The Death of John the Baptist, Part 3

Introduction and Review of Previous Applications

0:04 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, August 4th, 1985, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:16 Now let us turn together to the Gospel according to Mark as we continue our consecutive expositions in this portion of God's Word, Mark's Gospel and the sixth chapter, and I shall read this account beginning with verse 14. It goes through to verse 29. This is the third time it will have been read in your hearing. I trust the facts of the narrative are now well embedded in your minds.

0:55 Hear then the Word of God from Mark 6 and verse 14. And King Herod heard thereof, for his name, that is the name of Jesus, had been become known. And he said, John the baptizer. The baptizer is risen from the dead, and therefore do these powers work in him.

1:19 But others said, it is Elijah. And others said, it is a prophet, even as one of the prophets. But Herod, when he heard thereof, said, John, whom I beheaded, he is risen. For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for the day of judgment.

1:42 And he said, John, whom I beheaded, he is risen. For the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, for he had married her. For John said unto Herod, It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife. And Herodias set herself against him, and desired to kill him.

2:00 And she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was much perplexed. And he heard him gladly. And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, and the high captains, and the chief men of Galilee, and when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and them that sat at meet with him.

2:34 And the king said unto the damsel, or unto the girl, Ask of me whatsoever you will, and I will give it you. And he said, I will give it to you. And he swore unto her, Whatsoever you shall ask of me, I will give it unto you, unto the half of my kingdom. And she went out and said unto her mother, What shall I ask?

2:56 And she said, The head of John the baptizer. And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that you forthwith give me on a platter the head of John the baptist. And the king was ecstatic. He was exceeding sorry, but for the sake of his oaths, and of them that sat at meet, he would not reject her.

3:23 And straightway the king sent forth a soldier of his guard, and commanded to bring his head. And he went and beheaded him in the prison, and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. And when his disciples heard thereof, they came, and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb. Now let us again seek the face of God in prayer, asking God by the Spirit to speak to us from this portion of his holy word.

4:03 Our Father, we plead once again, in the very language of your servant of old, open our eyes, that we may behold wondrous things out of your law. You have said that the entrance, or the opening of your words, gives light, it gives understanding to the simple. Again, you have said, moreover, by your words your servants are warned, and in keeping of them there is great reward. You've promised blessing upon those who meditate in your law day and night.

4:41 O God, we bring our hearts to your word. Bring your spirit to that word, that it may be written, upon our hearts, and that we may run in the way of its directives. Hear us and meet with us. May we know your own felt presence in the preaching of your holy word.

5:02 Amen. Now as I've already intimated, we come today to the third and final study of this shocking account of the imprisonment and the subsequent beheading of John the Baptist. In our previous examinations of the passage we saw that the opinion or conviction of Herod as to the identity of Jesus was rooted in Herod's actions in connection with the imprisonment and the death of John the Baptist. And the key to our understanding is the connective with which verse 17 begins. Herod's opinion or conviction that Jesus is John the Baptist risen from the dead is rooted in this fact, for Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John. And so we looked at what the passage teaches about the activity of this unprincipled, lawless man named Herod and how it was that he was used, in one sense as we saw last week,

6:25 of God and yet obviously the lackey of the devil and his own depraved wife with respect to the death of this noble man of God, John the Baptist. Having opened up the text, we have now been seeking to underscore and apply the many vital lessons contained in the text. We have been seeking to understand in what way is this passage, profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. Thus far we have considered four very basic applications that are obviously there on the surface of the passage.

7:08 The first was this, that there is no mental torture like that of an awakened conscience willfully rejecting what it knows to be right and true. From the moment, John the Baptist is beheaded, Herod sees, as it were, the ghost of John behind the ripple of every drapery in his bedroom. Under every rug and behind every tree, the ghost, as it were, of John is over his shoulder, so that when he hears that mighty works are being done by someone called Jesus of Nazareth, he says, no, it is not Jesus, it is John risen from the dead. John whom I beheaded. The conscience that was awakened to the righteousness and holiness of John's character. A conscience awakened to his own sin through the preaching of John. And yet a conscience that acted against its judgment in putting this man to death.

