John the Baptist | Dr. Ed Young

400 years no word from God temple worship went on sacrificial system continued all the special days were religiously observed a form of godliness no power until we read in the Gospel of John there was a man sent from God whose name was John not John the Apostle but John the Baptizer John was the last the Old Testament prophets read the last few verses in Malachi you see how hypocritical empty godless vain all the worship of Israel had become no authentic voice that represented the true and living God until John the Baptist he was the last of the Old Testament prophets and he preached with clarity in sight no respecter of persons Herod was King Herod had stolen his brother Philips wife her name was her odious John de Becque just look to the king right square in the eye and said you are guilty of adultery profit profit is not only someone who predicts a profit primarily in the Bible is someone who tells fourth and he spoke the truth to the highest-ranking person in the land you are an adulterer Herod put him in prison a prison in the backside of nowhere down by the Jordan River hot barren if you've ever been there empty void of life you would think and there John the great prophet through a period of time I'm sure began to be delirious and wandering and somewhat confused two of his followers came to him and John said when he heard about Jesus and what he was doing and what was going on he said go and ask my cousin Jesus if he is the Messiah Emmanuel God with us the Promised One now you would think that certainly John you this he'd been a part of all of it but yet I can tell you something alone in a prison hot forgotten all kinds of things happened so he said go ask Jesus if he is Emmanuel God with us and the two messengers left John in his prison and went to Jesus and asked him are you the one Jesus said go back and tell John what you see and what you hear he said the death are hearing the lame are walking the blind have their sight restored and the dead are being brought back to life and good news is being proclaimed to the poor you go back and tell John that's what I'm doing that's what's going on what was he saying he wanted to remind John that Jesus was fulfilling exactly the prophecy that predicted about the coming of Messiah and then in that prison we have a strange situation Herod was afraid of John the king but then Herod had a large party gathering the people the dignitaries celebration and he asked his stepdaughter so lonely to dance and Salome either the daughter of his adulterous wife had her odious danced a dance that was so sensual it excited Herod so much he said I'll give to that girl anything she wants up to half of the kingdom and a little girl when asked her mother Herodias what should I ask for and that vindictive woman said go asked for the head of John the Baptist he was beheaded his head was brought to the king on a platter courageous his courage coaster price incidentally parenthetically this is the first baptist who lost his head over dancing you have in a scripture here that after this happened John was still alive but Jesus said this to the messenger said John's one and then Jesus turned to a large crowd and he said what did you go out of the wilderness to see told my John the Baptist a reed shaken by the wind somebody who would take a poll and see what was popular to say and then say it by the way nothing I didn't plan on saying this nothing upsets me more and is more violent to me than all the politicians who take polls and decide what they're going to believe according to polls I want people to say this is who I am this is what I believe this is the guts and the heart of my life that's how I'm going to govern I am so tired of checking windage everywhere aren't you I'd rather somebody stand for something I absolutely disbelieve than to be all over the planet John the Baptist was not all over the planet you listen to him you watched him he was like the cross-eyed javelin thrower you paid attention when it was his turn so Jesus is talking about John and he said did you go out in the wilderness by the way they think over 300-thousand went out to hear him way out in the boondocks did you see a man dressed in soft clothing those who wear soft clothing are in the Kings palaces he said but what did you see he's told the crowd Jesus a prophet yes I'll tell you one who has more than a prophet this is the one about whom it is written behold I send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way before you verse 11 truly I say to you said Jesus among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist did you get that jesus said man no woman nobody's ever walked this planet there was greater than John the Baptist what's he saying John the Baptist was the goat unless you're a sports fan that went how about Tom Brady being a goat what does that mean greatest of all time and we discussed this all the time who was the greatest president of all time it seemed as that the longer it is between the President sees the greater they become is it Lincoln is it Washington who is the goat among our presidents when we look at it in all walks of life we decide well who is the greatest of all time in this profession in that profession who's made the greatest contribution Webster it means heavy and Webster it says you're way above average and Webster it would say something like that you are summa