WEDNESDAY, MAY 13
Scripture: Matthew 3:4-10

Matthew 3:4-9 says of John the Baptist, “Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ‘Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father.” For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.’” John was a very unusual individual. He was clothed in camel’s hair. His food was unique. He went out to preach and multitudes came to hear him. The question is, was his preaching anything like most of what we hear in church today? John the Baptist was making the way of the Lord straight. Is the preaching we hear in church today making the way of the Lord straight? Listen to what John the Baptist preached in these verses. Do we hear any preaching of the wrath to come? We mostly hear today that there will be no wrath and no judgment. It all fell on Jesus and His blood bridged that gap. John the Baptist was making the way of the Lord straight, and he was telling people that the Messiah was going to judge and His wrath was coming. Verse 10 says, “And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” That is judgment! Every tree, not just some. Every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. That is John the Baptist making the way of the Lord straight. That is the kind of preaching that makes the way of the Lord straight. Anything less does not prepare the way of the Lord, but people keep their crooked paths. Is the preaching in our churches making straight or crooked paths? Compare our pulpits with the example of John the Baptist.