The Greatness of John the Baptist, Part 2

Amen, let's pray together. Lord Jesus, thank you for today. Thank you that we can worship your name. You truly are great. And the Bible says that you have magnified your name or your word, even as your very name.

And we thank you, Lord, that as we study your word, we know that these are the very words of God. And that, Lord, through these words, we understand you. And I pray that today we would understand more of your character and nature. And we'd worship you even all the more, as we understand that one day you'll soon return, that we might learn to live in the light of your glorious coming again. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Turn in your Bible, if you would, to Luke chapter 7. Luke chapter 7, and we find ourselves right in the middle of a story about John the Baptist.

If you have not been with us, sometimes it's hard to get caught up to speed as to what's happening. Sometimes I review, sometimes I review a lot, sometimes I don't review at all. So it's kind of hard sometimes if you haven't been with us because you've been on vacation, you've been sick, or you've just been playing hooky from the Lord. I don't know. But, you know, you're here today and praise the Lord for that. And we want you to understand the greatness of John the Baptist. And Jesus speaks about the greatness of John.

In fact, Jesus says that he was the greatest man ever born of a woman. That's John the Baptist. A great man. And Luke begins this gospel with the story of John the Baptist. Because the Bible prophesied that before the Messiah would come, there would be a forerunner. And the Bible speaks about John, and Luke begins there because Luke is going to present to us the Messiah. He wants us to understand who the Messiah is. Well, to do that, you need to understand who the forerunner will be. So way back in Luke chapter 1, Luke begins with this story when the angel Gabriel came to Zacharias when he was in the temple doing his priestly duties.

And the angel said to him in verse number 13, do not be afraid Zacharias, for your petition has been heard and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you will give him the name John. You know, it's always good when the Lord gives you the name of your child. And Zacharias and Elizabeth had prayed for years. When we studied Luke chapter 1, we saw where they were up in years, 70s, maybe even their 80s. And they were old. She was called Baron Elizabeth. She was not able to have any children. And yet the Lord had answered their prayer because the Lord didn't want to give Elizabeth just any child.

He wanted to give Elizabeth an extraordinary child. He wanted to give Elizabeth the forerunner to the Messiah, not just any boy, but a great boy. A boy that the Lord would one day say was the greatest of all men. And so the angel would go on to say, and you will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. How great? Well, the Lord tells us in chapter 7, the greatest man to ever live. And he will drink no wine or liquor and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb.

And he will turn back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. And it is he who will go as a forerunner before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Chapter 1 gives us the identity of John the Baptist. Can you imagine hearing what the Lord was going to do with your child? The Lord would lay it out for you that this is your boy. He's going to be great.

He's going to be filled with the spirit of God from his mother's womb. He will have a Nazarite vow. He will be totally consecrated to me. He will turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children. He will make ready the way of the Lord. He will be the voice of Christ in the wilderness. He will be the prophesied one from the Old Testament. Can you imagine what must have happened in the life of Zacharias and Elizabeth to realize that this was their boy? And chapter 1 gives us the identity of John.

Chapter 3 gives us the ministry of John. John is in his thirties now and he has been in the back side of the desert preparing for the ministry that God has given to him. In Luke chapter 3 it says these words in verse number 3. And he came into all the district around the Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord. Make his path straight.

Every ravine shall be filled up and every mountain and hill shall be brought low and the crooked shall become straight and the rough road smooth and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. He therefore began saying to the multitudes who were going out to be baptized by him, you brood of vipers who warned you to flee from the wrath to come. Therefore bring forth fruits in keeping with repentance and do not begin to say to yourselves, we have Abraham for our father. For I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.

And also the axe is already laid at the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. And the multitudes were questioning him saying, then what shall we do? And he would answer and say to them, let the man who has two tunics share with him who has none and let him who has food do likewise. And some tax gatherers also came to be baptized and they said to him, teacher, what shall we do? And he said to them, collect no more than what you have been ordered to.

And some soldiers were questioning him saying, and what about us? What shall we do? And he said to them, do not take money from anyone by force or accuse anyone falsely and be content with your wages. We spent weeks in chapter three talking about the ministry of John the Baptist. He was called John the baptizer because of the uniqueness of his ministry that he would baptize Jewish people. And this was unheard of. Sure. Jewish people were involved in cleansing themselves by their own right. But to be involved in this kind of baptism was something unparalleled because this is what the Gentiles did when they would want to convert to Judaism and they would recognize that they were separated from God and they would recognize that they were unclean before God.

