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Very good morning and welcome to Gospel Light Christian Church, our second English worship service this morning. I like to get straight into the sermon today, and I begin with a story of a dog.

This is a picture of probably one of the most famous dogs in the whole world. His name is Hachiko. Yeah, some of you know he is Hachiko. He is born somewhere about a hundred years ago in 1923; and when he was about one year old, he was taken in by his owner Professor Ueno. He is an agricultural professor and the two of them are very close with each other.

It is said that every day when Professor Ueno would go to work somewhere else and then he would come home every evening and arrive at the same train station called Shibuya Station. And every evening, Hachiko would go to Shibuya Station and wait for Professor Ueno to come back at precisely the same time, the right time the train arrives. And they did this every day until one day, a year later, Professor Ueno didn't come back. He didn't appear at the train station. In fact, he never came back because Professor Ueno died from a stroke, while he was giving a lecture to his students. Now, what was amazing is that Hachiko would every day still return to the same train station, at precisely the same time the train Professor Ueno takes would arrive.

The story of Hachiko was then captured in the Asahi Shimbun and he became a national sensation. Parents and teachers would talk about Hachiko and say to their children that they must follow the example of this dog – this story of devotion and loyalty and faithfulness. And so, he became a national symbol and soon enough, Hachiko also passed away. The family mourned his loss. He was cremated, his ashes were then laid beside that of Professor Ueno, which you can still visit today.

This is Hachiko, alright. His fur, his skin was preserved, stuffed and mounted and displayed today still, at the National Science Museum of Japan in Tokyo. And if you happen to go to Shibuya, you would see his statue still there. To the Japanese and to many people, Hachiko is a touching story of devotion, of faithfulness and of loyalty.

Timestamp 0:04:12

And do you know that the Bible also has plenty of stories of devotion, faithfulness and loyalty and that's where we come to today in Matthew chapter 3. We read about John the Baptist. John is a faithful servant of the Lord. He is a devoted servant of God, of Jesus Christ. Now I want to, for the benefit of those who are here with us for the first time, remind you we are on a journey, journey through the book of Matthew as we seek to understand our King.

Jesus is our King and Matthew presents Jesus as King, the Revelation of the King – that's the first part of the book of Matthew. And so as Matthew reveals to us Jesus, he tells us in chapter 1 about the King's ancestry, and then he goes on to tell us about the King's arrival, his birth, and the names that were accorded to him. Then in chapter 2, we read about the King's adoration – how men from the far east will come and worship Him.

This morning, in chapter 3, we read about the King's ambassador – the servant of Jesus Christ, the one who will be devoted to serve his master. So today, we're going to look at John, a devoted servant and learn wonderful lessons about devotion. What does it mean for you and for me, who believe and follow Jesus, to be devoted to Christ, to be faithful to Christ, to be loyal to Christ? What does it mean to be a devoted servant of God?

There will be four points today – a little bit unusual. Sometimes we have three, most of the time we have three, today will be four. Just to let you know I'm keeping track of the time and you don't have to worry I am overrun, alright. So how do we see the devotion of John? Why do we say he's a devoted servant? Four things:

1. A Straight Message

Number one, we see his devotion in his preaching, we see John's straight message. What was the message of John the Baptist? Very simply, in Matthew 3, we are told:

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
(Matt 3:2 ESV)

So this is a straight message in a sense. It doesn't beat around the bush, it doesn't try to sugarcoat anything. It is in-your-face declaration that you are a sinner and you need to repent of your sins. So John the Baptist is uncompromising, he's not afraid to say difficult, tough things. He is a true devoted servant of God. He's not giving his own simple, easy to accept kind of a message. He's giving the message from God.

Now why do I say this is a message from God? It's clear because later on in Matthew chapter 4 verse 17, I think it's 17 Matthew 4, Jesus preached the same message. He went about… Jesus went about preaching, you say what did he preach about? Same words: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Now John the Baptist is going to face difficulties for preaching something like this. Nobody likes to hear “you are a sinner, you need to turn before God will be able to save you”. Nobody likes that. People like to think that we are fine. So John preached the hard message, in-your-face message and for that, he was subsequently imprisoned and also beheaded. He lost his head for preaching clearly and boldly a straight message from God.

