JOHN THE BAPTIST AS MODEL

^[p. 227] JOHN THE BAPTIST AS MODEL

John 1: 19 - 27; John 3: 22 - 36

I have read these scriptures from John’s gospel in the light of the fact that he is said to be the disciple whom Jesus loved, and also in the light of the further fact that John the baptist is a special one in the mind of John the evangelist. I am sure that John the evangelist, whom Jesus loved, in his turn regarded John the baptist particularly as one to be respected, one upon whom he could bestow peculiar distinction.

We learn from these facts that in the divine circle there are favourites, and so John the baptist affords John the evangelist the opportunity to speak of one, as I might say, of these favourites. The Lord Himself bestows peculiar honour on John the baptist, and I speak of him now in this way in view of what is current in the world, and how important it is to have the truth set out, not simply in words, but exemplified in Christians. The Lord, as I said, bestows much honour on John the baptist, saying that there was not one born of women greater than he, and saying further that, if they would receive it, he was Elias. So there is the idea in Scripture of personification of one saint by another. John the baptist is seen as representing Elias, and I am calling him now to the front especially in view of current conditions, and the need of meeting them; and if they have to be met, they can only be met properly by those who have the Holy Spirit. It is not simply a question of brethren talking or conversing at tea-tables, or the like, or even of what they may think, or what has been said, but what we say! If we undertake to say anything, it should be in an orderly and responsible fashion. And so the Lord makes inquiry as to what men said about Him, the Son of man; not what they thought, but what they ^[p. 228] said. After asking what men said, He makes inquiry from the apostles, His disciples, as to what they said on the point, Who is the Son of man? And one was able to speak immediately, and with authority, and with feeling, and with effectiveness, and thus we have on record the great facts of the foundation of the assembly, against which the gates of hades shall not prevail. These are great and wonderful facts.

Now we have before us John the baptist, this remarkable vessel who is introduced almost immediately by John the evangelist, the gospel-writer. He says, “There was a man sent from God, his name John”. Much had entered into that name. His parents’ friends and neighbours would have had him named Zacharias, but his father, who had been disciplined for nine months by being caused to be dumb, made his first pronouncement as he asked for a writing tablet, saying “John is his name”. Whatever the meaning of the name John it was prophetically announced that it was the name of this man. John the evangelist speaking about John, says, “There was a man sent from God, his name John”. Words are not wasted in the Scriptures; they are just sufficient, suggesting that we have what is needed. The Spirit of God employs words according to what is needed, and so here it is stated that John was “a man sent from God”. That is a very great fact, and I do not hesitate at all to say that there are such men today, men who are sent from God. I do not point to anyone, for there are many. I speak of a great fact, that there are men “sent from God;” not angels, but men. Although angels have power of speech and are employed by God on the most important errands, yet John the evangelist says, “There was a man sent from God, his name John”. In the book of Acts, which has a great place in the divine records, we read that “^[p. 229] the crowd of names who were together was about a hundred and twenty”. Those names were real, and each had a meaning, and on that account the names are mentioned. They had names and there was a crowd of them, as if they were all great enough to be distinguished as saints by themselves as they will be in heaven. I have no doubt that each inhabitant of that celestial scene will be designated by his appearance, by what he is, not simply by the name acquired, but by what the person is.

In Acts 1 all were there because of what they were, and that idea was seen in Peter. It was he that answered the Lord, by saying, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God”, and the Lord designated him by saying, “Thou art Peter”. “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in the heavens. And I also, I say unto thee that thou art Peter”. The Father had spoken, and now another divine Person is speaking to Peter. “I also, I say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and on this rock” (that is, on the Lord Jesus, for the rock refers to Him) “I will build my assembly”. The Son of the living God is the One designated as the foundation of the assembly. And so it is in that connection that Peter’s name came out, and the Lord said, “Thou art Peter”, meaning that he was that; ‘a stone’. In John 1 the Lord said, “Thou shalt be called Cephas”. But in Matthew the word is, “Thou art Peter”. That is very current among us, and perhaps well known, but it is well to have it before us as to names.

Having said all that, I come back to those scriptures that were written in regard of John the baptist. He was a most distinguished man, as I have said, and particularly because of the distinction the Lord Himself put upon him. How humble John was! He was equal to the moment, and it was a great ^[p. 230] moment, a wonderful moment. The Messiah had just come. The Son of God had appeared, and John the baptist was there, and was able to give an account of the Son of God, saying, “I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God”. That is a great matter, dear brethren, to have in our souls and to be able to say, “this is the Son of God”. That is, the One amongst us, it is not said that, but this is the Son of God. As believers, He is ever with us. “Lo, I am with you alway”, is His word to us. So that we may say, ‘He is constantly with us’. Someone may say, Well, He went to heaven, but Matthew does not say that. Mark, Luke and John say that, but Matthew does not. Matthew would assure us comfortingly that the Lord is with us today. He is with us at this very moment. “This is the Son of God”.

