In the year 610, long time ago, over 1400 years ago, in the year 610, there was a man named Mohammed that was part of a culture of people that worshiped idols that followed false gods. And apparently he was a little bit unhappy with that. So he went into a cave all by himself. In that cave, he believes that an angel visited him and gave him a. A message, some words, and that he would continue going back to that spot and receiving these messages.

Three years later, he begins preaching and he speaks to all who will listen. And he's a hotly contested figure in the time, but he gets a following. And upon his death, they wrote down the words that he would proclaim that they believed were from an angel. And that angel had told him a lot of different things, and specifically that God really had his word had been corrupted, that his scriptures were corrupt, and that the only true thing was what he was revealing to him right now. So after Muhammad died, his followers wrote down some of those things in a book that we now know as the Koran.

In the Koran, they believe that it cannot be translated from the language that it was written in. If it gets translated, it would be corrupted. The problem is it has been changed over time and Muslims will not admit to that, but it has been changed and there's proof of that. And so they take what he said and they believe that it is the word of God for his people of all time and that it supersedes anything that came before it because the scriptures are corrupted is what they claim. They believe that Mohammed is the founder of their religion, of the religion of Islam in the 1820s.

So quite a long time after that, there's a man named Joseph Smith. Some of you might be familiar with this story. You might not know all the details, though they're quite. I'll let you decide. Joseph Smith was similar to Mohammed, a little bit unhappy with some of the things that were going on.

He asked God whether he should join the Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church, or a Protestant church. And his claim was that God went to him and said neither of them, that God sent an angel to him to speak to him, and that this angel showed Joseph Smith that there were some hidden things, some golden plates with a language of some words in an unknown language inscribed on them. And that these golden plates, they could only be deciphered through these stones that somehow you could see through. And they were called a seer stone. And these stones would help him to do it.

Now, if you ask if anybody else saw these things as well, no, he wouldn't let anybody else see them because the angel said only Joseph Smith was allowed to look at this. And so he would put them, oddly, in a hat and like, view it through there. And he would look at that and he. He would then have a man that would write it down. There's an interesting thing as he would tell this man what allegedly he was translating from these golden plates.

This man wrote it down and then he went home one night and his wife is like, what have you been doing all this time? So he tells him, Joseph Smith, he's got this word from God in these plates and he's translating them, and this is great. She said, give me those papers. She took them and hid them. She said, if it's true that he's translating from these golden plates, then you'll be able to go back to him tomorrow and he can do the same exact thing and produce it.

And we can view what you wrote tomorrow with what you wrote today, and it will match up. Right? Except he couldn't do that. So what Joseph Smith did was he said, the angel told me we're supposed to do a different section now. And he goes to a different section.

Upon much time after that, his. His followers end up moving from place to place. Of course, they get persecuted quite a bit for some of their strange ways and strange ideas, especially with the marriages and things that they would do. His followers now today are known as the Mormons or the Church of Latter day Saints. About 40 years after that, in the 1870s, there was a man named Charles Taze Russell.

Charles Taze Russell was having a Bible study meeting in his home. And these people, what they were doing was they claimed that they were looking to kind of reorient their beliefs and their practice to that of the New Testament Church in the first century, the time right after Christ had ascended into heaven. And they were trying to match up the way they lived and believed with the things that the New Testament Church had been doing. And in doing this, though, they started deciding for themselves certain things that went against. Like that first song we sang this morning, the Creed.

They went against the creeds of the church, and they started saying things like, well, the Trinity isn't real. The Holy Spirit isn't actually the third member of the Trinity. Yeah, Jesus is the Son of God, but we're not too sure about all this other stuff. So they started coming up with a bunch of different things and mixed in a few different ideas with it. In the end, they start publishing what they believed in a publication called the Watchtower.

And they would send that out and they would go do that. You might have had them knock on your door today. The Jehovah's witnesses. Within 15 years after Charles Taze Russell's death, though, they had a lot of problems, schisms within their fellowship and they started arguing and infighting. And clearly that's not part of the 1st century New Testament Church's thing.

