Incredible Sermon on John the Baptist

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We are moving a bit faster through the text in Matthew. We spent a great deal of time near the beginning, word for word, verse by verse, unpacking, giving the context and understanding of the background, moving a little faster now through really most of chapter 11.

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So as you get there, I remind you that the gospel according to Matthew was the gospel of all of the four gospels that was most quoted from in the second century of the church.

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So consider the fact that as God has been growing his kingdom for 2000 years,

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God's people have been feasting on his word. And in the second century of the church, a very difficult time for the people of God as the kingdom of God is coming from this mustard seed to this large tree.

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This was a book that was filling God's people with power, with hope, with love for Jesus.

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And so now we sit before that same text that has changed the lives of God's people throughout the ages.

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Matthew chapter 11, verse 1, hear now the words of the living

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

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Now, when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, the Messiah, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another?

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And Jesus answered them, go and tell John what you hear and see.

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The blind receive their sight and the lame walk. Lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear and the dead are raised up and the poor have good news preached to them.

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And blessed is the one who is not offended by me. As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John.

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What did you go out in the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind. What then did you go out to see?

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A man dressed in soft clothing. Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings houses. What then did you go out to see?

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

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

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Truly, I say to you, among those born of women, there has arisen no one greater than John the

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Baptist, yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the

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Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence and the violent take it by force.

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For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you're willing to accept it, he is

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

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But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, we played the flute for you and you did not dance.

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We sang a dirge and you did not mourn for John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say he has a demon.

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The son of man came eating and drinking and they said, look at him, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.

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Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds. As far as the reading of God's word, let's pray.

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Father, please bless this message. God, get me out of the way, please.

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Lord, I know that I could not possibly in myself. Fully unpack,

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Lord, the glory. Of you and the power of a ministry like that of John the

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Baptist, I pray, God, that you would help us as your people to understand, Lord, what you've done in a ministry like John the

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Baptist. I pray, God, you'd encourage us to know, Lord, that that same power, that same spirit, that same gospel,

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Lord, is present today. And I do pray, God, that you would raise up us to live boldly and dangerously, to live in a way that is not safe, to live in a way,

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God, through your power and grace, Lord, that leaves a mark in history like that of John the

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Baptist. I pray, God, you'd fill this church with your power, the same kind of power that you filled

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John the Baptist with. I pray, God, that you'd allow us to live in a sacrificial way for your glory and your kingdom.

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Please bless this. Get me out of the way. Let everyone forget me and remember Jesus. It was

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John, Lord, that said that he was unworthy even to stoop down and mess with Jesus' feet.

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It was John who said, I must decrease, he must increase. I pray,

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God, that would be the same for all of us. In Jesus' name, amen. John the Baptist is amazing.

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He is. He's amazing. And I think that if you were to talk to the average evangelical in the West today about John the

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Baptist, we'd all say the same thing. He's an amazing man of God. He was a powerful man. He was a strange man.

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I mean, this is the guy that's wearing leather going out into the wilderness. He's eating locusts. He seems in some ways kind of untouchable, right?

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Like he's a hero of the faith, a giant of the faith. But if you ask the average evangelical in the

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West today about John the Baptist, you said, is that a good man? I think they'd say, yes, it's a good man.

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Jesus said he's the greatest of people born of women. Okay. Is his ministry powerful? Yeah, it was a powerful ministry.

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Was he faithful to God? I think everybody would say, yes, John the Baptist we're talking about here. Yes, he's faithful to God. Yes to all of it.

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Check the boxes. John the Baptist was an amazing man of God. But if you were to ask the average evangelical in the

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West today, would you want John the Baptist around? I think most of us would say, no.

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You'd say, why? I think most people would probably grant, well, we love our heroes, but we love them where they're safe.

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All of our heroes are safe back there, right? I mean, think about it for a moment.

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It's something that Douglas Wilson brought up in a message similar to this about living risky in this way and bold in this way.

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Think about just in American history, just for a moment, our own history in America. When you look back at our founding fathers and the kinds of things that took place,

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I mean, it doesn't matter where you're at. I mean, maybe many liberals today wouldn't like some of the things that they did, and they wouldn't necessarily prize some of their behavior.

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But generally speaking, if you ask people who aren't even Christians about the founding fathers and what took place in the

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American experiment, most people would say, those are giants. Those are heroes. Let's build monuments to them.

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Let's build statues, right? You look back at these people and you say, these guys lived dangerously, right?

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Riding in the night, right? The Redcoats are coming. That shot heard around the world.

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You think about all these people that did so much. I mean, the history is actually fascinating. These are people that had a particularly

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Christian mindset, and they looked at the king over in England. They said, no, you've broken covenant with God.

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You've broken covenant with us. And what they did was something that was insane.

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They rose up against an empire, in many respects, that could have easily crushed them.

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They lived in ways that were risky and dangerous. We're talking about throwing things in the water and causing riots and fights to break out.

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We're talking about people who were shooting bullets at one another, people who were like spilling their blood.

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For what? They thought justice, right? Peace. To live in a way where we can worship

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God the way that we want. To live in a way where we actually have just laws and representation.

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And they lived in a risky way. And we today reap the rewards of their work, their labor, their blood, their sweat, their fight.

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But the truth is, when you look back at those heroes, even in the American experiments, most of us think that they're heroes, but we're very glad that they're back there and not here.

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Why? Because we don't like difficulty. We don't want our comfort disrupted. We don't like all the difficulties that come with heroes.

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Think for a moment now about the Reformation history. You've got history of God's people in the Reformation.

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You know the famous saying, after darkness, what? Light. After darkness, light.

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There was a time of doctrinal instability. There was a time of doctrinal corruption in the church.

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And you've got men like John Hus, Wycliffe, Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, all these heroes that we say that is most definitely a hero that God changed the world with.

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But the truth is, we love our heroes where they're safe. They're safe back there.

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They're allowed to be heroes. They're allowed to be emulated just so long as they stay put.

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When a hero like Luther arises today, they typically get criticized by the church.

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Why? Because you're disrupting our comfort. You're bringing on difficulty. We love our heroes where they're safe.

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We build monuments to heroes just so long as they're safe. The monument is fine because it doesn't do a lot of talking, right?

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The monument is safe because it's not making any noise. But we love to talk about our heroes.

