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We return once again to our examination of Luke's gospel. So if you will turn to Luke chapter three, we will be looking at verses 18 through 20 under the heading, "The Preaching and Passing of John the Baptist."

Before I read the text, let me remind you of the context. Messianic expectations ran high there in the first century, even to the point where some people thought that maybe John the Baptist was the Messiah, a notion he quickly dismissed. So, after 30 years of isolation, God finally called John the Baptist to emerge out of the wilderness where he had been living, so that he could begin to prepare the people to meet their Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, and to believe in his offer of salvation.

Now bear in mind that John the Baptist was a real celebrity of that day. You can hear the people saying, "My we got to go out and see this hermit, this prophet that's been living in the wilderness. I mean, something's going on here." Remember Matthew tells us in chapter three and verse four that he wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt about his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. This was quite a character. Jesus called him the greatest man who had ever lived until that time. Remember, in Matthew 11, verse 11, he said, "'Truly, I say to you, among those born of women, there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist!'"

And we also see from the sacred text that he was filled with the Holy Spirit, even from conception. So the people were going out to see him, Matthew three, beginning in verse five, tells us,

"Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan;

"and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

"But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism..."

I'll stop there. You remember the rest of the story; he rebuked them and so forth. So that's the context. So many people left apostate Judaism, shall we say, there in Jerusalem, and they went out to the wilderness to hear this incredible preacher. And as we look at the text, we see how he called them to repentance. He reminded them to fear the just wrath of God to change their attitude and actions, to place their faith in Christ alone.

Now, of course, none of this went over well with these self-righteous law keepers who believed that somehow, they could earn their way to salvation. Like many people today, they didn't think they were all that sinful. A lot of people think that today, that somehow, on the scales of justice, their good really outweighs their bad, so they'll make the cut in the end; hell will be filled with those who believe that lie because, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." We read in Romans three, verse 24 that we are, "justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith."  And you're familiar with that verse in Acts chapter four and verse 12, "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."

So the last time we were looking at these texts, we examined verses seven through 17, where we are given examples of John the Baptist's bold, uncompromising, and shall I add highly offensive, gospel preaching. And now what we are going to see is a shift in Luke's narrative. In the verses that we're looking at this morning, he's closing out the ministry of John the Baptist, not chronologically, but thematically as we will see.

In fact, John the Baptist's imprisonment happened towards the end of Jesus' ministry; but Luke is going to make a shift now, so that the focus will no longer be on John the Baptist, but on the Lord Jesus Christ and his ministry.

With that, let me read these three verses, Luke through three, beginning in verse 18.

"So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people.

"But when Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded by him because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and because of all the wicked things which Herod had done,

"Herod also added this to them all: He locked John up in prison."

Now I wish to underscore three key elements that stand out to me as I look at this passage of Scripture. These three verses, because they really serve as a template for all of us when it comes to gospel ministry, especially pastors and missionaries. Therefore, I've given you a real simple outline. Number one, we're going to see that he fearlessly preached the gospel. Secondly, he fearlessly confronted the wicked, and finally, he fearlessly faced martyrdom. And you know, as hostilities continue to mount against biblical Christianity, primarily from Islamists and from progressive, woke liberals, we would all do well to emulate the life and the ministry of John the Baptist, like so many others, I look forward to meeting him one day.

To date, we see that there have been, from the Family Research Council studies they have identified 1384 acts of hostility toward us churches occurring between January 2018 and December 2024. They say that these acts are destructive and have the potential to intimidate religious communities. Well, we're familiar with that. I mean, not too long ago we saw the anti-ICE protesters that descended on cities church in St Paul, Minnesota after learning that one of the pastors was somehow affiliated with ICE, they were chanting, "ICE out" and "Justice for Renee Good" and that type of thing. But folks, this is mild compared to the types of things that John the Baptist endured for the cause of Christ, as well as many others down through redemptive history who have been persecuted in ways that are unimaginable.

I want to remind you that Satan is the ruler of this world, Jesus tells us; temporarily. John tells us that the whole world lies in the lap of the evil one. Jesus said in John 15:19, "'If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this, the world hates you.'"

