Please turn to the Gospel according to John.
Ye have sent unto John, and he hath borne witness unto the truth.
But the witness which I receive is not from man: howbeit I say these things, that ye may be saved.
He was the lamp that burneth and shineth; and ye were willing to rejoice for a season in his light.
Please turn also to the Gospel according to Matthew.
Now when John heard in the prison the works of the Christ, he sent by his disciples
and said unto Him, Art Thou He that cometh, or look we for another?
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and tell John the things which ye hear and see:
the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good tidings preached to them.
And blessed is he, whosoever shall find no occasion of stumbling in Me.
And as these went their way, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to behold? A reed shaken with the wind?
But what went ye out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft raiment are in kings’ houses.
But wherefore went ye out? To see a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet.
This is he, of whom it is written,
Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face,
Who shall prepare Thy way before Thee.
Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist: yet he that is but little in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by force.
For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
And if ye are willing to receive it, this is Elijah, that is to come.
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the marketplaces, who call unto their fellows
and say, We piped unto you, and ye did not dance; we wailed, and ye did not mourn.
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a demon.
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold, a gluttonous man and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! And wisdom is justified by her works.
Our Father, we do praise and thank Thee for the privilege of all being together unto Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, how we do praise Thee, knowing that Thou art here with us. Our whole desire is that we may hear from Thee.
Thou mayest speak to us through Thy Word by Thy Holy Spirit. We do ask Thee, O Lord, that Thou wilt quicken Thy Word to our hearts, that we may see what Thou dost desire us to see, hear what Thou dost desire us to hear, and be what Thou dost desire us to be. To Thee be all the praise and glory, in Thy precious name. Amen.
We have been considering together the life of John the Baptist. We believe that in this life we may see something that God is looking for.
John is an epoch-making vessel, and the Lord is looking for an epoch-making vessel today. John gave a very full, perfect, complete testimony unto the Lord, and this is, I believe, what God is expecting His people to do today.
This evening, we would like to consider something different: John bore a full witness unto the Lord, and then, in return, we find the Lord bearing witness for John. That is what we would like to consider this evening.
You know, it is very important that we have a good testimony—that is to say, that we really be faithful witnesses of the Lord. But, on the other hand, there is another thing which is of tremendous importance: whether the Lord will bear a good witness concerning us.
You remember Matthew 7. There will be people who come to the Lord and say, “Lord, Lord, we have preached in Your name. We have cast out demons in Your name. We have done many things in Your name.” Yet the Lord will say, “I never knew you.”
Of course, we know that “I never knew you” means, “I do not approve.” How important it is that our life on this earth may result in that place where the Lord Himself will put His seal upon it and say, “I am satisfied.”
Just like the servant with five talents, who came back and said, “Lord, You gave me five talents, and here are five talents more. I have doubled it.” The Lord said, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will set thee over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”
The same thing happened to the one with two talents, but with the person of one talent it was a different story. The Lord said, “Thou wicked and slothful servant.”
So I think it is very important for us to know whether the Lord will bear witness for us, whether our lives on earth will be commended and approved by Him.
As you look into the book of Hebrews, for instance Hebrews 11, you have a whole list of people—men and women of faith. In their lives, they had witness borne to them by God that they had been faithful, that they had pleased God, and that they were approved by the Lord.
These will be the people who will be found in the kingdom when the kingdom shall come. So here you find John the Baptist: not only did he bear such a good witness for the Lord, but in return you find how the Lord bore witness of him.
In John 4, you find that when the Lord Jesus heard that the Pharisees had learned that more people were being baptized by Him than by John the Baptist—though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples—He left Judea and departed again into Galilee.
Now, even though in John 3 you find that John testified, “I am not the bridegroom; I am the friend of the bridegroom. It is the bridegroom that hath the bride. When I hear the voice of the bridegroom, I rejoice. He must increase, but I must decrease.”
