Holy Violence in the Life of John the Baptist

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So this sermon today is a part two of a sermon I did Probably about a couple weeks back, but I want to continue on Our text is we're in Matthew 11 and we're going through a few verses there.
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But first I want to talk to you about Turn to the world of nature and talk to you about something from there
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Many of you are familiar with the salmon the salmon is what is what's known as an anadromous fish Which simply means they hatch from freshwater
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They spend their life in the ocean and then they return to spawn in the streams They were born the opposite of that is catadromous.
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You have something like an eel which falls into that category So eels actually are born in the ocean live in freshwater and return to the sea to spawn
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When salmon return to spawn in freshwater, they have a very interesting journey I don't know if you've seen any nature documentaries on it, but they must fight the current they must dodge animals
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You know bears line up to eat them. There are fishermen out there waiting to scoop them up. People are netting them They leap up waterfalls
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They do all of this to ensure that future generations can thrive They you know, the baby salmon need to be born in freshwater where it's shallow and there's very few predators
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The the salmon is so wholeheartedly devoted to this mission. It stops eating once it enters freshwater
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Actually once they hit freshwater They don't eat again until they get back to their home beds and they lay their eggs and they die
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In starving itself the salmon pretty much subordinates. It's all of its life to this one goal It's the goal is to reach the beds where it was born to lay eggs and then to die from die from there
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Some salmon travel as far as 1800 miles, which is almost the width I believe of the entire u .s.
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And they most of them returned to the streams They were actually born and that's again. It's something that God teaches them.
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That's not something that you know that you know And we think animals are dumb, but the Lord has given them the ability to return to where they were born
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Nothing in the animal kingdom. I don't think typifies perseverance and violence of purpose more than a salmon I think that's one of the best examples.
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So The journey of the salmon has many parallels with the spiritual life of the Christian on this earth in Acts 14 22
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Paul exhorts the early Christians in this manner starting in verse 21 of that chapter
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When they have preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples. They returned to Lystra and to Iconium into Antioch Strengthening the souls of the disciples encouraging continuing the faith and saying that through many tribulations.
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We must enter the kingdom of God While this verse is an undeniably an exhortation for believers because Paul's talking to the churches there
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That my text today Matthew 11 12 is not directed specifically at unbelief either saved or unsaved rather.
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It's a call to all When Jesus speaks this verse of Matthew 11 12 He speaks the multitude that contain both those that will be saved and those that won't so therefore this morning
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I aim to follow my Savior's example, and I'm gonna press this verse on your conscience So whether you are saved or not, this verse is important.
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So please turn to Matthew 11 with me We'll be briefly rereading the portion of Scripture we're going to talk about today and then we'll get started on it
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And I am reading from the NASB translation Matthew 11 starting in verse starting in verse 7 as The men were going away.
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Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John What did you go out to the wilderness to see a reed shaken by the wind?
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But what did you go out to see a man dressed in soft clothing those who wear soft clothings are in Kings palaces
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But what did you go out to see a prophet? Yes, I tell you one. There's more than a prophet
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This is the one who about whom is written Behold, I send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way before you
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Truly I say to you among those born of women. There is not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he
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From the days of the John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and violent men take it by force
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So picking up from our last sermon John had sent his disciples to Jesus and he was to ask if he was the
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Messiah or not Obviously John at this point was in Harrods prison Jesus gave proof that his ministry was
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Messianic and as John disciples walks away John Jesus expanded a discussion So you can kind of imagine as the disciples come up to Jesus He's talking to them about what
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John is and they go away Jesus engages the whole crowd with what the small group discussion he had started Starting with a series of rhetorical questions
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Jesus gives the crowd an exercise of reflection on John's ministry now the people of Israel obviously were very
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Loved John the Baptist a lot of them said he was a prophet He was very popular the Pharisees refused to speak against John because they were afraid they'd get stoned by him
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But John had a very unique ministry. Um, if you think about it, John was he was a man of the desert
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He didn't live and cuss. He didn't live in houses or dwellings. He lived out in the desert He was when he was out in the desert.
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He was free from the distraction of the world Communion with God in prayer much more easily if you think about the life of Jesus or Messiah He frequently would get up early in the morning
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He would go to be by himself and that's where he would pray to the Lord and John was very much like that as well John survived in areas that most people in ancient
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Israel considered Uninhabitable and took pains to circumnavigate when they travel John was a wilderness.
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He lived in the wilderness He didn't live and you know the fertile crescent around the Jordan River The fact that people would venture to desolate praise places to hear
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John preach is another testimony I think to the uniqueness of his ministry Jesus rhetorical questions are meant as both a rebuke to mere gawkers as well as an exhortation to those that really believe
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John To realize that Jesus is in fact the fulfillment of John's ministry So let's start with reeds.
