The Legacy of John the Baptist, Part 2

Take your Bible if you would please, and turn to John Chapter

John 1 · chapter mention

1. And we are looking at the legacy

of John the Baptist. It's a lasting legacy.

It's lasted some 2000 years because what John lived before

the world, he left behind for all of us to read and see and

hear and understand. His legacy made a tremendous

impact. Although his ministry was only

for 18 months, but this is the greatest man ever born of a

woman. And so if that's the case, what

kind of legacy did he leave behind?

And how do we evaluate our life in light of his life that we

might understand our legacy today?

The Bible tells us that that John came to testify to the

light, came to give a testimony about the light.

He said I am not the light, but I've come to testify about the

light. And six times in John chapter

one it talks about His testimony, how He would testify

before the world. Jesus would sum it up this way.

In John 5 verse #33 says you have sent John or you have sent

to John, and He has testified to the truth.

Verse 35 He was the lamp that was burning and was shining, and

you were willing to rejoice for a while in His light.

John was burning brightly. John was shining splendidly.

There was something about John that that made him the man that

he was as he came to testify. And he would become the first of

eight witnesses in John's Gospel that John would refer to.

The Apostle John would refer to when it came to a testimony

before the world, and John was that great prophet, that great,

that great priest, that that great protester of life.

He was a prophet. Everyone who knew he was a

prophet that gave him credibility.

He was in the line of of the priesthood.

Everybody knew his father Zacharias, who was a priest.

And so for all practical purposes, John was a priest that

gave him believability, but he was a protester.

He lived a life that was the antithesis to the religious

establishment of the day. The way he dressed, the way he

spoke, the way he lived was a protest against all of that.

And that that gave him integrity, which allowed him to,

to be the kind of testimony, the kind of witness that would speak

volumes for the claims of Christ.

So this is the man John the Baptist and his legacy can be

wrapped up in 3 words, 3 words that you can apply to your life

as you will see as we go through this, this week or last week,

this weekend and next week, of course, to help you understand

the legacy of, of John the Baptist.

The first word is simply presentation.

Second word is preparation, and the third word is proclamation.

He presented #1 the preeminence of the light #2 He prepared the

pathway to the Lord, and #3 he was the one who proclaimed.

He proclaimed the person of the Christ.

That is the legacy of John the Baptist, but it all begins with

the presentation. Because he was the one who

presented the preeminence of the light.

He was the one who would show how great the light was and he

would shine brightly. He would shine splendidly as he

lived his legacy. So the question we asked last

week was how did he present the pre eminence of the light and

why did he present the pre eminence of the light?

Those are the two questions we ask.

So the first question, how we began last week.

But by showing you that he presented it lovingly and

longingly, that there was a, a, a, a loving message that John

would give. Love is giving people what they

need, not what they want. They needed the gospel.

They needed to know who the king was.

They needed to know that the Kingdom was upon them.

They needed to know what it meant to be in the Kingdom.

When you love people, you tell them the truth about the King

and his Kingdom. So he gave it to him lovingly

and he gave it to them longingly because there was a longing in

his heart, in his soul, because he had waited a long time, some

30 years to present the Messiah and he was longing for the

Kingdom to come. He would say repent, for the

Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Like every Jew was longing for

the King to come and and set up his Kingdom.

That's why in Luke 3 it says they were, they were living a

life of expectation. They were expecting the the

coming one, the expected one to arrive the Messiah so that the

Kingdom would come. And that's why they, they came

down from Jerusalem and from all Judea in in the thousands to be

baptized by John of the Jordan River that they were expecting

the king and his Kingdom. And so John who, who longingly

was, was wanting to present this king to them.

He had lived in anticipation his whole life for this very moment,

not knowing that it would only be 18 months.

He had no no clue that would be the length of his ministry.

Just think, spending 30 years preparing to be the forerunner

for the Messiah, only to last 18 months and then be beheaded.

That was his life. And yet he would present the

preeminence of the light lovingly and longingly.

He would do it #2 instinctively and incessantly.

Talked about these last week. Instinctively, because he was

filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb.

He was controlled by the Spirit of God.

