Will you please turn to the Gospel according to Luke? Luke chapter 1. We will read from verse 5 through verse 17.
There was in the days of Herod, king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abijah: and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.
Now it came to pass, while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course,
according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to enter into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the hour of incense.
And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of altar of incense.
And Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.
But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: because thy supplication is heard, and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
And many of the children of Israel shall he turn unto the Lord their God.
And he shall go before His face in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to walk in the wisdom of the just; to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for Him.
God was going to change that time. He was going to conclude the time of the law and the prophets, and He was going to introduce the time of the Messiah. He was going to put an end to the old dispensation of law and bring in a new dispensation of grace.
God was going to introduce His King, the Messiah, into the world. But for this change to come about, God needed a vessel—a vessel that could be used by God to make this change of time. We call this vessel an epoch-making vessel.
If God could not get such a vessel, God had to wait before He would make that change. And thank God, we find that God did find that vessel in a person by the name of John.
So we know that John is more than just a prophet. Our Lord Jesus said he was greater than a prophet. Why? Because John was an epoch-making vessel of God. He was chosen by God to prepare the way of the Lord, to conclude the law and the prophets, and to introduce the Messiah.
Now, dear brothers and sisters, I do believe that we all feel we are on the verge of another change. As you talk with God’s people everywhere, you find there is a common feeling among God’s people that we are at the very end of this age. The age to come is quickly coming.
We believe that, as the Spirit of God moves among God’s people and gives them this kind of sense, God is going to do something. God is going to conclude this age and introduce the age to come. Even this dispensation of grace is coming to an end. Another dispensation is coming in. Shall we call it the dispensation of righteousness? Because in the millennial kingdom, righteousness will rule over all the earth. How we long to see that day.
God is going to do a great thing. He is going to reintroduce His King into this world. Our Lord Jesus is to return as the King of kings and Lord of lords, and He shall establish His kingdom upon this earth. We know that the change is coming. We can sense it; we can feel it.
But, dear brothers and sisters, God has a very definite way of working. Before God will make this change—and He will—He will first find a vessel on earth, a vessel whom He can use to make that change and bring in the King.
I believe that two thousand years ago God raised up John to be that vessel. But I believe that in our time, as we are coming to the fullness of everything, that vessel will not be an individual. It will be a corporate vessel, a corporate vessel with the same character as John.
God is looking today among His people for a corporate vessel, a vessel whom He can use to make this great change and bring in His King. I do believe that this is something God is looking for among His people today.
So this morning, we would like to spend a little time, not to review the whole life of John the Baptist, but to find in John certain characteristics that God is looking for in us, if by His grace we will be chosen among those who form the corporate vessel of God.
In the Gospel according to Luke, we find that there was, in the days of Herod, king of Judea, a certain priest by the name of Zacharias, and his wife’s name was Elisabeth.
This elderly couple feared God. They walked before God wholly and blamelessly. They kept all the commandments and ordinances of God, and they served God very faithfully. But the Bible says they had no child.
Probably, when we read this today, it does not mean much to us. But if you were an Israelite living in the old days under the law, you would know that under the law God promised that those who feared Him would be blessed by Him.
The blessing of God in Old Testament times, under the old covenant of law, was material and physical blessing, because the children of Israel were God’s earthly people. Therefore, God’s promises and blessings were earthly, material, and physical. If people feared God and obeyed God, God would bless them with many blessings. Their baskets would be full, their cattle would raise many young, and they would have many sons and daughters.
But if people did not obey Him and displeased Him, they would be cursed. One of the curses was that they would have no child. That was under the old covenant.
Now this couple feared God and served Him faithfully, and yet they had no child. It was unusual. No doubt they must have prayed and prayed, asking God to give them at least a child, to remove their shame and reproach. But their prayer went unanswered. They could not explain why.
They were greatly misunderstood by other people. Other people would say, “Well, you appear to be very godly, but why do you not have a child? There must be some secret thing somewhere.” You see, that was the concept under the old covenant. This elderly couple really lived under a very embarrassing situation.
Their prayers went unanswered. They grew older and older; they were advanced in years and had absolutely no hope of having a child. Probably they gave up praying for a child.
