for the coming of the Lord. And he did that by a baptism. Amen. First baptism. He was baptized. Can you believe that? He did that by a baptism of repentance. Those that received it, those that repented and were baptized by him were able to receive the kingdom of God. Those who did not and those who rejected Him rejected the counsel of God. They rejected to their own disadvantage. Whenever you sit in a church and you listen to a preacher and you reject the message he's given you, you're not rejecting a man, you're rejecting God. Their impedance brought upon them the demise of the physical kingdom of Israel, the spiritual ruination of their soul. The man was sent from God. His ordinance was not the invention of man, but a direct offer of God to the kingdom of Israel. Now I say that this morning. While I'm preaching here, I believe that I have been directed by God to preach to you and offer you the Kingdom of God and you reject it at your own peril. John was called a Baptist because of what he did. His name was John. That means a dove. His name was John. His work was baptizing people. There's a couple of times in the scripture where it doesn't say John the Baptist. It says John Baptist. And there are a couple of times in the scripture where it doesn't say Jesus the Christ. It says Jesus Christ. So in essence what I'm trying to get across is that John Baptist could very well be the Baptist. It was his name. Jesus Christ was his name. But his office was the Christ. you see what i'm saying there is is uh... i don't know how many times mentioned there and sometimes it's john baptist sometimes john d but i know what it is that never been a man born a woman greater than john the baptist john's daddy was a priest in the nation of israel King David, way back in the Old Testament, had set up the priestly office. And he set them up to take turns. Twenty-four of them, wasn't there? Twenty-four, they called them courses. Abijah was the eighth one, if I remember right. But Zechariah then was exercising the office of a high priest. That was what it started out. He was of the course of Abiah and he had gone in there and had probably a once in a lifetime chance to represent Israel before God. And as he was there at the altar, the angel Gabriel appeared to him and announced that John was going to be born. And he testified of the integrity of John. He said he's going to go in the spirit and the power of Elijah. Zechariah questioned. Do you ever question what God tells you He's going to do? Zechariah questioned on the ground and said, Hey, you're talking to an old man here. You're not talking to some young guy. I'm old. Not only am I old, but my wife's old. You're going to give us a baby? How in the world is that going to happen? Gabriel told him, you lack faith, and because you lack faith, it's going to cost you. Your lack of faith is going to be a sign for Israel. You'll not be able to speak. Amen. Until my promise comes true. You can't talk. You can't hear. Boy, isn't that the way Israel is as Ronnie was teaching today. John's mother was Elizabeth and she didn't go public with it either. She kind of kept it hid there. I don't know whether she believed it or not, but about five months it started showing up. A barrenness was looked on in Israel as kind of a curse, disfavor. Every Jewish woman wanted to be the mother of the Messiah. And since they were barren, they knew that they couldn't be the mother of the Messiah. But it sure was a proud day when somebody came up to Elizabeth and said, Are you gaining weight? Jesus asked a question of the Pharisees. He said, the baptism of John, where'd it come from? I mean, here is the religious crowd, and they had rejected John's baptism. Where did it come from? Luke chapter 3 answers the question, the word of God came in the wilderness to John. He who was sanctified in his mother's womb, given the Spirit of God like Elijah, he was not the light, but he was sent to bear witness of the light. And he's the one that stood in the Jordan and saw Jesus coming. And when he saw him, he said, Behold the Lamb of God. THAT TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD. I THINK HIS MINISTRY WAS COMPARABLE TO A MODERN BAPTIST PREACHER IN THAT WE'RE TELLING PEOPLE, BEHOLD, DON'T LOOK AT ME. LOOK AT THE LAMB OF GOD THAT I PREACH TO. 2 Corinthians 5.20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, that we beseech you in Christ's name, be ye reconciled. That was the message that John preached, and it was the message that we preach today. The message of repentance. He echoed Isaiah, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare you the way, make his path straight, valleys filled in, mountains brought down, crooked made straight, the rough made plain, all flesh shall see the salvation of God. baptized multitudes, but the Pharisees, they rejected it. John is the one who said God can take these rocks and make children out of them. You know, you think that you're so holy, you think that you, hey look, you know