laude you are phenomenal you are superior you're way up at the top you are great they tell you something about greatness I hear people talking about I wonder what my family is going to think about me when I'm gone I wonder what my legacy will be that's absolutely nonsense let me tell you about your legacy and my legacy take a glass of water and fill it up take your finger put the water push the water down pull your finger out and the amount of time it took for that water to replace where your finger was that's your legacy and that's my legacy our legacy is based on what we have done for God in this life I presided that the more service this week of the most influential member of our church in the 41 years I've been pastor most influential person I think she was 96 years old godly dieeee alpha white tote for 34 years the 5th grade as she talks she witness of those children led thousands of them to Christ their mothers and dad led so many of them to Christ they led their parents to Christ and you've got dozens and dozens and hundreds of people that will go on and on and on because this fifth-grade teacher loved them all the way home to God and it affected that generation generations to come and generations to come she worked the winning walk our television radio ministry people called in from all over the world that she would share with them deal with them love them I had her Bible in my hand first part of her Bible was the Roman Road it's the path many of you are familiar with of how you become a Christian in the last Bible she had scripture of all the prayers of the Old Testament all the prayers of New Testament she was in our prayer ministry when we began it some thirty four years ago and every hour Wednesday afternoon she was there praying for all of us and a lot of other needs all these years she was 96 oh they're in a Bible I saw something else an offering envelope made out for the next Sunday has she lived check already there most influential member by church I think phenomenal person no not really she just loved the Lord loved her family and she just served wherever she could go and whatever she could do and most anybody here could feel part of that gap influence a goat greatest who ever lived that was John the Baptist by the way a lot of people say oh you're great you're fine you're wonderful it depends on the source when divinity says you're number one when divinity knows Jesus knew everything about John the Baptist his thoughts his motivations who big his whole life and he said you're the greatest person who's ever walked on this earth man that is authoritative you paid to bake with that so when you have somebody like John the Baptizer who is elevated up to the greatest we better step back and ask some questions close his background how did he how'd he get to this lofty position number one how did he get there first of all you go to back go to back to his birth to go back to his family if you were brought up by a god-fearing mother and a god-fearing father a few of us were you're greatly to be blessed you never better blessing than that and a good mama righteous dad man that is wonderful what a blessing that is what a privilege that is how rare that's becoming in our culture what if I told you that 50% of the people who get married commit suicide would you say whoa you'd have to save just wait a minute man that's the overwhelming figure that's there you see that's what happens in marriage remember to become one and they become a separate entity and when that entity is destroyed that life that's suicide is ended that's what's happened to us many of us have of us here probably a divorce they'll be going through divorces God forgives and forgets don't get bogged down there but I'm just saying how important it is to start where we are and if we're married to make that marriage dynamic and hold and great and gracious what do you want the best for your mate in your mate wants the very best for you and that'll change everything right up front won't it just a little bitty thing like that being kind one to another tender-hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you just take that verse put in your marriage it'll change everything so what are what are we saying here we're saying that John the Baptist was great because of his birth exciting Zachariah Elizabeth descendants of Aran by the way remember the the priestly brother of Moses they were married and they were a godly couple they prayed and prayed and prayed for a son they prayed and prayed and pray for a son God didn't say yes finally they were both old people way beyond childbearing age and they stopped praying but Zacharias was selected to be once in his lifetime to go to the temple going the Holy of Holies and to offer that blood sacrifice for atonement on the day of atonement and Zack went in and Gabriel came it said Zack guess what you're going to be a dad Gabriel this is Zack here I mean don't believe you neighbor said is true he said because you didn't believe yet you're not going to speak for a while I'm just shutting you down so Zack went out couldn't speak right on tablets what happened to him in the Holy of Holies he goes home month or so later his wife Elizabeth old woman she's pregnant she she she stunned Zack is stunned she's pregnant for about six months and then at the same time Mary the daughter of Elizabeth's sister is hovered over by the Holy Spirit