They had unity in their gatherings. So this clearly was falling apart pretty quickly. About the same decade as Charles Taze Russell is having his Bible studies, There's a woman named Mary Baker Eddy. Mary Baker Eddy believed that God had healed her of something. So she starts searching the Scriptures for evidence of this kind of healing.

And she begins doing Bible studies herself with other people. And she begins to describe how they kind of twist things around. They're like, well, Jesus is kind of part of God, but he's not really like, he's a messiah, but he's not really the Savior. Because what he did though, he just kind of. He didn't die for our sins necessarily.

He just came to be the perfect way shower to show, show us the way. And that's what the church that kind of was founded off of her writings was known as the Church of Christ Scientists or Christian Scientists. They're not near as well known today, but they still exist. My point is all these people, like her followers, believe that she received the revelation of Christian Science and that that was something that should be taught widely. This one person's revelation.

Are you noticing something here with all of these things? There's one person that is dissatisfied with something going on. They get by themselves. They get something that they claim is a revelation from an angel. And then they have a whole group of people that follows them.

One person. No one else is in on it except for them.

These things are worthy of investigation before belief for sure. Like for certain. You don't just say, yeah, that makes sense. I'm going with that. You need to check into things like that.

I think under close scrutiny, they begin to fall apart quite easily.

In the year 30ish, like, you know, 0030, like way back there was a guy named John that shows up. John, known as John the Baptizer, John the Baptist. He shows up and he begins doing something a little bit odd. He dresses weird and eats weird stuff. He starts calling people to repent of their sins.

Now, most people that heard this, they were Jewish, and they're thinking, what do I have to repent of? I'm a Jew, I'm good. I have the word of God, the law of God. I live by it pretty well. I don't need this.

And so John, he's preaching repent. Not just repent, but he says, repent for the kingdom of heaven is. Is nearby. It's like, right at hand. It's right around the corner.

And as he proclaims that, what he's saying is there's about to be a spiritual shift in our nation. Now, much like some of these other people I mentioned, that should be quite alarming like. Like for somebody to say, like, hey, the church is going to change in the next little bit. We should be like, really? Let me look through the Bible and see if that's what it says.

They should do that. Do you hear me? Like, if somebody. The Apostle Paul said, if somebody comes to you and preaches a gospel other than the one I proclaimed to you, then run. Don't listen to him.

He says, even listen to this. Even if an angel should tell you something, don't listen to it. Now that sounds arrogant, doesn't it? Like, if you were listening to Paul say that, or you're reading one of his letters to your church and he's like, if anybody else says something different than me, don't listen to him. That's not what he said, though.

Pay attention. He says, if they proclaim to you a different gospel, in other words, if they try to change who Christ is, change the nature of the good news of Jesus Christ and make it into something different, or they cheapen who Christ is. Like, he's not really God, or he wasn't born God. God that he somehow ascended to being divine or something like that. Run.

That is not from God, that is from demons. The scripture tells us that in later days people will flee from the truth and they will follow things taught by demons. I know some of you are saying, oh, Pastor Nick, surely you don't believe in demons. Are you for real? You don't see it everywhere?

Like, I'm not looking for, like, you know, the boogeyman around every corner, but I sure see demonic activity alive and well in our world. The scriptures tell us that our battle is not against flesh and blood. Like, we don't fight one another. Our battle is against the spiritual forces of darkness in this world. That's nothing new that's been going on, but it also for sure has not stopped.

It is persistent to this day. In fact, the closer you get to following God the way Christ has, has actually called you to do, the more you're probably going to feel spiritual attacks against you. Because Satan hates it when people follow God. If you say, man, I really don't feel like I've ever been attacked by Satan. I would say, read your scripture more, pray more, spend more time drawing close to God, and you just might get the opportunity.

Amen. And if you think, I don't want that, I guess you just are content with a mediocre Christian walk. See, the disciples, when they were persecuted for their faith in Christ, they get locked up, they get beaten, and all these things. And when they got free, you know what they did? They gathered together and they rejoiced that they had been worthy of suffering for the name of Jesus Christ.