I'm reminded of the illustration in Bunyan's Christian allegory The Pilgrim's Progress. Remember when his friend Faithful was persecuted in a place called Vanity Fair. Vanity Fair - a place that represents all of the things of this world, the alluring power of immorality, materialism, the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, the boastful pride of life. And if you read what he wrote, you will quickly see that this was a place described as one of perpetual vanity, endless meaninglessness. They mocked his clothes because they were different. They couldn't understand his speech because he spoke the "Language of Canaan." They were offended because he showed no interest in the items that they sold. In fact, he said, "We will buy the truth." And so they taunted him, they beat him, called him a troublemaker, a mad man that disrupted the entire fair. Sound familiar?

Folks, just go on Facebook and quote God's clear and frightening condemnations of sexual immorality and sexual perversions. Everything that the LGBTQ cult believes in, for example, and just see what happens. Quoting the Bible is now a hate crime in some countries, and I fear it will be that way here soon. In fact, some of the testimonies of converted homosexuals and transgenders are met with enormous hostility. People don't want to hear that. I think it was in Colorado where they had a law against conversion therapy, and then the Supreme Court recently overturned it because of free speech and all. Go online and quote what Jesus said in John three, and what John said about how the wrath of God abides upon those that do not believe in Christ.

Well, John the Baptist, preached for many months to folks who traveled away from Jerusalem to this wilderness region of Jordan. And again, the gospel was strange to them. They were used to just obeying the law and thinking that if they did that well enough, as I say, they would make the cut and be saved. And he exposed the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees and so forth and so, under this first heading, he fearlessly preached the gospel.

Notice what verse 18 says, "So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people." Obviously, not all that he preached is written down here, but we know the essence of what he said. You will recall in verse three, it says, "And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin."

Now that seems pretty obvious to us, but it was not obvious to them, totally foreign to them. Now, bear in mind, John's baptism was not a reference to Christian baptism as we would know it. It hadn't even been instituted yet it was, but rather, it was a public acknowledgement that, like the Gentiles, you were equally guilty of offending a holy God; that you were alienated from God; that you were in need of saving grace. And so John's baptism really symbolized cleansing, whereas Christian baptism symbolizes the believer’s personal faith in Christ and his identification with the death, the burial and the resurrection of Christ, which had not yet happened.

And bear in mind there was no such thing as Jewish baptism. For Jews, baptism was reserved for Gentile proselytes, converts to Judaism. So it would be a supreme insult to a Jewish person to suggest that he needed to be baptized, that he needed to be cleansed, that he needed to repent. Of course, baptism itself saves no one. Baptism does not produce forgiveness of sins. There's no mystical, supernatural work in the waters of baptism that somehow dispenses saving grace when you enter the water. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, not some ritual. So John the Baptist, blew their minds preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin. I mean, you talk about an insult to their religious pride. I mean, they saw no need for repentance and forgiveness. I mean, what are you saying that I'm no better than these pagan Gentiles? Are you saying that somehow, I'm alienated from God and cut off from the promised blessings that He has given us in the covenants? Is that what you're saying?

But of course, some did humble themselves, some did repent and believe by God's grace. They publicly acknowledged their need for repentance and forgiveness and faith in God's saving grace, and they were baptized. But again, John's rite of baptism did not produce repentance. It only symbolized the need for cleansing, that was foreign to the Jews. And we can rejoice, can't we, that God has granted us, quote, "repentance unto life," Acts 11:18, the result of the gift of faith. But baptism publicly demonstrates that this has occurred and that it is of grace alone that our sins are forgiven. So this was all foreign. It was all offensive to the Jewish people to be told that they need to repent and that they needed forgiveness of sins.

