The Example of a Purposeful Witness

Laurel Bible Church

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The title of today's sermon is The Example of a Purposeful Witness. The Example of a

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Purposeful Witness. We will be looking today at John chapter 1, verses 6 through 8.

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Try to put those verses under the microscope and look at this great example of a purposeful witness in John the

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Baptist. For the sake of context, I think we can start just at the beginning of the gospel.

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John chapter 1, starting in verse 1. Would you please stand for the reading of God's word?

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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

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All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

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In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.

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There was a man, having been sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, so that all might believe through Him.

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

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He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know

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Him. He came to what was His own, and those who were His own did not receive

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Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 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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Please be seated. The example of a purposeful witness, verses 6 through 8.

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We can think of evangelism and witnessing. We see this really great example of John the Baptist, a witness called by God.

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When witnessing to unbelievers, it helps to think about their need, their need versus, we could maybe even say, our fear of evangelizing, and that is part of life.

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Sometimes there's an awkwardness, and there's a fear of sharing what we know.

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Not telling someone about the gospel is like really having the cure to cancer and keeping it to yourself.

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And that's just kind of an earthly illustration. I once had it explained like this, to overcome the fear we all experience when considering approaching someone with the gospel, we need to have a conviction that God has given us something to say that our audience needs desperately to hear.

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And such a conviction will free us from fear. For example, consider a person walking down the street who notices a meeting of a large group of people inside of a building.

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Then he sees a fire in the upper part of the building where the meeting is being held. He would immediately run in and tell the people to get out, and there would not be any fearful thought or any hesitation.

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Well, why? Why? Because he knows that they needed to hear what he had to say.

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How convinced are we that people need to hear a word from God? In other words, why are we to evangelize?

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Well, that's helpful to think about getting over the awkwardness and human fear. Well, why are we to evangelize?

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The Lord Jesus has commanded it. We have been commanded by the King, by the creator of the universe, by our

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Savior. We have the Great Commission. Thinking of evangelism, the

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Oxford Dictionary definition is the spreading of the Christian gospel by public preaching or personal witness.

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That's helpful. Yeah, we witness. We share our testimonies with other. David Bosch in his book,

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Transforming Mission, I think gives a pretty nice definition. Evangelism is the proclamation of salvation in Christ to those who do not believe in Him.

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Calling them to repentance and conversion, announcing the forgiveness of sins, and inviting them to become living members of Christ's earthly community, and to begin a life of service to others in the power of the

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Holy Spirit, end quote. Helpful definition. Well, we can think about this commission, the

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Great Commission, in two ways. We can think about it from the Old Testament and then from the New Testament. This has been something from the beginning.

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The fifth book of the Bible, Deuteronomy, we see Israel's Great Commission. They were to be an evangelistic nation.

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Listen to the words of Moses here as he's talking to the next generation of the wilderness wanderers.

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This is the new generation before they're going to go take possession of the promised land, Israel's Great Commission.

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Deuteronomy chapter four, he says, see, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as Yahweh my

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God commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it. You shall keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

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For what great nation is there that has a God so near to it as Yahweh our

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God whenever we call on Him? Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which

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I am setting before you today? So this is the Great Commission of Israel, to be an evangelistic nation.

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That people, the foreign peoples, the pagan peoples at that time, would look at Israel and say, surely their

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God is real. I want to know their God, the one and only true

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God, Yahweh, as revealed in the Old Testament scriptures. Now we can think about this from the

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New Testament perspective, the Great Commission. And I've read Matthew 28 pretty often lately in the pulpit, so we're going to look at Mark 16, the

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Great Commission, the Great Commission. Mark 16, starting in verse 14.

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Speaking of Jesus, it says, afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who had seen

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Him after He had risen. And He said to them, go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

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He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved, but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.

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And these signs will accompany those who have believed. In my name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, and they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them.

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They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. I think I need to make a note here.

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This is a sign that Jesus will give or allow the apostles to perform these signs or wonders in the early church at the founding of the church as described in the

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Acts of the Apostles. Paul clearly teaches that some of these miracle sign gifts will cease away, but he says, faith, hope, and love, these will not cease, and the greatest of these is love.

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So as we read this Great Commission, I don't want you to go out and pick up rattlesnakes or anything, but it's important that we're commanded, he said, go out into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

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Yeah, this passage continues, it says, so then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God, and they went out and preached everywhere while the

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Lord worked with them and confirmed the word by the signs that followed. And they promptly reported all these instructions to Peter and his companions, and after that,

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Jesus himself sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable preaching of eternal salvation.

