Leading a Rebellion: John the Baptist

Leading a Rebellion: John the Baptist

Rebel:

-A rebel is a person who resists any authority, control, or tradition.

The Story So Far: I could very easily talk for an hour about JBAP and all of the weird things he had to do as part of his calling, but this is called “Leading a Rebellion,” not “Fear Factor: Jerusalem.” But it is a good place to start. JBAP was Jesus’ second cousin, born to a priest named Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth. Both were old and Elizabeth was barren. While Zacharias was serving in the temple the angel Gabriel appeared to him and said, “Your prayers have been heard. You will have a son.” (If he was an elderly man, way past child rearing age, how long ago was it that he stopped praying to have a child? And yet Gabriel speaks of it as if it is in the present tense. This is an important reminder to never give up praying, and even though God hasn’t answered the prayer yet, it doesn’t mean He won’t answer the prayer.) Zacharias asked Gabriel how he would know this was true. Gabriel responded by face-palming and saying, “Uh, because I stand in the presence of God every day.” And then he said that just for asking a stupid question like that he would be mute until his son was born.

            There were some other directives given to Zacharias from Gabriel concerning the boy. He was to be filled with the Holy Spirit even from the womb, and he will refrain from wine or strong drink. This is very similar to the vows surrounding Samuel and Samson, but this vow was made by God and not by their moms.

            Shortly after Elizabeth conceived, Mary became pregnant too. Mary and Elizabeth were cousins, and Mary was very excited for Elizabeth. So excited that Mary planned a trip. When Mary showed up at her door, the baby inside Elizabeth leaped for joy when it came in the presence of the baby inside of Mary. The baby inside of Mary was of course Jesus. JBAP was already recognizing and worshiping Jesus as his Lord and Savior while still in the womb.

            We don’t know anything about JBAP’s childhood or upbringing. The next time we see him is when he came out of the wilderness and started baptizing people. JBAP was the one Isaiah prophesied about when he said that there will be a messenger from the wilderness who cries out, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.’” Mark chapter one tells us that John was clothed in camel’s hair with a leather belt, and that he ate locusts and wild honey. He came from the wilderness, so one gets the impression that he made his own clothes from the things he killed or found dead, and ate whatever he could find. He was the original survivor man. Bear Grylls watches reruns of JBAP. So picture a long haired dude, who smelled funny from never bathing and eating weird things, dressed in camel’s hair and that’s the picture of the leading preacher/ evangelist of the day. He was a rebel because of his lifestyle, that’s for sure, but that’s not what we’re going to be talking about today.

The Rebellion: What we will be discussing tonight sound more like an episode of Jerry Springer than an episode of the Bible. It is very confusing because practically everyone in the story is named Herod, except for a woman named Herodias. Herod the Great had several sons, two of which were Herod Antipas and Herod Philip I, not to be confused with Herod Philip II, another of his sons. Herod Philip was married to a woman named Herodias, and Herod Antipas was married to a woman named Aretas, a King’s daughter. (If you ever marry a King’s daughter—don’t tick her off). Herod visited Herod and fell in love with Herod’s wife, Herodias. Herod and Herodias made a deal that the next time he came to Rome, she would leave Herod and marry Herod, under the condition that Herod divorce his wife Aretas. Herod agreed to betray Herod. Aretas found out about the shenanigans before Herod could divorce her and asked to go visit her dad. Herod not suspecting that she knew anything let her go. She left home and told her daddy. That started a war which decimated Herod’s army. Herod eventually married Herod’s wife, Herodias, while everyone involved was still married to their first spouses. Herod and Herodias eventually had a daughter named Salome who danced, presumably in a seductive manner, for Herod and his friends. The whole situation was extremely immoral, extremely illegal, and extremely icky. JBAP felt called to tell him what he, and God, felt about the whole situation.

