For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (Romans 8:13,14)
Introduction
I got this outline last Sunday, in like 30 seconds. While Brother Jeremy was preaching last Sunday, I glanced over and saw this text and thought that sounds like a message to me. And I realized later that it was exactly what I was looking for to help us with Romans 8:13,14 and this matter of mortifying the deeds of the body. Turn with me over to Matthew 14
At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him. For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife. For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet. But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod. Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask. And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger. And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath’s sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her. And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison. And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother. And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus. (Matthew 14:1-12)
As wicked as Herodias may sound in instructing her daughter, there may be some instruction here for us. Her instructions were this, “Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger.” In Mark, it’s stated, “Give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist.” I thought maybe there’s something in these instructions that could help us. So I’m preaching this morning on Give me John the Baptist’s Head in a Charger!
As I’ve stated previously, we’re coming close to the end of this great passage regarding the Spirit of God. And this last statement through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body is quite a charge. And I tried to help understand it by title the last message Kill or Be Killed; to perhaps bring out the seriousness of the matter. And there’s so much to say I can never put it all in one message. But one thing I got coming out of that message was a lack of application. I want to give us something concrete and practical to take home with us, to try, something to do.
Sometimes, you get into spiritual matters and we never really touch on the practical physical things here on earth things. In other words, as we learn about through the Spirit mortifying the deeds of the body, my question is what can we do to get this done.? How can we accomplish this? How do we kill the deeds of the flesh. How do we stamp them out? How do we conquer them? How do we have victory over the flesh? I don’t know about you, but I have hard time transferring Biblical knowledge into the now and today. How do we apply physically, and temporally, in the here and now, what we learn about spiritual things and Biblical things?
So I thought maybe we should rephrase the question. Maybe instead of trying to learn how we are to do these things, we should learn how they did these things. I want to think right so I thought maybe I should look at someone in the Bible that did think right. Amen? This week, we had some concrete poured at the shop. It was the second section of this project I’m working on. Well, we did the first one by ourselves. Me and Joel from the shop and Franky and Finny and Phillip tackled it. Well, it got done. But the second time, I thought maybe we should get the professionals to do it, that way we can watch them and learn how to do it. We about killed ourselves and after you see what the professional job looked like, you realize what a sorry job you actually did. So this time, I hired someone that’s been doing it for 40 years. And I learned alot. Why? Because I got to study someone that already knows how to do it. They made it look real easy.
Well, I’m applying the same thing to the Bible. I’m gonna look at someone that has already blazed the trail so to speak; someone that already know what he’s doing. So I thought maybe we ought to look at John the Baptist. After all, he was the one person in the entire Bible that was filled the Holy Ghost from his mother’s womb.
And is not what this is all about? These things are synonymous. You can’t through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body unless you’re filled with the Spirit. You cannot be led by the Spirit of God unless you are filled with the Spirit of God. So I would think that in order to understand the filling of the Holy Spirit in order that we can accomplish things that the Bible sets forth, it would behoove us to study the one man in the Bible that was filled with the Spirit from his mother’s womb.
So I want to know what is going on in John the Baptist’s head. That’s why I’m saying Give me John the Baptist Head in a Charger! A charger is something that food is served on. Let’s see what’s going on in that head of his, Amen? Maybe there’s something there that we can feast on? Is that too weird for you? Jesus said, “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:54) This is an hard saying, who can hear it? Don’t get too grossed out because you’ll leave here and eat cow face, and cow tongue, and cow brains, amen?
I saw this in the Bible the other day. It’s was toward the end of Deuteronomy before they were to enter into that promised land. My Scofield Bible entitles it The law of warfare. This is how the children of Israel were to conduct war against the people of the land. Hey! We’re at war with this flesh. Let’s not play games with it anymore. God told the children of Israel, “When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.” (Deuteronomy 20:10) We’re way past this point. The flesh will never make peace with the Spirit of God.
The Bible says regarding Ishmeal the child of the flesh and Isaac the child of promise, ” He that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.” (Galatian 4:29) The Bible says “The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other…” (Galatians 5:17) In Genesis, from the begining, the Lord said, “My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh…” (Genesis 6:3) The flesh is not going to just lay over. There is no peace in the flesh.
