My Dear Friend,

For years, John the Baptist lived alone in the desolate Judean wilderness in deep, close, sustained communion with God. Sometime during this period, John's profound divine communion birthed a powerful divine communication. Luke says, "The word of God came unto John" in the wilderness (Luke 3:2).

This "word" was a prophetic message for God's people, which John faithfully delivered. At God's appointed time, "he came into all the country about the Jordan, preaching" (Luke 3:3). That John's message was a word "of God" reveals it originated in God's heart, not John's. It was not a human message but a divine message. It was not natural but supernatural. It was conceived not by limited human reason but by unlimited heavenly wisdom.

Therefore, God was the source and John the channel. God was the author and John the pen. God wrote the script and John read it. God dictated the telegram and John delivered it. R. C. Sproul notes, "John's message is not his own but the very dynamic word of God himself."

Pause and consider "the very dynamic word of God." Due to its divine origin, John's message was not a static sermon composed of mere rote, line upon line, rabbinic doctrine like the Jews were accustomed to hearing in the synagogues, temple courts, and rabbinic schools. To the contrary, it was "dynamic" - alive ... active ... moving ... surging ... a powerful force causing change and progress.

Whoever received John's dynamic word soon became a dynamic person. They came alive, became active, started moving forward spiritually, and became powerful forces for godly change and progress in Israel. Their words, actions, and very presence sparked conviction, correction, and reform among the Jews. This opened the way for a national awakening, which was John's destiny: "Many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God ... in the spirit and power of Elijah" (Luke 1:16-17). Indeed the wondrous power of the Holy Spirit flowed every time John preached his Spirit-given message.

And what did he preach? What the people wanted to hear? Financial prosperity? Career advancement? Political success? Crushing Israel's oppressive Roman overlords? Restoring the greatness of Israel's kingdom and David's dynasty? Not at all!

To the contrary, John preached what the people needed to hear. His "dynamic" word from on high called the people to come low. He preached "the baptism of repentance" for the "remission of [the Jews'] sins" (Luke 3:3). Wow, what a humbling message! What a disappointment to the Jews' well-cultivated religious pride (see Luke 3:8)! John's was not a best-selling message. Not mega-church material. Not a title line for a magazine cover. In fact, it was the last thing most of God's children wanted to hear.

Yet it was God's very Word to John's generation. And quite dynamic. When John called the people to humbly repent of everything they knew was sinful in God's sight, they got the message. His words - God's own mighty voice speaking through him - penetrated all their thick, hindering heart barriers: religious pride, Pharisaic legalism, carnal reasoning, spiritual lukewarmness, hardness of heart, offense at God (for permitting their humiliating subjection to Rome), unbelief, and so forth. As a result, clear communication occurred! On a deep, meaningful level. Down to the bottom of their pierced, shaken hearts! And it didn't end there.

They obeyed God! As John's dynamic words weighed heavily on their minds, the Spirit of God fell on them, the awe of God gripped them, and their besetting sins grieved them. So much so that they immediately began changing their thought patterns, values, and goals. They saw the pitiful worthlessness of their temporary worldly aims and the priceless worth of God's eternal values and goals. Then it happened.

They decided to actually do something about the sins and faults that had hindered their faith and walk with God for so long. Following through on their holy intentions, they rose up and changed their wayward ways, guided by John's numerous practical corrections: "And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people" (Luke 3:18).

Thus, in the end, the spiritual and moral force, the pure divine energy, the raw, supernatural, gushing power of John's dynamic word created the dynamic changes God desired: sweetly renewed devotion, precisely needed life changes, unprecedented righteousness, and measurable spiritual progress among God's previously saved but spiritually stagnant people.

Within a short season, many Jews were dynamically different. The unwilling became willing and the willing became ready, a people in whom the "way of the Lord" was at long last "prepared" (Luke 3:4). Finally they were spiritually ready to receive their Messiah. All these things occurred just before Jesus' First Advent.

That said, there is an even more important issue before us: what is the dynamic, divine message for us in this critical, late hour? To answer this, I will address our messengers, then our people.

Messengers of God - pastors, teachers, prophets, counselors, and every earnest disciple of Christ willing to let God have His way - this is an urgent call. Messiah's Second Advent is coming soon. His current covenant people - not Jews but Christians - are not ready. We are not in "bride" form, not sanctified without spot, wrinkle, or blemish. We have not matured into the character image of Christ. We have been consumed by cultural attractions and forgotten Jesus' interests. With His appearing looming, we desperately need messengers like John.

To receive John's messages, however, we ministers must practice John's method. Every day we must get so close, so quiet, so set apart, as John was, that we, too, can receive "the very dynamic word of God" for this last generation of the church age. And we must be willing to preach it, as John did, in the face of stiff rejection. What will that message be?

Whatever its content, our "Baptists'" messages will remain steadily focused on us, not the liberals, wokists, or atheists. They will deal with spiritual and moral issues, not political and social causes. They will call us to repent of everything we know is wrong in God's sight, be forgiven and cleansed, and immediately begin moving forward spiritually. Many of God's people will respond, others will not.

If we respond, the dynamic divine messages we receive will dynamically change us. We will come alive, shed our hindering sins and selfishness, move forward spiritually, and become powerful forces for change in the churches, "turning" many back to the Lord in the "spirit and power of Elijah." Authentic revivals, awakenings, and renewals have always begun with God's people, not the secular public.

This is how we will prepare for Christ's Second Advent and also help many others prepare! In the end, God's dynamic divine message will create just what Jesus desires: a dynamically changed church that dynamically impacts our culture. It is time for some dynamic praying.

"Father, let these simple words take hold of us so we realize how simple the pathway to revival is - if we desire it. By your Spirit, make it dynamic! Not just another static religious article full of doctrinal references, dry platitudes, and empty religious cliches, but an active ... moving ... surging ... powerful force for Christlike change and spiritual progress. Amen!"

Seeking dynamic divine messages,

Dr. Greg Hinnant

GREG HINNANT MINISTRIES