 All right, now I begin by saying it's Mother's Day, and you know, I was telling First Service, I was saying, oh, what a, it's not a message I normally would want to give on Mother's Day, but I'm going to. So let's open up our Bibles to chapter 14, and let's look at it together here. Chapter 14, Matthew, we're going to be looking today at verses 1 through 13. I chose to entitle this, a tale of two men and two women, and you'll see why in just a moment. So beginning at verse 1, Matthew chapter 14, at that time, Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus and said to his servants, this is John, the Baptist. He has risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him. For Herod had laid hold of John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. For John had said to him, it is not lawful for you to have her. And although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude because they counted him as a prophet. But when Herod's birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod. Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. So she, having been prompted by her mother, said, give me John the Baptist's head here on a platter. And the king was sorry. Nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him at the table, he commanded it to be given to her. So he sent and had John beheaded in prison. And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl. She brought it to her mother. Then his disciples came and took away the body and buried it and went and told Jesus. When Jesus heard it, he departed from there by boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed him on foot from the cities. At this point, Jesus' ministry has been widely spoken of and his ministry is now garnering great interest. His fame, his reputation has spread throughout the land of Israel. And there are many now who are hearing of Jesus Christ. All the way back in chapter four, we already have seen this, but I want to reiterate, when Jesus was baptized, the Bible tells us in chapter four verses 23 through 25 that he began going from place to place sharing his message. When you look at those verses, it says Jesus went about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. Then his fame went throughout all Syria. And they brought to him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon possessed, epileptics and paralytics, and he healed them. And great multitudes followed him from Galilee, from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. And so Jesus' ministry is impacting and his fame is spreading throughout the land. This has been going on for some time. People are coming into contact with him. And after they come into contact with the Lord, they begin to do what people naturally do. When the Lord did something in their life that was impactful, they would tell other people, and that's what they've been doing. And so in Matthew 13, we saw at verse two, great multitudes are gathered together to him so that he got into a boat and sat, and the whole multitude stood on the shore. So there were great multitudes who were not only beginning to follow him, but continuing to follow him and increasing in numbers. And so as the word goes out that this man, Jesus Christ, is ministering throughout the land, Herod, the highest government official has heard of him. Now, Jesus' fame is going out not because he's self-broadcasting or self-promoting, but because people are being touched by him. And as they're being touched by him, they go out and speak concerning the things that he's done on their behalf. You see, Jesus was not into self-promotion. The Bible makes it very clear in Proverbs 27 verse two when it says, Let another man praise you, not your own mouth, a stranger, not your own lips. It wasn't that Jesus was out there promoting himself in some self-righteous, arrogant way, but when the Lord Jesus Christ would minister to somebody, that person who was ministered to could not help but go out and begin to speak concerning him. You see, you can't keep a good thing secret. And he had done much good and his reputation is growing because of that. And his name is well-known. It's so well-known that it has reached the ears of a man by the name of Herod Antipas. So what we have here are verses before us that give us insight into the lives, the lives of two men, Herod and John, as well as the lives of two women, Herodius and Salome, her daughter. We'll see that in just a moment. When you read your Bible, you begin in Matthew and you see that the name Herod is mentioned. And sometimes you may be thinking that the name Herod, when you see it in chapter two of Matthew, is the only Herod that is mentioned. But actually you see the name Herod used a variety of times and all. And this person here is a man by the name of Herod Antipas. Now Herod Antipas was the son of a man by the name of Herod the Great. So Herod was what is called a tetrarch. A tetrarch was a ruler over a fourth part. It speaks concerning the fact that Israel had been divided into sections. And so this speaks of a man who actually has rulership over a certain portion. Now Herod was not a Jewish man. He was half Idomian. Idomian would be a descendant of Esau, son of Isaac. And it was half Samaritan. He had a father by the name of Herod the Great. And Herod the Great was despised because Rome had placed him a non-Jew over Israel. When you read history, you see that Herod, Herod the Great, was a murderer. He's the one who ordered the slaughter of the babies in Bethlehem when Jesus was born. He also