Luke 3

Luke 3:1-6

Chapter 18 The Making Of A Prophet These words describe the beginning of this gospel age. After four hundred years of silence, God spoke again. And the voice by which he spoke was John the Baptist, that mighty Elijah, specifically raised up by God to prepare the way of the Lord, by whom God shook the heavens and the earth. In Ephesians 4:11 the Holy Spirit tells us that Christ’s ascension gifts to his church include apostles, pastors, teachers, evangelists and prophets. In that fourth chapter of Ephesians the Apostle was inspired of God to quote a portion of Psalms 68, which is a prophetic declaration of the accomplishments of Christ as our Mediator. Redemption has been accomplished by the blood of Christ. His resurrection declares that the sins of God’s elect, which were made his and imputed to him, have been put away by his sacrifice. The Man who died for us at Calvary is now enthroned in glory and has received gifts of grace, gifts which he daily bestows upon his church for the salvation of his people. “The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place. Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them. Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah. He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto GOD the Lord belong the issues from death” (Psalms 68:17-20). These ascension gifts of Christ, as I said, include apostles, pastors, teachers, evangelists and prophets. It is obvious that there is no continuing apostolic or prophetic office in a strict sense. The last apostle was Paul, and the last prophet was John the Baptist. Evangelists, as the Word is used in the Word of God, are not itinerant preachers, but what we now call missionaries, church planters. Pastors and teachers are those men called and gifted of God for the work of the ministry, preaching the gospel in a local church, building up the saints in the faith, edifying the body of Christ. The words “pastors and teachers” might be read more accurately “pastors/teachers”. They do not refer to two separate offices, but to the work of the pastor. A Prophet Because the term “prophet” is given as an ascension gift of Christ to his church, it is obvious that the word does not apply in this context to an office that was terminated before the Lord’s ascension. It is very difficult to find anything useful being said or written in our day on the ministry of these men. What is a prophet? The word, as it is used regarding the New Testament era, seems to refer to men with extraordinary gifts, men who have a remarkable understanding of the scriptures, men who have a keen awareness of the times in which they live and the message required to meet the need of the hour. The work of the New Testament prophet is shrouded in indefiniteness and lost in a fog of haziness. We know the old definition, “A forthteller rather than a foreteller.” We apply the term generally to preachers as spokesmen for God. But here is a distinctive calling separate from that of evangelist or pastor. Yet, the prophet may be an evangelist or a pastor. A prophet, in this distinct sense of the word, appears to be a man distinctly gifted of God to lead his people in crucial times, with boldness and authority, which only God can give. Clearly, there were such men in the early church (Acts 11:27-28; Acts 13:1). At least six are named in Acts 11, 13 : Agabus, Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, Manaen and Saul. There have never been many prophets, at least not many true prophets. But are there none? Our times cry for such men. Is there not a prophet? Are there none today to stand in the gap and dare speak for God? Never was the need greater and the supply smaller than today. The prophet is a voice in the wilderness. It is his business to sound the trumpet, proclaim the Word of God, and press the claims of the sovereign God upon the hearts and lives of men. He does not work on details or set up programs. He does not devise schemes to raise funds or plan stage productions. A prophet does not belong on boards and committees. He is a solitary soul and does his best work alone. He is not a parrot, a puppet or a promoter. A prophet is never a team player. He is not a religious politician. He is a voice, a lone, dogmatic voice. He is nothing but a prophet. If he tries to be or do anything else, he is an embarrassment to himself and to everyone around him. He is not a politician; and he is never popular with politicians either in state or church. He is not cowed by dignitaries. When necessary, he will call Herod a fox, even when he knows it may cost him his life. A prophet is an unreconstructed rebel, an odd number in a day of regimentation. He has no more patience with mere religion than Isaiah had when he thundered against it, or Amos when he called on Israel to come to Bethel. It is his business to say what others cannot, will not, or at least do not say. The politician has his eye on the next election, instead of the nation’s welfare. And I fear most preachers are more politician than prophet. They are more interested in your approval than your soul. They have their eyes on denominational promotion, the next rung of the ladder, a higher seat in the synagogue, and being called a rabbi. The prophet has no axe to grind, but lays the axe of holy scripture to the root of every tree in the groves of the world’s idolatry. He does not know the meaning of the word “compromise”. His subject never varies. He relentlessly calls rebels to surrender, demanding utter surrender to the claims of Christ, the crucified, risen, exalted Lord. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”! “All flesh is grass”! “Behold, your God”! “Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world”! As far as God’s prophet is concerned, the grass is no greener in the next pasture. He seeks no man’s office, position or honour. His concern is for the will, and glory, and truth, and kingdom of God. Churches today are looking for scholars, specialists, socialisers and showmen. We need some seers, some prophets who, like Isaiah, have seen God in his holiness, themselves in their sinfulness, and the crucified Lamb of God in the midst of his throne. The prophet does not pack the house, or produce impressive statistics. He may get but poor response; but whether they hear or not, those who hear him know that a prophet has been among them. People do not crowd churches to hear prophets. In an age of ear-itch religionists, most everyone calls God’s prophets “troublers of Israel”. And wherever a prophet’s voice is heard, trouble, of one kind or another, is sure to follow. Whenever John the Baptist or the Apostle Paul came to town, whether they preached in the church-house, the jail-house, or the open fields, either a revival or a riot broke out. No one ignores a prophet! The prophet is never popular with the Pharisees, and has no desire to be. Organized religion is never more organized than when it attempts to silence a prophet. “Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?” “Ye are the children of them that killed the prophets.” So said the greatest of prophets to the Pharisees of his day. From Abel to Zacharias, our Master said, prophets have been stoned while living and honoured when dead. Let no one be misled by the monuments men build to dead prophets. They are only the gestures and attempts of one generation to cover up the crimes of their fathers in preceding generations. The prophet is not popular at home. In all four gospels we read our Lord’s declaration, “A prophet is not without honour save in his own country and in his own house.” But prophets do have their reward, and so do those who befriend them, even with a cup of cool water. God will not overlook the “prophet’s chamber”, where his unpopular servant has been made to feel at home. There are not many candidates for Elijah’s mantle. His path is not an easy path to follow. There are many ways of getting rid of prophets. John the Baptist’s head is not brought in on a charger these days. There are smoother and more skilful ways of silencing lone dissenters like Micaiah in these days of refined malice against God. Some can even be promoted into silence. Success has stopped some mouths when persecution failed. Like John the Baptist, the prophet is out to pull down the high places, build up low places, and make a way for the Lord. His theological interpretation of holy scripture is not a matter of learned speculation, but of passionate conviction. His preaching is not intended to make sinners feel good about themselves, but to bring them down in the dust before God by the burning, penetrating application of his Word to their hearts. Others may comfort when afflicted; but the prophet afflicts the comfortable. We are trying to accomplish now by pep, publicity, propaganda and promotion what once was done by preaching. The woods are full of trained religious personnel, (they are called preachers!); but we need prophets, men in whom the Word of the Lord burns like fire, men who carry and are weighed down with “the burden of the Word of the Lord”! Any young Elisha in line for Elijah’s mantle will need the mind of a scholar, the heart of a child and the hide of a rhinoceros. He may irk those who like to preserve the status quo, for he is a disturber of Israel, but no one else can take his place. Oh, may God raise up some prophets in our midst in this dark, dark day! Perhaps he will cause some Samuel to read these lines long after my name is forgotten among men, who will hear what the Lord says and who will speak what he hears. There is not much prospect as to pay, promotion or prestige. But there has always been “yet one man” who will scorn the hatred of Ahab and seek the honour of God. Luke 3:1-6 describes the making of such a man, the making of a prophet. Prophets are made, called, gifted, raised up and sent forth by God, at the time and in the place where they are needed, to “prepare the way of the Lord”! Desperately Needed God raises up a prophet when a prophet is desperately needed. I cannot think of a time in scripture when God raised up a prophet to twiddle his thumbs, sipping tea with old ladies, coaching little league ball teams, or running businesses. God’s prophets are raised up to meet the crying need of his people in the hour of desperate need, with evil abounding on all sides. He raised up Moses to deliver Israel from Egyptian bondage. He sent Samuel to find his chosen king for Israel and establish him as God’s King. The Lord God called Elijah to lead Israel, while Ahab and Jezebel sought to establish idolatry. He sent Isaiah to proclaim his salvation, when all hope seemed to be gone. And he raised up Jeremiah to prepare the people for judgment. In a time of desperate need the God of Glory raised up John the Baptist, as a mighty Elijah, to prepare the way of the Lord. Luke 3:1-2 tell us that John the Baptist was sent into the world at a time of abounding social, political and spiritual wickedness. Who can imagine a time more infamously evil than the days of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Herod and his brother, Philip? These men made our modern Washington crowd look like a bunch of Augustinian monks! When John the Baptist came preaching the gospel, the world seemed to be given over completely into the hands of the wicked. As Job put it, “The earth is given into the hand of the wicked” (Job 9:24). If these men were the rulers of the world, what must the people have been like? The religious world was in just as sad a condition as the political world. In fact, religion was so degenerate, even among the Jews, that it was just a reflection of the world. Instead of converting the world, the world had converted the church. Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. The Word of God specifically stated that there was to be but one high priest; but the Word of God was no longer in vogue. It was irrelevant as far as the religion of the age was concerned. The church, the priests, the preachers, the religious leaders of the age did everything, gauged everything, made every judgment, and formed every doctrinal statement by opinion polls, by the opinions of a godless, reprobate people! We must never be in despair regarding the truth of God and the cause of God in this world, no matter how bleak things may appear. Let us never allow the wickedness of the age in which we live deter us from the work God has given us. “He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap” (Ecclesiastes 11:4). What God has done in the past, he can do again. When darkness abounds, it is only a good background upon which God may be pleased to show forth his blazing glory in Christ! Distinctly Called A prophet is a man distinctly called of God. “The word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias in the wilderness” (Luke 3:2). A message from heaven came upon his heart, seized his soul, captivated his mind and took over his life. I do not know how to put my finger on it, but I know this: No man has any business engaging in the work of the ministry who has not been called of God to the work. He who runs without being sent, has no message to deliver, no work to do, no mandate to accomplish. But when a man is called of God, he knows exactly what he must do. He knows exactly what his message is. And he goes about his work with the tenacity of a mule and the courage of a lion. If a man is called of God to this great and glorious, heart-rending work, he knows the Word of the Lord, the message of the gospel. He is gifted of God to preach the gospel, “apt to teach”. Such a man does not have to look for a place to preach, or promote himself in any way. God puts him in the work. John was in the wilderness when the word of the Lord came to him. If a man is called of God, God gives him a hearing; and he is engaged in the work. This call of God separates the man called and gifted of God unto the work of the gospel (Romans 1:1-4). No man is called of God to preach the gospel who is not preaching the gospel. Clear Message God’s prophet is a man with a message, a clear, distinct message from God, demanding the surrender of rebels to the throne of the great King! “And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” (Luke 3:3). The “baptism of repentance” (believer’s immersion) is the gospel ordinance by which believing sinners are commanded and delight to confess their faith in Christ (Acts 2:38; Acts 8:36; Acts 10:48; Acts 22:16). In the ordinance of baptism we symbolize the finished work of our Lord Jesus, our death, burial and resurrection with him as our Substitute. The words, “for the remission of sins”, should be read, “because of the remission of sins.” We are not baptized to have our sins remitted. We are baptized because Christ has put away our sins by the sacrifice of himself. Baptism is the believer’s declaration that he has been turned to God by Christ Jesus. John came preaching repentance, the turning of sinners to God by the Saviour; the very same message gospel preachers in every age are sent to proclaim, redemption accomplished by the crucified Saviour (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). God’s prophet is a man who knows who he is and what he must do. He is just a voice. It is his business to prepare the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight. “As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth” (Luke 3:4-5). Every gospel preacher is sent of God to tell eternity bound sinners that they must prepare to meet God, to tell them by what path God comes to them and by what path they must come to him, and to declare it plainly. It is the business of God’s ambassador to your soul, as the voice of one crying in the wilderness, to fill up every valley, pull down every barrier, make every crooked thing straight and every rough thing smooth, which stands between your soul and your God. God’s prophet is a man who goes about his work with the confidence of absolute success. We know that our work is not in vain in the Lord. We know that God’s Word will not return to him void. It will accomplish that which he pleased. It will prosper in the thing to which he sends it. And when our work is done “All flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Luke 3:6). You will see God’s salvation, either as a believer or as a rebel; but see it you will, either to the saving of your soul or to the damning of your soul (2 Corinthians 2:14-16). You will acknowledge and confess the salvation of God, either in the blessed experience of repentance, or in the horrifying experience of everlasting torment. Prepare to meet thy God. Are you, or are you not prepared to meet God? Are you washed in the blood of his dear Son? Are you robed in his righteousness? Do you have on the wedding garment of his grace? Are you prepared to meet God?

