A Voice Crying In The Wilderness
Notes
Transcript
Open your bibles and turn with me to Luke 3:1-14
Well, we’ve made it through the first 2 chapters of Luke’s gospel
We saw the birth announcements of both John the Baptist and Jesus!
We have seen Luke sort of phase John the Baptist OUT of the story –
as we focused and saw the birth of Jesus!
And now, Luke is going to bring John back into view for just a moment….
And then for Luke, he’s just going to fade into the background!
Luke mentions John the Baptist only briefly in Luke 7—but that’s virtually it!
Because Luke is again – concerned that you KNOW for CERTAIN the things
that have taken place concerning the CHRIST…and that Jesus the Christ, the son of God!
Luke has made it clear, even in the Birth announcement and story of Jesus…JESUS is God’s SON!
And even last week, highlighting the story of Jesus in the Temple
and His response – that HE MUST be in HIS FATHER’s HOUSE!
You know, that’s not normal for someone to speak that way!
And yet, Jesus says it so matter of factly and so nonchalantly….
And he says this – and speaks this way – because it’s true!
And Mary had her moment – of remembering and considering – Just who Jesus is!
That He is from the FATHER!
He is the MESSIAH! – God in the FLESH!
And that was Luke’s primary point not just last week, but for writing his entire gospel.
And here – we see that happening again,
even as John the Baptist comes as a forerunner to Christ, to prepare the way of THE LORD!!
And Luke makes that clear in citing from Isaiah 40 –
That John is preparing the way of the Lord – straightening THE LORD’s PATH!
Who is this LORD? – None other than Jesus Christ!!
And John’s Message – isn’t exactly an easy message!
It’s a message that would be logically rejected!
It’s a message that convicts and confronts!!
It’s a message of preparation….and anticipation!
How is it that you prepare for the Lord’s kingdom that is coming?
There is only one way! – REPENT!!!
Sermon Summary – Repent! The Kingdom of God is near.
It's just a fascinating text of scripture –
especially in seeing what careful detail Luke gives us here!
1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming 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: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ” 7 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” 10 And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” 11 And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”
This sermon will essentially work in 2 movements….
the first will look at the context of John’s Message,
and the 2nd will consider the content of John’s message.
I have four points for you this morning.
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I. God’s salvation is set in the outworking of history (v.1-2)
I. God’s salvation is set in the outworking of history (v.1-2)
Here, Luke begins with 7 influential and historical figures listed here…
Part of Luke’s point is that John’s message didn’t arrive in a vacuum.
It came in the context of world history….real history….
and then we will see the Biblical history in a moment.
1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
I mean, the accuracy of this statement is stunning!!
Luke gives us the ability to pinpoint with nearly to the exact date –
when John’s ministry began!
In the 4th year of the Presidency of Donald Trump's first term, William Barr as the Attorney General of the United States, Governor Kay Ivey serving as the Governor of Alabama, and local officials such as Mayor Randall Woodfin of Birmingham and Mayor Tab Bowling of Decatur, during the leadership of Blake Kersey as the pastor of First Baptist Church Decatur, when the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic began to reshape life in the state, marking a pivotal moment in world history.
when you read this – you are going WOW!!!
WE KNOW…..it was the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar….We know this is the year….
AD 28….Tiberius Ceasar ruling since the death of Augustus…
and he is the emperor of Rome.
When Herod the GREAT died….Augustus didn’t trust any of his sons to reign in his place….
Herod had 3 sons and gave each a 3rd of the kingdom….
All called Tetrarch….one of his sons,
Arcleius got deposed and exiled in AD 6….
Jewshated Arcleius so much that they asked for a Roman governor….
and Pontious Pilate is what they got.
So That became eventually became the reign of Pontus Pilate.
Antipas (HEROD ANTIPAS) – is the HEROD as the tetrarch of Galilee
and his other son Philipp is ruling…..another who is ruling reigning as tetrarch…
and then there is Pontius Pilate - GOVERNOR of JUDEA.
Even mentions Lysanias – the tetrarch of Abilene, -
who is much lesser known…but Luke is aware of him and mentions him.
Then, he speaks of the religious temperature in Israel.
And he names two HIGH PRIEST….LUKE knows.
And everyone would have known – Israel only had one high priest!!
Rome was constantly concerned with any one person having too much power in Israel.
