Matthew 3, Are You Prepared?

Covenant Reformed Baptist Church

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All right, Matthew chapter 3 I'll be reading the entire chapter starting verse 1 here the word of the

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Lord In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand

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For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said the voice of one crying in the wilderness Prepare the way of the

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

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Jerusalem in all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him and they were

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Baptized by him in the River Jordan confessing their sins But when he saw many of the

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Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism He said to them you brood of vipers who warned you to flee from the wrath to come

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Bear fruit in keeping with repentance and do not presume to say to yourselves We have

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Abraham as our father for I tell you God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees

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Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I Baptize you with water for repentance

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But he who is coming after me is mightier than I whose sandals

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I'm not worthy to carry he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire his winnowing fork is in his hand and He will clear his threshing floor and gather his weed into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire

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Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John and to be baptized by him John would have prevented him saying

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I need to be baptized by you and do you come to me? But Jesus answered him let it be so now

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For thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness Then he consented and when

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Jesus was baptized Immediately, he went up from the water and behold the heavens were open to him and he saw the

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Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him and behold a voice from heaven said

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This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased May the

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Lord add his blessings to the reading of his Holy Word Well 2019 is

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Almost here. Are you prepared a New year is coming ready or not

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There will undoubtedly be many new changes in it. Maybe new jobs Graduations, you're not graduating this coming year.

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I know Joshua will be he's not with us today Maybe weddings about one of those for you.

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Maybe not. No, it's not for that Okay, if not for us though, maybe for people we know new people to get to know

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New businesses opening maybe just this week for that matter not to wait very long new opportunities

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But even if it's just another year of the same old thing for you for you personally Are you prepared for another year of it getting up going to work?

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studying Doing the chores going about your business Being faithful to church.

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I hope are you ready for another year or do you just want to shout stop the world?

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I want to get off You know, but shout all you want it won't stop So are you prepared that new year is coming ready or not?

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And while we hope for a year with all good things for all of you Are you prepared for some bad things for unemployment?

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Hope not or sickness or Weakness some kind of loss some troubles

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You prepare for whatever might come or the Boy Scouts motto is be prepared Any Boy Scouts here?

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I Suppose John the Baptist would have been an Eagle Scout then, you know, he was all about being prepared He was he was so much about getting people ready.

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He would probably be better be called John the preparer But he is John the Baptist and he comes oddly enough.

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You notice that he goes comes into the wilderness It begins you think how odd that we just read this we got to pass over that I mean you want a ministry to reach the whole nation and you go out in the middle of nowhere

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There's hardly anyone around at first it's got to be just a handful of people probably in some small village and then they go tell other people and The people you would think though that he would first go to Jerusalem, you know the big city

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Maybe visit the other population centers and preach there. Maybe some multimedia You know some mass mailings to get people to know, you know, it didn't work like that It's all word -of -mouth

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Beginning out in the wilderness Hey, you think he'd go where he could be heard how the whitest audience but he goes out into the desert and there he begins

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Preaching enough people start to hear him at first and then they go tell others and soon There's a crowd flocking to him to listen to him

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It says Jerusalem and all Judea and everyone around in that region went out to him to get prepared and his message is simple summed up for us as repent

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For the kingdom of heaven is at hand Now we don't hear the we don't hear the word repent as much as we should you know the very idea of repent you know kind of implies that we're doing something wrong and That we are heading the wrong way hurting the wrong direction and we need to turn around We need to go the other way many people today just don't believe that That they're heading fundamentally the wrong way

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But that's supposed to be that that's the fundamental starting point You need to turn your whole life around and many people just don't believe that maybe they under maybe they think they need a little

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Religion a little something but they don't really think they need repentance. They think maybe we're just We there maybe they understand they're a little ignorant.

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They could use some they could use some education that helps Maybe they think they're not fully enlightened.