Luke 3:7-14

Chapter 19 Baptist Preaching John the Baptist was no ordinary man in any sense of the word “ordinary”. He was a remarkable man, a remarkable believer and a remarkable preacher. It was impossible to ignore him, or pretend he was not around. Though few who heard him believed his message, everyone who heard him was affected by what they heard. In the eleventh chapter of Matthew our Lord gave his own opinion about John the Baptist. Read what he says there about this remarkable man. “And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:7-11). A preacher of such character and influence is a preacher whose example all preachers ought to follow. He sets the pattern for what preaching is and how it is to be done. What were the leading features of the Baptist’s ministry? What were the primary characteristics of his preaching? These things are clearly set out in the inspired record given by Luke in the passage before us. John the Baptist’s work as God’s prophet, as a preacher, is to be measured, like every preacher’s work is to be measured, not by his traits of personality, oratorical ability, social graces, and theological acumen, but by his message, by what he preached. In the inspired record of John’s life and ministry five things stick out as distinct characteristics of the Baptist’s preaching. Redemption By The Blood First, and foremost, the first Baptist preacher preached redemption and remission of sins by the blood of Christ. John came preparing the way of the Lord, preaching the baptism of repentance, because of the remission of sins (Luke 3:3). He incessantly pointed sinners to Christ, calling upon all who heard him to trust, love and follow Christ. Even when he was in prison, about to be sacrificed for his faithfulness, he sent his disciples to the Lord Jesus to have the Saviour’s person and work confirmed to them by the Saviour himself (Matthew 11:2-6). In the first chapter of John’s Gospel, John the apostle speaks in glowing terms about John the Baptist and his preaching (John 1:15-30; John 1:34-37). Blessed is that man whose preaching is full of Christ, who spends his time and uses his opportunities to talk to eternity bound sinners about the precious blood of the Lamb of God. Blessed are they who hear him (Isaiah 52:7). All who know Christ esteem his blood precious; and all who preach Christ preach his blood precious (1 Peter 1:18-20). His blood is precious blood because it is his blood, the blood of God incarnate (Acts 20:28). It is sin-atoning blood (Romans 3:24; Romans 5:11). Our Saviour’s blood is eternally efficacious blood (Hebrews 9:12; Ephesians 1:7). It is divinely ordained blood, blood shed by the purpose of God (Acts 2:23). And the blood of Christ is precious because it is redeeming blood (Galatians 3:13-14). The Baptist’s preaching was the preaching of blood atonement by the crucified Lamb of God. Paul’s motto was his motto. Indeed, this is the motto of every preacher called and sent of God. “I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14). Holy Boldness Second, John the Baptist knew that he spoke for God, with God’s power and authority, and, therefore, preached with a confidence that gave him holy boldness and courage before men. John the Baptist was a man, not a sissy, or a wimp, but a man. He was not a reed shaken in the wind, bending with the breeze of popular opinion. This was not a pampered pastor who dared not offend those who pampered him. John the Baptist was God’s servant. You could tell it when he preached “Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham” (Luke 3:7-8). John saw the rottenness and hypocrisy of the religious world around him, and denounced it with pointed sharpness. His head was not turned by popularity. He courted no man’s favour and feared no man’s frown. He cared not who might be offended by his message. The spiritual disease of those standing before him was desperate. He knew desperate disease required desperate measures. John the Baptist lived in desperate times, much like our own. He knew the day demanded desperate plainness of speech. How sad it is that there are so few like this first Baptist preacher today! These days, the first, primary rule of preaching is “Do not offend”! Preachers have a castrating fear of giving offence by direct, forthright, plain preaching. If a man would be faithful to your souls, he cannot flatter you. If he would do you good, he dare not flinch from exposing your inmost corruption and sin by the Word of God, demanding and pressing upon you the claims of Christ, forcing you, if he can, to repentance toward God and faith in Christ. If a man’s object in preaching is to please you, rather than serve your soul’s eternal good, he is not the servant of God (Luke 6:26; Galatians 1:10). Because he was God’s servant, John told these people three things, which are true of and ought to be declared to all men: (1.) They were a generation of vipers, as deceitful as they were vile. (2.) They were under and fully deserving of the wrath of God. And (3.) God did not need them to fulfil himself or make himself happy. John told these proud sons of Abraham, “God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.” When John the Baptist demanded that those he baptized “bring forth fruits worthy of repentance”, the word translated “bring forth” is the very same word used by the apostle in 1 John 3:4; 1 John 3:7, when he tells us that people “committing sin” are yet without Christ, and that those “doing righteousness” have been made righteous. The word has the idea of practice, not of acts. Fruits “worthy of repentance”, fruits that show repentance to be genuine are “the fruit of the Spirit” produced and formed in the believer, fruits reflected in the believer’s practice of life (Galatians 5:22-23). A person’s true character is seen, not in isolated acts, but in the habit of his life. Everlasting Hell John the Baptist spoke plainly and forcibly about the wrath of God and everlasting damnation in hell. He did not hold back the fact that there is “wrath to come”. He faithfully warned all who heard him that God cut down every unprofitable tree and “cast it into the fire”. The subjects of divine justice, judgment, wrath and the everlasting torments of the damned in the fires of hell are always offensive to human nature. Men do not like to hear that they are going to hell. It is the nature of all men to love to hear smooth things; not peril, danger and punishment. People are willing to pay false prophets good money to tell them what they want to hear (Isaiah 30:10). But that man who is faithful to God, faithful to the Book and faithful to your soul will, like John the Baptist, like Christ himself, like all the prophets of old, and like all the apostles, warn you, with passion in his soul, to “flee from the wrath to come”. Fear of hell is not the primary motive for repentance and faith in Christ; but you will never seek heaven until you fear going to hell. You will never seek God’s salvation until you fear God’s wrath. You will not flee to Christ, the sinner’s only City of Refuge, until the avenger of justice is on your trail. Hell is real. God Almighty must and will punish sin. It is that God who swears, “the soul that sinneth, it shall die”, who drove Adam and Eve out of the garden, destroyed the world in the flood of his wrath, rained fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrah, nailed his own Son upon the cursed tree and poured out on him all the fires of hell for his people, when he was made sin for us. Axe To Root In his preaching the Baptist laid the axe to the root of every fruitless tree. With earnestness and conviction, he