Say YES to THE VOICE...........of GOD
The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
"Prepare the way of the LORD;
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God;
Every valley shall be exalted
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough places smooth;
The glory of the LORD shall be revealed;
And all flesh shall see it together;
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
The voice said, "Cry out!"
And he said, "What shall I cry?"
"All flesh is grass,
And all its loveliness is like the flower
of the field,
The grass withers, the flower fades,
Because the breath of the LORD blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass,
The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God stands forever."
O Zion,
You who bring good tidings,
Get up into the high mountain;
O Jerusalem,
You who bring good tidings,
Lift up your voice with strength,
Lift it up, be not afraid;
Say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!" Isaiah 40:3-9 NKJV
The prophet Isaiah spoke these words some 700 years BC, foretelling the ministry of John the Baptist, the voice of one crying in the wilderness.
The ministry of John the Baptist was that of a forerunner preparing the way for the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. His VOICE was lifted up, calling his listeners to repentance from sin and wickedness, and to be baptized by full immersion in water as an act of surrender to the will of God for their lives. In lifting his voice in preparation for the ministry of Jesus, John said of Jesus: "He must increase, but I must decrease."
The Bible tells us John the Baptist had a diet of locusts and wild honey.
To be fair to the Scriptural record, I do not think this food was commercially produced as above! 😊
In a discourse about John the Baptist, Jesus honoured the prophet with these words: " Truly, I tell you, among those born of women, there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist." Matthew 11:11
The "greatness" that Jesus refers to concerning John has to do with his unique position in history, not with any special talent, holiness or personal merit. In fact, immediately after stating that John is the greatest "among those born of women," Jesus says, "Yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." John died without seeing the fullness of God's plan in Christ. He never saw the crucifixion of Christ or His glorious resurrection. Yet even the "least in the kingdom of God" knows of these events and understands their meaning.
Jesus called John the Baptist the greatest of those born among women because:
-he held the honour of being chosen by God as the forerunner to the Messiah. His mission was to personally prepare the world for Christ's arrival. Malachi 3:1 says of him: Behold, I will send My Messenger,
And he will prepare the way before Me.
After Jesus came, John introduced Him to the world as the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. John 1:35-36
Following His death on the cross and His triumphant resurrection three days later, Jesus appeared to His disciples and told them to wait in Jerusalem "until you be endued with power from on high." On the Day of Pentecost fifty days following Jesus' resurrection, as the 120 were gathered together in the Upper Room, the Holy Spirit was poured out on them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and "began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance."
Jesus had told the disciples that: "You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit is come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses........." Acts 1:8
The first century church grew exponentially as the apostles and their converts moved from Jerusalem literally to the ends of the then-known world. The apostles came under severe persecution. The apostle Paul, writing to his son in the faith, Timothy, warned that: In the last days, perilous times will come. He went on to list the characteristics of godlessness which would be seen in men (and women) in the last days, when to be a Christian would bring much opposition from wicked men.
In 2 Timothy 3:12, Paul says to Timothy, and to us today.......all who desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
Just as the prophets in the Old Testament, and indeed John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus' ministry, called people to turn from sin and wickedness, and from idol worship, to follow the living God - more than ever, today there is a need for Godly men and women to LIFT THEIR VOICES to declare the truth of the Word of God - to take a stand boldly for righteousness and righteous causes.
I read recently where a survey in America showed that ninety percent of church leaders were silent concerning some of the looming social issues of our times, such as sexuality from the Biblical perspective, and associated with that, issues such as same-sex marriage, and homosexuality, abortion and euthanasia. Because of a lack of teaching on these topics, something in the order of forty seven percent of Christian youth and young adults say they support same-sex marriage.
There are many voices vying for our attention, many of whom are speaking lies, deception and untruths. Mainstream media is one of the enemy's main vehicles for the dispersing of lies and "half-truths," with the hope that the gullible masses will swallow these lies hook, line and sinker.
Here in Australia, we are less than a month away from the date when all citizens enrolled to vote will be asked to indicate by way of a referendum whether they want an Indigenous Voice to Parliament enshrined in the nation's Constitution. It seems to be becoming increasingly more apparent as time passes, that the proponents of the YES campaign, led by the Prime Minister, have either lied about the reach of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament and its consequences for all Australians - or have "put their foot in their mouth" so to speak, and have in fact, disclosed some of the dire consequences of this Voice, such as requiring reparations, "paying the rent," and formation of a Treaty.
There has also been much unnecessary and disturbing "name-calling," again particularly from those supporting the "YES" campaign to seek to override the genuine concerns of the leaders for the "NO" campaign. In all fairness, probably neither side of the debate has been totally squeaky clean, but it does seem that a majority of Australians are waking up to the reality that enshrining an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, even at this point in the debate, poses more unknowns than known outcomes if successful.
Jesus said of Himself in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me."
In contrast to the voices we are bombarded with every day through media, including social media, radio and television and print media - depending on which side of the left or right of the political and philosophical fence you are on, we can have total and unwavering confidence that the Voice of God, as presented in the Word of God, the Bible is the Truth, the Whole Truth and nothing but the truth.
In the final analysis, this is the one voice we all need to take heed to, and to say a resounding YES to His call to repentance and acknowledging our need of a Saviour, as we open the door of our hearts to Jesus, the sinless Son of God, who took our place on a Roman cross, dying for our sins to save us from the power and penalty of sin. As the Bible says in Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
WILL YOU SAY YES TO THE VOICE OF GOD CALLING YOU TODAY?
POSTSCRIPT: In case there is any ambiguity about our intentions concerning the vote for the upcoming referendum in Australia to determine whether there is to be an Indigenous Voice to the Parliament, we will unequivocally be voting NO to the divisive, racist, expensive and deceptive referendum.
