Podcast appearances and mentions of john the baptists

Return of the Man-Child (6)  (audio) David Eells – 4/6/25  We know that in the Gospels, the Lord has shown us that the things that happened in those times are going to happen again around the world. In fact, He gave us these as types and shadows of prophecies which shall come to pass in our days. Praise the Lord! God has hidden so many wonderful things in His Word. Father, we thank You for opening our eyes and bringing us into agreement with You. You say, “How can two walk together except they be agreed?” So, Lord, it is so awesome to see what You are doing so that we can cooperate with You and be used as vessels of Your glory in these coming days. We are just so happy to hear about the great revival You have planned for us that is almost upon us, Lord. We want to be partakers in that and let You use us in it. We thank You so much, Lord, in Jesus' name.  I'd like to go back and talk a little bit more about the John the Baptist ministry because there's much still to cover. (Mat.3:1) And in those days cometh John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, saying, (2) Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (3) For this is he that was spoken of through Isaiah the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make ye ready the way of the Lord, Make his paths straight (or “make a straight path for Him”). John's job was to prepare people for the coming of Jesus, and there is a corporate John the Baptist ministry in our day whose job it is to prepare for the coming of Jesus in the Man-child.  Remember, Jesus said He was coming again on the morning of the third day (Hosea 6:2), which is where we are now. We're at the third millennial day from Jesus, when He came the first time as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth (Hos.6:3). He came as the former rain, and now He is coming as the latter rain in a corporate body of people. We'll return to that text, but first, let's look at this. (Luk.1:12) And Zacharias was troubled when he saw [him,] and fear fell upon him. (13) But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: because thy supplication is heard, and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. (14) And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. (15) For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.   There is also a fulfillment of that in our time. Remember that Paul spoke about being separated from my mother's womb (Gal.1:15), meaning he was being born out of the Jewish religion. In John's case, it could be taken that way as well, although Luke literally meant “from his (John the Baptist's) mother's womb.” I believe this John the Baptist ministry in our day is going to be the spiritual fulfillment of that corporate body. I believe that they will be anointed from their spiritual “mother's womb”, or, in other words, they are delivered out of their religion. The woman in Revelation 12 who birthed the Man-child and other later seeds represents the Church who brings forth these seeds as they grow up and mature.  Luke goes on to describe what we know to be a great revival that is coming because this John the Baptist ministry is on the verge of coming forth, probably after the next great judgment. Luke continues, And many of the children of Israel shall he turn unto the Lord their God (Luk.1:16). Notice that it states “many of the children of Israel,” so this refers to those who were considered to be God's people. However, they were not who they thought they were. Jesus had a great problem with people like that, who believed they were right with God because of their religion. But He said that the Father had sent Him to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24). In our day, we have the same situation. There are a lot of lost sheep in Christianity, and the Man-child ministry of our day is going to be sent to them as the fulfillment of that in our day. (1Co.10:11) Now these things happened unto them by way of example; and they were written for our admonition (referring to Christians), upon whom the ends of the ages are come. It says, “Many of the children of Israel shall He turn unto the Lord their God.” That's a great revival!  (Luk.1:17) And he shall go before his face (that is, Jesus' face, or in our day, it would be the Man-child's face) in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children … What He means by that, I believe the Lord showed me, and this is also in Malachi, to “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,” is that we need the heart that our fathers had. We need to have the diligence and discipleship that our early Church fathers had. God is going to restore what has been lost to the Church for the last 2000 years. He said in Malachi that if He did not do this, He would have to smite the earth with a curse (Mal.4:6). (Luk.1:17) And he shall go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient [to walk] in the wisdom of the just … This will be the result of the John the Baptist ministry in our day. People will be seeking righteousness, purity, holiness, and repentance. This was the main message that John had, to “make ready for the Lord” a people prepared for Him. His ministry will be to prepare hearts to recognize Jesus.  Interestingly, most Christians could not recognize Jesus if He walked in the door. That's the whole reason for this repentance. We don't have eyes to see and ears to hear unless we have repented, which is the ministry of John the Baptist, who came to turn the people back to the Lord. If you turn to the Lord, you can hear and you can see; you can recognize someone spiritual. But not if you're dull of hearing and have closed eyes like Jesus talks about when He says, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given (Mat.13:11). He was referring to His own people here who had become blind and hard of hearing, and who did not recognize Jesus. They didn't know the importance of His words and didn't lay any importance on the sanctification that was in those words. Also, it says, This is He that was spoken of through Isaiah the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make ye ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight (Mat.3:3). In other words, “make a straight path for your connection with the Lord and His coming into your life.”  This is a part of Isaiah. (Isa.40:1) Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. (2) Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem; and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. It sounds like that's when John came because this is a prophecy of John, which we'll see when we look at the next verses. They had just come through a time of judgment, and this probably softened them up to be ready to repent when John preached and baptized in the river. He said that they had received double for all their sins. As we read on, we are going to see this again. (Isa.40:3) The voice of one that crieth, Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of the Lord … The way to the Lord is in the wilderness. It is not in the city; it is not in apostasy; it is not in Babylon.   The way to the Lord is in the wilderness, as Moses told Pharaoh (Exodus 10) because you cannot serve God in Egypt. We have to go into the wilderness to serve God and that's exactly what is going to happen here. We're going into a wilderness where people will once again learn to walk by faith. (Hab.2:4) … But the righteous shall live by his faith. (Heb.10:38) But my righteous one shall live by faith … (Isa.40:3) The voice of one that crieth, Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of the Lord; make level in the desert a highway for our God. In other words, make a way for His entrance into your life. You have to get all the stones out of the way; you have to remove anything that is between you and God. That's what the John the Baptist ministry is going to be all about.  (Isa.40:4) Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low (God is saying about this coming time, that when a person is humbled, then they'll be exalted and when a person is exalted, then they'll be humbled.); and the uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain: (Isa.40:5) and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. It was prophesied of John to speak this, and in the letter, Isaiah was referring to the coming of Jesus. But Jesus said He was coming again on the morning of the third day, at the latter rain, and He's going to come in His Man-child company first. His purpose is to fill His whole body with His glory. You know that we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory (2Co.3:18). “Beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord” is the real Gospel and the people have forgotten that it's the Good News. They've forgotten that the Lord has done this; it is not us. We have faith in Him.  (Isa.40:6) The voice of one saying, Cry. And one said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. (7) The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the breath (or the “spirit”; it's the same word) of the Lord blewit upon it; surely the people is grass. (8) The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand forever. (9) O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up on a high mountain; O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold, your God! This is prophesied of John the Baptist. “Behold, your God!”   The Lord is coming, folks! This is an exciting thing about the days to come. We're going to see the Lord again. No, not in His first physical body, but it's going to be Him manifested in His people. This is the great joy that God's people are going to have, and this is why no one will make them afraid in the wilderness because God's people are those who do truly desire Him and invite Him into their hearts to truly live, not as religion says, but for the truth.  The next verse speaks of His coming. (Isa.40:10) Behold, the Lord God will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him … (Isa.53:1) … To whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? That was Jesus and it is still Jesus today. Jesus in you is still the arm of the Lord that strengthens His hands to do His work, and He calls us His hands in Isaiah 53:10. (Isa.40:10) Behold, the Lord God will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him: Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. Notice that His recompense is before Him. That sounds like what we just read, that Jerusalem has paid double for her sins. It sounds as if judgment is coming before the Lord comes, and I believe that the Lord is showing us exactly that through many revelations, dreams, and visions. We'll return to that topic shortly, but it says, Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the earth (that is where we are), Say ye to the daughter of Zion (The daughter is born-again Zion, the New Jerusalem.), Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him (Isa.62:11). We can see that in two ways: First, we know that Jesus is coming in the Man-child as the white horse rider (Revelation 6:2) to bring judgment, like Moses came to bring judgment. But, and this is very interesting, it could also mean that there will be judgment before He comes, as we just read in Isaiah 40:2. (Isa.40:11) He will feed his flock like a shepherd (Ezekiel 34 refers to that – that He will shepherd His own sheep, His own flock.), he will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom, [and] will gently lead those that have their young. That sounds great, doesn't it? Praise the Lord! Glory to God! John the Baptist isn't such a bad guy. He's going to bring the beginning of a massive world revival.  (Mat.3:4) Now John himself had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his food was locusts and wild honey. (5) Then went out unto him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about the Jordan. That sounds like a revival exactly as Luke 1 prophesied of John, that there would be a great move of repentance in God's people. What would cause God's people to repent like this? I believe, according to Isaiah 26, that one of the main things that moves God's people toward repentance is judgment. A very shaking judgment is coming, not only to America, but also to the world, and I believe that this may be the beginning of a John the Baptist ministry, which many will listen to. Something has to happen for God's people to listen and it is spoken about in Isaiah. (Isa.26:8) Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee. So I think God is going to catch people's attention with judgment and then He's going to bring the John the Baptist ministry, which will have a message of repentance.  (Mat.3:5) Then went out unto him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about the Jordan; (6) and they were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Notice that “Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about the Jordan went out unto him, and they were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.” (Mat.3:7) But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said unto them, Ye offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (8) Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of repentance: (9) and think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. We see here that there were two kinds of people who came to the John the Baptist revival. Those who were worthy and those who were not worthy. So, according to Jesus, even those who were actually sons of their father, the devil (John 8:44), were coming out there to that revival.  Now, it just so happens that we received a revelation that really fits this John the Baptist revival, the repentant burning up of the wood, hay, and stubble, and the two kinds of people there. Kendall Remmick received this on February 7, 2010. My comments are in parentheses.  I was walking down an old, familiar street with a friend whom I never did see in the dream. I knew the person standing next to me was a friend, but I did not know his identity. (It could have been the Lord. Who knows?) The street is the one I used to walk home on every day from school when I was in the first and second grades. (I think he's going to give us a revelation here of the path of immaturity, as you'll realize shortly.) My friend and I walked by one house that had some low evergreen bushes about two feet high, and there was a woman sitting in a chair in the midst of the bushes. She was pregnant and had her hands on either side of her stomach in anticipation of giving birth. In appearance, she was actually a silhouette of a woman, yet still three-dimensional. Inside the silhouette was black darkness, like deep space with no stars. Staring at her was like looking at a portal into darkness. (This is talking about the apostate, immature Church in whom is the absence of God's light. It is space, a vacuum, the absence of many things, but especially God's light. The Church is in bad shape, andi it's not the glorious Church that it's soon to become. God has a plan and He is going to tell you about that here.)  When we walked past her, either my friend or I said, “She's about to give birth to twins.” (The interpretation that came to me as I read this is that the twins represent the end-time Jacobs and Esaus born to the immature Church. Remember Jacob and Esau wrestled in the womb, And the children struggled together within her (Gen.25:22), and they were opposites, weren't they? Jacob is the father of the 12 patriarchs, just as Jesus was the “father” of the 12 patriarch apostles. In our day, the endtime Man-child will be used to raise up the patriarch apostles to the end-time Church. So there are parallels there and history always repeats, so we should expect this. Esau represents those who have sold their birthright, as Paul said in Hebrews 12:16. These two types will be separated at birth, and Esau will persecute Jacob, who is a type of the Man-child. Jacob was the father of the 12 patriarchs, and the Man-child will also raise up the patriarchs in our day. These two different types are being born to this Church, very similar to what we saw in Matthew 3. Some sold their birthright because they were sons of Abraham, and there is the true seed of promise.)  At this point, we looked away and continued to walk forward a few steps. I then stopped and noticed that I had a very small lawnmower in my right hand. The woman who was in the small hedge was behind us now, and the yard had grown very big. The grass needed to be mowed, but it wasn't green. It was golden yellow-brown, like wheat. And I realized that we were there to mow the lawn. (Now we're back to what we just read: (Isa.40:6) The voice of one saying, Cry. And one said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass … So the yard of the woman, who represents the Church, has a large, grassy lawn, which represents lots of flesh. (Isa.40:6) The voice of one saying, Cry. And one said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. (7) The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the breath (or the “spirit”; it's the same word) of the Lord bloweth upon it; surely the people is grass. (8) The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand forever. This is truly going to be a revival because of the Spirit of God breathing upon the flesh, withering it up. This is a part of the John the Baptist revelation of Isaiah 40. This is what we need in preparation for the coming of the Lord into our lives in a greater way than we have ever known, in the latter rain movement.)  I looked down at the little lawnmower in my hand. The top of it looked like a regular lawnmower, but the bottom side, where the blades were, looked like a house fan with a safety screen on it. (My interpretation is that a corporate John the Baptist ministry will breathe out the winds of the Spirit. That will cut down the flesh of the Church in repentance to prepare for the coming of the Man-child ministry.) I began to laugh and said, “I can't mow this lawn with this little thing. This lawn is huge!” (Meaning that flesh is abundant in the worldwide Church. This is a worldwide John the Baptist ministry coming to a worldwide Church and their job is cutting the grass. I recently had a lady tell me that she saw me mowing her lawn and I said, “That means I'm cutting your flesh.” This should be the work of every minister, to cut down the flesh to make room for the coming of the Lord.)  My friend said, “Well, sit down on the grass.” (I believe that this represents that these ministers are going to be tested. They haven't been anointed yet, so they'll have to be tested. I believe they're being tested right now, that John the Baptists and the future Man-childs are out there right now. The thing is, they haven't been anointed. I don't know if you've ever noticed, but evangelists like John the Baptist can say less and see more people come to an altar or any other form of receiving the Lord. Their message is very simple, but people just seem to flock to them. It's a gift, an anointing that God gives. These people could be preaching away right now, but it's Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts (Zec.4:6). Great revivals come by the Spirit of God. He is going to grant repentance, the Bible says. He can grant it to anybody. He doesn't even need your help to do it. A great revival is going to be just that; it's going to be a lot of people coming to repentance and wondering what happened. There's nothing from the outside you can observe that would tell you why this is happening, but you know that it's a move of God.)  When they set the mower down in the grass, it cut surprisingly well. But we realized that the lawnmower was way too small, so we agreed that we needed to go home and get a bigger lawnmower. (When the anointing comes on the worldwide John the Baptist ministries from Heaven, which is our real home because this world is not our home and we're going back home, the people will be prepared for the coming of the Man-child ministries. (Mat.11:10) This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send My messenger before thy face, Who shall prepare thy way before thee. Malachi 3:1 calls him “messenger.”   We once had a brother come and share, and the Lord had been telling me for weeks beforehand that this brother was a John the Baptist, and so when I told Brother Brad to put a banner up on the site to let everyone know he was coming, Brad said that the Lord had spoken to him that this was a John the Baptist. I said, “I know that; the Lord has spoken the same thing to me.” And then, the first thing that the brother said when he opened his mouth was that he was a messenger. I said, “Aha! You just confirmed something for me.” Of course, he didn't know that he was a John the Baptist. A lot of people don't know who they are, but it doesn't matter that you don't know who you are. It matters that you follow the Will of God until you find yourself in the Will of God. Praise the Lord! He can do this!)  When I was writing this, a verse came to me. (Amo.7:2) And it came to pass that, when they made an end of eating the grass … (In Daniel 4, the Beast Nebuchadnezzar, who was the head of the Babylonian Empire, had been given over to the mind of a beast and had devoured much flesh. But when he was delivered over to the mind of the beast, he devoured the flesh of the field for seven years, representing the nations that he was conquering. The nations of the Beast were conquered. Why is God raising up the Beast? He's raising up the Beast to cut the grass. He's not raising up just the John the Baptists who preach repentance, but He's also raising up the Beasts that put you on the cross in the first place. People don't want to see the Beast. They don't have any idea what the meaning and the purpose of the Beast is. They don't understand that God raises up the Beast to put His people on the cross; in other words, “to cut the grass,” so that they will humble themselves before God.)  (There's only one escape from the Beast, folks, and people are going to realize that it's going to be the Highway of Holiness. The Beast can't go on the Highway of Holiness. If you're walking holy before the Lord, Isaiah 35 says the Highway of Holiness goes to Zion, the City of God, the holy city, the mountain of God's presence, where also the Beast cannot tread. There is a place of safety from the Beast. God is going to make people understand that and that's why people are going to flock to Zion. We know that the John the Baptist ministry is baptized for the death of the flesh before the Man-child brings the latter rain.)  The lawnmower is the ministry before the latter rain. (He had that right because I had that revelation as I was reading from the top down, and I didn't know he had that there, but the ministry before the latter rain is the John the Baptist ministry. The dry grass is the saints who will die to the flesh. John the Baptist came in the anointing of Elijah, the Bible says. He will also come again in our time, to fulfill this revelation.)  According to Jesus, Elijah comes twice. (Mat.17:10) And his disciples asked Him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elijah must first come? (11) And he answered and said, Elijah indeed cometh, and shall restore all things: (12) but I say unto you, that Elijah is come already (So He said that Elijah was future and that Elijah had come already.), and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they would. Even so shall the Son of man also suffer of them. (Mat.17:13) Then understood the disciples that He spake unto them of John the Baptist. John the Baptist was Elijah (spiritually), who had come the first time, and now we have another John the Baptist Elijah that is coming. According to Jesus, he is coming twice.  Our text in Matthew 3 is an interesting revelation of a great revival and wave of repentance. We have had revivals, but a revival always starts with repentance, not just questionable signs and wonders. And for wise people, they are not even questionable. John the Baptist preached against such Babylonish hypocrisy as the Saul leadership, which we saw and understood must die before the David leadership could come.  I was talking with a brother one time about the John the Baptist ministry or evangelists in general, about how different they were, in that they generally stuck with the basics. The brother told me that the Lord had been telling him to get back to the basics, and I recognized that was what the Lord had taught me about evangelists or John the Baptist-type ministries. They're speaking to a people who do not have eyes to see or ears to hear, but through the preaching of repentance God is going to give them eyes and ears. They need to get the basics first in order to come into the Kingdom. The John the Baptists and evangelists both are speaking to people who are not yet fully manifested coming into the Kingdom, and also to apostate ministries, to bring them to repentance. You cannot bring a deep word; in fact, a deep word will just hinder their work.  John the Baptist had a real simple message of repentance, which is more than just crying at an altar. It is changing your mind, turning, going the other way. The Bible says, For godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation, [a repentance] which bringeth no regret: but the sorrow of the world worketh death (2Co.7:10). That means you might repent, but you'll regret it and go right back where you came from. The sorrow of the world is that way, but real repentance changes a person. It does not matter if you cry or not. Repentance is not necessarily crying; it's changing your mind enough to where you reject your old way of thinking, which is the main problem.  Another text in Matthew 11 speaks about John the Baptist's simple ministry, and perhaps he didn't yet understand a few things. It seems very plain here. (Mat.11:1) And it came to pass when Jesus had finished commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and preach in their cities. (2) Now when John heard in the prison the works of the Christ, he sent by his disciples (3) and said unto him, Art thou he that cometh, or look we for another? Now, why did he say that? It may be that Jesus was not living up to expectations, not that Jesus wasn't already doing great work. Maybe in John's eyes He wasn't living up to the expectations of what they thought the Messiah was going to bring. I'm referring to the religious crowd of his day; they didn't expect Him to come this way or act this way. John likely had some of that in him because he asked the question through his disciples, “Art thou he that cometh, or look we for another?”   (Mat.11:4) And Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and tell John the things which ye hear and see: (5) the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good tidings preached to them. (6) And blessed is he, whosoever shall find no occasion of stumbling in me. Well, that was a mild reproof for John, to tell John, “You shouldn't stumble; don't stumble in Me.” Jesus was the “stone of stumbling” (Romans 9:33) and people did stumble over Jesus. But He warned John not to stumble over Him because there was a big difference between their ministries. John preached repentance and Jesus was an enigmatic teacher of the deep things of God. He had deep revelations of these things. We never had any sign that John ever went beyond the basic preaching of faith and repentance, which is what is needed to prepare the way for the coming of the teaching. People are not even interested in that unless they have changed their mind and turned to God. We hear many times of people who, after repenting and turning to God, ask Him to lead them to truth, and God did that for them. He led them to truth because they had repented and truly became a disciple, but they needed some “food.”  The important thing is that when John is through with you, you're ready for Jesus. That is what's coming in our day. When an evangelist is through with you, you're ready for a teacher. So God is laying the foundation, and He always does a very good job of that. (Mat.11:7) And as these went their way, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to behold? a reed shaken with the wind? (8) But what went ye out to see? a man clothed in soft [raiment]? Behold, they that wear soft [raiment] are in king's houses. John was not a fancy person at all, was he? He certainly did not eat fancy food. (Mat.11:9) But wherefore went ye out? to see a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet. This is a great prophet. (10) This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, Who shall prepare thy way before thee. As we'll see a little further down in the text, John was the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, according to Jesus, not because he spoke a lot of great things, but because of the anointing and the preparation and the job that he had to do. Once again, God is choosing a people through whom He is going to do a great work. Many of God's people are going to turn to God through this ministry, a worldwide ministry.  (Mat.11:11) Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist: yet he that is but little in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. In Jesus' day, John came at the end of the Old Covenant and was an Old Covenant prophet who was, at that time, preparing for a New Covenant; it was the old order preparing for the new order. The old and new orders are slightly different in our day but still have to follow according to the pattern. The old order in our day is the former rain ministry, and I know not many people have even come into that. This is really sad because, if you just read the Bible and pay attention to it, not getting distracted by religion, you cannot help but realize that you're supposed to be filled with God's Holy Spirit.  I believe the John the Baptist ministries that are coming in our day are going to fulfill being in the end of an old order, to prepare the way for the coming of a new order, which is the Man-child ministry. The John the Baptist in our day is going to come as the greatest prophet of the former rain and be a great ministry, bringing in multitudes of people. He will have the gifts of the former rain and be a former rain prophet, but the Man-child ministry is coming with the latter rain. That's the anointing that will fall upon the Man-child. The anointing that fell upon Jesus was the former rain, but the latter rain will fall upon the Man-child. We know that Jesus said He was coming again after two days on the morning of the third day, as the latter rain (Hosea 6:2-3).  So you see, Jesus is coming again, but this time He's coming as the new order for our day. He came as the new order for His day last time, and He's coming as the new order this time, as well, but He's coming after a John the Baptist ministry, which will be the greatest of the old order former rain. We know that the prophecy says that the rain will come, the former rain and the latter rain, in the first [month] (Joe.2:23). We see that there's a revival coming and it's going to be a revival of the former rain and the latter rain. The latter rain is going to supersede the former rain, and John the Baptist said just that. (Joh.3:30) He must increase, but I must decrease. In other words, “Don't get your eyes on me too long, boys, because there is coming One whose shoe latchets, I am not worthy to undo” (John 1:27). So John's disciples started getting the revelation of Who Jesus was, and they started following Him. John freely admitted that he was not the Messiah, but that the One Who was coming was greater.  (Mat.11:12) And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by force. How much more is this going to be true in the coming revival? Why do we have to take the Kingdom by force? Because there is a whole army standing against you, one over which you have been given authority. (Luk.10:19) Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in any wise hurt you. He gives us authority, but we have to fight a spiritual warfare to take the Kingdom of Heaven. It has been given, but you still have to take it with your “sword” (Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12). When God sent the children of Israel to take the Promised Land, they had to take it with their sword. God said, “You go in there with your sword, and I will be with you.” Basically, that's where we are today. We have to take the Kingdom with our sword. Why? Because there's a second heaven before the third Heaven.  We dwell in the first heaven, but the second heaven is filled with the principalities, powers, and world-rulers of darkness (Ephesians 6:12) that do everything they can to keep us from reaching the third Heaven. We don't take the Kingdom from God; we're taking it from these spiritual [hosts] of wickedness in the heavenly [places] (Eph.6:12). By the way, Paul was a type of the Man-child who entered the third Heaven. He said that he fought the good fight and finished the race (2 Timothy 4:7). We are fighting a fight to take the Kingdom of God, but we must take it here. People think that you don't enter the Kingdom on Earth, but you do. (Luk.17:20) And being asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God cometh, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: (21) neither shall they say, Lo, here! or, There! for lo, the kingdom of God is within you. So He says, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by force (Mat.11:12). Remember the authority that the Lord gave you. You have a right to everything that the Lord says is yours in this Book, but that doesn't mean you're going to get it if you don't take up your sword and fight. For everything that God has given you, you may have to fight. Don't expect God to just lay it in your hand. You may have to speak faith, act faith, and repent to receive it.  (Luk.17:13) For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. (14) And if ye are willing to receive [it,] this is Elijah, that is to come. (15) He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Praise the Lord! And so it is, we are about to enter into more of the Kingdom than we have ever experienced, or anybody has experienced, except the Lord. We're going to enter into it right here. And for some people to receive the former rain, repent of their sins, and become true disciples, it's going to be because of John's ministry. Then the Man-child ministry shall come, which is the latter rain. During the first 3½ years of Jesus' ministry, He was the only One Who had the former rain. When He was baptized by John in the river, He came up and the Spirit of God came upon Him; that was the former rain. At the end of His 3½-year ministry, He breathed on His disciples and said, Receive ye the Holy Spirit (Joh.20:22).   Their former rain came out of Jesus and in our day, it's a perfect parallel because the John the Baptist ministry in our day is going to have the former rain, while the Man-child ministry in whom Jesus lives is going to have the latter rain for the first 3½ years. At the end of that time, they're going to pass on their mantle to their disciples. Why didn't the disciples need it during the first 3½ years? It's because they were being trained under Jesus' authority. He said that He would send them “another Comforter” (Greek: Paraclete; John 14:16). Jesus was also a Paraclete, meaning “One who stands beside and helps.” But the Holy Spirit was also a Paraclete, and Jesus went away in order to send the Holy Spirit, Who would manifest Him in those disciples.  So for the first 3½ years, Jesus' disciples were given authority by Him to go and do the things that they would do. They needed the other Paraclete when Jesus left in order to continue with the anointing and the power. Jesus was the only One Who had the former rain for the first 3½ years, but He imparted that mantle to them, as Elijah had done to Elisha (2 Kings 2:13), who turned and faced 42 youths who were mauled by two bears (2 Kings 2:23-24). The bears were the Beast, and the 42 youths represented the 42 months of the last 3½ years. We're seeing the parallel there of passing on this anointing, this mantle. Elijah passed his mantle to Elisha, who went out and performed more miracles than Elijah ever did. So did the disciples of Jesus; they went out and did greater works than Jesus (John 14:12) because they were multiplied. This was Jesus in all of them, going out and performing the same works that Jesus was doing, so it was multiplied into many greater works.  This is going to be repeated again and the reason this revival is going to spread all over the world is because of a geometric progression, or the “stadium effect” we've spoken of before. The stadium effect is a circle inside a circle inside a circle, and each circle that receives the words spoken in the center passes it on to a larger circle. Everyone who receives the Word passes it on to more than one person, creating a progressively larger circle. Geometric progression is going to turn the world upside-down in these coming days, just as it did for these disciples. The Man-child ministry is going to teach under the latter rain for the first 3½ years and will impart that to the disciples, who are going to go on in the second 3½ years to raise up the five-fold ministry (Ephesians 4:11), and so on and so forth.  We saw in Acts 16 that Jesus was still with them in Spirit, just as Moses went halfway through the wilderness and had to put a veil on his face because there was a glorified man underneath. Then Moses went with the Israelites the rest of the way through the wilderness, which represents the last 3½ years of the Tribulation. We know that the wilderness is, according to Revelation 12 and 17, the first and second 3½ years of the Tribulation. So, every Man-child type in Scripture adds more and more detail to the final revelation. Praise God! He's going to do an awesome miracle, an awesome revival, that will start with John the Baptist and be carried on through Jesus and the Two Witnesses because they're the ones who were trained by Jesus. He sent them out two-by-two, in every place that He was about to go. Where is He going? The whole world, For as the lightning cometh forth from the east, and is seen even unto the west; so shall be the coming of the Son of man (Mat.24:27). That anointing will be passed from these ministries throughout the Church in this way and Jesus is going to raise up a body in His image. He will raise up the body of Christ.  We have been calling ourselves the body of Christ for a long time, but Jesus lives in the body of Christ, and He ministers from the body of Christ, so we're going to really see the body of Christ in the earth. Jesus will be famous from here on out. For the last 2000 years, His name has been small among the nations, but not so from here onward. The Lord is going to manifest His glory in this earth and people will fear the name of the Lord. They are either going to love Him or fear Him, but He is coming again, though not in the way the Pharisees and the Sadducees think. He didn't come the last time the way they thought He would, either. Once again, God has hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes (Mat.11:25). Praise God!   The Lord has a great plan to once again hide these things from the Pharisees and the Sadducees of our day. They will not understand it; they will not believe it; they cannot see Him, and they do not know Him. But, as Jesus said, those who come as a child to the Kingdom of God will do awesome wonders in the power of God, like He did through those ignorant fishermen. They were like babes to the great theologians who looked down on them, but these were the true believers, the true people of God. And in our day, it's going to be God coming in simplicity through John the Baptist. You couldn't imagine John the Baptist in a suit and tie in the wilderness, could you? He was a simple man here for a very important purpose, and I will guarantee you that's exactly what is going to happen. Praise God!   Thank You, Lord, for doing a mighty work. Amen!   The things God has spoken in Matthew are prophetic of something to come in the future. The prophet Isaiah also said the same thing: (Isa.7:14) Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign (The Hebrew word there is uwth, meaning “a sign of something to come.”): behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Jesus' birth to the virgin Mary was for a sign and we've discovered that Jesus' ministry was a sign of the coming Man-child ministry. When we look in the Gospels, we can also see a prophetic word about the coming days. Our study has reached the part where Jesus was anointed of the Holy Spirit, so we'll continue there. (Mat.3:16) And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway from the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him; (17) and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. This, too, is a prophecy of the things to come. As you know, Jesus spoke to us in John 16 and said that He was going to come again as a baby born to a woman, “a woman when she is in travail” (John 16:21). When we look all the way through the Bible, we come to Revelation 12:2 and there's the woman in travail with the Man-child.  After the sign that Jesus gave us here in Matthew, we know the Man-child is a corporate body coming forth in our day. It's interesting that everything that happened in the former rain is going to happen in the latter rain and this Spirit of God falling upon Jesus at this particular time was the outpouring of the former rain of the Holy Spirit that Joel prophesied would restore all things to the people of God (Joel 2:23). The former rain was given to Jesus first, who taught His disciples for 3½ years and then breathed on them, saying, Receive ye the Holy Spirit (Joh.20:22). Ten days later, a mighty, rushing wind came into their presence and baptized all of them in the Holy Spirit and they received the former rain.   But Jesus had it first and was the One Who breathed it on the disciples. Paul said that Jesus is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence (Col.1:18). And He is going to have the preeminence this time, as well. Many people leave Him out of their Manchild theology, but the point is that it is the Lord Who is coming to do this. The Lord came with the former rain, and He is the One coming with the latter rain, although He's coming in a different body. It is still Him coming to do it. He came in the body of the Son of David, the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15).  I know people want to make that the “seed of God,” but That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (Joh.3:6). Jesus was declared to be of the seed of David according to the flesh (Rom.1:3), but declared [to be] the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness (4). God was the Father of the spiritual man Jesus, the Son of God, Who came from Heaven, and it was Mary's seed that was the son of David. Jesus said, a body didst thou prepare for me (Heb.10:5), and that body was from man. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Once again, the Lord is going to take on a human body in these days and the body gets no credit; it is the Lord Who gets the credit.   But the Lord is coming to start the latter rain and though you've heard this before, I'll share it with you again briefly. (Hos.6:2) After two days will he revive us: on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live before him. (3) And let us know, let us follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is sure as the morning; and he will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth. “He will come unto us … as the latter rain that watereth the earth.” This is referring to the epiphany of Jesus, not the parousia of Jesus. The parousia is the physical coming of Jesus, but this latter rain is the epiphany of Jesus coming in His body. The first-fruits who are going to receive this blessing are called the Man-child ministry and it's on the morning of the “third day,” exactly what we see here in the text. It is Jesus who is coming to anoint His people and to, once again, sit upon the throne of David, as Luke 1:32 tells us; Jesus sat upon the throne of David.  The Bible also tells us, by the way, that the Man-child is going to be caught up unto God, and unto his throne (Rev.12:5). A lot of people do not realize that the throne the Man-child is caught up to is not some throne up in Heaven, way out yonder. It's the Kingdom of Heaven here. The “throne” that Jesus was caught up to is that He was given the throne of David to rule over Israel and He even came in the triumphal procession into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:9; John 12:13), where it was quoted, Behold, thy King cometh … (Mat.21:5; Joh.12:15). Of course, He wasn't treated like a King, was He? He was a King Who was born of the seed of David and was to sit on David's throne and rule Israel. The Bible tells us, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king (Jer.23:5), and that David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel (Jer.33:17). So, once again, the Man-child is caught up to the throne, but I want to tell you Who rules on that throne: it is not the Man-child; it is Jesus! Jesus is coming as the latter rain to rule.  Here's another verse that pertains to this: (2Ch.9:8) Blessed be the Lord thy God, who delighted in thee, to set thee on his throne, to be king for the Lord thy God. He's talking about the throne of David. We are still talking about flesh, aren't we? Who is that Spirit in David? Paul spoke about the Spirit of Christ, which was in the prophets and that Spirit of Christ was pointing toward the suffering of Christ in our day. So, who was in David who manifested that righteousness and goodness? It was Christ. He has always been on the throne; nobody else is going to sit on the throne. Oh, yes, there will be fleshly bodies that rule, just like there are in the Church today. There's the five-fold ministry that God raised up, and those are now our leaders in the Church. They rule, yet they really only have a gift that comes from the Lord, and it's the Lord manifested in them to Whom we are submitting. Paul said, Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ (1Co.11:1). In other words, “Follow me as I follow the Lord.”  The latter rain is in complete parallel to the former rain and the Lord is coming to rule in a body, to raise up the whole Church into His Image, the glory of God. (2Co.3:18) But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit. That's the Gospel! I believe that the Man-child is the first-fruits in our day to reach sun glory. There is “star glory,” there is “moon glory,” and there is “sun glory,” the three glories that Paul spoke about in 1 Corinthians 15:40-41. He said that we grow through each of them in stages to come to maturity in Christ, Who is sun glory  Notice that one of the key words spoken in the verses that we looked at from Hosea 6:3 is “rain.” (Hos.6:3) He will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth. This “rain” keys in on quite a few verses, especially in the Old Testament. Those verses give us little clues as to what's going to happen in the latter rain, not only for the Church, but also in the Tribulation, because the latter rain happens in the Tribulation, which is “on the morning of the third day,” the third thousand years from when Jesus came.   Now let's look at Micah 5. The chapter starts out speaking about Jesus. (Mic.5:2) But thou, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, which art little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel (that was Jesus); whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting. (3) Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she who travaileth hath brought forth (That's the woman bringing forth the Man-child in Revelation 12. He has given them up, but they are going to come back.): then the residue of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. However, the children of Israel in the New Testament are not those who are circumcised in flesh but circumcised in heart. That's what Paul tells us in Romans 2:28-29. His brethren are going to come back to the children of Israel, the ones who are grafted into the olive tree. As the Bible tells us, they're going to be grafted again back into their own olive tree that they were broken off from because of unbelief (Romans 11:23).   This is what He's referring to right here, but the wonderful thing, the thing that excites me, is this: (Mic.5:4) And he shall stand, and shall feed [his flock] in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God: and they shall abide; for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. This is the Lord coming as the latter rain, at the time that the woman brings forth the Man-child, and it says He is going to feed His flock. That excites me! The Lord is coming, folks! I love to think about His coming. He's coming to feed us and minister to us. The Lord is angry with the shepherds and what they have done unto His flock, as He tells you all through the Old Testament.  Some key verses that refer to the latter rain begin a little further down. (Mic.5:7) And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples as dew from the Lord, as showers upon the grass (There it is again, “showers upon the grass.”), that tarry not for man, nor wait for the sons of men. Wow! They are not dependent on this world, are they? People who love the latter rain are just carried by it. Without the Spirit of God, it is such a struggle to live and do His work and to minister as He called us to minister. It's a struggle without the Word of God. He makes it easy. We're supposed to give Him our burdens (Matthew 11:28-30). It's Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts (Zec.4:6). It will get done by God's Spirit. We have now wasted almost 2000 years and made very little progress, as far as Christianity being born in the earth, as Isaiah 26 tells us. In just a very short time, the anointing of God is going to do its work. The Lord Jesus is coming with that anointing to sit once more on the throne of David and rule over His born-again people.  (Mic.5:8) And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples (We are spread throughout the world among the beasts of the field, the Beast being the nations of lost mankind.), as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep; who, if he go through, treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and there is none to deliver. (9) Let thy hand be lifted up above thine adversaries, and let all thine enemies be cut off. He is referring to the Lord here, the Lord in His people. The Lord stands and feeds His flock, and the Lord raises up “seven shepherds, and eight principal men,” or “princes among men,” as stated in Micah 5:5. The seven shepherds are like the apostle John, who was also caught up to the throne as a type of the Man-child, but he gave a revelation of the end time to seven angels, who were then to bring it to the Church. The word “angel” is the same word as “messenger,” and it's used in the New Testament for not only heavenly-type angels or messengers but also earthly ministers. John is giving his revelation to seven ministers, who go forth to the seven churches. This is what Jesus did. He raised up disciples to go forth to the 12 tribes because He was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. John raised up seven ministers to go forth and bring the message of the end time to the seven churches. Here in this text, we see the same thing. We see the seven princes among men, and the eighth is Jesus in the midst.  We also see here that they are going to be used to bring judgment in the earth, that they will be like a lion and not like lambs. Jesus came as a Lamb and He sent out His sheep to be lambs in the midst of wolves (Luke 10:3), but now He is saying they will be like lions. Not only are they going to bring the Gospel, but they are also going to bring judgment, like the Two Witnesses company brought judgment upon the earth. The Two Witnesses represent the disciples of Jesus because Jesus sent them forth two-by-two, corporately, to the places He was supposed to go, and the same thing is going to happen to the Man-child ministers: they are going to send forth witnesses, two-by-two, and they are going to speak judgments. It is like Revelation 11 on the earth and upon the wicked. No, it's not going to be like a lamb this time. It's going to be the Lamb and the Lion this time.   There is judgment coming with the latter rain movement because the end is near. All nations are going to persecute the saints, but God is not going to leave them defenseless. He is raising up a Man-child ministry, who is raising up a Two Witness ministry, which is raising up a five-fold ministry. Remember the disciples that Jesus sent out ordained a five-fold ministry to lead and guide the Church. This is what we're referring to that will happen again in our day. The Spirit that is upon Jesus, the mantle that is upon Him, He put upon His disciples, and they put it upon the five-fold ministry, and so on. This same thing is going to happen. The anointing that is upon Jesus coming as the latter rain is going to be put upon His disciples, etc. This anointing is the latter rain. It's the power of the Holy Spirit.  There's another way that God speaks about coming judgment. (Rev.6:1) And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals (the first seal), and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, Come. (2) And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon had a bow; and there was given unto him a crown (this is the crown of David): and he came forth conquering, and to conquer. Notice that he had a bow but no arrows, and this is the first judgment. I have shared before that this is not really referring to the Antichrist, nor literally Christ. It's referring to the Man-child ministry, which is coming with judgment. Moses was the Man-child ministry in his day and he loosed all of the “horses” of judgment in his day. All of them followed his ministry. All of the judgments that fell upon Egypt came right out of Moses' mouth, and this is the same thing that's about to happen, according to type and shadow. The Man-child is the first judgment and because of his ministry, all those other horse judgments and the other seals are loosed upon the earth. This white horse rider is none other than the Lord in His Man-child.  We can see the same thing here: (Zec.10:1) Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain (We need to be praying for that now because it is very near.), [even of] the Lord that maketh lightnings; and he will give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field. There are ‘the showers' on the grass again. Peter said, All flesh is as grass (1Pe.1:24), and yet, the Lord said that He was going to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh (Acts 2:17). That refers to the Church because that is “all flesh,” men and women out of all nations. He is pouring out His rain upon the “grass of the field,” which Jesus said was the world (Matthew 13:38). This gives you the timing that we are talking about in the latter rain; this is a prophecy of our time. If we go back one chapter, we read, For I have bent Judah for me, I have filled the bow with Ephraim (Zec.9:13). What does Judah represent? Well, Jerusalem the Bride came from Judah, and David was from Jerusalem, and David ruled over the Bride in Jerusalem over the rest of Israel. He says, “I have filled the bow with Ephraim,” and the name “Ephraim” means “the fullness of nations.” That refers to what we just studied in Revelation; it's a different parable, but it means the same thing. A remnant of Jacob or Israel was going to be used by God and was going to receive the anointing of the Man-child through the seven shepherds, who went to the churches, etc.  So how is this going to spread all over the world in just seven short years? It will be like a geometric progression, starting with a 144,000-member Man-child, first-fruits people with an anointing. And that anointing is nothing to belittle; look at the miracles that Jesus did. And then consider the miracles that Jesus is going to do because The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former (Hag.2:9). The miracles of the Man-child through the Two Witnesses, through the five-fold ministry, and through the Church will spread very quickly. God is doing a quick work here, for the Lord will execute [his] word upon the earth, finishing it and cutting it short (Rom.9:28) in righteousness. He will fill His bow with Ephraim. Notice also that the Man-child who rode upon the white horse had a bow, but he did not have any arrows. He had already sent forth His arrows.   The Bible says that our children are our arrows. (Psa.127:4) As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, So are the children of youth. Jesus called His disciples “children” (John 21:5) and He sent them forth. He drew the bow and sent them forth as His arrows to bring His anointed, His works, and His ministry all around the world. The exact same thing is going to happen again. (Zec.9:13) For I have bent Judah for me, I have filled the bow with Ephraim; and I will stir up thy sons, O Zion (the Bride), against thy sons, O Greece (the Beast at that particular time), and will make thee as the sword of a mighty man. Anytime one of the Beasts (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece, Rome, etc.) is mentioned in the Bible, it's a type and a shadow of the end time. Well, He says He would stir up sons, so there's a war preparing to happen here.  Let's see what He says about this white horse rider. (Zec.10:1) Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain, [even of] the Lord that maketh lightnings; and he will give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field. (2) For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie; and they have told false dreams, they comfort in vain. He's referring to the ministry that is there when the Man-child comes. It's the same as the ministry that was there when Jesus came. They were into a lot of falsehood – a lot of false prophets, false shepherds – and they had dealt corruptly. The Lord was judging them, but He did not judge them like He is about to judge this time because it is the Lion who is coming this time. (Zec.10:2) For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie; and they have told false dreams, they comfort in vain: therefore they go their way like sheep, they are afflicted, because there is no shepherd. Remember, the Lord is mourning because there is not a shepherd in Israel. They are like sheep scattered without a shepherd. Of course, they had shepherds, but God was not calling them “shepherds” and that's the problem. So the Lord sent His Own right arm, the Lord Jesus.  (Zec.10:3) Mine anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the he-goats; for the Lord of hosts hath visited his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them as his goodly horse in the battle. You know, all those horses in Revelation 6 represent the harnessing of the flesh to do work. They were all judgments, but God was using different flesh to bring each kind of judgment. The kind of flesh that the Man-child is riding here is talking about Judah. David's authority was first received by the Bride because the capital city was Zion, which represents the Bride, and David was king in Zion.   The house of Judah will be “his goodly horse in the battle.” (Zec.10:4) From him shall come forth the corner-stone (which we know has happened), from him the nail (which we also know has happened), from him the battle bow … (And we know that happened. He sent forth Judah and Ephraim as the arrows. Judah is once again going to be in leadership, including the Lord Himself, Who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. They will raise up the whole Church and that's what Ephraim represents as the “fullness of nations.”), from him every ruler together. (Zec.10:5) And they shall be as mighty men, treading down [their enemies] in the mire of the streets in the battle … A lot of people do not know the authority God has given His people, especially in a time when grace is being taken from some. There is going to come a time during the Tribulation period when nobody else will repent. In fact, God will turn away from the Gentiles and He will turn to the remnant of the Jews that He is going to bring in, like He said He was going to do, back in Romans 11.  Once again, this white horse rider is going to bring judgment in the earth, like Moses did with the judgments he brought. (Zec.10:5) And they shall be as mighty men, treading down [their enemies] in the mire of the streets in the battle; and they shall fight, because the Lord is with them … That's another meaning of “Immanuel.” Remember the sign that the woman would conceive and bring forth a son and they would call His name “Immanuel,” meaning “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14)? Once again, “God is with us” because the Man-child is going to be born to the woman and God is going to be with us again. This is not saying that men will be God. It's saying that God is coming to do His works. If that offends anyone out there listening, the Bible says through Paul, Or know ye not as to your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you? unless indeed ye be reprobate (2Co.13:5). To the extent that you are bearing the fruit of Jesus, 30-, 60- and 100-fold, as in the Parable of the Sower, to that extent Jesus lives in you. We're just talking about Him coming in maturity in some people first in order to lead the rest into the same maturity. It's still Jesus, and He is still the Son of God. He is still God. (Zec.10:5) And they shall be as mighty men, treading down [their enemies] in the mire of the streets in the battle; and they shall fight, because the Lord is with them; and the riders on horses shall be confounded. Now, what is this referring to? God is leading the horsemen, yes, but they don't have any effect upon God's people. If you remember, in the Exodus, the judgments that fell upon Egypt, God separated His people in Goshen from those judgments (Exodus 8:22). So the riders on horses will be confounded in one aspect and that is concerning God's people because they are under the Passover; they are not under the curse.  (Zec.10:6) And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them back (Back from where? Bring them back from Babylon, back from bondage. They were the first ones to come out of bondage and build the city of God.); for I have mercy upon them; and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the Lord their God, and I will hear them. (7) And [they of] Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine; yea, t

