 Our sermon title this morning is your voice in the wilderness your voice in the wilderness and we're looking here at John chapter 1 Verses 19 through 28 and today coming to verse 19 We now begin the narrative portion of John's gospel Where we'll begin to see the prologue of the first 18 verses fleshed out now in the rest of John's writings here So from verses 19 chapter 1 verse 19 through chapter 2 verse 11 We're gonna see an account now of the first week in the ministry of Jesus Christ the seven days That began the earthly ministry of our Lord in the first three days that will come to you today We'll begin to see John the Baptist giving testimony of Christ in the next three days We'll see Jesus Christ with his disciples and on the seventh day We'll wrap up the first week with the first miracle of Christ turning the water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana So we enter in now to the first week of the earthly ministry of our Lord and let's not forget now as we get into these verses John's purpose for writing them we have to remind ourselves of this in John chapter 20 in verse 31 John the evangelist says these things are written that you may believe That Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing you may have life in his name And the truth is that although the way is narrow which leads to life And the way is difficult which leads to life such that if you find it Many over the centuries have read the job the gospel of John have heard testimony of Christ and have been saved They've come to faith in Christ and we must contend that this is the work of God The power of God unto salvation by the Spirit through the means of God's people Preaching the gospel Jesus says to his disciples in John chapter 15 verse 16 He says you did not choose me But I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and we're reminded that salvation Salvation for the Christian does not consist entirely in the notion that we choose him But salvation consists in the fact that he has chosen us and has commissioned us to be Witnesses for him to a lost and dying world all Christians small and great all Christians rich poor all Christians preach the gospel all Christians are called to be evangelists and that's why the church at the beginning of the church age and now down through the Centuries has grown Christ has said in Matthew 16 that he will build his church. He is building his church even now and that Comes through the means that Christ has appointed namely the preaching of the gospel by God's Chosen means preaching the gospel by God's people Some churches don't grow through conversion Some churches don't grow at all and they can make whatever excuses they like but churches don't grow because there's no evangelism The Lord blesses his word honors his word the Lord blesses Christ honors Christ The Lord blesses the preaching of God's word and where there is the preaching of God's word the church will grow Some churches only grow through sheep stealing They take the sheep that were grown through the evangelistic of efforts of other churches They sit back and they say look at how the Lord has blessed our growth and yet. There's no evangelism They haven't done anything to win those people to the Lord the Lord works through evangelism He works through the evangelistic efforts of his people to build his church The Lord is doing that even now Adolf Harnack the church historian Speaking of the first three centuries of the church said this We cannot hesitate to believe that the great mission of Christianity was in the reality That it was accomplished by means of informal missionaries. That's what you and I are We're informal missionaries informal missionaries to a lost dark world that needs a savior We're called to be informal missionaries with a gospel of Jesus Christ That's why the early church grew at such an astounding rate It happened as a result of the gospel and it happened as a result of God's people going everywhere preaching the gospel God blessed faithful evangelism and that's exactly how the church is going to grow in our day So as we look together at these opening verses in the narrative section now of John's gospel We're gonna see through the example of John the Baptist what it looks like to be a disciple of Christ It's what we're called to be we're called to be learning Followers of the Lord Jesus Christ were to be disciples and we'll see what it means to be an informal missionary To give testimony of Christ. That's our role. That's our responsibility It's what we've been commissioned to do may the Lord be pleased to bless our hearts that we would be consumed with a Passion of telling others about our Lord. So let's take a look at verse 19. We're gonna begin point one on your notes looking at John the Baptist John the Baptist was as he describes himself and is described by the prophet Isaiah The voice of one crying out in the wilderness. What was he crying out about? He's crying out about Christ He's preaching that men and women would turn from their sin turned back to the Lord And he was preparing the way for the coming Messiah He was the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, but now John faced Many things in that responsibility faced many things in that role. He faced opposition He faced Temptation he faced persecution. He faced questions about his own authority He faced those that presumed they had authority over him and we're gonna see that as we work through these verses together First point on your notes if we're going to follow the example of John to cry out for Christ in our own wilderness Your voice in our wilderness so to speak and we need to follow John's example in crying out in the face of opposition John the Baptist a voice crying in the