Virgin Mary and she is pregnant and she is the one who's to give birth to the Messiah fulfilling prophecy can you imagine this young beautiful girl without any relationship is pregnant and the angel tells her you're to be the mother of the Son of God Emmanuel God with us and she said how do you handle that as a youngster and she goes and lives with her aunt because Elizabeth had this supernatural pregnancy and now this young girl has a supernatural present and perhaps Mary was there when John the Baptist was born and he said when Mary walked in John the Baptist in the womb of Elizabeth lurched many people believe even at that moment he was filled and touched and drenched by the Holy Spirit what a beginning and then he was born he was commanded committed John was to be a Nazarite no strong drink no dead bodies don't cut his hair oh what a guy what a beginning look at his birth look at his family you see precursor for greatness and what a guy what a guy birth family what about his discipline he was a disciplined person he widened the wilderness out in the no-man's land they've been around the Jordan River down in that part where Jesus was baptized my goodness it's just rocks and rocks and rocks and rocks and rocks if it is Ford you wouldn't think anything could live there nothing nothing that's where John the Baptist goes he's dressed up in Campbell's hair the Bible tells us he eats locusts and honey gluten-free and he's an austere guy you know just pails deserts he would sometime go catch a grasshopper what kind of life is that alone aloof let me tell what kind of life it is he got away from the face of human beings so he could go and spend his time in with the face of God our problem is we spent so much time with noise and clutter and racket and something's got to be going on we got to be with somebody I don't want to be by myself we spend so much time in the face of man we don't have time for the face of God John the Baptist was disciplined away from everybody aloof otherworldly mystical prophet prophet disciplined his very appearance was a sermon you know he would walk out he was real he didn't care about money or fame power everybody knew that he didn't care about everything people cared about he cared only about being God's man see the discipline that he had in his life discipline discipline and then he was humble we see that all the way through how can you be so strong and prophetic and yet be humble but he really was when they would they with them and said are you the Messiah he said no said who are he said I'm just a voice I'm a voice crying with all the other voices and wrecking the world he said I'm preparing the way for the Lord this was the prophecy of Isaiah coming before the coming of Jesus Christ and John says I have come to make the crooked road straight I've come to take the mountain and flatten it out I've come to take the valley and to fill it up I am preparing a runway for the coming of the Son of God he was going ahead he was the voice of preparation discipline discipline also what made him great was timing you see most of you were not there for the Battle of the Bulge you may have been a hero and won the Congressional Medal of Honor but you weren't there the timing wasn't right so there's a sense of timing for this greatness I want you to see the time in which he lived it's really something take your Bibles and just flip over to Luke chapter 3 it takes John the Baptist it says now in the fiftieth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar we know that was about ad 29 28 when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea Herod was Tetrarch of Galilee and his brother Philip was tetra of the region of Terina and track Aeneas and licinia's were the tech chart of Abilene not Texas in the high priesthood of Anna's and Caiaphas the Word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness that puts the date in which he live it tells who was running Rome who was running Israel who was running Judea who the religious leaders were and you'd be hard-pressed to find a more corrupt rotten evil vicious group of people on this earth Philip and Herod and Pilate when Anna's and Caiaphas they were just phony baloney exporters of people in the name of religion never heard of that had me have you somebody was sick with cancer in one of the faith heaters on television she felt she needed to go and let him pray over her and so he said yes he'd come and he put a price on and she flew to Atlanta paid a large amount of money so he would lay hands on her you don't want to hear the rest of the story tragedy exploitation this was Anna's and Caiaphas everything everywhere you looked religious area political area government area business area education area there's corruption corruption corruption everywhere you look that's a Dane with John the Baptist live now we don't mind talking about all those bad people way about there but we can take some modern people and just put their names right where they are you could take a Hollywood director who for many years exploited women dozens and dozens of put his name he could substitute for those godless people do you think a guy who lived in New York was a beating there and a pedophile just took his life put his name in there he fits in same crowd folks a crowd you can put a president United States in there you could put a member of the royal family in there you see as long as we're