Prepare Ye The Way of The Lord

Sermon Transcript

It is great to see you all again. It is great to be up here again preaching — my first time preaching after we have officially started as a church. So it is quite exciting to be up here again delivering the word to you all this morning.

We are there in Matthew chapter 3, and the title of my sermon is Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord. Look at verse 3: "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." We see here that as John the Baptist has come onto the scene, he is fulfilling this prophecy that he would prepare the way of the Lord. And notice he is saying prepare ye the way of the Lord — ye is plural. He is telling us as well to prepare the way of the Lord, because of course Jesus Christ was coming.

I want to turn back first and explain what it means to prepare the way of the Lord. Turn to Isaiah 40, because this is where Matthew is quoting from.

What Does It Mean to Prepare the Way of the Lord?

Isaiah 40:1–5: "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."

And comfort here is more about strengthening somebody — you think of a fort, which means to strengthen. So he is saying strengthen my people. We can see a few things here about what it means to prepare the way of the Lord. We are making paths straight in the desert where things have gone crooked, doctrines have gone astray, and people have gone off the path. Every valley shall be exalted — a valley is a low place, so those that are low and humble and down are going to be lifted up. And every mountain and high place is going to be brought down low. Things are going to be evened out and brought back to their proper places. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together. When Luke quotes this, it says and all flesh shall see the salvation of God — when Jesus Christ comes and brings salvation.

Verse 6–8: "The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: the grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever." Who is the grass? It is you and me. It is the people, it is the flesh. Our life is short — it is but a vapour, we are here today and gone tomorrow. So we need to make use of our time and prepare the way of the Lord. Our time here is short, let us make use of it. And the word of our God shall stand forever.

Turn to James chapter 1 — keep your place in Isaiah 40 but turn to James.

James 1:9–10: "Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: but the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways." This reminds me of the parable of the sower — the seed that fell on the stony ground, and when the sun rose it was scorched because it had no root and withered away. We are grass, we are a plant, we are a seed growing up. Let us not let the sun rise — let us not let tribulation and persecution come in such a way that we fall away when that happens.

Verse 12: "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive a crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." That burning sun was that tribulation. We see there a bit more insight from James about what it means to prepare the way of the Lord — we are putting people back in their right place and teaching people to be able to endure and to get a different perspective on what is happening, because Jesus Christ is coming.

Go back to Isaiah 40. Verse 9: "O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!" When the New Testament quotes good tidings and glad tidings, we are talking about the gospel. That is a big part of preparing the way of the Lord — the gospel coming. Behold your God — that is what John the Baptist did. Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.

Now we see in verse 10 that behold the Lord God will come with a strong hand and his arm shall rule before him. Did Jesus rule at his first coming? Not yet. Did he bring his reward yet at his first coming? No — he says in Revelation that when he is coming again he will come quickly and bring his reward with him, and he will rule with a rod of iron. We can see here there is a dual fulfilment happening in this prophecy. Not everything was fulfilled at Christ's first coming. If Christ is coming again and not everything has yet been fulfilled, then somebody has to stand in the place of John the Baptist and prepare the way of the Lord for his second coming.

I love that we are called a Baptist church. I am preaching this morning about preparing the way of the Lord — not for his first coming, he has already done that — but for his second coming. Christ is coming again. And we as a Baptist church should take it upon ourselves to prepare this world for the coming of Jesus Christ again.

I want to look at the life and ministry of John the Baptist and see how he prepared the way of the Lord, how he fulfilled some of these things — as an example to us as a church to look at his life and apply it to ourselves.

Point 1: The Ministry of John the Baptist

Turn to John chapter 1.

John 1:6–7: "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." John came to be a witness unto Jesus Christ, to point people to Jesus Christ that they might believe and get saved. And of course we are called to be witnesses — ye shall be witnesses. He was not that light, but he was sent to bear witness of that light. It is not all about us. It is about us pointing people to Jesus and showing that light. Jesus is that light, and he also tells us that when he goes, we are also going to be the light of the world — we are reflecting that light, but we are not that light.

Verse 15–17: "John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." John the Baptist is preaching salvation by grace, not of works, not of the law of Moses. It is salvation by grace. If it be by grace, it is no more of works, and if it be of works, it is no more grace. John the Baptist is not muddling these things. He is contrasting — the law came by Moses, but now that Christ has come, it is grace.