It became part and parcel to his everyday living.

So by by by natural instinct, he would, he would just bring forth

with the gospel because the Spirit of God would move him to

do so. He would do it incessantly.

We showed you last week where in John one there are three days in

succession, in John one day, one day, 2 day three, and every day

this is what he was doing. Why?

Because this is what he did all the time.

John just gives us a glimpse of his daily routine.

This is something he did incessantly.

It was something he did just once a week or or once a month.

It was something he did every single day.

This was his ministry. This was his life.

For him to shine brightly, he had to shine every single day.

So he did it lovingly and longingly.

He did it instinctively and incessantly, and he did it

graphically and gracefully. Graphically, he would say in in

Matthew chapter 3, when he saw the Pharisees and Sadducees

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

coming to him, he would call them a brood of Vipers.

You, you pack of snakes. That's a very graphic way to to

describe the the religious establishment of the day.

He would tell them who warned you to flee from the wrath to

come. Why?

Because I baptize you with water.

But there's one who's going to come and baptize you with with

fire, and you need to be careful.

He would call out Herod in a sin.

Herod was the king, but he would call out his immoral

relationship with his wife that he stole from his brother and

said that you're living in sin. And Luke's account tells us that

he reprimanded the king. Why?

Because he would graphically expose the sin that was before

him. You know, we don't do that

today. We, we want a soft coat sin.

We instead of calling adultery adultery, we call it an affair,

as if to, to give it some kind of soft coding to sin.

We, we don't, we don't call homosexuals homosexuals.

We call them people with an alternate lifestyle, but the

Bible calls them homosexuals. The Bible calls them effeminate

persons. The Bible calls out the immoral

person. It calls out the the the

slanderer and the gossip. In fact, it says in in Ephesians

5 and in Galatians 5 and in Revelation chapter 22, it gives

Revelation 22 · chapter mention

the list of those who who will not inherit the Kingdom of

heaven. And they're named graphically in

the Scriptures. In fact, this is what Jesus

says. I think this is very interesting

about our our Lord. In Matthew 23 He says woe, woe

to you scribes and and Pharisees hypocrites, for you clean the

outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full

of robbery and self indulgence. The blind Pharisee first clean

the inside of the cup and of the dish so that the outside of it

may become clean. Also.

Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you

are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside appear

beautiful, but in the inside they are full of dead men's

bones and all uncleanness. So you 2 outwardly appear

righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and

lawlessness. Jesus called out sinners because

of their hypocrisy. John would do the same thing, so

when he would shine the light, he would do it graphically

because man needs to know that he's separated from God, that

that he's a Sinner. For without knowing that, you'll

never see your need for a Savior.

You must understand that you are separated from God and that your

works are are worthless before him.

And John made sure of that instead of Jesus.

But he did it gracefully. He didn't do it arrogantly,

proudly. He didn't do it in a way that

that would that would be harsh, but he did it in a way that

would show grace. Why?

Because Herod needed to repent. Herod needed to know that his

relationship was immoral, that he was an adulterer.

So he called him out the Pharisees needed to know that

they were hypocrites that they lived one way on the outside,

but on the inside they were like dead men's bones and they they

needed to know the truth and and grace is is showing them that

look it once you know that you're a Sinner, it's only God's

grace that can save you. That's it can't save yourself.

That's what I love what it says over in in the book of

Colossians the the 4th chapter when Paul would say these words.

Colossians 4 verse #5 Consider yourselves with wisdom or

conduct yourselves, excuse me, with wisdom toward outsiders,

making the most of the opportunity by redeeming the

time. Let your speech always be with

grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how

you should respond to each person.

Graceful speech is grace that is is seasoned with salt.

And salt's a preservative salt, salt's a purifier.

But salt also causes great pain in open wounds.

And so when you speak the truth and love, and you speak the

truth gracefully, those whose wounds are open, it's going to

sting badly. And yet they need to understand

the truth about how our Lord has come to save them from their

sin. That was all of last week.

That's John the Baptist. How did he do it?

Lovingly, longingly. He did it instinctively,

incessantly. He did it graphically and

gracefully, but he also did it heartily and humbly.