8:13 It was that torture, that mental, spiritual torture, of an awakened conscience, willfully rejecting what it knows to be right and true. In the second place, we saw that this passage is a vivid example of the fact that there is no moral madness and ethical inconsistency like that found in a man with an enlightened conscience who is still a slave to his darling sins. We put in one column all of the virtues that are here listed about Herod. In another column, all of the vices that are listed.

8:54 And we ask the question, which is the true Herod? And the answer is found in the fact that he is still a slave of his sin. The 100 horses of an enlightened conscience pull him in the direction of breaking off his sin, moving in the direction of righteousness and godliness. But the 200 horses of his own lusts and sinful passions pull him in the direction of those lusts and passions and they conquer in the end.

9:27 And he is a man of hopeless moral madness and ethical inconsistency because there is no principle of grace reigning in his soul. When the last of his passions becomes so severe that he must do what is right, he does it. But when the pull of his passions is overpowering, he yields to them and so is everyone else who is in that same state. Then we saw in the third place that this passage teaches so vividly that men will believe almost anything concerning the identity of Jesus except his own clearly attested claims about that identity.

10:11 Herod is prepared to believe that Jesus is John the Baptist risen from the dead. Others are prepared to believe he is Elijah. Others are prepared to believe he is a resurrected prophet or a new prophet in the line of the ancient prophets. They will believe anything in spite of all of the inconsistencies inherent in those beliefs but that which Jesus says about himself.

10:38 For to believe the claims of Christ as made by Christ leaves us no alternative but to capitulate in the abandonment of self-surrender to Christ. And the last thing the human heart wants is that capitulation of repentance and of faith. And then we saw in our final application last Lord's Day the wonderful truth in this passage that a child of God is invincible until his work is done. John's work was done and now God is prepared to construct the door out of this life into his own presence.

11:19 And though he uses the rough materials of Herod's unprincipled character though he uses the rough raw materials of the lewd dance of Salome and the semi-drunkenness of these great ones of the earth it is God who constructs that door and it's God who turns it on its hinges according to his own timetable. And so it is with every child of God we are invincible until our work is done. Now we press on to consider several other applications of the passage this morning. And the next that we see is this.

The Costly Activity of Exposing Specific Sin

12:00 This passage teaches us that the scriptural exposure of specific sin in specific people is a costly activity. The passage teaches us that the scriptural exposure of specific sin is a costly activity. Now the scripture records for us the major emphases and content of the preaching of John. Turn back to chapter 1 of Mark's Gospel.

12:41 And here we see that one of the dominant themes of his preaching is described as follows. Mark 1.4 John came who baptized in the wilderness and preached about repentance unto remission of sins. One of the great notes of his preaching was calling men to repentance.

13:09 Calling them to bear witness to that inward change in this outward watery right all with a view to obtaining the remission of sins not through the water or through their repentance but through faith in the coming one. And so another dominant note in his preaching is given to us in the first chapter of John where we read in verse 29 that John preached as follows. On the morrow he seeth Jesus coming unto him and saith Behold Lamb of God the sin of the world. Then speaking of the superior worth and dignity of Christ John goes on to say in verse 33 And I knew him not that he that hath sent me to baptize in water had said to me Upon whomsoever you shall see the Spirit descending and abiding upon him is he that baptizes in the Holy Spirit and I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God. So here are some more of the dominant notes in John's preaching. He is preaching to men repent the kingdom is at hand the king himself is at hand turn away from your sins repent with a view to the remission of your sins behold the Lamb of God by whom sin will be taken away behold him in his true identity

14:37 as the Son of God whose one death can atone for the sins of all who trust in him behold him as the giver of the Spirit he shall baptize in the Holy Spirit. And that note comes through again and again in the Gospel of Matthew and in the Gospel of Luke and then there was another note or two sounded again and again in John's preaching he said some very unflattering words to the religious leaders of his day Matthew records in chapter 3 of his Gospel that he spoke to Pharisees and Sadducees as a group and he called them a brood of vipers a horde of snakes and he says that they should be warned to flee from the coming wrath and that they must bring forth fruits which are the fruit of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit and bring forth fruits worthy of repentance and then he preached about Christ as the great winnower of God's threshing floor and he has his fan in his hand and he's going to burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire while he gathers the wheat into his garner furthermore according to Luke chapter 3 John's preaching at times even focused in upon more specific groups he spoke to publicans and gave them concrete directives to repentance he spoke to soldiers and gave them specific directives to repentance but in all