In other words, with John the Baptist there was no jealousy whatsoever. He knew what he came for. He wanted people to go and follow the Lord. He would rather be decreased and let the Lord be increased. There was no jealousy at all.
But, you know, we are human, and Satan can try to put a wedge, as it were, and try to divide and tempt us. Even though John had said this so clearly, when the Lord heard about the situation, He left Judea and departed into Galilee.
Of course, He did not want to be in conflict with John. Their works actually were complementary, and He would not even give the enemy any chance to put a wedge between Him and John.
They were so much in one. There was no controversy, no jealousy, no professional rivalry, if you please—absolutely nothing of that kind. John would do it this way, and our Lord would do it the other way, and yet you find that they worked together. It is beautiful.
You will notice that in John 5, when the time of the feast came, the Lord came back to Jerusalem. Probably by that time John the Baptist was already in prison.
He was put in prison because King Herod had married Herodias, and John said that was not right. But when our Lord Jesus came back to Jerusalem, John was in prison and set aside. There was no more competition—but it was not so.
The Lord began to speak kindly of John. He said, “You went out to John, and you seemed to love his light for a season. But I tell you, who is John? John is a burning and shining lamp.”
That is the first testimony that our Lord Jesus gave concerning John the Baptist. In other words, it was the Lord’s estimate of John the Baptist: John the Baptist was a burning and shining lamp.
I believe when the Lord Jesus said this, He must have had the temple in His mind. In the outer court there was no covering above, so the sun shone directly into the outer court.
But when you entered into the holy place, the holy place was completely covered. There was no light of the sun. In the holy place there was the golden lampstand, and it was by the light of the golden lampstand that the priests were able to serve in the holy place, because without light you cannot do that.
But then, in the holiest of all, there was no sunlight and no lamplight. You would say it was pitch dark, because there was no sunlight, no lamplight, no artificial light, nor natural light. Yet the holiest of all was full of light. Why? Because the Shekinah glory of the Lord was there.
The glory of the Lord was there. The Lord was the light in the holiest of all. So I believe that when our Lord Jesus mentioned the lamp, He probably had that in view.
John was a burning and shining lamp. He was as a lamp in the holy place. Of course, there was light coming out from the lamp, but there is a light far greater than the light of a lamp: it is the Shekinah glory of the Lord.
Even in John 1, you find there was a man sent from God, but he was not the light. He came as a witness to the light. The light is Christ Himself. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
Our Lord Jesus is the light, the Light of lights, the glory of God, the Shekinah glory of God. John was a lamp, and the purpose of that lamp was to lead people by the light of the lamp to the true light.
It is as if the night is dark and you need a lamp to guide your steps until you get out of the night and enter into broad daylight, full of light. When that day comes, you do not need a lamp at all.
John was a burning and shining lamp. Now, in one sense, this is what we ought to be.
We are like lamps. Of course, a lamp at that time was lit through oil. You had to have oil in the lamp, and when you lit it, then it would give light.
In other words, we are lamps, and within us is the oil. The oil, of course, is the Holy Spirit. If we are full of the Holy Spirit, then we will be burning and shining lamps.
But if we are not filled with the Holy Spirit, then our light may be going out, just like the five foolish virgins. You remember the ten virgins that went out to meet the Lord. They all had lamps, and in a sense they represent us.
The five wise virgins had extra oil. They could pour oil into the lamp. The lamp was full of oil; therefore, it was a burning and shining lamp. But the five foolish virgins had only a little oil, and it was not enough. They were not shining and burning everywhere.
We are not the light; we are the lamp. Our purpose is to give enough light to guide people to the true light. This is what we ought to be.
The Lord says that a city built upon a hill cannot be hid. You do not light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but you put it on a lampstand. Then the light will shine over the whole house. So let your light shine, that the world may see your good works and glorify the Father who is in heaven.
We are lamps, but you do not put a lamp under the bushel. The bushel in the old days was used to measure wheat or barley. In other words, we have Christ in us; we have the Spirit of life in us; and we are to shine for Christ.