Now, by the way, many Gentiles heard the same message, and many of them were saved. You know, people share this same resentment today. They don't want to be told, do they? That they need to repent, you need to ask God to forgive you from your sins. I mean, people don't like to hear that. I was looking at various articles about Donald Trump recently, and to summarize it, Donald Trump has famously stated that he does not believe he has ever asked God for forgiveness. And while he identifies as a Presbyterian and describes himself as "a religious person," quote, unquote, he has consistently framed his faith around, quote, "trying to be good" and, quote, "making things right rather than traditional repentance." And when asked directly at the 2015 Leadership Summit if he had ever asked God for forgiveness, he replied, quote," I'm not sure that I have. I just go on and try to do a better job from there. I don't bring God into the picture." He later clarified that he views taking Holy Communion as a quote "form of asking forgiveness," end quote. And he describes the experience of the wine and the cracker as making him feel quote "cleansed." And also read in a 2016 interview with Jake Tapper, Trump, stated quote, "I like to be good. I don't like to have to ask for forgiveness, and I am good. I don't do a lot of things that are bad." End quote.

Well, this is, this is just so typical of the pagan mindset. By the way, we need to pray for his salvation. While there are many things I respect that he has done, and I'm thankful. I'd much rather have him than some of the other buffoons that were running against him. But my goodness, people, this man does not know Christ, and we need to pray for him and pray for so many others. In fact, I think there's very few in his administration, very few in Congress, that that know Christ. We need to pray for our leaders as God has asked it to ask us to do. But bear in mind that true repentance is a God-induced hatred of sin, and it is a turning from sin. It is a Spirit-empowered forsaking of sin resulting in a turning to God, and those who refuse will suffer the just wrath of God.

So this is what John preached. And his ministry continued, actually about six months after he baptized Jesus. John's ministry though quickly faded away when Jesus' ministry began, and of course, because of the fact that his ministry was fading away, it was a concern for some of his followers. And you will recall that they came to John in John 3:26, and said to him,

"'Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him.' John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven.

“You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent ahead of Him.'"

Then in verses 30 and following, we read, "'He must increase, but I must decrease.

"'He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the Earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth.'"

And he went on to express how the source of Christ's revelation is from the Father who has given the Son full authority, that the Holy Spirit speaks through him and so forth. And then he said in verse 36, "'He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.'" And with this we see the Prophet fading from the scene.

So again, "with many exhortations, he preached the gospel to the people." Therefore, as I say, he fearlessly preached the gospel, but secondly, he fearlessly confronted the wicked.

Notice verse 19, "But when Herod the tetrarch..." this, by the way, as we will see, is Herod Antipas. "When Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded..." I want to pause there for a moment. Grammatically in the original language this indicates that John the Baptist was condemning his moral character on a routine basis, all right? So this wasn't one tweet, alright? I mean, this was ongoing, he was nailing this guy and his wife.

So, "But when Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded by him because of Herodias, his brother's wife, because of all wicked things which Herod had done..."

Now let me pause there for a second. We'll look at the rest of this in a moment. I would have loved to have heard what John the Baptist said, even to his face, but let me give you a little background. Remember, Herod is the family name of the dynasty of rulers that governed Judea during the time of Christ. They originated, originated from Idumea, which is the Latin and Greek transliteration of the original name of Edom. And of course, they were not Jews, they were descendants of Esau, the brother of Israel's patriarch Jacob.

And the Edomites, or the Idumeans, persisted in doing harm to Israel. They were the dreaded enemies of Israel and Herod Antipas. Now this guy's father was Herod the first or also known as Herod the Great. He was the one you will recall that received the Eastern kingmakers - the magicians, the Magi - that were looking for Jesus. And he's the one that had the infants of Bethlehem killed, (Matthew 2; Luke 3). But his son here, now, was Herod Antipas the Tetrarch. This is the one that John the Baptist is constantly reprimanding, and he appears in the Gospel accounts. He was also the Herod who tried Jesus and became friends with Pontius Pilate on account of that and so forth.

Now the background is this, and this is what John the Baptist was so upset about, and why he was exposing him. On a visit to Herod Philip, Herod Antipas' half-brother, Herod Antipas became infatuated with Philip's wife, Herodias. By the way, Philip was her uncle, alright? So you got incest going on here. You can't make this stuff up, right? So they agreed to leave their spouses. Herodias would leave Philip and Herod Antipas would leave his wife, Phasaelis, who was the daughter of Aretus. He was the king of the Nabataean Arabs. So Herodias then marries Herod Antipas. By the way, she's marrying another uncle, all right? Leaves one uncle to marry another one.