16:05 of those things there's no record that anyone ever came and forcibly laid hold upon him and sought to commit him to prison no record that anyone was thirsty for his blood and had a murderous intent against him but the scriptures tell us both in Matthew 14 and in the passage for us in Mark chapter 6 that it was not until he engaged in his specific pointed exposure of the of a that there was set in motion the virulent actions that issued in his death as long preaching Christ no then flesh and blood his head plops

17:20 and he was in prison when he spoke individual about us verse 17 and forth and laid hold on John and bound in prison on Philip's wife for he had married her for John for you set herself against him and desired to kill him and that desire was the great principle contained in that account well it is this that the specific specific

18:47 in specific individuals is a costly activity now some might raise the question did John have any business wasn't he called upon simply to be the forerunner of Messiah wasn't his task and had he done that there would have been no prison there would have been no year long there would have been in his beheading was John right does the Bible approve the accounts but could it be that it's there for a warning that pre application to specific individuals of specific sin and then by the specific approbation of the Lord Jesus himself John was not overstepping his bounds when he did what he did for what he did

20:15 is set forth as a generic Christian duty in Ephesians chapter 5 verses 6 to 11 we read the following words let no man deceive you with empty words and of this spirit of dire pain firmly forsaken by the cross it is that the bezels the angels of the outcast are no 这个 the Angent that пред the sky in the of that But, rather than the word of God until the statement goes forth in the specific commendation of our Lord in Matthew chapter 11, when speaking of John the Baptist already imprisoned for this specific exposure of specific sin in a specific individual, Matthew 11, 2.

21:43 Now, when John heard in prison the works of the Christ, he sent by his disciples. And then the question is raised, and Jesus responds to comfort and assure John that he is indeed the Christ. And now after that incident, verse 7, as these went their way, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John. Now, what does he do?

22:10 Does he say, here's an example of what happens when a preacher gets out of his proper domain. Learn the lesson. He says, what did you go out in the wilderness to behold? The reeds shaking.

22:21 With the wind. What did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment. What did you go out to see?

22:29 A prophet. Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet. Then he identifies him as the messenger. The messenger who fulfilled his God-given task.

22:39 And then he says this, verse 11. Among them that are born of women, there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist. Our Lord gives a blank. And he says unto them, He hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist.

22:56 He hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist. He hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist. He hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist. He did not overstep his bounds.

22:59 When he had the temerity to go at the direction of Rome and say to that individual,

23:12 Awful for you, that woman.

23:16 You had your head over your brother's wife. You entered into an adulterous relationship. And now you've married her and your own wife has run away to her father. You've illegally disrupted your own marriage.

23:34 You have married against him with respect to the boundaries of blood relations that ought to be joined in marriage. It is the servant of Christ that commends the pardon with the word of the changeless.

24:03 Not ought to respond to expose individuals upon to do so by the pressure of that truth.

24:20 Paul did exactly the same thing. He's a prisoner. But when he stands before Felix, he saw reasons of righteousness. Of self-control and judgment.

24:32 That that great in the world are you, Paul. I'm a humble servant of Christ armed with the word of God.

24:44 But it's risky business. It's costly business. And as Bishop Ryle has so accurately stated, commenting on this very passage, John the Baptist spoke plainly to Herod about the wickedness in his life. He didn't excuse himself under the plea that it was imprudent or impolite.

25:06 Or untimely or useless to speak out. He didn't say smooth things and palliate the king's ungodliness by using soft words to describe his offense. He told his royal hearer the plain truth regardless of the consequences. Here is a pattern that all ministers ought to follow.

25:29 Publicly and privately. From the pulpit and in private visits. They ought to rebuke all. And deliver a faithful warning to all who are living in it.

25:41 It may give offense. It may entail immense unpopularity. With all this they have nothing to do. Duties are theirs.

25:50 Results are God's. No doubt it requires great grace and courage to do this. No doubt a reprover like John the Baptist must go to work wisely and lovingly in carrying out his master's commission and rebuking the wicked. But it is a matter of faith.

26:06 It is a matter in which his character for faithfulness and love are manifestly at stake. If he believes a man is injuring his soul he ought surely to tell him. If he loves him truly and tenderly he ought not to let him ruin himself unworn.

