WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.120 This week, there's been a lot of things that 00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:07.200 have gone on in our community, in our world, 00:00:07.339 --> 00:00:13.859 in our personal lives that leave people saying 00:00:13.859 --> 00:00:17.719 things like, it's not supposed to be this way. 00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:23.620 It shouldn't be this way. It was never supposed 00:00:23.620 --> 00:00:26.969 to be like this. This isn't the way my life was 00:00:26.969 --> 00:00:28.910 supposed to go. This isn't the way our world 00:00:28.910 --> 00:00:31.469 is supposed to look. This isn't the way things 00:00:31.469 --> 00:00:37.469 are supposed to be. And people are hurting. People 00:00:37.469 --> 00:00:39.689 are suffering. They are struggling. They are 00:00:39.689 --> 00:00:42.850 finding it very hard to just get out of bed in 00:00:42.850 --> 00:00:47.630 the morning. And sadly enough, there are people 00:00:47.630 --> 00:00:51.950 that feel like they just can't keep going. Not 00:00:51.950 --> 00:00:57.719 the way things are going. And to that I say, 00:00:57.960 --> 00:01:02.399 you're right. It is not supposed to be this way. 00:01:02.979 --> 00:01:06.200 It was never supposed to be this way. As we talked 00:01:06.200 --> 00:01:08.500 about last week, and as I'm a firm believer, 00:01:08.840 --> 00:01:11.840 the gospel message says God never intended for 00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:14.760 it to be this way. He intended for it to be a 00:01:14.760 --> 00:01:17.819 better way, the Jesus way. And that's why we 00:01:17.819 --> 00:01:20.140 are having this series, because people are hurting, 00:01:20.299 --> 00:01:22.599 people are struggling, and it feels like the 00:01:22.599 --> 00:01:26.500 church is not doing anything. It feels like the 00:01:26.500 --> 00:01:30.280 church isn't saying anything. And to that, I 00:01:30.280 --> 00:01:34.239 am challenging us to stop being complacent and 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:38.640 to follow Jesus because Jesus spoke, Jesus acted. 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:42.060 When he saw people hurting, Jesus did not sit 00:01:42.060 --> 00:01:46.900 idly by. He gave his life. Regardless of what 00:01:46.900 --> 00:01:51.579 the world says or does, we cannot sit idly by. 00:01:51.719 --> 00:01:55.620 The church has to follow Jesus into the depths 00:01:55.620 --> 00:02:00.079 of Hades and say, hey, follow us. We have the 00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:08.020 way. We know the way. Our God came to this earth 00:02:08.020 --> 00:02:14.439 and exemplified the way. He told us the way. 00:02:15.210 --> 00:02:17.930 So you're right. It was not supposed to be this 00:02:17.930 --> 00:02:21.590 way. And so over the next couple of weeks, we're 00:02:21.590 --> 00:02:23.389 going to follow Jesus. We're going to look at 00:02:23.389 --> 00:02:26.370 Jesus in the Gospel of Luke and see the way it 00:02:26.370 --> 00:02:29.310 was supposed to be, the way we were supposed 00:02:29.310 --> 00:02:31.930 to live, the life we were supposed to have, because 00:02:31.930 --> 00:02:35.009 there is only one way that leads to eternal life. 00:02:35.069 --> 00:02:37.110 There is only one way that leads to abundant 00:02:37.110 --> 00:02:41.330 life, and it is through Jesus Christ. And so 00:02:41.330 --> 00:02:45.129 we follow that way. We commit to living our lives 00:02:45.129 --> 00:02:49.250 in that way. We commit to speaking that way. 00:02:49.490 --> 00:02:52.250 And if we are not going to follow that way, then 00:02:52.250 --> 00:02:54.870 we need to ask ourselves, are we really Christians? 00:02:56.150 --> 00:02:58.969 And I don't like that word. I don't like the 00:02:58.969 --> 00:03:01.949 word Christian. So let's rephrase that. If we're 00:03:01.949 --> 00:03:04.349 not going to follow the way of Jesus, we need 00:03:04.349 --> 00:03:07.550 to ask ourselves, are we disciples of Christ? 00:03:08.969 --> 00:03:11.810 Because there is only one way to live. There's 00:03:11.810 --> 00:03:14.370 only one way to speak that brings life to this 00:03:14.370 --> 00:03:16.030 world, that brings light to this world, and that 00:03:16.030 --> 00:03:23.009 is through the way of Jesus. And so, this morning 00:03:23.009 --> 00:03:25.370 we continue in this series in the Gospel of Luke 00:03:25.370 --> 00:03:27.770 where we're trying to see what exactly is that 00:03:27.770 --> 00:03:30.569 way. Because we talk about following Jesus. We 00:03:30.569 --> 00:03:32.710 talk about living like Jesus. We ask questions 00:03:32.710 --> 00:03:34.810 like, what would Jesus do? What would Jesus say? 00:03:34.889 --> 00:03:37.569 How would he say it? And so, we look at the Gospel 00:03:37.569 --> 00:03:39.930 of Luke to say, well, what does the Bible say? 00:03:40.620 --> 00:03:42.900 Because everything we do, everything we say has 00:03:42.900 --> 00:03:45.900 to be rooted in Scripture. So I want us to continue 00:03:45.900 --> 00:03:48.460 in our study in Luke. And so last week we looked 00:03:48.460 --> 00:03:51.020 at the promise of the way and how long ago God 00:03:51.020 --> 00:03:53.000 promised that he would send a Redeemer, he would 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:55.199 send a Savior that would show us the way we were 00:03:55.199 --> 00:03:57.740 supposed to live. And today I want us to look 00:03:57.740 --> 00:04:00.879 at the one who came before Jesus. And I have 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:04.759 to start with this question. And it's a little 00:04:04.759 --> 00:04:07.939 lighthearted, but also kind of serious. Have 00:04:07.939 --> 00:04:10.580 you ever been to somebody's house? and it felt 00:04:10.580 --> 00:04:12.659 like it was very obvious that they weren't ready 00:04:12.659 --> 00:04:16.019 for you to come over. Don't point at anybody. 00:04:17.079 --> 00:04:21.370 Don't elbow anybody. But have you ever been to 00:04:21.370 --> 00:04:23.709 someone's house and maybe it wasn't clean and 00:04:23.709 --> 00:04:25.810 maybe the food wasn't ready and it felt like 00:04:25.810 --> 00:04:27.970 there's no way they were prepared to have visitors. 00:04:28.290 --> 00:04:30.269 There's no way they were prepared to have company. 00:04:30.449 --> 00:04:32.589 I got to tell you right now, my house looks like 00:04:32.589 --> 00:04:34.689 a train wreck. I've got two toddlers and they 00:04:34.689 --> 00:04:37.709 are messy. And so I've got people coming over, 00:04:37.769 --> 00:04:39.329 our small groups coming over to watch the Super 00:04:39.329 --> 00:04:41.509 Bowl tonight. I got to go home and get ready 00:04:41.509 --> 00:04:43.470 because if I don't, they're going to walk into 00:04:43.470 --> 00:04:46.310 my house and say, yeah, it's obvious he was not 00:04:46.310 --> 00:04:49.319 ready for visitors. And I don't want people to 00:04:49.319 --> 00:04:51.339 say that. I want people to come over and say, 00:04:51.399 --> 00:04:54.980 yeah, this house was prepared. In Luke chapter 00:04:54.980 --> 00:04:58.519 1, we know that the arrival of the Son, or at 00:04:58.519 --> 00:05:00.800 least the Scripture tells us, the arrival of 00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:02.740 the Son of God, the arrival of the Savior, the 00:05:02.740 --> 00:05:05.439 Messiah, the King of the universe is coming soon. 00:05:05.959 --> 00:05:09.199 But before Jesus can come to this earth, someone 00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:12.180 has to come to prepare the way so that the earth 00:05:12.180 --> 00:05:15.620 is ready for its king. A special visitor is coming 00:05:15.620 --> 00:05:18.120 and we've got to make sure that everything is 00:05:18.120 --> 00:05:21.139 ready. And to that, I want to say, church, the 00:05:21.139 --> 00:05:24.120 king is coming again and we need to ask ourselves, 00:05:24.300 --> 00:05:28.839 is his home going to be ready? Is it prepared 00:05:28.839 --> 00:05:33.459 for someone special to come over? Are we ready? 