And again, this is just so typical of immoral pagans. I mean, they're just ruled by their lusts. And because this marriage was incestuous and because it was adulterous, it was therefore a violation of the Mosaic law. So, John the Baptist repeatedly rebuked Herod, and this created a personal vendetta with Herodias. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned; and that's what you have going on here.

I might also add, we've seen this all the time, powerful narcissists, especially in leadership, hate having their sins exposed, and whenever they're challenged, they will do anything they can to destroy their political opponents, even to the point of having them killed. So John the Baptist now is confronting all of this fearlessly. I have to say, would that we have more fearless preachers like that? You know, I hear preachers say, "Well, you know what, I don't want to talk about politics and cultural differences from the pulpit, because all of that is too divisive, and it really takes away from the gospel." I've heard that so many times. And my response to that is: hogwash. You need to resign, if that is your position. The reason I say that is because political ideologies are nothing more than a form of false religion that Satan has concocted. People need to understand these things. They need to be exposed to what the Scriptures say in light of what the politicians are saying, and the cultural wickedness in our culture is all Satanic in nature. We're supposed to examine "the schemes of the devil," remember Ephesians 6:11, that require every believer to, quote, "...take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm."

So are you willing to tell me that you're not going to expose, for example, the woke deceptions that now hold America hostage? Even many in evangelicalism; You're not going to talk about that? Are you kidding me? You're not going to call out the wickedness of our leaders that do and say things that are an abomination to God? And you see this in both parties. You're not going to preach against the platform, for example, of the Democratic Party that reads like the list of sins that cause God to bring judgment upon Judah in Isaiah 5? You're not going to talk about those things? A platform that looks like the end of Romans 1 that describes those that have been given over to a depraved mind? Where are the John the Baptist of the world today?

As I have written elsewhere, quote, "Because of this kind of spiritual cowardice, most Christians are completely ignorant of Satan's devices being thrust upon them, their family and their church, through the political machinations and culture, in their utter lack of biblical knowledge and discernment, they even elect politicians dedicated to advancing agendas that are an abomination to God - an evil so severe that it calls into question the genuineness of the faith of those who vote for these kind of people. We don't need preachers who are clever and cool, fashionable and funny, or who want to have a conversation to find common ground in order to be culturally acceptable. We need men who absolutely know with full conviction that their message is indeed the Word of the living God that will either save and sanctify or judge and condemn."

Back to John the Baptist confrontation. Notice again, verse 19, "But when Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded by him because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and because of all the wicked things which he had done, Herod also added to this to them all: he locked John up in prison." Now, don't you know that Herodias had been hounding him to do this for some time?

Let me give you a little background in Mark 6. In Mark 6, beginning in verse 17, we read, "For Herod himself had sent and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of..."  guess who? "Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her."

"For John had been saying to Herod, 'It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.'

"Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death and could not do so;

"for Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; but he used to enjoy listening to him."

So evidently, Herod would have his soldiers bring John out of the dungeon so that he could have a conversation with him, and then he would put him back in there. And what's fascinating when you think about this, John never compromised.

Verse 21, "A strategic day came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his lords and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee."

Now, Roman birthday parties were like a bunch of drunken soldiers and frat boys going to a strip joint. That's basically what's going on here. There's feasting, there's gluttony, there's drunkenness, there's erotic dancing, all manner of sexual debauchery. And that's what we see here.

Verse 22, "And when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, [Salome was her name], she pleased Herod and his dinner guests." By the way, when it says "she pleased Herod," that is a euphemism for sexually aroused. So she did some kind of lewd, sexually titillating dance that appeared to be aimed towards appealing to the lusts of those ungodly men. So, "...she pleased Herod and his dinner guests; and the king said to the girl, 'Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you.' And he swore to her, 'Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you; up to half of my kingdom.'"