Now a lot of people get confused about the preaching of John the Baptist and what he taught about salvation. In Matthew it says repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and we read that he is preaching the baptism of repentance. A lot of churches, even Baptist churches, get confused about what repentance means and try to say John the Baptist is somehow preaching repent of your sins salvation. He is not. He is saying it is by grace. And look, how are we supposed to make the path straight and prepare the way of the Lord if we do not even understand what repentance means for salvation? There are all these churches out there preaching a false repentance — repent of your sins — and they are sending people to hell. They are not making the path straight or making it clear for people.

What does repentance mean? It just means a change of mind, a turning. So if we are saved by believing in Jesus Christ, repenting means you are going from unbelief to belief. It is not about the works of the law, changing from your sin — that would be a works salvation.

When the Bible says he is preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, the for there means because. So it is being baptised because they have already received the remission of sins. Acts 19:4: "John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus." To preach the baptism of repentance, he is saying believe on Jesus. It is by grace. Believe in him. It is by faith alone. John the Baptist was making the path straight, teaching the right salvation. Why? Because the Pharisees and the Sadducees were teaching salvation by works, and he was coming along and correcting them, preaching the gospel.

John the Baptist baptised people — he went to Jordan where there was much water. When he baptised Jesus, he came up straightway out of the water. So he was baptising by full immersion after people had believed, because it is because of the remission of sins. He is baptising believers.

And we see that John the Baptist had disciples. John 1:35–36: "Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!" Everyone went out to him — all of Jerusalem and Judea and the region round about Jordan came out to him, and he was teaching them and preaching unto them. He had disciples. He was teaching people.

Does this all sound familiar? He preached the gospel. He baptised. He made disciples. John the Baptist was fulfilling the great commission before it was even a term. Of course he was doing a more localised one just in that area of Judea, but we have a global mandate to preach the gospel. And this is a big part of how we are going to prepare the world for Christ's second coming — by fulfilling the great commission just like John the Baptist did. That was point one, the ministry of John the Baptist. To sum it up, he was doing the great commission. And that is our calling as a church.

Point 2: The Preaching of John the Baptist

Turn to Luke chapter 3. Let us see the kind of things John the Baptist preached and get some lessons to apply to ourselves.

Luke 3:7: "Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" Now in Matthew it says that it was the Pharisees and the Sadducees who came unto him and these are the ones he is addressing. John the Baptist is out in the wilderness, in the middle of nowhere, and the Pharisees and Sadducees and false prophets are coming out to him to see what he is doing. These false prophets just cannot help themselves. They have to always check in and see what we are doing. Why? Because we are reaching people. We are preaching to people. We are getting people saved and teaching them the truth. And they have nothing going for them, so they have to come out and check. Why are you here? You generation of vipers — who told you that you are preaching a false gospel? Why are you coming out? A few weeks ago some random Orthodox guy on social media posted our tracts and said can you believe these people are handing out tracts at Chadstone, teaching people how to go to heaven? What do you care? Why are you posting our tracts? Because they know the power of God is there. They just cannot help themselves. And he warns them. He preaches against them. Look, any opportunity we get we are going to preach against the false prophets from this pulpit. We are going to preach against false religion and heresy because that is how we are going to prepare the way of the Lord.

Verse 8: "Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father." Part of preparing the way of the Lord — we have to preach against Zionism, against the false doctrine that the Jews physically are still the people of God. They are not. John the Baptist is preaching against this right here. People attack us for doing that, but we are just following John the Baptist. Just because Abraham is your physical descendant, it does not mean anything. "God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham." The Bible says they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. "And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." He is preaching against the unbelieving Pharisees and Sadducees and Jews — they are going to get cut off and cast away. And of course we are grafted in.

So we see John the Baptist preaching against false religion, against the religious leaders, against Zionism and dispensationalism.

Verse 10–11: "And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? He answered and said unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise." If you have goods and wealth and money and God has blessed you and your brother does not have, be generous — give unto them. It reminds me of James chapter 2, where it talks about if your brother is destitute of food and raiment and you say be ye warm and filled but you do not actually give him anything, you have a dead faith. He is preaching: if you have, give to those that have not.

Verse 12–13: "Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you." The publicans were Jews hired by the Romans to be tax collectors — very hated people. He is saying do not collect more than is due. Do not skim off the top. And for those of you out in the workplace or in business — do not add extra charges onto the bill, do not take money out of the till, do not steal from other people.

Verse 14: "And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages." For those of you who are working and on a wage — be content with what the Lord has given you. Do not try to make extra money by ill-gotten gains or gambling. Just be content with what God has given you and trust that he will provide.

We see here that John the Baptist is preaching hard against specific sins. A lot of churches get up and say sin is bad, do not do sin, and they never tell you what it is and what you are supposed to do. John the Baptist is being specific — to this person, get this sin out of your life; to that person, get this sin out of your life.

