Additional Details – John and His Ministry

Introduction and Review of John's Ministry

0:06 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, August 21st, 1983, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now will you please follow in your own Bibles as I read from Mark's Gospel, chapter 1, verses 1 through 8. And then just keep your finger in that portion of the Word of God as I then read from John's Gospel, chapter 1, verses 19 through 28. Mark's Gospel, chapter 1, the first eight verses.

0:47 The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, even as it is written in Isaiah the prophet, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face. Who shall prepare thy way? The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make ye ready the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. John came, who baptized in the wilderness, and preached the baptism of repentance unto remission of sins.

1:25 And there went out unto him all the country of Judea, and all they of Jerusalem, and they were baptized of him in the river Jordan. And there went out unto him all the country of Judea, and they were baptized of him in the river Jordan. And John was clothed with camel's hair, and had a leathern girdle about his loins, and did eat locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, There cometh after me he that is mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.

1:58 I baptize you in water, but he shall baptize you in the water. I baptize you in water, but he shall baptize you in the water. And this is the witness of John when the Jews sent unto him from Jerusalem priests and Levites to ask him, Who are you? And he confessed and denied not.

2:26 And he confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Are you Elijah? And he said, I am not.

2:39 Are you the prophet? And he answered, No. They said therefore unto him, Who are you? That we may give an answer to them that sent us.

2:52 What do you say of yourself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as saith Isaiah the prophet. And they had been sent from the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, neither Elijah, neither the prophet?

3:19 John answered them, saying, I baptize in water in the midst of you stands one whom you know not, even he that comes after me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to unloose. These things were done in Bethany beyond the kingdom of heaven. I am not worthy to unloose. These things were done in Bethany beyond the kingdom of heaven.

3:38 I am not worthy to unloose. These things were done in Bethany beyond the kingdom of heaven. the Jordan where John was baptizing. Let us again seek the face of God in prayer, asking God by the Spirit to give us understanding in his holy word.

3:56 Our Father, we thank you for the record of the beginning of the gospel concerning your beloved Son, and for the unique place that John held in the beginning of that gospel. And we thank you for our Lord's words concerning John, that there has been none born of woman greater than he. And we pray that something of his spiritual greatness will be brought home to our hearts with power, and that we with John may behold the glory of him who is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. O Lord, be our teacher this morning.

4:40 Teaching us not only in the outer ear, but teach the ears of our hearts, we pray, for Jesus' sake. Amen. Now, according to the first verse of John's gospel and the paragraph that follows, the ministry of John the Baptist marks the historical beginning of the gospel concerning Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is the presence of this man, John the Baptist, as the forerunner of the Lord Jesus, the voice crying in the wilderness, which identifies the Lord Jesus as the promised Messiah. And so, for several weeks, we have been examining this first paragraph in Mark's gospel, a paragraph in which, first of all, we are given what I have called the Old Testament. The Old Testament, or prophetic roots of John's ministry, verses 2 and 3. Then we examined last Lord's Day, a summary of John's ministry, first of all, its major activities, as they are given to us in verse 4, John came, the main verb, and then these

6:08 two inseparable activities in the participles, baptizing and preaching. The Old Testament, or prophetic roots, as they are given to us in verse 4, John came, the main verb, and then these two inseparable activities in the participles, baptizing and preaching. And then we have a summary statement regarding the general response to John's ministry, all of Judea in general, and the Jerusalemites in particular. Now, having considered what the paragraph teaches with respect to the Old Testament roots of John's ministry, this summary of John's ministry, we come this morning to examine what I am calling some additional details concerning John and his ministry.

Additional Details: John's Personal Habits (Dress and Diet)

6:51 Some additional details concerning John and his ministry, and this is given to us in verses 6 through 8. Verse 6 focuses on what we might call some personal habits of John. And John was clothed with camel's hair and had a leathern girdle about his loin. And he ate locusts and wild honey.

7:19 And then verses 7 and 8, some additional details concerning the emphases of John's preaching. So then, verses 6 through 8, additional details concerning John and his ministry, beginning with the first category, additional details about John's personal habits. And the two habits. And the two habits that are described for us are his dress and his diet.

7:51 Notice the text. We are given this simple statement, John was clothed with camel's hair and had a leathern girdle about his loins. Here is an additional detail given to us by the Holy Spirit through the pen of Mark regarding John's dress. Now, when it says that he wore this.

