Dennis Gillett – Bible Men The Way They Were – Class 6 – John – Fearless and Faithful

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We’re now ready for our first
class of the morning and we’ll

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be calling upon our brother
Dennis Gillett to deliver the

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6th class in his series on Bible
Men.

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The way they were entitled,
John, Fearless and Faithful.

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As an introductory reading,
we’ll be reading from Mark

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chapter 6, commencing at verse
14 and reading through to verse

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29.
Good morning, everyone.

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As a beginning this morning I
make a RE proposition that is

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something we’ve already pondered
earlier this week, that is.

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That when you are trying to see
the characters of Bible men and

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to see them the way they were,
it is sometimes profitable to

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discover their characters in
observing the way they live and

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act in their relationship to
other people.

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Now I think we found this to be
true, or I tried to do it in

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respect of Nehemiah.
Another good example in the

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Bible, of course, is Pontius
Pilate.

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It was through his contact with
the man of Nazareth that we were

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able to measure his character.
I dare say without that contact

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he would have been a non entity
and we should never have heard

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of him.
But because of it his name has

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been proclaimed all then the
ages.

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From millions of lips he
suffered under Pontius Pilate

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and apart from that he would not
have been known well.

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This is just an example.
Men are sometimes revealed in

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their relationship with other
people.

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And this is the process I’d like
to follow today about John the

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Baptist to watch the
development, the revelation of

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his character in his
relationship with first of all

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the Pharisees and then with King
Herod.

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We are to try to examine this
process in this man, the son of

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Zacharias.
Now it seems to me that the life

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of John can be divided into 3
distinct periods.

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The 1st is that part of his life
which is described in Luke One

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verse 18 as he was in the
desert, still is showing unto

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Israel that period as you know
lasted 30 years.

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He was in the wilderness,
seeking God by the heart,

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without the aid of rituals and
creeds, away from the

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infallibility of the rabbis and
away from the controversies of

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Judaism and the life of
Jerusalem.

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So that was the first period
about which we know nothing.

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The second period is shorter.
It comprises a few months of his

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public ministry.
He was now ready to be the

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herald of the one who was to
come shortly afterwards, and who

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was to baptize with spirit.
He’d learned this John in the

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desert, that reality lies at the
root of all true religious life.

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And so to a nation of formalists
he came preaching this one thing

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that they must be real.
He said bring forth roots meat

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for repentance.
That’s in Matthew 3, verse 8.

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Personal reformation is the
preparation for the Kingdom of

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God.
This was His Clarion call.

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Let each man be true.
Let each man do his duty.

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Let the rich give to those who
are not rich.

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Let Republicans accuse no man
falsely.

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Let the soldier be content with
his wages, the reality of

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serving God.
This was his message.

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Change yourselves, he was
saying, or you will have no

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Kingdom at all.
And he delivered his message

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manfully, as you know.
And it’s just, his success was

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astonishing, even to himself.
He was a burning and a shining

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light.
That’s how the record describes

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him.
It’s sometimes easy to shine.

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It’s more difficult to burn.
And he burned his way into the

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hearts of the Israelites and the
the desert swarmed with crowds.

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And the formalist was no longer
satisfied with his formalism.

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And the infidel was unable to
rest any longer upon his

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infidelity.
And when John saw the Pharisees

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coming to him for baptism, he,
even John, was astonished.

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He cried, Who had warned ye to
flee from the wrath to come, The

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qualities which he had learned,
and those things which he had

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nursed in the desert through him
became known to the world.

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And I sense as I read the record
that men felt that the greater

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than themselves was among them.
They felt somehow that he was a

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great prophet.
The world around him was moved

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with admiration.
Now this was the trial, the

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first trial which John had to
endure, and he he endured it

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uninjured the trial of
admiration, even indeed, as the

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Messiah did later on.
But of course, the great trial

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is yet to come, as we shall
notice later on.

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But let’s think a little bit
more about the success which

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attended.
John Baptist ministry, it says

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they went out, they went out to
him Jerusalem and all Judea and

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all the region round about
Jordan, and were baptized by him

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in Jordan, confessing their
sins.

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That means that all kinds of
people came to John and they

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came to him with one malady.
The aching of the hollow heart

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waited with sin, and when they
were baptized.

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The man who bent over them was a
solitary man who had LED a

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hermit’s life, a man of spare
diet, a man of austere habits, a

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man of composure, A stern man, a
man who had been in lonely

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place, who is the most high God.
A prophet indeed, And though he

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was a hermit, he took no half
view of men and sins.

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There was nothing morbid in his
way of life.

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There was a sanctified common
sense in the advice he gave to

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the different classes of people
as we have remembered.

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Repent with him didn’t mean come
with me into the wilderness and

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live a solitary life away from
the world.

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Didn’t mean that Repent with him
meant go back to the world and

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live above it, each man doing
his worldly duty in an unworldly

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spirit.
In a sense, when you think about

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it, it’s a remarkable thing.
It’s a strange thing.

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Men of the world coming with
implicit reverence to learn the

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true duty of life.
Men who were engaged in an

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active vibe in a busy world.
Coming to a man whose world was

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the desert, who knew nothing of
active life except my hearsay.

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Men from the metropolitan life
of Jerusalem coming to this

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hermit to learn the secret of
living.

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That was a strange thing, and
the secret of his power seems to

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be to me that men in their
deepest heart knew that John was

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real.
You see, in the long run,

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brother and sisters, reality is
the secret of all.

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Success and religion in
Jerusalem had come to be a thing

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of formalism.
Men had settled into a a routine

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of formal, external things.
And really it was these things

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that form the substance of
Jewish religion at that time.

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And the truth is, it’s no good.
It never satisfies.

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It’s an empty thing.
Men will sense, sooner or later,

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that true religion is not to be
found in the mere performance of

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external things, nor in the
keeping of mere keeping of

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rules, nor in the abstemious
refusal of certain vices, nor in

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the punctilious performance of
certain virtues.

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Not this.
This is an expression, of

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course, but men sooner or later
are driven to realize that.

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There is something deeper than
this.

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It’s the hidden things of the
Spirit, the hunger for the truly

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spiritual life which satisfies
that and nothing else.

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Now you see, John Baptist
brought this kind of faith to

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tell them that all we see now
really is but a shadow, and that

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the invisible life of the Spirit
within is is the real life.