And there is a theme running through it — he is preaching against money, against people being greedy and trying to get gain. If you have more stuff, do not hold on to your possessions — give it to others. Do not be discontent with your wages and try to get more. Why is he preaching specifically about money? The Bible says no man can serve two masters, for he will hate the one and love the other. He cannot serve both God and Mammon. Money is what is going to stop people from getting saved — does not the Bible say how hard it is for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God? For the unsaved, they need to stop trusting in their riches to get saved. And for the saved, look — Christ is coming. You cannot serve him and follow him if you are too worried about your money and your business. Did the disciples not have to leave their fishing ships, forsake all, and follow Jesus Christ? And the parable of the sower — what is the seed that fell among the thorny ground? It was choked up with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life and brought no fruit to perfection. Jesus is coming. We have to serve him and be his disciples. We cannot do that if we are focused on money and the riches of this world.

Luke 3:18: "And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people." He is preaching many things — probably the whole counsel of God, everything unto them. That is what we need to do as well. We need to preach the whole counsel of God — hard preaching, specific preaching. This is going to reach people.

A lot of people, before they heard a gospel presentation, before they got saved, heard hard preaching first. People who love the truth and love righteousness are going to be drawn to this preaching and it is going to lead them to get saved. People think hard preaching pushes people away — it does, but it pushes the wrong people away. For those who love truth and righteousness, it is going to bring them to Christ.

Verse 19–20: "But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison." John the Baptist is preaching against sin in the government, against Herod who has taken his brother's wife. The Bible says that is adultery — whosoever marrieth her that is put away committeth adultery. He is not afraid to preach against people in government, celebrities, or celebrity pastors, because they are an example to everybody else. Do you remember in the book of Esther when king Ahasuerus asks his wife Vashti to come unto him and she refuses? His advisers say this deed of the queen shall come abroad to all women — when people in authority who are well-known get into sin, they are an example for everybody else. People are going to look at them and justify their sin because this celebrity is doing it, it must be fine. It becomes normalised in society. And John the Baptist is preaching against that.

Now look, in Australia today, maybe the most popular politician, Pauline Hanson, everyone is talking about her, saying she’s great, especially by conservatives. She is a divorced, remarried, short-haired, pant-wearing, atheist. This is who we are going to look up to to save our nation? No, we do not want that kind of wickedness being an example to our women, our daughters, and to conservatives. If we want to heal this land, the Bible says if my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will heal their land. Pauline Hanson is not going to save this country. It is going to be the Baptist churches getting away from their wicked ways, preaching hard against sin, going out and winning people to Christ, actually doing something and preparing the way of the Lord. The churches we have come out of are not doing their part.

Look, we cannot be afraid to preach against the sin in our government just like John the Baptist did, and against the sin amongst our celebrities, because it affects all of us. Hard preaching to the unsaved is going to bring them to Christ — it is going to be a schoolmaster to bring them to Christ. And for the saved, it is going to help you get right with God, because Jesus Christ is coming. Prepare the way of the Lord.

Point 3: The Characteristics of John the Baptist

Turn to Luke chapter 1. Let us look at the origins of John the Baptist.

Luke 1:5–6: "There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless." John the Baptist had good, godly parents. He did not just come out of nowhere — he was raised well in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And for us as Soulwinning Baptist Church Melbourne, we have not come out of nowhere either. We were started by a good, godly pastor — Pastor Matthew Stucky in the Philippines, who himself had good, godly spiritual parents at that time as well. It is important that we have good parents and that we be good parents. A lesson to all of us is to be godly parents to our children — to raise them well, to raise up little John the Baptists who are going to go out and prepare the way of the Lord.

Verse 13–15: "But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost." Here is a good example for us — drink no wine and strong drink. The Bible contrasts be not drunk with wine but be filled with the Holy Ghost. We should not look upon the wine. We should be sober and stay away from that stuff in order to be filled with the Holy Ghost and be more effective in preaching the gospel.

Verse 16–17: "And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

Verse 76–79: "And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." Bringing light, bringing illumination, preaching the truth unto this dark world.

