Welcome to the official podcast of Rock Hill Baptist Church 2
where we are focused on glorifying God, spreading the
gospel, and making disciples of Jesus Christ right here in the
heart of Greenville, SC. Each week we bring you a life
changing word from our Senior Pastor, Pastor Matthew D Long
Junior, or one of our anointed guest speakers.
We pray this message strengthens your faith, deepens your
understanding, and empowers you to elevate in every area of your
life. Let's join the service already
in progress. We've come to give glory to his
name, the Luke chapter 1, Luke chapter 1, praise the Lord.
Luke chapter one. I'm actually going to call your
attention to something I don't normally do.
We're going to be in two books. Hallelujah.
Luke chapter one. Start at verse 60 and then hold
your finger and jump over to John chapter 1.
They gonna see.
We gonna see what the Lord does. Luke chapter 1, starting at
verse 60. I'm gonna give you some time.
I know and then tricked you with this 122 books today.
Luke chapter one, verse 16, Luke chapter 1, then John
chapter 1. Hey Mama, Luke chapter 1, then
John chapter 1. I'll give you some time.
Yes, thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah.
Glory to God. Thank you, Lord Jesus.
Nobody like you, Jesus, you're amazing, Lord Father, you're
magnificent. Glory to God.
Luke chapter 1 starting at verse #60 says and his mother answered
and said, glory to God. Not so, but he shall be called
John. And they said unto her, There is
none of thy kindred that is called by this name.
And they made signs to his father how he would have, how he
would have him called, 63. And he asked for a writing
table, and wrote, saying, His name is John.
And they marvelled all, 64. And his mouth was opened
immediately, hereby say immediately.
And his tongue loosed, and he spake and praise God. 65 And
fear came on all that dwelt round about them.
And all these sayings were noise abroad throughout all the Hill
Country of Judea. Now let's flip over to John
chapter one verse #19 John chapter one verse #19 And if
you're driving, you probably going to find that it ain't too
far away. We just going to go one book on
over John chapter one verse #19 says And this is the record of
John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to
ask him, Who art thou? Verse 20 And he confessed, and
denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ. 21 And they
asked them, What then art thou Elias?
And he answered, and said, I am not.
Art thou that prophet? And he answered No 22 Then said
they unto him. Who art thou?
That we may give an answer to them that sent us.
What sayest thou thyself? 23 He said, I am the voice of
one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the
Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah, the word of God for the
people of God. Thanks be unto God as you take
your seed. Help me out.
Turn to your neighbor and say, Hey neighbor, are you OK?
Turn to another neighbor and say, Hey, neighbor, are you OK?
All right, All right. My dear brothers and sisters,
I'm going to preach from the thought this afternoon.
Break the line. Lord, I don't know what happened
to you. I thought you were still with
me. You was doing all that talking.
One more time, I'm going to preach from the thought.
Break the line. Break the line.
My dear brothers and sisters, when I was growing up, there was
this one kid in the neighborhood.
I'll call him Blake. Everybody like Blake, but he was
the kind of kid who didn't always follow the rules.
Now, now, if you grew up like me, there was nothing more
exciting at school than pizza day in the cafeteria.
Everybody knew the smell before you even made it through the
double doors. That cheesy greasy rectangle of
goodness with pepperoni or sausage.
And, and I don't, I don't know about you, but, but, but we had
sometimes that little square of chocolate cake on the side.
Or if you went to Dutch Fork in Irmo, SC, we had the uncooked,
the undercooked cookies and a little red and white paper
boats. Well, one particular Friday the
line was long. All my friends were way ahead of
me and I could see the lunch lady scooping out the last of
the good pieces of pizza. I started to panic and then I
saw a gap in the line. Nobody was paying attention.
So guess, guess who would slid right in between those two kids.
No, it wasn't Blake. It was me.
I got away.
I got away that day. But but but another Friday, this
same thing had occurred that nobody had said a word, but
somehow, somehow Blake this time found the gap and cut the line.
