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It's active now through December 31st. To give a special year-end gift, go to ptv.org slash donate or follow the link in our show notes. Now here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. Hi, this is Robert Jeffress, and I'm glad to study God's Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program. On today's edition of Pathway to Victory.
He was beheaded. He lost his life for his willingness to confront with the truth. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. At some point in life, we all start to wonder about our purpose in life.
Most people assume it's tied to a career or their family. But in reality, everything we do ought to point back to God. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress looks at one man who knew his God-given purpose and lived it to the fullest. Now here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message.
Dr. Jeffress. Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. To sustain our lives, you and I employ simple disciplines, things like eating healthy food, staying hydrated, getting some exercise, and a good night's sleep.
These routines produce a healthy outcome, right? Well, the same is true in the spiritual realm. And this coming year, you're invited to join me on a daily journey through a stronger, healthier spiritual life. It's a journey where you walk with God every day, guided by the brand new Pathway to Victory daily devotional for 2025.
In this navy blue leather-bound book, that's more than 500 pages in length, I've written brief devotional chapters for every single weekday in the coming new year. And I'd be pleased to send you a copy of the Pathway to Victory daily devotional when you give a generous gift toward the Light the Darkness matching challenge that's active right now. During this season and before the deadline of December 31st, every dollar you give to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory will have twice the impact. That means your generous gift of, say, $75 becomes $150. A $1,000 gift becomes $2,000. A $5,000 gift would become $10,000.
Whatever amount you choose to give is multiplied times two. Plus, I'll say thanks by sending you this handsome leather-bound devotional for 2025. By reading this exclusive devotional every day, your relationship with God will grow stronger, healthier, and you'll become more courageous in your faith.
I'll share more details later, but right now, let's get started with today's study. Our series is titled, Reigniting Your Passion for Christ. And as we turn to the next chapter in Luke's gospel, we're going to learn about the prophet who lost his head over Jesus. Now when we come to Luke chapter three, we're at the intersection of the lives of John and Jesus. But before Jesus can begin his ministry, John has to announce him, and that is where we are in our study today as we look at the greatest prophet in all of the world.
Let's first of all look at the times of John the Baptist, the times in which he ministered. When Herod the Great died, his kingdom of Israel was divided into four parts. One of the tetrarchs who ruled over a fourth of Israel was one of Herod the Great's sons, whose name was Herod. He was, according to verse one, the tetrarch, the ruler over Galilee.
He was known as Herod Antipas. Then he had a brother whose name was Philip, who was tetrarch over the region of Iteria and Trichonotus. We'll talk about Philip more in just a moment. Now, not only did Luke give us this information for the historical background, but he gave us a description of the moral backdrop in which Jesus and John ministered.
The one thing all of these men shared in common was they were intently corrupt, and that's what was going on here. Verse two, against this dark moral corruption, the word of God came to John in the wilderness. John was overwhelmed with this message that came from God.
And what was the message? Get ready, the Messiah is coming. And that leads to John's purpose. His unique calling was to prepare the world for the coming and ministry of Jesus Christ.
How did he do it? Look at verse three, and John came into all the district around the Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The key word here is not baptism, it is repentance. In fact, when you turn over to the parallel passage in Matthew 3, 2, Matthew said John's message was repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. He was telling the Israelites, get ready, get your hearts ready to accept the Lamb of God who removes the sins of the world. John's message was actually a fulfillment of what Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah chapter 40. Luke quotes that verse, he says, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. John's basic message was roll out the red carpet.
The king of kings is on the scene. As we look at John's message to the people, I want you to notice the three components of John's message that should be a component and parts of the message that we share with people about the Christ who has already come. First of all, John's message was marked by confrontation. Confrontation, look at verse seven. John therefore began saying to the multitudes who were going out to be baptized by him, you brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
That seems a little harsh, doesn't it? Well, again, you have to turn to the parallel passage in Matthew 3, 7 to know what is going on here. Matthew says, but when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, you brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? If you profess to be religious, but there's no fruit in your life, you're not saved. He says that in verse nine. And also the ax is already laid at the root of the trees, every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. He was saying to these Pharisees and Sadducees, you claim to be people of faith, but there's certainly no evidence of it in your life.