what the evolutionists have been trying to do for years? They've been trying to give life to rocks. But they can't do it. But God can take these rocks and God can make them Live. John Curry, no favor, laid the axe to the root of the tree. Didn't cut off a branch, just cut down a whole tree. And what can we do? They asked him, and he said, you got two coats? Give your brother one. The publicans, he said, don't be overcharging. People hate tax collectors. Don't be over it. There's a common practice, extortion. Is it true? that people in Logan County have been voted into office that ain't even running? Here's a Logan County boy. Crooks, I think that's what he's trying to say. Stop this crooked politician stuff. Soldiers, stop the violence, be content with your wages. People knew something was about to change in Israel. That transition that Ronnie talked about, I believe it started with John. The Law and the Prophets were until John. Now, they wondered if John was the Christ. They wondered if he was Elijah. They wondered if he was that prophet that was to come. They wondered if he was one like Moses. Jesus said of him, he was a burning and a shining light. He didn't know any miracles, but he spoke every word he spoke was true. I don't claim to be like these preachers that gets on television and say they can heal people. No, but I want every word that comes from this pulpit, I want it to be true. Now, there is a discussion about his faith when he was arrested. Can you imagine a man going out here and he's put it all on the line for the Lord Jesus and he's taught the people that he's the Messiah. He's taught them that the kingdom is coming and then they throw him in jail. He sent this message in verse 3. Are thou he that should come or do we look for another? Has everything I've done been in vain? Is all of my preaching, for all of the years that I've preached, is it in vain? Has it been worth it? Have we bragged about the wrong Jesus? Let me help you. If it hasn't yet, there is a day coming in your life when it will stop you in your tracks. My wife did not belong to me. She belonged to Him. He prayed in the 17th chapter of John that she could be with him. Ask the Father. Those that you've gave, I pray that they can be with me. And we sit over here on this side, stopped in our tracks. And we wanted to be with us. But God, let me tell you something. The greatest leader that Israel ever had outside of Jesus was Moses, right? And they were on the most important trip that Israel ever took. They were from Canaan to the Promised Land. But with the death of Moses stopped Israel in their tracks. The word is mourned, and they mourned for Moses. It's interesting to me, I was reading about that, you would think that I would try to find solace in the scripture about mourning, and it's interesting to me, Paul said in Thessalonians, but not as those that have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so shall God the saints He bring with Him when He comes again. Now what I'm saying is, I read about how the Egyptians mourned. They mourned for 70 days. I read about how Israel mourned for Moses. They mourned for 30 days. They mourned. But they didn't mourn like those people that had no hope. Am I making sense to you there? Do you, Lord Preacher? Are you crazy? Stop me in my tracks. I'm going to have to rest. I'm going to have to have some time to just mourn. But I believe that there'll be a day coming, I'll be back at it. Because you see, I don't belong to myself either. I belong to the same Jesus that Miss Shirley belonged to. When this word came to Jesus that John's in prison and he's basically questioning, Oh, I've been stopped. Here I am talking about a great kingdom and all I find is a cross. All I find is a prison when I've been preaching freedom. When I've preached for years and years and years that God answers prayer and He didn't. I prayed that my wife would be healed and He didn't. Inside, you feel like, my God, my God. Why hast thou forsaken me? And the world goes on by. You remember Jeremiah sitting outside of that and said, there's nothing to hear. All ye that pass by, the sorrow that I've got, the sorrow going on in my heart, you don't care. You're going on down the road, you're doing everything. Can you identify? Well, I'm thinking and I'm trying to get off of this and get back to my sermon, but while John, while he was down there discouraged and looked like he'd never see another good day, Jesus was over bragging about John. He said, go tell him this. Tell him about the blind that are getting their sight. Tell him about the lame that are walking, the lepers that are healed, the dead that are raised. Even poor people get to hear the gospel preached to. Then he said, blessed is he that is not offended in. Oh Lord, I do not want to be offended in my Lord. But I will admit to you, it is tough. It is tough. Honest, puzzled, do not stay away from Jesus. Amen. Send ambassadors for help. Come to Him for answers. If John were about to go