Cry of the Spirit

The Spirit's Cry to You

I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.
John 1:23
...Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand...
Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
Matthew 3:2,5,6

John the Baptist’s raiment was camel’s hair; his girdle leather; his meat locusts and wild honey. John was without the food and clothing that he was used to at the priestly home of his earthly father.
He had only a groan, a cry: the cry of the Spirit.

No angels, shepherds, wise men, or stars heralded his immediate coming. (But the heavenly messenger Gabriel, who spoke to Daniel and to Mary, spoke also to his father, Zacharias, about his birth and call.) Yet from his obscure place in the wilderness, he moved the whole land.
God, through him, cried the cry of the Spirit — oh, that awful, piercing cry! — and all the land was moved by it.

Some are ashamed to cry. Others don’t want to because there is a loneliness in a cry. But they really aren’t alone — GOD is with a person who has only a cry.

A New Thing

God spoke to John in the wilderness, and told him of a new thing: water baptism.
And John bore record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven... and it abode upon him.
And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
And I saw, and bore record that this is the Son of God.
John 1:32-34

The water baptism John told the people of was a clean cut from the past; it was a new way. John had been with the circumcision lineage; now he was an outcast, for the new way was a breaking down of the old plan.

When they heard that cry, that awful cry of the Spirit, and the message he gave, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand! Make straight paths for your feet, without treading down others or exalting undue rights,” all were startled. They were awakened, thinking the Messiah had come. Their searching was tremendous!
“Is it he? If not, who can it be?” they wondered.

John said,
I am a voice crying, making a way for Messiah to come.
And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?
And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed,
I am not the Christ.
And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No....
... I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.
John 1:19-23

The Cry Brings Conviction

“Individual purging/purposing, must be in your life!,”
he cried out. God’s Word came forth through him:

... the rough ways shall be made smooth;
And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?...
...And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.
Luke 3:5-10,14

God was pressing life through him. God was moving the multitude and changing the situation at hand through him. The banks of the Jordan were covered, filled with people, and the conviction upon the people was tremendous. The multitude cried out and were baptized of John in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

Oh, to be alone with God! John had been alone in the wilderness, and he heard the Word of God, which had power to change those around him.

...the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he came...preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
Luke 3:2,3

Alone — oh, to be alone with God so we can get His mind and thought, His impression and revelation of the need of the people!

Alone! Alone!
Jesus bore it all alone;
He gave Himself to save His own;
He suffered, bled, ad died alone.

A Burden Births the Cry

There was nothing ordinary about John; all was extraordinary. He was unafraid to cry out God’s message of repentance to anyone regardless of his rank or position. King Herod was reproved by him because of his sinful relationship with Herodius, his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evil which Herod had done. (See Luke 3:19) Even John’s death was not ordinary. Herodius’ daughter danced before Herod, who promised her up to half of his kingdom.
She asked for John the Baptist’s head.

Yes, this holy man was alone. God had John in such a sanctified, separated way that he would express that cry, the burden for the whole land. He would cry for the sins of the people, “God is holy! We are the children of Abraham, the children of faith! Awful judgment is coming!”

Cry, cry — he could not help but do it, because of their sin. John had been filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother’s womb. He had the burden of the Spirit in him.

John was stern, but the land was still open to Jesus. Jesus walked in a way they knew; John came in a new way. John came neither eating nor drinking, he came crying. The only place he could breath and be free was in the wilderness, the atmosphere of heaven, where he turned with a message to declare the preparation needed — repentance before Jesus came — to open the place of redemption.

The Spirit’s Cry to You

The cry of the Spirit to you today is:

* Allow a working of the Spirit in you, then allow God to work through you for others. Remember John: his father and mother left behind; his heart bleeding at the altar; his soul bearing the burden, the cry, the need of people.

* Give way unto the Lord, even to the operation of the Spirit. Be a people known of God, doing exploits, and gripped by God.

* Continue in the things unto thee, and so the enemy will be put to flight. Even those around thee shall acknowledge,
“The Lord has blessed!”

(Wales, August 1925)

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