An Unforgettable Introduction

Intro:

Has there ever been a presentation that you have witnessed that you would never forget? Have you ever been introduced to someone important in a way that was remarkable and unforgettable?

Think of the way fighters are introduced at a boxing match or a UFC fight. They are introduced with their stats and their nicknames, but it is done with such hype! Can you imagine if the introductions went this way? [In a dull, monotonous voice] "In this corner, fighting his 9th professional fight with a record of 7 wins, 1 losses, Marcus 'The Maniac' McGhee." No, no, no, that would not do at all!

As we continue through our series, The Way, the Truth, and the Life, we come to a man that is introduced to us as a child in Luke chapter 1. The introduction of this man was spectacular! This man was named John, and he was the son of a priest named Zacharias and Elisabeth, his wife. An angel had announced to Zacharias while he was tending to his duties in the temple that he and his wife would have a son.

For many years they had been praying for a child, because Elisabeth was barren. I believe that for many years they trusted that the Lord would answer these prayers; but now they were both old, and it seems that the prayer had turned into a bit of a routine. I say this, because if you read Luke 1, the angel says, "I am here to tell you that your prayers for a child have been answered!" But Zacharias answers back, "How is that possible? I and my wife are both old!"

The angel, who turns out to be none other than the most well-known messenger angel, Gabriel. tells Zacharias that his son will be named John and that he has an important job to do. John's job is going to be to go before the children of Israel and turn their hearts unto God.

You will remember that when we started this series, we looked at not only the cultural and political context surrounding the life of Jesus, but we also looked at the religious context. Judaism was in full swing, but for so many it had been reduced to following a set of a few hundred religious laws (which no one could seem to keep up with) and empty temple rituals and religious celebrations. Though they hoped for a Messiah, they had an expectation that was distorted and oh, so limiting. They wanted political freedom, but never even suspected that, as a nation, they were in desperate need of spiritual freedom.

So John's mission would be to turn the hearts of Israel to the Lord. He would go before Him, before the Lord, that is to say the Messiah, the Chosen One, God in the flesh, Jesus Christ. John would go before Jesus, Luke says, in the spirit and power of Elijah. Elijah was one of the most important prophets of Israel. His message was a message to the Israelites to turn away from worshipping false gods and go back to serving the one, true God. It was a message of repentance. John's mission was to prepare the hearts of the people to receive the true Messiah, not someone that they had concocted in their minds, but the true Son of God that would save the world from its sin. He was to prepare people to receive their Messiah. John would do so by preaching repentance, turning away from sin and to the Lord.

This is the first instance in our series where we will actively be looking at different Gospel accounts to convey what is going on here. We will be in the books of Matthew, Mark, and John. We will be going back and forth in these books, sometimes rather quickly. If keeping up with that seems a bit difficult, I would just like to remind you that you can text the word "Bible" to [phone] to see the sermon notes for today, and they will include the passages that we will be covering in order there.

An Unconventional Preacher

We start off today with a look at an unconventional preacher. It has been about 30 years since the announcement that Gabriel made to Zacharias, and now we find an adult John, commonly referred to as John the Baptist.

Mark 1:1-3, 6 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; 2 As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

So here we see John the Baptist preaching in accordance to the prophecy that was spoken of the prophet Isaiah (40:3-4). But there were several things that made John unconventional. One, he was preaching out in the wilderness. He wasn't in the synagogues or the temple or even in the streets of the city. He preached in a very uncomfortable place.

Not only that, John had an unconventional sense of fashion and an odd diet.

6 And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;

Matthew 3:1, 4 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, 4 And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.

John dressed oddly for a teacher in those days. His clothing and diet distinguished him from the rich people of the time. We will look at his message in a bit, but with his clothing and with his food choices, he set the example of self-denial as he preached repentance to crowds that would come out to listen to him, many of which were of the high class and even Roman governmental figures.