There is another noted man in this gospel (chapter 9). The Lord met him after He had opened his eyes, and said to him, “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?”. That is a question one would ask every Christian here, every person present, tonight, “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” That is the great testimony of John the evangelist, and the testimony of John the baptist too, and so I put that question, and I leave it with you, with each one of us to answer. “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?”. I have said on the Son of God; but if I say in the Son of God, that would raise the question of finding out who He is and what great possibilities there are; but believing on Him means that He is the great Object of faith. We are living in the faith period, and so the thing is to have faith, to be in faith, the faith of the Son of God, believing on Him. This is the urgent burning question of the moment, for the truth is denied all around, and if not denied then it is not confessed! There is very little difference between people denying and not confessing.

^[p. 231] It is not so bad, of course, to refrain from confessing as it is to deny, but still the difference is not very great. If we do not confess the Lord we are in a critical position! The Lord says, “Every one therefore who shall confess me before men, I also will confess him before my Father who is in the heavens”, Matthew 10: 32. We are to be victors, confessors; that is the idea. The man in John 9 was a confessor; he was a confessor of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God. The Lord says, “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” and the man says, “Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?”. He was ready. The Lord answered, “Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him”. Notice that, he worshipped Him!

As I said, as regards names, John the baptist’s name is full of renown, and John the evangelist makes much of him. No other evangelist makes so much as John, of John the baptist, and he does it in order to bring out thoughts as to the Son of God. The current conditions abroad permit of things being said that evidence that the truth has been given up. In the world generally, great reverses have taken place as to the profession of Christianity; great nations have fallen, and great cities have fallen, great societies, too, have fallen, and what is going to replace these? How much there is being said in the world that is antichristian, and we are here today as Christians, as believers on the Son of God, and our business is to seek to counter those things; to counter them with the truth. That is the point we should have in mind; and not simply the truth as it is put in the creeds, but the truth as we are taught it by the Spirit of truth. The Lord Jesus is referred to at the beginning of this gospel as Teacher and He is alluded to as Teacher at the end of it, and in this connection it ^[p. 232] is on my mind now to say a word as to current conditions, and how they are to be countered by those who love the Lord, by those who have the Holy Spirit, and really they are the only ones worth reckoning on in this matter. I would not despise anyone professing Christianity, but in the matter I am dealing with now, the only ones worth mentioning are those who have the Holy Spirit of God, those who love the Lord Jesus, and I might add, who love the truth, as John again says, to the elect lady, “I rejoiced greatly that I have found of thy children walking in truth”, 2 John 4. It is a question of the walking in things as well as the saying of them.

In the passage read in chapter I of John’s gospel we learn that the Jews sent from Jerusalem priests and Levites that they might ask John. “Thou, who art thou?”. The Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to him. You will see that this gives weight to my point. Those Jews, whoever they were, in Jerusalem, sent to John the baptist; they sent to John. I am stopping now to explain that what I had primarily in mind in reading these verses is the statement of John in chapter 3. We are told there in verse 26, “And they came to John and said to him, Rabbi, he who was with thee beyond the Jordan to whom thou barest witness, behold he baptises, and all come to him. John answered and said, A man can receive nothing unless it be given him out of heaven”. That is the word I had in mind particularly, “A man can receive nothing unless it be given him out of heaven”. If I refer to current conversations, talks, speeches, magazines and newspaper articles, all of them, I might say, and all that is expressed in them, can be received naturally; whether one be a politician, industrialist, an educationalist, or a medical man, what is current in the world in the way of teaching and of prime importance is to be received and compassed by the ordinary man’s mind. In saying this I am endeavouring to call attention by contrast to what should be in the minds of Christians, what is to be in our minds, not to say our affections, but our minds. God has given us minds, He has given us the Holy Spirit! A greater fact! Now the word of John the baptist is, “A man can receive nothing unless it be given him out of heaven”; that is, a man can receive nothing except from God! That puts the whole matter where it should be. Heaven has precedence over the earth. Indeed, John says, “He who has his origin in the earth is of the earth, and speaks as of the earth. He who comes out of heaven is above all”. Heaven has its own rank and importance in this sense.

