Latest / Heart Check Podcast / Bible Study with Pastor Los | The Gospel of John (1:19-28)

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Bible Study with Pastor Los | The Gospel of John (1:19-28) · Heart Check Podcast

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What's up everybody? Welcome back to Heart Check
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podcast. I'm your host Pastor Los.
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Yeah, let's go and I'm so excited to be back with you
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guys. My heart check community and new
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friends. Thank you for being here.
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If you have not yet subscribed below share these episodes.
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If this series been has been blessing you, I pray that you
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can share it with someone else who wants to dive into the word
0:35
and get closer to Jesus, the one who created them and loves them
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and has a purpose for them. So we're going to continue our
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Gospel of John series and today we are going to be in verses 19
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through 28 of John chapter one. And if you have not been reading
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the Bible before, if you're trying to learn along this
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journey with us, chapter just means that big number on your
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Bible, the big one that shows that's the chapter and the
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littler numbers are called the verses.
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And so we are still in chapter 1 of the Gospel of John and we're
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going to be starting in the verse 19 and we're going to go
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all the way to verse 28 today. So let's get straight to it.
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It reads like this. This was John's testimony when
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the Jewish leader sent priest and temple assistance from
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Jerusalem to ask John, who are you?
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Verse 20 He came right out and said, I am not the Messiah.
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Verse 21 Well then who are you? They asked, are you Elijah?
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No, he replied, are you the prophet we are expecting?
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No, he just hit him with the straight answers.
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No. Verse 22 Then who are you?
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We need an answer for those who say, present us, what do you
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have to say about yourself? Verse 23 John replied, in the
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words of the prophet Isaiah, I am a voice shouting in the
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wilderness, clear the way for the Lord's coming.
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Verse 24. Then the Pharisees who had been
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sent verse 25 asked him, If you aren't the Messiah or Elijah or
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the prophet, what right do you have to baptize?
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Verse 26 John told them, I baptize with water, but right
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here in the crowd is someone you do not recognize.
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Verse 27 Though his ministry follows mine, I'm not even
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worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandal.
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Verse 28 This encounter took place in Bethany, an area east
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of the Jordan River where John was baptizing.
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So we got a lot to unpack. We got a lot to unpack.
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We're we're diving into the testimony of John the Baptist
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and we've been talking a lot about testimony these last few
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weeks in the Gospel of John, of John had a call.
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He had a purpose on his life to testify about the coming Messiah
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who is Jesus. And I love how in verse 19, John
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starts with this answer. When these temple assistants,
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these priests are sent to question John because they're
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clearly seeing that there's a crowd surrounding him.
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The, the words gotten back to Jerusalem and the, and the
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Pharisees and the priests and the temple assistants have now
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been sent by the Jewish leaders, the Pharisees to check in on
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what's going on 'cause clearly there's a crowd being formed and
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there's some, there's some gossiping happening, the words
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getting around saying, man, there's this man named John.
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People in and flocks are coming to be baptized by him.
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And the now the, the Jewish leaders want to know what's
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going on. Who is this?
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Why is there people going to be baptized by this man until they
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approach John and they ask him, who are you?
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They ask that powerful question that many of us maybe ask as
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well to God, who are you? But they're asking to John, who
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are you? But really they they're asking
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John, but they're not asking the right question that who is John
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preparing the way for? Why is John doing this?
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Rather, they're trying to ask him, who are you?
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And I love how John just spits back in verse 20.
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He came right out and said, I am not the Messiah.
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Because really, John knows they're coming to ask him this
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question because they're wondering, is this the one
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they've been waiting for? Is this the one that in the Old
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Testament, the prophecies, prophecies have been spoken
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about that the Messiah will come one day?
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And maybe you haven't heard that word Messiah and you're
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wondering, what does Messiah even mean?
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Messiah truly comes from the Hebrew word mashiach, which
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translates to the anointed 1 in the Greek equivalent.
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In the New Testament, the New Testament's written in Greek,
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the Old Testament's written in Hebrew and Aramaic.
