Today, on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe, God, as it were, bypasses all of the great men from a secular or religious point. One would have thought that God would choose someone who is high in authority, the emperor, the king, or at least the high priest to receive his word, but no. Luke says the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah. In the wilderness. Welcome to the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe.
Before Jesus began his public ministry, God raised up a forerunner to prepare the way. John the Baptist preached in the wilderness with a radical message that challenged everyone who heard it. Today, we're exploring this extraordinary prophet and discovering why his call to repentance remains relevant today. With a message titled Crying in the Wilderness. Here's Pastor John Monroe.
Today we will meet John the Baptist as an adult. The last time we saw John in the Gospel of Luke, he was leaping for joy in the womb of Elizabeth. as she was visited by Mary, who was pregnant with Jesus. The angel Gabriel told Zechariah that John, would be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. Jesus would say, Among those born of women, none is greater than John.
I've been interested in John the Baptist since I was a teenager. I love his directness, his passion, his courage. These are great qualities for us, aren't they? But above all, I love John the Baptist as being the forerunner of Jesus. He pointed people to Jesus.
Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Well, when I was sixty years old, I attended a church. Which had a Bible class for those of us who were a little in our older teens. And at the end of the year, I remember Just before my 17th birthday, we received prizes for our attendance at this particular Bible study and for our interaction. And the prize I received was a book by F. B.
Meyer.
Some of you may be familiar with that writer. And it was on John the Baptist. And I remember taking that book. And going home and reading it. It's not a large book to read, even for a 16-year-old, it's not all that difficult.
But I was intrigued by this character. Whose name was the same as mine, John? And The more I read of the book and the more I read of the scripture, I thought, now this is an individual. Uh that I can emulate. It was prophesied of him that he would be great before the Lord.
How would you assess greatness? Human achievement? Popularity? Money, fame. He is great before the Lord.
Furthermore, as we read in the first chapter of Luke. He is going to be filled with the Spirit from his mother's womb. And he receives the greatest commendation by the Lord Jesus, who says, Truly, I say to you, among those born of women, there has not arisen a greater than John. the matters. That's a great commentation, isn't it?
He's characterized by self-denial, non-conformity. He doesn't go with the flow. He has outstanding courage, deep humility. He is focused in his life and he's obedient to the call of God. John would have agreed with one of the themes we have, which is look to Jesus.
Look to Jesus. Don't look to me. He must increase, I must decrease. Look to him. Why look to Jesus?
He's the Lamb of God. Who takes away the sin? of the world. And now look. as he's dealt with the birth of John the Baptist.
And the birth of the Lord Jesus and the early childhood of the Lord. As we come to Luke chapter 3, I encourage you to take your Bible and turn there with me. As we come to Luke chapter 3, Luke is going to tell us.
Something about John as an adult. And then he's going to tell us. for the rest of the gospel. about our Lord Jesus. As an adult.
But before he introduces the adult Jesus, He tells us about the adult John, who is, of course, before Jesus, chronologically, a few months older than our Lord. And he is the forerunner. of Jesus.
So let's read from Luke chapter 3. We're looking at the first fourteen verses. Here we have it. I'm reading from the English. Standard version, which is the version of scripture we use here.
Luke three verse one. In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being Tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip Tetrarch of the region of Ereutea and Trachonidus, and Licinius Tetrarch of Abilene. During the high priesthood of Annas, and Caiaphas. The word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. And he went into all of the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet. The voice of one crying in the wilderness. Prepare the way of the Lord. Make his path straight. Every valley shall be filled.
and every mountain and hill shall be made low. And the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, and all flesh. shall see the salvation of God. He said, therefore, to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, You brood of vipers. Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, we have Abraham our father. For I tell you. God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now, the axe is laid to the root of the trees.
Every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. And the crowds asked him. What then shall we do? He answered them. Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none.
And whoever has food is to do likewise. Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, Teacher, what shall we do? And he said to them, Collect no more than you are authorized to do.
Soldiers also asked him Uh and we, what shall we do? And he said to them, Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation. And be content. with your wages. Luke chapter 3 verses 1 through 14.
Let's think first of all of the message of repentance. This is the mission of John. And you will notice in the first two verses that Luke does, as he's done before, he places the events in their historical context. He's a careful researcher. He's an investigator.
He's researched this subject and he is making it very, very clear that this man, John the Baptist, and our Lord are historical figures, and they existed at a certain time in human history. And he tells us who the Roman Emperor is, and the governor, and the kings, and the high priests, and all of that. He's putting it into the historical context. And isn't it interesting to note that although This is a very impressive list. At the time of John.
The Roman Emperor. and the kings and the tetrarchs. and the high priest and all of that. That we read in verse 2. The word of God.
Came. to John. the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. God, as it were, bypasses all of the great men from a secular and religious point. He bypasses all of them.