What a wonder it was that they were not offended by God. Most people would be offended. Why? Because God had His promise, and God did not appear to fulfill His promise. When people are in that kind of circumstance, certainly they would turn against God; they would be offended.
But this elderly couple was not offended. They wondered and were puzzled, but they were not offended. How do we know? Because we find Zacharias continuing to serve in the temple very faithfully.
Then something happened. Zacharias belonged to the course of Abijah. The priests in the temple served in twenty-four courses. A group of priests served in the temple for a period, and then another course would come and take over.
Zacharias was serving in the temple at that time under the course of Abijah. Probably that was his last time of active service in the temple, because he was at the age of retiring.
Before dawn, the priests who were serving that day gathered together in a room and cast lots to decide who was to serve in what capacity. There were many services to be done during the day, and all the services in the temple were decided by the casting of lots.
It happened that on that day the lot of burning incense at the golden altar of incense fell upon Zacharias. Of all the services in the temple, burning incense at the golden altar was the highest privilege a priest could ever have in his lifetime.
Why? Because the golden altar of incense stood right before the veil, before the ark of the covenant. It was the nearest a priest could come to God. Only the high priest could go behind the veil once a year, but as far as the priests were concerned, to burn incense at the altar was the nearest they could get to God.
Many priests served throughout their lifetime and never had that privilege. If that privilege fell upon a priest, he could do it only once in his lifetime; it was never repeated. Zacharias served all his life, and at the end he was privileged to burn incense at the golden altar of incense.
When the priest entered into the holy place to burn incense at the altar, there was nobody else in the temple proper. Everyone else was in the outer court. He was there, burning incense, representing the whole nation and offering prayer for the whole nation before God. What a privilege it was.
So Zacharias entered into the holy place. As he put the incense on the altar and offered prayer for the whole nation, suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared beside the altar and said, “Zacharias, your prayer is answered. You shall have a child.”
Brothers and sisters, could Zacharias have offered a personal, private prayer at that time, when he was representing the whole nation and praying the prayer of the nation? Impossible.
What was the prayer of the nation of Israel? Even today they still pray that prayer: “Oh, that God would send the Messiah.” At that time, the nation of Israel—Judea—was under Roman control. They were not a free people.
No doubt that prayer went up to God day after day, morning after morning. It was the prayer of the children of Israel; it was the prayer of the nation. They prayed that God would quickly send the Messiah, that the Messiah would come, throw off the yoke of Roman rule, and make them a free people—the first among the nations.
All their hope was in the Messiah. No doubt Zacharias was praying that prayer: “Oh, God, send the Messiah.” Then the angel said, “Your prayer is answered. You shall have a child.” What is that?
When he and his wife prayed for a child, their prayers were unanswered. When he was praying for the Messiah, all the prayers that he had prayed privately before were answered at that time. Why? Because that child was related to the Messiah.
Now, brothers and sisters, there is nothing wrong with us praying for our own needs. When we have needs, we go to God and ask Him to supply them. Why? Because He is our heavenly Father. If we do not ask our Father, whom shall we ask? Our heavenly Father will certainly supply all our needs. He knows what we need even before we ask.
But, dear brothers and sisters, as you grow more in the Lord, you may find something strange. When you are a new believer, your prayer can be answered very quickly. Even before you finish your prayer, it is answered. The Father rushes to you and supplies your need.
But as you grow a little more in the Lord, do you find that your prayers are answered more slowly? Do you find that sometimes your prayer goes unanswered for years and years? You may think something is very wrong, but this is not so. Why? Because God is training you.
When we are young in the Lord, we know only our needs, and God has to supply our needs. But if God always caters to our needs, we never grow up spiritually. We will grow up as selfish children, babies in Christ.
Do you know that God has a need too? God wants us to know that He also has needs. We are not just to ask God to supply our needs; we should see that God has needs too.
God wants us to ask concerning His needs. But we will never think of that until our needs are not met and our prayers are not answered. Through that, God brings us to the point where we can see how selfish we are. We are always asking for our own needs and forget that God has His need too.
When we begin to pray for God’s need and forget to pray for our own needs, our needs are supplied. But remember: when our prayers are answered, they are always connected with God’s glory. When your prayer is answered, you do not just enjoy it for yourself; you see that the answer is related to God.