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So in the Old Testament, the word mashiach translates to the
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anointed one. But then in the Greek, which is
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the New Testament, So when John says this, when it's translated
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in the Gospel of John, the anointed one really meant
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Christos or Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus is the anointed
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one. He's the Messiah that was
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promised long ago. So John quickly and swiftly lets
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them know that I am not the Messiah, I am not Jesus.
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The one who's in the crowd that you do not even recognize, the
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one who's been spoken about from the Old Testaments, from the,
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from the scriptures you study and know as he's speaking to
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these religious leaders and priests and temple assistants,
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the scriptures, you know, the ones you study, the ones you
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teach, I am not the one that you're thinking I am.
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But he's in this crowd, but you do not recognize him.
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And when we think about this word, even the root word of this
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being the anointed one, what does that mean?
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So we have Messiah in Greek meaning Christos or Christ.
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But the anointed 1, the anointed one, what that means is it's
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someone that has been chosen or set apart and empowered by God
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for a specific purpose. The term literally refers to a
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ceremonial act of rubbing or pouring oil over someone.
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So if you remember the Old Testament, when David was, when
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Saul, Saul was first anointed king of Israel, they poured oil
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over him. But then when David was the next
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one anointed to become the king of Israel, there was oil the
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prophet of Samuel poured over David.
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It, it is to represent an outward expression and
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representation of who's been chosen by God, set apart by God,
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that's empowered for a specific purpose.
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And I think that's pretty cool that there's this symbol we use
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this language in the church now when we are baptized, right?
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This outward expression of an inward decision that we've made
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our faith in Jesus. Faith it, We are saved through
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faith by grace because of our faith in Jesus, that now we are
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saved and we are marked as a child of God.
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But the baptism represents in it and it aligns us, it unifies us
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with Jesus as we die to our old selves.
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We are now raised to a new life in Christ Jesus.
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The old creation is dead and gone.
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We are now a new creation in Jesus.
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That symbolizing that we are now set apart.
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We're chosen, we are his children, but now that's
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represented through what? The empowerment of the Holy
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Spirit. But now we have in the New
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Testament, as Jesus tells us, you want me to go back up to
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heaven because then I can send the Advocate, the Helper, the
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Holy Spirit. Any believer who puts their
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faith in Jesus is now filled with the Holy Spirit that we are
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chosen and set apart, that we're empowered by God through the
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Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God within us.
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That is why we are anointed by God because of the Holy Spirit
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living in US. And so when we read those words
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of, of the Messiah, when, when John is quick to respond like
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that, there's a reason for it because John is trying to let
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them know I am not who you're trying to ask.
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You're trying to ask me who I am and I am not the Messiah that is
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Jesus Christ. He is the anointed 1.
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He is the one that's been chosen and set apart by God.
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He is the one that we've read about that's been taught to us
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through the prophets of the old. And so then they go on again to
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ask him, Well then who are you then?
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If you're not the Messiah, who are you?
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And then they ask, are you Elijah?
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And John's like, no, even though there's some implication even
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from Jesus in the Gospels that John was a representation and
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sorts of Elijah. But they said, are you the
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prophet we were expecting? No, but I love this, even though
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with what Jesus says within the Gospel concerning John the
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Baptist, John's point right here is it's not about me.
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And I think for us, we can take notes from John's testimony that
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when we've put our faith in Jesus, it's about Jesus.
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And I think sometimes we can get caught up in wanting it to be
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about us or us get the praise or people focus on us and what
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we're doing. John has flocks and crowds of
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people coming to be baptized by him.
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He could easily start to get a big head and think about himself
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as someone that is so known and look at man, look at me.
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My ministry is now spreading across across this countryside
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that even now I have religious leaders and priests coming to me
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to ask me who I am because they are so astounded by how many
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people are coming to be baptized by me with water.
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And that just hit me when I was even sitting on that.
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If you are a leader, if you are a pastor, if you are a Christian
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and you have influence because the reality is everyone has
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influence. Everyone is a leader.
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There are people around you, even when you don't know it,
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that are looking at you, that are influenced by you.
