A People Prepared for the Lord — Stephen Kaung

John the Baptist’s Call to Prepare the Way

Do you please turn to the gospel according to Luke chapter 3, the 3rd chapter, we will read from verse 1. Now in the fifteenth year of the government of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea and Herod, patriarch of Galilee, and Philip his brother, patriarch of Aeturia and the region of Taconitus, and Lysenius, patriarch of Abilene, in the high priesthood of Annas and Caecus, the word of God came upon John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.

And he came into all the district round the Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance, for the remission of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his path.

Every gorge shall be filled up, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low. And the crooked places shall become a straight path, and the rough places smooth ways. And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

He said therefore to the crowds which went out to be baptized by him, Offspring of vipers, who has forewarned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say ye yourselves, We have Abraham for our father, for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham.

And already also the act is applied to the root of the trees, every tree therefore not producing good fruit is cut down and cast to the fire. And the crowds asked him, saying, What shall we do then? And the answering says to them, He that has two body coats, let him give to him that has none, and he that has fruit, let him do likewise.

And tax gatherers came also to be baptized, and they said to him, Teacher, what shall we do? And he said to them, Take no more money than what is appointed to you. And persons engaged in military service also asked him, saying, And we, what shall we do?

And he said to them, Oppress no one, nor accuse falsely, and be satisfied with your pay. The last voice of God in the Old Testament is the voice of the prophet Malachi. After God spoke to the remnant who returned from Babylonian captivity, four hundred years, God was completely silent.

You know, in the days of Eli, we are told that the word of God was rare, and a vision was infrequent. In other words, in the days of Eli, the spiritual conditions of God's people were such that God rarely spoke, and He very seldom appeared Himself to His own people.

It must be a very terrible situation at that time. But in comparison with the days of Eli, we find that for four hundred years, God did not speak even a word to His own people. The heavens were completely silent and fainting with His people.

Just imagine if God should not speak to us for a year, what will happen to us, for God not to speak for four hundred years? What terrible situation the people must be in! And yet, dear brothers and sisters, when you look into the condition of the nation of Israel by outward appearance, you find everything seems to go on as usual.

Religious Activity Without Spiritual Reality

Even without God, Israel had come back from Babylonian captivity. They rebuilt the temple, and this temple was enlarged by King Herod, until it became a beautiful edifice, adorned with beautiful stones and offerings.

It was a pride to the Jewish people. And in the temple there was the priesthood restored, even though it wasn't perfect, because the priests that came back from Babylonian captivity did not belong to all the twelve, all the twenty-four courses.

But they managed to stretch out those that came back into twenty-four courses. So there you'll find in the temple, the priests served day and night, year in and year out, with twenty-four courses, was arranged by King David.

There was not only the priesthood restored, but even the sacrifices were restored. Every morning there on the altar, or that brazen altar, a burn offering will be put on the fire. And then the other offerings will be offered upon that burn offering.

And when the burn offering, morning offering, was completely consumed, another lamp was put there in the evening. The fire on the altar burned day and night. Many, many sacrifices were offered on the altar for the four hundred years.

There was the word of God written, oracles of God were read by the people. And more than that, when they came back from Babylon, they brought back that wonderful human ingenious invention of the system of synagogue with them.

You know, during the captivity there was no temple, and yet they wanted to worship God. So there you find the system of synagogue was invented. But when they returned from captivity, and had the temple rebuilt, we would think that the system of synagogue would completely disappear.

But not so. It even was increased. There you'll find all kinds of synagogues, mushrooms all over, and in the synagogue there were prayers offered, songs sung, the five books of Moses, and the prophets read.

And better than that, there were exhortations to one another. And together with that, there was that strict set of pharisees. They made a special study of the law, and they tried to keep the law to its very letters.

They were the teachers of the people. And there was also another class of people called the scribes. They devoted their whole lives copying the word of God. And how pious they were. When they came to the word of God, they had to bathe themselves before they wrote the word.

They were so familiar with the scripture, they could quote the scripture. They did not need a concordance. The Jews, they were back in the promised land. They had the temple, they had the priesthood, they had the sacrifices, they had the word of God, they had the synagogue, they had the scribes, they had the pharisees.

What more did they want? They considered themselves the most pious people in the world. And they were proud of themselves as the teacher of the nation. The purest of religion. And through the years, tradition has accumulated.

Great teachers were raised up by God to interpret the Bible. And then other great teachers rose up to interpret the interpretations of these great teachers. And you find at the time that we were talking about, the traditions of the father were of such gigantic size, that the word of God was literally buried under it.