Of course, this is pure bluster. This is the rantings of probably a drunken fool, a show off. By the way, he had no kingdom to give to begin with. I mean, he was a vassal obligated to Rome. So this is just unrestrained bravado, braggadocio.

Verse 24,

"And she went out and said to her mother, 'What shall I ask for?' And she said, 'The head of John the Baptist.'

Immediately, she came in a hurry to the king and asked, saying, 'I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.'"

Can you imagine that? I might add that this was a fairly common form of execution in those days, one that proved the complete and total annihilation of the enemy and that the execution had been fulfilled.

So not only did John fearlessly preach the gospel and fearlessly confront the wicked, but as we're going to see, he fearlessly faced martyrdom. The text goes on in Mark six and verse 2, "And although the king was very sorry, yet because of his oaths and because of his dinner gifts, he was unwilling to refuse her."

You see in the ancient Near East, oaths were inviolable. They could not be broken. So verse 27,

"Immediately  the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and had him beheaded in the prison,

"and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother."

The fifth century church father, Jerome, suggested that Herodias mutilated the severed head of John the Baptist in a fit of rage. We don't know that for sure, but that wouldn't surprise me.

Verse 29 goes on to say,

"When his disciples heard about this, they came and took away his body and laid it in a tomb."

My dear friends, what an example of fearless preaching; a man that feared God, not man; a man that would be willing to be locked up in prison and then to be brutally executed. You know, when you think about John the Baptist, you have to realize that this is a man that didn't have some kind of famous ministry empire. He didn't have a mega church, no best-selling books, no TV or radio ministry. I mean, he didn't even have a private jet to shuttle him around the world. By the world's standards, he really wasn't very acceptable and very successful. And yet Jesus said,"' Truly, I say to you, among those born of women, there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist.'"

And when I think about him, he was so much like Jesus, who, according to Isaiah 53:3 was "despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." I think often about the persecution coming our way. I experience little bits and pieces of it as a pastor, and it's mounting, and I don't really worry about it, but I do want to warn people and prepare people.

Some of you in this auditorium were with me in Scotland and Ireland this last year on a Legacy of the Reformation tour, and there we were reminded of so many 1000s that died for their faith. Key Protestant martyrs included men like Patrick Hamilton in 1528 and George Wishart in 1546. In fact, there is a George Wishart memorial stone that we saw. His initials are laid in stone there at St Andrews on the street where he was burned at the stake in 1546; and I remember trying to get a picture of it, and there it is, kind of out in the street, and there's a car partially parked over it. This tells you that people don't care. In fact, many people in Scotland today, you ask them about the Reformation, and they don't really, hardly even know what you're talking about.

Walter Milne (1558), burned for heresy. Others such as the Wigtown martyrs - Margaret Wilson, Margaret Maclauchlan (1685) - they were drowned for refusing to renounce their faith in Christ. So many other Christians in Scotland, primarily during the 16th century reformation.

In the 17th century, covenanter struggles estimated 18,000 of them were killed. They just believed what we believe. We saw the Covenanter's Memorial on Grassmarket in Edinburgh, Scotland, that marks the spot where about 100 covenanters were hanged between 1661 and 1688. Again, they just believed what we believe. World hates that.

One of the most remarkable books that I have ever read, and one that has had a profound impact on my life was written by a Scottish divine and biographer. His name was William Garden Blaikie. He lived from 1820 to 1899. He was a professor of Apologetics and Pastoral Theology at New College in Edinburgh, Scotland, and the title of his work is The Preachers of Scotland from the 6th to the 19th Centuries,,and it's a detailed account of how God empowered fearless servants to bring the gospel to the wild barbarians of Scotland, and how the gospel saved them and just radically changed them. Interesting stories of how some of the first ones to bring the gospel were actually Roman soldiers who had been converted to Christ. But his chronicles of the persecuted field preachers that resulted from the edicts of King Charles II of England, were especially moving to me.