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And I think sometimes we can get very caught up in our influence
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or get caught up in our own strength or our own power or
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what we're doing or how things are growing because we are the
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ones leading it. We have to be very careful and
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cautious. And we got to take this humility
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from John's testimony and witness right here that it's not
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about me. It's about the one who's in the
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crowd that you haven't even recognized yet.
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It's about the one who lives inside me.
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This ministry, people coming and being drawn to not me, but the
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one who lives inside me. And I have to remind myself of
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that as a pastor of a leader, that when God's moving, when
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God's drawing people to himself, I get to just be his vessel and
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instrument. It's not about Carlos, it's
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about Jesus. And I give him the praise that
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it's all about his favor, His blessing, His overflow within
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me, not me. So we have to be very careful
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that when people come and ask, who are you or who are you,
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Carlos, That I'm not quick to respond about who I am, but I'm
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quick to point them to the one that has called me, that has
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anointed me, that has set me apart, that now the Holy Spirit
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lives inside me. And I can point them to the one
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who saved me, the one who's doing all the things in my life,
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the one who has radically changed me, the one who moves
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within me to cause Kingdom power to overflow out of my life.
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And it's Jesus. So I love how John is quick to
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say, no, no, quick, short. I'm not giving you more
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explanation because it's not about me.
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I am not the Messiah. And verse 22, Then who are you?
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We need an answer for those who sent us.
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What do you have to say about yourself?
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I mean, come on, man, get a little pushy, a little pushy,
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little Jewish leaders. Come on, man, they're coming.
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They're like, come on, John, we need to know who you are.
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People sent us. You got clearly things are, are
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happening here and we need to know who you are.
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And it's even that heart posture of the Jewish leaders.
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They're so concerned about trying to control a situation
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that's out of their control 'cause it's from God.
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People who teach about God, who are literally put into places of
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leadership in the temple over Jewish people, the, the, the
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chosen people. Here's these leaders that are
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sent by the other leaders in the in the temple, in the church,
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and they're questioning over and over again.
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They're wanting to know who John is.
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But really they just want to know because they want to see
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how they can either control or or oversee what is happening
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'cause there is people that are coming in waves and clearly
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something's going on and they're not a part of it.
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They're not there, but John is. And so who is this John?
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Does he speak for our God? Is he just on his own?
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Is he, is he really, is he really true?
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Is it what he's doing? Is ministry really true?
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Is it from God or is it his own doing?
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And so they're asking and we need to know who you are.
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And the reality is they're so concerned on a person that
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they're missing the person of Christ that's in the crowd.
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They're missing the purpose of God that's happening over John,
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the call of God. That's on John's life of who
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he's testifying about. They're asking the wrong
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questions. And a lot of us do that as well.
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And we get caught up in asking these questions or ask these
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questions of other people rather than really figuring out who we
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should be seeking the answers from.
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And we should be going to God. That we should take a moment to
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be still and know that He's got to calm ourselves, to sit with
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the Holy Spirit and ask the Holy Spirit to lead us to His truth,
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to ask the right questions, to be specific, to reach up rather
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than look around sometimes. And for them, they're just
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looking around and they're so focused on John that they're not
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even seeing what God is doing and what He's who He's preparing
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the way for. And I love it 'cause he says in
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verse 23, John replied in the words of the prophet, and I love
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this. John doesn't respond with his
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own words. He responds with the words of
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God, just as Jesus, when he's LED into the wilderness and the
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enemy, the devil, Satan, tries to come and tempt him.
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What does Jesus do? He uses the word of God to
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combat Satan. And I love this 'cause they're
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clearly trying to ask things from their own desires.
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They're not truly seeking out God's will.
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They're not truly seeking out God.
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They're not even recognizing that Jesus the Messiah, that
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they're asking if John is the Messiah.
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They're not even realizing that the Messiah, the one who has
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been promised the anointed 1 is literally in the crowd with
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them. But they're so focused on John.