Heartily and humbly. He he was crying in the

wilderness. John didn't do things half

heartedly. He did them full heartedly.

He was all heart. He was all in.

He he wasn't partially into his ministry.

He wasn't partially into into into preaching the gospel.

He was all in for the Messiah. He was all in and what God

called him to do. So you do it with all of his

might. That's what Solomon says in

Ecclesiastes 9 verse #10 whatever your hand finds to do,

do it with all of your might, all your might.

Paul would say it this way in the book of Colossians,

Colossians chapter 3, verse 23. He says, whatever you do, do

Colossians 3:23

heartily. As for the Lord, not unto man,

knowing that you will receive a reward from the Lord heartily

with all of his heart. So when he came as a voice

crying in the wilderness, when he would speak forth the truth

of the gospel, he did it in such a way that he would, he would

shout the truth. He wanted people to know the

truth, and so he did it with all of his heart.

But he did it humbly. Humbly.

He says I'm just a voice. I'm just a voice.

He never referenced his father as a priest to give him some

kind of clout with the other priests.

He could have done that. Well, I'm a son of a priest,

just like, just like you are. No, he didn't say that.

So I'm just a voice of one crying in the wilderness.

He says. I'm not worthy to to loosen the

straps of my Savior sandals. I'm not even worthy to do the

most menial task. And in John chapter 3 verse #30

John 3 · chapter mention

he says he must increase and I must decrease.

What a great testimony. The reason he he he would shine

so brightly is because he didn't want the light to be focused on

himself. He wanted the light to be

focused on the Christ. He wanted to put forth the

Christ today. We, we, we get so enamored with

us. You know, I'm always leery of

those people who name their ministries after their own name,

that that's a very dangerous thing to do.

Shouldn't do that because it's not about you.

It's about the ministry of Christ.

It's about putting Christ on display.

There's so many times we want to take credit for someone coming

to faith or take credit for someone's spiritual growth or or

take credit for this or take credit for that.

You can't take credit because it's a spiritual work done by

the Spirit of God in a supernatural kind of way in the

lives of people. We are just voices in the

wilderness. We are just vessels to be used

by God. And here is John very heartedly,

but yet very humbly presenting the preeminence of the Messiah.

And then, then lastly, he did it truthfully and tenaciously

truthfully. The Bible says in in Luke 3 that

he, he preached the gospel. What's the gospel?

The gospel is about the king of his Kingdom.

And so he, he spoke the truth about the king.

He spoke the truth about the Kingdom.

He spoke the truth about entry into the Kingdom.

You got to repent and he was the one who who with many

exhortations. The Bible says in in Luke's

account that he would speak to the people he would he would

quote Isaiah 40 verse #3 Why? Because He wanted to speak

truthfully as to what he was doing and why he was doing it,

that he had the support of the authority of Scripture behind

what he was doing. And so John was one who who came

to speak the truth. That's why in John 533 we read,

we read earlier that Jesus said that John came to testify to the

truth. By the way, in John 1837, Christ

before Pilate said these words, I've come to testify to the

truth. You see, when you shine brightly

for the Lord, it's all about the truth.

And Christ came and John came to testify to the truth.

The truth about what? Truth about heaven, Truth about

hell, Truth about mercy and grace and justice, the truth

about sin and salvation. The truth about the Christ

Christ is the truth. So you want to present Christ as

the truth. So John would, would shine

brightly, truthfully as well as tenaciously.

In other words, he never backed down, he never quit, he never

gave up. He was resilient, he was

tenacious. He, he was holding on for dear

life because as John one says, he came to testify to the light

so that all may believe. And he knew that if he didn't

stand strong and didn't live a courageous life and speak forth

the truth tenaciously, without reservation, without backing

down, it would not be effective. That's how he did it.

He came to testify as a prophet, as a priest, as a protester.

How? By By speaking lovingly and

longingly. By speaking instinctively and

incessantly, graphically and gracefully, heartily and humbly,

truthfully and tenaciously, you want to leave a lasting legacy.

You need to present the pre eminence of the lights.

