Be like John The Baptist

Message preached by Samir Deokuliar on 7th Feb 2010

The Biblical hero for today is John the Baptist. Let’s check some scripture on the birth of John the Baptist.

Luke 1:11-17
11 An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right of the altar where the incense was burnt. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was alarmed and felt afraid. 13 But the angel said to him, “Don't be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son. You are to name him John. 14 How glad and happy you will be, and how happy many others will be when he is born! 15 He will be a great man in the Lord's sight. He must not drink any wine or strong drink. From his very birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, 16 and he will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 He will go ahead of the Lord, strong and mighty like the prophet Elijah. He will bring fathers and children together again; he will turn disobedient people back to the way of thinking of the righteous; he will get the Lord's people ready for him.

You can see that the scripture states that John the Baptist would be one who would be filled with the Holy Spirit right from the time of his birth. He was to go ahead of the Lord (Jesus) and bring His people to repentance (Baptism), so that the people would be prepared for the coming of their Messiah (Jesus), who would save them from wages of sin (death) (Romans 6:23).

John was a unique man, he did not drink wine or any strong drink, his food was honey and locust and he clothed himself in animal skin. John was a man who was focused on God’s purpose, which was getting the people ready for Jesus.

Luke 3:4-6
4 As it is written in the book of the prophet Isaiah:
“Someone is shouting in the desert:
‘Get the road ready for the Lord;
make a straight path for him to travel!
5 Every valley must be filled up,
every hill and mountain levelled off.
The winding roads must be made straight,
and the rough paths made smooth.
6 The whole human race will see God's salvation!’ ”

Coming back to John the Baptist, John was a man who pointed everyone to Jesus & thus making John a very good example for every Church.

This is what John the Baptist said about Jesus.

John 1:29-31
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “There is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘A man is coming after me, but he is greater than I am, because he existed before I was born.’ 31 I did not know who he would be, but I came baptizing with water in order to make him known to the people of Israel.”

John the Baptist was also a very forceful man. He was someone who didn’t care what people thought or said about him. Can you imagine a person who eats locust & honey and wearing animal skins bothering to think about what people think of him? He was someone totally radical for God.

Talking about radical, I must mention this. Sometime back a particular youth (Lets call him “J”) from our Church was listening about the youthful zeal of a spiritually veteran Christian. This guy (veteran) would take time out and travel in the Mumbai local trains distributing tracts. Listening to this J is spiritually stirred & he actually arranges something with fellow Christian youth. These guys wake up really early one morning, go to Churchgate railway station and get into the train with their drums and start playing their drums and singing loudly & Praising Jesus. They also distributed tracts…..Amazing ….. Praise God, Hallelujah.

This is what being radical is all about. You may get some really crazy idea to do something for Jesus, which will give you great zeal to do it and great sense after you do it. As my Pastor said, “if you want to experience something you never experienced before, then you need to do something that you’ve never done before”.

Working for Jesus is like working directly for someone who is infinitely more powerful than even the president of the United States of America. Here is what Jesus Himself say about His Church (the body of which he is the head).

Matthew 16:18 (Jesus’ words to Peter)
18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
You can see from Matthew 16:18, how radical the Church is to be. Even the gates of hell will not stop us Christian from breaking in and saving souls in the Name of Jesus. We are not called to be defensive but to be on the offense against the forces of darkness. Allow me to quote some more scripture to support my statement.

Matthew 11:12
12From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.

Luke 11:21-22
“When a strong man, with all his weapons ready, guards his own house, all his belongings are safe. 22 But when a stronger man attacks him and defeats him, he carries away all the weapons the owner was depending on and divides up what he stole.

So you see Jesus is grabbing from Satan.

Coming back, as I mentioned earlier John the Baptist was one forceful man of God. He even spoke out against the then ruler Herod, which got him into jail (Matthew 14:3-4) ) but John the Baptist was also a humble man of God. You know when John’s disciples came to him (John) saying that more people were going to Jesus than those coming to him (John), this is what John replied.

John 3:27-30
27To this John replied, "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. 28You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.' 29The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30He must become greater; I must become less.

Jesus is the best example of forcefulness with humility. In fact the Bible refers to Him as the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5) as well as the Lamb of God (John 1:36). A good example of this is, the same Jesus who chased the money changers and businessmen out of the temple of Jerusalem (John 2:13-22) because they were turning the temple into a market place, this same Jesus also accepted torture till death on the cross (Acts 2:32-35), to pay the price of the sins of men, as this was His Fathers will (Matthew 26:42).

Lastly, about John, He always exalted Jesus right through all the high times of his ministry. Check John 1:29-31; John 3:27-30; Mark 1:7-8.

I would like to close saying be humble yet forceful for Jesus.

2010 Masiha Church calender

The 2010 Church calender with images,scriptures,happenings is now available. You can collect your copy at Rs 30/- per copy or write to us for it.