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And I love how John just uses God's words to speak back to
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them. And he quotes in Isaiah, he
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says, I am a voice shouting in the wilderness, clear the way
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for the Lord's coming. John's like, listen, I'm just a
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voice shouting in the wilderness to clear the way for the Lord's
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coming because it's about him. I am just doing the will of my
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heavenly Father who's called me to be a messenger, to be a
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testifier, to lead the way and prepare the way for the Messiah
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who comes. And so I'm just a voice shouting
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to you, open your eyes. That's what's even John saying
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to these religious leaders who's who are asking them, who are
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you? He's saying, open your eyes.
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I'm just a voice shouting that the Messiah is among us, that
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the Lord is coming, that he's already here.
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And you guys keep asking me these questions over and over
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again. And I'm trying to get you to fix
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your eyes on heaven, to ask God to lift the veil off your eyes
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so you can see clearly. But you're so focused on me and
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what's happening around me that you're not even seeing that the
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Messiah is here right now, that I'm preparing, that I'm clearing
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the way for the Lord's coming. And then it says in verse 24,
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then the Pharisees who had been sent asked in verse 25, if you
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aren't the Messiah or Elijah or the prophet, what right do you
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have to baptize? So now we're getting to the
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heart of the issue. Now they finally show their
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cards. It took them a little while, but
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they finally got there. So again, they come to you
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almost, you know, as if they're a little sneaky and slick.
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Well, who are you? Well, are you Elijah?
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Well, are you a prophet? We're expecting, Let's first see
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first 'cause maybe, maybe he is. You know, these, these religious
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leaders don't come in here hot first.
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Because what if this is the Messiah we've been waiting for?
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What if this is Elijah? Who would be, who would be
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promised to come again? Who?
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Who? Maybe this is a prophet of God.
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They didn't want to come first and they didn't want to try to
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go against God, but they wanted to be sneaky about it and slick
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about it. So they asked John all these
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questions over and over again without actually listening.
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Sometimes I think we do this. We are just, we're just
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listening. We're just listening so we can
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get ready to give our own response.
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And we've already decided what we're going to say beforehand,
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though we're not really hearing what someone is saying to us,
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but we're just listening so we can respond.
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And I think that's what they're doing.
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They're asking these questions not to really get the answers.
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They're just ask these questions so they can ask their next
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question, so they can really get John stumped or get him stuck in
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a lie. They're trying to question him,
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ask him, who are you? Who are you?
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Are you? So then finally we get to it.
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If you aren't. So we've asked you these
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questions and you said no, no, no.
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And so if you aren't the Messiah or Elijah or the prophet, what
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right do you have to baptize? Now we know their motives.
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Now we know why they were sent. Now you know why.
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In verse 19, when the Jewish leaders sent priests and temple
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assistance from Jerusalem to ask John Blank, they came to ask him
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who you are. They came to ask him first, Are
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you the Messiah? Are you Elijah?
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Are you the prophet? Let's ask these things first,
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because if he's not, then what right do you have to baptize?
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So now we get to the heart of what they're really asking or
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what they're really trying to accomplish here.
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They're trying to shut it down. They're trying to shut John
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down. But what they don't realize is
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they're trying to shut down God's will and plan that John
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had a call from God. He was set apart.
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He was chosen to clear the way for the Lord's coming.
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And ain't nobody, no gates of hell will prevail when it comes
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to God's plan and his call on someone's life.
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And so I love this because they're really now finally
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showing their cards that if you are not these things, then John,
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why do you, why do you have the right to baptize?
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You shouldn't be doing this. All these people around here
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crowding around, these people who are coming to be baptized by
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you. This shouldn't be happening.
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That if you're not the Messiah, you're not Elijah, and you're
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not the prophet we're expecting, then you need to stop.
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But little did they know, little did they know what John was
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doing and who John was called by God to prepare the way for
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Jesus's coming. And so I love it says in verse
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26, John told them, I baptize with water.
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But right here in the crowd, right here in the crowd, man,
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open your eyes, open your eyes. Some of us need to open our eyes
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that Jesus is right here with us.
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Jesus is in that. Jesus is in the room.
