Thank you for being tuned in our way. This is Mr. McNeil and I am introducing to you today a series of studies in the life of a New Testament character known as John the Baptist or as some prefer to speak of him as John the Baptizer. We trust that you'll keep tuned in each day and for five days We hope to speak to you now about this outstanding character, John the Baptist. Gospel according to John, chapter one, reading at verse six. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. The same came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all men through him might believe. He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. Verse fifteen says, John bear witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I speak. He that cometh after me is preferred before me, for he was before me. Now I want to read a few more verses from the Gospel now, according to Matthew. The Gospel according to Matthew chapter eleven, and reading at verse seven. And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in king's houses. But what went ye out to see? A prophet? Yea, 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 thy way before thee. Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women, there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist, Notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he, I am sure the Lord will bless to us the reading of these verses. Let us bow for prayer. Our Father, we come to thee again as suppliants. We thank thee that we have access into thy holy presence, and can come to thee and cast all our care upon thee, knowing that thou hast made us thy special concern. So we come to thee this day, giving thee thanks for the many blessings thou dost shower upon us, and asking that as we have read thy word now thou shalt speak to us through the Holy Scriptures, speak to our heart, that we may receive the instruction that we stand in need of. We give thee thanks in the Savior's precious name. Amen. Now, in coming to this New Testament character called John, usually referred to as John the Baptist or John the Baptizer, I want first of all to draw your attention to the fact that in the Gospel according to John, that is, John the Apostle, who wrote what we commonly call the fourth Gospel, writing about John the Baptist, he said, There was a man sent from God whose name was John. So we come to this conclusion right away that when we come to study this remarkable character, we're studying a man. We're not studying some angel. We're studying a man who was subject to like passions such as we are. Of course, he was a man of God. We agree with that. But he was a man born in troublous times. No doubt born in a country where things were difficult. John didn't spend his days lying on a bed of roses. He had no feather bed. He had no silver spoon in his mouth. John came up the hard way. Now then, I want to point this out that John was the child of parents who were fairly old when he was born, which seems to suggest that by the time he was able to go out into his public ministry, no doubt his father and mother were already dead. In fact, as you read through the scriptures, you discover this, the few things that are said about John would lead us to believe that early in life John was a man who had withdrawn from the city life. He had withdrawn, as it were, from home life. Perhaps he didn't have a home. I've often come to this conclusion that John's father and mother were dead and John became a loner. That's the way the world would look on John. But then, continuing to read the Scriptures, we discover he was a man who was being prepared by God, so that when we come to the Gospel according to John, and we begin to read in chapter one, he introduces this man with these words, There was a man sent from God whose name was John. John doesn't tell us anything in the Gospel about the birth of John the Baptist, although that was very remarkable. You'll have to depend on Matthew to tell you the incidents regarding perhaps his early life, or you'll have to depend on Luke in particular. Because it's in the Gospel according to Luke where we have the details concerning the birth of this great man. But when John introduces him in chapter one of his Gospel, he's introduced as a man sent from God, which seems to suggest this to us, that when John came out into his public ministry, he was a man who was mature in every way. You know, there's a very remarkable verse in the Bible that the Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth. And he said to them, Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, Quit you like men, be strong. Now, that verse gets home to the heart, and it touches the conscience. He says, Quit you like men, Be strong. In plain words, what the Apostle was telling the Christians at Corinth was this. You ought to act like men, look like men, live like men, act like men. Be strong. It is expected that a man will be strong. In fact, the Bible condemns men who try to be effeminate. or men who are effeminate. Men are supposed to be men. They're supposed to look like men. Men should dress like men. Men should act like men. And if there are men listening to my message today, listen to this. There was a man sent from God. Quit you like men. Be strong. You know the reason why so many women are pressing into public office today? You know why so many women want to take leadership today? It's because men have failed. You go back through the Old Testament. When God had a man, he raised up a man, and that man would do God's work. But