John. Joy. Jesus. (Part 1 of 2)

0:00He had one purpose for his life and so let's just kind of summarize it this way then, okay? So John the Baptist and we're going to see this throughout this series from the womb, his joy was Christ. We'll see that today. I mean, that's nothing short of supernatural and remarkable. I mean, literally from the womb of his mother Elizabeth, his joy was Christ. His greatest purpose was being a messenger of Christ. We'll see that today too. That was the whole purpose of why God had caused him to be born to be a messenger for his son. Well, good day to you all and welcome to live in the light.

1:02Maybe you've dialing us in for the very first time or maybe you're a regular listener. Either way, we are seriously thankful that you've joined us here today. Live in the light is a radio ministry designed to see radical transformation through the revelation of God's Word. We're going verse by verse through God's Word today in particular beginning a brand new series. We're going to see our studio as our teacher Pastor Robbie, Simon and Robbie. Today we get to see one of the most fascinating, I mean, characters in the Bible, pretty eccentric too, John the Baptist. Yeah, Jesus, what did Jesus call him again? No one greater born among women. Like that in the self-gift your attention, right? Yeah. And yet a guy who eats books. Yes, exactly. Exactly. Which we'll get into a little bit as well. Yeah, so for our listeners, I mean, it's a great time to tune in and to stay tuned in because we're going to take several days now to unpack, as you said, this really eccentric, strange character, but powerfully used character John the Baptist. We affectionate like to call him John the B, right?

2:04J the B. J the B. There you go. That's right. And we're going to learn a lot. His life had a powerful message to it. And we're going to be learning and I think bro be humbled by it. And hopefully overall we'll be really encouraged by this too. So John the Baptist, man, what a guy again, again, the prophet for the Messiah. And so we encourage you. Listen in, be excited, get ready to be changed and challenged. And as always here at Living the Light, we'd love to hear from you as God works within your life. Okay, love ones. Let's dial right away into God's word. Luke chapter 1, beginning in verse 12. And today's message is entitled John, then joy in Jesus. And welcome to Church this weekend. So glad you are here with us. And as you are sitting down, I just want to welcome you to a new series that we begin today. It's called this. It's called Lessons More. It's the life and message of John the Baptist.

3:05We're going to be studying the life, ministry and message of John the Baptist. And just as we get into that, I just want you to look at our series graphic here as a way of introduction. You will notice the greater than symbol is seemingly in the wrong direction. That's on purpose, okay? Because less really is more. Now if you ask the world, actually I saw a commercial where I heard a commercial I think it was recently and I heard the phrase, less isn't more, more is more. And that's the way the world thinks. Of course that kind of makes sense, right? I think it's in terms of money or something like that. More is more, right? But in God's economy, less is more. In God's theology, less is more. It's so counterintuitive. It's the opposite of how the world thinks, right? But think about it. Jesus says the last shall be first, less is more. Jesus talks about when we are weak, we are actually strong, less is more.

4:05Jesus tells us, and we understand is that those who are despised are actually those are the ones who will be recognized, less is more. Jesus tells us that the humble are those who are exalted, and those who exalt themselves will be humbled. In God's economy and God's theology, less is more. Now what we find here is that if there's one message that comes from the life and ministry of John the Baptist, it's this. It's he proclaims, we're the verse that summarizes his life. I must decrease Jesus Christ must increase. Why? Because less is more. The more we decrease, and the more Christ increases within our lives, the more we actually find out what life is really about. So that is why I've been excited for this series when the idea first came this past summer. I remember being excited about it then, and I'm excited about it now. Again, it's hard to believe we're here already. Some might practically from a biblical standpoint,

5:07and why would we be excited about this series on John the Baptist? We don't even know much about John the Baptist. Well, we know enough, but if you looked at the Bible and you looked at the character of John the Baptist, someone would call him a crazy man. Many would call him a strange man, be fair to say he was a lonely man, or at least he was a loner. After all, there's this John the Baptist who lived in the wilderness. His clothing was camel's hair and a leather belt, and his die consisted of locusts and wild honey. Interesting. He was the kind of guy that seemingly had a nowhere, he would just appear, and he would begin to speak truth for all who were there, and for all who were willing to listen, or not willing to listen, it didn't seem to matter. This is just what he did. He was the kind of guy that would seem to show up unannounced and be very strange again socially. Here's what one guy said about John the Baptist. He said this, I like this a lot. This amuses me, but also I think it's pretty accurate based on scripture. John the Baptist was like an under-socialized relative. You have one of those in your family? Maybe you are that person in your family, right?