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We emulate them. We build those statues. But when those heroes arise in our day, typically the plight of the hero is that they are oftentimes in their own day and age dissed, cast aside, hated, called troublemakers.

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Make no mistake about it. John the Baptist in his day was known as a troublemaker. We see him with hindsight as a hero, as a giant of the faith.

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But in his day, don't forget, he was murdered. He was killed for his fight.

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He was killed because he was a hero. He was killed because he was a giant. We like our giants to be dead.

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We like our giants to be safe and back there. And I think that if you look at how evangelicalism is in the 21st century in the

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West, while we say John the Baptist is this great hero and a giant of the faith, we don't want another one.

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We don't want one around us. Why? Because it would make things difficult.

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It would make our lives hard. But the truth is, Jesus had words to say, to tell us about John the

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Baptist. And it was that he was the greatest of anyone born of a woman. He's that kind of man.

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He's that kind of follower of God, that kind of a believer. He lived boldly.

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He lived in a way that was unsafe and risky. He lived in a way that would cause most of us anxiety.

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He was the kind of person that didn't just condemn the unbelievers.

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He actually confronted the religious establishment of his day. When they weren't walking in accord with the truth, he confronted them and called them to repentance.

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He was the kind of person that spoke to the regular people and he called them to righteousness and justice and love for God.

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He was the kind of person that would see in a realm that was not necessarily, according to today's thinking, his jurisdiction.

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He spoke to that realm with the law of God. What am I talking about? I'm talking about how

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John the Baptist got himself killed. He actually used the law of God to confront the government of his day.

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So there was no realm, according to John the Baptist, that was outside the authority of God.

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Everything was under his authority and every realm deserved to hear

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God's voice. He was a hero, but he was safe back there and that's why we call him a hero.

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Now I want to just say something I want you to think about at the beginning and the end of the message today as you think about John the Baptist and his ministry.

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I want you to consider something. Just in our own ministry, we're not the best at this, we're not perfect, we're still being sanctified as a church.

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When you look at our own ministry and the things that God has us doing, we're doing things that I think are risky and things that are unsafe.

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We're engaging in ministry that many people would say you shouldn't do. We're engaging in ministry that gets us in trouble with unbelievers and with Christians.

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Oftentimes, say for example, pick one ministry, when we go out to the abortion mill and we preach the gospel, we live stream it on purpose.

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We actually want to get what happens out there into the minds and hearts and before the eyes of people around the world.

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We want people to know, see, and hear what we know, see, and hear outside of those places of murder.

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And so we hit the send button and we broadcast what takes place around the world.

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What's interesting is when you look at that work there, we have saved so many babies through the power and might of God through this ministry.

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So many babies, so many lives have been literally impacted for eternity because of the work of Apologia Church out there.

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We go out there and offer to adopt their babies. We go out there and love them. We go out and plead and literally cry to reach these women and these fathers.

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And we go out there and we tell the truth. We say the hard thing, please don't murder your babies.

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Don't kill your babies. We say things like don't be a coward. We say things like that to the people going inside because we know we have just seconds before somebody's life is dramatically impacted.

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And so we tell the truth and we do it with as much grace as is possible within us. But when you see the comments from Christians around the world, you see that many

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Christians around the world have a hard time with telling those kinds of truths.

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We have Christians around the world that chastise us. I'm going to say this. Do you know the greatest resistance and opposition that we've had in three years to the ministry that we do?

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Who do you think it's from? The unbelievers or the Christians? Christians. And that's disheartening, of course.

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But we continue on because we do it not for our glory or for anybody's satisfaction. We do it for the glory of God and for the sake of these children, of course.

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But for three years, when we first began this ministry, we began to have Christians tell us that's not how you love people.

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You shouldn't do things like that. You shouldn't go out there and tell them they're going to murder their child. Why? Because it'll hurt their feelings.

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Why? It's too abrasive. That's too cutting. It's too much of an edge. You ought not tell a woman that she's about to murder her child.

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Why? Because it'll hurt their feelings. But I want to suggest to you something. God raises up people,

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I believe, like John the Baptist and gives him the grace that he did and gave him the ministry that he did and gave us the record of his ministry.

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Not simply so that we have amazing Bible stories to tell in Sunday school. Not simply to keep our heroes safe back there.

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I do believe that when God shows us what he does in people's lives like John the Baptist, it is because he desires for us to see what he's capable of in his people.

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I believe that God gives us these heroes in many respects to lay down for us a model, a pattern of what is pleasing to him and what glorifies him.

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We're supposed to see, watch, in these giants that God raises up giants.

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That God's truth is able to transform the world today just like it was for John the

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Baptist. And you might be saying, give it to me, God. Give it to me,

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God. Give me that power that John the Baptist had. God, give me that life and that speech that that hero of the faith had.

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God, I want it. Give it to me. Well, I'm going to encourage you to pray that prayer. I do.

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I'm going to encourage you to pray that prayer. But I want to remind you that that is a dangerous prayer to pray.

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Because I do believe that God answers those kinds of prayers. He has the ability and the sovereignty to do what he wills.

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But I want to warn you in praying those kinds of prayers and following the model of a man like John the

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Baptist and his riskiness, his unsafe behavior, his bold behavior. Remember this, that John the

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Baptist had his head handed to somebody on a silver platter.

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Don't forget that. If God raises up a hero and a giant in you like he did with John the

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Baptist, just know that the consequences of such a person is difficulty, persecution, bloodshed.

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But you know what else is the consequence? The church is built up, the glory of God shines brightly in a dark place, and the world is transformed.

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You see, my hope before God is that God uses each and every one of you and me for his glory and his kingdom in such a way that what you do in this world leaves a mark, a legacy for the kingdom of God.

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You see, here's the thing about John the Baptist. He lived a life before God that mattered.

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It mattered. It changed, literally, history.

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It changed the world. Because he was laying down a legacy. He did not see his life on this earth as most valuable.

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He saw what he was doing for the glory of Jesus, and him being increased, and John the

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Baptist being decreased. He saw that as more valuable, more of a treasure than a life here that was valuable.

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You see, here's the thing. When you see Jesus as the treasure that he is, then all the things that the world has to offer you are substandard treasures.

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He is the treasure to be desired above all. John the Baptist knew that. And yes, the power in knowing that was from the

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Spirit of God. John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit of God from the what? Anyone know?

