The Gospel of Luke (9 ) The Ministry of John the Baptist 12/11/2022

First Baptist Church Leominster

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And so my truck was pretty cluttered and I spilled, well the bottle of liquid soap spilled out in my truck, but about half of it, and I didn't,

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I couldn't see where it went. I found it a few minutes ago in the, in my waders, and so, so now my pants are covered with soap.

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I see tracks come up there. And Dale thought he saw some soap bubbles in the baptistery, too, so something's always happening.

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Oh well. Here we are in Luke 3, because of the time, and I didn't want to cut short what we had before us, but we're mindful of the meeting, too, and we're mindful of the time that it takes for you folks.

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So here we are in Luke 3. When we were in this passage last time, two weeks ago, we addressed the onset of the ministry of John the

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Baptist, the forerunner to Jesus Christ, and in addressing that, we first introduced the times in the

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Roman Empire that's addressed in Luke 3, verses 1 and 2, and then we showed how

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John was the prophet foretold in the Old Testament, particularly Isaiah 40, verse 1, the prophet who would proceed and prepare the way for the promised king, who would soon visit his realm, in which he would establish his kingdom, and so John was the preparer of Jesus.

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His coming kingdom was that which God had promised to King David long before. John proclaimed a message of repentance from sin with view to the arrival of the king, for this king would bring salvation to repentant and believing souls, but he would also bring judgment upon unbelieving and unrepentant people of Israel, and John made it clear that all those who came out to him were individually responsible and accountable before God, their physical descendants from Abraham as Jewish people would bring no favor or preferential treatment to them before God, they must bring forth fruit, good fruit, that is, they must live in righteousness, if they hope to enter and enjoy the kingdom of God that was about to commence.

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After John had initially called everyone to repent who came out to him to be baptized, the people asked

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John for specific instruction on what they would do, and so in verses 10 and following of Luke 3, we read these words last week, or two weeks ago, so the people asked him saying, what shall we do then?

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He answered, said to them, he who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none, and he who has food, let him do likewise.

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And then tax collectors came to be baptized and said to him, teacher, what shall we do?

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And he said to them, collect no more than what is appointed for you, and likewise the soldiers asked him saying, and what shall we do?

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And so he said to them, do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely and be content with your wages.

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And so John appears to have addressed the most prevalent and principal sins within each group of people.

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It would seem if he could conquer the worst sin in a person, he knew that he would win the entire person to the cause of righteousness, which he proclaimed, and I think that's a good directive for us today in dealing with people as well.

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It was, of course, John's ministry to prepare the people of Judea for the coming king by leading them to repent of sin and submit to baptism, which signified their repentance in view of receiving the forgiveness of sins that the

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Messiah would bring to his people. It wasn't because of their work or their being baptized that they were forgiven, but it was with view to the

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Messiah who would forgive their sins. How? They didn't necessarily know, but they knew that he alone could bring forgiveness of their sins.

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Only repentant ones would receive salvation, which the Messiah would grant to his people.

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And so in John's preaching and baptism, he had a forward look in anticipation of the forgiveness of sins, which the

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Messiah Jesus would bring. Now, last time we gave attention directly to John, the man and his ministry.

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Today, we'll consider a little more carefully the multitude that he was addressing and his message, and it's hoped that through the record of John's ministry, we might better prepare ourselves for our coming king.

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He's coming again. And we are urged in the scriptures in many places to prepare ourselves as these people were to prepare for his first coming, we are to prepare for his second coming.

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But we'll also consider the promise that John gave forth when the Messiah would appear among them that he would baptize his people with the

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Holy Spirit and fire. That's a loaded statement. And so we'll address that too and its implications.

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And so let's first consider or focus our attention on the multitudes to which John the Baptist ministered, verses 10 through 14, which we have already read.

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Well, these people were like many who profess to be Christians today. I hope that they do not characterize any of us, however.

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They were ill -prepared for the coming king. They were ignorant to the danger that was before them.

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They were totally unaware of their true standing before God. John made it clear what their true standing before God was.

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They were sinners and they needed to turn from their sin and live righteously. And so they were in need of arousing.

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And so John purposed by his appearance and his bold manner of speaking the content of his message to shake them from their false assurance.