By all our appearance, they were the most religious, the most godly people in the whole world. And they themselves, that was the case. When you try to put these two things together, you'll find the most religious people in the world.

Certainly God will be much, very much pleased with them. And God would like to befriend to them. God would like to speak to them and appear himself to them. Certainly they deserve all these. And yet, the Bible said, for 400 years, there was no vision, there was no word.

God was completely silent. Not because God did not want to speak to his people. Certainly God wanted to speak to his people. Not because God did not want to appear himself to his people. He certainly would like to.

Because these were the only people to whom he could appear. But they drove him to desperation. Drove him to silence. Drove him into hiding. 400 years passed. Spiritual drought, this must be. And yet the people could go on as usual.

As if God was with them. And they were a God-fearing people. And suddenly, after 400 years of silence, not because the spiritual situation of the people had improved, probably it got worse as years went by.

But after 400 years, God could not keep his silence anymore. Suddenly a voice. It was God. As we mentioned yesterday, that he was an ever-making vessel of God. God was going to change the time. He was going to conclude the age of the law and the prophets.

And to introduce the dispensation of grace. He was going to bring in the King. His Christ. He found in this man John. An ever-making vessel of God. He was born for life. He was filled with the spirit and power of Elijah.

And he was sent by God to prepare the way of the Lord. As he grew in stature and in spirit. He was very different from the people of his time. He lived in the desert. Not at all. He cut himself with a camel's hair.

Girded with a leather. Not with a soft raiment. Fashionable in his days. He did not even eat corn and wheat. And wild honey. Found in the wilderness. A very different person. Not because he wanted to be different.

But because God had a very different message. For him to bring to his own people. So God reared him up in a very special way. And when he was 30 years old. Remember he came from the priestly family. And when a man born to a priestly family.

Came to 30 years old. That was the time he would enter into the temple. And serve as a full-fledged priest. But instead of that. The word of God came to John. And the word there is not the locust. It's Rhema.

In other words. It was the current word of the Lord. The immediate, the present word of the Lord. Came to John. God did not even allow him to be a priest. He was born to be a priest. But before he was able to serve as a priest in the temple.

According to custom and tradition. God called him to be a prophet. A spokesman. So he came out from the wilderness. And there he brought a message. To God's people. In his time. Brothers and sisters. As I mentioned yesterday.

A Prophetic Warning About the Coming Kingdom

We are on the verge of another great change in time. We believe that God is going to conclude even this dispensation of grace. The door of grace will be open. Will be closed. Very soon. And God is going to introduce.

Into the world. The age to come. Which is the millennium. The kingdom. God is going to bring back his king. The king of kings. And the Lord of lords. We are on the verge of another great change. Before man.

Probably before man you will find. A group of very godly. Very religious people. So brothers and sisters. I was told that. This country had. The. Largest number of. Bible schools and seminaries. In the whole world.

The air was literally filled with gospel. A Christian country. A religious people. At the full corner of the square. At least. Three church buildings. The fourth one is a court. By all our appearance.

It seems as if we all are religious people. We worship God. But dear brothers and sisters. We hear the voice of God. Yes we have the Bible read. Week after week. In many places. In many ways. But do we hear the voice of God?

Is there a vision? Does God appear himself to his people? Look at the hunger and the thirst among God's people. Why? Why is it there is not a living water? You find a situation here. Very similar to the days.

Of John the Baptist. Outwardly religious. Full of tradition. But within. There is no reality. There is no power. Is going to make a tremendous change. Changing from the letter to the spirit. Changing from religiosity into spirituality.

Changing from formality into reality. The shadow shall pass away. The reality shall come in. Such a time. God have a message. Oh dear brothers and sisters. We may hear many voices. We may even hear many words.

Of God expounded to us. Does God have a special message? I believe he has. A voice in the wilderness. You know because for 400 years God has not spoken. When that voice was raised. The whole country was literally electrified.

People flocked. From cities and villages. Countries. They flocked to the wilderness. To hear what God had to say to his people. What is the message? For the kingdom of the heavens has drawn I. Change message it must be.

Repentance as a Total Change of Direction

Repent. Kingdom of the heavens has drawn I. You know the word repent is a very strong word. It is not a weak word. Repent means. A change of mind. Outface. Change of direction. A change of lifestyle. Change of everything.

Complete. Plastic. From within. To without. Certainly the Jews at that time. If John the Baptist should come with a message saying. Improve. Reform. Increase. A little bit more. Very reasonable. That is the message.

We are waiting for. Attitude was represented by. Nicodemus. Nicodemus was the rabbi of Israel. He was not just one of the rabbis. He was the rabbi of Israel. An old man. Achieve a lot. Expected by everybody.

