A Just and Holy Man

The great object in living the Christian life is to be faithful. To be a Christian does not always mean that you will be safe in this life. It does not mean that you might not die a violent death. We see here that John the Baptist’s head ended up on silver platter because of the sins of Herod and Herodias. And not one of us, I am sure, would choose that fate. Does this mean that John should have been quiet about the sins of Herod and Herodias? If he had been quiet, he might never have met that end, we think. But let us consider this truth; it was because he was faithful to the calling which God had given him, that he was put to death by King Herod. In order that we might be faithful like John, there are 4 things which we should take notice of from this text. The 1st is that, in order to be faithful, you cannot have a guilty conscience. The second is; that in order to be faithful you must learn to speak up about sin. The third is; that in order to be faithful you must learn to swear righteously. And the fourth is; that in order to be faithful you must learn to honor the righteous dead.