Latest / CCC West Covina / There Came A Man (Part 1)

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There Came A Man (Part 1) · CCC West Covina

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I wonder if you've ever thought about what it means to have a a
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surefire successful ministry. How would you define that?
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What would that look like in in your mind?
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What would a sensational ministry look like?
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As I was thinking about that this week, I I came up with some
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some principles that will help you define and articulate a
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successful ministry. Number one, if you would like to
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have a, a successful ministry, make sure that you never go to
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where the people are. You make them come to you.
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And when they come to you, they they go to the most inconvenient
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spots possible. In fact, when they come to you,
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make sure that there are no conveniences.
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So when they sit, they had to sit on the ground or the asphalt
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or the grass or the sand or the dirt.
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Make sure there are no chairs. Make sure there are no umbrellas
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for when it's hot. You want them to experience the
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heat of the sun when it's cold. After all, they can always wrap
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themselves in something warm. After all, you don't want to
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minister to weak infant and people, You want them to be
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strong. If it rains, no big deal, they
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won't melt. Let the rain pour down upon
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their head. This is a surefire way to have a
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successful ministry #2 deliberately wear things that
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are unattractive. Never wear the things that are
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truly in and cool and everyone adores.
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Make sure you wear things that are completely out of the
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ordinary. In fact, the smellier they are,
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the better they are. Fill your your clothes with with
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animal skins and the smellier the better.
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And when you gather people together and you have a potluck,
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make sure you take insects and you wrap them in pure honey and
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pass them out to everyone who is hungry.
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This is a surefire way of having a successful ministry #3 make
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sure that when you speak, you always speak offensively.
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Make sure that you assault and insult all of your listeners.
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Make sure they are greatly offended every time you speak.
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A perfect sermon would be simply what in the world are you doing
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here? Why would you even come here?
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You people who think you're better than everybody else,
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That's a surefire way of having a successful ministry.
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And then make sure that you always expose and embarrass
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every top government official, you know, make sure you expose
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every hidden sin, everything they're trying to keep away from
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the public. Put it out there for everybody
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to hear it and to know how wicked your leaders are,
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especially in private. And then make sure you only
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minister for a very, very short time.
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Don't, don't go beyond 18 months.
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A year is good, maybe 18 months, but don't go beyond that.
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And then and then when it's all said and done, when all these
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people are coming to you, because if you follow these
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guidelines, you will have a surefire successful ministry.
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And because all these people are coming to you, make sure that
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you pass them off to another preacher down the road.
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That's a, a guaranteed great ministry.
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And you would think that the elevator in my brain doesn't go
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to the top floor. You would think that your pastor
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has snapped the twig, but that's not the case.
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Because you see, that was the ministry of of John the Baptist,
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of whom it was said among those born of a woman, there has not
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arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist.
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He may have been unconventional, he may have been strange, but he
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was extremely effective. He wrote the book on successful
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ministry because there was never a preacher like him.
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There was never a prophet like him.
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He was the best ever. And yet we think of those things
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and say, who in their right mind would ever do what John did?
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And then we wonder why our ministries are unsuccessful and
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not successful. Interesting.
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But what was it that made John great?
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Was it his methodology? No, no, it was the man himself
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that made the ministry great. It wasn't the methods that he
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used. It was the call of God up on his
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life. So the Bible says, and John one
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verse number six, there came a man and we're going to stop
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right there. We're not going to get any
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further in the verse. Just simply there came a man
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sent from God. What kind of man was he?
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He was not an ordinary man. He was an extraordinary man.
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He was a man unlike any other man.
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He was a man that was unparalleled to any other man.
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And so over this week and next week and the week following, at
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least, I want to help you understand the identity of this
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man. And then I want you to
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understand, understand the ministry of this man, the
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testimony of this man, and the legacy of this man.
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After all, of all the men born of a woman, he's the greatest.
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So best we know his identity, his ministry, his testimony and
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his legacy. But before we do all of that,
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there's something else you need to know, and that is the
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peculiarity of the man. What made him so peculiar?
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What made him the way he is? And I want to give you 8
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principles that will help you understand why this man John was
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so peculiar, so unique, so extraordinary.
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And then, and then if you're a man in the audience, I want you
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to match your life against his life.
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Because after all, of all the men born of a woman, he's the
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greatest. So if you want to be great,
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match your life against John's life, the greatest man ever born
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of a woman. And then you can understand
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whether or not you are ever going to be great or whether or
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not you will ever have a successful ministry.