8:15 This garment of camel's hair, we must not think of it as the skin of a camel, but rather, it was a coarse burlap-type fiber made from the hair of a camel. And it was very durable cloth. It was cloth that might be found in the average peasant. And most likely, it was put together for the sake of description, much like a blanket in which two of the corners are folded over.

8:45 And it was put together for the sake of description, much like a blanket in which two of the corners are folded over. consumed so that they act like armholes.

8:50 So it's like a shawl over the back they act like armholes. And in order to keep the thing with these armholes. And in order to keep the thing from flopping all over the place. John wore probably a about six inch wide made of leather, probably had or a set of claws.

9:05 And when he wanted to move from one place to another, he would take that leathern girdle. And that would hold this rather lease Some clothes around it would be made from a thatch aloft, and it would hold quite easy. camel's hair cloth and would keep him from stumbling on it or flapping in the wind now most likely this was the very thing john used as a blanket when he went to sleep at night and it's very interesting that in the old testament legislation god said some very serious things about not holding in pledge this kind of a garment because it was a man's covering to protect him from the cold at night perhaps from the wind and i understand from reading some authors it even had an unusual insulating effect and even though it was a heavier garment they would wear it in the heat and it would help protect them in that way so the holy spirit has given to us this additional detail about john's personal habits first of all about his dress his camel's hair cloak or robe and his leather sash about it and then it tells us something about his diet now notice the text does not say that all he ever ate were locusts and wild honey the text simply says that he did eat locusts and

10:29 wild honey now for most of us that's not the idea of our sunday afternoon best meal to pull off the legs and the wings of a locust and to you know roast it and then to eat it but apparently from what i've been able to read in eastern countries to this day and in many african countries these locusts prepared in various ways are considered a delicacy and certainly we don't need to go to the outside the bible for information about honey you remember the incident in the old testament when in the midst of a battle jonathan found some wild honey and strengthened it and then he took it and put it in his mouth and then he put it in his mouth and he and he put it in his mouth and then he and he and he and he and they both were strengthened himself was strengthened with honey that he took from the carcass of the dead lion and there are several other clear references to the widespread availability of honey not as a sweetener for a cup of coffee for someone who was a health food nut but uh... as a stable food and so john had as his stable food now don't anyone say pastor martin said if you use honey instead of sugar you're a hell of a wuss not do you what is honey use honey instead of sugar you're a hell of a wuss if you use honey instead of sugar you're a hell of a wuss you're a health food nut. I didn't say that. I have to be so careful. It is amazing, and I'm not

11:47 becoming paranoid. It's just that I listen to what comes back to me that I supposedly have said. Now, you're not considered a nut if you use honey. I was simply trying to show a contrast in the use, all right? Probably never should have said it. But anyway, as part of his stable diet, and no doubt much of his ordinary diet, John lived on locusts and wild honey. But now the question arises, or at least it ought to arise in our minds, why should John be guided of God to such a strange dress and diet? And furthermore, why should the Holy Spirit guide Mark in writing the beginning of the gospel of Jesus? Jesus Christ, why should he give us these apparently irrelevant details about a man's garment and his strange diet? What a strange way to start preaching the gospel.

Significance of John's Habits: Connection to Elijah

12:51 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, God's son, John came wearing a camel's hair cloak, a leather girdle, eating locusts and wild honey. Well, let me say this. I suggest that there are at least two basic reasons for the record of this additional detail about John's clothing, his dress, and his diet. And the first is this. His external appearance and habits would immediately suggest to any Israelite the connection between John and his spiritual prototype, Israel. His external appearance and habits would immediately suggest a connection between John and his spiritual prototype, Elijah. If you will turn to 2 Kings chapter 1 and verse 8, the connection will be very evident. 2 Kings chapter 1 and verse 8.

14:12 We could back up to verse 8. Verse 7. And he said unto them, that is, the king to his messengers, What manner of man was he that came up to meet you and told you these words? And they answered him, He was a hairy man, or as the marginal reading has it, a man with a garment of hair, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins.

14:40 And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite. Elijah's hairy garment and his leather girdle identified him as this prophet, this great disruptor, this troubler in Israel. Well, the prophecy that went before John had indicated that he would come in the spirit of Elijah. Luke chapter 1.