This episode is part 4 in a study of the Gospel of Luke. John the Baptist is born and named. Zechariah gets his voice again and prophecies about his son and about the coming king. https://thebiblestudypodcast.com/luke-1-john-the-baptists-birth/ Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Pastor Bobby, as Christmas grows closer and closer, brings us closer to the Christmas story with this week's message; going over the story of John the baptists birth, addressing the miraculousness of the story, and the doubt of Johns father.

Pastor Bobby, as Christmas grows closer and closer, brings us closer to the Christmas story with this week's message; going over the story of John the baptists birth, addressing the miraculousness of the story, and the doubt of Johns father.

Pastor Daniel Wright preaches a message on the severity of rebellion: individually and nationally from the text of Hosea the prophet.  Currently, our nation has fallen so far from her spiritual roots.  Even the modern church by in large has succumb to severe moral compromise, and this nation needs modern John the baptists to preach, "Repent! For the Kingdom of God is at hand!" Email Us: info@heartofworshipchurch.com Visit Our Website: www.heartofworshipchurch.com Prayer Requests: pray@heartofworshipchurch.com

Jesus is the best at interrupting funerals. This Biblical story proves that! Not to mention, He calls a city back into its identity through one significant encounter. Later Pastor Josiah shares on John the Baptist's difficult moment of belief in what he knows to be true. Jesus is indeed the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world, but when he's been sitting in a jail cell for quite some time, the truth of that belief is being to sway. Still, Jesus encourages His cousin and testifies of the validity of His ministry through all the incredible fruit happening everywhere He went. Jesus' ministry increasing, as John the Baptists ministry of preparation was decreasing.

Text: Mark 6:14-29Today’s passage from Mark tells of the John the Baptists’ death at the hands of Herodius and the powers of the world. Mark does this to foreshadow Jesus’ death, who, like John the Baptist, spoke prophetically and was not welcomed by the powers of the world. Pastor Tim also expresses some thoughts regarding…

John, one of Jesus' closest disciples draws us to understanding the profound reality of different aspect of Jesus' God-ness. John's gospel is unique in it's presentation of Jesus, leaving us with no choice but to bow our lives to Him.

Fascinating. Thank you for listening! Please leave a 5 star review, share and subscribe!

When did pastors stop speaking to or calling out government leaders? Throughout the history of the Old and New Testaments, prophets and apostles called out their government leaders. Moses stood up to Pharaoh. Elijah stood up to King Ahab. Nathan spoke directly to King David. John the Baptist called King Herod to repentance. Martin Luther and the Lutheran reformers opposed their princes and emperor when they were wrong. The history of the Lutheran Church is filled with spiritual leaders speaking out to political leaders. So why aren't most clergy today speaking out for truth and justice? Some will claim that pastors should never discuss politics. But the truth is never political. Where are the John the Baptists of today? . Show Notes Contact the Podcast: RWJPodcast@gmail.com or www.raisedwithjesus.com/podcast  Click here to find a nearby congregation or church home.   yearbook.wels.net All rights reserved. Content used at this podcast comes from a variety of locations & sources.     Ask the Pastor requests: https://forms.gle/qqXHSwcerd5aPRUZ6    Resisting the Dragon's Beast notes:  Pastor Zarling's Book, Resisting the Dragon's Beast: https://a.co/d/33vpeyf  Fan Mail, questions, and comments: resistingthedragonsbeast@gmail.com   For more about the concept of “democide” – https://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/20TH.HTM   Tulsa Race Massacre – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsa_race_massacre     Gene Strusz's books: Morning Prayers for a Christian School: https://a.co/d/ajUEV8A  Essays on Coaching Christian Athletes: https://a.co/d/7HfQ5tk    Dr. John Brug's Lulu Store: https://www.lulu.com/search?contributor=John+Brug    Grace Abounds Reading Guides:  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19Tw74cyqt4ZNRcGpwjJ6l1XsT0ldhyxj    CW21 Daily Lectionary:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PN_RWjgV4wnvFALd8f4Hu3MvWAo8Jgh-/view?usp=sharing    Casting Nets Podcast: https://castingnetspod.podbean.com/ Apple   Spotify Contact Casting Nets: castingnetspod@gmail.com    Bethlehem Lutheran Church - Carmel, IN https://www.youtube.com/@bethlehemindiana    St. Stephen Lutheran Church - Adrian, MI https://www.youtube.com/@st.stephenevangelicalluthe7852    Impact Podcast - St. Andrew, Middleton WI https://st-andrew-online.org/impact/  RSS Link: https://feeds.libsyn.com/314675/rss    Prince of Peace - Thousand Oaks, CA https://www.princeofpeaceto.com  https://www.youtube.com/c/PrinceofPeaceTO/featured    Upside-Down Savior (Pastor Nate Nass) https://www.youtube.com/@upside-downsavior-pastorna1482    Water of Life Lutheran Church - Caledonia & Racine, WI https://www.wateroflifelutheran.com  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcICs1dldnmZ-rcBqs4QtVQ    Life Challenges Podcast https://christianliferesources.com/life-challenges-podcast/    Dust and Breath Podcast https://dustandbreathpod.buzzsprout.com/1071946  Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dust-and-breath/id1504141389?uo=4  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1Luw8MfSUa2bcA8ljaomu5  Google Play: https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8xMDcxOTQ2LnJzcw==    St. Paul Lutheran Church - Ottawa, ON, Canada https://www.stpaulottawa.org/  https://www.youtube.com/c/StPaulOttawa    Worship at the Anvil Podcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/worship-at-the-anvil/id1601290288  https://anchor.fm/s/6f8bf9b0/podcast/rss  Also on Spotify.   Martin Luther College - New Ulm, MN https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG3EyO6dSM4-5Ujr2HM9ExA    His Word 360 (WLS Prof. Rev. Stephen Geiger) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd542RpYW_KSrkEBUSNw-Lg    WELS Streams: https://www.youtube.com/c/welsstreams    WELS Congregational Services: https://vimeo.com/welscongserve  https://vimeo.com/wels    Point of Grace Campus Ministry https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsI7Z5KbPwLdHeIVj_l1z_A    Pilgrim Lutheran Church - Menomonee Falls WI https://www.youtube.com/user/pilgrimlutheran  Through My Bible readings by Rev. Martin Spriggs.  Audio accessed at https://wels.net/serving-you/bible/through-my-bible-archive/  Produced 2023 by Pastor Hagen: pastorhagen@icloud.com or (419) 262-8280  Music from Joseph McDade: https://josephmcdade.com #raisedwithjesus #lutheran #sanctification #toledome #toledo #welstoledo #jesus #bible #podcast #dailyjesus #jesusdaily #jesusfortoledo #rwjdaily #rwjpodcast #toledochurch #nwohio #nwohiochurch #thisistoledo  Resurrection - Maumee: Family Bible Hour at 10:15 AM, Worship on Sundays at 9 AM & 11:15 AM 2250 S. Holland Sylvania Rd - Maumee, OH Contact RWJ: RWJPodcast@gmail.com (419) 262-8280 CCLI Copyright License 11582729 and Streaming License 20003552 

  Daily Anglican prayer Monday morning prayer 18th March 2024. Readings NRSV:  Psalm 41; Jeremiah 40. 1-12; Matthew 21. 23-26. Led by Felicity Scott, a Liturgical Assistant at St John the Baptist Anglican Church Bulimba, QLD, Australia. Music by John Keys – Anglican Chant Canticle organ accompaniments. The full prayer transcript is available by going to this episode on the Podcast website. https://dailyprayeranglicanprayerbookforaustralia.podbean.com Welcome to Monday Morning prayer from the Anglican ‘A prayer book for Australia'. We proclaim the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ: GOD in his infinite mercy, forgives all sins, and through our baptism in the name of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, we are given a rebirth into new life, free from the burden of all sin. ALLELUIA With faithfulness we respond to the good news: We acknowledge Christ as our saviour and accept with gratitude, that we are forgiven for all wrong doings, past and present. To honour the gift of forgiveness, we release our burden of guilt and go forth participating in conduct that brings our best self to each and every day forever more. Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Blessed be God forever. Let us Pray.       1 God's love has been poured into our hearts, through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.  Romans 5.5      Glory to God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit:  as in the beginning, so now, and for ever. Amen.       2 The Opening Canticle, A Song of God's Marvellous Acts I will sing a new hymn to my God:  O Lord you are great and marvellous,  you are marvellous in your strength, invincible.  Let the whole creation serve you:  for you spoke and all things came to be;  You sent out your Spirit and it formed them:  no one can resist your voice.  Mountains and seas are stirred to their depths:  rocks melt like wax at your presence;  But to those who revere you:  you still show mercy.  Judith 16.13–15      3 The Opening Prayer The night has passed and the day lies open before us;  let us pray with one heart and mind.       Silence may be kept. As we rejoice in the gift of this new day,  so may the light of your presence, O God,  set our hearts on fire with love for you;  now and for ever.  Amen.      4 The Psalms as appointed. A pause is observed after each. Psalm 5 At the end of the (last) pause there may follow Creator Spirit, Advocate promised by our Lord Jesus: increase our faith and help us to walk in the light of your presence, to the glory of God the Father; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.      6 One or two Readings from the Bible as appointed.   1st Reading       2nd Reading Matthew 21.23-26 23 When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?' 24 Jesus said to them, ‘I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?' And they argued with one another, ‘If we say, “From heaven”, he will say to us, “Why then did you not believe him?” 26 But if we say, “Of human origin”, we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.'    The readings may be followed by a period of silence, a reflection   May your word live in us  and bear much fruit to your glory 2-minute Homily: Today is Monday of the fifth week of lent, it is then fitting that in this excerpt of Matthew, the Scribes choose to take the fifth when Jesus counter questions them on their beliefs of John the Baptists authority.   Why didn't Jesus answer them, what harm would it have done? All he had to say was the truth that he was under the Fathers authority. What He gained by not answering was their own reflection on their beliefs of people who proclaim they are heaven sent or people who speak with authority as John did.   Then so today as we read this, we dwell on the same question, if a person spoke with authority today, words that no one else had spoken, would we belief their message to be heaven sent or would we degrade them of those words and declare them a fake like the scribes did.   Our culture today speaks of open mindedness and listening to those with a new message, certainly by listening to my homily you are being open minded to my authority to give you a reflection on this Gospel reading. So today as you go about your day, give people a chance to teach you something new without needing to ask under what authority they speak, just listen and let the message be heard.   Amen     7 The Canticle, A Song of Isaiah ‘Behold, God is my salvation:  I will trust and will not be afraid;  ‘For the Lord God is my strength and my song:  and has become my salvation.'  With joy you will draw water:  from the wells of salvation.  On that day you will say:  ‘Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name;  ‘Make known his deeds among the nations:  proclaim that his name is exalted.  ‘Sing God's praises, who has triumphed gloriously:  let this be known in all the world.  ‘Shout and sing for joy, you that dwell in Zion:  for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.'  Isaiah 12.2–6      8 The Apostles' Creed may be said. I believe in God, the Father almighty,  creator of heaven and earth.  I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,  who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,  born of the virgin Mary,  suffered under Pontius Pilate,  was crucified, died, and was buried;  he descended to the dead.  On the third day he rose from the dead;  he ascended into heaven,  and is seated at the right hand of the Father;  from there he will come to judge  the living and the dead.  I believe in the Holy Spirit,  the holy catholic Church,  the communion of saints,  the forgiveness of sins,  the resurrection of the body,  and the life everlasting. Amen.       9 The Prayers Lord have mercy.  Christ have mercy.  Lord have mercy.       10 The Lord's Prayer and the Collect of the Day Our Father in heaven,  hallowed be your name,  your kingdom come,  your will be done,  on earth as in heaven.  Give us today our daily bread.  Forgive us our sins  as we forgive those who sin against us.  Save us from the time of trial  and deliver us from evil.  For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours  now and for ever. Amen.    Ash Wednesday Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing that you have made, and you forgive the sins of all who are penitent: create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Prayer of the Week   We thank you, heavenly Father, that you have delivered us from the power of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of your Son: we pray that as by his death he has recalled us to life, so by his presence abiding in us he may raise us to joys eternal; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.   11 Intercessions and Thanksgivings may be made according to local custom and need. God, how great your majesty abounds before us. We thank you for all your generosity. May the peace and blessings of our Lord Jesus Christ be abundant across all nations and countries for ever more. God of grace Hear our prayer   Holy God divine and merciful, your blessing on the people is loved by all, for which our gratitude knows no end. Grant, we pray, your saving blessing on all those experiencing times of trouble or strife, that they may receive the guidance of wisdom to lead them to a path of safety. God of grace Hear our prayer   Almighty God, hear our prayer to bring about a change throughout the people, we ask you to relay the wisdom to each man and woman how to co-exist in peace and the will to do so, to continue to respect one another and teach their offspring to do the same. God of Grace. Hear our Prayer   Lord God of all might and mercy, we call on your intervention, the country and people of Ukraine and Israel call on your help to set them free from their oppressors and to rebuild their country to live a live free from atrocity. Lord in your mercy; Hear our prayer.   Loving God, we ask your blessing for those listed on the Anglican cycle of prayer: The Diocese of Costa Rica – Iglesia Anglicana in the Region of Central America The Diocese of North Queensland: The Parish of Indooroopilly: Abri Residential Aged Care – Gold Coast The Springfield Anglican College, Springfield All Parishes seeking clergy. All Anglican schools seeking chaplains. All Prison ministry chaplaincy teams All people joining in this prayer offering. God of Grace: Hear our prayer   O God, our heavenly father, We remember this day your faithful servant Cyril of Jerusalem who died in 386; Raised up to be a bishop in your church And to feed your flock: Give abundantly to all bishops and other pastors The gifts of your Holy Spirit, So that they may minister in your household As true servants of Christ And stewards of your Holy mysteries; Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God for ever and ever. Amen     12 The Morning Collect Eternal God and Father,  by whose power we are created  and by whose love we are redeemed:  guide and strengthen us by your Spirit,  that we may give ourselves to your service,  and live this day in love to one another and to you;  through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.      13 The Lord be with you. And also with you.  Let us praise the Lord.  Thanks be to God.    God did not give us a spirit of cowardice  but a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.  May we rekindle the gift of God within us.  Amen. see 2 Timothy 1.6–7

