Joyfully Given (Selected Scriptures- Jeff Kliewer)

Cornerstone Church

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Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory,

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Lord of love. Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, open to the sun above.

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Let the clouds of sin and sadness drive us never down.

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Lord of love, giver of immortal gladness, the spring of life again.

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All Thy works with joy so round me, earth and heaven reflect

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Thy rays. Stars and angels sing around Thee, hymns of love unbroken praise.

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Fields and forests, hills and mountains, flowering gardens, blushing seas.

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Gentle birds and flowing fountains, call us to rejoice with Thee.

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Portals join the mighty chorus, in which the morning stars began.

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Father, love is reigning over us, brother by man to man.

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Heaven's singing hushed beyond the fingers in the deepest night.

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Joyful music lifts us onward, triumphs all the night.

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Long expected, Jesus, born to set

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Thy people free. From our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in Thee.

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Israel, strength and consolation, hope of all the earth,

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Thou art. Dear desire of every nation, joy of every lawn.

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Hope to deliver born a child from death in us forever.

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Gracious King of grace, on salvation's merit, raise us to Thy glorious throne.

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We thank you here this morning. We settle our hearts, because sometimes it's so busy that we don't find the time to just take a moment and realize that the wonderful gift that we celebrate as a baby really had a big purpose, had a huge plan to save us from hell.

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Lord, we thank you for the redemption that you give us. Thank you that you dwelt among us, that you live in our hearts.

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If we accept you, put our faith in you. Lord, we come to sing praises to your name this morning.

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Let's sing together. What hope we hold this starlit night.

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A king is born in Bethlehem. Our journey long, we seek the light that leads to the hallowed manger ground.

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What fear we felt in the silent ages.

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Four hundred years did he be found. But broken by a baby's cry, we chase in the hallowed manger ground.

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Emmanuel, Emmanuel.

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God incarnate, here to dwell.

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Emmanuel, Emmanuel. Praise his name,

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Emmanuel. Of God was born to bleed.

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A crown of thorns would pierce his brow. And we beheld his suffering.

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Exalted now, the king of kings. Praise God, the hallowed manger ground.

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Emmanuel, Emmanuel.

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Praise his name, Emmanuel. Praise his name,

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Emmanuel. Praise his name,

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Emmanuel. Thank you. So last week there were hardly any people in the first service and the second service was packed.

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I think people were trying to space it out. So everybody went to the first service this week and it was packed and it just flipped on us.

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Very interesting. Let's pray. God, thank you so much for the opportunity to come into your house to praise your name.

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I was glad when they said unto me, let us go to the house of the Lord. Thank you,

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God, that we can come gather here to praise the name Emmanuel. God with us, here to dwell.

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Thank you, God. We pray now as we look into your word that you would quicken hearts to believe the good news.

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For any who would hear this sermon who have not yet been born again, we pray that you would grant them the new birth.

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And Lord, for us who have believed and do believe, we ask that you would increase our devotion.

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Make us more like your son. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Okay, besides Jesus, who is the most prominent character in the

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Christmas story, in the early chapters of the Gospels, I should say? Besides Jesus, do you think it's the shepherds?

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Is it Mary and Joseph? Is it Anna? Is it Simeon? The innkeeper, maybe.

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Anybody think it's the innkeeper? The angel Gabriel, maybe? The chorus of angels?

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If you answered any of those things, you're wrong! The answer is John the

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Baptist. The third chapter of Matthew is all about John the

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Baptist. But in the book of Mark, he's the first person introduced after the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

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You get the story about John the Baptist. And then when you get to the book of Luke, you see that the life of Jesus and the life of John the

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Baptist are absolutely interwoven. They're just wound together. So you have an angel announcing the birth of John, and then you have an angel announcing the birth of Jesus.

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Then John is born, then Jesus is born. Then John grows in stature, and then Jesus grows in stature.

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Then you have John baptizing, and Jesus appears. And John baptized Jesus. You see how they're evenly distributed, and they're woven together in one story.

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The book of John, not the Baptist, but the Apostle John, that book is also the same way.