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That's the very first question God Jesus poses to them He said you go out to see a reed shaken by the wind
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If you think about reeds that are around lakes reeds bend in this in that direction According to the wind when the wind comes they go that way when the wind comes to go back that way
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You know idle curiosity seekers they have behaved in much the same manner when people come to church It's like well, I want to go this church.
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I want to hear this But a lot of times people want to hear the newest thing They don't want to hear what God has to say. They're always looking for something new
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Their God is really unique experiences worldly pleasure. They go to churches to hear what they want to hear They don't go to hear the Word of God Learning the will of God is usually the furthest things from this person's mind
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It's like I'm not here to hear what God wants to say I want to hear what I want to hear and that's the same thing as as a reed
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Additionally if you think about people that like reeds their morals are always shifting according to the whims of their mind or conjunctions or in Conjunction with the world standards, so it's not what does the
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Word of God say? It's what do I feel like or what what you know? This is how I believe it to be true
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And if the world standards change and the Word of God is all of a sudden unpopular a lot of people also then are like Let's throw
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God's standards overboard because the world says I don't believe this anymore So I'll go with the world and it's like well God created the world
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Are we gonna go with the world that God created or the creator of everything? You know there's
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Really what happens a lot in these cases these people lack the solid foundation of the Word of God They're not you know the Romans 116 says
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I'm not ashamed of the gospel for it's the power of God unto salvation To everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the
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Greek That's what we need to tell people say listen We're the just the messenger if you're if you don't like what we're saying that you have a problem the
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Lord Jesus says this In the book of Job one of Job's friends named
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Bildad He actually compares the faithless ungodly to reeds if you look at Job 11 1 through 3 11 through 13
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Bildad says can papyrus grow or there is no marsh can reeds flourish where there is no water
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Well yet and flower and not cut down may wither before any other plant Such are the paths of all who forget
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God the hope of the godless shall perish So we see here is an Old Testament connection to what
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Jesus is teaching the New Testament You see that Bildad is comparing them to a reed. What happens to the ungodly they wither when the water dried up They go away.
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They have no firm depth of root Reeds if you notice they always grow by water. They have very shallow roots
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They're not like a tree or bush trees and bushes put roots deep down into the ground and can suck the moisture up reeds
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Cannot do this in the same way mere inquisitiveness in religion is
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Basically swindles the one who possesses it Once disaster occurs or suffering starts the person has no well of truth to draw upon if your roots are just you know
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Surface deep and you're just living on surface water when things go wrong or when you you know You lose your house or you lose your job or someone, you know close to you leaves the
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Lord You just have no depth surface you wither up and that's why we don't want to be like a reed That's why she is saying John was not a reed.
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He wasn't he didn't have shallow roots As reeds quickly wither and die without a body of water
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So do those who have only ever experienced externalized Christianity if your Christianity is merely external when trial and tribulation comes
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It's gonna dry up and you're gonna fade away because your roots are not into the Word of God For those who really loved
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John and his ministry Jesus was encouraged them to not be alarmed by the winds and gales of this world there was really a lot going on John was in prison at this point and John's imprisonment was a significant blow to his followers.
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They did not see that coming They thought he was gonna be you know with them forever and he was in prison and of course Herod eventually cut his head off These the followers of John they had no home with the orthodox
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Judaism of the Pharisees Sadducees and many of them were probably still hesitant to accept Jesus as John's replacement
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These loyalists flocked to John because if you think about John he was impervious to external pressures Meaning he didn't care what people thought of him
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He was very bold and intrepid in his proclamation of the gospel. He was very he spoke like a prophet about it
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John was John could not be tempted by money. He had no political ambitions He was not scared of the authorities and he had no desire to be popular, right?
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That's that's what a man of God should be. He shouldn't be afflicted by anything It's like not by money not by prestige not by politics.