Let's see the second question. Why?

Well, using the same outline LIGHT, if you were following

along and you didn't get that, I'm sorry, you should have got

that, but use the same word, light, LIGHT.

Let me show you how he did this and why he did it.

Why did he do it #1 because he loved.

He loved the person of God. He loved his God.

Paul would say that the love of Christ compels me.

Paul knew Christ. I mean, excuse me, yeah.

Paul didn't know Christ, excuse me, but he didn't know Christ.

But John knew Christ. John was the cousin of Jesus.

He was his cousin, so John knew him.

I'm sure that they would get together as they were growing up

at different times. The Bible didn't tell us that,

but because they were related. I'm sure that the different

times that they got together, but he loved them outside of a

familial relationship. He loved them because of who God

himself was. He loved the person of God.

That was his motivation. Why would he do all this?

Why would he speak against the religious establishment?

Why would he protest against all that was that was taking place?

Why? Why would he speak so loudly and

so graphically against sin? Because he loved the Lord, he

loved him. We love him because he first

loved us and John loved the person of God.

You know one of the the greatest hindrances to to you and me in

presenting the preeminence of the light is there is there a

lack of love for the Lord? If you love him, you want others

to love him. You want others to see him as

you see him, know him as you know him because you love him so

and so you tell others about him.

This is John. He loved his God.

He wanted others to love him and that that's why, that's why at

the end of Christ's ministry, after his death, burial,

resurrection, he appeared to, to Peter on the on the shore of the

Sea of Galilee. And he asked him, what question,

Peter, do you love me? Why Peter, you're going to be

carrying the gospel to the Gentiles, to the Jews.

You're going to open the door to the Gentiles.

But I got to know, do you love me, Peter?

Because if you don't love me, your, your motivation is going

to wane. You're not going to be able to

stand strong for me. Do you love me, Peter?

Because I want you to follow me. You're going to die for me.

But you got to represent me. Do you love me?

And that's what Christ asked us. Do you love me enough to present

me the light in a World of Darkness?

Because if you want to leave Alasia Legacy, that's what you

got to do. But you won't do it if you don't

love the Lord with all your heart and all your soul, all

your mind and all your strength. That's why Christ said in

Matthew's Gospel, the 10th chapter, that he who loves

father and mother more than me is not worthy of me.

He who loves son or daughter more than me is not is not

worthy of me. Do you love someone else more

than you love me? Because if you do, you're not

going to present me accurately, you're not going to present me

graphically, you're not going to present me truthfully because

you don't want to upset anybody, but I need you to love me more

than anything else. Christ asks.

Christ demands. This was John.

The Bible says in Luke 144 that when Mary came to Elizabeth,

when Elizabeth was six months pregnant, that John would leap

in his mother's womb. I mean, that is a unique and,

and supernatural kind of thing, but but he would leap in his

mother's mother's womb. He was saying, John 134, this is

the Son of God. This is not, he's not my cousin,

somebody I'm related to. This is the Son of God.

He, he, the Son of God, is the Lamb of God.

He understands the the importance of the atonement.

He understands the importance of sacrifice.

He understands the importance of the fact that this one he grew

up with is God in the flesh. He loved the person of God #2 He

was inspired by the call of God. He was inspired by the call of

God. You can even say he was incited

by the call of God. The word of the Lord came to

John where in the wilderness. The word of the Lord came to

John and God would call him into the ministry like Jeremiah, like

Elijah, like Isaiah, those great prophets of old, they they were

called by God into the ministry and and knowing that John had

been personally called by the living God to now go preach

about the king and his Kingdom, present the preeminence of the

light. This is your job, John, Go do

it. It would inspire him because He

was simply called by God. The Bible tells us that we had

to proclaim the excellencies, excellencies of Him who has

called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.

The reason we do it is because of Our Calling, hand picked,

hand chosen by God to be used by Him.

That in and of itself is a motivating factor.

This is why John did it. He was inspired by, by, by the

call of call of God upon his life.

We told you earlier that that the Bible says that that call is

a heavenly calling. Hebrews 31.