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John the Baptist appears right in that fifth verse. There was a man sent from God whose name was

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John. He came not to testify to himself, but Christ, who is the light. So you see that same interweaving of John's story and Jesus's.

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Today, I want to do something a little different. We are going to look at the story of John the

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Baptist, especially around his birth and the Christmas narrative, because it's Christmas. But I want for us to see

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John kind of as a paradigm for the Christian life. By studying the life of John the

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Baptist, we are able to see what God wants out of us. Anybody excited about Christmas?

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Excited about what you're going to get? How many of you are excited about what you're called to give to Jesus?

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What does Jesus want from us this Christmas? What gift could you give?

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Well, John the Baptist gives us that answer. So, John the Baptist's life was the kind of gift that Jesus wants for Christmas.

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We're going to see this in six stages. First, before John was even born, in fact, before John was even in the womb, in the council of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in eternity past,

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God elected John the Baptist. Look with me at Luke 115.

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We're going to begin there. Here in the gospel narrative, we have

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Zechariah visited by an angel. And even though Zechariah is very old and his wife is very old and also barren, he's told that miraculously they're going to have a son.

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And in verse 15, we're told he will be great before the Lord. He must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be, mark that, will be filled with the

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Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb. God ordained it to be so to the point where he can say it will be the case that John will be filled with the

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Holy Spirit even in his mother's womb. It's not like the angel is standing there with his fingers crossed saying,

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I hope that John chooses me, chooses God.

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Rather, it is the case that he will be filled with the

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Holy Spirit from his mother's womb. If you would believe it, consider that your faith, your life, you, as a believer in Christ, are a

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Christmas gift to Jesus. You yourself. Look with me at John 6 .37.

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It is a gift from a father to a son. John 6 .37

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says, All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me

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I will never cast out. Notice that the Father gives to Jesus all whom he pleases.

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All that the Father gives me will come to me. So to follow John's story, we really have to begin before he's even created.

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Before he's even in the womb, he's given. All that the Father gives me will come to me.

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It's a gift from the Father. Ephesians 1, Romans 9, and 1

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Peter 1 .1 also communicate the same truth. But consider, a human father gives something like a bicycle to their son.

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Anybody here hoping to get a new bike for Christmas? Some of you might be.

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We, believers in Christ, are a gift to Jesus. He's going to watch us, made in the womb, born into the world, encountering the evil of this world, forsaking this world system, making a break, being converted to believe the gospel, and then being sanctified.

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And this whole process of being conformed into the image of the Son, this is a gift to him.

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He enjoys this gift the way a little child enjoys finding their

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Christmas presents on Christmas morning. When you come running down the stairs and you see the pile of gifts, and you begin to open the gifts, these are bringing delight to the child.

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In the same way, Jesus delights in us who would believe in him. To see us becoming like him is his gift.

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So the story of John the Baptist begins before the womb. As the angel said, he will be filled with the

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Holy Spirit. Second, the second stage. His life began before he was born.

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Before conception. In other words, life begins in the womb. We all need to underscore that point.

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It is important. It's important for me to shout that out, that the world, whoever listens, would hear what the

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Word of God says. Turn with me to Luke 1, verse 44 will be the key verse, but we're going to read 39 to 45.

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In those days, Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah.

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And she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when

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Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the

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Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

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And why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

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And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the

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Lord. This is John the Baptist while still preborn.

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In the womb. He's joyfully giving Jesus everything that he had.

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How many of y 'all like the song, Little Drummer Boy? The little drummer boy, he's a poor boy too.

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He has nothing to bring but his drum, to play a song for the Lord Jesus. But this little drummer boy will play for him and delight in offering what little he has.

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How much less does a tiny baby in the womb of a mother have to give?

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Tiny hands, a voice that cannot even project yet, a little body.

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But there's one thing that that tiny little baby can do in the womb. Leap. And moms can remember that some babies are real jumpers, right?

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In the womb. Others are more quiet and calm, and maybe their personalities are already being formed while still in the womb.

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But in the womb, John the Baptist leaped for joy. There's a lesson in that.

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Listen, worship is not drudgery. It's not what you have to do on Sunday morning.