In chapter 1 the Jews sent to John, to ask, “Who art thou?”. What were they sent for? What was in their minds? The whole matter raises the question with us, and what would we do? What would any one of us answer if put in such a position? What would the worldling do, if he had such opportunity? What would we do if we were just simply ordinary men, with natural ability, ability such as could make us shine in this world, what would we do? If governed by earth, we would say to ourselves, What an opportunity! The leading men of the day have sent messengers to ask me, “Who art thou?”. Well, I must let them know about my ancestors and my education, and my means. I must bring forth everything that is to my credit humanly, and put it in the answer, hoping that this will bring me some distinction. You see, dear brethren, in speaking thus, I desire to show how we are tested in this way every day, and we are tested as Christians, and the test brings out whether we are governed by heaven or earth. If we are governed by heaven, we answer even as John did in chapter 3, “A man can receive nothing unless it be given him out of heaven”. Now, where are we as to those matters? If all ^[p. 234] earthly distinctions are ruled out, where am I? I shall have to explore heaven, because “A man can receive nothing except it be given him out of heaven”, and so heaven is the place of origin of each matter that is of value to ourselves as Christians. Heaven has its distinctions to give, its honours to proffer. I hope that the dear brethren will be moved inwardly as to this matter of what heaven has to offer! John is nobly victorious in this test, and that is why I have touched on it so freely.

From the beginning, John acted nobly, as it says, “And he confessed and denied not”. He was the first to confess it to another. As walking in truth one has joy in another’s confession. Not denying is additional, as confirming that he is the victor from the start. He is confessing the truth as to himself, and not denying it in any way. So it says of him, “he confessed and denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ”. Distinction is one of the things the natural man would grasp at. How many have grasped at being something in this world religiously, but John confessed, “I am not”, and denied not! He gave no opportunity to anyone who sought to draw him into the thought of honouring himself, or making himself something, in this world religiously. When I say religiously I include the dear brethren that are now here along with myself, because we are apt to aspire to be something; but John confessed and denied not. He gives no occasion for anyone to say that he aspired to anything. And so the narrative goes on, “Art thou Elias? And he says, I am not. Art thou the prophet? And he answered, No. They said therefore to him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness”. One is reminded of Balaam, when the king of Moab sent messengers to him, with the proposal to glorify him, to add to him ^[p. 235] in every way. The prophet seemed proof against it for the moment, but really at the bottom of his heart he was hoping that he would obtain what the king of Moab offered. Not so John, “he confessed and denied not”. And so, dear brethren, if we have any aspirations to acquire distinction in a human way among the brethren to whom I am speaking, John’s answers are a model for us. If we aspire to anything in the way of distinction according to man, John’s way of escape is simple. His answers are remarkable. These priests and Levites continue, and they say, “What sayest thou of thyself?”. They did not enquire about his forefathers; not a word about them; nor about his father, nor about his mother, and he is not going to say a word about any of them, whoever they may be. We are all easily led into making much of these things, ancestry, education, or anything that makes much of us. That is the intention of the devil, and we are to be proof against it. John was proof against it.

So it says, dear brethren, that the inquiry made of John is, “Who art thou, that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?”. He answered, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the path of the Lord, as said Esaias the prophet”. They that were sent were from among the Pharisees, and they asked him further, assuming, we may suppose, that they were a distinguished people, as belonging to a distinguished sect. They asked him, “Why baptisest thou then, if thou art not the Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet? John answered them saying, I baptise with water. In the midst of you stands, whom ye do not know, he who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to unloose”. Now, dear brethren, I am just leaving John the baptist at this point for your consideration. How nobly he met the temptations of the enemy in the attempt to ^[p. 236] make much of him, and again I say, we are all exposed to this temptation, even amongst those with whom we are walking, exposed to the desire to be distinguished in the service of God, but John is a noble testimony to us against it. He is not led away, but is superior to the temptations of the devil.

Now I go on to the third chapter of John, so as to bring out how John is again tested, not now by the Pharisees, but by his own disciples. “There was, therefore, a reasoning of the disciples of John with a Jew about purification. And they came to John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he who was with thee beyond the Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold he baptises, and all come to him. John answered and said, A man can receive nothing unless it be given him out of heaven”. John did not say this in the first chapter. He is saying it now, when his own people, those who were interested in him are around him, and they are saying to him that the Lord Jesus to whom he testified is now baptising even as he. Although we are told in the next chapter that the Lord did not Himself baptise, but that His disciples did the service, here it is said that He is baptising. They are saying this to John, but he is proof against any suggestion of rivalry.