And yet he knew he was not enough. So he came to the Lord that night. And said. We know you come from heaven. You are a teacher from heaven. I am a teacher on earth. The greatest. But you are a teacher from heaven.

You must have something to teach me. And a little bit more. Then I may improve a little bit more. If there is a little more increase. Every fine. Then I am in the kingdom of God. The Lord Jesus said. Verily, verily, I say unto you.

Unless a man be born again. He shall not even see the kingdom of God. God's message to his people. Is the message of repentance. A total change. The Pharisees and the scribes. Refused to accept John the Baptist.

Because to them it was unreasonable. Are we not a most religious people? What should we repent of? The temple. What should we repent of? The priesthood. God ordained it to thee. What should we repent of?

The sacrifices. God ordered us to offer. What's wrong with the oracles? Word of God. Make a study of it. And keep the letters of the Lord. What's wrong with that? What's wrong with praying? What's wrong with praising?

What's wrong with exalting one another? We repent of these things. These things come from God. And we are so lethargical God. God asked us to build a temple. And we built many city gods. Two. God gave us his word.

And we add the traditions of the fathers. We do more than God ever demands. Certainly. Repentance is not for us. It's for the heathens. He made us sinners and apocryphans. Came to John the Baptist. And received.

Dear brothers and sisters. We often think that repentance is for unbelievers. It is true. An unbeliever needs to repent. Because unless he repents. He will never be able to receive. The salvation of the Lord.

But from the word of God you'll find repentance is free to God's people too. We need to repent. End of the first century. In Revelations chapter 2 and 3. You'll find in the seven letters of the risen Lord.

From John to the seven churches. Five from the church in Philadelphia. And the church in Sardis. There you'll find the Lord's message to everyone of His church. The same message. Repentance. Why? Do they not have good works?

Do they not show love? Do they not have determined understanding, knowledge, labor, toil? All these things they do. And the Lord knows it. But the word of the Lord to His people is to repent. In other words.

The word of the Lord said. You are all together wrong. Everything you do has to be repented. Even the best has to be repented. Even the most accurate has to be repented. Even the most orthodox has to be repented.

Even the most zealous has to be repented. I will have nothing to do with these things. Brothers and sisters. What is repentance? I believe I have told you the story before. But I like the story so much.

I don't mind saying it again. If you are not tired of it. At the point in time there was a convention. It was a convention for the theologians. Came together to discuss the various doctrines of divinity, theology.

They all gave dissertations on various topics. Of the Bible. And one of the topics was repentance. So different in their papers. They read their dissertations before the audience. For the people to consider about repentance.

And the more they presented the meaning of repentance. The more confused the people became. Because they were too learned. Above people's heads. So finally a missionary. A missionary to a foreign land.

A retired missionary. He was sitting at a desk listening. And he just couldn't stand it anymore. So he raised his hand and said Mr. Chairman. Will you allow me to speak just five minutes. On repentance.

While the chairman looked at him. With white hair you know. And lots of sufferings in a foreign land. Even though he was not a very learned. But out of respect to his many years of service in the foreign field.

The chairman said alright. I'll give you five minutes. So he stood up. And he started to walk. To the platform. As he was walking towards the platform. He raised his two hands and he began to shout. I'm going to hell.

I'm going to hell. I'm going to hell. And he shouted all the way up. And everybody was electrified. They said this man. Something must be wrong with his head. So he shouted and shouted. And louder and louder.

And until he got to the platform. And after he ascended the platform. He turned around. Faced the audience. He lifted his two hands. He said I'm going to heaven. This is repentance. Finished. I think there is nothing clearer than that.

Do you know what is repentance? Repentance is not just there to the right or there to the left. Repentance is you are going one direction which is heading back. And now you turn round about face. And going another direction altogether.

To life. Now that is repentance. In other words. It is not improvement. It is not reform. It is a complete change. Now after you have heard this. Do you think you need to repent? You think just like the Pharisees and the scribes.

You are heading the right direction. Certainly there is nothing wrong with the direction. Maybe you veer a little bit to the right. Or veer a little bit to the left. You need to be adjusted. But to change the whole direction.

Certainly not. You don't need to repent. Do you think the Jews need to repent going to the temple? Did they need to repent by offering sacrifices? Did they need to repent because they have a priesthood?

Did they need to repent because they read the word of God? Did they need to repent because they prayed and they praised? Did they need to repent because they studied the word? Because they kept the commandments?

Did they need to repent of these things? Yes. Time is come. The temple is a shadow. The reality has come. The temple in Jerusalem was magnificent. But the presence of the Lord was not there. The presence of God was with a man.

