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There Came a Man Sent From God (Part 1) · CCC West Covina

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Take your Bible if you would please, and turn to John chapter
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1. John chapter one, verse 6.
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The Bible says these very familiar words.
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There came a man sent from God whose name was John.
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Now we spent two weeks looking at this man.
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What kind of man was he? It's always important that when
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you read the Bible, you major on observation because observation
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helps you with interpretation. The more you ask the question
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who, what, why, how, where, and when, the easier it is for you
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to interpret the context and the text itself.
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So observation of a text is very important, but I come to realize
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that that many people just don't observe much of anything at all,
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let alone the text of Scripture. So we looked at the very first
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phrase which says there came a man and answered the question,
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what kind of man? And we told you that number 1,
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he was uncompromising in his message.
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That's the kind of man John the Baptist was.
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He was unorthodox in his mannerisms.
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He was unequaled or unrivaled among men.
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He was unlimited in his mission, uninhibited in his ministry,
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unpopular before the multitudes, unforgettable as a man, and yet
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unimaginable for one brief moment.
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And we had to take you to Luke 7 to show you that, because you
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come to ask the question, how is it this this great man, the
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greatest man who ever was born of a woman, according to the
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words of Jesus, would have doubts and disillusionment about
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who the Messiah really is. After all, he was the the one
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who would pave the way for the Messiah.
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And yet, as he sat in that prison, Macarius and he began to
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reminisce about his ministry. He asked himself, is Jesus the
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expected? 1 And so he said his disciples
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to to ask that question. And so we come back and we ask,
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OK, so how does a man, the greatest man aboard of a woman
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get to that point? How how do we get to a point in
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our lives where we begin to question God, his ministry in
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our lives, his authority over our lives?
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What brings us to that point, especially when you realize the
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second aspect of John one verse number six.
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There came a man sent from God. How does a man who was sent from
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God doubt God? How does a man who was sent from
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God be disillusioned about God? How does a man sent from God
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become discouraged and depressed about his God?
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That's a good question. So we're going to answer that
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question for you. There came a man sent from God.
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The question is how was John the Baptist sent from God?
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So we're going to spend this week and next week answering the
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question, how was John sent from God?
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Because once you understand how he was sent, it will even make
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you question all the more how he he could come to this moment in
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his life where he would begin to doubt and become disillusioned
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about his God. This is very, very important.
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How, how was John sent from God? Later on in months, maybe years
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down the road in John 20 verse #21 Jesus will say these words
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as the Father has sent me, so send I, you.
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And when we get to John 20 verse #21 we're going to ask the
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question, how was the Son sent? Because once you see how the Son
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was sent, then you can see how the apostles then were to be
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sent, which will tell us how it is God sends us.
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But that's many, many, many sermons down the road today.
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We just want to ask and answer the question, how is it John the
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Baptist was sent from God? And I think that once you begin
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to understand this, it would help you understand life from a
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biblical perspective. For when you lose a biblical
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perspective, the circumstances around you are bigger than life.
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And they need not be need to always keep a biblical
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perspective when going through life for that one brief,
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unimaginable moment, the forerunner to the Messiah lost a
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biblical perspective and it caused him to doubt and become
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disillusioned. So let's ask the question, how
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is it John was sent from God? Turn back with me, if you would,
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to Luke's gospel, Luke chapter 3.
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It says these words in verse one.
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Now in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when
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Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea and Herod was tetrarch of
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Galilee, so Herod was in charge. It says that the word of God
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came to John the son of Zacharias.
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The word of God came to John. How was John sent by God?
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Number one, he was sent personally.
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God spoke to John. Luke chooses his words very
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carefully that the word of God came to John.
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Same phraseology used of Abraham in Genesis 15 verse #1 And the
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word of the Lord came to Abram. Same thing about Samuel in first
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Samuel chapter 15 And the word of the Lord came to Samuel.
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Same thing about Nathan and second Samuel and the word of
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the Lord came to Nathan. Same thing in First King 17
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first number one. And the word of the Lord came to
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Elijah. That there was a personal call
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upon their lives, and that call would move them to ministry.
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And John the Baptist would be subject to that call, the divine
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call of God upon his life. The word of God came to John.
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God would speak to John and He moved John to ministry.