We ought to let people see Christ and lead people to Him. But if we put the lamp under the bushel—that is to say, if our whole life is completely occupied with the cares of this life, with anxieties and cares—it is as if we put the lamp under the bushel.
The result is that the lamp is not able to fulfill its function, because under the bushel it is all covered. How many of God’s people today are like lamps under the bushel?
In another place, we are told that they do not light a lamp and put it under a couch. The couch is a place where you relax and rest. It speaks of comfort.
In other words, we can so seek the comfort and ease of this life. Some people may be occupied with the cares and anxieties of life, worrying all the time: “What shall I eat? What shall I drink? What shall I be clothed with?” We may be completely involved with that, and so the light is being hidden.
Other people may go in the other direction. They are not concerned with the cares of life, but they are concerned with having a comfortable life, an easy life, even a luxurious life, and enjoying life. It is just like putting a lamp under a couch.
If you do that, the light is being hidden, and you are not able to be a burning and shining lamp. Our lamp should be put on a lampstand.
We all know what a lampstand is. In Revelation, we know that the seven lampstands represent the seven churches. In other words, we are lamps, and if we are put on a lampstand, then we will have the fullness of our function fulfilled.
On the one hand, we need oil. Individually speaking, how we need oil; how we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit—that is to say, for our lives to be controlled and ruled by the Holy Spirit.
Because, you know, Ephesians 5 says, “Be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit.” Being filled with the Holy Spirit means to be ruled by the Holy Spirit. If you are filled with the Holy Spirit, your life is ruled and controlled by the Holy Spirit.
When our lives are controlled by the Holy Spirit, then we have much oil within us, and we will be burning and shining lamps. We will give a good testimony for the Lord.
But there is another side, a corporate side. We, as lamps, should be on the lampstand. You remember the lampstand with seven lamps. Here you find how we need to be on the lampstand.
If we really see that our place is in the church, it is not just as an individual lamp, but we as lamps should be on the lampstand. There, as we find ourselves in the place where God wants us to be, the light will shine far and wide, and we will be burning and shining lamps.
So this is the first thing that we find: our Lord Jesus bore witness for John. He said, “John was a burning and shining lamp.” In a sense, He summed him up.
Can our Lord bear that kind of testimony for us? Are we burning? Are we shining? Are we on the lampstand? Are we where we ought to be? Can the Lord say this and confirm this?
Now, this is the first thing that we find: our Lord bore witness to John the Baptist. Secondly, in Matthew 11, you find that John was in prison.
I wonder whether this was approaching the time of his martyrdom, so that John had a premonition that his days would not be long. You know, the public ministry of John the Baptist was very short—probably a little over six months, and certainly not above a year.
Think of that. When he was thirty, he came out. Our Lord Jesus was six months younger than John the Baptist, so when the Lord was thirty years old, He came. Not very long after that, John was put in prison.
The whole public ministry of John the Baptist was less than a year, but within a year what work had been done! He really had prepared the way of the Lord. All the early disciples of our Lord Jesus were disciples of John. He prepared a people for the Lord.
Now he was in prison. We do not know for how long, and probably he had a premonition that he would not come out—that probably he would die. Sometimes people have that kind of feeling.
Therefore, he sent his disciples to the Lord and asked a question: “Art Thou He that cometh, or are we to wait for another?”
There has been a real discussion among our people. Can a person who has received such great revelation and given such tremendous witness come to a place where he begins to lose his vision and doubt what he has so faithfully and firmly testified? Is it possible?
The other question is whether John became diplomatic. Perhaps he really wanted the Lord to do something, but he tried not to say it directly and went about it in a subtle way: “Are we to wait for another one? Are You the One?”
In other words, was he trying to remind the Lord, “I know You are the One, but You ought to do something”? Could he have become that kind of person?
Of course, it is very difficult for us to say, because we have not been in prison. If we were in prison, in the same situation as John—greatly used by God for a very short period, then suddenly set aside in prison, with the end probably soon to come—who knows what would happen to us?