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Worship, by definition, is joyful. Worship is a joyful leap.

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It's giving to God all that you all are, all that you have, because you're filled with gratitude.

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This little baby John in the womb, he looks at his little hands and just aware, whatever level that he's aware, delights that God made him.

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Here am I, made in the womb. And in the presence of Jesus, who gave him life, he rejoices, he leaps for joy.

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This is very important, because worship is a response to God. It's gratitude.

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It needs to have that element of joy. I was listening to a political commentator that I like.

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He's good on politics. His name is Glenn Beck. But he's bad on religion. And just a couple days ago, he was telling about how, on Sundays, he does his religious ritual.

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He said, what I do is I go, and somebody sent me this video. That's where I saw this.

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He said, I force myself to go to church. I don't like it, but my mind tells my body what to do.

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And he gave this analogy. He said, I do it kind of like Tony Robbins disciplines his body.

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Tony Robbins is a motivational speaker. And the motivational speaker says, your mind needs to tell your body what to do, not the other way around.

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So when Tony Robbins wakes up in the morning, the first thing he does is take a 57 -degree cold plunge every day.

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He gets out of bed, and he dips himself in 50 - to 7 -degree water, and then starts his day, just so his body knows that his mind is in control.

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Well, I kind of like that. That's a good lesson. But it's not a good picture of worship. You see,

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Glenn Beck says, when he goes to church, he has to force himself to go. He has to make himself go.

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And his mind tells his body what to do. But John the Baptist, even while still in the womb, was glad when he was told, let us go to the house of the

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Lord. Psalm 122, verse 1. I was glad when they said to me. Why? Because worship is a joyful response to God, filled with gratitude, thankfulness.

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It cannot be drudgery if it's worship. Just can't be. It involves joy. See this in the text.

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Look at verse 44. Luke 1, 44. Behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

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Delighting in Jesus. Seeing in Jesus the one that he loves.

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Guys, if after the sermon today, someone asks you, how was the sermon?

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How did you enjoy it? And you say, it was like taking a cold plunge. When you first stumble out of bed, when you're still groggy and just being dipped in 57 degree water,

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I would not be flattered by that. And how was singing worship in the presence of the congregation?

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Well, it was like a kick in the shin. And how was the fellowship at Cornerstone this morning? It was like a root canal.

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What honor would be given to the Lord in that kind of esteem? But if you come joyfully, your heart wanting to meet with God and the word was fresh to you because you wanted to know him and singing came from your heart because you wanted to worship him and fellowship came from the love of the brother because you wanted to spend time with those you care about.

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That's worship. See, John leapt even in the womb.

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Next, we go to his childhood, stage three of six. John grew up physically and spiritually, forsaking the things of the world.

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Everybody turn with me to Luke 180. Now, as a side note here, the life of Jesus and John are interwoven in Luke.

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We need to see the flow of the text. And what Luke is doing is he's tying together the life of John and Jesus.

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So at the end of Luke two, verse 52, Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

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At the end of Luke one, verse 80, and the child grew and became strong in spirit and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

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There's a parallel between Jesus and John. John is Christ -like. He's a worshiper of Christ.

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And his introducing of Christ is part of the Christmas story. But here's what I want you to see in verse 80.

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The child grew. Isn't it fun when you see a relative, maybe a cousin or somebody that you haven't seen for a couple years, and the child is just like a foot taller?

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Like, whoa, you hit a growth spurt. The child grew, but not just physically.

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Look at this. He became strong in spirit. And he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

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The Christian life involves the growth of the spirit.

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Becoming strong in spirit. It's not just a matter of growing up to adult maturity.

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To become strong in spirit is to make a break from this world. As you're growing up and you're enamored with the things of this world.

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Hey, Christmas is a great time to think about this, right? The Christmas presents, the toys, all that this world has to offer.

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Part of growing up is to say, Christ is more valuable to me than all the treasures of Egypt.

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Everything this world has to offer. And John came to a point, as his friends in adolescence were getting married, some of them getting jobs, maybe one of them joining the army, another one saying,

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I'm gonna go visit Rome. John felt this call of the wild. He was the chosen prophet.

