A Voice in the Wilderness
(11) John the Baptist Lights the Way (Luke 3:1-20)
John the Baptist Lights the Way (Luke 3:1-20)
Dear Reader,
May “The Lord bless you, and keep you; The Lord make His face shine on you,
And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’” (Numbers 6:24-26).
On January 23, 1996 the Kansas State Legislator asked Pastor Joe Wright to deliver a prayer to open the legislation session, the prayer was as follows:
“Heavenly Father, we come before You today to ask Your forgiveness, and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good (Isaiah 5:20).’ And that’s exactly what we’ve done. We’ve lost our spiritual equilibrium. We’ve inverted our values. We confess that we’ve ridiculed the absolute Truth of Your Word in the name of moral pluralism. We’ve worshiped other gods and called it ‘multiculturalism.’ We’ve endorsed perversion and called it ‘alternative lifestyle.’ We’ve exploited the poor and called it a ‘lottery.’ We’ve neglected the needy and called it ‘self-preservation.’ We’ve rewarded laziness and called it ‘welfare.’ Father, in the name of ‘choice,’ we have killed our unborn, and then in the name of ‘right to life,’ we’ve killed abortionists. We’ve neglected to discipline our children and called it ‘building esteem.’ We have abused power and called it ‘political savvy.’ We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ‘taxes.’ We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it ‘freedom of expression.’ We’ve ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it ‘enlightenment.’ Search us, O God, know our hearts today, try us and show us any wickedness in us. And then cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of Kansas and who have been ordained by You to govern this great state. Grant them Your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of Your will. I ask it in the name of Your Son the Living Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.”
Sources: American Rhetoric, The Washington Post - 5/19/96.
Pastor Wright at the time, was not trying to win friends or influence people, his aim was to pray and let the holy spirit guide him. His short prayer caused a firestorm of criticism and the lawmakers at the time took offense.
A Voice in the Wilderness
When John the Baptist stepped into the scene as the scriptures describe ‘a voice in the wilderness’ (Isaiah 40:3-5, Luke 3:4), he was not a man looking for friends. In my previous post, I indicated John the Baptist was like a fire and a hammer to his generation.
For those coming out to the wilderness to see John, he was blunt to so called ‘religious leaders’ saying to them:
“John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?” (Luke 3:7).
Brood of Vipers
For John the Baptist, he called it like it is. A man looking for friends is not going to greet sinners with ‘brood of vipers’. Many of the religious leaders in his time were just a bunch of snakes, holding to poisonous teachings such as legalism and works that contradicted God’s work of grace through faith and repentance to life. The interesting thing is that people from all walks of life came out to John because they knew deep down like Nicodemus that something was off about their religious practices. Perhaps they were looking for another Way?
The Message of John the Baptist:
Repent - “In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” - Matthew 3:1-2. “for tears are often genuine evidences of repentance” - Charles Spurgeon.
Crying out - He said: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Make straight the way of the Lord,” ’as the prophet Isaiah said.” - John 1:23. “The man who cannot weep cannot preach.” - Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Christ is Greater. “He must become greater; I must become less” - John 3:30.
The Wilderness of Life
The bible repeats the word ‘wilderness’ two hundred ninety-six (x296) in the New King James Version. The wilderness is sometimes used as a metaphor for life, we may find ourselves in a dry season spiritually. Or perhaps a season dependence? The wilderness can lead to valuable instruction from the one who knows our frames better than we know ourselves, Hagar learned in the wilderness: “Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?” - Genesis 16:13. When the Samaritan woman was at well midday learned that God see’s all of it, even our darkest pain (John 4:1-26).
In our world today, do you ever feel your voice in the wilderness of life, proclaiming the good news of the gospel is not being heard? Do you feel like leaders in our society just have poisonous teachings contrary to a life of faith in Christ like the brood of vipers in John’s day? Our culture needs truth spoken to it and you might just be the right instrument for the task, we don’t have to be like John but all believers can be a witness. Look for a wilderness moment witnessing opportunity.
Consider other Substacks:
We have many good writers on Substack who are posting frequently about biblical truths, take the time to read and share posts, here are few that come to my mind as they all offer up some unique perspectives on living a life of faith in Christ.
This is such a great prayer. I lived in Kansas at that time, and yes it did kick off a firestorm. You would think in the heart of the Bible Belt, it would have been normal, but no. He was a voice of truth to vipers. That was 28 years ago, and we need to pray that same prayer today, and be a voice in the wilderness.
Thank you for the mention. I enjoy several of the others you list also.