One would have thought that God would choose someone who is high in authority, the emperor, the king, or at least the high priest to receive his word, but no. Luke says the word of God came To John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. Yes, these men have authority on earth, but John's authority comes from heaven. The Apostle John, as he begins To write his gospel in the prologue, he says, as he introduces John the Baptist, he says, there's a man sent from God. whose name was John.
That's it. John is a messenger of God. He comes from God. He's got God's message. And he's going to declare the message of God.
Whether it is received or not, he's going to declare it. It's the message of God. He's there not to give his own ideas or opinions. He doesn't have his own agenda. He's not there to exert himself.
He's not there to become a popular figure. He's got a task, a single task, and he's going to do it brilliantly. He's declaring the word of God. God. And he's going to proclaim this word, not in the temple.
Not in the capital Jerusalem, not even in the hills of Galilee. He's going to declare it in the wilderness. Is that what it says, verse 2? The word came to him in the wilderness. We read in chapter one, verse eighty.
The child John the Baptist grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance. His spiritual preparation. For this unique task of being a forerunner of Jesus takes place Not where you would expect it, not in a temple, not in Jerusalem. Not being educated by the priests and the theologians of the day, no, he's prepared uniquely by God in the wilderness. He is The last of the Old Testament prophets.
A dispensation is coming to an end. The dispensation of the law. Remember John says the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. John the Baptist is this hinge figure, as it were, between the old dispensation and the new one. He is the last.
of the prophets. And he is coming. to prepare For the Messiah. All of the Old Covenant is pointing forward to this day, the day of the Lord, the day of the Messiah. And John is saying that day is about.
to come. And you must be prepared. to receive. The Messiah. And here Luke quotes, as he says in verse 4, he's quoting from the book of Isaiah, chapter 40, in fact.
And the context of Isaiah, as he writes in Isaiah 40, refers to the Lord leading back his people. from Babylonian captivity back. to the promised land. And before the arrival of a dignitary, of a king, of an emperor, of someone of importance. The highway is to be prepared.
Any debris on the road is to be pushed aside, the potholes are to be filled, the way is made straight, the way is crooked, it's going to be made straight. Why? Because of the appearance of this very, very important person. John the Baptist. Is the Old Testament fulfillment?
Of that Quotation from Isaiah. Luke is saying. He is the Lord's advancement. He is preparing The way. He comes to prepare a people spiritually For the Messiah.
The Messiah is coming, and you must be ready. There must be spiritual preparation. There must be hard work spiritually to be done. Your heart has to be ready. Isaiah says, when he comes, the glory of the Lord will be revealed.
We saw that on Christmas, didn't we? As the angels Come and the little Fields of Bethlehem to these shepherds, and look says the glory of the Lord. Was there? Zechariah, or Simeon rather, prophesies when he holds the little baby Jesus in his arms. He says in chapter 2, verse 32: This is a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people, Israel.
The glory of the Lord is going to be revealed. Why God is coming to this world? The Messiah is coming. And the message is this: verse 6: all flesh. shall see the salvation of God.
We've seen this before in our study of Of Luke, that he's the Savior of all the world, not just to Israel, marvelous although that is. This Messiah is coming. Yes, he's been born in Bethlehem. Yes, he's growing up. in Israel.
He's going to walk the hills of Galilee. He's going to go to the capital. But all flesh are going to see the salvation of the Lord. Isn't that wonderful that down through the centuries? That message has come to you.
And to me. with our forefathers. brought the message to this country. And the gospel was communicated to you and to me. And that from This church We take seriously this message that it is for all of the nations, yes, including Israel, but beyond Israel to the remote parts.
Why? Because he's the savior. Of the world. And John is saying now the king is coming. Are you spiritually?
Ready. to receive him. 400 silent years have passed. Malachi. The last of the Old Testament writers.
In our Bibles. He spoke 400 years previously and now There is this voice. A voice to the people. Prepare the way of the Lord. God is now speaking to Israel through this unique.
Character, John the Baptist. He's a kind of a strange man, isn't he? He's got strange clothes. He's got a strange diet who wants to live on locusts and wild honey. I might take a little honey, I'm not so sure about the locusts.
He looks different. He's taking a Nazarite vow. He's never cut his hair. He lives in a strange place, the wilderness, who's going to do that? And yet.
This is the messenger. of God. What's his message? Verse 3. He went into all of the region around the Jordan.
proclaiming Here it is. A message of Repentance. For the forgiveness. Of sense. That is Before you're going to experience the salvation of the Lord, There is going to be repentance.
That's the way of the Lord. I don't know if I like that word repentance. It's kind of negative, isn't it? I mean, who wants to repent? John says If you're going to receive the Messiah, There must be repentance.
Repentance involves Changing our minds, changing our understanding, but biblical repentance is not limited to an intellectual exercise. Don Carson. New Testament scholar. states that repentance is a radical transformation of the entire person. Do you get this?