            Herod was the ruler in charge of the Palestinian area established by the emperor of Rome. He was a part of the ruling family that had ruled that region for generations. They even became Jews to be more politically accepted in the region. JBAP felt that it was not good to have a political leader and a public figure carrying on in the immoral way that he was. It is one thing for a person nobody knows to act immorally; it’s quite a different story for a public figure to do it. Why was it such a big deal for Bill Clinton to sexually harass an intern? It’s a big deal because he was the leader of the free world, in a position that is supposed to be highly respected and looked up to. Ronald Reagan honored the position of President so much that he never entered the Oval office without a jacket and tie on. Bill Clinton used the power of the presidency to assault his interns in that same office.  JBAP had the nerve and the guts to stand up to a guy as crazy and as powerful as Herod and was arrested for it. Even today, it is a dangerous thing to call out, either publicly or privately, a public figure on their moral choices. You may not get arrested, but it may cost you quite a bit. Money, job, friendships, family. Ever wonder why people like Charlie Sheen don’t have anyone around them saying, “Hey! You’re an idiot. Get a grip on your life.”? Because people like Charlie Sheen won’t hang out with people who don’t agree with his lifestyle. And if Charlie Sheen is supporting your lifestyle, you better not disagree with him or he’ll cut you off. Politicians fire people who criticize their lifestyle, or even worse they will release a scandalous story about you, true or made up, to the media. CEO’s may fire people who catch them in an affair, or suggest that they should be conducting themselves in a more moral manner. Pastor’s may embarrass you and kick you out of the church if you call them out for being immoral. While we were in Haiti we heard of a Pastor who kicked a man out of his church who was having an affair with the same woman he was having an affair with.

Application: What would you do if you knew a leader or public figure was doing something wrong? What if you were at Big Lots doing some shopping, and saw me stumble out of Ollie’s drunk? Would you say anything? What would you do if we were at the store buying necessities for camp and the cashier gave me too much money back and I didn’t correct him? Would you say anything? What if you saw Pastor Brian holding hands with another woman? Would you say anything? Leaders are held to a higher and tougher standard than everyone else because they have the ability to influence so many other people. “To whom much is given, much is required.”

The Results: Let’s see how JBAP’s bravery paid off for him. Mark 6:17-28, “ For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because he had married her. ¹⁸ For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.” ¹⁹ And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, ²⁰ for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.²¹ But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. ²² For when Herodias's daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” ²³ And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” ²⁴ And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” ²⁵ And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” ²⁶ And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. ²⁷ And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. He went and beheaded him in the prison ²⁸ and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.”

            Herod feared his wife and his stupid vows more than he feared God. JBAP feared not doing what God asked him to do more than he feared death. How about you? Is God asking you to do something? Perhaps it is standing up to something you know is wrong. Maybe you’re the one that’s doing something wrong and God is asking you to stop doing it. Maybe you’ve never had a real relationship with God, but you have that small voice in the back of your head saying, “Hey, there’s something to what this crazy guy is saying, and I want you to listen to him. I want to be a part of your life.” If you’ve never had a relationship with God, but want one, please come see me after we’re done today.

      

Nicodemus--My sermon for the Revival Service in Haiti

Nicodemus

John 3:1-21

            Tonight we are going to study a man from the Bible. A man that we may not be able to identify with everything about him, but there are certain things about him that we all can identify with. This man’s name was Nicodemus. He was a very religious man. He was very wealthy. He had a very powerful job in Israel, as being one of seventy members who made up their ruling class. And he was considered by many to be a very good teacher.

I.                   People Want to Intimidate and Control You

            Nicodemus had heard a lot of talk about a man named Jesus. This Jesus had created a lot of controversy in all of Israel. Some said He was the Messiah that many had been waiting so long for. Some said He was the Son of God. Some said He was just another prophet. Some said He was a good teacher. And still others said He was just a crazy troublemaker. Many of Nicodemus’s closest friends, co-workers, and family members were afraid of Jesus because He was making them all feel very uncomfortable. He was saying things that caused a lot of people to question the religious leaders, whether they were actually right or not. Many of those people stopped following the religious leaders, and started following Jesus. If all of these people kept leaving them and following Jesus then they would no longer have as much influence over them, and they would not make as much money. In other words, they wouldn’t have as much power as they once did. And that scared them.

