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Luke 7:24-27 ESV
Jesus Christ was speaking here concerning John the Baptist. So, who was John the Baptist? He was Jesus’ cousin. And he was born not long before Jesus was. And he was called of God, even before he was born, to be a voice which cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (Isaiah 40:3). And John said about himself that he was “the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said” (John 1:23).
And the apostle John said this about him: “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light” (John 1:6-8).
So, John the Baptist was a man of God whose whole existence in life was to obey the Lord and to be that lone voice in the wilderness making a straight (upright, godly, righteous, morally pure, honest, and law abiding and obedient) path (way) of the Lord, to prepare the people’s hearts to meet Jesus Christ and to make him Lord and Savior of their lives. And his primary message to the people was to repent (to turn from their sins) so that they could now walk in the ways of the Lord and no longer in their sinful ways.
Now John the Baptist was not flashy like many of our modern day men who call themselves “pastors” and “preachers of the gospel.” He was not finely dressed, but he wore clothes made of Camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist. And his diet consisted of locusts and wild honey. And he lived a very simple life while he focused his life on the kingdom work set before him. So he did not live in a nice house in a gated community among the wealthy and powerful of the world, but he lived a very humble life.
And his message was not flashy, not manipulative, not cunning and crafty like many men are today in their deceitful scheming. His goal was not to “draw in large crowds of people from the world” through worldly means and methods so as to add them to his earthly kingdom. And he didn’t have to put on a show, a performance, to entertain the people in order to draw them to Christ, nor did he use marketing schemes, trickery, and gimmickry in order to draw in large crowds of people from the world to his gatherings.
But his message was simply “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” and “bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:2-10). And his mission was to prepare the people’s hearts to receive Jesus Christ into their lives as truly Lord (Owner-Master) and Savior (saved out of their lives of slavery to sin into lives surrendered to Jesus Christ, empowered of God to live holy and godly lives for the glory of God). So, they were to leave their lives of sin behind them to now follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his ways.
Luke 7:31-35 ESV
But what was the people’s general response to John the Baptist and to his message? And what was their response largely to Jesus Christ and to his message? Some did believe, and some did have genuine heart and life changes of the Spirit of God. But it appears the majority not only rejected John’s message and Jesus’ message, but they mocked and criticized both of them. And they spread lies about them, too, because John and Jesus were not like most of them. Their lives were dedicated to God’s service.
And so it is today, too. For if you live a life which is separate (unlike, different) from the world, as all believers in Jesus ought to do, and if your life is dedicated to the Lord and to his ministry, and you take God and his word seriously, and you believe God, and so you do what he says, in practice, and so you are also sharing the truth of the gospel with the people close and far away, then you are regarded as weird, as an odd ball, as a crazy person, or as self-righteous, judgmental, and legalistic.
But you have to let all that roll off of you, for you have to consider your greater task is to live your life for the Lord Jesus, and not for the acceptance and approval of human beings. Your greater task must be to get the true message of the gospel out to the people so that many will be saved, in truth, and that they will now live for the Lord and walk in his ways, and so they will also have salvation from sin and the hope of eternal life with God. But please don’t buy into that cheapened and altered gospel message of today.
For Jesus Christ said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for the sake of Jesus we die with him to sin and we now live to him and to his righteousness, then we have the hope of eternal life with God. For if we are ashamed of Jesus and his full gospel message in this life, he will be ashamed of us when he returns, and he will deny us.
[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
Seek the Lord
An Original Work / July 20, 2012
Based off Isaiah 55
“Come to Me all you who thirst; come to waters.
Listen to Me, and eat what’s good today,
And your soul will delight in richest of fare.
Give ear to Me, and you will live.
I have made an eternal covenant with you.
Wash in the blood of the Lamb.”
Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him.
Let the wicked forsake his way, in truth.
Let him turn to the Lord, and he will receive mercy.
Freely, God pardons him.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,”
declares the Lord, our God.
“My word that goes out of My mouth is truthful.
It will not return to Me unfulfilled.
My word will accomplish all that I desire,
And achieve the goal I intend.
You will go in joy and be led forth in peace.
The mountains will burst into song… before you,
And all of the trees clap their hands.”
“When John's messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings' courts. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written,
“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way before you.’”