15:12 And verse 17. We consulted it briefly last Lord's Day morning. Let's look at it for a moment again. And he shall go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient, to walk in the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.

15:39 And so as Elijah was known as the prophet, he was also known as the prophet. The prophet dressed in the hairy garment and girt with a leather girdle. And now the word of God is that God will send the forerunner in the spirit and power of Elijah, so much so that he has actually called Elijah in Malachi 4 and verse 5, that Elijah would come before the day of the Lord comes to its consummation. In a very real way.

16:12 real sense, John's external appearance would suggest this connection between himself and his spiritual prototype, Elijah the prophet. In fact, this whole matter of the hairy garment had become to be associated so much with the prophetic office that the false prophets to try to deceive people would actually dress in this way. Zechariah 13 and verse 4 clearly indicates this. Zechariah 13 and verse 4. Second last book of the Old Testament. You have Malachi, turn back one book to Zechariah, verse 3 of chapter 13. It shall come to pass when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his father-in-law shall prophesy, and his father-in-law shall prophesy, and his father-in-law shall prophesy, and his father-in-law and his mother that beget him shall say unto him, You shall not live, for you speak lies in the name of the Lord. And his father and mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesies. And it shall come to pass in that day that the prophet shall be ashamed every one of his vision when he prophesies, neither shall they wear a hairy mantle to deceive.

17:38 Now, you see, when we take what seems to be an innocuous detail and interpret it in the light of Scripture, it begins to make sense. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, Son of God. Well, the gospel that God had prophesied in the Old Testament said there would be a forerunner. But that forerunner would not only be found crying in the wilderness, but he would cry in the wilderness after the manor enlightenment.

18:09 That is the greatness of Elijah. And in some senses, he would be Elijah. Jesus said, if you can receive it, this is Elijah that has come. And therefore, this detail concerning his physical appearance as to dress and to his diet are not matters that have no bearing upon the subject. This is the beginning of the one true gospel. The gospel with its roots embedded in the Old Testament, so that the forerunner of the true Savior, the true and only Redeemer of sinners, had to fit that prophetic description. And these details simply underscore further that John was indeed that one whom God had promised. So his external appearance and habits would immediately suggest that connection between John and his spiritual life. He was the spiritual prototype Elijah. But secondly and perhaps even more importantly,

Significance of John's Habits: Rebuke to His Generation

19:16 his external appearance and habits would constitute a stinging rebuke to his own generation. His external appearance and habits would constitute a stinging rebuke to his own generation. Now some have suggested that John the Baptist was a Nazarite, one of those people who was set apart as a reminder of a life of separateness unto God. But there is nothing to indicate that John was a full-blown Nazarite, because we are told in Luke chapter 1 in verse 15 that he was to have no wine nor strong drink.

20:00 Some have suggested that that's just a summary of the Nazarite requirements, but that's questionable. But this much is clear, that when John appeared upon the scene in Israel, the official leaders and teachers and preachers in Israel were the scribes and the Pharisees. And what was one of the marks of the scribes and Pharisees? Among other things, they were very ostentatious in their dress.

20:31 When religion is at a low point, its official priests and prophets flee. They cease the people and live high on the hog.

20:42 And you remember Jesus said of these people, they love to appear in public with their long flowing robes and in finery. They devoured widows' houses. They were grasping, greedy men who manifested their grasping, greedy lifestyle even in their external appearance. And now into...

21:09 Into that situation comes a man calling the nation to repentance, telling them it's not enough that they have an external bloodline identity with the covenant community. He is calling them to a baptism of repentance unto remission of sins. He's telling them that they are filthy in their hearts. They are polluted and defiled and they need this watery ritual symbolizing the internal cleansing that comes.

21:38 He is telling them that God is concerned with a man's heart. And what better way than in His very dress, sacramentally to declare that God's great concern is for the inner man and not the outer man. And so this man appears dressed in this rough garment, eating this strange diet and our Lord Jesus will feed him. And now he says to him, you know what?

22:09 underscores those very elements as the validation of his greatness at that point in redemptive history. Turn to Matthew's Gospel, chapter 11, and here is what the Lord Jesus says about John,

22:30 verse 7 of Matthew 11. And as these went their way, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John, What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Did you go out to see a dapper, a dandy? Behold, dappers are in kings' houses. They that wear soft raiment are in kings' houses. What therefore did you go out to see?

