Latest / Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago / The Baptism of John | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series)

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The Baptism of John | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  The Gospel According to Mark chapter 1, please meet me there.
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  The Gospel According to mark. In verse 4.
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  Lord, as we prepare to unpack your word, we asked with great
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  humility and with great need, please help us with the
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  scriptures. Lord, we pray that there would
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  be a sense of your power sense of your presence.
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  Lord draw our affections for Christ give understanding where
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  there is confusion. Let There Be Clarity, Let There
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  Be edification, Let There Be comfort that there be
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  conviction. Lord we just we recognize that
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  if you're not here with us we will fail.
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  And the purpose of this meeting will fail.
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  And so Lord we humbly tell you that we hunger.
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  We really hunger. For righteousness, we thirst for
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  holiness. And we are in need of Greater
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  revelation of Christ. Help us now in Jesus name, amen.
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  Mark 14. John appeared baptizing in the
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  wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the
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  Forgiveness of sins and all the country of Judea and all
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  Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him
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  in the River, Jordan confessing their sins.
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  Now John was clothed with camels hair and wore a leather belt
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  around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.
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  And he preached saying after me comes he who is mightier than I
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  the strap of whose sandals. I am not worthy to stoop down
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  and untie. I have baptized you with water
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  but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
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  There was a time in history when the God who spoke creation into
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  existence. And The God Who commissioned
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  meant to declare divine revelation on his behalf, chose
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  not to speak to his people for a startling, for centuries.
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  For 400 years, the people of Israel did not hear once a
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  genuine, thus, saith the Lord for 400 years.
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  God did not Inspire any man to record scripture.
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  For 400 years. There is no prophetic leadership
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  to help the nation of Israel, know what God desire for them.
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  In that moment, a people who were in Covenant with the Living
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  God, and that stretch of Silence defines the time, between the
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  Testaments in your Bible, it is known as the intertestamental
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  period and it really says something about why God did that
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  We may not know all of it, but we know to certain extent that
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  this world at that time, knew great shifts politically,
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  socially, even religiously. Because Israel throughout that
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  time was occupied by one nation after the other.
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  And this is what the Prophet Daniel foretold that, this would
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  happen. And we see that fulfillment
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  during that period where God seemed to be mute.
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  And with all the Transitions and wars and alterations that
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  Israel, There was no man, there was no guidance.
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  There was no voice, not one profit on the scene to bring
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  some kind of direction to God's people.
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  And this must have been a very strange thing for the nation of
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  Israel because they were used to Moses and they were used to
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  Elijah's and they were used to Isaiah's coming to the scene and
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  bringing some kind of light especially when there is
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  darkness and difficulty for the people of All.
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  But all for a sudden, It seems as though in that Bleak and dark
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  interval period. Everything changed, everything,
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  changed drastically, by two. Simple words that we have read
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  in our reading and verse 4, John appeared.
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  John appeared. And as we heard last week, the
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  significance of this man. John who appeared at this time?
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  Was that he had fulfilled some ancient prophecies many years
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  ago and that truth alone should tell us as the people of God,
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  Who Loved God's word, that who this man was and what kind of
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  ministry that he accomplished in the name of God was very
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  important to God. And if it was very important to
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  God to prophesy about and in to write about in terms of its
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  fulfillment, then it Be important to us.
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  And you and I got a glimpse of the importance of it.
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  When we just looked at the one, just one prophecy, just two,
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  that were so similar about how understanding who John was
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  helped us confirm the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  John's Ministry was so unique. It's almost like a flash in the
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  pan. It's almost like a firework in a
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  dark sky. He's there one moment and then
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  he seems to just disappear within a few pages.
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  But that Ministry, the ministry that this man, fulfilled was a
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  hinge between two eras. When he came on the scene, the
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  door of the law and Moses clothes, and this man paved the
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  way for the grace that is known in the Lord, Jesus Christ to be
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  ushered into the world. This man was so important.
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  Great significance. And as we look here, we realize
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  that we have great motivation. Great Motivation by the fact
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  that this is brought before us to discover what it is that God
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  has to say to us pertaining to this man.
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  What is it that we can discover about our faith?
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  What can we told about this historic moment for our lives
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  now today, and be assured that we will know something about our
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  faith in Christ. We will know something about our
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  walk, in our practice, for the name of Jesus Christ as well.
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  And we will do that by doing Being very simple as you and I
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  come to this text, we will understand it.
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  In three ways we will look at it through the ministry of, John,
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  the Baptist. And then after understanding
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  something of his ministry will know, something about his
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  manners, why are his manners important for us to understand?
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  And after his manners, we will know something a little bit
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  about his message. So we come to verse 4 and 5 and
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  we see the ministry or the Mandate of John, the Baptist.
