There Came A Man (Part 1)

I wonder if you've ever thought about what it means to have a a

surefire successful ministry. How would you define that?

What would that look like in in your mind?

What would a sensational ministry look like?

As I was thinking about that this week, I I came up with some

some principles that will help you define and articulate a

successful ministry. Number one, if you would like to

have a, a successful ministry, make sure that you never go to

where the people are. You make them come to you.

And when they come to you, they they go to the most inconvenient

spots possible. In fact, when they come to you,

make sure that there are no conveniences.

So when they sit, they had to sit on the ground or the asphalt

or the grass or the sand or the dirt.

Make sure there are no chairs. Make sure there are no umbrellas

for when it's hot. You want them to experience the

heat of the sun when it's cold. After all, they can always wrap

themselves in something warm. After all, you don't want to

minister to weak infant and people, You want them to be

strong. If it rains, no big deal, they

won't melt. Let the rain pour down upon

their head. This is a surefire way to have a

successful ministry #2 deliberately wear things that

are unattractive. Never wear the things that are

truly in and cool and everyone adores.

Make sure you wear things that are completely out of the

ordinary. In fact, the smellier they are,

the better they are. Fill your your clothes with with

animal skins and the smellier the better.

And when you gather people together and you have a potluck,

make sure you take insects and you wrap them in pure honey and

pass them out to everyone who is hungry.

This is a surefire way of having a successful ministry #3 make

sure that when you speak, you always speak offensively.

Make sure that you assault and insult all of your listeners.

Make sure they are greatly offended every time you speak.

A perfect sermon would be simply what in the world are you doing

here? Why would you even come here?

You people who think you're better than everybody else,

That's a surefire way of having a successful ministry.

And then make sure that you always expose and embarrass

every top government official, you know, make sure you expose

every hidden sin, everything they're trying to keep away from

the public. Put it out there for everybody

to hear it and to know how wicked your leaders are,

especially in private. And then make sure you only

minister for a very, very short time.

Don't, don't go beyond 18 months.

A year is good, maybe 18 months, but don't go beyond that.

And then and then when it's all said and done, when all these

people are coming to you, because if you follow these

guidelines, you will have a surefire successful ministry.

And because all these people are coming to you, make sure that

you pass them off to another preacher down the road.

That's a, a guaranteed great ministry.

And you would think that the elevator in my brain doesn't go

to the top floor. You would think that your pastor

has snapped the twig, but that's not the case.

Because you see, that was the ministry of of John the Baptist,

of whom it was said among those born of a woman, there has not

arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist.

He may have been unconventional, he may have been strange, but he

was extremely effective. He wrote the book on successful

ministry because there was never a preacher like him.

There was never a prophet like him.

He was the best ever. And yet we think of those things

and say, who in their right mind would ever do what John did?

And then we wonder why our ministries are unsuccessful and

not successful. Interesting.

But what was it that made John great?

Was it his methodology? No, no, it was the man himself

that made the ministry great. It wasn't the methods that he

used. It was the call of God up on his

life. So the Bible says, and John one

verse number six, there came a man and we're going to stop

right there. We're not going to get any

further in the verse. Just simply there came a man

sent from God. What kind of man was he?

He was not an ordinary man. He was an extraordinary man.

He was a man unlike any other man.

He was a man that was unparalleled to any other man.

And so over this week and next week and the week following, at

least, I want to help you understand the identity of this

man. And then I want you to

understand, understand the ministry of this man, the

testimony of this man, and the legacy of this man.

After all, of all the men born of a woman, he's the greatest.

So best we know his identity, his ministry, his testimony and

his legacy. But before we do all of that,

there's something else you need to know, and that is the

peculiarity of the man. What made him so peculiar?

What made him the way he is? And I want to give you 8

principles that will help you understand why this man John was

so peculiar, so unique, so extraordinary.

And then, and then if you're a man in the audience, I want you

to match your life against his life.

Because after all, of all the men born of a woman, he's the

greatest. So if you want to be great,

match your life against John's life, the greatest man ever born

of a woman. And then you can understand

whether or not you are ever going to be great or whether or

not you will ever have a successful ministry.

Because you see, John is the barometer for greatness and the

barometer for a successful ministry.