there were times when men failed. And when men failed, God had to put his hand on a woman. But wherever a woman had to take leadership in the Old Testament, It was clear notice to the fact that men had failed. Now here's the word that comes to us from the New Testament. Quit you like men. Be strong. God needs men. Now we need men today in public office. It may be we need good men in leadership in the political field. But above and beyond that, we need men in the spiritual sphere. We need men of God. John was a man. He was a man who was mature. Now, you ask yourself this question, how did John reach maturity? If his father and mother were elderly when John was born, No doubt they did pour into his mind when he was a child things concerning the purposes and plans of God. No doubt he was taught the things of God, for his father and mother were pious people. But then if they died when John was young, it's obvious then that John was a man of the wilderness, it says, until the time when he went out into his public ministry. And so God was training this man in the secret place. That's how he reached maturity in the things of God. So not only did John reach maturity physically, and reached maturity mentally, and he reached maturity morally, but John was a man who reached maturity spiritually because he was a man who was trained and taught by God. Let me say this to all my listeners today. If you ever expect to do anything for God, you'll have to allow God to teach you privately before you'll be able to work for God publicly. So you must spend time in the presence of God. So I suggest to you John was a man who spent time in communion with God. And you may ask this question now, how do I spend time in communion with God today? You can spend time communing with God by reading and searching and studying the Holy Scriptures. For there you'll learn what God has to say to you. And then you can spend time in communion with God, speaking to God in prayer. As you speak to God, God hears what you've got to say. As you read the word, then you hear what God has to say to you. That is fellowship. As the Lord Jesus Christ, standing at the door of the church of the Laodiceans, is saying, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and will sup with him and he with me. I suggest that was how John was spending his time until the day that he had to come out and do business for God. There was a man. He was a man who had reached maturity. We need to develop, my friend, and become mature men for God. But then... He was a man sent from God. Not only was he developed in his understanding of spiritual truths, but the time had come when God put his finger on him, as it were, and sent him. He was a man sent from God. You know, there are some very remarkable scriptures that throw some light on this great truth. over in the Epistle to the Romans and chapter ten, you'll find there a verse that's most piercing. It says, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Did you ever think of that? That is very wide in its sweep. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. But someone might ask the question, How do you call upon the name of the Lord? How can they call upon the name of the Lord if they've never heard anything about the Lord? And that's exactly what the writer says here. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe on him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? You see, the fact of the matter is the principles are laid down in the New Testament. God is not going to send an angel down to preach to men and women. He's not going to send some shining seraphim to come into the room at midnight with a bright light and tell them how to get saved. The method that God has used is this. His message is given to preachers. And by human lips they preach the word of God, and it reaches human ears. How shall they hear without a preacher? But now, do I have some preachers listening to me now? If so, listen to this. And how shall they preach except they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace? and bring glad tidings of good things. You know, very, very few people would think of a preacher's feet when they're looking for a preacher. You know, the methods that are employed today to find preachers, I don't think people ever think of the preacher's feet. They think of his education. They think of how many letters he has to his name. They think of his background. They think of his experience. But see what the Bible says. How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. Now then, speaking concerning these people, he said, How shall they preach except they be sent? Here was a man sent from God whose name was John. John was a sent man. Now the question arises, who sent him? Was he self-sent? Did he send himself? You know, we have a system of government, and in our system of government, we send men to different countries. We send ambassadors. and the ambassador is the representative of the nation. He doesn't simply represent himself. He represents the nation. He represents the government. And he's there as the representative of the people of this nation. But a man doesn't send himself. He doesn't say, I'm going to be the ambassador. And if some man takes it upon himself to go to a foreign country, and he meets with some of the leaders of that country, and tries to speak to them about political matters, he may speak for himself, and he may say things that are right, or he may say things that are wrong. But he cannot speak for the nation unless he's sent