When that child was given, he was given in relation to the Messiah. God did not merely give this elderly couple a child to take away their shame—though, of course, their shame was taken away and the misunderstandings were dispersed. More than that, the child was an answer to the prayer of the nation, because he was to be a forerunner of the Messiah. He was to prepare the way of the Lord.
Therefore, John was the product of the travail of his parents. John was the product of the prevailing prayer of his parents. We may apply this in this way: this chosen vessel of God, this epoch-making vessel of God, has in it a character, and that character is prevailing prayer.
Dear brothers and sisters, we believe that God is going to make a change of time today. But in order that He may make this change, He needs a vessel. In that vessel there must be a character, and that character is prevailing prayer. We must know how to prevail for God.
We must know how to travail in prayer, that God’s will may be done on earth as it is in heaven.
You remember the apostle Paul in Colossians, how he was to fill up that which was lacking in the afflictions of Christ for His church, His body. Out of the travail of the soul of our Lord Jesus, the church is born.
In Isaiah 53, we find that He shall see the fruit of the travail of His soul. In order that the church might be born, how our Lord Jesus had to prevail. How He travailed in the garden of Gethsemane; how He travailed in prayer until His sweat became as great drops of blood. How He had to travail on Calvary’s cross. He poured out His soul as water. But out of the travail of His soul, the church is born.
Dear brothers and sisters, without travail, nothing will be born. Without prayer, God does not bring things about. As we look back into the history of the church, we find that whenever God is going to do something, He has to find a people who will pray—not only pray, but travail in prayer.
When God’s people realize God’s need, when God’s people are willing to take up God’s burden, to sympathize with God in what He is going to do, and really give themselves to prayer and prevailing prayer, God will do something.
What is lacking among God’s people today is a people who know God’s need, a people who know how to bear God’s burden, a people who give themselves to prayer, and a people willing to prevail in prayer. If God should obtain such a people, He has the vessel to change the time.
Number two. When John was in the womb of his mother, his mother was to drink no wine nor strong drink. Why? Because John was to be a Nazarite.
In Old Testament times, when God delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt, He brought them to Mount Sinai. In Exodus 19, God said that if they would keep His covenant and obey His law, they would be a peculiar people of His possession and a nation of priests.
All the redeemed Israelites were to be priests unto God; they were to serve God. But, unfortunately, while Moses was receiving the law on the mountain, the children of Israel worshiped the golden calf. Because of that, the whole nation was disqualified from serving God.
Only one tribe, the tribe of Levi, and only one family, the family of Aaron, were chosen to serve God. All the rest of the people were barred from the service of God.
Yet God opened a back door of service. The front door was closed: only the family of Aaron could come to the holy place to serve God, and only the Levites could serve in the tabernacle. The rest of the children of Israel had no part in the service of God.
But God opened a back door. In Numbers 6, God said that if any man or woman desired to consecrate himself or herself, to set himself or herself apart, to devote himself or herself to the Lord, that person could do so by taking the vow of the Nazarite.
A Nazarite is a person who is set apart, separated, and devoted to God. Anyone who has this desire may do so. How? By abstaining from certain things.
Sometimes a man made a vow for a month, or perhaps for three months, during which he devoted himself to God. But only a few in the Bible were Nazarites for life. Samuel was one in the Old Testament, and John was another.
John was a Nazarite for life. Even in his mother’s womb, his mother was to abstain from wine so that he might be a Nazarite for life, devoted to the Lord.
It is very strange, as you read Numbers, that God does not tell us exactly what a Nazarite did in the way of service to God. Nothing is mentioned. He separated himself for God—but what did he do during those thirty days or three months? In what capacity and in what respect did he serve God? Nothing is said.
Why? Because serving God is not merely doing something. Serving God is living for God. Never forget that. Certainly, he must do something for God, but the essential thing is that he lives for God. That is a Nazarite: he lives for God.
John was a Nazarite for life. There must be a Nazarite character in the epoch-making vessels of God.
Today, we are the spiritual people of God. Not only are God’s blessings heavenly, but all these things become spiritual in application. What is a Nazarite to us today? It simply means consecration.