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Their desperate condition called for drastic measures and the fact that they were ignorant and unconcerned about their desperate condition called for stirring, confronted words.

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And John certainly provided that for them. So he declared to them, to all of them that came out, brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

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And so when John came on the scene, all had been quiet and tranquil among the

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Jews, the people of God, in a measure. They were, or so they thought, waiting patiently for the coming

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Messiah who would bring them salvation, deliverance from their enemies. The furthermost thing in their minds was that they might be the objects of God's wrath rather than salvation, his disfavor.

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These Jewish people were presumptive, assuming that all was right between themselves and God.

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One of the indicators of God's judgment upon people is their presumption, the belief that God has no issue or charge against them.

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And one of the clearest signals of spiritual danger is when someone else is more concerned about your soul than you are.

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John was concerned about their souls, they weren't, and so this is a spiritual malady characteristic of people in all of history.

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Sin renders people ignorant and unconcerned regarding their true condition before God.

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And it results in them being ignorant that the wrath of God abides on them.

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John would set them straight. We can consider many events in Scripture when people were unaware, unconcerned people, and yet they encountered destruction from the

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Lord. This was true in the days of God's judgment upon the world by Noah's flood.

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The Lord Jesus told the people of that land, for in those days which were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, life was going on as normal, as everybody was accustomed, until the day that Noah entered the ark and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away.

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Of course then it was too late. And Jesus said it had been the same in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, it was the same as happened in the days of Lot, they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building, but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.

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They were ignorant, uninformed, and ill -prepared. And so the

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Lord was warning the people of his day, of their great need and great responsibility to prepare themselves to stand before the

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Lord in judgment. And this is really a message that's found throughout the biblical record. Consider the words that the

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Lord Jesus gave to his disciples directly. These are ones who are following him, who believed on him, respecting his second coming and the judgment that would then take place, but take heed to yourselves.

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Those are words of Jesus to you if you're a professing Christian, take heed to yourselves.

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Lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing drunkenness and cares of this life, that day, the day of judgment should come upon you unexpectedly, for it will come as a snare, see unexpected, not seen.

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It will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth, and we'll eventually address that in detail when we get to Luke 21.

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And so God gives clear and ample warning of his impending judgment, but if people fail or refuse to hear and respond to his warnings, to believe his words, then he will judicially harden their hearts, darken their minds, so that they will not hear until it's too late for them to hear, to respond in repentance and faith.

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Here are the words of Romans 11, 7 through 10, in which we read of God's judicial dealings with unresponsive and unrepentant

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Israel, who fell under God's judgment for their rejection of their Messiah, Jesus Christ.

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What then? Paul is explaining why the Jewish people didn't largely embrace

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Jesus as their Messiah. What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks, but the elect have obtained it.

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The rest were blinded. That's a passive tense verb. They were blinded.

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They didn't blind themselves, God blinded them, because of their hardness of heart.

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Just as it's written, God has given them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, ears that they should not hear to this very day.

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And David says, Paul's quoting the Old Testament scripture, let their table become a snare and a trap.

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The very blessings God had given them would actually result in being a snare to them, a trap, a stumbling block and recompense to them.

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Let their eyes be darkened so they do not see and bow down their back always. And so a heart's indifference and a mind's dullness may be indicators of the wrath of God upon a person.

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Jesus spoke these words to all who were standing before him, his disciples too. Apparently the disciples thought at first maybe he was talking to everybody else, but then

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Peter asked the question, are you saying this to us too? Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning.

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And you yourselves be like men who wait for their master when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks, they may open to him immediately.

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Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching assuredly.

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Assuredly I say to you that he will gird himself, Jesus himself will gird himself and have them sit down to eat and will come and serve them.

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But if he should come in the second watch in the middle of the night, come in the third watch toward the end of night and find them so blessed are those servants.

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But know this, if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.

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Therefore you also be ready for the son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

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We don't know when he's coming. Well this is when Peter asked the question, Lord, do you speak this parable only to us or to all people?

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The Lord said, who then is this faithful and wise steward whom his master will make ruler over his household to give them their portion of food and good in due season.

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Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.

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But if that servant says in his heart, my master is delaying his coming and begins to beat the male and female servants and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he's not looking for him, at an hour when he is not aware and will cut him in two and appoint his portion with the unbelievers.