If the writing staff is allowed to cite previous show notes as precedent and therefore indisputable, bedrock fact … and we believe we are … then we feel comfortable once again bringing you relevant words from the Guardian Angel of this podcast, the Patron Saint of Parrotheads and Knight of the Realm Sir James Buffett - “Changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes/nothing remains quite the same.” So wise, so succinct, so true … but Sir James doesn't give us much guidance as to what sort of attitudinal change we might expect. Thank the gods our boys Sid and Keith are here with this week's Overlap Podcast to help guide us along that sainted path, like two vaguely disheveled John the Baptists - it's all about the Attitude of Gratitude. Our boys will give us anecdotal answers, radical reflections, factual feelings, perspicacious perspectives and life-changing lessons to start 2024 off in the best possible way. So, forget your troubles, c'mon, get happy and tune in to this week's Overlap Podcast … and try not to realize that we went a hard Judy Garland turn there with that last reference. We know it doesn't quite fit with the rest of the conceit here, but Sid and Keith keep us locked in this basement each week until we finish writing and we've been here without food and water for 2.5 days so delirium and dysentery have already hit us. Send help, for the love of all that is holy… wait, they'll see this… it's been nice knowing you, listeners… (Starts playing “Nearer My God to Thee” on the cello)  

12/24/2023 Luke 1:26-33 The Angel Gabriel Intro: The Angel Gabriel is mentioned in four verses in the Bible. He appears to Daniel twice to Daniel in Daniel 8:16 And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision. And in Daniel 9:21 Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. In Luke 1:19 He appears to John the Baptists father Zacharias. And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. And in Luke 1:26 as we will look at today. God always lets His people know what is going on. He does not leave us in the dark. That's why we have the Bible and prophecy. He is letting us know what is going to happen and what will take place.

12/24/2023 Luke 1:26-33 The Angel Gabriel Intro: The Angel Gabriel is mentioned in four verses in the Bible. He appears to Daniel twice to Daniel in Daniel 8:16 And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision. And in Daniel 9:21 Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. In Luke 1:19 He appears to John the Baptists father Zacharias. And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. And in Luke 1:26 as we will look at today. God always lets His people know what is going on. He does not leave us in the dark. That's why we have the Bible and prophecy. He is letting us know what is going to happen and what will take place.

As we kick off the Advent series, we'll explore the role of John the Baptist in preparing the way for Jesus. Just as John paved the path for Christ's arrival, we'll explore how we can prepare our hearts to receive the King. What does it mean for us to be modern-day John the Baptists, clearing away distractions and making room for the presence of Jesus in our lives? Join us in December for a transformative journey through the Christmas story. The post Preparing the way (Geoff Snook) appeared first on The Lakes Church Cairns.

Jesus encounters the Woman at the well who expresses a desire for "living water." However, a disconnect arises as she interprets this water in a literal sense, while Jesus offers something profoundly greater. He poses a question that not only reveals her personal shortcomings but also exposes the broader sins of her community. Let's delve into the profound significance of this question, often overshadowed, and explore the transformative impact it is poised to have on the woman and her community.To find more "Uncensored Christian" content including Video versions of the podcast, Social Media links, and more use the Link down below!https://lnk.bio/dantewIf you would like to support this podcast financially you can give online by clicking here https://paypal.me/uchristianpod?locale.x=en_US. Your gift helps this podcast reach more people around the world!If you have questions or would like to reach out, email uchristianpod@gmail.comInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/dantebwill/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/UChristianPodcast Support the show

You could say Jesus saw Nick at Night -ha! Listen to hear about this special encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus about how to be born again. Then John 3 details John the Baptists last words before he was arrested by Herod.

Eileen Chang's Short Story was made into a 2 1/2 hour film by Ang Lee....why?..and who was that mysterious lady with John the Baptists head?Subscribe to Gas Giants podcastRSS https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/311033.rss This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gasgiants.substack.com

John 1:15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.'" 16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.             In this section of scripture we see the use of courtroom terms giving us the legal witness of John the Baptist about Jesus and who He is.  We see that John talks about Jesus being the preeminent one and that we see all of God in Him.  That He gives Grace whereas Moses gave the law which could only condemn.  Lastly we see that Jesus is the one who explains to us who the Father is.  Verse 15- John the Baptists testimony corroborates John the apostles statement regarding the eternality of The Incarnate Word.Verse 16- Grace for grace This phrase emphasizes the superabundance of grace that has been displayed by God toward mankind especially believers.Ephesians 1: 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4  For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5  he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- 6  to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  Ephesians 2:4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,  5  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-- it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7  in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. Verses 17 and 18 shows that the law given by Moses was not a display of God's grace, but God's demand for holiness. God designed the law as a means to demonstrate the unrighteousness of man in order to show the need for a Savior (Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20  Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. 21  But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22  This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  24  and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:10,14 and 21-26 also speak of thisThe law revealed only part of the truth and was given to prepare men for the full truth, the reality towards which the law pointed came in the person of Jesus Christ.Verse 18- Who is in the bosom of the Father – tells of the mutual intimacy, love, and knowledge existing in the Godhead(three in one God) Luke 16:22  "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23  In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. Declared- Theologians-men who study religion derived the term exegesis which means to interpretJohn meant that all Jesus is and does inte

The Fourth Sign in the Gospel of John is the feeding of a great crowd of people who had shown up and interrupted Jesus time alone with the disciples when they wanted to process the news about John the Baptists death. Jesus is concerned about these people and their need for food while they are still in the distance. The abundance that Jesus provides is consistent with he abundance of wine for a wedding and grace for all who desire it.

In this episode of My Thoughts on This & That, Jeffrey discusses John the Baptists encounter with those who were concerned that more people were following Jesus. His response is a great reminder for us to avoid jealousy and how to properly see God's work in others. Pre-save my single "Blue Skies" - https://tr.ee/niDcmI3gvU

"From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force." Matthew 11:12 What must happen for the American church to experience an ACTUAL great Awakening? Author, Pastor, and Artist Doug Giles joins Jeremy Slayden on JSlayUSA to answer this exact question as well as explaining why we should not be surprised by the open hostility being waged towards Christians and a Christian Worldview. What is the correct response? Doug's New Book: John the Baptist, A Rude Awakening Precedes a Great Awakening: https://www.amazon.com/John-Baptist-Awakening-Precedes-Great/dp/1618082159/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680547622&sr=8-1 The politically incorrect ministry of John the Baptist was the prelude to the person and work of Jesus Christ. John was the opening act. If we want “Jesus” in our life, home, church and culture then we must embrace ourselves for “John's” abrasive message of repentance. The message that will eternally change you, will first immediately confront you and offend you. The messenger, like John the Baptist, will offend you as well. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness are cool with both. They don't care if their flesh gets pinched and the message gets pitched by a wild prophet. All they want is God's will to be done, on earth as it is in heaven. This new book from best-selling author, Doug Giles, is a must-read for any Christian serious about spurning today's worldly culture and getting closer to God. Join our Warrior MBS program to become a man of strength and valor: https://warriormbs.com The Doug Giles Hub: https://douggiles.org Nashville, Bible, Christianity, Faith, Persecution, Biden, Doug Giles, Audrey Hale, School Shooting

God was at work 2000 years ago, in bringing about supernaturally the conception of John the Baptists. And then as we know, through a virgin birth, we see how Messiah entered into this world to bring about salvation. And when we look at the Scripture concerning the birth of these two men, we see something we see that prophecy surrounds their birth. And why is that? To donate please visit us at: https://loveisrael.org/donate/ Checks may be sent to: LoveIsrael.org 6355 N Courtenay Parkway Merritt Island, FL 32953 Feel free to download our MyBibleStudy App on telephone https://get.theapp.co/yjjq we don't know how long we can post the teachings on YT https://www.instagram.com/mybiblestudyofficial/ To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1256/29

God was at work 2000 years ago, in bringing about supernaturally the conception of John the Baptists. And then as we know, through a virgin birth, we see how Messiah entered into this world to bring about salvation. And when we look at the Scripture concerning the birth of these two men, we see something we see that prophecy surrounds their birth. And why is that? To donate please visit us at: https://loveisrael.org/donate/ Checks may be sent to: LoveIsrael.org 6355 N Courtenay Parkway Merritt Island, FL 32953 Feel free to download our MyBibleStudy App on telephone https://get.theapp.co/yjjq we don't know how long we can post the teachings on YT https://www.instagram.com/mybiblestudyofficial/ To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1256/29

Glimpses of the Kin-dom: Kin-dom - the activity and influence of God here and now through the people of God, the body of Christ in the church. Kin-dom - where heaven and earth overlap and coexist. We catch glimpses of it in and through the church — where the Reign of God is fully present and embraced by the Kin-dom family. We are born anew through baptism into the church. It's in that moment that we embrace the Holy Spirit back We are raised in the church, like a family, to learn and grow into our faith. We have the same mind and purpose (our bigger yes) — to live as the Kin-dom together and share the power of the cross through our lives and in our relationships for our world. We begin a 3-week focus on the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew's Gospel — Jesus is the new Moses Having avoided being killed by a powerful king… Having fled to a neighboring country to live as a refugee… Having come from Egypt into the land of Israel… Having entered the waters of the Jordan and passed through to the other side… Having assembled the people… Jesus now goes back up a mountain to not just receive the Law, but to give it. Now, let us remember that everything that has happened so far has defied expectation Mary and Joseph have been surprised… The kings from the east have been surprised… John the Baptists has been surprised… The disciples who have been called to follow have been surprised… Jesus is doing something no one has ever seen and no one had ever expected. He is bringing the Kin-dom into the world with the message: Repent, for the Kin-dom of God is at hand. To enter into the Kin-dom at hand, we must change our whole perspective. People are going to struggle to do this, but Jesus keeps at it… This brings us to our passage today: He offers what has been considered the greatest sermon ever given. The opening of this sermon are pronouncements of blessing. Let's hear them now. Matthew 5:1-12 Jesus offers the new law. Moses received the Law of the ten words on the mountain in Sinai… Jesus gives the pronouncements of the Kin-dom on a hill in Galilee. What a list! We know from Paul that the Law of Moses brings a particular burden upon the people. Since the Law is impossible to fully follow, Paul says, it brings sinfulness into full view. No one has ever been able to embody and become what the Law demands — except Jesus, of course. It's interesting that we hear of fights in our lives to make sure the 10 words are hung up in various public buildings. An impossible law from which we have been freed is a peculiar thing to want to see hanging everywhere. What if we hung the Kin-dom pronouncements of Jesus, instead? They are called beatitudes because the word for blessed in Latin produces the word beatus. What if the pronouncing message from the Kin-dom on earth, the church, was this list of pronouncements of blessings rather than a list of laws no one can actually follow? But therein lies the problem… We don't know what to do with the beatitudes, do we? We often turn them into another list of things we are supposed to do…which prove to be impossible. It would stand to reason, then, if Jesus is bringing the freedom of the Kin-dom into our lives in a way that fulfills the impossible Law, that the beatitudes are not just another set of laws, right? They aren't a list of ways we are supposed to live. They weren't meant to be. If we can find ways to allow the Holy Spirit to grow our lives into the kind of shape that fits these beatitudes, GREAT!! But that wasn't the point. Jesus pronounces blessings upon disciples who are listening to him on that hill. Who are his disciples? In the immediately preceding verses we see the call of Peter, Andrew, James, and John followed by a report of people from all around Galilee (including the decapolis), Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan (meaning people not from Israel). So…all sorts of people are following him. The kind of people who bring him all of the sick and diseas

 Sunday, January 15, 2023Jesus asks his would be followers “What are you seeking?”A simple yet challenging question.  We too are invited to hear the question for us:  “What are you seeking?”There are many things in life we are seeking, but Pastor Rob offers that his and likely our deepest longing is for the reconciliation, righteousness and joy in all things to be restored.John the Baptist claims this is the work and mission of Jesus when he declares, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”  Beautifully, John does not claim this will happen only in the future in heaven, but acknowledges that Jesus is doing this work now, of making all things new and restoring what was broken and marred by sin.A reflection on the work of Christ and modern “John the Baptists” who point us toward the one taking away the sin of the world.The art comes from a Jewish website, Chabad.  You can read more about the artist, Sefira Lightstone.

Fr. Mike Leclerc, Second Sunday In Ordinary Time "In those moments I realize I am being John the Baptist, I am recognizing God in our midst. And you are too! In those moments we together are a church full of John the Baptists."

God was at work 2000 years ago, in bringing about supernaturally the conception of John the Baptists. And then as we know, through a virgin birth, we see how Messiah entered into this world to bring about salvation. And when we look at the Scripture concerning the birth of these two men, we see something we see that prophecy surrounds their birth. And why is that? To donate please visit us at: https://www.LoveIsrael.org/donate Checks may be sent to: LoveIsrael.org 6355 N Courtenay Parkway Merritt Island, FL 32953 Feel free to download our MyBibleStudy App on telephone https://get.theapp.co/yjjq , we don't know how long we can post the teachings on YT https://www.instagram.com/mybiblestudyofficial/

God was at work 2000 years ago, in bringing about supernaturally the conception of John the Baptists. And then as we know, through a virgin birth, we see how Messiah entered into this world to bring about salvation. And when we look at the Scripture concerning the birth of these two men, we see something we see that prophecy surrounds their birth. And why is that? To donate please visit us at: https://www.LoveIsrael.org/donate Checks may be sent to: LoveIsrael.org 6355 N Courtenay Parkway Merritt Island, FL 32953 Feel free to download our MyBibleStudy App on telephone https://get.theapp.co/yjjq , we don't know how long we can post the teachings on YT https://www.instagram.com/mybiblestudyofficial/

This last and final message from Pastor Maurice Chavez on this Christmas Series will motivate you to dig deeper into serving God. In this message you will learn how Jesus and John the Baptists story are interwoven with the message of God's grace. - - - - LOCATION - - - - Equip Church (formerly Phoenix World Outreach) (602)712-0000 EXT: 100 1601 Grand Ave Phoenix, AZ 85007 - - - - - - - - - - - - - LEGAL- - - - - - - - - - - - © 2022 All Rights Reserved By: Phoenix World Outreach /Equip Church

Pastor David Patterson, UNITY Lutheran Church, Brookfield, WI, December 10-11, 2022

Second Sunday of Advent; Sermon based on Isaiah 11:1-10 and Matthew 3:1-12. Preached at The First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn (https://www.firstchurchbrooklyn.org/). Podcast subscription is available at https://cutt.ly/fpcb-sermons or on Apple Podcasts (https://itun.es/us/nxpHeb.c), Google Podca....This item belongs to: audio/first-church-brooklyn-sermons.This item has files of the following types: Archive BitTorrent, Columbia Peaks, Item Tile, Metadata, PNG, Spectrogram, VBR MP3

As soon as Gary called on Chris to do a spontaneous episode, Megan Gregory started flipping pages in her Bible because she saw that look in Pastor Click's eye and knew that she was next. Megan teaches and coaches at Temple Christian Academy and has a real servant's heart. She contributes in so many ways and is love by students and parents alike. In her debut she personalizes John the Baptists statement when he laid eyes on Jesus. "He must increase, but I must decrease," John 3:30. Send questions and comments to info@faithinfive.org. Faith in Five is a ministry of the Fremont Baptist Temple in Fremont, Ohio. Be sure to like, subscribe and give a five-star rating to the Faith in Five Podcast.

Tim, Matthew, Janice, Brian, Matt, and Paul discuss John the Baptists phrase "Behold, the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world" as an interpretive frame for understanding the nature of salvation, the meaning of the cross, and the problem of darkness as presented in John's Gospel. Become a Patron! If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider donating to support our work.

