1.He was filled with the Holy Spirit in his mothers womb !
(Luke 1:15)'And he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.'Those in ministry must be filled with the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of Truth! It is very important to have the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon our ministries.
2.He was called by God and not by man ! He did not drink wine or strong drink !(Luke 1:15)'For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord , and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink.'Many want to be great in the sight of men these days but they are not great in the sight of God ! God resists the proud.
3.God would use him to turn many people back to the Lord! (Luke 1:16-17)
4.John grew strong in spirit ! We need leaders who are godly and strong in spirit !(Luke 1:80) 'And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit ,and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel.'
5.He boldly called on people to repent ,confess their sins and flee from the wrath of a holy God ! (Matthew 3:1-2) We need godly ministers who preach the doctrine of repentance and the doctrine of the holy wrath of God.Men who will preach that there is a real hell and a real heaven !
6.He expected to see real evidence of real repentance ! He demanded fruit.
(Matthew 3:8)'Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance.' Because we have perverted the gospel that ignores repentance and true faith we have seen churches filled with fruitless 'believers.' John preached judgment to those who bore no fruit! (Matthew 3:10)'And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the tree:therefore every tree which brings not forth good fruit is cut down ,and cast into the fire.'
7.He did not fear well known religious leaders who were living in sin !He called the Pharisees and Sadducees (Matthew 3:7)' O generation of vipers ,who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come?' He did not seek approval from those in high places !!He sought to please God alone and not man.
8.John did not compromise his message and was a man of godly character.
(Matthew 11:7) 'And as they departed,Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John,What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaking with the wind?' John preached the holy Word of God without fear of others,never yielding to popular opinion.He stood with God against sin ! He was never shaken but fulfilled his calling !
9.John pointed people to Jesus the Lamb of God and not to himself.
(John 1:29)'The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and said,Behold the Lamb of God,that takes away the sin of the world.'
He had no plans for a big time ministry.Jesus was 1st and foremost and central in John's ministry ! Good lesson for us ! Ministry is about serving and not being served.And the focus is to be on Jesus !
10.John was a humble godly man ! We need the virtue of humility back in the ministry !(John 1:27)'He it is ,who coming after me is preferred before me,whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose. (John 3:30)'He must increase ,but I must decrease.' Few are like John today.They want the spotlight on them and not on Jesus !Rarely hear that word 'decrease'. Doesn't get many Amen's.
11.John was not a lover of Titles ! He could care less about being called a Prophet or Apostle or Doctor !He did not seek the applause of men.He was no 'attention hog'.(John 1:23)'I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness,Make straight the way of the Lord.'
John was a servant of the Most High and few today want to be called a servant or simply 'a voice.'Titles do not equal a true calling or anointing from above.
12.John did not try to impress people with eloquence or designer clothes ! He was not flashy or an entertainer !(Matthew 3:4)'And the same John had his raiment of camels hair,and a leather girdle about his loins,and his meat was locust and wild honey.
(Luke 7:25)'But what went ye out to see?A man clothed in soft raiment?Behold ,they which are gorgeously clothed ,and live delicately,are in king's courts.The word delicate means 'to live in luxury !' The clothing here speaks of 'expensive clothes'.
John would not fit in today's 'ministry crowd' of luxury , lavish expensive clothes and huge mansions.He did not wallow in ease and comfort and enjoy the pleasures of the prosperous palace crowd in order to gratify his wants and cravings.He did not dress to impress ! He did not 'wine and dine' in the very best hotels and restaurants like so many big shot preachers of today !
13..John never boasted or bragged about his ministry or anointing ! Nothing slick about John. He did not try to sell 'anointed camels hair clothes' or 'so-called holy water' from the river Jordan and use gimmicks to appeal to itching ears in order to get money.John never scratched an itching ear but he sure did offend many with his straight forward 'tell it like it is' preaching !
14.Jesus said John the Baptist was the greatest of prophets and he never performed any miracles.(Luke 11:28,John 10:41) Friend miracles are never the proof that a person is called of God.Miracles can be counterfeited and fake or can be produced by evil spirits.Of course they also can be real and from the Lord ! These days many claim to have special power with God and are self-proclaimed prophets but they are deceivers !
JOHN WAS A REAL MAN OF GOD FULL OF A HOLY ZEAL TO PLEASE THE LORD.WE NEED MORE LIKE HIM.BOLD-FEARLESS-ZEALOUS-
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