By: Pas. Carlos Barcelona Jr.
Preached at E-tab 1st Service
Feb. 5, 2016
Key Text:
John 1: 23 – John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.'”
Matthew 11:11 “Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
Many Christians are prodigal with the use of the word, “great” for we mistake prominence for eminence.
Prominence – a state of being important or noticeable. It is standing out beyond the line or surface of something; most visible or striking to the eye.
Eminence – a condition of being well-known and successful. A person of high rank or achievements. High, lofty, exalted in rank, high in office, dignified, distinguished.
Let it never be forgotten that glamour is not greatness, applause is not fame, prominence is not eminence. The man of the hour is not apt to be the man of the ages, a stone may sparkle but that does not make it a diamond, and man may have money, but that does not make him a success.
John the Baptist probably did not have the qualification for the priesthood. Before his coming there had been 400 years of darkness without one ray of prophetic light- four hundred years of silence without a “Thus saith the Lord” – four hundred of progressive deterioration in spiritual things. Before his time, Israel, God’s favored nation, was lost in ceremony, sacrifice and circumcision.
John had no sacrifice, he had no ceremony, he had no wine, he had no banquet, he had no phylacteries nor Pharisaic garments. But what an army of priests could not do in 400 years, one man “God-sent”, God fashioned, God-filled and God fired did in 6 months. God can fill in a moment what has been empty for years. Has your life been empty for days, weeks, months, years and decades?
In those days God did not look for a priest nor a preacher, he was only looking for men. God is not looking for prominent, glamorous or applauded people. He is only looking for men He can fashion. He is searching for people He can fill and fire up. God is looking for the right man for a great task.
Today, I want to share on MEN AND WOMEN FOR THE TASK
How can we become the men/ women God is looking for?
1. BY OUR FIDELITY TO THE FATHER.
According to the dictionary, Fidelity, is the quality or state of being faithful or loyal.
Illustration: Fidelity
One day an office telephone rang and a receptionist answered. ‘Hello,’ she said, ‘This is Fidelity Insurance Company. How may I help you?’ A female voice on the other end of the line said, ‘I want to talk with someone about having my husband’s fidelity insured.’ After a long pause and much stammering, the receptionist explained that Fidelity Insurance did not provide that kind of coverage. Not even Lloyds of London will underwrite the fidelity of a marriage partner.
My advice to that caller would be as follows: If you can persuade your husband to do three things with you regularly, your marriage will have a 90 percent chance of success. First, go out on a date each week. Second, hug and say ‘I love you’ each day. Third, worship together. That’s the best fidelity insurance that this world offers.
John was in the wilderness, until the day of his showing forth. He had no silver, he had no gold, he was not a prince nor a warrior, but in his eyes was the light of God, in his voice was the authority of God and in his soul was the passion of God.
1. Fidelity does not waver.
It involves the steady involvement and commitment to our relationship, responsibilities in God and His kingdom.
2. Fidelity is what we do, not what we say.
Loyalty must be action backed. It does not bloom on plain verbal assurances; it must reveal itself in all that we do. It produces evidential ends not just comments and verbal contributions.
“…all that Jesus began to do and to teach…” Acts 1:1. Jesus did not begin by talking, He began by doing
3. Fidelity is a willing decision.
Forced compliance is fake loyalty. We must make up our mind to align ourselves with God’s will.
4. Fidelity demands.
Sometimes we will be called to do the unthinkable. Infidelity becomes inevitable when we don’t become comfortable with this truth.
5. Fidelity involves sacrifice.
This is the real deal. Our allegiance to God, even with the ministry, our family and friends will call for seasons of sacrifice. What is sacrifice? It is the act of giving something precious and of high value at our expense.
The kind of fidelity that does not require us to make regular sacrifices does not really exist. If it does, it is only in the imagination. We must be willing to accompany our allegiance to the object of our fidelity with regular giving of time, money and resources. It may not be convenient but it is necessary.
2. BY SUBMISSION TO THE SPIRIT.
There are two inseparable commands Jesus told His disciples before His ascension. “Go!” and “Wait!”
Matthew 28: 19- “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:”
Acts 1: 4, 8 “And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;”
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
As true believers, we should not separate the two by living in extreme. We should not only ‘go’ and don’t wait and we should not only ‘wait’ and don’t ‘go.’ It means stepping and stopping as ordered.