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They could use some more enlightenment. That's what they need to be prepared Maybe they think they're lacking this or that discipline and you know, it's the

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New Year's. They'll make a New Year's resolution That's while they need just a few course adjustments just a minor some fine -tuning here or there

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But basically they think they're alright, but John the preparer comes and says no repent

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Turn around everything is wrong to repent is literally in the Greek to change one's mind and by that We don't just mean just change a few opinions, but change your whole mind your entire psyche

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Including your will and the idea behind this the Old Testament idea behind it is literally to turn

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You are going one way now. You must turn your whole self around and go the other way repentance it involves your whole being your beliefs

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Your will and your actions if we want to be ready We have better turn around and go the other way still repent

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It's a hard word, isn't it? It's why it's probably not used much these days. It's hard John comes with hard words

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But the saying is true. I don't know if you've heard it But it's a saying I like hard words create soft people soft words create hard people

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I've noticed that people who are hard -hearted and stubborn full of their own opinions full of themselves.

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They're unteachable. They're unpreparable They are surrounded almost all that all the time.

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I every time I've experienced of are surrounded usually raised By people who only give them soft words

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It's all they've gotten their whole life is soft words. They've been flattered. They've been told how great they are how valuable their every opinion is and And they are surrounded by people who will insulate them from any hard words that teacher that principal that coach dares say anything critical to My darling,

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I'm gonna tell them are off. I'll snatch them out of school. I'll homeschool my little darling So they never have to hear anything critical

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That kind of thing and what happens when they're raised like that that they often get full of themselves. You can't rebuke them

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They resist the kingdom of God Because they love their own kingdom But people who hear at least some hard work and I'm not saying you raise your children constantly with criticism

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That's kind of hard to take but be here at least some hard words some rebuke They are you know, it's like some tough meat.

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It's been battered some tenderized That they hear repent and they know yeah,

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I need to hear that They know they need it to be prepared for 2019 for the kingdom of God You need some hard words

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Why do we need to repent Well John says because the kingdom of heaven is at hand now in other words here it is

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This is what people have been waiting centuries for When God comes on earth and finally begins to set things in order

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To rule the kingdom of heaven means the the sovereign Government of God what was lost in the

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Garden of Eden when our first parents rebelled against God's ways and decided to live their own ways What the law of Moses was trying with was showing the way toward What King David foreshadowed as he defeated

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Israel's enemies and extended his his rule What the prophets called for when they denounced sin and demanded that people love love mercy love steadfast love

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To do justice and to walk humbly with your God that is the kingdom of God and John the

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Baptist cried out that people had better get ready because it is at hand to be at hand

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Means it it has come so near It's on the verge of beginning.

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It is so close You can reach out and grab it 2019 is at hand just a day and a half away

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Tuesday The Kingdom of God is just about to come into this present evil age and it's cut in it and because it is so near it demands immediate action soon

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We'll have a new year. We don't know what it will hold our Are you ready?

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You don't know You don't know what the future holds But hopefully, you know who holds the future

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Here soon. John is saying God's great king. The Messiah is bringing in God's government

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God the ruling Presence of God on earth and we had better be ready

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As he comes and he finds you a rebel. What is it? What is a conquering Empire do to its rebels?

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Well, John has come to make way for the make make the way ready for the invasion of the kingdom of God World War two prior to an invasion like a

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D -day and Normandy The bombers would come in the commandos may be dropped in by parachute and would come preparing the way

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Trying to clear a path by destroying obstacles in the forces that were arrayed against the

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Allied forces And that's why John the Baptist has come to do here What is what is being prepared?

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Well Matthew quotes Isaiah to tell us that notice that it says prepare the way of the Lord make his paths

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Straight it is a way he's coming in and he wants that level to clear and it's

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God's way that needs preparing It's not God himself. He's preparing. Obviously God is fine. He's perfect He's already but he's all always prepared but there are obstacles in his way

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There are forces that are trying to obstruct the rule of God on earth and like the

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Allies on D -day God plans on blasting those obstacles and invading

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Ready or not Here he comes And this is what John came to do.