00:05:34.980 --> 00:05:37.579 There's a child that's going to be born before 00:05:37.579 --> 00:05:40.519 Jesus is born, and his name is John, and you 00:05:40.519 --> 00:05:42.939 may know him as John the Baptist. He's pretty 00:05:42.939 --> 00:05:45.620 popular. He's a very well -known guy when it 00:05:45.620 --> 00:05:47.959 comes to Christianity, but something I think 00:05:47.959 --> 00:05:50.420 people don't talk enough about is that John the 00:05:50.420 --> 00:05:52.680 Baptist was actually prophesied and promised 00:05:52.680 --> 00:05:55.939 in the Old Testament just like Jesus was. Back 00:05:55.939 --> 00:05:58.160 in Isaiah, God promises the people of Israel 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:00.339 that the Lord would come, that a savior would 00:06:00.339 --> 00:06:02.920 come. And so God makes this promise. But before 00:06:02.920 --> 00:06:05.819 the Lord gets here, a messenger would come to 00:06:05.819 --> 00:06:10.930 prepare the way. Isaiah chapter 40 verses 3 through 00:06:10.930 --> 00:06:35.060 5 says this, speaking through Isaiah is saying 00:06:35.060 --> 00:06:40.040 this messenger is going to be like a road grader. 00:06:40.139 --> 00:06:42.199 He's going to come through kind of like a fullback. 00:06:42.259 --> 00:06:43.439 We're talking about football because it's Super 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:46.180 Bowl Sunday. A fullback would be this road grader 00:06:46.180 --> 00:06:48.540 to make sure the running back has an opportunity 00:06:48.540 --> 00:06:50.660 to actually make a play. Now, in modern football, 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:53.160 they play like a bunch of sissies, so there are 00:06:53.160 --> 00:06:55.600 no fullbacks, but I'm a proponent for bringing 00:06:55.600 --> 00:06:58.519 back the I formation. Let's get a thick road 00:06:58.519 --> 00:07:01.079 grader in there to make way for the running back 00:07:01.079 --> 00:07:03.629 to get through the heart. And so what God is 00:07:03.629 --> 00:07:06.069 saying is we're going to bring somebody in that's 00:07:06.069 --> 00:07:08.189 going to prepare the way. He's going to open 00:07:08.189 --> 00:07:11.389 up the way so that when Jesus comes, everything 00:07:11.389 --> 00:07:15.649 is ready. Malachi 3 verse 1 puts it another way. 00:07:15.709 --> 00:07:18.410 He says, Behold, I send my messenger and he will 00:07:18.410 --> 00:07:21.269 prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom 00:07:21.269 --> 00:07:23.490 you seek will suddenly come to his temple and 00:07:23.490 --> 00:07:25.490 the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight. 00:07:25.930 --> 00:07:28.569 Behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 00:07:28.610 --> 00:07:32.319 Again, God says. The Savior is coming. I promise 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:35.240 you he's coming. But before he gets there, someone 00:07:35.240 --> 00:07:40.620 has to come to prepare the way before me. And 00:07:40.620 --> 00:07:42.759 so here's what John's father, Zechariah, was 00:07:42.759 --> 00:07:47.089 told in Luke chapter 1. verses 15 through 17, 00:07:47.370 --> 00:07:50.529 he says, he will be great before the Lord and 00:07:50.529 --> 00:07:52.790 he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, he being 00:07:52.790 --> 00:07:55.490 John the Baptist, even from his mother's womb. 00:07:55.689 --> 00:07:57.910 And he will turn many of the children of Israel 00:07:57.910 --> 00:08:00.009 to the Lord their God. And he will go before 00:08:00.009 --> 00:08:03.269 him in the spirit and power of Elijah to make 00:08:03.269 --> 00:08:07.439 ready for the Lord a people prepared. See, the 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:10.740 angel is telling Zechariah that his son John 00:08:10.740 --> 00:08:13.779 would be the one who's going to come to turn 00:08:13.779 --> 00:08:16.420 the people back to God. He's going to come in 00:08:16.420 --> 00:08:18.899 the power and in the spirit of Elijah. And so 00:08:18.899 --> 00:08:21.160 if you know the Old Testament, you know Elijah 00:08:21.160 --> 00:08:23.699 was a prophet. And Elijah was a prophet whose 00:08:23.699 --> 00:08:27.740 message was to call Israel to repent, to turn 00:08:27.740 --> 00:08:31.040 away from their idolatry, to turn away from the 00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:33.179 way that they've kind of fallen in line with 00:08:33.179 --> 00:08:34.820 the ways of the world, the way that they've just 00:08:34.820 --> 00:08:38.279 kind of taken the world. at its word. And so 00:08:38.279 --> 00:08:40.320 the people of Israel, they need to turn away 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:44.639 from that and go back to the one true God. That 00:08:44.639 --> 00:08:48.299 was Elijah's message. And so when the angel comes 00:08:48.299 --> 00:08:51.299 to Zechariah and says, your son, your child is 00:08:51.299 --> 00:08:53.279 going to come in the spirit, the power of Elijah. 00:08:53.519 --> 00:08:55.360 He says, your son is going to be the one that 00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:58.220 tells Israel to turn away from the world and 00:08:58.220 --> 00:09:01.960 go back to the one true God. Church, let me ask 00:09:01.960 --> 00:09:04.159 you a question. Has the church fallen into the 00:09:04.159 --> 00:09:07.110 trap of looking like the world and not following 00:09:07.110 --> 00:09:10.570 the one true God? I'm going to say unequivocally, 00:09:10.570 --> 00:09:14.529 yes. We've got a problem. We have a problem where 00:09:14.529 --> 00:09:16.870 we have become like the people in Malachi, where 00:09:16.870 --> 00:09:19.549 our worship, our devotion has become tainted, 00:09:19.590 --> 00:09:22.870 and we need to make sure that our focus is solely 00:09:22.870 --> 00:09:26.289 on one person, and that is Jesus, that our devotion 00:09:26.289 --> 00:09:29.409 is solely to one God, and that is the God of 00:09:29.409 --> 00:09:31.750 the universe, the God that has made this promise 00:09:31.750 --> 00:09:34.389 from the beginning of time. We have gotten complacent. 00:09:34.389 --> 00:09:36.809 We have gotten distracted, and that is something 00:09:36.809 --> 00:09:42.450 we need to repent of. And so, John comes for 00:09:42.450 --> 00:09:47.110 the same reason to say we need to turn back to 00:09:47.110 --> 00:09:50.450 God. We need to be ready because the Messiah 00:09:50.450 --> 00:09:53.429 is coming. This lines up perfectly what the prophecy 00:09:53.429 --> 00:09:56.029 was in Malachi, what the prophecy was in Isaiah. 