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Now, just for by way of illustration, turn back with me,
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if you would, to the book of Jeremiah, because the same
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phrase is used about Jeremiah and it gives us a little bit of
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the details about what God said to Jeremiah.
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Now we don't know what God said to to John the Baptist.
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We don't know that Baba didn't tell us, but we do know what God
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said to Jeremiah. But I want you to remember
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Jeremiah is a lot like John the Baptist, except for a couple
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instances. John the Baptist had a 18 month
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ministry. Jeremiah had a 40 year ministry
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a lot longer. John the Baptist was thrown into
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prison, Jeremiah was thrown into a pit.
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So they had that similarity. John the Baptist wasn't married.
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Jeremiah wasn't married. Jeremiah had.
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Nobody listened to him. At least John the Baptist had
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people coming down from Jerusalem and were baptized in
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the Jordan and had some semblance of listening to what
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John had to say. But nobody listened to Jeremiah.
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So keep that in mind when you read this.
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Jeremiah one verse #4 Now the word of the Lord came to me.
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This is Jeremiah speaking. This is what God said to me
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before I formed you in the womb. I knew you.
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Before you were born. I consecrated you.
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I've appointed you a prophet to the nations.
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Now maybe, maybe John the Baptist heard something similar.
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We do not know, it says. Then I said, Alas, Lord God,
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behold, I do not know how to speak because I am a youth.
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But the Lord said to me, do not say I'm a youth, because
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everywhere I send you, you should go, and all that I
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command you, you shall speak. I'm sure the Lord told John the
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Baptist what to say, what to preach on verse #8 do not be
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afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the
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Lord. Then the Lord stretched out his
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hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, Behold, I
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have put my words in your mouth. See, I have appointed you this
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day over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to
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breakdown, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to
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plant. Jeremiah is rehearsing,
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reviewing all that God said to him about his ministry.
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And he would go in the power of the Lord.
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But it wasn't long before Jeremiah became disillusioned
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and discouraged, a lot like John the Baptist.
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And yet Jeremiah's response is different than John the
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Baptist's Turn to Jeremiah, Chapter 20.
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Listen to the words of Jeremiah. Oh, Lord, you have deceived me,
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and I was deceived. You have overcome me and
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prevailed. Jeremiah feels helpless.
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He feels taken advantage of because God called him to preach
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to the nations and no one's listening, no one's following.
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Remember, Jeremiah is right before they go into Babylonian
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captivity, they're on the cusp of of going in that direction.
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So he preaches with passion and and energy and intensity, trying
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to get people to understand that they need to follow God and obey
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God. But he feels that he was
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deceived by God. He says I have become a laughing
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stalk all day long. Everyone mocks me.
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Everybody's making fun of me. Everybody's laughing at me.
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For each time I I speak, I cry aloud.
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I proclaim violence and destruction because because for
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me the word of the Lord has resulted in reproach and
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derision. All day long.
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Jeremiah is is distraught. Here I am preaching here I am
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called by God here I am giving my all and people mock me and
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they make fun of me and they laugh at me.
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I've become a derision all day long but if I say I will not
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remember him or speak anymore in his name, then in my heart it
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becomes like a burning fire shut up in my bones and I am weary of
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holding it in and I cannot endure it.
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He says I'm cop between a rock and a hard place.
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Every time I open my mouth people make fun of me, they mock
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me, they they say all kind of slanderous things against me.
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But if I don't say anything and I hold it in, it's like a
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burning fire in my soul and I and I got to let it out.
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I just can't be quiet, and yet when I do, I face all kinds of
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obstacles, all kinds of criticism, all kinds of
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slanderous comments. So listen, for I have heard the
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whispering of many terror on every side.
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They were mocking him because he would come and preach terror on
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every side. Because of the judgement of God,
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he became the prophet of, of, of terror.
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So now they mock him and say he is the prophet.
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He is the one who has terror on every side.
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Denounce him. Yes, let us denounce him.
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All my trusted friends watching for my fall, say perhaps he will
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be deceived so that we may prevail against him and take our
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revenge on him. All my trusted friends,
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everybody that I've has a confidence, every one of them
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are looking for my fault. Now, I'm not sure any of us have
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been in that situation. John the Baptist was not in that
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situation. He was unpopular because they
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said he had a demon. But John had followers, he had
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disciples. Jeremiah had none.