And the HIGH PREIST was no exception
And so when ANNAS was told he could no longer be HIGH PRIEST –
He made sure “his guy” gets in…
and so his son-in-law (CIAPHAS) becomes the High Priest….
there was always this political maneuvering with ANNAS
to keep a pulse and control on what was going on.
And Luke – here even clues the reader in – to something isn’t right here!
The High Priest was to serve until their death….but here are two…
He’s all but indicating – this was a dog and pony show – and not a legitimate priesthood.
And Luke gives us these sharp and pointed historical dating mechanisms!
TO SAY – IT WAS THEN!!! – THE WORD OF THE LORD came
to JOHN the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
I mean, this is fascinating to think about….
We don’t know the specific date the birth of Messiah.
We don’t know the date of when the angels appeared to Zechariah or to Mary….
But we know – with incredible accuracy of when John’s Ministry begins!
It’s almost like Luke is saying – ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION!!
THE SHOW is about to BEGIN!!
And this message of salvation of the coming through Jesus!
John as the forerunner – doesn’t happen in a vacuum!
But in light of real history!
This isn’t some make-believe world or a make-believe message….BUT ACTUAL EVENTS
a message that took place in real time and space, and real history!
The Messiah was coming to the world!!
And we have the actual dating of when that announcement
began to be HERALDED by the FORERUNNER to the MESSIAH!
THE GOOD NEWS of the MESSIAH is HERE!!!
Time-stamped on the pages of human history!!
ARE YOU WATCHING!!
GET READY!!! – The whole world is about to CHANGE!!
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II. God’s salvation is set in the outworking of Old Testament anticipations (v.2-6)
II. God’s salvation is set in the outworking of Old Testament anticipations (v.2-6)
Luke continues – Luke 3:2
2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
Now, what Luke is doing here…is placing John intentionally in the line OT testament prophets!
It had been over 400 years since the word of the Lord had spoken through any prophet!
And Luke places John in the lineage of men like
HOSEA – The word of the Lord that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
HAGGAI - In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest:
Zechariah - In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo
And JEREMIAH
The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, 2 to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.
And NOW, the WORD of the LORD is come – to JOHN the son of Zechariah in the wilderness!
John – though a LEVITE – like His father!!
Is not in the temple….he’s not in Jerusalem!
The Lord had taken him away from Jerusalem….(earlier in his life) and placed him in the wilderness!
Almost – as means of saying!!
You want to hear my message – what God is speaking!!
Don’t go to the TEMPLE!!
Don’t go to the HIGH PRIEST –
It’s Not LEGITIMATE (ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS – PUPPET PREIST)
You want to hear the WORD of the LORD?
John has my message – and he’s in the wilderness –
proclaiming the word of the LORD!!
God is speaking – His word is being proclaimed again!
And as the Prophet Malachi fades in the background of the ears of the people!
There is one who will come in the Spirit of Elijah –
to restore the hearts of the children to their fathers and the fathers to their children!!
And LUKE doesn’t explicitly say that about JOHN – as other gospels do!
BUT NOW – HERE HE IS!! HE IS HERE!!
THE FORERUNNER HAS COME PROCLAIMING THE WORD OF THE LORD!!
And then HE QUOTES from the ISAIAH 40:3-5
Saying – don’t be surprised!!
This was to be expected!! - This was to be expected –anticipated!
Here is the VOICE of the ONE CRYING in the WIDLERNESS!! -
PREPARE the WAY of the LORD!!
PEOPLE – GET READY!!
THE MESSIAH is coming!!
How do we prepare?
And John says – there is only one way!! (REPENT!!)
Against the backdrop of the OLD TESTAMENT –
comes the ground-shaking announcement of the MESSIAH!!
ANTICIPATED – NOW HAPPENING!!
Luke 3: 3
3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
John traveled throughout the region of Galilee in the North
and the Dead Sea in the South….
That’s the northern end of the Great Riff Valley
coming up out of Africa….dry and below sea level….
PREACHING - BAPTISM - Outward testimony….
Now – the Act of Baptism wasn’t unique or strange to any Jew….
Jews were very familiar with baptism….MIGVAH…MIGVOAT (plural) or Baptistry…
Deep tanks of water - Immersion
When Jews were coming to the TEMPLE–
coming up CENTRAL Mountain range….ascend into JERUSALEM…
come through the south wall of Temple MOUNT….were dozen of MIGVOAT,
and they would take off clothes, immerse themselves,
put on a clean robe and go into the TEMPLE…..
purified yourself as means of preparing for worship!
