The Forerunner of Christ - The Ministry of John the Baptist

Introduction

For the last month now, we have been soaking ourselves here in the gospel of Matthew and looking at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and His miraculous birth.

Then, we looked at the immediate events after His birth and the call that God had placed upon the life of Joseph to raise the Son of God and protect Him.

We have seen the providence of God in the fact that He sent wise men with gifts to prepare Joseph for a trip he didn’t even know he was about to take.

We also seen the omniscience and omnipotence of God in action by telling Joseph to take his family and go to Egypt for Herod would try to kill them. He delivered Joseph and the family from the snares of Satan over and over again many different times.

We left off in Chapter 2 with Jesus more than likely being a young toddler and now we are about to jump ahead some 25-30 years to the beginning of Christ’s ministry.

We it comes to the rest of Jesus life, know very little about the childhood of Jesus. One of the only stories we have of His childhood was when Jesus was 12 years old.

His family had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of the passover and when they left, Jesus somehow sneaks away unawares to Joseph and Mary.

After traveling a whole day’s journey away from Jerusalem, Joseph and Mary finally realize that He’s not among them and their family and so they turn back to Jerusalem to find Him.

After three days of searching, they find Jesus, at twelve years of age mind you, sitting in the temple, listening and disputing with the doctors of the law and the Bible says that all who heard Jesus, even at the ripe young age of twelve years old, were astonished at His understanding and answers.

Mary upon finding Him says, “Son why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been frantically searching everywhere for you!”

To which Jesus calmly replies, “why did you need to search? Didn’t you know that I must be about my Father’s business?”

I mean, could you imagine Mary’s reaction? I’m sure she was hot!

If that had of been my mama, she wouldn’t even have asked any questions! She would of asked daddy for his belt and commenced to spanking!

From this point, the Bible simply says that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man and that’s it!

One little glimpse into this exquisite twelve year old’s life and then we fast forward another 18 years to the day He pops onto the scene to be baptized by John the baptizer at the ripe young age of 30 years old which is who and what the focus of our text is going to be on today.

Because you see, before the ministry of Christ, came the ministry of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ!

John MacArthur — In chapter 1 Jesus' kingship is shown by his birth—by His descent from the royal line of David and by His miraculous conception. In chapter 2 His kingship is shown by the circumstances surrounding His birth—by the homage of the magi, the hatred of Herod, and God's miraculous protection of the young Jesus. Now we are shown the evidence through the herald who announced the King's arrival. The greatest man who had yet lived was primarily so because he was herald of the Messiah, the One who was greater still. His greatness was related to his calling.

In ancient times it was common for a herald to precede the arrival of the monarch, to announce his coming and to prepare for his safe and proper travel. With a coterie of servants, the herald would make sure that the roadway was as smooth and uncluttered as possible. Holes would be filled, rocks and debris would be removed, and unsightly litter would be burned or hidden. As the group traveled along and worked, the herald would proclaim the king's coming to everyone he encountered. His twofold duty was to proclaim and to prepare. That is what John's ministry did for God's great King, Jesus Christ.

And so today, we are going to spend a few minutes looking into the ministry of the forerunner of our Lord for it was very important to the ministry of Jesus.

If you have your Bible’s turned to Matthew Chapter 3 please say, Amen.

The Messenger

The Personage of John

Who exactly was John the Baptist?

Matthew’s gospel does not tell us a whole lot but if you flip over to Brother Luke’s, you will find a great deal about the man before us today.

John the Baptist was born to parents Zacharias and Elisabeth.

Zacharias was a priest of the course of Abia and his wife Elisabeth was of the daughters of Aaron. The Bible tells us they were both righteous before God walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless!

From all accounts, we would say today that Zacharias and Elisabeth were very dedicated Christians when it come to the work and will of God.

The problem for them though was that Elisabeth was barren. They were both well up in years the Bible says and that they could not have children.

One day, while Zacharias was in the temple performing his priestly duties, he gets a visit from the angel Gabriel who tells him that they are going to have a son and then he says this about the child’s ministry...