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You preach the Word of God But the contemporary the winds of contemporary culture they had no effect on John and that was undoubtedly part of his appeal to his followers
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He didn't care what the prevailing sentiment was when Herod decided to marry his sister. Did John say? Oh, it's okay
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You can marry your sister John said it's wrong for you to marry your sister It's against the Word of God and that's what landed him in jail
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But you know if you notice what Jesus does here though He doesn't focus on John's moment of doubt like when John sent the disciples to Jesus and said, you know
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Are you the Messiah who cut for another Jesus harkens back to John's zealous ministry? He goes back to it and now
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GSE openly testifies to John's faithfulness in the work of preparing the way for the Savior of mankind
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As for the Savior of mankind, so my first point is Jesus is our advocate in this case he's
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John's advocate, but he's all of our advocates as well a Few chapters ago in the Gospel of Matthew Jesus made the following promise for all believers
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He says so who everyone who acknowledges me before men? I will also acknowledge before my father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men
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I will also deny before my father who is in heaven. That's Matthew 10 32 to 34 in John's case
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He received a unique privilege of not only having of having Christ confessed him before men as well as in heaven All of us that confess
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Christ on this earth Christ will confess us in heaven But John actually on this earth Jesus testified to the faithful of his ministry while he was down here
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That was a special gift given to John This is another symbol to I think of the uniqueness of John's ministry to be a contemporary of Christ is a great honor
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That's an incredible honor to live in the time of Jesus being chosen to herald Christ's entry into the world is an even greater honor
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However, Jesus public praise is the highest honor that a person can receive in this life John sacrificed very much for the gospel and Jesus made sure this work would not go unrewarded
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In this example, Jesus is showing all believers that devotion to him will always receive a full reward so my first application is
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Jesus will never forsakes true believers and he promises to be with us in our hour of doubt just as he was for John the
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Baptist Romans 8 16 says the spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God If you think about Jesus in this passage, he didn't scorn or dismiss
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John for his doubts Rather, he gently encouraged his faith and pointing him to his messianic signs which vindicated his ministry in his earthly ministry
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I see a lot. Jesus was as gentle as a mother and helping to strengthen the faith of those whom he conversed He wasn't just like why don't you believe this but he was very gentle and kind and nurturing and leading them to the truth
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Upon his ascension. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to continue this work We can read about more about this in the 14th chapter of John's gospel
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So John 14 26 says but the helper the Holy Spirit whom the
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Father will send in my name He will teach you all things and remind you of all that I said to you
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Jesus was actually there's a word for the Holy Spirit or helper in Greek I believe it's periclete the
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Holy Spirit is our second periclete But before the Holy Spirit came Jesus was the very first helper and you can see how he dealt with people on this earth
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That's exactly how the Holy Spirit deals with Christians as well When Jesus Jesus reminded
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John of his messianic signs So he told John when John said sent his disciple and said are you the Messiah or should look for another
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John? Jesus pointed him to the signs the Holy Spirit does the same thing The Holy Spirit brings the
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Word of God to our mind We need it most and it points it to the truth of the Bible and what the Lord has said there Jesus never abandoned
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John when he was languishing in prison, even though he personally wasn't with John as God He was everywhere and the same way the
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Holy Spirit never leaves us the Holy Spirit was with us wherever we go David said if I go to heaven you are there if I make my bets bet bed and shale you're there
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There's nowhere you can go to be to be without the Lord This ministry of encouragement really set
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Jesus far above John Because if you think about it John's ministry was more of a ministry of exhortation, but Jesus was exhortation and encouragement
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He dealt with people one -on -one and he shepherded and guided people This you know
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John's ministry. Like I said, it was more, you know strong exhortations rebukes heralding the gospel But Jesus added the personal touch and the kind concern of a loving mother
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So you see in Jesus the perfect attributes of a loving father and a mother he all united into one person For those that believe in Jesus and that there's a great promise that Lord has given us if we believe in him
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We shall all be as his brothers sisters and mothers John never said that either as well But Jesus said those that believe in me.
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Those are my brothers. Those are my sisters. Those are my mother's Jesus had a relational ministry that was much more multifaceted than the ministry of John and Finally to if you think about Jesus the writer of Hebrews says if you read
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Hebrews 3 4 through 5 it says for Jesus been counted more worthy of worthy of more glory than Moses as Much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself
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For every house is built by someone but the builder of all things of God It's a wondrous truth
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I think worthy of constant meditation that Jesus could be the Savior of all mankind and yet he still has a personal relationship with each
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And every one of us. He's not an impersonal force he's a God who loves and died for us and he has a personal relationship with all of us in the
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Garden of Gethsemane when he was Awaiting his crucifixion on the cross. He was praying for our faith that time
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That's what Jesus was doing rather than focusing on himself He said Lord all those that you have given me I pray that I will lose none of them and that mean there's nothing more
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Selfless than that when you're facing your crucifixion to be praying for it all the believers My second point is
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Jesus praises self -denial So that's It's that one second.
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So Moving from the world of nature to the world of men Jesus poses another question to John's followers regarding John's choice of apparel
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Did John dress himself in soft clothing? From earlier chapters. We know that John wore a gamut a garment of camel hair that was girded about with a leather belt
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This choice of a garment was very practical as camel hair has great insulating properties that would keep him warm when the desert
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Temperature dropped after sunset some misconceptions people have about the desert I think it's always hot most deserts and areas on the earth are have extreme fluctuations
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They're very hot in the morning and they're very cold at night because there's no vegetation. There's no water to moderate the climate
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So if you're out in the desert, you need little clothes in the morning and you need a lot at night or you'll freeze This choice, you know
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Clothing often reflects the character of the people that wear it and John was no exception to this rule His clothing revealed that he was a prophet.