Timestamp 0:07:58

I was reading the Bible with my sons and we use a picture Bible. So we come to the story of Jeremiah and the story of Jeremiah is one of faithfulness, isn't it? Jeremiah was called to warn Judah of their sin against God, how they rebelled against God and so Jeremiah had a difficult message. He had to tell Judah, “You are wrong, you need to repent otherwise judgment will come.”

And so in this picture Bible I read, the people didn't like listening to what Jeremiah had to say. They didn't appreciate Jeremiah's message, they didn't like to be told that they were sinful and God is going to judge them. They didn't want to have to obey God's laws to be blessed by him, and so Jeremiah became extremely unpopular. But still he passed on God's message.

In fact, the Bible tells us that Jeremiah felt that the Word of God was like a fire in his soul, he could not keep it down. He had to teach God's Word, he had to give it as it is and for that, he was beaten, he was persecuted, he was mocked.

But Jeremiah was faithful. He was a true servant of God in giving what God has to say, as contrasted with the false teachers of Jeremiah's times. In Jeremiah's times, there are people who would say, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace. God says there are plenty of people who seem to teach God's Word, who seem to represent God but…

They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace.
(Jer 6:14 ESV)

So these are people who are floating around telling people what they like to hear, telling people what they prefer and not giving them what God has clearly said. You know, times have not changed. It was so in Jeremiah's time, it is so even in Apostle Paul's time. Paul tells us:

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,
(2 Tim 4:3 ESV)

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching. They don't want to hear God's Word, they don't want to hear the plain teaching of the Bible. They want more stuff, they want to hear stuff that they like. They have itching ears that they will then accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions. They will want to hear what they want to hear and they will go for people who will tell them what they want to hear. You know how scary that is?

And there are plenty of false teachers who will suit their own passions. There will be plenty of people who will like to tell you about God loves you, but wouldn't want to tell you about your sin. There will be plenty of people who will tell you God is here to save you but will not mention to you, you need to repent of your sins. Why, because it's not so pleasant, it's a turn-off, but not for John the Baptist. He was a true servant who said, “Repent.”

So Paul, likewise, told Timothy there are plenty of false teachers all around us but Timothy, this is what you need to focus on:

preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
(2 Tim 4:2 ESV)

Preach the Word, teach God's Word, declare it. Be ready in season and out of season to reprove, to rebuke, don't be afraid to say the hard things, don't be. “That's what I've called you to do, that's what I've done,” Paul says, “and that is what you must keep doing.” Teach the Word, preach the Word, reprove, rebuke. In a sense, be like John the Baptist who didn't shrink back from having a clear and uncompromising message: “you need to repent of your sins”.

Timestamp 0:12:05

I really believe we live in a day where this is very needed still, that there will be men and women who will stand up for the Bible and teach it as it is. No apologies for some offensive things that people may not like. I was on GrabHitch this morning and was from… GrabHitch is a great thing, you know. You meet all kinds of people and I get a cheap ride, he gets some money and I get to share the Gospel. How cool is that. I mean this guy was saying, “Oh, I think we should not be too opinionated and we should respect all religions.”

And I talked, I shared and I said to him, “But you know, the Bible doesn't make apologies. The Bible tells us, Jesus declares, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me.'” He sat there, he not sat there, he drove there thinking and we talked some more and at the end of the trip, while we are around here, he says, “Thank you very much for sharing. I mean it, I appreciate it.” That's exact words he said.

Now it seems very offensive to say, “You know, all religions teach you to do good but Christianity says you can't do any good. You can't earn favour with God; you can only rely on Jesus.” It seems like “wah, you're the only right faith ah”. But you see, that is what the Bible says and if he thinks I'm bigoted and if he thinks I'm very opinionated, so be it. I'm devoted to God, I need to teach God's Word and if halfway drive GrabHitch, he says he's so upset we get out of the car, I then get out lah, “bo pian” lah [“bo pian” means no choice in Hokkien]. Too bad, no choice. But I serve God. John the Baptist.