00:09:56.269 --> 00:09:59.350 John is born in Luke 1, Jesus is born in Luke 00:09:59.350 --> 00:10:02.269 2. Then John's work shows up in Luke 3 before 00:10:02.269 --> 00:10:05.169 Jesus begins his ministry. And at this time, 00:10:05.250 --> 00:10:07.970 Israel, they're under Roman rule. Israel is still 00:10:07.970 --> 00:10:10.070 living under the law of Moses. We're priests. 00:10:10.169 --> 00:10:12.789 They act as these go -betweens for the people 00:10:12.789 --> 00:10:14.850 and God because at that time, people couldn't 00:10:14.850 --> 00:10:17.649 just go directly to God. They had to have a mediator. 00:10:17.769 --> 00:10:21.230 And so this is the time that John is being born 00:10:21.230 --> 00:10:23.070 into and then eventually what Jesus is being 00:10:23.070 --> 00:10:26.190 born into. And so what Luke tells us is that 00:10:26.190 --> 00:10:28.710 the word of God came to John in the wilderness. 00:10:29.490 --> 00:10:32.470 Does that sound familiar? Because back in that 00:10:32.470 --> 00:10:36.950 Isaiah passage, It said a voice in the wilderness. 00:10:38.990 --> 00:10:43.470 So what was prophesied way back in Isaiah, thousands 00:10:43.470 --> 00:10:46.730 of years before John ever comes on the scene 00:10:46.730 --> 00:10:49.090 is starting to be fulfilled. And so we get to 00:10:49.090 --> 00:10:52.649 Luke chapter 3, verses 3 through 9. And I want 00:10:52.649 --> 00:10:55.409 us to read this whole section and then we'll 00:10:55.409 --> 00:10:58.490 discuss it. Luke chapter 3, verses 3 through 00:10:58.490 --> 00:11:00.860 9. And he went into all the region around the 00:11:00.860 --> 00:11:03.419 Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for 00:11:03.419 --> 00:11:06.100 the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in 00:11:06.100 --> 00:11:08.320 the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, 00:11:08.600 --> 00:11:11.360 the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:13.559 the way of the Lord, make his path straight. 00:11:14.019 --> 00:11:16.559 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:18.740 and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall 00:11:18.740 --> 00:11:20.980 become straight, and the rough places shall become 00:11:20.980 --> 00:11:24.019 level ways, and all flesh shall see the salvation 00:11:24.019 --> 00:11:28.240 of God. He said, therefore, to the crowds that 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:30.919 came out to be baptized by him, you brood of 00:11:30.919 --> 00:11:33.860 vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath 00:11:33.860 --> 00:11:36.700 to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance, 00:11:36.779 --> 00:11:39.539 and do not begin to say to yourselves, we have 00:11:39.539 --> 00:11:42.539 Abraham as our father. For I tell you, God is 00:11:42.539 --> 00:11:44.960 able from these stones to raise up children for 00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:47.820 Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root 00:11:47.820 --> 00:11:50.120 of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that does 00:11:50.120 --> 00:11:52.500 not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into 00:11:52.500 --> 00:11:55.740 the fire. You see, just like Isaiah promised, 00:11:56.080 --> 00:11:59.220 John comes preparing the way for the Messiah. 00:11:59.539 --> 00:12:01.659 He comes preaching this message of repentance, 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:05.539 saying, hey, you need to turn away from everything 00:12:05.539 --> 00:12:07.620 that you've been doing, all the distractions, 00:12:07.960 --> 00:12:09.960 all of the things that you've let take you away 00:12:09.960 --> 00:12:13.019 from God. Turn away from them. Turn away from 00:12:13.019 --> 00:12:15.659 what the world has shaped you into so that you 00:12:15.659 --> 00:12:19.539 can be ready for what Jesus is about to do. Because 00:12:19.539 --> 00:12:23.490 you need to be prepared. You need to be ready. 00:12:24.330 --> 00:12:26.269 You'll often hear people say things like, you 00:12:26.269 --> 00:12:28.970 don't have to be perfect to be saved. You don't 00:12:28.970 --> 00:12:31.129 have to have to have it all together. You don't 00:12:31.129 --> 00:12:33.110 have to know it all before you can be used by 00:12:33.110 --> 00:12:36.330 God. And to that, I would say, amen. You don't 00:12:36.330 --> 00:12:38.250 have to be perfect to be saved. You don't have 00:12:38.250 --> 00:12:39.730 to have it all together. You don't have to know 00:12:39.730 --> 00:12:43.309 it all. But. We cannot confuse that with thinking 00:12:43.309 --> 00:12:46.090 that God intends to leave us where we are. We 00:12:46.090 --> 00:12:48.629 can't confuse that with thinking that God intends 00:12:48.629 --> 00:12:51.529 us to leave us how we are. God doesn't want us 00:12:51.529 --> 00:12:54.269 to be perfect before we come to Him, but He absolutely 00:12:54.269 --> 00:12:57.509 wants us to be perfect. We also know that God 00:12:57.509 --> 00:12:59.590 is gracious enough to know we ain't going to 00:12:59.590 --> 00:13:02.549 be perfect. But He is going to do what He can 00:13:02.549 --> 00:13:04.809 to get us as close there as possible in this 00:13:04.809 --> 00:13:07.049 lifetime, and then when Jesus comes, we will 00:13:07.049 --> 00:13:10.250 be perfect. The day is coming. But what John 00:13:10.250 --> 00:13:13.730 is saying is, hey, you can't stay there. You 00:13:13.730 --> 00:13:15.710 can't stay doing what you've been doing. You 00:13:15.710 --> 00:13:17.649 can't keep living how you've been living. You 00:13:17.649 --> 00:13:19.750 can't keep talking how you've been talking. You 00:13:19.750 --> 00:13:22.250 cannot stay there. You've got to make some changes 00:13:22.250 --> 00:13:25.029 because someone special is coming. Someone perfect 00:13:25.029 --> 00:13:27.870 is coming and he is not coming to hang out with 00:13:27.870 --> 00:13:31.669 people that have no desire to be better. A doctor 00:13:31.669 --> 00:13:33.529 doesn't just go around sick people that want 00:13:33.529 --> 00:13:37.919 to stay sick. I have this problem. And Eliza 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:41.059 loves this about me. I have a lot of issues. 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:44.419 I'm hurt all the time. My back is killing me 00:13:44.419 --> 00:13:47.200 right now. I got bad knees. I got bad ankles. 00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:49.279 I got a bad back. My neck hurts all the time. 00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:53.059 But you know what I do? I just deal with it. 00:13:53.440 --> 00:13:56.159 I just deal with the pain until it's unbearable. 00:13:56.200 --> 00:13:58.279 And then I'll go to the doctor and the doctor 00:13:58.279 --> 00:14:00.240 will diagnose whatever the issue is. And he'll 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:01.779 say, this is what you need to do. Give me the 00:14:01.779 --> 00:14:04.179 prescription, right? So I had this back injury. 00:14:04.919 --> 00:14:07.100 I go to the doctor finally after like four years 00:14:07.100 --> 00:14:09.580 of suffering from it. I go to the doctor. He 00:14:09.580 --> 00:14:12.940 tells me what I need to do. And so I did the 00:14:12.940 --> 00:14:16.340 physical therapy for one physical therapy visit. 