Verse 80: "And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing to Israel." He is out in the desert, out in the wilderness. He is not some mainline church. He is not in the synagogues and in the temple. He has not come from this long tradition of priests. We do not come out of the Catholic Church and we are not part of that tradition. We are coming out of the wilderness. People think — oh, it is this Baptist church just starting up, just doing whatever, who are these people? That was John the Baptist. He came out of the wilderness. He did not appear to be anybody special. He had raiment of camel's hair and a leather girdle about his loins, and his meat was locusts and wild honey. He was not some big famous celebrity preacher in a big building in a cathedral. He was just a humble guy out there in the wilderness preaching. And yet Jesus said of him: what went ye out into the wilderness to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. But what went ye out to see? A prophet? Yea, and I say unto you, and more than a prophet. John the Baptist was just this humble guy out there — he was not part of any big, important lineage. We are not going to be the popular ones. We are not going to be the ones in the big city with the big building. And that is okay. We are wilderness Baptists out here. Amen.

The Bible says about John the Baptist he was the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Crying does not mean weeping — it means to lift up your voice loudly. "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet." Show my people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. We as independent fundamental Baptists are often accused of being too loud, shouting too much, being too mean. This is how John the Baptist preached. This is how others in the Bible preached. They lifted up their voice like a trumpet. We are showing this is serious, that it actually matters, that it actually means something. We want you to hear what we are saying because what we have to say is important.

Turn back to John chapter 1.

John the Baptist is a rough guy out there. We get accused of being ignorant, simple, too mean, not talking about theology or church history. I am sure John the Baptist got that too — just this crazy guy in the wilderness with weird clothes and weird food, just shouting. But the people came out to him. No matter what he looked like, people could feel the power of God and they came out to him. And if he is just some nobody out in the wilderness, why are the Pharisees and Sadducees bothering to come out to him? Same with Jesus Christ — they came tempting him and trying to trip him up. If he is a nobody, why do they care?

John 1:29: "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 the Baptist is pointing people to Jesus. It is not about him and his ministry and building a mega church. It is about Jesus and bringing people to Jesus and pointing people to Jesus Christ.

Turn to John chapter 3.

John 3:26–30: "And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease." This is the attitude of John the Baptist and it should be our attitude too. It is all about Jesus Christ, serving him, obeying him. It is not about us, not about our reputation, not about growing a big church or a big ministry. It is about pointing people to Jesus Christ.

And look — if we lose people, John was losing disciples to Jesus and he said great, they should be following him. If we lose disciples to other people, it is not about building a big mega church here. If it was, we would not be out soul-winning and preaching to people because they get saved and then — where are they? They are not here. But they are saved. If it were all about building up numbers we would be doing something else. It is about Jesus Christ. It is not about us.

John 10:41: "And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true." And yet Jesus said of John: among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist. He did no miracle. Look, sorry Pentecostals — we are Baptists and we are not doing miracles, and we do not need to. We have the power of God here. We can be the greatest without miracles. So much of the Bible involves people who are not doing miracles. John the Baptist did no miracles, and for 400 years after the closing of the Old Testament there were no miracles. Christ is coming again, and those who are preparing the way before him do not need miracles. We have the power of God, and that is more effective than any miracle could ever be. There will be plenty of miracles when Jesus comes back — the two witnesses and everything else. We do not need them. John the Baptist did not need them.

Point 4: The Tribulation of John the Baptist

Turn to Matthew 11.

We read at the end of Luke 3 that after John preached against Herod he was thrown in prison. Look, we do not suffer tribulation merely because we are out preaching the gospel and minding our own business. We suffer tribulation because we preach hard against sin. Because we are preaching against Herod. Because we are preaching against the sodomite agenda. Because we are preaching against the Zionist agenda. Because we are preaching it from the housetops and everyone can hear. That is where the tribulation comes from, and that is where John got his tribulation.

All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. In this world ye shall have tribulation — the Bible says be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. We are not going to be avoiding tribulation here on earth. If we plan to be a church like John the Baptist that preaches hard and prepares the way, people are going to notice, and when that happens we need to be ready and prepared for it. There are a lot of Baptists today who think they will not go through the tribulation — they think they are going to get raptured out before it happens. They are already acting like they will not have to face tribulation, and they are not doing anything. That is not going to be us. The end times say it was given unto the Antichrist to make war with the saints — and the saints are us. It is going to happen. We are going to be here for the end times tribulation, so we might as well expect it before then.

Now, think about this for a second. Remember John the Baptist's mother Elizabeth? Remember in Luke chapter 1 when she met with Mary and they were both pregnant together, and John leapt in the womb with the Holy Spirit? Do you not think Elizabeth told John that Mary was carrying the Messiah? He would have known that Jesus was coming on the scene at some point. We know as well that Jesus Christ is coming back again. So we should act like it. The other Baptist churches in Melbourne — do they not believe in imminency? Do they not preach that he could come back today? What are they doing if he is coming back today? You would think they would be out there giving the gospel, preaching hard. I bet John the Baptist had the attitude that Jesus was coming at any moment and he had to prepare the way. He did not know exactly when, but he came. Let us be a church that is expecting the return of Jesus Christ. Let us be a church that knows we have little time. All flesh is grass. We have only a little time to prepare the way of this world for Christ's coming. Let us act like that. Whether it happens in our lifetime or not, we need that attitude that Christ is coming and we have to prepare the way of the Lord. Who else is going to do it? The Calvinists, the Pentecostals, the Catholics, the non-denominationals? They are not going to prepare the way of the Lord. We have to do it.

