John the Baptist's unique and final role as a herald for Jesus Christ, emphasizing his faithfulness over miraculous deeds. The message draws from John 10:37-42, where Jesus retreats to the place John first baptized, and people recall John's testimony about Jesus. Despite John performing no miracles, his words about Jesus are recognized as true, leading many to believe in Christ. The core lesson is that faithfulness in proclaiming Christ is more significant than spectacular displays, and true success in ministry lies in accurately conveying the gospel message. The sermon concludes by encouraging believers to emulate John's dedication, finding joy in laboring for God's will, as their faithfulness will ultimately be recognized and rewarded.
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Now, as we continue with our study in the life of John the Baptist, we come today to our final message concerning this wonderful man. And I want to read just a few verses that are found at the end of the Gospel according to John, in Chapter Ten. John's Gospel, Chapter Ten. Reading from verse thirty-seven. If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though you believe not me, believe the works that ye may know, and believe that the Father is in me, and I in him.
Therefore they sought again to take him, but he escaped out of their hand, went away again beyond Jordan, into the place where John at first baptized, and there he abode, and many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle. But all things that John spake of this man were true, and many believed on him there. And sure the Lord was blessed to us the reading of these verses. Let us bow for prayer.
Our Father, we bow our hearts in thy holy presence once again. We call to remembrance, thy word tells us that we can come boldly to the throne of grace, here to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. And since we have been reading from the inspired word, we ask now that by thy holy spirit, thou shalt cause us to understand the words we have read, speak to our hearts, give the encouragement that thy people need, and grant that all our thoughts today be directed towards the man at thy right hand, the Lord Jesus Christ, that we also may become good servants and faithful witnesses for him.
Hear us in these things. for His own namesake. Amen. Now we have been studying day after day some things relative to this great man who was called John the Baptist. Now I want to remind you again that one of the reasons for speaking about this man and setting forth some of the features that are set before us in the Word regarding his character and his ministry is simply this, that John occupied a rather peculiar position, an honorable position, if you like, in that he was the final witness prior to the presentation of the Lord Jesus Christ to the nation.
As you'll read throughout the Old Testament, you'll find again and again God raised up his prophets. Men who could come and speak the word, such as Isaiah and Jeremiah and Amos and Malachi and so on. But time and time again, when God's men came and preached their message, the people would not listen to them. Or there was always a few who listened. But speaking in general, the majority of the people rejected the prophets and rejected their message. However, on this occasion God sent them the message who had been promised.
I pointed out to you that the prophetic scriptures of the Old Testament from Isaiah chapter forty, and also from Malachi chapters three and four. It had been prophesied that this messenger would come who would be the forerunner of the Messiah. And so he occupied that very honorable position of being, as it were, the herald, running before the king and telling the people that the king was coming to prepare the way for the king, to make the path straight and so on. And now we've been looking in these past days at some of the features seen in the record concerning John, such as he was a man prepared by God, a man of the wilderness, a man sent from God, a steadfast man, a straight man, a suffering man.
We spent one day examining the message that was preached by John. We pointed out it was a plain message. It was also a personal message. And it was a very pressing message because time was running out and people had to get prepared for the great event. We also drew attention to the manners of John. You would expect him to be a man who would be different from others, marked out by different features and characteristics from other people. Other people were only interested in the political things. and in the material things relative to the nation.
But John was interested in the spiritual things, and so therefore his manner of life was somewhat different from other people. And then in our last lesson, We were looking a little at the modesty of John. John was not a proud man. He was not a boastful man. John was a very humble man, a modest man. When they asked him who he was, he made no great claims for himself. He said, I'm only a voice crying in the wilderness. That's all. A voice warning people to prepare for the coming of the Messiah.
And then he said, I must decrease. And he, the one that I'm pointing you to, the Lord, he must increase. He's got to take the prominent place. And I've got to slide back, as it were, and take the back seat. I've got to decrease. He must increase. And then he pointed to the fact that he must take the humble place. For this man, he said, I'm pointing you to. the coming king, I'm not even worthy to unbuckle his sandals. So John was a very modest man, but in coming to this our final message regarding the man and his ministry, I bring you to those closing verses in John chapter ten, and this gives us a very special side light.
on the ministry of John. For it says here that the Lord Jesus Christ, at this particular time in his public ministry, went away again beyond Jordan, into the place where John had first baptized, and there he abode. And many resorted unto him and said, John did no miracle, but all things that John spoke of this man were true, and many believed on him there. Now, this reaches our heart and causes us to think. We have examined a little concerning what John had to say about the Lord Jesus.