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He was non -materialistic. He was disciplined and he was a sojourner Old Testament prophets were very distinctive clothes that set them apart as God's heralds
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We see the the attire of a prophet defined in Zechariah If you look at Zechariah 13 for it says and it shall be in the day that every prophet will be ashamed of his vision
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When he prophesied they will not wear a robe of coarse hair to deceive So you see here the false prophets of God they would wear coarse hair to give them authority
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Much as today you'll see sometimes ministers aware like elaborate robes and capes and special hats to try to give themselves some self -authority
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The false prophets the same thing. They're gonna wear this special Robe of camel's hair and say I'm from God because I'm wearing this robe
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Additionally John came in the spirit of Elijah. Jesus actually mentions that in our text So his clothing choices were aligned with this famous Old Testament prophet
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If you look at a second Kings 1 8, here's how Elijah's wardrobe is described. They answer him
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He wore a garment of hair with a belt of leather about his waist and they said it's Elijah the Tishbite So you see not only was he like Elijah in his ministry, but he was dressed like Elijah as well
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Animal skin is not the most comfortable covering for a human skin If you look at like how civilizations have progressed
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We tend to switch from animal coverings to plant -based coverings a lot of times today We're into very, you know hybrid polyester and other types of materials
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Plant -based coverings are generally easier to make they're easier to customize and they're more pleasant to wear as your primary garment
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If you've ever worn like a a wool like a wool shirt just against your skin It's scratchy or if you're worn like leather, usually those are better as outer garments.
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They're not good as undergarments It's funny though if you think of back to Genesis though animal skins were the very first coverings that were given to Adam Eve in the garden using animal hides as clothes gave the early humans in us today
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It's an incontrovertible and indelible, you know Reminder that without blood there is no atonement for sin whenever you wear an animal hide
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It's like an animal had to die because you were a sinner and that's what John if you see in his ministry He's kind of going back to that.
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It's like I'm wearing a camel hair cloak because I'm a sinner I must be clothed, you know an animal had to die.
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There has to be blood for my sin Over time this message, you know may fate might fade as people switch to cotton exotic linens fine silks of the garment of their choice
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The appearance of God's prophet in this case John and he was the last the Old Testament prophets
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Would give people a stark reminder the ultimate reward for sin is death and that nature itself
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If you look at Romans 8 22, it says nature groans in agony under the wickedness of mankind The lives of prophets preach sermons as much as their actual words, right?
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It wasn't just a prophet didn't just preach the Word of God. He lived the Word of God John was the final prophet to wear this attire because he heralded the great sacrificial lamb
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Jesus Christ our Messiah There's no more need after John for the blood of animals because you have the blood of Jesus Christ and the blood
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Jesus Christ is Perfect forever. He died once for all so John was the last of the line of the prophets to wear this
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We no longer need a garment of hair to remind us of our sin as God's provision for our salvation Because we have a risen
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Savior who bears the marks of crucifixion on his hands feet and side So you see in John's ministry a transition from animal based sacrifices to Jesus of the ultimate sacrifice
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John's heavenward focus was not only shown by his style of clothes, but his asceticism or his refusal to collect clothes and Was another sign of the inauguration of the new covenant while there were many
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Old Testament saints that were blessed with riches It's notable. The New Testament features very few rich men.
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There's not a lot of rich people New Testament that were saved We do have a few we have Joseph Arimathea Philemon Nicodemus But in this manner
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John was also foreshadowing the ministry of Jesus Jesus had no place to lay his head and he had very few clothes for his name
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Well having a variety of clothes is not a bad thing in itself Oftentimes the reason we maintain a large wardrobe is to attract attention gain acceptance to the world and find fulfillment
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John treated his clothes as a means to an end He wasn't here to collect clothes and he was just as a you know as a popular prophet
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He probably had the he probably could receive as many clothes as he wanted if you think back to Elisha When Elisha healed
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Naaman what a name and do he tried to put all of these clothes in this gold and silver and say here Take it. So if John wanted he probably had all the clothes he wanted, but he refused.
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He said I'm just wearing a camel hair garment However, John disciplined himself and he learned to live with a bare minimum of apparel
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Basically, he was saying I'm gonna devote my whole body and soul to the gospel And the other thing that's important about this too is he was avoiding accusations
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He was in the ministry for for lucre, which is you know Unrighteous gain a lot of a lot of pastors and they preached they preached because they want stuff if you look at John He lived in the desert.
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He wore a camel hair cloak. There's no way someone can accuse him of preaching for money He does no money. He lives. He's a home.