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He's a commando kind of a demolitions expert Dropped behind enemy lines by God himself to obliterate the barriers the strongholds put up to keep out the invasion of the kingdom of God So like any good commando

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He's a tough guy. You're just looking at him. You can tell he's a tough guy He wore skins and ate the food of the wilderness, you know locusts pop those things in his mouth

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Crunchy, and I guess tasty And honey For sweetness and the

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Lord would later contrast John the Lord Jesus whether your contrast John saying he's not he's not like a reed

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Shaken by the wind, you know, I'm one of these just Plants that just no matter which way the wind blows. That's the way he goes.

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No John's not like that. He was strong resolute Unintimidated by people he didn't care what the what the

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King said he was gonna criticize his his marriage He ate and drank little he wore rough clothes never indulged himself

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Fiercely denounced sins of all kinds some of the people then well said he was just so far out.

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He had a demon People today if he were around today would probably say he has a mental illness.

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He's insane. He's too. He's too extreme And you know and I and a day when some of the leading preachers in America our day

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Tell us that we don't need to we don't need to talk about sin. We don't need hard words

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We only need soft ones about how loved and precious we are You know in our day

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John the Baptist would be scorned and rejected by us Worse than he was by them

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But if we want to be prepared for the rule of God in our lives, we need his message now more than ever

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Among the many people who came out to see him were the religious people they came out to the Called the

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Pharisees and the Sadducees Now these were the people who? Strained particularly the Pharisees to strain to observe every regulation of the

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Old Testament They were in our terms. We would probably call them conservative They were strict some of them even wanted to be baptized

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But John sees through the religion, you know, you brood of vipers who warned you to flee from the wrath to come

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Man, those are hard words John is preparing God's way and he knows that the religion of these people instead of being a help to the kingdom of God It's an obstruction

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It's a hindrance. It's a barrier. It's like one of those thing you ever seen the pictures of the Normandy beaches on D -Day these metal these iron kind of like crosses or whatever like huge I don't know what they don't call like everything, you know jacks those little metal things

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These are like huge ones about the size of a car that they put in the sand The Germans did to keep the landing craft out and that's what their religion is like it's it's to it obstructs

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The way for God's kingdom and then of course they they would think it's the opposite and it's like we do today

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We usually think that religion is a good thing It seems that most Americans these days think that any religion is is better some religion any religion is better than no religion at all

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And you know indeed the old song goes, you know The old -time religion it's good enough for me

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That's what they say. But but here is John the Baptist. He sees a group of Pharisees Who were orthodox

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I understand What what they taught was mostly fine. They were what we would call conservative.

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They were strict They tried to keep the letter of the law Sees them along with the Sadducees who were usually the priest and many of it many of these men

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Okay, they could they could boast that they had not violated any law you would think also they're so religious they're so upstanding

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They're the kind of people we need we need people like them in our movement, right John. Don't you understand that?

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But John sees them. It says they show no fruit of a repentant life

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So he calls them a den of snakes People today would tell him. Hey, what are you doing?

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Why are you attacking your allies? He they believe like you do John Save your fire

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For our enemies, you know, the homosexuals are the liberals The John is the preparer.

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He's the demolitions expert His job was to blast away every obstacle and the religious people were the biggest obstacle

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This is the opposite of the of the way they thought then and the way we still think today

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We still think that even you know We often think just assume the immoral person The one is indulging in drunkenness or drugs or sexual sins

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And it just it's just so much further away from God and the religious person that the churchgoer

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It's so much closer to God even if they're not really converted, but they're you know, they're closer just by kind of But that they carry their

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Bible and they know that they know the words of the most dams You got kind of thing they have their name on a church roll somewhere

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Even if they're not really converted. That's the way we kind of assume knowing But in reality the opposite is the case when people have a form of religion

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Paul calls it remember from 2nd Timothy form of religion But with no life -changing power

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When they've been given an assurance of salvation Because they prayed a prayer they came forward in invitation.

