John the Baptist ministry:
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 4 viewsNotes
Transcript
Introduction:
Introduction:
Good morning every last week we talk about the early childhood years of Christ, this week we are going to be looking at John the Baptist. John the Baptist was a cousin to Jesus. John parents were related to Mary the mother of Jesus Christ, and we understand that John was to be the forerunner before Christ to prepare the way because of this we come to understand that John’s ministry is important to Christ ministry. Remember we are looking all things that are surround Jesus Christ, and his teaching’s. in order to know God we must first know who Christ is. John 14:6
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
To Prepare the way:
To Prepare the way:
Now lets look at who John the Baptist was and his history within the scriptures. lets turn in our Bibles to couple of Passage here were going to be looking here today. lets start with Mt 3:1-6
1 Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying,
2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
3 For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
‘Make ready the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight!’ ”
4 Now John himself had a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.
5 Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan;
6 and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.
and then we can also look at Mk 1:1-6
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
“Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You,
Who will prepare Your way;
3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
‘Make ready the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight.’ ”
4 John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
5 And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.
6 John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, and his diet was locusts and wild honey.
Then lets also look at Lk 3:1-6
1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene,
2 in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.
3 And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins;
4 as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
‘Make ready the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight.
5 ‘Every ravine will be filled,
And every mountain and hill will be brought low;
The crooked will become straight,
And the rough roads smooth;
6 And all flesh will see the salvation of God.’ ”
Just from these passage we see that they are very similar to each other, but there are some differences to them also. John was foretold by the Prophet’s of the Old testament. Lets turn in Our Bibles to Is 40:3-5
3 A voice is calling,
“Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness;
Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.
4 “Let every valley be lifted up,
And every mountain and hill be made low;
And let the rough ground become a plain,
And the rugged terrain a broad valley;
5 Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
And all flesh will see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Here Isaiah we see that The Prophet spoke about how someone would come before the Messiah. none of the things that are said probably happen expect someone who was to tell the people to make way for the Christ. another passage we can also look at here is Mal 3:1
1 “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts.
again from the Old Testament the Prophets were warning the people to be prepare for the day that would come a new King who would bring salvation to his people. then if we go far down in Mal 4:5-6
5 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.
6 “He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”
Again we come to see that John was tell the Jewish people to Repent for the Kingdom Heaven was at hand. many Jewish people were hard of hearts at this time, and the ears were of hard of hearing. they longer follow God’s laws. if you remember Zacharias who was John father, was told that his son will be the forerunner for Messiah/Christ. back in Lk 1:17
17 “It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Just from all of these verse here we can conclude that John was to come before Christ preparing a way for the Christ/Messiah. Many kings would send people to make rough roads smoother for them, and warn the people that someone important was about to come through this was John the Baptist was doing for the Messiah. we can see that through these verse here. lets turn in our Bibles to Lk 3:4-5
4 as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
‘Make ready the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight.
5 ‘Every ravine will be filled,
And every mountain and hill will be brought low;
The crooked will become straight,
And the rough roads smooth;
and then lets turn to Is 40:3-4
3 A voice is calling,
“Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness;
Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.
4 “Let every valley be lifted up,
And every mountain and hill be made low;
And let the rough ground become a plain,
And the rugged terrain a broad valley;
it was not physical ravines that need to be filled but ignorant ones that need to be filled. John was to bring for the truth about Christ, and how that the Jewish people misunderstood about Christ bring a worldly kingdom instead of a spiritual Kingdom.
John Ministry:
John Ministry:
Many people do not realize that John’s Ministry was important, and that it cannot be overemphasized. turn in your Bibles to Mk 1:1
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Just from this verse here we come to see that Mark call it the beginning of the gospels, and the next thing we can look comes from Acts 1:21-22
21 “Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us—
22 beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”
From this passage here in Acts we come to understand that Acts talks about the when John the Baptist baptized Jesus Christ was the formal announcement of Christ ministry. we can also turn to Acts 10:37-38
37 you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed.
38 “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
From this passage we come to knowledge that it all started from the Baptism from John. when we first meet John is in the desert in Lk 1:80
80 And the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel.
John live of the land and wore rough clothing.John ate whatever the land provided lets turn in our Bibles to Mt 3:4
4 Now John himself had a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.
we can also look at 2nd Kings 1:8
8 They answered him, “He was a hairy man with a leather girdle bound about his loins.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”
From the these two verse we see the some similarities of John and Elijah. now we continue we come to see that the word of the Lord came to John signal him to start preaching. lets turn in our Bibles to Lk 3:2
2 in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.
this marked the beginning to John ministry. if we continue the study of John ministry here in Luke. we come to see that Luke talks about five political leaders and two religious leaders to fix the date. lets turn to Lk 3:1-3
1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene,
2 in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.
3 And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins;
Now if we continue with focus on Johns ministry. the focus of what John was preaching on repentance. Lk 3:3
3 And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins;
The biblical meaning for Repentance, is change of Heart or change of mind. this is usually hardest part many people because this means to change their lifestyle. Lets look at John’s Message in more depth. lets turn in our Bibles to Mt 3:7-12
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;
9 and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.