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He was called to go to the wilderness. But that meant leaving his world behind, leaving his family, his friends, everything, for the sake of the name.

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Just like Abraham, when he was told to go to a place that I will show you, he had to leave it all behind and just go.

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The Christian life involves this period of time, this wilderness experience, where you must make a break from the world.

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To die to yourself in order to live for God. And John, literally, not all of us will be called to go off into a wilderness somewhere.

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But in a sense, we must die to our own ambitions, our own pursuits in this life, and begin to live for Christ.

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So this is that phase in John's life. His childhood, this is where he puts down his fancy clothes and begins to wear camel hair.

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This is where he puts down the fine foods and the falafels or whatever they eat in Israel.

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And he begins to eat locusts and wild honey. Just going off into the wilderness as a child, well, as he's grown up into adolescence, and he remains there, it says, until his public appearance.

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Fourth, the main event, the ministry of John.

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Having died to himself, he's now living a new life, and he begins to minister. The ministry of John is all about repentance.

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The word repentance summarizes what he comes to do. His baptism is a baptism of repentance.

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His ministry is to call people to turn away from their pursuit of idols and living for themselves, to turn away from that and turn to the living

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God, to obey the law, to follow God. He has a ministry of repentance.

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So look with me at Luke 1, 17. Back here as the angel described what John would do, he summarizes his ministry.

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Verses 16 and 17. Luke 1, 16 and 17. If you're not turning there, you better pay close attention.

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And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready for the

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Lord a people prepared. John the Baptist came to turn many of the children of Israel to the

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Lord their God. Now, this is a quote. This is a quote from Malachi 4, 6.

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And that's important because many of you know Malachi is the last book of the

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Old Testament. And after Malachi prophesies in 435 until closer to the year 400, after that time, the prophets go silent.

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So it's easy to find Malachi because it's the last book of the Old Testament. Flip back there to chapter 4, verse 6.

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After these words are given, the period is placed and the prophets go silent.

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The silent age begins. This age of silence was prophesied by Amos.

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Chapter 8, verse 11. The time is coming where I will send a famine, not a famine of hunger for food or thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of the

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Lord. A famine. And for 400 years, there's nothing but silence.

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No prophet coming to call people back to God. It seems as if God has forsaken his people or he's done with them.

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But look at verses 5 and 6. Malachi 4, 5 and 6. This is how the Old Testament ends.

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So by the way, if you only believe the Old Testament, maybe you're watching on YouTube or something and you don't believe the New Testament, this is how the

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Old Testament ends. It leaves you hanging. It leaves you waiting for something more. Look how it ends.

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Behold, I will send you Elijah, the prophet, before the great and awesome day of the

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Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with the decree of utter destruction.

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When you see a culture where the father's hearts have been turned away from their own kids, as we see very much so in this country, especially inner cities, you see utter destruction.

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But where you see fathers who lead, you see a godly remnant.

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And God can use mothers. God can use grandparents.

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God can use father figures. God can do many things, but a culture that has turned away from the role of fatherhood is in a desperate situation, as America is today.

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One of the ministries of John the Baptist was to turn hearts, the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest there be utter destruction.

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But notice in verse five, I will send you Elijah, the prophet, before the great and awesome day of the

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Lord comes. Even the prophet was prophesied.

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God foretold even the one who would announce the coming of Christ. This is amazing, because there are so many prophecies in the

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Old Testament. On Christmas Eve, we're going to look at some of those. For now, it's enough to note that even

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John the Baptist was foretold. The last Old Testament prophet,

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John the Baptist, would come. Before that would be a silent age. Did you catch that in the song we sang?

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Chris Tomlin. The words to Emmanuel, it says, what hope we hold this starlit night.

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A king is born in Bethlehem. Our journey long we seek the light that leads to the hallowed manger ground.

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What fear we felt in the silent age. 400 years can he be found, but broken by a baby's cry, rejoice in the hallowed manger ground.

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Emmanuel, Emmanuel, God incarnate, here to dwell.