wilderness cried out in the face of opposition verse 19 says now This is the testimony of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him who are you? As we looked at in chapter 1 verse 6 John the Baptist was a man sent by God He was a man sent by God to bear witness of the light now as you would expect from John the Baptist He's out in the wilderness doing exactly what God has commissioned him to do what God has called him to do and by this point in Verse 19 he's already at the height of his ministry. He's working his way down the Jordan River Preaching a baptism of repentance in preparation for the coming of Messiah and the Messiah has already come John the Baptist says there's one among you whom you don't know and that's true of the opening prologue He came to his own people his own people knew him not they received him not but the Messiah has already come John has already baptized Jesus in the in the River Jordan and now as John is preaching in the wilderness Jesus Christ has been led away into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan And so for the last six weeks John the Baptist while Jesus Christ is away being tempted in the wilderness Has been working down the River Jordan preaching the gospel preaching Christ So verse 19 begins. This is the testimony of John. This is what John was teaching. Remember Testimony that word testimony is a legal term. It's a legal term for a witness who gives verbal Evidence of the truth to affirm something as true Okay So if you're in court and you want to affirm something as true you call a witness to the stand and that witness Gives testimony to the truth he affirms that which is true And that's what John is doing out here in the wilderness and in chapter 1 here We begin to see the testimony of John now as we look at verses 19 Specifically through 28 over the next two weeks. We're going to see three different examples of John's testimony three different different examples of John's testimony to three different groups of people over Three consecutive days in John the Baptist ministry And it's described here in the next three sections of John the evangelist gospel that runs through verse 51 Okay, three different examples of John's testimony now John the Baptist is not a quiet man He is not a hermit who went out into the wilderness to avoid the world to hoard himself into a cave to be a monk That's completely unbiblical and John the Baptist is not one of those guys He's not one of those guys John the Baptist isn't he's not one of those guys It would say preach the gospel and if necessary use words It's another unbiblical notion. It's always necessary to use words when you're gonna preach the gospel I understand the point but again, it's unbiblical. You need to use words God has chosen the foolishness of Verbal proclamation to save those who would believe these chosen the foolishness of preaching. It's necessary to use words the gospel Did not go out in power on the backs of people who tried to hunker themselves in a cave Live a holy life and avoid the world The gospel went out in the power of the spirit on the backs of genuine Christians Who follow the example of John the Baptist and preached Christ? They preach the gospel and this is not going to be some quiet Underground movement from the very beginning John the Baptist was out in the wilderness boldly proclaiming Christ This is not a subversive underground movement It grows Christianity grows the church is built on the backs of Christians in the power of the spirit preaching Christ That John in the wilderness is the voice of one booming the voice of one Proclaiming the voice of one preaching the voice of one Boa oh crying out in the wilderness preaching Christ And it's interesting to note that while John has been out here in the wilderness for the last six weeks preaching Christ That Christ has been away in the wilderness being tempted by Satan and also if you remember the children of Israel Wandering in the wilderness for 40 years The wilderness here has been called described as the devastation Before the children entered the children of Israel entered the promised land. They were in the devastation They were in the wilderness. They were in the abandonment also a word used for waste now get this The wilderness here is a picture of the spiritual condition of the people The wilderness here is a picture of the spiritual condition of this world in which we live Is it any less a wilderness today than it was back then no many cases you can make the case that it's more so It's more so a wilderness today. There is a wilderness that you and I live in it's a wilderness of Orlando It is a spiritual Devastation it's a spiritual if you will waste That's because of sin He's here in the midst of this spiritual wasteland if you picture John in the midst of this this spiritual devastation Crying out crying out in the wilderness for people to turn from their sin To return to the Lord their God to make way for the coming Messiah Flee the wrath to come it was a a message of judgment It was a message confronting sin It was a message of the wrath to come and he was compelling them commanding them Crying out to them flee to your only hope behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world He's giving testimony out here in the desert. He's giving testimony of Christ And we too live in a spiritual wilderness. We live in a devastation all around us and every Christian in the same way that John the Baptist was called by God and sent by God to bear witness of the light to give testimony in the same way Every Christian is called by God to preach the living water in the drought They're called by God to go out to the devastation out to the wilderness and preach the living bread of life in the