And so you need to be able to compare yourself to the

standards of the Scriptures. What does the Bible say about

this man? We know what Jesus says about

the man, so how does the Bible describe him?

So as we look at this peculiarity of the man, we will

see eight different principles #1 the man was uncompromising in

his message, uncompromising in his message.

We get that from John chapter 1, which states these words.

John 1 · chapter mention

In verse number six. There came a man sent from God

whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify

about the light, said all might believe through him he was not

the light, but he came to testify about the light.

His whole life was about speaking about the light.

In fact, the Bible says in John chapter 10, these words about

John 10 · chapter mention

John, it says while John performed no sign.

Isn't that interesting? A successful ministry is defined

by the inability to perform a sign.

The the opportunity to have a sensational ministry is not

based on signs and wonders and the spectacular.

We we live in a world today where we want everything to be

big and spectacular and awesome. Incredible thinking that that's

going to attract people and draw people, but it does not.

Oh, it great. Gets a crowd.

Yeah, it does. But for John, the sensationalism

was gone. That's not what he was about.

He was about speaking the truth. So it says in John 1010 verse

#41 while John performed no sign, yet everything John said

about this man to Christ was true.

Everything John said was true. He had an uncompromising

message. So his message was absolute.

His message was accurate. His message was authoritative.

His message was even apocalyptic.

He said, said, why are you here? Who, who told you to flee from

the wrath to come? I baptize you with water, but

there's one coming who's mightier than I, who's going to

baptize you with unquenchable fire?

He spoke apocalyptically. Because all great messages focus

on the judgement, focus on the end, so people know how to

escape the judgement of God. That was John.

He just came to to testify about the light.

He just came to be a witness. He became the person who spoke

the truth. He was certainly the last Old

Testament prophet and he is now the first New Testament

preacher. No wonder he was the greatest

man. Whoever lived there hadn't been

a prophet who had spoken in over 400 years.

And all of a sudden John shows up in the wilderness, coming out

of the wilderness like a like a locomotive fast approaching.

He came with all kinds of explosive statements.

His message was uncompromising. I love, I love what the Bible

says in in Matthew Chapter 11 verse #8 when Jesus says this

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

verse #7 what did you go out into the wilderness to see?

What were you looking for? A Reed shaken by the wind.

Is that what you were looking for?

And around the Jordan, there are all these kinds of reeds that

were very bendable and would just go with the breeze and the

blow of the wind. They would go to the left and to

the right, front and back, always, always bending.

And Jesus says what? You go out to see somebody who

would bend to the left and and bend to the right who took no

stand at all. Is that the kind of guy you were

looking for? Oh, that's not John.

He says this. But what did you go out to see?

A man dressed in soft clothing. Those who wear soft clothing are

in King's palaces. But what did you go out to see?

A prophet. Yes, I tell you.

And one who is more than a prophet.

Here was one who came, and when he spoke, he never dumbed down

the message. He was a man when he spoke,

never backed down from the hard truths of the message.

Here was a man who for all practical purposes was not

sensational, was not spectacular.

But Luke 1 says that when he comes, he will come in the

spirit and power of Elijah. Elijah was the great Old

Testament prophet. Remember it was Moses and Elijah

who appeared on the mountain. Transfiguration.

Moses was the great lawgiver and Elijah was the great law

protector. And this one, John would come in

the spirit of the of, of, of Elijah.

He would speak forcefully. He would speak faithfully, He

would speak fervently, he'd even speak ferociously because he was

the great prophet of God, pointing people to the Messiah.

This is a man who's uncompromising in his message.

He was He was the one who embodies embodies Proverbs 2323

Buy truth and never sell it. Do all you can to obtain the

truth because it's going to cost you everything that you have.

And once you spend all that you have to obtain that which is the

most priceless and valuable commodity this side of eternity,

the word of the living God by truth.

Never sell it out, never compromise it, never back down

from it. Do all you can to obtain it.

Wisdom, instruction and understanding.

Solomon goes on to say that was John uncompromising in his

message number 2. He was unorthodox in his

mannerisms. Unorthodox in his mannerisms.

Over in Matthew chapter 3 it says this now.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

Now John himself had a garment of camels hair and a leather

belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.

Then Jerusalem was going out to him and all Judea and all the

district around the Jordan, and they were being baptized by him

in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

Very unorthodox in his mannerisms.

