264: Matt Sturgeon - Exhortation: The Heralding of John the Baptist

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:13

   Welcome to good Chris Selfian talks. I’m Levi. And I’m Chris. And I’m Brian. Thank you for joining us this week on this podcast. We select one talk a week to help us get the Bible in our Daily News feed. We post a new episode at the start of each week. With the short intro beforehand. To kind of set the stage for the talk you’re about to listen to. And now, let’s talk more about this week’s talk. For this week, we’re listening to an exhortation that was given by Brother Matt Sturgeon.

2. 0:55

   Talking about the heralding of the coming of John the Baptist, what I really appreciated about Brother Matt’s exhortation is he is taking a look at a story that sometimes they feel like we almost gloss over when we’re reading it in Scripture. Because oftentimes when we go to talking about John the Baptist, frequently our focus is instead on reading through that part to get to the message from Gabriel to tell Mary about the coming of Jesus or getting into the ministry of Jesus.

3. 1:19

   And so sometimes we can focus on different parts of John the Baptist, especially when he’s older. And he’s preparing the way before Christ began his ministry. But I really appreciated his. Taking a look at all the little hints and nuances that go into John the Baptists, both his parents and the events that preceded his prophesied birth, I found it to be a really good dive into it. Some really practical applications that I really enjoyed.

4. 1:46

   So I hope that you find this exertation as encouraging and interesting as I did when I got to hear it. So I will turn it over to Brother Matt Sturgeon for his exhortation, the heralding of John the Baptist. Well, good morning everybody. Sister Katie and I are so incredibly grateful and happy to be with you this morning.

5. 2:10

   It’s always a pleasure when we get to see brothers and sisters from. Far away and close by and we’re we’re really thankful to have the opportunity to share not only in fellowship, but around the table of the Lord. This morning we read Luke One. I want to 1st put you at ease. Our expectation is not to do an exposition on the whole of Luke 1 so you can take a breath, but rather we’re going to look at the heralding of of John the Baptist at the beginning of Luke 1. So if you’re not already there, turn with me, if you could, to the Gospel of Luke.

6. 2:45

   In chapter one, and we want to start with verse 5. The bulk of our time this morning is actually going to be spent looking at the things that the Angel Gabriel said to Zechariah, but we want to start by looking at his parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth. Just have a look there at the the book of Luke, chapter one and verse 5, where it says there was in the days of Herod the king of Judea certain priests named Zechariah of the course of Abaja.

7. 3:13

   His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. So what are we being told here? Well, we’re being told that Zachariah was of the chorus of Abaija, which if we were to go back to first of Chronicles 24, we would see that Zachariah was of the line of Aaron going all the way back. He was related to Aaron and Elizabeth. What we’re told plainly that she too was of the daughters of Aaron.

8. 3:40

   So what that means is that Zachariah and Elizabeth had a pure Christadelphian bloodline, if you will. Their parents, parents, parents, parents, parents, parents were all Christadelphians. And so we would say, wow, that family, you know, they must be doing something right. If they’ve been able to stay in the truth that long, perhaps we might feel that way. But more importantly, have a look at verse 6. They were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, Blameless. Imagine if that was to be said about us in the record of Scripture.

9. 4:19

   They were blameless before their God, and righteous so both in blood and in spirit. Zechariah and Elizabeth were as pure as you could find in the truth in those days. And yet. They had no child because Elizabeth was barren, and Scripture takes the time to tell us that she was well stricken in years, that she was old, that they had gone their entire life, and the truth having been raised the right way, having done the right things, and having no children, and being in prayer perhaps every day.

10. 5:04

    Wondering why God would curse them to be barren. And we emphasize this point because perhaps we feel that way about all sorts of things. Because we feel compelled that our timing should be right. Because it seems appropriate that today I should have a child or a husband or a job or or this thing or that thing or whatever it is.

11. 5:25

    And that’s not unreasonable to feel that way. That’s why they prayed about it. But in this case, and in ours, there was something greater going on. And that thing was John the Baptist. And so we find as we skip down just a little bit to verse 11, there appeared unto Zechariah an Angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense in the temple.

12. 5:50

    And when Zachariah saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. The Angel said unto him, Fear not, Zechariah, for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and shall call his name John. Now we want to just emphasize this again. Look at what Gabriel says to Zechariah.

13. 6:13

    Thy prayer is answered. Do you think that that meant that today was the first time that Zechariah had made a prayer for a child? And thus, Gabriel said, well, now that you finally decided to pray about it. I’m going to give you a child, but of course not. This was decades of fervent prayer to God.