I really think we live in a day and age where the true Gospel is not always accurate, accurately represented. We give a Gospel that is really easy on the ear. You know, God loves you, God loves you. Nothing wrong with that truth; I mean it is true, absolutely true. God is love, God loves you but you know, you got to let people know that love is supremely demonstrated when He came to save us from our sins. You've got to let people know that they are sinners. I mean if you just want to tell them God loves you but you do not want to tell they are sinners, that's not the full Gospel because they will assume God is here to save me from poverty or from difficult circumstances in life, but not from the ultimate thing we need to be saved from – sin.

And we live in a day and age where even if they tell you about sin, they don't tell you you need to repent of your sins. Now, I'm going share a lot more about repentance next Sunday but repentance in its essence, is to have a change of mind to see that I am sinful, I am helpless and I need Jesus to save me. I don't want to keep on sinning, I want to be saved. That's repentance but we give a Gospel without repentance.

John MacArthur, he would say, “The New Testament knows nothing of a gospel that lacks a call to repentance.” There is no real good news, if people do not know the bad news that they are sinners and that they need to turn from sin. Someone else said, “To preach a gospel message which excludes the necessity of repentance is to commit eternal murder.” You're leading them to a Gospel that does not save from sin but maybe from a difficult life and you don't really help them for eternity.

Timestamp 0:15:54

Only Satan would tell you to believe a Gospel of non-repentance. Don't need to repent, just come to church, just believe. Well, John the Baptist was crystal clear. He had a straight message: repent. Jesus had a straight message: repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. I wonder if you and I would stand firm in the day of compromise. Would we be that voice of truth in the midst of compromise? Well, a devoted servant, a devoted church should; he has, they have a straight message.

2. A Singular Message

But a second way I see the devotion of John the Baptist is in his singular mission. He has a very clear goal, he has a very clear purpose for his life. What is his goal, what is his life verse, what is his life mission? Well, it's captured here in verse three:

For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.'”
(Matt 3:3 ESV)

For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah. His life and ministry was prophesied in Isaiah 700 years before he was born and there it is said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.” So what's John's life mission? If I may say, prepare the way of the Lord. His goal is so that Jesus the Messiah would be received into many lives. His goal is so that Jesus may be known and exalted, and believed upon. That's his life, that's his mission, that's his goal.

Now this is a very interesting concept, maybe not familiar to us today because we have AYE, PIE, KPE, CTE [various expressways in Singapore]. The roads are super smooth and easy to go on but in those days, their roads are terrible – potholes, rocks – and so for any dignitary, any royal person to travel on the road, they generally would send a forerunner, someone who goes in the place of the king, in front of the king to smoothen the road.

So he will remove the rocks, he will fill up the potholes as best as possible so that when the king comes, it's a smooth ride, it's not so bumpy, it's easier on his bum, all the effort for the king. And John says this is my life mission. Matthew says this is his life mission – to prepare the way of the Lord. It's not about him; it's all about the King. So John's goal is to exalt Jesus and that's really what he said subsequently:

He must increase; I must decrease.
(John 3:30 ESV)

John's mission in life is not to make himself prominent. John's mission in life is to make Jesus prominent and he should get out of the picture as best as he can.

Now, there's a new English word today; there're many new English words nowadays. You have… What? Google is a new word, right? And then you also have… What other new words are there? Troll, these are all social media, internet's words and there is a new word as well, called photobomb. Heard of that, photobomb? Photobomb is to move into the frame of a photograph as it is being taken as a joke or prank or if I may put it another way, it's someone intruding into the picture and spoiling a picture. It can be someone, it can be something, it can be intentional or unintentional, but you came into the picture and it spoils it.

