John the Baptist was a man sent from God, characterized by his steadfast convictions, plain message of repentance, and a life marked by separation from the world. His dwelling in the wilderness, his simple attire of camel's hair, and his diet of locusts and wild honey all demonstrated a life focused on God's kingdom rather than worldly pursuits. These outward characteristics reflected an inner commitment to humility and spiritual discipline, mirroring the example of Christ and the spiritual armor described in Ephesians. Ultimately, John's life serves as a model for Christians to live distinctively, seeking first God's kingdom and nourishing their souls with scriptural truth.
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Now we'll continue with our studies in the life of that famous man called John the Baptist. I'll read first of all from the Gospel according to Luke chapter one, and here's what we read in that Gospel concerning John. And thou child shall be called the prophet of the highest, for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways. to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the day-spring from on high has visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace, and the child grew and watched strong in spirit, and was in the desert still the day of his showing unto Israel.
Now again from Matthew chapter three, verse one, in those days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, Repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his path straight. The same John had his raiment of Tamils here, the leathern girdle about his loins, and his meat was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, who had baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, said unto them, O generation of Vipas, who had warned you to flee from the wrath to come? bring forth therefore fruits, meat for repentance. I am sure the Lord will bless to us the reading of these verses. Let us bow again for prayer. Our Father, we come to thee, and we thank thee for thy kindness to thy people. Thank thee again for the great gift of thy love. When thou didst send thy beloved son to this earth to die on Calvary's cross and provide salvation, But now as we seek to study the great man who was the forerunner of the Lord, Grant, O God, may take some lessons from what is said about Him, apply them to our own lives.
Remember those who are listening now to the exposition of the Word. Bless their hearts while they listen. May it be, O God, to be conscious of thy presence with them. Save those that need to be saved. We ask these things now, giving thanks in the Savior's name. Amen. Now as we continue with our study in the life of this great man, Let me bring your thoughts back again to some of the things we have studied already concerning him. We pointed out to begin with that when he came out into his public ministry, he was a man, a man sent from God. He had reached maturity not only physically, but he had reached maturity morally and spiritually.
A man who was fitted by God, a man who was prepared by God. And therefore God sent him. And we saw that that man who was sent from God was steadfast in his convictions. The man was straight in what he said. But the man suffered because he stood for the truth. Then we considered some things relative to the message of John. Not only was he a man sent from God, he was a man with a message. We saw that his message was very plain. He didn't couch his message in words that people didn't understand.
He spoke plain things. He said, Repent ye, for the kingdom is at hand. It was a very personal message. He pressed it home to the heart and to the conscience of those that listened to him. And his word was effective. Because, you see, John was a man full of the Holy Spirit. His message was very pressing. He reminded them, as it were, that time was running out. The fathers had to get right with the children. The children had to get right with the fathers. For they all had to get right with God through repentance. Repent ye. The kingdom is at hand.
Now, I want you to consider with me today some of the things that we can learn about John relative to his manners. Let us consider then the manners of John. After all is said and done, the Christian today should be marked out as being different from other people. Now, I know that to preach along this line is not popular with some people today. They do not want to be different from the others. They want to be in the company where they'll just look the same. and do the same, and because it's done socially, they want just to do the same as others are doing, and don't make yourself awkward.
That seems to be the philosophy of some people today. My friend, let me remind you that the Bible tells us that it isn't so, that God has made a difference between what pertains to the night and what pertains to the day. God has definitely made a difference between darkness and light. And God has made a difference between those who are Christians and those who are not Christians. And so therefore we should remember this, that God has made a difference. Listen to what he says, Paul writing to the Corinthians in his second letter.
He says, Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God, as God has said. I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, says the Lord. That's not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.
So therefore, God has made a difference. Now, looking then at John, who was a man of God, you would expect to see a difference between John and those who lived at the same time as himself. First of all, there was a difference in his dwelling. He was a man of the wilderness. Perhaps you noticed that when I read from Luke chapter one, and the child grew and waxed strong in spirit and was in the desert. till the day of his showing unto Israel. As to his dwelling then, he was a man of the wilderness.
Now that speaks to me of the place of separation. You wouldn't find John engaging in all the hilarities of the city. John wasn't interested in the pastimes of that day. John was a man who lived his life in separation. because you see the nation had turned away from God. John from his childhood was a man who was under the direct influence of the Holy Spirit of God. And John was able to see things from God's point of view. And because of that you find that John was a man who was dwelling in the wilderness.