23:10 A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who shall prepare your way before you. Truly I say unto you, among them that are born of women, there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist, yet he that is but little in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. In terms of redemptive privilege, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, and slightest, the most immature, the newest babe in Christ with the full blessings of an accomplished redemption is greater in terms of privilege, but in terms of true spiritual stature, he says none born of women greater than John. He stands at the head of all the others who have gone before, and in underscoring his greatness, Jesus points to such practical matters, as his external appearance. And therefore I believe it is proper for us to say that the great significance of Mark giving to us these details

24:23 about his dress and his diet is to set before us the fact that in a very real sense John's external appearance and personal habits were the embodiment and the validation of his message. No one can call others to a life of repentance and self-denial who lives a life of impenitence and self-indulgence and manifests it in his clothing and in his eating habits.

25:02 That's the bottom line.

Validation of John's Message and Application for Preachers

25:05 And if John were to appear dressed in luxury, eating luxuriously, how could he make it stick when he said later on to those, who said, what shall we do to bring forth fruit's meat for repentance? He said, he who has two coats, let him give away one.

25:28 You see, if a man is to preach with conviction and make it stick, his own life better validate his message right down to his patterns of dress and of eating and drinking.

25:46 This is why many preachers can't preach to the consciences of their hearers about materialism. Because as the preacher tries to cry out against the sins of materialism, all they need to do is open up the inside of his jacket and see the label of his expensive suit and turn their head sixty degrees and look in the parking lot at his excessively expensive car and say, preacher, say all you want, it's a lot of hot air.

26:21 And that's why some of you don't like to preach. You don't like the preaching from this pulpit because you can't do it and you know it.

26:29 When from this pulpit you're indicted for materialism, you can't get out from under the pressure of that indictment by pointing a finger at the clothing and the lifestyle and the eating patterns of those of us who preach to you. The patterns of restraint and modesty and self-control, are a hook in your conscience.

27:01 And you know it.

27:06 And I say to you men preparing for the ministry, if you're not prepared for the gospel to regulate your clothing and your food and the cars you drive and your overall lifestyle, you'll never stand in this materialistic age and cry out against the damning sin of materialism and make it stand. And if you can't cry out against that sin in this day and make it stick, you'll have very little of a prophetic edge in your ministry. John could do it. And it's stuck. May God grant that we who are not preachers but are called upon to be light in this crooked and perverse generation. What's one of the areas we most desperately need to be light with neighbors all around us clamoring for more? More things.

28:10 More things. More things. More things. More things.

28:14 More things. Thing. Things. How can you be light shining in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation?

28:22 If they can look at you and see you living the same way they do. Pursuing things for things sake. For more things for things sake. Oh, what a witness John was.

28:38 By the way he dressed and the way he ate. But now we must pray. Now we must hurry on to what is really the heart and the burden of our message this morning. Mark not only gives us some additional details about John's personal habits of dress and of food, but notice the additional details about his preaching emphases.

Additional Details: John's Preaching Emphases

29:03 We've already discovered from verse 4 that one of his main emphases was preaching a baptism of repentance unto remission of sins. Our text there told us John came who baptized and who preached. And one of his emphases was preaching a baptism of repentance unto remission of sins. Now we're given some additional details about some of his preaching emphases.

29:36 And the form of the verb used indicates that these are things John was continually preaching. These were not occasional notes that he sounded. These were notes that he sounded again and again and again. They were like the melodic theme of a great musical work of art that is woven through the entire fabric of that composition.

30:00 These were the themes, the emphases that came through again and again and again. And what are they? Well, according to the passage there are two of them. Look at them.

30:11 And he was preaching, saying, There comes after me he that is mightier than I, the lachet of whose shoes I'm not worthy to stoop down and unloose. That's an emphasis upon the exceeding worth of Christ. And then verse 8, I baptize you in water, but he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit. That's an emphasis upon the crowning work of Christ.

John's Emphasis: The Exceeding Worth of Christ

30:46 So the two additional emphases of John's preaching are these, the exceeding worth of Christ and the crowning work of Christ. And the imagery is both touching and beautiful in this passage. As John speaks, he says, There is coming one behind me who is mightier than I. He is coming behind me.