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He had nobody, so he's expressing himself.
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Now. Listen to what he says next.
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But the Lord is with me like a dread champion.
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The Lord is with me like a mighty warrior.
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The Lord is with me like a fierce warrior.
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The Lord is with me as one greatly to be feared.
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Therefore my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.
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They will be utterly ashamed because they have failed with
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with an everlasting disgrace. Excuse me, that will not be
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forgotten. Yet, O Lord of armies, Lord of
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hosts, you who test the righteous, who see the mind and
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the heart, let me see your vengeance on them.
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For to you I have set forth my cause.
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Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord, for he has delivered the
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soul of the needy one from the hand of the evil doers.
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A different perspective than John the Baptist.
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And John the Baptist situation was not near as dire as
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Jeremiah's was. And although John the Baptist
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would soon be beheaded, Jeremiah was in complete and total
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isolation. No friends, no family, no close
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associates, no place of refuge, no church to go to for people to
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pray with him and for him, no pastor as a confidant to go and
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receive counsel from. All he had was all you need.
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A dread champion, the Lord of armies, A fierce warrior.
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My friends, that's all you need. That's all you need.
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And Jeremiah would be able to continue his ministry even
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though nobody ever responded. Didn't quit.
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I'm sure there were times he wanted to quit, but he never
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threw in the towel. Why?
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Because he was personally called by God.
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Personally called by God You as a Christian have been personally
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called by God. In Philippians 3, Paul calls
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that calling a high calling. And secondity one verse #9 Paul
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calls that calling a a holy calling.
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In Hebrews 3 verse #1 the writer of Hebrews calls it a heavenly
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calling. You've been called by a high,
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holy heavenly calling into the Kingdom of God's dear Son.
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God offers a general call to all men, a universal call to all
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men. In Matthew 11 he says, Come unto
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me, all you that labor and a heavy laden, I will give you
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rest, but you got to come to me. It's a universal call.
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And the Bible says that whosoever shall call upon the
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name of the Lord shall be saved. But the Bible also says in
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Romans chapter 8 verse #30 that those whom God did predestined
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he called to himself. The Bible says in Romans 828
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that all things work together for those who have been called
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according to His purpose. The Bible also says in the book
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of First Corinthians chapter one, that we are to consider Our
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Calling. How did the Lord call you?
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Listen very carefully. He calls you the same way He
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called John the Baptist, the same way He called Jeremiah.
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Listen to 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 verse #13 and 14.
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Paul says, But we should always give thanks to God for you
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brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from
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the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the
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Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this he called you
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through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus
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Christ. John Paul says you were called
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through the glory of the gospel of truth.
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In other words, you heard what God said in his word.
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Faith cometh by hearing and hearing about a word concerning
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the Christ. Romans 10/17 So somebody
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presented the truth to you, somebody spoke the truth to you.
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And this book, this Bible, this truth, this law, this revelation
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is God's word to man. And while God does not speak
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verbally to man anymore, he makes very clear all that we
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need to know in his Word. He was one, one to three tells
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us that God has spoken in these last days only through His Son,
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Jesus Christ our Lord. And these are the very words of
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the living God. This is how God converses with
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you through His Word. And so while there is this
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general call that goes out to all men, there is a efficacious
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call, a, a, a divine call that calls those who have been
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predestined into the Kingdom of the living God.
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And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.
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Jeremiah had to wait for God to speak like Abraham had to wait
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for God to speak like Elijah had to wait for God to speak.
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We don't. God has spoken, so we pick up
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His word. We read what He says, and God is
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speaking to us through His Word, and we converse with Him through
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prayer. But His Word is called the
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living and abiding word of God, and God speaks to us through His
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Word. In April of 19, 71, I had made a
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profession of faith. My parents had presented the
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gospel to me and I made a profession of faith in April of
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1971. And I asked them, I said, do do
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you want me to to say this prayer?
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Do do you want me to to become a Christian?
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And they said yes. So I pray this prayer, thinking
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that that made me a Christian. And so from April of 1971 to
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March of 1972, I was a very uncomfortable person, one
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because I was 13 years old. I don't know any 13 year olds
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that are very comfortable today. But mainly because I knew in my
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heart I did not give my life to Christ.