famine We're called to preach Christ We're called to with bold voices like John's to cry out bo-ah-oh in the wilderness for Christ And when you do that is that a strategy for winning friends and influencing people? No, no, it's not when you do that. What are you gonna get? Persecution you're gonna face opposition. It is a strategy for winning the lost It's a strategy for winning brothers It's a strategy for being an influence for the kingdom, but you're not gonna make many friends and influence people preaching the gospel You're gonna face opposition Paul says yes, and all those that desire to live godly in Christ Jesus may suffer persecution No, all those that desire to live godly in Christ Jesus might suffer persecution No, everyone who desires to live godly in this present age will suffer persecution Jesus himself said blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven That's every Christian They have to ask yourself You know, I think I'm a Christian, but I'm not suffering any persecution You know what? I can't remember the last time I've suffered persecution. You have to ask yourself why? Paul has said all Those that desire to live godly in this present age will suffer persecution Jesus Christ speaking of citizens of the kingdom saying blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven Why are you not suffering persecution for Christ? Why not? I'd submit to you the why not is because you're not opening your mouth for Christ if you Evangelize if you're faithful to preach as God has commissioned us to preach the gospel to lost people if you go out in the Wilderness that we live in and you preach Christ to lost people. You're going to face opposition You're going to face persecution if you face no opposition you face no persecution is because you're not preaching That's all that can be said about that. You're going to face persecution when you open your mouth and use your words It's interesting that in verse 19 when it says there that John is giving testimony That word for testimony in the Greek is martyria. That's where we get our English word martyr from a martyr is one who has given his voice for Christ and then after giving his voice for Christ gives his life for Christ all Because of their testimony of Christ you've heard of the magazine the voice of the martyrs Their voice crying out in the wilderness leads this wilderness of a world to take their life John the Baptist certainly gave his voice and he in turn gave his life for Christ Charles Spurgeon said this the good man has his enemies He would not be like his Lord if he had not If we were without enemies, we might fear that we were not the friends of God Do you get that if we were without enemies? We might fear that we were not the friends of God for the friendship of the world is enmity to God When the Bible says that all those that desire to live godly will face persecution and you face none There's a reason it begs the question why begs the question why I love this story about John Wesley I think it's my favorite John Wesley story, but John Wesley Persecuted everywhere that he went he went from town to town to town to town preaching the gospel Everywhere that he went he had eggs thrown at him bricks thrown at him tomatoes thrown at him Whatever a piece of rotten food was it you know arms length thrown at him and John Wesley was riding along on his horse one day And he realized that it had been three days since he had been persecuted He thought to himself it's been three days, and I've had no egg thrown at me no tomato no brick And so immediately He stopped his horse Slipped off his horse and said out loud could it be that I am backslidden rive sinned And so kneeling there next to his horse he knelt down to pray and he asked the Lord to show him if there was anything wrong in him spiritually There was a man nearby who disliked Wesley He saw him kneeling in prayer And so he picked up a brick and he threw it at him barely missing the preacher and So Wesley saw the brick fly by his head and he said thank you Lord. I know I still have your presence Love that story about John Wesley true story The cause for concern when we face no opposition the gospel is going to engender opposition Because this is a wicked world that we live in this is a wilderness that we live in So back to John the Baptist John is literally in the wilderness and he is spiritually in the wilderness Garning a great deal of attention from his bold preaching about Christ Multitudes are coming out to hear him the Bible says that multitudes from Jerusalem from Judea all the region around the Jordan are all Pouring out to hear John the Baptist preach and to be baptized by him. And so in drawing all these multitudes What does John also inevitably draw he draws opposition verse 19 says the Jews Sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him who are you and we need to set it straight right from the beginning This was no friendly visit The Jews the priests and Levites weren't coming out to thank John for his faithfulness to the Lord in preaching the gospel This was an ominous foreshadowing of the persecution that is about to come Priests and Levites came out from Jerusalem now look at the contrast John Was a man sent by God we saw that in chapter 1 verse 6 these and priests these priests and Levites were sent by the Jews now The Jews that phrase as many uses throughout the scripture Predominantly in John it's used for those who opposed Christ those that were the source of the opposition Those that were the source of persecution often refers to those that hated Christ hated what he was doing the phrase The Jews were for those that opposed him now most likely here the Jews Were the Sanhedrin there was a governing body over Israel called the