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Now notice he's talking to hypocrites, those who claim to be believers. But he would apportion them with the unbelievers.

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They profess to know him, to serve him, but their lives said something else. That servant who knew his master's will and did not prepare himself or do according to his will shall be beaten with many stripes.

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Again speaking of the ancient household and the master whipping his servants who were unfaithful to him.

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But he who did not know yet committed things deserving of strife shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given from him much will be required and to whom much has been committed of him they will ask them more.

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And given us within our culture at this time in history, much has been given to us, much will be required of us, there is an accountability.

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Well John had come to a people who knew that God was to visit them but they thought themselves ready for him, when they weren't.

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John purposed to awaken them to their condition that they might prepare themselves. And then after John, when the

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Lord Jesus ministered to these people of Israel, they too were unprepared for the judgment that was before them.

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And so the Lord Jesus himself asked John, purposed to awaken them so that they would repent of their sins and prepare themselves through faith in himself for the day of judgment that was before them.

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The people to whom John preached did not understand that how they lived was all important with respect to the eternal destiny of their souls.

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They had assumed that God would overlook their sins, that there was no need for repentance, that his turning from sin,

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John voiced directly to them, every tree therefore that does not bear fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

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Individual responsibility and accountability, and one of the great errors of this day among professing

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Christians is the notion that because we're justified by God's grace alone through faith alone, which is a biblical truth by the way, the wrong conclusion is that our works therefore are of no consequence.

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Doesn't matter how you live, after all, we're saved by God's grace through faith alone apart from works.

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But that's a wrong conclusion, for the word of God declares in many places that each of us will stand before God to give an account of ourselves on how we lived in this life.

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Jesus said by your words you'll be vindicated, justified, and by your words you'll be condemned.

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It matters what you say, how you say it, and so although we're not saved due to our good works, we will not be saved if we're void of good works.

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They testify to true faith. How we lived will be examined, which either will validate that we were true believers or it will prove that we were only pretenders, that we knew the

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Lord. The Apostle Paul wrote of this in Romans 2, but in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart, you don't repent, you're treasuring up for yourself wrath and the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each one according to his deeds, judgment according to works, eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality.

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That's a life of one who has saving faith. Eternal life is granted to that person and it's shown forth in the manner that they lived.

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But to those who are self -seeking and who do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness, indignation, and wrath, tribulation and anguish on every soul of man who does evil of the

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Jew first and also of the Greek, but in contrast to them, glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good to the

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Jew first and also to the Greek, for there is no partiality with God. And so we should ask ourselves, does your life presently both in secret and public declare that you are one of his?

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Is there enough evidence in your life to prove that you're a true Christian in more than just your words?

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Well, if not, bring forth truth which demonstrates your repentance. These people of whom

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John ministered thought they were safe because of their connection with Abraham. They were Jewish.

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They were numbered among the people of God and so they thought they were immune from judgment that God was going to judge them according to a different standard and that simply was wrong.

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These people foolishly thought they were exempt from God's judgment because they had been born into a

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Jewish family. Because their physical father was right with God, they wrongly thought that made them right with God.

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But John would dispel this notion, every tree, therefore, that does not bear fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

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Very direct words. But again, we encounter the same problem today. There are people today that think they're in a right relationship with God because their father and mother supposedly were.

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They were raised in a Christian home. They believe they're safe from God's judgment. We assure you, based on the word of God, that that will do you no more good on the day of judgment than being a physical descendant of Abraham.

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Every individual person is responsible and accountable before God. Repentance is the need of every individual.

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Individual responsibility. Here these people were numbered among God's people.

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They were faithful in church, synagogue, attendance as they practiced it in that day.

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All professed a belief in God. You couldn't convince them otherwise. All joined in the worship of God, but many were in danger of judgment while ignorant of their condition.

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Self -delusion was common, but that's the way it's always been and always will be among the professing people of God until the day of Christ.

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And the percentage of deluded persons may be quite great. Not just one or two here, but the scriptures declare

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Jesus himself said, many will say to me on that day, Lord, I knew you. But he will say to them,

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I never knew you. It's one thing to claim that you know the Lord.

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The real question to answer is, does the Lord know you? Savingly. That requires different questions, doesn't it?