endeavoured to destroy every refuge of lies in which sinners seek to hide from God. “And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire” (Luke 3:9). When the multitudes of religious people, whose lives were manifestly wicked, stood before him, he plainly declared to their faces in public that they were hypocrites. It is vain to say with our lips, “I believe God”, if by our works we deny him. It is worse than vain. Such hypocrisy will gradually harden the heart and sear the conscience. A confession of faith without the consecration of faith is hypocrisy. Baptism without death and resurrection life in Christ is a sham. Eating the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper, if I do not feed upon the Redeemer’s flesh and blood, is eating and drinking damnation to myself. To use the words of Inspiration, “Faith without works is dead”! Such faith is nothing but the faith of devils (James 2:14-26). John boldly and plainly denounced the commonly held notion of covenant family salvation. The Jews, like multitudes today, thought they were certainly saved people, children of God, because they were Abraham’s descendants. John told them that their pedigree was no claim to grace (Luke 3:8). Saving faith is a personal thing. It is not a family heirloom (John 1:12-13). When Paul said to the Philippian jailer, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house”, he was not saying, “If you believe, God will save everyone (or anyone) in your house.” He was saying, “If you believe, you will be saved, and if your family believes, they will be saved as well.” Doing Right John faithfully brought the gospel home to the hearts and lives of his hearers in the most practical way possible (Luke 3:10-14). When the people asked him, “What shall we do then?” he told each one who professed faith in Christ by believer’s baptism to live according to his profession, for the glory of God. He said to them all, live no longer in selfish, self-centred gratification, but in love, kindness, charity and generosity. Is that not the obvious meaning of Luk 3:11? “He answereth and saith unto them, he that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.” The Baptist told the converted publicans to be fair and honest with all men, especially because the publicans were known for both dishonesty and severity. “Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you” (Luke 3:12-13). John told those soldiers who were converted by the grace of God to take care not to be violent and abusive with people under their power, and to be content with God’s provision. “And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages” (Luke 3:14). It should also be noted that John said nothing to indicate anything unlawful about either paying taxes or collecting them, or about serving as a soldier. Remember, these publicans and soldiers were employees of the Roman Empire, one of the most morally corrupt, idolatrous systems of government the world has ever known. Our business is not with the kings of this world, but with the King of the world. Our concern is not the governing of kingdoms and nations, but with the kingdom of God. Five Distinctive Themes These five things characterized the Baptist’s preaching: The preaching of blood redemption by Christ. Courage and boldness for the glory of God. Plain warnings about the wrath of God. Plainness of speech in destroying the refuges in which sinners would hide from God. Godly behaviour. May God be pleased to revive such preaching in these dark, dark days, for the glory of Christ and the everlasting good of his elect!

Luke 3:15-20

Chapter 20 John The Baptist: A Faithful Preacher The greatest blessing God bestows upon men and women this side of eternity is the gift of a faithful gospel preacher in their midst (Isaiah 52:7-8). What a blessing it is for God to plant a gospel church with a faithful pastor in your backyard! The most severe judgment God sends upon men this side of eternity is the judgment of taking from them the ministry of the gospel, the faithful preaching of the Word of God, God’s ordained means of grace to chosen, redeemed sinners (Romans 10:17). In these verses of scripture Luke gives us his final word about the life and ministry of John the Baptist. In the first twenty verses of this chapter the Holy Spirit directed Luke’s pen in showing us the faithfulness of John the Baptist as a preacher of the gospel, holding him before us as an example to be followed by all who are called and sent of God into the glorious work of the gospel ministry. In the verses now before us Luke uses John’s example to show us five distinct characteristics of a faithful preacher. But Luke is not here addressing preachers. He is addressing God’s saints. This is God’s Word to you and me. You see, that which the scriptures require of faithful, gospel preachers is also required of all faithful men and women. All believers are God’s servants; and the one thing God requires of us all is faithfulness (1 Corinthians 4:1-2). One of my unceasing, daily prayers is that God would be pleased to make me faithful in all things, as his servant. Knowing something of the fickleness of my own heart, I know that if faithfulness is found in me, it will be God’s doing. The Lord has made this a matter of constant prayer with me for more than forty years. The older I get, and the more I know of the things of God and of my own nature, the more I see the power and deceitfulness of the cares of this world, the more earnest I am in asking this one thing of my God. Oh, for grace to be faithful to my God, his Son, his Word, his will, his glory, and his people! What does this faithfulness involve? At least these five things. A Faithful Ministry Disturbs Men True preaching is disturbing, heart-piercing, thought provoking. It disturbs men, especially religious men. Luke tells us that when men and women (religious men and women, men and women who presumed that they knew God) heard the Baptist preach, they were “in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ.” The word “mused” means reasoned, considered, weighed. When people heard John preach, they were provoked to thoughtful consideration of his message. When a man comes from the throne of God with a message from God, preaching with a God-given knowledge and understanding, he simply cannot be ignored. Those who hear his message are compelled to weigh his words. That is always a hopeful sign. I am always delighted to see people evidently considering the things of God. When men and women begin to think, I rejoice. Thinking is not faith. Consideration is not conversion. But it is a hopeful sign. The gospel of the grace of God, the Word of God, the truth of God is always verified by honest examination. Truth never fears examination. The problem with most people is that God is not in their thoughts. They never consider divine truth (Psalms 10:4; Isaiah 1:3). If you are not in too big a hurry to go to hell, you would be wise to get alone with God and this Book, and consider just three things. Pause for a while and first consider who and what you are. Then take a little time to consider who the Lord Jesus Christ is, why he came into this world and what he has done. “Consider how great this man was”! “Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself”! Finally, will you stop for a while and consider your end? “But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee. When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers. Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit. Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother’s son. These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.

Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver. Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God” (Psalms 50:16-23). God’s servants make no effort to avoid examination. We court it. I know, beyond a shadow of doubt, that the gospel I preach is the truth of God. I know that it will answer every need of your heart and every demand of your conscience. A Faithful Preacher Always Exalts Christ When men came seeking to confer great and high honours upon John, he turned their thoughts away from himself to Christ. As the friend of the bridegroom rejoices in the glory of the bridegroom, so the servant of God rejoices in the glory of Christ, and seeks none for himself (John 3:29-30). Faithful men serve Christ, exalt Christ, point sinners to Christ, and preach Christ. They do not serve their own interests (1 Corinthians 4:1-5; 2 Corinthians 4:1-5). “Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God” (1 Corinthians 4:1-5). “Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Corinthians 4:1-5). By this standard every man’s ministry must be judged. Does he preach Christ? Does he point sinners to Christ? Does he exalt, magnify, extol and honour Christ? As the Son of God? As the Lord our Righteousness? As the effectual Redeemer? As the sovereign Saviour? As the Monarch of the Universe? It matters not how learned he is, how many degrees he wears, how well he dresses, or even how well he speaks. The thing that matters is what he speaks. Does he preach Christ? By this same standard judge all doctrine, all religious activity and all religious instruction. Does it point you to Christ, make you think more of Christ, cause you to lean on Christ, or does it point you to yourself, cause you to think of yourself and cause you to lean on yourself, on the church and on the pastor? A Faithful Preacher Knows And Acknowledges His Own Inabilities When the people presumed that John was himself the Christ, he quickly pointed out that he not only was not the Christ, but that he was utterly incapable of doing anything for their souls. “John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire” (Luke 3:16). That is exactly what Paul had to deal with in 1 Corinthians 1-3. The power and efficacy of the gospel does not depend upon the preacher, but upon Christ. “Our sufficiency is of God.” A man can preach the gospel to you; but a man cannot make you believe it. A man can see the expressions on your face; but a man cannot read your heart. A man can baptize you in water; but a man cannot put you in Christ. A man can give you the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper; but a man cannot cause you to eat Christ’s flesh and drink his blood. A man can show you the way; but a man cannot put you in the way. That is God’s work! “John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:” Essentially, John is saying three things here. These three things every gospel preacher is keenly and acutely aware of, all the time.

1. I cannot save you or damn you. I am neither your Saviour nor your judge. You should not expect anything from me, or confess anything to me.
2. I am not worthy of your slightest esteem, reverence, or praise. I’m not fit to untie my Master’s shoes. I am honoured beyond imagination, if he allows me to just take off his shoes.