As I have written elsewhere, "During the dreadful years of persecution between 1663 and 1688, young clergymen who championed Presbyterian Church polity and a robust reformed soteriology, were driven from their charges and under, quote, 'threat of fine and imprisonment, of torture or of death,' end quote, they were restricted from preaching the gospel, the only gospel that can save. With no way of earning a living and with orders from the king to inflict heavy fines, imprisonment and even torture leading to death upon anyone who helped him. Blaikie said, quote, 'The preacher with a great price on his head, had no certain dwelling place, and where there was no friendly cottage to shelter him, had to wander about in wild, lonely places, sleeping in woods and caves, often cold and wet and hungry, wracked by rheumatism or prostrated by dysentery; glad if he could succeed in keeping his pocket Bible dry."

Folks, these were the great soldiers of the cross that were affectionately called "field preachers," men of uncommon valor. Blaikie said this quote,

"If ever circumstances compelled the Lord's servants to preach as dying men to dying men, it was then. Neither preacher nor hearer could ever be sure that the dragoons would not burst on them before the sermon was ended, or that before nightfall, their life blood would not be staining the ground. Preachers seemed at times to feel the bloody rope around their neck or the bullet in their brain. The word came from their hearts and went to the hearts of their hearers and struck there for their conversion, confirmation and comfort. Persecution like the deathbed, has a wonderful sifting power. It tears away all disguises, shams, falsehoods and formalities. It compels men to look the stern realities of life and death right in the face. It sweeps away the refugees of lives and leaves only those truths to cling to which will sustain them in the agony of conflict."

Dear friends, the high cost of discipleship and yet the infinite value of it. I think of the apostles, tradition says that Matthew was burned at the stake, according to Clement of Alexandria, and cited by Eusebius. Peter watched his wife being led to her martyrdom to be crucified. Encouraging her by saying, "Remember the Lord. Remember the Lord." And then Peter asked to be crucified upside down because he didn't believe it was he was worthy to be crucified as the Lord had been.

His brother, Andrew, reportedly was also crucified. Tradition said that he was tied instead of nailed to the cross in order to prolong his suffering. James, the brother of John, was executed by Herod Agrippa; you read about that in Acts 12. Philip was said to have been stoned to death in Asia Minor. He went to Turkey to preach the gospel and many were saved there.

Nathanael, also called Bartholomew, was either bound and thrown into the sea, or crucified. We're not sure which. According to one historian, Thomas likely ended up in India, where some traditions say he was killed with a spear. According to the apocryphal martyrdom of James, James the son of Alphaeus, was stoned to death by the Jews for preaching the gospel. Simon, the Zealot, according to some traditions, preached the gospel in Egypt, North Africa and Persia, and he was martyred there by being sawn in two. Other traditions place his ministry in Britain, where he was eventually crucified by the Romans. We're not sure which.

Thaddeus, also known as Judas, the son of James (Luke 6) reportedly took the gospel to modern Turkey. There he was clubbed to death.

Paul was likely beheaded during Nero's persecution of the church. You read the New Testament records of other martyrs; Stephen the evangelist, being stoned to death in Acts 7 and Antipas, a faithful pastor of the church at Smyrna (Revelation 2). And you have John the Apostle, the one whom Jesus loved, he said, was exile to Patmos. Some of you were with me where we went to the cave where John lived; an amazing place there on the island of Patmos.

And after the apostles, there were many other faithful preachers, literally 1000s of them, that died for their faith in Christ in the second century. You have Ignatius that was martyred in Rome. You have Polycarp, the pastor in Smyrna that refused to renounce Christ. We read his words, he said, "86 years have I served Him, and He never did me any injury." He then said, "How then can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?" And when the Proconsul threatened to burn him alive, Polycarp fearlessly replied, "You threaten me with fire which burns for an hour and after a little is extinguished but are ignorant of the fire of the coming judgment of an eternal punishment reserved for the ungodly. But why tarry you? Bring forth what you will." And they did.

John Chrysostom, remember him, the fourth century Bishop of Constantinople, which is now Istanbul, was exiled when he preached and offended the rich and powerful in Constantinople, especially the Empress Eudoxia. He was brutally treated by the soldiers; he became ill and he died.

