Keith Battle - Just Keep Going

It’s amazing what technology can do. If you have a Bible, turn to Matthew chapter 14. I have a word for somebody today. Let’s go to work. Matthew chapter 14, I’m starting by reading verse 1. In some ways, as time permits, I’ll try to walk through the chapter, or rather breeze through the entire chapter, but I want to read the first 13 verses. The New Living Translation says, «When Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, heard about Jesus, ” verse 2 says, „he said to his advisers.“ Now, this is Herod; he had just heard about Jesus. He said to his advisers, „This must be John the Baptist raised from the dead. That’s why he can do such miracles.“ Then it goes back in time in verse 3 and says, „For Herod had arrested and imprisoned John, ” speaking of John the Baptist, „as a favor to his wife Herodias, the former wife of Herod’s brother Philip. John had been telling Herod, ‘It is against God’s law for you to marry her.’“ Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of a riot because all the people believed John was a prophet. But at a birthday party—somebody say party—at a birthday party for Herod, Herodias’s daughter performed a dance that greatly pleased him, so he promised with a vow to give her anything she wanted. At her mother’s urging, the girl said, „I want the head of John the Baptist on a tray.“ Then the king regretted what he had said, but because of the vow he had made in front of his guests, he issued the necessary orders. So John was beheaded in prison, and his head was brought on a tray and given to the girl, who took it to her mother. Later, John’s disciples came for his body and buried it. They buried his headless body, and then they went and told Jesus what had happened. Verse 13 says, „As soon as Jesus heard the news, he left in a boat to a remote area to be alone.“ I want to stop right there. I want to use the subject today: just keep going, just keep going.

I’ve been around church, around ministry, around leadership for over three decades. I’ve seen a lot. I’ve seen a lot of tragedy. I’ve seen a lot of things that didn’t make sense. I’ve seen many people suffer incredible loss: sudden loss, unexplainable loss, loss of life, loss of wealth, loss of health, loss of relationships, lost opportunities. I’ve seen people lose their children, lose their parents, lose their siblings, lose their friends, and lose their spouse. I’ve seen loss at its greatest and its most painful. I sensed God was speaking to me today, and he wanted to speak to people who have suffered loss. I have a word for you: just keep going. There is something about loss that is paralyzing. It doesn’t always bring you to a complete stop forever, but it really slows you down because if you’re used to having something when you don’t have it anymore, it creates a deficit. Whatever it was and whoever it was, you begin to live with a deficit. If it’s something you’re hoping God will bring back to you, it is possible to be living on pause. But my word for you today is just keep going.

Now, let me bring you back into the passage I just read. You have to understand who John the Baptist was to Jesus. When the Bible says in verse 13 that when Jesus heard this news, he went off by himself, it’s a significant move for Jesus to go off by himself. This devastated him because this wasn’t just a colleague he lost; this was somebody he actually looked up to. This was someone like family to him; this was probably the closest person in his life because Jesus and John the Baptist had a relationship before they were born. Some people know this; let me walk you through it. This would be a much better sermon if you had a Bible or if you read it every now and then; you’d really be able to follow this. But I’ll work with you. Jesus’s mother’s name was Mary, you knew that, didn’t you? John the Baptist’s mother’s name was Elizabeth. They were pregnant at the same time. Mary went to visit Elizabeth one day while pregnant with Jesus, and Elizabeth answered her door while pregnant with John. When Jesus and John got into each other’s presence, the Bible says that John the Baptist in Elizabeth’s womb did something that babies don’t usually do. Babies often kick—how many mothers do we have in here? —but babies don’t leap. When he sensed the presence of Jesus in another woman nearby, whoo God! The Bible says that John the Baptist leaped. There is something about the presence of Jesus that will make you leap! That’s a side note right here. That’s why every now and then in church, if you’re not careful about who you’re sitting beside, you may have to look behind and around people because there are some leapers in here who, when they sense the presence of Jesus, can’t sit still. Because when they think about who Jesus is and what he did for them, they can’t be calm and cool. I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to say that.

Jesus and John knew each other before they were even born. They had established a relationship. John was slightly older than Jesus and started his ministry before Jesus. In fact, John was the forerunner of Jesus. Yeah, John was the precursor of Jesus. If I can go into entertainment terms, John was the opening act; Jesus was the headliner. John brought Jesus out.