3. The Lord Jesus Christ is both the Saviour of the world and the Judge of the world. He will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. That is to say, he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit in his almighty saving grace. Or, if you do not bow to him, if you are not saved by his grace, he will baptize you with fire in the Day of Judgment. Be wise. Do not rest with anything less than the operation of Christ himself in your soul. You may have been immersed in water; but has Christ immersed you in grace? Your name is written on this church roll; but is your name written in heaven? You eat the bread and wine at the Lord’s Table; but are you feasting on Christ? Do not settle for the outward husks of religion. Make certain that Christ is yours. Soon, you will stand before his bar. How will it be for your soul that great and terrible day? Faithful Men Point Sinners To Death, Judgment And Eternity John spoke of the Lord Jesus as that One “Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable” (Luke 3:17). There is a day of reckoning. One day soon we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, the great white throne. In that great day all things will be made manifest. In this world the kingdom of God is a field full of mixed seed, wheat and tares. The church is a fold of sheep and goats. Every gospel church is a mixed assembly of believers and unbelievers, saints and hypocrites, possessors of grace and professors of grace. No man, no group of men is able to distinguish one from the other. None of us can distinguish sheep from goats, wheat from tares, and saints from hypocrites. We are too easily deceived. Therefore our Lord tells us to let them grow together. But there is a day coming, when he who knows all things will separate the precious from the vile. Give diligence to make your calling and election sure. Faithful Men Are Faithful Unto Death “And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people. But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison” (Luke 3:18-20). Time is the great revealer. In time you and I will all show our cards. We will eventually make ourselves known. We may not make ourselves known to ourselves; but we will be obvious to everyone else. Believers continue in faith. Faithful men and women are faithful to the end, no matter what it costs. I did not say faithful people do not sin. I said they continue in faithfulness. They continue in the way. They continue to follow Christ, until they are with him in glory. And faithful preachers are faithful unto death, just like John the Baptist. May God make us faithful. Let us be found faithful unto the end.

Luke 3:21-38

Chapter 21 Lessons From The Master’s Baptism And Genealogy We know virtually nothing about the childhood, youth, teenage years and early adulthood of our Saviour. We know he was born at Bethlehem, that Joseph and Mary fled with him to Egypt when he was about two years old and that he was found in the temple conversing with the religious leaders of the temple when he was twelve. We know nothing else about our Lord’s earthly existence until he was thirty years old. All three of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) begin to describe our Lord’s life and ministry as a man in exactly the same way at his baptism. That fact alone makes his baptism and ours matters of tremendous importance. Baptism And Faith In the Word of God baptism and faith always go together (Acts 8:36-38). Baptism is distinctly an ordinance of the New Testament. It is a distinctly gospel ordinance. There was nothing like it in the Old Testament, and nothing pointing to it. Many have the notion that John’s baptism was somehow different from the baptism practised by our Lord, his disciples and us; but there is not a shred of evidence for that notion. There is no evidence that any of our Lord’s disciples were baptized by anyone, except John. John’s baptism, like ours, was the baptism of repentance because of the remission of sins (Luke 3:3). And John’s baptism, like ours, was the symbolic fulfilment of righteousness (Matthew 3:13-17). It was a picture of redemption, a picture of the gospel. It was a picture not of cleansing by the gift of life, but of ransom by the death of Christ, not of regeneration by the Holy Spirit, but of redemption by the obedience of Christ unto death as our Substitute. “Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:13-17). John’s baptism, like ours, was an act by which men and women publicly renounced their former religion and publicly identified themselves with Christ and his people. Our Lord Jesus treated this blessed ordinance of the gospel as a matter of highest esteem, giving it great honour, and placing great importance upon it. He walked all the way from Galilee to the Jordan River in order to be immersed by John the Baptist. Baptism must never be regarded by us as a point of indifference, or a matter of slight importance. This is the ordinance of Christ, an ordinance of divine worship, which our Master commands us to keep. I will say no more in this study about this blessed ordinance of the gospel than is here specifically stated by God the Holy Spirit. I have no creed to defend, no denomination to uphold, no tradition to maintain. I make no effort to mould the scriptures to a confession of faith. Believers mould their faith, their doctrine and their practices to the Word of God. Here are five things taught throughout the New Testament and clearly set before us in our Saviour’s example. These five things are so obvious, so plainly set before us, that none can misunderstand them or fail to see them, except those who are wilfully blinded by religious tradition. Baptism is an ordinance of worship, not a sacrament. That distinction is important. An ordinance is a rule or command. A sacrament is an outward sign of an inward grace, or a means by which grace is conferred. Our Lord’s baptism conferred no grace upon him. It washed away no sin from him. And it was not a sign of anything inward. It was that which he was behoved to do as Jehovah’s Servant, because it symbolized the fulfilment of all righteousness by his obedience unto death. Baptism is immersion. Immersion is not a mode, or even the mode of baptism. Immersion is baptism. That is what the word means. Without immersion, there is no baptism. Sprinkling is not