26:27 As the present offense may be in the long run. The faithful reprover will generally be respected. He that reproveth a man will afterward find more. More favor than he that flatters with his lips.

26:44 There is a wonderful example of this in the annals of our own American church history. There was a man by the name of Samuel Davies.

26:55 President of what is now called Princeton University. Which was then the College of New Jersey. And he made a trip to England. On behalf of the College of New Jersey.

27:05 With an effort to raise interest and money for that college. And while he was in England. Relatively young man Samuel Davies was known for his burning spirit anointed eloquence as a preacher. And he was called upon to preach before King George the third.

27:24 And the youthful queen sat at the side of the king while Davies was preaching. And so enchanted were they by the preachers eloquence that the king expressed his admiration in no measured terms. And so audibly. As to draw the attention of the audience and interrupt the service.

27:44 So you get the picture. Here's the young American preacher seeking to preach Christ in the midst of this august gathering. The king and his queen and other high people of state. And he suddenly notices that there's whispering going on between the king and the queen.

28:01 So audible as to distract the eyes and minds and ears of others. Preacher made a sudden solemn pause and looked around upon the audience. And fixing his piercing eye upon England's noisy monarch said. When the lion roared.

28:25 When Jehovah. That's what young Davies did in the presence of King George the third. Why? Oh you say he was one of those arrogant guys who thinks a reverend gives him the right to do anything he wants.

28:43 No. He was a man who was conscious that he stood up. It wasn't that John was a troublemaker. It wasn't that John delighted in meddling in people.

29:15 People's private marital and sexual activities. He could not allow sin in a high place. The standards of righteousness be further eroded. Therefore he dared break one of the earth.

29:33 Not lawful for you to have a specific man addressed about a specific sin in such a way. That it resulted ultimately in the loss of his head. And as then so now. In our own day.

29:53 Men do not like to have. Their sins. Reproved. Specifically.

29:57 Oh. They. In some generic. Undefined.

30:05 Attached way. Some ugly. Horrible thing. Out there.

30:20 And zeal. Drawn. The application. And in one to one.

30:28 Pastoral. Counter. Say to individuals. This.

30:32 Pattern in your life. And what will happen. You will find the same disposition in men. That was in Herodias.

30:44 That was originally in Herod. According to the opening verses. Of Matthew. Fourteen.

30:50 For Amos. Five. Ten. Says they hate him that reprove it in the gate.

30:55 And why do they hate him. Not because he does them harm or means them harm. But because they love their sins. And they want no one.

31:04 To take the darling. Sins. From their bosom. But sad to say in our day.

The Subtle Form of Antinomianism in Rejecting Reproof

31:11 A police subtle form of this natural disposition of the human heart has arisen. And it arises in every generation. In one form or another. But perhaps it's the most subtle and sickening manifestation of this spirit.

31:26 And it goes something like this. Oh. Christ. To me.

31:32 I sold. The savior. All I want. For every Lord's day.

31:38 Is Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Preach Jesus.

31:43 Christ. And if I only. Love. Christ.

31:50 I only see my sin. If I see the love. Of Christ. And they'll appear ugly.

32:05 If I can only. Feel. Directives of old. Testament.

32:12 Upon my conscience. They're sentimentally. Or they are full of those wretched. Form.

32:30 Of carnal. Sockistry. Imaginable. If it's sentimental ignorance.

32:34 Then it's time such people go to their Bibles. And realize. That though there is. In which the sight.

32:42 Of Christ. Does. Discover our sin. This Bible.

32:46 Says. By. Not naturally. Flow.

33:26 Out. For Christ. And make. Them.

33:46 The pattern. Of your life. But in others. It is.

33:54 Sophistical. Way. Antinomian. Spirit.

34:01 They don't want. More. Of Christ. What they want.

34:07 Is more. Reaching. About. Justification.

34:11 And all. The marvelous. Provisions. For sinners.

34:16 Stored up. In Christ. And they don't. Want.

34:24 Any. Of the. Biblical. Passion.

34:28 To have. More. Of Christ. You.

34:34 See. In. Going. Through.

34:39 The. Gospel. Of. Mark.

35:00 Our. Lord. Has. Been.