10 “The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
12 “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
and lets turn in our Bible to look at Mk 1:7-8
7 And he was preaching, and saying, “After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals.
8 “I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
and Finally lets turn in our Bible to Lk 3:7-18
7 So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 “Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.
9 “Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “Then what shall we do?”
11 And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.”
12 And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”
13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.”
14 Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.”
15 Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were wondering in their hearts about John, as to whether he was the Christ,
16 John answered and said to them all, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
17 “His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
18 So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people.
Just from these passages which are very similar in view, we come to see that John was not only warning the people at the time not only they have to change their lifestyle, it has to be known by bearing fruit. we can see that here in Mt 3:8
8 “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;
and another verse that similar Lk 3:8
8 “Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.
as we continue with John’s Message we come to see that he told masses who were selfish to share Lk 3:11
11 And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.”
as we continue we see that John also talk to the political leaders who held offices of power at the time to be honest in their position of power lets turn Bible Lk 3:13
13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.”
As we continue with John’s message we talks those with authority, and John tells them to not misuse their power Lk 3:14
14 Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.”
then if move on with John’s message then calls on all of the people that near to confess their Sins. lets turn in our Bibles to Mt 3:7
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
from this verse here we see that John calls out the Pharisee, and the Sadducees because of how they view the law. now if we continue with the message of John we see that many people are going out to hear what John had to say, and be baptized by him. lets turn in our Bibles to Mk 1:5
5 And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.
and lets also turn in our Bibles to Mt 3:5-6
5 Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan;
6 and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.
Most interesting thing is that this is probably first we hearing about Baptism within the scripture. Baptized and Greek word Baptizo which means immersion. John was known for traveling up and down, and being on both sides of river. lets turn in our Bibles to Jn 1:28
28 These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
and Jn 3:23
23 John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized—
in John 3:23 we can also see that this back why we when chose to be baptized we have to be immerse than sprinkle. Immersion requires more water compared to Sprinkling. the baptism that John preaches on about here is on the Repentance meaning for forgiveness of sin. Lets turn in our Bibles to Mk 1:4
4 John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
and lets also turn Lk3:3
3 And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins;
Just from these two verse we see that the Baptism John preaches on forgiveness of sin. we see that John not only convicts men but provides hope to men also through Baptism for forgiveness of sin. we also see that John teaches about Baptism that anticipates Christ’s death for sins of mankind. Baptism could be call baptism of faith, because it an expression of our Faith towards God and Christ. we come to understand this by submitting and confessing our faith in Christ. lets turn in our Bibles to Acts 8:35-38
35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.
36 As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?”
37 And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
38 And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.
and then we can also look at Rom 10:9-10
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
Just from these two verse we can see that the two major themes of these verse would Confess and then baptism. they are important for believers in Christ. as we continue with John’s message we see that John’s major’s purpose was to prepare peoples hearts and lives for the Messiah. Lets turn in our Bibles to Jn 3:28
28 “You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’
we come to understand that John even understood that someone who would be more important than him. Mt 3:11
11 “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
we understand that John preaches on baptism of forgiveness of sin while we see that through the context of scripture baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire are not the same type of Baptism. John was speaking to a mix group of people. the receptive and the unreceptive Lets turn in our Bibles to Mt 3:5-7
5 Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan;
6 and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
then if we look at Mark who did not mention the unreceptive in his gospel but spoke on the baptism of the holy spirit. let’s turn in our Bibles to Mk 1:8
8 “I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
then if look at the Gospel of John who also spoke on the baptism of the Holy spirit. Jn 1:33
33 “I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’
then on the other hand we see that Luke is similar to the gospel of Matthew on both the receptive, and the unreceptive. lets turn in our Bibles to Lk 3:7
7 So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
which we come understand that Matthew and Luke spoke on the baptism of the Holy spirit and fire. Lk 3:16
16 John answered and said to them all, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
We come to understand that Baptism of the Holy spirit came upon the Apostles during the first Pentecost after the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Lets turn in our Bibles to Acts 1:5
5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6 So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;
8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
then let us turn in our Bibles to Acts 2:1-4
1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
we come to understand that the Apostle we immersed in the power of the Holy Spirit. On the other hand the Baptism of Fire refer to the immersion of the ungodly in fire on the day of Judgement. let us turn in our Bible to Mt 3:12
12 “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
with these in mind we can understand that John message towards the people to change their hearts and minds, and to prepare them for the coming of the Messiah.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Today many people don’t think about John’s ministry because as Christians we understand its not John who we follow but Christ. in order for us to know God we must know Christ John 14:6
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
John ministry still works today for us. today it shows us that we must being to conform to the standards of God how we live. to change our lifestyle and mind. today there many who struggle daily in this life, who give into chasing the world. John told us on how we can escape from this by being baptized into Christ.for the forgiveness of sin. if you wish to be forgiven, and to become part of the family please come forth as we stand and sing.