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Jesus is the ultimate evangelist. He is our pattern and example to follow in all of life, and we can learn much from his preaching ministry.

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Now the connection to John the Baptist is important. We see in Mark chapter one, so that's how Mark ended.

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Mark began this way, Mark chapter one, starting in verse 14, now after John, referring to John the

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Baptist, had been delivered up into custody, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of God and saying, here it is, how do you preach the gospel?

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Just listen to Jesus. The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand.

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Tell us, Jesus, repent and believe in the gospel. Repent and believe in the good news.

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The euangelion, the good news proclaimed by God to human beings. Repent and believe.

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So there is this aspect of preaching the gospel that you are calling people to turn away from sin and to return to God.

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We don't want to sugarcoat the gospel. Now John the Baptist's ministry preceded Jesus's earthly ministry.

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Of course, we know Jesus is the preexistent one, we'll get into that. But really think about that.

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His capture, John the Baptist's capture, is the starting point for Jesus's gospel preaching ministry for his time on earth.

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In today's passage, the apostle John gives the example of a purposeful witness in John the

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Baptist as one being sent from God. So that you can think of your life as a

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Christian, as one who is sent by Jesus to bear witness to the message of salvation.

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So really two insightful takeaways from John the Baptist's life. The first is

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John's dispatch, verse six, John's dispatch. And number two is

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John's directive, verses seven and eight. Two insightful takeaways from John the Baptist's life, his dispatch and his directive.

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Look with me again at verse six. It says, there was a man having been sent from God whose name was

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John. John was the God -appointed messenger to announce the arrival of Jesus.

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The apostle expands on this brief introduction just a bit later in the account. Look at verse 15.

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It says, John, referring to the Baptist, bore witness about him, referring to Christ and cried out saying, this was he of whom

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I said he comes after me, has been ahead of me, for he existed before me.

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The Baptist made it clear that he knew the Messiah was God. He points out the order, the

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Messiah who will come after has always been before me. John was a preacher whose theme was repentance.

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In a parallel passage from Matthew, we see this baptism of repentance. And this describes,

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I think, John's ministry here, as he's making the way for the King to come.

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Yeah, we can look at even Matthew chapter three. John speaking, as for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove his sandals.

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He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clear his threshing floor, and he will gather his wheat into the barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

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Unquenchable fire. John was fearless. John was a fearless confronter.

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And from the same account in Matthew, but when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, you brood of vipers.

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Imagine that. The religious authorities and leaders of the day, these are the prestigious. They run the synagogue.

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So if you have something going on with them, they kick you out of the synagogue. And guess what? Your clothing, your food, your life is tied up to the synagogue.

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You're out of there. You're out of there. So how does he respond to these? Oh, the Pharisees are here.

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Pharisees are here. You brood of vipers. Fearless confrontation. Yeah, he says, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

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Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance, and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, we have

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Abraham for our father. For I say to you from these stones,

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God is able to raise up children to Abraham. And the ax is already laid at the root of the trees.

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Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

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No, John wasn't sugarcoating it. There's no good news if there's not bad news. John was an uncompromising messenger because he had a job to do.

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The verb in verse six is important. It's apostello, Greek word. You can hear the apostle in there.

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The noun form of this Greek word is where we get the word apostle. It means messenger. He's a messenger.

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He's a sent one. The verb in verse six means to dispatch someone for the achievement of some objective.

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To send away, to send out. And the grammar here is very specific. We see that so that in verse seven.

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The verb conveys the purpose of the sending indicated by the conjunction translated as so that.

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This is a conjunction of purpose. John was dispatched by God with the purpose that those who heard might believe through what he was saying.

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The one doing the dispatching gives the purpose. The messenger doesn't come up with the message.

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He is sent by the message giver to deliver the sending agent's message.

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And then the apostle John tells us the identity of the sent one. It is John. There was a man and his name was

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John, John the Baptist. And we can pause here, I think, just to consider the man. You know, no matter which way you look at it,

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John the Baptist was uniquely used by God. Even in the time he lived, you know, this is not, he's kind of outside of the world.

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He's outside of the normatives of society. We can say he wore clothes that weren't the norm, animal skin.

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He didn't conform to societal norms. His diet was a little bit different than the normal person.