Then QUMRAN community – were the ascetic….
thought everyone else was heretics….only they were the sons of righteousness…..
THE QUMRAN community is who kept the Dead Sea Scrolls
They use MIGVOAT often – as a routine, a ritual baptism to cleanse….
And they would baptize each other….to regain purification and remain clean and holy!
John isn’t doing that…this isn’t joining a clique like QUMRAN….
not a repeated purification like at the temple.
JOHN IS SAYING!! –
YOU CAN ONLY DO THIS if you DO THIS!!.......IF YOU REPENT!!
Baptism is outward testimony…..with a view toward (UNTO) repentance….
MEANS - TO CHANGE YOUR MIND!
CHANGE YOU HEART and posture…
from away from the LORD, to go toward the Lord in FAITH!!
This repentance is for the purpose of…..or with the result of the forgiveness…..
John says repent….be baptized….
because the kingdom of God is near!! GET READY, PREPARE!!
John’s Baptism wasn’t efficacious….it didn’t SAVE anyone!
It wasn’t for salvation – but it was in VIEW or unto FORVIENESS of SIN!
CHRISTwas coming – as John will say a little later –
there is one coming who will baptize you with a greater baptism!!
JOHN SAYS – PEOPLE GET READY!!
THE KING is coming!! – SALVATION IS COMING!!
COMMIT to living rightly!! PREPARE for the KINGDOM’s ARRIVAL!
John is the voice, the one in the WILDERNESS of who Isaiah prophesized would come –
even using desert language Luke 3:4-6
4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”
Not only is the Lord going to announceHis coming
through the message of HIS forerunner!
Coming and heralding, the KING is HERE!!
But there is also going to be a humbling among the people!
God is correcting the path of the people who have walked in darkness,
and correct their path and make the path of the righteous straight for the KING!!
And the low places – the valleys will be filled!
They will be lifted up!!
THE MOUNTAINS- and every high place will be brought low!
HUMBLED!!
The crooked or bent will become straight!
The rough places will be leveled!!
AND ALL FLESH shall see the salvation of GOD!!
EVERY VALLEY –
EVERY MOUNTAIN!
CROOKED– everywhere will be straightened….the rough places leveled!
AND ALL FLESH!!
BELOVED – there isn’t an inch of space
that isn’t going to be affectedby the coming of the MESSIAH!!
AND HERE THE ANNOUNCEMENT of GOOD NEWS coming to the world!!!
REPENT!!!
And from the ECHO of the OLD TESTAMENT –
IS another coming PROCLAIMING GOD’S WORD….GOD’S KINGDOM IS COMING!!
GET READY!! – REPENT!!!
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III. Presumption of salvation leads to condemnation (v.7-9)
III. Presumption of salvation leads to condemnation (v.7-9)
Here we turn to the 2nd movement of this sermon – THE CONTENT OF John’s Message
7 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
When you look at MARK’S gospel….Matthew is concerned with John’s dress and diet…
and He presents him as a strange character.
Well, it’s pretty clear that John isn’t concerned about winning many friends.
(NOT WRESTLING WITH THE FEAR OF MAN!)
And Luke never calls him the Baptist….
by the way – John is not a Baptist in the modern sense of the word….
But he is the JOHN THE BAPTISER!!!
Luke never calls him that – Because Luke is concerned with John’s Message!!
And JOHN PREACHES a strong, unapologetic message of repentance!
Then when you look at Matthew’s gospel
he tells us that the crowds at first where the Sadducees and the Pharisees.
Luke expands that out a little bit – to the crowds!!
And they come out– at he rejects them!
And confronts them!!
YOU BUNCH OF SNAKES!!
He’s saying, listen – you guys are of the CROOKED GENERATION!!
You are of the seed of the serpent!!
Notice John’s concern in v. 8 –
That you BEAR FRUITSin keeping with REPENTANCE!!
That is a life that demonstrates change!
This is what repentance is!! (YIELDS CHANGE - IT BEARS FRUIT!)
An internal act that looks at an external change….
It’s means to change one’s mind – or to change one’s way!
And you don’t rely on pedigree for some means of assurance!
And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham
You don’t become a member of God’s family through natural descent!
This is why Jesus said – YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN!!
And for the Jews – they would have tried to find comfort in –
well, I’m a Jew…I’m of God’s chosen people!
God made a covenant with ABRAHAM to bless him and his offspring!!
SO – I’m good!!