talking about they way back there it's we're alright with it we bring it where we live have you ever checked out to wonder why generals who retire from the military who worked in the Pentagon who were part of the procurement of different kinds of military weapons and planes etc when they are tired that they're hired by Boeing or General Motors I wonder why that happens like that when they've been buying for the government billions of dollars from them for many years and when they retired they get a job they're so capable do you think I wonder why the Food and Drug Administration the three-fourths their sirens are paid for by the drug companies Food Drug Administration some of the 3,000 employees do know R and D the drug come to do research they bring to them and they approve it and then they can sell it o what they approve only what they approve trainees in it that most employees the Food and Drug Administration those professional doctors the scientists used to work for the drug companies and lot whose work the drug comes in will work for the Food and Drug Administration I wonder I wonder how that works really just just skillful people involved ladies and gentlemen how we need prophets who speak the truth right where you and I live if you missed what I was saying there and that little aside you've had your head in the sand far too long come out and get in the light that's what John the Baptist did they'd had darkness for 400 years and now all of a sudden he walks out it brings the light of God boy you see that he was a great man you see his preparation for it and see his greatest is seen by his message not only time in which he live is background his humility look at the message that he broked a powerful powerful message taken just turn if you would right over to the The Book of Luke still in the third chapter here's his message verse 3 and it came into all the district around Jordan preaching a baptism and repentance for the forgiveness of sin I mean something this is unique Jews were not baptized if you are a Gentile and you became a Jew you'd be baptized as a proselyte but Jews were not baptized the S seeds were Jews it was the sick but their baptism was called turbo diem it was in blood for cleansing and when John the Baptist says repent turn away from your sin Bible you know what repentance is one's body as a little girl what's repentance he says another girl said it's being sorry for your sin and though the girl said oh no is being sorry for your sin enough to quit so that's repentance so John says repent be forgiven and be baptized the Jews said oh no no we would be baptized we're we're inheritance we come from Abraham father Abraham man we've got all that covered it's like people today who are living a godless life is it oh I joined the church when I was 12 years old I was baptized I'm alright I'm alright Don the baby says repent be baptized and they came by the thousands I didn't The Boondocks to hear him I mean Pharisees Sadducees politicians religious people people in government all walks of life came out to hear him you he spoke the truth and we see his message and he goes on and said he's a voice in the wilderness and then he says so he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him Luke 3 chapter 7 you brood of vipers who warned you to flee from the wrath to come therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance other words you have repented and turned away from sin let's see the result of your new life you've turned away Johnson to Linda show me put up shut up and they say we have Abraham my father for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up all kinds of children label him he said indeed the axe is already laid to the tree judgment is coming and then verse 10 the crowds were questioning him saying then what shall we do they wanted to change they saw they were phony they saw there were lives they saw there were hypocrites they saw their worship was not real they said what shall we do we repent we baptized and then he tells me exactly what to do by the way when you pray don't pray hard forgive me of my many sins be specific okay be specific I said pray like that or did comfort me for I got so many saying just cover all oh no no he wants you to be very specific and we see how specific here these people said Oh Lord we want to change what shall we do and he just goes right down in the crowds will question him then what shall we do verse 10 Luke 3 and he would answer and say to them the man who has two tunics says your undershirt is to share with him who has none and who has food is to do likewise what's he say be generous you're known as a tightwad close fisted that's not the way we are as Christians would be open handed we're to be easy be generous you repented be generous and there's some tax collectors there means RS I see Lois Lerner's name here tax collectors also okay to be baptized and they said to him teacher what shall we do said then collect no more than what you've been ordered to do sin that day you collect taxes and all you got over you had to pay the government you could keep for yourself so the tax collectors were amazingly rich and then he went on to say some soldiers were there saying well what do we do what shall we do we're guilty and he said do not take money from anyone by force or accuse anyone falsely and be content with your wages or T say show me the fruit the result