Sep6
Matthew 3:4……….Ready
John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt round his waist. His food was locusts (i.e. Grasshoppers) and wild honey.
Continued From Book
“Shows how John the Baptists fulfilled Elijah’s role of a true prophet.” Will you take to heart John’s call to repent? (2 Kings 1:8)
“Teaches how our lives and priorities are to be different from the world around us. ⇔ John’s attire was appropriate to his call of reformation against the wickedness that was prevalent. Will you take a stand against the excessiveness of worldly pleasures. That there are more important things in life then clothes, cars, I-phones, and hot fudge sundaes? (cf. Philp. 3:8)
“Teaches how those who’s preaching and message matches their lifestyle can be trusted.” ⇔ What has someone’s lifestyle said to you about Jesus or cause you to think of”? God has put people in your life to prepared you for Jesus. They prayed for you. They answered your questions. They loved you. They talked to you about Jesus. They forgave you. They were patient with you. They did what they could do to reach you. Have these things convinced you, that maybe everything they said about Jesus is true.
Even today, will you take to heart those who are calling you to repent and come to Christ no matter how weird or crazy they sound.
Even Jesus said “Among those born of women, there is no one greater than John the Baptist”. If Christ said this about John. Then you can bet John had something pretty important to say and we should listen to him.
Additional Notes & Applications
Teaches how our message and preaching must match our lifestyle. God’s messengers are to be examples of God’s message. John was such an effective witness that he embodied his message! He was all in. So too us as followers of Jesus what does your lifestyle say about Jesus or cause people to think of? What does your lifestyle say about God and our commitment to Him? If we want to influence people, it can’t be just through our words; it’s got to be through how we live in our daily lives. How we live has to match what we teach. Know that it’s not just about how you talk or how you dress, but about the message your sending out!
Teaches how God wants people who are obsessed and passionate about Him, not passionate about their looks, popularity, or what other people may think of them. John was more concerned with what God thought then what people thought. John stood by his convictions and commitment to the truth regardless of peoples opinions. John was willing to be counted odd, strange, and different than to cave into peoples expectations. Are you looking for validation and approval from others or from God?) (cf. 1-Corn. 1:10-31, 2:1-5, 2-Corn. 4:5-6, Gal. 1:6-10)
Displays how John practiced what we preached. It’s no use preaching about the love, charity, and compassion of God, if we are self-absorbed with money and wealth, never giving to others. (What does your lifestyle say about your faith? Do you hoard or share what you have with others, especially those who are poor and in need? Or do you keep it all for your self?)
Displays how John was willing to give up the comforts of life in order to serve the Lord. John didn’t allow his own desires, or “stuff,” or even people to interfere with what he was called to do. John’s dress and lifestyle were a protest against the godlessness and self-serving materialism of his day. It amounted to a call to separate oneself from the sinful culture, repent, and live a life focused on God. How many of us are unwilling to let a few amenities go to be a little more devoted to the Lord.
Displays how John was willing to suffer for the cause he believed in. Although John being part of the elite priesthood, could have remained secure in a privileged lifestyle, yet he separated himself from any visible security and clung ferociously to God! (Are you willing to leave your comfort zone in all that is safe and secure, to doing all that God has called you too. Or would you rather stay where you are and not endure the trouble and inconvenience?)
Teaches if we want to influence people, it can’t be just through our words; it’s got to be through how we live in our daily lives. How we live has to match what we teach. (Know that it’s not just about how you talk or how you dress, but about the message your sending out!)
Calls for being content with whatever God supplies, that what we eat or wear is of little concern. Rather than complain; “I’m tired of driving old jalopies. I’m tired of living in substandard housing. I’m tired of wearing hand-me-downs. I’m tired of living on beans & burritos.” Will you stay content in whatever life circumstance God has placed you in? (John resided in the desert. What kinds of circumstances has God placed you in as a training ground for your preparation?) (cf. Philp. 4:12)
Displays how John the Baptist simply used what was available and what God had given him. He wasn’t rich, he wasn’t flashy, he wasn’t well off, he wasn’t focused on gimmicks and tricks, he simply used what God had given him. That even simple things can be used by God in powerful ways. (Note: If God cant help us grow where we are without money and gimmicks, then what kind of God are we serving?)