His camel hair clothing would not have been out of place or odd in those days, as camel hair is plenteous in that region, but it could have well symbolized a protest of something that had become common in many Jewish lifestyles, a focus on materialism much like the Greek and Roman cultures that they lived in.

A Unique Message

So we have an unconventional preacher, but what did he preach? His message had some familiar tones to it, but there was one thing that was unique about John the Baptist's message compared to the messages of the prophets before him.

THE FAMILIAR

When we look at the messages of the prophets of the Old Testament, we often see a familiar message: repent; turn back to God. Whenever the nation of Israel or the surrounding nations were heading down a sinful path and living sinful lifestyles, God would often send a prophet to preach repentance to them. This was in no way different than what many people would have expected a prophet to preach. But there were a couple of unique things about John the Baptists message that really stand out in comparison to the other prophets.

THE UNIQUE

One thing that was unique about John the Baptist's message was the way it was presented. He wasn't an eloquent speaker, rehearsing essays or liturgies. He was preacher. He was telling the truth without beating around the bush. "He came preaching," not sermonizing. It was simple, it was intense, it was to the point , and it was passionate.

So what did he preach that was so unique?

1.) Baptism. John the Baptist got his nickname because he baptized people who were wanting to accept his teachings on repentance. Baptism was not a new thing that nobody had ever seen, in fact, it was a pretty common sight in the Judaism. There were those that were Gentiles that converted from their gods to serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They had to be baptized in a certain way. There were ritual cleansings that Jews had to do on certain occasions. These ritual washings resembled more of a baptism than an actual bath, as they were normally just a dip in some water, whether that be naturally occurring water like a river or lake, or special cisterns that were specifically for ritual cleansing and baptizing.

So what was unique about John the Baptist's baptisms? The fact that he baptized others. In proselyte baptisms (becoming a Jew) and in the ritual cleansings, there was never anyone that would baptize another person. If you wanted to be washed or baptized, you went into the water and dipped your self.

Think Naaman the leper in 2 Kings. When he is told to go wash himself seven times in the Jordan river, the meaning is not that he had to take soap and wash himself with a sponge seven times. It simply meant he was to dip himself 7 times in the Jordan river. Elisha didn't go out there and baptize him, Naaman did it himself to himself.

John the Baptist, however, was not teaching proselyte baptism. He was not interested in creating a new religion. He was not interested in ritual washings either. He preached repentance, and as an outward show of the inward repentance, he baptized those that repented. He was the one actually dipping them in the river.

Matthew 3:1-2, 5-6 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, 2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, 6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

Mark 1:4-5 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 5 And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.

Luke 3:3 And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;

A couple of things to note about the baptism of John the Baptist. It was a baptism of repentance. People came, confessed their sin (publicly), and were baptized by John the Baptist. This baptism was a looking forward to the washing away of sins by the Lamb of God that would take away the sins of the world.

It was not a baptism for the remission of sins. The phrase used in both Mark and Luke is "baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." In Matthew, John the Baptist is quoted as saying, "I indeed baptize you unto repentance." So this is in no way a baptism that ever claimed to save anyone. Those that were getting baptized by John were confessing sins, and publicly repenting of these sins and turning to God, and showing it by being baptized by John the Baptist.

There were those that came and saw John the Baptist as a curiosity. Many Pharisees came and watched and listened to him. Most of these Pharisees did not think that they had any reason to repent. They prided themselves on always maintaining the outward appearance of moral perfection, but John rebukes them.

Matthew 1:7-10 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 9 And think 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. 10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

The Pharisees and Sadducees came to the baptisms; they did not come to be baptized. Again, they did not feel as if they had to repent of anything, or they would have been to embarrassed to confess publicly sin that no one else had seen in their lives. So John calls them a generation of vipers. This is borrowing Isaiah's figure of speech in order to say that these religious leaders were full of malice, guile, cunning, and venom. Jesus would later use the same phrase, and then make Himself very clear when he called the Pharisees "children of the devil."