under, Jesus was about to lift him up. When Herod was wanting to put him on the chop block, Jesus was wanting to receive him into glory. The commendation was for friend and foe, both classes that heard that day, them that received John and them that rejected him. Jesus gave an answer to many. His answer is like a two-edged sword. he said you go tell him blind people can see sin blinds people it darkens their vision jesus taught this if thine eye be single thy whole body shall be full of light but because we're double-minded because men love darkness rather than light they gravel along, they grovel over and fall into hell. But Jesus said, you tell John, we're letting blind people see. I remember the night that I got to see. It was a John Newton that said, I once was blind, but now I see. I remember because of Jesus, my eyes were opened. Oh, I thought just like everybody else, I thought, well, if I be a good little boy, I could go to heaven. If I did this and I did that, I could go to heaven. But one night, thank God, He opened my eyes to see it wasn't me that bought my ticket. It was the Lord Jesus Christ, amen, that opened my way to heaven by His death on the cross. He paid for my sins on His cross. Well, glory, the blind see. There is down in Tennessee, Sweetwater, Tennessee, I believe it is, there is a lake called the Lost Sea. And in that lake, they've got trout that have been there so long, didn't need to see, so they quit seeing. They're fed there. Everything that they think they need is provided there, so they're contented there. Listen, children. Lost people are blind, but they haven't never been able to see, and so they're content. Men love darkness rather than light. And they're contented to sit there in the darkness and contented to sit there and never see. But thank God light shined in the prison. Amen. I'm saying that that was a day whenever the Lord Jesus, who is the light of the world, opened my blinded eyes. And now I can see. And my job up here is not to get me saved. It's to get you to see the same light that shined on me. The lame. Sin disables you. Sin will cripple you. It will cripple you physically, but it will cripple you spiritually to where you can't walk. Lame people in the Gospels were totally disabled. I remember one that lay there by the pool of Bethesda. He laid there for 38 years, amen, not able. He said, he said, would you be made whole? And the old boy said, I ain't got nobody. Oh, if I could read between the lines, somebody just showed up. Well, you ain't got nobody. Amen. I know one that can come by and tell you, hey, lame person, get up, take up your bed and walk. Now, I know folks will gripe about it. Amen. But he said, you see the man that told me I could walk. You'll say, well, my life is so messed up, I'm so lame, and I've got such a bad reputation. Well, don't talk about that. You go see the man that said, I can walk. Because, hallelujah, I remember coming from the lameness of sin to the time when I could walk in the Lord Jesus Christ. Lepers, sin devours you. PEOPLE WOULD BE BETTER OFF NOT TO EVEN GET AROUND YOU. I'M NOT TRYING TO BE MEAN, BUT PARENTS, YOU'D BE BETTER OFF NOT TO LET YOUR CHILDREN ASSOCIATE WITH THEM SIN. I'M NOT LOOKING DOWN ON THEM. I ONCE WAS A SINNER AS WHO? but don't hang out with drunkards and dopers and sex offenders. Don't hang out with those type of people because it infects, like leprosy, it not only infects the one that's got around, but it infects anybody that gets around them. They have to cover their lip and holler, unclean, unclean, don't come over here, you'll catch what I got. I believe it'd be better off if you'd be born to Christian parents and raised in the church house and never ever go out there in the world. He healed the death. Did he say, be careful how you hear? There's a lot of false preaching out there in the world. Be careful. I can tell you one thing. Whenever they get on television and their first thing is going to tell you how you're going to get rich by giving to them, you be careful. Hey man, I wouldn't walk across the street to hear some famous preachers preach. People that are known, millions of people know who they are, and I would not walk across the street to hear them. Be careful how you hear them. Then he said, the dead are raised. You tell John, that because of his preaching, that one that he talked about, he's out here raising dead people. Poverty has many reasons. Some of them are self-inflicted. Some people don't have any money because they wasted it. Some people are in poverty because of sickness. I don't want to brag about insurance companies, but thank God that Ms. Shirley had insurance. I'd be broke. I'd be more than broke. But sickness will impoverish people. Politics will want people to be poor so they can manipulate them. They don't want you to prosper. Amen. Well, you've got an election coming up, and you vote according to your conscience, but I'm going to tell you one thing. If you vote for one of them, your conscience is