And they would recognize that they weren't a part of the covenant promises of God. And they would want to be a part of what Judaism was all about. And it was these Jews who were coming down and Mark's account tells us they were coming from all Judea and all from Jerusalem, hundreds of them, thousands of them were going down to the Jordan river to be baptized because they believed in the message that John was preaching. They believed in the man, John the Baptist. John the Baptist was a powerful preacher.

He wasn't an ordinary guy. He was a strong preacher. And they went in droves down to the Jordan river to be baptized. What shall we do? Tell us John. What shall we do? And we will do it. And he was explaining to them how it is when they are preparing for the coming of the Messiah that they live a life that brings glory and honor to God because they were seeking, they were searching, they were looking for answers. They lived in great expectation. Look at verse number 15 of Luke chapter 3.

It says this, now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were wondering in their hearts about John as to whether he might be, listen, the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed one. You see John was such a great preacher, was such a powerful individual that when people went down to be baptized, they thought that he might be the Messiah himself. Can you imagine the power of this man as he would be filled with the spirit of God from his mother's womb used in a great and mighty way to present the truth of the gospel, to repent and be baptized based on the forgiveness of your sins.

Messiah is coming and he would come and he would preach with fierce judgment saying that the axe is already laid at the tree and the Messiah when he comes, he's going to have a winnowing fork in his hand and he will separate the wheat from the chaff and the Messiah is coming. You need to be ready for the Messiah to arrive. And people thought, wow, maybe this guy is the Messiah. See there was no question about the greatness of John. There was no question about the power of his ministry. The only question about John's ministry was whether or not he was the prophet that would come before the Messiah or was he Messiah himself.

You see everybody was in a state of great expectation because there had been no prophet for over 400 years. And John the Baptist comes out of the wilderness with this message that went sweeping the Galilee and people would come down in droves to be baptized and they wondered to themselves with expectation, are you the Christ? In Luke 3 verse number 16, John answered and said to them, all as for me, I baptize you with water but one is coming who is mightier than I and I am not fit to untie the thong of his sandals.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire and those winnowing fork is in his hand to thoroughly clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. They believed in the message of John. They believed in the man John. They might not clearly understand are you the prophet that comes before Messiah or are you the Messiah himself? So they ask as they began to wonder, are you the Christ? Are you the Messiah? There was no question.

About the greatness of John. In fact, over in John chapter 1 verse number 29, turn there with me if you would for a moment please. John chapter 1 verse number 29. The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, that's John, and said behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. So John sees Jesus. He calls him the Lamb of God. That means he is pointed to the one who was prophesied and promised to be the sacrifice for the sins of the people. So he was the one who pointed to Messiah and says you are the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

No longer will our sins be covered. Our sins now are going to be taken away because that man right there is the Lamb of God. And then it says in verse 30, this is he on behalf of whom I said after me comes a man who is higher ranked than I for he existed before me. Whoa! We know John's older than Jesus because Elizabeth conceived before Mary did. So we know that John is six months older than Jesus. He was born before Jesus, but John testifies to the eternality, listen, of the Lamb of God. He testifies to the fact that Jesus pre-existed before he came to earth.

He existed before me. Well, how can Jesus exist before John if John was born physically before Jesus was? It's because Jesus is God in the flesh and it speaks of his eternal nature. So John is already testifying to the sacrificial aspect of the ministry of the Messiah. He's already testifying to the fact that he is the eternal one, the one who existed before him. And then it says this in verse number 31, and I did not recognize him, but in order that he might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water and John bore witness saying, I have beheld the spirit descending as a dove out of heaven and he remained upon him.

So here is John once again testifying to the fact that not only is this the Lamb of God who takes away our sin and not only is this the pre-existing one, but this is the one that the spirit of God descended upon. Testifying to the fact that Isaiah 11 verses 1 and 2 speaks of the prophecy that the Messiah will have the spirit of God descend upon him. So here's John coming to baptize in water and Jesus shows up and he baptizes Jesus and when he does, the spirit of God descends in visible form upon John for him to see, to know for certain that this is the fulfillment of Isaiah 11, 1 and 2, that this truly is the Messiah.

