
on the cross. You remember those two dying
thieves? One railed on him. The other, the Lord granted repentance. He said, Lord, remember me when
you come into your kingdom. He said, today, you're going
to be with me in paradise. Well, they took that man's body
down from a tree and broke his legs so he'd die and put him
in the ground somewhere. They didn't bury that repentant
thief. He went home with the Lord. with the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember me when you come into
your kingdom. This day you'll be with me in
paradise. Remember why the Lord said to Martha when her brother
Lazarus had passed away? The Lord said to her, I am the
resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he is dead, yet shall he live. Whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Do you believe this? I do believe
this. When our dear brothers and sisters
in the Lord die, and we conduct their funeral, we're looking
at their body, but we're not looking at them. They've gone
home. They're with the Lord. Blessed
are the dead which die in the Lord, saith the Spirit, that
they may rest from their labors. They went and told the Lord Jesus
Christ what happened. Do you think this was news to
him? The Lord Jesus Christ ordered
this. It was all part of His decree. You remember the scripture said,
I, the Lord, see now that I am I and am He. There is no God
with me. There is no God beside me. He
said, I kill, I make alive. I wound, I heal. Neither is there
any that can deliver out of my hand. God ordered this. That doesn't let Herod off the
hook. He's responsible for His own wicked deeds, and God's going
to hold Him responsible for His own wicked deeds. We know the
Scriptures teach, known unto the Lord all His works from the
beginning. It is always the right thing
to do when these men came to the Lord and laid their burden
out unto the Lord, it's always the right thing to do to take
our burdens to the throne of grace and leave them there. He
said, come unto me all you that labor heavy laden, I'll give
you rest. Let us come boldly to the throne of grace that we
may obtain mercy and find grace to help in our time of need.
Where is John today? He's with the Lord. He's with
the Lord. Where is Herod today? Mmm. Where's hair today? I think we
have an answer to that. Look right across the page. You
remember Matthew 13? Look at verse 47. Again, the kingdom
of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea and
gathered every kind, which when it was full, they drew to the
shore and sat down and gathered the good vessels. cast the bad away, so shall it
be in the end of the world. The angel shall come forth and
sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into
the furnace of fire, and there shall be wailing and gnashing
of teeth." Where is John today? He's with the Lord. Where is
Herod today? Suffering the wrath of God. Suffering
the wrath of God.