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  There are many John's in the Bible you know that but there is
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  only one John the Baptist. The First Baptist really and the
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  original language would help us clarify it more and seeing that
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  it was actually John the baptizer.
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  That was his identity, that is what he was known for that.
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  The simple reason that people saw that the main tenets of this
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  man's Ministry was that he had his radical charge for people to
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  join this. Fire-breathing profit in water
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  and it to be immersed in that water as a sign of something
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  that is very significant to the Jewish people especially And it
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  was really a symbol of people saying something happened here,
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  I'm participating because there's something that happened
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  here first and I want to show that and declare that and it's
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  so so incredible. When we really understand the
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  significance of this man's mandate because I hope you and I
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  would be able to answer as Christians.
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  Why baptism is important? I hope you would be able to
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  answer that and I hope your answer would be something along
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  the lines of well, Jesus commanded us to be baptized and
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  it's a way of identifying with his death burial and
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  resurrection and that would be right.
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  And they'll baptism is a non-negotiable ordinance for the
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  Christian, and in the Christian faith, it did not begin with
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  Christians. Didn't start with Christians the
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  series. Simple reason that John here
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  seems to introduce the concept and the physical act of baptism
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  is very similar to the same drama that we experience.
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  When a Believer gets baptized, the very word, baptism means to
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  be immersed to be, dipped to be consumed, to be enveloped by a
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  substance. And the substance is water, John
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  was doing that and if you've been baptized, you know what
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  that's like, But I want you to think for a moment without
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  answering out loud. What is the difference between
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  John's baptism and the baptism that we partake in the name of
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  Jesus Christ? Is it important to know that
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  distinction? Well, it was important to Paul
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  because he found some disciples In Acts 19.
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  Remember that, and he asked them.
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  What baptism were? You baptized into?
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  Well, John's and he goes well, that was a baptism of repentance
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  and then he baptizes them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  So, clearly clearly there is some kind of distinction between
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  the two and does it really matter to know, if you want to
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  know God's word, it does. And I think there is one way of
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  knowing at least being guided into the direction of Greater
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  Clarity and it is by understanding the primary
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  audience of John's Ministry. John the Baptist his ministry
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  was targeted towards like the Lord.
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  Jesus Christ in his initial arrival towards the Jewish
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  people primarily not Gentiles and when John here is preaching
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  to these Jews This call to baptism was absolutely
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  scandalous. Because these Jews in Jesus time
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  believe that their access to God's favor and then being able
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  to secure, his saving work, was completely connected to their
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  race. Everything about their stand,
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  everything about their security, everything about their their
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  enjoyment of God and their minds was completely connected to.
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  The fact that Abraham was our father God, call the man Abraham
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  and he called them. Yes.
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  But he also made a covenant with his descendants and we are his
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  descendants, and because we are his descendants, we enjoy
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  certain Privileges and certain promises, that's it.
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  They boasted in that they taught that they believed that it was a
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  cultural thing. It was even a spiritual thing,
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  those false. So when John comes on the scene
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  he's calling the chosen people of God to do what?
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  Repent Repent and confess your need to be forgiven by God and
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  Johnson just say repent. You're going to experience the
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  wrath of God, hold on for a second where the people of God
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  you're telling us that God will pour out his wrath on us.
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  Who do you think you are? And so this is startling, this
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  was this was something that really shook the nation and
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  actually brought the nation to its knees.
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  And so when he, when he calls them to do this, you have to
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  understand that there was a great sacrifice, a great
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  humility to respond to it. And I looked, and I said, well,
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  haven't many prophets in the Old Testament called the same Nation
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  to repentance? Haven't they call them to
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  confess their sins? What's different with John isn't
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  John? Just like any other man?
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  Who said, Isaiah Ezekiel, Jeremiah, repent, repent you
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  have turned from God one main difference.
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  Yes, repent. But get in this water.
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  Get in this water and declare your repentance.
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  Meaning what? You're going to have to, you're
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  going to have to participate in a symbol.
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  You're going to have to participate in a sign and what
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  is that sign? Remember, he's speaking to a
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  people who already have his sign and the sign was circumcision.
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  We are connected to God through that and now for a sudden, John
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  comes and he speaks about this other side baptism.
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  And what does it signify that you must renounce any trust that
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  your entrance into the kingdom of heaven?
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  What's secure because of your ethnicity or your ancestral
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  identity. That as you come into this
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  place, you are instead making a personal commitment to God and a
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  declaration to everybody else that I am dependent alone upon
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  the mercy of God, the mercy of God, not because of Abraham, not
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  because of the covenant, not? Because of the things that we
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  have in history. No.
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  Simply because I need his mercy. And that was the sign-in.
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  Autism. That was what John was calling
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  him to do, and the purpose. There was to invite people to no
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  longer rely on the false. Hope that just because they were
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  born into a Jewish family that they could evade God's Wrath.