These religious leaders knew that the coming of Messiah would also mean the coming of God's wrath, however, they interpreted that that wrath would come only for the Gentiles. So John asks, "Who taught you to flee from the God's wrath that is coming? Nobody? If you think your perfect, then show fruit of a righteous faith in God." He then continues to point out what their confidence was based on as he tells them that salvation does not come from being a descendant of Abraham. You may have been born into the orchard, but you're about to get cut down if you do not repent and turn to God.

2.) But there was another unique part to John's message. John was preaching the coming of the kingdom of God, the coming of the Messiah.

Matthew 3:2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Matthew is the only one that uses the phrase "the kingdom of heaven." He, along with the other Gospel writers, also uses the term "the kingdom of God."

John the Baptist, knowing that the Son of God was near, the Messiah was alive and about to start His ministry; knowing that it is his mission to prepare the hearts of Israel to receive this Messiah, and it means people will have to repent and turn their hearts from sin to God and from religiosity to true faith in God; announces the motivation for this repentance: The kingdom of heaven is at hand. "It's here! It's finally here! The representative of heaven is here at last!"

You need to repent because he is here. The Pharisees didn't see their need for repentance, but John preached to them anyway.

He preached that there was someone coming that was mightier than he, someone so important that he wasn't even worthy of even wearing his shoes.

Luke 3:15-18 And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not; 16 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: 17 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable. 18 And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people.

The people were in awe of his preaching. He was so authoritative in his speech, something that was not common for rabbis, teachers, of that day. Many wondered if John the Baptist was the Messiah. So John clarifies that he is not; he is simply preparing the way for the Messiah.

He makes the statement, "I baptize you with water, but the Messiah is going to baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."

This is in reference to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the early days of the church. Something that served to give validity in the eyes of the Jews that God was now working through the church. This can be seen in study of the book of Acts.

But the end of the phrase, "and with fire," is a reference to those who do not repent and follow the Messiah. John has just told those Pharisees that even though they were descendants of Abraham, if they didn't repent, they would be chopped down and cast into the fire. He follows that statement of people being baptized with fire with an example of judgment. The fan, or the winnowing shovel, is something that we will see referenced by Jesus as well. This was a farm implement that allowed the grains of wheat and the chaff, the inedible part of the plant (chaff), to be tossed into the air after the grain was threshed. The wind would then catch the chaff and blow it away while the heavier grain would fall to the ground to be picked picked up and used for food. What would happen to that chaff? They would burn it.

The Baptizing of the Holy Spirit and baptizing of fire was not the same thing and would not happen to the same people. There are songs that use this phrase as a central part of their message, and the singers sing, "Baptize me with your fire." Well, I say, "No thank you." I have no wish to be immersed in fire. Seems like a very painful way to die, and if you study the Bible's teachings about life after death, it sounds an awful lot like hell and the lake of fire. So no thanks. And this is why we stress that the songs we sing here in church be Biblically and doctrinally accurate. But I digress...

These were the unique things that John the Baptist had to say. Repent and get baptized so that everyone knows you have repented; and the Messiah is at hand, and who your ancestors are won't get you in His good graces; you must repent.

An Unforgettable Introduction

One of the times that John the Baptist is preaching and baptizing people, Jesus shows up. Matthew gives the most details about this occurrence, so let's go there.

Matthew 3:13-17 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. 14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? 15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.

As Jesus shows up, He asks John to baptize Him, but John does not want to. John instead says to Jesus, "I need you to baptize me, not the other way around!" John not only recognizes that Jesus does not need this baptism of repentance (as He is the Messiah and therefore the Son of God), but that he, John, is a sinner and wants to confess his own sin and be baptized of Jesus.

Jesus came to be baptized of John, not because He needed to repent of His sins; Jesus never sinned. He gets baptized for a couple of reasons. This baptism that John was performing was the precedent for Christian baptism that Jesus would later mandate for all Christians. That baptism symbolizes the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus then, by being baptized by John, just prophesied His own death, burial, and resurrection.