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The message he spoke was not the normal message you're going to hear at the local synagogue. The location of the message was not normal.

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John the Baptist wasn't aiming for strangeness, meaning his goal wasn't trying to be different or unique for the sake of being different.

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His desire was obedience. He was sent by God and lived in a way that made that the desire, the desire is the ruling authority in his heart, in how he dressed, what he ate, where he lived.

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The ruling authority of the sender was how John lived his life. And the example

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John sets of not being worldly or conforming to the world's normative ways is important for us.

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I think the more we're caught up in the world and worrying about what we're eating, what we're wearing, where we're living, what we're doing for work, the more we're caught up in those things,

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I think the less of a witness we have. What's the priority in your life?

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Well, John's out in the middle of nowhere wearing camel hair, eating bugs. That's not his life.

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Your life isn't about all of those things. Those are good things. They're gifts from God. We need those things.

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His ministry isn't about his himself. And with John, it's very unique because his ministry was foretold in the

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Old Testament. His coming was predicted in two areas in Isaiah chapter 40 and Malachi chapter 4.

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In Isaiah 40, it says this. It says, Comfort, O comfort my people, says your

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God. Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and call out to her that her warfare has been fulfilled, that her iniquity has been removed, that she has received from the hand of Yahweh double for all her sins.

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A voice is calling, prepare the way for Yahweh in the wilderness. Make smooth in the desert a highway for our

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God. Let every valley be lifted up and every mountain and hill be made low and let the rough ground become a plain and the rugged terrain a broad valley.

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Then the glory of Yahweh will be revealed and all flesh will see it together for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.

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Amen. A prediction that refers to John the Baptist. One commentator reflected thus on this prophetic passage from Isaiah.

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He said a prophetic exhortation told Israel to prepare for the revelation of the

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Lord's glory at the arrival of Messiah. Scripture sees John the Baptist in this role.

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It likewise sees the future forerunner who is to be like Elijah preparing for Christ's second coming.

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The remnant of Israel could remove obstacles from the coming Messiah's path through repentance from their sins.

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John the Baptist reminded his listeners of this necessity as did Jesus. These verses reflect the custom of some

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Eastern monarchs to send heralds. Heralds would be sent before them to clear away obstacles, to make causeways, to straighten crooked roads and valleys and level hills.

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John the Baptist had the task of getting people ready for the Messiah's arrival. Jerusalem's misery is to end and the

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Lord's glory to replace it. So comfort will come to the city and every person will see

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God's glorious salvation in Messiah's future kingdom. What an amazing piece of scripture that then we get to see just come to life in the eyewitness testimony of John as he writes his gospel account.

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The other section is from the prophet Malachi. The prophet Malachi gives us additional insight into the prophetic aspect of John the

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Baptist's arrival and function as a messenger, his functioning as a messenger. This is

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Malachi chapter 4. It says, Remember the law of Moses, my servant, even the statutes and judgments which

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I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel. Behold, I am going to send you

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Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh.

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And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land, devoting it to destruction.

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Interestingly, these are the last verses, the last words of the

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Old Testament. The Old Testament references to John are not speculative on our part.

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We can know with 100 % clarity and certainty that the Old Testament passages refer to John as a forerunner for the

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Christ. In the canon of scripture, these were the last words of the Old Testament and the start of the

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New Testament is the gospel of Matthew. The eyewitness testimony of Levi, of Matthew, is this at the beginning of his record,

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Matthew chapter 3. Now, in those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea saying,

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Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Sound familiar? It's what

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Jesus said. And this is what he's saying, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

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For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet saying, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the

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Lord, make his path straight. Now John himself had a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist and his food was locusts and wild honey.

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Yeah, locusts are these like grasshopper things, I just can't imagine. Did he put the honey on the thing?

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Was it alive or did he cook it? It says, then

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Jerusalem will go out. Then Jerusalem was going out to him and all Judea and all the district around the

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Jordan and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sin. It's John the

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Baptist. It's John the Baptist. Isaiah ministered as a prophet during the reigns of four different kings of Judah from 739 to about 681

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BC. Isaiah contains prophecies about the future, including the coming of the Messiah, the restoration of Israel.

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It combines messages of judgment, hope and the promise of a new covenant. But what about the

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Malachi passage? Jesus makes it clear, the Elijah promised, prophesied in Malachi is

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John the Baptist. Jesus makes it crystal clear when he says John is the greatest man ever born.