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  And they automatically had the kingdom of heaven. and so you
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  can imagine how this was so stirring and upsetting to some
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  John said, the Messiah is coming and your good standing with the
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  Jewish Messiah is not because you're Jewish You're standing
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  before the Messiah will be dependent upon your realization.
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  That you need to be forgiven for your sins and despite your
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  lineage, you will come personally and say I repent and
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  I will get into this water and make it a sign to whoever wants
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  to see it that I do. Need God's mercy.
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  So this is contrary to the common false concept that each
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  son of Abraham, each son of Abraham needed to make that
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  decision. And join this man to participate
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  in this wonderful act. Perhaps we may not see that but
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  you actually do, I'm not reading that into the text and we you
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  see it in Matthew's gospel, turn there, just to just to get a
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  final confirmation of why John's baptism has a different emphasis
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  than Jesus is baptism. At least baptism in Jesus name.
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  In Matthew 3. Look at verse 7.
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  Matthew 3729. But when he saw many of the
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  Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them,
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  you brood of vipers who warned you to flee from the Wrath to
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  come? I love John.
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  I love this guy. We can use a few of them today.
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  I don't know about you. This man saw these pompous
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  Pharisees. These religious leaders and
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  teachers nicely dressed with their groom beards and their
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  head stuffed with Theology. And here they are attending, the
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  baptism service. And John looks at them.
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  He said, doesn't say, welcome to Maranatha.
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  Bible Church? hey, you snakes who warned you
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  to flee from the Wrath to come? Can you imagine These men were
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  at John service but they had no intention to change.
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  Do you think that's common in church services today?
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  You think that it's possible that today there are people who
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  like to hear in your face preaching but have no desire to
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  be conformed to Christ likeness. I think, you know, the answer to
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  that. John confronts them.
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  And look what he says in verse 8, bear fruit in keeping with
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  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
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  stones to raise up children for Abraham.
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  That is exactly what was going on through their minds as they
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  were seeing this strange man in water, plunging people one.
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  After the next we have Abraham our fuck.
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  We have circumcision. We are Jews.
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  We are God's chosen people. And then this man, the son of a
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  priest looks at me says, are you, are you relying on the fact
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  that you are son of Abraham? You're a brood of vipers instead
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  get in this water. Declare your need for the mercy
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  of God to be shown on you. some did some didn't Now to make this
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  message even stronger, when you go back to verse 4 of Mark 1, we
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  read John appeared baptizing in the wilderness.
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  In the wilderness. Probably because nobody would
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  invite this guy to their conferences or their synagogues.
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  More than that. Not just because there was
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  plenty of space for people to come.
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  There was no padded pews in the wilderness.
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  My brother, my sister. But Israel was very familiar
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  with wildernesses weren't they did a history with the desert.
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  It covers most of the themes of the Old Testament.
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  And the significance of the Wilderness was that God I one
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  point called the nation of Israel out of slavery,
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  delivering them from Pharaoh's grip and brought him into this
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  Wasteland so that he can make a covenant with them so he can
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  bring them to a certain mountain and appear on that mountain and
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  give a law and give instructions to this people who have known
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  their redemption. In this, God can be identified
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  with him in a certain way and it was it was external. and here's
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  John, after 400 years of Silence, and the streets of
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  Jerusalem can hear the echo of a wild, man.
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  Who's preaching in the desert and drawing people out of their
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  homes, drawing people out of the temple drawing people out of
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  this synagogue to see this man who was on fire preaching fire.
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  And as they come perhaps not knowing the significance of
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  what's happening. I believe to a certain extent
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  here is God through his Prophet, John leading His People Israel
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  again Into the Wilderness not for the old Covenant but to
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  establish a new one. I'm ready to make a New Covenant
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  with my people. And I'm going to send my
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  4Runner, he's going to be in the wilderness.
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  I'm going to bring my people there and hopefully they'll
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  catch on So, John here in his baptism. is very important
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  because it has a different emphasis, very similar in many
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  ways, but still a different emphasis, it had a shock value
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  to the Jewish people and in Christ comes and he gives new
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  instructions to his church. And we are baptized in the name
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  of the father, Son and the Holy Spirit and we identify with his
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  work on this side of the Cross. Now, hopefully that brought
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  about some clarity to you. And I just because we want to be
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  sharper and truth but I would like to take this time to speak
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  on something. Else.
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  I would like to take this time to mention a point of where we
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  stand as a church and why we believe and Believers baptism,
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  one of the reasons why we do not hold to infant baptism.
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  And there are many reasons for that is because that practice of
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  baptizing, a child or a baby in, in particular, sends a message
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  that God is establishing a covenant with a new people in
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  the same way that he formed a people in the old Covenant Let
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  me say that again. When we practice the baptism of
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  infants, many reasons why I believe theologically it doesn't
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  line up. And one of them is that we are
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  conveying a message that God in the New Covenant is forming a
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  people and a very similar way that he did in the old.