ordered the slaughter of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish religious council. In order to retain his power, he had one of his wives and two of his sons executed. So this was a very evil man. He was a father. So after the death of Herod the Great, Rome divided the kingdom amongst three of his sons, Antipas, Archelaus, and Philip. His half brother is also mentioned in this passage. Now you have Herod, but you also have someone by the name of John. Now Herod was a man who was a political official. John is a kingdom official. Herod was appointed by Rome. John represented God. And what we have here is a life, a life that is really to be held in contrast. You have the life of one who walks in the spirit and you have the other one who walks in the life of the flesh. And as you compare their lives, you have an opportunity of seeing the results of living the way that they did. Now, both of these men, as you look in Herod's life and you look in John's life, both of these men can be seen as examples. John is an example of godliness. But Herod is an example of the carnal flesh. Now we need in this world more people like John because we already have a nation of people like Herod. So at this time what we have is a man by the name of Herod and notice with me in verse one who hears a report. It says in verse one, Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus and said to his servants, this is John the Baptist. He has risen from the dead and therefore these powers are at work in him. And so Herod hears these rumors and these rumors that were circulating have reached his ears. The report about Jesus has reached his ears and he immediately associates Jesus with John. Now Luke tells us that Jesus had sent his 12 disciples out to preach and to minister. And in chapter nine of Luke's gospel, at verse six it says they departed. They went through the towns preaching the gospel and healing everywhere. So as always happens reports of what was going on reached the ears of a political official. And so it says in Luke chapter nine verses seven through nine, Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was going on and he was perplexed because some were saying that John had been raised from the dead. Others that Elijah had appeared and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life. But Herod said, I beheaded John, who then is this I hear such things about? And he tried to see him. It's interesting how that this rumor that is given to us here in Luke chapter nine tells us that some are saying it's John, some are saying it's Elijah and some are saying it's one of the prophets. Because when we get to Matthew chapter 16 in about three years, when we get there, when we get to Matthew 16, we're going to be seeing that Jesus is in an area to the north of the Sea of Galilee. And he's in a place called Caesarea Philippi and he's seated there at the base of this particular hillside and he begins to question his disciples and asks them the question, who do men say that I the son of man am? And then at that point, they begin to respond and all they're doing is regurgitating what has been said about Christ that we see in Luke chapter nine verses seven through nine. Some say you're John the Baptist, some say you're Elijah, some say you're Jeremiah or one of the prophets. So Jesus was aware of the rumors that were circulating. Herod is also aware of those rumors that are circulating. And yet Jesus feels it right for him to correct those rumors when he spoke to his own men and when he said, who do men say that I the son of man am? And as I've mentioned to you a thousand times already, the term son of man, who do men say that I the son of man? The term son of man comes out of the Old Testament book of Daniel chapter seven verse 13 and is in reference to Messiah. So it was like an open book exam where Jesus says, who do men say that I the son of man am? He already supplied the answer to the question by referring to himself as son of man. Who do men say that I Messiah am? That's what he's actually saying. But they say John, they say Elijah, Jeremiah, one of the prophets and then he goes on and he says, but who do you say that I am? Which helps for us to understand that it's not enough for us to be able to repeat what others have said. We need to have a personal knowledge ourselves. And that's where John said, you are the Christ. The son of, I'm rather Peter said, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And that's why the Lord Jesus Christ would question them. So this rumor that we have recorded in Luke chapter nine is something that Jesus later on will address in Matthew chapter 16. So the rumors, the rumors that are being addressed and the rumors that are going forth at this time is that John was raised from the dead. That's what Harry is saying. I beheaded John, who then is this I hear such things about? He's wondering who he is. Perhaps he thought that if John were raised from the dead he would have supernatural powers. Since the works were good, that would mean that the power would originate in heaven. So that's what's taking place here. That's our introduction in verses one and two of Matthew chapter 14. Again, at that time, Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus, said to his servants, this is John the Baptist. He's risen from the dead. Therefore these powers are at work in him. So what you have between verse two and three is actually what we would call a flashback. It's providing for us events that happened previously. And Bible commentators