with authority. When a man's going out to speak the message of God, he doesn't send himself. If he does, he's sure to preach the wrong thing. That's why so many today are preaching the wrong things and not preaching the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ and they're not preaching the truth that's found in the Bible because they're self-sent. But then, on the other hand, some people have been man-sent. They've been sent by some committee of men. They've been sent by some board of trustees or board of management. Call them what you like. And they decide who they're going to send. And sometimes they make mistakes and send the wrong men and find themselves in trouble. Now, when it comes to a man carrying the message of God, he's not to be self-sent. Neither is He to be man sent, but He's to be God sent. There was a man sent from God. When God sends a man, when God puts His hand on a man, you can rest assured that man will be God's man, and that man will preach God's message, and God will bless the ministry of that man whom He sends. So therefore, John was a man, a sent man sent from God. Now then, if he's sent by God, a man from God, then John's business will be to please the man that sent him. He'll be there to proclaim God's message. And no matter whether men accept the message or not, As long as he declares the message that the master has given him, then he shall receive the well-done, thou good and faithful servant. He'll have to be faithful to the message. John was a man sent from God. Now one day there was a huge crowd of people gathered around the Lord, and questions arose regarding John. The Lord Jesus Christ said to these people concerning John, When you went out into the wilderness, you went out to see John. Now he said, I want to ask you, what was it you went out to see? Did you go out to see somebody that was just like a reed shaken with the wind? You know, my friend, that a reed is a spineless kind of a thing. If the wind blows, that reed will bend with it. Whether it's a heavy wind coming from the one direction or a soft south wind, no matter from what direction the wind blows, that reed will bend. The Lord said to them, What went ye out into the wilderness to see when you went out to hear John? Did you go out to see a reed shaken with the wind? Again, he says, What went ye out to see? Did you go out to see a man that was clothed in soft raiment? Of course not. They that wear soft clothing are in king's houses. They're having a soft time. You didn't go out to see a man that was having an easy time in life. You went out to see a man that was steadfast. A man that took his stand for the truth that he declared. He was a man of convictions, and he stood steadfast, not a reed shaken with the wind, but he was a firm, resolute, unwavering man with a fixed purpose to carry out his mission for God. You know, we need men like that today. God is looking for men, men who have reached maturity, men he will send, men who will be steadfast, any man who is sent of God. can rest assured of this that God will support him when he's steadfast. Not to be carried around with every wind of strange doctrine. Not to agree with everything that comes along. Not simply trying to get on the bandwagon and driving with the majority in order to be popular. No. But a man who's prepared to stand and speak the truth. even if it means saying no to what is proposed. It's not easy at times to say no. They'll say all manner of nasty things about church. You take the stand for truth and say no to that which is evil. But John was a steadfast man. He was a man of a fixed purpose. He took his stand for God. Not only was John a steadfast man, John was a straight man. John was a man who exposed and reproved evil, even in the leaders of the people. You see, John didn't require to be moved by their ideas. John was a man who could take his stand. And in those days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And John had his raiment of camel's hair, the leather and girdle about his loins, and his meat was locusts and wild honey. And when many of the Pharisees and the Sadducees came to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? You go and bring forth fruits, meat for repentance, that is, meats that are answerable to a change of life. You see, John was a man who stood for the truth. He was not only a steadfast man, John was a straight man. He exposed and reproved evil even in the leaders. You see, God is not a God of double standards. If a thing is sin for the man in Skid Row, it's also sin for the man who sits in the big house. in the palace. You see, my friend, it's not the place the man goes into that makes him drunk. It's not the place the man goes to that makes him an alcoholic. It's what goes into the man, and whether it goes into him in a house that's like a palace, or goes into him when he's down in a shack. It's what goes into the man that makes him an alcoholic. God is not a God of a double standard. And so therefore, John was a straight man. He exposed the evil and reproved the evil in the religious leaders. He said, I'll not baptize you until I see in your life fruits that are answerable to repentance. And then again, he exposed the evil in the political leaders. And he says, Herod. It's not right for you to be living with your brother's wife. You see, he reproved them. Now we'll have to leave John there at that point, and in our next study we'll continue with them with a man called John, and we'll seek to say something about the message that he delivered.