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Different answers. Does the Lord know you? Our Lord said that the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins all professing to be waiting for the bridegroom.

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Five were without grace. That speaks of half not ready. Our Lord said the kingdom of heaven is like, is like the parable of the sower, the sower sowing seed into four kinds of soil.

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Only one of those four kinds of soil had salvation. Two out of the other three thought they had.

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But they were deluded. Of the church in Sardis in Revelation, our

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Lord said there were but few there in this church who had not soiled their garments and they were promised to walk with him in white.

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In other words, these few had salvation in this church at Sardis.

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And then to drive the point home, he said, Jesus said, he who has an ear, let him hear what the

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Spirit says to the churches. He says that today too. May the

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Lord help us not to be self deluded, but truly know. That the

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Lord knows us. And so we may assert it's not only for those whose lives are characterized by faith and repentance who have any interest or inheritance, which will be revealed when

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Christ returns. We too are to prepare ourselves. He is coming.

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And our lives are to so manifest works of righteousness that by our works we will have proven to be ones who have true faith in our

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Lord Jesus Christ. As the Apostle Paul wrote, and do this knowing the time that now it's high time to awake out of sleep.

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For now our salvation is nearer than we first believed. The night is far spent.

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The day is at hand. Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness. He's talking to a Christian church, the church of Rome.

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Let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy, but put on the

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Lord Jesus Christ and make no provisions for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.

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And so may the Lord grant us mercy and grace that we might stand before him as we look to Christ our

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Lord and Savior. Amen. Let's take John's ministry to heart.

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Well, we see the results of John's ministry in verses 15 through 17. Luke gave a concluding word.

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Now, as the people were in expectation, that's a wonderful statement there.

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And all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was a Christ or not, John answered saying to all, I indeed baptize you with water, but one mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap

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I'm not worthy to loose, and he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand.

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He'll thoroughly clean out his threshing floor and gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.

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So Luke recorded that God had called John to prepare the way for the

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Lord Jesus to begin his earthly ministry. God called and set

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John apart to prepare the Jewish people. And we see in this first clause that the

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Lord had blessed him. He had prepared them. And so we read now as the people were in expectation.

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That's the fruit of John's ministry. The people had repented of sin.

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They had been baptized in water by John while confessing their sins. They had repented of their sin, acknowledging in their baptism that they too were in need of cleansing of their sin, just like those wicked

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Gentiles. And now they were waiting for the appearance of the Messiah. They were in expectation.

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In fact, John had made such an impression upon these people that some had suspected that he was the Messiah, which he, of course, immediately put down.

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No, he did not measure up in the least way to the one who was soon to be among them. The Messiah was a stronger and mightier one than John.

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And he would be so great that John would not even be worthy to stoop down and untie his sandals.

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So whereas John baptized with water, John declared the Messiah would baptize with the

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Holy Spirit and fire. Now, this is the first mention in Luke's gospel of this matter, the baptism of the

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Holy Spirit. It has much significance for the gospel of Luke as well as for the experience of every

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Christian. And there's much confusion in these days about this subject, baptism of the

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Holy Spirit. And much of the confusion is due to what many of our brethren in the charismatic movement claim to experience.

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That's the cause of much confusion. They speak much of the baptism of the

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Holy Spirit. They present it as a second blessing, which is to be experienced by Christians, often accompanied by speaking in an unknown tongue, sometimes described as a prayer language or the language of angels.

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And really, throughout the last 2 ,000 years, there have been incidents, times, in which people of God have had experiences that our charismatic friends claim to have received.

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But there's nothing in church history which may be compared with what has occurred in the 20th century and in this 21st century.

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And so I want us to consider the teaching and practice of the charismatic movement. This is important.

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Although the beliefs and practices of the charismatics have been among Pentecostals for all of the 20th century, the modern charismatic movement is commonly said to have begun in Southern California in 1960.

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There, under the ministry of Dennis Bennett, an Episcopal rector in Van Nuys, the movement began, which spread into all the so -called mainline denominations.