He pointed the people to Christ, and he said, Look at him. Behold him. Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. And so he put Christ on a very high level and put himself on a low level. He was only like the finger post pointing the way. He was not the word. He was just the voice conveying the word. He was not the light. He was just a shining lamp. That's all. However, we have examined a little of John's ministry. and John's message concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then we made some reference to what the Lord Jesus Christ said about John. His commendation of John was outstanding. He said, of all that were born of women, there was none of them to compare with John. And so he spoke well about John. But now... When we come down to the closing verses of the Gospel according to John chapter ten, there are some things said here that tell us what some of the people thought about John. Now, different people reacted in different ways.
For example, we did draw attention to the way in which Herod reacted to John. and the way in which the woman that lived with Herod reacted to John. John, you see, was so faithful in his ministry that he pointed out that Herod, the ruler, was living in sin. He had no right to be living, said John, with his brother's wife. That was wrong. It was sin. For that reason, she resented John's ministry. and was the means of getting John cast into prison. And then one night at a filthy dance, when they were all in a drunken stupor, she was the one who was responsible for having John Baptist beheaded.
Now, you see, that's the way that they reacted to the ministry of John. On the other hand, many of the common people went out and listened to his ministry. Then there were others perhaps who listened but were not baptized by John, but they knew what he had said. Now remember, when you come to the end of John chapter ten, John the Baptist has been dead for a considerable time, in fact, for almost three years. But the people have not forgot what John said.
Now when you come to the end of John chapter ten, it marks a very special time in the public ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. At this time he is being rejected by the people. The same people who rejected the ministry and the message of John, are now rejecting the message and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. But now in chapter ten he's been speaking about his sheep. And he said, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
So that he's speaking about his sheep, listening to his voice, that they would follow him, and that he knew his sheep. Now then, because he spoke in terms about his sheep and listening to his voice and following them, and when he comes down to verse thirty of chapter ten, he's saying, I and my father are one. Now, when he reached that point, then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. They'd tried to stone him before, and they're trying to stone him again. Now it was at this time that he leaves again the city of Jerusalem, he leaves the center where the Jews are, and he goes a way down over to the other side of the River Jordan.
It distinctly tells us that he went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized. Now you've got the location. The Lord Jesus withdraws himself from the crowd because it's obvious that they, the rulers or leaders of the people, have rejected him. They've rejected his ministry. Now remember, at the commencement of his public life, At the commencement of his ministry, it was John the Baptist who pointed him out. At the beginning of his ministry he came down to that place and was baptized by John.
It was there that John saw the Spirit descend upon him as a dove. And John said that... He recognized him because he who sent him to baptize informed them that whoever he saw the Spirit descending on, that was the Messiah. And John says it was there that he saw this vindication of the Lord Jesus Christ when he saw the Spirit descend upon him. I was from that point that the Lord Jesus Christ entered out, as it were, into his public ministry. John's ministry of preparation was completed. He had to withdraw, and the Lord Jesus Christ had to take the prominent place.
But now the public ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ seems to be at an end at the end of John chapter ten, and he goes away down. to the other side of Jordan, down to the place where John had been baptizing. In plain words, he goes back to the place where it would seem that he was prepared for his own public ministry. Now, when he got there, this is what we read, that there was many resorted unto him, just as they had resorted unto John, when John was preaching and baptizing them there.
So many of the people went a way down to listen to what the Lord Jesus Christ had to say down in that particular place. Now, this is what I want to draw your attention to right here. The people now give their verdict. The people now are reminded of what John said. They're listening to what the Lord Jesus Christ has to say. Their minds are thrown back for about three years. They're beginning to talk now. They're beginning to call to remembrance what John has said.
And this is what they say. John did no miracle. Now, I want you to get this very clear now. The Lord Jesus Christ said that John was the greatest of the prophets. That is, positionally, he held the greatest place, for he was the last of the prophetic line, and he was the forerunner of the Messiah. Yet, in spite of all his greatness, in spite of the features that surrounded his birth, and the features that surrounded his life and ministry, This much is said, John did no miracle.
You see, John's ministry was featureless so far as the spectacular thing was concerned. John never did anything of a spectacular nature. Now, isn't it a strange thing how people want to do the spectacular thing? Isn't it just as equally strange how people expect preachers to do spectacular things? Now we're living in strange days even now. In the second half of this twentieth century, we have noticed a great upsurge of cults.