            These religious leaders, when given a choice to have power over their fellow man, or have a right relationship with God, they chose to keep the power. Many of them began making up their minds about Jesus, based simply on fear, without ever investigating matters for themselves. Right now, there are so called religious leaders here, who may have heard about this Jesus, but are afraid to lose their power they have over you. They have chosen to maintain power rather than having a right relationship with God, and they will do everything possible to keep you from having that right relationship, too, just to keep that power. But back to the story, many of these powerful men decided that they would try to keep their power, and they would try to silence this Jesus in any way possible. Nicodemus had more integrity than the other men did. He knew that in the Bible, in the book of Proverbs (18:13) that it says, “It is a fool who decides a matter before he hears it.” He decided that he was going to investigate the matter for himself before he decided anything.

            But he was afraid. Have you ever been around a lot of people, when everybody else has a different opinion on a subject than you do? It makes you feel different. You feel out of place, and if you say that you disagree with them, you would really feel out of place. Nicodemus knew that almost everyone else hated this Jesus without any real reason to hate him, but he had some questions that he wanted to ask Him. He knew that if anyone found out that he was talking to Jesus, he would lose his reputation, and their respect. So when do you do something when you don’t want anyone to see you doing it? At night time. The only problem is that the Bible says that Jesus was the light of man. He was coming at night to THE Light. He was leaving spiritual darkness and entering spiritual light.

            Who was he afraid of that might see him? His family. His co-workers. Other religious leaders. His students. His former teachers. Who are you afraid of that might see you?  

II.     Its God’s agenda Not Yours

            Maybe you are like Nicodemus. He is going to meet with a very important man, and he has some things he needs to ask of Him. Whenever I have to meet with someone, or have an important conversation with someone I rehearse over and over again in my head what I want to say, and how I am going to say it. But when Nicodemus shows up to where Jesus is staying, he is only able to get his opening line out, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with Him.” Then Jesus completely takes control, and changes the direction of the entire conversation and says, “Truly, truly I say unto you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

            Nicodemus probably had a lot of questions to ask Jesus. Questions like, “Are you really the Son of God?” “Are you the Messiah?” “How did you turn water into wine?” “What did you mean when you said you would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days?” By changing the direction of the conversation Jesus said, “I am not interested in satisfying your intellectual curiosity. I am only interested in you having a right relationship with God, and that can only be done through Me, by being born again.”  

            Jesus went on to say “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

            I have two daughters and a son. I cannot imagine sacrificing them, or giving them up for anything, but praise God, that our Heavenly Father loves us so much that He was willing to sacrifice His own son. Though he was innocent, He took on the punishment that we deserved, and was brutally killed.

            In America, the one Bible verse that almost everyone knows—even if they have never read a Bible, is John 3:16. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” It is a very beautiful verse and it is very important, but there is another very important verse here. John 3:18 says, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” That means that we are already going to hell. Everyone, from whatever age God decides to hold each of us accountable for our actions, are on the road to hell, unless we make the decision to be followers of Christ.

            You may say, “That is very harsh. Why would a loving God do that?” Let me give you an illustration. Let’s say that everyone here tonight is very sick and will die very shortly. A doctor comes up to me and says, “Adam, we have found a cure for this disease! Everyone can be cured!” That would be fantastic, right? Then the doctor says, “There is only one problem. Your son is the cure, and the only way we can get the cure out of him is to kill him.” If I decided to kill my only son, and give him up as a cure for all of you, and only half of you ever thanked me, or even acknowledged the sacrifice I made for you…words cannot describe how violently angry I would get. My son had to die and half of you don’t care?

            That is exactly what God did. There is a disease in this world that we all have. A deadly disease called “sin.” There is a cure, but the only cure is the blood of a perfect sacrifice. The Bible says that the sacrifice of bulls and sheep were never enough to take our sin away. There had to be something else. God had to sacrifice His only son to get the cure out of Him, and billions of people won’t even acknowledge Him or care that He made such a sacrifice. It is only because of His patient love for us that we have not felt the wrath of our sin already. But His patience will not last forever.

