And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” —

John 1:19-23 ESV

John the Baptist faithfully executed his office as a prophet of God, the voice crying in the wilderness. He was obedient to God’s call and commission through his whole life as a Nazirite and until his brutal death for his uncompromising willingness to speak the truth, even to Herod Antipas. He prepared the way of the Lord, making his paths straight. He baptised the Lord Jesus, and saw the Holy Spirit descend from a heaven torn asunder at the voice of the Father. And John rejoiced to see Christ increase, even as he himself decreased.

But despite all the great and glorious things that John the Baptist saw and did, he still didn’t fully understand the part he played in it all. See the words of Jesus concerning John:

And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.

Matthew 17:10-13 ESV

Did you notice? John testified to the priests and Levites, who asked him, ‘Are you Elijah?’ — he said ‘I am not.’ But Jesus said of John, ‘I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognise him, but did to him whatever they pleased.’

We may serve obediently in the vocation God has given us. We may faithfully execute the offices and responsibilities that God calls us into. We may see God do wonderful things in our midst, and rejoice to see Jesus glorified and made known, even as we fade gladly and rightfully into the background.

And like John the Baptist we may go to our graves never really understanding the real significance of our life and ministry.

I am fascinated by the stories of those who preached the gospel to those who preached the gospel to millions.

Like the old man in that Primitive Methodist chapel in the early 1800s, who preached ‘Look unto me and be ye saved’ to Charles Spurgeon, who preached thousands of sermons to thousands of hearers and millions more readers.

Or the minister who led the school chapel service at the all boys’ school, where a young John Stott calmly and undramatically repented of his sin and put his trust in the Saviour.

Those preachers probably never knew, never fully understood what God had done through them, never understood that though they were ordinary and obscure, but faithful men, God would make them the spiritual grandfathers of countless millions of people in the years and decades that followed their ministry.

I do not hope (nor really even wish) to be a world-famous preacher, through whom God will save thousands or millions by the preaching of his word. But I do hope, that perhaps by my preaching and ministry, God might save one, who might preach to one other, who might then raise his son to be a godly young man, who then preaches the gospel to the guy who will preach the gospel to millions.

I don’t need to be the one with all the audience. I’m content at the prospect of being one link in the chain. I’m happy to decrease, while ever more Christ is increasing.

Like John the Baptist, I may never know my true significance (if I have any), but simply that I got to say ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world’, and thanks be to God that he would use the foolishness and weakness of my preaching to save the one, who saves one, who saves another, who preaches the Gospel to millions.