Well, the next four Sundays we'll be making our way through Matthew chapter 3 and Matthew chapter 4.
And there are four sermons coming up.
And if there was going to be a banner that kind of flown over these four sermons,
there would be a phrase over it.
And you can find that phrase at the end of Matthew chapter 4 verse 16.
A light has dawned.
And so over the next four weeks, we're going to work our way through Matthew chapters 3 and 4,
and we're going to see the beginning of the ministry of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
And so this morning we're going to look at John the Baptist,
and the next week we're going to look at the baptism of Jesus,
and then we're going to look at the temptation of Jesus,
and then we're going to look at the start of the ministry of Jesus at the end of January.
It's all about Jesus.
It's all about King Jesus.
Who He is, what He's done, what He's doing,
it's all about Him.
It's all about His grace.
So would you turn with me now to Matthew chapter 3,
verses 1 through 12.
And this passage you can just sum up by saying,
John the Baptist is preparing the way for King Jesus.
He's preparing the way.
And we're going to see a few ways in which He prepares the way.
But first, have you ever seen a royal procession before?
Maybe you've seen it in person.
Maybe you've seen it in a movie.
Usually what happens, there's a king royalty in some kind of cart.
And usually, if your mind works like me,
it's kind of you imagine this king in a cart,
and he's being kind of carried by these kind of burly slaves.
You know, they're a cart with poles on it,
and they're kind of walking through a city.
And so in front of this cart,
there is someone announcing to all in the city
who's coming behind him.
And usually this one who's making the announcement
is not just informing people,
but he's calling people to respond.
Bow down, the king is coming.
The king approaches.
The king is in your midst.
Make way.
The king has come.
And so that man who's preparing the way of the king,
he's not drawing attention to himself.
He's drawing attention to the one that's coming after him.
Because the king that follows him is mightier than he.
And so Matthew 3, 1 through 12,
is all about John the Baptist
proclaiming and making way for this one who's coming after him.
Up until this point in Matthew,
Matthew has been seeking to convince us
that this baby Jesus is Emmanuel,
the only one who has a rightful claim to the throne of David.
This is the long-anticipated one, the king, King Jesus.
And so what you need to realize about Matthew 3, verse 1,
is something happens between Matthew 2, 23 and Matthew 3, 1.
And so if you look back in your Bibles to Matthew 2, 23,
we're talking about Jesus, Joseph, Mary,
heading back to Nazareth when Jesus was just a little boy,
maybe two.
And then in chapter 3, verse 1,
all of a sudden we're transported forward a couple decades.
And so what we'll see in verse 13 of chapter 3
is that Jesus comes on the scene as a man.
And so what you need to know from the get-go
is there's been a couple decades
that have already elapsed between chapter 2 and chapter 3.
And John the Baptist seems to come out of nowhere
to announce the coming of the long-awaited king.
And not just to announce,
but to call for a response.
2,000 years ago and now.
And so he comes to prepare the way of King Jesus,
and he's going to call us to respond in three ways.
He's going to call us to repent.
And then he's going to confront presumption in us.
And then he's going to point us to the one mightier
than any of us.
He's going to point us to Jesus.
And so let's just jump right in.
Verses 1 through 6.
I'm going to walk through kind of three scenes.
And then we'll land this plane at the end.
What you need to notice first in chapter 3, verse 1,
is that John the Baptist came,
and he came preaching.
He came declaring.
He came announcing.
He came speaking.
The focus is on his voice.
Announcing something.
And if you look down at verse 4,
you quickly realize this is a unique dude
based upon what he was wearing.
Now John wore a garment of camel's hair
and a leather belt around his waist,
and his food was locusts and wild honey.
You just don't see that too often nowadays.
I like ponchos.
And I know how to find a cheap poncho.
Anybody else use a 30-gallon trash bag as a poncho?
It's really simple.
I see that hand back there.
Cut out the, you know, neck,
little holes in the arm.