14. 6:34

    This was also, by the way, probably decades of murmuring amongst the Ecclesia Hall of Isn’t it such a shame that Brother Zechariah and Sister Elizabeth can’t have kids? They’re such lovely. They’re such a lovely couple. Isn’t it unfortunate? And finally, by the course of God’s timing, fear not, for you and your wife will have a son you’ll call his name John. And what we want to spend the rest of our time doing this morning and get your fingers ready, because we’re going to be doing some page turning, is we want to get a sense of what the Angel said to Zechariah about his coming son John, and why he said it.

15. 7:16

    So we might just read briefly these next few verses that describe what the Angel said to Zechariah about his coming son. So have a look at verse 14. Thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth. He shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb.

16. 7:42

    And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

17. 8:00

    The first thing they’re in verse 14, many shall have joy and gladness at his birth. Well, we read that just over in verse 58. It says her neighbors and her cousins heard how the Lord had showed great mercy upon her and they rejoiced with her. So indeed, many did rejoice at the birth of John the Baptist. And then in verse 15, it says that he will drink neither wine nor strong drink.

18. 8:23

    That should be a indicator to us about the Nazarete vow from number six. We’re not going to turn that up. But the whole idea behind the Nazarete vow is that any brother or sister could take part in the Nazarete vow of not drinking any alcohol, of not being near anything dead, and of not cutting your hair as a symbol of the priesthood.

19. 8:45

    You could act like a priest in doing these things. Without actually being a priest and doing the priestly duties. And you could do that voluntarily, and you could do that for as long as you wanted. So the Angel tells Zachariah that this is going to be something that John’s going to do. And we might say, well, why is that necessary? He’s the son of a priest.

20. 9:06

    Well, yes, but John’s role was not to be a priest. John’s role was the herald, the Son of God. And yet he would act like a priest in the things that he did. And then it says in verse 16, many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. Now we’re going to put a pin in this. We’re going to come back to it.

21. 9:28

    But I want you to note the word many, many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord, their God. And I want you to think that it doesn’t say that all would come to John the Baptist and learn of God, but that many would. So we’re going to put a pin in that.

22. 9:42

    We’ll come back to it. When our verse 17 we see an allusion to 2 Old Testament prophecies, he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient. To the wisdom of the just now that’s our first reference and if you look in your center margin, you might see there that it’s in a reference to Malachi Chapter 4.

23. 10:08

    So keep a hand in, Luke you’re going to want to do that throughout our consideration this morning. But just come over to Malachi Chapter 4. And yes, if if you did catch it, I I’m doing the study day on Malachi, so this is kind of where my head has been. So just if you look at the end of Malachi chapter 4, Malachi 4 is about the future. It’s about things that haven’t happened yet. As with many of Old Testament prophecies, they might talk about things that had to do with the problems of the day. They also talk about the things that would come to pass in the future.

24. 10:42

    And so right at the end of Malachi 4 and verses 5 and six, it says, behold, ice will send you Elijah the prophet. Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers.

25. 11:03

    Lest I come and Smythe the earth with a curse. Now keeping a hand in Malachi and a hand in Luke, I just want to read you the Luke portion again on what the Angel says. The Angel says to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. We saw that and. The disobedient to the wisdom of the just so the Angel does something very interesting. The Angel changes the words of Malachi to be more specific, instead of the children to the fathers, the Angel says the disobedient to the wisdom of the just. And So what we’re seeing here is there is a change. What Gabriel’s saying is there’s a change from the way that the children, the descendants, generation after generation after generation, had been doing things. Those disobedient people, they’re going to go back to the wisdom of their just fathers, the wisdom of the way that things were always intended to be. There’s going to be a change in attitude in spirit, because what does it say at the beginning of verse six that he shall turn the hearts?

26. 12:09

    When we think about this all the time, right, we’re constantly thinking about what’s the right way to dress and is there an appropriate version to read, and all these different procedural things that we’re constantly thinking about, wondering what’s appropriate and what’s not. And it’s good for us to do those things. There’s nothing wrong with that.

27. 12:24

    But what there was a specific interest in here is a changing of the heart, a changing of a person’s composition, the way that they live their lives. And interestingly it says that I will send you Elijah the prophet in order to do it. And one of the things that we find throughout the ministry of John and we see it with the ministry of Christ as well, is constantly the scribes and and the priests and all these religious people kept saying, are you Elijah?