would say that what's being spoken about here in verses three following, are events that took place over a year before. One commentator says at least a year another says up to two years. So what's being spoken of here in Matthew 14 verses three following, are events that took place over a year before up to two years before. And so this gives us a backdrop of what's happening here. Again, he says John the Baptist is risen from the dead. These powers are at work in him. And now Matthew supplies to us the context. He goes on verse three and says it, for Herod had laid hold of John and bound him, put him in prison for the sake of Herodias. Notice his brother, Philip's wife. John had said to him, it is not lawful for you to have her. And although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude because they counted him as a prophet. But when Herod's birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod. Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whenever she might ask. So she having been prompted by her mother said, give me John the Baptist's head here on a platter. The king was sorry. Nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him at the table, he commanded it to be given to her. So he sent and had John beheaded in prison. And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl. She brought it to her mother. John had been placed under arrest by Herod. He was in a prison to the Southeast, a prison that is called Macarus. The reason John had been imprisoned is because John had spoken to him and had called him to repentance. That was John's ministry. John's ministry was to go forth, preparing the way for Messiah and to call people to repentance. When you look into the gospel of Mark in chapter one and Mark is giving his introduction, he says in verses two through four as it is written in the prophets, behold, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. Make his path straight. John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And so when he said, prepare the way of the Lord, I was mentioning this on Wednesday night, how that when it speaks of preparing the way of the Lord, it is speaking about when a king would come to visit a city or province or whatever, they would send people before him. And as the royalty was to enter into the city, they would send people before him who they were supposed to clear out the debris. And so as they were coming, they were to fill in the potholes and they were to clear off all the rocks so that when the king made his entrance, the pathway was smoothed without stumbling. And so when John went forth preaching, what he was preaching was a baptism of repentance. What he was saying is prepare the way of the Lord. He was saying, remove the debris from your life. Fill in those potholes so that he has a straight entrance into you. That's what repentance is supposed to do. It's preparing a way for the Lord to have entrance into your life. That's how you get a relationship with God. It's not a natural thing. It's not something you were born with. It's something that you repent and you have because you repented and you deposited faith in God. So it's not an automatic thing. Just because somebody was raised in a church, just because somebody had a mom or a dad who loved the Lord doesn't automatically mean that that person is gonna have a relationship with God. That person gets a relationship with God when they personally bow their knee, their heart to God and say, God be merciful to be a sinner. And that comes through repentance. So we're called to clear the debris out of our life so that he may have an entrance in and that's what he did and that's what it says in the book of Isaiah chapter 40, verse three and Malachi makes mention of that in Malachi chapter three, verse one. That's what it's all about. It's having a relationship with the Lord and it's opening up so that he might have an entrance into us. And so the message of repentance is something that is not just for certain elements of society but for everybody. You see, even in our day to day we have people who will look and say, well, of course they should repent. Look at the kind of life they live. They're living, they're not good people. They're bad people. Look at these drug addicts. Look at these people who are living this way and that way. No, it's not for just the people that we have categorized and we have said, oh, those are the worst of the worst and therefore they really need to repent. It's all of us. The Bible speaks concerning all of us. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There's not a single righteous one. No, not one. So we're all to repent and that's what John was calling. So it wasn't just of certain people. It was to everybody. We all need to get right with God. When you look in Luke chapter three, verses seven through 19 and you look at his ministry, John the Baptist goes forth and he's calling everybody to repentance. You'll see in incident, incidences where he speaks to the multitudes, the general population. But you also see him as he speaks to the tax collectors and then you see him as he speak into soldiers. So the message is to go to all people, including those in the position of power, including those like Herod. So Herod had arrested John. Herod imprisoned him and the reason he did so is because John had directly confronted him. He said, it is not a lawful for you to have your brother, Philip's wife. And I didn't notice that again. In verse three, Herod had laid hold of John, bound him, put him in prison for the sake