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And this man had seen the glory
of God in the desert, and he’d

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done it, and seen it without the
aid of any formality, without

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the aid of any external
religion.

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And as I read it, it seems to me
the people sensed it.

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This is what they understood.
They knew that they could not go

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to him as they they could to the
rabbis for some learned

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subtlety.
They get no subtlety from John

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Baptist Cliff.
They wanted sophistry.

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They get none of that from John
Baptist.

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They knew that his words were
real, and his words touched them

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deeply.
They were incisive repentance,

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spoke of wrath to Tom.
The axis laid to the root of the

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tree, he said, and he said,
fruitful tree, fruitless trees

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will be cast into the fire.
And he spoke.

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As a man who spoke earnestly,
they may not have liked it, but

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they could not escape its
realism, and they felt, I think,

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that John was true.
Say what you will, John was

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true.
Indeed, in a way this is the

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test which is applied to all, I
think, who listen to preachers.

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In the end, this is the test.
The acid test.

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You may think that that men
apply to people like ourselves.

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Is this man true?
Is he, you know, this, this

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preacher, wherever he is now?
This is the one of the this is

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one of the secrets of a
preacher’s influence.

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And then there is another thing
to be noticed.

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John’s reaction to his success?
We read of the soldiers and the

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publicans and the poor coming to
you and he was not surprised and

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you can understand why.
No wonder the poor of this world

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should look wistfully for
salvation.

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No wonder that soldiers with
their prompt habit of obedience

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and and self devotion should
recognise and reverence that the

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type of heroic life to which
John was calling men.

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No wonder that the guilty
publicans would come for

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purification of heart.
He was not surprised that these

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people came to him, he was.
He was surprised about these

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other two classes which we’ve
remembered that moved towards

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John and this made him marvel.
The first of course was the self

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satisfied formalist, the
Pharisee, and the second was.

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The calm, reasoning infidel, the
Sadducee.

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And when he saw the Pharisees
and the Sadducees coming, he was

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astonished.
Now consider these two classes

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for just a moment.
The Pharisees were men who were

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satisfied with that which is
outward.

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Let me just detain you for a
moment to say I know that the

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fantasies began at the highest
level.

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I know that.
And they began in the days when

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Israel were exposed to the
influences of the Greek culture

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and they stood for the defence
of the faith.

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I know that they were then into
that society, what the Puritans

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were to English society in the
days of the Pilgrim fathers.

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They stood for purity of the
faith at the time when the faith

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was assaulted by all wronged
forces.

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I know that.
But like so many other things,

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they started well and ended bad.
And in the day of Jesus they had

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come to be, as we’ve already
remembered, a group of

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formalists only satisfied with
that which was outward the inner

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heart of religion, the things
which are unchangeable, justice

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and mercy and truth.
They could not feel.

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Their souls had shrunk, as it
were, from from this true

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religion, nobleness and goodness
and truth.

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But drained away from their
hearts until they were withered

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and barren men, for instance,
they could jangle about the

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length of a phylactic.
They could discuss.

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They could discuss ties, as that
was a matter of life and death.

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They could argue to a furlong
about how far the man may travel

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on the Sabbath day, but they
couldn’t look with mercy upon a

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broken and contrite heart.
Seeking divine forgiveness in

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the temple, they could not
suffer a hungry man to rob out

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an ear of corn on the Sabbath.
They could not cover the shame

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of some daughter of Israel who
fell from a high heritage and

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was caught in the very act of
sin.

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Men from whose narrow hearts the
grandeur of God’s truth had

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disappeared.
I’d become shut out now.

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These men came to John Baptist.
And the Sadducees?

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They came, and in a way, they’re
at the other end of the pendulum

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swing there.
At the other end of the

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spectrum, they despise the
exclusiveness and the formalism

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of the Pharisees religion.
They regarded it as

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superstitious.
It was, for them, ultra strict

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and consequently they reacted
against it strongly.

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But as is often the case, as you
know, the reaction from one

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thing is to go to the other
extreme.

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The reaction in this case from
superstition was infidelity, and

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the action from ultra strictness
was laxity.

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The reaction from the piracy was
the seduce and unbelievable who

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admitted neither spirit nor
Resurrection, nor Angel.

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Who had looked at the religion
of his day, and despising it,

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and despising it, thinking there
was no other with dreadful

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daring, had said, there is no
other life than this life.

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00:15:35,520 –> 00:15:40,120
And so they lived in accordance
with that philosophy, the cold,

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00:15:40,600 –> 00:15:45,680
hopeless, barren creed of
seducism.

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00:15:47,160 –> 00:15:51,960
Now both these groups came to
John.

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00:15:53,400 –> 00:15:57,080
And John Marvel.
And from this brother and

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00:15:57,080 –> 00:16:01,800
sisters we may learn a lesson.
And it’s this that formalism,

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00:16:02,840 –> 00:16:07,560
even morality, will not really
satisfy truly the man who is

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00:16:07,560 –> 00:16:11,240
seeking God.
Nor will infidelity give any

225
00:16:11,240 –> 00:16:16,840
rest of the hungry and troubled
spirit the formalist’s heart,

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00:16:17,320 –> 00:16:20,040
which is so pure according to
himself.

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00:16:21,240 –> 00:16:25,240
Perhaps, after all, is not.
Perhaps after all it’s polluted

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00:16:25,240 –> 00:16:27,960
and miserable.
Else, why are these Pharisees

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00:16:27,960 –> 00:16:31,120
coming to John for a symbol of a
new life?

230
00:16:31,120 –> 00:16:34,600
Why are they coming, these men
who know everything and have

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00:16:34,600 –> 00:16:38,080
every answer and have discovered
the right way of life?

232
00:16:38,320 –> 00:16:41,000
But in God’s name, why are they
coming to this lonely prophet

233
00:16:45,240 –> 00:16:48,760
and the skeptic who reached his
conclusions by such clear,

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00:16:48,960 –> 00:16:53,200
unbiased intellect?
Perhaps, after all, it’s not so

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00:16:53,200 –> 00:16:55,560
clear.
And perhaps, after all, it’s not

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00:16:55,560 –> 00:16:59,080
so unbiased.
Perhaps his heart is restless

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00:16:59,080 –> 00:17:02,880
and dark and desolate.
Else, why is he coming to stand

238
00:17:03,400 –> 00:17:05,280
trembling on the brink of the
River Jordan?