Luke 1:14–17 KJV 1900

14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. 15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

After the child was born, the Bible says that the hand of the Lord was with him and that his father Zacharias, filled with the Holy Ghost prophesied of his son saying...

Luke 1:76–79 KJV 1900

76 And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord To prepare his ways; 77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people By the remission of their sins, 78 Through the tender mercy of our God; Whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, 79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.

Then the Bible says of John that the child grew and waxed strong in the spirit and was in the deserts until he began his public ministry to Israel which is where we pick up here in the gospel of Matthew.

As the prophet Elijah leaped onto the pages of literature in 1 Kings 17 with a message from the Lord for King Ahab, John the son of Zacharias, leaps into our story with a word from God for anyone who would listen!

Just as the great prophet Elijah preached with fire and fervor, the forerunner of Christ did much of the same!

It was a message that fired some up and caused others to flee because of it’s mighty call to personal repentance!

Chuck Swindoll — With John the Baptizer, it was “what you see is what you get.” He was raw, authentic, real. He didn’t spiff himself up, put on a flowing white robe, and craft scripted sermons to be sensitive to the seekers. He didn’t avoid words like sin, repent, or even judgment and fire! He didn’t care what people thought of him, what he wore, or what he ate (3:4). And he certainly didn’t adjust his message to accommodate influential or wealthy members of his audience. He had one mission—to preach the message God gave him to preach.

And he fulfilled that mission faithfully until he was beheaded by Herod Antipas somewhere around 28-29 AD.

Josephus writes that the reason for John’s beheading was because of...

"the great influence John had over the people", which might persuade John "to raise a rebellion (for they seemed ready to do anything he should advise)" — Wikipedia

This was undoubtedly an influence given over the people by God to point the people towards His dear Son but the death of John didn’t catch Him or God off guard for He knew from the beginning of his ministry that he was the forerunner and as he stated in...

John 3:30 KJV 1900

30 He must increase, but I must decrease.

Satan may have thought he scored by using Herod to take out John but what he didn’t know is that one, he was doing John a favor and two, John’s early departure was all part of God’s master succession plan.

And because of his faithfulness, Jesus said of His forerunner in...

Matthew 11:11 (KJV 1900)

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.

Of all the major and minor prophets, priests and kings alike up to this point, there had not come a single person greater than John the Baptist!

A man whose entire life, from even before his birth, was dedicated to the turning of people from their sins to serve the living God!

Now, that we know a little more detail about The Person of John the Baptist, let us now look at the Prophecy Concerning John.

The Prophecy Concerning John — (Vs. 3)

One way we can know that the ministry of the forerunner of the Christ was an important one is because it was prophesied by the Prophet Isaiah some 700 years before John the Baptist was even born. Look at Verse 3 here.

This specific prophesy was referenced in...

Isaiah 40:3 KJV 1900

3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

There are so many things about this prophecy that are brought to fruition in the ministry of John.

The prophecy references one who is crying in the wilderness.

Well, guess where John’s ministry took place?

Look at Verse 1. Where was he preaching?

In the Wilderness of Judaea, right?

One writer said of this wilderness...

The term "wilderness of Judaea” described the desolate area extending from the hill country near Jerusalem down to the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea. It is a limestone country, rough and barren, with only patches of grass. It seems to have had many inhabitants but no large cities. — Zodhiates

So, John’s Ministry fulfills the prophecy where it takes place and then, as we will see in a second, His Message fulfills the second part and lastly, the Multitudes who came to hear his message fulfills the final part!

From beginning to end and everything in between the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled in the ministry of John the Baptizer.

Not only is there the prophecy of Isaiah but the prophet Malachi also references the forerunner of Christ in...

Malachi 3:1(a)

Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me:

Which leads us to The Purpose of John’s Ministry.

The Purpose of John’s Ministry — (Vs. 3)

What was the Purpose of John’s Ministry?

Look back at Verse 3 again real quick.

John’s purpose was to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah!