You can bring it down.
Looks great.
Cheap.
Water repellent.
John the Baptist is basically wearing a poncho of camel hair.
That's what he's doing.
It was cheap and available.
Camel hair.
Wrapped around his waist with a big belt.
He's eating locusts, which were a big grasshopper.
People still eat them in the region today?
Dip them in wild honey?
They're delicious, I guess.
I would not know.
But what you understand is,
why is this guy dressed in camel hair?
Why is he eating grasshoppers and wild honey?
Well, he's living a very basic life,
a very simple life,
a minimalistic life,
because he's all in for the calling on his life.
He's declaring.
He's announcing.
He's preparing the way of the Lord.
And what you need to see is,
if you flip back in your Bibles to 2 Kings 1.8,
do you know who else was wearing a poncho
of kind of camel hair?
Elijah.
Later in Matthew chapter 11,
Jesus says that John is the second Elijah who has come.
And so what you need to know from the get-go is,
John is the baptizer,
but what you need to realize is,
John is a prophet.
And he's declaring a message of repentance,
calling God's people back to himself.
So he's a prophet.
And the next thing you need to see here
is that this John the Baptist,
he fulfills prophecy.
He's a prophet who fulfills prophecy.
His ministry is a fulfillment ministry.
And so if you look at chapter 3, verse 3,
it says,
For this is he, John the Baptist,
who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah
when he said,
The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
prepare the way of the Lord,
make his path straight.
The voice of one calling in the wilderness.
John is proclaiming the kingdom.
And he's in the wilderness,
20 miles east of Jerusalem,
along the Jordan,
in the wilderness of Judea.
And so what Matthew is pointing out here is,
it's no coincidence that this guy
in the camel poncho is preaching
what he's preaching.
This was God's plan.
He is the forerunner of the Christ.
This was all according to the will of God.
And his ministry is one of preparation.
We see it in the message itself.
And so if you look back at verse 2,
you see the message of John the Baptist,
what he's declaring.
He's saying,
Repent!
Do you know what the word repentance means?
The Greek mind would take the word repentance
as simple like change of mind.
It would have been very just kind of common.
It would be like,
alright,
I pull out my drawer,
oh,
I'm thinking about wearing my striped socks.
Oh no,
I repent.
I change my mind.
I'm going to wear my polka dotted socks.
And so for the Greek mind,
it was just kind of changing your mind.
But for the biblical authors,
for the Jewish mind,
oh,
repentance meant so much more.
Repentance,
biblically speaking,
is a radical reorientation
of one's entire life.
It's turning away from living life
with me at the middle of my life,
and it's a turning from that
and turning and reorienting
all of who I am
to living for God and to others.
That's what repentance is.
John the Baptist is calling people
to turn from their sin
and turn to living to God
and all of who they are.
It was a message of repentance.
And then notice,
he gives the reason why.
Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven
is at hand.
He gives the reason.
Now,
the kingdom of heaven
is a phrase unique to Matthew.
And we show,
it's basically the same idea
as the other gospel writers
who talk about the kingdom of God.
And so,
what Matthew is saying,
that John is saying,
is he's repent,
for the kingdom of heaven
is here.
It's arrived.
It's present now.
There's some speculation
of why Matthew uses
the phrase kingdom of heaven.
He's writing to a Jewish audience,
and so,
a good idea is that
he didn't want to use
the name of God
in order to offend
the Jewish audience.
So,
he's talking about
the kingdom of heaven.
What you need to be thinking,
though,
when you hear that phrase,
kingdom of heaven,
don't be thinking
blocks and gates.
Don't be thinking that way.
Here's what you need to be thinking.
When you hear the phrase
kingdom of heaven
or kingdom of God,
you need to be thinking
about the active reign
of King Jesus.
The active,
dynamic,
reign of King Jesus.
His present rule.
And so,
the king of the kingdom of heaven
is King Jesus.