A fundamental turnaround involving mind and action and including overtimes of grief. which results in fruit in keeping with repentance. It's not something superficial. Not just a byproduct, not something you do for five or ten minutes a day. No, this is something radical.
It's a total turnaround, a total change. Repentance. As John is going to say is going to result in fruit in keeping with repentance. Do you know anything about that? Turning from your own Lifestyle?
your own agenda, your own ambition. Your own selfish desires. to his life. For you. lived according to what you want, what's most comfortable.
What's going to satisfy you? Is that it? That's not repentance. That's the very opposite of repentance. That's not being repentance.
That means that you think you're no better than God. nor repentance, which is before God. is a fundamental change. Mark records that when Jesus comes in Mark chapter 1 verse 15 When Jesus begins to preach, he says, repent. and believe the gospel.
It's a message of John. Repent. It's a message of the apostles, Acts chapter 2, on the day of Pentecost. Here is Peter. What does he say in Acts chapter 2, verse 38?
Peter said to them, Here's Israel. Repent. And be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. That's the message. Repentance.
Chapter seventeen of Acts, Acts chapter seventeen. There's Thirty, here is the Apostle Paul. Lord preached repentance, Peter preaches repentance, so does Paul. He's in Athens. Acts seventeen, verse thirty, the times of ignorance God overlooked.
But now he commands all people everywhere To repent. Because he's fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, obviously a Lord. And of this he's given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some of them mocked. What's Paul's message?
Repent. Why? Because one day you're going to stand before God the judge. Yes, you can choose to live your life any way you want, but be warned. You're going to stand before a holy God.
And he has demonstrated the power of his message by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. God is living, God watches you. Yes, we rejoice that he knows our name as we sang, but maybe we're not quite so happy. to think he knows my thoughts. He knows my actions.
He knows my words. Repents. Acts chapter 20. I'm emphasizing this because I have people, including some of you, who question this message of repentance. You think it's too negative?
Acts chapter 20. Verse 21, here is Paul as he speaks to the Ephesian elders in Miletus. testifying both to Jews and to Greeks. This message is not just Israel.
Some people try to say that, no. It goes to Jew and Gentile of repentance towards God. And Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice repentance towards God. Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Faith and repentance are two sides of the same coin. I turn from my sin, I have this radical change, and I believe in the Lord Jesus. Christ. And this is a message that Jesus said to the apostles again in Luke. Luke chapter 24, verse 47.
As he sends them to preach, what are the apostles going to preach? Verse 47, and that repentance. For the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in the name of all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Repentance It's the message of John, it's the message of our Lord, it's the message of the apostles, it's the message of the New Testament.
Now how can you say that we should eliminate sin and the concept of sin from the church? and believe what the scriptures say. If you don't believe in sin, there's no need to repent. If every one of us is just fine, go your own way. A little bit of religion thrown in, a little bit of the church.
Money, if that's the way you want. Nice way to live, totally contrary to the word of God. The faithful preacher of the gospel must deal with sin and repentance. You will never ever experience true forgiveness of sins unless there's this fundamental repentance. This is the verdict with Pastor John Monroe and a message titled Crying in the Wilderness.
We'll continue this important lesson when we come back tomorrow. but don't go anywhere just yet because John will be back in a moment with his closing remarks. John the Baptist's message of repentance prepared hearts for the coming Messiah. but perhaps you've wondered about your own standing before God. Once you've repented and believed, can you know with certainty that you're saved?
What assurance do you have? John addresses these key questions in a thoughtful booklet called Eternal Security Finding Certainty in a Chaotic World. This resource examines what Scripture teaches about God's unchanging promises to believers, helping you understand the security of your salvation. To receive your free copy of Eternal Security, just go to our website at theverdict.org. And if these lessons and resources have helped you, would you consider helping other listeners by supporting the Verdict's gospel outreach with a donation of any amount?
Through your giving, you'll be playing an important part in sharing the gospel with new listeners and communities across the globe. You can give your tax-deductible gift today by going online to theverdict.org. And don't forget to subscribe to the Verdict Podcast. In addition to these programs, John presents a weekly podcast called Avizandam, where he shares his personal thoughts on relevant topics like church and politics, the power of hope, and how to engage the culture for Christ. You can hear it all by subscribing to the Verdict Podcast.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe with his closing remarks for today's lesson. crying in the wilderness.
Well, what's your verdict? In preparation for the coming of the Messiah, we learned that John called people to repentance. Have you repented? This is not simply saying sorry. Repentance is a deep acknowledgement of our sins before a holy God.
Jesus said he'd come to call sinners to repentance.
So, If you think you're a sinner, Understand that Jesus came to save you. Don't miss the broadcast next time as we're going to continue looking at this remarkable and unique figure, John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah. 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.
