A Preacher Like John the Baptist
People perish for lack of vision (Prv 29:18). The devil, the god of this world, has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, so that where the Gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing (2 Cor 4:3–4). Those who believe in God’s only begotten Son will not perish, for they have eternal life given to them (Jn 3:16; 10:28). How will they believe in Him, having not heard of Him? People need a preacher, who is sent by God. It must be argued that we need a preacher like John the Baptist.
John the Baptist was a witness, a voice crying in the wilderness, to testify by preaching about the Light (Jn 1:6–8). Jesus Christ is the true Light come into this world of darkness (Jn 1:9). Men love the darkness because their deeds are evil (Jn 3:19). Simply put, they cannot see the truth, as it is in Jesus (Eph 4:21), without the Light of God’s Word showing the way of Life (Ps 119:105, 160; Jn 14:6). Faith, however, comes by hearing; hence, the necessity for the preacher (Rom 10:17).
John preached a message that pointed directly to Jesus Christ, of whom John testified, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (Jn 3:30). This must be the preacher’s priority because there is no other name under heaven, given among men whereby one must be saved (Acts 4:12). There is salvation in no one else except Jesus, for He came to save His people from their sins (Mt 1:21; Jn 14:6). Thus, we preach Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor 2:2), the blood redemption that releases us from our sins (Eph 1:7; Rev 1:5). This is Jesus’ purchase of the church of God (Acts 20:28), for we have been bought for a price off the slave market of sin (Rom 6:6; 1 Cor 6:20; 7:23).
God’s call for all men everywhere is to repent (Acts 17:30), that is, to return to God, to seek the Lord while He may yet be found (Is 55:6–7). This call comes through the Gospel preached by the man of God, sent by God. This Gospel is good news for everyone who is justified by God’s grace (Rom 3:24), and who receives the grace of repentance, and who believes by His grace (Acts 5:31; 11:18; Eph 2:8–9; 2 Tim 2:25). It by God’s grace that one is saved through the manifestation of the gift of faith, which is brought to God’s elect, redeemed people via the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Mt 3:11; Acts 2:38).
It is the Holy Spirit who regenerates or makes alive the sinner, spiritually dead in trespasses and sins, since conception in his or her mother’s womb (Ps 51:5; 1 Cor 2:14; Eph 2:1, 5; Col 2:13). This work of the Holy Spirit, first, is a demonstration of the power of God through the preaching of God’s Word (1 Cor 2:4). It is the Sword of the Spirit that is double-edged (Heb 4:12), sharp, to cut through the confusing message of false Christs, false prophets, and false teachers, who promote the doctrine of demons that keeps people from purity in doctrine and practice (1 Tim 4:1).
When the Spirit of God opened Lydia’s heart to respond to the Apostle Paul’s preaching at Philippi (Acts 16:14), it showed that salvation belongs to God (Ps 3:8; Jon 2:9; Rev 19:1), not to the will of man, nor the work of man, nor the family blood lines that seem so important to sinners. For as many as are appointed to life (Acts 13:48), that is, as many as the Lord will call to Himself (Acts 2:39), these receive Christ and are given the right to be called sons of God (Jn 1:12–13), who are, indeed, beloved, adopted children (1 Jn 3:1), having received the Spirit of adoption (Rom 8:15, 23).
The preacher, sent by God, like John the Baptist, warns people to flee from the wrath to come (Mt 3:7; Lk 3:7). He warns them not to love the world, nor the things of the world (1 Jn 2:15–17). He tells them to be saved from this perverse generation (Dt 32:5, 20; Mt 17:17; Acts 2:40; Phil 2:15). He is fearless before the political and religious authorities, who demand allegiance to themselves and their man-centered philosophies and corrupt practices (Lk 3:19–20).
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This balanced message of judgment and salvation illumines the kindness and the severity of the Lord (Rom 11:22). Jesus Christ our Lord is both Savior and Judge (Rom 2:16; 2 Tim 4:1; Titus 1:4; 2:13). He is mighty to save and righteous in all His judgments (Gen 18:25; Jn 8:16) The lopsided preacher, leaning to either side, is preaching another gospel, either toward universalism or toward legalism. There is only One who can save His people from the wrath to come (1 Thess 1:10). He does so in His mercy and by His grace, from a heart of love (Rom 9:15–16). We proclaim Him (Col 1:28), and two groups are formed, believers and unbelievers.
The true Gospel preacher, heralding the excellencies of Christ, realizes that he has nothing, unless it is given to him from heaven above (Jn 3:27), where Christ our King is seated on His throne at the right hand of God the Father (Acts 2:33; Heb 1:3; 8:1). King Jesus is coming again to put down all those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Rom 1:18; Rev 19), who are blind guides leading the blind into the pit of destruction (Mt 15:14). The Day of the Lord is the Day of wrath for this world that is reserved for fire (2 Pet 3:7), from our God, who is a consuming fire (Heb 12:29).
My dear reader, it is my duty to call you to repent and believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Gospel of God (Mk 1:15; Acts 19:4). The only reason you do not believe, today, or will not believe at any point in the future, is that you do not belong to Him (Jn 10:26). If you persist in your unbelief and fail to come to Jesus in humble repentance, it is because of your ever-hardened heart and mind set on the futility of this life in this world (Ps 95:7–11; Jer 14:14; Eph 4:17).
It is God the Father’s (Yahweh) work to draw you to Christ (Jn 6:44, 65); and it is Christ’s promise to never cast you out of His kingdom and care (Jn 6:37). If God adopts you into His family, the Father and the Son will send you a token of God’s enduring love (2 Cor 5:5). This is the indwelling Holy Spirit (Rom 8:9, 11), who will baptize you into Christ’s church (1 Cor 12:13) and become your Helper, Comforter, Teacher, and Guide. He will never leave you, nor forsake you (Heb 13:5).
There is only one message from a preacher like John the Baptist, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of both Jews and Gentiles who trust in Him.” Do not look to another. Do not look for another way. Do not mingle ways with the only way. Eternal life, along with all the other blessings and benefits of God, toward His adopted children, are found only in Christ Jesus, in whom all the promises of God are “yes” and “amen” (2 Cor 1:20).
May today be the day of your salvation and may your boast be in Christ, alone (1 Cor 1:31; Gal 6:14), for He alone has done great things, according to the Scriptures, alone, for the glory of God, alone.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
September 4, 2026