00:14:16.519 --> 00:14:18.679 And it was boring and I hated it. So I never 00:14:18.679 --> 00:14:22.019 went back. Guess what? My back still hurts. You 00:14:22.019 --> 00:14:24.200 think a doctor has any desire to help me if I 00:14:24.200 --> 00:14:27.860 don't care to help myself? No. So John comes 00:14:27.860 --> 00:14:30.980 and he says, hey, the Savior's coming, the healer's 00:14:30.980 --> 00:14:33.919 coming, but you've got to be ready to get healed. 00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:37.039 You've got to be ready to be saved. And so he's 00:14:37.039 --> 00:14:39.019 calling them to repentance. And I want to make 00:14:39.019 --> 00:14:41.740 sure, like I said last week, I don't like to 00:14:41.740 --> 00:14:43.720 use churchy words and not explain them because 00:14:43.720 --> 00:14:45.700 I'm aware some of us don't know these words. 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:48.340 So the word repent, we're going to define that 00:14:48.340 --> 00:14:51.840 as to be sorrowful over our sin and to turn away 00:14:51.840 --> 00:14:54.919 from it, to change direction. Because if I'm 00:14:54.919 --> 00:14:57.340 going to say I want to follow Jesus, I've got 00:14:57.340 --> 00:14:59.059 to turn away from the things that are unlike 00:14:59.059 --> 00:15:02.200 Jesus. Jesus is not trying to go where I've been 00:15:02.200 --> 00:15:05.440 going. He's got a better destination. And so 00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:07.480 I've got to turn away from those things. And 00:15:07.480 --> 00:15:09.620 it's important to understand something about 00:15:09.620 --> 00:15:12.080 this preparation that's taking place in scripture. 00:15:12.480 --> 00:15:15.240 John does not come to tell the people to fix 00:15:15.240 --> 00:15:17.769 themselves so that God would love them. I want 00:15:17.769 --> 00:15:20.330 to make that abundantly clear. John's not telling 00:15:20.330 --> 00:15:22.190 them you've got to get it together in order for 00:15:22.190 --> 00:15:25.870 God to like you. John came because God was already 00:15:25.870 --> 00:15:30.450 on the move, acting in love toward them. As we 00:15:30.450 --> 00:15:32.769 discussed last week, God has been on a mission 00:15:32.769 --> 00:15:36.129 to save us from the moment man sinned. And this 00:15:36.129 --> 00:15:38.450 is a part of it. This is a part of that mission. 00:15:38.570 --> 00:15:42.159 And repentance... Repentance is not the price 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:44.899 of admission into God's family. It's the appropriate 00:15:44.899 --> 00:15:47.340 response to being invited in the first place. 00:15:47.639 --> 00:15:51.159 It's a response of love. Romans 2, 4 tells us 00:15:51.159 --> 00:15:54.000 God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance. 00:15:55.120 --> 00:15:58.419 We repent. We turn away from our sin, not to 00:15:58.419 --> 00:16:01.399 earn God's love, but because God has already 00:16:01.399 --> 00:16:03.980 shown us a great love. So I want to be clear. 00:16:04.179 --> 00:16:07.120 John is preparing the way not by handing people 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:09.480 a checklist, not by telling people what they've 00:16:09.480 --> 00:16:12.379 got to do in order to be liked by God. John is 00:16:12.379 --> 00:16:15.000 preparing the way by making the people aware 00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:18.840 that God is graciously inviting them into his 00:16:18.840 --> 00:16:22.620 family, regardless of where they come from. regardless 00:16:22.620 --> 00:16:25.139 of what they look like, regardless of what language 00:16:25.139 --> 00:16:27.559 they speak, regardless of what they have done 00:16:27.559 --> 00:16:30.379 in their past, regardless of what they're doing 00:16:30.379 --> 00:16:33.580 in their present, God is inviting them into his 00:16:33.580 --> 00:16:37.320 family. And repenting, turning away is important. 00:16:37.460 --> 00:16:40.200 As we see John, what he says in verse nine is 00:16:40.200 --> 00:16:42.720 that those who don't bear good fruit, those that 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:44.840 are not bearing good fruit are going to be cut 00:16:44.840 --> 00:16:48.220 down when Jesus comes. Sounds like a Johnny Cash 00:16:48.220 --> 00:16:52.929 song. Sooner or later. God will cut you down. 00:16:53.789 --> 00:16:56.230 That's what John the Baptist said, right? He 00:16:56.230 --> 00:16:57.750 said, if you're not bearing good fruit, if you're 00:16:57.750 --> 00:17:00.509 not doing the right things, if you're not showing 00:17:00.509 --> 00:17:03.230 that you have been changed by God and the Holy 00:17:03.230 --> 00:17:06.170 Spirit, you will be cut down. And he kind of 00:17:06.170 --> 00:17:07.710 goes a little bit further. He says, not only 00:17:07.710 --> 00:17:09.490 will you be cut down, but you're getting thrown 00:17:09.490 --> 00:17:12.769 in the brush pile that gets burned. And what 00:17:12.769 --> 00:17:14.950 happens when it gets burned? It's gone forever. 00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:18.059 So he's calling the people, and that's a little 00:17:18.059 --> 00:17:20.119 hellfire and brimstone, but John doesn't care, 00:17:20.180 --> 00:17:22.599 so neither do I. You've got to turn away from 00:17:22.599 --> 00:17:24.859 the sin. You've got to stop doing what you've 00:17:24.859 --> 00:17:28.440 been doing and get on board with the Jesus way, 00:17:28.660 --> 00:17:32.279 which is kind of foretelling because Jesus hadn't 00:17:32.279 --> 00:17:35.259 come yet. But John's saying there's a new way 00:17:35.259 --> 00:17:39.099 coming. Because if we simply ask for forgiveness, 00:17:39.160 --> 00:17:41.700 but we don't change our way of living, if we 00:17:41.700 --> 00:17:44.380 simply ask God to forgive us and we say, God, 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:46.559 will you let me into your family, but we don't 00:17:46.559 --> 00:17:49.539 bear good fruit, how will our life be ready when 00:17:49.539 --> 00:17:54.420 Christ returns? What will he find? Again, this 00:17:54.420 --> 00:17:56.319 isn't about earning, and I hope it doesn't sound 00:17:56.319 --> 00:17:59.180 like that. It's about showing that the preparation 00:17:59.180 --> 00:18:02.839 and change has taken root. It's about showing 00:18:02.839 --> 00:18:06.200 that something different is going on within us. 00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:11.200 And so the question for us becomes, what have 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:15.599 we been doing? Because Scripture speaks to the 00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:18.440 people then, and it speaks to the people now. 00:18:19.180 --> 00:18:22.720 And so for the people then, John is saying, hey, 00:18:22.859 --> 00:18:25.880 whatever you've been doing, it needs to change. 00:18:27.319 --> 00:18:30.220 And you will be judged based on what you have 00:18:30.220 --> 00:18:33.509 done. and what Christ has done in you. Now, we 00:18:33.509 --> 00:18:35.809 know the answer to what Christ has done in us. 00:18:36.210 --> 00:18:38.589 We know Jesus has come. He's died on the cross. 