Probably better illustrated than explained, like this. Can you see the photobomb? Who is the photobomb? You don't know which one is the photobomb? The stingray is the photobomb, alright. You're supposed to take a photo for these three ladies but the stingray just appeared. He intruded into the frame and spoilt... actually in this case didn't spoil, actually made the picture world famous.

Timestamp 0:20:11

Another picture of a photobomb, maybe this. As the kids are taking a photo, the beluga whale will come and “wah, I want to swallow his head” as it were. Now, photobombs can be animals, photobombs can be people, such as this one. I mean, this guy is like “wah lau” [oh dear colloquially], this is supposed to be a lovely romantic shoot, and then you go and appear with a creepy face behind. It can be this, or it can also look like this. I mean that boy at the back, just totally ruined it for them, isn't it?

But do you know you can photobomb Jesus? It's supposed to be all about Jesus, but then we like to stick our head in. Don't get me wrong, you still want Jesus to be in the picture, you still want people to see Jesus. You still want Jesus to save, you still want people to praise Jesus. You don't have a problem with Jesus being right out there, in front, central, but you want to stick your head in also, you want people to notice you.

Oh, I want to have the Gospel shared so that people may believe and God may be glorified, but you say, “I want people to notice I am the one who preached, I want people to see that I was the evangelist. I want to see God's Word advanced but I also want people to see that I was the one who gave the money. I want to stick my face into the picture, photobomb Jesus.” We want to, in Chinese we say, 沾一点光 (zhān yì diǎn guāng) – steal a little glory from God, but not for John.

John says, “I've no desire…” If he lived in our day, he will say, “I don't want to photobomb Jesus because He must increase and I must decrease.” You know I believe one of the great acid tests for any minister, for any church is really this verse [i.e. John 3:30]. Is your ministry… Now there are many ministries that seem to lift up Jesus, many ministries that many people go to. But I think this is the acid test of a man's heart and the church's heart: do you really want to get out of the picture as fast as you can?

Now don't get me wrong. You have a desire to be used by God, you want to serve God, but you don't want to get any glory there, you want all glory to be God's alone. I think that is a measure of a man's devotion to his master.

John says, “I don't want anything to be about me, it's all about Him. Don't look at me, look at Him. Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. I can't take away your sin; I'm just a forerunner, I'm just the one who prepares the way. I'm just the one that reminds you that you're sinful, you need to repent but He is the one who will save you from your sins. So, He must increase, and I must decrease.”

You know, I was at Perimeter Church last year, just a few months back and I mean it's a big church with a big sprawling campus. But what struck me about their senior pastor Randy Pope and the people was how little of self I see in them. Now of course, this may be subjective, I recognise, but in general, I look at the people that doesn't want to draw attention to himself or themselves. I see Randy Pope walk around the church. He's like a nobody, he's like just an average guy, no hoo-ha, no entourage, just an ordinary guy and the people see their senior pastor, see their pastor and they are the same. They don't seem to want attention to themselves, it's all glory be to God's. It's such a sharp contrast to the celebrity culture we see in church today.

Timestamp 0:24:35

You know, I think Hollywood stars they have celebrity status, that's fine; I mean that's what they live for. But when it comes to the church, I think that's funny that we want to exhort any one guy, that he is a great preacher, great author, great whatever and ooh, it seems to be all about him. It seems to be all about me, it seems to be all about us, when really the philosophy for life and ministry must be, He must increase and I must decrease. I'm not saying that we become a church that doesn't appreciate one another, but that shouldn't be the culture where we lift ourselves up or where we want to poke our face into the picture when people think about Jesus.

Recently, as you know, we had a church building fund and we were coming to a decision where we have to make: do we take a loan from a commercial facility or not? And so that was a time where we inform the people and we ask you to pray about it and you know, the amazing thing is soon after that, we received the sum of $400,000. Now, the money is not, it's not the amount but it's the way that it was given, alright.