It was until one of the kids he had cut in line, cut in front of
realized begin to shout with a high pitched voice.
Hey, he skipped me. Suddenly the teacher on duty
spotted Blake and called them out.
Blake, go to the back of the line.
So, so my dear brothers and sisters, everybody really, they
really did, they saw this Deacon Davis, Deacon Glenn.
Some even laughed, and then and and Mother Gordina.
A few of them shook their heads as Blake made his way all the
way to the back of the line. That that day, that day, that
day that it happened to Blake stuck with me.
Because despite my little faith in getting the pizza I wanted,
it taught me something. You ready?
It taught me that breaking the line gets you notice, and
sometimes it'll get you in trouble.
But sometimes breaking the line is the only way to get to what's
waiting for you. Well, I am not advocating for
any kids to break the line at lunch tomorrow.
I am expressing that's where we find ourselves in between the
black and white pages of the book before you or the
electronic device from what you are reading from.
And Luke chapter 1, verses 60 to 65.
And your Bible introduces us to Elizabeth and Zechariah, two
individuals who are breaking the line, not a lunch line, but a
line of tradition. Everybody say tradition,
tradition. Everybody expected them to name
the baby after the pappy because that's how it has always been
done. But God, God, God has given them
a different word. God gave the word that the name
should be John. I know it's kind of early in my
preaching. I put a lot of time on the
clock, but sometimes you got to break the line to birth the
promise because if you don't, you're just up a disaster called
a tradition and forfeit the destiny God had with your name
on it. It's from this moment in
scripture we find 3 movements worth exploring together.
You ready? The very first movement in this
text worth exploring is that you have to deny the default to
declare destiny. I must say it again.
I know you're writing notes. I said you have to deny the
default to declare destiny. I'm gonna write it a third time.
I still see you writing You have to deny the default to declare
destiny. Check this out.
Luke chapter one verse #60 says And his mother answered and
said, Not so, but he shall be called John.
Verse 61 And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred
that is called by this name. Verse 62 or Luke chapter 1 says,
And they made signs to his father how he would have had him
to be called. And he asked for a writing table
and wrote, saying His name is John.
And they all marveled. The very first thing is you got
to defy the demand. You have to find the demand.
Elizabeth opens her mouth and says no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no matter fact You got the King James.
It says not so she's not being polite.
She's rejecting the family and cultural pressure to keep
tradition alive at the expense of God's Word.
Hear me, my dear brothers and sisters.
Elizabeth is between 40 and 60 years old, and she had been
barren for decades. She had been called by her
condition. She had been labeled by her
liability. She had been known by her
inability. And in this moment, she refuses
to let the voices around her overpower the voice of God
within her. She refused.
She refused to let the voices
around her overpower the voice of God within her.
Even though the voices, the voices might have sounded
churchy, it didn't line up with God's order.
Even though sometimes the voices sounded spooky but had no
substance. She didn't allow her to
overpower her, even though the voices had sound that sounded
like the past but had no resemblance to the future.
She didn't allow it. She didn't allow it.
She didn't allow it to overpower the voice of God within her.
And minding brothers and sisters, when Elizabeth refuses
to follow the voice of tradition Sister Walker, the conversation
shifts from the mother to the father.
Ain't that interesting, huh? Look at this minding brothers
and sisters, I think I better get ahead and state the obvious.
You got to declare. I'm the definite.
You got to declare. You got to declare Zechariah,
who hasn't been able to speak since Luke chapter one, verse
20. Ben Gabriel, the Angel told him
he'll be silent until the promise came to pass.
He motions for a writing table and and he begins to write, but
he does not write his name. Ruby, you got your Bible open,
right? He does not write we're thinking
about, but he writes his name is John.
I'm going to tell you the truth. I struggled with this title
because I almost preached my name as John.
Because here, here he tells us in present sense, in a subtle
fact, that the name of the boy is John.
Ain't no questions about it. And it's in this moment
Zechariah's confession matched God's command.
But that's good to me. Verse 64 says his mouth was
open, his tongue loosed and he began to praise God.