35:16 The. Focus. Lord's. Day.

35:36 After. Lord's. Day. Sermon.

35:40 After. Sermon. We've. Come.

35:44 Up. To. God. And.

35:48 Say. Oh. God. Use.

35:58 This. Sorted. Horrible. Shocking.

36:07 Paragraph. Blinding. Binding. Dull.

36:11 Show. Me. Myself. When.

36:16 We. Get. Back. To.

36:20 The. Spotlight. Being. On.

36:24 Jesus. We. Will. Engage.

36:28 In. The. Specific. Exposure.

36:33 Of. Specific. Sin. In.

36:37 Specific. Individuals. It's. Costly.

The Tragic Example of Unrighteous Vows

36:41 Business. But. Then. Notice.

36:46 In. The. Next. Place.

36:50 That. This. Passage. Contains.

36:54 A. Tragic. Example. An.

36:58 Everyone. Has. To. Be.

37:03 Sought. Out. Of. The.

37:07 Now. Let. Us. Share.

37:12 This. Contains. A. Necessary.

37:16 To. In. Being. A.

37:20 Part. Of. The. Existence.

37:25 That. There. Is. One.

37:32 lust. He makes a rash, fills it with an oath, and he, I'll give you any half of my kingdom. Then having made his for the head of John the Baptist, and when the request comes back to him, you remember verse 26, the king was exceeding sorry. At that point, what should he have done? At that point, the most honorable thing to do would have been to humble himself before all the lords and the great ones and say, oh, my fellow ruler, I was rash, I was foolish, oh, when I did what I did, I have no right to make such a promise, no right to fulfill it. It means I must unjustly murder an innocent and a holy man, for remember verse 20 says, Herod was straight as to John's character. He knew his nation to be a righteous and a

38:39 holy man, protected him from the murders of his adulterers, but he makes a ramble himself and bail out. He then fulfills the unrighteous vow and orders John to be beheaded.

39:02 What all of Herod's united hatred and Herodias' venomous hatred could not do while with a lively conscience protected John, his rash oath, made and kept, accomplishes. He was in a position of power, a position according to Romans 13, instituted of God to punish evil and to reward good, not to punish good and reward evil. Now, you see the great principle? Often in pastoral work, I have people come to me and say, Pastor, I made a promise. I made, as it were, a vow. I made an oath. I made it under the pressure of carnal impulse, carnal ambitions, but I made a commitment. I made a promise. I made an oath. It was made under unrighteous circumstances. The oath itself was unrighteous, but doesn't

40:00 the Bible say that the righteous man swears to his own hurt and keeps it? How can I break that? How can I break that oath? How can I?

40:12 The oath was sin, but doesn't the Bible say that a righteous man swears to his own hurt and keeps it? Yes, but listen, listen, and I've had to do this not once or twice, but I don't know how many times help God's people in this area, so this is a vital pastoral principle. You are not bound to keep any promise or oath, the keeping of which demands that you sin against the law of God. It is never your duty to violate God's law. Never, never, never.

40:43 Never bound. The keeping of which demands that you violate. You are bound. The keeping of which may cause you personal inconvenience. The righteous swears to his own hurt and keeps it.

41:02 You may have made a right. The keeping of which may demand lawfully and self. It is involved.

41:34 Hormonal that creates. Look at one another. He looks at her. She looks at him and zappo.

41:46 They tumble headlong into love. Now, as romance begins to be nurtured by having an acquaintance, it becomes evident to the young woman that the young man has no credible profession of faith. She's a Christian and she begins to rationalize. She knows what the word of God says. Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.

42:10 But what happens? She allows herself to be swept along against the better judgment of her conscience in the light of the word. He pressures her. She he proposes. She promises to marry him. She lets him put a ring on his finger. She lets him put a ring on his finger. She lets him put a ring on his finger. She says, I've made an oath. I have sworn and I know of that it actually followed upon such engagements when the person walked down the aisle. That young woman, the most honorable thing she can do is go to the young man and say, look, I sinned when I let you put that ring on my finger. I sinned in pledging myself in marriage. I had no right to do so because this is what God's and in the name of an admission to my God, the marriage, she's got to look at the consequences. She has no choice

43:16 then. She's bound, bound for life. But oh, dear young woman, dear young man, if you've contracted a commitment, the circumstances of which are unrighteous, it is not sinful to break that commitment. Some of you commit yourself to play on a team and then you find out that that's going to demand the perpetual violation of the Lord's day, the entering into certain intimate friendships that are defiling. And you say, everyone's counting on me. They've promised me that I'm going to make it happen. I'm going to make it happen. I'm going to make it happen. I'm going to make it happen.