And so,
the inbreaking of the kingdom,
the presence of the kingdom,
is the arrival of Jesus.
And so,
what John is saying is,
repent,
because
God is now reigning
on earth in Jesus,
and that reign
is going to spread.
The Messiah has arrived.
Another way
to say it is,
change your living
because the king
has come.
And he's brought
with him
his rule,
his gracious rule,
his holy rule.
Live in light
of who he is.
And then in verses 5 and 6,
we see the response.
All sorts of people
are coming out of Jerusalem,
Judea,
and the surrounding areas,
and they're going out to him.
And the question is,
why are they going out to him?
Did they hear about
his camel poncho?
Did they want to see
the latest fashion
and prophetic wardrobe?
Is that what they wanted to do?
No.
They got wind
that a prophet's in town.
There's a prophet
in the wilderness
declaring repentance.
There's been 400 years
of silence,
and now God is speaking again,
calling his people
to come back to him.
And the people respond
to this call to repentance.
Those who go out to him,
they respond.
And they respond
by being baptized.
They respond
by confessing their sins.
Real repentance
shows up
in the real confession
of real sin.
The recognition
that yes,
I am a sinner,
and I have committed sins,
and I confess them,
and I'm repenting of them.
I'm turning from them.
And baptism
was simply
this demonstration
that they were,
yes, repenting.
Demonstrating publicly
that yes,
I am saying,
no more to that lifestyle.
That was what I used to be.
This is a tremendous
step of humility.
One other thing
you've got to realize
about this baptism
going on.
John was baptizing Jews.
Back in the day,
baptism would be something
Jews would do
to Gentiles
in order for them
to become
Jewish converts.
And so,
for a Jew
to baptize a Jew
was unheard of.
This is
something unique
going on.
So,
it appears
that God,
we come to the end
of this passage
or this section
in verse 6,
it appears God
is on the move again.
We've had a prophet
sighting on the outskirts
of the Judean wilderness
on the Jordan River.
You know,
one of the questions
we could ask
is if you were in Jerusalem,
you heard about this guy,
what would you have done?
Would you have gone
to see him?
So,
John the Baptist
was creating
quite a stir
and the people
in Jerusalem
were flocking to him
and it would have
aroused
the interest
and suspicion
of the religious
establishment.
So,
now we move
to the second scene
in verses 7-10
where we see
John the Baptist
having called people
to repentance,
now he's going
to confront
presumption.
He's preparing
the way
of King Jesus
and
he says
some hard things.
In verse 7
we read,
but when he saw
many of the Pharisees
and Sadducees
coming for his baptism
and what you need
to realize
is that these Pharisees
and Sadducees,
they were a delegation
sent from
the Sanhedrin
which was
kind of the religious
establishment leadership
in Jerusalem,
they were sent
to go check
what's going on
on the Jordan
with John the Baptist
out.
And so,
what you need
to realize
is they're not
going to be
baptized.
They're going
to check out
what's going on.
And so,
they're being sent
and what you also
need to know
is Pharisees
and Sadducees
were two very
different theological
groups.
Pharisees,
they believed
all of the Old Testament,
they were committed
to the oral law,
they were known
for making rules
upon rules
to apply
the oral law
to everyday life
and they were
just known
for making
so many rules
that nobody
could fulfill
them all,
nobody could
obey them all.
They believed
in the resurrection,
the Sadducees,
good way I learned
this,
they were sad,
you see,
because they didn't
believe in the
resurrection,
they maintained,
they were committed
just to the authority
of the first five
books of the Bible,
they were an
aristocratic group,
they were a priestly
group,
so they were tied
to the temple
and they were
just well connected
and so you have
two very different
theological groups
but they share
a common political
mission
and that is
to stay in power.
And so the Sanhedrin
sends them out
to the Jordan
to check out
what's going on
with John the Baptist.
And so they
weren't there
to repent,
they were there
to do some
recon.
And John
confronts it.
Look at verse
seven.
I just wouldn't
recommend this
approach.