You see, his whole dress was the antithesis of the religious

establishment. His whole mannerism of the way

he lived his life spoke against the self indulgence of people in

leadership because he lived a life of self denial.

Remember, he's the son of Zacharias the priest.

So John's in line to be a priest.

He could have followed his father into the priesthood.

He could have been in the temple, he could have been

wearing the robes of a priest, he could have been in the

comfort of the temple. But no, not John, Oh no.

His whole lifestyle screamed against that because he knew how

hypocritical it was in the days of Jesus.

So we made sure that everything about his life spoke against the

self indulgent society in which he lived in because he lived a

life of complete and total self denial.

That was John. His whole life was a a visual

protest to to the religion of his day.

He didn't care about fitting in. You know, today we, we have

preachers who wear $1000 sneakers and wear jeans with

holes in them. I guess that's still in style.

I guess. I don't know.

And they those tight shirts that you can see their muscles

bulging all the time, you know, and they want to get in front of

the audience and be really cool, like, right.

That's not John. No, he wouldn't do that.

That even to be next to him, he'd smell the high heaven that

was John. He wasn't looking to looking to

impress anybody because he had an audience of 1 the Messiah and

he only wanted to please his God.

So he wasn't interested in looking like everybody else.

Fitting in was not important to him.

Being a part of the society was not important to him.

That's why I love what what Peter says in First Peter

1 Peter 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4. He says in verse #3 for the time

I already passed, it's sufficient for you to have

carried out the desire of the Gentiles.

Having pursued a course of sensuality, lust, drunkenness,

carousing, drinking parties, and and abominable idolatries and

all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them in

the same excess of dissipation and they malign you.

That's the believer. You've been saved from all that.

You're not interested in fitting in to the world you were saved

from. You're not interested in being

like the people used to hang around with in your unsafe

condition and they see that you don't run with them in the same

circles and they malign you. So Peter says.

I'm sure that John was, was maligned on many occasions, not

just because of what he ate or the way he dressed, how he

smelled, but just because he was completely unorthodox in his

mannerisms. He wasn't unorthodox just to be

that way. No, there was a a, a method to

his madness. He wanted to make sure that his

life was a total contradiction to everything around him.

Today we we love to to be a part of the world.

We love to fit in at work. We love to fit in at school.

Nobody wants to be on the outside.

Nobody wants to be the odd one out.

And then we wonder why our lives are not great.

We wonder why our lives are the way they are, too busy trying to

be like everybody else around us instead of trying to be like

Christ and honor him and glorify his name.

This is John, John the Baptizer, which leads to the second aspect

of what he was unorthodox about, and that was it's so baptism.

People were flocking to the wilderness down by the Jordan

River, which is about down by the, the city Jericho and and

beyond in the wilderness. It was hot, hot people were

coming. They were, they were coming.

He wasn't going to them. He could have administered in

the temple, but he wouldn't have been welcome there.

So he administered in the wilderness, the Judean

wilderness. And if you've ever been there,

it's it's hot, it's barren, it's dry.

Oh, it's nasty. People came to him.

He didn't go to them. They came to hear John.

They came to see John because he was completely, uniquely

different than everything and everyone else.

Surmount them. They challenged them.

Repent. Repent and be baptized for the

Kingdom of heaven is at hand and he would challenge them to be

baptized. And that's so interesting

because we know what baptism is. We know as as believers that

that we are baptized because we are identifying with the Christ

who was, who was, who was killed, buried and, and rose

again. That's why we we going down into

the water because we, we are buried with him in the likeness

of his death and then we are raised with him in the likeness

of his resurrection. Everything about about baptism

is symbolic and, and, and it's not what's baptism does because

baptism doesn't do anything. It's what baptism says, what it

says about your life and your commitment to follow the Lord

Jesus Christ. So we understand that about

baptism. But Jesus hadn't died and Jesus

hadn't been buried and Jesus hadn't been raised from the dead

yet. So what is John doing?

He's baptizing these people and challenging them to confess

their sins. And what he's doing is only done

to Gentiles, Gentiles who want to convert to Judaism, Gentiles

who realize that they're, they're not a part of the

covenant people of God. And they realize that they're

separated from the true and living God and they're not

descendants of, of Abraham and they're outside the, the

national covenant given to the people of Israel.