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Because you see, John is the barometer for greatness and the
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barometer for a successful ministry.
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And so you need to be able to compare yourself to the
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standards of the Scriptures. What does the Bible say about
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this man? We know what Jesus says about
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the man, so how does the Bible describe him?
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So as we look at this peculiarity of the man, we will
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see eight different principles #1 the man was uncompromising in
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his message, uncompromising in his message.
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We get that from John chapter 1, which states these words.
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In verse number six. There came a man sent from God
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whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify
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about the light, said all might believe through him he was not
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the light, but he came to testify about the light.
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His whole life was about speaking about the light.
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In fact, the Bible says in John chapter 10, these words about
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John, it says while John performed no sign.
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Isn't that interesting? A successful ministry is defined
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by the inability to perform a sign.
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The the opportunity to have a sensational ministry is not
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based on signs and wonders and the spectacular.
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We we live in a world today where we want everything to be
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big and spectacular and awesome. Incredible thinking that that's
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going to attract people and draw people, but it does not.
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Oh, it great. Gets a crowd.
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Yeah, it does. But for John, the sensationalism
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was gone. That's not what he was about.
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He was about speaking the truth. So it says in John 1010 verse
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#41 while John performed no sign, yet everything John said
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about this man to Christ was true.
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Everything John said was true. He had an uncompromising
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message. So his message was absolute.
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His message was accurate. His message was authoritative.
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His message was even apocalyptic.
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He said, said, why are you here? Who, who told you to flee from
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the wrath to come? I baptize you with water, but
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there's one coming who's mightier than I, who's going to
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baptize you with unquenchable fire?
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He spoke apocalyptically. Because all great messages focus
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on the judgement, focus on the end, so people know how to
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escape the judgement of God. That was John.
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He just came to to testify about the light.
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He just came to be a witness. He became the person who spoke
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the truth. He was certainly the last Old
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Testament prophet and he is now the first New Testament
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preacher. No wonder he was the greatest
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man. Whoever lived there hadn't been
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a prophet who had spoken in over 400 years.
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And all of a sudden John shows up in the wilderness, coming out
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of the wilderness like a like a locomotive fast approaching.
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He came with all kinds of explosive statements.
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His message was uncompromising. I love, I love what the Bible
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says in in Matthew Chapter 11 verse #8 when Jesus says this
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verse #7 what did you go out into the wilderness to see?
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What were you looking for? A Reed shaken by the wind.
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Is that what you were looking for?
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And around the Jordan, there are all these kinds of reeds that
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were very bendable and would just go with the breeze and the
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blow of the wind. They would go to the left and to
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the right, front and back, always, always bending.
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And Jesus says what? You go out to see somebody who
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would bend to the left and and bend to the right who took no
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stand at all. Is that the kind of guy you were
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looking for? Oh, that's not John.
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He says this. But what did you go out to see?
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A man dressed in soft clothing. Those who wear soft clothing are
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in King's palaces. But what did you go out to see?
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A prophet. Yes, I tell you.
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And one who is more than a prophet.
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Here was one who came, and when he spoke, he never dumbed down
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the message. He was a man when he spoke,
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never backed down from the hard truths of the message.
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Here was a man who for all practical purposes was not
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sensational, was not spectacular.
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But Luke 1 says that when he comes, he will come in the
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spirit and power of Elijah. Elijah was the great Old
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Testament prophet. Remember it was Moses and Elijah
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who appeared on the mountain. Transfiguration.
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Moses was the great lawgiver and Elijah was the great law
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protector. And this one, John would come in
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the spirit of the of, of, of Elijah.
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He would speak forcefully. He would speak faithfully, He
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would speak fervently, he'd even speak ferociously because he was
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the great prophet of God, pointing people to the Messiah.
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This is a man who's uncompromising in his message.
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He was He was the one who embodies embodies Proverbs 2323
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Buy truth and never sell it. Do all you can to obtain the
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truth because it's going to cost you everything that you have.
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And once you spend all that you have to obtain that which is the
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most priceless and valuable commodity this side of eternity,
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the word of the living God by truth.
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Never sell it out, never compromise it, never back down
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from it. Do all you can to obtain it.
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Wisdom, instruction and understanding.
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Solomon goes on to say that was John uncompromising in his
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message number 2. He was unorthodox in his
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mannerisms. Unorthodox in his mannerisms.
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Over in Matthew chapter 3 it says this now.
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Now John himself had a garment of camels hair and a leather
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belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.
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Then Jerusalem was going out to him and all Judea and all the
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district around the Jordan, and they were being baptized by him
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in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.