So then, Deuteronomy goes on to say, “If it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it!” (Deuteronomy 20:12) Thou shalt besiege it. That means to cut off all the roads. Nobody in. Nobody out. Blow up the bridges. Cut off the water supply. Bring down the power grid. Burn the crops. Slaughter the cattle. Cut off the food supply. Surround it with everything you got. Besiege it! Paul said, “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” (Romans 13:14) Make not provision. That means don’t feed it. That means thou shalt besiege it.
John the Baptist was the Storm’n Norman of the Spirit. We want to see what is going on in John the Baptist head. We want to know what things he used to besiege the flesh. We want to know what did he use to do this spiritual warfare. Bring me John the Baptist Head on a Charger.
#1 The Law
For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife. For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. (Matthew 14:3,4)
One thing on John’s mind was the law, the law of God. He said it is not lawful for thee to have her. John knew the law. The Bible says, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” (Psalm 1:1,2)
You want to besiege the flesh. You want victory over your flesh. Besiege it with the law. Know the law. Read the law. Learn the law. Meditate on the law, day and night. Joshua told the people before the went to battle, before they went to war, he said, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. (Joshua 1:8)
We’ll never be prosperous over the flesh and have good success over the flesh if we don’t get into this book! Read the Word of God. Breathe the Word of God. Feed on the Word of God. Have a greed for the Word of God. Get to where you need the Word of God. We ought to get so much of the Bible in us that we bleed the Word of God. If we do that then we’ll heed the Word of God. If we let the Word of God lead, then our every deed will be in the Word of God.
Day and night. Day and night. Not once a week. You know what will happen if you only look at the Bible, the Word of God once a week? Nothing. Absolutely nothing will happen. If all you get from the Bible is what some preacher reads to you from the pulpit on Sunday morning, you will be a spiritual runt all the days of your life. You’ll never grow.
What will happen to your physical body if you do 10 sit-ups once a week? Nothing. What will happen to your physical body if you eat a salad once a week and eat pizza, hamburgers, french fries, and junk the rest of the week? Nothing good. What will happen if you snack on the Bible once a week? Absolutely nothing. If you think that little picture on Facebook with half a scripture pasted on it from some a perverted bible is going to cut it, you’re sadly mistaken. It’s going to take more than that.
In his law doth he meditate day and night. Day and night. John the Baptist had the law in his head. “It’s not lawful for thee to have her…” You know what the law does? It strips the fig leaves off the flesh. It strips the filthy rags off the flesh and exposes it. It burns up our righteousness. We have to give the Spirit of God something to work with. I hear he’s real good with a sword. Paul said, “Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:17) The law was in John the Baptist’s head.
#2 Leather and Locusts
And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. (Matthew 3:4)
Another thing on John’s mind was leather and locusts. Jesus said, “Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.” (Luke 12:22) It’s not that John the Baptist constantly had leather and locusts on his minds, rather that leather and locusts in his mind were sufficient. Amen.
The bible says that “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” Just like the Spirit coupled with his sword, the word of God, can subdue the enemy, godliness with contentment can do the same thing. The Spirit, that’s godliness, with contentment is great gain against the flesh.
The flesh is always worried about what it’s going to wear. The flesh is always worried about what it’s going to eat. It wants to look the best, and it wants to eat the best. It wants to be dressed and stuffed. It’s constantly complaining about it’s wardrobe. It’s always says it’s hungry. It never looks good enough. It’s belly is never full. The flesh is never satisfied. It’s always worried about these things.
Yet Jesus said, “And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Luke 12:29-31)
Oh Yes, contentment in the life of the Christian and priorities being right go hand in hand. If we don’t practice some contentment, we’ll never get our priorities straight. And when priorities are set right, our practices will be made right. That’s why John the Baptist said, “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Repentance is the death blow to the flesh; and the pot of gold to the Spirit. Amen. But it starts with learning some contentment. Contentment is the grease that allows our priorities to move and change. With contentment, we can seek the kingdom of God instead of food and raiment. And when we get our minds stayed on the kingdom, then repentance and subjugation of the flesh, mortification of the deeds of the body can take place.
