Wake up, the Lord is Coming!

Illustration:

There are some events in life, for which you prepare, like no other events. In some cases, the event is so important that you set two alarms or three alarms in the morning. Maybe you move the alarm to another place in your room, so it forces you to get up.

The LORD’s Wake Up Call

Here, the Lord has sent a tremendous wake up call to the people of Israel. This wake up call had been announced in the Old Testament, and his name was John the Baptist.

is when the alarm set in the scriptures. It is a promise that Elijah would come. Jesus confirmed in that Elias had indeed come. Who is Jesus speaking about? confirms that Elijah/Elias is speaking about John the Baptist.

(i) A particular wake up call

In our passage, there are several descriptions that confirm that this is speaking of John the Baptist as Elijah (v. 6):

Elijah, in the OT, is identified with the wilderness () just as John is identified here as baptizing in the wilderness.

Elijah in the Old Testament () is described as wearing a garment of hair and a leather belt around his waist.

Elijah, in the OT, confronted Ahab (), as John the Baptist confronted Herod Antipas ()

(ii) A purposeful wake up call

As we all know, the alarm is not an ends in itself. What is the alarm [John the Baptist] signaling? To what end is this voice of one crying in the wilderness.

The voice is there to signal the great and dreadful day of the LORD. The voice of John is there to tell people that the LORD is coming and to turn them back to the Lord - to make them ready.

(iii) The preaching of the wake up call (full immersion) ().

(a) a baptism for religious people

Baptism was not new to John the Baptist and his ministry. It was a practice that had already existed, but typically it was done to a Gentile who wanted to turn away from his gods and follow the God of Israel.

The significance here is that, where as in the past it was for Gentiles, we now see John calling the Jewish people to this baptism. You are not ready because you do good deeds.

(b) a baptism for the complete person

Secondly, the baptism was a full immersion into the water. It meant that the whole person was submerged, and that they had completed committed to a new way. When we speak of a complete commitment, we do not merely mean the whole person externally, but they had completely (internally & externally) yielded themselves to this new way.

Illustration:

It was the proverbial wedding ring that identified commitment to a covenant.

When we go to perfect north, we enter into contract with them, and they give us a token of the contract. We pay the money, and they give us a lift tag that goes on our jacket. We wear that openly as evidence.

Application:

And so it is that when someone today is baptized, they are fully immersed into the water. It is a token that shows the individual to be completely in Christ. This means that they are renouncing the pursuit of other idols, they are renouncing any other gods, they are plainly declaring that they have entered into covenant with Christ.

the original Roman recipients would have to decide whether their country was more important than the Lord Jesus Christ.

the Jewish recipients would have to decide whether their Jewish tradition was more important than the Lord Jesus Christ.

So today, there are many professing Christians who are in a love-affair with mistresses such as: political activism, personal pleasure, relationships....STOP CHEATING ON JESUS.

Jesus Christ is the faithful One, who saved us to be in relationship with us and not so we could be in relationship with other gods.

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Christian, do not take lightly your covenant to Christ.

Romans 6:3–4 KJV 1900

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Unbaptized Christian, you should not underestimate the importance of publicly identifying with Jesus Christ through baptism. As you would not be ashamed of your covenant in marriage, you should not be ashamed of your covenant in relationship with Christ. A true Christian will not be ashamed of Jesus Christ.

Mark 8:38 KJV 1900

Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Transition: The Lord’s wake up call to his people was preaching a precise message of the immersion of the whole person, but why? Why is there a need for this kind of covenant token or commitment? Why the wedding ring?

Why the need for this full immersion? Notice: baptism of repentance.

But what exactly is this baptism signaling? Repentance means “to change ones mind” or to “change one’s understanding”:

(i) It is a willful, rational decision

Secondly, repentance includes the turning of one’s entire life.

(ii) It is a change of one’s behavior

Thus, repentance is the willful change of one’s heart that results in the evident change of one’s behavior. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.

Illustration:

Many of you remember that Scooby-Doo show. They came out with an animated movie of Scooby-Doo, and the team had actually broken up; but in the movie, each of the team had received individual invitations to come to a haunted island, where they were going to (unannounced to them) work together to solve a mystery. During the trip, Shaggy and Scooby board a plane. In order to get Scooby on the plane, they dress up Scooby as a Grandmother. Of course, someone on the plane has a cat, so eventually Scooby (a dog) can’t help himself and he starts to chase the cat and bark like a dog.

What had happened is that they tried to cover up the fact that Scooby was a dog. The beautiful truth of repentance is that it is not just an external make over. Repentance is something that God grants in the heart of man. This change is so real, that it results in a changed life. See ,

Acts 11:18 KJV 1900

When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.

This all further affirms the significance of the One who was coming. He not only requires outward change, but He cares about the heart! He is the Son of God, and this kind of preparation confirms this.

Illustration: What do you typically do when you are getting ready for a dentist visit? How then would you think it meet to prepare when you are about the meet the dentist of the soul?

Thus, baptism is an outward evidence that the whole life has been changed. The heart change has resulted in a life change. Baptism does not make this change, but baptism confirms this change.

TRANSITION: The Lord’s wake up call is to repent; and baptism is to show this about face; but what are we repenting of? Why the need for repentance?