But the other reason that He is baptized by John is to give validity to John's message. We see Jesus here in a situation where he is among sinners (there were publicans, Roman soldiers, and all sorts of people who had just gotten baptized and admitted in a very public manner to their sins in this crowd), but He is also among the religious leaders who considered themselves holy, above reproach, better than all others, and closer to God.

And this is the first time Jesus is in this situation and is able to identify with one group or the other. On one hand, He can side with the Pharisees and Sadducees and not get baptized (Jesus is, after all, the only one who truly didn't need to get baptized), but in so doing, he would lend validity to their hypocrisy.

On the other hand, Jesus can step into that river and walk up to John, a thing that dozens of others have already done that day as they confessed in a very public manner the nature of their sins in order to show those around them that they are repentant and committed to following God with their lives now.

So that is what Jesus does. He gets into that river, walks up to John, and asks to be baptized. He doesn't confess any sin, for He has no sin to confess, but in the act of baptism He identifies very clearly with the repentant sinners who wish to follow God whole-heartedly. He lends validity to their repentance and to John the Baptist's message.

And something very special happens after Jesus comes up out of the water.

Matthew 3:16-17 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Jesus comes up out of the water, giving validity to John the Baptist and to the repentant people who have been and are being baptized by him, and so God gives validity to Jesus as the Messiah, God's only begotten Son.

The Holy Spirit takes on a bodily form and descends like a dove and rests upon Jesus, then God the Father's voice is heard from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

What an introduction!!! No hype man could have done a better job! A movie that I like to watch is called A Knight's Tale. In it, a young man who is not a knight succeeds in fooling others into believing that he is a knight. One of the ways that he does this is by hiring a writer and poet to introduce him at the various jousting tournaments that he attends. Where many of the knights have someone introduce them, it is usually very short and dry, e.g.: "This is Count Ademar."

This particular man, however, introduces the fake knight, William, with embellished stories, exaggerations, and downright lies. He hypes the crowd, and by the time he is finished, the crowd is on their feet applauding and cheering for him. These are some of the greatest introductions ever depicted in film, in my opinion.

However, there cannot have been a more memorable introduction of a person that is about to set off on a mission than the introduction of Jesus by His Father on that day! I can guarantee that nobody that saw and heard that ever forgot it!

Seeing Jesus coming out of the water, watching a visible representation of the Holy Spirit descend on Him, and then hearing God's voice declare, "This is my beloved Son." What an introduction!!

So what does this all have to do with us? Glad you asked!

Brief Application

There are a few takeaways for us, some of which we will get into more deeply during the Life Group time.

1. Our mission, much like John the Baptist's was, is to preach the Gospel. I cannot do it alone.

Mark 16:15 Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

This is our job as a church. One of my responsibilities as a pastor is to equip you to do that job and encourage you to do it.

Ephesians 4:11-12 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

This is one of the reasons we have Sunday services and Wednesday services. This is why we have Life Groups. Part of the reason is to equip you to go out and tell others about Jesus. This is the whole reason behind this particular series through the life of Christ. This is the whole reason for the men's and women's Bible studies. To equip you for ministry (ministering the Gospel to those outside the church, and ministering grace and love to those in the church), and for the building up of this church.

We need to tell others about Christ. You don't have to be like anyone else. You don't have to be a pastor or an evangelist. You don't have to have someone else's style. God has uniquely gifted you and will empower you in a way that can impact others around you with the Gospel.

2. We have a unique message. This is a message of grace, faith, and repentance. This is the message of Jesus, the Son of God, who came to earth, lived a perfect life, willingly died on a cross and shed His blood, was buried, and rose again in order that mankind could experience forgiveness of sins and a relationship with God the Father.

No other religion has that. We are unique in that message. We have the Good News.

3. Since we are called to be preachers of the unique message of the Gospel, we need to start making some unforgettable introductions. How do you tell people you're a Christian? How do you introduce others to Jesus? "Hi, my name is Mike, and I am a Christian." Wow! That is pretty forgettable. Have you ever tried just telling others what Jesus is to you you and what He has done for you?