How do I know this? Because that’s the will of God. Subjugation of the flesh, mortification of the deeds of the body is the work of the Holy Ghost, (He said through the Spirit) the result of being filled with the Holy Ghost, and being filled with the Holy Spirit is the will of God; Ephesians 5:17,18, “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.”
Jesus prayed, “Thy kingdom come, they will be done.” Those two things go hand in hand. But God’s will is never going to be done, if we don’t seek ye first the kingdom of God. And we are never going to seek first the kingdom of God until we get in our head that what John the Baptist had in his head; that leather and locusts is perfectly sufficient.
#3 The Lord
In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. (Matthew 3:1-3)
Another thing on John’s mind was the Lord, particularly the Lord’s Day. There is coming a day that the earth will shake, the waters will turn to blood, the trees will burn with fervant heat. Nations will rise up against nation. There will be wars and rumors of wars. There is a day coming and it is the great and terrible Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord is darkness and not light.
John says, “Prepare ye the way!” John was a prepper. He believed; it was in his head; what was important to him was preparing for the LORD. The Bible says:
Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. (Matthew 24:42-36)
Jesus said, “Therefore be ye also ready!” Be prepared for the coming of the Lord. I believe we can do this if we always have the Lord on our mind. Not just God, but the LORD God. The Lord is a little different from just God. Lord means God is the Master, the Head. Nowadays people want a Savior, but they don’t want a Lord.
Many years ago, there was a term that people threw around alot, Lordship Salvation. I’m not really sure what the whole debate was about. But when you get saved, God is not just your Savior, but he’s your Lord. I’ll just say this plainly. People just don’t like being told what to do. I see it in the workers at work. I see it in my children. I see it in myself. My wife and I have joke going. Sometmes, there’s something that needs to be done and we’re getting ready to do it. But then the other one comes and says, “Hey you need to that something that needs to be done.” Then we say, “Ahh forget it. I’m not going to do it now. You should’t have told me to do it!”
All that is the flesh. The flesh wants to be sovereign. That means that the flesh wants to call the shots. But if we would put the Lord on our mind and remember that the Lord is truly sovereign. The Lord omnipotent reigneth in the affairs of men. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. When the presence of the Lord is near, we move a little faster. We work a little harder. We take less breaks. We are more diligent. We’re more thorough. We’re more aware of our time and our task.
Why? Because the Lord is on our mind. The master. The husbandman. John had set it is his heart and mind to do the Lord’s bidding. John wanted to know what does the Lord expect of me. What does the Lord want to accomplish in me today? Would the Lord approve of what I’m about to do? How would the Lord want me to go about this?
The Lord is coming, and I must be prepared. I must be ready. I must get done what he expects me to get done. The master is on the way. Don’t give precious resources to the flesh to waste, but yield them to the Spirit of God that the work of God may be done. Always have in mind, as John the Baptist did, the Lord is on the way.
#4 The Light
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. (John 1:6-9)
Another thing in John’s head was the Light, the Light of the World. The reason why John the Baptist had the Light of the World in his head was because he was bearing witness of the Light. He was out there testifying and telling about the one that was mightier than him; the one that he was unworthy even to untie his shoes. He was witnessing about the Lord Jesus Christ. He was being an instrument that God used to shine that Light through the darkness and unto the souls of men.
He had made himself, his mouth and his mind, available that God might use them to shine the glorious Light that all men through him might believe. That Light was what was on his mind.
Brightly beams our Father’s mercy,
From His lighthouse evermore,
But to us He gives the keeping
Of the lights along the shore.
Let the lower lights be burning!
Send a gleam across the wave!
Some poor *struggling, fainting seaman
You may rescue, you may save.
Remember, we’re talking about having victory over the flesh. We’re talking about besieging the flesh, mortifying the deeds of the body. John the Baptist was bearing witness of the Light. Think about this: The bible says “The light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” (John 1:5) Now the flesh is in darkness and flesh does not comprehend the Light. “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14) You want to confuse the flesh? You want to set the flesh in disarray? “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
Confusion is a part of the siege. This is a war tactic. Confuse the enemy. If you want to confuse the flesh, get a burden for the lost. If you want to confuse the flesh, try caring for the spiritual welfare of others. Don’t get that mixed up with criticizing the spiritual welfare of others, that will help the flesh. No, care for the spiritual welfare of others. Have they ever been saved? Don’t start by asking them. Start by asking the Lord. Start praying for the lost people in your life. If you don’t have a burden for them, ask God to give you one for them. Praying for people to be saved – you talk about starving the flesh.