You still with me? I don't want to talk too fast for you. I get a little revved up every once in a while. So if I'm going too fast, just raise your hand and I'll ignore you and continue on. Verse number 32. I'm sorry, verse 33. And I did not recognize him, but he who sent me to baptize in water said to me, he upon whom you see the spirit descending and remaining upon him, this is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God. So not only is he the Lamb of God, not only is he the pre-existing God, not only is he the one that had the spirit of God that sent upon him, this one is the Son of God because he heard the voice from heaven.

This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. So John had all the evidence concerning the Messiah and this man was that forerunner to the Messiah. Nobody questioned John's prophetic gift. That was never ever questioned. No one ever wondered about the uniqueness of John because he was unique. Can you imagine John and all these people, thousands of them coming down to be baptized, coming down saying, what shall we do? And John telling them. And you can imagine the boldness and the courage he had.

It's no wonder when the Pharisees came down to the river, he could say, you brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come. I mean, he had the support of the nation, see. The majority of the people were on his side. He was a powerful preacher and he was a hell, fire, and damnation preacher. He was warning people of the impending judgment that was to come because when Messiah would arrive, the Messiah would free his people Israel and Messiah would judge all the ungodly and you got to be prepared for when he arrives.

The only question about John was whether or not he was the Messiah or not. Can you imagine being such a great preacher that people think you're the Messiah? I mean, nobody ever said it like you say it, John. Nobody ever got the response like you do, John. I mean, this is amazing. You must, are you the Messiah? That was the question they would ask. Are you that great prophet of Deuteronomy 18? The prophet, the seer that is to come, that was spoken of by Moses, that there would be one greater than Moses?

Are you that prophet, John? Those were the questions and Jesus says in verse number 28, I say to you among those born of women, there is no one greater than John.

This whole section began with a personal confusion up in verse number 18, didn't it? When John now in prison because of his confronting Herod and his immorality and wickedness, Herod threw him in the prison. He's now been there for a little over a year and he's beginning to wonder, well, if Jesus is the Messiah, having seen all that he saw, having heard all that he heard, having testified to the fact that this is the name of God, there were some doubts that began to creep up in John's mind. We talked about that many weeks ago, about how it is believers can begin to doubt what's happening in their lives.

And John had those doubts. He was an honest man. He was a humble man. So he beckoned two of his disciples to come and to go to Jesus to ask the question, are you the expected one? So the whole section began with a personal confusion that led to a prophetical clarification that Jesus would clarify to these two disciples of John through quoting four verses out of the book of Isaiah, that he truly is the Messiah. Plus he would heal a multitude of people in a matter of moments. You go back and tell John what you saw.

You go back and tell John what you have just heard and blessed is he who does not stumble over me. And having given that prophetical clarification, what Jesus now does is ask a rhetorical question. He asked the question because he's going to take the opportunity to cause the people to decide about the identity of Jesus Christ. Because the people believed in John. The people accepted John as a prophet. If you accept John as prophet, you must affirm Jesus as Messiah. And everybody believed that John was a prophet.

There was no question about that. And so he asked a rhetorical question. When you came down to the river, what did you come down here to see? A reed blowing in the wind? Some weak vacillating individual who has no backbone, who is absolutely spineless? No, that's not why you came down here. Did you come down to see a man in soft clothing? No, those people are relegated to the palaces. Not John. Completely different. This man is uniquely different. He was a self-denying kind of man. He was a man totally consecrated to his God.

He was a man totally committed to his God. That's who you came to see. He says from the rhetorical question, he gives them the biblical revelation. He says, you know why you came down here? You came down here because you came to see a prophet. And you came to see more than a prophet. You came to see the prophet that was prophesied to come. That's who you came to see. And he would paraphrase Malachi 3 verse number one, so as to interpret the exact meaning of Malachi 3 verse number one.

In the Malachi 3 verse number one says, Behold, I am going to send my messenger and he will clear the way before me and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple.

