Gramazin Inc. | Testimonies Across America

There are many variations of passages of available but majority

John the Baptist Receives Praise

Take Every Passage to Prayer - Volume 2, The Gospels
^{Saturday June 01, 2024}

Matthew 3:11-12, Mark 1:7-8, Luke 3:15-18

Father, it is said we cannot take anything with us into the afterlife. I disagree. We can enjoy with us in heaven the people who came to faith in Jesus Christ because we were obedient on earth to share the gospel. Father, use me to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others. Help me not to be shy about sharing the reality of hell. I am not showing love to someone to hide from them their eternal destiny. I am showing love to them to awaken them to the reality that they deserve Your eternal wrath, but in Your great love You provided them a Savior who offers them total forgiveness for all of their sin. Amen.

Father, it is my belief that the core of the human condition is that we want to be our own god. We want to be in charge of our lives. We want to set our own goals and make our own plans. We want to define right and wrong for ourselves. We want the glory and the praise.

Knowing this fact, Satan no doubt began to tempt John the Baptist, in the form of the people in the crowd praising John and speculating that he is the Messiah:

“John, look at you. You are one special guy. All of these people are flocking to see you and hear what you have to say. You should be proud of yourself. You should welcome the praise and compliments you are receiving. After all, you deserve all of the accolades.”

John replied (paraphrased).

“Are you kidding me? I am not the Messiah. I am not worthy of praise and adoration. I’m not even worthy to untie the straps of the real Messiah’s sandals.”

John continues (paraphrased).

“I baptize you with water. All I do is symbolize that Jesus has cleansed you from the filth of the sin in your life. But I can’t change your heart. Jesus does something far greater. He gives you the Holy Spirit who does change your heart. He gives you a new heart that wants to please Him by obeying his commands.”

Father, there is rampant false doctrine in many churches in America. These doctrines include, but are not limited to:

We can work off our debt to You by doing good works.
If we are truly godly people, we will have a carefree life of health and wealth.
You just want us to be happy in life. You help us to be the little gods we imagine ourselves to be.
You love everyone and will not punish “good” people. Only “evil” people, like Adolf Hitler, go to a place called “hell”.
Speaking of a place called “hell” is not politically correct. Never bring it up in a sermon or in a Sunday School class. It is better that someone dies lost in their sin, destined to hell, than to offend them with talk of hell while they are alive.

Teaching these false doctrines is akin to leading souls through the gates of hell. Father, it is the fear of Your eternal wrath and our destiny in hell, knowing that we have broken Your laws, that compels us to confess our sin in the name of Jesus Christ, and to repent of our sinful ways through the help of the Holy Spirit. If there is no fear of being a “Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God” , there’s no reason to turn from our sin and repent.

John the Baptist is a genuine preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is not politically correct. He taught his listeners that there is a hell and that those who do not confess their sin, in the name of Jesus, and turn from their wicked ways, are destined to spend eternity in hell. John states that Jesus will separate true believers in Him from everyone else and that everyone else is destined to experience the “unquenchable fire.”

John illustrates his point with a metaphor from farming. Harvesting wheat back in the day required the following steps:

The sheaves of grain would be placed on a threshing floor. Oxen or donkeys would trample on the sheaves, detaching the grain from the chaff (husks and stalks).
Once the animals were removed, the wheat and chaff were thrown into the air. The wind blew the chaff away, but the heavier wheat grains would fall to the ground. This process was called winnowing.
The grains of wheat are gathered for consumption. The chaff is gathered and burned.

Believers and unbelievers are harvested at the same time. All of us will stand before Jesus on Judgement Day. Jesus will metaphorically use His winnowing fork and separate believers from unbelievers. The believers will spend eternity with Him. The unbelievers will spend eternity where the fire is never quenched. Amen.

Footnotes

60. In Exodus 3:5, You told Moses to not come any closer to the burning bush because the ground was holy. You instructed him to take off his sandals. Sandals collected the dust, dirt, and mud of the land. Sandals metaphorically represent sin and corruption of our hearts. You were saying, paraphrased, “I am holy. Keep your sin away from me. Take off your sin if you want to approach me.” In this setting with John the Baptist, Jesus is the great “I am” (Exodus 3:14, John 6:35, 8:12, 10:9, 10:11, 11:25-26, 14:6, 15:5). He has no sin or corruption in His heart. Therefore, His feet and His sandals are metaphorically pure. John cannot come near Jesus’ feet, or His sandals, because it is John who is a sinner and not Jesus.

61. Jesus spoke of hell directly in Matthew 5, 11, 16, 18, and 23; Mark 9; and Luke 10, 12, 16. Jesus used other terms to speak of hell in Matthew 7, 13, 18, 22, 25; Mark 9, 12; Luke 13, 16; John 5 and John 15. You cannot claim to be a Christian without acknowledging that Jesus taught that there is a real place that we refer to as hell where people go to who did not ask for forgiveness of their sins through Him.

62. There may be a literal lake of fire in hell. I will not deny that. However, I believe a lake of fire is not necessary for the individual to experience unbearable suffering throughout eternity. Imagine a world where the love of God is absent, a world where such things as love, kindness, compassion, friendship, family, hope, and forgiveness cannot be found. Imagine living in a world where everyone hates you and where pure violence, greed, and selfishness is the norm for every person. Imagine living in a world where there is no one to protect you, provide for you, or rescue you. Imagine living in a world of total loneliness, fear, anxiety, and insecurity. Imagine living in a world without the beauty of creation to enjoy. Imagine living in a world where there is nothing delicious to eat or drink. Imagine living in a world where there are no parties or celebrations. Imagine living in a world with no medicine, no hospitals, and no police. Imagine living in a world where the talents and skills you enjoyed on earth are gone. Imagine living in a world without sports, hobbies, music, art, or even cute kittens and puppies. Imagine not being able to escape from this place because there is no loving God to hear Your prayers of remorse and contrition. Imagine living forever with the knowledge that you had the opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior on earth, but you rejected the gospel. This kind of place sounds like “hell”.

63. Jonathan Edwards, title of a sermon shared with a congregation in Northampton, Massachusetts on Saturday July 8, 1741. (Wikipedia).