JONATHAN & HIS ARMOUR-BEARER

The New year message preached by Rahul Rao on sunday 3rd Jan

1 Samuel 14:6-15

Background: The Philistines waged war against the Israelites, they were huge in size, professional warriors and numerous (3000 chariots, 6000 charioteers and innumerable soldiers) operating from a stronghold and terrorizing the Israelites. Of the 600 fighters with Saul, only Saul & Jonathan had weapons, because the Philistines took away all their blacksmiths. To top all this, Samuel had prophesied God’s rejection of Saul as king. Result was fear which led to the Israelite army reduced to about 600 men from 3000+ and those left were hiding in caves, thickets, rocks, holes & pits. These meant Philistines were the obvious favorites.

*Story: Jonathan and his AB decide to step up and take on the Philistines all by themselves. But their reliance is still on God, they move ahead with a “Perhaps Faith” (vs. 6) The AB is whole heartedly committed to Jonathan (vs. 7) The Lord gives them a sign and they take on the Philistine army & defeat them with the help of God’s mighty hand.

* Definition of an AB: An officer selected by kings & generals because of his bravery, not only to bear their armor, but also to stand by them in danger. AB’s were aides chosen by kings and high-ranking military commanders for their bravery and loyalty. As the name indicates, they bore the armour, but they were much more than that. One of the most famous AB’s of the Bible was young David who entered the service of Saul as the king's AB.

Jonathan’s Faith – (vs. 6) Jonathan displayed perhaps faith, the word perhaps (maybe), are not the type of words that success stories are built on. But God is a gracious God; he works even when there is faith as small as a mustard seed (Matt 17:20). God blessed Jonathan because of his faith; the size of faith is determined by the size of risk involved. Some of the famous men in the Bible operated on perhaps faith at certain stage in their lives - Jacob (Gen 32:20) Moses (Ex 32: 30) Caleb (Josh 14:12) David (2 Sam 16:12) Paul (Rom 1:10) God is looking for Jonathan’s who are willing to take steps of faith that involves RISK.
Armour-bearer’s (AB) Response – (Vs. 7) He encouraged Jonathan to go ahead with his plans. But it was not just a mere thumbs-up, it was a solid endorsement. He totally and wholeheartedly was willing to risk his life to fulfill Jonathan’s plans. Jesus willfully bore the cross on our behalf to fulfill the salvation plan of His Father. Jesus was the best & perfect Armour Bearer of all history. All Christians at some stage of our lives will be called to be an AB to someone. Get ready to play your role! Sometimes leaders have “Perhaps Faith” & need AB’s to support them!


2 are better than 1: God seems to love to work in 2’s. Instances of this: Moses and Aaron, Saul and Jonathan, Peter and John, Paul and Barnabas, Paul and Timothy, Paul and Silas, etc. The man who works alone does not have the promise of so much blessing as two working together. Armour-bearer's response strengthened Jonathan. “One will chase a thousand and two put ten thousand to flight” - Deut 32:30. This is a divine calculation. The Bible says, “When brothers dwell together in unity, God commands blessing and abundant life” – Psalm 133:1, 3. Christ said, ‘If two of you shall agree in my name’. The sower and the reaper go together. Jesus prayed for unity in John 17:21, 22. The seventy were sent forth in two’s. Peter in dealing with the lame man in Acts 3 said 'Look @ us.' John was as involved in the miracle as Peter was, they were united in heart & though Peter was involved in action, John definitely was not a mere spectator but probably involved in prayer and support. New Frontiers - We are ‘Together on a Mission’.


God is looking for Jonathan’s who are willing to take great risks for God by stepping out in faith, even if it’s Perhaps Faith. God is also looking for the AB’s of today who will stand alongside the Jonathan’s and partake in their fight to glorify the name of Jesus! Finally, God is looking for unity in His church where He can command His blessing, both now and forevermore!!

"Together on a Mission"

"Together on a Mission" is a Newfrontiers conference for leaders and those actively serving in their local Churches.
Thirty five people from Masiha Church will be attending this conference in Bangalore from the 2oth to the 22nd of October.

We request all to pray for

- Our thirty five delegates to be powerfully impacted at the conference
- The worship team to be annointed (Five people from masiha are part of the conference worship team )
- The preaching of Gods word to impact many
- For all the arrangements and the organising team
- For the delgates who are travelling in from eight different states
- May this truly be a huge step forward in us being "Together on a mission"

Another Elder in masiha Church

Masiha Church believes in team leadership and has been led by Samir over the years alongwith Rahul and Pinakin.
Sunday 18th October is significant for Masiha Church as Rahul Rao will be set aside as an elder.
We see in scripture how Paul would start a Church and then would appoint elders in each Church who would carry the responsibility of governing the Church.
We believe it an important spiritual activity and we are grateful to God for the coming sunday.

We ask the friends of Masiha Church to pray for us and drop in if you can to be part of our special sunday.