The Lord Jesus Christ challenging the people one day. He said what? What did you go out to see? Did you go out to see a man who spent his time in the palace? Not so. John was a man of the wilderness. Now let me remind all my listeners today that when you think of your dwelling place, I'm not thinking now of the particular home in which you live. That's not my idea. I'm thinking of the place we spend our time, our dwelling place, the place where we live, the circumstances in which we live, the moral circumstances, the spiritual circumstances, where does a person spend his or her time.
See, if a boy spends some of his time at a prayer meeting, You can rest assured that young fellow is going to learn things about the ways of God. He'll learn things about God's plans and purposes. But if another young boy is going to spend his time, we'll say down in the pool room or playing some of these gambling games, such as going to the bingo hall, you can rest assured you're not going to find God there, my friend, by no means. So when you think of John's dwelling, you think of the place or the circumstances under which he's spending his time.
Now, according to the teaching of the Word of God, we have this great principle, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Now John was a man who was going to come out preaching about the kingdom. So therefore, if he was preaching about the kingdom, he was a man who had some insight into things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And John learned these things. when he spent time, as it were, in the presence of God. He spent time in the place of separation. He was a man who was separate from the ways of the world.
He was a man who knew what it meant to commune with God. So, therefore, as to his dwelling, he was a man who was separate, as it were, from the ordinary things of the world, or he was separate from the pursuits of the young men of his day. And as a young man, he sought the presence of God. He sought to learn things pertaining to God, and things pertaining to God's kingdom. He was seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. These were things that were not being sought after while John was growing up as a young boy and entering into manhood.
But I remind you again, that perhaps in his early years he had the influence of a godly, pious father and a godly mother. They would be able to instruct him as a child, and even after they had died, their influence remained with John. He would remember the things he had been taught, and so therefore he was a man who, in his manner of life, in his dwelling, You could find them there in the presence of God, searching into the things that pertained to God's kingdom. May I stress this home to all my listeners today, for I emphasized in a previous study that John's position in life was just before the Lord appeared in his first Advent.
John was prepared to search into these things and learn these things, and then was able to go out and preach to the nation, endeavouring to turn them back to the God of their fathers, to make the path straight for the coming Messiah, and to prepare the people for the King and the Kingdom. Now if John was doing that in his day, may I suggest that men and women today who profess to be Christians need to be stirred up with regards to this. We need again to be gripped with this solemn issue that the coming of the Lord is very near. So therefore our manner of life, as to the way we spend our time and the pursuits of life, should all be governed by this great fact.
that the coming of the Lord is very, very near. So John was a man of the wilderness. He knew something of the hardships. He knew what it meant to deny himself the luxuries of life. Then let us look at something else with regards to this man. We're told how he was dressed when he came out. After all, he was a man. who came out and he had a certain garment on him. He had his raiment of camels hair and a leathern girdle about his loins.
Now, if we had seen the man, you would have known by his appearance that he wasn't dressed in soft raiment. He wasn't a man who was running after all the latest fashions in life. He wore the plain garb of the camel's hair garment. That was not the richest thing of that day, but at least it was respectable, and he had his garment of camel's hair. It would be the garment of the poor man, so to speak, and then not the garment of the rich. He was not dressed with purple and scarlet and fine linen.
like the rich, but he had an ordinary, plain, simple dress of camel's hair with his leathern belt around his middle, a leathern girdle about his loins is what the word of God says. So here he was a man who had a garment and a girdle. Now, may I suggest that that does not mean that I should go up the main street of any town today dressing myself in some unusual way for the sake of drawing attention to myself. I have been in certain cities where I've seen strange kind of creatures shoveling along the pavement with the old torn sandals on the feet and an old thing wrapped around the body almost like an old army blanket and tied with a rope.
And they were simply just drawing attention to themselves. A lot of people have done this. Now John didn't do that. John was not drawing attention to himself by the way he was dressed. Neither should we. We're not expected to dress ourselves in such a way that people will look upon us and say, Oh, isn't he a holy man by the way he's dressed? That's not the idea. but we've not to dress in a way that will draw attention neither one way nor the other we've just to be dressed plain and then there's one thing I should say this of course we at least ought to be dressed and we ought to be dressed in a respectable manner without being gaudy but now I want to take the thought of the garment and the girdle and bring you what I believe a spiritual application of this which of course should be far more helpful.