Teaches how we need more men like John the Baptist who will stand against culture and tradition which claims wealth and prosperity is the key to effective ministry. That you need to in-cooperate popular and trendy methods of money, wealth, and financial blessings in order to attract more people to Church. Rather than be ministerially successful in the world’s eyes or in religion’s eyes, will you chose to be labeled a radical, a heretic, a lunatic, or even a cult leader.? (cf. Acts 3:6)
Teaches an important lesson, no matter how secluded, destitute, or meager John the Baptists life was he remained faithful and committed to God’s calling. Will you live into your calling and ministry no matter the costs, hardships, or sacrifices?
Teaches how in God’s economy not only being different accepted, but being different is okay. Different can be used by God, and used mightily by Him. That God doesn’t require us all to be cut from the same cloth to be of service to Him. (Know that some of us don’t fit into the box labeled “Minister” or “Evangelist”. Some of us don’t fit the perceived role that a man or woman of God is supposed to have. Some of us are bold or eccentric, shy or withdrawn, introverts or extroverts. Nevertheless God can use our strangeness for His purpose and glory.) (cf. Rom. 9:20-21, 1-Cor. 1:26-30, )
Warns against judging a person on first impressions. God doesn’t always choose the people we would choose. Will you accept those that God calls regardless of their qualification, education, or appearance? That it’s about the power of the message not the the messenger! (cf. 1-Corn. 2:5, Heb. 4:12)
Note: God often speaks to us through poor and uneducated people who are very different than we are. All four Gospel emphasize John was an ascetic living in the wilderness. John was not a city boy with city clothing or a collage degree, but an ascetic living out in a deserted wilderness, eating locusts and wild honey and wearing camel hair and a leather girdle. Often, the voice of God comes from a situation very different than our own. Maybe the Voice of God will come from a shantytown slum outside of Nairobi (Sister Mary) or from a barrio near an open sewer in Puerto Prince, Haiti, or from underneath a street viaduct in downtown Seattle (Willy Sam) or from a homeless man who stays overnight at the church shelter (Rev. Willy Lyle).
Note: John the Baptists clothing & diet marked him as a true prophet. The camel’s hair and leather belt John wore would have reminded people of the prophet Elijah, who was also described as wearing “a garment of hair and a leather belt around his waist.” (2-Kings 1:8) . John’s garment of camel hair would’ve visualized the message that he was preaching – that people needed to stop conforming to the culture around them. John’s food displayed how he was a man who had rejected the luxuries of life and completely depended on the things of God. Lets think a little about John’s attire for a minute…..
First: The clothing made of camel’s hair. In the Old Testament, a similar description is given of the prophet Elijah: “He was dressed in clothing made of hair,-(2 Kings 1:8). The description is of a garment like a robe woven of camel hair (not just cut from camel hide). This would be a coarse, rough, worse-than-burlap sack. Whether John wore anything else at all is not mentioned, but such a robe would have been unbearable without something else next to the skin.
Second: The leather belt. Men of the time often wore a belt or girdle around the waist in keeping the outer robe in place and more closely about them, so as to leave them more free room for journeying or for labour.
Third: Locusts. This could mean any of the locusts’ family; crickets. grasshop[pers. etc. The Law of Moses allowed locusts as food-(Lev. 11:22). John probably ate locusts as part of his diet due to the conditions in living out in the desert. Poor people ate them in large numbers, pulling off the legs and wings and (usually) roasting them. The resulting ‘jerky’ would last, dried, for a very long time.
Fourth: Wild honey. Honey was simply made by wild bees either in the trees or in the hollows of the rocks. Honey is one of God’s most remarkable creations, for it never spoils and its sweetness lasts.
Note: This is not saying we have to leave home and live in the wilderness or wear camel skins and eat bugs. We can still reside in big cites like New York and Los Angeles and still live for God. (Location is not the same thing as message.) But if we are going to attract the seekers of our generation, as John attracted his, they will need to see a different type of person in us. That we’re living authentic lives. That we’re separating ourselves from the practices and habits of the culture around us. (cf. Philp. 2:14-15, 1-John 2:15-17) Nor does God expect us to stand on the street corner yelling “Repent! Repent! for the End is Near”. But God does intend us to be faithful in whatever role He has given us in life, even if it means giving up a comfortable and secure lifestyle, or something we value.
(For more Applications get the whole Book) 
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