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  What do I mean by that? In Jesus Christ, God has been
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  and continues to gather people from All Nations.
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  We sang it all tribes all tongues different, cultures,
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  different backgrounds, Who all share one thing in common faith,
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  in the Son of God trust and his saving work.
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  But in the Old Testament, God primarily had a people with one
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  specific race who identified with them through familial
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  descent. if you were born to a son of Abraham, if you were born
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  to this specific Nation, then you automatically at least if
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  the parents are faithful. Are in Covenant with God.
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  And that Covenant is in a sense sealed through at least for the
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  male's circumcision. Now here's the point, I'm trying
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  to make if water baptism as the argument often goes is a
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  continuation. Of circumcision from the old,
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  right? It replaces that sign of the
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  Covenant and now it becomes something that Believers partake
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  and and initiate With their own children.
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  Then what are we telling to a watching World about how God
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  forms a covenant with his people?
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  I argue that we send a very similar message that
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  circumcision did which is what He belongs to Christ.
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  She is identified with Christ. He or she has died with Christ.
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  Why? Because they were born to
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  Christian parents. There are born to Christian
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  parents. I'm not saying that those who
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  hold to that view paedo. Baptism, are intentionally
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  conveying that message? What I am saying is that the
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  practice can send a confusing idea.
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  And we have to understand that we may be undermining a certain
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  element of gospel witness. That is very powerful when it is
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  honored in the right way. So, if we can all agree that
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  Covenant with Christ in the New Covenant is exclusively for
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  those who are born again. They can.
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  We all agree that the New Covenant, Covenant sign should
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  be reserved for those who have proven evidence of a spiritual
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  rebirth And so I'm persuaded that if we do not interpret
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  baptism correctly, not just in its definition, but in its
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  application that we might, we might be blurring something that
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  God intended to be. A dramatic demonstration of
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  awesome witness to his saving power and what it means to be in
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  Covenant with him. It's not through familial
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  descent, it's not through. What kind of home you were born
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  into It's because you were born again.
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  And here's the sign that someone has been born again.
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  More of that to come in a future time.
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  John called this people to be baptized and it was a very
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  public thing very public. And he was speaking to a people
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  who already had tradition who had a sign.
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  And so there was friction there but there are people who felt
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  the piercing conviction of his word.
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  And so they flooded Into the Wilderness, they came to receive
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  this at the participate in it. And though, the emphasis is
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  different, may I bring this to you as well, the challenge is no
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  different in the New Covenant. It's still a challenging call to
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  be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  Now, in our day, we had different practices especially
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  in our evangelism, in one of them is inviting people to the
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  front if they want to receive Jesus Christ as Lord, some of
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  you have done that. Some of you have a testimony
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  where that is where you have received Christ and you have
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  people who debate that kind of model and one of the arguments
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  is you never see an altar call in the Bible.
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  You never see. People the pulsing, come forward
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  come to the front and you'll receive Christ and repeat after
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  me. And so there's great debate
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  about this. But if there is anything in the
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  Bible, in the New Testament, Are there being a public
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  demonstration or display of one's faith?
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  It was water baptism. It was water bath.
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  That's how your faith went public.
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  That's how, what God did in your heart.
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  Now goes before people. And so we need to be serious
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  about water. Baptism, it shouldn't be a side
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  issue. It's amazing how casual we
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  become with the ordinances of the Lord Jesus Christ for his
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  church. We become light with the
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  breaking of bread and we come almost become very loose about
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  what baptism is and and why we should take it as serious that
• 25:42
  we have to take it seriously. Because the church took it
• 25:45
  seriously, at least the early church.
• 25:49
  Yes, it was a step of obedience but it was also a demonstration
• 25:53
  to a watching world. I I mean, Covenant with this
• 25:58
  Jesus. That was his mandate.
• 26:01
  That was what really made him stand out as a prophet among
• 26:05
  many other things. But we come to his manners and
• 26:07
  verse 6. We're told that he called people
• 26:10
  to be baptized but for some reason, the Holy Spirit wants to
• 26:13
  tell us about his dress and his diet.
• 26:16
  Now, John was clothed with camels hair.
• 26:20
  That wasn't luxurious by the way, and wore a leather belt
• 26:24
  around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.
• 26:29
  His manners, a short portrait, gives a student of the Old
• 26:32
  Testament and understanding that John, the Baptist is following
• 26:36
  in his footsteps of one of the greatest prophets that Israel
• 26:38
  has ever known. Elijah Elijah you got a second
• 26:42
  Kings chapter 1. You see that Elijah where
• 26:44
  similar a tire You see that even John?
• 26:47
  Really Echoes Elijah's kind of preaching because he was
• 26:50
  confrontational, he was bold. He was Fearless.