Heaven didn't wait on a particular calendar date.
It waited on Zacharias confession.
Can I tell you something? Thank you for talking to me,
Deke. When your lips lined up with the
Lord's language shackles don't even stand a chance.
I think I better say that for myself.
I, I, I said, I said when your lips lined up with the Lord's
language shackles don't even stand a chance, Mind your
brothers and sister. He says his name is John.
His name is John. His name is John.
The name John in Hebrews, Johann and Johann.
And which means the Lord is gracious.
The Lord is gracious. Psalms 145 and eight says the
Lord is he's gracious, the Lord is John and full of compassion,
slow to anger and of great mercy.
My dear sister Shirley, every time this name John or Johann
and shows up in the Old Testament, we find that it is
doing a moment of divine turning.
I feel like preaching. I'm sorry, jump on board.
In First Chronicles chapter 3 verse 15 during Josiah's reform,
it was a moment of turning. In First Chronicles chapter 12
and verse 12, it was a warrior warrior by the name of John who
was sent to help for a turning. Even in Ezra chapter 10 verse 6
during a covenant renewal, it was a time of turning.
OK, you don't like that? Nehemiah chapter 12, verse 22
and 23, during a national restoration became a time of
turning. Help me out.
Turn to your neighbor. Say neighbor, It's a time of
turning, a time of turning, time of turning.
And Elizabeth and Zechariah obeyed the Angel and named him
John. They weren't just picking a
name, but they were announcing. They were announcing a new, I
better say that again. They were announcing, hey, I
hear you, Lord. They were announcing a new
season of grace in Israel. If I can say it more plainly for
you and I in the room, Deacon Davis, they were announcing a
new grace for a new space. Let me give you a quick
homiletical highlight. When God shifts your season, He
sends the grace before He gives you the ground because every new
space demands a fresh supply from heaven.
And I'm and I'm and I'm. And I was a boy growing up at
1:27 Country Town Drive in Columbia, SC.
I found myself going to Crossroads Middle School.
Deacon, Deacon Glen, It's now called Crossroads Intermediate
School. I didn't take the bus at this
school. I walked Deacon House.
I walked to school and and right in front of our house next to
the Saint Andrew's Presbyterian Church on the hill at the edge
of the street were train tracks. Sister Shirley.
So every morning and evening I had to cross these train tracks.
The thing about these tracks was you couldn't see how far in
either direction because of the curves and the trees.
You never knew when the train train might come, but but I
learned real quick, if you waited until you saw the train,
you might be in trouble before you ever saw that.
You can feel the rails hum under your shoes.
Anybody know about that? You hear the little rumble
building in the ground, and then the whistle would blast through
the air and that was your sign not to panic, but to position
yourself. I'm preaching better than you
talking to me. If you only move when you see
it, you're already late. You got to respond.
Check this out when you sense it, you got to respond.
When you sense it, I better keep going.
I'm trying to give you some time back.
So we find ourselves now in the second movement of this text.
It's in John, John chapter one, verse 19 and 23, to which we
find ourselves. But it says here, who?
Who who, who are you? Who are you?
John?
Chapter one verse 19 says, and this is the record of John.
OK, I'll make sure you still with me.
When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask
him who are you? Verse 20 It says, And he
confessed, and denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ.
Verse Verse. Verse 21.
And they asked them, What then
are you Elias, Elijah? And he said, I am not.
But they said, But art thou the prophet?
And he answered, no. Verse #22 Then said they unto
him, Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent
us, What sayest thou thyself? Verse 23 and I think I'm going
to park right here. He said, I am the voice of one
crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the
Lord. I said the prophet Isaiah,
Isaiah, Isaiah. Here, the second movement of the
text is you got to declare the design before displaying the
delivery. I know that that one, that's a
little, that's a little. I, I said you got to, you got to
declare the design before displaying the delivery.
You got to display the the design by defining the duty
before John talks about what he does, he talks about what he's
not. Come here, scoot to the edge of
your seat. I don't want you to fall asleep
on me. I think we got a couple already,
he says. I'm not the main attraction, he
says. I'm the main announcement.