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He's basically a homeless man He lives the desert but Richard Baxter has a good quote
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In his Christian directory. He writes this he said But as dwelling in tents in a constant unsettledness in a movable condition having little and needing little
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Never feeling anything in the creature to tempt us to say soul take thy rest This is the safest life which gives us the freest advantages for heaven and he's referring there to the early
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Patriarchs who moved in tents who didn't have you know, we don't have a lot It's like when you have a little it's harder to focus on This world when you purposely don't have much in this life, and that's what
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John did Discipline and self -control. Those are both integral parts of sanctification or the most important part if you think about it like becoming self -controlled and thought
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Words and actions it requires constant diligence in the part of a Christian I mean, I don't know about you But like it's very self -controls are the hardest things in the
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Christian life to achieve If you read in Paul's letter to the Ephesians Paul has the following to say he says but the fruit of the
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Spirit is love joy peace long -suffering Kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self -control
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Against this that such there is no law. That's Ephesians 5 22 through 23 It's no coincidence
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The Holy Spirit lists both long -suffering or patience and self -control on the list of the nine fruits of the
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Spirit So to me when I see these fruits, there are two sides of the same coin Long -suffering is bearing with others and the circumstances that God has given us
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So if the Lord puts you through something that's long -suffering or if you're trying to endure something that's long -suffering Self -control is becoming master of our own body
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Emotions will and not letting it master us. That's the second part of it in his earthly ministry. John really excelled at the first He was a master of self -control
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But you can tell long -suffering was something that he had to work on more because you know When he sent his disciples, he was like are you the expected one or we should look for someone else?
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It was it was tough for John that aspect of his life I think God was using Herod's jail cell to purify and refine
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John's faith So that fruit of the law So the fruit of long -suffering could ripen in his soul and the Lord does a lot of this with different Christians Some of us may be long -suffering some of us may be self -control
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But John clearly had the self -control part down, but the long -suffering part the Lord was training him on My application my second application is self -denial makes us more useful for the kingdom of God God places a very high premium on self -denial the author of Proverbs under the inspiration of the
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Holy Spirit writes He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty and he who rules his spirit is better than he who takes a city
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If you think about it Storming a city was a very difficult feat in ancient Israel Cities were often built near natural barriers like lakes if you think about Sodom or Tyre They were built on like on a lake on Tyre was built in the
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Mediterranean Sea Sodom was most likely built on the lower part of the Dead Sea or on a hill Jerusalem was built on Mount Moriah These this was to ensure that attackers only had a few possible avenues to attack the city
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Additionally many cities had towering walls and weapon systems that were designed to inflict maximum damage on the invading army
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You could wait for the city to run out of food or water That's what Titus did when he invaded Jerusalem in 70 AD But this took many months as most cities would have internal sources of water
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They'd have large reserves of food without determination violence and patience and invading army cannot be successful in a siege
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It was very tough to do that. Does this sound difficult to you to take a city? Well, the Holy Spirit says self -discipline is much harder of a task
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It's even tougher Richard Baxter says the following about resisting temptations He says keep as far as you can from those temptations which feed and strengthen the sins
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Which you would overcome lay siege to your sins starve them out by keeping away the food and fuel
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Which is their maintenance in life? And you see Baxter is kind of playing off that Proverbs and saying you know what you lay siege to your sins
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You don't let them master you and you say I'm gonna starve this in out and get you know Keep it away from me John's life of active self -denial.
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It really made him the perfect messianic messenger. He didn't have a wife or children So he could devote himself wholly to the ministry.
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He didn't have a home so he could devote all his time to building up the Lord's House John ate food for sustenance not for pleasure.
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He ate, you know crickets and honey. This guy wasn't he wasn't enjoying the finest of eel and wine Protecting his clothes from the elements with the furthest thing from his mind
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John sacrificed all creature comforts and gave himself entirely to propagate in the gospel
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If this sounds familiar, it's because John's life was a partial foreshadowing of the life of our
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Savior Jesus condescension was even greater than John's as he's the creator the sustainer of the entire universe
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Imagine if you will a king that lives homeless in his own Empire, you know Think about a fine chef that forgoes eating his own food
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Consider the case of maybe a talented musician that stops himself from hearing the music. He produces Did these scenarios sound a little ludicrous to you?
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Like why would they do that if I reveal these people made these sacrifices for a family member or a close friend?
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Then these sacrifices make sense I don't eat my food because you know My wife's alert to I keep out of the house or I live as a homeless land man.