43:49 They've programmed their whole approach to this particular sport this year, including me. Is it honorable for me to back out, my friend? Yes. You made the commitment either in ignorance or you made it rationalizing, knowing it was sinful. It is not a virtue to stick by that commitment.

44:06 It is adding sin to sin. Even as in the case of Herod, who added to his sin of an unrighteous oath the sin of murdering John the Baptist.

44:20 been able to rationalize according to verse 26, exceeding sorry, but for the sake of his oaths and for the sake of saving face, you see, it was relatively easy to rationalize and say, well, I did make an oath and an honorable leader cannot continue to lead and have the confidence of those who are under him. If he appears vacillating and doesn't keep his promises, he could rationalize well as long as John's head was attached to his shoulders. But the moment he followed through with his rationalization, then the chickens came home to roost in his conscience and a ghost of John Hunson, Hunson, Hunson. I've had to try to sort out in my study, people who made unrighteous vows, who made unrighteous commitments, and they rationalized and rationalized and followed through in those commitments. And now they have to leave of the fruits of that unrighteous vow and that unrighteous performance of that vow. They live with that ghost at their shoulders.

The Awesome Power of Parental Influence

45:25 And they'll go to their graves. Oh, how I would spare you precious young people. Spare you young men and women. Don't make any rash oaths and commitments, whether to a person in a romantic relationship, whether to play on a team, to commit yourself to a sport, to give yourself to a certain job for X number of years, regardless of what it demands of you. No, don't land of you a loyalty that goes beyond the loyalty. To love him supremely and obey him implicitly. Then I must hurry on to touch quickly on this application that's in the passage. This passage teaches us by a horrible negative example, the awesome power, the awesome power of parental influence. I remind you that the young woman,

46:27 literally a girl, that's the word used to describe that 12-year-old girl in Mark, 5. 41 and 2. It's the diminutive of the word that we use as a girl's name, Cora. And this is the diminutive of that. So she was probably in her early or mid-teens at the most. Had just developed as a young woman, and yet here she is at that age, able to mesmerize, expand by her presence in this filled world here. What would be your response if someone said, well, you can't do this. You can't do this. Would you please go out and bring in the freshly beheaded head of a man or woman? You'd be

47:22 frozen with horror at the very thought that you read this passage, and I've read it over and over again and reflected upon it, and there is not the slightest indication that she had the slightest reservation in the carrying out of this whole thing. The moment her stepfather says, I'll give you whatever you want, she runs immediately to mom and says, you tell me. But that mother, that was her natural mother, was Philip, the former husband of Herodias. But so she, she immediately moves and says, what shall I ask? And when the mother says, the head of John the Baptist,

48:09 she comes upon the floor, one broad stroke of his axe. I can understand the tender girl. Verse 28, give to the girl. What does she do? I couldn't prove it. Look, mom, I fulfilled your wish. Here's his head on the floor, and she comes and presents it to her mother. You say,

49:05 what in the name of all rationality can take a young teenage girl and make her so heartless, make her so wise, subtle in the ways of influencing men with her feminine charms, as a girl and she can turn. I'll tell you, she's quite a teacher. That was her mom. Attitudes and precepts molded that.

49:48 Young woman into a veritable teenage Jezebel. I see this is a horrible negative example of the awe of parental influence. We don't know how long she had lived in the court of this Herod, but apparently for whatever time it was, she turned by watching him. The unprincipled crowd whom Jesus later on called. Jesus used what we would say demeaning language of someone. He called this Herod. He called her a woman. He called her a woman. He called her a woman. He called her a woman.

50:30 Herod a fuck in Luke chapter 13 and verse 31. How did this girl get that way? Well, surely the raw materials were there because she with us fell in Adam. Yes, the raw materials were there in her unregenerate disposition. Yes, but she was molded by the influence of that mother and secondarily by that father so that she obeys reflexively and apparently with delight and alacrity the most gruesome of directives. She was a woman who was a woman. She was a woman who was a woman. She was a mother. She was a mother. She was a mother. She was a mother. She was a mother. She was a mother.