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There was a silent age, prophesied by Amos, where no prophet would speak. And then,

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Elijah the prophet would come. And this is how we know that our gospel is true.

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Christians, our gospel was proclaimed by John the Baptist.

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Announced that the Messiah had come. He announced, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

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Our gospel was spoken of by prophets hundreds of years before the things came to pass of which they spoke.

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Our gospel is true because God tells the end from the beginning.

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He foretold John coming and that's what we see at the end of Malachi 4. The prophecy that John would come.

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Now, not everybody recognized him. Look at John 1, verses 19 and following.

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He is the Elijah to come, but he's not actually Elijah. You see, the expectation, because Elijah had been taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire, the expectation of the

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Jews is that Elijah himself would come on that chariot of fire and announce the coming of Messiah.

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But Jesus says, if you're willing to accept it, John the Baptist is the Elijah to come. He comes in the spirit of Elijah.

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So this interaction is kind of fun here. Look at John 1, 19 and following. The Pharisees, they send a cohort to question him and the interaction is interesting.

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And this is the testimony of John. This is John 1, verse 19. When the

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Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are you? He confessed and did not deny, but confessed,

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I am not the Christ. And they asked him, what then? Are you Elijah?

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He said, I'm not. He's not Elijah. Are you the prophet?

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That's a reference to Deuteronomy 18, 15 to 18, which refers to Jesus. So he says, what?

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No. Verse 22. So they said to him, well, who are you?

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We need to give an answer to those who sent us. They finally stopped guessing and they just asked him, right? Well, who are you?

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What do you say about yourself? And he said in verse 23, I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, make straight the way of the

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Lord, as the prophet Isaiah said. John identifies himself as the one

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Isaiah prophesied about. Isaiah chapter 40, verse 3. So there's another place where the prophet was prophesied.

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John identifies himself as the voice crying in the wilderness, make way the path for the

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Lord. Make straight, level the field. Every mountain will be brought low and the valley raised up.

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Make a straight path for God. He identifies himself as the prophet. But the culminating point of John's ministry, we're looking at his ministry right now.

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The key moment was when he baptized Jesus. You see,

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John the Baptist, baptizing is all about identifying.

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To identify with Christ is the essence of our baptism.

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When we go under the water and we come back up, we are identifying as being crucified with Christ and raised to newness of life.

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If you haven't gone under that water, you haven't identified with him in that way. You haven't publicly proclaimed that I'm with Jesus.

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I am dead to me. I'm alive to him. So here's what happened with John the Baptist. Jesus came into the water and John said, whoa,

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I'll baptize all these sinners, but you, the Lamb of God, the

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Son of God, I can't baptize you. You need to baptize me. And Jesus said, no, this is necessary to fulfill all righteousness.

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Why? Well, when John the Baptist took Jesus, he dunked him under the water and as he came up, light shone from heaven and a dove descended and landed on Jesus' shoulder and a voice from heaven identified him.

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This is my Son in whom I am well pleased.

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You see, the culminating point of John's ministry was to identify the

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Son of God. The voice from heaven, the testimony in the water, the dove descending, the light surrounding him, identified him as the

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Christ, the Son of God. This was the point of John's baptism. He fulfilled that ministry, which leads us to stage five.

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And you'd think having done that, just an easy retirement now, right? You've done the big thing.

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You've identified the Lamb of God. Everybody's flocking to him. John's final years were spent in prison.

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Turn with me to Matthew 11, beginning with the first verse.

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This is the prison stage. And from the prison stage of John's life, we learn that suffering is pure worship when we keep trusting in Christ.

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To suffer with Christ is worshipful. He was not forsaken, but I want you to notice the humanity of John in this passage, because we like our heroes to be heroic all the time.

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And John, of course, was no reed shaken by the wind. He was bold, bold as a lion.

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But here he wavers for a moment. And I actually like seeing that. I don't know about you.

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I like seeing it, because it reminds me of John's humanness, and that even this lion, the greatest of all, had doubts.

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He had moments of uncertainty. He fell short like anybody else.