Being human beings, it is always possible. John was not infallible. Even with such great revelation, even after giving such a strong testimony, there is always the possibility of having our vision blurred or having doubts.
On the one hand, we need to be on the watch. Do not be so sure. Yet, on the other hand, it does not seem likely to me that John truly doubted.
I do not believe that John really doubted. From the answer of our Lord Jesus, you can see that the Lord knew completely. The Lord did not say, “Why do you doubt Me?” He did not say that.
No doubt John, at that time, was very down. He must have been very low in spirit. I do not believe that he really doubted the Lord, but he began to ask questions.
In other words, because his spirit was low, John began to feel puzzled. I think probably the word puzzled is better. He did not doubt to the extent of unbelief. Having been given such a clear vision, you cannot doubt to the point of unbelief; but there is always the possibility of being puzzled.
Probably John was just puzzled, so he sent his disciples to the Lord and said, “Are You the One, or shall we wait for another one?”
Our Lord Jesus said, “Go and tell him what you have seen and heard.” John’s disciples must have reported to him what the Lord Jesus did. They saw and heard what the Lord Jesus did, then went to the prison and passed on the report.
That report really disturbed him. Why? Because the Lord did all these things. He could raise the dead, heal the sick, open the eyes of the blind, and open the ears of the deaf. Why did He not do something for John?
His problem was that the Lord did all these things to others, but the Lord did not do anything to him. That puzzled him. “If the Lord does something for other people, and they also are undeserving, surely I am more deserving than other people. I have done so much for the Lord, and surely I deserve better treatment.”
You know, that is a temptation. But the Lord sent the disciples back to him and said, “Just tell him what you have heard and seen.” In other words, nothing new. The Lord did not explain why.
The Lord said, “Go back and tell him the same thing,” because these are the signs of the Messiah. Just tell him the same thing. But the Lord added one word: “Blessed is he, whosoever shall find no occasion of stumbling in Me.”
In other words, John the Baptist was not really doubting the Messiahship of Jesus. He was tempted to be offended by the Lord.
There is such a thing as being offended by the Lord. When our Lord Jesus was on earth, lots of people were offended by Him.
You remember John 6. Our Lord Jesus used five loaves and two fishes to feed five thousand, and they wanted to make Him king. He dispersed them, crossed the sea, and they came around and met Him on the other side.
The Lord began to speak to them and said, “Labor not for the food which perisheth, but for the food which abideth unto eternal life.” They asked, “What is the work of God?” The Lord said, “Believe on Him whom the Father hath sent.”
He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven. He that eateth Me and drinketh Me shall have life, and I will raise him up at the last day. My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood abideth in Me, and I in him.”
The people began to say, “This is a hard saying; who can hear it?” They were offended by the Lord, and many went away. Of course, our Lord Jesus turned to His own and said, “Will ye also go away?” Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.”
Toward the end of the earthly life of our Lord Jesus, before He was crucified, He told His disciples, “The shepherd shall be smitten, and the sheep shall all be scattered. Ye will all be offended.”
Peter answered, “Though all men shall be offended in Thee, yet will I never be offended. I will die with Thee.” But all the people were offended by the Lord, were they not? They could not take it.
Sometimes the Lord does things strangely. Sometimes the Lord brings things either to Himself or to us in ways that we cannot explain.
We like to explain things. If only we can explain it, we can take it. But if it is something we cannot explain, we feel insecure about it. We do not want it.
Yet the Lord sometimes does things that are very strange to us and to Himself. That is where we are tempted to be offended by the Lord.
In Galatians 5, we have the offense of the cross. We may be offended by the cross. Why should we bear the cross? Why cannot we go to the throne bypassing the cross?
We are saved by the truth that the ways of God are higher than our ways, and the thoughts of God are higher than our thoughts.
We will be offended by the Lord when we feel that we have every right for Him to treat us in a certain way, and this certain way is the way He treats other people. Therefore, we feel He must do the same for us. He has an obligation to us.