What is baptism showing? (a) Baptism is showing the remission of sins ()

The word remission here means a pardon or cancellation of sins. What is meant by sins?

Sin is failure internally that results in failure externally.

Sin is error internally that results in error externally.

Sin is missing the mark internally that results in missing the mark externally.

Sin is rejection of God internally that results in rejection of God externally.

Sin is the cancer of the human soul that results in the death of the human body.

Sin is failing to meet God’s perfect standard internally that results in failing to meet God’s perfect standard externally.

Thus, what John the Baptist is preaching is that if the people will make a willful heart choice to turn to the Lord, they will have their sins pardoned/cancelled out, and they should show this by openly immersing their whole body and confessing (agreeing) publicly their sins.

This all further affirms the significance of the One who was coming. He not only requires outward change, but He cares about the heart! He is the Son of God, and this kind of preparation confirms this.

Illustration:

Going Public with Sin

Topics: Bondage; Confession; Culture; Depravity; Guilt; Human Condition; Regret; Shame; Sin; Vices

References: ; ; ; ; ;

In 2006, two performing artists named Laura Barnett and Sandra Spannan created an exhibit in a storefront in Manhattan that allowed passersby to alleviate their guilt.

The two women dressed as nineteenth-century washerwomen (wash clothes) and sat in the storefront. One underlined the words on the glass—“Air your dirty laundry. 100 percent confidential. Anonymous. Free.” Onlookers were encouraged to write their deepest secrets on pieces of paper. The washerwomen then collected the confessions and displayed them in the window for all to see.

The sins and secrets ranged from slightly humorous to sordid:

• “The hermit crab was still alive when I threw it down the trash shoot [sic].”

• “I want to see SUVs explode. Those people are so selfish.”

• “My girlfriend and I both think Osama Bin Laden has a sweet-looking face.”

• “I make fun of this one friend behind her back all the time. She just enrages me! But I get freaked out when I think of what she might say about me. I worry this means we’re not really friends. Human relationships are infinitely confusing!”

• “I haven’t slept with my husband in a year, and I am about to start an affair with _____ _____.”

• “I haven’t yet visited my dead parents’ grave.”

• “I am dating a married man and getting financial compensation in exchange for the guilt. I’m twenty-five, and he’s a millionaire. It pays to be young.”

• “New York makes me feel lonely.”

Barnett said the onlookers are often overwhelmed by the weight of others’ sins: “We go there, and the window is empty, and we’re wearing all white. At the end, the window is full. It’s exhausting. Some of those things are really, really sad. And afterward I need to take a bath.”

—Kathryn Shattuck, “Artists Display Confessions of Passersby on a 44th Street Storefront,” The New York Times (May 6, 2006)

Larson, C. B., & Ten Elshof, P. (2008). 1001 illustrations that connect (pp. 339–340). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

When someone comes to be plunged in the water, they are openly declaring: I am a sinner and I have accepted the pardon for my sins that only God can give. [BTW, THIS SHOULD BE THE ATMOSPHERE IN THE CHURCH - ONE OF CONFESSION, NOT FEAR OF CONFESSION]

Application:

There are those of you who are NOT yet ready to be baptized publically because you have not confessed your sins and received pardon. The way of pardon has been made.

Acts 8:36–38 KJV 1900

And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.

There are no such things as closet Christians, if you have received Christ, then the demarcating sign of this is that you are publically baptized.

Then, there are those Christians who have forgotten the significance of the covenant ring that you are wearing. You have been saved and baptized, but you have forgotten what this means. Just as you are married and exclusively devoted in covenant to one woman and one man, you have been living as if you were not in covenant with Christ.

What this means is that you are not living by faith in Christ.

What is baptism also showing (in addition to remission of sins)? (b) Baptism is showing complete faith

The Importance of the Jordan River to the Jewish People -

This was the place where they were called to faith. It was the place where a previous generation of unbelievers were now gone, and now they were called to faith in the presence of the Lord.

Truly, the just shall live by faith. To not live by faith as a Christian is to forget:

that Christ purged us from our sins in his own blood

that Christ has gone before us to conquer and give power over enemies.

To live by faith as a Christian is to continue growing in our Christian walk with the Lord.

To live by faith as a Christian is to remember the day when we openly confessed our covenant vows to the LORD through baptism.

Closing Illustration:

An impetuous, quick-tempered man was confronted by Christ. The Lord told Peter,

Luke 22:31–32 KJV 1900

And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

After Christ had been raised from the dead, and Peter’s faith had been strengthened, note carefully the words of Peter when he was going to lead the disciples in replacing Judas.

Acts 1:15–22 KJV 1900

And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,) Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood. For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take. Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.

Peter’s failure was a “faith” failure. And so it is with those today:

By the way they treat their spouses

By the way they live at work

By the way they refuse to share Christ

show they too are failing in faith. You need to be brought back again.

Review:

(1) The Lord’s wake up call: John the Baptist

(2) His Message was a call to repentance

(3) It was a repentance that was to be openly shown through baptism

(4) This baptism was the full immersion of the whole person.

(5) This baptism was evidence of the remission of sins.

This was all in preparation for the coming of Son of God! WAKE UP, THE LORD HAS COMING, AND HE IS COMING AGAIN!