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From the womb. Yes, John the Baptist was that kind of prophet. And I'm not saying each of us has to now turn in our wardrobe and start dressing in a weird way, and heading out into the wilderness eating very peculiar food.

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That's not the point. God isn't calling everyone to do that. Proof of it is the fact that Jesus tells us here that John the

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Baptist had a particular thing he gave up for God as essentially a fast sacrifice for the glory of God that Jesus himself didn't have.

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John the Baptist didn't touch wine. Jesus drank wine. Let that sit for a minute.

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Real wine. How so? Well, you can't hardly call someone a drunkard if they're drinking grape juice, which didn't exist at the time anyways.

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So all you Baptists need to chill. Take it from one Baptist to another.

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Now here's the point. I'm not saying that God is necessarily going to give you the same look as someone like John the

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Baptist. But I am saying what was underneath John the Baptist's ministry in terms of his bold proclamation of the truth, yes,

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God wants that for you. Yes, God would call you to that. I'm talking about the life that John the

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Baptist lived that was risky and unsafe for the kingdom of God.

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I'm saying, yes, God desires that for me and for you. I believe that God is calling us to that.

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Why was John the Baptist so great according to Jesus? I believe he was so great because he was simply faithful.

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He was faithful to God. He loved God, obviously, above anything else. And I believe that God calls each and every single one of us to that.

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Now, what do you need to understand about John the Baptist? Well, if you're taking notes, I want you to take this down. You need to understand the

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Old Testament expectation of the kingdom of God in history. I'm going to go through this quickly.

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We have lots of messages on this, but it is important that we understand this. Otherwise, the bridge that John the

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Baptist creates between the Old Testament and the New isn't as powerful as it ought to be for us.

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So the Old Testament expectation, number one, what do they expect? What did John expect?

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I think, by the way, just quickly as a side note, I think we'll better understand John the Baptist's confusion in Matthew 11, asking

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Jesus after he calls him the Lamb of God, after he says he's the one, after he points to him.

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But now we have this confusion by John saying, are you the Messiah or are we to expect another? I think you can understand

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John's confusion when you understand what John understood about the

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Old Testament expectations. Here it is. Number one, they expected a kingdom. They expected the ruler of the world to be the

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Messiah, that all the nations were going to come to God. We can multiply this ad infinitum, but if you look starting at Abraham, Abraham was going to have descendants as numerous as the what?

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As the stars. That's a lot of stars. You also understand that Genesis 49 .10, that one is coming and the word there is

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Shiloh, and to him is going to be the obedience of the nations. Pause.

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Now you're reading that in Jewish Awanis from this big, right?

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You're reciting Bible verses. You're memorizing this stuff. What does John the Baptist know? He knows the

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Mashiach is coming, and he knows that he's going to be the one that all the nations obey.

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Hang on to that. When you understand that, you can understand the confusion of John the Baptist when he knows that's the

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Messiah, but hey, I'm in jail now. Rome is still in control. The temple is still standing.

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The old covenant is still in place. If you're the Messiah, are we supposed to expect another one?

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Because all this is still here. Genesis 49 .10, to him will be the obedience of the nations.

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Psalm chapter 2, they were reading this. They were singing it in church. What's it say?

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The father's son. The father says to the Messiah, listen, ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, the very ends of the earth for your possession.

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So here's the father saying to Jesus, I'm going to give you the earth for your possession, all the nations.

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And then God says, warning to the kings of the earth, be wise,

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O kings, obey the son, or you'll perish when his wrath is kindled.

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You have Isaiah 9, 6 through 7. His name is Wonderful Counselor, El Gibor, the mighty

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God, the father of eternity. Watch, here it is. Of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no ends.

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You know, in Isaiah chapter 2 that, watch, it says that a mountain is going to be raised up above everything else.

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Very symbolic language here. And it says that the nations are going to stream up to the mountain of God.

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So the view that you have in the Old Testament of the Messiah's kingdom is victorious.

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You have a clear understanding in the Old Testament, Psalm 110, 1. Here it is.

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The Lord said unto my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

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This is what John knows. He knows it. As a matter of fact, you're going to see in a second that his father actually talks about the kingdom of God.

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And he had to been raising up telling John and his mom telling John, you're going to lead the way for this kingdom.

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You're going to be the one that ushers in this time of Mashiach. The kingdom of God is here.

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So John's being told as a little boy, you're the one. You're the one that's going to bridge that gap.

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And here comes Messiah and his kingdom. John is being raised his whole life understanding that this is the time of the kingdom of the

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Messiah. That it's finally going to break into history. And what's it going to bring? Second point, salvation.

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John knows. And he has actually a really powerful understanding. Because watch, you know the famous statements.

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What does John the Baptist say when he sees Jesus coming? What's he say? Behold, what?

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The Lamb of God who does what? Who takes away the sins of the world.

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Jews and Gentiles, the nations are coming. But John understands, watch, a kingdom is coming and salvation.

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And this is really amazing. Think for a moment now, help me now. You're a Jew. You're going to temple,

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Yom Kippur. You know that there's bloodshed. There has to be this innocent for guilty sacrifice.

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You've got the priest going into the Holy of Holies. You've got the animals dying, the blood being shed.

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You've got the lambs, the Passover. You've got all these symbols. And you know that, watch, the people of God are still in bondage to their sin.

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And you know that the world is not right. It's not the way that it ought to be. It's not the way that God created it to be.

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But you know you have this symbol of a Lamb who covers us in the blood.

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Where God's wrath passes over that house on account of the Lamb. And the people of God escape their bondage to go into the promised land with God.

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And what does John say about Jesus? Behold, that's the Lamb of God. You know that Abraham, when he offered his son

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Isaac on that altar, was met by God himself on that mountain.

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And you know that Abraham said that in that very place is where God would provide the what?

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Lamb. In that spot. So John knows there's a Lamb of God coming.

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John knows there's a Lamb who takes away the sin. And he sees Jesus and he knows salvation is coming.

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And he knows the kingdom of God is arrived. And he says, that's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

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He knows Isaiah 53. John read it. He understood it. He heard it.

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Probably had portions of it memorized. He knew that there was one coming who would be pierced through for our transgressions.

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Crushed for our iniquities. That God would lay on this one the iniquity of us all. And it's by his wounds we'd be healed.

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That he'd be counted among the rebels. And that he would justify the many as he would bear their iniquities.