Come here. Isaiah chapter 40, verse three
had already declared his role centuries earlier.
And John says that's me, that's my lane.
Come here. Can I give you a quick
homological highlight? Why you refocus yourself real
quick. I'm going to let you know that
if you want God's oil, don't chase another man's assignment.
You got to stay in the lane he crafted for your calling because
grace won't cover. But God didn't Commission.
Thank you for talking to Michelle.
I I know it's good baby let you know that that that you've got
to demonstrate the divine design and God's Kingdom.
The announcement always comes before the arrival come here
because I think I better prove it to you.
You got your Bible Genesis chapter one verse 3.
The Bible says and God said he said before there was have a
light. Deacon Glenn OK, how about
Ezekiel 37 and seven. There was a noise before the
bones had ever came together. I ain't gonna make you flip too
much, but remember this. On John 11 and 43, he calls out
Braylon Lazarus. Come forth before He ever comes
out. OK, Luke chapter one verse 13,
John's name was given before conception.
And then John chapter 1. John chapter one, verse 26.
Among you stands one who do not know before Jesus was ever
revealed. That was Luke 1 and 13.
John's name was given because God declares the design before
He displays the delivery. I'm gonna say it one more time
to get into your spirit. I said God declares the design
before he displays the delivery. I feel the need to give it to
you a third time, Sister Sherry. I said God declares the design
before he displays the delivery. Doctor Travis Jennings says your
voice is the echo of your soul, the divine method, message and
melody that connects you to others.
I'm about to get out of here. John's voice wasn't just noise,
it was Heaven's method, message and melody.
Before God showed the vessel Jesus, who we see later on in
his public ministry, he sent the voice.
He sent the voice to get people in position, many brothers and
sisters. The voice comes before the
vessel because God uses sound to shape what he's about to feel.
That's why that's why I'm so incensed about your voice.
That's why I'm so crazed about how how much you don't use your
sound when becoming God's house, because the voice always comes
before the vessel. And God's just trying to use
your voice, my voice, to shape this space so that he can feel
it, so he can feel it. I better move on out of here.
I think I'm able to put some more time on the clock for you.
Is that all right for you? It's here we find ourselves in
the third movement of the text. The third movement of the text
is that you have to deliver with the time and direction.
You have to deliver with determined direction.
Let's let's read it again, a John chapter 1, but let's go to
verse #23. He says, I am the voice of one
crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the
Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah.
I want to let you know that you got to declare boldly.
You got to declare boldly. Check this out because it's your
reason. Doctor Travis Jennings in his
book says every voice has a reason, the why for the what.
And before John ever lifted his voice, God had already written
his why into the scroll of eternity.
Sit up one more time before I get into my hoop.
I said. Before John ever lifted his
voice, God had already written his why into the scroll of
eternity. John's reason wasn't self
promotion, it was Kingdom preparation.
That's good. So Isaiah 40 and three had
already set John's purpose and stone centuries before he was
born. Come here because I don't think
you trust me. So I better read the scripture.
It says prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the
desert highway for I'm God. That meant his assignment was
not to entertain nor to impress, not to make people like him.
But it was clear that his purpose was to clear the pathway
for the king. And notice where God put him at.
He didn't put him in a palace, nor did he put him in the
temple. But Ben, Ben, Ben.
God had put him in a wilderness. The wilderness is a wild place.
That brings one back to the original design.
Yeah. And I'm so glad that the
wilderness may not have much of an audience, but it didn't
muffle his authority. I think I better get on out of
here now. See, some of us think that our
platform determines our power, but God shows us it's our
purpose that determines the power.
Because you can't measure boldness by the size of the
crowd, but you got to measure by the size of your obedience.
Come here, Jeremiah, I feel like preaching now.
And Jeremiah chapter one, verse 7, it's God who tells the man of
God. Say not I am only a child, for
thou shall go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever
I can. Mandy, Yeah, thou shalt speak.