Luke 1:17 KJV 1900

17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

Luke 1:77–79 (KJV 1900)

77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people By the remission of their sins,

78 Through the tender mercy of our God; Whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,

79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.

And the thing we need to understand this morning is that John’s Purpose is also Our Purpose!

Jesus said in...

Matthew 5:16 KJV 1900

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 28:19 KJV 1900

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

John’s purpose was to make ready a people prepared for the Lord and that’s our job too!

Because at the end of the day friend, every person in this world is going to meet the Lord one day and oh how sad that meeting will be for those who are not prepared!

That’s why we’re here! That’s why God has called us into the fold so that we can lead them to Him teach them about Him and help them have a relationship with Him so that when they do meet Him one day, they will be prepared!

And with that, I just want to say one thing before moving on…if you’re here this morning and you aren’t prepared to meet Jesus, you need to get prepared!

Right here, right now, today!

You dare not need leave this place unprepared for if you should meet Him unprepared it would be the most devastating decision you could ever make and the reason is…at that point there is no turning back.

There are no do-overs, no second chances once you leave this life!

You have right now, this very moment to get prepared!

Something was said yesterday at our Men’s conference and I hope I quote it right…one man has said that...

“five seconds into eternity you will know the life you should have lived!”

But I’m here to tell you this morning, if you don’t get it right here, there won’t be a chance to get it right there.

It will be too late!

If God is dealing with you today friend, do business with God!

Get things right.

Make sure you are prepared for that moment when you will meet the one face to face who died for your sins.

Not only do we see the Personage and Purpose of John but there’s also the Peculiarity of John.

The Peculiarity of John — (Vs. 4)

John was a peculiar fellow to say the least!

I mean, he wore camel’s hair and a leather girdle and ate locusts and wild honey!

Now listen, honey I can do but locusts just aren’t in my library of a diet!

I can just see ole John sitting there on a rock or a stump or something and here come some strangers from Jerusalem and John’s taking himself a little snack break and he just pulls a locust out of his pocket and dips it in a jar of honey and then crunch…!

Yeah I’m out!

But this was probably normal for John. The Bible says he had been in the wilderness until his time of ministry had come.

Listen, there weren’t Wendy’s and McDonald’s on every corner in the wilderness!

John did what he had to do to survive and no doubt, he had relied on God to provide his every need and since locusts and honey is what God had provided, locusts and honey is what John ate!

Can I just say real quick…if you find yourself wondering in a spiritual wilderness just rely on God, Amen!

Sometimes God allows us to end up in the wilderness in order that He might bring others to Him, Amen!

John was a peculiar fellow but one thing I want you to know this morning is this, as peculiar as John was, God has also called us to a similar ministry.

Now I ain’t saying we got to go out and eat locusts and honey to draw attention to ourselves but what I am saying is that God has called us to stand out instead of blending in!

The Bible says in...

1 Peter 2:9–10 KJV 1900

9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

Break it down

The problem with many Churches today is that they want to blend in, instead of stand out!

They have catered so much to the world and the things of the world that you can’t tell the Church apart from the world, Amen!

I’m here to tell you this morning friend, Jesus didn’t die so that we might blend in, He died so that we might stand out!

So that we might be a peculiar people to Him and in doing so, draw others away from the comforts of this world, out into the wilderness so that they might find God, Amen!

There is the Messenger which is John and we have seen his personage, his purpose and his peculiarity.

Now, let’s look at his Message!

The Message — (Vs. 2)

What was the message?

REPENT!

Repent - Greek word — (metanoeō) — means to change one’s mind. In the NT, it generally refers not simply to changing one’s mind but to turning back to God.

Repentance is a change of mind that brings about a change of heart that brings about a change of action!

But here’s the thing…it’s not, “well I’m gonna change my mind and I’ll do better or I won’t do it again and I’ll be good on my own!”

Friend there’s nothing good inside of you therefore you can’t be good on your own!

That’s why we need God, Amen!

That’s why it’s not just a change of mind but a change of mind that leads to a turning to God!