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So my my subjects can live well Consider the power the privilege the honor and elements of knowledge attended with deity that Jesus Voluntarily laid aside to come to this earth that he created
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No one in human history has ever practiced more self -denial than Jesus did during his earthly ministry
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Additionally what we may deny ourselves for a family or close friends Jesus practice self -denial to save those who are his bitter enemies
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We were all enemies of God and Jesus did this for us through his actions Jesus showed how highly he valued the souls of mankind
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Paul wrote the following the letters in his letter to the Romans if you look at Romans 5 10
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It says for if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God the death of his son
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How much more being reconciled will be shall we be saved by his life? For those that are in this room today
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Consider what Jesus sacrificed for us and weigh it against what he asked us to sacrifice for him is Living a holy life such a probation that is it such a probation for us like a hardship
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Do we dare to tell Jesus that the sacrifice that you require us God is too difficult. It's too onerous
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True Christianity is not characterized by a desire to the bare minimum and squeak into heaven.
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That's not true Christianity Rather true Christianity seeks to emulate Jesus by being both passionate and resolute in the works that he's prepared for us
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Paul writes the following in 2nd Corinthians for our light affliction Which is for but a moment is working for a mark is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory
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When we balance our light momentary afflictions on the scale against the weight of glory that God's prepared for us a clear winner emerges
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You know What are the what are the affliction of this life? What are the things we go through into you know, being a son and daughter of God and living with God forever
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That's such a great privilege To those who have not found peace with God I had the following to say are the trinkets and titles of this world worth spending an attorney in hell for Do you desire the blessings of God and not
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God himself if so you treat God as people treat prostitutes they take what they can from the person and they have no desire to build a respectful relationship and Treating a you know, the way a man treats a prostitute is horrible
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But for a man to do that's Almighty God who made him and created him gives birth every day That's cosmic treason as R.
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C. Sproul would say the third point. I'm gonna go to here is
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Jesus basically confirms John's heraldic prophetic ministry. So let's talk about this this basically will start in verse verse 9 and 10
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If you think about you know Living in a king's house is a great honor.
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It's not one that John ever experienced per Jesus words in Matthew 11 8 He says he says in Matthew 11 8
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What did you got to see a man who wears soft clothing those who wear soft clothing are in Kings palaces?
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However, simply if you think about it simply getting to live in the house of a king can be less of an honor than it Appears to be at first glance
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To keep a sovereign or ruler comfortable. There's an army of servants or slaves are required to staff a palace, right?
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So every sovereign that's ever rule is that either a bunch of servants a lot of times they have slaves For them, although these people may taste some of the pleasures of palace life their duties and responsibilities keep them from completely enjoying it
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Additionally think about it like take palace guards. For example, they're exposed the elements while guarding the palace
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Prisoners in the palace dungeon take little comfort from the fact they share residence with the king But think about us we were invited to being lived with the
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God of the universe That's a far greater honor than dwelling in the palaces of men David summed it up succinctly when he said in Psalm 84 10
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For a day in your courts is better than a thousand I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my
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God than dwell in the tents of wickedness John gave up the opportunity to live in a palace palaces of men.
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He could have you know Probably been out there just preached whatever we got it, you know accolades live wherever but he gave that up Instead John became a
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Nazarene and devoted his mind his body and his soul completely to God The gift of living in heaven forever.
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It's a universal gift We all receive that if you trust in the Lord, you will go to live with him one day John received that gift, but he also had the far greater gift of being a prophet and a herald of Messiah Listen to what
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John listen to what Jesus said about him in verses 8 and 9 of Matthew 11 What did you go out to see a prophet?
