SERMON: BEING JOHN THE BAPTIST

Preached by Gregory W. Lee
5 November 2006

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Matthew 3

1. In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea
2. and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
3. This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the desert, `Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'"
4. John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
5. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.
6. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
7. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
8. Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
9. And do not think you can say to yourselves, `We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
10. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11. "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
12. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

-- several years ago, there was a movie called, "Being John Malkovich" -- it revolved around this failed puppeter named Craig Schwartz, who is forced to take a job in a rather strange office -- as time goes by, he discovers a secret portal in the office that allows him to enter the consciousness of the actor John Malkovich for 15 minutes at a time
-- now, while this is not a movie that I would recommend to the church, I do want us to think about the concept of the movie for just a minute -- what insights could you gain into the life of another person if you could spend 15 minutes inside of them? -- all my life I have been told to not judge anyone until I walked a mile in their shoes -- sometimes I think it's important for us to try to get inside the mind of another person to understand what that person is all about
-- in this case, I want us to spend the next little while trying to get inside the mind of John the Baptist -- without a doubt, John the Baptist is one of the least understood and appreciated characters in the New Testament, even though he has one of the most important roles that God ever gave to a man -- Jesus Himself said that, among those born of women, there had never been a man like John the Baptist
-- but, John is overshadowed by others in the New Testament -- Jesus, of course, since Jesus is the whole point of the Bible and life itself -- but also by Jesus' disciples -- Peter and James and John and the others -- and by the Apostle Paul and James and Barnabus and Silas and the other leaders of the early Christian church
-- so, this morning, let's spend some time looking at the life and times of John the Baptist and let's see what insights we can gain into his character and his place and his message and what these insights mean to us in our attempt to serve Christ in this place

II. What then is this child going to be?
-- flip over to Luke 1 and let's start our study of John the Baptist there

5. In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron.
6. Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly.
7. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.

-- here we are introduced to John's parents -- Luke describes them as being godly -- upright in the sight of God -- observing all the Lord's commandments and following the law blamelessly -- both of them were descended from Aaron, which means that they were descended from the Jewish priestly line
-- to put this into our modern terms, what we see described here is a country preacher and his wife, who love the Lord and who are serving Him in their lives and in the church to the best of their ability -- however, Luke goes on to tell us that Elizabeth is barren -- she is childless -- and, in that day and age, that meant everything to a woman -- children were a blessing from the Lord, and Elisabeth's failure to have a child -- even though she was the daughter and wife of a priest -- made the people in that place believe that she was out of favor with God
-- this just goes to show why we should never try to judge another person's relationship with the Lord until we have walked a mile in their shoes -- what we take as being out of favor with God may just be a delayed blessing, as is the case with Zechariah and Elizabeth -- they may be godly -- they may be serving God with their whole hearts -- but God may be withholding a blessing or a healing or a touch in their life at this moment in order to bring greater glory to Himself at a later time -- such was the case with Zechariah and Elizabeth
-- verse 8

8. Once when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God,
9. he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
10. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

-- in David's day, the number of priests had greatly increased -- Aaron had numerous descendants who were called to serve God in the temple -- so David divided the priests up into 24 divisions, and set up a system by which each division would fairly share the duties of serving God in the temple
-- each of the divisions served in the temple for one week twice a year and at major festivals -- but, the highlight of a priest's service would be to offer incense at the daily sacrifice -- each priest could offer incense only once in his lifetime -- and the time came for Zechariah to serve in this capacity
-- this would be like me -- as a part-time local pastor -- being called to come to General Conference for the Methodist Churst -- the world-wide gathering of Methodist leaders and Bishops held every four years -- to offer the opening prayer -- it would be a once-in-a-lifetime honor
-- that is what it was like for Zechariah to offer incense in the temple -- now, it was his duty to offer corporate prayers on behalf of the people of the nation of Israel as he served -- while he was inside the temple offering incense and prayers to God, the rest of the priests and the other worshippers would be offering prayers outside
-- and, it seems, that while Zechariah was offering his prayers for the people, he whispered a quiet prayer of his own -- one that touched the hurt that was in his and Elizabeth's life -- their failure to have a child of their own -- Luke tells us they were up in age, so Zechariah's prayer probably wasn't for a child, but may have just been a reminder of the pain they had suffered and a request for their pain of infertility and loneliness to be removed by God -- but God had bigger plans for this godly couple
-- verse 11

11. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.
12. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.
13. But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.
14. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth,
15. for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth.
16. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God.
17. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

-- and here we are introduced to the person of John the Baptist -- we are given a glimpse of what it meant to be him -- of what it was like to live inside of him for just a moment -- God had heard the prayers of Zechariah and had sent Gabriel to come to him and let him know that his prayers had not only been heard, but they had been answered -- the couple were going to have a son -- but not just any son
-- not only was this child going to be a joy and a delight to Zechariah and Elizabeth, erasing the days of pain and loneliness from their lives -- but, more importantly, he was going to cause great rejoicing in the land of Israel because he was coming to prepare the way of the Lord -- he was being sent to bring the people of Israel back to their God -- to make the people ready to receive the coming Messiah
-- verse 18

18. Zechariah asked the angel, "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years."
19. The angel answered, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.
20. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time."

-- God always rewards those who serve Him and who are upright and just in His sight -- the rewards may be long in coming -- they may not even come in this lifetime -- they may not be what we expect, and we might not recognize them when they come -- but, the message of the Bible is clear, serving God with a whole heart results in God's blessings
-- however, God does not reward a lack of faith -- James tells us in James 1:6-7 that when we ask of God in prayer, "we must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does."
-- when Gabriel appears to Zechariah and announces the birth of a son, Zechariah is filled with doubt -- he is still righteous -- he is still upright in the eyes of the Lord -- he is still blameless in his character -- but, when the answer to his whispered prayer comes, he displays a heart that is beginning to doubt in God's willingness to bless and work in his own life

-- how often that happens to us -- we go through life trying to serve God as best we can -- walking humbly and upright in His sight -- trusting in His hand and in His mighty power to move and act in us -- but, as time goes by, and the child doesn't come -- or the sickness lingers -- or our prodigal children don't return -- or we are faced with financial troubles -- or any of a hundred other things -- we begin to doubt in our hearts
-- we still murmur the prayers -- we still seek God's face -- but we begin to doubt that God will work -- we know He can -- but we start to believe that He won't
-- think about the story of Lazarus -- as Mary and Martha stood by the grave of their dead brother Lazarus, they doubted that Jesus would do anything -- they knew He could -- and they knew that if He had come earlier, Lazarus wouldn't have died -- but now, they doubted that He would do anything to relieve their grief
-- after the tremendous victory over the pagan priests at Mount Carmel, the prophet Elijah fled to a cave and had a pity party -- despite seeing God act in such a decisive way for the nation of Israel, Elijah doubted that God would work in his own life
-- in all of these cases, we see the same theme -- godly, righteous people -- people who trust in the Lord and in His mighty power -- begin to give up hope -- not in the power of God -- but in God's willingness to work in their lives
-- how many miracles are detoured in our lives because we refuse to believe? -- how many blessings don't come our way because we become double-minded in our prayers
-- Romans 8:28 says, "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose" -- this verse says, "don't doubt -- trust God" -- even though the blessing has been delayed -- even though the healing hasn't come -- even though the thing we most desire and most earnestly seek in our lives hasn't happened, doesn't mean that God isn't going to meet it -- standing at the grave of their dead brother Lazarus, Jesus told Mary and Martha, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"
-- God will always answer prayers -- He will always work for the good of those who love Him -- if answers to your prayers are not coming, then one of three things is going on -- either you are asking for the wrong thing -- or it is just not God's timing -- or He is using your situation to mold you and make you into a better Christian -- when God answers prayers, you can be sure that it will be in a way that brings glory to Himself -- our task is to pray fervently and to trust that God not only can, but will, work in our lives to bring good out of all situations
-- maybe it had been too long for Zechariah and Elizabeth -- they were up in years -- Elizabeth's womb had closed -- so, when Gabriel announced the upcoming birth of a son, Zechariah spoke from doubt and not from faith -- "How can I be sure of this?"
-- as a priest in God's service, he should have known the answer in his heart before those words ever came out -- "you can be sure because God said it" -- Zechariah had indeed prayed for himself and his wife, but he had lost faith in God's willingness to answer his prayers
-- and because of his doubt -- because of his lack of faith -- Zechariah's lips were sealed -- until the promise of God was fulfilled and John the Baptist was born and named -- Zechariah would be unable to speak
-- why? -- because his words would betray the doubt in his heart -- his words would not bring glory to God -- so he was struck dumb until the miracle was complete
-- verse 21

21. Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple.
22. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.
23. When his time of service was completed, he returned home.
24. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion.
25. "The Lord has done this for me," she said. "In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people."

-- so Zechariah returned home, perhaps still doubting and wondering in his heart -- but, Elizabeth became pregnant as Gabriel had promised -- and she gave glory to God in her response to this miraculous pregnancy

-- skip over to verse 57, and let's finish our first session on the life of John the Baptist by looking at the birth of the son of the promise

57. When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son.
58. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

-- as I was studying this passage this week, those words of Luke in verse 57 stood out at me -- "she gave birth to a son" -- now, why was this significant?
-- a couple of reasons -- first, it showed that doubt still existed in Zechariah's heart -- he had been told that the couple would have a son and that he would be great in the eyes of the Lord -- but still, when Elizabeth became pregnant, Zechariah must have doubted -- if he had truly believed, don't you think he would have shared this with Elizabeth? -- he may not have been able to tell her, but surely he could have written it down? -- I think that's why Luke did not qualify this phrase by saying, "she gave birth to a son as God had said" -- Zechariah had not shared the news of Gabriel and the promise of God up to this time
-- look over at verse 44

44. As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

-- when Mary, the mother of Jesus, came to visit her cousin Elizabeth, John jumped for joy in Elizabeth's womb -- but Elizabeth did not acknowledge that this was a boy -- she merely said, "the baby in my womb" -- she didn't know
-- and, secondly, it shows the goodness of God -- the desire of all Jewish women was to have a son -- to have someone to carry on the family name -- but, more importantly, to have someone who might just be the Messiah -- it was the overwhelming desire of all Jewish women at that time to be the one to bear the Messiah -- not only did God answer the prayers of Zechariah and Elizabeth by letting them have a child in their old age, but He gave them a son
-- isn't that just like God? -- how many times have we prayed for something, but then gotten even more than what we prayed for -- God wants to answer our prayers -- He wants to bring joy into our lives by blessing us richly -- but we must trust and not doubt that He will do so
-- verse 59

59. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah,
60. but his mother spoke up and said, "No! He is to be called John."
61. They said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who has that name."
62. Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child.
63. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone's astonishment he wrote, "His name is John."
64. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God.
65. The neighbors were all filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things.
66. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, "What then is this child going to be?" For the Lord's hand was with him.

-- finally, Zechariah's heart has overcome his doubt -- for nine months he has lived with doubt over the promise of a son -- yes, Elizabeth became pregnant -- but who's to say it's a boy? -- so he remained quiet -- literally -- and didn't share the promise of God
-- but, as we sing in our hymns, his faith became sight -- as the sound of the newborn John filled the room, doubt was overcome with faith and with a renewed trust in the power -- and willingness -- of God to work in the lives of those who love Him
-- but, one final thing had to be done -- the child had to be named as God commanded -- so, breaking from normal conventions at that time -- Zechariah demanded that the child be named "John," even though no one in his family had ever borne that name
-- and, the moment Zechariah expressed his faith by writing on the tablet, his mouth was opened -- his tongue was loosed -- and in the silence, a heart renewed in faith and trust praised God
-- it it any wonder that the people who were there responded by asking the question that foreshadowed the life and ministry of John, "What then is this child going to be?"
-- and that is the question we will pick up next week when we meet again

-- as we close in prayer, I am going to invite you to respond to God's word as you feel led -- perhaps you have been struggling with unanswered prayer in your life -- perhaps doubt -- not over God's power but over His willingness to work has filled your heart as it did Zechariah's -- if this is the case, I would invite you to recommit yourself to God this morning -- ask Him to remove your doubt -- and renew your trust in His grace
-- let us pray