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They did all that but they have no fruit nothing in their life shows any change Then they are harder to reach

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Didn't say the immoral person who knows is it he or she's immoral. It's just you know, the party animal didn't just that's the life at once But but it's harder to reach the religious person they're smug and snug

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They've been made hard by too many soft words they're often unteachable and Disrespectful they care nothing about real worship and they're absolutely sure that they are one of God's people while not knowing

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That their religion is the biggest obstacle to the kingdom of God in their life

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If they were to be prepared for the kingdom of God, they will have to turn away from that false assurance

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That their religion gave them To such people then and now John has those hard words

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To soften them up to tenderize them you brood of vipers

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Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come Now it's put as a question

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But I don't think John stopped, you know positive what no that's the answer who warned you to flee from the wrath to come

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Who exactly was it? Can you let me know? Was it my mass mailing or was it my commercials? No, that's not it

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It wasn't to solicit information, but to get them to ask themselves, you know, search your heart Why are you here?

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You just looking for more religious forms and you can assure yourself with and then you're gonna you're gonna get baptized and then you're still

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Gonna go back and live no differently. No fruit in your life. Is that all this is about when you're here?

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What is it that you are trusting in? Just religion and they were so trusting in their religion then then and now that they're certain

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They are one of God's people, but they're snakes then and now

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What God wants he says in verse 8 is fruit in keeping with repentance

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True repentance produces fruit It shows as acts their genuine expressions of a life that has been turned around and we need to be absolutely clear

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Today about this in our age When it's widely taught and then bleed by a lot of people out there that we can have

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Jesus as us as our Savior But not as our Lord that we can believe some few doctrines and that makes us

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Save because we believe them and we have no fruit of repentance in our life, and that's just fine

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And we can we'll go to heaven that way No There there are all kinds of people that have been think they have the benefits of salvation that they think they're born again

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They've been assured they're going to heaven all those soft words. They've been given. It's made them hard They live no differently than the world.

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They think discipleship is optional that a changed life is just a added extra They can do it or they cannot

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We need to be clear That is absolutely not so especially now

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Because you think of this John here is saying in his day his time The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

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It's near Okay, it's not still near it's here now if it was near then it's begun already

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In fact, that's the whole point of this chapter. You understand what's going on here? John the

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Baptist says the kingdom of God is near and then who shows up The kingdom of God is not only at hand

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It's here and if we want to enter it, then we must bear fruit and keeping with repentance

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There's no other way to be ready For the rule of God They trusted not only in their religion, but also in their heritage these religious people

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Pharisees and Sadducees They were the descendants of Abraham. They would assure themselves They and so they thought that means they're they're just God's people by birth by heritage by nationality.

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They inherit it That's what they thought But John tells them that God can turn, you know,

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I can turn these rocks into One of his people if he wants to do that He can turn a rock garden into a synagogue if he wants to do that.

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That's all it takes Entrance into the kingdom of God is not by being born into a certain nation. Not even

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Israel It comes by repentance and sometimes we Christians need to be reminded of this, too

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You know God can make God make his own children out of rocks if he wants to do that We on the other hand can't make them out of flesh or education or manipulation

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We need to remember that our children are not born Christians We cannot even raise them to be

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Christians We can expose them to the gospel, but we can't educate them and make them, you know, give them a diploma

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Now you're a Christian you pass the test We cannot train them to be part of the kingdom of God so they go just like taking swimming lessons now you swim now

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You're a Christian. No, it's worth that way The reason why we do not baptize infants and should not baptize small children

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It's because we cannot be sure that the child born into a Christian family is going to be a Christian God has no grandchildren, you know

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None who inherit being in his family just from their parents No, every person must personally repent and be baptized for him or herself

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You know remember they give at the end of this book Matthew Jesus's command to baptize go and baptize who?

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Disciples Jesus's command is to baptize disciples We need to understand that to be ready for the rule of God So we cannot cling to our two assurances given to us and years ago

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Even though even if we show no wish no fruit now and we will not be protected by our heritage

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And no matter how godly our parents or grandparents were we don't inherit our standing with God from our family a shallow religion

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Will not keep us out of hell And make no mistake about it the fire

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John mentions here Several times he mentions fire Notice that several times at least three times.

