Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. If you're going to be great, it isn't... through your own success. It is having an encounter with Jesus Christ. And following His path, his assignment for your life.
And this is what John does. And so, He is. Great. Welcome to The Verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. Senior Pastor of Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Most people strive to do well. But what are the marks of true greatness? Today, as we continue our series on encountering Jesus, we'll discover what God has to say about the matter.
Now, let's get started with today's impactful lesson simply titled, Being Great. Here's Pastor Jean Monroe. Do you think you're great? What does it mean to be great? More importantly, what does it mean to be great in the eyes of God?
Today, we're going to meet a man who was described by our Lord as truly great. Can you imagine being described as great by the Son of God? As a teenager, I was fascinated with John the Baptist. He was so different.
So courageous, so humble. and died a violent death at a young age. We will see that his encounter with Jesus was the fulfillment of John's life and his ministry. In a society which is so self-promoting, Self-serving and self-seeking. I think you will find it refreshing to know.
what it means to be great in the eyes of heaven.
So let's learn from John the Baptist. In meeting people for the first time, I'm often asked whether I'm English or Irish or Scottish.
So I thought I might take a few moments and explain the differences between the English, the Welsh, the Irish. and the Scots. They say that if you're travelling in the United Kingdom and you speak to someone and they don't answer you back, that person is probably English. The English are so formal that unless you've been formally introduced they won't speak with you. The Irish, on the other hand, not only will speak with you before they've been introduced but they'll fight with you.
Winston Churchill said that the British government will never solve the Irish question as soon as we find The answer, the Irish changed the question. and Irish history. perhaps give some truth to that comment by Churchuel. But it said it's the Welsh and the Scots that are the religious people. in the United Kingdom.
Some of you have heard of Welsh rugby.
Well sh are famous for their rugby teams, a small country, but Rugby being a kind of cross between soccer and American football, I suppose they don't wear all these pads and helmets which apparently Americans need to play sports. But rugby players don't need that. And the Welsh love to get behind and to encourage their national team. particularly playing rugby and are tremendous singers. Magnificent singers, and the whole stadium reverberates.
It seems that every Welshman. is a great singer. What isn't so well known is that the Welsh as well as loving to saying The Welsh love to pray. particularly on their neighbours. But it really are the Scots.
who in all modesty and Scots are known for that. Um Don't laugh. We are the religious people. My favorite movie is Chariots of Fire where you remember The famous athlete Eric Little refused to run. on the Sabbath.
On the Lord's Day, Uh one of the hits in the Paris Olympics in 1920. Yeah. because in Scotland we love the Sabbath, we love to keep the Sabbath. and anything else we can get our hands on.
So These four nations comprise what is called Great. Britain. You see, the British think that they are the greatest But it's not only the British who think they're the greatest. Muhammad Ali said he was the greatest. In fact, he said, I'm not the greatest, I'm the double greatest.
Not only do I knock them out, I pick the rounds. I am the greatest. In the bestseller, which some of you have read a few years ago, In Search of Excellence, Peterson Waterman writing about the need to be great in business, to be excellent in business. They write And I quote, all of us are self-centered. Suckers for a bit of praise.
and generally like to think of ourselves as winners. But the fact of the matter is that our talents are distributed normally. None of us is really as good as he or she would like to think. But rubbing our noses daily in that reality doesn't do us a bit of good. In a recent psychological study, when the random group of male adults were asked to rank themselves on their ability to get along with others, all subjects.
That's 100%. of Males 100% put themselves in the top half of the population. 60% of the men rated themselves in the top 10% of the population And a fool 25% of adults Males said that they were in the top 1% of the population. when asked to rank themselves on their ability to get along with others. Amazing.
in an area with self-deception should be hard for most males. At least 60% of males said that they were in the top 25% when it came to athletic ability. I mean, I know I'm there, I don't know about you, man. Only 6% of men said that they were below average As to athletic. Ability.
The writers go on to say, the message that comes through so poignantly in the studies we reviewed is that we like to think of ourselves. as winners. Apparently We like to think. that we are the greatest. But the question is, for us, is how do we define Greatness.
What makes a person great? We talk about Sonso being a great man, a great woman. As we continue our studies in the Gospel according to John. We will learn. from a man who was truly Great.
Before this man was born, The angel of the Lord said to his father, he will be great. And the sites of the Lord. Of this man, Jesus said, I say to you, Among those born of women, there has arisen No one greater. Then John the Baptist. According to the Bible, John the Baptist was a great Man.
And so we're going to look. And read about John the Baptist from the Gospel according to John. And as we do that, we will consider the essence, the nature of true greatness. Lasting greatness. Greatness as defined by Jesus.
greatness in the eyes. of heaven. Our subject then is being Great. Let me ask you to open your Bibles to the fourth Gospel. The fourth book in the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.
And we will Read from chapter one, from verse nineteen. Reading from the New American Standard Version. And this is a witness of John. When the Jews sent to him, priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him. Who are you?