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Matthew 11, the words of our Lord, truly I say to you, among those born of women, there has not arisen anyone greater than John the

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Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. The one who's least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

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And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and violent men take it by force.

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For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it,

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John himself is Elijah who was to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

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So crystal clear, we know it's John. Malachi was written 433 to 424.

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Malachi addresses issues of unfaithfulness, particularly in worship and social conduct.

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You want to read something about social justice, read Amos and read Malachi. You throw

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Micah in there as well. The book emphasizes the need for repentance and the promise of a coming messenger.

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A coming messenger. There is a great need for the people of Israel, and John is one who is sent to tell them about what that need is.

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The Puritan Matthew Henry said this about John the Baptist when remarking on Malachi, and he was looking at chapter 4 verses 4 through 6.

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Listen to this comment. He says, Here is a solemn conclusion, not only of this prophecy, but of the

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Old Testament. Conscience bids us remember the law.

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Though we have not prophets yet, as long as we have Bibles, we may keep our communion with God.

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Let others boast in their proud reasoning and call it enlightening, but let us keep near to that sacred word through which this sun of righteousness shines upon the souls of his people.

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They must keep a believing expectation of the gospel of Christ and must look for the beginning of it.

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John the Baptist preached repentance and reformation, as Elijah had done. The turning of souls to God and their duty is the best preparation of them for the great and dreadful day of the

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Lord. John shall preach a doctrine that shall reach men's hearts and work a change in them.

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Thus he shall prepare the way for the kingdom of heaven. The Jewish nation, by wickedness, laid themselves open to the curse.

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God was ready to bring ruin upon them, but he will once more try whether they will repent and return.

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Therefore, he sent John the Baptist to preach repentance to them. Let the believer wait with patience for his release and cheerfully expect the great day when

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Christ shall come the second time to complete our salvation. But those must expect to be smitten with a sword, with a curse, who turn not to him that smites them with a rod.

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None can expect to escape the curse of God's broken law, nor to enjoy the happiness of his chosen and redeemed people, unless their hearts are turned from sin and the world to Christ and holiness.

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The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all. Amen. You know, John was a crazy -looking wild man with zero influence or advantage in the

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Jewish system of political or religious elites. Although he lacked in power in a religious or political sense, he spoke with power.

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He spoke with a powerful and enticing authority. In other words, the people listening to him were impacted by his words.

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But it wasn't John. It was because he spoke the truth. John admonished them and commanded those who listened to turn from their sin and return to God.

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He baptized them as a symbol of that repentance. Amazingly, God allowed hundreds to respond, maybe more.

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But John the Baptist's dispatch was to point to the Messiah. Even as the crowds flocked to him,

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John always directed them beyond himself. John never forgot the dispatch from God had a directive.

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The main role of John the Baptizer was to announce the coming of the Savior. And we know from the full account in Matthew and later in John that not everyone responded to the message of salvation.

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The words of truth that moved many to repentance had a different effect on the enemies of God.

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The words of truth stimulated others to resist the truth and filled them with resentment.

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In both cases, God is glorified. There is no neutral response to the truth.

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Impossible. So when a person hears the gospel, they might have a hardened heart.

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But others hear it and they respond. And in both circumstances, God gets the glory.

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Now we know from the facts of history, we know from the gospel accounts that the Baptist even challenged

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Herod. He confronted Herod. He challenged Herod to admit his sin. John called

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Herod out for marrying his brother's wife. Herodias, the woman Herod had married illegally, decided to get rid of the wilderness preacher.

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It is true that in God's sovereignty, the murderous adulteress was able to have him killed and beheaded.

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However, in God's sovereignty, Herodias was not able to stop the message of John the

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Baptist. The one John had announced was already on the move.

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The Messiah had come. John had accomplished his mission to make way for the coming of the

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Christ. John was a sent one. He was sent to announce the arrival of the

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Messiah. And as Christians, as born -again believers, we are sent ones to announce the coming of the

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Messiah, His second coming. John was prophesied 700 years before he was born in Isaiah, 400, 500 years before in Malachi, uniquely used by God as being one sent out by God, this human being.

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And now in Christ's earthly ministry before His ascension, before He leaves the earth and sits at the right hand of the

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Father, He has sent us out. We are sent ones. Just like John the

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Baptist was sent, we are sent. Two insightful takeaways from John the

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Baptist's life, John's dispatch. John's dispatch shows us that God's purposes will prevail because He has set us aside for a purpose as sent ones.