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I think Fire mentions in verse 10 the fire in verse 11 the unquenchable fire in verse 12 is the fire of hell

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You look carefully what John says in verse 10 Let it pry you away from any false religion upon which you may have been relying.

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I hope none here, but just in case If your life is not bearing good fruit fruit that comes out of a true repentance a wholehearted

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Turning of your whole life from sin Then you will be cast into hell into unquenchable fire

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That's why John is saying all the shallow man -centered teachings on TV hardening people with their soft words

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Telling us that God is not mad at us, but mad about us Great turn of phrase absolutely false

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All of that will not help you in that moment when your life has no repentance to show no fruit of repentance to show

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So are you prepared? There's no preparation without transformation

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Right. It's not just information You believe this information you think you're prepared. No, you need transformation

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Transformation is what happens when the kingdom of God comes and it is John said 2 ,000 years ago at hand in verse 2

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It's even now in verse 10. Even now the axe is poised at the root of the tree.

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Otherwise, he just about done Pull it back and start whacking. He's taking aim ready to start chopping

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So are you ready for judgment? One of the fruits of repentance here is being baptized now baptism for John was symbolic for for a cleansing from sin

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It was an expression of repentance now our Christian baptism Retains this meaning meaning but then builds upon it now.

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It's also we died with Christ and rise to new life Now it's still today if you are repentant and you have turned your life around you will be

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Baptized it's a fruit. It's a fruit. It's not all but it's a fruit in keeping with repentance. Jesus did it so do his followers

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So are you ready? Are you ready for the coming wrath? Look at that phrase.

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There's there's there's wrath. There's anger. There's judgment coming. The the rule of God is coming and Like any

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Empire, what's he going to do? With the rebels who are resisting him

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Of course, you could trust in your baptism. Just like the Pharisees and Sadducees trusted in their religion. You could think well

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I prayed the prayer I've been baptized So I'm squared away, right? okay, so I don't really care to go to church much and I don't really like to read the

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Bible by myself and I don't feel like praying Let's maybe for a meal occasionally maybe on Thanksgiving and I don't really get excited about the gospel like those weirdos who say amen

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In church, but I'm okay, right? I've been baptized But even

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John understood that his baptism was some symbolic. It was a form of religion forms of religion aren't bad

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But that's all you have as a form. Then that's you know, it's like having a container. It's empty.

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It's not worth anything You need the container to hold it, but you need something in it John's baptism was a form of religion.

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It portrayed a true repentance a a changed life a washing away of sin

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Transformation, but it doesn't make it happen It portrays that it has happened

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Not even John can make it happen He can baptize he can immerse in water

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But not the he can't immerse in the spirit. Can he he can't immerse in the fire of judgment either

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He said that there's one coming Coming soon. He says so much higher than himself

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That he didn't deserve John didn't deserve To do to do even the most menial act that a slave would do for his master here here carrying the sandals

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He's a he doesn't deserve to be a sandal carrier carrier. How do you say that? Right? You imagine to be so low.

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You don't deserve to be a sandal carrier. That's what John says The carrying saddles with the kind of work a slave would do and that that's what

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John says. That's what he is I don't even deserve to do that. Even though Jesus said later.

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He's the greatest of the prophets But he says he doesn't deserve to do that come for the one who is coming

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His baptism this one who was coming He would have a twofold baptism John just does it in water to symbolize what's coming

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Jesus would do the real thing with the Holy Spirit and with fire

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John brought the form Jesus brought the power Now someone thought that John's words about being the baptism and the

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Holy Spirit in fire referred to the same thing That that is being baptized in the Holy Spirit and therefore being set on fire for God And maybe they even pray earnestly

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Lord baptize me in fire You may not want to do that, but I think God's kind to you and he won't come up She won't he won't punish you for it something that refers to a cleansing fire a fire that purges

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But you look at the context of this passage Clear what fire refers to just a verse earlier

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John says that unfruitful trees that is that is people who do don't express Repentance, they will be cut down Hauled off thrown into the fire

