8 Observations on John the Baptist’s Preaching

While reading Matthew 3, I saw so many marks of the kind of preaching God blesses in John’s ministry.

1. He uses drama when he impersonates the Pharisees. 3:9
   “We have Abraham as our father!” We should have a lively, interesting, engaging delivery when we preach.
   
2. He anticipates objections from his audience. 3:9
   “And think not to say within yourselves… for I say unto you…” We should put ourselves in the minds and hearts of our hearers and imagine what kinds of things they are thinking and how they are objecting.
   
3. He used metaphors. 3:7, 8, 10, 12
   “Vipers, flee, fruits, axe, wheat” An uneducated man speaking to uneducated men used pictures and imagination.
   
4. He mentions the work of all three members of the Trinity. 3:9, 11, 11
   Good preaching assumes the doctrine of the Trinity and references the works of individual members naturally and commonly.
   
5. He includes eternal, conscious torment. 3:7, 12
   “The wrath to come… He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” God is marked by wrath. It is such a terror as to make us run. He will actively bring it, not the devil. The fire cannot be ended. The people marked as chaff will be its subjects.
6. He calls for repentance and its fruits. 3:2, 8, 11
   True conversion brings a changed life.
   
7. He introduces a category of false converts. 3:7
   Some of his hearers are not listening in good faith. He knows this in advance, and he publicly remarks upon it. We must keep this category of false convert in our minds when we teach.
   
8. He groups the world into two categories: wheat and chaff. 3:12
   John the Baptist had his Master’s theology who said there is light and darkness, children of God and children of Satan, sheep and goats. We should speak very clearly about these two groups.

Of such a preacher, the Alpha and Omega said, “There hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist.” I would have Him speak so to me.