So we received the sum of 400,000 that allows us not to take any loan from any commercial facility, but the amazing thing about this $400,000 is that it was credited in such a way to our account without anyone knowing who this person is. I mean there's no way to track, there's no way to trace. We just suddenly realised there was a 400,000 credited but nobody knows till today, as far as I know, who gave that amount.

I'm not saying every one of you need to give that way, but I think that person gave that way because he wanted to stay out of the picture. He didn't want any way to photobomb Jesus, he wanted all glory and praise to be to God alone. He doesn't want his left hand to know what his right hand gave. That's devotion to Jesus, you see that? Because he's not interested in any praise from man.

I thank God there are many Gospeliters who gave, who serve, who love in such a way that attention is drawn only to Christ. You're happy, you're satisfied to serve in, if I may say, non-glamorous ministries, where people may not realise, may not know but you are grateful, you serve God there, and I thank God for such a devotion in you.

This is, I think, one of the key tenets of the Reformation, or key principles of the Reformation where it says the five solas, alright:

Sola scriptura – scripture alone
Solus Christus – Christ alone
Sola gratia – grace alone
Sola fide – faith alone
Soli Deo Gloria – glory to God alone

Sola scriptura, Christus, gratia, fide, Deo gloria which means scripture alone, Christ alone, grace alone, faith alone, glory to God alone. Easy for us to say glory to God, but devotion says glory to God alone.

CS Lewis, as I was mentioning, said that the poet (you know, someone who writes poems) is not a man who asks me (the reader) to look at him (the poet). But he's a man who says, “Look at that,” and points. A good poet doesn't draw attention to himself. A good poet, through his writing, draws attention to what he's writing about. And Tim Challies, he then says [that] the Christian is like a poet – the Christian is to point to Christ and to do this, he needs to be looked through, not looked at.

Timestamp 0:28:30

A good Christian points people to Jesus. He doesn't say, “Look at me.” Even if he says, “Look at me,” it's so that you can look through me to see Jesus. And I think that's what a preacher should be, that you should look through him to see Jesus. That's what a father should be that your children will look through you to see Jesus. That's what a care group leader should be, looked through you to see Jesus. That's what a disciple maker is to be, looked through you to see Jesus. He must increase and I must decrease.

3. A Simple Manner

So devotion is seen in the message we give, in the admission we embrace and thirdly, I would say the devotion of John is seen in the manner in which he lives his life. He lives a simple life, a simple manner of life. Now this is remarkable because Jesus picked up on it and said:

What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings' courts. (Luke 7:25 ESV)

What then did you go out to see? When you were looking for John the Baptist, what kind of man were you looking for? A man dressed in soft clothing, those kind of silk- nice clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings' courts, not John the Baptist.

John the Baptist is not here to enjoy or live in the lap of luxury. John the Baptist was a man who had a singular mission. He serves Me, he's devoted to Me, so don't expect him to wear fancy clothes and eat fancy stuff. So what was the clothing of John, what was the fashion sense of John the Baptist? Well, the Bible tells us:

Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist…
(Matt 3:4 ESV)

He wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist. Now in those days, this will be considered lousy, cheap men's clothing. Now maybe today, to get camel's hair very expensive but he's certainly not dressed in Giorgio Amani or Gucci or whatever, just simple camel's hair, not soft, not comfortable, probably itchy and irritating. But he says that's fine.

I'm not here to live in kings' courts and in high places, and enjoy life. I've a clear devotion to my Saviour. Simple clothing. Simple clothing and simple diet:

… and his food was locusts and wild honey.
(Matt 3:4 ESV)

His diet was that of locusts and wild honey. How do you like that? Locusts and… By the way, I have checked it out. Locusts are considered clean or it's not unclean ceremonially for you to take of it. In the Mosaic law, you can. So he's not sinning here.

And it is said that fried locusts and wild honey seems to be very delicious. I have no clue, but the point, I think, is not that he enjoys his locust meal, alright. The point is to say John lived a very simple life. Simple clothing, simple food. He's not obsessed with his own enjoyment. He's not obsessed that people would worship him and adore him and praise him. No, he is devoted to Christ. And that stands as a sharp contrast to Singapore, isn't it?