• 26:55
  And so when we see that we go wow okay this is what we're told
• 26:59
  about. John that he was the he was the
• 27:02
  one who came into the spirit and power of Elijah.
• 27:06
  He's gonna he's gonna preach like Elijah is going to minister
• 27:08
  like Elijah. And would you know what?
• 27:10
  He brought about various similar results as Elijah.
• 27:13
  He brought a nation to its knees and mind you John the Baptist
• 27:16
  never perform one miracle. You can't find one miracle that
• 27:20
  John the Baptist performed and you have many people who think
• 27:23
  that we're going to get the world's attention.
• 27:24
  If we just have more miracles here, you have a man who is just
• 27:27
  drenching the power of God, he spoke the word and the people
• 27:31
  came. This man.
• 27:36
  Was like, Elijah. But interestingly enough were
• 27:41
  told that he ate locusts and honey.
• 27:44
  We have no idea what Elijah date.
• 27:47
  So why do we need to know that? And I believe the Holy Spirit
• 27:52
  wants to tell us more than just. He was a fulfillment more than
• 27:55
  just. He was like someone but there is
• 27:58
  something here about his custom about his lifestyle that teaches
• 28:02
  us. As Servants of God, the great
• 28:04
  the Great Lengths that he went to to fulfill his calling for
• 28:07
  the Lord. And that this man really, really
• 28:11
  believe what he preached. Let me explain.
• 28:16
  John's display here was not a call.
• 28:20
  Then nor is it a call? Now that the children of God who
• 28:24
  want to serve, God should deny any delight and material
• 28:27
  blessings that God would gift and God would give that would be
• 28:30
  wrong. To be Hermits or to just eat
• 28:34
  crumbs off of Old piece of bread and water as your regular diet.
• 28:37
  That is not, that's not what's happening here.
• 28:41
  But at the same time, the strategy behind this man's
• 28:43
  apparel and his appetite was a radical visualization to a
• 28:48
  people who heard him preach that these things.
• 28:52
  These disciplines were molded by a certain truth that I believe.
• 28:56
  What was it that John believed, what was it that he was aware of
• 29:01
  and made other people aware of Jesus coming?
• 29:06
  The Lord of Isaiah 40. The Lord of Molokai 3 is on his
• 29:09
  way. And John was.
• 29:12
  So convinced of that, that even when he was arrested, you seem
• 29:18
  to feel like this was a contradiction, because he
• 29:22
  really, really trusted that the kingdom was going to be ushered
• 29:25
  in his lifetime. He knew his call and though, his
• 29:28
  understanding wasn't complete in the 1st and 2nd Avenue Christ,
• 29:31
  he still had that Faith. The Messiah is on his way.
• 29:34
  He's on his way in my lifetime. Time.
• 29:38
  And perhaps she is doing what he is doing here in verse 6 to show
• 29:43
  a people. That his life was not all about
• 29:46
  what Jesus said, you and I can make our life all about.
• 29:50
  Remember what Jesus said is not life more than food and the body
• 29:53
  more than clothing. Is not life more than some of
• 29:59
  you need to hear this. Is not life more than food.
• 30:06
  Is it not more than clothing and Our Generations?
• 30:12
  Instagram would say otherwise Nothing wrong with food.
• 30:19
  I love it. Nothing wrong with clothing, we
• 30:22
  need it. But when life becomes about it,
• 30:28
  then there is something wrong. John the Baptist had an
• 30:32
  effective Ministry. And as strange as he might have
• 30:36
  seemed when he approaches audience, he was a man who
• 30:41
  showed them. I actually believe what I'm
• 30:43
  saying. I don't get caught up in the
• 30:46
  Comforts of this world of the luxuries of this world.
• 30:47
  I really, really believe Jesus is on his way.
• 30:50
  And so, and so look at my priorities, look at my proud
• 30:54
  radical. Yes, And he never pushed that
• 30:58
  standard on others, but he did teach it by way of example.
• 31:00
  And I want to prove that to you Because there was a time, when
• 31:04
  the people in the crowd asked, John, what do we need to do?
• 31:09
  That's how you know, Revival has hit a place when the crowd
• 31:11
  begins to ask the preacher. What do we need to do?
• 31:15
  What do we need to do? And I want you to see it for
• 31:17
  yourself and Luke chapter 3, how John begins to give instructions
• 31:21
  about how they should live in light of the fact that the
• 31:23
  Messiah was coming in light of the fact that he was on his way
• 31:27
  and he's going to usher in his kingdom and some will know the
• 31:30
  Saving Grace and some will know his wrath.
• 31:34
  So this crowd of people after hearing that, there was Wrath
• 31:37
  coming in verse 9 and verse 10 of Luke 3, the crowds asked him,
• 31:42
  what then shall we do? And he answered them.