Jesus. Along with the priesthood. But the priesthood is a shadow. The reality is in Christ. He is the priest. The high priest. After the order of Archimedes. He has come. Nothing wrong with offerings.

But the offerings are but types. The reality has come. The Lamb of God has come. Nothing wrong with the word. But the spirit of the word has come. The Lord Jesus said, you search the scripture. Do you think there is eternal life?

It is. But it speaks of me. And yet you do not want to come to me. Dear brothers and sisters. You find that because a tremendous change of time has come. If it were under the dispensation of the law and the prophets.

All these things were right. But now. If you hold on to that. And reject the Christ to come. Do you need to repent of that? Certainly. You need to repent. Oh dear brothers and sisters. How often we think that we are very scriptural.

Very often. Very traditional. We are doing the things according to the word. But brothers and sisters. The time has come. What is looking for? If there is no reality. If there is no spirituality. If it is not Christ.

Even though you may be doing all these things. The message of God to you is to repent. You cannot rely on these things. The Lord shall come. You cannot cling and rely upon these things. Repentance. John preached repentance.

He acted out his teaching. Baptism is death and resurrection. Repentance is acted out by baptism. In other words repentance is nothing less than what baptism is. If you need to be baptized. That is you need to die to the old.

Whether it is the good or the bad. Whether it is your achievement or your failures. Anything that is of the old must die. Not only die but bury it out of sight. You don't want to see it anymore. So that you may partake in resurrection.

Dear brothers and sisters. This is the meaning of repentance. It is not just that you need to repent only something. That you consider as sinful and evil. But certainly you don't need to repent of that which you consider as good.

No. It is like baptism. You look at your whole past as something completely wrong. Must be. Must go to death. And even be buried. I don't want to see it anymore. I may begin anew in Christ. We repent because we have sinned.

We repent because we have fallen. We repent because we have done something wrong. Therefore we repent. That's true. But do you know dear brothers and sisters. If repentance is based on negative reason.

It is superficial. The kingdom of the heaven. That's the reason. Repentance is because you have done something wrong. Certainly they did not need to repent of their temple. They did not need to repent of their priesthood.

Of their sacrifices. They did not need to repent of all these things. No. The only reason given for repentance is a positive reason. Repent. For the kingdom of the heaven has drawn. Do you know that unless we repent because there is something positive.

Our repentance is always superficial. You read the scripture. And see in the life of Job. Job was a perfect man. God could even use him to challenge Satan. Do you see my servant Job. How perfect, how righteous he is.

But Job had nothing to repent. When he was accused by his three friends. Saying that something must be wrong there. There must be some secret thing hidden somewhere. Otherwise all these calamities will not fall upon you.

You just repent. Confess it before the Lord. And the Lord will be merciful to you. But Job said I searched myself. I could not find anything I need to repent of. If I repent I am a hypocrite. I am not true to myself.

Encountering God Produces True Repentance

Oh dear brothers and sisters. We can be self-righteous like that. If I repent I am a hypocrite. Because I have nothing to repent of. What his friends could not convince him. He appeared to him. God challenged him.

God did not even explain to him. Why such things should happen to him. God just revealed his majesty. Creative acts. Job repented. Because he had seen God. You see his man. You don't need to repent. You are better.

But if God should appear to you. You cannot. Look at the beloved of God Daniel. Daniel was a beloved. But when God appeared to him in a vision. He fell upon his face. And when the angel of the Lord touched him.

And raised him up. One day if you see God. Your beauty will turn into corruption. You think this is your beauty. You think this is your strength. You think this is something you can depend upon. But if you see him.

Your beauty will turn into corruption. Will be something you will be afraid of. He denounced the children of Israel. For God. In the sixth chapter of Isaiah. In the days that Uzziah died. He entered into the temple.

God gave him a vision. Of course he was not allowed to enter into the holy place. He was not a priest. He must be praying in the outer court. And yet God gave him a vision of the holiest of all. There the Lord was on the throne.

And his train filled the house. And the seraphim crying holy, holy, holy. And when Isaiah saw the vision of the Lord. What did he do? Who am I? For I am undone. Man of unclean lips. Dwelling among a people of unclean lips.

And thank God. An angel, the seraphim. Flew down. With a living coal. On the altar. And said be thou kind. Same thing happened to John. The one who lay. On the bosom of our Lord. And yet. On the island of Patmos.

When the Lord appeared to him. He fell down. Dear brothers and sisters. Do we need to repent? The reason why we feel we are alright. Because we have not seen the Lord. If we see the Lord. We know we need to repent.