See, Christianity has never been about the nice and easy, the cushy. Like, oh, everything's perfect with me. Can anybody testify that you've had that experience? But what it is, what it is. Like, you've got moments of that, for sure, but you've got moments where.

Where there's gonna be that difficulty in that walk. There's got moments where there's gonna be those times where you're like, lord, I thought I did everything right. Why is stuff still going wrong? He's like, cause you're still living here on this earth, and I haven't redeemed it yet with the new heavens and the new earth. Okay, like, you're not in heaven yet.

We'll get there, though. So John the Baptist, around the year 30ish, starts showing up and preaching, repent for the kingdom of heaven is near. Now, this signaled, like I said, a big change in the religious atmosphere within the Jewish community of faith. And of course, it reverberated outside of Judaism and into the gentile world. In fact, the Gospels tell us about the people that came to listen to John as he.

He didn't just say that like, he actually preached too. I mean, if you just go up and start yelling, sinners repent. It doesn't work very well on the street corner. I. I don't know. I've never tried it.

It might work. There's people that have done it over time, and it has worked. So I guess I shouldn't knock it, but I believe he said more than just that. Like, he probably preached and proclaimed a message and people listened to it. But he's an outside preacher, which everybody was outside a whole lot more.

They didn't have air conditioning or windows. I mean, like, they had holes in the walls, but they didn't really have glass. So everything's kind of outside if you think about it. Anyway, so he's preaching his message But. But the core part of it isn't like, hey, everything's gonna go great for you if you just do this one thing, or if you send me $1,000 or whatever.

Like, clearly, he wasn't raking in the money. Like, he didn't have a private jet or chariot, I guess, whatever. It would have been. Like, he's just. He's wearing, like, a fuzzy robe, like, furry robe.

I mean, like, camel's hair. He had a leather belt. He's eating bugs and stuff. Like, it's not like you don't want this guy as your friend, you know? And yet people are going to him in droves, like, just gathering around him, and they're listening to him preach.

And they're responding. They're responding at the end of the message. And they. And they. Instead of coming up to an altar to pray or whatever it is, they show up and they're like, dunk me.

Dunk me in that river, man. I want my sins washed away. Now, what does he say when people start asking him why you're doing this? Some people came to ask him that, and we'll read that in a minute and we'll get into his reasoning for that. But he had all kinds of people showing up.

Regular common folks, Jewish leaders, Pharisees, Roman soldiers, even tax collectors. All these people start showing up, and each one of them starts asking him a different question. Well, the same question with a different application. What must I do? Like.

Like, how do I respond to this? I gotta tell you, I don't look around in my mind and be like, okay, like, who's in there? Like. Like, I could take a picture and be like, let's see. All right, let's see.

I could take a picture every Sunday and be like, you guys are here. And then I could look at that during the week and be like, ah, that one. Okay, that person. Like, I know what they need to hear. I'm gonna preach a message right at them.

Have you ever been in a service where you felt the pastor was preaching right at you? Can I tell you something? 99% of the time, I promise you that's not what happened. I do think there are some sneaky pastors out there that do that on purpose. They're usually called cowards.

Instead of coming to you directly about your sin that is harming you and the rest of the body of believers around you, they'll just preach a sermon directly to you. And everybody else is like, I didn't get anything. Yeah, they didn't direct that at you. They directed It. At one person, shame on them.

If they. If I've ever done that, shame on me. I don't believe I have. I try not to. I certainly do.

However, you can look at the spiritual condition of the people around you, of your flock, of your congregation, as a pastor, and be like, man, this is where we're hurting right now. This is where we need. I have preached messages on gossip more than anything else, probably, and bitterness and anger, because I've seen that rooting in people before. Got to praise you guys. You are not that church.

Today there was a group of people meeting in this building. That was a long time ago. And I got to tell you, praise God, that. That some of those, the hearts changed, some of them, their body moved. I don't know.