239
00:17:05,280 –> 00:17:09,119
Why, if they’re so satisfied,
why are they coming?

240
00:17:11,720 –> 00:17:14,520
So the lesson we must learn,
brethren and sisters, is this.

241
00:17:15,079 –> 00:17:17,079
And you can learn it here, if
you will.

242
00:17:17,520 –> 00:17:21,920
There is no real joy.
And there is no real

243
00:17:21,920 –> 00:17:27,319
satisfaction and there is no
real peace apart from the truth.

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00:17:28,560 –> 00:17:30,040
That’s the thing you ought to
learn.

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00:17:30,040 –> 00:17:33,320
You’ve learned it, of course.
But relearn it, my comrades.

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00:17:33,320 –> 00:17:38,280
Relearn it.
These men are telling us, as it

247
00:17:38,280 –> 00:17:40,880
seems to me.
These men we are looking at

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00:17:40,880 –> 00:17:44,000
today, they are telling us as
they wait there on the Bank of

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00:17:44,000 –> 00:17:46,600
John’s river.
They are saying it is a lie.

250
00:17:46,840 –> 00:17:48,960
It is a lie.
We are not happy.

251
00:17:49,320 –> 00:17:52,880
We are.
We are dark and hopeless and

252
00:17:52,880 –> 00:17:55,640
miserable.
You men of America, you women of

253
00:17:55,640 –> 00:17:57,320
America.
We are not happy in our

254
00:17:57,320 –> 00:17:59,880
formalism.
We are not happy in our

255
00:17:59,920 –> 00:18:04,280
intellectualism and our
scepticism.

256
00:18:04,600 –> 00:18:07,280
There is no joy, there is no
satisfaction.

257
00:18:07,360 –> 00:18:11,080
We are miserable and that’s why
we are coming to this great

258
00:18:11,080 –> 00:18:17,040
prophet.
And there is no rest in the

259
00:18:17,040 –> 00:18:19,840
world, you see, which will
satisfy us, except the rest

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00:18:19,840 –> 00:18:23,400
which God has provided.
And there is no refuge in the

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00:18:23,400 –> 00:18:27,320
world which we may come to
accept the refuge which God has

262
00:18:27,320 –> 00:18:31,440
provided.
And that refuge is in Christ

263
00:18:31,440 –> 00:18:36,040
Jesus our Saviour, manifested
the manifested love of God in

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00:18:36,040 –> 00:18:40,520
him life without the truth.
Ponder it sometime.

265
00:18:41,240 –> 00:18:43,920
You are always pondering it,
perhaps in this age.

266
00:18:44,360 –> 00:18:48,440
Think what life would be without
the truth, and I believe you

267
00:18:48,440 –> 00:18:51,840
would be as miserable as these
Pharisees of these Sadducees.

268
00:18:54,080 –> 00:18:56,120
The message of John is not
vengeance.

269
00:18:56,120 –> 00:18:59,640
It is, behold, the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the

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00:18:59,640 –> 00:19:02,880
world.
And that means a heart which is

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00:19:02,880 –> 00:19:07,000
renewed, a loving heart, a
penitent heart, a humble heart.

272
00:19:07,200 –> 00:19:10,680
It means their sins forgotten,
cleansed.

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00:19:10,680 –> 00:19:13,440
It is repentance unto a new
life, and you know it.

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00:19:16,840 –> 00:19:19,440
Well, that, in case you’ve
forgotten it, was just a little

275
00:19:19,440 –> 00:19:24,160
review of the second period of
John’s life, his contact with

276
00:19:24,160 –> 00:19:28,240
the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
Now let’s come to the third

277
00:19:28,240 –> 00:19:35,680
period of his life when he
leaves the desert and goes to

278
00:19:35,680 –> 00:19:41,320
the city when he quitted the
simple life and finds the

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00:19:41,320 –> 00:19:47,240
artificial life.
You know the facts well.

280
00:19:47,240 –> 00:19:55,920
John has won the attention of
King Herod, and now he stands in

281
00:19:55,920 –> 00:19:59,520
the magnificence of the court of
Herod.

282
00:20:01,600 –> 00:20:05,040
But we ought to notice one thing
First of all, he is still the

283
00:20:05,040 –> 00:20:10,360
prophet of the wilderness.
He is unseduced by the glory and

284
00:20:10,360 –> 00:20:15,200
the favours of royalty.
He is prepared to confront even

285
00:20:15,200 –> 00:20:20,840
his patron and his Prince with
the stern, unpalatable truth of

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00:20:20,840 –> 00:20:24,160
God.
And there’s a lot to be learned

287
00:20:24,160 –> 00:20:28,280
from a scene such as this.
In a way, I suppose it it is

288
00:20:28,280 –> 00:20:31,320
really the highest moment of
John Baptist’s ministry.

289
00:20:31,600 –> 00:20:35,240
It is comparable in form, though
not in degree, with the agony of

290
00:20:35,320 –> 00:20:39,800
Jesus in the garden.
John spoke the truth

291
00:20:40,360 –> 00:20:43,200
unflinchingly.
That’s why we called him

292
00:20:43,720 –> 00:20:47,560
faithful and fearless.
He spoke the truth

293
00:20:48,160 –> 00:20:52,000
unflinchingly.
Now this is what I want you to

294
00:20:52,000 –> 00:20:57,520
think about the meaning of that
you see to lecture to those who

295
00:20:57,520 –> 00:21:03,680
are weak about religion is not
hard.

296
00:21:05,720 –> 00:21:09,440
To speak upon worldliness.
To those with whom we do not

297
00:21:09,440 –> 00:21:12,240
usually associate, and therefore
do not see our daily

298
00:21:12,240 –> 00:21:19,480
inconsistencies is not hard.
To speak contemptuously of the

299
00:21:19,480 –> 00:21:22,440
world when we have no power, of
commanding its admiration.

300
00:21:23,400 –> 00:21:28,760
It’s not difficult to speak of.
Separating ourselves from riches

301
00:21:28,760 –> 00:21:32,960
when there is no possibility of
ever being wealthy, is not hard.

302
00:21:34,960 –> 00:21:38,000
I know this.
I know all about this.