If you're going
to kind of like
a family gathering,
I just wouldn't
recommend this
approach.
He starts off
by saying,
you brood
of vipers.
A brood
is an offspring
of vipers.
Snakes.
You offspring
of snakes.
Snakes!
You snakes!
And then sarcastically
he asks this,
John the Baptist,
who warned you
to flee the wrath
to come?
What are you
doing here?
Because we know
you're not here
to repent.
What are you
doing here,
you brood
of vipers?
And then he
says,
hey,
bear fruit
in keeping
with repentance.
He calls them
to change their
ways.
True repentance
of one sin
results in a
changed life,
a bearing of
a new kind
of fruit,
of good fruit,
godliness,
a life lived
to God
and for the
good of others.
And we all
know that can
only happen
through Jesus.
But what I
want you to
key in here
is in verse
nine.
In the ESV,
he says,
and do not
presume to
say to
yourselves,
we have
Abraham as
our father.
For I
tell you,
God is
able from
these stones
to raise
up children
for Abraham.
Do not
presume.
What John
is saying
to these
Pharisees
and Sadducees
is that
you're not
saved from
the wrath
to come
because of
your genetic
relationship
to Abraham.
Don't
presume you're
saved when
you're not.
Don't base
your salvation
on your
relationship
to this
guy or
how well
you know
your Bibles.
That's not
how a sinner
is saved
from the wrath
of God.
He's basically
saying,
don't think
that you are
something when
you're not.
Don't think
that you're
saved when
actually you're
not.
It's a hard
thing to say
to someone.
He brings
up Abraham.
And we can
ask the question,
well,
how did
Abraham get
saved?
I mean,
back in
Genesis 15,
was God
so impressed
with Abraham's
righteous living
that God
essentially said
Abraham,
man,
you live
such a
godly life.
I don't
need to do
anything to
save you.
Let me
just kind
of rubber
stamp it.
You're
in,
buddy.
You're
in.
Impressive
life.
Very
impressive.
That's not
what saved
Abraham.
In Genesis
15,
6,
we read
this.
Abraham
believed
God and
it was
credited to
him as
righteousness.
God
accepted
Abraham,
not on
the basis
of his
works,
but on
the basis
of his
faith in
God.
On the
basis of
God's
kindness
and grace
to him.
It's all
about God's
grace.
It's always
been about
God's grace.
Trusting
in him.
God's
grace is
his
undeserved
favor.
I learned
early on
an acronym.
God's
riches at
Christ's
expense.
Grace.
You don't
deserve it.
You don't
earn it.
You can't.
God loves
us,
not because
we're
lovable,
but because
God is
loving.
It's who
he is.
he loves
us even
as we
are,
sinners.
And what
we see
here is
at least
some people
are willing
to admit
that they're
sinners.
Not
everybody
does.
The
Pharisees
and Sadducees
were not
willing to
admit that.
They thought
God accepted
them because
of their
linkage to
Abraham or
how clean
and separate
they were
from the
sinful
rabble.
That's not
how God's
grace works.
We see
God's
amazing
grace.
We just
get a
hint of
it in
verse 9.
We read
it.
We have
Abraham as
our father.
Do not
presume to
say to
yourself,
hey,
we're
saved because
Abraham is
our father.
For I
tell you,
God is
able,
from these
lifeless
stones,
and John
the Baptist
is pointing
to the
stones in
the Jordan,
God is
able,
from these
lifeless
stones,
to raise
up children
for Abraham.
It's all
about God's
grace.
God's power
to save
is not
limited to
DNA or
man-made
religious
traditions.
Christians.
It's all
by His
grace.
And so
what we
see in
these
Pharisees
and
Sadducees,
this delegation
that's come
out to do
some recon,
there is a
presumption.
There is
arrogance that
they're in
good standing
with God
because they're
related to
Abraham.