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Episcopalians were first. In the early 60s, the teaching and movement was adopted by them, and then the

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Lutherans and Presbyterians, the mainline denominations. In 1967,

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Roman Catholics began to claim to have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And now, this is the second largest subgroup in Catholicism after traditional

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Catholicism. Charismatic Catholics. In about 1971, the movement was embraced by members of the

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Greek Orthodox community. And since then, the movement has grown immensely in these denominations, along with the older established

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Pentecostal denominations, being the Assemblies of God, Four Square Church, Pentecostal Holiness Church, and many, many others.

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Many more movements have begun, which have become known, which have given further impetus to the movement.

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There have been movements, for example, in Kansas City, Toronto, Brownsville, Texas. The movement has extended throughout the world.

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And this morning, as I sent out these notes to 350 people, probably 300 of them are outside of this country,

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I'm thinking, I wonder how they're going to receive these notes. I suspect I'll hear about it.

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Now multitudes, and perhaps some here, owe their hearing of the gospel to these zealous Christians of this group.

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And therefore, because Christ is preached by them, we rejoice, and we will rejoice in all their efforts to preach the gospel of Christ.

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Although we differ with their understanding of the scriptures regarding this matter and the practices that accompany it.

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We rejoice when Christ is preached. And so the charismatic movement has grown to great proportions, according to George Barnas' surveys.

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In 2008, one out of every four Protestant churches in the U .S. is a charismatic congregation.

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One out of four. A slight majority of those who claim to be born -again Christians are charismatic.

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Fifty -one percent. Nearly half of all adults who attend a Protestant church are charismatic.

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That's a large group of folks. Forty -six percent. And in recent years, there's been an emphasis on using what they claim to be the gifts of the

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Holy Spirit, such as prophecy and healing, as tools of evangelism. Power evangelism.

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Many in the movement have come to believe that God uses supernatural encounters of signs and wonders more than the communication of the

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Bible, God's word, in the converting of sinners to Christ. And also great attention is now given to the emphasis on one so -called anointed person ministering to the sick.

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And so there is within the movement many that are attempting to resurrect a five -fold ministry, they call it.

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Believing that not only is the Lord given to his church evangelists, pastors, and teachers, but the office of prophet and apostle is still in effect.

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And so they have apostles and prophets that stand up and speak authoritatively to them.

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And they argue the church will not function properly and see the fullness of God, what God has for it, unless all five of these positions are functioning.

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Well, we would argue from the Holy Scriptures that this charismatic movement is not of God. I say that clearly, without apology, kindly, but without apology.

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Their claim to have experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit does not align itself with Scripture. And that their practice is characterized by confusion.

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I use the term confusion because their understanding of the term, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, is in some significant ways mistaken.

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And it's resulted in many rejecting the sufficiency and authority of Scripture. To me, that's the greatest concern, the greatest problem.

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Abandoning the authority and sufficiency of Holy Scripture, they have no objective standard for their faith, no corrective to their practice.

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And so the Word of God is neglected and twisted and abused by them. Moreover, the movement has led many to presume that they have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ because of an experience that they've wrongly assumed is in accordance with the baptism of the

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Holy Spirit. And so we should say a few things about the biblical expression, the baptism of the

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Holy Spirit. And then we'll say a few words about the charismatic movement in general. And then we'll conclude with some words about how we should view this whole matter.

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So the biblical expression, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. John mentioned it. Some, but not all, in the charismatic movement have wrongly understood that the baptism of the

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Holy Spirit is an experience in which the Holy Spirit baptizes people into the body of Jesus Christ.

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But it's clear the Bible never speaks about the Holy Spirit baptizing anybody. John said it was the

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Messiah who was going to baptize his people in the Holy Spirit. It's not the Holy Spirit who baptizes people.

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It's Jesus who baptizes people in the Holy Spirit. We might compare water baptism and the baptism of the

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Holy Spirit. Luke 3, 16. John answered, saying,

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I indeed baptize you with water, but one mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap

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I'm not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

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Notice that each baptism, water, spirit baptism, has an administrator. John baptized in water.

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Jesus would baptize in the Holy Spirit. Note that the scriptures do not say the

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Spirit will baptize. Rather, the mightier one, Jesus, will do the baptizing. Second, obviously each baptism has its subjects which are baptized.

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John baptized repentant persons. The mightier one will baptize repentant believers also. Third, each one had, for lack of a better term, an element, an agent with which they were baptized.

