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Crying in the Wilderness
By Watchman | September 16, 2009
In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3:1,2)
And he {John the Baptist} went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the words of Isaiah the prophet, 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 shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?…And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” So the people asked him, “What shall we do then?” He answered…”He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise….Collect no more than what is appointed for you….do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.” (Luke 3:2-14)
For Herod had laid hold of John and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. Because John had said to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” (Matthew 14:3-4)
Many people heeded the words of the great prophet John the Baptist and repented of sin and were baptized in the Jordan River. John knew that it was his cousin Jesus Who would be the ultimate Savior of the world, but he paved the way for Jesus by preaching baptism for forgiveness of sin. Yet, even then, there were many people who did not want to hear that they were so sinful that they needed to bow their knee and repent before the Almighty God. Herod’s queen, Herodias, demanded that John the Baptist’s head be brought to her on a platter during a party because he had dared tell Herod that it was sinful of him to be living with his brother’s wife. Actually, not much has changed since those days: most people choose not to hear the “voice of one crying in the wilderness”; will not accept that their actions are sinful enough to be unacceptable to our Lord.
A recent study found (no big surprises here) that more people said hearing about heaven made them more likely to follow the Lord than being threatened with hell. According to religionnews.com, a Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that while 74% of Americans believe in heaven, only 59% believe in hell. One divinity professor pointed out that preaching the existance of hell makes it difficult to “market” Jesus. It would seem that in our desire to grow church attendance we have watered down the gospel of Christ and His atoning mercy. Have we also put people’s souls at risk?
I can quite see the attraction of wanting a savior who freely pardons without repentence and loves without discrimination between those who follow him and those who refuse to; who, having once asked for his forgiveness, you will never have to worry about offending again. Once accepted, he would become your all-purpose Get-Out-Of-Hell-Free card. The only problem with this scenario, is that this is not what God has told us about Himself. The idea may be popular in today’s church, but it is not Scriptural: and Scripture is the only acceptable means of determining the attributes and attitudes of God. God has told us that the place we call hell was originally created for Satan and his minions, but that those who refuse to follow the Savior will all go there. (See my post of 10/11/2008 “There Will Be Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth.) Those of us who know the truth; those of us who have been washed clean of sin–we all know that even when we try to follow in the way of Jesus, we sometimes fail. When that happens, we know that we must go and confess our sin to the Lord. The apostle John, in 1 John 1:7 said that “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” Christian teacher Derek Prince once said that the original words gave the impression of an on-going process: that the Blood cleanses us from all sin continually. Until the time when we go to be with Him and sin will exist no more for us, God will continue to forgive our sins and cast them away from us. But to ignore the reality of sin and the existance of damnation is to water down the miraculous gift Jesus gave us in spilling His life’s blood to redeem us. The crucifixion of Christ was not just to pay for our sins, but to bridge the gap (that was created by the sin of man) between man and God. He died so that all who “live (in Him) and believe in Him” would have eternal life. Although, indeed, the love of Christ and His great goodness and mercy should bring all to Christ, the Epistle of Jude, vs. 23 tells us that some people we must “save with fear, pulling them out of the fire…”
John the Baptist had his head cut off for being the “voice in the wilderness” that brought Herod and his adulterous lady face to face with their own sin. They hated it, and refused to see the filth being reflected by their spiritual mirror. I in no way claim kinship with such a giant man of God or his great spiritual gifts, but I pray that God will grant me the boldness of spirit to preach the truth to all who will listen in this short time we have left before Jesus returns. We cannot continue to try to “market” Jesus in a socially-acceptable, politically-correct package. He is King of Kings, Lord of All Creation, and the One Who will be our final Judge when the Day of our Lord takes place. Let’s try to help everyone we know to understand their very real need of a Savior: to see their sins not as excusable human error, but as evil which can keep them from ever experiencing God’s mercy. Let us try to encourage each other to continue to confess and be forgiven for our sins–that we might not be caught unawares when the Lord returns for us.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, an to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1John 1:9)
Maranatha!
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