Sanhedrin The Sanhedrin was a governing body controlled by the family of the high priest So closely connected to the Jews closely connected to the religious hierarchy the religious elite of the day and Delegates from this body delegates from the Sanhedrin would have been priests and Levites now The priests were descendants from Aaron They were the ones descended from Aaron that were charged with performing religious duties religious ceremonies To the one true and living God of Israel on behalf of the people that was the function of a priest now there's no such thing as priests today why? Because Jesus Christ is our high priest. Amen. Jesus Christ is our high priest. There is one Mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus We have no need for priests to mediate between us and God We have Jesus Christ who mediates between us and God So those that that call themselves priests today are not priests. They're just wicked men dressed up in silly clothes They're not priests. Okay priests have gone away The other group that attended with these priests attended the Inquisition are the Levites We have priests and Levites and the Levites came from the same tribe They came from Levi, but they weren't directly descended from Aaron And so the Levites being of the tribe of Levi though were given lowly your Responsibility with temple worship with tabernacle worship These duties included singing for one there were 24 classes of singers represented by the Levites They were the doorkeepers in the temple. They helped some with the sacrifices. They would have Excuse me read the law during synagogue services, but also the Levites were the temple police force and there were 24 classes or positions of policing that the Levites did for the Jewish theocracy and so as The priests as the Sanhedrin Sanhedrin send out the priests to go examine John in the wilderness. Do you think that the priests brought the singers with them? No, they didn't bring the singers with them. They brought the temple police force There's no friendly visit the Levites the police force so to speak go out with the priests to talk to John in the wilderness This was a clear demonstration of power It's a clear demonstration of them exercising the authority they thought they had and a clear demonstration of some latent hostility woven in there, too They weren't going to tolerate any Upstart out in the woods preaching or starting a ministry that ran counter to their own They weren't going to tolerate it and incidentally both of these groups both the priests and the Levites fell far short of a good reputation If you remember Jesus used both of those groups the priests and the Levites as Examples of men that passed by the wounded man in Luke 10. That was the story of the Good Samaritan, right? They post the both of those groups just passed right by and In Luke 14 and we've got these priests these Levites going out to confront John in the wilderness Not a friendly visit. This is more like an inquisition and it's a foreshadowing of what was to come But now John was prepared for this Jesus Christ was prepared for this They knew exactly what was going to happen in Luke chapter 14 This is to say that you and I should be prepared for the opposition to you and I should be prepared for the persecution also We know that it's going to come in Luke chapter 14 Jesus Christ instructs those that would follow him to count the cost for being his disciple now a significant part of The cost associated with being a disciple of Christ is the Opposition that you're going to face when you open your mouth and cry out for Christ in a wilderness You're gonna face opposition. So What are you gonna do? Jesus Christ says in Luke chapter 14 to count the cost You claim to be a Christian Maybe you're not a Christian you're here today. You're not saved This is part of the cost of coming to Christ part of the understanding of what it means to be a Christian God Jesus Christ has commissioned his followers to preach his gospel to people who need a savior What's the alternative? Alternative is hell and people are lost and dying and going to hell every day But Jesus Christ has called those whom he has redeemed to himself Those whom he has washed in his own blood Purchased with his own blood saved justified cause God by his spirit to be born again And God has caused those trophies of his grace to go out into the wilderness and preach the gospel What are you gonna do? Do you fear the the opposition? The opposition is gonna come So don't let it silence your voice for Christ in our wilderness You've been given a voice Paul said we believed therefore we spoke Lord has filled you with his spirit Lord has given you a glorious inheritance and Christ is precious Are you gonna let opposition silence your voice? John the Baptist didn't let it silence his so John On two fronts right in one sense he had great multitudes that were coming out to him People that wanted to hear him preach people that wanted to be baptized Great multitudes coming out to hear him and on the other side great opposition. This was the opposition that was coming And he knew he would face great opposition for his witness to Christ now both of these circumstances lead to temptation and Temptation in various ways. This is temptation That the Christian every Christian has to face And every Christian in the power of the spirit has to stare down this temptation in the same way that John the Baptist did and be Courageous and not let it silence your voice for Christ and we see this temptation Woven into the fabric of the next three verses point to you on your notes Crying out in the face of temptation if you're a Christian You're gonna be crying out in the face of opposition Just like John if you're a Christian you're