303
00:21:38,720 –> 00:21:41,680
I know you can Thunder against
sin when nobody knows about your

304
00:21:41,680 –> 00:21:48,000
private life.
It’s when somebody does that you

305
00:21:48,000 –> 00:21:54,480
tend to be careful what you say.
No, these things are not

306
00:21:54,480 –> 00:22:00,480
difficult.
But when a man receives powers

307
00:22:00,840 –> 00:22:04,560
and accomplishments and
opportunities which would enable

308
00:22:04,560 –> 00:22:09,080
him to rise and shine in
society, when a man may receive

309
00:22:09,080 –> 00:22:16,960
the very highest estimation of
human glory and yet still remain

310
00:22:16,960 –> 00:22:20,920
himself, he’ll be the same man,
firm and steady and

311
00:22:20,920 –> 00:22:26,040
uncompromisingly true.
When he can be as undaunted

312
00:22:26,040 –> 00:22:28,520
before kings as he is before
peasants.

313
00:22:30,000 –> 00:22:35,240
When rank and fashion cannot
subdue him into silence, when he

314
00:22:35,240 –> 00:22:39,040
hates model evil as sternly as a
king as he does in the poorest

315
00:22:39,040 –> 00:22:43,960
commoner, then I tell you,
there’s a mark of truth about

316
00:22:43,960 –> 00:22:49,640
such a man.
Now you can think of John.

317
00:22:49,640 –> 00:22:53,000
Then, when he stands before
Herod to deliver his rebuke.

318
00:22:53,000 –> 00:22:56,560
We’ve read about it.
You can think of John in that

319
00:22:56,560 –> 00:23:01,680
situation.
Now I I want to try and imagine

320
00:23:01,680 –> 00:23:05,480
for you the kind of advice that
he would be receiving.

321
00:23:07,240 –> 00:23:12,600
Imagine the advice he is going
to confront his king with this

322
00:23:12,800 –> 00:23:15,520
unpalatable challenge of the
truth.

323
00:23:17,240 –> 00:23:21,160
And as he is ready to go, think
of the advice that he would be

324
00:23:21,160 –> 00:23:28,120
getting.
John, whatever you do, keep your

325
00:23:28,120 –> 00:23:30,920
remarks within the limit of
politeness.

326
00:23:34,600 –> 00:23:39,440
John, if you cannot approve,
better say nothing.

327
00:23:39,840 –> 00:23:42,200
You’ll do no good by finding
fault.

328
00:23:47,280 –> 00:23:49,480
That’s the kind of advice he
would receive.

329
00:23:53,320 –> 00:23:56,680
And we can imagine also what
John would think of this,

330
00:23:57,600 –> 00:24:04,240
because he goes, he goes, and he
simply says to the king, it is

331
00:24:04,240 –> 00:24:08,120
not lawful for you to have this
woman.

332
00:24:09,840 –> 00:24:13,760
It is not lawful.
It is evil.

333
00:24:13,840 –> 00:24:20,040
That’s what he said.
Now that I mean, he said it

334
00:24:20,040 –> 00:24:22,400
plainly.
I he said it politely, I’ve no

335
00:24:22,400 –> 00:24:26,720
doubt, but he said it plainly.
There was no cashew history, no

336
00:24:26,720 –> 00:24:32,400
sophistry.
See, I I’ve known some men, I’ve

337
00:24:32,400 –> 00:24:37,560
met some men, and they are they
are capable of using certain

338
00:24:37,560 –> 00:24:41,640
subtle approaches which have a
way of excusing those who

339
00:24:41,640 –> 00:24:46,640
they’ve come to rebuke.
Have you noticed in the very

340
00:24:46,640 –> 00:24:48,760
rebuke they provided the
excuses?

341
00:24:48,760 –> 00:24:52,440
Have you seen it?
Now?

342
00:24:52,440 –> 00:24:55,640
John was not one of these.
As Jesus said.

343
00:24:55,640 –> 00:24:58,040
He was no Reed shaken by the
wind.

344
00:24:59,880 –> 00:25:03,400
He does not, for instance, go to
the King and say, well now, Your

345
00:25:03,400 –> 00:25:07,840
Majesty, it would be better to
do something different.

346
00:25:09,080 –> 00:25:11,120
It it would be better for the
situation.

347
00:25:13,960 –> 00:25:18,040
He doesn’t go and say it would
be unprofitable for your own

348
00:25:18,040 –> 00:25:20,920
happiness to do this.
It will not bring you happiness.

349
00:25:23,920 –> 00:25:27,920
Not saying that, he says
plainly.

350
00:25:28,000 –> 00:25:31,640
It is wrong.
It is wrong for you to do this

351
00:25:31,640 –> 00:25:34,440
evil thing.
You see.

352
00:25:34,440 –> 00:25:37,520
As I said to you earlier in the
week, in this in this world,

353
00:25:37,520 –> 00:25:40,720
earnest men don’t have time for
these kind of subtlety.

354
00:25:43,120 –> 00:25:46,480
If we dare not tell our patron
of his sin, then we best give up

355
00:25:46,480 –> 00:25:55,600
his patronage.
So that was John, fearless and

356
00:25:55,600 –> 00:25:59,520
faithful.
And then there’s one other

357
00:25:59,520 –> 00:26:04,320
aspect of John’s character which
I think we ought to remember in

358
00:26:04,320 –> 00:26:08,320
this scene.
He does his hard duty without,

359
00:26:09,520 –> 00:26:12,000
it seems to me, as I read the
passage anyway, he does it

360
00:26:12,000 –> 00:26:15,440
without any feeling or
consciousness that he is being

361
00:26:15,880 –> 00:26:19,480
fine.
There’s no there’s no sort of

362
00:26:19,480 –> 00:26:20,840
feeling that he’s saying to
himself.

363
00:26:21,080 –> 00:26:26,000
I am doing a great scene.
I am doing a fine scene.

364
00:26:28,960 –> 00:26:31,920
There was no sidelong glance, as
it were.

365
00:26:32,720 –> 00:26:34,920
It’s in a mirror of admiration
for himself.

366
00:26:34,920 –> 00:26:37,320
He’s not looking sideways to see
how well he’s doing.

367
00:26:39,160 –> 00:26:41,240
He’s not feeling, oh, this is
brave.

368
00:26:43,560 –> 00:26:46,800
His reproof, it seems to me,
comes quite naturally out of an

369
00:26:47,080 –> 00:26:52,600
honest and an earnest heart.
See, no, No man is conscious

370
00:26:52,600 –> 00:26:56,160
that he’s true when he no true
man, at least, is is.