We who are redeemed of the Lord have no right to live for ourselves. We should offer ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice, and that is our Nazarite vow. It is something every believer should have.
Because of their failure, the children of Israel had to take a Nazarite vow in order to be recovered to serve God as priests. But with us today, through the finished work of Christ, we are brought back to the very beginning—to God’s original purpose. Therefore, every child of God should take this Nazarite vow.
We all present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, and this is our reasonable service. When we consecrate ourselves to the Lord, brothers and sisters, it is not so much what we do for God; it is how we live for God.
With the children of Israel, when one took a Nazarite vow, he could not touch anything that came out of the vine. To us today, of course, this does not mean that you cannot eat grapes. Even if you abstain from raisins, you may not be the chosen vessel.
Today it is the spiritual application. You remember John 15. The Lord said, “I am the true vine.” Why did the Lord say, “I am the true vine”? Why did He not simply say, “I am the vine”? If He is the true vine, there must be a false vine. What is the false vine?
The false vine is the world. The world is like a vine—an imitation, a counterfeit—because the world supplies the needs of many people. The hungry, the thirsty, the sorrowful, and the weak: the world has something to offer.
If you are sorrowful, you may drink wine to forget yourself. If you are weak, the world offers something to strengthen you. The world has pleasures to offer, the pleasures of sin. They gratify the flesh for a time, even though later they poison.
In other words, the world is like a vine. The world is a resource to which people turn for their needs. Do not tell me that the world has nothing to offer. The world does have something to offer; that is why people love the world, and why God’s people conform to the world.
The world is like a vine that gives pleasure, satisfaction, strength, and different things—but only temporarily. It is false. It is a counterfeit. It gives an appearance of satisfaction for a time, but it makes things worse, because you become thirstier, hungrier, and weaker until you die.
But, dear brothers and sisters, we have the true vine. Our Lord Jesus is our all. He is the true vine. He is our resource. We turn to Him for our every need. He is our comfort, our strength, our satisfaction, our pleasure, our joy. He is everything to us.
That is the reason why, to be a Nazarite, you should abstain from everything connected with the vine. Why? Because you are to find all your resources in Christ. That is a separated life.
Dear brothers and sisters, how sad it is that we find Christians today turning to the world to fill their void, as though Christ were not sufficient for them. Christians love the world, even though they love the Lord a little. The result is that they are not qualified to be epoch-making vessels.
In order to be an epoch-making vessel, we must be a separated people. By separation, it means that we despise what the world can offer because we have found something far better. We find all our supply in Christ. We return to Him. He is the true vine, and we are the branches. We are a separated people.
When you find a need of any kind, do you turn to the world for supply, or do you turn to Christ? Do you find Christ all-sufficient, or do you find that He is not sufficient for your every need and that you must seek supply somewhere else?
I think this is something we need really to consider. Are we faithful to the Lord as a Nazarite? This is the second characteristic that must mark an epoch-making vessel.
Number three: “He shall be great before the Lord. He shall have the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just.” The epoch-making vessel must have the character of the spirit and power of Elijah.
John the Baptist was not Elijah. At one time people wondered whether John the Baptist was Elijah, because according to the Old Testament prophet Malachi, Elijah must come before the Messiah comes. Elijah would first come to prepare the way and turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers.
When John the Baptist came out to preach, people began to wonder whether he was Elijah. Even the disciples asked our Lord Jesus whether Elijah had come. The Lord answered in such a way that Elijah had already come, but they did not know him; because they rejected him, Elijah had not come to them.
Why? Because John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah.
What is the spirit of Elijah? Consider that interesting incident before Elijah was taken to heaven. On his last journey, Elisha stayed with him. Elijah tried to send him away. They went from Gilgal to Bethel, from Bethel to Jericho, and from Jericho to the Jordan. Each time Elijah told Elisha to stay behind, but Elisha said, “As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.”
At the Jordan, Elijah took off his mantle, wrapped it together, struck the waters, and the Jordan divided. They crossed on dry ground to the eastern side.
Then Elijah told Elisha that God was going to take him away and asked, “Is there anything you want before I go?” Elisha said, “Yes, I have something to ask. I want a double portion of your spirit.”