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That's for judgment Then in the verse following in verse 12, John says the

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Messiah will separate the wheat from the chaff sweep up the chaff burn the chaff in Fire unquenchable fire

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The chaff are those who have no fruits of repentance and they go into an unquenchable fire to those who are who are ready

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Who have prepared themselves? By a life of fruit that comes out of repentance. It will be a baptism with the

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Holy Spirit They will be immersed in the Holy Spirit and Jesus does that For those who are his people he immerses them in the

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Holy Spirit This is why to be a true Christian to be what Jesus called in John 3 to be born of the Spirit That is to be radically different It's not just holding to a different set of opinions about religion

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It's not just having a habit of going to church once a week It is to have an a new life in you by the power of the

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Spirit You've been forgiven but more than forgiven you've been baptized With the

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Holy Spirit as you are converted from death To life like portrayed in baptism and that changes what you love and how you live

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You love the Lord you love his ways and so you then get baptized and it's no longer just a form of religion

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But with no power it's powerful, but to those who have not prepared themselves You have trusted in a shallow religion all about forms, but no substance or maybe they've trusted in the faith of the fathers

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Maybe they trust it in their ancestry. They've touched it in their family to them. It will be a baptism John says with unquenchable fire as they are plunged into unceasing torment

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Again the kingdom of God is near And so it demands an urgent decision in verse 12

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His winnowing fork is in his hand Okay, the farmer only picks up a winnowing fork when he's just about to use it not carried around all day

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He's in his hand. He's about to start using it right now. The Lord is like a farmer holding.

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It's kind of shovel They would start to start to work in any second now the farmers in that day would separate the wheat from the chaff by taking the winnowing fork and just in just flinging the wheat up in the air as the wind blows and That part of the wheat that's empty.

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It's just the skin with no substance to it No kernel in it nothing edible in it.

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It's just so light that the breeze blowing through Blows it away. So it falls off to the side while the the actual wheat the substantial part

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That which has a kernel to it that which has the life in it They could bear fruit and which is edible which is good for something that is heavier.

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So it drops straight down and That is gathered together Stored in the barns that's protected that's useful, but the empty chaff is just lying around the floor after they're done

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So they sweep that together You know throw it in the fire So to live a life for ourselves for sin

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It's a live a weightless Unsubstantial empty life

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Whereas to be repentant to be saved is to be filled to be fulfilled and thus heavy substantial and He is right now.

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John says in his time from his point of view. He is right now ready to start

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Dividing the two Are you ready for it? D from our point of view again

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He's past ready You understand he's already begun He is right now cutting down unfruitful trees.

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He is right now separating wheat Gathering the wheat his people Into his church, but the rest the chaff

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Well, he's sweeping that up to be burned in fierce fires he is to put it bluntly to put it starkly

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Separating people the repentant and the unrepentant filling the first the repentant with the

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Holy Spirit blessing them and the others He is damning to an eternity in hell

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Now who is he Even now The axe is laid at the root of the trees just about to pull it back

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Start hacking away with a winnowing fork in his hand Just about to start winnowing starters work

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He's the one who comes in verses 13 to 17 to get prepared understand how Matthew has structured this chapter what this is about This is the grand entrance.

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This is the grand introduction John the Baptist comes Yeah, he tells them repent for the kingdom of God is at hand right now

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Coming soon and then who comes Verse 13 then

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Jesus came John had been preaching that the kingdom of God was very near now

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Here he is he's the king and Jesus comes and says specifically in verse 13 to John to be baptized by him and John the preparer knows there's something radically different about Jesus Unlike all the other people who come for repentance.

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This one has nothing he needs to repent of Unlike you know, he has no sin to confess as far as sin goes there's nothing in him that needs to repent for There's nothing in his life that resists the rule of God So he is already living fully in under God's government so already he is in the kingdom of heaven

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In fact, he's the king of that kingdom John even realizes that in comparison You know, he's thinking

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I need to be baptized by you Jesus You know, I need you to lead me to further repentance for myself

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But Jesus tells him essentially basically you're yeah, you're right You're right.

