The Birth Of John The Baptist Foretold
In the time of Herod king of Judah there was a priest named Zechariah,
Who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah;
His wife Elizabeth was also a descendent of Aaron.
Both of them were upright in the sight of God,
Observing all the Lord's commands and regulations blameless.
But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren;
And they were both well along in years.
[Today the Lord is looking for those who are upright before Him,
Who's hearts are set on pleasing their God,
Who love Him with all their heart, soul, mind and strength,
Which is what it means to be upright before God.]
Once when Zechariah's division was on duty
And he was serving as priest before God,
He was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood,
To go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
And when the time for the burning of incense came,
All the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
[Today the priests of God, those consecrated by Him and to Him,
Are those offering sacred incense to Him; worshiping Him in Spirit and in Truth.
Those are the people the Father seeks.]
Then and angel of the Lord appeared to him,
Standing at the right side of he altar of incense.
When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear
But the angel said to him:
'Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard.
Your wife Elizabeth will bear a son, and you are to give him the name John.
He will be a joy and delight to you,
And many will rejoice because of his birth,
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.
[God visits those who are upright before Him and gives them instructions
To further His plan and purposes on earth.]
Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God.
And he will go 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.
[John is the first person that Scripture says was filled with the Spirit from birth.
John would go before the Lord, in the Spirit and Power of Elijah,
With the commission of Elijah,
Turning 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.
This is the same commission and command of Christ Jesus
To His Church today.
The Church is to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children
And the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous.
The Church is the announcer of the second coming of Christ Jesus.]
Zechariah asked the angel, 'How can I be sure of this?
I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.'
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.
And now you will be silent and not able to speak until day this happens,
Because you did not believe my words,
Which will come true at their proper time.'
[It is crucial for the Church today to hear the voice of the Lord;
To hear what the Spirit says to them.
Each person and the Church will rise or fall on this one attribute.]
Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah
And wondered why he stayed so long in the temple.
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.
When his time of service was completed, he returned home.
After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant
And for five months remained in seclusion.
'The Lord has done this for me,' she said.
'In the these days he has shown his favor
And taken away my disgrace among the people. (Luke 1:8-25)
[Today the Lord is giving prophecy, dreams and visions to His people,
To enable them to fulfill His plan and purpose for their lives and his Church;
The Lord wants to show His people favor in the midst of a lost world.
It is critical that His people and His Church
Embrace these supernatural impartations As did Elizabeth.]
John The Baptist Was Sent By God
To Prepare The Way For His Christ
In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the Desert of Judea
And saying, 'repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.'
This is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah:
A voice of one calling in the desert,
'Prepare the way for the Lord,
Make straight paths for him.' (Matthew 3:1-3)
A voice of one calling in the desert,
'Prepare the way for the Lord,
Make straight paths for him.
Every valley shall be filled in,
Every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
The rough ways smooth.
And all mankind will see God's salvation.' (Luke 3:4-6)
[It is notable that John came preaching in the desert
And not the cities of Israel.
He was not standing on the street corners;
He was not passing out salvation tracks;
He was: 'A voice of one calling in the desert,'
The desert, an austere place without inhabitants.
Yet he came calling;
But it was not John who was calling,
It was the Spirit of God in John;
It was the Spirit of God invading the atmosphere of Israel
Speaking to every person in His still, small voice;
Calling those to repentance
Who were able to hear the voice of their God.
Those who were convicted by the Spirit of their sin
And who had a deep desire to be free of it.
Those people came to John; God's touch stone.
It was not convenient for them
But they came to be set free;
To prepare their hearts for the coming Messiah;
To make the paths of their lives straight before God,
And ready to receive the Christ of God.
This is the exact commission of the Church today.]
All Mankind Will See God's Salvation
With this statement we move forward to the Time Of The END.
At The Time Of The END the Christ of God will be revealed;
He will appear in the eastern sky,
And all mankind will see God's salvation;
At that time Christ Jesus will right all the ungodliness that men have created;
He will fill in every valley sin has dug;
He will bring low every mountain and hill of man's sin;
He will make their crooked places straight,
And rough ways smooth.
Christ Jesus is God's salvation by His being, by His sacrifice
And by His indwelling those who belong to Him.
Repent For The Kingdom Of God Is Near
This was John's message.
The Kingdom of Heaven is embodied in Christ Jesus;
He is the Christ, the one in whom the Holy Spirit lives without limit;
He is God in flesh.
The Kingdom of God is the realm of His Spirit,
Where He rules and reigns.
God Almighty rules and reigns in and through Christ Jesus.
Therefore, John could say that the Kingdom of Heaven is near;
It was near in the Christ of God, who was to be revealed.
John's Appearance
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.
People went out to him from Jerusalem
And all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.
Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
(Matthew 3:4-6)
[God was not interested in making John appeal, by his appearance,
To the people of Israel.
Just as Scripture tells us His Christ had nothing in His appearance
To make Him desirable to us.