of Herodius. Notice his brother, Philip's wife. It does not say Herodius Herod's wife. Notice that. It says his brother, Philip's wife because what he had done was wrong. You see over a year earlier, John had been arrested because he called Herod to repent from adultery. While on a visit to the city of Rome, Herod had stolen Herodius from his brother, Philip. So in order to marry her, Herod had to divorce his present wife. He divorced, it's said like this, out of convenience. He didn't want this one because he wanted that one. I had somebody approach me years ago and asked me a question. Does God forgive every sin? I was a young pastor at that time, young minister. And I wasn't quite aware of how devious we could be with our theological questions at that time. I thought he was asking an honest question. I thought he was one in a real biblical answer. He had called the office. This was 34 years ago, 33 years ago. He had called the office said, listen, it's my lunchtime. Can I see Pastor David for a minute? My secretary said he's preparing a Bible study. It'll only take a moment. It's an emergency. Can I see him? My secretary calls me and says to me, this man's got an emergency. He needs to see you. Can he come in and see you? I said, okay, of course, if it's an emergency, yes. And so he came in. I said, just let me know when he's there. So he came in. I still remember him coming into my office and sitting down with me. Pastor, yes? I would like to know if God forgives every sin. And I'm looking at him and I'm thinking he's sincere. So I said, well, of course, Jesus Christ died on a cross that set us free from sin. There's not a single sin that God doesn't forgive you of if you confess and repent and turn from it, turn to him. Thank you very much. That's all I needed to know. I thought, man, I'm the Bible answer man. That quick, huh? Well, little, I didn't know what he did. I found out later. He was having an affair. He wanted to get out of his present marriage. And so by asking, well, God forgive me of my sin and the answer is yes, he will. He took that as permission to get rid of his present wife so he could go off with this other woman and get married to her. And he wanted to say he did it right. So just because somebody has questions doesn't mean they're sincere. And just because men like Herod would sit down and listen, you'll see this in a moment to the things that John said and listen to him with great interest doesn't mean that his heart was really being moved in the direction that it needed to go. We'll look at that in just a moment, but we'll get back to it when we say that God commanded the nation of Israel not to commit adultery. That is what is called the seventh commandment. You see that in Exodus 20, verse 14 where it very simply says you shall not commit adultery. Now John had repeatedly brought this to his attention. He had said, it is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife. Now he wasn't saying that it's against civil law to divorce and remarry. He was saying it is against God's law. Now when you look in the Old Testament there's a book of Malachi. In Malachi, God gives us insight into God's declaration of marriage and its purpose. In Malachi, chapter two, verse 11, that verse speaks of marriage as notice the Lord's holy institution which he loves. We call it holy matrimony, but God's word says it's his holy institution which he loves. So it's not an arrangement invented by human beings. It's an institution that has been given to us by God. Now it's intended, marriage is intended to complete human beings because the two shall become one flesh. So you have the man, you have the woman, the two united in holy matrimony are now completing one another. The two become one flesh. But it's also intended for the continuation of the human race through procreation. And one of the purposes of reproduction is to produce a people who love the Lord. Still in Malachi in chapter two, verse 15, Malachi 2.15 tells us that God seeks godly offspring. So the process of producing godly offspring is undermined through adultery and easy divorce. If you want to have godly children, it's important to have a godly marriage. It's important for a man to know that this is a holy institution. For the woman to know it is a holy institution. And should God bless us with children, then it is part of the blessing of God that one, we had children, and two, that we were able to have them raised in a home that is godly. Not everybody has the chance to be raised in a godly home, of course. But those of us who are Christians and those of us who have had our children, we have the opportunity, the privilege and responsibility of raising them up in the knowledge and nurturing of the Lord. Because it's God's desire to have godly offspring. And it's his desire in this holy institution of marriage to produce children who love him. Now, John's a preacher of righteousness. He's a man who preached with conviction. He preached with courage. He preached without respect of persons. And it didn't matter to him that Herod was the ruler and that Herodias would be offended by the message. It didn't bother him at all. So that gives to us insight into why the spirit did not allow Matthew to refer to her as Herod's wife. They didn't have biblical reasons for divorce. They were guilty of adultery by divorcing out of convenience. Mark chapter 10, verses 11 and 12, he said to them, whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. If a woman divorces her husband, marries another, she commits adultery. This