Prepare the Way Part 2

Intro:

This morning we are beginning a new series entitled “Make Way For the King”.

Throughout history when a king was on the move, a herald or special messenger would go before the king to announce his arrival, or to make way for the king.

The primary objective of the herald was preparation of the people for the kings arrival. They were to clear a path, prepare the ground, create an opportunity, or relinquish something to make room for something else.

John the Baptist was the herald or special messenger of Jesus. His very name declaring what God was about to do. His name means “Yahweh is gracious”. He was tasked to clear the path, prepare the hearts (ground- parable of the sower), create opportunity for people to respond, and relinquish control of their lives to the king.

Luke 1:17 says that, “He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

The Spirit of Elijah is a system that is a forerunner for heavens assignments. It is a prophetic and apostolic anointing that shifts and establishes bringing order to disorder. In 1 Kings 18:21 “And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word.”

The one who carries the spirit of Elijah is unintimidated by what opposes it because they know who God is. Elijah rebuilt the altar of the Lord and laughed in the face of darkness because of his revelation of God.

Ultimately, the Spirit of Elijah removes every excuse, establishing the sovereignty and authority of Jesus Christ as King.

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Submit & Apply:

This morning, I want to look at the message of the messenger who would prepare the way. His message is recorded in all four gospels, and in it I have identified eight emphasis. Throughout this message, I will reference various aspects of each account.

Let’s begin by turning to Matthew 3:1-3.

Matthew 3:1–3 “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.”

As we look at the emphasis of John’s message remember that in the Spirit of Elijah he is a forerunner who is working to bring order to disorder, clearing a path, and preparing hearts to relinquish control to the king.

Let’s look at the first emphasis of John’s message:

Declaration of the message: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. This message was accompanied in Mark 1 by a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Two things stand out to me in this.

The first is the nature of the message. To repent means to have a change of self (heart and mind) that abandons former dispositions (a persons inherent qualities of mind and character) and results in a new self, new behavior, and regret over former behavior and dispositions.

The second is that the act of baptism which represented ceremonial cleansing. In the Old Testament, ceremonial cleansing involved rituals to restore purity after defilement. Encompassing physical and symbolic actions like bathing, washing clothes, and offering sacrifices, ensuring the Israelites ability to approach God.

The message of John crying out in the wilderness was a call to holiness and the removal of impurity.

Declared Jesus purpose: Luke 3:4–6.

“as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough ways smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

The humble were to be filled, and the proud were to be humbled. The crooked places symbolize injustice, disorder, and deviations from what is right. The rough places represents difficulties, obstacles, and imperfections in life.

John declares the lamb of God will be the one to do accomplish these things.

John 1:29-30.“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’”

Jesus would humble the proud, exalt the humble, remove the difficulties of approaching God, and and bring order to the deviation of mankind by dealing with the sin of the world.

It is interesting to me here that the passage doesn’t say sins plural, but sin singular. I believe that the sin that gives way to all sin is the desire to be like God, being the one to rule an reign in our lives. All other sins seem to flow out of that one sin desire.

Confrontation and a call to Righteousness: I think it is important to understand that the message of the kingdom is a confrontational message, not an accommodating message. Both Matthew and Luke bare witness to the confrontation.

Matthew 3:7–8 “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,”

The Pharisees and Sadducees focused on outward appearances rather than inner righteousness. They held political, legal, and religious influence and were afraid to lose their place. They also used their influence almost exclusively for their own benefit.

The confrontation was that they did not come to change. He called them to bear fruits worthy of repentance.

They preached one thing and practiced another. They focused on human traditions over God’s commandments. They neglected justice, mercy, and faithfulness. They sought praise from others desiring to be honored by people rather than God.

The message of the kingdom confronted their life, and called them to bear fruit worthy of repentance. The focus was on the need to change the nature of the inward man.

Holiness, There are no cover ups in the kingdom: John was removing the notion that their tie to existing covenant through Abraham would cover for a lack of change. The nature of the message is that the Kingdom of God will require us to change, and there is no substitute.

Matthew 3:9 “and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.”

John’s response to the Pharisees and Sadducees illicit’s an inquiry from the people who heard the exchange. John gives instruction.

Luke 3:10–14 “So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?” He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise (generosity).” Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you. (honesty and integrity)” Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?” So he said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.”

Fruit Inspection: Both Matthew 3:10 and Luke 3:9 say that, “And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

The ax being laid to the root means that judgement is imminent and those who do not produce good fruit (repent and live a righteous life) will be cut down and destroyed.

Jesus reiterates this message later in, Matthew 7:17–19 “Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

The essence of fruit inspection is that it reveals the nature of the root. Good doesn’t produce bad, and bad doesn’t produce good.

The promise of divine Empowerment: Matthew, Mark, and Luke reveal that the king to come will immerse them in the Holy Spirit and Fire.

Matthew 3:11 “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Mark 1:8. Luke 3:16.

This immersion of fire is marked by anointing and power. It also signifies the purifying function of what Jesus will do resulting in powerful cleansing and kingdom transformation. We see the fulfillment in Acts 2.

Sifting & Judgement: In Matthew and Luke’s gospels, John, declares that the coming king will sift the people.

Matthew 3:12 “His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

The winnowing fan is a process that separates the chaff (which is light, empty husks, and other debris) from the grain, usually after threshing (separating the seeds from the plant).

The separation symbolizes that there will be a dividing of the good and the bad. The good will be gathered to his barn (heaven), and the bad will burn with unquenchable fire (hell).

The final is emphasis is that John bare’s witness to the Christ.

John 1:32–34 “And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”

John gives verified proof of who the Son of God is.

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Closing:

As the herald and messenger of God, John boldly prepared the way by declaring the truth. The emphasis of His message was repentance and surrender to the one who was to come, and that we must align our lives to His standard and not our own.

This same message we continue to declare. To make way for the King. We need to clear the path, prepare our hearts, create an opportunity, and relinquish control to make room for what God desires to do.

Our lives will be inspected up against the righteous standards of God. If we desire to be changed, repentance is the only way forward.

Let’s Pray!

Lord thank you for sending messengers throughout the generations to declare your word. Give us ears to hear your message.

Salvation.