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I prayed a prayer for my parents sake, not for God's sake.
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And God in his sovereignty was so good, he said, a preacher to
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our church. And back in those days we had
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Bible conferences that lasted all week.
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And back in those days, the church was packed every night of
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the week, unlike churches today. But in those days the church
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would be packed with a Bible conference and sure enough, we
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would go Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
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Friday, Saturday and the place was always packed with people
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and the preacher was preaching on hell, heaven and hell.
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Where will you go? He talked a lot about heaven and
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the glories of heaven. They talked a lot about hell and
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the gruesomeness of hell. And I sat there, 2nd row from
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the front, because we had our seats.
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We sat in the same plate like you do.
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You sit in the same spot every week.
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All right, We had to sit in the 2nd row from the front every
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week. I had to sit with my parents
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every week. Could not sit with my friends.
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He preached on the gruesomeness of hell as he began to preach
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more and more vehemently through the text.
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My heart was screaming for help because I realized that that
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what he was saying was true. And I realized that I had never
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given my life to Christ, that I had done it for my parents sake,
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not for Christ's sake. And the Spirit of God was
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convicting me through the scriptures and God was calling
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me through His word. And March 19th, 1972, on that
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Sunday afternoon after church, I went home and told my mom and
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dad, Are you sure I'm saved? And I'd ask that question all
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throughout the week leading up to that Sunday.
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Finally, my parents said, no, no, we're not sure you're saved
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at all. And I said, I know I'm not
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saved. I need to give my life to
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Christ. So on that day, March 19th,
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1972, on a Sunday afternoon, beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon
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in the spring in Dover, DE, I knelt beside my parents bed and
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I gave my life to Christ. Didn't follow along in a prayer,
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didn't have a written prayer. I just cried out to God because
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God had called me through His Word.
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God has spoken through His word. That's how man gets saved.
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It's that personal call of God upon your life that when the
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Word of God is preached, God calls you to Himself.
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And when God calls you to salvation, He calls you to
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sanctification to set you apart from the world unto himself.
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He calls you into a life of service for the King.
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God doesn't call you to salvation and leave you dormant.
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No, He, He calls you to salvation and drives you through
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life because the Spirit energizes you day by day.
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Just like Jeremiah, just like John the Baptist, just like,
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just like Samuel, just like Elijah, just like Nathan.
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The word of the Lord came to Nathan and, and, and Nathan had
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to confront David on a sin and he did.
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He obeyed and the word of the Lord comes to us through Matthew
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18 and talks to us about confronting sitting brothers.
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But note this, there are some people who are called by God and
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they do not want to obey. Perfect example is the man
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Jonah. Look what it says, Jonah one
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verse #1 and the word of the Lord came to Jonah.
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Same phrase, God is speaking to Jonah the prophet.
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The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amati, saying,
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Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry against it, for
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their wickedness has come up before me.
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But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarsus from the presence of the
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Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found
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a ship which was going to Tarsus, paid the fare, went down
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into it to go with them to Tarsus from the presence of the
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Lord. Now think about that for a
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second. This is the prophet of God, and
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in his disobedience he lost all biblical perspective.
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In his rebellion against the call of God upon his life, he
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lost all rational perspective because he thought he could
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actually flee from the presence of the Lord, that God somehow
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wouldn't see him getting on a different ship, going a
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different direction, and that God would forget all about him.
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But you see, when you live in rebellion against God, you don't
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think biblically, you don't think theologically, you don't
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think rationally, you think ridiculously.
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Do you know that when God calls you to himself and cause you to
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be involved in the ministry of the church 'cause you as a
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Christian to live your Christian life, that when you don't obey,
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in essence, you're saying I am fleeing from the presence of the
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Lord. The Lord's not going to see my
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non involvement. The Lord's not going to see that
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my disobedience is is front and center.
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The Lord's too busy with everybody else.
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He's not going to see me not doing what he's called me to do.
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But yet God is everywhere. God sees everything.
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But God has gifted you to serve in the body of Christ.
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And when you don't serve in the body of Christ, you are saying
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to God, I'm going to Tarshish, I'm going to flee your presence.