I have spoken of ambition in relation to oneself, but now I speak of rivalry, even amongst our brethren. The things said to John were intended to promote rivalry between him and the Lord Jesus, that is, in the heart of John. How proof against all that is John the baptist, and so he says, “A man can receive nothing unless it be given him out of heaven”. John has heavenly thoughts, and he goes on to say, “Ye yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am no, the Christ, but, that I am sent before him”. I want you to notice, dear brethren, what John was occupied with in the midst of this atmosphere of rivalry. He says, “He that has the bride is the bridegroom”. There is only One who has the bride. We do not want to rival Him, nor do we want to rival each other, but John brings in this rich and holy thought of the Lord’s possession of the bride; the richness of what belonged to Him; that is “the bride”. The Lord is drawing our attention peculiarly to the idea of the assembly as the bride; and John brings this in in what he says. In bringing this in at this particular juncture, John the baptist shows that he is outside the range of rivalry. His language plainly tells us that, as he says, “He that has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices in heart because of the voice of the bridegroom”. I would rather be joyous thus than in possession of the greatest gift, for gift in itself will not make me joyous. The Lord makes us joyous. The Holy Spirit sheds the love of God abroad in our hearts to make us joyous; the greatest gift will not do that.

I speak with warning now, not that I am aiming at anyone, and would bring before you John as an outstanding example of one superior to temptation, and specially the temptation arising from rivalry. John is enjoying the voice of Christ, and is completely delivered from rivalry if there was any need for it in him. He says, “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom”. John the baptist does not tell us who the bride is. Paul does. John the baptist speaks of the voice of Christ the Bridegroom. What a theme, dear brethren! What deliverance from rivalry and pride and every other thing that goes with the natural man! What a deliverance! The joy of Christ’s voice brings deliverance. John the baptist goes on to say, “but the friend of the bridegroom ...” That is a great matter. We do not speak of ourselves as friends of the Bridegroom, but as friends of Christ. The Lord Himself tells us,

“Ye are my friends”. We are His friends; that is a delivering element in these matters.

But then I am speaking of what John says: “the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices in heart”. John has enough power inwardly to stand as he does. We already know from the first chapter how firmly John stood, and now these are his own words, “the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him, rejoices in heart, because of the voice of the bridegroom; this my joy then is fulfilled”. What can anyone do to decoy John into rivalry, to draw him into it. He is too satisfied. He is settled. His mind is fixed. His joy is full. I am speaking freely of this great subject, because John is not here, and John the evangelist is not here, but their testimony remains. We are here today, and I am speaking in order that we may be moved in regard to this matter, in regard to the Bridegroom and the bride. The Bridegroom’s voice, the voice of Jesus, what it should be to us, how it should cause us joy, satisfying joy, for that is really the effect here, the satisfying joy of which John speaks. He says, “This my joy therefore is fulfilled”.

Well, I might say much more, but I felt I must not fail in this line of thought that came before me, and I must not fail in presenting to the brethren the example which the Spirit of God has left us as John the evangelist presents it; not as Matthew, or Mark, or Luke present the Baptist, but as John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, speaks of Him. How beautifully he speaks of John and presents him to us as a model of satisfaction, satisfied desire. He is the friend of the Bridegroom, and his work is not done; he is not yet cast into prison; John the evangelist does not speak of John the baptist after he is cast into prison. When he was in prison, he sent words of a very different tone to the Lord Himself, asking Him, “Art thou the coming one?

^[p. 239] or are we to wait for another?” Matthew 11: 3. How different are these words from those we have been considering.

Now, dear brethren, let us be encouraged and embrace this matter; John being a model for us, lest we might be discouraged. I have spoken of rivalry, and pride, and ambition, but now I say a word about discouragement. John the baptist was discouraged in the prison, when he sent to the Lord. I hope none of us is discouraged; though there is much to discourage, there is also yet a satisfying portion in the voice of Christ to the bride! He is the Bridegroom, and His voice is to be heard, and it causes joy, it causes satisfied joy. John the baptist is presented in great detail by John the evangelist, as if the Lord would say to us, I am going to choose John, the one whom I love, to tell My brethren, to tell the assembly, about John the baptist. As viewing the matter thus, I am speaking of this in order that we may have him before us as a model, that we may have satisfied desire in hearing the voice of the Bridegroom. The Lord has brought the assembly to the attention of the saints in a peculiar way recently, and it involves the assembly in her relation as the bride of Christ. John does not say who the bride is; Paul does. Paul says, “I have espoused you unto one man, to present you a chaste virgin to Christ”, 2 Corinthians 11: 2. There is no question there who the Bridegroom is, or the bride, because they are brought together. The voice of the Bridegroom is heard and it causes joy, and, as with John the Baptist, satisfied desire. May the Lord use the word to this end.