If He never did that for anybody, perhaps you would not be jealous at all. But if He does it for one brother or one sister, and He does not do the same thing for you, how do you feel?
That is where the offense comes. Brothers and sisters, as we go on with the Lord, this is a test that will come sooner or later. This is where our faith in the Lord is tested: whether we believe in Him, trusting Him, not because of anything else.
Just like Job said, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” Not because He always satisfies us, not because He always does things that we want Him to do, and not because He always keeps His promises as we expect. Of course, He always does, but sometimes He has a higher thing to do with us.
When we are tested and there is no explanation, when we are misunderstood and the Lord does not vindicate us, and we are in such a situation, will we be offended? Why does not the Lord deliver? Of course He can.
These are the things that puzzle us. For instance, in the book of Acts, James was beheaded, but for Peter an angel opened the iron gate and let him out. How do you explain that?
We cannot, and the Lord does not explain. He does not explain. He just says, “Trust Me. Can you trust Me?”
I think this is a real test—a real test. Sooner or later, you will come to it.
Thank God, because of the word of our Lord, John was not offended. But with this, it seems as if the weakness of John the Baptist was exposed.
He sent his disciples to come to the Lord, with all these people there, and ask, “Are You the Coming One, or are we to wait for another?” People might say, “What happened to John?”
John was degraded, in a sense, before the eyes of the people. They believed in John as a prophet, but now he came with such a question. When the Lord answered, “Blessed is he, whosoever shall find no occasion of stumbling in Me,” people might begin to feel pity for John.
But immediately you find that the Lord came to the rescue. After John’s disciples had left, He turned to the people and lifted up John.
He said, in effect, “Do not be mistaken. Do you think John was a reed shaken by the wind?”
A reed is something hollow within. When the wind goes one way, it follows the wind; when the wind changes course, it changes course. In other words, there is no backbone, no principle. It is swept by circumstances and moved weakly.
Do you think John was weak because he asked a question? It may look like it, but the Lord said, “No, he is not. He is not a reed shaken by the wind.”
John was a man of principle. John was a man with backbone. John was a strong person in God. It was because of that that he was put in prison. He was not weak at all.
Oh, how we thank God. In every one of our lives there will be times when some weakness shows that we are human. But thank God, He does not despise us. Instead, He covers us with love.
He knows more than what we appear to be. He knows what His grace has already done in our lives, and He goes by that. He does not go by outward appearance.
Then the Lord said, “Did you go out to see a man clothed in soft raiment?” That is, a person seeking luxury, ease, comfort, and enjoyment in life. No, that was not John. You find those people in palaces.
John was not that kind of person. He did not seek comfort or ease in life. He lived a very hard life, but he was not seeking for anything easier.
Can the Lord say that of us too? Did you go out into the wilderness to see a prophet? Yes, that is what the people accepted John to be—a prophet, the mouthpiece of God, the spokesman of God. He delivered a message from God.
But the Lord said he was greater than a prophet. Oh, how the Lord lifted him up. He is greater than a prophet because he is the one, as it is written, sent before the Lord to prepare the way of the Lord.
Of all the prophets of the Old Testament, John is the prince. You know why? Because he is closely related to the coming of the Lord.
In this world, people measure greatness either by wealth, by position, by education, or by ability. These are the things by which the world measures greatness.
In the Christian world, how do we measure greatness? Probably we measure greatness by success in Christian work: how many miracles have you done?
Yet the Bible says that John had never done a miracle. Is that not strange? In John 10, it says that John did no sign, but all things whatsoever John spake of Christ were true. Because of that, many believed in Christ.
Now, that is where his greatness is. Even the concept of greatness in the Christian world is so different from God’s concept.
John was greater than a prophet, but he had never done a miracle. Whatever he said concerning Christ was true, and many believed in Christ because of him. That is where his greatness is.
Dear brothers and sisters, in the sight of God, who is the greatest? He is the one who contributes most to Christ.