Jay is back home and doing his best the fight the heat out in Washington. Why are A/Cs so loud? This week Jay wanted to pick up where last week left off. To continue the themes that him and Peter Rollins touched on last week–the importance of listening well. Willing to go into places that have conflict. Often we're not willing to listen to ‘the other' or try to understand why we disagree. Hearing others in that way is a lot different than being yelled at and screamed at. So how do we sit down with our ‘enemies' and listen? What are the snares of counterfeit love? Jay feels that having these conversations is the road less traveled. That the easiest road is just finding the snarkiest meme and snappiest comeback and throwing it in each others faces. So the importance is to listen well. It is also the way that leads to disagreeing well. So what are the enemies of listening? To discover that Jay dives into some of Paul's writings and some of Peter's writings. As a society we have forgotten, it seems, how to even agree to disagree, let alone to disagree well. Are we mixing up hating what is evil and hating people? Are we called to hate people? Are we called to fight with love, compassion and purpose? What does that look like? What was Jesus's response and reaction to John the Baptists death? Did he hate? Did he love? Did he fight? What Did Jesus Do?This talk was given on July 31, 2022 in Seattle, Washington.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this passage we see John the Baptists role in pointing to Jesus as the Messiah!

Welcome to 66 in 365: Bible Reading for Kids! We are excited to be reading the Bible with you!! Our goal is to help our kids be engaged with the Bible every day this year and we hope that you will join us! So far we have been reading from the beginning of the bible and making our way chronologically, or in order of how it happened, through the Bible. But as we are inching closer to Easter and the Easter season, we wanted to jump ahead in the story and read about Jesus! So we will be bouncing around the gospels as we build up to the story of the crucifixion and resurrection! Today we start the book of John. We read about how Jesus was at the creation of the world, and then came into the world as a person. We hear about John the Baptists ministry, about how Jesus is the lamb of God and then the calling of the first disciples. Our question for you and your family to discuss today is: if Jesus called you, would you have dropped everything and followed him like Peter and the other disciples? Don't for get to practice our memory verse this week and if you want to send us a sound clip of the verse you practiced, we will add it to next week's shows! Send it to 66in365@gmail.com This week's memory verse is 1 Peter 2:9, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light." --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/66in365/support

We begin Luke 3 with name and dates. We see how Luke being a precise historian lists the name of Leaders and historical figures who where established and historically reigned in a certain place and time in history. Redemptive history is certainly history! Grab your bible and lets study as John the Baptists emerges to "make way the path of the Lord!" Join us at The River!!!

Welcome to Grace in Focus radio. On today’s episode, Bob and Shawn will be discussing the Lord’s baptism. The guys will first unpack the purpose of John the Baptists ministry, and the meaning of his baptism. They will also draw some distinctions between the gospel of the Kingdom and the gospel of life. Finally, we

Download this Podcast John 1:15–17—John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who […] The post John the Baptist's Testimony appeared first on Getting to Know Jesus.

Pastor John brought the new year in with a wonderful sermon comparing John the Baptists coming with Christs.

Pastor John brought the new year in with a wonderful sermon comparing John the Baptists coming with Christs.

What can we learn from the life and the ministry of John the Baptist, and how can it be applied to what we are facing in our daily lives? Topics Discussed Where are the modern-day John the Baptists? Quebec to unvaccinated Christians: “No Christmas for you!” Bishop Strickland speaks out: Will other “men of God” follow suit? The National Security Plan that fosters fear and panic in the public by design. Firebombed Christian churches in the Holy Land may offer a snapshot of our future if we remain silent. John the Baptist called out the crimes of Herod Antipas; why can't the preachers of today follow his lead? Tyrants have their fears just like you and me. The conspiracy to silence the Forerunner of Christ, and what important lesson we can learn from the disciples of John. St. Athanasius: “Learn to tell trees by their fruits.” What did he mean by this, and how does it apply to our current situation? What ever happened to the conspirators who plotted against the Forerunner? Words of encouragement from Luke 7:24-30 Much, much more! Please like, share, and subscribe! Social Media- www.gab.com/MisanthropicMonk Email- misanthropicmonk@protonmail.com Video- https://ugetube.com/@misanthropic_monk Video- https://www.bitchute.com/channel/BbJnmmsNdL5Q/ Video- https://odysee.com/@MisanthropicMonk:b Video- https://rumble.com/c/c-652607

Churches are good at hosting 'Jacob's Joins'; elsewhere called ‘Potluck Suppers' or ‘Faith Suppers' or ‘Bring-and-Shares'. The thing about a 'Jacob's Join' is that we all bring something to the table. It's a metaphor for the church. Today, an invitation to celebrate what the John the Baptists bring: the those who are given less to comfortableness and are more driven - the activists, the agitators, those give to righting wrongs. A talk for The Third Sunday of Advent, 12 December 2021. Find the text to this and all my talks at bit.ly/johndavies-talks

Reading ISir 48:1-4, 9-11    In those days,    like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah        whose words were as a flaming furnace.    Their staff of bread he shattered,        in his zeal he reduced them to straits;    By the Lord's word he shut up the heavens        and three times brought down fire.    How awesome are you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds!        Whose glory is equal to yours?    You were taken aloft in a whirlwind of fire,        in a chariot with fiery horses.    You were destined, it is written, in time to come        to put an end to wrath before the day of the LORD,    To turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons,        and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob.    Blessed is he who shall have seen you         and who falls asleep in your friendship.GospelMt 17:9a, 10-13As they were coming down from the mountain,the disciples asked Jesus,“Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”He said in reply, “Elijah will indeed come and restore all things;but I tell you that Elijah has already come,and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased. So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands.”Then the disciples understoodthat he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.

Notes for Sermon on the Second Sunday of Advent at Faith, Okemos, December 5, 2021 based on Luke 3:1-6 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius…the word of God came to John.  And in this first year of Joseph Biden's presidency….when Gretchen Whitmer is governor, Elissa Slotkin, our district 8 congressional representative, Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, our senators, Craig Satterlee, our synod bishop, and Elizabeth Eaton, our presiding bishop, the word of God still comes to us:  comes to me, to Deb, to Bruce, to Chris, to Phylis here in this worship space and to all worshiping with us online.  To us now in this still beautiful, but lately too often also dangerous wilderness, in a country deeply divided over masks and vaccinations, in a violent world – filled with tragedies like that at Oxford High School, with unsettling threats of violence from a student at Holt Junior High, in a world infected by a wily, ever mutating virus, in a nation embroiled in heightened tensions over the fate of Roe v.Wade… to us in this violent, tension-fraught wilderness, the word of God still comes...  It is a voice crying in the wilderness:  Prepare the way of the Lord…. It is a voice I so want my children to hear.  I can see in the faces of our three children  a pervasive weariness, both physical and psychological. I see and read and hear over and over  the wide spread anxiety of a  world  more and more characterized by meanness and hardness of heart, But to us the word of God has come, still comes, “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”  The word of God calls us to an immersion, a deep and daily washing away of our sins and of the sins of the world…calls us to a baptism, acknowledging our need and earnest desire for a stirring in our hearts, for the mercy of God to save us, for God to save the people of Okemos, of Michigan, of the United States, of South Africa, of Namibia, to Syria, of Afghanistan, of Ukraine, of Germany, of Russia. The word of God has come and is still coming to me, to Ellen, to Deb, to Bruce,  to Phylis, and to you  online.  The word of God is calling us to a deliberate, repeated turning (the meaning of repentance) toward the mercy and kindness of God who is both our judge and our savior. It is the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins that can raise us from this deep valley of darkness.  It has the power to make tunnels through the otherwise insurmountable mountains of hatred and exploitation, of shame and disgrace.  The gift of repentance for the forgiveness of sins has the power to make the crooked straight and the rough ways smooth. This word of God proclaiming the baptism of repentance spoken with fierce love can open the doors of our hearts to the presence of Christ like nothing else. And it is Christ Jesus who then works within us to eradicate, to burn away our hatreds and prejudices.  It is then Jesus who through his own suffering and death and resurrection transforms our rigid. hardened hearts with God's forgiveness, God's compassion and mercy and kindness, Our daily immersion in the waters of baptism, of repentance and forgiveness enables us to keep our eyes on the future, on the coming dawn that will follow a dark night, a day when all will see the salvation of God. But know this:  God's way to this future for us and for the whole world is the way of the cross. With Jesus we will suffer misunderstandings, yes, recurring hatred and rejection and abandonment along this way toward a more peaceful, harmonious, loving world…  Yet though it is hard and painful, we will never walk this path alone.  With Jesus, the valleys of death and darkness will be filled, the mountains brought low, the crooked paths made straight, the rough roads made smooth.  With Jesus healing and wholeness will in God's time supplant hardened hearts and shattered relationships. To be clear, we are not Jesus, that is, we are not the Savior of the world, let alone of our own selves.  But when the word of God comes to us, we can be John the Baptist.  John's dad, Zechariah, filled with the Holy Spirit after the birth of his son, spoke these words to his son:  “…..you child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. By the grace and power of God we can be John the Baptists.  Because the word of God still comes to us, we can with bold love proclaim to our neighbors near and far God's tender compassion and mercy for them.  In this wilderness of darkness, of division and disease, we can proclaim God's salvation for them, God's forgiveness for them, experienced over and over through the baptism of repentance, of turning their lives and hearts toward this most gracious and loving God.  We can proclaim to them that God will guide their feet into the way of peace.  Amen.                                                       JDS                                                                                                  

 Audio recordingSermon manuscript:We spend a lot of our lives getting prepared. Children get prepared to go to school. Those in school get prepared to go to college. Those in college prepare for getting a job. Those with a job prepare for getting a house. We get prepared for marrying a spouse. We get prepared for having a child. We get prepared for grandchildren. We get prepared for retirement. We get prepared by writing a will. We get prepared for having a funeral. We prepare for a lot of things. One of the things that we should be prepared for, but often don't prepare for, is to meet Jesus. The necessity of preparing for other things is obvious. We know that we have to prepare, otherwise it isn't going to happen. When it comes to meeting Jesus a common thought seems to be: “I'm already prepared." “I went to Vacation Bible School when I was a kid. I went to Sunday School.” But these are pretty shabby preparations. Even lackadaisically attending the divine service every week can be pretty shabby. We prepare much more thoroughly for all kinds of other endeavors in our life. What if kids studied God's Word as hard as they study to get a good job? But that doesn't happen. The reason is that we don't care. We figure that we're already prepared, so we can indulge in whatever we might want to indulge in as the main thing in our life. This is strange, if you think about it. How can anything be more important than meeting God? But we are not nearly so logical or wise as we like to believe. Unbelief is deeply seated in our flesh. We lack the ability to think seriously about our Maker. We follow every distraction that might come our way. It's like we're supposed to be on our journey to God, but every off-ramp that comes along we can't help but take. The billboard says, “Pleasure here!” And off we go. “Honors and recognition here!” and we put on our blinker. We are ready and willing to prepare for absolutely anything that holds out promise for our happiness and blessing, so long as it is not the one thing needful. This is why it is necessary for God to send John the Baptists. John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way for the Lord. Like a good roadbuilder he shaves off the mountains and hills and fills in the valleys. He makes the crooked places straight. He makes the rough places smooth. Or, to continue on with the analogy that I've already started, the John the Baptists whom God sends put up roadblocks for the exits on the highway to our God. We need to prepare to meet the Christ. We're never going to be prepared if we are always getting off the highway to pursue any and every other goal besides meeting our Maker. But the John the Baptists whom God sends do not have a very easy time doing this. With practically all the prophets whom God calls to be his messengers, they all answer pretty much the same way. They all say, “Not me. I don't want to do this.” People are stubborn as mules. We want to do what we want to do. While we are doing what we want to do we want to be assured that what we are doing is fine. It is in the nature of roadblocks that they are essentially saying, “This isn't fine. You aren't fine if you do this.” People don't like hearing this. This is what brought about John the Baptist's death, as Luke mentions at the end of our reading. He told Herod and Herodias that it was wrong for them to divorce their spouses so that they could be together. They were committing adultery with each other. They, and especially Herodias, did not like this. When an opportunity arose to remove the head of John the Baptist from his shoulders and put it on a silver platter, she jumped at the chance. She didn't repent. She got even. Or so she thought, anyway. She thought that she won in a contest between herself and John the Baptist, but John the Baptist was never playing her game. All true prophets and all genuine Christians do not say what they say because they want to dominate over other people. They do not put up roadblocks because they want to throw their weight around like a bad cop. They are following instructions that have been given to them by God. Herodias thought that she was in a contest with John the Baptist, but the fact of the matter is that her contest was with God. She proved her guilt by the way she treated the prophet whom God sent her. She thought she won, but she is going to lose. John the Baptist, for his part, lost nothing when he lost his head. He too was and is dealing with God. God doesn't need glue to put his head back on. His ways of healing are much more marvelous than that. Doing the right thing, acting according to the Word of God regardless of the consequences, is powerfully comforting. John the Baptist could be satisfied that he had said and done what was right. Those who are warned, however, and plunge right on ahead, driving through the roadblock, their consciences testify against them. That's the best case scenario. If they still have a conscience there's a chance that they can still get back on the highway to God. If they become proud of their rebellion against God, then there's less and less hope for them as time goes on. They confirm themselves and strengthen themselves in their errors. They are lost in the imaginations of their hearts. They don't know the way to the highway. They cease to know what is really good and what is really evil. They don't know which way to go. They end up going after the things that they think are good, which are actually worthless or evil. They don't do what is good because it does not suit their fancies or advance their own ambitions. By all outward appearances they may appear perfectly fine or more than fine. They might still retain membership in the church. But God judges justly. Whether a rebuke, a warning, a roadblock was justified or not is something that God is going to decide. Whatever you might think about it won't matter in the slightest. Christianity is a religion of repentance. It's been a religion of repentance from the very beginning. Adam and Eve had to change directions. The whole Bible testifies to practically all the great ones needing to change direction. Repentance is painful. It always feels better to believe that we are just fine the way that we are. But the way we are is sinful and unclean. If we just continue according to our own inclinations, then it is inevitable that we will not be on the highway to our God. Since Christianity is a religion of repentance, it is extremely important that we be sensitive to the John the Baptists that God sends into our life for our own good. Some of these people who speak God's truth to us might be called by God to preach in an official and public capacity—like me as a pastor. Others will not be officially called, but will speak God's Word because they are Christians. Regardless of how God sends his Word to you, be careful that you do not despise it. It might seem that whatever gets said to you is not God's Word. It is easy to think that whatever gets said is just a personal hang-up of the person (or the goody-two-shoes) who is talking. It is easy to resent being told what to do. It is easy to deflect the message that should bring about repentance into something else. A person, for example, could complain about John the Baptist's appearance, or his diet, or his harsh words. But all these are besides the point. If you are confronted by a Word from God that gets your goat, here is some advice. Step back for a moment and think about what is going on. Ask yourself whether this person who is talking to you hates you. Do you think John the Baptist hated those who he talked to? Even though he could become very angry, it was not hatred that prompted him to speak. Even when he called the crowds who were coming to him a brood of vipers, it was so that they would wake up and repent. Perhaps the one who has spoken to you desires goodness and happiness for you. They can see that the way that you are going is definitely not going to turn out well. Even if God doesn't take away your happiness in this life, you will be responsible for your rebellion against him in the next. On the other hand, it is possible that the one whom you are dealing with could be evil. It is certainly possible for people to abuse each other spiritually. It's not like every rebuke and warning has to be automatically listened to. Sometimes the person whom you are dealing with hates you, and, for example, wants to dominate over you. Plus they do it in the Name of God. Shame on them! They will be severely judged for doing that, for there is hardly a worse sin a person could commit than to mislead and harm while claiming to speak for God. Jesus warns us against wolves wearing sheep's clothing. It is important, therefore, that we do not simply accept whatever anybody and everybody might say. We've been given the Bible to know what is right and what is wrong. No human being, no matter how saintly or kindly that person might appear to be, has the right to contradict Scripture. So if someone speaks to you in such a way where he or she is claiming that it is what God says, then you do well to see that it is found in Scripture. In this endeavor, though, make sure that you don't let the devil or your flesh trick you. The devil has been known to quote Scripture too. Sometimes people can be awfully clever, twisting the Scriptures towards their own purposes. There are big challenges in knowing whether something that has been said is true to God's Word or not. Such is life. Don't be a lazy fool, like so many, who say that they can't be bothered to know whether something is true or not. They want to pass off this task to someone else so that they are no longer responsible. You should recognize this as a foolish thought if you only think about what is going on. It's not like this is some isolated part of our existence that we can hire someone to do for us. This is talking about the main thing. There is the highway to our God with many exits. If we end up getting off the highway, and then complain about it being hard knowing where to go, there is no one who is going to suffer for that except one's self. There is a divine story to all of our lives. God is dealing with each one of us. While we are in the midst of it, we usually don't have the perspective where we can see the big picture. I'm old enough now to look back on my own life and see some critical moments where God sent a John the Baptist into my life. I must continue to be on the lookout for these gifts from God—gifts that are sometimes really painful. I will need these gifts until I'm safely laid into the grave if Christ doesn't come first. Eventually everyone will be able to see those critical moments in their life where they were urged to repent. It is so important that we not be like Herod and Herodias. It is so important that we do not get mad at John the Baptist instead of listening to him. Otherwise the rebukes and warnings that get spoken to us might haunt us eternally. We might wish with every fiber of our being that we had heeded the warning instead of plunging headlong into whatever it was that we wanted to continue to do. This is not child's play. It is not the case that what is important about your life is all the other stuff and church is just a hobby or a custom. The highway to our God is the main thing. See to it that you stay on the steep and narrow way.

Where's all the John the Baptists of today's culture? Every day I hear people telling Christians to sit down & shut up, "don't judge," "just love." Friends we are not called to be silent and enable or condone blatant sin. In fact, we are called to do the opposite. Speak TRUTH in love...but speak truth. Without truth, there is no love amen? John the Baptist was beheaded for speaking truth. For calling out King Herod's unlawful marriage publicly! I'm encouraged by the heros of the Bible the boldy spoke truth and walked in obedience. I hope today's show encourages you to stand with me against the evil ways of this culture and speak truth...to be the John the Baptists of our culture! Here's the link to my "prepper" video I posted on my YouTube channel that I mentioned in today's episode if you want to check out how our family is preparing for crisis. Don't be scared, be prepared. Preparedness is obedience, fear is sin. Thanks for joining me today friends! https://youtu.be/vYsQ6iB_A8U You can

[Comment: God's Messengers] Friends of the Rosary: Today is the feast of the three Archangels, Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. These God's messengers are named in the Scriptures several times, and all three have critical roles in the history of our salvation. St. Michael is the "Prince of the Heavenly Host," the leader of the angels, a warrior who goes against Lucifer and his followers, defeating them consistently — with the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary. At the end of each Rosary, we ask for the protection of St. Michael. St. Gabriel, whose name means "God's strength", appears to announce to Zacharias the birth of John the Baptists, and to the Virgin Mary during the mystery of the incarnation. Probably, he appeared as well to St. Joseph and to Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. St. Raphael appears in critical moments for healing and acts of mercy. His name means "God has healed." We ardently love our three Archangels. We recognize them as spectacular companions in our dwelling on Earth. Ave Maria! Jesus, I Trust In You! Sts. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael Pray for Us! + Mikel A. | TheRosaryNetwork.org, New York —- Live Rosary every day at 7:30 PM Eastern. On-demand at any time.

On today's episode, Brenten, Dan and Tim Price discuss John the Baptists role, joy, message and humility in leading people to follow Christ.