is speaking about non-biblical reasons for divorce. And if someone out of convenience just divorces, you're entering into an arrangement that isn't blessed of God. Now we know that John was a man sold out completely to the Lord. He was filled with the spirit of God from the womb. And we know that he was a faithful preacher of righteousness. He feared the Lord. He loved people. And because he feared the Lord and loved people, he shared with them God's message. That's what you're supposed to have whenever you share. It's a fear of the Lord and a love for people. That's why you take this message and you give it even though you know there are times when people will refuse to hear and sometimes even violently oppose. We see that in the life of John. But that's what we're called to do. If you're gonna be used by the Lord, you need to have a fear of the Lord and a love for people. That's what you need. There's a man by the name of Samuel Bregel. Samuel Bregel was an early leader of the Salvation Army. He wrote, the way to spiritual leadership. And this is what he said, the way to spiritual leadership. It is not won by promotion, but by many prayers and tears. It is attained by confession of sin and much heart searching and humbling before God. By self-surrender, a courageous sacrifice of every idol, a bold, uncompromising and uncomplaining embracing of the cross, and by an eternal, unfaltering, looking at Jesus crucified. It is not gained by seeking great things for ourselves, but rather like Paul, by counting those things that are gained to us as loss for Christ. That is a great price, but it must be unflinchingly paid by him who would be not merely a nominal, but a real spiritual leader of men, a leader whose power is recognized and felt in heaven, on earth, and in hell. And that was John. John was a man who was courageous, he was a man of conviction, he was a man who was faithful, a man filled with the spirit, and he spoke forth God's word. And he spoke and he said, it is not lawful for you to have your brother Philip's wife. You stole her, divorced out of convenience, and she's not your wife. You're committing adultery. Of course, in our day adultery is so common, people don't even think it's wrong anymore, but they don't realize the pain it causes for all involved. They especially haven't taken into consideration the pain it causes the children. Now, John is speaking, and it says in verse four, John said to him, it's not lawful for you to have her. And although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude because they counted him as a prophet. So sexual sin must be reproved, even when people think our concern is self-righteous judgmentalism. You know, as a Christian, you can be called many things, but one of the things that I have found today is common for Christians to be called when you say something about sin is they call us haters, we're haters. And there's nothing further from the truth than that. And we don't, I don't know about you. I don't hate people. I do love them. I hate sin because I see what sin does to people. I see the results of it. I see the pain that it causes. I have seen the pain of sexual immorality. I've seen as you have the pain of unfaithful husbands and unfaithful wives and the pain that it brings on the children and the families because when a man and woman get married, it's not just those two getting married, though they're the ones who are married, but it's impacting the entire family structure, the mothers and fathers of the children, the grandparents of the children born to that. And when you see the pain of divorce and the pain of unfaithfulness, well, it causes you within your heart to speak even more fervently and encourage people even more powerfully, remain faithful to God in your vows. And so this conviction that Herod had experienced when John was speaking to him, well, that conviction could have led him to repentance and he could have been saved, but instead, John's consistency produced the desire to have John put to death. In Proverbs 29, verse one, the Bible says, he who is often rebuked and hardens his neck will suddenly be destroyed in that without remedy. How many times does the Lord have to speak to our hearts before we listen? You see, not only was Herod angered by John's message, but Herodias was also. Mark tells us in chapter six, verses 19 and 20, Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him, but she was not able to because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled yet he liked to listen to him. And so as that's going on, the Bible makes it very clear though that Herodias nursed a grudge. She held it against him. She wanted to kill him, but she could not. It would seem that Herod wanted to silence his conscience by listening, yet he was also aware of the sympathies of the people which caused him to be a little bit afraid because it says in verse five, he feared the multitude because they counted him as a prophet. And so what's going on? Well, verse six, when Herod's birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod. Now, when it speaks concerning that, pleased, it pleased him? That word pleased is a Greek word that means it stimulated him. It sexually excited him. She wasn't there doing the hokey pokey. She was dancing in a lascivious and lewd way and so not only do we see two men, John and Herod, but we see two women, Herodias and her daughter, Salome, and you see the influence of a mother on the life of a daughter. You see the influence that Herodias has on her daughter because