So, Herodias was frustrated because she couldn’t get John killed. But verse 20 tells us why Herod wouldn’t give in. It says, “…because Herod feared John and protected him…,” The king fears a man? John didn’t hold back anything. He told it like it was, and the people came to him, and then they were inspired by that, and many of them turned to him. Our Lord complimented him. There wasn’t anybody like him before him! He’s OUTSTANDING!! He’s a man of God—dedicated to God. He feared no man—no person on earth.

Friends, it ought to be that way for all of us. We must obey GOD rather than man. It makes no difference what our society says, or even what close friends may say. What does GOD say? That’s what we’ve got to DO!! Even if it’s family opposing us, dear friends! And that’s hard to do. There’s no doubt about that.

Here’s this man, Herod. He knows John is a righteous man. He liked to listen to him preach. Isn’t that amazing? Herod must have been an interesting man. But he was greatly puzzled. He couldn’t put all of this together. What was John preaching? He was preaching the coming of the Messiah! And he was pointing out the fact that JESUS is this Messiah, and Jesus is a citizen of Galilee. He’s under the domain of this Herod.

“Go tell Herod, that fox,…” [Luke 13:31-33]. Sly as a fox. Our Lord was not afraid. When they brought all the charges against Him, our Lord didn’t even answer. He went to the death that He knew was predetermined by God Himself. He obeyed God and was not afraid of man. There’s our prime example. But John becomes an example, too.

You know, this is a strange mixture—this husband [Herod] and this wife [Herodias]. She wants John killed and Herod doesn’t. She cannot stand what he’s saying, but it hasn’t bothered Herod that much. Herod often called John to him, and he heard John preach and teach. And he was perplexed by John’s teachings. But friends, that means he was interested enough to call John back. It means that he was interested enough that he was mulling it over even though he was perplexed.

You know, I’ve often thought that there must be some good in practically every human. There’s always a mixture. We’re not 100% good or 100% bad, I don’t think. Here is one of the wickedest men on earth, and there’s some good in him. He doesn’t want to kill John. And here you look at Herodias. [Harvey pauses.] I may have to retract. [Harvey laughs.] I don’t know whether there’s any good in her or not. She wants John killed, but she can’t kill him. Maybe she could have used some kind of subterfuge and gotten some guards to kill John, but even she didn’t do that. The mixture is there.

Someone has said that all of us as Christians are fighting a civil war all the time. It rages within our hearts—within our minds. And every time we make a choice, one is calling one direction, and one is calling another direction. Our dear Lord is teaching us, but His adversary, the devil, “goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour,” [1 Peter 5:8-9]. He’s at us all the time. There’s not a time that he doesn’t come. He may leave us for a season, like he did our Lord, [Luke 4:13], but he’ll be back. He may tempt us through those who are close to us. He may tempt us by the goods of this world. He may tempt us to want fame as well as fortune. But he tempts us! And the battle goes on. What will it be? Which side will I choose? And we have to choose it over and over and over! We don’t make one choice that always stands. We must remember that we, too, can fall.

Well, finally the opportune time comes. Herod is influenced by his wife, but he’s influenced by John. And so far, John had been winning out. But the opportune time comes when Herod has his birthday party. What can we learn from that? Circumstances change. If there’s anything you can count on, it’s change.

We’re here today because of a lot of major changes in the Lord’s church. I didn’t see Mack Lyon’s program this morning. [Mack Lyon is a minister of the Gospel, and he teaches the Bible via a television program, “In Search of the Lord’s Way”, which airs in our area early on Sunday mornings. He preaches for a congregation of the Lord’s church in Edmund, Oklahoma,] But several of you have already mentioned to me that he talked about the major changes that are taking place in the church of Christ. Dear friends, they’re taking place also in all of the major denominations in the United States. They’re taking place in the Roman Catholic church. Change!

Some changes are good, but some changes are bad and some changes are so drastic that they are terrible! You can think of people who changed, who at one time knew the Lord and loved the church and were totally converted to the Lord—and they left for one reason or another. Maybe they got too busy with the world. But change brought change in their life.

So everything changes here all of a sudden.

You know, “today is the day of salvation”, our Lord says, [2 Corinthians 6:2]. He means we have an opportunity to do good, to live for God. And there are opportunities around us. But there are opportunities to do evil as well. What will we choose? Well, the wise person seizes the opportunity. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do with all thy might,…” [Ecclesiastes 9:10; see also Colossians 3:23]. GRAB the opportunity!