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John knows that salvation is coming. He knows that the nations are coming. He knows that all the families of the earth are going to return to worship

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God. He knows, final point, victory. Here's what you got to get.

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And it goes counter to much of what we know today in Christianity in the

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West. Listen, if you have a Jewish eschatology, if you believe what the Old Testament says about the

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Messiah's kingdom, you have to be post -millennialist. I mean, you just have to.

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Because watch, listen, everybody has to grant it. It doesn't matter where you're at on the eschatological spectrum.

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If you're all mill, post -mill, pre -mill, pan -mill, it's all going to pan out in the end.

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Whatever the mill you are, okay, whatever it is, I don't know, mill, it doesn't matter.

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Okay, everybody has to agree that the Old Testament picture of the kingdom of the

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Messiah is victorious. It is victorious. It's going to win.

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Now, I believe that if you take what John says, Jesus says, Paul says, the entire

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New Testament, the Old Testament about the kingdom, it arrived in the first century.

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Jesus is reigning now and he's going to win. But here's what you got to get. They knew that when

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Messiah's kingdom came, it was going to defeat all the enemies and it was going to change the world.

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God was going to restore creation. He was going to bring a new heavens, a new earth.

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He was going to renew and change everything that was broken because of sin. That's what he knew.

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He knew a kingdom was coming, salvation was coming, and it was going to be victorious. That's what John knew.

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Now, let's talk about John quickly. Go to your Bibles to Luke chapter 3,

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Matthew, Mark, Luke. Luke chapter 3, and let's look at where the Bible talks about John the

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Baptist. Luke chapter 3, we're going to be looking at verses, we'll start in verse 1.

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As you guys get there, let me just say this to you quickly. John the Baptist provides the link between the

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Old Testament and the New Testament. Jesus points to that. All the law and the prophets prophesied until John the

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Baptist. And now the kingdom of God, essentially, Jesus says, has arrived. Now, John the

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Baptist is a powerful, central figure in the

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New Testament. You can't miss this. John the Baptist isn't, in the New Testament, sort of a guy that shows up and disappears.

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John the Baptist is central to what God was doing in the kingdom of God. His mission was to prepare the world, the people of God, for the

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Messiah. And here's what the Bible says about John the

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Baptist. Luke chapter 3, verses 4 through 6.

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Again, I'll start in verse 1. In the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, being governor of Judea, and Herod being

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Tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip, Tetrarch of the region of Eturia, and Trachonitis, and Lysanias, Tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness.

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And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

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As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the

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Lord, make his path straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low.

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And the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways.

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And all, watch, all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

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He said, therefore, to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, you brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

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Bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father.

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For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.

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Even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

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That's the message that was coming from John the Baptist. Isaiah chapter 40, verse 3, that's that Old Testament text that points to, ultimately, the message and ministry of John the

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Baptist. Now, I want you to see that Old Testament reference to John the

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Baptist, so make sure you have this into your toolbox. Malachi, just keep your hands ready in our

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New Testament and just move back to the last book of the Old Testament. We've done this a few times, but I'm just going to point you to it again so you see.

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Malachi chapter 3, Old Testament, verse 1, listen to the words.

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Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me.

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And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. And the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the

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Lord of hosts. Now, there you go. There's a timeline. Simple enough, right? What do you have first?

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You have a messenger. He prepares the way, and then the Lord will suddenly come to his temple.

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So you can expect, watch, the messenger to come first, and then the Messiah himself is going to come to the temple.

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And you think, that's good news, right? Well, kind of.

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Yes. For some, here's what it says happens after the messenger comes and the

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Messiah comes to his temple. Who can endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears?

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For he is like a refiner's fire and like a fuller's soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver.

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And they will bring offerings and righteousness to the Lord. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the

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Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. That's good news. Yes.

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Finally, the people of God are going to be sanctified. The messenger is going to come.

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Messiah is going to come to his temple. And then finally, the people of God are going to be able to come before God with sacrifices that are pleasing to God.

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That's a very good thing, but there's more. Then I will draw near to you for judgment.

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I'll be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker and his wages.

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Seems like God does have social concerns. The widow and the fatherless against those who thrust aside the sojourner and do not fear me, says the

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Lord of hosts. Now watch. This is huge. Please catch this. I don't know if I'm able to communicate it in the way that I ought to, but I want you to grab hold of this.

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The messenger that precedes the Messiah comes before, obviously, then the

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Messiah comes to his temple. There's two things that happen when the Messiah comes.

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One, salvation and purification. Two, judgment upon the covenant breakers and the lawless.

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Now watch. If you can grab hold of that, you can see the significance of John the Baptist's ministry. Watch. When the

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Bible introduces us to him, Matthew 3, what's the very first thing that John the Baptist says when he breaks into Matthew 3?

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It says, repent for the kingdom of heaven is what? At hand.

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And then what does it immediately do? John the Baptist immediately confronts the covenant breakers and he calls them to repentance.

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Because what does John know? John knows two things are about to happen, guys. One, salvation and purification.

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And two, there's going to be some judgment. Some of y 'all are going down. Why does

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John say that the axe is already laid at the root of the trees? Now, you got to catch the significance of that.

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That's not God winding up. He's not even winding up. The judgment is so close that that axe has already been swung.

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Your time is so limited, that tree is about to get nailed and fall over.

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That's what John knows. And by the way, the wording there, when it says the judgment about to come, the word there in the

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Greek is mellow. It's easy to remember. Just remember mellow yellow. Okay.

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Mellow. And the word mellow in the Greek here in the context would refer to about to come.

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Who warned you to flee from the wrath? Mellow. About to come.

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It's right on the edge. You're on the precipice. So John says, brood of vipers, repent.

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Fruit in keeping with repentance. That axe is already laid at the root of the trees. His winnowing fork is in his hands.

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John knows this is not a good time for some people. But one more text.

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Go to it. It's just one chapter later. Malachi chapter four. Here it is. Look at this. For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble.

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Then the day that is coming shall set them ablaze. God uses this language often in the

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Old Testament. He uses graphic language to describe judgment. He says, says the

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Lord of hosts, so that I will leave them neither root nor branch. I'm going to take everything out.

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You're not going to have anything left. But for you who fear my name, the son of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.