28. 12:54

    Well you must be Elijah. Is Christ Elijah. Who’s Elijah and why were they doing that? Why did they keep asking if these people were Elijah? Well, because the last prophecy of the Old Testament was, I will send you Elijah, the prophet before the great and dreadful day of the Lord. They kept wondering, this must be Elijah. John must be Elijah.

29. 13:15

    Christ must be Elijah. Somebody’s got to be Elijah, because we’re stuck on this prophecy and we don’t know what to do with it. And I think what we’re going to find this morning is that John partially fulfilled Malachi 4. That’s why Gabriel says it, but not completely. There’s still work to be done. So that’s the first prophecy that’s alluded to. Malachi 4.

30. 13:38

    Again, he says to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just so part of the role of John the Baptist was about changing hearts. There’s a lot of power in that, especially in these times when it was all about law. What’s the 2nd prophecy that’s spoken about? What’s really subtle here?

31. 14:01

    It’s at the end of verse 17. It says to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. It’s really brief, and if you went looking through your concordance trying to figure out where that’s coming from, you might come up with all kinds of answers. So. Let’s go to a place where we can get some more clarity because John himself, when people ask him who are you?

32. 14:22

    He says, well, let me tell you, I come from this prophecy in the Old Testament. So again, keep a hand in Luke, come over with me to John one. Let’s look at what John has to say about himself. So John, one and just look with me if you will. Let’s start back, actually at verse 19, we’re going to see some of what we’re talking about, where the people want to know if he’s Elijah.

33. 14:54

    So John one. In verse 19, this is the record of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who are you? They knew something was up with this man. They couldn’t quite figure out what it was, so they wanted to get to the bottom of it. And he confessed and denied not, but confessed. I am not the Christ.

34. 15:14

    OK, so they put that to the side. Well, you got to be somebody important, so let’s go through the list. What then? Are you Elijah? And he says, I am not. Are thou that prophet? And he answered no, and said they unto him, Who art thou? That we may give an answer to them that sent us? So the priests and Levites want to know who you are, John, and we need an answer.

35. 15:38

    Tell us who you are. What sayest thou of thyself? And he said, I am the voice of 1 crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord. As said, the prophet Isaiah and they which were sent were of the Pharisees, so he refers to a passage from the prophet Isaiah. That says and the voice of 1 crying in the wilderness makes straight the way of the Lord.

36. 16:05

    And again, if you have a note in your Bible or perhaps in your center margin, you’ll see where that’s from. And that is from Isaiah chapter 40. We might just have a brief look over there at Isaiah 40 and remember the passage from Luke says prepare ye the way of the Lord. That’s what it says about John from Gabriel and here Isaiah 40 and just looking down at verse 3. It says the voice of him that cries in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord.

37. 16:41

    Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. So this is the reference that both John uses to refer to himself, and that Gabriel uses to describe John to Zechariah. So we have Malachi 4, which is about the turning of hearts. The turning of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just.

38. 17:04

    And we have the voice of Him that cries in the wilderness, which we know. That’s where John came from. Prepare the way of the Lord. Prepare the way for Christ. Make straight in the desert, a highway for our God. Now, does that mean that John was to God into the desert and start paving roads? Well, of course not.

39. 17:25

    It’s about laying a path by which. You and I would come to a knowledge and an understanding and acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ. This was the work of John the Baptist. And these are the 2 great prophecies that Gabriel uses to describe the coming of John. So now we want to look just a little bit back. Remember we talked in the previous verse. It says many would come to a knowledge. Of God through John the Baptist.

40. 17:59

    So for that we might just have a look at the book of Matthew. Come with me to Matthew and we’ll start in Matthew 11.

41. 18:16

    I guess it would help if I was in Matthew and not Mark. So Matthew 11 and have a look at what Christ has to say about John the Baptist. Matthew 11 and verse seven. As they departed, Jesus began to say into the multitudes concerning John the Baptist what Whitney out into the wilderness to see a Reed shaken with the wind, some sort of frail individual. But what went she out to see?