One day, the judgment of God is going to cut down that life that bears no fruit. What I want you to see is John was willing to confront people about their sin. You have to be willing to confront people about sin to talk about sin, repentance, and the possibility of hell.
But let's admit that's not popular to do today, is it? We talk about the love of God. We never talk about the judgment of God. You see, there is no good news unless you understand the bad news. And the bad news about all of us is we are all sinners. The bad news is we are all headed for an eternity in hell. The good news is Christ offers us an escape from that certain coming judgment of God.
And you can never appreciate the good news until you're willing to accept the bad news. John was faithful to confront people about the reality of God's judgment. And to many of them, they responded to that message. Look at verse 10. They said, what shall we do? What shall we do to escape this certain coming judgment of God? And that leads to the exhortation.
That was the second component of his message, his exhortation, a coming alongside to tell people what to do. What shall we do to escape God's judgment? Now today, what would we say to somebody who said, how can I escape hell? We'd answer the way Paul did to the Philippian jailer. What shall I do to be saved?
What was the answer? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. But remember, when John was ministering, Jesus had not yet appeared on the scene. He had not died. He had not been raised again from the dead. So John had to take a different approach to point people to Jesus. It's a more subtle approach, but it got the job done. Look at what his message was about how they could escape judgment. Look at verse 11. John would answer and say to them, let the man who has two tunics share with him who has none.
A tunic was an undergarment, an undershirt. If you have two of those and your neighbor has none, give him one of yours. Wash it first, but then give it to him. Let him have it.
Be generous. Then he goes on to say, let him who has food do likewise, share his food with other people. Then he said in verse 13 to the tax collectors, he said, what you need to do to be saved?
Collect no more than what you have been ordered to. The tax gatherers were despised because they collected more taxes than were necessary than Rome required. They would keep the overage for themselves and send the rest to Rome. People hated the tax gatherers for that reason. Verse 14, some soldiers were questioning John saying, and what about us?
What do we need to do? And he said to them, do not take money from anyone by force or accuse anyone falsely and be content with your wages. Now, was John teaching that they could be saved by good works?
No, no, no, no, no, not at all. When the people heard this message from John, they said, wait a minute, John, be generous, be humble, don't take advantage of people, treat people right. Well, that's not who we are. We can't do that.
We don't even want to do that. The fact that they were unable to do these things, the fact that they had no desire to do these things, showed that what they really needed was a complete transformation of their lives. That's why John said these things. He set an impossible standard for somebody who has not had a true change in his life. And that's what Christ would do. They needed a new heart that would produce those good works. There has to be a change of heart to produce the fruit that Jesus demands. And that leads to the third component of this message, salvation. By this point, some people were saying, is this guy the Messiah?
We've never heard anybody teach like this before. Is this the Messiah? No, John said, look at John 3 16. John answered and said to them, as for me, I baptize you with water. But one is coming who is mightier than I, and I'm not fit to untie the thong of his sandals.
That was the most menial job for a servant, to undo the thong of the sandal of somebody who had been walking in the dust. This one who is coming will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. John says my baptism is just of water, but the one who is coming will baptize, first of all, with the Holy Spirit. Now again, water baptism is a sign of what happens when we become a Christian. We are baptized the moment we trust in Christ. We are baptized with the Holy Spirit. Now that word baptize is the Greek word baptizo.
It means one thing and only one thing in the Greek language. Doesn't mean sprinkled, it means to totally immerse. It was a word that was used to describe the process by which you would take a piece of cloth and change its color. Let's say that you had a piece of red cloth, bright red, and in honor of Prince you wanted to change it to purple, okay?
Your little way of saying goodbye. So you had this piece of red cloth and you wanted to change it into purple. What would you do? You would take a vat of purple dye. And you wouldn't put your hand in there and flick a little spot of purple on the cloth.
That wouldn't do it. No, you would take that piece of red cloth and you would baptizo it. You would immerse it in that vat of purple dye. And when you pulled it out, it would have a completely different color. That's how the Greeks understood that word.
It had nothing to do with religion to them. It was a process by which you would immerse something. Now, when you trust in Jesus as your Savior, you're not just sprinkled with a little bit of the Holy Spirit. A little dab will do you.