And every Jew knew the prophecy of Malachi 3.1. And they knew that there would be a messenger who would come, a forerunner who would arrive before the Lord whom they would be seeking would show up on the scene. So he gives them the biblical revelation. And in so doing, listen, he gives them the historical affirmation. That's our next point. Who says that I'm telling you that there is no man born of a woman greater than John. He's the greatest. No argument from that. No argument whatsoever. Why? Because John was the prophet who was prophesied to come.

Now remember Malachi 4 verse number five, when it said, Remember the law of Moses. This is verse number four. My servant, even the statutes and ordinances, which I commanded him and in Horeb of all Israel, for all Israel, behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. And he will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse. So important that you understand this.

That when Malachi 4.5 says that before the great and terrible day of the Lord, Elijah will come. It means that one like Elijah will come. And let me show you that by looking at a series of verses to show you the historical affirmation of why John is the greatest man ever born.

Okay. Remember Luke chapter one, we just read it a few moments ago when the angel Gabriel said that he would be great. And it says in verse number 17, and it is he who will go as a forerunner before him in the spirit and power of Elijah. John is going to go in the spirit and in the power of Elijah. And then he quotes Malachi 4 verse number six, the verse we just read. He says to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children. You see, John, when he comes, he will be the one who will be the fulfillment not only of Malachi 3 verse number one, but Malachi 4 verse number five.

He is the Elijah that comes before the great and terrible day of the Lord because he will turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children. Now turn with me to John chapter one for a moment.

John, you still with me? I'm going to go through a lot of verses this morning, but you got to understand these verses. They're very important. John chapter one, verse number 19. And this is the witness of John when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are you? Who are you, John? They wanted to know the identity of this baptizer. Who is this guy? And he confessed and did not deny. And he confessed, I am not the Christ. So the question was, are you the Messiah? Who are you?

Are you the Messiah? No, I am not the Messiah. I am not the Christ. I am not the anointed one. And they asked him, what then? Are you, what's this word? Elijah. Are you Elijah? Because every Jew knows that before Messiah arrives, Elijah will come. Are you Elijah? So John answers, I am not. Then they say, are you the prophet? What prophet is that? Deuteronomy 18, which is another way of saying, are you that prophet that was prophesied to come? That is specifically Deuteronomy 18, the one who's greater than Moses, are you that Messiah?

Because the Messiah would be a prophet. The Messiah would be a priest. The Messiah would be a king. Are you that prophet? So they would ask again, are you the Messiah? And the answer, no. Then said, they said then to him, who are you? So that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself? Here's John's answer. I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord as Isaiah the prophet said. Now he quotes Isaiah 40 verse number three.

John knows who he is. John knows he is the forerunner to the Messiah. John knows that. He knows Isaiah. They too would know Isaiah verse number 40, chapter 40, verse number three.

So that's what he quotes, Isaiah 40 verse number three. So they would know that he is that forerunner to the Messiah who would come. Now turn with me to Matthew 11.

Matthew 11 verse number 14. Are you there yet? Hurry, hurry. I'm gonna make my sermon longer today. You gotta hurry. Matthew 11 verse number 14. Here it goes. Ready? And if you care to accept, accept what? If you care to accept me as Messiah, Jesus says, listen carefully, he, John himself, is Elijah who was to come.

Jesus says, if you accept me as your Messiah, John is the fulfillment of Malachi 4 verse number 5. If you accept me, if you accept me as Messiah, John is Elijah, the one who comes in the spirit and power of Elijah and the day of the Lord will come. I will judge the ungodly and I will sit on my throne. I will rule forever if you accept me. Did they accept him? No, they did not. Now turn with me in your Bible to Mark chapter 9.

Mark chapter 9 verse number 11. They'd come down out the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John, along with Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and they asked him saying, why is it that the scribes say that Elijah must come first?

You see, everybody knew that Elijah had to come first because they all know Malachi 4 verse number 5.

They all know that. So the disciples say, why is it the scribes say that Elijah must come first? Verse 12. And he said to them, Elijah, listen, does first come and restore all things.

They're right. They're absolutely right. Now listen to this. And yet, how is it written of the son of man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? Aha. So he throws a question back at them. You're asking me a question. Is it true that Elijah must first come before Messiah?