Matthew 11:2–6: "Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, and said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me."

John the Baptist is in prison and having a bit of a weak moment of doubt. And look, it is easy to criticise him, but I have never been in prison. I do not know what that would be like. But I love John's attitude here — he goes and he inquires of Jesus Christ. He goes back to the Bible. Hey, is this true? Are you the one who should come? When you are down and doubting because you have been persecuted, when you are maybe in prison for preaching against the sodomites and you start to think, should I really have said that? Is that really what the Bible says? Well, go back to the Bible. Do not look up YouTube. Do not go to some Catholic priest or non-denominational pastor. Do not inquire of your own evil heart. Go back to the word of God. And I love what Jesus says — go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see. You already know it. You have already heard it. If you are doubting the reprobate doctrine, open up your Bible. Romans 1 — oh, it is there. Whatever it might be, just go back to the Bible. This should be our foundation and where we get our truth from.

When tribulation comes, when it gets hard, when we are persecuted — remember the souls saved at the door. Remember the work that you have done for the Lord, the lives changed. Remember what God has done for you and what he has been able to do through you. The Bible does not change. The word of the Lord endureth forever.

Jesus said in John 16:4: "These things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them." He was talking about persecution — they will put you out of the synagogues, they will kill you. He is saying remember I told you about this. Remember what I have already told you and warned you, that ye be not offended. John the Baptist was thrown in prison. We might be thrown in prison. I do not know what is going to happen, but we have already been warned about it. We have already seen the example. So do not get offended when it happens. Just remember what it is all for and what it is all worth.

Turn to Matthew 14.

Matthew 14:3–11: "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." Here we see that the end of John the Baptist was beheading. Now what is going to happen in the end times in the tribulation? The Bible says in Revelation 20: and I saw the souls of them which were beheaded for the witness of Jesus. Those end time saints are going to lose their head just like John the Baptist lost his head. But he prepared the way of the Lord and he was prepared to have that end. If that is our end, we need to be prepared for it. If Christ comes back in our lifetime, that might be our end. But all glory to God because we are going to live and reign with Christ for a thousand years. His rewards are going to be brought with him.

I did not say it was going to be easy to prepare the way of the Lord. I did not say taking on this mantle of John the Baptist is going to be easy. It is going to be hard. But it is going to be worth it. God is going to reward us in the end.

Conclusion

Turn to Daniel 11.

Christ is coming again. He had three and a half years for his first coming and he is going to have three and a half years for his second coming — because he comes in the middle of Daniel's 70th week, that seven-year period. That is when the rapture happens. And he is going to be pouring out his wrath up to the end until he comes and subdues all kingdoms and rules for a thousand years. We need to prepare the way. When we get raptured up, the preaching is not going to stop — the 144,000 are going to be raised, the two witnesses are going to be there. They are going to continue ministering and enter into our labours. The more effective we can be at reaching people now, the more effective they are going to be in the end times as well.

Daniel 11:31–33: "And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days." Would you not love to have that said about you — that you did exploits? You were that end times generation that did great exploits. There is going to be a great generation in the end times. We might be it or not, I do not know. But let us prepare like we are going to be. Let us get ready like we are going to be. And prepare the way for the Lord.

Jesus said in Matthew 24: "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." We have to fulfil that great commission before the end comes. Let that be our mission. Christ is coming again. Who is going to prepare the way of the Lord? Let that be us.

We saw the ministry of John the Baptist — he fulfilled the great commission locally. We are going to do that on a global scale. We saw the preaching of John the Baptist — how he preached hard against sin, against wickedness, against false religion. We saw the characteristics of John the Baptist. And we saw the tribulation of John the Baptist. Let these things be an example to us to follow in his footsteps.

Father God, we just thank you that you are coming again to end the wickedness of this world and to set up your kingdom on this earth. We pray Lord that you help us as a church and as Baptists to get in our minds that we are here to prepare the way for you — to preach to people, to get people right, to get people ready for your coming again. Pray that you will help us and bless us and that your will will be done for this church. We pray that you bless our fellowship afterwards and bless our soul-winning as well. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.