00:18:38.670 --> 00:18:41.069 He's rose from the dead. He has saved us. He's 00:18:41.069 --> 00:18:44.869 offered us a free gift of redeemed life. We know 00:18:44.869 --> 00:18:47.170 that. Hopefully, if you didn't know that, I'm 00:18:47.170 --> 00:18:49.349 telling you now. Jesus has come. He's offered 00:18:49.349 --> 00:18:52.089 you the free gift of a redeemed life. Okay, all 00:18:52.089 --> 00:18:54.930 got that baseline, right? Then the question becomes, 00:18:55.250 --> 00:18:58.829 what fruit am I bearing? What fruit has my life 00:18:58.829 --> 00:19:02.240 bore? What does my life look like? When people 00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:04.759 see me, do they see someone who has been changed? 00:19:04.940 --> 00:19:06.920 Do they see someone who has turned away from 00:19:06.920 --> 00:19:08.839 the sinful ways of the world and has started 00:19:08.839 --> 00:19:11.779 living like Jesus? What does my life look like? 00:19:11.819 --> 00:19:15.859 What have I been doing? I'll put it another way. 00:19:18.099 --> 00:19:21.039 When I was little, my grandma would go to work. 00:19:21.579 --> 00:19:25.059 She'd leave us at home. And on the kitchen table 00:19:25.059 --> 00:19:27.980 would be a list of things we needed to get done 00:19:27.980 --> 00:19:31.150 while she was at work. dishes need to be washed, 00:19:31.390 --> 00:19:33.970 trash need to be taken out, living room need 00:19:33.970 --> 00:19:36.250 to be vacuumed, beds need to be made, blah, blah, 00:19:36.269 --> 00:19:38.190 blah, blah, blah. You know, the chore list, the 00:19:38.190 --> 00:19:40.930 worst list in the world. At the bottom of the 00:19:40.930 --> 00:19:43.809 list though, my grandma in her amazing way of 00:19:43.809 --> 00:19:50.569 words, she would write, do this or else trouble, 00:19:50.849 --> 00:19:57.569 exclamation point. Now, My grandma is from the 00:19:57.569 --> 00:19:59.950 Philippines. She stopped going to school around 00:19:59.950 --> 00:20:01.950 like the third grade there because that's just 00:20:01.950 --> 00:20:04.750 a thing they do. And so my grandma's English 00:20:04.750 --> 00:20:07.210 is not very well or very good. Neither is mine 00:20:07.210 --> 00:20:13.789 apparently. Yeah. So my grandma writing this 00:20:13.789 --> 00:20:17.269 message at the bottom saying do this or else 00:20:17.269 --> 00:20:20.190 trouble exclamation point was her saying a lot 00:20:20.190 --> 00:20:22.910 of words. In other words, my grandma was saying 00:20:22.910 --> 00:20:24.569 you're going to get tore up if I get home and 00:20:24.569 --> 00:20:28.700 this isn't done. Because she would come home 00:20:28.700 --> 00:20:31.859 and she would look at us with no other responsibilities 00:20:31.859 --> 00:20:36.140 and say, what have you been doing all day? And 00:20:36.140 --> 00:20:40.460 so maybe you've been here before. You know what 00:20:40.460 --> 00:20:44.079 a clock looks like. And you know what time your 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:46.000 parent gets home from work. So I knew my grandma 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:48.140 would get home from work around 5, 36 o 'clock. 00:20:48.880 --> 00:20:52.579 And I knew that we lived in an apartment complex 00:20:52.579 --> 00:20:55.240 right next to the Winn -Dixie that my grandma 00:20:55.240 --> 00:20:58.839 worked at. I knew it took her about four to five 00:20:58.839 --> 00:21:00.559 minutes to walk there. She had little legs, so 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:04.619 it took her a long time to walk. So I knew, okay, 00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:09.380 she gets off about 5 .30, 6 o 'clock. If I start 00:21:09.380 --> 00:21:14.920 cleaning at about 5 .25, I got about 10 minutes 00:21:14.920 --> 00:21:22.660 to clean. So I would do it. And then 5 .30 would 00:21:22.660 --> 00:21:26.470 come around, and I'm looking around. And I realize 00:21:26.470 --> 00:21:31.630 I am not prepared for grandma to get home. I'm 00:21:31.630 --> 00:21:33.490 not prepared for the trouble I'm about to get 00:21:33.490 --> 00:21:37.769 in. So what I'd start doing is thinking of all 00:21:37.769 --> 00:21:41.009 of the excuses and stories I could tell to get 00:21:41.009 --> 00:21:43.869 out of the trouble I was about to be in. And 00:21:43.869 --> 00:21:48.670 as good as I am with words, I was never good 00:21:48.670 --> 00:21:51.430 enough to talk my way out of the punishment that 00:21:51.430 --> 00:21:56.710 came. But I'd ask the question, am I ready? Am 00:21:56.710 --> 00:21:58.809 I ready for the punishment that's coming? Am 00:21:58.809 --> 00:22:00.829 I ready for my grandma to get home? Am I ready 00:22:00.829 --> 00:22:03.529 for what's about to happen when she sees what 00:22:03.529 --> 00:22:06.490 I have been doing or not doing while she was 00:22:06.490 --> 00:22:11.430 gone? And so as a church, When we think about 00:22:11.430 --> 00:22:13.930 the fact that Jesus is coming again and he's 00:22:13.930 --> 00:22:16.210 told us what he needs us to do, he's shown us 00:22:16.210 --> 00:22:18.690 the way we need to live and he has given us the 00:22:18.690 --> 00:22:21.349 things, the mission that he wants us to be on 00:22:21.349 --> 00:22:24.269 in this world. Are we prepared for when he comes 00:22:24.269 --> 00:22:27.269 back, when he looks at us and says, did you not 00:22:27.269 --> 00:22:31.230 see the list of things I gave you to do? And 00:22:31.230 --> 00:22:33.650 I got to tell you, in case you don't know, the 00:22:33.650 --> 00:22:37.289 list of things is actually really short. Love 00:22:37.289 --> 00:22:42.380 God, love people. Make disciples. Three things. 00:22:44.119 --> 00:22:46.900 And we've got a lot of time to do it. Lord willing, 00:22:46.960 --> 00:22:52.599 we get a lot more. Love God, love people, make 00:22:52.599 --> 00:22:57.059 disciples. And I'm afraid if Jesus came back 00:22:57.059 --> 00:23:01.259 today, he would look at us and say, what have 00:23:01.259 --> 00:23:05.839 you been doing? You've had 2 ,000 years. What 00:23:05.839 --> 00:23:08.789 have you been doing? I think if Jesus came back 00:23:08.789 --> 00:23:12.170 in like the first or second century, he would 00:23:12.170 --> 00:23:14.869 be so proud of them. He'd look at them and say, 00:23:14.930 --> 00:23:17.170 y 'all have made so many disciples. You took 00:23:17.170 --> 00:23:19.910 over Rome with Christianity and not in like a 00:23:19.910 --> 00:23:22.349 Christian nationalist way, but you just made 00:23:22.349 --> 00:23:24.450 disciples that made disciples that made disciples 00:23:24.450 --> 00:23:28.250 and it took over. And so. He'd look at them. 00:23:28.269 --> 00:23:30.690 He'd be proud. I think he'd look at us, and he'd 00:23:30.690 --> 00:23:33.029 say, what have you been doing? Have you just 00:23:33.029 --> 00:23:34.950 been sitting on your hands? Have you been sitting 00:23:34.950 --> 00:23:36.569 around playing video games? You've been sitting 00:23:36.569 --> 00:23:39.049 around watching football? For me, it was watching 00:23:39.049 --> 00:23:41.490 the Discovery Channel. I love Man vs. Wild. Great 00:23:41.490 --> 00:23:43.730 show. Highly recommend it. So I'd sit around 00:23:43.730 --> 00:23:46.410 and watch that, and you get consumed in the TV, 00:23:46.549 --> 00:23:48.829 right? And then the time passes, and you look 00:23:48.829 --> 00:23:51.349 at the clock, and it's 525, and you think, oh 00:23:51.349 --> 00:23:56.230 no, she's coming. But here's the thing with Jesus, 00:23:56.329 --> 00:23:59.710 we don't know when he's coming. John was able 00:23:59.710 --> 00:24:04.390 to give a warning to say he's coming. Be prepared. 