But don’t stop with prayer. Look for opportunities to bear witness of the Light. The Bible says that John the Baptist was sent to bear witness. Consider that every person you meet or interact with on this green earth is a missionary prospect that God has sent you to to witness. Every morning you wake up in the mission field. All day long, you labor to be a witness for God; to tell people the amazing grace of Jesus Christ. Everywhere we go, every thing we do, and every word we say has purpose; that others may believe in the only begotten Son of God; that sinners might get saved; that the Holy Ghost would somehow turn the light on for some lost soul.
John the Baptist had Light on his mind. Once again, this besiege the flesh; weaken the flesh; mortify the deeds of the body. Why? Who’s will is fulfilled and obeyed when we witness for the Lord? The Bible says that “The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) What word was John the Baptist most remember for? Repent. To witness of the Light is not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. It’s God’s will that sinners repent. And when God’s will is done, the flesh is confused and disappointed and discouraged because the flesh’s will is not done.
Keep the light burning in your soul. Don’t let it go out.
#5 The Lake
And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not; John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable. (Luke 3:5-17)
Another thing on John the Baptist’s mind was the Lake, the Lake of Fire. He said, “But the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.”
And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. (Mark 9:43-48)
John the Baptist said, “But the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.” He had the lake of fire on his mind. The Bible says that “Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire… And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:14,15) The Bible says of the rich man in hell, “And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.” (Luke 16:24)
John the Baptist said, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:36) Maybe we would be a little more concerned about spreading the Light and witnessing of that Light if we were thinking more about that outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, and the lake of fire where there will be torments and pain and anguish of soul.
Instead, we’ve got our mind on Lake Corpus Christi. We’re more concerned about the fun that the flesh could have. They say the rich man is more concerned for the lost and worried about the lake of fire that the average Christian today. He said, “I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him (Lazarus) to my father’s house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.” (Luke 16:27,28)
The flesh doesn’t care about saving souls. The flesh will drag you to hell if you let it. One way to besiege the flesh, to render him impotent, to cut his power, is to get yourself a vision of hell and lost loved ones going down into it. Get a vision of the lake of fire. John did. He saw Jesus in all his glory all the way to Revelation 20 and lake of fire. He said, “The chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire!”
#6 The Lamb
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)
This kinds of brings us to the next thing on John the Baptist’s mind; that’s the Lamb, the Lamb of God. John’s head was on the Lamb. I don’t understand all this, but John the Baptist may have been the only one on earth besides Jesus at that time to comprehend God’s plan of redemption for man. John could not have said that lest he had known 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
John the Baptist must have already known what John the Apostle wrote decades later: “He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2) The people didn’t understand it. Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”. (John 2:19) But the people thought he was talking about Herod’s temple when he was really talking about his body. Not even the disciples understood this while Jesus was among them. Jesus tried to tell them, but Peter wouldn’t hear anything about dying in Jerusalem. The Bible says that “Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.” (Matthew 16:22)
But John the Baptist, who was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb saw Jesus walking down to the Jordan river and something clicked in that head of his and he pointed and said “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Can we use our imagination just a bit?
John knew in his head that the thousands and thousands of lambs of men that were offered on the brazan altar would never be fully sufficient. In John’s head he knew the words of Abraham, “My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt-offering.” (Genesis 21:8) And all his life, he prayed and asked the Lord, like Isaac did, “Behold the fire and wood: but where is the lamb?” And that day at the Jordan River, God revealed it unto John, “Behold the Lamb of God.”
John the Baptist said “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” But in his head, he knew he saw his lamb. The bible says that every man a lamb. The bible says your lamb shall be without blemish. (Exodus 12) I know that God so loved the world; that God loved the church; but I like the way Paul put it: “I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) In John the Baptist head, he knew he needed a lamb. He knew he needed the grace of God. He knew it was just the mercy of God that kept him from utter destruction.