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John baptized with water. The Messiah would baptize with the Holy Spirit. There's an analogy, comparison.

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We would argue that the Bible makes it very clear that Pentecost was the fulfillment of John's words.

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On the day of Pentecost, Jesus baptized with the Holy Spirit. Acts 1, being assembled together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the

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Father, which he said, You've heard from me, for John truly baptized with water, but you should be baptized with the

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Holy Spirit not many days from now. There's even a reference to John the Baptist.

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Clearly the Lord Jesus told his disciples what John foretold. You'll be baptized with the

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Holy Spirit will take place not many days from now. Jesus baptized his disciples with the

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Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. So when the day of Pentecost arrived, Jesus poured out his spirit upon his gathered disciples in the upper room.

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John's words were fulfilled. The baptism of the Holy Spirit took place on the day of Pentecost.

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When that one event, Jesus Christ, the risen and enthroned king over his kingdom, baptized his people with the

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Holy Spirit. What was the purpose of Jesus baptizing his disciples with the spirit?

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Well, several purposes. First, it gave proof that God the Father had enthroned his son

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Jesus as king over the kingdom of God. In ancient Israel, when a prince became king, he would give gifts to his friends he grew up with.

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When the Lord Jesus was enthroned, he gave gifts to his people. The principal gift is the

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Holy Spirit. This was the essence of Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost.

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He said, this Jesus God has raised up, of which you are all witnesses. Therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God, having received from the

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Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he poured out this which you now see and hear. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this

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Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. When the Holy Spirit was poured out upon his people, this testified

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Jesus is enthroned. He's king of kings and Lord of lords. And this proves it.

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Second, Jesus baptized his disciples in order to bestow power upon them for witnessing.

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Our Lord did not begin to minister publicly until the spirit came upon him, empowering him for his work. We will see that probably beginning next week.

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And at the conclusion of his ministry, he told his disciples, he said to them, thus, it's written.

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Thus, it was necessary for the Christ to suffer right from the dead. The third day and the repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

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You're witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the promise of my father upon you, but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.

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And you can see the before and after results of this empowering of the people of God to bear witness of the gospel.

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And so due to Pentecost, these sheepish, stammering disciples gave evidence of having been transformed, filled with enthusiasm, courage and power, which resulted in the gospel permeating the world.

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Third, another purpose for the giving of the spirit was to impart a new nature. So as to render delight and compliance to to his people that would secure their willing commitment to the will of God.

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We're not going to read that passage in Ezekiel, but there it speaks about in the days of the new covenant.

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God would give his Holy Spirit. And by doing so, he would give them a new heart and a new spirit.

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He would take the stony heart out of them, give them a heart of flesh, and he would cause them to walk in his statutes.

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And this was the giving of the gift of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The spirit is the agent by which sin is cleansed from the soul as the dominating force of life.

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Fifth, letter E in your note, Jesus Christ has baptized his people in the Holy Spirit at the time of their conversion or salvation or at salvation.

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They're brought into the one baptism that occurred at Pentecost. Understand what I'm saying there. Some argue that every

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Christian is baptized with the Holy Spirit when they're converted. And that may be true. Or it may be that there was the one event on the day of Pentecost when

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Jesus baptized the church with the Holy Spirit. And when you're converted, you're brought into that blessing that was poured out on that first day.

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I kind of lean toward that myself. The Bible teaches that that he empowered his people, the mightier one than John, would come and visit the unrepentant with his judgment.

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But he would bring forgiveness and inward renewal and purification through the spirit to all who truly turn to God and sincerely wait for his coming and take refuge in him.

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And so the Bible teaches that the nature of salvation is twofold. Pardon from the guilt of sin.

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And secondly, power from the dominion of sin. Pardon from sin comes through faith in God to forgive our sin based on the one sacrifice of Christ on the cross who died and bore our sins punishment.

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But power over sin comes through Christ putting the Holy Spirit into the hearts of all those who come to him.

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Every disciple of Christ, that is every true Christian, has been given the spirit of God. Again, we read from Acts two of the response of the people to Peter's preaching.

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When they heard this, they heard Peter's preaching. They were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brother, what shall we do?

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Sounds like the people who said to John, John, what should we do? Peter said to them, repent, let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.