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John's dispatch shows us that God's purposes will prevail because He has set us aside for a purpose as sent ones.

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And the second really insightful takeaway from his life is his directive in verses seven and eight, John's directive.

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Verse seven, it says, He came as a witness to bear witness about the light so that all might believe through Him.

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He was not the light, but He came to bear witness about the light. The emphasis of verse seven is the directive of John.

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He came as a witness. Now that the Apostle John has identified John the

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Baptizer has been sent by God, now he explains the mission. The word he uses is of movement from one point to another with focus on approach from the narrator's perspective.

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The same word is used to describe Jesus coming as the Messiah. Luke chapter three,

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John answered saying to them all, as for me, I baptize you with water, but one is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the strap of his sandals.

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He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Also in John, in whose writings the idea of Jesus having come, having sent to the earth is of considerable importance.

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The Greek word for came is significant in that it relates of the appearance of Jesus among humans.

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Used in the other Gospels and the book of the Acts of the Apostles, it demonstrates the idea of coming is even plainer in connection with the coming of the human one, the

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Son of Man, the return of Jesus from His heavenly home.

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Here the Apostle makes the connection of forerunners of the Messiah and those who identify themselves as such.

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Elijah, John the Baptist, is a type of Elijah, a forerunner, and the Baptist came as a witness.

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He says John the Baptizer came to give confirmation or to attest on the basis of personal knowledge or belief, testimony.

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This is testimony. You know, think about it like this. What does a witness do? What does a witness do?

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A witness testifies. He testifies. Have you ever considered that when you share your personal testimony, you are a witness of God, a witness for God?

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You're testifying. You are testifying when you share your personal testimony.

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John testifies because Jesus is the life of God. He is the light of men.

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It's not just that Jesus had the life of God in Him. Jesus was the life of God, the light of men.

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Jesus used the same word from verse four, meaning the light in contrast to darkness in a transcendent way.

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We talked about that a little bit last week. This is one of the many passages that shows that light is the element and sphere of the divine.

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The divine proceeds from the light that suddenly shines forth because God dwells in the light.

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God is described as light, pure and brilliant illumination, as in the divine

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Redeemer, Jesus, described in John's gospel in divinity as light.

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But the apostle makes it a point to say that the Baptist was not the light.

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No, no, no. John the Baptist isn't the light. The reformer John Calvin remarked this way about the apostle making this point about John the

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Baptist. I thought this was a helpful note. He said, so far was John from needing commendation that the apostle gives this warning, lest his excessive brightness might obscure the glory of Christ.

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For there were some who gazed so eagerly upon him that they neglected Christ, just as if a person enraptured with beholding the dawning of the day would not deign to turn his eyes towards the sun.

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All the godly indeed are the light in the Lord because in consequence of their being his spirit.

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They not only see for themselves, but likewise direct others by their example to the way of salvation.

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The apostles likewise are peculiarly called light because they go before, holding out the torch of the gospel to dispel the darkness of the world.

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But here the apostle speaks of him who is the only and eternal source of illumination, as he immediately shows more clearly.

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Look at verse 9, there was the true light which coming into the world enlightens everyone.

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Jesus is the true light and John the Baptist's directive was to make that known. Again, the emphasis on John's directive is repeated in verse 8, he came to bear witness.

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John the Baptist understood that he had an exact and particular role to play in the world.

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He was to announce the coming of the Savior. His father Zachariah prophesied while John was still in his mother's

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Elizabeth womb. Luke chapter 1, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days and you, child, referring to John the

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Baptist, will be called the prophet of the most high. For you will go on before the

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Lord to make ready his ways, to give his people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our

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God, with which the sunrise from on high will visit us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness in the shadow of death, to direct our feet into the way of peace.

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While he was alive, John put all his energies to this task.

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And Luke tells us that John was in the wilderness when God's word of direction came to him.

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And the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the desolate regions until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

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John was ready and waiting. He was ready and waiting according to God's prophesied and ordained plan for his life.

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An angel had announced John's birth to Zachariah. The angel had made it clear that this child was to be a

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Nazarite, meaning he was set apart for God's service. John the

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Baptist remained faithful to that calling. John's story is told in all four gospels.