00:24:04.690 --> 00:24:08.289 Be ready. And so I guess what I'm doing this 00:24:08.289 --> 00:24:10.230 morning is saying, hey, he might be coming back 00:24:10.230 --> 00:24:14.130 today. He might come back tomorrow. Are we ready? 00:24:16.549 --> 00:24:20.710 Are we prepared? John came to prepare hearts 00:24:20.710 --> 00:24:26.660 for a new way. The way. Not just any way, but 00:24:26.660 --> 00:24:29.200 the way that is aligned with the heart of God, 00:24:29.380 --> 00:24:32.539 the way that does love people extremely, the 00:24:32.539 --> 00:24:36.000 way that does value people highly, a way that 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:39.819 says you are loved, you are valued by the king 00:24:39.819 --> 00:24:44.099 of the universe. So much so that he would go 00:24:44.099 --> 00:24:48.500 and hug the leper, that he would sit with the 00:24:48.500 --> 00:24:51.700 adulterous woman. that he would be there with 00:24:51.700 --> 00:24:53.640 the lame man, that he would put hands on the 00:24:53.640 --> 00:24:56.779 blind man, so much so that he would get known 00:24:56.779 --> 00:24:59.480 as someone who sits at the table with sinners 00:24:59.480 --> 00:25:03.059 and tax collectors. That is the heart of God, 00:25:03.299 --> 00:25:07.480 not to excuse their sin, but to affirm his love 00:25:07.480 --> 00:25:12.880 for them. And so we, as the church, are being 00:25:12.880 --> 00:25:17.160 hopefully prepared to live in that way, the Jesus 00:25:17.160 --> 00:25:20.160 way, in aligning our hearts with God's heart 00:25:20.160 --> 00:25:23.839 through repentance that leads to action. Because 00:25:23.839 --> 00:25:26.119 it has to lead to action. This is what John chapter 00:25:26.119 --> 00:25:29.519 3, verses 10 through 14 says. And the crowds 00:25:29.519 --> 00:25:32.680 asked him, what then shall we do? And he answered 00:25:32.680 --> 00:25:34.759 them, whoever has two tunics is to share with 00:25:34.759 --> 00:25:37.400 him who has none. And whoever has food is to 00:25:37.400 --> 00:25:40.690 do likewise. Tax collectors also came to be baptized 00:25:40.690 --> 00:25:42.490 and they said to him, Teacher, what shall we 00:25:42.490 --> 00:25:44.589 do? And he said to them, Collect no more than 00:25:44.589 --> 00:25:47.470 you are authorized to do. Soldiers asked him, 00:25:47.569 --> 00:25:50.029 And we, what shall we do? And he said to them, 00:25:50.089 --> 00:25:52.430 Do not extort money from anyone by threats or 00:25:52.430 --> 00:25:54.849 by false accusation and be content with your 00:25:54.849 --> 00:26:02.829 wages. Do you see a difference there in what 00:26:02.829 --> 00:26:06.210 John is telling them to do and what humanity 00:26:06.210 --> 00:26:10.960 has always said to do? Humanity says, fill your 00:26:10.960 --> 00:26:14.819 closet with all the nicest jackets. And John 00:26:14.819 --> 00:26:16.920 says, if you have an extra jacket and you see 00:26:16.920 --> 00:26:20.579 somebody cold, give them the jacket. Humanity 00:26:20.579 --> 00:26:22.660 says, fill the pantry. I mean, you have whole 00:26:22.660 --> 00:26:25.519 shows of people that are doomsday prepping for 00:26:25.519 --> 00:26:28.160 an apocalypse that may not ever come, and they've 00:26:28.160 --> 00:26:30.500 got these bunkers full of food. And if you're 00:26:30.500 --> 00:26:33.200 a prepper, I'm not judging you. Just, you know, 00:26:33.220 --> 00:26:36.039 keep your freeze -dried food. But you've got 00:26:36.039 --> 00:26:38.160 these bunkers full of food and these pantries 00:26:38.160 --> 00:26:40.839 full of food. And John is saying, if you've got 00:26:40.839 --> 00:26:43.259 all this food and you see somebody hungry, give 00:26:43.259 --> 00:26:46.420 them food. The tax collector's like, what should 00:26:46.420 --> 00:26:50.079 we do? And he says, hey, don't just save up these 00:26:50.079 --> 00:26:53.480 riches for yourself. Be honest. Give some money 00:26:53.480 --> 00:26:56.019 to the poor. He looks at the soldiers. He says, 00:26:56.039 --> 00:26:58.259 don't extort them. Don't make them feel like 00:26:58.259 --> 00:27:00.380 they've got to give you extra because they're 00:27:00.380 --> 00:27:04.700 afraid. Give them some. You see, what John is 00:27:04.700 --> 00:27:07.680 calling us to is not an end of life. He's calling 00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:10.519 us to a new life. Repentance is not the end of 00:27:10.519 --> 00:27:13.380 self. It's simply the beginning of a new and 00:27:13.380 --> 00:27:17.660 better way of living. And John is giving us a 00:27:17.660 --> 00:27:20.180 glimpse into the way that Jesus will look in 00:27:20.180 --> 00:27:25.200 this world. Because Jesus lived like that. He 00:27:25.200 --> 00:27:27.700 lived a life that was selfless. He lived a life 00:27:27.700 --> 00:27:30.059 that wasn't concerned with himself, that wasn't 00:27:30.059 --> 00:27:32.339 consumed with himself, that wasn't worried about 00:27:32.339 --> 00:27:34.920 preparing for a day that may not come. And I'm 00:27:34.920 --> 00:27:37.980 not saying retirement and savings are bad. All 00:27:37.980 --> 00:27:41.000 I'm saying is it cannot be all about us because 00:27:41.000 --> 00:27:44.000 if it is all about me, I am not following Jesus 00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:48.160 correctly because Jesus was not selfless. Whoa, 00:27:48.160 --> 00:27:53.339 Jesus was not selfish. He was selfless. He was 00:27:53.339 --> 00:27:56.200 the embodiment of selflessness. And that is a 00:27:56.200 --> 00:27:59.180 glimpse of what John, or that is what John is 00:27:59.180 --> 00:28:01.579 giving us a glimpse into. It's a life turned 00:28:01.579 --> 00:28:03.759 away from the way of this world that looks like 00:28:03.759 --> 00:28:05.940 generosity instead of greed, that looks like 00:28:05.940 --> 00:28:09.039 honesty instead of exploitation, that looks like 00:28:09.039 --> 00:28:11.900 contentment instead of envy. And we will see 00:28:11.900 --> 00:28:14.319 this fully lived out in Jesus as we go through 00:28:14.319 --> 00:28:17.099 Luke and as we see in the Gospels. So when John 00:28:17.099 --> 00:28:20.039 calls people to repentance, when he calls them 00:28:20.039 --> 00:28:23.150 to align, with God's heart. He is preparing them 00:28:23.150 --> 00:28:28.829 for Jesus to establish his way in them. I was 00:28:28.829 --> 00:28:30.910 listening to a sermon last night as we were driving 00:28:30.910 --> 00:28:35.049 back from out of town. And conveniently enough, 00:28:35.130 --> 00:28:36.890 one of my favorite preachers, he is currently 00:28:36.890 --> 00:28:40.029 preaching a series called The Way of Jesus. And 00:28:40.029 --> 00:28:42.890 in this, he talks about how when he was student 00:28:42.890 --> 00:28:45.930 teaching in college, he had to go to this school 00:28:45.930 --> 00:28:47.849 that was kind of in a rougher area of Montgomery. 00:28:50.030 --> 00:28:52.549 He's student teaching there. He was a PE major, 00:28:52.730 --> 00:28:55.650 so he was going to do a PE class. And he walks 00:28:55.650 --> 00:28:58.269 in and he said like the first day before class 00:28:58.269 --> 00:29:00.289 even started, some students started just fighting. 