• 31:46
  Whoever has two tunics is to share with him.
• 31:48
  Who has none? and whoever has food is to do
• 31:52
  likewise, Tax. Collectors also came to be
• 31:56
  baptized and sit down with tax collectors.
• 31:58
  Come to your church. You know, the spirit of God is
• 32:01
  moving Tax Collectors come. Okay.
• 32:05
  What do we need to do the crowd already spoke up the general
• 32:07
  public. Now the tax collectors, come the
• 32:09
  cheaters, the ones who would take more than what was required
• 32:12
  when they work for Rome so that they can have an extra buck in
• 32:15
  their pocket. John looks them and he says,
• 32:18
  collect no more than you are, authorized to do.
• 32:22
  Soldiers and verse 14 soldiers, which soldiers Roman soldiers.
• 32:27
  Roman soldiers, who could care less about Jewish.
• 32:30
  Religion are now, so pricked in their hearts, by John's
• 32:33
  preaching that they come and ask him and we and we, what shall we
• 32:37
  do? And he said to them, do not
• 32:40
  extort money from anyone by threats, or by false accusation
• 32:42
  and be content with your wages, be content with your wages.
• 32:48
  Notice that John didn't say to the crowds when they said, what
• 32:50
  shall we do, sell all your tunics, and only have one outfit
• 32:55
  like me. I didn't say that.
• 33:00
  He's if you have more than you need, would you look Beyond
• 33:03
  yourself and stop hoarding. Your possessions and be a person
• 33:05
  who serves in sacrifices and helps others who may not be as
• 33:10
  As prosperous as you would, you look Beyond yourself, which
• 33:14
  tells me something very, very, very important about repentance.
• 33:17
  Remember, that's what he preached and the general crowd
• 33:19
  says, what shall we do in light of what, is it look like to
• 33:22
  repent? John what does it look like to
• 33:24
  be in right standing with the Lord.
• 33:26
  And, you know what? He highlights out of everything,
• 33:28
  he gets to the core of the matter.
• 33:30
  The thing that the general public then, and today need to
• 33:32
  continually repent of his selfishness.
• 33:37
  Me me more more pilot, all up. And, you know, that a work of
• 33:42
  repentance is becoming real in your life, when you begin to
• 33:45
  look outward and you begin to see the needs of others and you
• 33:48
  want to use your resources to be able to extend the grace of God,
• 33:52
  to those who are in need of it. Then the tax collectors come and
• 33:57
  they said, well, what do we need to do?
• 33:58
  He didn't say quit your jobs, he didn't say, quit your jobs,
• 34:03
  Leave everything. Sell your homes and come live in
• 34:06
  the desert with me. There's plenty of space.
• 34:08
  He didn't say that. And then the Romans come and
• 34:14
  they say what do we need to do and he doesn't command them to
• 34:16
  no longer work for Rome. Didn't say you work for an evil
• 34:20
  government. Leave it even if you don't have
• 34:22
  any income, just get out of there.
• 34:23
  He doesn't say that. I mean, as radical as John, the
• 34:26
  Baptist was, he was very realistic.
• 34:29
  You know what he tells him to do just be content with your pay
• 34:33
  man and stop manipulating the system and being ugly with
• 34:36
  people so that you can get a promotion be content with your
• 34:40
  wages. And I think this is a wonderful
• 34:45
  insight to apply to my own life. Because I realized that, as John
• 34:50
  Was preparing the way for the first coming.
• 34:52
  Jesus is planning and preparing to come again.
• 34:56
  And I want to know, Lord, what do I need to do to prepare for
• 35:00
  your arrival? Be less selfish.
• 35:07
  Learn to be content in Christ. Do not do not be abusive to
• 35:12
  people do not do not be harsh with people.
• 35:14
  Do not try to trick people. Do not try to make this life
• 35:16
  about how you can gain the most in this life live in light of my
• 35:20
  return. and I tell you today, live in light of the return of
• 35:24
  Jesus Christ, it will look like something But this was not
• 35:29
  John's core message. John didn't come on the scene to
• 35:32
  give behavioral modification tips.
• 35:37
  People ask practical advice, he gave it.
• 35:39
  John was very, very specific and how people should live and he
• 35:43
  was inspired by the Holy Spirit but John's core message, was not
• 35:47
  about you need to do this, it was about a person who will do
• 35:52
  something in you. That's what he says in Mark,
• 35:56
  178. We looked at his, his ministry,
• 35:59
  we looked at his manners and now you and I look at his message
• 36:03
  and Mark chapter 1 verse 7, And he preached.