MASIHA RESOURCES Launched

Masiha resources - a collection of messages on DVDs was launched with great joy on Sun 30th August. The list of messages available include messages preached on the sunday celebrations as well as various conferences.

Teachings on worship, Law and Grace, gospel messages , stories of the Old testament etc are available.The are messages in English or Hindi or Bilingual.

DVDs are priced at Rs 20/- only.

Connect with us and we will be happy to see you blessed by the word of God.

David vs Goliath

( preached by Rahul in Masiha Church on the 16th of August)

1 Samuel 17 – The Background Story - War takes place between the Israelites and Philistines. Saul is king of Israelites, who were camped on 1 mountain and the Philistines were camped at another mountain at Socoh in Judah, a valley (Elah) separating them (the reason why no 1 initiated the attack)

The bible describes Goliath - < 9 feet , a warrior from young age, giant in bodily form, undefeated, well shielded (carrying a protection gear weighing 75+ kgs along with a shield bearer) he is referred to as ‘Champion’ (vs.4) literally means ‘a man between’ He was indeed a man who stood between Israelites and victory. The Israelites were scared of him, he was intimidating and the entire army including King Saul feared the giant (vs.11). He taunted and challenged the Israelites for 40 days, twice a day and no one dared to combat him (vs.16). The Proposal that Goliath suggested (vs. 9): He wanted a 1 on 1 fight to decide for both the armies – ‘Winner takes it all’

David enters the scene…sent by his father (vs.17)…3 of his 7 brothers were in the army. While greeting his brothers, Goliath appears and threatens the Israelites as usual. All the Israelites run, later discussing the reward (great wealth, Son in Law, Tax Exemption) assigned by Saul for the victor who defeats Goliath. 1st obstacle – Eliab – he rebuked David (vs.28) judging his heart. Also made him realize how menial and trivial his job was (caring for the sheep in the desert) we often face opposition or discouragement from our very own, near and dear ones (friends, family, relatives) e.g. Jesus was stopped on his journey to the cross by his close friend Peter (Matt 16:22). Jesus’ family wanted him to focus on His ‘public ministry’ (John 7:4)

We as elderly members, parents, friends and well wishers need to allow our young ones to blossom and grow in God. Avoid being over protective, as God is your shepherd so He is a good Shepherd (John 10:11) to your children too. Let them do exploits for God, encourage them to walk in their ‘walk of faith’ (the mother eagle pushes her young ones out of the nest in order to teach them to fly) Remember, we are called to soar on wings like eagles (Isaiah 40:31).

2nd Obstacle – King Saul’s under-estimation of David. King Saul under estimated David because of his age and inexperience. Do not under estimate the power of God. He used Joshua as a warrior when he was young, at a young age God called Samuel; God had a great purpose for Mary and used her for His glory while she was a teenager. Many examples in the Bible, wherein God chose people to glorify Him, irrespective of the age barrier. We need to reinforce our faith in our young ones and encourage them; ‘Experience’ will come with experience.

David’s response – God will rescue me, God who has got me this far, will see me through (Phil 1:6) He trusted not on his strength or ability but on his God. Not by our might or power, but by His Spirit (Zech 4:6) Challenges get bigger in life, but God remains the same, unchanging and faithful. David’s face off with Goliath – Goliath tries to intimidate David (vs.43, 44), but David reiterates his faith in God (vs.45-47). He mentions that the ‘battle belongs to the Lord’ David saw Goliath very differently fromthe others. He saw Goliath with the eyes of faith and the giant now began to see himself as a dog (vs.42). We need to look at challenges and adversities with the eyes of faith, then giants will fall & mountains will drown (Mark 11:23, 24).

The Big Fight - David showed it is not size but faith that matters. (2 Chron32: 7-8) He spoke faith into the situation before tackling it (vs.45-47). David had amazing confidence in God (Deut 1:30, 31). Finally, he killed Goliath with a stone & a sling. God gives us victory in the most unusual manner if we trust in Him.

David’s victory was a victory for all Israelites who received the plunder. Goliath’s challenge was met, winner took it all.

Jesus was David’s descendant and David was a fore shadow of the Messianic king. Satan has all mankind in grip of fear, whether fear of death or sickness or failure or future. We are not independent of sin, rather in bondage to sin and we cannot help 1 another (as helpless as the Israelites). Our king Saul’s (government, religion, people) cannot save us.

But God sent us his one and only son (just as David’s father sent him) Jesus Christ, the true Messiah defeated Satan by dying on the cross for all of us. Jesus’ death on the cross gives us victory though we did not fight the fight, but those who trust in Jesus are victorious. As David fought on behalf of the Israelites, Jesus fought with Satan on behalf of mankind. Jesus’ death paid the penalty for our sins and His resurrection has given us the gift of eternal life. In Jesus, we are victorious, more than conquerors (Rom 8:37), we are victorious over death and sickness and our future is secured in Him. Hence, let’s put our faith in Him.