You remember reading in the Bible about the Lord Jesus Christ on that last night in the upper room. What did he do? There came the time when someone should have gone round like the servant and taken the basin and the water and washed the feet of the guests. None of those who were with him were prepared to do it. But the Lord Jesus Christ himself at some point during the supper He rose from the table. He laid aside his outer garment. That would be that coat that he wore that was woven without seam. Someone must have made it for him. And he laid it aside. And he took the towel that was there, the towel that was provided for the use of the Sabbath.
He took the towel and he wrapped the towel around himself. He girded himself with a towel. Now notice when he laid aside his outer garment, that was him preparing himself for activity. Those who were gathered with him in the upper room, when they saw him take off his outer garment and lay it aside, they would realize that he was now becoming active, there was some particular job to be done, and he was going to be busy doing that job. Then when they would witness him taking the towel and gifting himself with the towel, it would be obvious what he was going to do.
Now, if laying aside the garment suggested activity, then gifting himself with the towel suggested humility. Because to give yourself with the towel... was an indication of taking the servant's place. It was the servant who usually did this, and the Lord Jesus Christ that night in the upper room laid aside his garment and girded himself with a towel, went down and washed their feet. So I suggest to you that the garment and the girdle here suggests humility, combined with activity.
And after all, wasn't John dressed in a humble way? He was marked by humility. He was not dressed, as I have said already, in scarlet and purple and in fine linen. He had the garment suited for the place where he lived. He was dressed with the camel's hair garment. And he was girded with the leather belt. He was a man of the wilderness. But the Lord Jesus Christ, he laid aside his garment, girded himself with a towel, and was prepared to humble himself and wash the disciples' feet. Now, I suggest this, that as you read through the Bible, you discover that the Christian has also got to be clothed.
But the Christian has got to be clothed with humility. That's perfectly true. But we're also told this. that because that there are enemies to be faced, God has provided us with complete armor. And the sixth chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, we're told, Take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth. Having on the breastplate of righteousness, your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, above all taking the shield of faith, wherewith he shall be able to quench all the fiery dots of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit.
Now, if you had been living at the time when Paul wrote that, and if you had seen a man... with his loins girth about. He put on his buckled belt. And you saw him with his breastplate. And you saw his feet shod with the greaves. And you saw him take a shield. You would know and going forth with his helmet on. And he saw it in his hand. You would have said that man's a soldier. He's clothed with all the armor of a soldier. He must be a Roman soldier. Now, If you take the thoughts of these things for the Christian today, and if someone sees a Christian standing, as it were, for truth and righteousness, and ready to preach the Gospel, holding the shield of faith and having on salvation, and wielding the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, by folks that say, that man must be a Christian.
You see, so it does make a difference in the appearance that we put on to the world, or not that you put it on in the sense of making a show. That's not the idea. It's a matter of appropriating the spiritual things that God has provided for us. And if we appropriate these spiritual things, Then may I suggest, just as John, who was clothed with his camel hair coat and with his leather girdle, and the people marked them out as to be the kind of man that he was, then also, if we develop today as Christians, the spiritual qualities that are set forth in the Christian's armour of Ephesians six, people will take note of the fact where we stand in life.
They'll take note of the fact of our profession as Christians. Then we're told a little about this man's diet. So we thought of his dwelling. We thought of his dress. Now we think of his diet. This man, for his meat, he had locusts and wild honey. You see, he wasn't dining in luxuries. but he did receive necessities. If you think of this type of food that he had, the first thing you've got to say about it is this. It was simple. But since it was wild honey, it was sweet.
But the best thing about it I suggest to you is this. It was scriptural. A way back in the Old Testament, When God was giving instructions to the nation of Israel concerning things that they ought to eat and things that they ought not to eat, you'll find that these things that John had were things that were allowable. John was not transgressing over the line of demarcation, but John was eating here things that were simple. Yet, with it all, it was sweet. It was wild honey. Now, I know that we're living in days when men like to eat and they like to feast and so on, but I would prefer right now to take these things and give them a spiritual application to all of us.
See, after all, one could go way out on a limb talking about different kinds of foods. In different countries, of course, people have got to eat different things according to what is developed and grown in that particular area. But may I suggest this, that just as we take food to nourish our physical bodies, we also need food for the mind, we need food for the heart. And if we're going to feed our minds, if we're going to feed our souls, let us feed on that which is simple, let us feed on that which is sweet, let us feed on that which is scriptural.
The Lord Jesus Christ said, I am the bread of life. And just as he broke the bread and gave to the multitude, on the hillside, let us see to it that we feed our souls daily on things that are scriptural. So we've looked at John again, the manners of John, as to his dwelling, as to his dress, as to his diet. He was a man of God.