Then John Wycliffe, remember him, the medieval reformer of the Reformation period, 1329- 1384, is when he lived. Remember he was the one that affirmed that the Bible is the only authority for doctrine for faith, for practice, and he sought to translate the Bible into English so that everybody could read it, which horribly offended the Roman Catholic Church. They didn't want people to know what the Bible really said. He taught that Christ, not the Pope, was the head of the church, and he denied the Roman Catholic doctrine of Transubstantiation, where the wine and the bread actually turn into the blood and the body of Christ. He opposed to the granting of indulgences - remissions of sins that could be taken care of during purgatory. Instead, you could pay for that, and the Roman Catholic church sold so many of those indulgences in the Middle Ages. Make a lot of money for the church. Satanic to the core.

Wycliffe was condemned and forced to leave his position at Oxford. He had a younger contemporary, the Czech reformer John Hus, he lived from 1373 to 1415, he believed and taught the same things. If you read his story, he was summoned to appear before the Council of Constance in 1415 where he was condemned and then burned at the stake among the hundreds of Protestants that were martyred in England during the time of Mary Tudor. You would probably remember her as Bloody Mary.

There was the great preacher, Hugh Latimer, great story there, he was burned at Oxford along with a fellow reformer, Nicholas Ridley. And it's interesting, they were tied together at the stake, and Latimer said to him, quote, "Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall, this day, light such a candle, by God's grace in England as I trust, shall never be put out."

Well, I could go on and give you stories of many other ancient, as well as modern martyrs, yet isn't it amazing, Christ continues to build his church, as he has promised.

Jesus assured the 12, remember, in Matthew 16:18, "'I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.'" In other words, the chains of death itself will not overpower what I'm doing. Paul wrote during his imprisonment, the cause of Christ, Second Timothy 2:9, "The word of God is not imprisoned," and we can be thankful for that. Indeed, for this reason, Paul declared in Romans, one beginning in verse 15, "For my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."

I want to close this morning with a positive note. I read several articles on this because I'm fascinated with it, and that is how Christianity is exploding in Iran. I was reading from Israel 365 News; this is what the report says. Quote, "Reza Pahlavi, a Shia Muslim, the son of Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, has been working for most of his life to replace the oppressive Islamist regime of Iran." By the way you see his pictures and interview; you can see him on television quite a bit, I'm sure you've seen him. Pahlavi walked onto the stage at Liberty University this week and told 1000s of young American Christians something the Islamic Republic desperately does not want the world to know. And here it is, "The faith it has spent 46 years trying to eradicate is not dying in Iran. It is multiplying." He went on to say, "In Iran today, Christianity is not fading. It is rising quietly, powerfully, underground, in homes, in whispers, in hidden gatherings. Iranians are finding faith at great cost. Pastors are imprisoned. Bibles are confiscated. Believers are hunted. Converts are threatened with execution. Families are torn apart, but still they gather. Still they pray, still they believe." Pahlavi went on to say, "Because faith that survives persecution is unbreakable because the light shines brightest in the darkest places."

Isn't that amazing - the testimony of a Shia Muslim? We need to pray that he will come to faith in Christ. Beloved, be fearless in proclaiming the gospel. It is the power of God unto salvation. Don't back down. Confront the culture. Don't conform to it. Be willing to say those things that a lot of people aren't willing to hear, but say them with compassion, knowing that if it weren't for God's grace, you would be among the scoffers. And as we do this, we will continue to see the power of Christ manifested in ways that are absolutely astounding, until the day that he comes and takes us unto himself.

Let's pray together,

Father, thank you for the eternal truths of your word. Thank you for the testimony of John the Baptist and so many others. Lord, give us that same spirit of boldness that we might fearlessly proclaim the saving truths of the gospel, that many will be saved and father, if there be one within the sound of my voice that knows nothing of what it means to be reconciled to you through faith in Christ, may you so overwhelm them with the horror of their guilt and the condemnation the wrath that abides upon them that they will quickly run to the foot of the cross and cry out for the mercy that you will so quickly give. May today be the day that they experience the miracle of the new birth because of your saving grace that we thank you, we praise you, use us mightily for the sake of the kingdom, and we do all of this and pray all of this for the glory of Christ, Amen.