John was rough in his appearance and he was able to live off the land
In the formidable desert environment;
God made John God sufficient and not reliant on any man.
Yet the people of Israel still came to Him,
Compelled by the Spirit of God.
It is critical to understand
That God did not make His messenger visually appealing.
God does not have to make His messengers appealing
By the standards of a culture,
To cause the people to respond to their message.
The Spirit of God does not have such limitations,
God filled the whole atmosphere of the nation, Israel,
With the conviction of their sin.
When this conviction came upon each person
They were compelled by the Spirit of God, to go to John in the desert,
Confessing their sins and being baptized.]
John Rebukes Israel's Religious Leaders
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?
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
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.
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. (Matthew 3:7-10)
[The Pharisees and Sadducees
Thought that because they were in the lineage of Abraham,
That they were automatically in God's grace.
Scripture makes clear
That God only respects those who are humble and contrite in spirit
And tremble at his Word.
This did not include the Pharisees and Sadducees.
John goes on to tell them
That God had the ability to raise up children for Abraham out of stones.
The only people who belong to God,
Are those who are able to hear and respond to the still small voice of God
Who is continually speaking to each of us;
Who by the power of Christ in them
Are able to overcome this world and it's ways.
We are saved by faith but we must overcome by that same faith;
By the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony;
By Christ in us our hope of Glory.
John called the Pharisees and Sadducees a brood of vipers,
Identifying them with the devil.
John told them the only way to salvation was repentance before God,
And then by producing “fruit,” a life lived humbly for God.
John prophetically tells them that, at that time,
The ax of God was at the root of every tree (every person)
That was not producing “fruit” for His Kingdom,
And that soon every “tree,” every person, not producing “fruit” for God
Would be cut down and thrown into the fire; into hell.]
The Christ Will Baptize With The Holy Spirit And Fire
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.
His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor,
Gathering the wheat into his barn
And burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
(Matthew 3:11-12)
[John the Baptist emphasizes the main aspect of the ministry of Christ Jesus;
The ministry emphasized in all four gospels;
He would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire;
He would fulfill the promise given to Abraham;
The Holy Spirit would would come and indwell the people of God;
God Himself would live inside His people;
He would live in and through His people.
Christ Jesus is continually “winnowing” His people;
Continually separating the wheat from the chaff.
At The Time Of The END, He will finally gather the wheat into his barn
And the chaff will be burned up with unquenchable fire in hell.]
From the Gospel of Mark
And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
The whole Judean countryside
And all the people of Jerusalem went out to him.
Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
John wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist,
And he ate locusts and wild honey.
And this was his message:
'After me will come one more powerful than I,
The thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.
I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.'
(Mark 1:4-8)
Mary The Mother Of Jesus
Visits Elizabeth The Mother Of John The Baptist
At that time Mary got ready
And hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah,
Where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby(John the Baptist)
Leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
[This is a wonderful demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit.
The baby, John the Baptist, inside his mother, is able by the Spirit
To sense the presence of the baby Jesus inside His mother Mary,
And to leap inside her because of his recognition.]
John's Father's Prophesy
And you my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
For you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
To give his people the knowledge of salvation
Through the forgiveness of their sins,
Because of the tender mercy of our God,
By which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
To shine on those living in darkness
And in the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the path of peace.
And the child grew and became strong in spirit;
And he lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel. (Luke 1:76-80)
[John the Baptist was a prophet of the Most High God;
His task was to go before the Lord to prepare the way for Him.
The Bride of Christ has been given two thousand years to go before the Lord
To prepare the way for His second coming.
John was to give the people of Israel the knowledge of salvation;
That is the fact that they must receive forgiveness of their sins
Through repentance of them;
This made possible by the tender mercy of God.
Christ Jesus was and is the Sun/Son that came from Heaven
To shine on those of His day and us today by His Spirit;
To shine on those who do not know Him and are therefore living in darkness;
Living in the shadow of impending death;
To guide us into the path of peace by the brightness of His Glory.]
Christ Jesus Speaks Of John's Baptism
One day as he was teaching the people in the temple courts
And preaching the gospel,
The chief priests and teachers of the law, together with the elders, came to him.
'Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,' they said.
'Who gave you this authority?'
He replied, 'I will also ask you a question.
Tell me, John's baptism—was it from heaven, or from men?'
They discussed it among themselves and said,
'If we say, 'from heaven,' he will ask, 'Why didn't you believe him?'
But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us,
Because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.'
So they answered, 'We don't know where it was from.'
Jesus said, 'Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.'
(Luke 20:1-8)
[The leaders of the Church come to Jesus to ask
By what authority He is teaching the people in the temple courts
And preaching the gospel.
Because Jesus knew that they did not accept
That John the Baptist came from God,
He asks them whether John's baptism was from Heaven or from men.
They realized that if they stated publicly that John was not from Heaven,
The people would stone them because the people believed he was.
They realized that the only answer they can give is that they do not know.
