Untitled Sermon

Isaiah 65:17-25

Ps 126

1 Thess 5:12-28

Jn 3:22-30

Notes: Jesus is the party.

Psalm : joy of returning from captivity, request for God to do it again.

Isaiah: A picture of all things being restored and put in good order forever in God’s new heavens and new earth. “I will…they shall.”

1 Thessalonians : A picture of a sanctifying church awaiting their savior

John: John the Baptist joyfully pointing his disciples to Jesus as the Christ, the purifier.

BDAG, pg 488, “Cleansing from cultic impurity, used when cleansing a temple, ceremonies that a person goes through when being cleansed of leprosy. There is an idea of both ritual and moral purity because the holiness of God is in view, “Purification by washing, sacrifice, or transfer restore forfeited purity and open up access to God. As God’s holiness has moral content, ritual purity symbolizes moral purity (TDNT, 382). “The pirification that counts is the cleansing of the heart by faith (Acts 15:9).” … “Jesus himself points that the way here with hsi teaching that the true defilement is inward (thus declaring all foods clean:.” Tit 1:15 advnces the principle that it is the person who makes things clean or unclean, “To the pure all things are pure, to the unbelievers nothing is pure.” 1 Tim 4:5, grace at meals sanctifies all food, so they may be eaten without scruples. “In the NT then, the idea of material or purely cultuc impurity drops away; the concept of moral and spiritual purity transcends and replaces it.” “The purity required of the NT community is moral and personal. It consists of dedication to God that renews the inner being. Purity of heart -which is far above purity of hands- is what counts before God. James claims that “pure religion consists of practical love…Eph 5:26 uses the symbolism of baptism to portray the moral purification by Christ which determines future conduct. The death of Christ is above all the sacrifice that expiates sin and creates a new purity of life. By this death we are his people and zealous for good deeds…of Hebrews “cleansing is still needed (9:22), but only Christ’s blood can achieve this with its cleansing from sin and liberation for sinful inpusles.

The idea is typically we must purify ourselves cultically, ritualistically, from our sins, from touching dead things, being sick, in order to enter into and maintain in the presence of a holy God. In Jesus, the Holiness of God is coming down to purify us in faith and baptism. God is coming and making us pure. The direction reverses, instead of us purifying ourselves to enter into God, God is entering into our world, making us pure, to dwell with us. The feeling is like a wedding. We simply receive it in faith. Now, all things are pure to us because we have the purity of him who is before, behind all things....in Christ. At the cross,

John 3:22-30

-What is the author talking about?

How will John the Baptist respond to the ministry of Jesus increasing while his is decreasing?

-What is the author saying about what he is talking about?

John refuses the idea of competition with Jesus but instead sees Jesus’s ministry as his completion validating him as the Christ from heaven who brings true purification and thus gladly accepts his diminishing role to Christ’s increasing role.

-Homiletical Idea

Our Christ has come from heaven to purify us so come with joy.

Come to Christ and no one else to receive purification.