371
00:26:57,160 –> 00:27:00,880
Sort of constantly conscious
that he’s true, he’s rather

372
00:27:00,880 –> 00:27:03,440
conscious of his insincerity.
He’s often worried by his

373
00:27:03,440 –> 00:27:07,240
insincerity.
No brave man is conscious of his

374
00:27:07,240 –> 00:27:09,120
bravery.
I’ve noticed that very often

375
00:27:09,120 –> 00:27:12,040
bravery is done in in a
condition of fearfulness.

376
00:27:13,640 –> 00:27:18,680
Many a brave man is full of
fear, and yet in spite of his

377
00:27:18,680 –> 00:27:25,560
fear, he does his duty.
The skin of Moses face shone

378
00:27:25,600 –> 00:27:28,160
after he’d been with God, but
Moses knew it.

379
00:27:28,160 –> 00:27:32,160
Not now.
Honest men are like that.

380
00:27:35,040 –> 00:27:41,480
I was thinking yesterday as I
was just finally thinking what I

381
00:27:41,480 –> 00:27:45,360
would say to you today.
I was thinking how I would, how

382
00:27:45,400 –> 00:27:49,240
I would have delivered the
message of rebuke to Herod.

383
00:27:51,080 –> 00:27:53,120
You might like to think how you
would have done it.

384
00:27:55,520 –> 00:28:01,320
I fear there are some of us, and
I I fear most that I won.

385
00:28:02,960 –> 00:28:07,480
Some of us would have prefaced
the rebuke with a long speech.

386
00:28:07,520 –> 00:28:14,840
Too long, I’m sure.
A long speech before we came to

387
00:28:14,840 –> 00:28:19,280
the point.
We should have begun, no doubt.

388
00:28:19,640 –> 00:28:24,080
Perhaps I better not say we.
Perhaps I better say I I should

389
00:28:24,080 –> 00:28:28,840
have begun with saying how
difficult it was for such a poor

390
00:28:28,840 –> 00:28:33,560
man as I to speak to a great one
that’s making the way a bit easy

391
00:28:33,560 –> 00:28:39,480
to start with.
I would have said how delicate

392
00:28:39,480 –> 00:28:43,920
the subject was, how that we
were.

393
00:28:44,600 –> 00:28:48,600
What we were about to say was
really proof of our devotion to

394
00:28:48,600 –> 00:28:52,280
the well-being of the King.
After all, we were only thinking

395
00:28:52,280 –> 00:28:56,200
of him.
I fear that’s what I would have

396
00:28:56,720 –> 00:29:04,840
had in my opening address.
No, John does nothing like this.

397
00:29:05,960 –> 00:29:11,800
I am compelled to confess that
in my deepest heart I know that

398
00:29:12,440 –> 00:29:17,080
sometimes long prefaces betray
an anxiety about self more than

399
00:29:17,080 –> 00:29:21,400
anything else.
But that was not John.

400
00:29:22,120 –> 00:29:26,200
He was thinking of God’s
offended law, and he was

401
00:29:26,200 –> 00:29:29,120
thinking of the King’s
salvation.

402
00:29:29,920 –> 00:29:33,640
There is a sickly habit that we
have sometimes of looking at

403
00:29:33,640 –> 00:29:37,560
ourselves to see how we are
appearing, and when we do that,

404
00:29:37,560 –> 00:29:43,760
we are always truly unnatural.
The facts are that John periled

405
00:29:43,760 –> 00:29:45,920
his life on the words that he
spoke.

406
00:29:45,960 –> 00:29:50,040
Not many men do it, but he did.
He periled his life on the words

407
00:29:50,040 –> 00:29:55,040
that he spoke, and he did it
politely.

408
00:29:55,600 –> 00:30:00,040
I mean, there is a there is a
surly, bitter way of speaking

409
00:30:00,040 –> 00:30:03,560
the truth which says very little
for a man’s heart.

410
00:30:03,560 –> 00:30:06,800
I know, I know, that some people
are in their element when they

411
00:30:06,800 –> 00:30:11,520
can become censors of the great.
When little men are able to

412
00:30:11,560 –> 00:30:13,760
criticize big men, they revel in
it.

413
00:30:18,280 –> 00:30:22,160
But this was not so.
It was the earnest, loving

414
00:30:22,160 –> 00:30:28,840
nature of a man which made him
say the stern things he had to

415
00:30:28,840 –> 00:30:31,640
say.
It was he was a rugged true

416
00:30:31,640 –> 00:30:34,520
nature.
But in that rugged true nature

417
00:30:34,520 –> 00:30:38,640
there was a depth of tenderness.
For instance, consider how he

418
00:30:38,800 –> 00:30:42,200
received the news of his that
his ministry has been superseded

419
00:30:42,200 –> 00:30:46,920
by the ministry of the Messiah.
They came to him, and said,

420
00:30:47,120 –> 00:30:52,080
Rabbi, he to whom thou bearest
witness beyond Jordan, baptized

421
00:30:52,080 –> 00:30:56,840
it, and all men come to him, two
of his personal friends,

422
00:30:56,840 –> 00:30:59,880
apparently some of the last he
had left him, and went to the

423
00:30:59,880 –> 00:31:03,920
new teacher.
And what was the Prophet’s

424
00:31:03,920 –> 00:31:08,200
answer?
Calmly, humbly, the great

425
00:31:08,200 –> 00:31:14,000
prophet recognizes his destiny.
He said he must increase, but I

426
00:31:14,000 –> 00:31:17,600
must decrease, and he rejoices
to be forgotten.

427
00:31:17,760 –> 00:31:22,320
He rejoices to be nothing.
He rejoices to disappear so that

428
00:31:22,320 –> 00:31:28,240
his king and his Lord can be
everything you see, Brother

429
00:31:28,240 –> 00:31:32,160
sisters, we are really thinking
today of one of God’s heroes.