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Very unorthodox in his mannerisms.
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You see, his whole dress was the antithesis of the religious
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establishment. His whole mannerism of the way
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he lived his life spoke against the self indulgence of people in
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leadership because he lived a life of self denial.
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Remember, he's the son of Zacharias the priest.
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So John's in line to be a priest.
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He could have followed his father into the priesthood.
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He could have been in the temple, he could have been
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wearing the robes of a priest, he could have been in the
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comfort of the temple. But no, not John, Oh no.
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His whole lifestyle screamed against that because he knew how
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hypocritical it was in the days of Jesus.
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So we made sure that everything about his life spoke against the
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self indulgent society in which he lived in because he lived a
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life of complete and total self denial.
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That was John. His whole life was a a visual
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protest to to the religion of his day.
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He didn't care about fitting in. You know, today we, we have
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preachers who wear $1000 sneakers and wear jeans with
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holes in them. I guess that's still in style.
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I guess. I don't know.
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And they those tight shirts that you can see their muscles
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bulging all the time, you know, and they want to get in front of
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the audience and be really cool, like, right.
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That's not John. No, he wouldn't do that.
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That even to be next to him, he'd smell the high heaven that
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was John. He wasn't looking to looking to
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impress anybody because he had an audience of 1 the Messiah and
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he only wanted to please his God.
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So he wasn't interested in looking like everybody else.
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Fitting in was not important to him.
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Being a part of the society was not important to him.
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That's why I love what what Peter says in First Peter
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chapter 4. He says in verse #3 for the time
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I already passed, it's sufficient for you to have
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carried out the desire of the Gentiles.
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Having pursued a course of sensuality, lust, drunkenness,
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carousing, drinking parties, and and abominable idolatries and
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all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them in
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the same excess of dissipation and they malign you.
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That's the believer. You've been saved from all that.
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You're not interested in fitting in to the world you were saved
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from. You're not interested in being
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like the people used to hang around with in your unsafe
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condition and they see that you don't run with them in the same
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circles and they malign you. So Peter says.
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I'm sure that John was, was maligned on many occasions, not
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just because of what he ate or the way he dressed, how he
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smelled, but just because he was completely unorthodox in his
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mannerisms. He wasn't unorthodox just to be
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that way. No, there was a a, a method to
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his madness. He wanted to make sure that his
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life was a total contradiction to everything around him.
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Today we we love to to be a part of the world.
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We love to fit in at work. We love to fit in at school.
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Nobody wants to be on the outside.
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Nobody wants to be the odd one out.
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And then we wonder why our lives are not great.
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We wonder why our lives are the way they are, too busy trying to
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be like everybody else around us instead of trying to be like
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Christ and honor him and glorify his name.
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This is John, John the Baptizer, which leads to the second aspect
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of what he was unorthodox about, and that was it's so baptism.
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People were flocking to the wilderness down by the Jordan
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River, which is about down by the, the city Jericho and and
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beyond in the wilderness. It was hot, hot people were
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coming. They were, they were coming.
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He wasn't going to them. He could have administered in
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the temple, but he wouldn't have been welcome there.
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So he administered in the wilderness, the Judean
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wilderness. And if you've ever been there,
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it's it's hot, it's barren, it's dry.
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Oh, it's nasty. People came to him.
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He didn't go to them. They came to hear John.
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They came to see John because he was completely, uniquely
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different than everything and everyone else.
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Surmount them. They challenged them.
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Repent. Repent and be baptized for the
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Kingdom of heaven is at hand and he would challenge them to be
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baptized. And that's so interesting
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because we know what baptism is. We know as as believers that
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that we are baptized because we are identifying with the Christ
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who was, who was, who was killed, buried and, and rose
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again. That's why we we going down into
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the water because we, we are buried with him in the likeness
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of his death and then we are raised with him in the likeness
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of his resurrection. Everything about about baptism
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is symbolic and, and, and it's not what's baptism does because
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baptism doesn't do anything. It's what baptism says, what it
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says about your life and your commitment to follow the Lord
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Jesus Christ. So we understand that about
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baptism. But Jesus hadn't died and Jesus
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hadn't been buried and Jesus hadn't been raised from the dead
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yet. So what is John doing?
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He's baptizing these people and challenging them to confess
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their sins. And what he's doing is only done
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to Gentiles, Gentiles who want to convert to Judaism, Gentiles
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who realize that they're, they're not a part of the
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covenant people of God. And they realize that they're
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separated from the true and living God and they're not
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descendants of, of Abraham and they're outside the, the
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national covenant given to the people of Israel.