6:08Who shows up unannounced and unexpected at the holidays, and at other social functions, and here it is, and embarrasses everyone. You know where those people? Again, again, maybe we are that person here right now. But this is really who John the Baptist was like. Look strange, talk strange, act is strange, and just show it up and blow it on, just kind of blew true through the setting. Again, for all who were there, it's quite amazing, but man, this John the Baptist, he was a man who had tremendous, tremendous purpose. And we're going to see a much all the strange kind of parts of him. We're excited for this series because when you look at his life, I mean, from start to finish, he had one purpose for his life. And so let's just kind of summarize it this way then, okay? So John the Baptist, and we're going to see this throughout this series, from the womb, his joy was Christ. We'll see that today. I mean, that's nothing short of supernatural and remarkable. I mean, literally from the womb of his mother Elizabeth, his joy was Christ. His greatest purpose was being a messenger of Christ.

7:09We'll see that today too. That was the whole purpose of why God had caused him to be born, to be a messenger for his son, Jesus Christ, his main sermon. You could argue that his own, the sermon was the arrival of Jesus Christ. Behold, the Lamb of God, it takes away the sin of the world, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. We'll see that today. His greatest goal was the exultation of Christ. Again, John 3.30, I must decrease, he Christ must increase. This is all he wanted. So you take all of this and here's the whole point of this series. This is where we're going. This is why it's going to be tough and this is why it's going to be great. The less John the Baptist became, the more he began to live. The less he became, the more he lived. Question, do you, do I, do we believe this to be true for our lives? That the less we become, the more we actually start to live.

8:11Do we believe that? You know, one of the things that we're good at is we can say the right thing and speak our Christianese. We know what to say. A lot of us have grown up in certain settings where we understand the answers that the parents and others are looking for. So we're not looking for Christianese during this series. We're looking for sincere hearts and authentic movements in the Lord Jesus Christ. Do we fundamentally and the logic who believe that is I decrease? I actually start to experience more of the life that the Lord would have for me? I suggest you we can say, yeah, yeah, I believe that. But the reality is the lives that we live might say otherwise. That's what we're all challenged during this series. It's going to be good. It's going to be hard. We're love what John the Baptist. We're going to see this as much as he was an incredible example, humanly speaking of a life we should model ourselves after. He was not perfect. John heads struggles. We're going to see that within this series. John head doubts. John the Baptist was human.

9:14He also struggled with sin and all God's people said. Actually, all God's people said, yay. John the Baptist was a sinner just like me and you. We're so thankful that the God's word is filled with people who struggle like us. And all God's people said, yay. We're excited for this, right? Because we relate. If all we saw in front of us was perfect examples, we'd be so depressed. We could never be that way. But John the Baptist as much as he had strength, he also had weakness. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for that. But in the end, he had purpose, massive purpose. If you think about what Christmas says, Christmas in its purist form, okay? I love Christmas. I pray for the right reasons. The theology of Christmas says, Christ is coming. The announcement of the glory of God, glory to God in the highest. And peace upon earth on whom? With God is pleased. Jesus Christ is coming. So Christmas in its purist form is the annunciation that Jesus Christ, the Lord has come. And John the Baptist had everything to do with that as well.

10:15I mean, born a few months apart and their mums were cousins and the whole purpose of John's life was to point to the life of Jesus. And so it's such a wonderful time to move towards Christmas and to see these things coming together. But as I've said a couple of times already, and we see it again so clearly, I do have to warn you though, this series is going to hurt. I mean, today's an introductory message. So we're entering into it, you know, with some kind of, it's going to be gentle. But then as we go on, it's going to start to hurt. God tears us that He might heal us. And because the path of actually decreasing, it's not easy. It's not for the faint of heart. You know, sometimes Jesus says, we're called to walk the narrow path and I think there's a narrow path within the narrow path sometimes. To become less is to see the reality of what it really means to live.