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And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promises to you and to your children and to all who are far off.

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As many as the Lord our God will call. It's the promise to every true Christian, the

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Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is baptized with the Holy Spirit. Everyone who is genuinely repented of sins and has been converted.

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In fact, this is one of the tests of being a true Christian. If anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.

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And in that context, having the spirit of Christ is ordinary life and righteousness. Not perfectly.

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None of us are. But your general tenor of life is one of faith and faithfulness to the

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Lord Jesus. He's Lord. In Old Testament times, there was pardon for sin.

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God covered over the sin of his people in anticipation of the sacrifice that Christ would make.

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But in Old Testament times, there was not the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in his people, as is true under the new covenant, which you and I enjoy.

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The Holy Spirit, of course, had regenerated sinners under the Old Testament economy, moving them to faith and repentance.

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And certainly God's providence could and would keep certain ones from sinning against him. But there was no provision for the

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Holy Spirit to indwell each and every person who belonged to God in the manner that you and I enjoy as Christians today.

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Not until the day of Pentecost did the Lord Jesus give the gift of the Holy Spirit to each of his disciples and thereby permanently transforming them.

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The gift of the Spirit is part of the new covenant, which Christ established with his people so as to secure their allegiance and ensure their obedience and empower their witness.

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Jesus told his disciples this very thing the night he was betrayed. I will pray to the

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Father. He will give you another helper, the Holy Spirit, and that he may abide with you forever.

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The spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. But look at this.

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You know him for he dwells with you. He will be in you.

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And that refers to what happened at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit indwells every one of his people in a way that enables us to live in righteousness.

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This took place on the day of Pentecost due to the risen and thrown Lord Jesus praying to his father as our high priest that his people would be given the

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Holy Spirit to transform them into bold, holy witness bearing people before the world.

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Just in a few minutes that we have remaining, I want to say a few words about the modern charismatic movement. First, a few positive things.

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First, we rejoice with all who preach salvation by grace through faith in Christ. And the cause of Christ in many ways has been advanced as a result of those within the movement.

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The Assemblies of God denomination is the fastest growing evangelical denomination in the world. Second, we're not opposed to anyone within the movement who truly preaches the gospel of Christ and views scripture as the full and final authority in all matters.

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Third, we have had friends, and I would argue very close friends, who are the best of Christians who are part of this charismatic movement.

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I think they're mistaken, but I have the highest regard for them. I would argue when

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I was a young Christian, I've been in the Lord now 51 years in about three weeks. 51 years.

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In those first few years, I heard about these things and I thought if this is of God, I want it. I don't want to miss out on anything.

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I prayed, I fasted, I read for several years. I'm not one who's been antagonistic or close minded to this matter.

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And we're sympathetic with many of their concerns. They're concerned about a dead, lifeless orthodoxy, an absence of power and witness and living.

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They desire God's blessing of joy, peace and love. And that's certainly our desire. But we have serious concerns regarding the teaching of the charismatics that the gift of the

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Holy Spirit is separate and subsequent to conversion. And it's often evidenced by speaking in tongues, so they say.

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And so here are my concerns. I'm not going to go in detail, but I want to at least delineate them. First, not always, but many times the basis of fellowship is an experience other than the new life in Christ and the truth of the scriptures.

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Second, there are leading persons in this movement who, although disowned by some, are embraced by many who are heretics regarding the person of Christ.

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T .D. Jakes is a heretic. He doesn't believe in the Trinity. Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagen are heretics.

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They believe that they are as a Christ as well as you can be.

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It's incredible to hear these guys and how they're held up in esteem by so many.

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Fellowship, third, is often extended to others based on their common charismatic experience rather than their belief and commitment to the gospel and essential teaching of the scriptures.

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They argue, since we have this in common, then we'll focus on that which we have in common. It's an experience, not

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Christ, but their experience of the Holy Spirit, as they claim. Oftentimes, charismatic suggests a second blessing is a shortcut to spiritual maturity.

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Here you are as a carnal, struggling Christian with sin and whatnot. But once you have this baptism of the spirit, you're elevated now to a new plane and now you have victory over sin.

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It's a false promise. All right. There is no two tier Christianity, carnal and spiritual

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Christians. The fact is that all Christians struggle with sin from the day they're converted until the day that Jesus comes.