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And they want to come into that covenant relationship and they
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want to be baptized into all those things and, and confess
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that they are not a part of what Judaism represents.
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But John's not baptizing Gentiles, he's baptizing Jews.
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And Jews weren't baptized, but they were all coming down to be
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baptized by John because John's telling them, listen, I know
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that you're a descendant of Abraham.
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I know that you're into the rituals.
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I know you're into the circumcision.
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But none of that saves you. I know that you're the covenant
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people of Israel. I know that you understand
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Abrahamic and Davidic covenants. I understand you know all those
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things. But none of that's going to get
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you into heaven. You need to be prepared to meet
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the Messiah and therefore you need to confess your sins.
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You need to confess the fact that you're outside of a
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relationship with God. For you to hear that is
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astounding. That's why he was uncompromising
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in his message and unorthodox in his mannerisms.
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See, And people were being confessing their sins, being
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baptized. Unfortunately, it was only
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temporary. A lot like people, some people,
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not all people, but some people get baptized and are baptismal.
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They'll come and they'll make a profession of faith and they'll
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get baptized and they'll want to identify with Christ.
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But next thing you know, they're they're walking away from the
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Lord. They don't care about the Lord.
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And their commitment was a temporary commitment because the
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cares of this world choke out the trueness of their
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commitment. And the affliction comes and
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persecution comes. They can't stand it and they
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fall away. Matthew 13, The rocky soil and
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the thorny soil, a lot of people were temporary because when they
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met the Messiah, heard what the Messiah said, they didn't like
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the message. So they crucified him, see.
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So unfortunately, it was only a, a temporary, temporary
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commitment on their part. It was a, it was a commitment of
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convenience instead of a commitment of conviction.
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A lot like people today in the church, we we have a commitment
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of convenience. I'm committed to church as long
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as it's convenient, as long as it's close, as long as I, I
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don't spend 550 a gallon of gas to get there, as as long as it's
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at the right time that I wanted to be there or I'm not on
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vacation or I'm not doing this or that something else more
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important on Sunday. I, I have a, a commitment of, of
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convenience, not a commitment of conviction.
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These people had to convenience, everybody else getting baptized,
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everybody else confessing. They said let's do this thing.
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But then when the Messiah comes, Messiah begins to speak and says
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if any man came to me, let him deny himself and think of his
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cross and follow me. You mean like John denied
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himself? I'm not sure I want to do that
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really. And they crucified the Messiah.
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Here is John uncompromising his message.
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I wonder if you as as a man back down on the message of the
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Gospel. I wonder if you as a man are
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ashamed of the Gospel. I wonder if you as a man kind of
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are like to read down by the Jordan River, sway back and
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forth depending upon what crowd you're with and what kind of
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associates you have. And you'll say this in one crowd
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and that in another crowd, or you always stand strong on the
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truth, never compromising what Jesus says.
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John the Baptist was uncompromising in his message,
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and he was unorthodox in his mannerisms.
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But not this #3 he was unequalled among men.
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He was unequalled among men. Turn, if you would, in your
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Bible to Luke's gospel. As you recall, we spent nine
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years in Luke's gospel. It was quite a journey, took us
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a long time. But I want to give you the
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ultimate gender reveal story. We're all into gender reveal
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today, right? Everybody wants to do something
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big on Instagram or on Twitter or some kind of mechanism by
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which I can get out to the world the gender of my baby.
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Well, I'm going to give you the ultimate gender reveal.
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It's in Luke chapter 1. Here it is.
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Angel of the Lord appeared to Zacharias.
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This is verse 11, chapter 1, standing at the right of the
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altar of incense. Zacharias was troubled when he
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saw the Angel and fear gripped him.
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But the Angel said to him, do not be afraid Zacharias, for
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your petition has been heard and your wife Elizabeth will bear
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you a son. Wow can have a boy, she's just
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not going to be pregnant. She's going to have a boy and
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you will give him a name. John.
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They didn't have to even go to a baby book and forgot a good
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name. They didn't have to even even
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try to figure out what what kind of name fits with with our
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family. No, the Angel.
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Gabriel named him the Angel and Abriel told him that it's going
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to be a boy. This is the ultimate gender
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reveal. You're going to have a boy.
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His name is John, and it says this.
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You have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,
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for he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will
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drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy
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Spirit while yet in his mother's womb, unequalled among men.