It's a holy calling. Second Timothy one verse #9 and

it is a high calling. Philippians 3 verse #14 we've

been called with the heavenly high and holy calling that

should inspire everyone of us to present the preeminence of the

light. And this was John, John the

Baptist. Romans 11 verse #29 says that

the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.

God has gifted you and called you.

He's not going to go back on that call.

Thank you. If He's called you into His

Kingdom, He's going to use you for His glory, because that call

is irrevocable. So #1 he loved the person of God

#2 he was inspired by the call of God, and #3 he was guided by

the Spirit of God. He was guided by the Spirit of

God. This is how He did it.

This is why He did it. Why?

Because he was filled with the Spirit of God from his mother's

womb. No other creature, no other

individual has ever had that happen to them, but John has.

But when you, when you are called by God into his Kingdom

and you're born again, the Spirit of God infuses you.

The Spirit of God takes up residence in you and therefore

we we have this spirit, Paul says and second Timothy one

verse #7 God has not given us the spirit of timidity, but but

of power and of love and of of sound mind or self-discipline.

Will we have this spirit that's one of power, this spirit that's

one of love and self-discipline and it moves and and guides us

each and every step of the way. That's why the Bible says walk

in the spirit so you don't fulfill the lust of the flesh.

We are to be filled with the Spirit of God.

Ephesians 518 controlled by God's spirit, dominated by God's

Spirit under the the operation of the Spirit of God.

Because when God's spirit is guiding us, everything around us

changes because we are to respond to people in the way the

Spirit will respond to them. Here's John filled with the

Spirit from his mother's womb. Remember the Old Testament, the

Spirit of God would would come upon people in the Old Testament

to do certain things and accomplish certain objectives,

but didn't dwell them. But in the New Testament, the

whole mystery that was concealed in the old but revealed in the

newest Christ in you, the hope of glory that the triune nature

of God dwells within us and lives within us and moves us to

action. This is how we we know we can

accomplish what God's called us to do.

He's given us all the resources to accomplish the objective

because He is the resource. The Spirit is God himself who

lives within us. It doesn't.

It's not a spirit of timidity, of fear, but one of power, one

of love and one of self-discipline.

That was John. He was guided by the spirit of

the living God because he was inspired by the call of God.

But the heart of it all, he loved the person of God.

But know this number four, his hope or he hoped in the promises

of God. He hoped in the promises of God.

Hope is a is a is a word of anticipation, knowing that God

will fulfill his promises. If you go back to to Luke's

gospel in Luke chapter 1, remember the the song of

Luke 1 · chapter mention

Zacharias. It was all about the fulfillment

of prophecy. It was all about the hope of

Israel. It was all about the hope of the

Davidic covenant and it's fulfillment, the Abrahamic

covenant, it's fulfillment, the new covenant and it's

fulfillment. The king is coming.

He's coming to present the Kingdom, and my son is a

forerunner to the king and his Kingdom.

That means Davidic truth is going to come about.

That means Abrahamic truth is going to come to fruition.

That means that the new covenant is here.

That's how he speaks. So he says in verse 68 of Luke

1, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited us

and accomplished redemption for his people.

He's visited us. That was the hope that the

Messiah would come. And it's raised up a horde of

salvation in the House of David His servant, as He spoke by the

mouth of the holy prophets from of old salvation from our

enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.

To show mercy toward our fathers and to remember His holy

covenant, The oath which He swore to Abraham our Father, to

grant us that we being rescued from the land of our enemies,

might serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness

before Him all our days. And you, child, will be called

the prophet of the Most High, for you will go on before the

Lord to prepare His ways, to give to His people the knowledge

of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins, Because of the

tender mercy of our God, with which the sunrise from the High

will visit us to shine upon those who sit in darkness in the

shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

All that was in hope of all the promises that God had given the

Old Testament. And so John is is raised that

way. He knows his father son song.

I'm sure by now John is John's father is, is not alive.

I mean, John's father was in his 80s when he was born.

So 30 years later, that would make him over 100 years of age.

I'm not sure that Zacharias lived that long.

And so he would remember the, the, the song of his father.