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You should go out leaping like calves from the stall. You should tread down the wicked, for they should be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when

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I act, says the Lord of hosts. Here it is. Here it is. Remember the law of my servant

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Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

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Law of God, keep it, people of God. Behold, I will send you

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Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the

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

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Guys, you got to catch this. Don't lose it. It's big. It makes so much sense of that bridge between the old and the new, and it makes so much sense of John the

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Baptist's ministry. He was the messenger. He was the forerunner for the Messiah to come and have a place prepared for him before salvation and judgment arrived.

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Why is John the Baptist freaking out? Why is he saying, repent? Judgment's coming because God said his ministry was about that.

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It was about preparing the way for Mashiach because Mashiach was bringing salvation and judgment.

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It was coming. He knew that there were going to be covenant breakers judged and taken down. Now, pause.

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Quick thing as a side. Watch. What happened within a generation of John the

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Baptist's ministry? What happened? Within a generation of John the

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Baptist's ministry, the Messiah died for our sins and rose from the dead. He was ascended and seated, and then the covenant breakers were judged.

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You're going to hear about Josephus today. Josephus recorded... By the way, this is crazy. Can you think about this for a second?

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Jesus and John the Baptist recorded or taught, and we have recorded for us, that that generation was going to be annihilated, destroyed.

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The temple was going to be destroyed. Great judgment upon the covenant breakers. The Old Testament talks about it.

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The New Testament talks about it. And you know what record we have? It's actually amazing. It's almost preserved as good as the

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New Testament as well. As well as the New Testament. We have the writings of Flavius Josephus.

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He was a Pharisee. He was a general in the Jewish army. Against Rome. And he recorded for us the events that took place in that generation.

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First century generation. He recorded for us also what happened when Jesus judged

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Jerusalem. You have his eyewitness account of the blood flowing in the streets.

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You have his eyewitness account of the famine that was so bad that one woman,

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Josephus records, cooked her own child and was offering it to people on the streets.

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You have the recording, eyewitness testimony of Josephus of all the wars and rumors of wars.

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The massive earthquake that took place in Pompeii in 62 AD. Josephus gives you an eyewitness account of what took place when they were in the city and the

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Romans had them surrounded. And when they finally broke in, Josephus actually hid under dead bodies.

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The Romans discovered him and they took him to the head of the

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Roman army, Titus. He so fell in love in a weird way with Josephus that he gave him a new name and he commissioned him to write a history of the

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Jews. That's what we have. But isn't it amazing? The Old Testament and New Testament proclaim continuously

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Messiah's coming is salvation and judgment. And we have the actual recorded incident of what took place.

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I think it's amazing. But let's talk more about John. Can I just point a few things out to you?

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You can look at them later. I'm not going to read all these texts to you. There's so much in our New Testament to take us into next week.

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I want to point something out that's interesting and maybe you never noticed it. I never did.

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But if you think about it, it actually makes John the Baptist ministry pretty powerful. Did you know that Luke chapter 1 starts off with the story of John the

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Baptist? And did you know that John chapter 1 starts off with the ministry of John the

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Baptist? And did you know that Mark chapter 1 starts off with the ministry of John the

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Baptist? Do you think he's kind of a central figure here? He's at the beginning of all these gospels.

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Look at it just for a moment to see what the Bible says about him. Go to Luke chapter 1. Look at how amazing this is. In Luke chapter 1,

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Luke, of course, starts off and he explains why he's writing, how he came up with this writing.

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He was a traveling companion we know of the Apostle Paul. He was probably given the task of recording what happened in Jesus' life and ministry.

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Luke actually went and interviewed the eyewitnesses.

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So there's intimate details of what happened in Jesus' birth down to what Mary was thinking, which probably gives us a strong position to say that Luke actually interviewed

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Jesus' mommy. He got details. He said that she pondered these things in her heart.

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Well, how do you know what she pondered in her heart? Well, because it's divinely inspired writing. Well, yes, it is.

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But it's also a statement of fact that Luke says he interviewed the eyewitnesses. So Luke is giving the inside details of what these people thought, what they experienced.

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But look at this. Luke chapter 1, verse 5. In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named

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Zechariah of the division of Abijah, and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was

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Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the

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Lord. But they had no child because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. Pause.

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This is awesome. You really have to love this. God, in His grace and His mercy, chose some amazing parents for John.

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Why stop and talk about that for a second? Well, I think it's important to recognize that your role as a parent is so significant that it can change the world.

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John the Baptist's parents were righteous before God. They obeyed

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God. They loved God. And God chose these parents to raise up a hero.

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Which, by the way, is exactly what you're doing, moms. All those days of mundane tasks and what you feel is irrelevant, all the difficulties, all the conflict in your home, all the sanctification taking place with your kids and with you, all the hard moments.

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Don't ever forget that when you're faithful to God, you're raising up little heroes that change the world and leave a dent in the kingdom of darkness, which is what happened with John the

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Baptist. Now, I won't read this entire text because we have more to get to. But read the text later.

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The story is interesting. Basically, Zechariah doesn't believe ultimately that God can do something.

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And then he's struck with basically not being able to speak. He ends up naming John, John. He's told that this one who's coming is going to be the one who actually turns many of the children of Israel to the

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Lord their God. That he's going to go, verse 17, before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready for the

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Lord a people prepared. Why did John believe that he was to do what he was called to do?

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Here's why. Listen. Because not only did God call him to it and fill him with his spirit and testify to it, but also because his parents loved him and supported him and told him, this is

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God's call in your life. Be faithful to it. Be faithful to it. Moms and dads, we have no idea just how vitally important our roles are as parents.

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You have no idea. I have no idea the value, no comprehension of the value and importance of a mom and dad who loved

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God and loved their child and point that child to God. It literally changes the world and raises up heroes.

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Do you think that Elizabeth and Zechariah, do you think they had days that were difficult with John?

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Do you think they had days with John where they thought, this is the forerunner? Right?

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Of course. We're born little sinners and little rebels. I bet you had plenty of days where John's dad was like, he ain't no forerunner.

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Plenty of days where he got spanked on his bottom or something, right? Like there were probably moments of doubt and difficulty, but they were told by God, that's the forerunner.

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Messiah is coming. He's going to lead the way. And they were faithful to that message. They told

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John. They raised him up. They loved him. They were obedient. It has to be the case.