Because boldness is not arrogance.
Boldness is confidence in the cover.
I better say it because I got lost in my mouth.
I said boldness is not arrogance.
Boldness is confidence in the caller.
And I just came on this second Sunday to remind the Saints of
God. Don't forget who called you.
Hang on, you may feel like life has a strong wave of pulling and
sucking out of you, but I just came here now to remind you,
Don't forget the one who created you before there ever was time.
Don't forget the one who had already envisioned you and had
you on his mind. Don't, don't, don't, don't.
Don't forget the one who has called you for such a time as
this, because now. Now, now is our time.
I'm reminded in the book of Acts chapter 4 and 13.
I mean, the rulers were astonished at Peter and John's
boldness because they realized they had been with Jesus.
Boldness isn't just being loud, but it's being clear when the
world is confused. I like the writings of Howard
Thurman, the great theologian who said and there is something
in every one of us that waits and listens for the sound of the
genuine, he and ourselves, and that's the only true guide that
we ever will have. John had found the sound of the
genuine one in him, and that genuine sound was the voice of
God. He.
Yes, Sir, I'm sorry. He didn't live to the echo of
the culture. He lived to amplify the Kingdom.
And when you know your why, you won't get distracted chasing the
what's because the what's I have nothing to do with your calling.
When you know your reason, you won't need everybody's
recognition. Because you know why you keep
working when nobody's watching. I've got to get out of here for
real. I'm starting to eat up my time.
But I want to let you know that you got to deliver faithfully,
faithfully, the rhythm of your voice.
Because every voice has a rhythm.
Not the beat of the crowd's applause, but the cadence of the
caller's command. Young voice, he is not a random.
It's deliberate. It's a divine timing wrapped in
human breath. It's the rhythm of your voice
that must match the rhythm of God's heartbeat.
So John didn't let the culture dictate his tempo.
He didn't let criticism throw from off beat, too.
He wasn't dancing to the drum of the Sanhedrin.
Neither was he swaying to those of the synagogue.
But his rhythm, Deacon Glenn, was repentance.
His rhythm Deacon Hauser, was readiness.
His rhythm, Mother Gordine was righteousness and never retire.
We find John. Yeah, we find him in heaven.
Score. Delivering faithfully means you
don't skip measures. You don't improvise, Yes, God,
because the crowd looks bored. You don't water down the message
to make it palatable for people who don't even want to change.
But faithfulness is holding the note heaven gave you and to the
one who wrote the song says release it.
It's staying in your while the enemy tries to push you into the
wrong pitch. It's marching to the temple, the
temple of truth, when lies are trying to speed you up or slow
you down. This is why some people burn
out, because they're trying to keep up with a beat God never
gave them. They're exhausting themselves
chasing the the rhythm of relevance instead of the rhythm
of revelation. But when you're faithful to
God's rhythm, you'll find yourself refreshed even in the
wilderness. And your discount that the right
rhythm will sustain you when resources alone and results are
slow. Because faithful delivery is
about consistency. I think I better get on out of
here now. Grab your neighbor real quick.
Make sure you wake him up for me and say neighbor.
Faithful delivery is about consistency.
It's about waking up every day and tuning you're here to
heavens much alone. It's about clapping your life in
time, but God's yes and pause against up with his weight.
It's when you live like that, when your rhythm aligns with God
storms who won't throw you off. Haters.
Who won't stop your song and seasons?
Who won't silence your sound? Because the truth is, when you
keep God's rhythm, your voice, but carry Father, but He, it
would hit deeper and it'll last longer than anything the world
tries to manufacture. As I was writing this out, the
Lord gave me something else. Deacon Glenn, I don't even know
if I seen this before, but I want you to see that not only
must you make sure that you declare boldly the reason that
you deliver faithfully the rhythm, but you got to make sure
you direct intentionally the war.
Because every voice has a war. Yeah, not just one sound, but
every voice has substance. The war is the weighted word
that carries heaven's authority into the Earth's atmosphere.