And they want to come into that covenant relationship and they

want to be baptized into all those things and, and confess

that they are not a part of what Judaism represents.

But John's not baptizing Gentiles, he's baptizing Jews.

And Jews weren't baptized, but they were all coming down to be

baptized by John because John's telling them, listen, I know

that you're a descendant of Abraham.

I know that you're into the rituals.

I know you're into the circumcision.

But none of that saves you. I know that you're the covenant

people of Israel. I know that you understand

Abrahamic and Davidic covenants. I understand you know all those

things. But none of that's going to get

you into heaven. You need to be prepared to meet

the Messiah and therefore you need to confess your sins.

You need to confess the fact that you're outside of a

relationship with God. For you to hear that is

astounding. That's why he was uncompromising

in his message and unorthodox in his mannerisms.

See, And people were being confessing their sins, being

baptized. Unfortunately, it was only

temporary. A lot like people, some people,

not all people, but some people get baptized and are baptismal.

They'll come and they'll make a profession of faith and they'll

get baptized and they'll want to identify with Christ.

But next thing you know, they're they're walking away from the

Lord. They don't care about the Lord.

And their commitment was a temporary commitment because the

cares of this world choke out the trueness of their

commitment. And the affliction comes and

persecution comes. They can't stand it and they

fall away. Matthew 13, The rocky soil and

the thorny soil, a lot of people were temporary because when they

met the Messiah, heard what the Messiah said, they didn't like

the message. So they crucified him, see.

So unfortunately, it was only a, a temporary, temporary

commitment on their part. It was a, it was a commitment of

convenience instead of a commitment of conviction.

A lot like people today in the church, we we have a commitment

of convenience. I'm committed to church as long

as it's convenient, as long as it's close, as long as I, I

don't spend 550 a gallon of gas to get there, as as long as it's

at the right time that I wanted to be there or I'm not on

vacation or I'm not doing this or that something else more

important on Sunday. I, I have a, a commitment of, of

convenience, not a commitment of conviction.

These people had to convenience, everybody else getting baptized,

everybody else confessing. They said let's do this thing.

But then when the Messiah comes, Messiah begins to speak and says

if any man came to me, let him deny himself and think of his

cross and follow me. You mean like John denied

himself? I'm not sure I want to do that

really. And they crucified the Messiah.

Here is John uncompromising his message.

I wonder if you as as a man back down on the message of the

Gospel. I wonder if you as a man are

ashamed of the Gospel. I wonder if you as a man kind of

are like to read down by the Jordan River, sway back and

forth depending upon what crowd you're with and what kind of

associates you have. And you'll say this in one crowd

and that in another crowd, or you always stand strong on the

truth, never compromising what Jesus says.

John the Baptist was uncompromising in his message,

and he was unorthodox in his mannerisms.

But not this #3 he was unequalled among men.

He was unequalled among men. Turn, if you would, in your

Bible to Luke's gospel. As you recall, we spent nine

years in Luke's gospel. It was quite a journey, took us

a long time. But I want to give you the

ultimate gender reveal story. We're all into gender reveal

today, right? Everybody wants to do something

big on Instagram or on Twitter or some kind of mechanism by

which I can get out to the world the gender of my baby.

Well, I'm going to give you the ultimate gender reveal.

It's in Luke chapter 1. Here it is.

Luke 1 · chapter mention

Angel of the Lord appeared to Zacharias.

This is verse 11, chapter 1, standing at the right of the

altar of incense. Zacharias was troubled when he

saw the Angel and fear gripped him.

But the Angel said to him, do not be afraid Zacharias, for

your petition has been heard and your wife Elizabeth will bear

you a son. Wow can have a boy, she's just

not going to be pregnant. She's going to have a boy and

you will give him a name. John.

They didn't have to even go to a baby book and forgot a good

name. They didn't have to even even

try to figure out what what kind of name fits with with our

family. No, the Angel.

Gabriel named him the Angel and Abriel told him that it's going

to be a boy. This is the ultimate gender

reveal. You're going to have a boy.

His name is John, and it says this.

You have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,

for he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will

drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy

Spirit while yet in his mother's womb, unequalled among men.

No other man was filled with the Holy Spirit while in their

mother's womb, but John was, and he will turn many of the sons of

Israel back to the Lord their God.

