Preparing the Way: The Mission of John the Baptist
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Sermon Summary
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"John never made the mission of preparation that he had about his own reputation or his own identity. How do I know that? Well, he says this, this is John the Baptist in John chapter 3 verse 30, he's talking about Jesus there, he says, he must increase but I must decrease. That was his message of his whole life was about increasing the fame of Jesus and decreasing what any people any dependency that people might have on himself." [00:08:33] (31 seconds)
"John's message was really twofold. It was like, repent and follow Jesus. That's really what his message was about. And so his word of instruction for the people of his day was they needed to repent and they needed to follow Jesus. So let me just take a brief second and define repentance here. What does it mean to repent? Or what does that mean? Well, the word literally means to turn or to change." [00:12:11] (25 seconds)
"Because the Bible tells us that sin separates us from God. The Bible says the wages or the payment of sin is death. It all started back in the Garden of Eden when God created the world. He put Adam and Eve in the garden there. And he says, you can eat of any tree, but there's one tree that you cannot eat of it. And if you eat of it, that will be sin that will be transgression and in the day of that you will surely die." [00:13:14] (25 seconds)
"Herod Antipas and his wife Herodias. You can read about this in Mark 6 and Matthew 14, but the long and short of it is this, is that Herod Antipas, he marries Herodias, and you think, okay, what's the big deal with that? Well, the problem was is that his brother Philip had already been married to Herodias, and their relationship was on the rocks, a little bit kind of separated, and so he comes in and marries his brother's wife, their soon-to-be former wife there, and under Jewish law that was... Absolutely forbidden." [00:18:28] (35 seconds)
"Salvation is available. Forgiveness is available only through belief in Jesus Christ. That was John's message, and that's why God sent John. John 1 very specifically says God sent John. And so he is a messenger out of the mercy of God that we have the opportunity to hear of salvation, to hear that our sins can be forgiven. It is a mercy gift from the Lord that we can hear that, we can understand that." [00:22:17] (30 seconds)
"God sent him so that he could prepare the way. God sent him so that he could instruct people. But God sent John so that we would know that while God is a holy God, he is also a merciful God. And that if we cry out to him for salvation, we cry out to him forgiveness. The Bible says if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." [00:23:37] (25 seconds)
"The one who had this bold message, the one who was willing to be unpopular, the one who was willing to become, to be imprisoned and ultimately lose his life do you know that there's a story in the bible where he's in prison and he's in harris prison and then he begins to wonder and so he sends a message to jesus and he says are you the one are we supposed to be waiting for someone else." [00:24:42] (23 seconds)
"His life was completely sinless. And that is so important because if he would have sinned, then his sacrifice wouldn't have meant anything. It was a perfect lamb, a sinless lamb that had to be offered for our sins. And Jesus is called the Lamb of God. And so he was sacrificed on the cross. He died, but then he rose again, conquering sin and death." [00:14:59] (20 seconds)
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"John's message was really twofold. It was like, repent and follow Jesus. That's really what his message was about. And so his word of instruction for the people of his day was they needed to repent and they needed to follow Jesus. So let me just take a brief second and define repentance here. What does it mean to repent? Or what does that mean? Well, the word literally means to turn or to change." [00:12:11] (25 seconds)
"Because the Bible tells us that sin separates us from God. The Bible says the wages or the payment of sin is death. It all started back in the Garden of Eden when God created the world. He put Adam and Eve in the garden there. And he says, you can eat of any tree, but there's one tree that you cannot eat of it. And if you eat of it, that will be sin that will be transgression and in the day of that you will surely die." [00:13:14] (25 seconds)
"Herod Antipas and his wife Herodias. You can read about this in Mark 6 and Matthew 14, but the long and short of it is this, is that Herod Antipas, he marries Herodias, and you think, okay, what's the big deal with that? Well, the problem was is that his brother Philip had already been married to Herodias, and their relationship was on the rocks, a little bit kind of separated, and so he comes in and marries his brother's wife, their soon-to-be former wife there, and under Jewish law that was... Absolutely forbidden." [00:18:28] (35 seconds)
"Salvation is available. Forgiveness is available only through belief in Jesus Christ. That was John's message, and that's why God sent John. John 1 very specifically says God sent John. And so he is a messenger out of the mercy of God that we have the opportunity to hear of salvation, to hear that our sins can be forgiven. It is a mercy gift from the Lord that we can hear that, we can understand that." [00:22:17] (30 seconds)
"God sent him so that he could prepare the way. God sent him so that he could instruct people. But God sent John so that we would know that while God is a holy God, he is also a merciful God. And that if we cry out to him for salvation, we cry out to him forgiveness. The Bible says if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." [00:23:37] (25 seconds)
"The one who had this bold message, the one who was willing to be unpopular, the one who was willing to become, to be imprisoned and ultimately lose his life do you know that there's a story in the bible where he's in prison and he's in harris prison and then he begins to wonder and so he sends a message to jesus and he says are you the one are we supposed to be waiting for someone else." [00:24:42] (23 seconds)
"His life was completely sinless. And that is so important because if he would have sinned, then his sacrifice wouldn't have meant anything. It was a perfect lamb, a sinless lamb that had to be offered for our sins. And Jesus is called the Lamb of God. And so he was sacrificed on the cross. He died, but then he rose again, conquering sin and death." [00:14:59] (20 seconds)
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