And he confessed and did not deny and confessed. I'm not the Christ. And they said to him, who then are you? Are you Elijah? And he said, I'm not.
Are you the prophet? And he answered, no. They said then to him, Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself? He said, I'm a voice.
of wine crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord, as Isaiah the prophet said.
Now they had been sent to him from the Pharisees, and they asked him and said to him, Why then are you baptizing? if you're not the Christ nor Elijah nor the prophet. John answered them, saying, I baptize in water. But among you stands one whom you do not know. It is he who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.
These things took place in Bethany, beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day, he saw Jesus coming to him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is he on behalf of whom I said, after me comes a man who has a higher rank than I. For he existed before me. And I did not recognize him.
But in order that he might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water. And John bore witness saying, I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven. And he remained upon him. And I did not recognize him. But he who sent me to baptize Who baptized in water said to me, He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him, this is the one.
who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. And I have seen. and bore witness That this is the sun. Yeah. Amen.
We want to learn, first of all, To be great. Decrease. Self. To be great. decrease self.
Being great is decreasing self. Notice as we read this passage, John does not promote himself. We read from verse 6 that John was a man sent from God. John had a clear understanding of his mission in life. He knew that he was sent from God.
He knew that God had a plan for his life. He knew that God's hand was on him and John's goal in life was not to pursue his own ambitions. But wholeheartedly to fulfill the assignment which God had given him to do. And as we read the Gospels, it is clear that nothing Or no one. Can deviate John.
from obeying God's will. for his life.
Now that's key. in being great. in the eyes of God. Do you want to be great in the eyes of God? Let me get it right out.
On front.
So we all understand. Here it is. Knowing and doing God's will. for your life. If you're going to be great, It doesn't Through your own success.
It is having an encounter with Jesus Christ. Listening to Christ, obeying Christ, and following His path, His assignment for your life. And this is what John does. And so He is. Great.
We read, look at chapter 1 back to verses 7 and 8. that John was a witness. He came from for a witness. That was his mission in life, to be a witness. that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through him.
He was not the light. But came that he might bear witness of. the light. Verse 19, This is the witness of John. Verse 32, John bore witness saying, Verse 34, and I have seen and borne witness that this.
is the sun John is A witness. In the court of law, as you know, A witness, certainly a good witness, a competent witness, the kind of witnesses that we like, a witness gives evidence of what he has seen. And heard. A witness is is not there in the witness box to give her own ideas or her opinions unless he or she is certified by the court as an expert witness. But here is a witness in court.
And as he goes into the witness box and begins to give evidence, we begin to understand as we look at him, the attorneys, the judge, the jury, that he really enjoys the occasion. People are listening to him. And he starts giving his own ideas, his own opinion about the case. Very quickly. If the judge is competent, the judge will stop him and say, sir, we really are not interested in your views.
We're not interested in your opinions. Just tell us. What you know. what you have personally seen. and personally heard.
A good witness points away from himself, away from herself. to the evidence, to the testimony. A good witness does not promote himself or herself. And John is saying here, I came. as a witness of the light.
No, I'm not the lights. I am not the light. Jesus is the light. I'm here to bear witness of the light. And those, as we learned last week, Those of us who have a personal encounter with Jesus, Those of us who know Jesus Christ, in our hearts and in our lives as our personal Savior and Lord whose lives have been transformed.
From the inside out, this is not religion. Religion is the external. Christ is concerned with the heart. The change takes place within and is then secondarily manifested without. Those of us who have such A transforming Experience, a personal encounter with Jesus, are now sent by our Savior.
To be what? to be witnesses. And so Jesus says in Acts 1, verse 8, just prior to his ascension. He says to his disciples there and you shall receive power. When the Holy Spirit shall come upon you.
And ye shall be my witnesses, both in Jerusalem Judea, Samaria and to the remote part of the earth. That's it. You and I then are called By this Jesus who saves us, who transforms our life, you and I are now called to be witnesses. You say, where do I begin? You begin right where you are.
You accept responsibility of where God and His sovereign purposes has placed you in your home. in the streets. in the community where you live. Where you work, that office, at school, at hospital. that factory, that store.
where God has placed you. And then in a widening circle, we as a community of believers are committed to bringing this message further afield. That's why we began the radio ministry, that more people will hear of Jesus Christ. Our assignment is to tell others about Christ. You are to be a witness, not promoting yourself, but Christ, to tell people.
This is who Jesus is. This is what he did. This is why he came to the world. This is what he taught. This is the meaning of his death and his resurrection.
And furthermore, I've had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ and my life has been changed. Would you like me to tell you about what Christ Has done. And who? He is. Be a witness.
For Jesus, and this is what John was He says in the passage that we read, that he was only a voice. Do you notice in verses 19 and 20? The religious establishment, when they hear about this character, John, who's getting crowds, he's baptizing people, they want to check out who John is and they ask him. Are you the Christ? Are you the prophesied Messiah?
And John very quickly says, I am not. The Christ. But John is a great man. And one thing always characterizes the great. Great men.
great woman in the eyes of God. are always, always humble. Humility. not self-promoting. not seeking center stage, not wanting the spotlight to shine on them all of the time.