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Yes, I tell you more than a prophet This is of he of whom is written behold. I send my message before your face who will prepare your way before you
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John MacArthur writes the following about John his comments are in these verses John was both the prophet and the fulfillment of a prophecy
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He was the Lord's messenger who would prepare the way for the Messiah and even baptized him He announced the
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Messiah and actually ministered to the Messiah with his own hands as no other prophet would As nor the prophet has done or would ever do after thousands of years of God's preparation and prediction
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John was given the unequaled privilege of being the Messiah's personal hair of Harold All of all the other
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Old Testament prophets, they all represented God, but John received the privilege of being the living herald of Jesus Christ as Corinthians says the other prophets they looked into a dim mirror and a dark glass
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But John was able to he met the second person in Trinity during his life Touching the human body of Jesus was an experience that Old Testament prophets probably never had their wildest
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Imaginations and yet John was gifted this privilege when he baptized Jesus in the water When Jesus said he was more than a prophet
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He's not primarily referring to John's character traits or his godly lifestyle. Those are important But what he's pointing to is who did
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John Harold the Messiah? That's why he's more than a prophet He's the Messiah's Harold because of Jesus When I was reading these verse this week,
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I noticed a difference between the text of Malachi 3 1 that Jesus quoted and the verse that Jesus recited to his
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Recited to his hearers in Matthew 11 10. I've included a couple of versions below If you read
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Malachi 3 1 there's already two translations the ESV says behold I said, but I sent my messenger and he'll prepare the way before me the
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The the King James Version says behold I send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me But if you look at Matthew 11 10, it says this is the one about whom it is written behold
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I am sending my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way before you That's the Nazby and the
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King James Version says for this is he of whom it is written Behold, I send my messenger before thy face which shall prepare that way before thee
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The verse from Matthew seems to detail a conversation between God the Father and Jesus Well Malachi refers to judge
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Jesus appointment of John as a herald This is not a discrepancy in Scripture a lot of times people try to like say oh, that's something wrong
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Or it's slightly it's off. There's an error. It's not a discrepancy rather Matthew's gospel highlights the decision of the
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Godhead to appoint John as a messianic forerunner Whereas Malachi talks about Jesus saying he's my forerunner
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This is another unique feature of John's ministry He seems to be the only prophet where the scriptures record the conversation between members of the
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Trinity Concerning his selection as the messianic forerunner. So God the Father said this is the messenger. I sent him before your face
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That's a very unique thing for John My third application is we are all heralds for Jesus Christ all of us
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John was the messianic herald But we are all called to be sub heralds of the good news that God has given us
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This task could not be a chore It should not be frightening to us But it should be a privilege and delight to those of us who have truly been born again
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If we lack the necessary mindset to evangelize we need to passionately plead to God God give us more fear of yourself and Remove the fear of the fear of man from our lives
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The Bible says the fear of man is a snare and it is So many times in my own life the fear of man has kept me from saying what's right speaking up for the
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Lord doing things I should you don't want the fear of man. And if you have the fear of man, say Lord, please remove it
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Paul writes this in 2nd Corinthians. He says Now we are all ambassadors for Christ as God were as God were pleading through us.
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We implore you on Christ's behalf Be reconciled to God. That's 2nd
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Corinthians 520 God is based. God pleased the sinners through us when we share the gospel
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That's God saying through us be reconciled to me and Paul the Apostle said Paul said we should implore people to turn from their sins to Jesus Christ This is the proper attitude.
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We should have in our evangelistic efforts, right? We shouldn't be combative. We shouldn't be lethargic We share the gospel both are different violations of the greatest commandment
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When people are very combative and sharing the gospel that shows a lack of love for others love other Jesus says we're the two greatest commandments love the
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Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength love your neighbor as yourself When you're combative, you're not loving your neighbor yourself when you're when you're lethargic you reveal a very little love for God I mean what if you go up to people just like yeah trust the
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Lord and you're not passionate about it That do you really love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength if you're not passionate about spreading his word
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The Great Commission is not limited to pastors and elders There are some people that try to limit the Great Commission and say that's just for pastors or elders
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No, the Great Commission is for every Christian to do And you've not completed if you've only witnessed your family members and close friends.
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That's not the Commission is for all the world Those are the words that Jesus used so you should start with your family members and close friends
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That's a good place to start But everyone when you meet people on the streets, you should be saying Lord give me an opportunity to evangelize this person
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You know When God says as I said earlier when God says all the world that's necessarily means everyone that doesn't mean just people in your circle now starting up people in your circle is a good idea to But you know try to ask the
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Lord Lord when if someone comes to my door to deliver something or have a contractor coming over How can
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I use this to share the gospel with them? Second John found his ultimate purpose in life and being a messenger for Christ That was
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John's ultimate purpose if we're looking to find our purpose or worth in anything else other than Christ We're gonna be sorely disappointed
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Even if you place God has given us many good gifts Our family our church body our kids great theology, but if you place any of those things before Jesus That's idolatry because even good things can be idols
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This will ultimately lead to delusion meant in the short term Because all those things are let you down sometime your family will let you down Your church can let you down your kids will let you down and even theology will let you down But only
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God will never let you down and in an extreme case It can lead to eternal damnation If you're trusting if you are a
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Christian you have those idols God's gonna discipline you if you're not a Christian Those are idols that will take you straight to hell That's that's very that's sobering and so we need to look at our hearts say
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Lord remove idols from me John Calvin said the human heart is a factory of idols and there's no truer thing our hearts pump out idols every day
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Whether it's things we're doing things are wearing what we want to do. That's what our hearts do Augustine is a famous church father one of my favorite quotes by him
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Probably my favorite quotes by most anyone that of the church fathers He says you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you
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You're not gonna find any rest until you rest in what Jesus is on the cross everything in this You know your heart has a
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God -shaped hole inside of it and only God can fill that so you can try to cram stuff Titles people possessions, whatever the world offers you you're gonna always you're gonna be left empty, you know
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It's like it's like drinking salt water. You can drink as much salt water as you want. You're always gonna be thirsty That's what it's like trying to like live for this world and trying to put your love on things of the world
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If you're unconverted today, you'll never have true peace until you seek heaven with holy violence This is a call to you as well
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If you think about Jacob in the Old Testament When the angel when the angel the Lord came down that was the pre -incarnate
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Christ Jacob wrestled with him and held on to him He said I'm not gonna let you go until you bless me. That's how you should approach your
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Christian life You say Lord, I'm not gonna let you go until you until you show me that I'm your son or I'm your daughter
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That's what you need to do And you know people a lot of times when you when you live like this people are gonna call you crazy
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They're gonna say you know what you're too religious. You're you're too righteous. You're trying to be too. Holy Well, guess what one day we stand before God on Judgment Day No one's ever look back and say
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I was I was too righteous or I was too holy We're all gonna look back and say God was holy. I should have been more righteous.