of the new life that you want the change that God has brought in your life and John answered and said to them as for me i baptize you with water I just dunk you but he says one is coming he was mighty and I I'm not fit untied the thongs of his sandals see humility he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire what does that mean it means John was external baptism but Jesus would come and when they receive him and he would baptize them with the Holy Spirit inside of their life and inside their life that will be like a fire that will burn up all the Uglies and junk and immorality and miss that's in the middle of them that's a difference and then we've got this tremendous thing so many others he preached the gospel to people hold on don't miss this John the Baptist is the only Old Testament prophet who preached judgment fire and brimstone and the law he also was a New Testament preacher of forgiveness a new life and grace the only one profit the old yet bridging the gap being the proclaimer of the grace of God and than you you see he puts the old and you together darkness he brings light under the new contract a new relationship that came then all the world had been preparing for until this strategic moment in history it is the good news and look back and see the what the good news really really really was it's it's a magnificent thing go back the baptism John baptized Jesus verse 13 Matthew 4 Matthew 3 then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John to be baptized by him but John tried to prevent him saying I am need Jesus to be baptized by you and do you come to me key verse key verse 15 first jesus answered and said to john permit it at this time for in this way it is sitting for us John the Baptist and Jesus to fulfill all righteousness what does that say it's saved something tremendously important here you have John the Baptist for bridge between the law and the gospel here we have Jesus being baptized why he had no sin he was baptizing so we would fulfill he would identify with you and with me in our sin as a precursor for the gospel which was proclaimed by John as he saw Jesus later on it said behold the lamb of God what does that mean behold the lamb that satisfies God takes care of all the sacrifices have been offered and the lamb of God is on the cross Jesus in baptism identified with us Jesus on the cross took all of our iniquity I love that word it sounds bad it sounds ugly it sounds like sin took all of it out of you and me and put it on himself didn't identify with us he became sin for us and that's the miracle in the grace of Calvary and that's the good news of Jesus Christ they owe the Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world and John baptized Jesus and when he came up out of the water the voice from heaven said this is my boy this is my beloved son and whom I will pleased and there was Jesus God in flesh and there was a dove who came like the Holy Spirit see it's one thing to be baptized by water it's another thing to have your insides drenched by the Holy Spirit like fire that burns away all of that's within you within me that's the gospel that's the good news now did you read it nobody is greater than John said Jesus anybody here think you're greater than John the Baptist would you lift your hand I'm lifting my hand well what kind of megalomaniac do we have a play in the poopit you see I didn't read the rest of that verse your asset verse says no one who's ever lived is greater than John the Baptist but it says in that verse 11 I read in the beginning but the least in the kingdom of God is greater than John the Baptist somebody who gets into heaven through Jesus Christ just barely I mean saved by far they just burn they are greater than John the Baptist I was rushing to go somewhere this summer and I was in Dallas and I had to catch one of those buses and I was late and boy I had to catch it or I'd miss the flight up there and the door was closing and I put my hand in the door and I called the door and I got in they took me up and they said three nine minutes way to close the gate if you hadn't gotten here I got there by the skin of my teeth by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin did you see what the scripture says the lowest person whom ever that might be who knows Jesus Christ receives His grace his forgiveness his love the exchanged life is greater than John the Baptist that helps us understand a little bit about the love the grace the patience the overwhelming care that he has for all of us it's available to us love so amazing so divine demands my life I saw my everybody here who knows Jesus you're greater than John the Baptist Heavenly Father a miracle so big so astounding so amazing so staggering we don't get it it's it's beyond our capacity but we claim it and we believe it and we thank you that in Christ all things are passed away all old things are passed away and forgotten by you all things become new and father what a great man was John but called your word we're in Christ in the kingdom we're far ahead of him we thank you for that staggering truth that miracle of love grace and forgiveness

Channel: Second Baptist Church, Houston

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Keywords: second baptist church houston, dr. ed young, west

Id: IB0v9gBwvVg

Length: 42min 37sec (2557 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 03 2019