Sunday Sermon Matthew 3:1-6

Here at FCC, we take communion serious and our hope is that it would never become a meaningless ritual, but rather a time to remember what our Lord did upon the cross and also a time to look forward to his soon return.

How we do community here is simple. I will pray for us corporately and then during my prayer I will pause, so we can allow the Lord to search our hearts so we take communion in a worthy manner. I will then close us in prayer.

The cup and bread are right here and as the holy Spirit leads, please come to the table and take the elements back to your seat and we will take together as the body of Christ.

Prayer

Gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for all the gifts, graces, and blessings that you have so richly bestowed upon each and everyone of us. We praise you that your mercies are new every morning and your compassions fail not and that you will keep us in perfect peace when our minds are stayed upon You. Lord, today we are coming to the table to partake of the the cup and bread that is a symbol of your broken body and your poured out blood that was shed for the world. It is our hearts here at FCC, that each time we partake of communion we remember the cross and the implications of it. Please Father, reveal yourself to us in a new way each time we partake. Now Lord we pause to allow you to search our hearts to see if there be any wicked way in us that could cause us to take of this supper in an unworthy manner.

PAUSE

Thank you for hearing our prayers and our prayer is that our time together will be a sweet smelling aroma unto Thee and that we would know more deeply the love that was shed upon the cross for us and for the world!

In Jesus Name, we love you! Amen

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 NKJV

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

Prayer

Lord, we praise you for your goodness and grace! Thank you for the finished work upon the cross and the grace that you extend every moment of every day. Now as we open your Word, we ask that you would give us living water that will nourish our souls and nourish others. Please fill us with a double portion of your Spirit and deal with the issues of our hearts today. For those suffering or enslaved, we ask for freedom, healing, and hope. Meet us now in a way that we know you are with us and grow us in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus.

In Jesus Name we love you! Amen

Read Matthew 3:1-6

Review

Last week we finished up Chapter 2 of Matthew and learned many things, but I want to remind us of just a few:

We learned that the King was born in Bethlehem and that his birth began to stir up Herod and his team .

We learned that the chief priests and the scribes knew where Jesus was when Herod asked and the Magi went to worship him.

In this we learned that this is exactly what dead religion will do for you. It will paralyze you and cause you not to walk 5 miles to meet and worship the King of the Jews.

Meaningless religion will cause you to fall into a deep sleep that could even cause you to lose your salvation.

Many religious people have never bent the knee to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in the first place.

We learned that anger in the heart of a man produces resentment which is unforgiveness. If this is left not dealt with, it will reap havoc in our lives. In Chapter 2, we learned that Herod’s anger produced murder.

God desires us to forgive and allow Him to comfort us through others.

The King is not a baby no more, but a Young Child in this text somewhere under 2.

Matthew 3:1–2 NKJV

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

In those days, what days are we in?

Well it is important for us to understand that between chapter 2 and chapter 3 about 28-30 years have elapsed here in Matthew.

This means that John and Jesus are around the age of 30 and the biblical text confirms that Jesus ministry started when he was 30.

Luke 3:23 NKJV

Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli,

So John the Baptist shows up after 400 years of Divine silence, there has not been a the voice of a prophet for a long long time church and here comes John.

I think it is crucial for us to remember a few biblical texts before we dig deep in to these few verses:

Isaiah 55:8–9 NKJV

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.

1 Corinthians 1:27–29 NKJV

But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.

John the Baptist showed up and when he did he confounded the religious leaders, but why?

Who was this great man and why did he come?

You know that great people come in all shapes and sizes in God’s kingdom, but in the world you must look a certain way, act a certain way, have education or credentials if you may, and even dress a certain way. But not in God’s kingdom because he uses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.

It has been 400 years church, since a prophet spoke for God, it was a time of silence from God’s prophetic voice and then guess what? God sends JB and his message is simple: REPENT!!!

John is great name right? It means that Yaweh or Jehovah is gracious and man isn’ this the truth!

So who was John? Why was he sent? Why was he so great?

Look at whaat Jesus said about John church:

Matthew 11:11 NKJV

“Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

John the baptist was greater than Moses, than David, Noah, Abraham, Issac, Jacob and Joseph.

He was greater that Elijah and Elisha, greater than Daniel, Isaiah, and Jeremiah.

He was even greater that the great kings of Israel church, like Hezekiah, Uzziah, and Josiah.

He was greater than all the greats in the Bible and Jesus said, there is not one greater, no not one!

Obviously we know that greatest on of all, Is Jesus, but next to Jesus is John.

Jesus said that John was great and let us not forget that John was ridiculed, rejected, put in prison and finally beheaded because of his message.

Let’s take a look at this man named John:

Read Luke 1:5-

So John’s parents Zach and Elizabeth were old and barren and the Lord showed up and told Zach that they would have a child at their ripe old age.

Can you imagine?

So John was born into the priestly family of the Levites.

So he was not on a priest, but a prophet.

Jesus was a priest, prophet, and King!

Note this text:

Luke 1:15 NKJV

For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.

We see here an indication that he may have taken the Nazarite vow of Numbers 6, but scholars seem unsure of this.

He was filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mothers womb church, this means that this baby was sanctified by God for a purpose.

When this text says he shall neither drink wine or strong drink this means that he did not touch wine any level.

The Jews mixed one part wine to six parts water to kill the bacteria in the water or the contamination, while strong drink in this text would mean straight wine.

