Voice of a Prophet: The Privilege of Being Sent of God

Voice of a Prophet 

By A.W. Tozer

The Privilege of Being Sent of God


There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

JOHN 1:6-7


The greatness of the man John did not lie in him but in his office and his privilege.


Abraham saw our Lord’s day and was glad. But John the Baptist lived in that day, and that made him greater than Abraham.


David played his harp and sang of the Coming One who would be wounded and pierced but would rise again and sing among his brethren. But John the Baptist was there; he saw Him and felt Him.


Isaiah sang of One who would come born of a virgin and grow up as a root out of a dry ground. But John the Baptist touched the One Isaiah prophesied and baptized Him. His privilege was greater.


Malachi said He should suddenly come to His temple and sit as upon a fire. But John the Baptist actually walked in that Temple, and though that particular passage probably refers to the second coming of Christ, yet that same purifier of silver was there at His first coming, and John the Baptist was present and saw this. John saw Him and touched Him and heard Him and actually baptized Him and gave Him His start.


The privilege of John was greater than that of any of the rest.


It might have been said of John the Baptist that he was the greatest, but John did not say that. It might have been said that he was the strongest; I do not know whether he was. It might have been said that he was the wisest or the most gifted or the most eloquent, but Scripture did not say that. 

It said that John the Baptist was sent, and that was John’s unspeakably high honor.


It was a higher honor for John than anything else to say that he was sent of God. The coming of this man sent of God was an inestimable blessing, and an unspeakable treasure to the world.


~~~~~~~

Verily I say unto you, 

Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: 

notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Matthew 11:11 KJV


We, who are born of the Spirit, even the least, is greater than John the Baptist.


Why? 

Being born of the Spirit, the Father has made us into a new creation, given us a new spirit that is holy, righteous, incorruptible, eternal - a new nature apart from the adamic old fallen spirit that is in John the Baptist.


Our carnal and unrenewed soul has been given the utmost privilege of the direct divine guidances and teachings of God through the Holy Spirit who dwells within us every moment of our lives unlike John who has not such a privilege.

 

Our carnal body has also been made holy and righteous in Christ that is fit even for Him to abide in us as His temple.


How much more privileged then, even for the least of us, are we sent as messengers for His message of His Kingdom into the world! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Real-life Deliverance Account

My sister and I had just done a deliverance on my mum yesterday (Tue, 28 Nov 2023).  It started when she kept vomitting and feeling very giddy and we laid hands upon her as usual according to the Word for divine healing.  However, it merely gave some relief to her, unlike other times as after a while, the extreme nauseousness and giddiness attacked her again. Then right around this point the demon took over her mind (soul) somewhat partially. The symptoms was that she looked dazed and kept repeating over and over again a number of questions like "Why am I sitting here" etc.  At this point when we talked to her, she did not remember anything that she did for the whole day (current time around 4pm+). It is very much like how a person with dementia would behaved and conversed.  To keep the long story short,  we took 2-3 hrs of casting out the demons in her and she is well now. Fast forward, It appeared that the demons came from H***i B***r (American Missionary) who came to our s
Read more

Absolute Surrender: Peter's Repentance

Image
Absolute Surrender By Andrew Murray Peter's Repentance You may be a very earnest, godly, devoted believer, in whom the power of the flesh is yet very strong. That is a very solemn truth.  Peter, before he denied Christ, had cast out devils and had healed the sick; and yet the flesh had power, and the flesh had room in him.  Oh, beloved, we have to realize that it is just because there is so much of that self-life in us that the power of God cannot work in us as mightily as God is willing that it should work.  Do you realize that the great God is longing to double His blessing, to give tenfold blessing through us?  But there is something hindering Him, and that something is a proof of nothing but the self-life.  We talk about the pride of Peter, and the impetuosity of Peter, and the self-confidence of Peter. It all rooted in that one word, self.  Christ had said, “Deny self,” and Peter had never understood, and never obeyed; and every failing came out of that. What a solemn thought,
Read more

A word of Knowledge: Stop depicting the Holy Spirit as a dove

Image
A word of Knowledge Stop depicting the Holy Spirit as a dove Luke 3:22 KJV And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. Many people, if not everyone, have misunderstood this verse. They pictured the Holy Spirit coming in the shape of a dove coming down upon Jesus. No, this is not what God is telling us at all.  What purpose does it serve to tell us the Holy Spirit looks like a dove where He obviously does not look like that?  God is not the author of foolishness and  confusion.  We are made in God's image, therefore, God the Holy Spirit's bodily shape is one that resembles that of a man, just as God the Son and God the Father. Now, let us read the verse again slowly: "And the Holy Ghost descended in a BODILY SHAPE like a dove upon him" ...in what bodily shape? It is of course in the shape of a man! And the Holy Ghost DESCENDED in a bodily shape LIKE A
Read more