Jesus says, yes. Yet let me ask you this question. Why is it the Old Testament teaches that the Messiah, the son of man, should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? Verse 13. But I say to you, listen, that Elijah has indeed come. Who's that? John the Baptist. You see, that's why Malachi 4 5 says that one like Elijah will come before the great and terrible day of the Lord. Jesus says, listen, John has indeed come.

Elijah's come. He's in John. John the Baptist. Elijah's here. And they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him that is Elijah. You see, they wanted to do to to John the Baptist or they wanted to do to Elijah what they did to John the Baptist. But they couldn't do to Elijah. They vilified him. They scorned him. But God took Elijah up into heaven in a whirlwind. They wanted to do the same thing to Elijah that they did to John. So Jesus says, but listen carefully, you must understand, John is that Elijah of Malachi 4 verse number 5.

I've already told you he is the messenger of Malachi 3 verse number 1. And John has already testified that he is the one who is the voice crying in the wilderness, Isaiah 40 verse number 3. He's already those things. We've already proven that to you. Yet, Jesus says, how is it that the Bible says the Son of Man must be treated with scorn and must be treated with contempt?

You see, God, knowing the hostility of man and the rejection of the Messiah, had everything planned out just perfectly. Although they did not understand it, Jesus did. You see, you say, well, it's bad that they didn't. No, it's not. It's good. It's good they rejected the Messiah. Why? No cross, no redemption. See, the whole cross was the perfect plan of God to redeem the souls of man. He is the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the world. He can't take away the sin unless he dies, Isaiah 53.

It's the perfect plan that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. So Jesus gives this great historical affirmation. This is the greatest man who ever lived. No argument. There's no argument. Because throughout the ministry of Christ, throughout the ministry of John the Baptist, there was this reoccurring theme that this man is the prophet, that this man is Elijah, that this man is maybe even the Messiah. There was no doubt about the greatness of John.

So when Jesus says this great historical affirmation, there's nobody greater than John. Nobody. Oh, you got to be kidding me. He is. You're right. He is. He's the greatest man ever. He is. No argument from the crowd. None whatsoever. And so Christ gives that great historical affirmation. Revelation 11, there are two witnesses that come. Two powerful witnesses. And through them, 144,000 Jews will be saved. And those two witnesses will be one that come, or two really, that come in the spirit and power of Elijah.

The New Testament never says that Elijah literally arrives. There are two witnesses. And from their mouths proceed fire to consume all those who try to destroy their lives. These two powerful guys used in a great and mighty way before the great and terrible day of the Lord. So you need to have all that in mind when you understand the ministry of John the Baptist, the greatness of John, because this man truly was great. Now listen.

If you preach the word, listen carefully, if you preach the word, if you speak forth the word of God, that is great. It's the greatest thing you can ever do. It's the greatest thing you could ever do is to speak the word of God. Matthew 5.19 says, Matthew 5.19 says that if you want to be great in the kingdom of God, the greatest person is the one who hears the word, keeps the word, and teaches the word of God. So if you want to be great, you must somehow teach, preach, communicate the truth of God.

By the words of Christ himself, he says that the greatest people in the kingdom are those who teach and preach the word of God. And so we understand that because God's word is magnified even as his very name. And if you've been called to teach it, if you've been asked to teach it, then you need to look at it as the greatest and highest calling known to man.

There is no greater calling in all the world than to teach the word of God. And every one of us has been called to pass that truth on to somebody else. Every one of us has. We've been given that great and wonderful privilege and responsibility to teach the word of God. And John, I mean, think about it. John was the last preacher in the age of promise and the first preacher in the age of fulfillment.

John could see him, hear him, touch him, baptize him. And so his greatness is accentuated, not because of his personal character, but because of his privileged calling to be the prophet who was prophesied to come to point to the arrival of the Messiah. And that's John. That's what makes John the greatest man who ever lived. And the people, they were ecstatic. They were overwhelmed with this man and his message. Yet, listen, yet they began to have second thoughts to show you the wickedness of sin in the heart of people.

Look at Luke seven, verse number 33, for John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine.