51:04 Directives that come from the lips of that depraved mother. Dear parents, the power put in our hands is awesome. It's awesome. That power to mold our children is always at work either for good or for evil, but work it does and work it well. By example, by precept, by disposition, you are continually molding in our consecutive reading, In the Old Testament, the beautiful description of the molding influence of that man of God, Mordecai, upon the young woman whom he took in as a daughter, though not his daughter after the flesh, and when she was a grown woman, beautiful enough to be desired above all the other women who were brought before King Ahasuerus, it says that she obeyed as she was accustomed to do, into an obedient, loving surrogate.

52:22 Let me ask you, parents, what is the influence that goes out from your overall lifestyle?

52:35 Is it teaching your children the vanity of this world and of things? Or do they look at you and say, you know, whatever life is all about, surely one of its primary goals must be the accumulation of things and things and more things. I see when Daddy and Mommy get excited when they got a new thing. That's when they get excited.

52:59 Bring the friends in. Show them the new dining room set. Show them the new fridge. They get excited about things.

53:06 The new car. The new this. The new that. I never see them excited about the Bible.

53:11 I never see Daddy running to Mommy saying, Mommy, let me show you what I saw in the Word of God this morning. I never see Daddy and Mommy excited about the Scriptures at family worship. They just read a portion, drone through it, drone out of now I lay me down to sleep kind of prayer. But I...

53:29 I tell you the thing that gets you teaching your kids... ...on the television.

53:51 No discrimination. Anything that comes over, you watch it. What are you teaching them? You're teaching them there's no...

53:58 Between that which is innocent and pure and holy. That which is unclean, counterproductive of righteousness and truth and uprightness.

54:11 Husbands, Father, when you come through the door and walk by your wife like she's a thing, never pause to show her some physical affection. Never speak to her tenderly and gently. How has your day been, dear? How did things go?

54:27 How were the children? You know what you're teaching your sons? You're teaching your sons that women are things in your image. And some poor woman will have to live with a beast.

54:47 Just like your wives have to live with you. You're teaching them. That's right, you're teaching them. What about you wives and mothers?

54:57 When your husband speaks to you gently and sweetly and graciously, lays before you the biblical principles that impinge upon a given decision,

55:07 do your kids read in your eye and in your face an attitude of resentment? Do they read in you a lack of wholehearted, joyful submission to your husband? You're teaching your daughters. And then do they see you manipulate and play off one thing after another?

55:26 You see, this gal, Salome, she learned well from her mama the tremendous power a woman can have over a man. She learned it from her mother. And she exercised it. Over a king and over a whole gathering of the great ones of the earth.

55:43 She learned well.

55:47 Have I given enough specifics? Do you get the idea? That influence is going out continually.

55:54 Either teaching biblical standards or the standards of this world. Either setting forth the vanity of things or setting forth the lie that things can satisfy.

The Apparent Triumph of Evil Over Good

56:09 What a horrible, horrible thing is the fruit of the negative influence of this wicked woman. Then I must close by touching just briefly on this last application. This passage is a classic example of the apparent triumph of evil over good.

56:33 It is a classic example of the apparent triumph of evil over good. Look at the scene. Sitting on a throne of influence and power is Herod, the slave of his lustful union with Herodias, the lackey of crowd pressure. A read before.

56:51 The wind of the wiles of Herodias.

56:56 There, on the other hand, is John the Baptist, the holy and righteous man languishing for a year in a prison. Filled with the spirit from his mother's womb. Great preacher of Christ languishing in a prison. A man disciplined and prepared for ministry by years in the wilderness languishing in a prison.

57:17 Faithful preacher pointing to Christ exposing sin. Languishing in a prison. And then the righteous man John has his head severed from him. Brought out to the scene of a pagan feast and reverie as a mock final course to their meal.

57:37 And as I've meditated upon the passage, I've thought about what it must have been like that first night after John was beheaded and Herod and Herodias went to their bedchamber.

57:48 One can only imagine the look upon Herodias' face like the cat that swallowed the canary. No more will that. That pesky man say, I don't belong in your bed, Herod. No more will that strange character be thundering in your ears and disturbing the peace of our house by saying, it's not lawful for you to have me.