You know what's the most common question in Singapore? Eh, don't laugh ah. You all must… I thought: what's the most common question in Singapore? What's your job? Okay, what's your job? What else? That's the first thing I do in any GrabCar. What's your job? I'm a pastor, hahaha. Anyway, what's the most common question? Have you eaten [or in Hokkien] “chiak par buay”? Or where to eat later ah? I want that bak kut teh, I want that chee cheong fun, I want that… It's what to eat, it's like wow, we're so spoilt for choices.

I'm not… Folks, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying you can't enjoy food, alright. I'm not saying that. I think we went through Ecclesiastes and there's a proper place to enjoy what God gives us. But I think the Bible is clear that we are not to indulge or make it our goal and aim to live the luxurious high life, epicurean lifestyle; I don't think that's found in the Bible. I think we can enjoy the things God gives us, but I think the Bible urges us to live modestly in order that we may be rich in good works.

Timestamp 0:33:01

So, it's so interesting in Singapore when I see my friends on social media. It's always postings about food or holiday or their clothes, fashion, how they look. That's what the world lives for, that's not what John lived for. Okay, today all of you going to delete all your photos. I got to search all your Facebook profiles; wah, all the food one ah. Now let me say this: nothing wrong. I just went on a holiday with my family, nothing wrong with holidays.

Please, I'm not asking for a… what do you call a… draconian lifestyle but I'm saying, don't let that be your goal, don't let that be your aim. Serve Jesus. I mean if your aim is to be a king and to live in kings' courts, then do whatever you want. But if you know you're called of God to serve Jesus, then surely that changes the way you live your life, isn't it? Well the encouragement here is that Jesus said:
I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John.
(Luke 7:28 ESV)

Hey, I like that. Here is a man who is truly great. Sometimes we think we are great if we are the CEO of a company, if I'm the top sales manager in my firm, if I am the general of an army. Wah, this is where I think greatness is. No, John the Baptist has none of these things but before the Lord, he is great. Do you want to be great before men or do you want to be great before God? Do you want to be great for a season or do you really want to be someone that is great in the kingdom that lasts forever?

Some of us, we aim to be great in our sports, we aim to be great in our hobbies. We want to be great in our golf swing. Nothing wrong to play golf, nothing wrong with improving your golf swing, I suppose. But if that's your goal in life, how sad you waste your life. You know a wasted life, we think, is someone who didn't do anything well. Oh, that's a wasted life. No, no. I think maybe a greater waste of life is that you do so well in the things that don't matter. I think that's the greatest tragedy.

When you have the capacity, the potential, the opportunity to do something with your life that is really significant for God, you waste it all away in improving your golf swing, in having a better tennis stroke. Oh, I die knowing that I had a good tennis stroke. Oh, I die happy that I had five cars. Your whole life is about accumulating stuff that you can't bring. That is truly a wasted life. Not John. Crystal clear mission, straight down the line message, simple manner of life.

4. A Successful Ministry

So he had a straight message, a singular mission, a simple life, and finally, I think he had a successful ministry. This is a joy of someone who is devoted to God. Now this may not be true for everyone in terms of numerical sense, but in terms of influence, impact, the way God wants, I think anyone devoted to God, he will have success, in that sense of where God wants him to be, the impact God wants him to have.

Timestamp 0:36:58

Now, John had the privilege of seeing outward numerical success. His ministry was said to be a success even before he was born, really. It was prophesied in Luke 1:15 before he was born, the angels have already revealed to his parents:

… he will be great before the Lord…
And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,
(Luke 1:15,16 ESV)

What a privilege to be able to say this about my life and your life. And it came to pass in Matthew 3:

Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptised by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. (Mat 3:5,6 ESV)

Many people came to him. It's almost like saying in Singapore, JB and Batam, okay, maybe bigger lah, KL and Penang included, but everyone around this region was coming to John, confessing their sins, repenting of their sins and being baptised. I do not know the exact number. John Walvoord, a commentator, he estimates I do not know how, what's the basis but he estimates, some 200,000 to 500,000 people might have gone to John.