And you say he has a demon. Everything about John changes. Listen carefully. The nation of Israel is going to reinvent the history of John because they will not receive Jesus as the Messiah. That's how far man's wicked heart goes to rationalize his sin. They will rewrite the history of John. They will reinvent the history of John so that they can rationalize in their minds why it is they will not and have not received Jesus as their Messiah. To me, that is absolutely incredible, but that's exactly how man's sinful heart works.

Remember in Luke chapter four, when Jesus preached in the synagogue in Nazareth, no doubt that the majority of the people in that synagogue had been already baptized by John. No doubt. And Jesus gets up to preach. And what do they do? They want to kill him because he diagnosed their condition. He called them into account for their sinful lives and called them to look at themselves as he himself saw them, sinners separated from God and in need of repentance.

And they would not do that. And they wanted to kill him. We forget that preaching is primarily a negative occupation. Second Timothy 4.2.

Preach the word, Paul told Timothy. In season, out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort. All negative. With long suffering and instruction. That's positive. Always negative first, positive second.

Expose the sin, deal with the sin, open up the heart, let them understand their sinful condition. And then with long suffering, you can instruct them in the ways of God. But preaching is primarily a negative occupation because it deals with the nature of man. And so when you hear the word of God preached, you know if it's a true sermon based on second Timothy 4.2.

Reprove, rebuke, exhort, deal with all long suffering, then instruct. Because man will not look for the need for the solution unless they understand the sinful condition. And when they see the sinful condition, they beg for the solution. Then you can give it to them. Jesus came, reproved, rebuked, exhorted, and with long suffering offered them the solution to their sinful condition. Yet they would not see themselves as he himself saw them. And they wanted to kill. What's the answer to this? Emotional affiliation.

That's our next point. The emotional affiliation. This is so important to understand. In the age, in the day of crusades, this is the day of crusades. This is the day of altar calls. This is the day where mass crowds gather together and hundreds, thousands of people walk an aisle. You need to understand emotional affiliation because these people were emotionally tied to John. But that emotional affiliation soon led to a practical rejection of the Messiah. Truth is cognitive. Truth is cognitive. Truth does not deal with the emotions.

Truth deals with the mind. And when emotions rise above the mind, you make a wrong decision. Make a wrong decision. Listen carefully. Verse number 29. And when all the people and the tax gatherers heard this, they acknowledged God's justice, having been baptized with the baptism of John. I mean, listen, the tax gatherers, it says, and all the people, the common people, when they heard the message of John, they recognized that God was just. That God is just in calling people to repent. So they went down to the river and they were baptized by John.

Verse 30. But the Pharisees and the lawyers, who that those are the experts of the law, rejected God's purpose for themselves. What's God's purpose? That you repent and be baptized. Not having been baptized by John. They would not be baptized by John. No, they rejected God's purpose. And see, you need to understand the euphoria at the time. You need to understand the emotional wave that would sweep the land of Israel. Talk about an emotional wave, especially with no television and no radio. It swept the Galilee.

It swept Judea. It swept Jerusalem. People were on an emotional high about John and his ministry. Most of the people, they affirmed John. They went down to the river. They were baptized. The religious elite rejected John. They rejected his message. They rejected the man. Oh, they were serious at first.

They were willing. They were eager, the people were. Oh, they were ecstatic about the opportunity. Have you heard about John? No, who's John? John the baptizer. He's down in the Jordan River. He's baptizing people because he is preparing our hearts for the coming of Messiah. Really? I gotta get down there. I gotta go. I gotta go. Come on, bring the family down. Let's go down to the Jordan River. And all of a land. Hundreds. Thousands. Listen, when John preached, he does what preaching does. It divides.

Preaching, listen, doesn't unite. It divides so that it can unite. It divided the country. It divided the tax gatherers, the commoners for the Pharisees and the religious elite. It split them right in half. John had an incredible amount of influence because he preached the word. Listen to these words. John chapter 5, verse number 32. There is another, Jesus says, who bears witness of me.

Who's that? That's John. Remember, there were only two preachers, John and Jesus. That's it. Until we get to Luke 9, he sends out the 12, there's only two preachers, Jesus and John. John's in prison now, so Jesus is the only preacher. And Jesus says, there is another who bears witness of me, and I know that the testimony which he bears of me is absolutely true.