• 36:09
  And he preached saying, after me comes, he who is mightier than I
• 36:14
  The strap of whose sandals, I am not worthy to stoop down and
• 36:17
  untie. I have baptized you with water,
• 36:21
  but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
• 36:25
  John as you can imagine was successful in his ministry but
• 36:28
  as successful as he was never gave the impression that he was
• 36:31
  somebody who was mighty. He never failed to clarify to
• 36:35
  his people. Those who are even blessed by
• 36:37
  his ministry, that there was somebody more significant and
• 36:40
  more Mighty than him and he always pointed to him, he always
• 36:45
  declared him in John's message, clarified, any confusion.
• 36:50
  But additionally, as we read here, he never failed to
• 36:52
  declare. Also not just the superiority of
• 36:55
  Christ, but the superiority of his ministry.
• 36:58
  His work. He says I baptize you with water
• 37:02
  but he was coming. The Eternal King is on his way
• 37:05
  and by position he is far greater than me and so great.
• 37:09
  Is he that I not even worthy to take up the task of the lowest
• 37:13
  slave and that was to untie the dusty shoe of a master and then
• 37:18
  wash the feet. Of that man.
• 37:21
  I can't even do that. That's how awesome Christ is to
• 37:24
  me. I don't even deserve to serve
• 37:26
  him in such a way. But he is also Superior and that
• 37:31
  his baptism is much more powerful and needed than mine.
• 37:36
  I baptize you with water. She will baptize you with the
• 37:41
  Holy Spirit. In other words, I I do an
• 37:44
  external symbolic work with you guys.
• 37:47
  He's going to come in and do a spiritual work.
• 37:49
  Inside of you guys. My work is symbolic Christ.
• 37:54
  Work is Supernatural. And he's on his way to do it and
• 37:59
  I'm trying to get you all ready for it to happen.
• 38:01
  And so, as he looks to them, he is saying very clearly that I am
• 38:04
  inferior that I am not the one that you are looking for.
• 38:07
  I am not the Christ, I'm just the messenger, he made that
• 38:10
  clear in different places and what's so important to
• 38:13
  understand again with this audiences as they heard John the
• 38:15
  Baptist declaring that there is this Messiah on his way, who
• 38:20
  will do a baptismal work in the Holy Spirit?
• 38:25
  It was not a foreign concept. They knew it because the
• 38:29
  prophets declared as Joel did. For example, I will pour out my
• 38:35
  spirit on All Flesh, that there would be a spiritual work in the
• 38:38
  heart, that will take that Heart of Stone, and make it into a
• 38:41
  heart of Flesh that the law will be written on your hearts.
• 38:43
  They knew that and they knew that it wasn't just going to be
• 38:46
  for a limited men. Limited people limited
• 38:49
  Messengers that it was going to be available to all to servants
• 38:52
  men and women, young and old So you can just imagine the
• 38:57
  excitement in that desert in those Services is John would say
• 39:00
  he's coming, the ones are the prophets said, would come, he's
• 39:03
  on his way and he's going to baptize all of you at least
• 39:08
  those who had believed on his name.
• 39:11
  And this is what's so significant about the baptism of
• 39:13
  Jesus, we do not have time today to dissect and to unpack all the
• 39:17
  blessings of spiritual blessings that come from the gift of the
• 39:20
  holy spirit, that is only accessible through faith in the
• 39:23
  Lord Jesus Christ. Look at the imagery and consider
• 39:27
  the implication of what would happen to someone who does
• 39:31
  connect to this Messiah by faith and then receive the holy spirit
• 39:35
  that is Promised through him. You will be baptized with the
• 39:41
  Holy Spirit. It's the same word that you and
• 39:45
  I believe about water baptism. and when you, and I understand
• 39:51
  water baptism, which means to dip or to be immersed in, that
• 39:57
  tells us something about what baptism in the holy spirit is It
• 40:01
  means that the believer who is connected to Christ will be
• 40:04
  immersed. With the Holy Spirit.
• 40:10
  And the same way that every part of your body is drenched when
• 40:14
  you get into a body of water, and somebody helps you obey the
• 40:19
  Lord Jesus Christ, and that matter.
• 40:22
  In other words, this work of Christ by the spirit, will
• 40:25
  consume every part of Who You Are.
• 40:31
  No, part will be untouched. Nothing will be left out from
• 40:36
  head to toe. You will be affected by the
• 40:39
  influence of the Holy Spirit. Once Christ plunges, you in his
• 40:44
  power and his presence. More specifically.
• 40:48
  We learned later on that the Holy Spirit does many things and
• 40:53
  he has a specific Mission and the main mission, the umbrella
• 40:56
  mission of the holy spirit is that he will, what glorified me?
• 40:59
  Jesus said he will glorify me. And so I like to take that truth
• 41:04
  and related to this that when Christ will come and take that
• 41:08
  heart of faith. And then pledge it completely
• 41:10
  into the reality of the Holy Spirit, his power, his wisdom,
• 41:13
  his grace His blessings, then every part of you will.