gonna be crying out in the face of temptation Just like John in verse 20 the Bible says John confessed and he did not deny, but he confessed I am not the Christ They asked him again. What then are you Elijah? He said I am not are you the prophet? He answered no Then they said to him who are you that we may give an answer to those who sent us What do you say about yourself now the reputation the repetition that you find in verse 20? Simply serves to emphasize that John the Baptist in the face of opposition did not compromise He didn't compromise his voice. He didn't compromise the truth. He didn't compromise Christ. He confessed He did not deny, but he confessed I am not the Christ It means he clearly stated and he did not hedge his words he gives a short clear answer of five words in verse 20 and almost in this What appears to be frustration he shortens his answer each each time he confessed did not deny I am not the Christ Are you Elijah? He said I am not are you the prophet? No from five words to three to one He is simply stating What he's been called to to preach John was faithful to the Lord and in being faithful the Lord He was faithful to the message that the Lord gave him to preach So we see woven into the fabric here of these three verses. We see two Primary temptations that John certainly had to face and John continued a voice crying out He continued crying out in the face of temptation one Considering the multitudes that came out to see John Considering the effectiveness the impact that his ministry was having the first temptation would have been the temptation to pride Matthew says in chapter 3 that all Jerusalem all Judea in the region around the Jordan We're coming out to hear him preaching to be baptized by him Luke 3 tells us that Messianic expectations expectations of the coming Messiah the coming Christ were running high throughout the region and In Luke chapter 3 verse 15 all of the people reasoned in their hearts about John Whether he was the Christ or not so despite John's message He was constantly trying to take the focus off of himself and put the focus on Christ And the people constantly tried to put the focus back on him They wondered in their hearts whether he was the Christ or not John 10 says that many came out and many were believing as a result of John's testimony The people even this delegation from Jerusalem Wanted to attribute something of greatness to John the Baptist. Are you Elijah? Are you the prophet? Are you the Christ? It's just like in the same way those that wanted to take Christ by force and make him king They wanted to attribute something of greatness to John John was extremely effective yet in all this John makes no claim of greatness for himself and he humbly begins verse 20 by clearly stating what he is not He is not the Christ now John could have Knowing who they were this brood of vipers who had come out of Jerusalem knowing who they were John could have responded in Prideful indignation. Who do you think you are coming out here to question me, right? He could have responded Do you know who I am? Attributing to himself his own level of greatness He could have reveled in the attention a little the fact that people were enjoying his preaching coming out to hear him He may have enjoyed being liked or enjoyed being followed John might have thought of his own personal ambitions Might have thought of his own personal goals a direction of this personal ministry that he was undertaking The goals that he wanted to achieve That was not John the Baptist John the Baptist was an object lesson in self-denial And in being so self-debasing John just kept pointing to Christ While John decreased Christ increase and get this While John Denied himself Continuously he never denied Christ The word here confessed he confessed and did not deny but confessed this word doesn't simply mean a statement of fact It wasn't that John just got out there in the wilderness stood up and said confess Jesus is the Christ Like he was agreeing to a set of facts Mirror sent or mere agreement isn't nearly what is meant or communicated through this word the word confess means to profess in a manner to attest to in a manner that is Observable through commitment and action when you confess something or someone you follow that confession up with Observable action with observable commitment with a vow or a promise so to speak You affirm a truth and you follow through with commitment to that truth This was a vow was a commitment. It was a promise And in confessing that he was not the Christ John is just forgetting himself and confessing Christ, right? You could could you could clearly observe that in everything about John John just forgot himself He forgot his clothing Matthew says that he was out in the wilderness wearing camel's hair and a leather belt the belt around his waist John forgot creature comforts. He forgot his food. He was out there eating locusts and wild honey He forgot his comfort his creature comforts in that he could have lived in Jerusalem and preached the gospel in Jerusalem But he chose rather to go out into the wilderness in fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy as one a voice of one crying out on the wilderness Living among the poorest of the land. He just forgot himself, but he never forgot Christ This is not done in some Form of asceticism where you punish yourself thinking that you're gonna gain favor with God This was just John forgetting himself and living for Christ came to the poorest lived as the poorest of the day and Preached Christ now does this mean that you you and I in order to be pleasing to God in order to you know earn favor to God that we've got to walk around eating bugs and And you know living in burlap No If you think that