After the temptation, Jesus returns to the Jordan where two of John the Baptists disciples leave John to follow Jesus. Peter, Philip, and Nathanael would follow. While we lack detail on many of their conversations, we have great detail into Jesus introduction with Nathanael. In this episode, we cover their encounters, specifically Nathanael's encounter with Jesus.  John 1:29-51Genesis 28:16-19www.messagetokings.com

Right after the exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees on the authority in which He and John the Baptists were operating in, Jesus continued the conversation with the Parable of the Two Sons. “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' And he answered, ‘I will not', but afterwards he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir', but did not go. Which of the two did the will of the father?” [The Pharisees] said, “The first”. Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.” (Matthew 21:28-32) In context, Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees concerning salvation in which He and John the Baptist had preached. We know that the will of the Father is that none should perish but that all would come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9) and that “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” (John 3:36) But this also speaks a word to us as believers and followers of Christ. In James, it's made very clear that faith without works is dead: What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sisters is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead…Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” – and he was called a friend of God. (James 2:14-17; 21-23) Now, I don't want this to be misconstrued in anyway, so I want to make it abundantly clear that we do not work our way into heaven. Our salvation has been achieved by Christ alone, is offered by grace alone, and is received by faith alone. HOWEVER, it's important to understand that our faith must be, in essence alive. A little further down in James 2 it says, “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” (James 2:26) That's NOT at all saying that faith + works = salvation. It's saying that in order for faith to be counted to us as righteousness, just as it was with Abraham, that faith must be alive and active, which is evidenced by our works. Our works are the fruit, not the root of our salvation. So just as a tree that doesn't produce fruit is considered dead and gets cut down, without the fruit of works, it is the indicator of dead faith. If you're already a follower of Christ, this parable of Jesus serves as a reminder and health check for us, that we should be acting in obedience to our heavenly Father's will, producing fruit by doing the good works He's prepared and called us to walk in (Ephesians 2:10). Consider these questions a moment: What has God called you to work in? Do you have an eagerness to walk in those works? Are you walking in those works or have you only provided lip service to God? We should have a willing and good heart towards the things God has called us to, but over and over again, we see that the merit is in actually doing those works. Remember when Jesus told Peter after Peter had just spent a whole night of fishing but caught nothing, to cast his net to the other side. Peter wasn't told get a net full of fish, he was told to cast his net. We aren't responsible for the outcome of the works, but simply doing the ones God calls us to do. We must be careful, especially where Christians are free to worship, like here in America, because we can rather easily appear to others as great Christians on the outside, being always willing to say yes in serving in this and that work when the first announcement is made, but what does it matter if we're not actually walking in them. Is that not worse because we're not only not doing the works, but we aren't keeping to our word in honesty and integrity if we're flippantly agreeing to do what is asked and not following through with it. There is great prudence in waiting on the Lord and seeking His will in all things, and when you know that HE has called you to do something, don't wait to walk in it, just take the first step in faith and let Him direct and use you. My dear friend, my prayer is that you listen to the calling of God in your life, that you have an eagerness to walk in it, and that you actually do the works. It doesn't matter what recognition you get here on earth, but to do what pleases the heart of God and brings Him glory as you live your life unto Him as a living sacrifice, is worth it because He is worthy of it all. Whatever God has called you to do, I encourage you to go and work in it today.

You're listening to Happy & Holy, the podcast where Scripture comes to life through a small group discussion. This season as we talk through the rough and tumble gospel of Mark, you get to be a fly on the wall and see what new things we learn with and from one another as we engage Scripture in community.I'm your host, Kate Boyd. I'm a disciple maker, writer, and speaker who is making space in the church for Christians caught in the messy middle between conservative and progressive. We love Jesus, love people, and work with God and each other for a better world. Welcome to the show.If you find yourself in the messy middle as a Christian, you're not alone, and I'd love to help. I've created the Untidy Faith newsletter just for you. Together, we'll navigate the many tensions of the Christian life and in the process find ourselves wandering closer to the Way of Jesus. When you sign up, you'll get a printable version of the Messy Middle Christian manifesto to your inbox today and first access to more Untidy Faith resources as they come out. You can sign up today at kateboyd.co/newsletterOn Today's show, I'm joined by Chris Morris and Jenna DeWitt. Jenna DeWitt is an aromantic asexual Methodist. She spent a decade writing and editing in Christian media, and now edits websites, books, articles, curriculum, blogs, technical writing, and more. She holds a bachelor of arts in journalism from Baylor University and lives in sunny Southern California. You can read her blog, Invisible Cake Society, at invisiblecakesociety.com and find her on Twitter at @Jenna_DeWitt for more on queer advocacy within the church, singleness, mental health, and pop culture. Chris Morris is a Christian mental health advocate who writes and speaks about mental health and chronic illnesses at chrismorriswrites.com. He's been married for over 20 years to the love of his life Barbara, and together they're raising mostly-adult kids, because parenting never ends. Not that he doesn't love his kids - it's just different talking with grown ups who still want help adulting.The three of us get together to talk about the Jesus who rests, what it means to worship, and what story parallels from the Old Testament come through as John the Baptists meets his fate.If you enjoyed our discussion, I'd love if you would rate + review on your favorite podcast player. This helps more people to find the show and learn with us. Then come on over to social media and let's talk about it! You can find me on Instagram @kateboyd.co and on Twitter @thekateboyd. And don't forget to check the show notes to find and follow today's contributors as well. Thank YOU for joining us, and I'll see you next time.

Thoughts from John's introduction and John the Baptists recognition of Jesus Christ as Messiah. Lets share Good News together. To partner with us financially visit www.gospelchurch.co and click "GIVE" or text the word "FRESH" to 94000. YOU ARE LOVED

Are you ready? Are you prepared to meet Jesus? If Jesus did come back right now - would you be prepared? In this sermon, taken from our Sunday Service, Pastor John Perry explores Luke 3 and John the Baptists call to 'get ready' for the coming Christ.

As modern-day John the Baptists, Christians wait for and even hasten the coming of Jesus by living lives of repentance and faithful confession of his lordship. Prepare the Royal Highway — Second Sunday in Advent, December 6, 2020: https://saintjamesglencarbon.org/2020-second-sunday-in-advent Order of service: https://saintjamesglencarbon.org/wp-content/uploads/st-james-20201206-order-of-service.pdf Psalm 80:1, 3, 8a, 9b, 7 Isaiah 40:1–11 2 Peter 3:8–14 Mark 1:1–8 Hymns: Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending: Text by Charles Wesley; tune by Thomas Olivers; text and tune are public domain. Prepare the Royal Highway: Text by Franz Mikael Franzen, translation from Lutheran Book of Worship, © 1978 Lutheran Book of Worship; used with permission, CCLI license # 20286740; tune from Swedish; public domain. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel: Text from Latin, 12th century, Psalteriolum Cantionum Catholicarum, translation by John Mason Neale; tune from French, 15th century; public domain. The Church's One Foundation: Text by Samuel J Stone; tune by Samuel Wesley; public domain.

This week we will investigate the theme, How can a believer who has experienced so much of the manifestations of God still fall away? I think Matthew 11:1-9 can shed some light on this counterintuitive statement. One would reason that the more power experienced would guarantee growth and perseverance for believers. I would say in some cases this is not true. We compare John the Baptists's episode of imprisonment  with the multitude of experiences of some of Jesus's disciples and their reactions. What can we learn from this contrast?

It's Saturday. You're not alone. You're part of a body of believers called the church. And Jesus is the Senior Pastor. Follow this pattern for Saturday: Matthew 3:2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The King is at your doorstep. How do we prepare ourselves? John the Baptists uses one word: Repent. Turn. Leave behind the old ways, the sinful habits, the dead-end sins. Face the Lord. Be transparent. The King sees all. Your sin is great, but your Savior is greater.

Pastor Plek answers a question on part of John the Baptists message.  "In John 1, when John says " this is the one I told you that comes after me that will surpass me because he came before me".  Why is that so important for us to know , because he says it twice.  Foreshadowing? " 

We begin our Advent sermon series with a look at John the Baptists. Who was he and what was is purpose? Reflection Question: Who are you?

A look at John the Baptists life as a messenger of the gospel.

Zachariah, John the Baptists father, was sent into Silence and solitude because he didn't believe God. He used this time to meditate on God's word and after John was born, he raised his Benedictus about Jesus, the "Horn of Salvation"

This week's message covers Matthew 3:1-10. It covers John the Baptists, the man, his methods, and his message.

This week's message covers Matthew 3:1-10. It covers John the Baptists, the man, his methods, and his message.

2015.12.06 HWMV Lisa Hanle - John The Baptists Song by The Highway Community

During the month of December, religiously motivated controversies are as abundant as poinsettias. This year, several contentious episodes are already well under way, In fifty years, I have little doubt that we will regard the administration of Barack Obama as the presidency that saved America. No, not in the sense that Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, and all the other media John the Baptists foretold, as they proclaimed, the coming of our political messiah just over two years ago. Rather, the history of our time will show that it was the radical nature of Obama's dogged devotion to a liberal progressive philosophy far out of the American mainstream that jolted awake a generation of apathetic and passive citizens just in time to save the republic.

During the month of December, religiously motivated controversies are as abundant as poinsettias. This year, several contentious episodes are already well under way, In fifty years, I have little doubt that we will regard the administration of Barack Obama as the presidency that saved America. No, not in the sense that Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, and all the other media John the Baptists foretold, as they proclaimed, the coming of our political messiah just over two years ago. Rather, the history of our time will show that it was the radical nature of Obama's dogged devotion to a liberal progressive philosophy far out of the American mainstream that jolted awake a generation of apathetic and passive citizens just in time to save the republic.

Well, were going through the Book of Ephesians together, chapter by chapter, verse by verse; and then Christmas came, so we had to take a bit of a hiatus. Then New Years and then our anniversary, so its been awhile since we have been in this passage; but now were back to Ephesians. Were going to pick up where we left off, and were going to be dealing with a couple controversial topics this weekend and in the Sundays to come. Lets begin reading with Verse 21. Remember that these verses and that gap there in your church Bibles where it says husbands and wives, thats not in the original text. Thats provided by our editor, so Verse 21 is very important even though weve already talked about it. Its very important to our understanding of the text because its the key verse. If this were an outline, that would be the key point; and then hes going to give us examples of submission following the rest of the chapter and into Chapter 6, hes going to give us sub-points that are saying, Heres what I mean when I say, Submit one to another. Here are some examples. So lets read together the passage at Ephesians 5:21-24 (page 1159 of pew Bibles): Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. Now this word, the verb submit, in Verse 22 is inferred or its implicit from Verse 21. Its not actually in the Greek. In the Greek, it simply says wives to your husbands as to the Lord, of course being implied from Verse 21. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, for which He is the Savior. Now [we have] the verse that many husbands deem the most important, valuable verse in all of Scripture-their life verse on their refrigerators, Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Thank you for coming. God bless you! [Congregation laughing.] This is the one Ive been trying to avoid now. The Lord didnt come back, and we have to keep going. I thought maybe I could go to Chapter 6, and you guys would forget that we didnt cover the rest of Chapter 5, but all right-here we go. Well, first of all when I read that, for some of you, it might ruffle your feathers a little bit. What do you mean submit to my husband in everything!?! You dont know my husband! and you get all riled up. It kind of reminds me of the story of the woman whose husband was very ill. He ran through some tests, and the doctor reached the conclusion. They called his wife into the doctors office and said, You know, hes not going to remember a whole lot of this, so while hes a little sleepy, we need to tell you whats happened. Your husband has a rare form of anemia, and its fatal if he doesnt get the iron that he needs. So what I need from you… Now [by doing this] we can save his life. Its not too late, but I need you to make him a hearty breakfast every morning: bacon, eggs and sausage. I need you to make him a good lunch and a good dinner-meat and potatoes-and just really feed him good. I need that every day-three squares, and I need you to keep the house spotless because his immune system is very week; and if the house isnt clean, he could catch a germ or something and die. If youll do this, if youll cook these meals and youll clean the house immaculately, your husband will live. If you do not do these things, your husband will die. Should I break the news to your husband? No, no. Ill do it. Ill take care of it. So she walks out there solemn. He looks at her and hes like, What is it, honey? Whats wrong? Am I going to be okay? She looks at him and tears well up in her eyes, and she says, He said youre going to die. [Congregation laughing.] [That is] just a really dark, dark joke. I just have to laugh at that one for a while because that one is kind of funny. I want to give you-my goal is to give you-better understanding of this passage and talk about some of the problems in this passage, some of the debate in the interpretation of this passage and really complete it next week when we talk about the husbands; so this morning were focusing on the wives. This word submit is important in active submission-wives, submit to your husband as to the Lord. Hes saying youre submitting first to the Lord. Right away, there is a feeling by some, This means somehow that the husbands more important, and the wife is inferior; theres this lack of equality in the marriage bond. Thats of course not what we want. Well, thats not what the Scripture is teaching. Its not teaching at all about a superiority/inferiority in this passage. In fact, this word submit we see again. In fact, we talked about it a couple weeks ago in our anniversary service. Turn to Luke 2; remember the story of when Jesus was at the Temple and He was 12 years old? His mother and Joseph find him, and He says, I must be in My Fathers house. It says after that in Luke 2:51 (page 1016 of pew Bibles), Then He… [Meaning Jesus.] …went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. He was obedient to Mary and Joseph. This word obedient is the exact same word that we find here in Ephesians translated as submit. So would you say that Jesus was inferior to Mary and Joseph? Would you say Jesus was not as important as Mary and Joseph? No. Jesus understood that His role now as a child in this home was to submit to His mother and father, so thats what the word means. It means a voluntary submission. In fact, Paul is an advocate of equality. Paul understands the equality of men and women. He was the one who said in Galatians 3:28, …neither…male nor female, but we are one in Christ. Remember when He said that: …neither…male nor female, but we are one in Christ. We are co-equal in Christ? But understand hes not talking here about the genders beyond the marital relationship. He is talking within the confines of marriage. He says that the woman is to voluntarily submit to the husband. We must make a clear statement here, something thats also inferred in this text because he has told us to first submit to God that the husbands that He is asking the wives to submit to have first and foremost submitted themselves to God. Thats very important. This whole notion that youre the Lord of the home and your wives are subservient to you is not a Biblical concept. This is a husband who has first submitted to God. I cant stress that enough. There are examples in Scripture of wives who submitted to their husbands who werent submitted to God, and that didnt go so well. Ananias and Sapphira stand out as a prominent story in Acts 5. The church is selling off-people are selling off-land and homes and giving the money to the poor in the church. Ananias wants to be a hero, and he sells land, which is a good thing; and then he gives the money to the church, which is a good thing; but he gives the money to the church saying that he has given all when in fact hes only given some. That's not a good thing. I mean it would have been his prerogative to sell and say, Well, okay. Im going to give a tithe to the church or Im going to give half to the church. Theres nothing wrong with that; but to sell and give a portion to the church and portray it as all of it, thats another story. Thats what he did. He devised a plan and he went to his wife and said, Heres what Im going to do. Im going to sell all the land, but Im not going to give it all. Im just going to give a portion, but I want you to say if they ask us, Yes, that's all of it. So he asked his wife to submit to that plan, and she did. If you read the story in the Book of Acts, it doesnt go well. Peter has discernment through the Holy Spirit, and he says, Is this all of it, Ananias? Ananias says, It is. Peter says, Why has Satan filled your heart to lie? You have not lied to men but to God. Ananias gets all worked up, and he has a heart attack and dies. Sapphira comes in, and she is submissive to her husband all right, but shes not submissive to God. She goes along with his story, and Peter says, The feed of the men who carried your husband out are at the door, and theyre going to carry you out as well, and she drops too. The Bible says that great fear seized the church. From time to time, there will be women-quite often-who will come to me. Ill say, Edna, whereve you been? We havent seen you for a long time. I picked that name because we dont have any Ednas as far as I know. I heard youre not coming to Bible study. We dont see you at church. Well, my husband says I cant come to church anymore. He doesnt want me to come to Bible study. He doesnt want me to come to church. I would tithe but my husband wont let me tithe on my paycheck, and all of this other stuff. You know, you say, Listen. The most important covenant you have is your covenant with God. The most important submission in your life is to be submitted to God. If your husbands asking you to do something that is contrary to what God has clearly desired of you, then your first obligation is to obey God. So we want to understand that Paul is speaking here of husbands who have submitted to Christ. This is a man who is loving and serving the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife… Now this is where it gets a little interesting. The husband is the head of the wife… This is the Greek word kephale. Normally this word means head. So say they cut of John the Baptists kephale. They cut off his head. Thats normally what it means, but when its used as a metaphor, it means pretty much what we would associate it with. Youd say, Well, hes the head of that organization. Shes the head of that company, so thats what the word head mean. Now the big debate-and it is a debate-is this: does the word head mean authority, or does the word head mean source? Thats a whole different rendering and meaning. Im going to introduce to you a couple big words here that you may or may not have heard before, and you may or may not remember after youve heard them. The first school of thought-these are two dominant schools of thought-one is called the egalitarian position. The egalitarian position is very prevalent in society today, and its very prevalent in all spectrums of the church. The egalitarians believe that basically men and women are interchangeable. We have differences in our genitalia, but thats it. Thats the only difference. The role of the husband is the same as the role of the wife. The role of the father is the same as the role of the mother. Weve been created by God to be identical with identical roles and purposes in the home, and that is interchangeable; and that extends also to marriage. So from the egalitarian position, equality, which is something that Paul would say amen to… If you are submitting to your husband, then you are not equal; so therefore, that cannot be the rendering of head. Head must mean source. Its basically retelling the story of Creation. God created man, and woman came from man; so God used man as a source, so it doesnt mean anything other than theyre co-equals in the marriage relationship. Thats an egalitarian position. Im sure that there are some in our church who hold this position as well. Then there is a second position, and that's called the complementarian position or the traditional point of view. They too would say, Yes, men and women are created by God equally. Theyre just as valuable as one another; however they have different roles within the marriage relationship. God ordained marriage, so God defines what those roles are. So though they are equal, they have a different role in that relationship; and the husband is the head in the sense of authority. He is the leader. Now you say, Well, Pastor Jeff, which one do you think? Ive studied the Word and the nuances and so forth. Every use of the word head Ive seen in a metaphorical sense has to do with authority, both in Scripture and in other writings at the time. I also look at the text because what is it a metaphor of? Marriage is to be a metaphor of Christ and the church. With that as an understanding-as a backdrop-do I follow Christ? Does the church follow Christ? Or do we follow Christ? Which is it? Does the church take initiative or does Jesus take initiative? Jesus is our leader, and we follow Jesus. We submit to Him, so this is as Christ loves the church and serves the church, so I believe I would hold a complementarian point of view in regards to this passage. Now, Ill give you an example in my home. We work as a team-my wife and I, were a team. We make decisions together; many times as were talking, her idea is just simply better than mine. Its the way to go. We work together to make decisions, but there have been times when Ive needed to set our family in a certain direction. One that stands out was about 21 years ago. I was ministering at a church in Rockford called Faith Center, and God was really working in my heart to maybe move into the role of a senior pastor. I wont go into all the details as to how I was discerning that, but over a period of time, thats what I really felt then. Wed been to Janesville. We even owned some land in the place where its now our home that we had purchased. At that time, we were pretty much set in Rockford, and God was just working in my heart through different circumstances and through His Holy Spirit. I was really feeling the pull to Janesville, and there came a time to actually tell my wife. I remember I came home, and it was the time to give the announcement. It was time to drop the bomb. I remember she was standing in the kitchen. Her back was to me, and she was chopping up some salad or something. I remember being very concerned of the news I was about to tell her and the fact that she had a knife. I said, Honey, I have to tell you something. She stopped chopping and turned around, knife in hand, Yes? I believe that God is calling us to Janesville to start a church, and she said, Oh, no. Oh, no. You go. Im staying right here. Shes like half laughing and half serious. She said, My home is here. This is where I was born and raised. I love our home. Our jobs are here. Our daughters school is here. Our friends are here. No, you go and have fun. Im staying right here. I kind of laughed back and said, Well, listen. I really feel thats the direction that God is leading our family. So my wife, probably later that day, came to me. She really did love her home, her church and of course her family and all that, and she said, Listen, if thats where you feel that God is leading our family, Im with you. Ill go wherever you go. Wherever you go, that's home. Im on board. Im your partner in life, and Im with you. And she has been-believe you, me-shes teaching the children right now, so shes been my partner in this adventure that weve been on for the last 20 years; but thats an example to me of Biblical submission. I see that in my wife, but we understand in the eyes of God that were the same. We have the same values, but in that marriage relationship, we have roles that we play. Husbands, if you are out here and are thinking, Well, you know, Im the king of the castle, lord of my house. What I say goes. If thats what you think this passage is giving you license to do and be, I would advise you not to come to church next weekend because youre going to get a couple spiritual black eyes because Im coming at you. Thats a wrong understanding of what it means to be a servant leader in your household. You are to lead as Christ leads the church, as Christ loves the church and gives His life for the church. Its a great responsibility, so well be talking more in depth about that next week. Lets continue on in this passage. So that is the debate. What does the word head mean, kephale? So I believe the metaphor gives us the meaning of that word, head-as Christ is the head of the church, so husbands are the head of the wives. Ephesians 5:24, Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Understand we are saying that the husband is submitting to Christ. Paul is not having mind here a husband who is telling you to do something contrary to the Will of God. Now that particular verse really causes people to get upset. It really causes people to get angry and many times to-and this is exactly the wrong way to interpret Scripture… Many times what people will do-and Im not saying everybody who holds the egalitarian position has done this-but sometimes we kind of take, put our finger in the air, and, Whats the political climate? Whats pop culture say? What do the Talking Heads say on TV? Whats the predominant philosophy in our culture? Now Im going to take that philosophy and try to make the Bible say that rather than let the Bible speak for what it really says. Thats doing the Scripture a disservice. You dont start from culture and interpret the Bible. You start with the Bible and you interpret your culture from this as your base because Truth doesnt change. Cultures change; the mores of society change. How marriage was regarded in society 100 years ago was probably a whole lot different than it is now, and its probably going to be-should the Lord allow-a whole lot different 100 years from now than it is now. We cant speak to what society will say 100 years from now; but I tell you what. Ephesians 5 wont change because Gods Truth doesnt change because God doesnt change. God is Truth, so He is immutable. He does not change, so we dont allow society to color how we feel about Gods Word. Gods Word is the standard. Ill give you an example of what I mean by that. This is the irony of the whole thing because there are people who will read that and say, Well, you know, Paul is a male chauvinist. Paul is a misogynistic. He hates women. He just has this old archaic mindset and rejects Paul because obviously hes not with it. We know society changes, right? We know that slavery has been condoned in certain societies, and we know thats wrong. Yet, society condones it. Just because society condones something does not mean thats right or acceptable in the eyes of God. So, heres Paul, and we look at him and go, Oh, look at that Paul. Boy, that guy, hes really got some twisted ideas about women and their roles. What a misogynist! What a woman-hater that guy is! Well, let me tell you something. When this was written, Paul was viewed as a radical by the old schoolers. Who does he think he is giving women and wives that much importance in the home? Want to know why? This is an example of something that was wrong because in that culture-in that Roman culture-the wife was the property of the husband. Isnt that ironic that some would look at him today and call him a woman-hater? Then when he wrote these words to the church in Ephesus, there were many who thought just the exact opposite of him. Hes a liberal! He is trying to exalt the role of the women higher than it should be. Now that was a wrong view for society to hold. Wives are not property. Theyre our partners. God, when he created man, He gave man dominion. It says, A male and female created He them, so we were created co-equal at creation. So thats not Gods view of women, but that was how women were esteemed. They were property. They were just a little bit above slaves, and thats wrong. Slaves are wrong, so societys not always right, friends; and this is a prime example of that. If you wanted to divorce your wife, all you had to do was write a letter, and she was dismissed as your wife. Thats all you had to do. There were some men who would just go through wives. As soon as theyd get tired of one, theyd just write her off. Now the woman couldnt do that with the man, but the man could do that with the woman; so marriage was not valued, and marriage was not esteemed. The wife was not esteemed. The wife was property, just a little bit above a slave in that culture. So Paul comes on the scene, and he says, Love your wives as Christ loved the church! Love your wives as you love your own body. Love and care for your wife. He values marriage, values the role of the wife in marriage and lifts her up to heights unseen prior to that. The people of that culture say, Paul is just radical. Hes lost his mind! Isnt that interesting? Why is that? Because culture and society change; mores change; how we view things changes, but God hadnt changed. The importance and worth of women and wives in the eyes of God had not changed, so Paul was simply writing down what had been true all along. That's the way God intended it to be. She is going to be your helpmate, and together you will serve Me, and He brought the woman to the man, and they became one flesh in the eyes of God. So God is the originator of marriage. He determines the role of the husband and the role of the wife, and we have a decision to make. Are we going to submit to what God has said, or are we going to submit to society? Who is our master? Who is our teacher when it comes to these kinds of things? Now next week, were going to look at the role of the husband. What does it mean to lead a household? Were going to examine the other side of the coin, which is very important for us to talk about as well to get a correct picture and understanding of this important passage. Well, thank you for listening to me today. Thank you for not throwing anything at me for those of you who would disagree with what Ive said. I teach this message unapologetically because I believe when this is being lived out, its a beautiful thing. Its something no one would object to, and a marriage is a reflection of Christ in His church. When there is mutual love and servanthood, then it is a sight to behold. I would encourage you to keep an open mind to what this text is saying and study for yourself if you differ. Study it for yourself and see how the Holy Spirit would lead you. Lets go ahead and pray, and then well receive our offering. Father, we thank You for the Truth that Youve revealed in Scripture to us. We thank You, Lord, that though society changes, cultural mores change, Your Truth does not change because You are Truth, and You are immutable; so we seek not to adjust the Truth to our viewpoint but to judge our viewpoint on the basis of the Truth and what Your Word says. Weve tried to study this passage, and I hope we will study this with an open mind and conform ourselves to what Your Word says. Father, I do pray for our marriages this morning. I do pray that for husbands and wives, we will follow the commands and the precepts laid out for us in Ephesians 5.