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He's mentioned several times in the book of Acts. Relating to the critical importance of being a witness,

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Luke, the writer of Acts, says this in Acts chapter one. He says, Therefore, it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the

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Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning with the baptism of John until the day that he was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.

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And that's us, far removed, thousands of years later, reading this eyewitness testimony.

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We must become a witness. They must become a witness with us. John the

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Baptist was not the source of God's light. Same for us. We are not the source, but we reflect the light.

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We reflect the light of God when we bear witness about him. Jesus is the true light.

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Jesus helps us see our way to God. He directs us to have peace with God.

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Jesus both shows us how to walk along that way and he enables us to find our way to God.

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He is the way to God. Jesus Christ has chosen to reflect his light through his followers that we would witness to an unbelieving world.

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And another helpful way to think about witnessing is also from Acts in a section recounting

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Paul's missionary endeavors in Corinth. This is Acts chapter 18. Listen to this narrative.

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It says, but when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly bearing witness to the

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Jews that Jesus is the Christ. But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments.

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He said to them, your blood be on your heads, I'm clean. From now on, I will go to the

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Gentiles. Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titus Justice, a

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God -fearer, whose house was next to the synagogue. And Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the

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Lord and all his household. And many of the Corinthians, when they heard, were believing and being baptized.

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And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, listen to this, do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you.

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And no man will lay a hand on you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.

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And he stayed there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. Unbelievers are living in the dark.

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They're living in the dark. Unbelievers not able to bear the full illuminating glory of the true light of Jesus firsthand.

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As Christians, we are merely reflectors of Christ's light. The word witness indicates our role as reflectors.

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The text of Scripture does not command us to present ourselves to light, or as light to others, rather.

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The Scripture says we are always to point them to Christ, who is the light.

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Matthew chapter 5, the words of our Lord, he says, you are the light of the world.

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You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

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Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your

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Father who is in heaven. You know, we're not to take our faith this,

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I mean, to say it's the cure to cancer is a pale, limp comparison.

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This is the cure to death. This is the cure to death, everlasting life, that we know the truth.

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We're not called to take that truth and put it on the back shelf in our closet. We're to take it out and to show it to everybody, and to tell people about what

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Christ has done for us, to proclaim Him, to proclaim Christ.

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Now, we learned some really great lessons from John's life, and one of those lessons is there's no guarantee from God that any of us who serve

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Him is going to have an easy and safe life. That's not the promise. There's no guarantee from God that any of us who serve

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Him will have an easy or safe life. With that being said, serving

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God and living your life for what He desires is the most substantial and rewarding life investment possible.

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While you're still here on earth, maybe the most important thing we can learn from John is that standing for the truth is more important than anything in this life.

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I think more important than even life itself. John's ministry was a success, and our ministry will succeed.

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Well, how can I say that? Because he was captured, and they cut his head off. He was called by God to do something, and he did what

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God called him to do. He made the way for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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So whether he was persecuted or died or was martyred, that doesn't matter. His ministry was a success.

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And in the same way as sent ones, you're being sent out by the

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Lord Jesus Christ, the resurrected Lord before He ascended sent us out.

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We have this testimony. We have this command. We have a message in our hand given to us directly by the

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King who says, now go and tell this message to the world. And we just have to decide, are we going to obey the commands of our

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King? Are we going to go proclaim this message? And whether they put us in prison, whether they take away our families, take away our jobs, take away our homes, whether they cut our heads off, if we proclaim the power of the gospel as the only way to be right with God, if we proclaim the truth that Jesus Christ is the

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Son of God, then we will succeed. Doesn't matter what happens to us.

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John's ministry was a success. Our ministry will succeed. Two insightful takeaways from John the

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Baptist's life. Number one, his dispatch, and number two, his directive. John's directive shows us that as sent ones, we are to bear witness to Jesus and the message of salvation.

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John's directive shows us that as sent ones, we are to bear witness to Jesus and the message of salvation.

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Every born -again genuine follower of Christ has been given a purpose for living, a purpose for living from God.

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We can trust Him to guide us. And just think about it like this, John did not have the complete

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Bible as we know it today, but he concentrated his life on the truth he perceived from the available

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Old Testament scriptures. In the same way, you can discover God's Word, the truths that He wants you to know.

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The truth in God's Word works in us. As that happens, others will be drawn to God.