He'd remember the words of his father.

But as he studied the Old Testament, he would know during

those 10 years plus in the wilderness and communion with

his God, he would begin to understand the great prophetic

fulfilment of the coming king. This Kingdom he was inspired by,

by hope. He hoped in the promises of God.

He believed in the promises of God.

The king is here. He's coming with his Kingdom.

Repent and believe in him. And This is why in Luke 7, John

was so confounded. When he's in prison, he says the

disciples to to ask Jesus are are you the Messiah?

Are you the expected one? Are you the coming one?

Or should we look for somebody else?

Why? Because he was so certain that

that the Messiah was there and the Kingdom would be presented

and he would establish his Kingdom.

But John did not know about how they would slay the one he

pointed to. John didn't understand the whole

second coming of the Messiah. He just knew about the coming

King. This Kingdom, you and me, we

present the premise of the light.

Why? Why?

Because we hope in the promises of God.

That's why we pray. Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come.

We're in hope of the coming Kingdom, the promises of God.

We are in hope of his, his return again.

That's that's why we, we tell others about, about the Christ.

We want them to be a part of that coming Kingdom.

We want them to know that Christ is going to come again.

And so we tell them with passion, with drive and with

sincerity, the King is going to come.

He could come at any moment. Are you ready for him to arrive?

That's how John and why John was so strong in this presentation

of the King's Kingdom. We live in anticipation of the

coming of the king. We long for his coming again.

Our our hope is rooted in God. He is the God of hope and he

gives us this glorious promises that tell us what's going to

happen when he arrives again. Those are things that that move

us to present the pre eminence of the light so important.

So here is John. Why did he do what he did?

He loved the person of God. He was inspired by the call of

God. He was guided by the Spirit of

God. He hoped in the promises of God.

And lastly, he trusted in the Word of God.

He would trust that God's Word would not return void.

He trusted that what he would say concerning the king of this

Kingdom would bring forth grapefruit.

He trusted in God's Word. He believed what God's Word said

I I love what what the Bible says and Psalm Psalm 39, verse

number 7 and now Lord for what do I wait my hope is in you.

John's hope was was in the Lord, but but he trusted in the word

of the Lord. Remember Psalm 119, verse 4042?

I will have an answer for him who reproaches me, for I trust

in your word. Psalmist.

Do that trust in the Word, verse 66 of Psalm 119.

Teach me good discernment and knowledge, for I trust in Your

commandments. Verse 1114 of Psalm 118.

You are my hiding place in my shield.

I trust Your word. I trust Your word Over in Second

2 Samuel 22 · chapter mention

Samuel chapter 22 verse #31 David says As for God, his way

is blameless. The word of the Lord is is

proven, tested. He is a shield to all who take

refuge in him. I would I would assume that John

the Baptist knew about King David and knew about the words

of Second Samuel 22. He could read them in the

scrolls and he would trust in the word of the Lord.

How about you? You want to leave a a lasting

legacy. You got to shine bright for the

Lord. You got to you got to present

the light as preeminent in your life.

And how do you do that? You do it lovingly and

longingly. You.

You do it instinctively and incessantly, graphically and

gracefully. You do it in a way that's

heartily and humbly, truthfully and tenaciously.

Why? Why would you do that?

Because you love the Lord. The love of Christ compels you.

You love the person of God you're inspired by by the call

of God, and you're guided by the Spirit of God.

Therefore, you hope in the promises of God and you trust in

the Word of God. You're not trusting in yourself,

you're not trusting in your presentation, you're not

trusting in the brightness of your light.

You're just trusting in the Word of the living God, and you will

be well on your way and leaving a lasting legacy that will last

for generations to come, simply because you have presented the

preeminence of the light #2 you prepare the pathway of the Lord.

How do you do that? That's next week.

Let's pray together, Father. We thank you Lord for today and

the opportunity to give us to come before you.

Our prayer, Lord, is that we would be the kind of people that

present you brightly if you are preeminent.

We are not your king, we are your subjects.

Maybe we used by you in a way that honors your name until you

come again, as you most surely will in Jesus name, Amen.