you're missing the point Listen, what is it? What is it in your life? What creature comfort? What leisure? What priority? What thing is it in your life that keeps you from denying yourself and Living wholeheartedly for Christ preaching his gospel to a lost world What is it that keeps you from denying yourself? forgetting yourself To serve the Lord faithfully in evangelism You know people look at their schedule, and it's and I don't have enough free time And so I'm gonna take some free time for myself for do we need free time? Of course you do of course we do The Lord gives rest as a blessing When that leisure time and that pleasure time and that free time takes priority Over the commission that the Lord has given us to preach the gospel so that people can be saved That's when that free time becomes sinful a sinful priority a sinful idolatry to you Is it that you want to be liked? Yeah, I don't want to preach the gospel in my family because I'm afraid of what they might think You fear opposition Paul says that if he pleases men, he's no longer a slave of Christ You become a Christian and You commissioned by God to open your mouth for Christ begin to do so you're gonna face opposition Oftentimes that opposition will come from within the walls of your own house What are you gonna do when that opposition comes because it will come? When you set out with all your heart soul mind and strength to follow the Lord and your wife comes and stands in Opposition to that calling when your husband comes and stands in opposition To you obeying the Lord from the heart to do all that he intends for you to do. What are you gonna do when the opposition comes? What temptations keep you from being faithful? What personal ambitions what personal interests what goals what likes what dislikes? Are you thinking about that other person that's in a spiritual wasteland who needs to be saved? They're blind and dead in the wilderness. Listen, you have a voice When the Lord saved you he gave you his glorious gospel to preach I'm always amazed at Paul. He was a he says the testimony of himself I was a violent man an insolent man proud boastful and yet the Lord was merciful to me How is he merciful to Paul placing him into the ministry and you and I have been given this glorious salvation Purchased by Christ and then God sends us God places us into the ministry You have a voice and if you use your voice God will use it his word doesn't return void Be the voice of one crying out in the wilderness. Don't be silent. Don't be silent James Montgomery voice tells the story of a young man as a Christian convert an African village With an extremely painful disease called elephantiasis elephantiasis and elephantiasis Is a disease which affects body tissues affects the limbs And this young man had elephantiasis that affected his legs The body tissues expand and harden it becomes extremely painful and limbs just become enormous just Where the elephant man syndrome you've heard of that before well, this young man's Elephantiasis that affected his legs it's such to the point that he could hardly walk It was extremely painful to get around Well, this young man, uh, Christian in his village went to every person in his village walking obviously Walking to every every person in his village preaching the gospel to them Everywhere he went painfully Walking to preach the gospel to every person in his village when he ran out of people in his village to share the gospel with He started making the two mile hike To the next nearest village to preach the gospel to them And he went every day two miles from his village to the next closest village to preach the gospel to those villagers And he worked his way every day through that village until he had no one else to talk to When he'd preach the gospel to everyone in that village. He started making the 12 mile hike Through the jungle leaving before Daylight often returning at midnight to preach the gospel to everyone in that village Very painful and yet he just forgot himself In service to christ You know in this this day and age that we live in with the comforts that we have what do we give up? Right. What are you willing to give up? You willing to give up that tv show willing to give up an hour of free time? I mean, what are you willing to give up? This young man just forgot himself in service to christ He not only gave up comfort. He endured pain It's been said throughout church history That one of the leading factors to growth in the church and personal growth among christians is persecution When christians face persecution they themselves grow but the church grows We live in such a comfortable age just overrun with leisure and pleasure We need to be convicted by that There's another temptation though that john would have faced The second temptation that john would have faced would have come through uh or at the hands of the opposition That's a temptation to fear temptation to fear The fact that john confessed and did not deny Means that john was faithful to christ in the face of growing opposition To deny To confess christ would have been for john the baptist to deny his responsibility to deny his role to deny his commitment To deny his vow to deny christ himself But john the baptist did not deny he confessed i'm not the christ and in the face of Opposition john just kept pointing away from himself and pointing lost people to christ So we remained faithful to his calling faithful to who he was And who he was as we go through these verses we're going to see is becoming increasingly problematic So these questions From the the drusselam antagonists keep coming and john's answers just get shorter and shorter They asked him in verse 21. What then are you elisha? He said i am not Are you the