“A VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS”
John the Baptist was a forerunner heralding the first coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He came in the spirit of Elijah. John the Baptist was sent by God as His messenger to prepare the way of Jesus Christ on his first advent. Luke writes in his gospel that as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make His paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough ways smooth;
And all flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Luke 3:4-6)
Those days John was in the wilderness raising his lone voice against the sins and iniquities of the people of Israel. He did not spare Herod the king, and told him on his face that it was not lawful for him to have his brother Philip’s wife” (Matt.14: 3-4). He did not preach any sermon to please the people or the king. He used the toughest language, and addressed the Pharisees and Sadducees, “Brood of vipers!”
John exhorted the people to prepare the way of the Lord, and to make His paths straight. When the president of a nation visits another nation, the government of the host nation makes necessary arrangements to receive him. It makes elaborate security arrangements, and such other arrangements that would make his visit convenient. Like the first advent of Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit is anointing a small group of God’s people for carrying on a ministry similar to that of John the Baptist. This ministry is not of a single man but is of a small group. This small group of people prepares the hearts of the people of God for the second advent of Christ Jesus. They are in the wilderness, raising their voice against the sins and iniquities of the people of God. The Holy Spirit has taught them in the school of sufferings in the wilderness. They do not come with some new revelations or end-time revelations as you may think.
These days, some ministers claim themselves to be the end-time prophets. Some people had already come with some end-time revelations, which were not based on the Word of God. Their ministries misled the people of God. Let us be careful about these end-time prophets. But, the people likened to John the Baptist do not come up with end-time revelations. They come with the same old message of John. In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”…. “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance…” (Matt.3: 2 & 8). Today, the same message of John holds good for the churches of God. The churches have to simply “repent” and to “bear fruits worthy of repentance”. They do not need long sermons or many days of convention in which lengthy sermons on many doctrines other than on repentance are superfluously given.
Every valley shall be filled. There are some humble people in our midst, who would be filled with His power and anointing. Every mountain and hill shall be brought low. There are many ministries, which are exalted as the mountain and hill, above Christ and His Body. A dear member of our group Evangelist Steven Pyle, Arkansas, USA, had seen a vision of billowing smoke, which emanated from burning buildings. These man-made buildings mean the self-centered ministries which are exalted in the House of God. “And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Matt.23:12). Jesus warned Capernaum “who are exalted to heaven” that it would be brought down to Hades (Matt.11:23). The judgment of God would devour all such ministries, which are self-centered and exalted, because the judgment begins at the House of God. These ministries shall be brought low.
The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth. There are indeed crooked places and the rough ways in the lives of those who live godly lives. In India, there are a number of God’s servants who are very sincere in their ministries. But there are crooked places in their mission fields. They face severe persecutions and paucity of funds. The Lord shall make these crooked places straight. The rough ways faced by them in learning the new languages of the inhabitants of the mission fields or translating the Word of God into the languages of the inhabitants of the mission fields today will be made smooth.
All flesh shall see the salvation of God. In these last days, there is going to be great revivals all over the world, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
- Job Anbalagan