TRAIL BLAZER

Mark 1:1-3

1 ¶ The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; 2 As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

John was greater than Nimrod, Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander the Great, Ghengis Khan, Mohammed, Confucious, Buddha, the Ceasars of Rome, the Czars of Russia, and Napoleon. He was so great that even some thought he was the Messiah. 

    John was more significant than the Apostle Paul. John was great in size, strength, courage, and character. He was a man's man. He was not a weakling or a coward. The Baptist was a courageous man with back bone. He was not "a reed shaken by the wind" nor by popular opinion. John was not cool; neither was he sophisticated. He was not a character; he had character for he was “filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.” 

    John was great in his life. He was a Nazarite who was set aside by the LORD. He was not a mystic, a Gnostic, an Essene, or a Kabbalist. John was separate and was destined to greatness apart from all earthly organizations. Some are great in their own eyes. Some are great in the eyes of others. But John was great in the eyes of the LORD! 

    The most important thing about John was the work that GOD sent him to do. John 1:1 "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John." He was the only individual, other than Jesus, who has ever had the personal authority to baptize. That is the reason he was called John the Baptist. He was not called John the Catholic, or John the Protestant. He was not John the nondenominationist, John the Evangelical, John the Pentecostal, John the Charismatic, John the Church of Christ, John the Methodist, or John the Presbyterian. HE WAS “JOHN THE BAPTIST!” He was the only one! There never will be another. He was The Baptist! I am a Baptist but he was THE BAPTIST. John was unique. He was the fulfillment of prophecy. Malachi 3:1 "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts." John was the messenger that filled this prophecy and the prophecy in Malachi 4:5, 6 "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." John was making history while he was fulfilling prophecy. (Baptist history that is!) He was on the cutting edge of church history or maybe I should say that he was the cutting edge. Another good title for this message would be The Cutting Edge! It was said of him that the axe is laid unto the root of the trees... He was the first to clear the ground and blaze the trail. Church history began with the Baptist. Mark 1:1, 2 John prepared the material that made up the First Baptist Church. 

    John did not fit the religious mold of his day. He did not wear the right kind of clothing or eat the right kind of food. He was different. He was a desert rat who knew how to survive. The Baptist was not interested in what the brethern wanted! John did not even know what was going on at denominational headquarters. He was God's man with God's message. He knew what God had sent him to do and he was committed to GOD. IT WAS JOHN'S JOB TO PREPARE THE WAY FOR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST Mark 1:2-3 "As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." 

    During ancient times a road building crew would go ahead of a king who was touring his country. The road builders would smooth out the rough places, fill the low places, cut down the hills, and straighten out the curves so that the king would have a smooth, straight, and level road. 

    A herald would go down the new road before the king to announce that he was coming. The people would line up on the the edge of the road so they could see the king. John was a trail blazer, a road builder, and a herald. John was THE VOICE for God. Luke 3:4-6 As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God."

    John blazed a trail though the wilderness of sinful man and false religion that has never been equaled. He came like a D-9 high track bulldozer running over everything and everyone that got in the way of the coming King. John was nothing like the modern day soft spoken preacher who is afraid to speak out against error and sin. He was not afraid of losing his job or position nor even his head. John was not a slick politician that had learned how to win friends and influence people. He was not a polished preacher who knew how to smooth ruffled feathers and play games. John was ruff-cut! He grew up in the wilderness under the influence of GOD. As the scriptures prophesied he came in the spirit of rugged Elijah. When King Ahab saw Elijah he asked him if he was the one that was causing trouble in Israel. Elijah said, I am not the trouble causer but you are because you have forsaken the commandments of GOD. 

    A man that preaches the truth is not the trouble maker rather he is a way maker. The trouble makers in churches are the ones who are too contrary to accept the truth. When people accused Billy Sunday of rubbing the fur the wrong way, he replied: "I do not, let the cats turn around!" If the truth upsets you, you are the one that needs to change. So, turn around! repent! REPENT NOW!!! 

    John preached the message of GOD loud and clear. A lady once complained that the preacher shouted too loud. However, it was not the shouting that bothered her, but what was being shouted. Let them complain and fuss but preach like the first Baptist. Preach the entire message of GOD. Preach it loud and clear so that all may understand and be convicted of their sins. John was not trying to just generate interest in the LORD's cause. He was interested in men being convicted of their sins and repenting of those sins.

    John cried out, make way, for the King is coming! Nothing was to be left standing in the way. So John brought the hills and mountains down. He stood up to the proud and haughty religious leaders of the day. John cut them down to size by calling them a generation of vipers. How we need preachers today, who will deal with the vipers in the religious world instead of catering to them. They have created a mountain and the mountains must come down. He also rebuked wicked King Herod for his adultery even though it cost him his head. There are mountains in the political and religious world that must come down if the road is to be level. That is what the first Baptist did and that is what Baptist churches are responsible for doing today.