prophet and he answered no now let's unpack this for a moment. This is important Elijah for them to ask that question. It wasn't a bad association. All right john Not only had the demeanor of elisha. He resembled elisha if you read about elisha in second kings John dressed like elisha john ate the same food that elisha ate He probably smelled just like elisha smelled being out in the wilderness He had the same temperament that elisha had and just like elisha He lived out in the wilderness a holy life just confronted sin preached about the coming judgment And just like elisha you couldn't separate elisha's life from his words with john the baptist You couldn't separate his life from the message that he preached. He was a godly godly man Now listen to what god Had spoken through malachi the prophet in malachi chapter 4 verse 5 listen to this In speaking about the coming of christ Behold god says i will send you elisha the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the lord Now in jerusalem at this time in the area around the jordan where john the baptist would have been preaching Again messianic expectations were running high and so the people Were looking for elisha to come And jesus himself said something very similar go with me to matthew chapter 17 matthew chapter 17 jesus christ said something similar himself in matthew chapter 17 Beginning there quickly at verse nine Now this is as peter james and john were coming down the mount of transfiguration where jesus christ was transfigured They saw his glory on the mountain and with peter james and john on the mountain We saw they saw christ and they saw moses and elisha okay now They began to be a little confused about this so they wanted to ask jesus for clarification And it begins in chapter 17 verse 9 as they came down from the mountain Jesus commanded them saying tell the vision to no one until the son of man is risen from the dead And his disciples asked him saying Why then do the scribes say that elisha must come first? So jesus answered and said to them indeed and notice the future tense elisha is coming First and will restore all things notice the future tense right then in verse 12 But i say to you now notice the past tense that elisha has come already and they did not know him But did to him whatever they wished likewise the son of man is also about to suffer at their hands now What does this all mean? Did elisha cave to pressure or cave the temptation and lie When the delegation from drusselm asked him if he was elisha the prophet prophet No, and we need to be reminded of this that there are two comings or two Advents of christ in christ's first coming or his first advent He came as the suffering servant right in his second advent christ will come as judge executing judgment So there is a near fulfillment of malachi's prophecy in chapter 4 verse 5 And there is a far fulfillment. There is a now and not yet to this prophecy. All right. I want you to see that Jesus when he says that elisha has already come Is speaking of his first coming In his first coming jesus clearly sees john the baptist as a fulfillment of malachi's prophecy and even the angel When he announced the birth of coming birth of john the baptist. Zacharias his father Said in luke chapter 1 verse 17 that john will come before christ in the spirit and power of elisha So when elisha like figure john the baptist came before christ's first coming But now jesus is speaking of his second coming in matthew 17 When he explains that elisha will be coming first and you can see that fulfilled if you read Revelation chapter 11 Where elisha comes back this event obviously hasn't taken place yet So in one sense according to his first coming Christ speaks truly about john connecting him to elisha And according to christ's second coming john the baptist Speaks truly that he's not the actual elisha that will eventually come to make sense It's a lot to take in So those that were asking john from jerusalem asking john the question About whether or not he was elisha we're asking in reference to end times And so john answered rightly when he said i am not elisha He's basically saying to them i am not the elisha that you're expecting But as jesus said he came in the power in the spirit of elisha now The delegation from jerusalem also asked john if he was the prophet This is the prophet that moses prophesied about in deuteronomy chapter 18 Some people associate that with christ some people associate that prophet with moses himself We don't know who that prophet is we simply don't know But why would this line of questioning potentially bring a temptation to fear? Well how were the prophets generally treated? Yeah, not good john had raised the hopes of the people But in doing so he raised the attention and the concern of the religious elite and john and jesus both knew What was coming in the face of this Coming persecution did john falter? No It's obedient faithful to christ just a few pages to the left go to matthew chapter 23 John the baptist and jesus christ both knew what this meant Both faithful to the lord In the proclamation of the gospel despite opposition despite persecution in a matthew chapter 23 This is how jesus himself describes What had happened to the prophets in verse 29 Jesus says woe to you scribes and Pharisees you hypocrites Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous and say If we had lived in the days of our fathers We would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets Now was john the baptist prophet? Yes, he was John the baptist was a prophet How were they saying their fathers treated the prophets? They killed them but if we had lived back then we wouldn't have killed the prophets The verse 31 jesus says therefore listen you are