it was at Herodias's prompting that Salome makes the request and is no doubt that this exhibition was prearranged by Herodias in order that she might be able to see that John is put to death. And so there is the influence that a mother can have on a daughter. That's a very, very powerful thing. Now it's Mother's Day. I'm not gonna try and make you feel bad, ladies. God knows I love you and he does too. But isn't it something that we need to take to heart? The influence that parents have, the influences that mamas have. My wife has tremendous influence on her daughters. We have our two daughters. And our daughters in watching mom have learned certain things that I think their husbands are blessed by. Just the other day, I had our family over for a birthday celebration. And one of my granddaughters was standing next to the, in the kitchen next to the island and my daughter, Korean, spoke to her niece and said to her, because my niece was about to serve herself, I think. And my daughter said something like this, I wish I could give an exact quote, but I did hear a bit of it. She said, in the Rosales home, the ladies make sure to serve others before they themselves are served. And I looked at my daughter, Korean, and I said, when did you learn that? I've never seen that before. No. But it's true. But it's true. And it's not because mama, Marie, made the daughters watch her when she served me. It's simply that they saw her serve me. And I am spoiled, and I've said this before, but it's true. My wife, Marie, was raised in a situation where she cared for me because her mama cared for her dad. And the daughters watched the mother. And they learn how to communicate. And they learn how to love. And they learn how to respect. And they learn how to do all of that. No, I can hear you already. Yeah, but the man better be, okay. Bottom line is service is a choice that we make. We make a determination that I will reflect the spirit of the Lord in my service to God and to others. It just so happens it's a much more pleasant experience when the person being served is grateful. We all understand that. But my children are learning and they're adults. And now my grandchildren are learning how to be a Christian, how to be a servant, how to be married. They're watching as they watch their parents. And in the case of Herodias, she brought her daughter Salome into it when Salome did her dance. Now Herod had been drinking. He and his men with him. He's a bit high, no doubt. And he begins to make a drunken oath. Up to half of my kingdom I'll give you. Ask whatever it is you want. And that's just one of those boisterous, loud mouth drunk statements that people can make. But before she makes her request, she goes to her mom and says, what is it that I should ask for? He has made this huge promise to me. What is it that I should ask for? Verse eight says, having been prompted by her mother, she said, give me John the Baptist's head here on a platter. Prompted by her mother. I want this. This is what we want. What a dangerous combination. An evil mother, an evil stepfather. And an evil daughter. This is what I want. I don't even, this is so gruesome, I can't even imagine somebody actually asking for something like that. Can you, I mean, how do you imagine that? What should I ask up to half the kingdom? We can have anything we want. Well, Herod is thinking I've already got everything. The only thing I don't have is his head. That's what I want. You tell him that we want the head of John the Baptist. We want it on a silver platter and we want it presented to us as a gift. You tell him that. She goes back and we're told that because of his drunken oath and because of those who sat at the table with them, he commanded it to be given. And that's what happens. He was caught in his own promise. It appears that he didn't want to do this, but his pride and the evil one out and he had John put to death. Now, here's something for us to practically apply. He was grieved, but he wasn't repentant. He was sorry for it, but he wasn't repentant. And so for the sake of his oath, he slaughtered John. Somebody said, for fear of a woman, for fear of his peers, for fear of his throne, and for a lack of fear of God, Herod damned his own soul forever. Herod damned his own soul. He had fear of everything except the one he should have feared, which is God himself. And so he said, let it be done. And they, according to verse 10, John was beheaded in prison. Verse 11, his head was brought on a platter given to the girl and she brought it to her mother. His disciples came and took away the body and buried it and went and told Jesus. When Jesus heard it, he departed from there by boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed him on foot from the cities. He was grieved, but not repentant. For his oath's sake, he slaughtered John. And his beloved friends and disciples came. They took his body, buried it, and they went off and told the one that needed to hear. They went and told Jesus. So what do we have here? We have an illustration. The greatest illustration of a disciple of Jesus Christ. Remember in Luke chapter nine, how Jesus said in verses 23 through 25, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it. Whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and is himself destroyed or lost? What does it profit you if you have every single thing that you wanted? Herodias did you had everything that she wanted except for one thing she wanted, the head of John the Baptist. That's the one thing she wanted. That's how