Reformation Faith For The Final Crisis.
CHAPTER 4
Lessons from the Life of a True Reformer
Part 1
Our opening text is taken from Matthew Chapter 3.
John the Baptist was called to pave the way for the first coming of Jesus Christ. He was the forerunner of Christ. His awesome work is described in Malachi chapter 3 verses 1-3. He was a type of the final generation who will give the final warning message in the spirit and power of Elijah and thus pave the way for the second coming of Jesus Christ.
The life and teachings of John the Baptist the reformer contain many valuable lessons that we would all do well to learn from. As a reformer who heralded Christ’s first coming John revealed the nature of the experience, work and character development of the 144 000 living saints on a small scale. By the experience, work and character development of the 144 000, they (Christ in them fully developed) will “carry to glorious perfection” the work which Christ began at Calvary; they will give to the world “the final and full display of the love of God.” A.A. p 19. They will pave the way and then behold Christ’s second coming in all His glory. Matt. 25:31.
The Sacred record mentions the fact that there are many things John the Baptist said and did which are not recorded. Luke 3:18. We shall however in this series highlight some of those which the Spirit of God saw fit to emphasize since they are very important in relation to the work and the experience of the 144 000 last day reformers of whom John was only a type. For example, the scriptures calls attention to:
A. The message which he preached. “Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand,” was based on the fulfillment of the time prophecy of Daniel. “The message that God had given him to bear was designed to startle them from their lethargy, and cause them to tremble because of their great wickedness.... God does not send messengers to flatter the sinner.” D.A. 103,104.
B. His plain dress. Matt. 3:4.
“His dress was that of the ancient prophets, a garment of camel’s hair, confined by a leather girdle.” D.A. 102.
“John’s singular appearance carried the minds of his hearers back to the ancient seers. In his manner and dress he resembled the prophet Elijah.” Ibid p 104.
“By his abstemious life and plain dress he was to rebuke the excesses of his time. Ibid p. 100-101.
John’s dress was out of harmony with the style of his day. It was not even like that of Jesus who wore the dress of his day. John’s was altogether different but applicable for the work he came to do. Hence in the Elijah message, dress reform plays a part in the final work. The final generation will be distinguished from the world even in their manner of dress.
C. His abstemious diet. Matt. 3:4.
“His meat was locust and wild honey.”
“He ate the ‘locusts and wild honey’ found in the wilderness and drank the pure water from the hills.” D.A. p 102.
“Sensuous pleasures, feasting and drinking, were causing physical disease and degeneracy, benumbing the spiritual perceptions, and lessening the sensibility to sin. John was to stand as a reformer.” Ibid p.100.
In preparing the way for Christ’s first advent, he was a representative of those who are to prepare a people for our Lord’s second coming.
“All who would perfect holiness in the fear of God must learn the lessons of temperance and self-control. The appetites and passions must be held in subjection to the higher powers of the mind. This self-discipline is essential to that mental strength and spiritual insight which will enable us to understand and to practice the sacred truths of God’s word. For this reason temperance finds its place in the work of preparation for Christ’s second coming.” D.A. 101.
The word “locust” has more than one meaning. Apart from the species of the grasshopper family, it also means, according to the dictionary, the fruit of the carob tree (carob bean), which is very nutritious to the body.
“His diet, purely vegetable, of locusts and wild honey, was a rebuke to the indulgence of appetite and the gluttony that everywhere prevailed.” 3T. 62.
“John (subsisted) upon a purely vegetable diet.” Temperance, p.91.
His was a simple and natural diet.
D. His straight forwardness. Matt. 3:7-9.
“With the spirit and power of Elijah he denounced the national corruption, and rebuked the prevailing sins. His words were plain, pointed and convincing.” D.A. p. 104.
“Many of the scribes and Pharisees came confessing their sins, and asking for baptism. They had exalted themselves as better than other men, and had led the people to entertain a high opinion of their piety; now the guilty secrets of their lives were unveiled. But John was impressed by the Holy Spirit that many of these men had no real conviction of sin. They were time-servers.” D.A. p. 105.
“In this fearful time just before Christ is to come the second time, God’s faithful preachers will have to bear a still more pointed testimony than was borne by John the Baptist. A responsible important work is before them; and those who speak smooth things, God will not acknowledge as His shepherds. A fearful woe is upon them.” Test. Vol. p. 321.
“The forerunner of Christ’s first advent was a very plain spoken man. He rebuked sin, and called things by their right names. He laid the axe at the root of the tree. He thus addressed one class of professed converts who came to be baptized of him in Jordan: ‘O generation of vipers who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance.” Test. Vol. p. 321.
“The message of John the Baptist was a new and startling message, and could not be interwoven with the superstitions and traditions of the Pharisees... the work of John was to expose the character of the works of the Pharisees, to set their traditions and heresies in their true light before the people.” R.H. Vol. 3 p. 135.
“The Spirit of Reform was stirring the soul of John. R.H. Vol. 1 p.127.
E. His denunciation of hypocrisy, pretense and commitment to men and organization, seeking security through same. Matt. 3:8,9.
“John declared to the Jews that their standing before God was to be decided by their character and life. Profession was worthless. If their life and character were not in harmony with God’s law, they were not His people.” D.A. p. 107.