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God can use you in a way that He can use no one else. Let Him know your willingness to follow

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Him today, bear witness to Jesus, share the message of salvation to those who don't know

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Him. But we need to probably ask the question, how has God ordained that this happen? No, we need to think about the words that are used here.

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This is preaching the gospel and proclaiming with words, right? We're not going to have skits and plays.

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We're going to open our mouths and proclaim. That's what it means. So how has

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God ordained that this happen, this evangelism? Well, Romans 1 tells us, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the

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Jew first and to also the Greek. How has God ordained that this happen? The gospel, the gospel, front and center.

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It's the gospel. In James chapter 1, it says this, in the exercise of His will,

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He brought us forth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures, kind of some creation language there.

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And He's talking about born -again believers. How has God ordained that this happen? His image bearers,

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His image bearers. So what does this have to do with the image of God, evangelism? Well, God created mankind to be in His image and according to His likeness.

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We all know the Genesis 1 account, then God said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness so that they will have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

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And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him. Male and female,

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He created them. Image refers to the idea of representation. Likeness is similar with a slight difference in that it refers more to the idea of relationship.

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So for our most basic understanding of this passage from Genesis, we are made to represent

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God to others. We are image bearers and to have a relationship with Him through Jesus.

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As we behold Jesus, we become like Jesus. As we become like Jesus, we display

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Jesus. We become like Jesus. God's heart is for His people.

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God's heart is for people, for sinners, is it not? John 3, 16, for God so loved the world, for God so loved the world.

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His heart is for people. He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

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God's heart is for people. 2 Peter 3, the Lord is not slow about His promises, some consider slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.

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God's heart is for people. God pursues those that don't know Him. God pursues those that hate

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Him. God pursues the lost. I mean, we can even think of the parable of the lost sheep,

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Luke 15, a parable told by our Lord. Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him and both the

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Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling, saying, this man receives sinners and eats with them. So He told them this parable, saying, what man among you, if he has 100 sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the 99 in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?

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And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.

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I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.

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God rejoices over saved sinners. We are made in the image of God and we have a new identity in Jesus, a kind of first fruits among His creatures.

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So we can have a heart for people. We can pursue the lost and we can rejoice over saved sinners.

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First Peter 1, for you have been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible. That is through the living and enduring

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Word of God. How has God ordained this to happen? His Word, His Word.

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But we can think about that. Is it wrong to have an evangelism strategy? I would say, no, it's not.

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The gospel is front and center. He has ordained evangelism through the proclamation of the gospel.

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We are image bearers and we use His Word. We point people to the

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Word of God. But is it wrong to have a strategy? So we know those are front and center.

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That's unspoken. We know that. Well, listen to this in Matthew 10,

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Jesus says, behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.

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No, it's not wrong to have a strategy that we would have some forethought. This is not pragmatism. So I can give you a few steps here.

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We'll list seven. Number one, pray, pray. Number two, pray again, pray again.

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What do you think number three is? Pray some more, pray some more. The mission has to be soaked in prayer.

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Pray, pray, pray. Number four is read the Bible. Read the Bible. And number five is be yourself.

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You're not a salesman. Tell them the truth. I was a sinner and God saved me.

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Let me share the hope that I have with you. Share your testimony. Tell them the truth. Be yourself.

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Number six, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Read the

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Bible and remind yourself. Look at passages that tell us that God has not given you a spirit of fear and timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self -control.

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And read that verse and keep reading it and memorize the verse and pray and then go out and tell the truth and be yourself.

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And number seven, I said use a strategy. Use a particular strategy. So if you have your handout, there's this acronym called

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FISH. I learned this, or actually before we get to the strategy, another thing we could do is look for helpful resources on this topic.

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There is a lot of good, helpful resources. I'll put one before you today. There's an evangelist that lives in California in Bellflower, he lived close to where we were living at the time, a guy named

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Ray Comfort. Many of you may know that ministry. It's called Living Waters. Well, there's a book that he wrote.

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It's called The Way of the Master. I would recommend this book to you. Whether you're a new Christian or a seasoned saint, good to sharpen the sword.

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This book tells you some really helpful techniques. The Way of the Master, using the Word of God and using the commandments as a mirror to reflect the person's sin, a helpful resource.

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This book's probably 10 bucks, Amazon, Christian book, go to Barnes and Nobles, buy it, read it.

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Just think through this topic. In other words, start somewhere.

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Start somewhere. That's a helpful resource that I would point you to. And now to this FISH acronym on your outline.