42. 18:43

    A man clothed in softer, gorgeous fancy apparel. Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in King’s houses. But what went she out for? To see a prophet. Yeah, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written. Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare the way before thee. That’s a reference to Malachi 3IN verse one, the messenger that would prepare the way for Christ. Verily I say unto you in verse eleven, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist. And outwithstanding, he that is least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

43. 19:30

    I’m going to read that again. Among them that are born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist. That’s pretty high praise of all the prophets, of all the men and women that came before Christ says John is the most important, the greatest of them all. That’s powerful and it’s significant because. And we haven’t gotten here yet, but it says that he came in the spirit and power of Elijah, and yet this John the Baptist was greater than even Elijah himself, because he was coming and preparing the way for Christ. And he says finally in verse 12, from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force.

44. 20:15

    For all the prophets in the Law prophesied until John, and here pay close attention if you will receive it. This is Elijah which was for to come. So what Christ is telling us is John the Baptist came on the scene talking about the coming of Christ and he says if you receive John the Baptist then he was the Elijah of Malachi chapter 4. So when all the priests in the scribes are running all over the place looking to see is John the Baptist Elijah, Christ says he is.

45. 20:49

    If you listen to the message that he’s trying to tell you. Did they listen to the message of John? Sadly, the majority of them didn’t. He was beheaded for the things that he said and for the things that he stood for. John was rejected. And it’s why I think that Christ says he that has ears to hear, let him hear. And so we just want to pause here and ask ourselves, are we listening?

46. 21:18

    We have the ears to hear. Are we hearing Because too often, even coming week after week and and doing all the right things, we stand up, we sit down, we we read in our homes, we pray, we do all these things. It’s still easy for us to not have the word and our relationship with our God change our hearts, which was the whole reason why John was coming.

47. 21:41

    Remember what Malachi 4 said? That this Elijah was coming to change the hearts of the people to make straight a highway for our God. And still they rejected him because the people didn’t want to change their hearts. In fact, what did the priests in the scribes want when the Messiah came? Well, they expected that the Messiah’s first order of business would be walking right up to them and saying, oh, you’ve done such a lovely job at the place here. We’ve got some nice seats for you here, We’ve got some nice seats for you over here.

48. 22:09

    And now we’re going to come and drive down judgment on all these other people who haven’t been as clean and as righteous as you. And of course that’s the opposite of what John the Baptist in Christ did. They were actually quite condemning of the hypocritical behavior of the Pharisees because they were coming to change hearts.

49. 22:29

    Now another reference about John over in Matthew 17. So Matthew 17. This must not be a good reference, but that’s Okay. Matthew 17. We have the Transfiguration, right? So Christ says in chapter 16 and verse 28. Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here which shall not taste of death. So they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom. And then right after that we have the Transfiguration, and Christ is standing there with Moses and Elijah. And do you know what Luke has to say about the Transfiguration? What were they talking about?

50. 23:07

    Where they were talking about his departure? And that word in Greek means Exodus. Exodus is actually a Greek word. They were talking about the Exodus of Christ and who better qualified than Moses who led his Exodus and Elijah who we’re going to get to, And now Christ leading an exodus out of sin and death.

51. 23:26

    But the point is after the transfiguration ends, the disciples are all turned around. They don’t know what to do. And so they say in verse 10, his disciples asked Christ saying, why? Then say the scribes that Elijah has to come first. They just saw Elijah. Was this it? Was this what they were talking about? Again, they’re all turned around by this. They just saw Moses and Elijah.

52. 23:51

    Another reference says that they want to make tabernacles for the three of them, that they don’t know what to do. I suspect we wouldn’t have either. Why do the scribes say that Elijah has to come first? And Christ says in verse 11 Elijah truly shall first come and restore all things. It doesn’t say many things, which is what Gabriel had to say about John.

53. 24:13

    It says that Elijah would come and restore all things. But I say unto you that Elijah is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise show also the Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he spoke unto them of John the Baptist. So what’s Christ trying to say?

54. 24:38

    He says Elijah is going to come first. John came as a type of Elijah. We saw that from Malachi 4. And what did the people do with this representation of Elijah? Did they accept him with open arms? Did they cry tears of joy that this one who would come proclaiming the coming of Christ was here?

55. 25:05

    No, it says they knew him not and have done unto him whatsoever they listed because ultimately, as we said, John was beheaded. So yes, this type of Elijah did come, and as we just saw from Matthew 11, he could have been the fulfillment of Malachi 4. He could have been the coming of Elijah. In fact, theoretically, Christ could have set up the Kingdom right there when he first came on the earth, but John was rejected and Christ was rejected. The coming of the changing of hearts that John tried to do, the people weren’t interested in it. They rejected him.