It's like
they carry
an Abraham
card and
they pull it
out and
there's this
unfolding of
the Abrahamic
family tree and
they're like,
there's Abraham,
there's me,
I'm in.
Hey,
everything's
cool.
I couldn't
be further
from the
truth.
We're not
saved based
upon our
relationship to
other people,
humans.
It's all
about God
and His
grace and
reconciling us
to Himself.
And you've
got to ask
the question,
why was
John so
ticked?
Because
he's not
pulling any
punches either.
Not only
are these
Pharisees and
Sadducees,
are they
believing
something wrong,
they're actually
teaching other
people to
believe the
same thing.
You can see
why he would
be so
confrontational.
Jesus will
later call the
Pharisees
whitewashed
tombs.
who tie up
burdens on
people that
they can't
carry.
Later in
Matthew 23,
Jesus drops
some woe,
W-O-E
bombs on
the Pharisees.
Woe to
you, you
hypocrites.
So John is
confronting these
arrogant religious
leaders.
You think you're
safe when you're
really not.
You need to
repent.
You need to
confront your
presumption and
you need to
turn from it.
And in
verses 10 and
11, he goes
on to provide a
very stern
warning of
imminent judgment.
The axe is at
the root of
the tree.
God is lining
it up to cut
it down.
If you don't
repent, it's
going to be cut
down and thrown
into the fire.
It's a reference
to hell.
Strong, strong
words.
Strong, strong
words.
Presumption comes
with serious
consequences.
So in this
section, we see
John the Baptist
calling these
people snakes,
saying you are
presuming you're
saved when you're
not, and then
warning them of
the judgment and
impending punishment
to gum.
Judgment is real.
The stakes are
high.
And so we have
a confrontation
of presumption.
He's preparing
the way.
The last scene
is in verses
11 and 12.
John continues
to prepare the
way, and now
he moves from
a call to
repentance, a
confrontation of
presumption, and
now he moves to
pointing to the
one mightier
than him.
pointing to the
one who
follows, preparing
us for Jesus.
When we repent,
we're called to
turn from sin and
turn to God, and
John the Baptist
has called us from
sin, from
presumption, and
he's now going to
aim us at Jesus.
And he does so
with a few
contrasts.
The first
contrast is
this.
It's between
John himself,
and the coming
one.
He says in
verse 11, I
baptize you with
water for
repentance, but
he who is
coming after me
is mightier
than I.
John is
recognizing this
one coming
after him is
mightier than
I.
of course he's
talking about
Jesus.
Jesus comes on
the scene,
verse 13,
he's preparing
the way.
I need to
make a
connection for
you.
It's a
Christological
connection.
It's about
Jesus.
Would you
look back up
to verse 3?
That's where
John the Baptist
is, Matthew's
saying John the
Baptist fulfills
Isaiah 43.
He is the
voice of one
crying in the
wilderness.
And then it
goes on to say
prepare the way
of the Lord.
The Lord,
in Isaiah 43,
is a reference
to God
himself,
Yahweh.
This prophet
in the wilderness,
this voice,
is preparing
for God's
coming.
Do you know
what that means?
If we were to
run the logic
through rightly?
What Matthew
is saying is
this,
John the Baptist
is the voice
in the wilderness.
Jesus is the
God,
is God who
has come.
He's Emmanuel,
God with us.
And so the
connection you need
to see here is
John the Baptist
is preparing the
way for God
himself who's
come,
setting up
kingdom,
setting up his
reign.
It's subtle
but powerful.
Matthew is saying
that Jesus
is our Emmanuel
and that the
reign of Jesus
is the reign
of God
in our midst.
That's why
John is saying
the one coming
after him
is mightier
than I.
It's God.
God in the
flesh,
Emmanuel.
And what we're
going to see
throughout the
Gospel of Matthew
is that Jesus
does something
that only God
in the flesh
can do.
He forgives sin,
he raises the
dead,
he casts out
demons,
he speaks
authoritatively
like God
speaking because
he's God
in the flesh.