11:16So let's begin. Luke chapter 1, verse 12, if you're not there already, please open your bottles. Luke chapter 1, verse 12, read our text and we'll jump in. Luke 1, verse 12, and Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, saw who gave real the angel and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zechariah. Why for your prayer has been heard. Isn't that theology right there? Just awesome. Loans, do you know why I can't get away from prayer in my life? It just want to come back. It's such a battle to keep praying. But just look what you said right there. Your prayer has been heard by who? By the Lord. When you pray, do you believe that God is listening? Is it just a rope kind of prayer is just sitting there and you're just speaking some again, Christianese, but you don't realize, way, way, when I pray, it's actually being offered as incense to the Lord and the God of the universe hears. He does hear. Your prayer has been heard and your wife Elizabeth will bear you with Son and you shall call

12:21his name John, favor of God, the grace of God, and you will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth. Why? For he will be great before the Lord and he must not drink wine or strong drink and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. Notice even from his mother's womb. Here's his ministry and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God and he will go before him Christ and the spirit and power of Elijah. Why? To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient of the wisdom of the just to the wisdom of the just. Notice. His life summarized really in this last sentence, to make ready for the Lord. A people prepared. Let's jump in. Point number one, we see this, the prophet announced, listen, the prophet is announced, listen. Now, as we come to Luke chapter one, we need context. Why? Context can be so powerful because it allows us to appreciate further the truth that is

13:24presented to us. Now, what we need to understand is that John's birth, let me think of this, John's birth, not just Jesus' birth, John's birth was prophesied 700 years before John was even born. 700 years, the birth of John the Baptist, where do we get that from? We get that from Isaiah chapter 40 verse 3. A voice cries in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. This is speaking of John the Baptist 700 years before his born. How do we know that? Matthew 3 says this. In those days, John the Baptist, clear, came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, clear, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, for this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, this is pretty clear, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Again, to understand that John's very birth prophesied 700 years before he was born.

14:27I mean, just think about that for a second. Think of the unity of the Bible again, just stop long enough and just consider Isaiah 700 years before John is born, predicted exactly and precisely, Luke now records, we understand, again, Matthew records John the Baptist and his life, the unity of the Bible. Listen, the sovereign plan of God, who's in charge, God is in charge, notice, notice, God's plan, exactly in God's timing. And exactly in God's way, because God does exactly as he decides and exactly as he allows and exactly as he chooses to, our God is sovereign, absolutely precisely sovereign over the history of the world and the entire universe, right down to the details of this child that would be born, his name given by God himself at the exact time to achieve God's purposes and glory, loved ones, our faith is to be in God, no one else, nothing else.

15:31No one else can care for us the way God does. There's no one else who has this control and this sovereignty. It's the Lord, it's proven to us in this amazing way here, here in Luke chapter 1 again, more context. Before John's birth, there was 400 years of silence between the last prophet of the Old Testament, the Old Covenant Malachi and then the arrival of John, the next prophet of God. It's in Malachi again, more uni, the Bible, more amazing sovereignty of God, in Malachi, it refers to John the Baptist as God's messenger, chapter 3, and it refers to John the Baptist as God's prophet, chapter 4. So think about it then, 400 years of silence, all the prophecies that I've been made, all the anticipation, again, put yourself in the context of Zechariah and Elizabeth, the waiting, the Jewish people, the expectation, the longing, the generation after generation

16:31that has gone on. And then all of a sudden, here comes the announcement, starting in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 1, verse 11, take a look, all the waiting, all the anticipation and there appeared to him an angel of the Lord. Here we go, here we go, here we go, Christmas is beginning now, here we go, this is the beginning of the announcing that the Messiah is going to come and it starts with John the Baptist, 400 years of silence, 700 years of prophecy, thousands of years of anticipation, all leading to this moment. An angel appears standing the right side of the altar of incense and to Zechariah, he's troubled, he's afraid, notice the angel says, do not be afraid for your prayer has been heard and your wife Elizabeth will bear you with son, notice and you shall call his name John, call his name John. Now I love this so much, we know from God's word that Zechariah and Elizabeth, they were an old man married to an old woman.