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Now watch. As the story moves on, I just want you to hear what Zechariah says about John, because it's amazing.

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It really is. It's amazing. First, you should know that John the Baptist was in Elizabeth's womb, if you don't know this, and Mary got pregnant around the same time.

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Mary is pregnant with Jesus. Elizabeth's pregnant with John. And Mary actually spent time with Elizabeth while they were both in the womb together.

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That is awesome. It's awesome. They are so closely connected.

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They're connected that intimately. Their moms were hanging out. They were having like mommy play dates, like homeschool park day or whatever, right?

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They had all that stuff going on. They had little moms groups on Jewish Facebook, whatever.

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Like they had stuff happening, right? It's very intimate. It's amazing. But I want you to hear what

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Zechariah, his dad, says about him. It's chapter 1, verse 67. That's what the kingdom of God is about.

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Because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high, listen, to give light to those who sit in the darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

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You know what he's quoting from? Let's see if you guys know. What is Zechariah quoting from there?

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Where's he getting that language that last couple of verses? Anyone know? Isaiah 9. What's the premier text?

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Thank you, Marilee. What's the premier text? In Isaiah 9 that we all go to, it's on all of our

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Christmas cards. The premier text in Isaiah 9, about what? Six through seven.

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A child is born, a son is given, he shall be called wonderful counselor, what? Mighty God, father of eternity, of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end.

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So Zechariah is quoting that. Son, John, you're the one. There's going to be light and darkness, the kingdom of God, his government increasing in peace.

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That's what John is sitting under his whole life. That's what his parents are telling him faithfully.

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What do you need to know about his ministry? Well, you need to know that he called people to repentance.

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You saw that in Luke 7 through 17. He called people to repentance.

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He confronted the religious leaders of his day. He confronted them. He called them to repentance.

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He told them to turn from their sin. The judgment was coming. What else? He baptized people, that much is obvious.

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He's John the Baptist, not the Presbyterian, okay? He baptized them. Mark chapter 1, verses 7 through 8.

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Mark chapter 1, verses 7 through 8. It says, and he preached saying, after me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals

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I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. Watch. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the

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Holy Spirit. There's a difference between the baptism of John and the baptism of Jesus.

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Jesus baptizes you with the Holy Spirit of God. John's baptism was not the same.

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And I want to say this quickly, we don't have all day to talk about this, but John's baptism was not Christian baptism.

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In the Old Testament, there are a number of different types of baptisms, and John's baptism wasn't like ours, didn't mean the same thing.

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But that was John's ministry. What else did John do? Well, John testified about Jesus. He didn't point to himself.

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As a matter of fact, while people are trying to elevate John to this amazing status that in many ways he deserved a mighty prophet,

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John kept saying this, it's not about me. It's not about me. It's not about me.

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Listen, I am not even worthy to get down to his feet and mess with him.

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Not even worthy of that. I must decrease. He must increase. So watch this quickly.

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What's so amazing about John is that John wasn't about John. John didn't point to himself as the thing.

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He didn't point to his ministry as the thing. He kept on pointing people to Jesus.

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So I'm going to say this. If we can learn anything from John's ministry, learn this. Your ministry is only successful, powerful, meaningful before God if it's about Jesus and pointing people to Jesus.

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John wasn't setting up a ministry for himself so that people would love him and point to him.

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He was always pointing people to Jesus saying, I've got to be the one that gets out of here so that you guys all start worshiping him.

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I'm not the thing. Jesus is the thing. He testified about Christ.

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John 1 .15, John 1 .6 -8, John 3 .27

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-30. Now here's what I want you to see. John 1 .29.

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Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. John 1 .29. Here it is. Watch. By the way,

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I think this is amazing. I really do. I think that this is actually powerful testimony to the importance of John the

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Baptist. You all know John 1. Let's do it together. In the beginning was the...

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And the word was... And the word... Get to know

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John 1. Memorize it. It says that Jesus always existed with the Father and he was by very nature

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God. That he created everything in existence and nothing's come into being... That's come into being except through him.

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And then it talks about Jesus and God becoming flesh and dwelling among us. But as soon as it's done, as soon as John's done introducing

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Jesus, John 1 .19. And this is the testimony of John the

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Baptist. When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are you?

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He confessed and did not deny but confessed, I am not the Messiah.

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And they asked him, what then? Are you Elijah? He said, I'm not.

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Are you the prophet? And he answered, no. So they said to him, who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us.

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What do you say about yourself? He said, I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness.

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Make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah said. Now, they had been sent from the

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Pharisees. They asked him, then why are you baptizing if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?

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John answered them, I baptize you with water, but among you stands one who you do not know.

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Even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.

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So John points to Jesus. He testifies about Jesus. And it says, these things took place in Bethany, across the

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Jordan, where John was baptizing. And here it is. The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him.

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And he said, behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

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This is he of whom I said, after me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.

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I myself did not come, did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.

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And John bore witness, I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.

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I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, he on whom you see the

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Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the

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Son of God. You know what that is? You have the recording there.

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As a matter of historic record, one of the greatest prophets in history, even

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Jews to this day know about John the Baptist. And Josephus, it looks like he was enamored by him in some ways.

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Here's his record in history saying, Jesus is the Son of God. He's the one.

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That's what the text says. He testified about Jesus. Now, what else did he do? Well, you've already heard one time today, he confronted the religious leaders.

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Matthew chapter 3, he confronted people who perverted true faith.

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He said what was true. Now, I'll only say this quickly today about this portion.

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John the Baptist did something that was uncomfortable. He talked to religious leaders who were abusing the people of God and not being faithful.

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Many times in our modern context, people say, you ought not confront people who name the name of Christ because, hey, they love

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Jesus too. You ought not cause controversy. So when you look at the ministry of John the

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Baptist, you see a person that so loved the truth that he wasn't a jerk, but he told the truth.

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He knew what was coming. He loved God above being light. He loved God above being light.

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What else did he do? Well, he didn't just confront the religious leaders. He called people to righteousness. And this is what

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I want you to see. Luke chapter 3, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Luke chapter 3 in verse 10.

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And the crowds asked him, this is them asking John the Baptist after he confronts the religious leaders.

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And the crowds asked him, what then shall we do? And he answered them, whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none.

01:00:01

And whoever has food is to do likewise. Tax collectors also 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 you are authorized to do. Soldiers also asked him, and we, what shall we do?