John's warmth was not about echoing what the crowd wanted to
hear, but it was about declaring what Heaven had already decided.
I think I'm boring you. I better get out of here.
When the priests and Levites came asking who he was, he could
have inflated his profile and expanded his resume.
He could have exaggerated his role in this world, but instead
his war shipped away the confusion and pointed them to
Christ. His war was firm.
His war was focused. His war was freeing.
Did y'all go to sleep on me? I want to let let you know that
John's war was aimed. Every declaration had a
destination. Every word was a wave pushing
people toward the shore of salvation.
He broke the line of self importance, the line of
inherited tradition, the line of shallow expectation, because his
voice was on assignment. And here's the power.
A true war clears the way. It removes what blocks, and it
dismantles what distracts. Can I go higher now?
Now it redirects what's been misaligned.
The war doesn't compete with Jesus.
The war announces him. The war doesn't steal the
moment, but the roar sets the moment.
If you're going to break the line, you can't just be loud.
But you got to be laser focused. I've got to go for real now, but
you got to know your words have to carry weight, not for
applause, but for alignment. Lord, what happened to you?
I'm preaching harder than you. Looking for the student in the
room? You might be standing up for
somebody in your class for every professional in the room.
You might be refusing to bend the truth on the reports.
For everything you're saying in the room, you're right.
Might be telling the next generation I've.
Been through the fire and I've. Been through the flood?
But I felt even sin Breakers China conquer my.
Soul. But the Lord brought me out.
I got to get out of here now because you may not understand.
That. Your voice was never built to be
a destination. My voice is just a compass.
And. God plans a voice in the midst.
Of chaos. Support people back to Christ.
So when your. Reason fires your rhythm.
And your. Rhythm releases your roar.
The sound. You carry breaks the line.
Bypasses the noise. And the ashes saws into the
presence. I'm the Lord.
I gotta go now. But I remember one time I was at
the airport and. As I was dead.
Catching an early flight. The gate area.
Was crowded. Noise was everywhere.
People were talking, luggages was rolling, kids were crying
and. Boarding announcements were.
Coming all. Over the terminals and.
Simon Lehman Over the speaker, I heard a clear voice.
Saying Flight 237. To a Lima is not.
Boarding passengers. I didn't know the.
Person. Speaking, I couldn't even.
See them? But I knew the.
Voice wasn't talking for. Themselves, but they were.
Talking for the airline? How about to?
Go for real now. The one job.
Was to get people on the right plane.
Nobody capped for them, nobody took the picture, but every
person who heard and obeyed. Give it.
Up exactly where they were supposed to be.
And that's what John. Was not the pilot, but the
announcer, not the destination, but the direction, not the
vessel. Only the voice and when you
commit to delivering but the. Discernment Direction.
You don't. Need the spotlight?
You just need to make sure people get to Jesus.
That's all I came to say. Your voice still matters, your
assignment still has weight, and your obedience still has power
because of charm. Can.
Break the line. Of.
Tradition. If Elizabeth can break the line
of expectation, if Zach Ryan can break the line of silence, did
Shirley, Shirley, Shirley, by the power of the Holy Ghost, you
can break the line. That's.
Been holding you back. You can break the line that's
been holding you down. You can break the line that's
kept you in fear. You can break the line that's
kept you in sin. You can break the line that's
kept you in silence. And when you break the line.
You don't just move forward, but you elevate, you go high up, you
rise up, you step into a new grace for a new space.
God break back through. You break the line 'cause I am
John. Break the line because I am
John. Thank you for tuning in to the
Rock Hill Baptist Church 2 Podcast.
We pray today's message planted something in your spirit and
gave you the strength to keep growing here at the Rock Hill
Baptist Church 2. We're a growing church, and
growth starts with one step. If you're ready to go deeper,
visit us online at www.myrockhill2.org and click
Next Steps to get connected, join a ministry, or give your
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you know is ready to grow too. And remember, no matter what
comes your way, you were built to elevate.
Until next time, walk in purpose, live in power, and grow
in grace.