58:11 No more, Herod.

58:14 But I'm convinced that first night he twitched when the breeze caused the drapes just to quiver. John's ghost began to haunt him.

58:25 But what happens? No voice speaks out of heaven. No hand writes on the wall. The next morning, Herodias does not wake up covered from head to toe with boils.

58:39 Herod does not have a stroke. And furthermore, there's a touching, touching word added by Matthew in Matthew 14, 13. It says, after Jesus heard of the facts that we've been studying, he retired. He went into secrecy.

58:56 At the one time when you'd think Jesus would come forth, plain, Jesus retired.

59:16 If ever, if ever, if ever evil has triumphed over good, if ever this world of moral is no justice, there is no right.

59:33 See, it's that very issue that is a stumbling block to many people. This apparent triumph of evil over good does indeed constitute the great stumbling block to many. When he's needed. If God is good and righteous, why this inequity?

59:49 If God is the righteous governor of the world, why do the wicked triumph and the righteous suffer? Well, what's the answer? The answer of the Bible is twofold. There is the biblical doctrine of the final judgment.

60:02 Judge nothing before the time, Paul says, till the Lord comes. Judge nothing before the time until the Lord comes. 1 Timothy 5, 24 and 25 speaks directly to that issue. And when the Lord comes, who would you rather be?

60:17 Herodias, Herod, Salome, or John the Baptist? You see, God allows the triumph of evil over good to remind this world that what we observe in it is not the end of all reality, a day of judgment in which all evil will be subdued before the triumphant power of the righteous judge of the universe. Psalm 73 is the extended commentary upon that. But then we need to understand, secondly, the biblical doctrine that there is an unfolding, an unfolding vindication of the righteous even in this life.

60:57 It says in Proverbs 10, 7, the name of the wicked shall rot for hundreds of years. Now, in hundreds of languages, this story has been translated and read and preached. The name Salome,

61:14 with every passing year, the name of John the Baptist is enshrined more and more by everyone who hears the word of God, man of noble character, lover of Christ, one redeemed by the very sufferings of the one to whom he pointed as the Lamb of God. And dear child of God, don't stumble. Over the apparent triumph of evil, the day of judgment is coming in which God's name is sorted all out. And often, while this life still extends on in the period of time, God grants varying degrees of vindication to his servants.

61:56 But the issue for us is, we've got to be prepared to cleave to the way of duty and righteousness, even if we die totally, totally, unvindicated in the apparent triumph of evil.

62:15 Are you prepared for that? Is Christ so precious that you're prepared to die,

62:24 unvindicated,

62:26 and await the final day? You see, if you're a Christian, there's a sense in which only one thing matters. His face, looking at your face, his voice saying to your ears, well done, good and faithful servant, enter. Enter into the joy of thy Lord.

Call to Flee to Christ and Closing Prayer

62:47 Does that mean more to you than life itself? Then you've got the root of the matter in you. If not, then I plead with you, flee to Christ. Ask God by the Spirit to make him precious.

63:00 If you may join the ranks of John and the other martyrs who have this in common with all who are truly God's children, that they love Christ supremely and they're prepared to await their vindication, in the final day. Well, the word of God is exceedingly rich. There were other applications I had hoped to bring. Time does not permit it.

63:23 May we lay these to heart and walk in the light of them. Let us pray.

63:32 Our Father, we do earnestly pray that you, by the Holy Spirit, will take the truth of your word and write it indelibly upon the fleshy tables of our hearts. We pray that sins that have been exposed, parental sins, personal sins, may be dealt with today. That we may not be like Herod in the initial contact with John and Herodias in her settled attitude, who would rather kill the instrument of exposure than kill the sin exposed. O God, may we direct our hatred to our sins that pierced our Savior.

64:12 We pray that you'd grant grace that wherever your word has touched us, we may respond in faith and obedience. We thank you again for your presence. Thank you for the richness of your word. Thank you for the gift of the Spirit.

64:30 Now may the blessings of that grace that gave to us this word and gave to us the Spirit, may He rest upon us in mighty power, causing this word to be our companion throughout the day and for all of the days of our life. We ask in Jesus' name, Amen.