Elijah said, “You have asked a hard thing. But if you see me taken up from thee, it shall be so unto thee.” As they were walking and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire came and separated them. Elijah went up in a whirlwind, and Elisha saw him and cried, “My father, my father!”
Then Elijah’s mantle fell. Elisha took it up and put it on, and he received a double portion of the spirit of Elijah.
When you read that portion, you might think that young man was very ambitious. Was Elijah not the greatest prophet who ever lived? Now this young man wanted to be greater even than his master—double! You might say, “This young man is really ambitious.” But you misunderstand, because you do not know what the spirit of Elijah is.
It is difficult to know a person’s spirit. Here is the body, and within the body is the soul, and within the soul is the spirit. The more civilized we are, the more we are able to hide ourselves and pretend. You may live with a person for years and not know that person, because his spirit is deeply hidden.
You know a person’s spirit when he is off guard. When we come together on Sunday and sit here, everyone is at his best. We will never be able to know each other if we only come on Sunday and sit by one another, because we are all on guard. We are careful. We put on our Sunday best. It is when we are off guard that our spirit is revealed.
What is the spirit of Elijah? Elijah did great things for God on Mount Carmel. How God’s name was magnified! It was such a victory. But immediately after that victory, Jezebel threatened Elijah’s life, and Elijah fled. He walked forty days and forty nights until he came to Mount Horeb. He went into a cave.
God appeared to him and said, “Elijah, what are you doing here?” Elijah said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, thrown down Thine altars, and slain Thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
God commanded him to come out of the cave. There was a great and strong wind, but the Lord was not in the wind. There was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. There was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. Then there came a still small voice: “Elijah, what are you doing here?”
Elijah gave the same answer. He was complaining to God, as if saying, “Look here. I am jealous for Your name. I have laid down my life for You. I have done everything for You, and You did not back me up. Why? Why did You not back me up? I am all for You.”
Now that is the spirit of Elijah. What is it? The spirit of Elijah is the zeal of the Lord. He was zealous for God. He was so zealous for God’s name because the whole nation had left God. He was zealous for God’s rights. He wanted God restored to His rightful place among His people.
Therefore, he was willing to sacrifice himself and do everything. He was the one person standing against the whole nation. That was the spirit of Elijah.
Because Elijah was marked by that spirit, he went through much trouble. He could have lived a very comfortable life, but he could not. He had to face the king, the displeasure of the king, and misunderstanding. The king wanted to kill him. Why? Because he had the zeal of the Lord in him. That is the spirit of Elijah.
Remember our Lord Jesus. When He began His public ministry, He went into Jerusalem, to the temple. When He entered the temple area, He made a scourge of cords. He drove out the cattle and sheep and overturned the tables of the money changers. He said, “Ye make My Father’s house a house of merchandise, a bazaar.”
What did the Bible say? The Bible says it was fulfilled: “The zeal of Thy house shall eat Me up.”
At the time of Christ, merchants operated in the temple area under the auspices of the priesthood. The children of Israel came from all over the world to worship God at the temple, and they had to offer sacrifices.
They could not bring a sheep or a bull from Europe and travel all the way to Jerusalem with it. So they had to buy sacrifices in Jerusalem. Even if they brought their own sacrifice, it had to be approved by the priests. If there was any defect, it would not be accepted.
The easiest thing was to buy the sacrifice in the temple area, because all these were approved already. Of course, you paid a higher price, and the priests lined their pockets.
Then there were money changers. The people had to pay the temple money, but it had to be in the proper currency. They could not pay with just any kind of money, so they had to exchange it. How convenient it was to have the exchange right there in the temple area.
Outwardly, it was for convenience. Actually, it was a very profitable business for the priests. This had been going on for years and years. Everybody was doing it; nobody complained. How convenient it was.
But when our Lord Jesus entered the temple area, He could not bear it. Why? Because He saw that they had made the Father’s house of prayer into a bazaar, into a profit-making business.
Later, at the end of our Lord’s ministry, He did it again—the second time—because it had become worse. They had made it a den of robbers.
Brothers and sisters, why did multitudes of people enter into the temple and never bother about it? They thought it was so convenient. Only the Lord Jesus could not bear it. Why? Because the zeal of the Lord had devoured Him.