56. 25:42

    And again, we have to ask ourselves, are we allowing our hearts to be changed? That when Christ comes again it won’t be the same result because they were totally and completely dismissive of John’s appearing. So coming back to Luke again, and the point we’re making and all of that as we come back to Luke 1, is that John was a partial fulfillment of the things that Elijah is ultimately going to come to do.

57. 26:09

    Because Elijah is going to come again, and he is going to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the disobedience to the wisdom of the just in preparation for the coming of Christ. But it hasn’t happened yet, and he’s going to do it. And a very specific spirit and power. Because there’s one thing that we missed from what Gabriel had to say to Zechariah about John.

58. 26:35

    And here it is at the beginning of verse 17, the last thing that we haven’t talked about, that Gabriel says about John, verse 17 of Luke, one he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah. The spirit, his attitude, his mentality and his power, the works that he does well, those are going to be like Elijah. So if we can figure out what that spirit and power was, we’ll have a good sense of what John was coming to do. So we want to take a look as our final consideration for this morning of what that was.

59. 27:16

    So come with me over to Luke Chapter 9, and let’s first look at his spirit. Luke Chapter 9 and verses 51 to 55. Luke Chapter 9 and verse 51. And it came to pass. When the time was come that he should be received up. He, that is Christ, steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem and sent messengers before his face. And they went and entered into a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him.

60. 27:46

    But they did not receive him because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. So Christ and the disciples, they come to a city of the Samaritans, and the Samaritans didn’t want to see him because they knew he was going somewhere else. So they rejected Christ. And have a look at what the disciples have to say about this interaction. When the disciples verse 54 James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them even as Elijah did. Now we want to pause here for something else, because there’s a situation where people are not on the same page. They do something against Christ that they really shouldn’t have done.

61. 28:35

    And the default reaction of James and John is to say, you know, you know, it’d be great. We really teach them a lesson. Let’s call down fire from heaven. Then they’ll really get it. They’ll also be dead, but they’ll get it. Sometimes. Some of us, and the truth, for good reasons, want to call down fire from heaven. I felt that way.

62. 28:57

    I don’t know if you’ve ever felt that way, because we think that that’s what people need to change. We need to call down great fire from heaven, and then once they’re all burnt through a crisp and there’s nothing there left, then they’ll get it. Seems like a good idea. Elijah did it, and what does Christ have to say about this?

63. 29:16

    But he turned and rebuked them and said, You know not what manner of spirit you are of. They thought that the spirit, the attitude of Elijah, was when people misbehaved, you burnt them to a crisp with fire from heaven. That’s the spirit of Elijah. But that’s not the spirit of Elijah. What does Christ have to say in verse 56? The Son of Man has not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.

64. 29:48

    And they went to another village. There are times in our lives and the truth Well, people will do things where we will do things that might seem worthy of great fire from heaven. But the reality is Christ is coming to save the lives of men, and we must try to do everything within our power to save rather than to destroy.

65. 30:12

    So our point is with the Spirit. The spirit of Elijah is not a spirit of a person who wants to come and burn people to a crisp. That’s not the spirit of Elijah. I haven’t figured out what it is yet, but that’s what it’s not. Okay. Now let’s talk about the power of Elijah.

66. 30:29

    Come with me over to John 10, John 10 and verse 40. The power of Elijah John 10 and verse 40 says, And we’re jumping, we’re parachuting into the record, which we always say not to do. But you’ll see why John 10 and verse 40 he went away again beyond Jordan, into the place where John at first baptized, and there he abode, and many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle.

67. 31:05

    But all things that John’s spake of this man were true. John did no miracle. Now, if I asked you what’s the power of Elijah, what would you say? Well, I would have said it’s calling down fire from heaven. That’s the power of Elijah. He does it more than once. It has a great impact. And how does it get more powerful than calling down fire from heaven?

68. 31:27

    And yet, if that was the power of Elijah that John was supposed to come in, he would have done miracles. And we’re specifically told that John never did a miracle. And by the way, he’s the greatest man to ever walk the earth aside from Christ. That’s what Christ says himself. So if the spirit of Elijah, if his attitude is not to call down fire from heaven, and his power is not to do the miracles to call down fire from heaven, what is the spirit and power of Elijah that John came in that Gabriel prophecies in Luke one?

69. 32:03

    I think our answer is found in the First of Kings chapter 19. Let’s just go back there. First of Kings 19. Now first of Kings 18 is a great Sunday school story because first of Kings 18 is Elijah and the prophets of Bale. So Elijah’s on the one side and the prophets of Bale are on the other side. And all day long the prophets of Bale cut themselves and dance around and all this nonsense.

