The Wilderness

You know I am pretty young (I don’t know if any of you knew that). But despite that as I was getting ready for this message I was reflecting on how throughout my life there have been times in my life where I have been on spiritual highs

Where I feel close to God and see Him actively moving in my life and ministry

But there have also been times that I have just felt spiritually dry.

You know where God’s presence just feels far away.

Where you are wondering where God is

And that is a hard place to be

I am sure some of you have been there, where you feel like where is God right now.

Where it feels like you are stuck and cannot grow spiritually,

And often times this is impacted by the circumstances we are in.

And today we are going to be talking about those times where we just feel dry in life.

Where

Whether that be because of the circumstance we are in or because we have been allowing ourselves to to drift away from God.

So turn with me to

So turn with me to

And my hope for us today is to know when we are at that point where we just feel dry, where we feel stagnent, and purposeless.

for us to be able to know what we can do in the middle of that to help us get to a place where we are drenched in God’s presence.

So Once again we are in and it is a little bit of a longer passage but it has some great stuff. It says:

Matthew 3:1–12 NIV

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ ” John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

So I think most of us know who John the Baptist is but if you do not he was a man that God uses to prepare the way for what Jesus was getting ready to do in His ministry.

And thats a big job, I mean John is preparing people for the ministry of Jesus Christ.

So you think John would go to the most public place he could and find the largest groups he could to prepare the way,

But if you look at verse one it says that John goes to the wilderness.

And that word wilderness doesn’t just mean the woods, but it means a desolate place. A place that is inhabitable and abandon.

I mean John decides to go to the place where there is nothing around and He just starts preaching.

And I am reading that and I am going why would John choose to do that?

And there are a few reasons on why people believe this.

Some people believe that it was because some prophets before him would begin their ministry by preaching in the wilderness

other believe it was because there was no where else He could go because many of the Jewish leaders of the time would probably not allowed him to teach.

But probably the main reason is that God wanted to show that in the middle of this desolate place.

In the middle of this place where their is no life

In the middle of wilderness is a place where God can still move

You know today you might feel like you are in the Wilderness or you have been their.

This place that is lifeless or has no hope but in the middle of that God can bring life even to the most desolate place of your life.

When we are in the wilderness and there is no hope for us, but there is hope in God.

and this passage wants us to get this because look and verse 4.

It talks about Johns outfit. Because if you think I dress down occasionally look what John does.

Because he looks like a bum.

It says His clothes were made of camels hair and He had a leather belt holding it on him.

And not only that but he was eating Locust and honey.

I mean John was unequipped where he wasn’t this attractive preacher that has money and resources, but hes this guy that looks like a hot mess preaching in the middle of no where

But the truth is when there is no hope for us there is hope in Christ.

But God uses Him to prepare for probably the most significant event in history.

Christ Ministry.

The coming of Jesus.

But if God can use a guy that is a mess preaching in the middle of no where to accomplish His will.

Can I just say there are places in our life that just appear desolate and hopeless.

Then I think God can use a our church in berrien County to accomplish His will

You might get to a point in your life where you go how can God use me now?

and I think Can can use each of us too do that.

You may have been part of a ministry where your going this is going to die.

Or have had something in your life like that

but look what John does in this passage.

But in the middle of the desolate place where things seem hopeless that unless God moves it is over.

But what we have to decide is how are we going to act in the middle of the wilderness.

Because it dosen’t say that He is in the wilderness and He mopes around, going wow God, thanks for the great oppritunity,

In the middle of the desolate place h

But it says that He begins to preach.

John might of had almost no one around when he started preaching, but he looked around saw what God had given him at he said I am going to use what I have to accomplish the call God has given me.

But you know when we are in the wilderness we have to decide what am I going to do?

You know just from my experience in ministry it always seems like you do not have enough resources to do what you want to do.

And thats what I want us to get

Whether thats at a large or small church or some other type of ministry.

You can always use more money, more people,

But what God wants us to get is that when He gives us something small, and we are faithful with the small, He can do amazing things

and when we are in the wilderness we have to decide what am I going to do?

Are we going to sit there and mope or are we going to use the gifts God has given us to glorify Him.

And look at the result of what He does in our passage in verse 5

Because look at the result of what He does in our passage in verse 5

Because John preaches in the wilderness,

and it says that people from all of Jerusalem and all of Judea, and the whole region of Jordan came to Him, confessing their sins and being baptized.

I mean look at that result! People are litterly coming from all over and they are not just coming and listening, but they are repenting and being baptized.

John is faithful with what he has and because of that this area that has been desolate forever has people experiencing life.

If God can do that in the wilderness don’t you think God can do that in our church?

Don’t you think God can do that in our community

Don’t you think God can do that in our life?

you know there are projects where people are actually going into deserts

You know dry pretty lifeless areas and by planting trees in those areas they are actually able to bring life into a dry areas until eventually they can actually be transformed into a forest.

Because our lives are like clay it can get

But if God can do that to a desert how much more can he do that to our lives.

But look at verse 7 because God is moving so powerfully,

But here is the issue because God can bring life to a desolate place and like I said you see this happening in this passage where people are giving their lives

But it the middle of this it says that Pharisees and sadducees started to come where John was baptizing people.

And if you know much about the Pharisees and Saduacees it is that they were religous leaders that often time caused a lot of issues

And something else you have to understand is Pharisees and sadducees did not like each other

But in this passage you see them coming together to most likely shut down John baptizing.

But you know whenever God is doing something great there are people who want to see it destroyed and want to put a stop to it.

And you see that throughout the entire Bible almost.

God does something great but Satan wants to put a stop to it.

But jump down to verse 11 with me because Satan try's to destroy what John is doing but he can’t and the reason is because John understood who his ministry stemmed from

This is why it says I will baptize you with water but the one who comes after me (Jesus) He is going to baptize with His Spirit.

Because in verse 11

You know John did not have the power to change lives and bring life out of a desolate place, but God He can do that.

You know the word baptise thats used in this passage is was a really strong word in Biblical days

One way they would actually use this word is for when they would commission a Roman soldier

and during this commissioning service they would give the soldier a tattoo and it meant that this soldiure was dead to their old life, they were dead to their family, friends, possesions, and everything in their life.

And now they have come to their new life where they are a Roman Soldiure and their life is for the Roman Govement.

And John Recognizes that He cannot do that, He knows that He cannot change someones life like that

But he knows that Christ can.

Thats why this passage talks about an axe being at the root of the tree to cut it down, because when we accept Christ we die to our old way of living

and we come alive in Jesus Christ, but it can’t happen because of us it only happens because of Jesus.

And this advent season

You know I started out talking about the wilderness, about how often times we get stuck their, but somthing that is amazing is how God can bring life to a desolate place

So where is your desolate place

Is it your spiritual life

Is it a ministry

is ait a circumstance

because in the middle of this desolate place God can bring life and transform it into something amazing

But only God can cause this transformation