And yet – Israel had forsaken the covenant with the LORD!!
They broke his law and commands!
And worse – they lost faith in the LORD!
Yet – the comfort we often create in our mind– oh yes, I’m good with GOD!!
For years– this was me!
Claiming to be a CHRISTIAN….yet, my life resembled nothing like JESUS!
Claiming to be a CHRISTIAN – because I’d prayed a “sinners prayer”
Claiming to be a CHRISTIAN – because, well I’m a good guy!!
And so many in our day – do the same!
They create 100 ways of righteousness in their own eyes!
I’m ok – I go to church!
I’m ok – I voted the right way!
I’m ok – I do good deeds!
I’m ok – I do more good than bad!
I’m ok – my family are good folks!
I’m ok – I was baptized!
I’m ok – I’m a good person!!
I’m ok – I’m a pastor, a deacon
Yet – If you know not repentance!
If you know not faith in CHRIST!!
DO NOT PRESUME to be in good grace with the LORD….
least you be condemned on that FINAL DAY!!
So don’t presume – BECAUSE WE HAVE ABRAHAM as our FATHER!
WE ARE OK!!
GOD can raise up from these stones in the wilderness!
CHILDREN for ABRAHAM!!
AND GOD does do that – by grafting in the GENTILES!!
Notice what he says - The AXE is NOW laid at the root of the trees!!
And at any MOMENT!
THE AXE is going to FALL!!
(God is going to swing a blow of divine JUDGEMENT)
And those treesthat do not bear the fruit of REPENTANCE –
will be cut down and thrown into the fire!!
THIS JUDGEMENT is closer than you THINK!!!
AND IT’s coming!!
It’s already here!!!
Here is a picture of God’s coming wrath and JUDGEMENT!
And it’s not somedistant reality!
How comforting and tempting it is to put
The JUDGEMENT of GOD as a distant event that MAY happen!
JOHN SAYS – FOLKS – IT’s HERE!!
ARE YOU PREPARED for the WRATH and JUDGEMENT of GOD!!
AND IF YOU PRESUME – on God’s KINDNESS! – How it will lead to condemnation!
Yet, when we recognize God’s kindness –
know that it is meant to lead us to repentance!
2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
And that’s John’s message here!
No one likes to think of God’s coming judgment!
BUT IT is A REALITY!
God is holy and must condemn SIN!!
HIS DAY of WRATH is APPOINTED and COMING!!
And for ISRAEL – who knew that God is merciful, gracious, and kind….
AH! Surely, we are good!!
Yet, he will by no means leavethe guilty unpunished!!
WE MUST PREPARE FOR HIS COMING!! NOT PRESUME!!
AND JOHN SAYS – THE MESSIAH IS HERE!!
THE KINGDOM HAS COME!
God’s JUDGEMENT is closer than you think!!
BUT THERE IS STILL A WINDOW of TIME for you to RESPOND!!
REPENT!!!
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IV. Repentance is for everyone (v.10-14)
IV. Repentance is for everyone (v.10-14)
It’s pretty clear – John’s message!
It requires humility!!
It requires an honest look and evaluation of one’s life!!
To say – I’m not ok!!
I must repent!!
And well, the crowds got the message!!
Don’t let anyone tell you – that preaching God’s coming judgment is wrong!!
There is a way that it can be done in GRACE!
And there is nothing anywhere that suggests that John was RUDE or a JERK!
BUT he was SOMBER!!
HE was SERIOUS!!
Because the judgment of God is serious!!
REPENT!!
AND THE crowd responds in a contrite heart!!
SIMILAR to when Peter preaches the GOSPEL in ACTS!
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Notice the text –
10 And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” 11 And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”
Notice there are 3 groups of people here!!
The crowds turn and say – WHAT SHALL we do!
John says – live in a way that is generous and kind!
You have a tunic – basically like an undershirt!!
In what seems like such an insignificant garment!
Yet, you see someone who doesn’t have one!
SHARE IT WITH HIM!!
You see someone in need of the basics of food and clothing – help them!!
Here is what JAMES SAYS….. James 2:14-17
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
GENEROSITY – the fruit of kindness of GOD!!
John says – your life is to demonstrate FRUIT!!
TAX COLLECTORS came to be BAPTIZED!
WHAT SHALL WE DO!!
JOHN says – don’t take more than you are authorized to do!
There was a way in which tax collectors could not only charge taxes on citizens….
but also, a surcharge -or finders fee….
this was not a set fee but left to the discretion of the tax collector!