70. 32:33

    And Elijah, you know, digs the the ditch around the the altar and fills it with water. And here comes the great fire from heaven and destroys the altar. And it’s a great dramatic story and we all love it because it’s the power of God. But after that happens, it’s not that the wickedness falls apart and all the people turn to God.

71. 32:54

    And what a relief it was that we had a great fire from heaven. Elijah has to go on the run, and the first of kings 19 In verse 10, after God says to Elijah, What doest thou here, Elijah, we see a response that perhaps we at sometimes can relate to verse of kings 19 and verse 10. And he said, I’ve been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword.

72. 33:29

    And I even I only am left, and they seek my life to take it away. Elijah felt that the only person left who had any devotion to God whatsoever was him. Perhaps at times we can feel that way. Perhaps we can feel like in our families or in our ecclesias. And the truth as a whole, The only person left that cares about God at all is me, because everybody else is falling short.

73. 33:53

    That’s how Elijah felt even after the great fire from heaven. And what does God tell him to do? Verse 11, He said, Go forth, stand upon the mound before the Lord, and behold the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and break them in pieces, the rocks before the Lord.

74. 34:15

    But the Lord was not in the wind, And after the wind and earthquake, the Lord was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire that the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire the voice of a gentle whisper. And what Elijah came to understand is that the voice of God that changes people, that strikes them to their core, has nothing to do with fire from heaven or winds or earthquake or anything else. It has purely to do with the voice of the Word of God. If our hearts are going to be changed, brothers and sisters, it will be because of our relationship with our God. It will be because of the prayers that we make to Him and the answers that we receive in our lives, in part, in large part from His word.

75. 35:14

    The spirit and power of John the Baptist is right here in First of Kings 19. It’s in the power of the voice of the word of God. We can be so pent up and frustrated that we’re not seeing God work in our lives in the way that we feel He should or the way that we expect him to.

76. 35:36

    But the reality is he has worked in our lives in a way that is unbelievable. We have the words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ right in front of us. The words of great men and women of old that came before and after him, all bent up in His word And just to drive this home, we want to turn back to our last reference for this morning as we come to the emblems, and that is back in Isaiah 40. So we looked at Isaiah 40 before, we looked at Isaiah 40 before because it was one of the two prophecies that Gabriel uses to talk about what John was going to do. He uses Malachi 4 to talk about the turning of the hearts, and he uses Isaiah 40 to talk about, among other things, building a pathway to Christ.

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    But we cut it off early. And furthermore, I think what we’ll find with Isaiah 40 is that when we read it with these renewed eyes, having looked at first of Kings 19, that it is more powerful Isaiah 40 and verse 3, the voice of him that cries, what was the voice that Elijah heard in first of Kings 19? It was a still small voice.

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    And now in Isaiah 40, what’s prophesied about John is that the voice cries in the wilderness, that is the voice of God. The spirit and power of John was not in these great incredible miracles. It was the fact that he came proclaiming the voice of the word of God and look at what he does.

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    We already looked at verse 3, but just look at the rest. Every valley in verse four should be exalted. Every mountain and hill should be made low. The crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. It’s a vision of the Kingdom.

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    All the bad places will be destroyed, and all the good places will be lifted up, and all flesh will see it together. Not in the first work of John, where many saw it, but they ultimately rejected him. But everyone all over the earth will come to an understanding of our Lord. And again the voice says in verse six, cry.

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    And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field, the grass withereth, the flower fadeth because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely the people is grass, and the older we get, the more we know this is true, that we are nothing but dust, that we are grass, that we fade.

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    The older we get, the more we fall apart, and yet the grass withereth the flower fadeth. But the word of our God shall stand forever, because the spirit and power of Elijah was not in great fiery miracles from heaven, but in the word of our God. And you know that first Peter references Isaiah 40 And you know what it says about verse 8.

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    The grass withereth, the flower fadeth. But the Word of our God shall stand forever. For this is the gospel which was preached unto you, brothers and sisters, as we come to partake of the emblems and to remember our Lord, and to take yet another week forward, as we try to deny our flesh and move forward, arm in arm, together, as we await our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, let us remember the ultimate objective, the ultimate objective of John and of Christ himself, that it’s about turning hearts, about taking the flesh that we have and putting it to death, recognizing that the things that we’re striving for are so much greater than the temporary things that we see today, Even so. Come Lord Jesus.

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