No, it doesn't work that way. You are immersed in the Holy Spirit of God. He colors every part of your life. You are raised a completely new person after you have trusted in Christ. And that's what Jesus would do. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit, but then he adds the word, and with fire. What does that mean? Fire.
It's not hard to understand. That fire in the Bible is always a sign of God's judgment. And so that nobody misses the point, look at verse 17. John said, And his winnowing fork is in his hand to thoroughly clear his threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into his barn, and he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Now, this was out of my wheelhouse when I was reading this. I didn't know what this was really talking about, so I had to do a little study this week about the whole process of harvesting wheat. Whenever wheat was harvested, it would be bundled up, and it would be taken into a barn, and the wheat would be crushed through a threshing process, in which the grain was separated from the worthless part of the wheat. Sometimes it was an oxen that would do it, sometimes a big stone, but you had to separate the worthless part of the wheat from the good part of the wheat. And once that separation had taken place, the farmer would take what was called a winnowing fork, and he would pick up a pile of that wheat and the refuse of the wheat, and he would throw it up in the air. And the chaff, which was the worthless part of the wheat, it was wider. And when he would throw it up in the air, that chaff would simply be blown away by the wind, and the good part of the wheat, the heavier part, would fall back to the threshing floor.
It was a way of separating the good wheat from the worthless part of the wheat. Now, what John was saying is, one day Jesus is coming back to judge the world. Right now it's very hard sometimes to separate Christians from non-Christians.
They live alongside one another, they work together, they live together under the same roof, sometimes they worship together in the same church. Sometimes a non-Christian may appear like a Christian. But there is a judgment time coming when God will come. The return of Jesus Christ can separate believers from non-believers.
But instead of simply being blown away, in this illustration the chaff is gathered up and it is burned with an unquenchable fire, an allusion to hell itself. What I want you to see here is John's ministry and his message was marked by confrontation, by exhortation, and by the message of salvation. Now it's true, some people were greatly encouraged by John's message, others rejected it. Look at verse 19. But when Herod the tetrarch was reproved by him on account of Herodias, his brother's wife, and on account of all the wicked things which Herod had done.
What is that about? If you went into any supermarket in Israel at the checkout line, you couldn't help but notice a copy of the Jerusalem Inquirer. And right on the front page was the scandal that everybody was talking about. King Herod had taken his sister-in-law, Herodias, wife of Philip, to be his own wife. And not only had he taken her to be his wife, not only was she his sister-in-law, she also happened to be his niece. So this was a case of incest and immorality.
Everybody was talking about it. Now interestingly, according to Mark 6-20, Herod, as corrupt as he was, he enjoyed listening to the preaching of John the Baptist from time to time. Kind of like some presidents like to listen to Billy Graham, even though they weren't Christians. He enjoyed John until John confronted him about his sin. I heard Charles Colson say one time when he worked for Richard Nixon, it was so interesting how these pastors would come visit the Oval Office and they would say, now I'm going to give President Nixon a piece of my mind when I talk to him. And they would walk into the Oval Office and he said he just watched them melt like a bowl of jello.
They weren't bold enough to confront the president about whatever they wanted to confront him about. That wasn't true about John the Baptist. When John the Baptist met with Herod, he told him the truth. In Matthew 14 verse 4, he said to Herod, it is not right for you to have Herodias as your wife. And because of that, and because of the offense that Herodias took at John's words, he was beheaded, he lost his life for his willingness to confront with the truth. You know, John, Jesus said in Matthew 11-11, John was the greatest person who has ever been born. Isn't that interesting?
Of all the people Jesus could have named as the greatest person who has ever been born, he singled out John the Baptist. Why is that? Let me close.
I know we're out of time. Just two quick principles I want you to write down. Would you like to have God say that about you? Wouldn't it be an honor for God to say, of all the people I've ever created, you are the greatest. What is it that brings God's approval in our life? Principle number one, God honors those who are willing to share the truth regardless of the consequences.