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And thank you, Lord, that he gives us victory over sin wonderfully and deliverance from sin.

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But the idea that somehow if you get this second blessing, you've arrived. That is not the teaching of scripture.

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But oftentimes they teach it is, it's a shortcut to spiritual maturity. And then they'll look down on you if you haven't yet received what they have.

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You haven't yet arrived. And you can be in the Lord 40 years. You know the word pretty thoroughly.

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But if you haven't had this experience, you're not there. And that's their attitude.

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Frequently, Christ and his work is neglected because of the emphasis on the Holy Spirit and how the

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Holy Spirit manifests himself. Clearly, the Bible says the Holy Spirit always emphasizes and exalts

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Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit doesn't bring attention to himself. He brings attention to Christ.

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And young Christians are often puzzled by the movement. Commonly, they see themselves as not yet complete.

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Peter argues God has given you everything in Christ that's needful for godly living. They say you haven't been given everything until you have this second blessing.

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And often the so -called baptism of the Holy Spirit is not linked with purity in life. They seem to give a greater emphasis on happiness rather than true holiness.

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And it seems like some of the most ungodly people make claims that they have the

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Holy Spirit. And eight, perhaps most disturbing concern, is there's commonly a diminishing of the authority of Scripture in the church and people's lives because God's talking to them directly.

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And they'll commonly say the Bible is what God said 2 ,000 years ago, but we need a fresh word today.

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And so they neglect and abuse the Scripture. People tend to be focused on their feelings, their emotions, rather than the word of God.

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The characteristic of the movement, direct revelation from God rather than the authority of the word of God.

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Leaders of the movement become sources of truth rather than the Scriptures. God told me,

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I've got a word from God. I heard D .J. Jacques once, I rarely watch it, but I saw it one night.

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He was in front of a crowd of 50 ,000. I've got a word from the Lord for you.

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Not just everybody in this auditory, but everyone in all the world. Anything and everything you've ever lost in life,

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God's going to give back to you. That wasn't for Christians, that was for the whole world.

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Incredible. And everybody cheered. Amen. What may we say in conclusion?

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The major draw of the charismatic movement is to experience signs and wonders from God. Do not be drawn away by signs and wonders.

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They're not necessarily workings of God. The devil can do great works. The priest of Pharaoh could duplicate all of Moses' feats.

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Simon Magus could do magnificent things. Apparently Judas Iscariot could also.

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In fact, signs and wonders are not the test of faith. They're often the test of false faith. Jesus warned about an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign.

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He declared that great faith is believing although you have not seen. In the absence of the signs and wonders.

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The true evidence of a work of God is a broken and contrite heart. Love for Jesus Christ.

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Love for the scriptures. A holy life characterized by a repulsion of the presence of sin.

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A love for true holiness. And we can throw in there a love for true Christians too. A love for the brethren.

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And so let's not fall into error diminishing the need or role of the Holy Spirit in all of this. We emphasize a biblical message about the

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Holy Spirit. We're in need of him. And we're not as those who so deny the

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Holy Spirit that we shouldn't pray for the Lord to give us the Holy Spirit. We should. Luke 11 declares that.

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Well you say you already have the Holy Spirit. Yes but we need greater manifestations of the

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Spirit in our life. To empower us when we witness. When we go out into the world each day and have to face the world and fight against sin.

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We need the Holy Spirit. Because he is the means through which the Lord Jesus empowers his people.

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Jesus said without me you can do nothing. He could have just as well said without the Holy Spirit you can do nothing.

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We are to pray that the Lord give us the Holy Spirit in increasing measure.

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That we might live for him. And declare him widely and fully in the world.

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And so may the Lord help us. Correct us. Spare us. And help us to bear faithful witness to good

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Christian people that may be caught up in this thing. Amen. Let's pray. Thank you our

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Father for your kindness and mercy to us. Our Father thank you for your word that you have declared to us.

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We do pray our Father that you would help your people to live holy lives. And we do confess our

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Lord that we are in need of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit to do so. And so fill us our

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God. Give us the Holy Spirit in fresh and full measure. That we would be people that are pleasing to you in the way we think.

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The way we live. The way we act. The way we react. For we pray these things Father in Jesus name.