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Then God's not going to know that I'm not serving him in his
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church. And I think that I am fleeing
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the presence of God. But you're not.
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You're not. God calls you to to forgive and
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we say we're, we're not going to do that.
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And in essence, we're saying I'm going to flee from the presence
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of the Lord. He'll never see my unforgiving
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spirit. He'll never know that I'm an
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unforgiving kind of person, but he does.
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God calls you to to give the first fruits of your increase.
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And yet we give all kinds of excuses as to why we don't give
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from the first fruits of our increase.
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And in so doing we think we are fleeing from the presence of the
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Lord, that the Lord doesn't see that I don't give to him.
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The Lord doesn't see. I don't give him my time or my
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talents or my treasures to him. But he does.
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He sees it all. And so from from the call of
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John the Baptist to the call of Jonah, to the call of of
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Jeremiah to the call of you and me, God calls to His word.
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He calls very specifically, very clearly, very obviously He calls
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us and tells us what to do. And yet so many times we are
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more like Jonah than we are Jeremiah.
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We don't say my Lord is with me like a dread champion, a fierce
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warrior. I'm not worried about what other
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people think or what they're going to say or how they're
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going to slander me or criticize me.
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It's OK because because the Lord of armies is, is with me.
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The Lord of hosts is my guide. I'm, I'm good.
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No, we, we capitulate to the circumstances around us.
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And all of a sudden we we shrink back like John the Baptist and
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fall into the dungeon of doubt and disillusionment and
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discouragement and then say, God are you who you say you are?
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And God never changes. He's always the same.
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That's why he told John the Baptist or John the Baptist
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followers in Luke 7. He said very clearly, blessed
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are all those who do not stumble over me.
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Blessed is the man who who does not quarrel over the way I do my
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business. I've planned it's going to
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function exactly as I designed it to function.
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So the question for you and me is this, if you've been called
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by God and maybe here today and, and the general call of God is
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given to you, you've never given your life to Christ.
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And God says, whosoever shall call upon me shall be saved.
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Call upon the name of the Lord. Come to me, all you that labor
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and heavenly, I'll give you rest, but you got to come to me.
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Will you be disobedient to that call or will you be obedient to
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that call? And for those of you who have
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who have responded to the word of the Lord because the gospel
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of truth has been presented to you, God has called you to to
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serve in his church. God has called you to minister
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to one another. He he has made you a steward, a
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household manager of #1 eternal reconciliation.
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Second Corinthians 5 that were to preach the gospel #2 temporal
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riches because he's given us all that he has and we're to be good
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household managers of of the riches he's given to us.
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Spiritual resources because God's gifted us with a special
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gift because we're in his Kingdom and we're to be a good
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steward of that spiritual resource being used to build the
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body of Christ and personal relationships.
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It's required of a steward to be found faithful.
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It's the word of the Lord to us, the call of God upon our lives.
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We have to ask ourselves, are we like Jonah when it comes to God
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calling us to do certain things? When it comes to presenting the
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gospel or encouraging other people in their relationship or
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giving to the ministry of the church, or exercising my gifts
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in the body of Christ, are we trying to flee from the presence
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of the Lord? And someone will say what?
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I don't think I'm doing that. Well, yes, yes you are.
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Why? Because you think that God
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doesn't see what you're doing, that God doesn't see you in your
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disobedient state, that God doesn't see you in your
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rebellious state, but he does see you.
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The question comes, how do you respond?
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Because you see, John the Baptist was called in a very
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personal way, like Jeremiah, like Jonah.
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He was called by God because there there came a man sent from
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God personally. The word of God came to John #2
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I have 7. By the way, the word of God came
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to John privately. Privately.
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Luke 3 verse #2 says the word of God came to John the son of
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Zacharias. What's the next phrase in the?
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Wilderness where in the wilderness if you go back one
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page to Luke one verse #80 after zechariah's prophecy about his
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newborn son. So John the Baptist is an
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infant. Verse 80 And the child continue
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to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the
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deserts until the day of his public appearance in Israel.
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So the question comes, how long did John live in the desert?
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How long was John privately in the wilderness?
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Did he go when he was 13141516? Did he go when he was 20?