I can't wait
to get to the
Sermon on the
Mount.
Jesus is like,
let me clarify
some things for
you because I'm
God.
And so the
contrast is the
one mightier
than I and
then John,
look what he
says about
himself.
In verse
11,
he's mightier
than I
whose sandals
I'm not
worthy to
carry.
The lowliest
of all
servants in
this culture
had to deal
with feet.
It was the
nastiest job.
Sandals,
dust,
gross
stuff.
It was left
for the lowliest
of servants.
And what John
is saying is
I'm unworthy.
I'm unworthy
to even carry
his sandals.
You see the
contrast?
The one
mightier than I,
Jesus,
Emmanuel,
God in the
flesh,
and John,
an unworthy
servant.
It points to
Jesus,
how awesome
he is,
how glorious
he is.
The second
contrast that
comes out in
this little
section is
the contrast
of baptisms.
John,
baptism is a
baptism of
water,
and the
baptism that
Jesus will
bring is a
baptism of
the Holy Spirit
and fire.
With the
coming of
Jesus,
he brings
with him
the messianic
age,
a new age
for God's
people,
a new way
of relating
to God.
It's the
fulfillment of
what was
predicted in
Ezekiel 36
and Joel
chapter 2,
a new era
in which God
will dwell
within his
people by
his Spirit
in order to
enliven them
and empower
them to live
for God.
The Spirit of
God makes
us new.
He gives us
new hearts,
Ezekiel 36.
The Holy Spirit
enlivens and
empowers Christians
to live obediently
under the reign
of King Jesus.
John says,
I baptize you
with water for
repentance,
but he is
coming after me,
the one mightier
than me,
whose sandals
I'm not worthy
to carry.
He's going to
baptize you
with the Holy
Spirit and
with fire.
Very different
ministry,
folks.
John is
basically saying,
hey, I'm
calling you to
repent of your
sin and I
baptize you as
a sign of your
repentance, but
the one who's
coming after me,
he's going to
pour out his
Spirit on you.
And he's going
to pour out his
Spirit upon his
people in a new
and glorious way
so that they can
walk in obedience
to him.
Acts 2,
Pentecost,
the Spirit pours
out on the early
church.
It's a game
changer.
The fulfillment
of Joel 2,
the indwelling,
the enlivening,
empowering,
pouring out of
the Spirit of
God.
Inaugurating a
new life,
a new day.
And so the
contrast is
between this
baptism of
water that
leads to
repentance
and the
baptism of
the Holy
Spirit,
this outpouring
of the Spirit
of God that
radically changes
people.
It makes them
new people.
There's that
little reference
to fire,
baptized with the
Holy Spirit
and fire.
It's most likely
a reference to
the purifying
work of the
Spirit in the
life of the
believer from
start to
finish.
church.
It's a
different baptism,
different pouring
out, a
powerful pouring
out.
The last
contrast is
Jesus as
judge.
It's in
verse 12.
Again, John
the Baptist is
pointing us to
this one
mightier than
I.
He's God.
He's going to
pour out his
Spirit on his
people in a
very unique and
powerful way.
In verse 12
he says
essentially,
he's the
coming judge.
His winnowing
fork is in
his hand and
he will clear
his threshing
floor and
gather his
wheat into
the barn,
but the
chaff he
will burn
with unquenchable
fire.
It's an
agricultural
picture that
everybody would
have been
aware of.
It's a
separating out
the wheat
from the
chaff.
It's a
picture of
judgment.
It's a
picture of
separation.
And it's a
picture of
punishment.
What I want
you to
notice here
is the
word
his.
His
winnowing
fork is
in his
hand and
he will
clear his
threshing
floor and
gather his
wheat into
the barn.
It's his
harvest.
He's the
Lord of the
harvest.
Jesus comes
and he's
establishing his
kingdom and
he's going to
separate the
wheat from
the chaff.
The contrast
emphasizes that
Jesus, this
one mightier
than I, he's
the judge who's
come.