immersion. It is sprinkling. Pouring is not immersion. It is pouring. Baptism is immersion. Baptism is for adults only. Our Lord Jesus was thirty years old when he came to be baptized by John. Baptism is for believers only. The prerequisite to baptism is faith (Acts 8:36-38). We are specifically told that our Saviour was praying when he was baptized. The practice of sprinkling and/or pouring water on infants, and calling the ritual, “baptism”, is as foreign to the scriptures as rosary beads! If we would worship God, we must not add to his Word, or alter his ordinance. Our baptism as believers, as followers of Christ, is a reflection of our Lord’s baptism (Romans 6:3-6). In this blessed ordinance of worship believers are buried with Christ in the watery grave and rise with him from the grave, because that is exactly what has happened to every regenerate person. When Christ died, we died with him When he arose, we arose with him. In our baptism we confess to the world that we trust Christ and his obedience unto death as our Substitute for the whole of our salvation, and that we have been raised from death to life by his Spirit. The Trinity And Redemption When our Lord Jesus was baptized, all three Persons in the Godhead displayed a manifest concern in the affair of our redemption. God the Son was baptized. God the Spirit descended upon him in an openly revealed physical form, as a dove. And God the Father spoke from heaven. We worship the Triune God, the Three-in-One Jehovah. “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” (1 John 5:7). Throughout the New Testament, we see the fact of the Holy Trinity and the involvement of all three of the divine Persons in the work of grace. Both in the baptismal requirement that believer’s be baptized “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19), and in the benedictions of grace from the Triune God upon the churches (2 Corinthians 13:14), we are taught that the three of the Godhead are engaged to save chosen sinners. This fact is asserted with clarity in Ephesians 1:3-14, 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 and 1 Peter 1:2). No man can comprehend The mighty Three-in-One, Or fathom what to rescue man, The Triune God has done. With confidence we boast What nature never learned, That Father, Son, and Holy Ghost To save are all concerned. The Father’s love, so grand, His Son did sacrifice! The Son for us his life resigned. The Spirit grace applies. The Trinity we praise, Through Jesus Christ, our King. With gratitude and love we raise Our voice his praise to sing. To God the Father be, Who sent his Son to die, Glory, and to the Son for He Most willingly complied! Praise God the Holy Ghost, Who in Jesus reveals God’s love and grace for sinners lost, And his salvation seals! Grace And Mediation We have before us a marvellous display of our Lord’s covenant office as our God-man Mediator. The voice which spoke from heaven said, “Thou art my beloved Son. In thee I am well pleased.” The only way God Almighty can or will save fallen, guilty sinners is through a Mediator. And the Lord Jesus Christ is the Mediator, the only Mediator there is, between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5). Everything God has for sinners, everything God requires of sinners and everything God gives to sinners is “in him”, in Christ. He who is Mediator between God and men must be both God and man. And he who is our Mediator must be one in whom God is well pleased. The Lord God is well pleased with our Redeemer’s holy and infinitely meritorious nature as our God-man Mediator.

He is well pleased with our Representative’s holy life of perfect obedience for us. He is well pleased with our Substitute’s death, by which he made complete satisfaction to divine justice, by the sacrifice of himself in the room and place of his people. The Lord God is well pleased with the merit, the infinite merit of Christ’s obedience unto death as our Substitute, but there is more stated here than that. When the Lord God said, “Thou art my beloved Son. In thee I am well pleased”, he declared that he is well please not just with his Son, but well pleased in his Son. God Almighty is well pleased with his people in his Son! Read the scriptures and rejoice. If you are in Christ, God is well pleased with you in him (Ephesians 1:3-6; Numbers 23:21; Psalms 32:1-2; Romans 4:8; Jeremiah 50:20; Ecclesiastes 9:7). Bold shall I stand in that great day, For who aught to my charge shall lay, While through Christ’s blood absolved I am, From sin’s tremendous curse and blame! Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf Humanity And Death In Luke 3:23-38 we have a long list of names. Here we are given the names of 75 people. Were it not for the fact that their names are in this genealogical record[7], most of the names would have long ago gone into oblivion. Who remembers them? Who cares who they were, where they lived, what they did or what they had? No one! [7] All who read the Scriptures with care know that there is some difficulty reconciling the records of our Lord’s genealogy. If we compare Matthew’s account with Luke’s account, there appears to be an obvious conflict in the recorded names given between David and Joseph. Between David and Abraham, Matthew’s record and Luke’s agree. But between David and Joseph, they appear to be two different family trees. In all likelihood there are. It appears that Luke was inspired to give us our Lord’s maternal genealogy, while Matthew and Mark give us his paternal genealogy. Heli, being Mary’s father, would have been Joseph’s father-in-law, his father by marriage. He would have been listed as such in the maternal genealogy of the family. What frail, dying creatures we are! Like us, these men all once lived upon the earth. They had the same joys we have, the same sorrows, the same griefs and the same troubles. As we all soon must, all these men died and are buried in the earth. Each one has now gone to his own place, as soon we must. Yes, we too are passing away and soon must be gone. Let us forever bless God and give thanks to him that in this dying world we have a living Saviour! Let us make it our one great concern to be joined to him, who is the Resurrection and the Life. May God give us grace to live day by day in this world of time and trouble as dying men and women who live for eternity.