You say, “Why? What's the secret of John's success?” Some people think it's because of the way he dressed; he looks weird so people want to go and see this weirdo, maybe.

Some people say he is successful, many people go to him because he had a very unique message. Everybody around there was saying, “You're fine, you're fine, you're fine,” but John says, “You are not fine.” Israel always thinks that my father is Abraham, we should be fine. But John came and said, “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Just because Abraham is your physical father, your physical ancestor, doesn't mean you're spiritually fine.” So he had a unique message, and that's why many people came, maybe.

Some people think it's because there have been 400 years of silence. There is no prophet, true prophet of God who has spoken, who has been recorded and so after these 400 years, people are craving to hear the man of God, maybe. But I suppose the most plausible explanation of his success in ministry is that he's a man fully devoted and filled by God.

You see, this is what he was meant to be. When he was young, since young, he was said to be not someone who will drink wine or strong drink not to take any of the vine from the grapes.

… And he must not drink wine or strong drink…
(Luke 1:15 ESV)

You say, “What is this about?” Well, this is a Jewish thing, that when a man wants to dedicate his life to God, he takes a vow, it's called the nazirite vow and with this vow, he cannot take of wine, alcohol, he cannot touch dead bodies, he is to keep his hair long, so you have Samson, remember? So these are the conditions that you need to fulfil in order to show outwardly your dedication to God. So John the Baptist was to be a nazirite, a man dedicated to God, not just for a season like for many people, but for his entire life because he was filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb.

… and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.
(Luke 1:15 ESV)

And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.
(Luke 1:80 ESV)

And he stayed this way, he grew and became strong in spirit and was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel. His entire 30 years before he came into public ministry was a man that was dedicated to God.

He never went to Raffles Institution. He never went for swimming competition, I think. He never did many things that you think your kids need to do today to be successful, by the way. He had very little going on for him in the human worldly way of thinking; he was just in the wilderness. I'm not even sure where his parents are but he was there, I think, with the Lord, knowing, growing, communing with God till the day he would serve publicly.

Timestamp 0:41:10

You know, if John the Baptist applied for a job here at Gospel Light, will you accept him? Some of you will say, “Please lah, look at the way he dresses, his fashion sense is worse than Pastor Jason.” Okay, ha-ha, I'm bad enough. He is worse, camel's hair. “Wah, he doesn't even know how to talk. He is a public relations disaster. Everywhere he goes, sin, sin, sin, sin, sin. He's a nightmare. Pastor, don't have this kind of a guy lah. And by the way, we can't feed him, we can't find enough locusts to feed him.” So maybe he will be a failure if he were to apply for jobs. But he was an absolute success in the eyes of God. Why, because he was devoted to his master.

Many years ago, there was a young man who sat in a service, maybe like yourself, and the preacher said something. The preacher said in his sermon, “The world has not seen what God can do with a man fully surrendered to him.” The young man heard those words and he said to himself, “By the grace of God, I will be that man.” The young man grew and it is said that through his lifetime ministry, he was personally responsible for sharing the Gospel with one million people across two continents in Europe and in North America.

This man, his name is Dwight Lyman Moody (1837-1899), D.L. Moody for short. He had very little going on for him actually. He was a no-hoper if you look at his life. He lost his father when he was four, his mother single-handedly had to bring him and his other siblings up, no money, very little education, broken English if you see what he writes and preaches. But one thing going for Moody is that he said, “I will be that man fully surrendered to God.” Not just what he said but his friend, his close associate R.A. Torrey (you might have heard about the author R.A. Torrey, Reuben Torrey), R.A. Torrey said about Moody, his friend:

“The first thing that accounts for God's using D. L. Moody so mightily was that he was a fully surrendered man. Every ounce of that two-hundred-and-eighty -pound body of his belonged to God; everything he was and everything he had, belonged wholly to God. He belonged wholly, unreservedly, unqualifiedly, entirely, to God.”
The first thing that accounts for God's using DL Moody so mightily was that he was a fully surrendered man. Now there are other quotes that tell us R.A. Torrey is not saying Moody was a perfect man, sinless man. No, no, no, he was not; he had his flaws. But as best as he knows, Moody was a fully surrendered man. Every ounce of that 280-pound body (he was quite heavy ah), but every ounce of that 280-pound body of his belonged to God. Everything he was and everything he had, belonged wholly to God. He belonged wholly, unreservedly (big words), unqualifiedly, entirely to God. Torrey says:

“There are thousands and tens of thousands of men and women in Christian work, brilliant men and women, rarely gifted men and women, men and women who are making great sacrifices, men and women who have put all conscious sin out of their lives, yet who, nevertheless, have stopped short of absolute surrender to God, and therefore have stopped short of fullness of power.

But Mr. Moody did not stop short of absolute surrender to God; he was a wholly surrendered man, and if you and I are to be used, you and I must be wholly surrendered men and women.”

Timestamp 0:45:06

Why do you and I surrender ourselves so unreservedly to Jesus? Because Jesus unreservedly gave Himself for you. If you know His love, live for Jesus today, be devoted to your Saviour. Let's bow for a word of prayer together.

Thousands of years ago, a young boy grew up in the wilderness and said yes to God. He said unreservedly yes to God, he will devote his life to be the messenger, to be the forerunner, to prepare the way of the Messiah. That was his whole goal and he lived his life for that. 1800 years later, another young man said, “I will be that man. By the grace of God, I will be that man.” And God used him to shake two continents.

This morning, let me ask you: will you be that man? Mind you, folks, this needs your dedication and commitment. You need to say, “I will be that man.” But don't be proud that you are the one who will do it because at the same time, Moody was balanced. He said, “By the grace of God, I will be that man.” But my question to you is: if you know Jesus loves you and gave Himself for you, would you give yourself to Him? I will be that man.

What do you live for? What do you live for? If it's Jesus, then let it all be about Jesus. By the grace of God, say, “He must increase; I must decrease.” By the grace of God, use your time, your talents, your treasures; live modestly but be rich in good works glorifying His name. By the grace of God, He might use you to lead, to turn the hearts of many to Him.

My friends, maybe Singapore has not seen what God can do through a man fully surrendered to Him. It might just be you. Would you surrender yourself to Him? Maybe some of you are here today for the first time and I want to say to you what John said, what Jesus said, what the entire Bible said, and it is this: “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.”

My friends, the Bible is crystal clear; it is an offensive message, I know. But let me give you the message as straight as I can. The Bible tells us, all are sinners. I am a sinner, you are a sinner. You may think that you're better than someone but let me say you are a sinner, you are absolutely filthy and rotten before the Holy God. That's the bad news. You are sinful and you will be damned for your sins, rightly so because we sin against an infinitely perfect and good God.

But I urge you today to repent of your sins, to see that sin is bad, is offensive before God, you need to turn from it, you need to say, “I want to stop loving sin.” And then I say to you, believe in Jesus. He came to do for you what you cannot do for yourself; He came to pay for your sins. He came to die on the cross, sacrificed Himself so that His righteousness may be given to you, even as your sins are punished in Him. Repent and believe, for time is short. It is urgent. Would you come to the King Jesus Christ?

Father, we thank You this morning for the Word of God, and we pray that You will bless each one here that we'll not leave this place just having heard about the story of a man, but that we will become that story ourselves, men and women fully devoted to You. Have mercy, dear God, this morning also to call men and women to repentance and faith, that they may turn from their sin and believe and rely on the perfect finished work of Jesus Christ, that they may be saved from their sins, reconciled with You. So may Your spirit work in hearts. May Christians today say, “I surrender all and follow Jesus.” May sinners today say, “I surrender all and trust in Jesus.” We pray this in Jesus' Name. Amen.

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