III.             If God Is For Us, Who Can Be Against Us?

Maybe you are like Nicodemus and are afraid of what other people may think of you, or even do to you or your family if you become a follower of Jesus Christ. There is one God. One God who created all of the heavens and the earth, moon, sun, and stars. He gave us breath and lungs to breathe it with, a heart that beats. He causes the sun to rise and set, the tide to come in and go back out again. There is no other god. There is no other spiritual being that can contend with his power or His majesty. The apostle Paul wrote, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” We should not be afraid of those who can kill our bodies but cannot touch our souls. The God who raised Jesus from the dead, is capable of delivering us, and protecting us from the problems we face in this world, but we know for sure that He will deliver us from the enemy of our souls. So, I ask you again, if God is for us, who can be against us? Will you trust Him tonight?     

Leading a Rebellion: Daniel

Leading a Rebellion: Daniel

Rebel:

-A rebel is a person who resists any authority, control, or tradition.

The Story So Far:

-Prophets had been prophesying for years that if Israel didn’t repent of their sins, God would punish them by having a neighboring country conquer them and take them captive for a period of 70 years. Unfortunately, the Israelites did not repent, and God raised the Babylonians up to punish the Israelites. The Babylonians, killed many in the attack. Of the ones that were still alive when they surrendered, most were taken to be used as slave labor, the best and the brightest were trained in all things Babylon, and the derelicts were left in Israel to fend for themselves. I obviously, would have been considered one of the best and the brightest.

The Rebellion #1: Refuse to Eat the King’s Meat:

-Daniel and his three friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were very young men, probably in their early teens. They were singled out has having a high amount of potential.

            Scripture: Daniel 1:3-9

                        -Why did Daniel find favor with the Eunuch? Probably because he was very respectful and made the most of his unpleasant circumstance.

                        -Notice vs. 8 that Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself. He made a decision before the situation arrived that he would not defile himself. We all need to do that. You need to decide for yourself that you will not have sex or other inappropriate behavior before marriage before you are put in the situation. If you wait until you are making out with your boyfriend or girlfriend and there are no parents around, it is probably too late to make that decision. You put yourself in bad situations and it is hard to slam on the brakes and put it into reverse. Hard but not impossible.

-There were certain foods that a Jew was not to eat, and there were certain people a Jew was not supposed to eat with. Daniel asks the Eunuch to give him and his friends a diet test. The Eunuch is put in great risk for agreeing to do this.

            Scripture: Daniel 1:10-21

The Rebellion #2: The Plot Against Daniel:

-A few years down the road there is a new king over Babylon, King Darius. The king had established three governors to rule over the land, who were accountable to him. Daniel was so highly esteemed in the king’s eye, because God had blessed him, that he considered putting Daniel in charge of the entire kingdom rather than the three governors. According to Veggie Tales, the three governors got together and sang, “Oh no, what’re we going to do? The king likes Daniel more than me and you. Oh no, what’re we going to do? We got to get him out of here.” So they came up with a plot. They played into Darius’ pride and convinced him to establish a law that they knew Daniel would break. Once he broke that law, he would then have to be put to death.

            Scripture: Daniel 6:4-11

                        -Daniel knew about the law, knew when the law was signed, knew the consequences of breaking the law, and went home and broke it anyways. That is a rebel.

-How did the governors know when to catch Daniel? His faith was no secret. They knew exactly when and how to catch Daniel. How secretive is your faith?

            Scripture: Daniel 6:12-23

                        -The king was tore up about Daniel. It is quite unusual for a king to go without the pleasures of life, like food and entertainment, especially over someone else. Their world revolved around them.

                        -All of this would not have happened if the king wasn’t so prideful that he thought he needed to be worshipped.