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Jesus is living inside of us. If we put our faith in him, we
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need to open our eyes and see him, to seek him, his truth.
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And I love this. As John says, right here in the
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crowd is someone you do not recognize.
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That you're so fixated on asking these questions to me that
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you're not even opening your eyes to see the one you're
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asking about is actually here in the crowd, the one we've been
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waiting for, anticipating, excited for, the one we've been
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teaching about, the one the prophet spoke about is right
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here in the crowd. But you do not recognize him in
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verse 27, though his ministry follows mine.
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I'm not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of
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his sandals. I want to touch on something
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first, 'cause if you're reading verse 26, you might think, why
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does John say I baptized with water?
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As we read in the Gospels, we will learn that John baptized
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with water. It was the, the, the baptism of
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repentance. So John, when he baptized
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people, he asked them to repent of their sins, to repent and
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repentance means to turn to God. That you're on a path that
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you're, that you're on leading you farther from God, that
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you're in sin, that you're not living according to God's
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standards over your life, and that you now turn back to God
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and follow him. That's what repentance means.
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And so John was preaching a message of repentance, and
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through the repentance of their sins, they were being baptized
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with water. But in Scripture, we read that
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John baptized with water, but Jesus would baptize us with
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fire, and fire represented the Holy Spirit.
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And what's cool if you've never read this story before, I wanted
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to kind of touch on this quickly, not sit on it too long,
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but I think this is important. In the book of Acts chapter 19
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verses one through 7, we read this story of Paul running into
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some believers. And so it says, I'll start in
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verse one. While Paulus was in Corinth,
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Paul travelled through the interior regions until he
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reached Ephesus on the coast where he found several
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believers. And in verse 2IN quotes it says,
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did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?
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So Paul asks these believers he finds on, on his Rd. on his
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travels, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?
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And then and then they respond, these believers.
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So again, they're being described as believers.
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So they are Christians. But but, but Paul says to them,
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did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?
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And they said, no, they replied, we haven't even heard that there
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is a Holy Spirit. So this is kind of weird.
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We got these people being described as believers.
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So they're Christians, but they've never heard of the Holy
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Spirit. But it goes on to say in verse
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3, then what baptism did you experience?
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Paul asked. And they replied, the baptism of
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John, John the Baptist, which was what?
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Baptism through water? The repentance of sins.
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But then verse 4, Paul said John's baptism called for
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repentance from sin, but John himself told the people to
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believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus.
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This is so cool. I love the Bible.
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It's so cool. So you have John 1, the story
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being written about John the Baptist, the Gospel of John.
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But then in Acts, a whole different story written by Luke.
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We have this story in chapter 19 where it says Paul's on his
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third missionary journey and he runs into these believers.
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But he asked them, have you received the Holy Spirit?
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And now here's these believers who say they don't even know
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who, who the Holy Spirit is, What's the Holy Spirit?
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And and they just, they tell Paul that they had been baptized
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by John. So again, remember guys, John
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had crowds and crowds of people who came to him and were
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baptized from the repentance of their sin.
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But there was believers who then scattered from John, who never
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really witnessed the Gospel message, that they didn't hear
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the good news, that they had repented of their sins and was
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baptized with water by John, but they hadn't put their faith in
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Jesus's life, death and resurrection, which is just
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crazy. Isn't that just crazy, how cool
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the word of God connects? And so you have this Paul
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running into these believers and he's saying you guys were
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baptized by John, but that was just through water.
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But you have to believe in the one who John was saying back to
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verse one, as he's speaking to the religious leaders, there's
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the one who will come later, the one who's who I can't even untie
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his, the straps of his sandals, the Messiah, the anointed, 1
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anointed by God. And so in verse 5 it says as
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soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the
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Lord Jesus. In verse 6.
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Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on
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them and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied.
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They were about 12 men in awe. So Paul now reveals the gospel
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message to them, that he tells them, the one who John was
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preparing the way for he came and he lived a life that you and
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I could not live, that he lived a perfect life.