01:00:19

And he said to them, do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation and be content with your wages.

01:00:28

So what is John doing? Watch. It's amazing. He's calling the religious leaders to be faithful.

01:00:34

He calls the average people who are coming to him saying, I want to repent. And he says, well, this is what you can do to show that your repentance is real.

01:00:43

And what is John doing constantly? He's pointing people back to the law of God.

01:00:49

What did Malachi 4 say about the Elijah who was to come? Malachi chapter 3 say about the one who was coming.

01:00:56

It says that he was going to remind them about the law of God, God's standards.

01:01:03

He would point people to God's justice. That was the mission of the forerunner, the messenger.

01:01:09

And that's what John did. He was known for calling people to true righteousness, to bear fruit.

01:01:16

Here's what John wasn't playing with. John wasn't settled with people's mere professions of faith.

01:01:24

John expected that if you truly believe in God, listen. If you've truly repented, please listen.

01:01:32

He said, it'll look like it. If you've truly turned your life over to God and you truly love him, then your life is going to look like it.

01:01:41

Tax collectors, don't take more than you're authorized to do. You're a

01:01:47

Christian, right? You love God? Well, here's how you can show that you're repentant. Stop being so selfish.

01:01:53

You see somebody in need? Take care of their need. If you have excess, don't hold it all to yourself.

01:01:59

You love your neighbor as you love yourself. Care for the needs of your neighbors. Take care of widows and orphans.

01:02:07

John the Baptist said this, if you've repented, it better look like it. And he called people to it.

01:02:14

Next, he confronted the government. Right there, chapter three, verse 18.

01:02:20

John the Baptist got in trouble because watch, significant moment, huge.

01:02:27

What does the people of God have to do with the government? Isn't, watch, isn't the church about the church?

01:02:35

Right? Like why bother speaking to the government realm? That's not out, that's like outside the church's jurisdiction, right?

01:02:44

Right? I mean, wasn't John the Baptist two kingdom? No. John the

01:02:52

Baptist took the message of the law of God into every corner. To the religious leaders, to the average person in the pew, and he spoke the law of God to the governing authorities boldly enough that he was like tweeting about Herod.

01:03:08

It is not lawful for you to have your brother's life, wife,

01:03:15

Deuteronomy, 130 characters, right? Or whatever it is, right? John the

01:03:21

Baptist was so condemning the governor of his day that the message got to him that he was talking trash about Herod, and Herod puts him in prison for it.

01:03:33

So Luke chapter three, verse 18. So with many other exhortations, he preached good news to the people.

01:03:39

But Herod the Tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison.

01:03:53

So John's in prison, watch, listen, because as a minister, he spoke against the governing authorities for their wickedness.

01:04:05

He took the law of God, and he approached the governing officials with it, and he said,

01:04:11

God expects you to obey his law. And for that, he was put into prison.

01:04:19

So let me ask, just as a side, is it appropriate for the people of God to speak the law of God to their governing authorities?

01:04:30

Yes. So when someone says, hey, that's out of your jurisdiction, that's like not a church thing, that's not very spiritual, you can't expect the governing authorities to obey

01:04:40

God's law. You can just say, I'm just trying to keep it biblical, baby. John the

01:04:46

Baptist, no one likes heroes when they're alive, they like them when they're safe, right?

01:04:51

So next, what do you know about his death? Well, he was in prison, Matthew chapter 11, we know that.

01:04:57

Matthew chapter 14, Mark 6 and Luke 3 talk about the death of John the

01:05:03

Baptist. And let's go to a text here. Matthew chapter 14 is my favorite spot to learn about the death of John the

01:05:10

Baptist. And we're wrapping up here, guys. Matthew chapter 14, here's the details.

01:06:04

And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests, he commanded it to be given.

01:06:12

He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.

01:06:21

And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus. What a wasted life, what a waste.

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Think about how sad that really is. Here's this mighty man of God that has served

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God his whole life. He's lived a life that is bold and sacrificial, unsafe. He's lived risky.

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He's had many days pouring over God's word and pouring himself into the lives of other people.

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He gets snatched up by this wicked governor. Why? Because he tells him he's sinning against God.

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And now while he's snatched up, there's this party that happens. And Herodias can't stand

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John. Why? Because John's constantly tweeting and putting the word out that this is a wicked relationship.

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It's sinful, it's awful, it shouldn't be done. So she can't stand John the Baptist. And then

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Herodias' daughter does a little dance at a party. And Herod, he gets so inflamed by it, he's like,

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I'll give you anything you want up to half my kingdom. And so she's like, Mom, what should I ask for? And her mom so hates

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John for ruining her reputation among the people that she says, tell him you want to take

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John's head off. That you want it on a silver platter. What a wasted life. This little

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Kardashian of the first century is like, cut his head off.

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And you might think, what a wasted life. This little girl, basically, this immature little girl gets this amazing man of God killed.

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And you might think, what a wasted life. I want to argue it was one of the most powerful lives and well -spent lives you could ever live.

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Because when he had his head taken off, he went to be with his God to experience true joy and to receive his reward for a life well spent.

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Now, well, last point here. Last point. Josephus records first century.

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I gave you a few details already. Remember Josephus, Pharisee, a general in the

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Jewish army. He was present during the fight between the war, in the war between the

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Jews and the Romans. He got to see the bloodshed. He got to see that temple that Jesus said was going to be taken apart.

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He got to see it taken down. He got to see the fire. He got to see the blood. He got to see the destruction.

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He got to see it all. And he wrote about it. We have antiquities and the war of the Jews. Those sets.

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And he wrote about John the Baptist. In antiquities, he says, now some of the

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Jews thought that the destruction of Herod's army came from God. There was a fight that took place where Herod's army was destroyed and was a very just punishment for what he did against John called the

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Baptist. For Herod had him killed, although he was a good man and had urged the

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Jews to exert themselves to virtue, both as to justice toward one another and reverence towards God.

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And having done so, joined together in washing for immersion in water, it was clear to him could not be used for the forgiveness of sins, but as a sanctification of the body.

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And only if the soul was already thoroughly purified by right actions. And when others had masked about him, for they were greatly moved by his words,

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Herod, who feared that such a strong influence over the people might carry to a revolt, for they seemed ready to do anything he should advise, believe that it would be better to move now than later, have it raise a rebellion and engage him in actions he would regret.