So whatever John said about me is true. Verse 35. He was the lamp that was burning and was shining, and you were, listen carefully, willing to rejoice for, what's the next word? A while in the light. Oh, for a while. Hey, you were on cloud nine. You were on fire. But only for a while. Only for a while. There was this emotional affiliation with the message of John. They associated with this great man, this great prophet. Maybe he was Elijah, maybe he wasn't. Maybe he was the Messiah, maybe he wasn't.

But man, this guy could preach. And boy, he called us to be baptized and to repent of our sins, to get right with God. And boy, we went down there, and we were, and we believed, Jesus says.

But you only believed for a while. Folks, this is important. Because the euphoria around John was superficial. Superficial. They got swept away in the movement. Oh, they were eager, and they were willing. For a while. And John, he's thinking, man, look at this.

This is so, this, oh, Lord, this is absolutely amazing. All these people, they're coming down here. This is all, this is of the Lord. And yet they only believed for a while. What does that remind you of? The parable of the sower and the soils. Matthew 13, Luke 8, we'll get there in a few weeks, a few months. Luke 8, when the Word would go forth and people would receive the Word. Oh, for a while there was a euphoria about receiving the Word, about walking the aisle, about saying the prayer, about being a part of the crusade, where all my friends went down.

And I went down with them. And boy, I tell you, it was great. There were tears in our eyes. There was weeping. There was profuse weeping. And oh, it was an amazing scene. You should have seen us. But the seed of the Word was choked because of the materialism in the heart. Or the seed was not able to gain any root because when persecution came, there was no root and the seed died. A lot of people who believe for a while, lots of them, who get caught up in the emotion of the day or the emotion of the moment, they ride that emotion.

And in Matthew 21, Jesus says these words in verse number 32. He says, for John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him. But the task gatherers and harlots did believe him. And you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him. You came down and you saw the prostitutes and you saw the task gatherers and you saw the common people. You saw them believing in John and you weren't going to do that. You weren't going to be associated with that crowd.

Not at all. And the religious establishment, they would be able, listen, to sway the crowd, to convince the crowd. The crowd was so much into the ministry of Jesus that when he arrived in Jerusalem and they said, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, they were willing to crown him king. In a few short days, they cried for his blood because the religious establishment was able to convince him that he was not the Messiah. You see the emotional euphoria that people get swept up in and they look like they're genuine.

But these are the people who went down the river and said, Lord, Lord. But he does not know them. My wife and I were talking about this last night on the way home from the hospital, talking about the euphoria that sweeps people, particularly talking about one individual who came to our church and was so hungry for the word, so hungry for the word. She came and she would sit right down front and she would hear the God and she would take notes and she would listen.

And one day in my house, she prayed a prayer and asked Christ to come into her life. And she married a young man and they were excited about their life together. And she wrote a letter to me that was unbelievable about her conversion experience. And she was baptized right here in our floor, in our pool, our baptismal pool, our baptismal and gave the sweetest testimony about the greatness of Christ in her life. And six months after she was married, she had a number of affairs, left her husband, got pregnant, turned her back on the faith, never wanted to have anything to do with the church, me, my wife or family or anything.

All to prove that there are many who believe for a while, but when push comes to shove, if there's no root and persecution arises, they show their true colors. They weren't saved to begin with. Or when push comes to shove and the materialism of the world chokes out that seed, they evidence the fact that they love the world more than they love the Lord God. And that was these people, this emotional euphoria that swept the land of Israel because of the greatness of John. And yet, and yet, listen to this.

Verse 20, I say to you, among those born of women, there is no one greater than John. Yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater. Then John, you gotta be kidding me. How is it that the least person in the kingdom of heaven is greater than the greatest man who ever lived? You have to come back and I'll let you know. Let's pray. Father, we thank you Lord for today. And the truth of your word. Well, I pray for those who are here this morning that the reality of their relationship with you would be clearly seen.

They would know for certain that Jesus Christ rules their hearts, that they have submitted to the authority of Christ and are committed to following you no matter what. I do pray that Lord you would save the soul that's lost today. They would understand the reality of saving grace and come to that point in their life where they recognize they are sinners in need of a savior and will do whatever Jesus Christ commands because they see him as king and Lord and savior of their life. We pray in Jesus name.

Amen.