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No other man was filled with the Holy Spirit while in their
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mother's womb, but John was, and he will turn many of the sons of
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Israel back to the Lord their God.
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It is he who will go as a forerunner before him in the
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spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the Father's
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back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of
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the righteous, so as to make ready of people prepared for the
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Lord. This man is unequaled among men.
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He had a very privileged calling, like Jeremiah, like
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Paul, he was set aside in his mother's womb for unique and
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special ministry. He would be the personal herald
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of the Messiah. He'd be the one that would point
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to the Messiah so that all would know who the Messiah is.
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Nobody else had that privilege, but John did.
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He came in the spirit and power of Elijah.
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No one else did. He was set apart personally by
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the Messiah. He would hear this later in
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life. First Father said these words.
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You child, will be called the prophet of El Elian, the Most
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High God. Wow.
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For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His way to give
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to His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of
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sins. Wow, that was John's ministry.
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So we lived his, his life. It was so unique, so peculiar.
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It was unequaled among men. He would see the Holy Spirit
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descend upon Jesus, That is baptism.
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He was the one who baptized Jesus.
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Talk about unequaled among men, seeing the Holy Spirit descend
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upon the Messiah and then to hear the voice from heaven.
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This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased, unequaled
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among men. This is John the Baptist, very
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peculiar person, very unique in his ministry.
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So he was uncompromising in his his message.
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He was unorthodox in his mannerisms.
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He was unequalled among men. He was unlimited in his mission.
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His mission had no limits. Over Luke chapter 3 verse #18
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These words were spoken. So with many other exhortations,
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He preached the gospel to the people.
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He didn't pick and choose what people because his message was
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unlimited to everybody who came to him.
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Didn't pick and choose whether they were the religious elite or
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whether they were they were poor blind people made no difference.
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It was the same message, same gospel about the same person all
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the time. It was unlimited.
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He was unlimited. His mission, verse 19 of Luke 3.
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But when Herod the Tetrarch was reprimanded by him because of
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Herodias, his brother's wife, and because of all the wicked
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things which Herod had done again unlimited in his mission,
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he was willing to speak to an Idumean, a descendant of Esau,
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people who hate the Jewish nation.
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He would speak to Herod, he would reprimand Herod, he would
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exhort Herod, he would reprimand Herod the king because his
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mission was unlimited. He wanted everybody to hear the
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message. Which leads me to our our fifth
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point, and that is this. John was peculiar because he was
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uninhibited in his ministry. Uninhibited in his ministry.
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In other words, nothing kept him from fulfilling his call, even
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when it came to reprimanding the king.
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Herod remember Herod, he was Herod the tetrarch.
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He was a ruler over 4 aspects of the of the king or one of four
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rulers and and he would build Tiberius on a on a, a graveyard.
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He would honor it, give honor to it by naming it after Caesar
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Tiberius. Caesar Tiberius is on the Sea of
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Galilee. Jesus, by the way, never went to
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that city because it was built over a a graveyard.
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But Herod was a man who was wicked and Herod had had married
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his brother's wife, who was really his half sister.
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And Herod knew that. I mean, John knew that and
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confronted him on that and listen to what it says in in
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Matthew's Gospel, in Matthew chapter 14.
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At that time, Herod the tetroarch heard the news about
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Jesus. John's gone off the scene now
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and Jesus is is is preaching, he said to his servants, this is
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John the Baptist. He thinks Jesus is John the
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Baptist. He was risen from the dead and
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that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.
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Herod is fearful of John. Remember what it says over in in
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Mark's Gospel and in the 6th 6th chapter of Mark it says this
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Herod was afraid of John verse 20 knowing that he was a
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righteous and holy man. Herod the king knew that John
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the Baptist was a righteous and holy man separated unto God
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living a righteous and pure life and he kept him safe.
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Remember John was in prison down in Macarius which is 7 miles
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northeast of the of the Dead Sea.
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It was the palace of Herod. It was his summer palace.
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He had two dungeons in it and that's where he kept kept John
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the Baptist kept him safe. But note this.
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And when Herod heard John, he was very perplexed.
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But he used to enjoy listening to him.
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That's just a an incredible verse.
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Herod was perplexed. Herod was was attracted,
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attracted by the message that John would give.
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Until the message attacked the way Herod lived.
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And then it was a different story.
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It's like people in the church, they're very, they're attracted
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to the message until, until the pastor says something about
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their personal lives and, and they're very offended by that
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and confronted by that. And they no longer want to go to
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that church because their, their, their life has been
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exposed. Not that the pastor knew
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anything, it's just that they didn't like what he said.