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And so out of Herod's suspiciousness was sent in chains, John, out of Herod's suspiciousness was sent in chains to Macarius, the fort of previously mentioned, and there was put to death.

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So Josephus records John's ministry. Now, he doesn't necessarily have a full understanding of John's ministry, but the point is, is that John had such an amazing reputation in the first century that here

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Josephus points to John's ministry and the fact that Herod had him killed. What a powerful life.

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It was a life separated for God in the wilderness with leather and locusts, not drinking, separated for God.

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I want to make a point on the fallible and broken nature of John the

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Baptist. John the Baptist, and this is where we'll end. John the Baptist is now in chains.

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He's in prison. He's probably scared. You get to put flesh on these people.

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They're just like you. He's probably scared. He's probably concerned. He knows he's spent his life now and he's probably close to death.

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And what does he see? He says, I'm the messenger. My parents told me I was. God told me I was. God told me that it's the one that you see the spirit descending upon.

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I saw Jesus. I know his ministry. I know what he does. But you know what I'm not seeing?

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All the nations streaming up to the mountain of God. Where's that? You know what I'm not seeing? The salvation of the families of the earth.

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Here I am, John. The Messiah is here. He's here. He's on the map.

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And here I am in prison. Where's the salvation of the Lord? Where's the ends of the earth coming to God?

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Where's the restoration of all things? Where's the salvation? Where are the descendants of Abraham? So you got to consider for a moment, there's got to be some confusion in John's own mind.

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He knows the kingdom of God is going to change the world. And now he's in chains and he's about to die.

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And so he says to Jesus, send him a message for me. Ask him, are you really the one? Are we to expect another?

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You see, watch. He was confused because he knew that the Old Testament said salvation was going to come to the ends of the earth and it was going to change the world.

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And all he sees in front of him, watch, is a carpenter's son. He knows that his mom and Jesus' mom are friends.

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It's very intimate. It doesn't seem like a very big deal, a big thing. He doesn't see the world completely changed yet.

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The old covenant is still there, hanging around in force, temple, priests, animal sacrifices. And so that's all he sees.

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And he knows that the Messiah is going to win the world. And so what does Jesus tell him? He says, tell him this.

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Tell him the lepers are cleansed. Tell him all these miraculous things.

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And tell him the dead are raised. And so Jesus is reminding

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John that what his ministry is about and what's happening is exactly what God said was going to happen.

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John just needed to hang around a little longer. I want to suggest to you this.

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If John could have got a little snapshot, just a little one, just a little poof, like this is what it's going to look like.

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That 2 ,000 years later, there would be a mixed room of people filled with Jews and Gentiles, white, brown, black, different colors, different backgrounds, in the middle of a desert on the other side of the world.

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If he could have seen the people in a room who love and worship the Messiah and are submitted to his rule and lordship,

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I think he would have said, I see. I understand.

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John the Baptist was very much like you or like me. He was a fallible person.

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He was broken. God told him to do something. He was exercising faith and trust to God.

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And then Jesus says about John, who was he? Jesus says he was the greatest of anyone born of a woman.

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And he said he was the Elijah who was to come. What did Elijah do to the people of God? What was

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Elijah's ministry marked by? What did he say constantly? What was his ministry about? Repent, repent.

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Calling people to repentance. And actually, Elijah did go into the wilderness because of persecution. And now

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John's in the wilderness calling people to repent. And when Jesus says that he was the Elijah who was to come, he was the one that was preparing the way.

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John held God and the Messiah's kingdom as supreme.

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He lived boldly and risky. He wasn't safe and he left a mark.

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So what? So what? So what is this? John was filled, listen, with the same spirit of God who fills you.

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Now I gotta pause there for a minute because I have to confess something. I have a hard time believing that. I'm saying it to you because it's the truth.

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He had the same spirit of God that you and I have within us. And that's hard to comprehend because I don't,

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I don't see myself as having the kind of courage and power that that man had.

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But it's the same power, same spirit, and guess what you've got in your mouths, brothers and sisters? You've got the same gospel on your lips.

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Same power to change the world. And you might think I can never be as powerful as a man like John.

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Don't forget, John was just being faithful and he was trusting God. He had his moments of brokenness and concern and questioning too.

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And John lived an amazing life and didn't waste it.

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And he had his head taken off for it. Don't forget that being a hero sometimes means that you're a hero into your own death.

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Are you willing to take up that kind of call, that kind of boldness? You know, many of you guys know that one of my favorite pastors is

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John Piper. John Piper has an amazing message on this point and some amazing books on this point

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I encourage you to check into. Don't waste your life. You see, what marks

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John's ministry for me, in my own heart and mind, is that it was a life that was not wasted.

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According to the world's standards, John's life was a complete and utter waste.

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What a waste to end your days with your head on a platter because some twerp tells her mom, hears from her mom, have him killed.

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What a waste. I'm going to say that it wasn't a waste of life. He left a memory of righteousness and justice and power that changed the world.

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Can I ask you what you're afraid of? This is the so what. Why not me?

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Why can't I live a life that's not safe and that is risky and that is bold and that is filled with love for other people and God?

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What are you afraid of? What kind of things hold you back from living risky, unsafe, truthful, loving, bold lives?

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What stops you? Is it that you're concerned what others think of you? Do you think that John didn't have to do battle with that?

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Is that you love your comfort above God? Do you have things in your way that are of more value to you than Jesus and His kingdom?

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Do you think that John didn't have to make war with that kind of life and those idols?

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Of course he did. He was your brother in the Lord. He wasn't a superhero.

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He was a sinner just like you and just like me that God used for a mighty purpose.

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Can I ask you to pray something? Pray that as the people of God at Apologia, that God would give us the same boldness, the same riskiness, the same unsafe behavior, the same love for God and others that He gave to John the

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Baptist. And let's praise God for heroes just like him. Let's pray.

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Father, please bless this church with conviction over a life like John.

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Thank you, God, for raising up heroes like John. Help us,

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God, to be the kind of people that love our heroes present and not safe and not back there.

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Please help us to love our heroes here and now. And please fill us with the same kind of boldness that you gave that man.

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Give that boldness to mothers in their homes with their children. Give that boldness to fathers.

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Give that boldness to single people to live their lives in the same kind of risky and unsafe way for your glory that John the