Paul said, that’s how I live. I live by the faith of the Son of God; with the Lamb of God ever before me to remind me that his blood was shed for me. Like the song Rock of Ages says, “In my hands no price I bring, but simply to thy cross I cling.” The song writer writes about the labor of his hands, his respiteless zeal, and his flowing tears. But he said “All for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and Thou alone.” He is my personal lamb of God. He loved me and gave himself for me.
With the Lamb of God on our minds, the cross of Calvary on our minds, the mercy of God on our minds (taking our sin upon his shoulders and nailing it to the cross), with the all-sufficient, finished work of Jesus Christ on our minds… we have great protection and great advantage over the flesh. Paul said on your head to put on the helmet of salvation. I am saved! I am no longer condemned to hell. The Spirit of God dwells in me, and he’s in charge now. Therefore, the flesh no longer has dominion over me. Paul said, “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” (Romans 6:11,12)
Don’t obey it. Obey God. See, it’s all in your head. It’s about understanding your standing. When you were lost, you could obey God til you were blue in the face. It didn’t get you any closer to God. It didn’t get you any closer to heaven. It didn’t change the fact that the Devil was your father, the flesh was your master. If anything obeying God’s commands while you were lost only made you an unfaithful servant of the devil. You were working on the wrong ranch. But when you get saved, when you get born again, you are now a child of God and now obeying God makes sense. He’s your Father, your King, your master, and your friend. And now obeying the flesh and obeying the devil doesn’t make sense anymore.
It’s not so much about ability; but rather accountability. Who are you now accountable to? Well it’s the one that owns you. Peter said, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:” (1 Peter 1:18,19) Behold the Lamb of God. Shall we never cease in our minds to behold the Lamb of God.
Obey the Lamb, and ignore the flesh. You know what happens when you ignore a dog? It may try to get your attention for a little while, but stick with it. Don’t feed it. Don’t pet it. Leave it alone. Ignore it, and he’ll go away.
#7 The Lame and the Leper
Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. (Luke 7:22)
Another thing we find in John’s head are the lame and lepers. This is the passage in the New Testament that brings us to a reality in serving God; and that is discouragement. If John the Baptist, who was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb, could get discouraged and even doubt that Jesus was truly the son of God, then any of us can be discouraged. Any of us can have doubts and be dismayed by our circumstances. If John the Baptist can, anybody can.
He was put up in prison, and sent out two disciples to ask Jesus, “Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?” John saw the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus and remembered that God said to him that “upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the seame is he which baptizeth wit the Holy Ghost.” God told him who Jesus was. And then John knew in his heart when he saw Jesus. He said “Behold the Lamb of God!” But for some reason, being penned up in prison, he began to doubt. He began to change his mind about the things he was certain of weeks ago. He was discouraged.
That’s exactly what the flesh will do when it starts to get the best of you. It will play mind tricks on you. Things that are not so will suddenly be so. And things that are so will suddenly be not so. God never changes. Jesus the same yesterday, today, and forever. It’s not God that changes, it’s our minds that change. It’s the flesh that tricks the mind. And that’s what was happening to John the Baptist. He was filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother’s womb, but try being filled with the Holy Ghost from Herod’s prison.
So those two disciples of John came to Jesus and asked, “Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?” And Jesus had just finished curing diseases and plagues, casting out evil spirits, and giving sight to the blind. He said to the two disciples, “Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.” (Luke 7:19-23)
It may be that this was the very things that John the Baptist was thinking about when they took his life (or his head). Theses were electrical impulses that were travelling around in his head the moment the power was cut off. Think about this. He was discouraged and hurting and reached out to Jesus for help. And Jesus gave him something to think about while he was there in the prison. I’m sure the disciples got back to John and told him, “John, it’s him. The blind see. The lame walk. The lepers are cleansed. The deaf hear. The dead are raised. The gospel is preached. John, remember what Isaiah prophesied. It’s him. It is the acceptable year of the Lord!” And shortly after that, John heard the footsteps of the soldiers coming down the hallway take that which belonged to him, his head.
The lame walk. The lepers are cleansed. Jesus knew that was going to happen to John. I wouldn’t doubt for one second that Jesus gave that specifically to John to help him through this time. If it will help John the Baptist through his trial and his time of discouragement, it will help us if we’d get it in our heads. The lame walk! The lepers are cleansed! Look, your situation may not be good, and may not get any better. But I want to say this. The lame walk! The lepers are cleansed! Let me say plainly my application.