In spite of his this incredible faith, John the Baptist went through an experience in his life of great doubt where his dreams were shattered. I want to make sure Im talking to the right crowd today. I want to take a little survey here. How many of you have ever had a dream shattered? Youve been disappointed, had unmet expectations? Okay, it looks like we have the right crowd the right group. It could be something trivial. It could be something like we go to our favorite restaurant to get our favorite sandwich, and its been taken off the menu. Thats a devastating thing. Our favorite team doesnt win the game; our favorite team doesnt win the World Series for the 101st year in a row. It could be something more serious. It could be that husband and wife that walked down the aisle with all these great expectations, and it didnt work out. How many times have I seen parents who are so excited about the pregnancy, and the pregnancy ends in a miscarriage and the child is gone? The nursery stays empty. You see a lot of heartbreak in ministry. Its true that every single person here has gone through struggle and heartache of one kind or another, so thats why we spent time on this series because its where we live. Its our reality. I want to focus in on John the Baptist because hes not a man that you normally associate with shattered dreams, is he? Yet he was one who lived a life of unmet expectations. I want you to turn in your Bibles please to the Book of Matthew 3 (page 957 of pew Bibles). Were going to read his story. John is a Prophet. Prophets dont care a lot about what other people think, what other people say or who they offend. All a Prophet cares about is speaking the Truth. A Prophet does so boldly, and a Prophet does so without apologies because Truth is the most important thing in the life of a Prophet. There are still Prophets walking around today. I read about one such man, a prophet who liked to speak the Truth above all things. He was hired by the Health Department in Pensacola, Florida. His job was to look after the peoples health. Did you read about him this week? When he took over, he started putting signs up that said things like, Sweet tea equals liquid sugar. French fries equal thunder thighs. Then he started to attack businesses like KFC and Dunkin Donuts and name them by name. America dies by Dunkin it said on the clinic. He ruffled the wrong feathers, and they had this guy run out of town, run out of his job. They said, We dont want to listen to you preach to us. We dont want to hear what you have to say, so he was fired. He was released from his duties. He just got a little bit too personal and stepped on too many toes. He said, I dont care if people dont like it. I was hired to protect the health of the citizens and to speak the truth. It doesnt matter who listens to me or if I lose my job. Thats a Prophets mentality. Many times in the Bible, Prophets would end up beaten, imprisoned or even killed for speaking the Truth. John the Baptist-as bold as he was-you know there is going to come a time when hes going to ruffle the wrong feathers, and hes going to get himself into trouble with his mouth. Thats whats going to happen. When it starts off, his ministry is well-received, and things are going great. Lets look at Verse 1 together. In this passage, youre going to see Johns dream. Youre going to see his expectation. Youre going to understand how John interprets his role in the ministry and his expectation of what Messiah will do when He comes. In those days, John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near. Repent is in the continuous tense, meaning he would say these repeatedly. It was something he beat like a drum: repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is near. Matthew writes, This is he who was spoken of through the Prophet Isaiah. A voice of one calling in the desert, Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him. So Isaiah identifies this voice as the one who will herald Messiah. John sees himself as the fulfillment of that prophesy. Johns clothes were made of camels hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. He sounds a little bit eccentric, doesnt he? Thats because he was. He wanted nothing to do with establishment. His clothes were a statement. His diet was a statement. He was saying, I dont need your fancy clothes. I dont need your fancy houses. I dont need your city life. I can be happy here in the desert wearing these clothes, eating this food, this high-protein diet; and Im going to get along just fine. I dont need the trappings of society. Verse 5, People went out to him from Jerusalem, all of Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. His ministry is effective. People are coming; theyre repenting; theyre turning to God. When he saw the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them… Wanting to be loved and popular, You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Its a rhetorical question, but the answer is, You did, John. You warned us. Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. In other words, this is not a game. And do not think you can say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father. I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. Dont count on your ancestry. Dont count on your heritage. Friends, if youve grown up in Janesville, and maybe your church has been a part of the church for generations, dont count on that. Dont count on your upbringing. Dont count on your fathers faith, your mothers faith. What is your faith? What is the status of your walk with Christ? This is a personal matter. He was saying, Dont just trust in how you were raised or how you were born. Johns question to them was, Where do you stand before our Holy God? The ax is already at the root of the trees… God means business. …and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. What did the trees represent? These are people, right? He said, If your life is not conforming to the will of God, youre in hot water. Youre in big trouble. I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come One who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Fire represents judgment and purification. Hes not messing around. Hes going to do this. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor, gathering His wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire. You take that winnowing fork and you lift the wheat into the air. The wheat falls on the threshing floor, and the chaff blows away. You sweep the chaff up, and you burn it. God means business. When Messiah comes, if your life is not right, you could be consumed. Hes painting a picture of a Messiah who is not going to mess around. Hes coming real soon, and Hes coming right here; so you better get your life together. John is one of the original Hellfire and Brimstone teachers, isnt he? So its very clear what Johns message is of what the Messiah will look like. Hes a Messiah that will cause fear-a holy fear-to rise up in your heart. Youd be best to repent right now and turn right now before its too late. Thats his message. He sees his ministry as an important part as he prepares peoples hearts for what is to come. Now we said that Johns mouth will get him in trouble; it does. There is a ruler in the area named Herod. Now its not Herod the Great. Its Herod the great son, Herod Antipas. Hes a tetrarch, so he rules one quarter of the region, but he is the top dog in that region. He had taken his brother Philips wife to be his wife, Herodias. When John the Baptist catches wind of this, he points it out and says, Youre living in sin. What youre doing is wrong. You should not have your brothers wife. Herodias is fit to be tied. She says to Herod, That man has embarrassed me. That man has embarrassed you. Who does he think he is, a desert dweller, telling us how to live, telling us what to do? Sometimes if a Prophet speaks truth into your life, you are offended by what the Prophet says. You need to get rid of him. Shut him up. Make him quiet. So Herod orders John the Baptist to be arrested and thrown into prison. Can you imagine what that does to him? This guy is a free spirit. This guy is out in the wilderness, and hes out in the open air in the desert, sun, the wind and the water. Here is a free spirit proclaiming the will of God and proclaiming the coming of King, and now hes in prison. Now hes in darkness; now he is in isolation; now he is pacing the floor. How could God let this happen to him? How could God allow this to happen to him? Whats more-not only is he in prison, but he is in prison for what? For speaking truth. Have you ever tried to do the right thing and got in trouble for it? Has anybody done that? You spoke truth, and you got in trouble. Many times, Prophets would speak the Truth-theyd speak Gods Word-and they would get in trouble. Thats what happens here. John the Baptists only crime is standing up for righteousness. Now hes in jail and his ministry has come to a grounding halt. Now were going to look at some lessons from prison from John. What are the things we can learn from Johns imprisonment? While hes in prison, hes getting reports back from his Disciples. His Disciples are coming and telling him all the things that Jesus is saying and doing. Remember John baptized Jesus shortly after the passage we read, and Jesus began His ministry in earnest. While Hes beginning His ministry, all these wonderful things John had been waiting to see-all these wonderful things he had been waiting to hear-where is he? Hes locked up. He doesnt get to hear it. He doesnt get to see anything firsthand. Its all second-hand. Its all coming to him through the mouths of other people. So thats lesson #1: a lesson in humility. John learned it wasnt about him. John learned that the work of God was going to go on with or without him. Thats an important thing for us to learn: God can use us, but Gods ministry goes on with or without us. If God calls you to a purpose-God calls you to a ministry-if you say no, then the one who misses out is you because Gods work is going to go forward. God will raise someone else up to do it. God doesnt go, Oh, boy. I wanted to accomplish My purpose. Now I cant because they said no! No, youll go on, but Gods purpose will go on too. So John learns that hes not the show. John had been so intrical to what God was doing in the region, and now he is in prison; yet the work of God is going stronger than ever, so John learns a lesson in humility. He learns its not about him. As people, we learn that its not about us. The infant cries. Hes hungry and wants to be fed. Shes thirsty; she wants a drink. If theyre messy, they want to be changed. If theyre restless, they want out of the playpen. Everything revolves around them, and you have to learn as a human being that the world does not revolve around you. You have to learn patience. You have to learn to share and all of these other things that arent too much fun to learn. Sometimes as Christians, its the same thing. When we become Christians, we think everything revolves around us, right? Oh, God loves me. He wants to forgive my sins. He has a plan for my life. He has a ministry, a spiritual gift, a calling and me, me, me. You come to find out its all about Him. You are redeemed for His glory. Youre called to His purpose. Its about Him. So John had to learn that lesson the hard way. The second lesson he learns is that often times what we desire and what God desires are two different things. John wants to be let out of prison, and youd think if your cousins the Messiah, you have a pretty good shot. If there were ever a get-out-of-jail free pass, that had to be it, right? My cousin Jesus-He is going to get me out of jail. He is the Messiah. All He has to do is say, Im the Messiah. Im here, and Im standing up for righteousness, and Herod doesnt have a chance. Herodias doesnt stand a chance. Ill walk out of here a free man, but that get-out-of-jail free pass never comes. He stays in jail. Days turn to weeks; weeks turn to months, and John doesnt understand. Some of you have been in that jail place. You know that place of darkness, isolation and loneliness? Youre wondering why in the world God doesnt get me out of there. If I would take a little small poll-which I wont do at this time-some of you would raise your hands and say, Im in there right now, and you want to get out. You want to get out in the most desperate way, but there is something that God wants to teach you. Thats what you have to find out; that's what you have to listen for; thats what you have to be watching for. There is holiness that He wants to produce in you. That process sometimes involves pain. The things we want that God doesnt want-we want all the problems and all the pain to just go away, and God wants to form character and holiness in our lives. I just want to know my future. I want to know exactly whats going on. I want all the questions answered, and God wants you to learn to live by something called faith. I want to make this world my home. I want to just snuggle up and cozy down and live as though I will live here for eternity! God wants you to desire Heaven. God wants you to desire the things above. Sometimes our desires and His desires are not the same. The Apostle Paul has a thorn in the flesh, and he prays to God and says, Lord, take this thorn from me! God doesnt, so Paul asks a second time, and he asks a third time. Jesus responds back and says, My grace is sufficient for My strength is perfected in weakness. We want the problems to go away, and He wants us to learn that His grace is sufficient. John doesnt understand why hes not being released from prison. John doesnt understand why Jesus is not acting the way the Messiah is supposed to act. You read the description, right? You read how he expected Jesus to act-you know, separating the wheat from the chaff and burning the chaff; the ax is at the root; Hes going to come with fire. You read what Johns expecting. Jesus comes on the scene and instead of leading His revolution against Rome, Hes talking about sparrows and lilies. Instead of overthrowing the enemy, Hes saying, If your enemy strikes you on the cheek, turn to him the other also. Instead of smiting the foes of God, Hes saying, Love your enemies. Bless those who persecute you. John catches wind of it, and hes like, What is this? What is this? When does the good stuff start? When does the fire start to fall? When are you going to set them straight? All the healing and all of that is nice, but come on! Do what Youre supposed to do! Look what it says in Chapter 11:2 (page 965 of pew Bibles), When John heard in prison what Christ was doing… What Christ was doing… It was what Christ was doing that was throwing him for a loop-the things He was saying, the way He was acting. It was not at all what John expected Him to say and do. …He sent His disciples to ask Him… And, boy, I want you to see how deep this question is. Are You the One who was to come, or should we expect someone else? Wow! Heres a guy who saw the Heavens open; saw the Spirit descent as a dove and rest upon Jesus; heard the voice of God the Father speak and say from Heaven, This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased. In spite of all of that in this prison, he doubts God. He doubts Jesus. He doubts his own perceptions. Friends, if doubts could arise in the heart of John the Baptist in the midst of his prison time, dont be surprised when you have to grapple with doubts and fears in your prison experiences. Its going to happen. This guy should know beyond any shadow of a doubt that Jesus is the Messiah. Yet in this prison receiving only second-hand news, his dreams are shattered. He says, Did I miss something? Sometimes our problem is we just dont see the whole picture, or we only see what we want to see. Heres the thing: John is in prison, and hes waiting for wrath to come. Gods wrath is going to come. But instead of being delivered by Jesus to the people, the wrath of God comes on Jesus for the sins of the people. John did not see that one coming. John did not expect that. That was not in the cards. He didnt see the tender side of God. He didnt see the mercy side of God; yet it was in Gods Word all along. It was there the whole time, and John missed it. That passage that John had read so many times in Isaiah 40 and came to the realization that that was talking about him-lets turn there: Isaiah 40:10 (page 714). This is the passage that talks about the voice crying in the desert. This is John the Baptist. John would echo… It says, See the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and John would say, Yeah! …and his arm rules for Him. Yeah! See, His reward is with Him, and His recompense accompanies Him. Yes! He is going to bring recompense! He gets excited about that verse, but he must have stopped right there. The next verse was missing in his scroll or somehow he missed it. Look at Verse 11, He tends His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young. The tenderness of Jesus, the love and compassion of the Savior-John didnt see it. Its been in the Bible the whole time. Sometimes you and I miss it. We dont see the whole picture. We dont see the other side of the coin. John is expecting judgment and wrath to come; and when it comes, it comes in the form of a sacrifice as God Himself bares the wrath. Its interesting that when Jesus answers Johns question, He does not answer it directly. By the way, when you are going through those prison experiences, its important to express your doubts, your fears and your confusions to Jesus. Dont just keep them inside. Express them to the Lord. Thats what John does. Ask the questions; seek the answers. John does that. Are You the One, or should we expect someone else? Its a cut-and-dry answer. Its a yes or no answer with some explanations, but Jesus does not directly say yes or no. He answers this way: He says, Go back and report to John what you hear and see. Tell him the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of Me. [Its like Jesus saying], So, John, you dont understand. Im not acting like you expect Me to act. Im not delivering you from prison. Im not delivering the Jewish people from Roman rule, but I am doing the work of My Father. I am doing what I was sent to do. John, you dont understand. I want you to trust Me. Trust that I know what Im doing. Trust that Im doing exactly what the Father has sent Me to do. God says that same thing to us today. God says, In your prison experiences, I want you to understand there are things in this experience you need to learn. There is character that needs to be formed. There is faith that needs to grow. There is humility that needs to be forged. There is a big picture that needs to be seen, and there is a faith that must be discovered. Understand that God does His best work in those prison experiences of your lives because there is no other time when you are more ready to listen and more willing to see than right there. When you have the world by the tail, and everything is wonderful and good, sometimes its hard to get your attention. This free spirit is now in prison. Instead of the sunshine, he has a prison wall over his head. Instead of the wind in his face, there is a musty prison smell-a stench; and God speaks to him. We dont know what Johns response is, but his silence tells us that he understood. It wasnt Johns plan for John, but it was Gods plan for John. I want you to pray a prayer with me right now. I want you to open up your Bibles to the Book of Psalm 86 (page 585). Were going to do two things at once. In response to the message weve heard this morning, were going to read. While we read, were going to pray. This is a prayer that you might want to put to memory. This is a prayer that you might want to mediate on in your prison experience, a prayer that you might want to confess-not only this morning but tomorrow and the next day as well. Its a prayer of David. Were going to read this prayer out loud together. As we say this prayer, were going to say this prayer from our hearts to God. Lets read together aloud Verses 1-7, Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am devoted to You. You are my God; save Your servant who trusts in You. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to You all day long. Bring joy to Your servant, for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to You. Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble I will call to You, for You will answer me. Confession prayer starts off with, For I am poor and needy. When you come to the Lord, and you say, Im poor in spirit. Im in need of Your council and strength, friends, in that moment, you instantly become spiritually richer. If you say, I dont need help. I dont need guidance. I understand it all. I know whats going on, you have no idea how blind and poor you are, spiritually-speaking. When our hearts are broken, and we are receptive and ready, then God is ready to do tremendous work in our lives. I want to pray especially this morning for those of us who are going through those difficult prison experiences right now. Id like it if every head could bow and every eye could close for a moment. In this private time, I just want to ask a question. If you are in that time right now, and you say, Im in that John the Baptist experience where things are happening in my life I dont understand; I feel like a victim… Maybe youre suffering for things youve done, or maybe youre suffering for what others have done; and youre in that place where you need to hear the Will of God; you need to experience the presence of God, and you need prayer this morning, can I see your hand? Just put it up. Thank you for your honesty today. I want to pray for you. Father, all over this sanctuary there were hands that went up. Those hands represent a pain-emotional and sometimes physical anguish. When they have found themselves in a circumstance beyond their control or sometimes it was through their control but they dont want to be there, Lord, they have said, Rescue me. And theyre still there. Sometimes like John the Baptist, days turn into weeks, and weeks turn into months, these have been desperate times. Lord, I want to take a moment, and I want to pray for my brothers and sisters whose hands are upheld. You know those stories. You know that pain. Father, just like John didnt understand that the wrath of God would come, but it would not come as he saw it, Jesus was not there to judge or to destroy, but to shepherd and to forgive. Lord, help us to trust in those times of darkness when we dont see the bigger picture; when we dont see the other side of the coin; we dont see the purposes. Lord, I pray that each one would be in tune to what Your voice is saying, how Youre leading them, what You want them to learn, how they need to grow-that they listen even now. God, I pray that You will reveal Yourself to them, that You will reveal Your purposes in them, and You will produce the fruit in them that You desire. Father, I pray for Your grace-that they would see that Your grace is sufficient for them. I pray that Lord, they would emerge from that experience with joy, hope and a renewed faith in You. Lord, these who have hurt and suffered, I pray that they might be able to come alongside those in the future who will hurt and suffer and minister and comfort them with the comfort that they received. Sustain them, we pray, in Jesus name, Amen.