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Let's read it. These are his prison years. Matthew 11, when

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Jesus had finished instructing his 12 disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

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Now, when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to them, to him,

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Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? Jesus answered them,

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Go and tell John what you hear and see. The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk.

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Lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up. And the poor have good news preached to them.

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And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.

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As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John. What did you go out into the wilderness to see?

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A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing?

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Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in king's houses. What then did you go out to see?

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A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written,

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Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.

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Pause right there. That's Malachi 3 .1. So now there's three prophecies of the prophet.

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The forerunner is foretold in Isaiah 43, Malachi 3 .1, and Malachi 4, 5, and 6.

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There are three prophecies cited in the New Testament that are good for the soul. To read the word of God, I'm just going to quickly tell the story.

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John the Baptist now in prison. Herod refuses to kill John because all the people know he's a prophet, and so he just leaves him in prison until one day they throw a party, and the little daughter of Herodias, probably the daughter by Philip, Herod's brother, this little girl dances, and Herod gets so worked up about it that he says,

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I'll give you anything. He's so excited he says, What do you request? It's like half the kingdom.

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What do you want? And this little girl goes to her mother and says,

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Ask for John the Baptist's head on a silver platter. And this terrible little girl, this wicked girl, listening to the wicked witch of a mother, says,

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Give me the head of John the Baptist. And Herod was sorry. He didn't want to have to do it, but to save face he did.

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And so John was taken to the chopping block. And in that moment, his life was snuffed out in a second, and in that moment he gained eternal life.

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Philippians 3 .10 I want to know him and the power of sharing in his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering, becoming like him in his death, and so somehow to attain to the resurrection of the dead.

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You see, for the Christian to die, and very few Christians will ever be called to be a martyr, but 11 of the 12 apostles were, and John the

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Baptist was, and in the last days during the tribulation there will be another great wave of martyrdom, just like in the first few centuries under Rome, and then during the

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Reformation era, and now in communist countries and Muslim -dominated countries, you see martyrdom.

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There's martyrs that people will be martyred today as we study in the safety of this place.

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See, John gave his neck for the sake of the gospel, and that, that is pure worship.

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Giving his very lifeblood for the sake of the name, and how little sacrifice are we willing to make?

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Christmas, I would say, can be summed up for us in John's own words.

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When Jesus was gaining popularity and John was losing disciples to Jesus, some of his disciples were concerned and said, look, they're all going to him.

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It's like the new restaurant in town, you know? You just lost all your customers. And John did not cry about it.

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He said, this is good. John chapter three, verse 30.

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Memorize this verse if you haven't already. He must increase, but I must decrease.

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That is true worship, that life becomes about Jesus, that your life is not about what you can get for Christmas, and not even about what you can give to your family and friends, but about Jesus from the womb.

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John was all about Christ. It was about him. That's why he left for joy.

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That's why he left it all to go to the wilderness. That's why he baptized him and proclaimed him to the world.

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That's why he went to prison, and that's why he died. But that is not a life wasted.

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That is a life well -lived. This is your Christmas gift to the

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Lord, even your own life. Decrease that he would increase.

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Don't be like Zechariah, silent for nine months because he didn't believe the word. Finally, his lips were opened and he proclaimed.

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Why don't we go out from this place today willing to proclaim Christ to your neighbors?

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You know, you're gonna have an opportunity at Christmas that you maybe only get once a year. Certain family members that you only see.

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Will you have the boldness to preach Christ on Christmas? Or Christmas Eve?

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Or maybe just out in the neighborhood delivering a plate of cookies and a gospel of John. Be willing to endure even the little reproach of your neighbors.

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Be willing to endure for that sake. So in closing then, John's life is a paradigm, right?

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What can we learn from his birth? I say he was elect before the foundation of the world.

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And some might say, well, well then what's the point? The Bible tells you the point.

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It says, like John did, repent and be baptized. Repent and believe the good news.

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I'll tell you what, if you will repent of your sin, turn away from Christ, turn from that sin like John called you to do, and you look to Christ and believe in Him, you will find

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Him to be a perfect Savior. And then you'll turn around and you'll glorify Him for sending that gospel preacher, for opening your heart, for working in you that you would will and do according to His good purpose.