We’ve got alot to praise God for! Maybe things aren’t so hot for you right now, but praise God you’re saved. And someone somewhere is getting saved. Somewhere the Holy Ghost is birthing someone into the family of God like you once were. Somewhere a baby Christian is being brought forth. Someone is being touched by God the way you were touched. Someone’s life out there is being changed the way yours was. Someone out there is being rescued from hell the way you were. Someone out there is being delivered with a mighty hand from the bondage of sin like you were. Bless the Lord. It’s wonderful to see and hear God moving in the lives of sinners. There’s joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. Why don’t you get in on some of that joy. Bless the Lord. It is the acceptable year of the Lord!
We’ve got alot to look forward too! The lame walk. The lepers are cleansed. That’s a big deal but compared to what God has in store for us, can I say this? That’s nothing. Just wait until you get your glorified body. Just wait until all this is said and done, “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” (1 Corinthians 15:51,53)
We’ve got alot to look forward too! “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18) Get your eyes off your circumstances; and take a glimpse of your eternal future, your everlasting inheritance. And I’d like to stress here your future; not everyone else’s future. Your future.
This truth or admonition reminds me alot of Moses. You all remember what happened to Moses when he struck the rock instead of speaking to the rock. God was wroth. He didn’t like that and he banned Moses from crossing into the promised the land. “And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.” (Numbers 20:12) That was in Numbers when it happened. If you get a change to read that you’ll notice that Moses doesn’t respond. He doesn’t argue with God about it. Nothing more is said about the matter there.
Well, later on in the scriptures, more is revealed about that incident. When we get to Deuteronomy, Moses is telling the people of Israel about going over the into the promised land, about how God is going to fight for them, and about how God has given them this land, and about how they are to possess the land. Well, Moses said, “And I besought the LORD at that time, saying… I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebaonon.” (Deuteronomy 3:23,25) “Lord, let me go over. I want to walk on the soil of the promised land. I want to see you fight our battles and give us victory and give us this land. Lord, let me go over.”
But God said no. And then in the end, Moses went up to the top of Mount Pisgah. The Lord showed him all the land of Canaan, where all the tribes would live, all the land of Judah, Dan, Napthalit, Ephraim, Manasseh, unto the utmost sea. He saw the south, the valley of Jericho, and unto Zoar. The Bible says, “And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.” (Deuteronomy 34:4)
He could have seen all that land again and gotten discouraged. Everybody is going to go over but me. I had to struggle in Egypt, the back side of the desert, the wilderness. Why can’t I go over the river Jordan and possess the land like everybody else? No. He didn’t. He was content with his future. Before Moses’ final days, he and Joshua were in the tabernacle and the Lord God was there. (Deuternomy 31:!6)”And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.”
God told Moses “You’re not going to have to go through all that over there in the promised land. You’re coming up here. Remember Moses, when you said, Lord, show me thy glory? You’re gonna behold it in just a few days. You’re not going over into the land I swear to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Instead, you’re coming up here and you’re going to have fellowship with me, and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Like that thief on the cross, Jesus said, “Today thou shalt be with me in paradise.”
We’ve got a lot to look forward to. We’ve got a whole lot to praise God for. The lame walk. The lepers are cleansed. What does that mean? It means the day of the Lord is at hand. It means to look up, for your redemption draweth nigh. It means this thing is almost over. Keep your eyes on the prize.
Conclusion
“When thou comest high unto a city to fight against it… If it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it!” Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof. Thou shalt besiege it. How do we cut off the roads? how do we blow up the bridges? How do we cut off the water? Cut off the power? Be filled with the Spirit. John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb.
Give me John the Baptist Head in a Charger! What was going on in John the Baptist head? The Law? Leather and Locusts? The Lord? The Light? The Lake? The Lamb? The Lame and the Leper? I believe that if we’d set our minds on these things, we through the Spirit can mortify the deeds of the flesh.
I want to say this: These things that we’ve covered require action on our part. God is not going to sprinkle some magic dust on you that will make you read your bible, or make you content, or any of these things. There’s a part that we must play in all of this. There’s a choice we must make in all of this. You’re just going to have to decide, who’s on the Lord’s side?
Leave a Reply