17:33They had some heard in their lives, well how do we know this? Look at verse 6 of chapter 1 and they were both Elizabeth and Zechariah's, they were both righteous before God walking blamelessly in all the commandments and the statues of the Lord. Okay, so if you're a Jewish person in this context and you are walking blamelessly and you are righteous before God, if there's one prayer that you want answered, it's the Messiah to come. If there's one longing you have as someone seeking the consolation of Israel, you are desperately longing for the Messiah to appear. I mean, this is the greatest desire of those, again, who are in this place and at this time. It's just like for us, the greatest desire for us is people living today under the new covenant is the second coming, the second avenue, the return of Jesus Christ. Can I get in a man? We long for the day when he appears and all this garbage is dealt with and all the sin and all the strife and all the anger and the pain and the hurt and the cancer and the death, it's all gone. Well, in some form and some way, this is the reality of this context too.

18:35Logging for the light, longing for the chosen one to appear. Notice verse seven, the Bible tells us, but they had no child because Elizabeth was barren and both were advanced in years. What are we learning here? Zechariah old man, Elizabeth old woman, no child, brought reproach upon them in that culture. We learned that from Luke chapter one as well after John is given to them. Elizabeth says, my reproach has been taken away. I'm no longer barren. They're desiring a child. They desperately want to see the Messiah. Notice this, notice this then. In one statement by the angel, their two greatest prayers are answered. The angel says, and you will bear a son and you shall call his name John and he will be great before the Lord. Think about that. Think about that. In one statement, they probably gave up on any hope that you would ever see a child. And where they were at the coming of the Messiah, we're not sure.

19:36But in one statement, the faithfulness of God is seen to them in ways they probably never imagine their mind blowing by the faithfulness of the grace, the power, the mercy, the goodness of God. Love, let's take that truth of Zechariah and Elizabeth, put in your life right now. What are we asking God for? We'll be longing for Him to do. Longing for His return. Longing for Him to be so gracious and kind to us as He is. But listen in the Lord will do what the Lord will do and He will prove to be faithful as we sang today. Take that truth right now. You applied in your life right now. You applied as the Lord would have you applied right now and you understand that He can only be one thing to you, faithful. He can only be good to you. We're not the judge of how God looks and what He does. He is. He's His own interpreter. And He will prove Himself to be faithful again and again and again. That's why there's no one like Him. Right down to the faithfulness. Think of this.

20:37John was named before he was even conceived. Awesome God. And now look at verse 14. And you will have joy and gladness. And many will rejoice at His birth. Why is this important joy and gladness? Many will rejoice at His birth. You know, I think we hide this again. If you understand the context of the time of this really the beginning of the first century, which is where we are. This is when really our concept of time in the year that we're living in right now began with the birth of Christ. Awesome. But for Zacharyan Elizabeth and the Jewish people, the one commentator of the book, Elizabeth and the Jewish people, the one commentator said, it was a tumultuous time. It was a perilous age. The people of God had long left the place of peace. The political climate was thick with corruption. Darkness was everywhere. The rule of Herod was cruel and sinister and oppressive.

21:39The state of religion was plush with legalism and devoid of heart. Again, itself corrupt and riddled with deception. The poor classes were being taxed to exhaustion. The taxes spent on the lavish creations of and palaces of Herod. The power of Rome was growing with every single day and the entire Jewish climate was being squeezed on every level. Tough, tough time to live as the Jewish people. For those genuinely seeking what the Lord will do and what He would bring, it was a very, very difficult time to hang on to this faith. So just imagine, then, as you are a faithful Jewish person seeking the consolation of Israel and you're longing for the glory among the Jewish faithful, you are longing for the arrival of Messiah because He's the one that will solve the issues and the problems that you face. He is the one who will answer your greatest needs. Imagine some of the prayers that would rise up from God's people.