The zeal for the Father’s house had consumed Him. People were not worshiping God; they had destroyed the whole spirit of worship. It was contrary to God, and the Lord could not stand it. He had to do something. Because He did it, they wanted to kill Him. He got into trouble.
Look at the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 11. What did he say? He said, “I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy: for I espoused you to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I fear lest by any means your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity that is toward Christ.”
The jealousy of God was like fire burning in Paul’s bones. He had to contend with the Corinthian believers, and because of that they did not like him. He could have been very popular. He could have said a few soothing words, closed his eyes as though he saw nothing, and become very popular. But he could not do that.
Why? Because the jealousy of God was in him. God was jealous for His Son. If anyone tried to take anything away from His Son, God could not stand it. God is a jealous God.
Elisha asked for a double portion of the spirit of Elijah. In other words, he was not asking something for himself to make himself great. He was asking something for God, and he had to suffer more for it. That is what he asked for.
Brothers and sisters, the epoch-making vessel of God must be marked by the spirit of Elijah.
Many things are going on in the church and outside the church. We become so accustomed to them that we see and do not see. On the contrary, we feel that they are convenient and expedient.
We do not see how God’s glory suffers and God’s honor is compromised. If we are not filled with the jealousy of God, with the zeal of the Lord, dear brothers and sisters, God cannot use us as an epoch-making vessel.
We simply flow with the crowd. But if the Lord opens our spiritual eyes and enables us to see what is going on among God’s people, we see so much that is contrary to God and so much that brings shame to His name.
If you are filled with the zeal of the Lord, if you are concerned with God’s name, if you are filled with the jealousy of God, you find that something is burning within your bones. You cannot help it. Brothers and sisters, you begin to have the spirit of Elijah. If you have the spirit of Elijah, God will give you the power of Elijah.
What was the work of John the Baptist? The work of John the Baptist was to prepare a people for God. Scripture uses a very striking expression: “to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
The Lord is coming. But when the Lord comes, will He find a people prepared to receive Him?
Outwardly, the whole nation of Israel, the Jewish people, seemed to be waiting for Him to come. They prayed, “Oh, that the Messiah would come.” They had restored the temple service. They seemed to be a very godly people. They seemed to be waiting for the Messiah, and wondered why He did not come.
But, brothers and sisters, when Christ was born and the news began to be known in Jerusalem, Herod was troubled, and all Jerusalem was troubled. They were not ready for Him.
Who received Christ when He came? Only those people who had been prepared by John the Baptist. All the early disciples of our Lord Jesus had been disciples of John. John prepared them. They were a people prepared.
So when the Messiah came, He found on earth a small group of people, and yet these people were ready to receive Him.
Dear brothers and sisters, the same thing will be true at His return. At the second coming of our Lord Jesus, exactly the same thing will happen. Outwardly, it seems as if the church in general and all the children of God are waiting for His coming and wondering why He delays, as if we are prepared.
But do not be mistaken: God’s people are not prepared. If Christ should come today—and He came—what would He find? Probably He would find the same thing He found two thousand years ago in Jerusalem. His people would be disturbed.
Therefore, the one work that must be done today is the work of John the Baptist: to make ready a people for the Lord. That is the most important work today—to make ready a people, so that when the Lord comes, there will be a people ready to welcome Him.
This is the work of that epoch-making vessel, the work of John. So, dear brothers and sisters, we have work to do.
What is God’s work for us to do today? I believe the most important work is to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Are we prepared? If we are, then we have a responsibility to prepare other people for the Lord.
May the Lord help us. Shall we pray?
Our heavenly Father, we do sense in our spirit that the time is going to change. It cannot continue. We rejoice in the fact that Thou art coming.
But, Lord, we do know that Thou art looking today for an epoch-making vessel. Lord, even though we know that in ourselves we are nothing and unworthy, yet for Thy sake, Lord, we are willing.
We are willing to offer ourselves as a freewill offering to Thee and ask Thee to work in us that travail, that prayer, to separate us, that we may live wholly for Thee.
Fill us with the spirit of Elijah, that we may be marked by the zeal of the Lord, the jealousy of God. O Lord, get us prepared, and use us to prepare Thy people.
It is the cry of our hearts: Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. In Thy precious name. Amen.