31:20 Why not before me? If he's the mighty one, why is he coming behind me? Well, John was the forerunner. That's the only position Messiah could be found.

31:29 And if you got that reversed, he wouldn't have been truly the John promised, and Jesus wouldn't have been the Messiah promised. The Messiah promised was to have a forerunner long ago before. He would come behind. But John says, Though he comes behind me in time and in position, it does not mean that he is lesser than I.

31:49 There comes one behind me who is mightier than I. And in his presence, John says, I'm not worthy. And only Luke adds this. I'm sorry.

32:02 Yes, I'm sorry. Mark adds this detail about John's words. I'm not worthy to stoop down. I'm not worthy to stoop down and unloose his sandals.

32:13 Now again, anyone in that Eastern context would have understood the imagery. If you came in from a long journey, your feet would be dirty. You needed to have your sandals untied and taken off and your feet washed. Well, that pass was given to the lowliest house servant.

32:33 And it would be the lowly house servant who would greet you at the door. And he would stoop down, untie your sandals and remove them, and wash your feet. John says with respect to the exceeding worth of Christ, Though he comes behind me, I am not worthy to perform the task of the most menial servant. I'm not worthy to stoop down and to loose his sandals.

33:05 Now what gave John such a conviction about the exceeding worth of Christ? Did not Christ say of this very man, There is none greater born of women? Why should he have such a sense of his unworthiness? Well, the answer is given in John's Gospel, chapter 1, in which we are told that John the Baptist understood the identity of the Christ.

33:42 John 1.29 And the morrow he seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me comes a man, notice, who is become before me, for he was before me. And the paragraph ends with the statement that this is the Son of God.

34:16 You see, John had the consciousness that he was but a creature, but that the one to whom he was pointing was the Creator. He was eternal, unbegotten God, the Word who had become flesh. And John understood that which is the essence of true humility. It's not trying to convince myself I'm some kind of a lowly shriveling worm, when in reality I'm something more than that.

34:50 Humility is simply facing up to the reality of what the creature is in the presence of God. What the sinful creature is in the presence of a holy God. And though this man was his cousin according to the flesh, John understood that he was God the Son. And when he preached, one of the recurring emphases of his preaching was the exceeding worth of Christ.

35:21 I'm not worthy to unloose his sandals. I am compelled by the Spirit and by my appointment of God in redemptive history to be his forerunner. And remember as we saw last week, tremendous popularity, multitudes from Judea and Jerusalem flocking out to John. And as we read earlier this morning, even wondering if perhaps he were the Messiah.

35:48 But at the peak of his popularity, he said, Don't think of me as Messiah. Don't think of me as the prophet. Don't think of me even in a wooden, literalistic way as Elijah come back from the dead. I'm not worthy even to fulfill the task of a common house servant in the presence of this One of whom I preach.

John's Emphasis: The Crowning Work of Christ (Baptizing with the Spirit)

36:15 And so one of the great emphases of his ministry was the exceeding worth of Christ. But then, verse 8, another great emphasis was that of the crowning work of Christ. John said, I baptize in water the One who comes after me, will baptize in the Holy Spirit. And notice how significant that word of John becomes in Acts chapter 1.

36:43 Acts chapter 1. The Lord Jesus, after his resurrection, for forty days, meets with his disciples, instructs and teaches them. And then he charges them, verse 4, Acts 1, being assembled together with them, he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, said he, you heard from me, for John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days hence. And what John was saying in his preaching was this.

37:28 Yes, he is the Lamb of God, John 1.29. He is the only one who is able to bear away the sin of the world, but his crowning work will be this. Having borne away the sins of his people, he will ascend to the right hand of his Father.

37:49 And he will, from that posture and position, send the Holy Spirit down in might and power as the crowning gift of new covenant blessing. And he will then impart by his Spirit all of the blessings which he died to purchase upon the cross. And the great crowning work of Christ is indeed the work of baptizing his people with his Spirit. Galatians 3, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having been made a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree, that upon the Gentiles might come the blessing of Abraham, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. His curse bearing is unto his mighty work of pouring out of his Spirit. And you remember on the day of Pentecost that that's exactly what Peter said. When they said, What's happening around here?