He that is greatest among you shall be your servant. He is the great one. God’s concept of greatness is entirely different.
The Lord said, “Among them that are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist.” How can you put the greatness of a person beyond this description? There is no one born of women greater than John the Baptist. Oh, he is next to Christ.
How our Lord Jesus bore witness for John the Baptist.
Then the Lord said, “But he that is but little in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” How do you explain that?
John the Baptist is the greatest ever born of women, and yet the smallest in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John. Does it mean that John has no part in the kingdom of heaven?
Certainly, we need to understand what the Lord is trying to impress upon us. The greatest on earth cannot be compared with the smallest in heaven.
It is not that John has no part in the kingdom. The Lord does not mean that. Take John the Baptist on earth and compare him with the smallest in the kingdom of heaven: the smallest in the kingdom of heaven is greater than him.
What a privilege it is that we be in the kingdom of heaven. John the Baptist was the one who announced, “Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” But we who believe in the Lord Jesus are in the kingdom.
We are in the reality of the kingdom of heaven today, and this is greater than John the Baptist, because historically speaking, he was a herald of the kingdom of heaven. But we are in the kingdom of heaven, and our privilege is much higher than John’s.
Of course, ultimately we know that in the kingdom Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will all be there, sitting at the table, and certainly John the Baptist will be there.
Because of that, the Lord went on to say that the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by force. The law and the prophets were until John the Baptist. Since the time of John the Baptist, the kingdom of heaven is taken by force.
John the Baptist is an epoch-making person. The law and the prophets came to John the Baptist and ended in him. He was the last prophet of the Old Testament style. The law and the prophets were concluded in him.
He was the first one who introduced the kingdom of heaven because he introduced the King. Therefore, from the time of John the Baptist until the time when our Lord Jesus spoke these words, the kingdom of heaven was being taken by force.
John the Baptist said, “Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Now the Lord said, “The kingdom of heaven is here.” But how are you going to take it? You have to take it by force.
Of course, today we connect the word violence with a bad connotation. We do not like to hear the word violence or violent, because it is bad. But the word itself simply means force.
In other words, the Lord said that if you want to get into the kingdom of heaven in reality, to live in the kingdom of heaven and to be in the kingdom of heaven in spiritual reality, it is not something into which you merely drift.
It is something into which you have to press by force. This violence is not violence toward other people. The violence here is to do violence to yourself—that is to say, deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him.
To deny oneself involves violence. Oh, how we love ourselves. How we nourish ourselves, cherish ourselves, care for ourselves—self-love, self-pity, self, self, self.
We can do violence to other people, but not to ourselves. Yet to deny ourselves the satisfaction of our lusts and passions, our desires, and our will is painful. It is costly.
Only the forceful seize upon it. In other words, only those who really press on will be there. Even the smallest in the kingdom is greater than John.
Dear brothers and sisters, we may not be somebody, but if we really seek for greatness, this is where greatness lies. The kingdom of heaven is far superior to all the kingdoms on this earth.
The Lord began to use the parable and said, “Whereunto shall I liken this generation?” It is like people piping and they do not dance, or mourning and they do not weep.
John the Baptist came without eating and drinking, and they said, “He hath a demon.” The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they said that He was a gluttonous man and a winebibber.
Yet, even though the style of our Lord Jesus was different from the style of John the Baptist, their work was one. They were doing one work.
This is the way our Lord Jesus measured John the Baptist.
Dear brothers and sisters, one day we will all be measured. When Christ returns, we shall all appear before the judgment seat of Christ—not the great white throne, but the judgment seat of Christ.
It is not a throne; it is a seat, a bema. It is not a judicial judgment; it is a family judgment. We shall all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and we will be measured.
How much better if we walk today in the light of the judgment seat of Christ. In other words, if the Lord were to bear witness concerning us today, just as He bore witness to John the Baptist, what would He say?
Like the men and women in Hebrews 11, may we have witness borne to us by God that we have pleased God and are approved by God. How important that is.