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You do need me for that but for now For now John do this so as to fulfill all righteousness

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Because Jesus had lived his life perfectly according to God's ways He spent those years sometimes people wonder about and speculate about some make up kind of outrageous fiction about About 30 years between the time he was born and he began his ministry about 30 years there

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He spent that time living like any man day in and day out Working growing getting educated but without with never a transgression

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Never a failure in his outward behavior or in his inward thoughts or in his feelings

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He was faced with every temptation But never succumbed to one Everything that God had called people to do

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He did Without missing a thing without any omission and now God has sent a prophet

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John even more than a prophet as Jesus would later call him and that prophet speaking from God is calling on all people to be baptized and so Just as he has always done

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Jesus will obey God's command He too will be baptized and in so doing he fully identifies with us

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He has come to live with us. He's come to assume our nature But with no fallen nature, he even experienced our call to baptism and he obeyed it even though Even though when he went into the water

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He had nothing to repent of nothing to have to be cleansed for he obeyed everything that we are called to do

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That's how that's how he fulfills all righteousness Jesus having fulfilled all of God's commands the

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Father and the Spirit then reveal themselves To the Sun or to everyone around them at the time displaying the fullness of the

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Trinity says the heavens opened up we don't know exactly what that means the Spirit of manifest himself as Coming on him like a like a dove the

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Father speaks. This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased And the

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Spirit descends gently the one who will be one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit is the one who was now anointed by the

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Spirit now He's prepared Well, are you prepared?

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the kingdom of God which was then at Hand ready to begin chopping with a winnowing fork for poised to start.

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The judgment is now here We live now in the age of the kingdom.

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Jesus brought it and so We have to live we have to live constantly ready through repentance and faith for you see

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He got ready Not only to judge but to save us

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He fully identified with us so that later he would represent us taking our sins on himself on the cross

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He had to do it because we couldn't do anything to save ourselves Baptism itself doesn't save us.

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We cannot wash away our sins by getting dunked in water We can't work away our sins by being busily religious and we can't wish away our sins

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You know by just soft words telling us that God loves us as we are

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We're better than average the only way that we can be saved that we can enter the kingdom of God Be immersed in the

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Holy Spirit and not cast not immersed into that fire is if our many sins if all the things

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About us that rightly provoke God's anger They do indeed make him mad at us that all those things there are obstacles to God ruling over us

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The only way we could be rescued from the wrath to come that our sins deserved is if those sins are taken up By the one who was so perfect.

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He had nothing himself to repent for But he was baptized to identify himself with us and who having identified with us could be our substitute

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Could bear our sins in his body on the cross that the wrath of God That would have been poured out on us

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Was instead poured out on him Did he even though he was the one?

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He was the one with the axe at the root of our lives He was the one who even now had that winnowing fork in his hand to separate chaff from wheat.

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He was the one He was so perfect yet he was the one who was judged and condemned as if He were the unfruitful tree think of it as If he were the one that had nothing to him as if he were chaff

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Take me cast away and burned. He was the beloved son and whom the father was well pleased

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The one on whom the Holy Spirit came to rest Who went to the Jordan to be ready to be ready?

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for the cross Where he would no longer there on the cross no longer.

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He's not for that time be Beloved no longer pleasing to the father.

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It would cry out my god my god Why have you forsaken me?

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Because the father saw our sin on him He came to be ready

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Not to condemn his people but to save them you can be far away

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From a righteous life like many of the people who came to John the Baptist here confessing their sins they probably had many sins to repent of and And were baptized or you could be conservatively religious like the

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Pharisees and the Sadducees either way There is sin that is obstructing the rule of God the kingdom of God in your heart

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The question may not even be what you have done whether you violated this or that commandment

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But what you've not done Have you not born fruit coming from a repentant heart?

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Have have you prepared your life to be ruled by God Have you been transformed?

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So look at your life Right now and ask yourself right now

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Don't delay Judgment has begun So ask yourself