And often they would defraud others….and why they were considered despised by man!
John says – you want to participate in this baptism of repentance!
You can’t do that anymore!!
You can’t live in greed….and live looking out for yourself!!
SOLDIERS also come – WHAT SHALL WE DO!!
John says – Do extort money!
Don’t blackmail people!
The word here means to SHAKE
SOLDIER – could be intimidating –
And John says, don’t use your position of power
as a means of profit for yourself!!
BUT BE CONTENT – with what you have!
CROWDS –
TAX COLLECTORS
(that’s both the religious PARSIHEES and the TAX COLLECTORS and SINNERS!)
AND even soldiers – all come!
This message is for everyone!
And John’s message is the same!
Think about it….he doesn’t say leave what you are doing!!
John essentially says go back to your life!!
And live differently!
CHANGE!
THAT’s WHAT IT MEANS to REPENT!!
CONCLUSION!
John’s message – quite simple
But the application….is quite challenging!!
You think about – not only does repentance involve change!
But notice the aim of repentance!
Is not only bearing fruit!
But its aim is in how we treat others! (it’s aimed at our HEART!!)
And that’s what our sin does….it causes us to turn inward!
And be only concerned with preserving self!!
And Yet – God is concerned!
With how we live before HIM and before our neighbor!
34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
And I bring that up…because the prideful person!
The self-righteous person…
is always concerned with wrong actions of others and the justification of their own
they are always ready to spot the wrong in another!
BUT repentance is about the HEART!
And the REPENTANT person is concerned with their own heart before GOD!
TO LOVE HIM!
And not to find the WRONGS of their neighbor….but to LOVE THEM!!
And here is this strangely dressed….wearing unclean camel skin!
weird diet eating….feeding on LOCUST and HONEY!!
STREET PREACHER in the WILDERNESS!
AND GOD says – MY MESSAGE is WITH HIM!! (GET READY – REPENT!!)
THE KING IS COMING!
God is concerned with the hearts of men!
That they turn from their rebellion….and REPENT!!
And that’s JOHN’s MESSAGE – to the crowds!
And that’s John’s message to each of us!!
That you would consider your way before the LORD!
And know that God’s KINGDOM has come….
and a final judgment is coming!!
AND IT’s CLOSER than we think!
And that we too might cry out – saying, then what shall we do??
REPENT!!
Strive for (change)…. REPENTANCE is not a one-off event…
repentance is ongoing and lifestyle.
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You know John preaches the message that God gave!
HE proclaims the word of the LORD!
But John also is unaware of the fullness of what He speaks.
And John would not fully understand!!
I think that’s demonstrated in John’s question to Jesus in Luke 7!
He knew the Messiah was coming….and believed that Christ was the MESSIAH!
And knew that the JUDGEMENT of GOD was near!
But in the MYSTERY of the GOSPEL!
WHEN JOHN SAYS – EVEN NOW THE AXE is laid at the ROOT OF THE TREES!!
I don’t think John knew when GOD was ready to swing the AXE of HIS JUDGEMENT!
THAT IT WOULD FALL and STIRKE - ON JESUS, THE SON of GOD!
And JESUS WAS COMING to bear the edge of the AX!!
to take the JUDGEMENT of GOD on HIMSELF!!
JESUS WAS COMING TO PAY THE PENALTY of sin for HIS PEOPLE!!
And it’s JESUS who, on the cross – absorbed the WRATH of GOD on our behalf!
EVERY LIE –
EVERY VILE WORD!
EVERY IMPURE THOUGHT!
EVERY OFFENSE before God and MAN!
OUR SIN….OUR GUILT!!
THE wrath of GOD WE DESERVED– was placed on CHRIST!!!
And the hope of the GOSPEL….
Is that you would look upon Jesus’ perfect life,
HIS DEATH for sinners, and HIS RESURECTION!
And realize – It was for sinners like you and me!
THAT CHRIST GAVE HIS LIFE!!
AND you would recognize God’s kindness toward you!
AND NOT – PRESUME!
But in utter amazement and gratitude!
REPENT!
AND BELIEVE ON CHRIST in FAITH!!
And so when we read a passage like LUKE 3:1-14….
We see the response of the crowds….crying, what shall we do, what shall we do!!
We too might be sensitive to consider our heart before God….and say, what SHALL I DO!!
REPENT!!
AND TRUST CHRIST - FOR THE SALVATION