There is no other place for us. But repentance. Is our ground. The kingdom of the heavens. Has drawn nigh. Dear brothers and sisters. This is a message. God gave to his people. Through John the Baptist.

And this is the message. That make ready. A prepared people. For God. In other words. How are we to be prepared. For the coming of the Lord. Can we be a prepared people. For the Lord. If the Lord shall come.

Tonight. Are we to prepare ourselves to meet him. What is the way. Of preparation. Oh if the Lord shall return. And I am preaching there. Oh if the Lord shall return. And I. It happened that I was on my knees praying.

Oh praying. I have praying. Because they knew the Lord was coming. Well known surgeon. The wife was an accomplished concert pianist. And because they thought the Lord was coming soon. They left this country.

Led a group of people. Went to the north west of Canada. In the desert. They cleared the ground. They built cabins. And wait for the Lord's coming. Is that the way to be prepared. For the Lord's return.

We think that if we want to prepare for the Lord's return. Well let's do something. Or if we serve him. And do something for him. So that when he shall return. We have something to offer to him. That's the way to prepare.

Or. You may say well. Oh if I may grow. And grow. And be so spiritual. Then. You will find lots of. How did John the Baptist prepare for the Lord? Prepare the way of the Lord? How did John the Baptist make ready and prepare people for the Lord?

How? With a message of repentance. Dear brothers and sisters. I believe. That the way to be prepared to meet the Lord. Is the way of repentance. In other words. We need to be in constant repentance before God.

Continuous repentance. Repentance is not just something we did once in our lifetime. No. Brothers and sisters. We need to be continually repentant. Before the Lord. Why? Because. If we continually see the Lord.

And to repent. And we do not see the Lord. Then we begin to put our confidence. Do we put our confidence in our knowledge? Do we put our confidence. Even in our obedience? Do we put our confidence in our achievement?

Do we put our confidence in our spirituality? Do we put our confidence in all these things? Brothers and sisters. If we think. We are ready to meet him. We are not ready. He may give us. An increasing vision of himself.

We may stand on the ground of repentance. That will create within us. A humility. That is the spirit of the Lamb. And that's the only spirit. The proud. And give grace. Dear brothers and sisters. How can we be humble?

We may think we have achieved a lot. Certainly. We have obeyed the Lord. We have found the right way. Brothers and sisters. If that is your attitude. You are not prepared. Increasing vision of the Lord.

That bring us low and low and low at his feet. Someone say even the tears of. Needs to be repented. Kingdom of the heavens. In the days of John the Baptist. The king. Those who were not prepared. Could not recognize him.

Only those who repented. And received him. They became the kingdom. Over them. Dear brothers and sisters. The day is drawing nearer and nearer. For the kingdom of the heavens shall. Be manifested. That who will be those with him.

The way to be prepared. Brothers and sisters. In the days of John the Baptist. It was a surprise to the people. We couldn't believe it. And I believe it will be a surprise to us today. We couldn't believe it.

We think that to be prepared. For the way of the Lord. Must be something different. It is the same message. Repent. For the kingdom of the heavens. And when the scribes and the Pharisees. Came to be baptized.

Of John the Baptist. They thought it was just. A ceremonial washing. John the Baptist they know. It is real. Unless. You bear fruit. Worthy of repentance. It's no use. Do not think in your heart. That you are children of Abraham.

God can raise. Out of these stones. Children to Abraham. In other words. All the natural. Spiritual relationship. Alone. At that time. Their repentance. Chapter 6 verse 8. What is required of them. Than to walk humbly.

With the Lord. With us today. Dear brothers and sisters. Of our repentance. The fruit of our repentance. Is that there is nothing good in us. We know that we cannot rely on anything. Even our achievement.

We know we need to. Be constantly. Humble ourselves. There will be. His way. So may the Lord. Have our approaching. Nearer and nearer to the day. Of the return. Brothers and sisters. May the Holy Spirit keep us.

In the spirit of humility. In constant repentance. Holy Father. We do praise. And thank Thee. In our most. And thank Thee. That there is a hope in us. Without going through death. Because Thou art coming.

Closing Prayer for a Prepared People

Lord are we. A prepared people for Thee. If Thou should come. Spirit in us. Of humility. That Thou find among Thy people. A people who repent. Of themselves. And cast themselves completely. Upon Thy mercy.

Who will not put confidence. In anything. In anybody. We are with us. Truly King. Those who rule. Lives in every area. Righteous. Shall concede it. Bring us to dust and ashes. Because this is our hope.

Our hope is in Thee. O Lord. We do open ourselves to Thee. And Lord. Thou art our only salvation. Thou art our only hope. To face. Thus in the name. That is above every name. The name of our Lord Jesus.