evil her heart was. What is it profit a man to gain everything in the world and lose himself in the process? To have it all and have nothing. To have it all and have nothing. Those choices are made every day, aren't they? And one form or another. No, we're not asking for the head of John the Baptist. We're simply saying those who are speaking to us and calling us to repent ought to be silenced. This whole nation does that. Those who are speaking to us and saying, get your heart right with God, they ought to be silenced. That's hate speech, isn't it? I mean, they're saying things that make me uncomfortable. Let's silence them all. There's John in his cell. And as John was in his cell earlier, his men had come to him and he said, I want you to go and speak to Jesus. And I want you to ask him, are you the coming one or should we be looking for another? Because John knew that his days were numbered. He knew that the time was coming and so he says, you go and you ask him. Are you the coming one? As I mentioned to you when we went through that passage, coming one, the coming one was another messy anecdote. Are you Messiah or should I be looking for somebody else? Yes, it's true. I was there baptizing and yes, it's true. I saw the spirit descend and remain on you. And yes, it's true that God told me the one you see the spirit descending and remaining on, this is he. This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Yeah, that's what the Word of God says and all and this is what God had spoken in and all and he says, I know that, but I want you to go because my time is short is what he's in essence saying. There's an inference there. My time is short. I don't want to lose my head for the wrong one. Go and ask him. Are you the coming one? Should we be looking for another? And then Jesus says, you go back and you tell John these things. You tell him about the healings that are doing, the miracles that I'm doing. And blessed is the one who's not offended because of me. John, you have an idea of what Messiah is supposed to be, but you don't have the whole picture. The picture is being developed in front of you even as I speak and minister. You don't have the whole picture yet. Apparently those words when they returned and said, no, he's fulfilling Isaiah's prophecies and those things that speak concerning Messiah have brought comfort to the heart of John so that when he heard the sounds of those soldiers walking down that hallway and he heard the door as it was opened up and he saw the man with that sword and he knew his moment was over. That he'd close his eyes here but open him up looking in the face of God. Do you think he regretted that decision? Do you think he said, oh, I need another week in this prison? I don't think so. No, he said it's time. I fulfilled my purpose. It's over. In my race, the course is finished. I'll see him because I've been faithful. I wanna be someone who's able to say, I've been faithful. I've been faithful. I pray that's for all of us. I've been faithful. Is it easy? No. Is it easy standing up and saying, no, that's not right? No. Would I prefer being liked by everybody? Absolutely. Absolutely. But I still remember that when Jesus came in to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, that there were people throwing their palm fronds and yelling out hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And I wouldn't be surprised if some of the voices that were crying out, blessed is he for the other ones later on, say in the next week, crucify him. Because when you go out and you actually live for Jesus Christ, there is a price that you pay. I used to wish that I could preach in easy believism. I used to wish that I could stand up and say, guess what, man, you get saved and you'll never have another bad day in your life. There'll be nothing but, well, I'll write a book. You know, this is your greatest day. I mean, everything's great. Nothing wrong. Your enemies will begin to love you. Money will drop into envelopes and show up at your house. You'll never have another headache. You're gonna be nothing but healthy and you're gonna be wealthy, well-liked, successful in every way. Promoted and promoted and promoted because you're gonna be the head, not the tail. I wish I could say things like that, but the Bible doesn't seem to indicate that. Now does it? Those who shall live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution and John paid the ultimate price and I guarantee you that to this day, he doesn't regret it for a moment because he's with the Lord. And that's what faith is about. I mean with him and faithful. Well done, well done, my good and my faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord. It's been prepared for you from the beginning of the world. That's what you want to hear when he says to you, well done, well done. And the tears and the sorrow, the disappointment and the pain, the various things that you've gone through, he wipes away every tear and there's nothing but joy at his right hand forevermore. All you Christians pie in the sky, buy and buy, no. The Lord is never gonna leave me nor will he forsake me and though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for he is with me. His rod and his staff, they comfort me and he prepares the table in the presence of my enemies and God is a blessing God who will take us through every step of this journey and welcome us in and then we'll hear that well done and that's all that matters to me in the end. Well done, my good, my faithful servant. John the Baptist.