It is he who will go as a forerunner before him in the

spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the Father's

back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of

the righteous, so as to make ready of people prepared for the

Lord. This man is unequaled among men.

He had a very privileged calling, like Jeremiah, like

Paul, he was set aside in his mother's womb for unique and

special ministry. He would be the personal herald

of the Messiah. He'd be the one that would point

to the Messiah so that all would know who the Messiah is.

Nobody else had that privilege, but John did.

He came in the spirit and power of Elijah.

No one else did. He was set apart personally by

the Messiah. He would hear this later in

life. First Father said these words.

You child, will be called the prophet of El Elian, the Most

High God. Wow.

For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His way to give

to His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of

sins. Wow, that was John's ministry.

So we lived his, his life. It was so unique, so peculiar.

It was unequaled among men. He would see the Holy Spirit

descend upon Jesus, That is baptism.

He was the one who baptized Jesus.

Talk about unequaled among men, seeing the Holy Spirit descend

upon the Messiah and then to hear the voice from heaven.

This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased, unequaled

among men. This is John the Baptist, very

peculiar person, very unique in his ministry.

So he was uncompromising in his his message.

He was unorthodox in his mannerisms.

He was unequalled among men. He was unlimited in his mission.

His mission had no limits. Over Luke chapter 3 verse #18

Luke 3 · chapter mention

These words were spoken. So with many other exhortations,

He preached the gospel to the people.

He didn't pick and choose what people because his message was

unlimited to everybody who came to him.

Didn't pick and choose whether they were the religious elite or

whether they were they were poor blind people made no difference.

It was the same message, same gospel about the same person all

the time. It was unlimited.

He was unlimited. His mission, verse 19 of Luke 3.

But when Herod the Tetrarch was reprimanded by him because of

Herodias, his brother's wife, and because of all the wicked

things which Herod had done again unlimited in his mission,

he was willing to speak to an Idumean, a descendant of Esau,

people who hate the Jewish nation.

He would speak to Herod, he would reprimand Herod, he would

exhort Herod, he would reprimand Herod the king because his

mission was unlimited. He wanted everybody to hear the

message. Which leads me to our our fifth

point, and that is this. John was peculiar because he was

uninhibited in his ministry. Uninhibited in his ministry.

In other words, nothing kept him from fulfilling his call, even

when it came to reprimanding the king.

Herod remember Herod, he was Herod the tetrarch.

He was a ruler over 4 aspects of the of the king or one of four

rulers and and he would build Tiberius on a on a, a graveyard.

He would honor it, give honor to it by naming it after Caesar

Tiberius. Caesar Tiberius is on the Sea of

Galilee. Jesus, by the way, never went to

that city because it was built over a a graveyard.

But Herod was a man who was wicked and Herod had had married

his brother's wife, who was really his half sister.

And Herod knew that. I mean, John knew that and

confronted him on that and listen to what it says in in

Matthew's Gospel, in Matthew chapter 14.

Matthew 14 · chapter mention

At that time, Herod the tetroarch heard the news about

Jesus. John's gone off the scene now

and Jesus is is is preaching, he said to his servants, this is

John the Baptist. He thinks Jesus is John the

Baptist. He was risen from the dead and

that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.

Herod is fearful of John. Remember what it says over in in

Mark's Gospel and in the 6th 6th chapter of Mark it says this

Herod was afraid of John verse 20 knowing that he was a

righteous and holy man. Herod the king knew that John

the Baptist was a righteous and holy man separated unto God

living a righteous and pure life and he kept him safe.

Remember John was in prison down in Macarius which is 7 miles

northeast of the of the Dead Sea.

It was the palace of Herod. It was his summer palace.

He had two dungeons in it and that's where he kept kept John

the Baptist kept him safe. But note this.

And when Herod heard John, he was very perplexed.

But he used to enjoy listening to him.

That's just a an incredible verse.

Herod was perplexed. Herod was was attracted,

attracted by the message that John would give.

Until the message attacked the way Herod lived.

And then it was a different story.

It's like people in the church, they're very, they're attracted

to the message until, until the pastor says something about

their personal lives and, and they're very offended by that

and confronted by that. And they no longer want to go to

that church because their, their, their life has been

exposed. Not that the pastor knew

anything, it's just that they didn't like what he said.