Jesus Christ was speaking here concerning John the Baptist. So, who was John the Baptist? He was Jesus’ cousin. And he was born not long before Jesus was. And he was called of God, even before he was born, to be a voice which cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (Isaiah 40:3). And John said about himself that he was “the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said” (John 1:23).
And the apostle John said this about him: “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light” (John 1:6-8).
So, John the Baptist was a man of God whose whole existence in life was to obey the Lord and to be that lone voice in the wilderness making a straight (upright, godly, righteous, morally pure, honest, and law abiding and obedient) path (way) of the Lord, to prepare the people’s hearts to meet Jesus Christ and to make him Lord and Savior of their lives. And his primary message to the people was to repent (to turn from their sins) so that they could now walk in the ways of the Lord and no longer in their sinful ways.
Now John the Baptist was not flashy like many of our modern day men who call themselves “pastors” and “preachers of the gospel.” He was not finely dressed, but he wore clothes made of Camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist. And his diet consisted of locusts and wild honey. And he lived a very simple life while he focused his life on the kingdom work set before him. So he did not live in a nice house in a gated community among the wealthy and powerful of the world, but he lived a very humble life.
And his message was not flashy, not manipulative, not cunning and crafty like many men are today in their deceitful scheming. His goal was not to “draw in large crowds of people from the world” through worldly means and methods so as to add them to his earthly kingdom. And he didn’t have to put on a show, a performance, to entertain the people in order to draw them to Christ, nor did he use marketing schemes, trickery, and gimmickry in order to draw in large crowds of people from the world to his gatherings.
But his message was simply “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” and “bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:2-10). And his mission was to prepare the people’s hearts to receive Jesus Christ into their lives as truly Lord (Owner-Master) and Savior (saved out of their lives of slavery to sin into lives surrendered to Jesus Christ, empowered of God to live holy and godly lives for the glory of God). So, they were to leave their lives of sin behind them to now follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his ways.
Luke 7:31-35 ESV
“To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,
“‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’
“For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.”
But what was the people’s general response to John the Baptist and to his message? And what was their response largely to Jesus Christ and to his message? Some did believe, and some did have genuine heart and life changes of the Spirit of God. But it appears the majority not only rejected John’s message and Jesus’ message, but they mocked and criticized both of them. And they spread lies about them, too, because John and Jesus were not like most of them. Their lives were dedicated to God’s service.
And so it is today, too. For if you live a life which is separate (unlike, different) from the world, as all believers in Jesus ought to do, and if your life is dedicated to the Lord and to his ministry, and you take God and his word seriously, and you believe God, and so you do what he says, in practice, and so you are also sharing the truth of the gospel with the people close and far away, then you are regarded as weird, as an odd ball, as a crazy person, or as self-righteous, judgmental, and legalistic.
But you have to let all that roll off of you, for you have to consider your greater task is to live your life for the Lord Jesus, and not for the acceptance and approval of human beings. Your greater task must be to get the true message of the gospel out to the people so that many will be saved, in truth, and that they will now live for the Lord and walk in his ways, and so they will also have salvation from sin and the hope of eternal life with God. But please don’t buy into that cheapened and altered gospel message of today.
For Jesus Christ said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for the sake of Jesus we die with him to sin and we now live to him and to his righteousness, then we have the hope of eternal life with God. For if we are ashamed of Jesus and his full gospel message in this life, he will be ashamed of us when he returns, and he will deny us.
[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
Seek the Lord
An Original Work / July 20, 2012
Based off Isaiah 55
“Come to Me all you who thirst; come to waters.
Listen to Me, and eat what’s good today,
And your soul will delight in richest of fare.
Give ear to Me, and you will live.
I have made an eternal covenant with you.
Wash in the blood of the Lamb.”
Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him.
Let the wicked forsake his way, in truth.
Let him turn to the Lord, and he will receive mercy.
Freely, God pardons him.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,”
declares the Lord, our God.
“My word that goes out of My mouth is truthful.
It will not return to Me unfulfilled.
My word will accomplish all that I desire,
And achieve the goal I intend.
You will go in joy and be led forth in peace.
The mountains will burst into song… before you,
And all of the trees clap their hands.”