witnesses against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets Fill up then the measure of your father's guilt Serpents brood of vipers and it's interesting how he uses the same language that john the baptist uses to confront them You serpents you brood of vipers. How can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore indeed I send you the prophets wise men and scribes Some of them you will kill and crucify and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city That on you in order that on you may come all the righteous blood Shed on the earth from the blood of the righteous able to the blood of zekariah the son of barakaya Whom you murdered between the temple and the altar assuredly I say to you all these things will come upon this generation Now christ spoke these words in matthew 23 john the baptist Was killed is already dead was beheaded in matthew 14 Beheaded by hair the tetrarch killed By these jews His delegation these people Persecuted for his voice Listen for for fear of man Or for fear the kind of persecution that we face in this world in our day and age today Are you really going to be silent? In the face of all that john the example of john the example of christ In face of the example of all those that have gone before us martyria those martyrs that gave their testimony and gave their lives for christ Are you going to cave in to the opposition that we face in our day and age? Jesus says if you won't confess him before men, he won't confess you before the father We know what that word confess means, right? The christian here is to take courage take courage take courage through the example of john the baptist Take courage because as christ says he is with you even to the end of the age We're to follow the example of john we are to cry out in the wilderness in the face of opposition We're to cry out in our wilderness in the face of temptation We're not to shrink back in fear why Why would we do that one Because this world is a spiritual desert. It's a spiritual wasteland a spiritual wilderness and there are zombies walking around dead In their sins and trespasses who need a savior People that need to be born again Made alive in christ and given an inheritance in glory they need to be saved Behold the lamb of god that takes away the sin of the world repent and believe in him alone Put your faith and trust in christ alone for the forgiveness of your sins Be saved But secondly the reason that the christian does this is because christ is precious christ saved me He saved you And put the treasure of the gospel in a an earthen vessel a clay privy pot Which is amazing, isn't it In the same way that you know Paul is amazed that look how wretched i was and yet god saved me and put me into the ministry what unspeakable mercy What unspeakable grace and then are we going to be silent? the Puritan uh thomas vincent Wrote a book called the true christian's love To the unseen christ i want you to listen to what thomas vincent said there He says if christ has their love Their desires will be chiefly after him now listen It's one thing you can't fake if you're here today, you're wondering Have has the lord saved me has the lord changed my heart has the lord changed my affections Is he changed my nature am i saved you're thinking to yourself and you're examining yourself You can't you can't fake Affection for christ You can't fake true love for christ ask yourself this examine yourself in light of this if christ has their love Their desires will be chiefly after him Their delights will be chiefly in him their hopes and expectations will be chiefly for him Their hatred fear grief anger will be carried forth chiefly unto sin Because it is offensive unto him He knows that love will engage and employ for him all the powers and faculties of their souls Their thoughts will be brought into captivity and obedience unto him Their understandings will be employed and seeking and finding out his truths He goes on all their senses and the members of their bodies will be his servants Their eyes will see for him their ears will hear for him their tongues will speak for him Their hands will work for him their feet will walk for him all their gifts and talents will be at His devotion and his service if he has their love they will be ready to do for him what he requires They will suffer for him whatever he calls them to if they have much love for him They will not think much of denying themselves taking up his cross and following him wherever he leads them Do you love christ Do you love christ How faithfully is that love for christ demonstrated in your witness for him Do you love that lost person that needs a savior how faithfully is that love demonstrated in your voice Going out As a messenger of the gospel to see that person saved Let's follow the example of john the baptist. Amen. Amen. Let's pray Father in heaven lord. Thank you for this passage of scripture. Thank you for the gospel Thank you lord that you've saved us God that you were so merciful god so gracious so kind or that you would cleanse us wash us Or you would accept us as children of the kingdom sons Heirs co-heirs with christ It's a glorious glorious blessing And we thank you lord. Thank you that you've made us right with god Not through a righteousness of our own lord, but By imputing your righteousness to us And how lord you've given us this glorious blessing So out of love and gratefulness to you Out of great love for you find us faithful lord to be faithful with that message to be A voice of one crying out in our wilderness Of the mercies and the excellencies christ For your glory god for your everlasting praise and worship We pray all these things in the name of our blessed god and savior jesus christ our lord. Amen