38:50 Peter says, He being by the right hand of God exalted, he hath shed forth this which you now see and you now hear. The crowning work of the ascended Christ was sending down his Spirit, that the Spirit indwelling the people of God might bring them into vital living union with the exalted Lord, that they might know the blessings of his grace. And this was one of the notes that John continually sounded. Now does that mean people were not saved under John's ministry?

39:25 No, it does not mean that. But it does mean that until Jesus Christ died, and is raised from the dead, and the Holy Spirit is sent forth once for all in that great historic event of Pentecost, this was not fulfilled in these dimensions. And now we live in that age of the outpoured Spirit, so that we do not look to him as the one who will baptize, but we look to him as the one who grants his Spirit to all who believe upon him. These then are the additional details about the preaching emphases of John, the exceeding worth of Christ, and then the crowning work of Christ. And certainly we cannot contemplate this without feeling something of a tremendous surge of respect and esteem for this man, John. He walks in humility at the height of popularity that would have turned the head of any average man. And he is determined to make it known, no matter what people think he may be, I am but a voice crying in the wilderness.

40:46 I am simply the forerunner. I have been sent to announce the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Son of God. He is the great object of my preaching. Turn away from me.

41:00 Remember his words when people tried to make him jealous? They said, John, don't you see what's happening? People that once were coming out to listen to you and hear you, why, they're now all flocking over to Christ. And they thought this would get John upset.

41:16 But what did he say? He said, He must increase. I must decrease. I'm only the friend of the bridegroom, and I may be the center of attention until the bridegroom comes.

41:32 But when the bridegroom comes and all eyes are on him, the friend of the bridegroom doesn't stand there and have a pity party. He doesn't stand there and pout. His heart is glad. He's been waiting for the bridegroom.

41:45 That was the spirit that beat within the breast of John. And so this recurring emphasis of the exceeding worth of Christ, and then the crowning work of Christ, delighting to be kept out of sight, out of the way. He must increase. I must decrease.

The Spirit of John for Gospel Preachers and the Church

42:05 This is why Mark can say, The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. For in John we see the spirit of a true gospel preacher and of a true gospel church. What ought to be the recurring emphasis of every true gospel preacher? Explicitly, implicitly, in life, as well as in message, it ought to be evident that he is obsessed with the exceeding worth of Jesus Christ.

42:41 That he can say and make it stick, I preach not myself, but Christ Jesus the Lord. No heroes in Christ's church, but Christ himself. No big names, no super personalities, you see that's why the life of a man like Whitfield is so attractive. That even when multitudes were flocking to that young man in his middle twenties, the mere announcement, George Whitfield will be in town tomorrow, no television, no radio, no flyers, no promos, no nothing!

43:23 Five, ten, fifteen, twenty thousand people would gather simply as words spread through the great frowning. George Whitfield will be in town tomorrow. And what made that man's life so attractive? It was this, I'm not worthy to unloose the sandals of my Savior.

43:48 There was this obsession with his Savior, this longing that men might forget George Whitfield, and know and love his Christ. And that was true of Spurgeon. Do you remember that sermon that he preached on that notable occasion? When so caught up in the glory of his Savior, he said, and I paraphrase, let my name be forever forgotten, but his name be known and loved to the ends of the earth.

44:19 And so impassioned did he become in seeking to, as it were, be utterly obscured behind the glory of his Savior. His wife describing the scene says that he collapsed at the end of that sermon in the chair behind the pulpit, with his heart so run out with the passion that men might see and know the exceeding worth of Christ, and also the emphasis upon the crowning work of Christ. What is it? Not to give people health, happiness, prosperity, success, but to baptize them with the Spirit, the Spirit of power that gives new heart and new affection and new perspective. The Holy Spirit who comes to effect ethical and moral transformation. That's the crowning work of Christ. Not to have a bunch of people running around saying, I've tipped my hat to a man upon a cross, and now I'm all fixed up forever living for this world, living like worldlings, Jesus Christ came to do no such thing.

45:34 He came that having died to make His people holy, rising from the dead, He should go to the right hand of His Father and send His Spirit to purify and to empower and to transform His people into His own likeness. My friends, if Trinity Church is worth existing, it better have that two-fold emphasis dominant throughout all of its existence. We stand on the threshold of this new dimension of usefulness as we have our groundbreaking service this afternoon. Surely the thoughts of many of us ask or turn in the direction of wondering what will be preached in that pulpit if the Lord tarries twenty years from now, twenty-five years from now, thirty, forty years. Some of you teenagers, will you listen to me? Oh, listen to me.