“He sought not to attract men to himself, but to lift their thoughts higher and still higher, until they should rest upon the lamb of God.
“Those who are true to their calling as messengers of God will not seek honor for themselves. Love for self will be swallowed up in love for Christ. No rivalry will mar the precious cause of the gospel. They will recognize that it is their work to proclaim, as did John the Baptist, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’ John 1:29" D.A. p. 179-180.
“A mere lineal descent from Abraham was of no value. Without a spiritual connection with him (Jesus), which would be manifested in possessing the same spirit and doing the same works, THEY WERE NOT HIS CHILDREN. This principle bears with equal weight upon a question that has long agitated the christian world the question of apostolic succession Descent from Abraham was proved, not by name and lineage, but by likeness of character. So the apostolic succession rests not upon the transmission of ecclesiastical authority, but upon spiritual relationship. A life actuated by the apostles’ spirit, the belief and teaching of the truth they taught, this is the true evidence of apostolic succession. This is what constitutes men the successors of the first teachers of the gospel. Jesus denied that the Jews were the children of Abraham.” D.A. p. 467.
There is no salvation or security in being attached or committed to leaders and organizations or churches. It is found only in and through Jesus Christ.
F. His freedom from worldly mindedness. Luke 3: l0-l4.
“In the time of John the Baptist, greed for riches and the love of luxury and display had become widespread.... John was to stand as a reformer. By his abstemious life and plain dress he was to rebuke the excesses of his time.” D.A. 100-101.
“From childhood his mission had been kept before him and he had accepted the holy trust. To him the solitude of the desert was a welcome escape from society in which suspicion, unbelief, and impurity had become well-nigh all-pervading. He distrusted his own power to withstand temptation and shrank from constant contact with sin, lest he should lose the sense of its exceeding sinfulness.” D.A. 101-102.
“John had been called to reprove the sins and excesses of his time, and his plain dress and self-denying life were in harmony with the character of his mission. Rich apparel and the luxuries of this life are not the portion of God’s servants, but of those ‘who live in ‘kings courts,’ the rulers of this world, to whom pertain its power and its riches... they (priests and rulers) were more anxious to again the admiration of men than to obtain the purity of heart which would win the approval of God. Thus they revealed that their allegiance was no given to God, but to the kingdom of this world.” D.A. 218-219.
G. Educational preparation. Luke 1:80; Luke 3:2-4.
“In the natural order of things, the son of Zacharias would have been educated for the priesthood. But the training of the rabbinical schools would have unfitted him for his work. GOD DID NOT SEND HIM TO THE TEACHERS OF THEOLOGY TO EARN HOW TO INTERPRET THE SCRIPTURES. He called him to the desert, that he might learn of nature and nature’s God... it was his choice to forgo the enjoyments and luxuries of life for the stem discipline of the wilderness... Uninterrupted by the clamor of the world, he could here study the lessons of nature, of revelation and of Providence.” D.A. 101.
“With vision illuminated by the divine Spirit he studied the characters of men, that he might understand how to reach their hearts with the message of heaven. The burden of his mission was upon him. In solitude, by meditation and prayer, he sought to gird up his soul for the life work before him.” D.A. 102.
“He looked upon the king of His beauty, and self was forgotten. He beheld the majesty of holiness and felt himself to be inefficient and unworthy. HE WAS READY TO GO FORTH AS HEAVEN’S MESSENGER, UNAWED BY THE HUMAN, BECAUSE HE HAD LOOKED UPON THE DIVINE. He could stand erect and fearless in the presence of earthly monarchs, because he had bowed low before the, King of kings.” D.A. 103.
“John was called to do a special work; he was to prepare the way of the Lord, to make straight his paths. The Lord did not send him to the school of the prophets or rabbis. HE TOOK HIM AWAY FROM THE ASSEMBLIES OF MEN TO THE DESERT that he might learn of nature and nature’s God. GOD DID NOT DESIRE HIM TO HAVE THE MOLD OF THE PRIESTS AND RULERS. He was called to do a special work. The Lord gave him his message. Did he go to the priests and rulers and ask if he might proclaim this message! No, God put him away from them that he might not be influenced by their spirit and teaching.” R.H. Vol. 2 p.318.
We are told that in the preaching of the final loud cry message, the workers “will be qualified rather by the unction of the Spirit than by the training of literary institutions” G.C. p. 606.
“John was to go forth as Jehovah’s messenger, to bring to men the light of God. He must give a new direction to their thoughts. He must impress them with the holiness of God’s requirements, and their need of His perfect righteousness. Such a messenger must be bold. He must be a temple for the indwelling Spirit of God. In order to fulfill his mission, he must have a sound physical constitution, and mental and spiritual strength. Therefore, it would be necessary for him to control the appetites and passions. He must be able so to control all his powers that he could stand among men as unmoved by surrounding circumstances as the rocks and mountains of the wilderness.” D.A. 100.
Surely the work of a reformer at this time is not a light matter. May the Lord strengthen us and prepare us for this grand work as we contemplate on what constitutes reformation faith.
“This is the victory that overcomes the world even our faith.” 1 John5:4
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