And many of these cults want to do spectacular things. And the unfortunate thing is this, that many genuine Christians are drawn aside by the spectacular. Yet John did no miracle. Now, if you had been living in the days of John the Baptist, and you had heard concerning this man, and you had gone out to listen to him preaching, you might have said, Well, He's no great preacher. He doesn't preach great sermons. He just speaks a simple language.
He speaks a very plain message. In fact, he doesn't use any great philosophies. And he doesn't have a great oratory. Why, he just tells the people they've got to repent. because that the Messiah is coming. He says, repent ye, for the kingdom is at hand. And he pointed to this other man and said, look at him, behold the Lamb of God. But he didn't do any miracle. He didn't heal anybody. He didn't prove that he was a man of God by doing any great miracles. You see, John's ministry was very plain.
It was featureless. He didn't do anything of a spectacular nature. My friend, do you expect spectacular things? You see, if you're running around looking for the spectacular thing, you'll never be satisfied. Because after you've seen something that you consider to be spectacular, then you'll be looking for something else and something else. But, Here's what we find here. There's a second link in the chain. John did no miracle, but, and I like that, but, here's the hinge that takes you to a reality. But all things that John spake of this man were true.
John's ministry was faithful. It tells us here that he spake concerning the Lord Jesus. And more than that, the people are now saying, All the things that John spoke about this man, all the things that John spoke about the Lord Jesus Christ were true. Now, do you realize, my friend, that preachers today, including myself, must be very faithful in what we say about the Lord Jesus Christ? You see, Christ is the very center as well as the circumference of the gospel message.
You cannot have a gospel without Christ. If you are preaching a message without Christ, then it's not the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's some other message. How can you have Christianity without Christ? For Christianity is centered in Christ. There can be no Christianity apart from Him. You cannot have the church without Christ unless it's a spurious church, an imitation of the real thing. Christ said, I will build my church. It's his. So you cannot have Christianity without Christ.
You cannot have the message of the gospel without Christ. You cannot have a church without Christ. But all that John said, All the things that John preached about this man, Christ, were true, so that John's message and John's ministry was faithful. Do you realize that when the servants are called upon to face the Lord Jesus Christ, they're expecting him to say, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. It's not a matter of saying, successful servant, although success is to be aimed at too, but you'll only be truly successful if you're faithful.
So we should look to the circumstances whereby we may be faithful. And if we make this our objective in serving God, that we want to be faithful to the trust that He left us, then we'll get that commendation and a day to come well done thou good and faithful servant and we'll only get that if all the things that we speak concerning the Lord Jesus Christ are true we can tell men and women about his virgin birth we can tell them about his virtuous life we can tell them about his vicarious death We can tell them about his victorious resurrection.
We can tell them about his valid ministry today at the right hand of the Majesty on high. And we can tell them about him coming again in glorious triumph. Oh, we have. things to say about the Lord Jesus Christ. Why speak about anyone else or anything else? John, you see, was faithful in his ministry about Christ. And the people remember this three years or so after John was dead. They said all the things that John spoke of this man were true. And then the last verse of the chapter says, and many believed on him there.
Yes, John's ministry was fruitful, perhaps not at the time when he was alive, perhaps not at the time when he was doing his preaching, although there was many who were baptized, and he prepared a lot of people for the coming of the Messiah. But here's a lot of people that believed what John had said. Now they exercised faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Many believed on him there, on the strength of what they'd heard John say three years before this. You see, his ministry was now bearing fruit. You know, I read something a few years ago that touched my heart.
I hope it touches yours. Did you ever hear of a man called Louis Braille? Louis Braille was a blind man. He died in eighteen fifty-two at the age of forty-three years. And Louis Braille, when he died, thought that his life work was in vain, because during his life, because he was a blind man, he started to work out a system whereby the blind could be taught to read. But he thought his labours were in vain, but after his death his system of reading for the blind was adopted. and it became a blessing to many thousands even to this day.
So Louis Braille worked. He didn't know that his work was going to be a success. But after he was dead and gone, it became a blessing to many. Go labour on, spend and be spent thy joy to do the Father's will. It is the way the Master went, should not the servant tread it still. Go labour on, tis not, for not. Thy earthly loss is heavenly gain. Men heed thee, love thee, praise thee not. The Master praises, what are men? Men die in darkness at your side without a hope to cheer the tomb. Take up the torch and wave it wide, the torch that lights times thick as gloom.
Toil on, and in thy toil rejoice, for toil comes rest for exile home. Soon shalt thou hear the bridegroom's voice, the midnight peal, behold, I come.