00:29:00.490 --> 00:29:03.890 And that was just normal. And so he felt like 00:29:03.890 --> 00:29:06.109 as the leader in the room, he needed to break 00:29:06.109 --> 00:29:08.869 up the fight. And so he goes to break it up and 00:29:08.869 --> 00:29:10.829 the teacher that he's student teaching under 00:29:10.829 --> 00:29:14.809 kind of stops him and says, uh -uh, we do it 00:29:14.809 --> 00:29:16.470 a little differently here. We let them finish 00:29:16.470 --> 00:29:22.660 it. We've got a different way. And he realized 00:29:22.660 --> 00:29:26.140 after that, that when he learned the way they 00:29:26.140 --> 00:29:29.160 did things there, it made it so much easier for 00:29:29.160 --> 00:29:32.819 him to connect and teach these students. I would 00:29:32.819 --> 00:29:34.740 say the same is true for us when it comes to 00:29:34.740 --> 00:29:38.339 Christ. If we will understand the way of Jesus, 00:29:38.910 --> 00:29:41.069 It will make it so much easier to understand 00:29:41.069 --> 00:29:43.109 his teachings. It will make it so much easier 00:29:43.109 --> 00:29:46.589 to live out his commands. We have to first understand 00:29:46.589 --> 00:29:50.349 his way. And so John comes to prepare the hearts, 00:29:50.430 --> 00:29:53.289 prepare the way, so that when Jesus comes, we 00:29:53.289 --> 00:29:56.049 can better understand what he is teaching us. 00:29:57.029 --> 00:29:59.910 And I want you to notice, I wouldn't be a Church 00:29:59.910 --> 00:30:01.950 of Christ preacher if I didn't mention that this 00:30:01.950 --> 00:30:05.470 includes baptism. Luke chapter 3 verse 3 tells 00:30:05.470 --> 00:30:08.269 us John was proclaiming a baptism of repentance 00:30:08.269 --> 00:30:10.910 for the forgiveness of sins. And everybody says, 00:30:11.049 --> 00:30:14.670 Amen. Then you look at Luke chapter 3 verses 00:30:14.670 --> 00:30:17.769 15 through 17. John answered, I baptize you with 00:30:17.769 --> 00:30:20.450 water, but he who is mightier than I is coming. 00:30:21.170 --> 00:30:24.369 Again, John keeps pointing to Jesus. He says, 00:30:24.369 --> 00:30:26.950 He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and 00:30:26.950 --> 00:30:32.930 fire. John makes it clear that he's not the point. 00:30:34.029 --> 00:30:35.990 Yeah, I'm here baptizing, but it's not about 00:30:35.990 --> 00:30:38.829 me. Yeah, I'm here preaching, but it's not about 00:30:38.829 --> 00:30:41.670 me. Yeah, I'm here doing great things. It's not 00:30:41.670 --> 00:30:45.430 about me. John also makes it clear that he's 00:30:45.430 --> 00:30:49.150 not the destination, that this baptism that he 00:30:49.150 --> 00:30:52.009 is helping them with is not the end -all be -all. 00:30:52.430 --> 00:30:54.670 That this message of repentance that he's preaching 00:30:54.670 --> 00:30:57.450 is not the end all be all. It is simply preparation 00:30:57.450 --> 00:31:00.450 for the one who is coming. It is a preparation 00:31:00.450 --> 00:31:03.490 of heart for Jesus to come in, for the Holy Spirit 00:31:03.490 --> 00:31:08.650 to come in and change their lives. I would put 00:31:08.650 --> 00:31:14.009 it this way. John is saying, I'm just the prep 00:31:14.009 --> 00:31:18.630 team, but the varsity is coming. The greater 00:31:18.630 --> 00:31:22.019 one is coming. The one who is far more capable, 00:31:22.279 --> 00:31:24.920 the one who is far more qualified, who is far 00:31:24.920 --> 00:31:29.559 more perfect is coming. Jesus is coming. And 00:31:29.559 --> 00:31:32.740 when Jesus arrives, he himself is baptized by 00:31:32.740 --> 00:31:35.380 John. We can't skip over that. Now, Jesus didn't 00:31:35.380 --> 00:31:38.140 need baptism because Jesus was sinless. Jesus 00:31:38.140 --> 00:31:40.660 never sinned. He was perfect, but he was baptized 00:31:40.660 --> 00:31:46.380 by John. Even in his sinlessness, Jesus steps 00:31:46.380 --> 00:31:49.519 into the dirty water, just like everyone else. 00:31:51.400 --> 00:31:54.599 And I've never understood that. I asked the question 00:31:54.599 --> 00:31:56.519 why, and as I thought about it a little bit more, 00:31:56.680 --> 00:32:00.640 I think what I've landed on is this. Jesus steps 00:32:00.640 --> 00:32:02.880 into the dirty water just like everyone else 00:32:02.880 --> 00:32:05.680 because Jesus doesn't come to just tell us about 00:32:05.680 --> 00:32:08.059 the way. He doesn't just come to teach and talk 00:32:08.059 --> 00:32:13.950 about it. Jesus lives it out. He walks it. Jesus 00:32:13.950 --> 00:32:16.730 goes down into the water. He rises again, and 00:32:16.730 --> 00:32:18.730 when he does, Luke chapter 3, verses 21 through 00:32:18.730 --> 00:32:21.289 22 says, the heavens were opened, the Holy Spirit 00:32:21.289 --> 00:32:23.809 descended on him in bodily form like a dove, 00:32:23.950 --> 00:32:26.990 and a voice came from heaven. You are my beloved 00:32:26.990 --> 00:32:29.930 son. With you, I am well pleased. And I say all 00:32:29.930 --> 00:32:33.069 of that to say, if we're going to follow Jesus, 00:32:33.230 --> 00:32:36.890 we have to do Jesus things. And if Jesus felt 00:32:36.890 --> 00:32:40.769 like he needed to be baptized, who am I to argue? 00:32:41.740 --> 00:32:44.799 If Jesus felt like he needed the gift of the 00:32:44.799 --> 00:32:48.029 Holy Spirit. Who am I to argue? Jesus clearly 00:32:48.029 --> 00:32:51.230 saw something important in baptism, in repentance, 00:32:51.490 --> 00:32:54.289 in living with the Holy Spirit on him. And so 00:32:54.289 --> 00:32:56.809 he does this. And so I want to be just like Jesus. 00:32:56.970 --> 00:32:59.450 I want to walk so closely to Jesus that people 00:32:59.450 --> 00:33:01.410 look at me and they say, you smell like him. 00:33:01.430 --> 00:33:03.230 And I don't know what Jesus smelled like. I don't 00:33:03.230 --> 00:33:05.009 think they had really good showers back then. 00:33:05.230 --> 00:33:07.829 So I don't really want to smell like him. It's 00:33:07.829 --> 00:33:09.890 a figure of speech. But I want people to know 00:33:09.890 --> 00:33:12.630 where Jesus has been, I have been because I've 00:33:12.630 --> 00:33:15.049 been so close to him. And so what Jesus does, 00:33:15.150 --> 00:33:17.829 I want to do. And so Jesus in this moment, he 00:33:17.829 --> 00:33:20.289 hasn't performed a single miracle yet. He hasn't 00:33:20.289 --> 00:33:22.369 begun his ministry yet. He hadn't preached in 00:33:22.369 --> 00:33:24.809 front of thousands of people yet, but he pleases 00:33:24.809 --> 00:33:29.910 God in his actions. And here's what God says. 00:33:30.130 --> 00:33:35.029 You are my beloved son. God is already pleased 00:33:35.029 --> 00:33:37.349 with Jesus before he ever does a single great 00:33:37.349 --> 00:33:41.089 thing. And the only reason I can think of is 00:33:41.089 --> 00:33:44.420 why. is because belonging to God comes before 00:33:44.420 --> 00:33:47.460 performance. And if I belong to God, then I have 00:33:47.460 --> 00:33:49.319 to know I'm loved by Him because I don't have 00:33:49.319 --> 00:33:51.579 to. He doesn't have to claim me. He doesn't have 00:33:51.579 --> 00:33:53.279 to look at me and say, that's my son, that's 00:33:53.279 --> 00:33:56.460 my child. But I belong to Him before I've ever 00:33:56.460 --> 00:33:59.579 performed a thing. And right after this, in Luke 00:33:59.579 --> 00:34:02.539 4, verses 1 through 13, Jesus faces testing in 00:34:02.539 --> 00:34:05.200 the wilderness. But I want you to notice, He 00:34:05.200 --> 00:34:08.019 doesn't enter the wilderness empty. He enters 00:34:08.019 --> 00:34:10.280 full of the Holy Spirit. Again, Jesus knew He 00:34:10.280 --> 00:34:13.980 needed. the spirit. So when pressure comes on 00:34:13.980 --> 00:34:16.340 Jesus, when he's tempted, when temptation shows 00:34:16.340 --> 00:34:19.059 up, when compromises are offered by the enemy, 00:34:19.360 --> 00:34:22.239 Jesus stands firm. He stands firm because he 00:34:22.239 --> 00:34:24.900 was prepared. He was empowered for moments like 00:34:24.900 --> 00:34:27.659 this. Preparation is proven when pressure comes. 