seared. Politics makes people poor. The message of Jesus. I came to set the captive free. John, I believe he had his own conscience renewed when he heard that word. Speaking of conscience, how about O'Hara that arrested him? How about Herodias that wanted his head? How about Salome that did that dance of the seven veils or whatever he had? She so detested John, but she hated him because he preached. and he didn't preach what she wanted to hear, and it made her hate him, and she said, I want that preacher dead. Herod, he fulfilled his wife's wishes, but he could not get rid of that conscience. I remember whenever he heard about Jesus, they said, who is this? And he said, it's John. he's risen from the dead. Because I let the lust for my wife, let it take over, and I killed God's prophet, John was dead. John's preaching was gone. But his, let me say this, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, the voice was gone. But the word that he preached was still in O. Herod's conscience. He loved his governmental power, his ability to get anything he wanted. He loved the lavishness of money on the Hebrew temple. He was the indispensable Tetrarch of Galilee. Why should he care about one dead Baptist preacher? Conscience. I'm not a good Shakespeare man, don't quote me. But wasn't it Lady Macbeth that tried to get rid of that spot? Out and cursed and out, spot! But there wasn't no spot. For conscience. I think that whenever Herod and Herodias and Salome, I think whenever they cross paths with this pew-jumping, wind-shattering, non-compromising preacher, it didn't go well. They didn't like it. They go to the church down the road. It's too hard here. Who's came to shove? And they wanted him to rot in prison, but that wasn't enough. She said, you've got to kill him. not enough that they could dwell in a magnificent palace above the matzrahs, but John in a dungeon, a man had more power than them in a palace. Herod above ground feared John below ground. Seared conscience. Islamic countries don't like Baptist preachers. Did you know that? Way back, way back in the late sixties, early seventies, When the shah was still in Iran, we had the church I attended that supported a missionary to Tehran. And I remember him standing, this had been 50 years ago, before all of this stuff come on, I remember him standing in the pulpit of Springfork Baptist Church down there, and he said, the Muslim people are hard to reach. They don't like Baptist preachers. evolutionists don't like baptist preachers atheists don't like baptist preachers hindus don't like baptist preachers buddhists don't like baptist preachers and finally she got the opportunity to be rid of this man harris birthday bash Amen. Similar to Belshazzar's party there in Daniel 5. All the big shots and the court jesters. I don't think any of Hillary's deplorables were there. But all of the big shots showed up. They whined and dined into the night until the grand finale. The grand finale. Little Egypt come out strutting, wearing nothing but a button and a bow. And he said, I'll give you half the kingdom. Well, you just asked them, I'll give you half of my kingdom. And that girl went and consulted with her mother. And her mother said, you know what I'd like to have? I'd like to have John the Baptist head on a charge. Old Herod and his pride, and pride's a rough one, it wouldn't let him back out. He'd lose face. He'd have to admit himself a second-rate king. He did not have a kingdom to give! He'd be a laughingstock and mocked all the way to Rome. So he sent the execution. And that poor old preacher, he took his life that day. And he never did get his prayer answered about seeing the kingdom. But I think that whenever the preacher was dead, he announced to her, look here, here he is, here's his head on the charger. He ain't never gonna bother you again. It don't work that way. Matthew chapter 14 verse 2, the opinion of Jesus. Revelation chapter 14 verse 13, blessed are the dead that die in the Lord. Yea, they rest from their labors, their work follow thee. Oh, they could silence the preacher, they could silence his voice, but they couldn't silence the preaching that he had. right now, like I'm saying, I'm in a mourning period. I read in the book of Isaiah, and God speaks to you. If you'll ask Him to, God will speak to you. And I read where some people mourn like a bear, and some people mourn like a dove. What's that mean? I saw both of them. I saw people pull their hair and scream about one that's gone. And I've saw others. They didn't say a word. You ever hear a morning dead? And I prayed nice God. I said, Lord, you know, you know, I've stopped in my tracks. But let my mourning be like a dove because that dove is representative of the Holy Ghost of God. Amen. All right. What do you think? That's enough preaching for somebody that's just buried there. What I thought was my precious possession of what I realized was not mine. Just borrowed. One day in glory, I'll see her again. Let's bow for prayer.