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That was Herod. He was taken back.
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He was, he was moved by John because of the message.
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But when the message attacked Herod's relationship, his
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incestuous relationship with his brother's wife, well, they
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didn't go over so well. So back in Matthew's Gospel it
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says these words, When Herod had John arrested, he bound him and
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put him in prison because of Herodias his wife, the wife of
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his brother Philip. For John had been saying to him,
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It is not lawful for you to have her.
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Although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd
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because he regarded John as a prophet.
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But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced
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before them, and pleased Herod so much that he promised with an
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oath to give her whatever she asked.
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Having been prompted by her mother, she said, Give me here
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on the platter the head of John the Baptist.
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Although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given
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Because of his oaths and because of his dinner guests, he sent
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and had John beheaded in the prison.
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His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl.
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She brought it to her mother. His disciples came and took away
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the body and buried it, and he went and reported it to Jesus.
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Here's a man who was uninhibited in his ministry.
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He had no inhibitions about anything, who he talked to, what
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he said, because he was interested in righteousness and
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holiness and godliness. He only spoke the truth.
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In fact, he did the most loving thing he could do, confront,
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inherit on a sin. The most unloving thing he could
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do was just allow him to live in sin without ever being
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confronted on it. That's the most unloving thing
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anybody can do. But the most loving thing you
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can do is to call out the sin, call it what it is, and demand
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that they repent of their sin and follow the Lord.
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That was John uninhibited in his ministry, so he was beheaded.
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That the voice of John could be silenced.
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But the truth that John spoke would carry on through Jesus,
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through the apostles and all those who would hear the Gospel.
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So here is John the Baptist. He was the kind of person who
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was uncompromising in his message, unorthodox in his
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mannerisms, unequaled among men, unlimited in his mission.
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He was uninhibited in his ministry.
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Number six, he was unpopular before the multitudes.
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The Bible says in Luke chapter 3 verse #20 these words.
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Herod also added this to them, and he locked John up in prison.
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John was antisocial, he was politically incorrect, he was
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insensitive, he was bothersome, he was irritating, he was an
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outcast. He had no wealth.
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He had no social prominence, he had no education, he had no
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worldly status, no achievements, backed by no organization, wrote
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no books, held no office, had no physical prowess.
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That we know of all the things that are completely different
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than what we would determine as a great and successful man.
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He would never win a Pulitzer Prize.
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He would never win an Oscar. He would never win an Emmy.
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He would never win a People's Choice Award.
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He would never win a lifetime achievement award.
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He'd be no MVP. He'd have no All Star honors,
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He'd have no military medals, He had no literary honors, He would
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have no educational honors. But he was the greatest man ever
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born of a woman. Not because I said so, not
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because the Jerusalem Post said so, but because Jesus said so.
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And #7 He was unforgettable as a man.
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He is written in the annals of Scripture, in the eternal Word
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of God, be remembered forever. He truly lived out Ecclesiastes
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7, one that the day of 1's death is better than the day of 1's
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birth. And everyone rejoiced at his
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birth. The Angel Gabriel said so
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they'll be filled with joy and everyone will rejoice.
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But the day he died, talk about heaven's rejoicing.
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Talk about his home and glory, his reward in heaven, an
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unforgettable man. The Bible tells us the book of
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Proverbs, the memory of the righteous will last forever.
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And yet there is one more point. I told you I had eight.
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I've given you 7, that there's one more point that is extremely
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relatable to everyone in the room that you need to understand
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about John. It's a point that is
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unimaginable because it was John who had an unimaginable moment
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unlike any other moment in his life that marked him, that
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caused Jesus to say there's never been a man born of a woman
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greater than John in that unimaginable moment, which is
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point #8 I'll talk to you about next week.
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Let's pray. Father God, we thank you for
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today and thank you for the ministry of John the Baptist.
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Matthew records it. Mark records it.
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Luke records it. John records it. 4 Gospels
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highlight the ministry of this man.
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Extremely peculiar, extremely different.
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Nothing that we would deem successful in this day and age
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for sure. Nothing that we would want to
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put up as a model for others to follow.
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But you did. And I pray that we would look at
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John and realize the impact that he made in just an 18 month
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ministry. That's it.
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And then you took him home. And yet, Lord, the man's life
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was incredible. Maybe learn from him.
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Maybe learn to model him because you said he was the greatest man
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born of a woman. And so, Father, we just ask that
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you go before us. You help us to live in light of
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your word until you come again, as you most surely will, in
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Jesus name, Amen.