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This is from Urban Hope. It's a gospel ministry in Philadelphia, in a really rough part of town,

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Urban Hope. It's in Kensington, South Philly. This is where the heroin and fentanyl dealers are on the corner walking around with guns out in broad daylight.

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The police don't go into that neighborhood. And this gospel ministry exists there.

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And they have this acronym I thought was helpful. You got to start somewhere. So this is the acronym

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FISH. The F stands for be friendly. Be friendly. Be a normal person.

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Just be friendly. Smile, be warm, be gracious, be approachable. Let your face show that you are a friendly, caring person.

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Just be a real person. You're not a salesperson. We're not selling Christ. We're telling the truth.

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Just be friendly, F. The I stands for initiate, initiate. We need to be bold enough to start conversations with other people.

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Start a conversation. Be the first to say hello, talk, engage in small talk, be pleasant.

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See what kind of things you have in common. Ask about things that you know or don't have in common maybe.

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S is story, important, story. Actually listen to their story.

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Ask them about their story. So you're not just forcing your testimony on them.

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Be friendly, initiate, ask their story. Actually listen to their story.

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You'll be surprised at what people will tell you. They will open up to you and tell you their whole life story, intimate secrets to a stranger.

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And this means to ask people about themselves. And there are all kinds of things you can learn from people.

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You know, what would you like to learn maybe from a child, a young person, an adult? Ask and let people talk.

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Another key idea in listening to their stories is this. Don't just use normal talk. Use God talk.

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And what do I mean by that? Never be intimidated to use the word God or church or ministry or Bible.

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You know, God words, any kind of God words when you talk with people.

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And we have to think about it. If we are afraid, we need to question whether we're really actually ashamed of Jesus.

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If we're afraid to talk to people, other people about Jesus, are we ashamed of Him?

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I think we would be surprised how seldom most people talk to others about their lives and listen to their stories using

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God talk. But it really isn't that difficult to do.

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Ask whether kids are in school, whether they're believers. Ask adults when they accepted Jesus, etc.

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Things like that help people to get used to being unashamed of talking about Jesus and get more into conversations about church if they go.

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And why or why don't they go? That opens the door to share our stories and our faith.

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That comes at the end. You just want to be a normal, real person. So S is story.

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Ask them their story and then share your story, share your testimony. H stands for hope, hope.

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Encourage the person to follow Jesus and to know of God's love. Be open to praying with the person.

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Pray with them right then and there. A lot of times we say, I'll pray for you, I'll be praying for you.

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I would recommend stopping what you're doing and pray right then and there. You can pray later too.

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Talk about him. Talk about Jesus. What difference has

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Jesus made in your life? Share the good news with them as Christ is the hope of the world.

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And don't sugarcoat the gospel. Share the bad news, then give the hope of the good news.

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Remember, we are sent ones. We are sent ones. Because we are sent by God, the message will succeed.

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Remember the hope of the gospel of your salvation in the grace of Jesus Christ so that you can have a purposeful life as a witness.

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In today's passage, the apostle John gives the example of a purposeful witness in John the Baptist as one being sent from God.

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So that you can think of your life as a Christian, as one who is sent by Jesus to bear witness to the message of salvation.

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Two insightful takeaways from John's life. John the Baptist's dispatch shows us that God's purpose will prevail because he has set aside a purpose for us as sent ones.

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And John's directive, it shows us that as sent ones, we are to bear witness to Jesus and the message of salvation.

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And one way to get started is to hand out gospel tracks. You can talk to people as an icebreaker and hand them a gospel track, and it's a conversation starter.

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We have a thing on the back table there, it says outreach, and it's filled with gospel tracks. Those are for you all to take.

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So I would challenge you this way, take three of them, and throughout this week, give them out to three people.

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Start a conversation and hand that to someone. Whether it's someone you know in your family, your inner circle, your sphere of influence, or just a complete stranger at the grocery store.

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Take some gospel tracks and hand them out this week. And before you do it, spend some time praying that the

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Lord would open their heart and allow you to minister the gospel to this person. And here's what

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I wanna tell you when that happens. It's not a matter of doubt, 110%.

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If you pray that, the Lord will give you those opportunities. And he will make things happen that you'll marvel at.

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What is going on here? How did I, I don't even normally talk to people. If you pray with the heart of genuine zeal to share

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Christ with others, the Lord will give you opportunities to share Christ with others.