They're not here. Like, you know, the people that were dealing with that, they didn't. They either responded and they repented and said, how must I be saved from this? Or they said, I like how I am. I want to continue on in my bitterness and my gossip.

And they moved on. Some of them, I've got to tell you, sadly, died in their bitterness, in their anger, in their hurt, refusing to get rid of it, refusing to give it up. I don't know how much turmoil that causes a person on this earth, but I promise you, you don't want to carry that to your grave. Give it up now. Whatever that sin is that you have in your life that's keeping you from God, repent of that now.

And give that up now.

Where's I at? I didn't plan on going there.

John, he preaches to these people and he's like. They say, what do I need to do? He gives them an individual prescription for their lives. The Pharisees, for one. They show up and they're like, hey, let's get baptized.

They didn't say, how do we need to repent? They said, we want to get baptized, too. Everyone else is doing it. He says, you're a brood of vipers, a pit of snakes. Like, you slither around, you're nasty.

You're terrible. Get out of here. If you want to get baptized, show first of all that you have repented. He says, produce fruit in keeping with repentance. In other words, like, if you have repented of your sins, then we'll see it on you.

Like, we will know if you truly have repented. If your life has changed by the power of Christ, we'll know. We'll see it. Amen. I've seen it in some of your lives.

More of You, I haven't seen it in. You're the same. You're steady. You're like the old Chevy thing. Like a rock, unmovable.

Thanks, Jeff.

Allow the spirit of God to move within you, to break you down, to shatter everything that is not of Christ and to build you back up again in the nature and shape of his son, Jesus Christ. Now, John also talks to people. He talks to the Roman soldiers. He's like, don't take advantage of people. Don't use your position of power to tread on the weak.

Because even though the Roman law allows you to, doesn't mean it's right. He tells the tax collectors, only take what you're commanded to take by law. Don't steal from people by threatening them and coercing them. I wanted him to say, like, you know, taxes are wrong. Abolish the irs.

But he didn't do that, you know, so whatever. Anyway. Although I did hear a lot of people are joking about it. Just like you remember the area 51 thing a couple years ago. They're like, let's go in there and see what's going on inside Area 51.

They can't stop us all. I'm like, well, they can, but, like, I don't think they will, but they'll take out a bunch of you. So you guys go ahead. Let me know what you find. You know, I'd love to find out.

I don't want to be at the front of that sphere, you know? But they're doing the same thing. They're saying, like, if they can't arrest us all, if we don't file our taxes and pay our taxes, I'm like, most of you have it withheld from your paycheck already. They already have your money. They don't really care.

You're not getting a refund, you know, like, oh, my goodness. Anyway. But I mean, I'd love to see what happens, though. So you guys go ahead and try that and see what happens, and I'll follow suit later on. I guess I'm a chicken about that stuff.

Anyway, so John, he's got all these people coming up to him, but as he's gathering, crowds of followers. And he has disciples, too. Like, he has people that are close to him that are literally training to do what he does, to continue preaching and teaching and baptizing. He's got all these people around him, and the folks in Jerusalem take note of it. They're like, the ones that are in charge.

They're the leaders of the people, and they want to investigate what's going on because just like any other religion that's popped up over the last couple thousand years, where somebody says, hey, I got a new thing, a new way to look at it, a new revelation, an angel, some metal plates, whatever it is, I. I want to teach you guys this thing that only I've been aware of. You should investigate that. So we should investigate John, shouldn't we? If we were the religious leaders of the day. Except they didn't have it in their hearts where they were searching for the truth.

What they wanted was to find a way to shut him down. Because he's starting to say there's going to be this sea change that might wash us away with the tide. The religious leaders of the day might be swept away. And then there's a new thing going on and, and they can't have that. So what they did was they sent some people to investigate.

Now, there's at least three things that the Jewish people were expecting at any moment during that time. One is that there would be a messiah king type figure. And 2 Samuel 7 and Psalm 2 talk about this. And so they're looking for somebody that fits that nature of the messiah king to show up. Then they're looking for what they call the eschatological return of Moses.

