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The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
During February we are going to work our way through the gospel of John our theme is Responding to the Living Word.
Today we are talking about Playing Second Fiddle.
Prayer
Grant unto us, Lord, a servant heart.
The world honours powerful men and women, winners, achievers, those who make it to the top.
Teach us Father, that all Your children are important to You.
There is not one greater in the kingdom than those who would give their lives in service to You.
It is not weakness we bring to you, but strength, harness and obedient, to do Your will.
Accept our offerings as tokens of our love to be used for Your work in this world.
Through Jesus Christ we seek to serve.
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
Text
John 1:26-27 NKJV
26 John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.
27 It is He who, coming after me, [a]is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”
Scripture Reading
John 1:6-8 NKJV
John’s Witness: The True Light
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
John 1:19-28 NKJV
A Voice in the Wilderness
19 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
And he answered, “No.”
22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”
23 He said: “I am
‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Make straight the way of the Lord,” ’
as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24 Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.
25 And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26 John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.
27 It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”
28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Introduction
Most people do not like playing second fiddle, they don’t like to be second.
Most vice presidents dream of being president.
Most football players wait for their chance eagerly to be in the starting team.
The term second fiddle comes from the practice of having the best player of each instrument in an orchestra sit in the first chair position while the second best player plays the second part.
Some people delight in being the backup person, the substitute, the aide who makes the leader effective in their work.
But most people have a hard time playing second fiddle to someone else!
Even more difficult is being second after being first!
John the Baptist knew about this, he had been the one the crowds came to hear.
He was the best preacher for God in the whole country.
And then came Jesus.
I wonder how John felt about stepping aside and pointing his disciples to Jesus.
No wonder Jesus could say, in Luke 7:28, For I say to you, among those born of women there is [a]not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”
What do you think was John’s secret?
- To play second well, you must know yourself.
John’s questioners asked him if he was the Christ, Elijah, or the prophet.
“No,” he replied.
“Then who are you? We want an answer,” they demanded.
Is it ever easy to know how to answer that question?
Socrates suggested that the key to wisdom is to know thyself.
John’s reply is our first clue as to how he was able to play well from the second position.
John 1:23, “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Make straight the way of the Lord,” ’
Does that answer intrigue you?
John with all his skills as a communicator, a large following, his amazing sense of the righteous call of God, said simply, I am a voice, not a man, not a preacher, just a voice.
John lived a strong and independent life.
He lived in the wilderness, robbed the bees of their honey, and ate locusts.
He preached in a fury, calling all Isreal to repentance.
Even a powerful government official like Philip, Herod’s brother, could not frighten him into silence.
Matthew 14:3-5, For Herod had laid hold of John and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. Because John had said to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” And although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.
Great crowds gathered to hear John preach, and he baptised many people, but when Jesus came into his life, he knew that he had found his purpose for living, he was a voice preparing the way for the Lamb of God.
For John there was no greater truth for his life.
He knew why he was alive, who he was.
2. To play second well, you must be willing to lose yourself.
John could say he was unworthy to untie the strap of Jesus’ candle.
He would say later about Jesus in John 3:30, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
John was willing to lose himself in Jesus Christ.
Jesus would say that this is the only way to greatness in John 12:24-26.
John understood that serving Jesus was the way to receive honour from the Father.
Therefore he was willing to lose himself that he might find himself, he was willing to give himself away in order for Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, to be boldly lifted up.
In losing his life, John found it.
Every Christian knows about John the Baptist but only because he gave up his place that Jesus might be known.
If Jesus had not been the Christ, then who would know John?
Because he was willing to play second to Jesus, the Christ, john’s name is known and honoured.
Consider hat Jesus our Lord had to say about John’s life.
Luke 7:24-28 NKJV
24 When the messengers of John had departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?
25 But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings’ courts.
26 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.
27 This is he of whom it is written:
‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,
Who will prepare Your way before You.’
28 For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”
Would it be worth everything, including the loss of your life, for Jesus to commend your life in this way when you stand at the final day before God Himself?
Before you despair of ever being worthy of such a word, not carefully the closing of Luke 7:28, but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”
Jesus’ ministry revolved around this theme of servanthood.
Nothing goes more against the grain in our society than this call to be a servant.
People struggle with each other to find the key to the next position, the invitation to the next honour.
Too many of us are willing to put our foot on someone else’s neck if to will get us ahead.
But Jesus said that His people must not engage in this kind of behaviour.
You will find your joy in service, or you will miss the joy completely.
You may be admitting to yourself, “I find myself resisting the idea of losing myself, of playing second.
I don’t know if I can do this or not.
Sometimes it is hard to do God’s will, but you’re also suggesting there will be times I have to play second to another person who is human and frail like me.
I could play second to Jesus, but I don’t want to be second to any person.”
3. You can find the grace to play second if you are willing to look for God’s plan in it.
You must be willing to see God at work in your life.
There are evangelist that have been trying to pastor churches and struggled.
But when God moves in their lives and they start doing what they are called to do, they are launched into the fullness that God has for them.
This isn’t a remarkable story.
What is remarkable is that I hear this from Christians again and again as they look back on a difficult period in their lives.
They find that “they who trust Him wholly, find Him wholly true.”
When you understand God’s plan, you can accept the role you have, whether it is first violin or second, third, or even last.
You find that you are able to be responsible to God in the place He has put you and that you can be effective in doing the task appropriate to that opportunity.
Conclusion.
None is great or small in the service of our Lord, for He is concerned only about our faithfulness to the work He gives us.
If you want to be great in God’s kingdom, you must be a servant.
By god’s grace and power of the Holy Spirit, we can play second fiddle and harmonise with the whole orchestra.
Then all the world can know that Jesu is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Until next time
Stay in the Blessings
I really want to encourage you to be diligent with your Bible study time, because God has so much more for us than we can get from just going to church once or twice a week and hearing someone else talk about the Word.
When you spend time with God, your life will change in amazing ways, because God is a Redeemer.
Theres nothing thats too hard for Him, and He can make you whole, spirit, soul and body!
You’re important to God, and you’re important to us at www.refinerylife.org
When it comes to prayer, we believe that God wants to meet your needs and reveal His promises to you.
So whatever you’re concerned about and need prayer for we want to be here for you! Or even if you just want to say Hi, you can contact us
2022 IS A YEAR OF REPENTANCE AND BLESSINGS
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