How about you? Have you taken the Nazarite vow?

Notice that the text has greatness attached to not drinking.

Great people in God’s kingdom do not risk drinking for the sake of tarnishing their witness.

And church this was no small task because the Jewish culture was full of wine, in fact, the first miracle Jesus did was turning water into wine.

Proverbs 20:1 NKJV

Wine is a mocker, Strong drink is a brawler, And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.

Proverbs 23:29–33 NKJV

Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long at the wine, Those who go in search of mixed wine. Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it swirls around smoothly; At the last it bites like a serpent, And stings like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things, And your heart will utter perverse things.

Let’s get back to talking about John!!!

Luke 1:16–17 NKJV

And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 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.”

Notice that he will turn many of the children of Israel to their God>>>

The angel said to Zacharias that John will go before him in the spirit and the power of Elijah

Where does this come from?

I want to take a look at a text in Malachi:

Malachi 4:5–6 NKJV

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”

Luke used this text to refer to John church, therefore, this text is talking about another Elijah, than the one you read about in the OT.

John the Baptist was a type of Elijah at the first advent of Jesus Christ.

John the Baptist (JB) was an Elijah like person that preached repent or perish.

Much of the time in the OT, when the prophet preached the preached messages of turn or burn church and here in the text we are in we see John preaching the same thing.

John was not trained up in the Jewish Rabbinic schools of the day, he did not go to Bible college or seminary church, but he went to school in the wilderness with the Lord himself.

And there are many here today, if not all of us that have learned a great many things in our wilderness wanderings or when the Lord sends us into the wilderness to learn and grow.

So the last scriptures of the OT here in Malachi tells us of this great man who will show up, before Jesus comes to Judge the earth.

Church, Jesus came as a suffering Servant, but return as a Conquering King!

Are you ready? Because his return is eminent!

Continuing talking about John who was a type of Elijah, I want to draw your attention to another text:

Matthew 17:11–13 NKJV

Jesus answered and said to them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.

Here, we see that Jesus and the disciples are clarifying that John is the fulfillment of Malachi 4:5-6.

John fulfilled this prophecy.

But guess what?

Some of the Jews believed, but many of them did not that John was this fulfillment.

Church, the Jews are still waiting for the Messiah to come, in fact The question about his being Elijah introduces some important truth.

At every orthodox Passover ceremony even today a cup is reserved at the table for Elijah.

At the circumcision of orthodox Jewish baby boys a chair is placed for Elijah.

The anticipation is that, if Elijah would ever come and sit in the chair or drink from the cup, the Messiah’s arrival would be imminent.

That belief is based on Malachi 4:5–6,

Malachi 4:5–6 NKJV

The Jews missed it and Elijah (John the Baptist came as the forerunner)

One last text:

John 1:19–27 NKJV

Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” He said: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord,” ’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”

Here we see the religious leaders confronting John and asking him if he was Elijah and John said no! Because the resected Elijah but rather a type of Elijah church.

As he himself testified, John the Baptist was not the literal, resurrected Elijah most Jews of his day were expecting, or that many Jews of our own day expect. But he was indeed the Elijah that the prophet Malachi predicted would come. Luke 1:17 confirms that when it says that John “will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah.”

John’s life was a rebuke to the religious folk of the day because he did not dress like them, eat like them, or go to their schools.

Everything about John the Baptist was unique and amazing—his sudden public appearance, his life-style, his message, his baptizing, and his humility.

He was born to a mother who was barren. He was a priest by heritage but became a prophet. He forsook his earthly father’s ministry for the sake of his heavenly Father’s.

After spending most of his life in the desert, at the right moment God spoke to his heart, and he began to thunder out the message God had given him in that desert-to announce the coming of the King.

John’s primary place of ministry, like his primary place of training, was in the wilderness of Judea.

By the world’s standards and procedures, the coming of a king, or of a great person of any sort, is proclaimed and prepared for with great expense, pomp, and fanfare. Even the announcer dresses in the best suits, stays in the best hotels, contacts only the best people, and makes preparations for the monarch to visit only the best places. But that was not God’s plan for the heralding of His Son. John the Baptist was born of obscure parents, dressed strangely even for his day, and carried on his ministry mostly in out-of-the-way and unattractive places.

All of that, however, was not incidental or circumstantial. It was symbolic of John’s ministry to call the people away from the corrupt and dead religious system of their day-away from ritualism, worldliness, hypocrisy, and superficiality. John called them away from Jerusalem and Jericho, away from the cities into the wilderness—where most people would not bother to go if they were not serious seekers. John brought them away, where they were freer to listen, think, and ponder, without the distractions and the misleading leaders they were so accustomed to following. In such a seemingly desolate place, they could begin o see the greatness of this man of God and the even greater greatness of the One whose coming he announced.

So there is the man, next week we will learn of his message.

John was a humble man who did not dress like the everyone else, he did not eat of the delicacies the world offered, nor did he attend the Rabbinic schools of the day, but God used him and Jesus even said that there was no one grater than John.

If God used John, how much more can he use you! Remember, he uses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise! What is God calling you to do? How is God’s greatness being manifested in your life?

Prayer

Benediction

1 Corinthians 16:13–14 NKJV

Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love.

THE LORD BLESS YOU!

YOUR MISSION STARTS NOW!

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