To submit to the Spirit means obeying His initial promptings. You do it by going through each day aware of the Holy Spirit’s presence with you. You submit to Him as you feel Him pulling you in a certain direction or tugging at your heart to take a particular course of action, even if you don’t quite understand why.
For example, you may be convicted to drop a conversation, turn away quickly from a television program or leave a place that is questionable. Whatever it is, do so immediately—the Spirit is warning you about a temptation to sin that you may be unable to resist unless you obey Him instantly.
Perhaps there is someone who comes to your mind during the day. You know he or she has been going through a difficult time and could use some support. Call or write that person. The Spirit will give you the right words to encourage him or her. He wants to minister to that person through you and is sure to bless you as you do so.
Illustration: Listening to the Holy Spirit
“Before refrigerators, people used icehouses to preserve their food. Icehouses had thick walls, no windows and a tightly fitted door. In winter, when streams and lakes were frozen, large blocks of ice were cut, hauled to the icehouses and covered with sawdust. Often the ice would last well into the summer.
One man lost a valuable watch while working in an icehouse. He searched diligently for it, carefully raking through the sawdust, but didn’t find it. His fellow workers also looked, but their efforts, too, proved futile. A small boy who heard about the fruitless search slipped into the icehouse during the noon hour and soon emerged with the watch.
Amazed, the men asked him how he found it.
‘I closed the door,’ the boy replied, ‘lay down in the sawdust, and kept very still. Soon I heard the watch ticking.’”
Often, we do not hear God speak to us because we do not listen well enough.
The Holy Spirit may guide you to pursue a route or a risk that you never imagined you would take. The wisest thing to do is to submit to His plan regardless of whether it makes sense to you. The Spirit of the living God knows all things, including the future, and His direction is always for you.
3. BY STATEMENTS ABOUT THE SON.
John is the ‘Voice’ of one crying in the wilderness…. Declaring Jesus, whom he had never seen before, as “the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world.”
In our Christian walk, it is either we are, the “Voice” or just the “Echo”.
Many so called Christians are only echoes, for if you listen hard to them, you will be able to tell what latest book they have read and how little of the Scripture they quote. They can tell you which cinema has the latest movie show and what is the title and who the cast of characters are, but they can’t even tell you who is the smallest man in the Bible or the straightest man in the Bible.
To reach the masses we need a Voice.
Revival and evangelism, although closely linked, are not to be confounded. Revival is an experience in the church; evangelism is an expression of the church. Something must be done with our experience and nothing can be better than expressing it with love.
We only have one mission- to save souls and yet they perish. This generation of believers is responsible for this generation of sinners. At the very doors of our churches are masses- unwon because they are unreached, unreached because they are unloved.
Thank God for all that is done for missions overseas and thank God soon we will start a work abroad but let us not just be concerned for people across the world when our neighbors across the street are perishing.
The Gospel is not an old, old story, freshly told. It is a fire in the Spirit, fed by the flame of eternal love; and woe unto us, if, through our negligence to stir up the gift of God which is within us, that fire burns low.
Archibald Brown wrote:
The Gospel is a fact; therefore tell it simply.
The Gospel is a joyful fact; therefore tell it cheerfully.
The Gospel is an entrusted fact; therefore tell it faithfully.
The Gospel is a fact of infinite moment; therefore tell it earnestly.
The Gospel is a fact of infinite love; therefore tell it feelingly.
The Gospel is a fact of difficult comprehension to many; therefore tell it with illustration.
The Gospel is a fact about a Person; therefore preach Christ.
God never intended His church to be a refrigerator in which to preserve perishable religiousness. He intended it to be an incubator in which to hatch out converts.
Truth without enthusiasm, morality without emotion, ritual without soul are things Christ unsparingly condemned. The call of the Cross, therefore, is to enter into this passion of Christ.
Dr. W. E. Sangster said, “How shall I feel at the judgment, if multitudes of missed opportunities pass before me in full review, and all my excuses prove to be disguises of my cowardice and pride?
CONCLUSION:
God is not looking for prominent, glamorous or applauded people. He is only looking for men He can fashion. He is searching for people He can fill and fire up. God is looking for the right man for a great task.