00:34:28.380 --> 00:34:31.739 When pressure comes, you know exactly what you're 00:34:31.739 --> 00:34:35.400 made of. I heard a baseball coach say, you know 00:34:35.400 --> 00:34:37.400 what kind of team you have after you lose your 00:34:37.400 --> 00:34:40.590 first game. Because after you lose your first 00:34:40.590 --> 00:34:43.449 game, you know how your team can handle being 00:34:43.449 --> 00:34:48.429 punched in the mouth. I think it was maybe Rocky 00:34:48.429 --> 00:34:51.510 Balboa that said, it's not about how hard you 00:34:51.510 --> 00:34:53.829 can get hit, but how hard, or what is it? Not 00:34:53.829 --> 00:34:55.849 about how hard you can get hit, but how hard 00:34:55.849 --> 00:34:58.309 you can get hit and get up again. So you think 00:34:58.309 --> 00:35:00.869 about the preparation is proven when the pressure 00:35:00.869 --> 00:35:03.050 comes. I want you to think about it like this. 00:35:03.760 --> 00:35:06.000 You never really know how prepared you are for 00:35:06.000 --> 00:35:08.480 an emergency when everything is calm. You find 00:35:08.480 --> 00:35:10.659 out when the power goes out. A lot of people 00:35:10.659 --> 00:35:12.639 found out they were not prepared for their power 00:35:12.639 --> 00:35:15.179 to go out recently. There's a lot of cold people 00:35:15.179 --> 00:35:17.400 in places like Nashville, in places like North 00:35:17.400 --> 00:35:19.579 Mississippi that are suffering because they weren't 00:35:19.579 --> 00:35:22.619 prepared for that kind of danger. You realize 00:35:22.619 --> 00:35:25.400 how prepared you are when the diagnosis comes 00:35:25.400 --> 00:35:28.409 back. You realize how prepared you are when the 00:35:28.409 --> 00:35:31.050 relationship is broken. You realize how prepared 00:35:31.050 --> 00:35:33.710 you are when temptation shows up unannounced. 00:35:33.869 --> 00:35:36.389 In those moments, you don't rise to the level 00:35:36.389 --> 00:35:38.889 of your intentions. You fall to the level of 00:35:38.889 --> 00:35:41.650 your preparation. And so John has come to prepare 00:35:41.650 --> 00:35:44.829 the people so that when pressure comes their 00:35:44.829 --> 00:35:49.190 way, they know exactly how to respond. And to 00:35:49.190 --> 00:35:52.320 that, I would say. We have scripture to help 00:35:52.320 --> 00:35:54.500 prepare us. The Holy Spirit is there to help 00:35:54.500 --> 00:35:57.380 prepare us so that when pressure comes our way, 00:35:57.619 --> 00:36:03.099 we know exactly how to respond. Are we responding 00:36:03.099 --> 00:36:07.340 in the Jesus way? Because repentance isn't just 00:36:07.340 --> 00:36:10.219 about what we walk away from. It's about what 00:36:10.219 --> 00:36:13.460 we walk toward. The life that we choose to step 00:36:13.460 --> 00:36:16.840 into and walk in. And baptism isn't just a moment 00:36:16.840 --> 00:36:18.980 of forgiveness. It's a surrendered life that 00:36:18.980 --> 00:36:21.420 follows. It's a life that says, I'm going to 00:36:21.420 --> 00:36:25.880 live like my rabbi. And so here's the invitation 00:36:25.880 --> 00:36:29.199 this morning. For the Christian, for the Christ 00:36:29.199 --> 00:36:31.840 follower, for the disciple, I ask you this. Is 00:36:31.840 --> 00:36:33.900 there anything in your life that is crooked, 00:36:33.980 --> 00:36:37.460 that needs to be made straight? Is there anything 00:36:37.460 --> 00:36:40.800 in your life that is keeping Jesus out, that 00:36:40.800 --> 00:36:43.920 is blocking Jesus from having full rule and reign 00:36:43.920 --> 00:36:46.860 in your heart, that is making it hard for Jesus 00:36:46.860 --> 00:36:50.400 to instill his way in you? Not because you're 00:36:50.400 --> 00:36:53.420 lost, but because you want to be prepared for 00:36:53.420 --> 00:36:56.280 whatever it is that Jesus is trying to do through 00:36:56.280 --> 00:37:00.000 your life. Because you don't want to be found 00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:03.800 when he returns not bearing good fruit. Because 00:37:03.800 --> 00:37:05.900 you don't want to be cut down. and thrown into 00:37:05.900 --> 00:37:08.880 the fire. And for those who haven't committed 00:37:08.880 --> 00:37:12.179 their lives to Christ yet, I need to say this 00:37:12.179 --> 00:37:14.199 very clearly, and I want you to hear this. You 00:37:14.199 --> 00:37:17.059 don't have to clean yourself up first before 00:37:17.059 --> 00:37:20.360 you can be redeemed. You don't have to be perfect 00:37:20.360 --> 00:37:24.099 before you can be saved. Jesus steps into the 00:37:24.099 --> 00:37:32.179 dirty water with you. Jesus wants you to be a 00:37:32.179 --> 00:37:38.000 part of his family. Belonging comes before believing. 00:37:39.860 --> 00:37:44.059 When you come to him in repentance and in faith, 00:37:44.280 --> 00:37:48.539 he doesn't shame you. He doesn't look at you 00:37:48.539 --> 00:37:51.139 like a mistake. He doesn't look at you like a 00:37:51.139 --> 00:37:54.380 disappointment. He does like God did to him. 00:37:55.800 --> 00:37:59.480 When he gave his life to him, he says, you're 00:37:59.480 --> 00:38:03.400 my son. You're my daughter. who I'm pleased to 00:38:03.400 --> 00:38:08.360 have in my family. He calls you his own. And 00:38:08.360 --> 00:38:11.320 so today, wherever you are, my challenge for 00:38:11.320 --> 00:38:15.579 us is for today to be the day we begin walking 00:38:15.579 --> 00:38:19.829 the Jesus way. For today to be the day that we 00:38:19.829 --> 00:38:21.889 start living a life of forgiveness, that we start 00:38:21.889 --> 00:38:24.389 living in the way of compassion, that we start 00:38:24.389 --> 00:38:26.550 living in the way of peace, that we start living 00:38:26.550 --> 00:38:29.449 in the way of generosity, of love, the way that 00:38:29.449 --> 00:38:32.230 leads to full and abundant eternal life with 00:38:32.230 --> 00:38:35.389 God. And so if you have been following Christ 00:38:35.389 --> 00:38:37.309 for a long time or if you've never given your 00:38:37.309 --> 00:38:40.369 life to him and you want to belong in his family, 00:38:40.590 --> 00:38:45.239 all we ask. is that you lay your burdens at the 00:38:45.239 --> 00:38:47.300 foot of the cross, that you allow the church 00:38:47.300 --> 00:38:51.320 to be here for you, to walk with you. If that's 00:38:51.320 --> 00:38:53.280 what you need this morning, and I think we all 00:38:53.280 --> 00:38:55.539 need it, it's just a matter of if you'll do it, 00:38:55.639 --> 00:38:58.599 we invite you to come as we stand and as we sing.