That’s what we must do for He alone is good!

The message was to repent “for” what?

“The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Can I tell you this morning that we need to repent for the kingdom of God is still at hand!

At any moment, and when I say moment, I mean a blink of an eye, that trumpet could sound and time could be no more!

Listen, ever since Jesus ascended to the Father we have been living in the end days, Amen!

Any second could be the last and therefore if you have never trusted in God or maybe you have but you’ve drifted away from God, the time to repent is now, Amen!

Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand! It is near, it is fast approaching and God has given you warning this morning to repent!

Should you not choose to do so and He should call an end to this thing and you enter into eternity unprepared, then awful judgement that you must face lies squarely on you for you have heard the gospel preached and you have heard that repentance is needed and you heeded not the warning of God!

Jesus said in...

Luke 13:3 KJV 1900

3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish!

When Jesus said, “all” He meant “all!” Anyone who would not believe upon Him and His finished work on Calvary!

And the word used here for “perish” it means to put out of the way entirely, abolish, put to an end to ruin, to devote or give over to eternal misery in hell, to be destroyed!

Do any of those things sound like something you would like to experience in eternity?

The answer is absolutely not!

Therefore, if you are here this morning and you have never surrendered your life to Christ, if you are living life your way and not God’s way what this means is that you must needs repent before it’s everlasting too late and you perish!

Come to Jesus at once! Come and kneel at the foot of the cross and give your life to Him! Surrender your will for His will!

And if you are here this morning and saved but maybe you’ve strayed, you must needs also to repent!

You need to turn back to God today!

Because the further you stray, the further you strain the relationship you have with God!

You are literally grieving the Holy Spirit with the way you’re living and when you’re living in sin you cannot have communion with God!

Friend, if you have gotten off the beaten path this morning, John’s message is for you just as much as the lost person!

Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand!

We’ve seen The Messenger and the Message, now let’s finish it out really quickly with The Multitudes.

The Multitudes — (Vs. 5-10)

The Crowd — (Vs. 5)

The Bible says they came to hear John’s message from Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan!

People were coming from here, there and everywhere to the wilderness of Judaea to hear the message that John was preaching!

John Phillips said it’s been estimated that at least a million people turned out to hear John’s message!

1 million people left their lives of comfort in the city to go out into the wilderness in order to hear a man dressed in camel hair and a leather girdle who ate locusts and wild honey!

Listen friend, the power of God was at work in the ministry of John the Baptist!

People were coming from far and wide and word was spreading that God was doing a thing in the wilderness of Judaea, Amen!

You know what my prayer is?

That the Holy Spirit of God would sit down on this place right here and that word would go out that God is doing something at New Home Missionary Baptist Church!

How amazing would it be if people from far and wide just started showing up here because a mighty move of God was taking place?

How amazing would it be if there were standing room only in this place because the Holy Spirit had become contagious in this place?

Not a day goes by now that we don’t hear of someone catching the Covid-19 virus but you know what I long for?

I long for the day when not a Sunday or Sunday night or Wednesday night goes by that we don’t hear of someone catching the Holy Ghost virus, Amen!

I long for the day when folks will flock to the preaching of God’s word in this place as they did to John’s message in the wilderness of Judaea!

We have the Crowd and then we have the Confessing.

The Confessing — (Vs. 6)

They weren’t just coming to listen, they were coming to participate!

They were being convicted of their sins and such a conviction had come upon this place that people were coming and confessing their sins in droves!

I believe it was probably one after another, after another!

One person turned to God and then another and another and before you know it, whole families were confessing their sins and getting baptized!

Whole towns were coming out to hear the message of God and upon hearing, confessed that their sins and turned to Him!

Can I just say that confession is a fundamental aspect of repentance.

You see, if you’re not willing to admit that you’ve done anything wrong, then God’s not willing to forgive you of your wrongdoing.

But… the Bible says, “if we will confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness!”

Confession must take place before the fruit of conviction can be completed!

These people were hearing the word of God and responding to the preached word of God!