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Because some would say that at the age of 20 he would begin to
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enter the priesthood. Instead of entering to the
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priesthood, a very public life, he entered the wilderness, very
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private life. Bob didn't tell us, but Luke
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180, the curtains close on John the Baptist as an infant, and
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the curtains are not again raised until Luke 3 verse #2
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when it says the word of the Lord came to John the son of
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Zacharias in the wilderness. There's more said about Jesus
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from ages 1 to 30 than there is about John the Baptist from ages
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1 to 30 because we have a, a counter of Jesus when he was 12
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years old in the temple, right? We told his mother, don't you
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don't have to be about my father's business that there,
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there is no like such occurrence with John the Baptist.
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We know nothing about John except that he grew strong in
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the Lord. And the question comes, where
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did he grow? Strong in the Lord?
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Privately. In seclusion.
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Listen, Total obscurity breeds tremendous maturity.
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Total obscurity breeds tremendous maturity.
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Ask Moses. Moses was on the backside of the
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desert for 40 years, thinking that 40 years earlier he could
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enact the the Exodus by slaying an Egyptian.
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But nobody wanted to follow him, so God drove him to the backside
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of the desert because it would take him 40 years to learn how
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to shepherd people. When God came to Moses in a
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burning Bush, Moses was a completely different man than he
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was 40 years earlier. But in the privacy of the
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wilderness, in the desert, in isolation, he became the man God
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needed him to be. How about Paul after his
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conversion? Three years he was in the
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Arabian desert before he began to be used by God in the great
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and mighty way. Big about Think of Elijah again
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at Careth, in isolation in the wilderness, cultivating his
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relationship with the living God.
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Think of Christ. All you have to do is go to Mark
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chapter 1 and realize that he had spent all day ministering,
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but arose early the next day to go off in isolation, in
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obscurity, so he could commune with his God.
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After the death of John the Baptist, Christ told his men,
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come apart with me for a while to a secluded place.
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Why? Because they needed to reflect
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on all that had taken place in the death of John the Baptist
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and the fact that they one day would lose their lives because
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of their commitment to the Christ.
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But for John the Baptist, let's just say he went at age 20.
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His ministry began when he was 30.
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He was on the backside of the desert for 30 for for 10 years
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before he began his ministry at age 30.
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It only lasted 18 months before he was beheaded.
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Not very long at all. But there he was growing strong.
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There he was communing with his God.
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There he was reviewing Old Testament manuscripts.
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There he was understanding his call upon his life, there in
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solitude and in silence, the two most neglected disciplines of
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the Christian, he grew strong in his walk with the Lord.
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Oh, by the way, the number one spiritual discipline that marked
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the life of Christ was solitude and silence.
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If you want to be like Christ, you got to spend a lot of time
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alone in silence. I've shared this with you
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before. I'll I'll share it again in
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closing. Once there was a man who who
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dared God to speak. Burn the Bush like you did from
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Moses. God and I will follow.
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Collapse the walls like you did for Joshua.
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God and I will fight still the waves like you did on Galilee,
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and I will listen. So the man sat by a Bush near a
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wall close to the sea, and waited for God to speak.
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God heard the man so got answered.
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He set a fire not for a Bush before a church.
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He brought down a wall, not a brick, but a sin.
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He still the storm, not of the sea, but of a soul.
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And God waited for the man to respond, and he waited, and he
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waited and he waited. But because the man was looking
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at bushes and not hearts, bricks are not lives, sees are not
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souls. He decided that God had done
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nothing. Finally, he looked to God and
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asked, Have you lost your power? And God looked at him and said,
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have you lost your hearing? God speaks in the silence, in
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solitude of life, in the loudest of ways.
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But most of us never take the time to listen.
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John the Baptist did for at least 10 years, probably more,
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on the backside of a desert, personally called by God.
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Privately he communed with God, became a man.
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Not just any man, an extraordinary man whose name was
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John and that man was sent by God.
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How personally, privately, oh, and yes, prophetically, but
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that's next week. Let's pray together.
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Father, we thank you, Lord, for today and the things you teach
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us. Our prayer Lord, is that we
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would be the kind of people that when we hear God speak to us
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through His word, we say, Yes Lord, we will follow, we will
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obey, we will honor and glorify your precious name until you
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come again, as you most surely will in Jesus name, Amen.