430
00:31:32,160 –> 00:31:39,280
There is no doubt a rare man,
The great man, the great

431
00:31:39,280 –> 00:31:43,080
prophet, and the true conqueror
stand by the master as more than

432
00:31:43,080 –> 00:31:46,280
a prophet.
The friend of the bridegroom

433
00:31:46,280 –> 00:31:51,560
rejoices, because he heareth the
bridegroom’s voice, and this my

434
00:31:51,560 –> 00:32:01,840
joy is fulfilled.
But today, and now reading we we

435
00:32:01,840 –> 00:32:08,280
we heard that it were almost in
parenthesis of the sequel to his

436
00:32:08,280 –> 00:32:12,640
Faithfulness.
Herod cast him into prison, that

437
00:32:12,640 –> 00:32:17,040
free spirit which had been in
the wilderness, whose true home

438
00:32:17,040 –> 00:32:20,880
was in the open desert.
Among the locusts in the wild,

439
00:32:20,960 –> 00:32:26,760
honey was confined within the
dark walls of a dungeon, and

440
00:32:26,760 –> 00:32:31,440
Herod, driven on by the
cumulative effect of cumulative

441
00:32:31,440 –> 00:32:36,120
effect of his first sin, commits
his last grade actor folly and

442
00:32:36,120 –> 00:32:40,840
murders the prophet, the very
man who had been sent for his

443
00:32:40,840 –> 00:32:45,480
salvation.
In a way, the story of Joach

444
00:32:48,360 –> 00:32:52,120
repeated, he kills the man who
might have saved him.

445
00:32:54,480 –> 00:32:56,880
Strange it is there.
Some men have one supreme

446
00:32:56,880 –> 00:33:00,600
opportunity to repent, and if it
is spurned, it may not recur.

447
00:33:01,040 –> 00:33:03,960
As I said to you once before, I
think this week Felix trembled

448
00:33:03,960 –> 00:33:06,160
when Paul spoke to him of
judgement.

449
00:33:06,160 –> 00:33:08,760
That was Felix’s great
opportunity.

450
00:33:09,120 –> 00:33:12,520
He let it slip, and as far as we
know, Paul didn’t make him

451
00:33:12,520 –> 00:33:15,880
tremble again.
Strange it is, how one willful

452
00:33:15,880 –> 00:33:21,080
sin will by its consequences,
though it perhaps be small at

453
00:33:21,080 –> 00:33:24,440
first, lead up, lead us on to
greater and more heinous sins,

454
00:33:24,440 –> 00:33:28,000
almost against their own will.
And this was the case with

455
00:33:28,000 –> 00:33:31,120
Herod.
And David is another example.

456
00:33:33,400 –> 00:33:36,880
And the converse is true.
You see, thank God, that that

457
00:33:36,880 –> 00:33:46,200
that one act of righteousness, 1
refusal to sin, one overcoming

458
00:33:46,200 –> 00:33:50,960
of temptation, be it ever so
small, will lead us on by its

459
00:33:50,960 –> 00:33:53,000
consequences to greater
victories.

460
00:33:54,560 –> 00:33:56,720
Think of Daniel.
He’s a good example.

461
00:33:57,360 –> 00:34:00,760
He was the young man sitting at
the King’s table, but for

462
00:34:00,760 –> 00:34:03,120
conscience sake he refused the
King’s meat.

463
00:34:03,840 –> 00:34:08,000
Politely and and respectfully,
he said he would not defile his

464
00:34:08,000 –> 00:34:11,840
body and his conscience.
Now it may seem a very small

465
00:34:11,840 –> 00:34:17,239
thing about which one act of
compromise might have been

466
00:34:17,239 –> 00:34:19,239
justifiable under the
circumstances.

467
00:34:19,679 –> 00:34:23,080
A glass of wine?
The eating of some dainty.

468
00:34:25,920 –> 00:34:29,639
But because Daniel refused the
King’s meat, in the end he had

469
00:34:29,639 –> 00:34:34,320
to face the King’s lions.
But here is the principle.

470
00:34:34,520 –> 00:34:38,880
If he had not refused the King’s
meat at the beginning, perhaps

471
00:34:38,880 –> 00:34:41,639
he would not have had the
strength to refuse or to face

472
00:34:41,639 –> 00:34:46,120
the King’s lions at the end.
You see, sometimes big doors

473
00:34:46,120 –> 00:34:50,560
turn on very small hinges.
Perhaps if Herod had hearkened

474
00:34:50,560 –> 00:34:55,280
to John’s voice at first, he
would never have murdered the

475
00:34:55,280 –> 00:35:01,400
man who would have been his
salvation and would not have

476
00:35:01,400 –> 00:35:04,600
condemned at last even the
Messiah himself.

477
00:35:05,240 –> 00:35:10,440
Who knows?
But so it is we read about it.

478
00:35:10,920 –> 00:35:17,440
The Great Prophet dies privately
inherited the dungeon dungeon by

479
00:35:17,440 –> 00:35:22,800
Herod’s consent and command, and
we have no record of his last

480
00:35:22,800 –> 00:35:26,880
word to this great man.
There were no crowds to watch

481
00:35:26,880 –> 00:35:29,840
on.
There was nobody to sympathize.

482
00:35:30,520 –> 00:35:32,840
We don’t really know how he
received the sentence.

483
00:35:32,840 –> 00:35:37,040
Was he calm, the fearless and
faithful man?

484
00:35:37,040 –> 00:35:40,200
Was he calm?
Did he bless his murderer?

485
00:35:40,840 –> 00:35:44,680
Well, all that is hidden.
All we know is the ACT flashed

486
00:35:44,680 –> 00:35:49,760
down and a noble life came to
its end, but not its full end.

487
00:35:49,760 –> 00:35:53,160
Of course, let’s be sure
remember how it’s coming into

488
00:35:53,160 –> 00:35:57,000
the world is recorded in the New
Testament.

489
00:35:57,240 –> 00:36:01,680
There was a man sent from God
whose name was John.

490
00:36:02,640 –> 00:36:05,960
Think of that.
There was a man sent from God

491
00:36:06,440 –> 00:36:09,560
whose name was John.
And there is a sense in which he

492
00:36:09,560 –> 00:36:13,480
has returned to.
When she came, Salome took his

493
00:36:13,480 –> 00:36:16,840
head, but his life is hid with
Christ in God.

494
00:36:17,960 –> 00:36:21,440
Now some people have looked at
it and said it was a hard or

495
00:36:21,440 –> 00:36:23,760
still life which ended in
failure.

496
00:36:24,880 –> 00:36:26,600
But that isn’t true.
We know it.