I wonder who here this morning will respond to the preached word of God when the invitation is given here in a moment?

“Well preacher, the Holy Spirit is hitting me right between the eyes right now but I’m not going to respond.”

Friend, what you need to know is that by “not responding” you have already responded, Amen!

You are basically telling God that you don’t want what He’s offering.

To not respond is to respond altogether wrongly!

Respond rightly this morning to the call of God upon your life!

We see the crowds and the confessions and next we’re going to see a challenge.

The Challenge — (Vs. 7-8)

Here John is and he’s preaching and baptizing all these folks who are sincerely getting right with God but over here in the background he catches a glimpse of the religious elite from Jerusalem.

No doubt they’ve heard what mighty things God was doing in the wilderness and had come out to see!

They were being nosy!

And I just love this part...

“O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”

Listen, I don’t ever want to hear someone give me a hard time again about what my good friend Douglas calls… “shearing the sheep”!

I haven’t ever called you all a bunch of vipers!

Granted there’s been a time or two over the last seven years I might of wanted to say it to a few people but I’ve never voiced it!

The terminology John uses tells us a lot about the people he’s referring to!

They were snakes! They were slimy, slithery, sneaky, deadly, venomous creatures!

The words they spread forth brought death instead of life! It was poisonous to the soul! It did more harm than help!

Their pious attitudes helped no one but themselves!

They cared not for those around them for they were to busy telling everyone else how wrong they were and looked down upon those less fortunate than themselves!

Jesus said they were as whitewashed tombs, they looked good on the outside but on the inside were full of dead men’s bones!

And John calls them out and challenges them to bring forth fruits meet for repentance!

NLT — 8 Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. 9 Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones.

What John was saying to these folks here is that religion won’t get you to heaven!

Listen to me this morning friend, church attendance won’t get you to heaven.

Tithing won’t get you to heaven.

Owning a Bible won’t get you to heaven.

Being a member won’t get you to heaven.

Baptism alone won’t get you to heaven.

Your mama and daddy being Christians won’t get you to heaven.

Being better than your co-worker or family member or the person on the other end of the pew from you won’t get you to heaven!

Dear friend, the only thing that will get you to heaven is trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ!

I find it interesting that John tells them to bring forth fruits “meet” for repentance.

It reminds me of Cain and Abel.

Cain brought forth fruits from the ground. It was things he had grown. It was fruits born from his hands and his works and his labor and God told him it wasn’t good enough.

But yet Abel brings forth a lamb as his offering and it was accepted. You want to know why?

Because that little lamb was God’s creation, it was God’s work, it was a provision of His own and it was accepted because it was a blood sacrifice!

The Bible says, “without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.”

Abel’s offering was acceptable because it included what God required but Cain’s didn’t.

You see friend, if you show up on judgement day and you present your works before the Lord, it won’t suffice but if you show up with the blood of Jesus it shall be a perfect sacrifice!

For there is none righteous, no not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

And if we aren’t good, then there is nothing in and of ourselves that is good enough present to God that will appease the goodness of God, Amen!

Therefore we need the blood of the only one who was good! The Lord Jesus Christ!

So John challenges these snakes and then he finishes with a word of caution and I pray that if you are hear this morning and lost, that you too will hear this word of caution and heed it’s warning!

The Caution — (Vs. 10)

New Living Translation Chapter 3

10 Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.

What is the good fruit?

Paul said the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance.

Well preacher I can do all these things.

Not without Jesus you can’t!

Why?

Because they are fruits of the Spirit not of man!

And the only way to get the Spirit is to know the Son, Amen!

Romans 8:1–14 KJV 1900

1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

Without the Son there is no Spirit. You must accept Jesus as Lord of your life. You must surrender your will to His will for He is the way, the truth and the life and no man comes to the Father but by Him!

If you’re not willing to submit, then the ax of God’s judgment is poised and ready to sever the roots of the tree and every tree that brings not forth good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire!

Do not let that be your demise!

Come to Jesus today while there is still time!

Respond to the call that speaking to your heart right now at this very moment!

Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!