He honors those who are willing to share the truth regardless of the consequences. I was in a meeting Monday with some other large church pastors, and we had this speaker who was trying to explain to us how to reach this culture, this generation, the new generation, without offending them. He said, you know, there are certain words you need to avoid and certain phrases and certain tones if you're going to reach people with the gospel, otherwise people won't listen to you. Listen, that's all well and good. But you know what I've discovered?
It doesn't matter how you package it. The gospel is going to offend some people. When you tell people they need to be saved, you're implying that they're lost. When you tell them they need to be forgiven, you're implying that they are guilty and some people just don't want to hear that.
The gospel is going to be offensive to some people, and yet a true servant of God is somebody who's willing to tell the truth no matter how unpopular it is. Somebody has quipped, Noah's message from the steps of the ark was not, something good is going to happen to you today. Amos was not confronted by the high priest of Israel for proclaiming, confession is possession. Jeremiah was not put into the pit for preaching, I'm okay, you're okay.
Daniel was not put into the lion's den for telling people, possibility thinking can move mountains. And John the Baptist was not beheaded because he preached, smile, God loves you. No, it was John's boldness that eventually cost him his life, but it also earned him a place in God's hall of honor. God honors those who are willing to share the truth regardless of the consequences. Principle number two, God honors those who point people to his son. John understood that his purpose in life was simply to point people to Jesus. He must increase, I must decrease.
John understood that he was like the moon that has no light of its own, but only reflects the light of the sun. Do you realize folks, you and I have been called for that same purpose. The reason God has left you and me here on this planet is not to build a successful career, accumulate a lot of money, even to have a happy and harmonious family. God has left us here to point people to Jesus.
Folks, I know some of you understand that. There are people you are praying for who are lost. You're talking to them about the gospel, you're inviting them to church.
It may be a family member, it may be a friend, but somebody you care about, remember, not everybody is going to respond, but that's not your responsibility. Our calling in life is like that of a good hunting dog. Our job is simply to point the way. That's what God has called us to do, to point people to Jesus. Because in the end, it really isn't about us.
It's all about Him. That's what Pathway to Victory is all about. Through radio, television, and publishing our own resources, we're intentionally focused on pointing people to Jesus. In fact, today I'm eager to send you a 532-page book that's designed to point you toward Jesus every single day of the coming new year. I'm referring to the 2025 Pathway to Victory Daily Devotional. This handsome, navy blue, leather-bound book is an exclusive publication from Pathway to Victory.
You won't find it anywhere other than right here. Let me describe what's in store for you. As we walk together in January through March, you'll learn how to determine God's will for your life.
Then in spring and summer, you'll grow stronger in your daily walk with Christ with the wisdom from the book of Colossians. And in the fall and winter of 2025, we'll take a deep dive into the parable of the prodigal son so that you can journey back home to the Father who loves you unconditionally. So please join me in this year-long daily journey through these important life issues. A copy of the 2025 Pathway to Victory Daily Devotional is yours when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. Let me add that there's never been a better time to give than right now because we're the grateful recipients of the historic Light the Darkness matching challenge.
Several big-hearted families have banded together and set aside $1.5 million for the sole purpose of inspiring you to join them in advancing this ministry. And so right now, your $100 gift becomes $200. A $500 gift becomes $1,000. A $5,000 gift would be matched until it became $10,000. There's really no limit to what you can give between now and December 31st. Plus, when you give to the matching challenge before December 31st, we'll say thanks by sending you the brand new and exclusive 2025 Pathway to Victory Daily Devotional.
David? Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. Today, when you give a generous year-end gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, we'll say thanks by sending you the brand new 2025 Pathway to Victory Daily Devotional. To request this exclusive resource, call 866-999-2965 or go to ptv.org. And when your gift is $100 or more, we'll also send you Reigniting Your Passion for Christ. That's this month's study from the Book of Luke.
You'll get that on both DVD video and MP3 format audio discs. Remember, because of our Light the Darkness matching challenge, your gift today will be doubled in size and impact. So be sure to get in touch right away. One more time, call 866-999-2965 or visit ptv.org.
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I'm David J. Mullins. You know, we're all engaged in a cosmic battle with a powerful adversary named Satan. And if we're not careful, we could become his next casualty. Hear a message titled, When the Devil Rings the Doorbell. That's Monday on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.
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