When the Word of God Finds a Place
When the Word of God Finds a Place
Text: Luke 3:1-2 NKJV
1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.
I. Introduction:
A. John, the man
1. Son of Zacharias (the priest) and Elizabeth (lineage of Aaron) – John was of the lineage of Aaron.
a. Yet, never served as a priest, scribe, Pharisee or a Sadducee in the comfort of the temple.
2. He was not your ordinary Jew. He was different…
a. His apparel (robe of woven camel’s hair); his diet (locust / wild honey); His appearance (long hair / beard)
II. John, In The Wilderness
A. Description of:
1. Eastern slopes of the Mtns. of Judaea; very dry and rocky terrain; called Jeshimon in the OT (devastation); “…It shimmers in the haze of the heat, the limestone rock is hot and blistering, and sounds hollow to the feet as if there was some vast furnace underneath.”1
B. The Word of God Came There:
1. (Rhema) Word
a. It’s Message: “REPENT”!! – One word…
b. It by-passed: (Emperors, kings, High Priests, Temples)
1. To be declared in the wilderness
c. It’s message given to a young man who hungered and thirsted after God; it had the power and authority to convict the hearts and lives of those that heard its message.
· “The verb kerussein is applied to those who, in the streets, fields, and open air, lift up their voice, that they may be heard by many, and proclaim what has been committed to them by regal or public authority;
2. It By-passed:
· Rome & Tiberius Caesar – vicious ruler that intimidated others by his military might.
- Spiritual Appl. – don’t be intimidated by the meanness of others looking at your ministry / witness in a negative light.
· By-passed Pontius Pilate – (a puppet Gov. in Jerusalem)
- Set in place by the Roman gov’t to manage the Jews…
- Spiritual Appl. – Those that are set in place in your life, community, surrounding gov’t that represent the power of Rome (worldly system). Though powerful in its setting, they have NO power over the “word” you have been given.
· By-passed Three Illegitimate Kings (Herod, Philip and Lysanias)
- John didn’t worry about the power structure…he preached the Word of God.
· By-passed Two Disqualified High Priests
- Annas & Caiaphas: physically of Aaron’s lineage, but spiritually disqualified.
- Spiritual Appl. – regardless of your current spiritual “covering”, the “Word” f God is authoritative in your life and will reach its intended target if it is obeyed.
- It will by-pass ANY opposition to reach those in need!
III. Developing a Wilderness Mentality (In this instance)
- Mentality: a habitual or characteristic mental attitude that determines how you will interpret and respond to given situations.
A. John: Filled with the Holy Ghost
1. He preached of a Coming Baptizer – (Matt. 3:11) “He will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire.”
- Wherever you are, the POWER of the Holy Ghost can penetrate that place.
a. John wasn’t in a comfortable, ritzy, palatial estate…he was on the backside of the wilderness.
- YET, the people from all around came INTO the wilderness to hear the MESSAGE given to John!
- NOTICE…John sought to bring Israel back INTO the wilderness!!!!
· NOTE: “The Promised Land isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.” (Derek Gardner)
1. In the wilderness, GOD was KING (Theocracy)…now they served a puppet of Rome.
2. In the wilderness, God’s presence possessed the tabernacle.
- Now, the temple was filled with ceremony and self-righteous priests…Sp. Application
3. In the wilderness, God was their total “Source” – food, water, protection, clothes/shoes
- They had jobs, income, etc…they didn’t need God as before (Laodicean church)
4. In the wilderness, they were purified in order to receive the new promise
- Now anything is good enough to get by…(Spiritual application)
5. They were baptized thru the Red Sea and Jordan experience
- John baptized in the Jordan…a reminder of them coming up out of the Jordan)
- Sp. Application – Remember where God has brought you from!!!
B. John Came Preaching Repentance
1. To prepare the way for salvation.
- Confirming that repentance ALWAYS precedes salvation.
2. He baptized, not for a change of mind but for a change of heart.
- Until now, Israel had wavered back and forth…but John’s “RHEMA WORD” demanded a commitment from them.
- The problem: because their NATURES were not truly changed, they kept going back to their backslidden ways.
- That’s why some can worship on Sunday and live like the devil the rest of the week.
C. Christ Came to John
1. Was baptized of john (didn’t need it…was without sin) – symbolic of the new nature that man could receive through repentance and a change of heart.
2. Christ (in the flesh) came to John – in the wilderness (the forsaken place)
a. Didn’t go to a ceremonial pool in Jerusalem.
3. Many of the common people and those of the house of Rome came to John.
a. But one day, something was different: John’s senses went on “high alert”…walking down the bank of the Jordan was the One Who, many years before had miraculously parted these waters for his people to cross into the Promised Land.
b. He came to be baptized of John…came to take part in the Word that He Himself had given to John…He was submerged beneath its depths…
1. One message…one line…one meaning…in the wilderness, declare it: “REPENT and be baptized..”
D. Christ Will Come To You in Your Wilderness
- John’s mentality was revealed in his message: “REPENT!!!” - John influenced all of Israel and even into its palaces simply because he allowed God to use him in the wilderness.
1. He will send a “Rhema Word” your way…will show up in the middle of your wilderness and enable you, like John, to be victorious. So quit praying for deliverance FROM the wilderness and start giving out the word you have been given…
- Keep on declaring it!!
- Keep on hammering it!!!
- Keep on preaching it!!!