Therefore, Jesus refuses to tell them by what authority
He was teaching and preaching.
The leaders of Israel were blinded, and unable to recognize the Spirit of God;
They believed that if they acknowledged
That John the Baptist and Christ Jesus
Were from Heaven, it would diminish their own authority.
This is what has happened throughout history
Since the resurrection of Christ Jesus.
God has sent numerous Revivals,
Which is what John the Baptist and Christ Jesus represented,
And many Church leaders refused to acknowledge
That these Revivals were from God.
They refused for the same reason; they are blinded,
And unable to recognize the Spirit of God.
The final Revival will be the ministry of the Bride of Christ
In the last generation;
She will be treated by the larger portion of the Church
Just a Christ Jesus was in His day.
It is interesting that the people accepted John the Baptist
And would have stoned the leaders of the Church
If they denied publicly that John was from Heaven.
Yet, they allowed the Church leaders to have the Christ of God crucified;
And this, in spite of the fact that John said that Jesus was the Christ of God;
In fact, that was the whole purpose of John's coming;
To announce to Israel the coming of the Christ of God.
The people believed that John the Baptist was from Heaven,
And received his message of a baptism of repentance;
Yet most did not receive Christ Jesus as the Messiah,
In spite of His greater message and in spite of the miracles he performed.
I believe that this is because
The Church leaders did not come against John the Baptist.
He remained out in the desert and apparently did not threaten them.
Christ Jesus, However, came into the temple
And spoke with authority about the Kingdom of Heaven
And this did threaten the Church leaders and their position.
Furthermore, Christ Jesus was compelled
To speak against the Church leaders publicly and this infuriated them.
Therefore, the Church leaders secretly devised a plan to have him killed.
Christ Jesus Speaks Of The Significance
Of John The Baptist
After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples,
He went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.
When John heard in prison what Christ was doing,
He sent is disciples to ask him,
'Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?'
Jesus replied, 'Go back an report to John what you hear and see:
The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured,
The deaf hear, the dead are raised,
And the good news is preached to the poor.
Blessed is the man who does not fall account account of me.'
[Here, John expresses some doubt as to who Christ Jesus is.
He was in prison and under tremendous stress;
He had to be sure of what he had foretold, revealing the humanness of John.
Christ Jesus proceeds to tell John's disciples of the miracles
That He was performing; all those foretold by Scripture.
Then He says a profound thing:
'Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.'
This statement of Christ Jesus resounds through the corridors of time.
His followers are always under attack
Because they live in a world controlled by the devil.
They are always under pressure to fall away.
Yet we can endure all things through Christ who strengthens us
By His indwelling Spirit;
By this same Spirit we realize that a blessing beyond measure
Awaits those who remain true.]
As John's disciples were leaving,
Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John:
'What did you go out into the desert to see?
A reed swayed by the wind?
If not, what did you go out to see?
A man dressed in fine clothes?
No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings' palaces.
Then what did you go out to see?
A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
This is the one about whom it is written:
'I will send my messenger ahead of you,
Who will prepare the way before you.'
I tell you the truth:
Among those born of women
There has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist;
Yet he who is least in the kingdom is greater than he.
From he days of John the Baptist until now,
The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing,
And forceful men lay hold of it.
For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.
And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.
He who has ears, let him hear.
To what can I compare this generation?
They are like children siting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:
'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
We sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.'
For John came neither eating nor drinking,
And they say, 'He has a demon.'
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say,
'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collector and sinners.'
But wisdom is proved right by her actions. (Matthew 11:1-19)
[Christ Jesus then asks the crowd what they went out into the desert to see,
When they went out to John.
John was not a man who was a reed that could be swayed
By the winds of mans' thinking or actions.
He was not dressed in fine clothes like someone of importance.
No, he was the man God chose to announce the coming of His Christ;
A man more than a prophet; a unique man in all of human history,
Of which there has been no one greater, born of women.
In spite of the importance of John the Baptist,
Christ Jesus says that the least of those in the Kingdom of God are greater.
Because those in the Kingdom of God are One with Christ Jesus;
They are One with Him in character and being;
They are like Him because they see Him as He is,
And He has given them His Glory.
From the days of John the Baptist until today,
The Kingdom of God has been forcefully advancing
And forceful men and women have laid hold of it.
The passive cannot enter the Kingdom of God;
The Kingdom is for the passionate only.
The passion that Christ Jesus exhibited on the cross of Calvary,
Displayed an intensity and passion that His Bride will display
In Her devotion Him.
Every generation since the resurrection of Christ Jesus
Has had the both the flute and the dirge played for them
By the followers of Christ.
Some, neither ate or drank, and some, came eating and drinking.
However, in response to them, many did not dance and many did not mourn,
Just as in the days of John the Baptist and Christ Jesus;
Nevertheless, just as in those days,
Wisdom (those who received the followers of Christ as such)
Were proved right by their actions.]
*The Scriptures quoted are from the New International Version.