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In other words, you do what you're called to do. Repent and believe and then give Him the credit for saving you.

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That's the true doctrine of election. It calls you to believe and not to take the glory to yourself.

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That's all. So that's the first thing, be born again. You can't make yourself born again.

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I think John was born again in the womb, as the angel said. But God gives the new birth.

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That's the first thing. Secondly, in his childhood, he had to make that break.

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Is there some area of sin in your life? Some area of selfishness that you need to break away from to go to the wilderness, to be totally consecrated to the

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Lord. What are you clinging on to? For Christmas this year, grow in spirit like John did.

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Go to the wilderness. Let go the things of this earth. You're not gonna take it with you anyway. This life is short.

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Next, take on a ministry. When he got to the wilderness, you'd think there's nothing to do there.

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There's nobody in the wilderness. All you can barely do is survive, and yet God said it will soon be past.

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Only what's done for Christ will last. Some of you here could be a Sunday school teacher. Somebody else could be on the worship team.

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Somebody else could be part of a church plant. Somebody else will be a preacher. Somebody here maybe will be a missionary.

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What is your ministry? That's how you spend your life. And then finally, the years of suffering, there will come periods of suffering, often near the end of life, but those are the most beautiful of all.

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That's your purest worship, that in your suffering, you would say that you find him more valuable than this world.

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You're letting go of this world, but your worship is more pure than ever because you're willing to suffer with him and not turn against him.

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See, many people, when they begin to suffer, they start to blame God, but to accept

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God's will in your life and to suffer well, that's the message of John the

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Baptist. And lastly, to die, gain.

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Let's pray. So Father, thank you for the life of John the Baptist. We pray that this life would be a paradigm for us this

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Christmas, that we would die to ourselves to live for you.

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God, I pray for any who are here today or listening on YouTube who have not yet believed in the

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Christ. I pray that they would turn. Grant them repentance and faith.

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God, please, don't let them be lost forever.

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Save them, Lord God. And to any who are listening that haven't repented, today is the day of salvation.

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Now is the time. Turn from sin and believe the good news of Jesus Christ.

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For all of us who believe, Lord, we pray that our devotion would increase. This is our prayer, that Jesus would increase and we would decrease.

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It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Let's stand and close in a song. ♪

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The herald angels sing ♪ ♪

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Peace on earth and mercy mild ♪ ♪ God and sinners reconciled ♪ ♪

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Joyful all ye nations rise ♪ ♪ Join the triumph of the skies ♪ ♪

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With angelic hosts proclaim ♪ ♪ Christ is born in Bethlehem ♪ ♪

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Hark the herald angels sing ♪ ♪ Glory to the newborn

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King ♪ ♪ Christ by heaven adored ♪ ♪

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Christ in the glory ♪ ♪ Christ the everlasting

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Lord ♪ ♪ Late in time behold Him come ♪ ♪

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Offspring of the virgin's womb ♪ ♪

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God had seen Him born in G .A

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.T. ♪ ♪ Pleased to stand with men to dwell ♪ ♪

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Jesus our Emmanuel ♪ ♪ Hark the herald angels sing ♪ ♪

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Glory to the newborn King ♪ ♪

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Hail the heavenly Prince of Peace ♪ ♪

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Hail the Son of Righteousness ♪ ♪ Late in life behold

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He brings ♪ ♪ Risen with healing in His knees ♪ ♪

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Mild He lays His glory by ♪ ♪ Born that man no more may die ♪ ♪

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Born to raise the sons of earth ♪ ♪ Born to give a second birth ♪ ♪

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Hark the herald angels sing ♪ ♪ Glory to the newborn

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King ♪ 6 .30

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tonight and on Thursday night, this is Christmas Eve, Thursday night, we have a, well not night, at 2 .30

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and 4 o 'clock, two Christmas Eve services. So try to be at one of those if you can and we will stream the first one, the 2 .30.

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Let's close with John 1, 6 through 14. There was a man sent from God whose name was

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John. He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through him.

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He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

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He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

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He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

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And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only

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Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Amen. Go in peace.