Not Moses himself to show back up, but they're looking for what Moses had said, and that's in Deuteronomy 18, 15, 18. He had said, a prophet like me will spring up in your midst and you must listen to him. So they're thinking maybe he's the fulfillment of what Moses had prophesied would happen. And then they're also looking for probably most likely the physical return of the prophet Elijah. Remember, he's the one that didn't die, but God takes him up and in a chariot of fire, straight into heaven, and he never dies.

So they're thinking, like, he's just kind of been like, maybe in orbit or something. You know, he's going to come back down at some point and like he's going to herald in a new era. And so maybe this guy is Elijah. He actually dressed like Elijah. Looked.

Elijah was a really hairy guy, and maybe John wasn't. So that's why he wore the hairy, like, camel's hair garment, you know, who knows? But anyway, John looked like Elijah. In fact, later when they talking about him, John, Jesus says John was the Elijah to come. If you can handle that.

They hadn't expected him to be like kind of this almost like spiritual revival of Elijah. They expected Elijah physically to return. And so Jesus says, well, he was that kind of spiritual successor to Elijah. But John told them a fourth thing, and he said, I'm not the return of Elijah like Malachi 4, 5 had said. He said, I am the voice of one heralding the Lord, the Messiah coming from Isaiah 43.

So those are some scriptures for you. I want to look, though. I want to read with you today. If you noticed, I hadn't read the scripture yet. We're in John 1.

I did that on purpose. I really did. John 1, starting in verse 19. Do you have your Bible with you? There's one in the rack in front of you.

You got apps on your phone, and it'll probably be on the screen as well. But it's really great to bring a paper Bible with you.

John, the Gospel of John. By the way, this is not John the Baptist writing this. This is one of Jesus apostles named John. We believe he was the youngest apostle of the 12 that he had. And he had his brother James and John.

They were brothers that had been fishermen. And Jesus goes up to him and he's like, why don't you guys leave that behind and come follow me? So they left the nets, they left the boat. Their father owned them anyway, so they're like, whatever, not our problem anymore. Sorry, dad, we're going with Jesus.

That's kind of what they did. I mean, it might have been a little more words to it, but they tell us the brief version in the gospel. All right, I don't hear pages, so I'll stop rambling and I'll start reading. Now, this was John's testimony when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are you? So notice this.

They are investigating him. This is like a formal start of their religious investigation of who this guy is. Pay attention to the details. Along those lines. He confessed.

He did not deny, but he confessed, I am not the Christ or the Messiah. Well, that was the first thing they were looking for, right? 2nd Samuel 7, Psalm 2. They're looking for a Messiah. And they're like, are you the guy?

Are you the Messiah? He says, that's not me. Like, he knew what they were asking. He knew why they were there, and he knew what they were asking. He's like, before you even ask, I'm not the Messiah, okay?

Like, just let's wipe that out of your minds. That's not me. They said, well, then who are you? Are you Elijah? He said, I am not.

Are you the prophet? Like, the prophet that Moses had said would show up he says, no. So those are the three things there that they're going to expect to happen. And he's not those things. Verse 22.

They said to him, who are you? And tell us so that we can give an answer to those who sent us. In other words, they were just kind of like the early advanced team, the envoys, the ones that go. And like, kind of figure it out first before they send the big guns in. Okay, what do you say about yourself?

Verse 23. John said, I am the voice of one shouting in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord. So he's quoting Isaiah. There. They had been sent from the Pharisees.

So they asked John, why then are you baptizing if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet? John answered them, I baptize with water, but among you stands one whom you do not recognize. He is coming after me. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal. These things were happening in Bethany, across the Jordan, where John was baptizing on the next day.

Listen to this. In John, like, chapters one and two and three. John, as he writes this, he keeps telling us very like, clearly, like, the next day, the next day, the next day. It's not just some time after this, but he's telling us in like, rapid fire, these things were happening quickly the next day. Oh, man, those words are little.