This is what Paul means when he says, “I have only one ambition.” The word used there is ambition. Can a Christian have ambition? A Christian should have ambition. If a Christian does not have ambition, he is finished.
We should be ambitious. But what is our ambition? Whether we live or die, in life or in death, to please the Lord. That is our ambition.
That makes us forceful, that we may press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
So you find that the Lord Jesus bore witness for John the Baptist.
Finally, of course, there was the death of John the Baptist. The way of God is very, very strange.
For such a vessel as John the Baptist, certainly we would like to see him live longer and have longer years of service. How much more he could have done for God if only the Lord had changed the situation a little bit.
But that is our reasoning. You know, the Lord knows much better. Because of the encouragement of our Lord, John remained faithful to the very end.
John the Baptist was put in prison because of Herodias. If you know Jewish history at that time, Herod Antipas was the son of Herod the Great. He was the tetrarch of Galilee.
He was a very clever person, a shrewd politician. The Lord called him a fox—very foxy. He divorced his first wife, the daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia, because he met Herodias in Rome.
Herodias was the wife of his half-brother Philip. She was also the daughter of another half-brother, Aristobulus. You can see the whole confusion there.
Herod took her away from Philip, his half-brother, and married his niece. Herodias actually was his niece. The whole thing was confusion.
John the Baptist showed him that this was not right. John the Baptist was a prince of righteousness. Because Herod was the tetrarch, John did not try to accommodate him. No, John was blunt. He pointed to him and said that it was not right.
Evidently, Herod Antipas was such a politician that he probably sometimes called John the Baptist to his palace and talked with him. John was in touch with the people, with the grassroots, and Herod wanted to know what people were thinking.
John the Baptist probably used those opportunities to tell him, “What you did was wrong. You should not do that.” Of course, Herod was not happy with him.
At the instigation of Herodias, he took John. Herodias would have liked very much to kill him from the beginning, but Herod was so much a politician that he was afraid of the people. If he killed John, the people might rise up, because they considered John a prophet.
On the other hand, he listened to John sometimes, perhaps to help him govern and to know what the people were talking about. His conscience was not completely dead.
Even after he had John the Baptist killed, when he heard about the Lord Jesus, he said, “John the Baptist is risen from the dead.” He had a guilty conscience.
The whole thing happened in a very strange setting. It was the birthday of Herod Antipas. Herodias’ daughter, Salome—born from the union of Herodias and Philip—danced.
Her dance pleased Herod so much that he gave such a promise: “Ask anything, even to the half of my kingdom.”
Then Salome, under the guidance of her mother—who hated John and could not forgive him—asked for the head of John the Baptist.
Herod, because of his oath and because of the people around him, did not want to lose face. Even though he did not want to do it, he sent people to execute John.
John died in such a way. Brothers and sisters, from all human standpoints, you cannot really take it. How could God allow such a thing to happen to John?
Is it not a mistake? Is it not a waste? How could it happen that way?
But thank God, he who is not offended by the Lord is blessed. There are many things that we do not understand—many things in our lives and many things in the lives of other people.
But one thing we can do: we can trust the Lord. He will never make a mistake. He knows exactly what He is doing.
Even though John the Baptist was dead, his voice is still heard today.
So may the Lord help us as we consider together. Let us just trust the Lord.
Our heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee that Thy ways are higher than our ways, and Thy thoughts are higher than our thoughts.
Many things we do not understand. We wonder; we are puzzled. But we do praise and thank Thee that Thy word to us is, “Do not be offended,” because Thou knowest what Thou art doing.
It is all in Thy plan, and it works out perfectly. So, Lord, we pray that by Thy grace we may be brought to a point where we can trust Thee in such a way that Thou canst find us trustworthy.
O Lord, we know that we need Thy grace, because it is nothing in us. We do praise and thank Thee because Thy grace is sufficient for us. To Thee be all the praise and glory, in the blessed name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.