497
00:36:26,600 –> 00:36:30,040
In our heart it isn’t true.
He was heralded the King from

498
00:36:30,040 –> 00:36:32,280
heaven.
He was the prophet of the

499
00:36:32,280 –> 00:36:36,720
Kingdom of God.
All his life long he had panted

500
00:36:36,720 –> 00:36:39,480
for that.
His task was to prepare man for

501
00:36:39,480 –> 00:36:41,840
the prepare men for the coming
of Messiah.

502
00:36:42,480 –> 00:36:46,000
He tried to make the soldiers
merciful, the publicans honest,

503
00:36:46,480 –> 00:36:50,840
Pharisees sincere, and when the
Kingdom comes, and all the

504
00:36:50,840 –> 00:36:53,920
things which John wished for,
and hoped for, and prayed for

505
00:36:53,920 –> 00:36:57,040
and worked, when they are all
brought to pass.

506
00:36:57,320 –> 00:37:01,640
When the great superstructure of
the Ecclesia and Christ becomes

507
00:37:01,840 –> 00:37:05,960
the bride of the Bridegroom, a
House of God which has been

508
00:37:05,960 –> 00:37:09,320
built upon the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, with

509
00:37:09,320 –> 00:37:13,360
Christ as the chief cornerstone.
Let’s be sure in our deepest

510
00:37:13,360 –> 00:37:17,960
heart that deep down in the
foundation of that great House

511
00:37:17,960 –> 00:37:22,600
of God that is the noble and
triumphant work of John, the man

512
00:37:22,600 –> 00:37:29,160
who was faithful and fear.
Now that sounded.

513
00:37:29,160 –> 00:37:34,400
I know that sounded like the
flourishing end of the and it

514
00:37:34,400 –> 00:37:40,720
wasn’t.
It wasn’t just a bit longer.

515
00:37:42,840 –> 00:37:46,440
There’s one other aspect of the
life of John which might help us

516
00:37:47,120 –> 00:37:52,000
think of this.
Think how closely he was

517
00:37:52,000 –> 00:37:56,200
associated with the miracles.
There were miracles.

518
00:37:56,200 –> 00:37:59,560
At his birth an Angel appeared
to his father, as you know, and

519
00:37:59,560 –> 00:38:03,120
announced his birth.
Zacharias was miraculously dumb

520
00:38:03,120 –> 00:38:05,040
until the prophecy was
fulfilled.

521
00:38:05,920 –> 00:38:08,680
Unto his mother there comes a
vision of angels.

522
00:38:09,560 –> 00:38:12,360
Both his parents are filled with
the Holy Spirit and spoke

523
00:38:12,360 –> 00:38:15,880
thereby.
John was one of the few in the

524
00:38:15,880 –> 00:38:20,040
Bible who were named before they
were born, a signal that they

525
00:38:20,040 –> 00:38:24,200
were especially chosen by God.
John was in a sense the

526
00:38:24,200 –> 00:38:28,120
reincarnation of Elijah the
prophet, the great miracle

527
00:38:28,120 –> 00:38:31,440
worker of the Old Testament.
John himself was full of the

528
00:38:31,440 –> 00:38:34,320
Holy Spirit, the source of
divine power.

529
00:38:34,560 –> 00:38:39,680
Notice, then, how closely he was
associated with the miraculous.

530
00:38:40,360 –> 00:38:44,520
And yet the remarkable feature
of John’s ministry is that he

531
00:38:44,520 –> 00:38:50,160
himself did no miracle.
He was the herald of the king,

532
00:38:51,240 –> 00:38:56,200
but he did no miracle.
The sick were all around him,

533
00:38:56,480 –> 00:39:00,920
but none of them did he heal.
There were blind people and deaf

534
00:39:00,920 –> 00:39:04,240
people, and dumb people and
broken people.

535
00:39:05,000 –> 00:39:10,400
They’re all there.
But not once did John stretch

536
00:39:10,400 –> 00:39:15,600
for his hand, either to change
the situation, or to unbind

537
00:39:15,600 –> 00:39:18,760
those who were imprisoned, or to
relieve them of their

538
00:39:18,760 –> 00:39:20,880
infirmities or the solace of
their life.

539
00:39:21,160 –> 00:39:29,880
This great man, encompassed by
so much which is miraculous, did

540
00:39:29,880 –> 00:39:34,560
no miracles.
Now remember this.

541
00:39:35,200 –> 00:39:40,400
Our Lord’s testimony about John
places him above all the heroes

542
00:39:40,400 –> 00:39:42,160
and heroines of the Old
Testament.

543
00:39:42,160 –> 00:39:47,480
If we’ve understood the words
rightly, he did no miracle.

544
00:39:48,480 –> 00:39:51,640
And yet he achieved the
miraculous along the plain of

545
00:39:51,640 –> 00:39:56,120
natural power.
His preaching awakened the

546
00:39:56,120 –> 00:39:59,520
nation.
He turned hard and sinners to

547
00:39:59,520 –> 00:40:02,920
repentance.
He knew the times in which he

548
00:40:02,920 –> 00:40:05,720
lived.
He discovered and proclaimed the

549
00:40:05,720 –> 00:40:09,200
Christ of Israel, and he
prepared the way of the Lord.

550
00:40:09,520 –> 00:40:14,280
He did all this but no miracle.
And what is the lesson?

551
00:40:15,680 –> 00:40:17,360
Well, the lesson, it seems to
me, is this.

552
00:40:17,360 –> 00:40:21,280
Miracles are important.
I don’t want to deprecate

553
00:40:21,280 –> 00:40:28,600
miracles, one wit, but they are
signs, and they are secondary.

554
00:40:29,920 –> 00:40:32,160
The reality is greater than the
sign.

555
00:40:33,080 –> 00:40:35,240
John did no miracle, but he was
true.

556
00:40:36,080 –> 00:40:37,720
That’s the point I want to
emphasize.

557
00:40:38,840 –> 00:40:40,480
That is a great thing to
observe.

558
00:40:41,000 –> 00:40:46,440
Truth is greater than strength.
Truth is greater than signal.

559
00:40:47,440 –> 00:40:49,240
Character acts higher than
wonder.

560
00:40:49,240 –> 00:40:52,400
Working outward, things are
important, I know that.