On the next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is the one about whom I said, after me comes a man who is greater than I am. Because he existed before me. I did not recognize him, but I came baptizing him with water so that he could be revealed to Israel. Then John testified, I saw the Spirit descending like a dove from heaven, and it remained on him, by the way, that the other gospels tell us, that is when Jesus was baptized by John, that the heavens opened up, the spirit of God descended like a dove and landed on Jesus and alighted upon him and stayed there.

And the voice from heaven, the God the Father, speaks up and says, this is my son, whom I love. In him I am well pleased. Listen to him. John is testifying about that, that he has seen it. So now it's not just one man's testimony, like some of these cult leaders that I talked about at the top of the message.

This is John just testifying what he has seen God do in view of everyone else that was there at the same time. And they can testify that they've seen it. Too. He said, this is the one about whom I said, after me comes a man who is greater than I am. Because he existed before me, I did not recognize him.

Verse 31. But I came baptizing with water so he could be revealed to Israel. I already read that part, didn't I? John testified, I saw the Spirit descending like a dove from heaven, and it remained on him. And I did not yet recognize him.

But the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, the one on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining, this is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. I have both seen and testify that this man is the chosen one of God.

Man. This is. This is the thing that he was talking about. This is the big change in Israel that John had been saying would occur. And then after he baptizes Jesus, Jesus is still hanging out.

Why? Because John has one more thing that he has to do in his ministry. The thing that God had literally brought John to earth to do. He was born miraculously for two old parents that had been barren and had not had any kids. And yet God enabled them to have this child.

And as they had this child, he had this one purpose, to point out the Messiah of God. And so Jesus is still. Even though he's been baptized by John, he's still spending time there. And Jesus, he walks by and. And John says, I said it yesterday, but look, there's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Can you imagine the awe and wonder in that statement? John was baptizing for repentance. He's just like, this just shows that you've repented of your sins. It's kind of like you're dunked in and you're washed away. You come up and you're clean and new again.

But he's saying, that guy right there that you see walking, that guy actually takes away your sin. See, you can't take away your sin. You can't try hard enough. You can't do enough good to outweigh the bad. You can't, like.

You can't, like, just be like, I really just gotta muscle through this and get over that addiction or that sin or that problem in my life. You can't do it. I'm sorry to tell you you're not good enough. You're not strong enough, and you never will be. No offense.

I'm the same as you, and I found that to be true. However, the more you rely and lean on Jesus Christ, the more you find that he empowers you that he fills you with his holy Spirit, and he makes it possible for you to overcome sin by his grace, by his blood, and by his power. Amen. And so, as John's pointing out, look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Not that sacrificial offering that is given up every year at the temple to just kind of like, say, like, lord, we're sorry.

Can you put all of our sins as the whole nation on this offering and send it away? And then we'll do the same ritual again next year? None of that. Jesus actually takes away your sin. He removes it from you.

You can be forgiven of sin, of all wrongdoing against God and all the other people that you've done wrong against. As Jesus taught us to pray in what we call the Lord's Prayer. Father, forgive us our trespasses, our sins, our debts, as we forgive those who have trespassed, sinned, or have a debt against us. Whatever translation you use is all covered in those three different words. Sins, debts, transgressions, whatever.

If you've done those against God, others have done them against you, and you've done them against others. And God can forgive all of it so that you can be wiped clean. Clean slated. It's beautiful. He takes away the sin of the world, but he doesn't just take away your sin.

He fills us with his Holy spirit. So as John is proclaiming these things outside the side of the river, he comes under scrutiny. The people, the religious leaders, want to know, like, what's up with him? Are you the Messiah? He's like, I'm not the Messiah.

Are you the guy that was supposed to come and, like, speak like Moses taught us? He's like, no, I'm not that guy. I'm not the prophet that Moses talked about. Are you the return of Elijah? Like, you look like what we think he looked like.

It must be your Elijah. And he's like, I'm not him either. I'm just here to point out the Messiah. John would say things like, you see Jesus, that man, he's going to increase. Like his followers, his fame, his popularity, his glory and honor is going to increase.