    John also had to straighten out the crooked road and make it straight. Men in general were crooks and they needed to be straightened out for the coming of the LORD. Matthew was a crooked tax collector and John straightened him out. Instead of preachers catering to the unscrupulous members of churches, they need to straighten them out. We need preaching today that will make sinners either repent or get out of the way.

    Above all John filled the valleys. True religion was at its lowest ebb. There was only a small remnant of the faithful Jews left. Most of them had given up, for GOD had been silent for four hundred years. Then suddenly out of the deep spiritual darkness a voice was heard. Mark 1:3 "Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make His paths straight." How happy those down trodden people must have been when they heard the voice of GOD's man. John's preaching lifted up those lowly people and filled the valleys.

    When Jesus came He had a straight, smooth, and level road. We need men who would make inroads into the religious world and even into Baptist ranks. Again someone needs to make the way clear and plain. Who will it be? Preacher, is GOD dealing with you and trying to get you to quit sermonizing and preach the Word. Cry out against all error and sin. Preach the whole counsel of God, including the part that gets you into trouble. Acts 20:27 For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. If you are a Baptist that is what your are responsible for doing. Be a man, be a real Baptist, be pointed and plain in your preaching or else change your name. Be "ruff-cut."

    The greatest need today is a trail blazer who will make the way plain. The way in many churches is like old Route 66. Most of it has been taken over by trees and weeds. If you disagree with this kind of preaching you are standing in the way and you are not much of a Baptist. Do not complain if you run over. Get right or get out of the way for the road must be without bumps, stumps, high places, low places, and curves. God dodges no one. No one is too big or too important to stand in GOD's way for there are no sacred cows in His sight! 

IT WAS JOHN'S JOB TO PREACH REPENTANCE Mark 1:4 "John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." 

    This passage means that one must be baptized in repentance in order to be saved! One must be immersed into repentance. Repentance means sorrow for sin. So one must be submerged in sorrow over his sins. He must be overwhelmed by his sins. At one time I was drowning in sorrow because of my sins. As I was about to be destroyed by my own sins, I cried out to the LORD for salvation. He reached own, pulled me out, and saved my soul from drowning in my sins. 

    It is similar to being baptized. As the administrator buries you completely in the water and lifts you up; so it is with repentance. You are immersed in sorrow and then GOD raises you up as you place your faith in Him. You cannot separate repentance and faith. Acts 20:21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

    John laid the axe to the root. John did not leave any stumps in the road. He dug up the whole tree, roots and all. John got to the root of man's problem by preaching repentance. Man's problem is not his environment or his background. Man's problem is personal sin! And there ain't but one cure for sin and that ageless remedy is "Repentance toward GOD and faith in the LORD JESUS CHRIST." Get to the root of man's problem and preach the message of repen- tance like John. Preach against all sin and call sin by it name. Name specific sins! Demand that men repent of their sins and show fruit of repentance by forsaking their sins. Matthew 3:8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: It is Baptists’ responsibility to preach the message of repentance and root out sin. 

IT WAS JOHN'S JOB TO BAPTIZE THOSE WHO REPENTED. Mark 1:4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 5 And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.

    John was to baptize those who truly repented of their sins. John did his best to baptize only those who were genuinely saved. He was the Baptist because God authorized him to baptize. John was his name and Baptist was his title. He was John the baptizer; he was John the immerser. Today only true Baptist churches have the authority to baptize the repentant. John was the man that God chose to prepare the first church members. Today true Baptist churches have John's baptism. Do you have John's Baptism?

    It was John's job to baptize Jesus. What an honor and privilege this must have been. Mark 1:9 The entire Trinity recognized John's baptism. The Father spoke out of heaven and said, "this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the form of a dove. Jesus waked many miles and submitted to John's baptism. Many today refuse to drive even a few miles to receive John's baptism but true Baptists claim it proudly. 

IT WAS JOHN'S JOB TO POINT MEN TO CHRIST. Mark 1:7 And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.

    On another occasion John pointed at Christ and said, "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world." John was a great man but he quickly let people know that a greater man was coming down the road that he had prepared. The greatest compliment ever given to a preacher was given to John. When the people heard John they followed Jesus. John 1:37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. John was willing to decrease that Jesus might increase in the eyes of the people. John was a great man and preacher. But a greater than John is here and that man is the LORD JESUS CHRIST. He is the greatest of all time and eternity because He was, is, and shall always continue to be GOD. Only Jesus can save your soul. Make the way straight for Him in your heart and life today and be eternally saved. Then follow Jesus in baptism by submitting to John's baptism. 

    Be what GOD wants you to be. First, He wants you to be saved. He wants you saved before you are baptized. Secondly, He wants you to be baptized. Then GOD wants you to be a Baptist, a real Baptist. He wants you on the cutting edge of truth. God wants you to be separate like the first Baptist was. He wants you to be a real person like the first Baptist. Don't follow someone else's path. Don't wait for someone else to take a stand; you take a stand for the truth. Be a Baptist until death or unto death, which ever comes first!