46:40 Listen to me. Don't go around trying to be big shots if you don't have a God-appointed office and qualifications for it, but don't be a bunch of dummies sitting in the pew either. And if any man tries to smooth talk you into recognizing Him as an under-shepherd who does not have as the pulsing theme of his ministry the exceeding worth of Christ and the crowning work of Christ, if the church can be run without men's hearts being caught up in love to Christ and under the influence of the power of the Spirit of Christ, may God give you grace never to cast your vote to recognize that man as a teaching elder. May God give you grace sweetly but firmly to run him out of town on the next train or bus or however you can get him out of town. No matter how beautiful the building may appear to human eyes, if it doesn't have preachers of the Spirit of John the Baptist, far better that the thing be leveled to the ground than that people go to hell deceived by enough religion to make them feel good, but not enough to transform them

48:09 or to glorify God. You young men and women have an awesome responsibility when some of us are in our graves and the worms are eating our bodies. May you stand and be like John the Baptist, no reed shaken in the wind. Who knows where evangelicalism will be thirty years from now.

48:30 Look at it now. Every little wind of fad and it blows this way, that way, this way, that way, may God make you like reinforced concrete, saying we shall by the grace of God be of the Spirit of John the Baptist, acknowledging our own utter unworthiness, but all the worth and the loveliness of our Savior and the crowning work of our Savior to send His Holy Spirit. How good of God to give us these additional details about John, details about his habits of dress and of food, details about the recurring emphases of his preaching. And this all has to do with the gospel. You see, you can't wrench it loose. It has to do with the gospel.

49:32 And though John's preaching is not what we would call full-blown gospel preaching, it has all the elements and the complementary seeds of what true gospel preaching is. And may God grant that having listened to John this morning, speaking of the worth of his Savior, the crowning work of his Savior, we will esteem Christ as He did, that we will love Him as He did, and that with all of our hearts we will cry for increasing and copious measures of the Spirit of Christ upon us as a people. For our only attractiveness is Christ made real by the Spirit. Take that away, and what do we have? Oh, may God never remove His Spirit from us. His presence is our greatest possession. Without Him, we are nothing.

Call to Behold Christ and Prayer for the Spirit

50:35 We have nothing. We've nothing to give to a needy world. We've no message to preach to a dying world. And some of those very things that will be woven into the fabric of Pastor Nichols' ministry tonight that you and I need desperately to hear, may God continue to speak to us this day.

50:58 And if you sit here as one who's never seen the exceeding worth of Christ, what can I say? If I could, I would show you His beauty so that your heart would empty itself in a moment of all the sordid idols that you now worship, and that you would embrace Him as the altogether lovely One. He is that, whether you see Him as such or not. And my friend, there is no chain that binds you this morning that His Holy Spirit is not able to break.

51:34 There is no bondage to any sin that He cannot break. Behold the exceedingly lovely One, behold the mighty One who baptizes with the Spirit all who look to Him in faith. Let us pray. Our Father, we do thank You for every blessed memory of that mighty Man of God who ministered for so short a period of time, and yet who filled such a unique place in the history of redemption. We thank You for molding the Man, John, disciplining Him those many years in the wilderness of Judea. We thank You for His burning convictions, His unshakable commitment to do Your will. We thank You most of all for the Savior to whom He pointed, and we too would gaze upon that Savior.

52:48 We too would love and obey that Savior. Oh, bring some this morning who've never beheld any beauty in Christ. Oh, may they behold beauty in Him that will cause them to turn from all other idolatrous attachments and cling only to Him for life and salvation. We pray that we may ever know Him as the One who baptizes with the Spirit, who sends His Spirit down upon His church and continues to supply His church with copious measures of life and power.

53:29 Lord Jesus Christ, look upon us in our accumulated weakness, our ignorance, our helplessness. Do not leave us, O blessed Savior, but send Your Spirit upon us in ever-increasing measures that we may be a holy people, a zealous people, a loving people, a people to Your praise. Seal then Your own word to our hearts, O Lord, seal it to our hearts and grant that even in the way we dress, in the way we eat, the way we carry ourselves in a world drunk with its own obsession with things, that we may make it evident that we seek a country yet to come. Hear our cry and answer us for Jesus' sake. Amen.