And of the increase of the glory of Christ, we have seen no end of that. He continues growing in his glory. Amen. But John, he says, me, I'm going to get smaller and smaller. I'm going to fade away, just fade off into the background.

I must decrease so that he can increase. I'm not here as the main event. I'm just here as the opening act to point you to the one who does the saving. See, John, he was a big deal. He had a lot of followers.

In fact, there was a time when Jesus disciples started baptizing more people than John was baptizing. And John's disciples got mad, and they're like, look, that guy, the one you pointed out on the side of the river that day, he's baptizing more people than we are. What are you going to do about it? He's like, I'm going to rejoice. I have come to shrink down.

That's my assignment. And I can only take what God has given me. Amen. We are in that same set of footprints. You take what God gives you.

You serve faithfully where God calls you to serve, and that's all you can do. You can long for more and say, lord, use me however you want. If that means that you get well known and famous and you're doing all this great stuff, praise God. If it means you're like, listen, I worked my whole life on my knees every morning praying that people would get saved. And I don't even know if they did or not, but I prayed for them.

And my life was given over in prayer so that people might know Christ. Then praise God for that. Be faithful in that ministry, whatever it is that Christ has called you to do. Carry that out faithfully. Like John the Baptist did, by the way, I'd like to say he lived long and well and healthy and had a great long life.

He didn't. He talked against the ruler, not the religious people. I mean, them too. He talked against one of the Herods, one of the evil kings, and he had stolen his brother's wife and had her for his own. And.

And John said, you shouldn't do that. It's against the law of God. It's just not right anyway. And Herod, that king, he wanted to know John a little bit better, but yet he also was really stupid and foolish. And he ends up making this bet that if his stepdaughter would dance for him and his buddies at a party, that he would give her anything she wanted.

Well, she doesn't know what she wants, so she asked her mom, and she's like, I hate John the Baptist. He preached against me and what me and my husband are doing and so have his head on a platter. John met his end with his head on a silver platter, offered up to an evil pagan king who lost a bet essentially one day and had to do it to make good on his word. Talk about decreasing so that Christ might increase more. When Jesus heard about that, it saddened him.

And he spoke well of John the Baptist. He said up to that point, there was never anyone greater than John. And yet he said, those who are in the kingdom of heaven, the least in the kingdom will surpass what John had. Folks, you might feel like you're the least important part of this congregation. I don't even know how to quantify that.

I just said you might feel that way. I don't rank you like that. I have no idea. I think you're all important in the kingdom of God. And Jesus Christ was saying that even if you feel like you're the least important person here, that you have a more important job than even John the Baptist had.

How can that be? See, John just got to point out that the Messiah was walking on the earth and, and would one day die for their sins. But folks, you get to bear testimony today that not only has Christ saved you, but that he can save those that you would talk to each day. You get to bear testimony to say, like, Jesus has died for you. Not only was he like there, like John was pointing him out, but we can say Jesus did this.

And I gotta tell you, there's so much proof, like, unlike those people that I talked at the top of the message that came up with a new cult, a new religion, unlike them who don't really have any proof to back anything they say, like, let me pick on the Mormons just a little bit. Not one ancient place. They believe that Jesus Christ had already returned, but that his return was to North America, to the Native Americans who were living on the continent and that he proclaimed himself to them. And then also that the ones that were kind of more like red colored skin, that those were the ones that had disobeyed and he tinted them red. That's their ancient belief that Joseph Smith had.

Folks, there is zero evidence, proof of that. Any of the cities, the ancient kingdoms and cities and tribes that they talk about in the Book of Mormon, none of them have ever been found, discovered. There's zero archaeological proof or evidence of that. And yet every day, every week, every year, we're finding more and more things that show us the things we've already believed in in the scriptures, that they are true. And they prove them over and over and over again.

But the true proof of it is the changed heart that you have as you have come to Christ and said, lord, I need you, open up your lives to Jesus Christ.