Don't make up stuff! If you have never touched a drop of liquor in you life, teens, don't go up to people and tell them how Jesus saved you from being a drunk husband and father who abused his kids.

No! We simply need to tell others what He has done for us. My testimony is simple: I was born and raised on the mission field in Mexico. I went to church before I was born, and rarely missed a service. I grew up thinking that the good things I did, the service that I performed in church, the prayers that I would pray all were signs that I was saved and right with God. But at the age of 14, I realized what the Bible said was true. There is no prayer that can get rid of my sin, and there is no amount of good works that I can do that will make me acceptable to God. I was a sinner on my way to hell and the lake of fire. So on August 30th, 1998 I trusted Jesus alone as my savior and asked Him to save me. When I die now, I know without a doubt that I will go to heaven; not because I am a good person, because of my self I am not; not because I read my Bible; not because I go to church; and certainly not because I am a pastor. I am on my way to heaven instead of hell because Jesus promised to save me if I would just believe Him and ask Him to save me because He loves me.

My life is different now. I have real joy. I have real peace. I have help and understanding when it seems no one else is there. All this is because of Jesus, and He wants to do the same for you.

Invitation: I will ask you to bow your heads and close your eyes now. Is there anyone here this morning that does not have Jesus as their savior? If you died today you are not sure if you would go to heaven. I would love to introduce you to Jesus this morning. Is there anyone like that?

Are you here this morning and have never shared your faith, or it has been a long time since you have. You have the message, God has put you in various communities, but you have not taken the opportunities to share Jesus.

Is there anyone like that?

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Life Groups

Has there ever been a presentation that you have witnessed that you would never forget?

Have you ever been introduced to someone important in a way that was remarkable and unforgettable?

(LTC Malaulu, met him on CQ but he was in civilian clothes. "Who's this guy?" Oops!)

John was an unconventional preacher. He did not follow the example of other rabbis of that time. He was more at home in the wilderness than in a synagogue, actively denied materialism, and spoke boldly and with authority (other rabbis simply quoted previous rabbis). Taking John's example, how can we apply that to us?

We have different giftings and callings upon our lives. It is the call of every Christian to preach the Gospel to every creature and to make disciples, but the way we do that cannot come from a cookie cutter method.

Not everyone is a pastor or an evangelist, but we all are able to make friendships and introduce those people to Jesus.

What product have you used or bought that has revolutionized the way you do something?

We have a unique message. No other message is like the message of Christianity. Though there are some familiar elements that would be included in other religions, there are very unique aspects to the Christian message:

- We are all sinners

- Our sin separates us from God

- There is nothing that we can do to erase our sin, and therefore, nothing that we can do to restore a relationship with God

- Therefore, all mankind is condemned to death (spiritual) because of sin

- But God loves people

- He sent His Son, Jesus, to live a life among mankind and die a death that He did not deserve

- Jesus was buried, but did not stay dead or buried; He rose again on the third day, defeating death and defeating sin!

- His blood, because it is untainted by sin, is enough to pay for all sin

- God has chosen to offer salvation through Jesus Christ to all men as a gift, even though we do not deserve it (this is called grace)

- That grace can only be accessed by placing our faith in Jesus and asking Him to forgive our sins and be our savior

- When that happens, we become adopted into God's family and possessors of the promise of eternal life.

No other religion has this message. This is unique.

We need to start making unforgettable introductions. Introduce people to Jesus Christ by telling what he did for you.

Paul gave his testimony to everyone he talked to.

Acts 22:3-15 I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. 4 And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. 5 As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished. 6 And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. 7 And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 8 And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. 9 And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. 10 And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. 11 And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus. 12 And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, 13 Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. 14 And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. 15 For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.

Your testimony will obviously be different, but use you're testimony to make unforgettable introductions to Jesus. Tell of how God has changed you, and how He changed your eternal destiny.