That was Herod. He was taken back.

He was, he was moved by John because of the message.

But when the message attacked Herod's relationship, his

incestuous relationship with his brother's wife, well, they

didn't go over so well. So back in Matthew's Gospel it

says these words, When Herod had John arrested, he bound him and

put him in prison because of Herodias his wife, the wife of

his brother Philip. For John had been saying to him,

It is not lawful for you to have her.

Although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd

because he regarded John as a prophet.

But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced

before them, and pleased Herod so much that he promised with an

oath to give her whatever she asked.

Having been prompted by her mother, she said, Give me here

on the platter the head of John the Baptist.

Although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given

Because of his oaths and because of his dinner guests, he sent

and had John beheaded in the prison.

His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl.

She brought it to her mother. His disciples came and took away

the body and buried it, and he went and reported it to Jesus.

Here's a man who was uninhibited in his ministry.

He had no inhibitions about anything, who he talked to, what

he said, because he was interested in righteousness and

holiness and godliness. He only spoke the truth.

In fact, he did the most loving thing he could do, confront,

inherit on a sin. The most unloving thing he could

do was just allow him to live in sin without ever being

confronted on it. That's the most unloving thing

anybody can do. But the most loving thing you

can do is to call out the sin, call it what it is, and demand

that they repent of their sin and follow the Lord.

That was John uninhibited in his ministry, so he was beheaded.

That the voice of John could be silenced.

But the truth that John spoke would carry on through Jesus,

through the apostles and all those who would hear the Gospel.

So here is John the Baptist. He was the kind of person who

was uncompromising in his message, unorthodox in his

mannerisms, unequaled among men, unlimited in his mission.

He was uninhibited in his ministry.

Number six, he was unpopular before the multitudes.

The Bible says in Luke chapter 3 verse #20 these words.

Luke 3 · chapter mention

Herod also added this to them, and he locked John up in prison.

John was antisocial, he was politically incorrect, he was

insensitive, he was bothersome, he was irritating, he was an

outcast. He had no wealth.

He had no social prominence, he had no education, he had no

worldly status, no achievements, backed by no organization, wrote

no books, held no office, had no physical prowess.

That we know of all the things that are completely different

than what we would determine as a great and successful man.

He would never win a Pulitzer Prize.

He would never win an Oscar. He would never win an Emmy.

He would never win a People's Choice Award.

He would never win a lifetime achievement award.

He'd be no MVP. He'd have no All Star honors,

He'd have no military medals, He had no literary honors, He would

have no educational honors. But he was the greatest man ever

born of a woman. Not because I said so, not

because the Jerusalem Post said so, but because Jesus said so.

And #7 He was unforgettable as a man.

He is written in the annals of Scripture, in the eternal Word

of God, be remembered forever. He truly lived out Ecclesiastes

7, one that the day of 1's death is better than the day of 1's

birth. And everyone rejoiced at his

birth. The Angel Gabriel said so

they'll be filled with joy and everyone will rejoice.

But the day he died, talk about heaven's rejoicing.

Talk about his home and glory, his reward in heaven, an

unforgettable man. The Bible tells us the book of

Proverbs, the memory of the righteous will last forever.

And yet there is one more point. I told you I had eight.

I've given you 7, that there's one more point that is extremely

relatable to everyone in the room that you need to understand

about John. It's a point that is

unimaginable because it was John who had an unimaginable moment

unlike any other moment in his life that marked him, that

caused Jesus to say there's never been a man born of a woman

greater than John in that unimaginable moment, which is

point #8 I'll talk to you about next week.

Let's pray. Father God, we thank you for

today and thank you for the ministry of John the Baptist.

Matthew records it. Mark records it.

Luke records it. John records it. 4 Gospels

highlight the ministry of this man.

Extremely peculiar, extremely different.

Nothing that we would deem successful in this day and age

for sure. Nothing that we would want to

put up as a model for others to follow.

But you did. And I pray that we would look at

John and realize the impact that he made in just an 18 month

ministry. That's it.

And then you took him home. And yet, Lord, the man's life

was incredible. Maybe learn from him.

Maybe learn to model him because you said he was the greatest man

born of a woman. And so, Father, we just ask that

you go before us. You help us to live in light of

your word until you come again, as you most surely will, in

Jesus name, Amen.