John 1:22-23 NKJV
Then they said to him (to John the Baptist), “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” He said: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord,” ’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
And you know what? Essentially this is the calling of all of
us who are genuine disciples of Jesus Christ, not in all the same ways in which
John the Baptist was called of God, but still we are called to do the same.
The Wilderness
A wilderness is a wasteland, a desert, the wilds, desolate, and
uncultivated. And/or it is a way of life that is spiritually lacking, empty, unproductive,
and unfit for good use. And with whom should we be sharing the truth of the
gospel? Well, we should be sharing it with all people, for we don’t know
everyone’s hearts or where they stand in relation to God/Jesus Christ, and
whether or not they are of true faith, and whether or not they are living by
that faith or if they are just pretending to be those who believe in Christ.
The wilderness can also be representative of this sinful
world in which all of us live, not meaning that we all are living in sin, for
all of us are not, but that we physically reside in this world which is
captivated to sin. And it is representative of the wandering people of God of
old who were idolatrous, adulterous, drunkards, revelers, disobedient, sexually
immoral, full of lust, and who lusted after what was evil, and who came against
God and his commands. So God put them to death. So they did not have eternal
life.
Make it Straight
So, when we read about that in 1 Corinthians 10:1-22, we
should also take note that these things happened as examples for us, and they
were written down for us as examples so that we should not follow in their
footsteps, so that we should not lust after evil things such as they did, and make
such sins as these our practice, with the same result. And all throughout the
New Testament Scriptures we are taught that we must now die to sin and walk in
obedience to God’s commands, or we will not inherit eternal life with God.
For if we make straight the way of the Lord, not only by the
words that we speak, but by how we live, in practice, we are teaching and we
are living what is honest, upright, trustworthy, morally pure, faithful, honorable,
decent, righteous, godly, and submissive and obedient to God and to his New
Covenant commandments. So we are teaching that to follow Jesus we must deny
self, die to sin daily (by the Spirit), and walk in obedience to our Lord’s
commands as required of God for salvation and eternal life with God.
Of One Crying
So this is not light and fluffy stuff we are talking about
here. It is not making the way of the Lord nice and friendly and comfortable
and relaxed so that we don’t feel bad about our sins. It is not speaking to the
people the words they want to hear so that they will like us, but it is
speaking to them the words they need to hear, so that they will love God, and
so they will surrender their lives to him, and so they will deny self, die to
sin, and obey his commands, as a matter of life practice, in the power of God,
by the grace of God.
When we do this, and we speak truth to the people that many
do not want to hear, because it is not the “light and fluffy feel good stuff”
that makes them happy, we should expect that we will be hated, forsaken,
forgotten, cast aside as unwanted and as unnecessary, ridiculed, called “crazy,”
mocked, falsely accused, mistreated, and persecuted for the sake of the truth
of the gospel, and for the sake of righteousness. And because we are crying out
to the people to believe and obey the truth, or face God’s wrath.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts
26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans
8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1
Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians
5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14;
Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24;
1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation
3:1-22]
Should I Not Preach Jesus
Based off 1 Corinthians 9:16-10:13
An Original Work /
July 4, 2013
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Woe to me should I
not preach Jesus.
I’m compelled to
preach the full gospel.
I make myself a
slave to ev’ryone
To win their hearts
to Christ.
All this I do for my
Lord Jesus,
And for the sake of
His Name;
Do it for the sake
of His gospel,
So that I, its
blessings gain.
Scripture notates
the sins of others;
Written down for us
as examples
To keep us from
setting our hearts
On evil as did those
of old.
Do not worship other
gods of man;
Do not give your
hearts to them;
Not partake in
immorality.
Do not test your
Lord and King.
So, be careful if
you think you are
Standing firm in your faith in Jesus.
God has given his
word to warn us,
So through faith we
will not fall.
No temptation has
o’ertaken you
Except what is
commonplace.
God is faithful to
not let you be
Tempted past what
you can bear.
He gives the way of
escape.
Make Straight the
Way of The Lord
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