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God is just I should have been more just God is Sovereign I should be like yeah, that's the important thing.
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The important thing is like what does God think we? Passed around with our conference. I think three months ago
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And he said whenever the trials in your life threatened to outweigh what's going on think about the 200 year view
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Let's look forward 200 years in the future. None of us will be alive in 200 years Well, what you worry about today matter then your car your house your relationship
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What will matter your relationship with Jesus Christ and whether you trust in him alone? And if you didn't trust in him alone, you know relationship
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Jesus Christ That'll be that'll be the worst mistake and you'll regret it for eternity And if you did trust
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Jesus Christ, and you did put your hope on him You'll have peace and joy that surpasses all understanding the
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Puritan said, you know The devil one of the devil's greatest lies is he tells people the
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Lord doesn't want you to have pleasure The Lord doesn't want you to have fun. You know, the Lord created the eye the
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Lord created feeling he created the world Do you think the Lord doesn't know how to reward those who love him
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God invented pleasure the devil corrupted pleasure So when the devil comes around and says, you know, just go for the gusto get the pleasure of the world
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Remember just remind the devil the Lord created pleasure and I'm waiting on my reward and my reward is greater than yours That's when you tell the devil
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Jesus promises all that come to him. He'll never cast out You you know you can boldly approach the when you would trust the
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Lord you can boldly approach the throne on Judgment Day because yes Jesus is not only your judge But he's your high priest and your advocate and he bled and died that he might be made whole
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That verse if you think of that verse, I can't I don't remember the exact reference right now But it says we can come bold before the throne on Judgment Day.
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That's a pretty it almost seems a little like It almost seems like a little like What the word went for here?
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Like we can go bold before the Lord like who made the heaven the earth, but yes through Jesus you can that's how great
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Jesus is that's how great Jesus death was he opened a way we can walk boldly up to that throne and say
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I know I'm a Sinner and I know that I know that I've done many things are wrong in this life, but I'm trusting the perfect Jesus Christ who lived a spotless life who died a perfect death for my salvation and if you do that you can be bold My prayer for all of us is today that we would all live for with holy violence
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If you're a Christian, you're called to live with holy violence If you're not a Christian, you're called to use holy violence to pursue heaven and say
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Lord, you know If the Lord if you feel like you're not the Lord's that's then you you read the Bible you pray you ask the
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Lord Lord Keep keep pressing in say Lord make me your own and the Lord, you know when God gives that call all those that come to me
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I'll never cast him out. He means it right? So take him at his word say Lord You promised that if I come to you,
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I'll never cast you out and the Lord will do that I can testify in my life many of their lives that you know,
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Jesus does change lives He changed the lives of a lot of people, you know
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Adulterers we were fornicators such for some of you were all like that all of us in our mind had broken God's law If we haven't done it indeed
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We've done in our mind and like until you see the depths of your sin You're never seen the holiness of God or the greatness of Jesus Jesus has worked for on our behalf
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Let's pray together Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for this day I thank you for everything you've given us what
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I praise you Lord that you didn't sit back and take it easy in this life Lord, but that you Lord you Denied yourself you gave up your rights your privileges you gave up some of your knowledge
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Lord You did all of this for us, but I pray that you would we would you would be the pattern that we would follow
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We would not consider any sacrifice too much to make for you, Lord Thank you for that and thank you that Lord you've given all of us
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Lord You've given us many chances Lord today You said today is a of salvation tomorrow is too late
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Pray that you would have us reach out to you today and say Lord, please save me Lord You're more you're not just willing to see you're not just able to save you're willing to Your willingness extends to all sinners
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Lord and not just the best of sinners Lord You've said you've come to heal the sick. You've come to heal the wicked
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Those the ones Lord that you've come to save and Lord we cast ourselves upon you and say Lord we are wicked
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We're sinful. We're depraved human beings Lord, but you are great. You are holy.
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You are good and Lord There's no other no other salvation shall be found this earth, but in your name. Thank you for everything.