561
00:40:53,320 –> 00:40:56,520
But they are very often symbols
of the inward and the eternal

562
00:40:56,520 –> 00:41:00,120
reality.
To show us that all men who are

563
00:41:00,120 –> 00:41:04,960
filled with the Spirit do not
work miracles, But to realize

564
00:41:04,960 –> 00:41:09,840
that every man may live the
spiritual life, as one man put

565
00:41:09,840 –> 00:41:11,480
it once I heard it put once,
like this.

566
00:41:11,480 –> 00:41:13,520
True character is better than a
big whistle.

567
00:41:15,880 –> 00:41:18,440
We cannot work miracles, but we
can all be true.

568
00:41:18,680 –> 00:41:22,840
We can be a true witness to the
outcome of the moral and the

569
00:41:22,840 –> 00:41:25,760
spiritual qualities of the life
of God.

570
00:41:26,800 –> 00:41:30,120
A mere repetition of empty
platitudes is one thing, but

571
00:41:30,720 –> 00:41:33,440
there’ll be a true witness
demands great qualities of soul.

572
00:41:34,280 –> 00:41:36,240
Chicheman was John, the son of
Elizabeth.

573
00:41:37,960 –> 00:41:41,280
Today I say it especially
because in the world in which we

574
00:41:41,280 –> 00:41:47,440
live, people are impressed by
wonder workers, and I fear

575
00:41:47,440 –> 00:41:53,600
sometimes we are.
They clamour for signs.

576
00:41:54,280 –> 00:41:57,760
The craze for that which is
startling is greater today than

577
00:41:57,760 –> 00:42:00,760
ever.
People are attracted by what has

578
00:42:00,920 –> 00:42:05,600
a semblance of the supernatural,
but the truth is that being is

579
00:42:05,600 –> 00:42:09,120
better than doing, and character
is better than wonder works.

580
00:42:10,760 –> 00:42:14,280
We all know in their deepest
heart that the great deeds that

581
00:42:14,280 –> 00:42:18,560
men do are discredited if if
their character is not true.

582
00:42:18,840 –> 00:42:21,560
It’s better to do the will of
God than to do any amount of

583
00:42:21,560 –> 00:42:24,640
wonders.
Because someday, one day, some

584
00:42:24,640 –> 00:42:28,560
people are going to plead that,
that, that, that in the name of

585
00:42:28,560 –> 00:42:30,480
the Lord they’ve done many
mighty works.

586
00:42:30,480 –> 00:42:32,080
That’s going to be their great
defence.

587
00:42:32,080 –> 00:42:36,760
We did the white mighty works in
my name, Lord, and to that plea

588
00:42:36,760 –> 00:42:40,800
the Kingdom of God will not be
opened, Paul says.

589
00:42:40,800 –> 00:42:44,840
If I have faith so that I can
remove mountains, that’s a

590
00:42:44,840 –> 00:42:48,200
pretty wonderful thing.
If I have faith so that I can

591
00:42:48,200 –> 00:42:52,120
remove mountains have not love,
I am nothing.

592
00:42:53,360 –> 00:42:57,040
When the 70 returned exuberant
over the power that they had to

593
00:42:57,040 –> 00:43:01,120
work miracles, the king said,
Howbeit in this rejoice not that

594
00:43:01,120 –> 00:43:05,080
the spirits are subject unto
you, but rejoice that your names

595
00:43:05,080 –> 00:43:08,640
are written in heaven.
Learn the lesson then, brothers

596
00:43:08,640 –> 00:43:15,480
and sisters, If sometimes you
feel frustrated that you cannot

597
00:43:15,480 –> 00:43:20,280
alter circumstances, if
sometimes you feel paralysed in

598
00:43:20,280 –> 00:43:25,120
the faith of in the face of so
much which has to be done, and

599
00:43:25,120 –> 00:43:26,920
you seem to be impotent to do
it.

600
00:43:27,600 –> 00:43:32,880
If in an age of bustle and
sensationalism your life seems

601
00:43:32,880 –> 00:43:39,720
strangely incompetent, remember
that the truth stands 1st, and

602
00:43:39,720 –> 00:43:44,840
the truth stands fast, the
harvest of a true and faithful

603
00:43:44,840 –> 00:43:50,000
life, be it ever so seemingly
insignificant, be it ever so

604
00:43:50,000 –> 00:43:58,120
unnoticed.
Never mind that cannot fail at

605
00:43:58,120 –> 00:44:03,800
last it will not be launched.
We may die, as did John, but the

606
00:44:03,800 –> 00:44:08,240
truth lives, and the fruit of
faithfulness may not come all at

607
00:44:08,240 –> 00:44:11,120
once, but it will come.
It will come.

608
00:44:11,400 –> 00:44:14,520
Nothing can alter it.
There is no power in heaven, on

609
00:44:14,560 –> 00:44:17,240
earth, in heaven or earth that
can change it.

610
00:44:18,520 –> 00:44:20,880
The harvest of the truth is in
excellent.

611
00:44:23,160 –> 00:44:27,240
You may do nothing wonderful,
but if your names are written in

612
00:44:27,240 –> 00:44:29,160
heaven, you will not have lived
in vain.

613
00:44:30,360 –> 00:44:35,320
John Baptist’s life seemed to
have ended in failure, and very

614
00:44:35,320 –> 00:44:39,520
few people appear to have cared.
But we know that it was crowned

615
00:44:39,520 –> 00:44:42,880
with victory.
So let us learn, like John, to

616
00:44:42,880 –> 00:44:46,480
seek the truth for the truth’s
sake, and to live it.

617
00:44:47,120 –> 00:44:49,240
Never mind about what other men
may say.

618
00:44:50,120 –> 00:44:52,080
Never mind about what other men
have said.

619
00:44:54,360 –> 00:44:56,760
Never mind what cherished
opinions may have to be

620
00:44:56,760 –> 00:45:02,360
discarded or repudiated.
Seek the truth at all costs.

621
00:45:02,800 –> 00:45:05,320
Seek it quietly and
unflinchingly.

622
00:45:06,000 –> 00:45:09,880
And I tell you, there is no
power in the long run can harm

623
00:45:09,880 –> 00:45:12,000
you.
Not a wit.

624
00:45:14,320 –> 00:45:18,880
Now this is the supreme lesson
of the life of John the faithful

625
00:45:18,880 –> 00:45:24,160
and the fearless man, the herald
of the Messiah, the prophet of

626
00:45:24,160 –> 00:45:29,800
the wilderness, who was sent
from God.