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Then he died a death that we deserved, and he died for your
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sins, and then three days later rose from the grave.
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And he gave them an opportunity to receive the good news because
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it is by faith in the gospel message that you are saved.
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So these men were believers, but they weren't saved and sealed by
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the Holy Spirit because they hadn't heard the good news.
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And I want to bring that up again.
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Romans I love in Romans 10, Romans 10, it says, this just
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made me think about it. I love this quote.
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I'm going to pull it up because I want to read it.
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It says in verse 14 after our our our verse we use because
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it's again Romans 10-9. If you openly declare that Jesus
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is Lord and believe in your heart that got raised from the
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dead, you will be saved. Verse 10 For it is by believing
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in your heart that you're made right with God, and it is by
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openly declaring your faith that you are saved.
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So again, you have to declare that Jesus is Lord and believe
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in your heart that what God raised him from the dead.
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These men were believers through John's baptism, but they hadn't
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even heard the good news, the gospel message that Jesus is
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Lord and that God raised him from the dead, that they could
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confess him as Lord with their mouths to receive the Holy
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Spirit, to be filled by the Holy Spirit.
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Because it says for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
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will be saved. But I love this verse 14.
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But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in
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him? And how can they believe in him
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if they have never heard about him?
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And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them in
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verse 15? And how will anyone go and tell
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them without being sent? That is why the scriptures say
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how beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news.
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Paul was being the feet, he was being the messenger to bring the
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good news to these 12 men who had not heard the gospel message
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yet. And so now Paul runs into them
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and even though they believed and they put the in the, even
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though they believed and were baptized by water through the
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repentance of their sins, they were now sealed by the Holy
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Spirit because of their faith in Jesus life, death and
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resurrection. But it is because of the
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beautiful feet of the messengers who bring the good news.
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How beautiful it is that we, if you put your faith in Jesus, we
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get to be the feet of Jesus. We get to be the messengers who
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bring the good news to people who don't know it yet that they
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can be saved and sealed by the Holy Spirit and get and receive
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eternal life through their faith in Jesus that you get to
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participate in the Great Commission.
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How incredible is that? And so we get back to John, and
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I love how John says I'm unworthy to even be a slave and
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untie the straps of his sandals. Jesus is King of kings, Lord of
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Lords. He again is acknowledging who
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Jesus is, the Son of God. And it finishes.
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This encounter took place in Bethany, an area east of the
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Jordan River where John was baptizing.
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I hope you are encouraged by this.
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I hope this challenges you to continue to dive deeper in your
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faith, to read more Scripture, to feast on the Word, to learn
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about God's truth through his truth that he's revealed to us,
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and that you continue to be a testimony for Christ that you be
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his hands and feet. Because how are people going to
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believe? How are people going to be
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saved? How are people going to come to
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know who Jesus is if the people who know him don't go and tell
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others about him? Because how beautiful are the
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feet who bring the good news? Go be someone who brings the
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good news to people who don't know it yet and be filled by the
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Holy Spirit and be reminded that you are sealed by him, that your
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faith in Jesus has sealed you, that your name is written in the
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book of life, and that you have eternal life.
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But what are you doing in this life right now to hopefully
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bring others with you to heaven? I love you guys.
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I thank you so much. Let me pray for y'all so we can
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get up out of here. Lord Jesus, I love you.
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Heavenly Father, I thank you for who you are.
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God, I pray that you fill us with your spirit and that we go
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and be unashamed. That we go testify about you.
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That we tell others about you. That we fix our eyes on Jesus.
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That we don't get caught up asking the wrong questions, we
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don't get caught up fixating on the wrong things, But that we
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realize that Jesus is with us, that he's in the room with us,
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That he lives inside us. God.
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That we can see him, we can seek him, we can find him.
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I love you, God, I thank you so much.
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I pray for your blessing and favor over those who are
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watching and listening to this right now.
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And I pray that they go and they be unashamed for Jesus and they
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spread the good news to all ends of the earth.
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We love you and we pray this in the powerful name of Jesus,
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Amen. I love y'all.
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God bless.