And so be
warned.
Be warned.
There's another
reference to the
unquenchable fire.
The chaff will be
thrown into the
unquenchable fire.
The unrepentant
will be thrown
into the
unquenchable fire.
It's a reference
to hell.
The stakes are
high.
And it all
has to do
with your
relationship to
Jesus.
So this
coming one
is God,
Emmanuel.
He ushers in
the life and
the spirit.
He's the
judge who's
going to
separate the
wheat from
the chaff.
John the
Baptist is
pointing us
to the only
one who can
save us.
Jesus.
So here we
are looking at
some things that
happened two
millennia ago and
John the Baptist
is still preaching
today.
He's still calling
us to respond to
King Jesus.
And I just want
to point to you
four areas of
how we respond.
Repent of your
sins.
Turn away from
a life lived
opposed to God.
Your sin is
real and it's
against a real
God.
And let me just
urge you not
just to turn from
some of your
sins.
Turn from all of
your sins.
Turn from a
life lived for
yourself and turn
to the giver of
life, the one
mightier than you,
the one and
only one who can
save you.
Jesus.
So repent.
Confess your
sins to God.
experience forgiveness
that's only found in
him.
Second thing is
don't presume.
Presumption will
always minimize
sin.
And when sin is
minimized, there's
really not much
need to repent of
anything.
Okay.
Presumption keeps
a sinner from
thinking that they
are in desperate
need of a Savior.
you.
So don't presume.
If you're taking
notes, write down
Luke 18, 9-14.
Jesus tells a
parable.
Parable between
a presumptuous
Pharisee and a
sinful tax
collector.
Let me just
commend you to you
to read.
Don't presume.
Ask God to show
you your sin.
Help Him to see
your need for a
Savior.
Don't presume.
Third, trust in
Jesus.
He's God in the
flesh.
He pours out the
Spirit.
He's the judge.
He alone is the
one you can trust.
He is able to
save you.
He's able to
bring children of
Abraham out of
lifeless stones.
He's able to
change your
stony heart
into a heart
that believes.
He's the only
one that can do
that.
This is what's
amazing about
Jesus.
He already knows
you can't save
yourself.
He already knows
that.
And so that's
why He came.
He came to
give Himself
as a ransom
for many.
He's the one
mightier than I.
He's the one
mightier than you.
He's the only one
that can rescue you
from your sin.
So trust Him.
Cry out to Him.
Confess your sins
to Him.
He is glad to
forgive you based
on the shedding
of His blood.
The last thing is
serve the King.
When you're brought
into the Kingdom
of Heaven, you come
under the act of
reign of Jesus,
you realize how
unworthy you are.
I didn't deserve
this.
There's nothing
I can bring to
the table.
There's nothing
I can really give
Him and impress
Him with.
It's all about
Him.
It's all about
His power.
It's all about
His glory.
It's all about
His purposes.
I'm just happy
to be here.
So you start
to realize how
unworthy you are.
And you start
to realize,
I'm unworthy
to carry His
sandals.
He is so
glorious.
But we serve
Him with
gladness.
We serve Him
with the joy
of salvation.
Because we know
it is only by
His grace that
we've been saved.
It's His kindness
to us to include
us in the Kingdom.
And so we serve
Him with gladness.
So whatever
Jesus has called
you to do,
serve Him
with gladness.
We're all
unworthy servants.
We're all saved
by grace.
He is worthy.
If you want a
place to serve,
come to the
ministry fair,
January 31st.
Find a place
where you can
leverage your gift
for the glory
of Jesus.
John the Baptist
is still speaking
today.
Still preparing
the way of
King Jesus.
Let's respond
in humility.
Let's pray.
Jesus,
You are the one
mightier than I,
mightier than us.
It's about Your reign
and Your kingdom.
God, would You
have Your way
in our lives?
Would You save
this morning?
We pray this
in Jesus' name.
Amen.