22:41Have you forgotten us, O Lord? Shine your light upon us, O God, where are you, O Lord? But isn't it so true, love, and listen to this? This is such an important principle for right here in Luke 1 and for our day today. Isn't it so true that the darkest hour precedes the dawn? Isn't it so true that the wilderness is the way to Canaan? God's people had to travel through the desert to get to the promised land. Isn't it so true that so often the darkest time of our lives has been pairing us for the light in the glory of Jesus Christ to shine in a way we've never seen before? That is true here in Luke 1. And think of the day and time we live in right now. So dark. So many living without hope. No answers. And yet could it be, and Lord we pray would be, that truly the darkest hour precedes the dawn,

23:43and yes, the wilderness is the way to Canaan. And who's that for right now? The anticipation then is massive in our context. And listen, listen, you got to see this, right? This isn't just a nice story, angel Gabriel appearing in Zechariah. Oh, we can't have a child in the middle. Listen, this anticipation of the Messiah is first announced and first realized through the birth of John the Baptist. This is where it begins. The whole entire world changes as it's initiated through the announcement of the birth of John the Baptist. Because John the Baptist is the one who is the forerunner of Jesus Christ the Son of God, the light of the world who comes to live and die for our sins and be raised from the dead. It begins with John the Baptist. He comes to announce, prepare you the way of the Lord. So everything, all of history is turned in this moment. With the beginning of Gabriel saying, and you shall bear a son, and his name will be called John. See, the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promises.

24:45Sometimes we get so impatient. Sometimes we make God be based on our concept of time. But a day is like a thousand years to the Lord and a thousand years like a day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promises. O, the call to be faithful. Listen, just like Zechariah and Elizabeth. Number one, the prophet was announced. Listen, number two, the prophet of power now. Look, the prophet of power. Look, verse 15. The angel continues, Gabriel says, and he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. Even from his mother's womb. Now, notice right away, he will be great before the Lord. Love, one's question. Is there any other greatness that matters? He will be great before the Lord.

25:52Who are we trying to be great before? Seriously, who are we trying to be great before? God or man? The Lord or people? It's amazing how much effort we try to be great before other humans. We're trying to impress and be great before friends and peers and bosses and employers and family members and neighbors. Colleges, one another, we're trying to be great before and impress our girlfriends and boyfriends. I'm so glad I'm past that. I mean, women, think about women. How much time do you spend dressing up trying to be great before other women? It was a marvel to me when I first realized that women dress up more for other women than they do for their husband or whoever. What is that about? Well, if it's not checked in the right way, it's vanity.

26:54The effort we put into, and by we, I mean women, the effort we put into, don't worry, man, your turn's coming. The effort we put into seeking to be great to impress humans, but where's the greatest before the Lord? And man, the world that we live in, these obsessed culture of trying to impress, impress with looks, impress with clothes, impress with cars, impress with money, impress with jobs, impress with status, impress with achievement, impress with intellect, impress with what is that all rooted in? Almost all the time it's rooted in you being impressed with me and it's all horizontal. There's a form of greatness which just was a puff of smoke. Oh, here's John though, and he will be great before the Lord. And again, is there any other greatness that matters? The answer is no.

27:54Oh, to have our identity found in him, and our greatness before him. This is John the Baptist. Notice what greatness looks like. I'll explain after I read this. Notice verse 15, and he must not drink wine or strong drink. Now why is that there? It's most certainly a reference from number six, verse three, referring to the Nazarite, who was consecrated to the ways of the Lord. They took a vow of their life was separate from. They were set apart for significance in the things of the Lord. John the Baptist, before he was born, he was already separated for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's greatness. Thanks for listening to Live in the Light today. If you'd like to hear this message again for any messages in this series, visit us online at liveinthelight.ca. These messages aired each day are made possible by Live in the Light Power Partners,

28:57a generous group of donors who have pledged to give at least $30 a month to see the Gospel advance. To become a Power Partner or to learn more about our ministry here at Live in the Light, visit our website at liveinthelight.ca. Thanks for listening today. Join us tomorrow at Live in the Light.