• 41:18
  To glorify Christ. Okay, why am I bringing this up?
• 41:22
  Let me tell you why I'm bringing it up because this is the
• 41:24
  standard of the work of Christ. This is the extensive work of
• 41:28
  Jesus Christ in a Believers life.
• 41:31
  It's not a sprinkled work. It's not a part work.
• 41:37
  It's not like some of you gets wet.
• 41:40
  No, it's a plunging work. Where every part of you is
• 41:42
  profoundly affected by God's power in the Holy Spirit.
• 41:49
  And I bring that up because salvation is a miraculous work.
• 41:55
  It's miraculous work. It affects everything about who
• 41:59
  you are. and I want to ask you today according to John's word,
• 42:05
  According To Jesus word. Echoing.
• 42:07
  John's word, has that been true of you.
• 42:10
  Could you say that when when I understood my need of Christ and
• 42:15
  Christ took my heart and unified it and allowed the indwelling
• 42:18
  work of the Holy Spirit to be real.
• 42:19
  In me that from head, to toe something happened.
• 42:24
  I think differently, I see differently.
• 42:26
  I hear differently. I move differently.
• 42:28
  I react differently, not perfectly differently.
• 42:33
  The very suggestion of what will happen in relation to the Holy
• 42:38
  Spirit suggest that it will be a wonderful thing.
• 42:44
  An observable thing. A tangible thing.
• 42:47
  A seeable thing. Somebody goes in the water and
• 42:50
  comes out, you've seen it just a few weeks ago, you know, that
• 42:53
  person just got baptized no question about it.
• 42:57
  Should it be any different when somebody comes into Faith with
• 42:59
  Christ? Something happened.
• 43:03
  You were immersed. Who are you?
• 43:08
  You are one person two weeks ago now you're someone else.
• 43:11
  And yes it's not a perfect thing, but it is a new Direction
• 43:13
  thing. And that you begin to grow and
• 43:15
  walk in that more and more and more, and there is hours worth
• 43:20
  of study to see the spiritual blessings that come that makes
• 43:24
  this promise so exciting. But in summary, what John is
• 43:29
  saying is that this reality this experiential thing in the Holy
• 43:33
  Spirit can only be accessed by one person that is Jesus Christ.
• 43:38
  This alteration this transformation.
• 43:40
  This spiritual work. Cannot be known and less Christ
• 43:44
  is known. He's the only one that can take
• 43:47
  you and then baptize you in the Holy Spirit.
• 43:54
  And I want to make that call to you today.
• 44:00
  Because they're there could be some in here who are satisfied
• 44:03
  in their tradition. Like the Jews were And there
• 44:07
  could be some who who understand the principles of Christianity
• 44:13
  and the tenets of the Christian faith.
• 44:15
  But they cannot say That I've collided with the Holy Spirit.
• 44:22
  That Jesus Christ changed me. He took me and he buried me and
• 44:32
  he brought me up and there's something new in me.
• 44:37
  We cannot minimize as simple as salvation is in terms of how we
• 44:41
  come to it, we cannot minimize the miraculous in it.
• 44:47
  John the Baptist. The ministry, the manners and
• 44:54
  the message. May God use us to prepare people
• 44:58
  for the return of the Lord. Let's pray.
• 45:23
  For we ask In This Moment. That you helped us realize what
• 45:32
  Christ has made possible. And then we thank you that there
• 45:37
  is an indwelling work of the Holy Spirit, but you call us for
• 45:40
  continual fillings of the Holy, Holy Spirit.
• 45:45
  And Lord, if there's any part of us, that's dry. if there's any
• 45:52
  part of us that has become contaminated or dominated by the
• 45:57
  flesh, Lord Phyllis afresh, Phyllis afresh.
• 46:05
  Lord help us live in light of your return.
• 46:09
  Thank you for your clarity. Thank you o God for teaching us
• 46:14
  what we need to know. Because with every detail of
• 46:17
  this book, we realize that we have a greater understanding of
• 46:20
  you and that is what we want in this life fellowship with you.
• 46:24
  and so Lord, As we sing to you, we Rejoice, we rejoice in the
• 46:28
  knowledge that there is a New Covenant people that you are
• 46:31
  creating And it will not come through familiar this and it
• 46:35
  will come through the rebirth by the spirit of God.
• 46:39
  And Lord, you are still calling people.
• 46:42
  To join your family. And if there's anyone in here
• 46:45
  that there's a know, you may they know that they cannot rely
• 46:48
  on their parents salvation is not a package deal.
• 46:52
  They realize that they cannot rely on even tradition that they
• 46:55
  have observed. But that it must come from a
• 46:59
  work of the Holy Spirit and the heart.
• 47:01
  You can make that known, we ask that you would in Jesus name.
• 47:06
  Amen, standing Worship the Lord.