God Avenges:

-Similar to Mordecai getting the praise Haman thought was coming to him, and then Haman getting the punishment he wanted to bestow on Mordecai, the governors found themselves in a precarious position. The king still likes Daniel more than them, and now he is really ticked off at the three of them.

            Scripture: Daniel 6:24

                        -Just in case you thought the Lions just weren’t hungry.        

Leading a Rebellion: Jeremiah

Leading a Rebellion: Jeremiah

Rebel: a person who resists any authority, control, or tradition.

Background: Jeremiah was a prophet and a priest. He was chosen to be a prophet from before he was born (Jer. 1:5). He was the son of Hilkiah, who was also a priest. Prophesied from 627 BC to 580 BC. He was known as the weeping prophet because of how he wept for the coming judgment on the nation that he loved so much.

-Jer 9:1 “Oh that my head were waters,
    and my eyes a fountain of tears,
that I might weep day and night
    for the slain of the daughter of my people!

-Jer 13:17 “But if you will not listen,
    my soul will weep in secret for your pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears,
    because the Lord's flock has been taken captive.”

-Jer 14:17 “You shall say to them this word:
‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day,
    and let them not cease,
for the virgin daughter of my people is shattered with a great wound,
    with a very grievous blow.”

He also wrote the book of Lamentations. Lament means to feel sorrow or grieve over.

Jeremiah had an assistant named Baruch who kept all of his writings for him that would make up the book of Jeremiah and Lamentations.

            Jeremiah had to remain unmarried as an object lesson. It symbolized how Israel, who was unfaithful to God, was divorced from Him.

The Rebellion:

Jeremiah remained faithful to prophesy exactly what God had told him to even though everyone hated him for it, and he nearly lost his life because of it. Jeremiah had witnessed the ten northern tribes, collectively known as Israel, or the Northern Kingdom get taken over by the Babylonians. Soon afterwards, the Southern Kingdom, aka Judah’s last God fearing king Josiah died. The next king led Judah into idolatry. God warned them through the prophet Jeremiah to repent or face being taken over themselves.

Jeremiah warned his nation to repent, which didn’t make him very popular. He then told them that the invasion was imminent, and not to bother fighting back. Jeremiah prophesied that the nation of Babylon was going to invade Judah, and take them captive for 70 years, and then they would be free to come back home. Imagine you were the king, trying to rally your troops for battle, and one of the prophets kept telling everyone, “Surrender! If you fight, you will die! If you surrender you will live!” This did not make him popular with the king or the generals. This is why he spent most of his ministry being punished for his message. He was threatened, forced to flee from the king, put in stocks, thrown into a pit and left to starve to death, put on trial for his life, and was publicly humiliated by a false prophet.

Throughout all of his pain, suffering, punishment, and humiliation Jeremiah never doubted God’s goodness and providence. He knew that God would take care of His people. To prove his point that God would keep his word that those who were taken captive would be released in seventy years, he bought a piece of land before the invasion and gave the deed to his assistant to hold for him. He even visited the captives of the Northern Kingdom that Babylon had taken before capturing the Southern Kingdom in order to give them hope of returning home if they repented and turned to God.

Application: Jeremiah, The Weeping Prophet, never saw success in his 40 year prophetic ministry. He preached and people ignored him. He prophesied, and people mocked him. He spoke the truth for God, and was beaten, jailed, left for dead, and publicly humiliated for it. From the outside looking in, his ministry seemed like a failure, but as long as you’re doing what God has told you to do, whether you’re seeing the results or not, your ministry/life is a success.

            -God tells you to share the gospel with someone and they reject it, possibly mock you. Was it a failure or success?

            -God tells you to go on a foreign mission trip and no one gets saved. Was it a failure or a success?

            -God tells you to move to Las Vegas and plant a church. You go and within a year, your church has dissolved into nothing. Was it a failure or success?

            When you do what God tells you to do, it is always a success. What is God telling you to do? Read your Bible? Start a Bible club? Go to a Christian organization’s meeting? Witness to the most popular kid in your school? Witness to the smelliest kid in your school?  Just do it.