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Volume 33   Number 15 Apr 12, 2009

        Last time in the message "HE MUST INCREASE," we looked at the events leading up to John the Baptist's life and the lifestyle he chose to live. John was a man sold out for the purpose of God, and he made sacrifices even from his childhood in obedience to the call on his life. Yet, even with all that John had seen and done, he still had his moment of doubt.
        Luke 7:18-19: Then the disciples of John reported to him concerning all these things. And John calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?" The Lord used John's moment of doubt as an open door to reveal Himself to John, his disciples, and the multitudes around Him.
        This week we are going to go a little deeper into the ministry of John and the affect of his ministry on the people and the culture of the day.
        John the Baptist was a man of God sent to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. Luke 3:4-6: As it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places made straight and the rough ways smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God."
        John was sent to bring change, and this is the very thing he did. John challenged the thinking of all the people and every aspect of the time in which he lived. God reached across every level of the culture in John's day through his ministry, and Luke 3 gives us a perfect picture of how this was done.
        First, in Verse 2, we read that the word of God came to John in the wilderness and not the high priests. This was not what the people were used to, as it was the high priest to whom the word was to come.
        Then in Verse 8, John challenges the theological thinking of the times when he tells them not to say to themselves that they have Abraham as their father. This would have been a big deal in that the hope of these people was that the promise of God was to come through the children of Abraham.
        Matthew 3:7—He rebukes the Pharisees and Sadducees: But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"
        Luke 3:2—The order of the high priest is bypassed: Annas and Caiaphas being high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.
        Luke 3:10—The people ask John what they should do: So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"
        Luke 3:12—The tax collectors ask John what they should do: Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"
        Luke 3:14—The solders ask John what to do: Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?"
        Luke 3:19—Herod rebuked by John: But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done...
        In these verses it shows us that John's ministry reached every level of the culture. Matthew 3:7 and Verse 3: Religion. Luke 3:10: The General Public. Luke 3:12: The Financial World. Luke 3:14: The Military. Luke 3:19: Politics.
        There was such a hunger for the things of God in those days that the people allowed John to shake their thinking, their faith, and their religious, financial, political, and military system. They were hungry enough to follow John the Baptist on a five-hour walk into the desert to be rebuked for their lifestyles, told to repent, and be dipped in the Jordan River.
        God is looking for those today who will allow Him to come in and bring the needed change that will allow a new thing to be released in them. In Luke 3:15-16, John told all the people that he was not the change they were looking for, but one even mightier than he was come.
        Luke 3:15-16: Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John whether he was the Christ or not, John answered saying to all, "I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
        John was telling them that the change they saw coming through him was nothing compared to what was to come. He was telling them to get ready now, because true change is just around the corner.
        Are we hungry enough to allow the Lord to shake all of who we are? Do we want the new thing God wants to do in our lives, our church, and our nation enough to follow after Him at all cost? LORD, LET OUR SOULS LONG FOR YOU AT ALL COST.

Matthew Clements