Notice John's answer, and it's a brilliant one. In verse 23, he said, I'm a voice. of one crying in the wilderness. Who are you, John? I'm a voice.
Only A voice. You can never see a voice, you only hear a voice. A voice. John is a voice. Who is the word?
We learned last week. that Jesus is the eternal word in the beginning John 1 verse 1 was the word and the word was with God, and the word was God. Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, He is the Word. There is only one word. There's only one Christ.
There's only one Lord. He is the Word. John is saying, I'm not the Word. I am merely A voice. Crying in the wilderness, make straight.
The way. of the Lord. He is a forerunner. He is one who prepares the way. The Messiah is coming.
If you're going to receive the Messiah, If you're going to have a personal encounter with the Messiah, you must be spiritually prepared, says John. In particular, you must repent of your sins. You must have a Spiritual heart. Spiritual ears and eyes to see and hear the Messiah. That's my task.
I'm not the Christ. I am the forerunner. I come preparing the way. In the first century, the roads were very poor.
So if a king Celebrity was coming. What did they do? They went ahead. and filled in the potholes. John is saying, Someone great is coming.
The Christ is coming. I'm the preparer. I'm not the way, I prepared the way. I'm not the light, I'm a witness to the light. I'm not the word, I am the voice, an uncompromising voice.
Crying. in the wilderness. Do you know anything about the wilderness? The wilderness. It's not a place where you go to promote yourself.
A wilderness is a place where we are alone. In John's case alone, with God. That's very important. Our society doesn't value solitude, it doesn't value people being alone. We're very busy, we've always got noise, we've got.
sounds and radios and all kinds of things in our cars. When we're together with others, we are very rarely quiet. Even in the church, we can't have much silence, people are uncomfortable with it, but it is very, very important. That if we're going to be useful for God that we spend time alone with God. You will never be anything.
worthwhile to others unless you have a personal encounter with Christ and daily spend time in His Word, daily spend time on your knees with God. And John is a man who knew the solitude. of the wilderness. living a life of non-conformity. a life of discipline, of dedication and determination.
Some of you may say, well, I'm like that just now. That may well be God's assignment for you just now. Maybe away from The spotlight. It may be in a very quiet, lonely, obscure even neglected place. Perhaps you're a young mother.
And by the very nature of that, you have to spend a lot of time. at home in the shadows. as it were, and sometimes you feel rather neglected. Unappreciated. True greatness is decreasing self.
My mother Raise six sons. Never been center stage. In her life She just once visited. The United States said she wasn't coming back, although she said she had a good time. Two weeks was enough for her.
Visited us in Michigan. And on the Saturday before, Sunday, the church, I said, Mom. People are wanting to meet you, the church, and with your permission. I'm going to welcome you, get you to stand up. And I said, in American churches, they may well clap.
So I just want to warn you that that's going to happen. She said you'll do no such thing. She threatens she would take off my head. If I would do that. No.
She said, that's not why I'm in church. I'm there to worship God. Don't you dare. do anything as silly as that.
Okay, mom, I've got to obey my mother. I told her I was the pastor and I could change the rules, but that wasn't enough for her. Her life As many mothers. Many of your mothers, her life characterized by selflessly serving others. A life of displaying Christ of preparing others to fulfill God's purposes.
That's true. True. greatness. to be great in the eyes of heaven. Be like John.
Decrease south. Decrease self. This is the verdict. And Pastor John Monroe is sharing an inspiring message from the Gospel of John titled Being Great. Be sure to stay with us because John will return in just a moment with some closing remarks.
Today's lesson reminds us of how important it is to surrender every part of our lives to Jesus Christ. And yet sometimes, in the moments we need him the most, we have trouble putting our full trust in him. That's why John wrote a booklet titled Trusting God in Tough Times. It addresses real questions, like how do we cope when things are so uncertain? Why should we trust God?
And how can our perspective on God make a difference in real life? The answers to these questions are essential. And that's why we'd love to equip you with this helpful resource today. Just go to our website. at themverdict.org.
and request your copy of the Trusting God in Tough Times booklet. And while you're on our website, you'll have the opportunity to play a part in what God is doing through the verdict with a simple one-time donation of any amount. Your support will help us share God's word with new listeners in your community and across the world. You can easily give whatever amount you feel led to by visiting theverdict.org. And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to the Verdict Podcast, featuring John's weekly podcast exclusive called Avizandam.
It's available on your favorite podcast app. and you can learn more about this new topical feature by going to our website. Again, that's theverdict.org.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well What's your verdict? What do you think of yourself? What do you say when people ask who you are? Isn't it true that most of us are very selfish and self-absorbed? What's going to change that?
Is that even possible? By having a fresh encounter with Jesus, The more we know Him, the more we will see the glory of the Lord.
So today take a few minutes and get down on your knees. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God.
Next time we will study John the Baptist and continue to encounter Jesus. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Mm.