I think this will be the first time our 8:00 service was bigger than our 9:30 Sunday morning service. I appreciate your coming out. Actually, yesterday was much worse (Pastor is referring to the weather. We were in the middle of a heavy snow storm.). If we were going to cancel anything, we should have cancelled yesterday because this is nothing compared to yesterday. I got stuck going home. I was stuck for a while. That was the worst weather Id been in in my life. The snow was hitting me so hard, it hurt while I was trying to get my car out of there. I think we cancel churches in our city largely on the forecast rather than reality because, unless you are coming from where the Jacobs did-coming from Clinton, it wasnt that bad. I wanted to get on WCLO and put Faith Community Church-OPEN in big letters; but Im guessing, having seen three [services] now, well probably be down about 400 people or so-which means we need to take another offering (congregation laughs along with Pastor Jeff). Im glad you appreciate the Saturday night team here this morning. Mrs. Bales is now back, but Mrs. Bales team is taking the night off. Peter and Janet are back from Costa Rico, and were looking forward to hearing some good stories there and adventures. They just had one of those laid-back honeymoons, kayaking, zip-lining, whitewater rafting-one of those quiet ones. So anyway, Im glad youre here. I am wearing a shirt that is supporting our missions team. Well be telling you why were wearing these at the closing of the service today. So lets go ahead and dig into the Word, shall we? In the Book of Luke, I believe, is where were parked for a while. Youre getting version #3. I preached this last night. I didnt like it, so I parked in a restaurant after the service for about an hour. That was my mistake last night because I let the snow get worse, and that got me stuck. I revised it, and then I got home and I still didnt like it. So, at one in the morning, I finally said, Okay, Im happy with this now. So I did the third revision, so youre getting version #3 there, which were going to stick with. So, last time we left John the Baptist, he was a baby. He was the fulfillment of the prophesy of Isaiah, of the prophesy of Malachi, that one would be born to prepare the way for Messiah. Zachariah and his wife, Elizabeth, welcomed their son, John, into the world. Thirty years have now passed, nearly 30 years, and John the Baptist goes into the desert to hear from God. He goes where he can be alone. He goes away from the hustle and bustle of the city, but now the time of ministry has come, so he leaves the desert and goes back towards the city. He stays on the outskirts in the countryside. The people meet him half way-they come to Him. He has an in-your-face style. John is brazen. He is probably the first hellfire and brimstone preacher. He is a turn and burn kind of guy. Yet, the audience, the crowd, theyre listening to John. Theyre compelled. After all, hes wearing camels hair for clothes. He has a leather belt. He lives on locus and wild honey. I would bet you his hair is not exactly G-Q. Its probably…Hes been in the desert, windblown, sun…Hes quite a sight. Yet, hes not a raving lunatic. The words that come out of his mouth are true, and theyre from God. This man is anointed of the spirit. So people come to him, and they want to find out what do I have to do? Whats required of me? The first thing that John will do is tell them they are accountable to God. Hell talk about accountability. In Verse 3 [of Luke Chapter 3, page 1016 of pew Bibles], it says, He went into all the country around Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. If you didnt have your sins forgiven, you must repent. Its not enough to simply go through the rituals, the hand washing, ceremonies, observing the festivals and the Sabbath, put your phylactery on and recite your prayers-your schema-and do all these things a good Israelite does. You have to repent. You have to get your life right before God. Repent means to change your mind, to do an about face- to rethink your attitude, rethink your position and make a change: thats repentance. He says, Youre accountable to God. Stop the excuses. Stop passing the buck. The buck stops with you. Thats Johns message. Johns message is still as appropriate, still as applicable, to us today as it was when he first spoke these words. All of us try to justify our sins, justify our wrongdoings. We come up with reasons why we do or say what weve done or said. We learn from the Book of Genesis that God holds us responsible, doesnt He? Lets take a look right now at a clip which is reminiscent of Genesis. You might even see yourself in it a time or two (log on to www.sermonspice.com and type in the title the bite in the search box you can view what was played). I think we get the drift, dont we? Weve offered up some of those excuses. They offered up the same ones. John the Baptist said, God doesnt buy it, and I dont either. Were accountable to God. He gave them a reality check. Lets look at the next verses, 7-9, John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, You brood of vipers! Thats a good way to start your message, John. Thatll really hook them in right there, get them on your side. …Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father. For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. For ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Thats a pretty graphic word picture there. John is pretty straight forward. He pulls no punches. His reality check, Have you been trusting in your own goodness, your own righteousness, your spiritual heritage? Oh, because we are descendents of Abraham, thats good enough. Because we were lucky to be born as descendents of Abraham, as Israelites, then were righteous. We have favor before God. John the Baptist says, Reality check. That doesnt mean anything. It doesnt mean a thing. Do you know of people who trust in that sort of thing? Are you somebody who trusted in that, a member of the right church, growing up in the right denomination, the right spiritual family? Maybe you had gone through the right ceremony as an infant or a young adult, so youre all set in matters of eternity? You can recite the right creeds and say the right thing. Because I can say the right thing, therefore I must be okay. John says, Those things dont mean anything. Those things mean nothing. If you think because youre a child of Abraham, youre right before God, God can raise up from these stones, children of Abraham. What a blow to their system, to find out that the spiritual reality they had thought was true was an illusion. My wife used to give me points for certain things Id do around the house. I would negotiate on those points. I would ask her, How many points is that worth? Doing the dishes, thats 5,000 points. Id be excited about it, so Id do the dishes thinking, Im getting 5,000 points. I was supposed to take out the garbage or cut the grass, but instead Id make a meal-which doesnt happen very often. That has to be worth some points. Id negotiate, This was harder than that. I got 5,000 points for that! This should at least be worth 10,000! Sometimes, shed say, Okay, 10,000 points! Id say, Oh yeah! Im amassing this volume of points. Im talking six figures worth of points. So there was coming a day when I decided I was going to cash in my chips. I went to her, all excited, and I said, I have like 100,000 points. What can I get? I was like a little kid redeeming his coupons at Happy Joes or Chucky Cheese, How many presents will these tickets buy? What can I get? She looks at me and says, Nothing. My points are worthless? Yeah. I guess so. But I did jobs and I got points. What do I get? Thanks. Thanks for carrying out your share of the load as a member of this family. What a rip off! Ive been trusting in these points! Ive been working for these points. These points are meaningless! I was devastated. Never again will I fall for the point system. If I just know the right stuff…If I just go through the right ritual, the right ceremony, certainly thats going to score points with God. If I just dress the right way, if I just say the right things…If I just make sure I give the right amount of money, do the right good deeds… We were joking around this week about a very sad chapter in the history of the church. Some of you might have heard during the reformation…Now this is not a knock on, this is just a history reality. The Catholic Church-Catholics-would be ashamed of this, just like Protestants have done things we are ashamed of, the Catholic Church-before the reformation-sold letters of indulgences. They needed money to build St. Peters Basilica. The dome was not there, so rain and the elements and wind and birds could fly in the Basilica. It was a disgrace, so Leo-the Pope-came up with an idea that some people just barely make it into heaven, but other people get into Heaven with righteousness to spare. You can tap into that righteousness, and for the right amount of money, well give you an indulgence that will pardon you of your sin. It will even free your loved ones from purgatory. Theres a man by the name of Johann Tetzel, who was the marketing guru. He traveled around Germany selling these things. He had a catchy little phrase that says, When into the coffer a coin rings a soul from purgatory springs, and they made all kinds of money. The more you gave, the more sins were atoned for; you could even free loved ones from purgatory; you could even pay for freedom from future sins with enough money. What do you think their surprise and shock is when they get to Heaven and find out the letter is no good there? Their money is no good there. And Luther says, You dont get to Heaven by buying indulgences. We get to Heaven by grace through faith. Thats what Christ has done. You cant purchase your way to Heaven. We shake our heads at them, and we say, I cant believe people really believe that. Yet, people believe that now. Some people will listen hook, line and sinker to evangelists who tell them on television, If you just send me $1,000, youll be in right standing with God. He is going to bless your life. So they write the check. But it doesnt matter, just like if I say, If you give a million dollars to the building fund, youre going to go to Heaven. Wait a second, now well have to think about that. I want to get the elders together and talk that through. Nope, not even then. Its by the grace of God. Its not what you do; its not your goodness and morality. There are people who are thinking they have a whole mess of points, only to find out thats not the system that God uses. Thats not where righteousness comes from. Salvation is a gift that was purchased at a very expensive price through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. So John gives him a reality check. Thirdly, he talks about consistency. We are in Luke, Chapter 3. In Verses 2-3, he talks about accountability. In Verses 7-9, he talks about reality, and in Verses 10-14, he is going to talk about consistency. The way you live your life matters. What should we do then? the crowd asked. John answered, The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same. Tax collectors also came to be baptized. Teacher, they asked, what should we do? Dont collect any more than you are required to, he told them. Then some soldiers asked him, And what should we do? He replied, Dont extort money and dont accuse people falsely-be content with your pay. So he is telling them the way you live your life matters. If youre here today, and you think youre right with God, but if your life is not displaying the fruits of repentance, true repentance has not happened. If there is true repentance, there will be a change. If there is true repentance, it will affect how you treat your fellow man, how you live your life. What you do matters. What you do is a reflection of whom you belong to, of the condition of your heart. Thats what the Lord is concerned with. Some of you know Im an old comic book geek. When the movie Batman Begins came out, I was really excited. I went to go watch the movie, and there was a line in the movie that was probably one of my favorite lines in a movie of all times. Let me set the stage for you. Multi-millionaire Bruce Wayne is coming back to Wayne Manor, but hes not Batman yet. He doesnt know who he is. He has millions of dollars, but he has no job. So he decides to spend the money on wine, women and song. He is living the life of a playboy, and he is in some fancy restaurant having dinner with some attractive women. One of them jumps into the restaurant fountain, and soon he follows suit. They are frolicking in the fountain in their clothes. Hes all wet; he comes out, and he runs into a childhood sweetheart, a childhood friend. Hes embarrassed about his appearance and his behavior. Then he gives her a nice excuse as to why he is the way he is. Lets watch and see. This is from Batman Begins. (Summary: Bruce is seen frolicking with two young socialites. He sees an old flame and says, rather embarrassed, All this, this is not me. The old flame replies, Bruce, its not what you are on the inside that counts. Its what you are on the outside that truly matters.) Its not who you are underneath. Its what you do that defines you. John says, You have to have your walk match your talk. If your walk doesnt match your talk, your talk doesnt matter. Youre not fooling God; youre not fooling me, John says. You need to have consistency between the two. If youre going to really be serious about God and really repent…But youll notice the one thing that John cant say. He cant say, And the Holy Spirit will help you do this. Why? Because the Holy Spirit did not yet come. The Holy Spirit was promised by John. He foretold of the Holy Spirit. In the Book of Acts 2, Peter gives a similar message. Its a call to repentance. People ask, What must we do? He says, Repent, but then Peter adds something that John cant. He says, We baptize in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. What we have that those people did not have is we have the Holy Spirit of the living God who lives and dwells the believer, and He powers us and equips us to live a kind of life that pleases God. He equips us to say no to sin. He equips us to live lives free. Its not that were not sinners; were still sinners, but were no longer bound by the power of sin. We sin, but we sin because we choose to. Were not a slave of sin any longer. Were certainly free from the penalty of sin because Christ took that penalty for us. So he says, Youre accountable to God. He talks about accountability. He talks about spiritual reality; the point system you are trusting in is invalid. God doesnt grade on a curve. God doesnt hand out arbitrary points for your good deeds. He is looking for authenticity, sincerity of heart. Thats what hes going to talk about in these last verses. In Verse 15, The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ. John answered them all, I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. And with many other words John exhorted the people and preached the good news to them. As abrasive as John was, as in your face as John was, his motivation was right, and his desire was to see people come to Christ. He talks about it with a word picture here of a winnowing fork. What was that? A winnowing fork was when you would take your harvest of grain, while it was on your threshing floor, and youd take the fork (we do it with combines now) and lift that wheat into the air. The heavy stuff, the grain, would come down on the floor, and the chaff would blow away. Usually, youd just sweep it up and youd burn it. So youd separate the wheat from the chaff. John says, When He comes, Hes going to separate true believers from those who are just putting on a good act. How will He do that? Lets turn to Matthew 5 together. Jesus is teaching in what is called the Sermon on the Mount. He is going to raise the bar to an unbelievable height. Who are the most righteous people of the day? The Pharisees? The teachers of the law. They were regarded as the holy men. They were the elite of society. The common people deemed them as being right with God. There was no way they could obtain to their level. Jesus, with that as a backdrop, says something unimaginable to them. Verse 20 [page 959], For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of Heaven. Surpasses! Not just equal to, or not close to their righteousness: you have to pass their righteousness. That must have been such a defeating thing to have heard if you were listening that day because you would have said, I dont compare to the Pharisees let alone surpass them in their righteousness. Those guys are as righteous as it gets. It would be like saying to you, Unless your golf game is better than Tiger Woods, you will not be considered a golfer. I guess theres no hope for me. But the stakes here are a lot more serious than a game of golf. He says, You will not enter the kingdom of Heaven. Whoa! This is bad news. How in the world can my righteousness succeed? Their righteousness was a false righteousness. Their righteousness was a righteousness concerned with externals. It was concerned with appearance. It was concerned with the temporal. Christ spoke of a righteousness which came from God. The righteousness that you have that surpasses the righteousness of the Pharisees is none other than the righteousness of Christ. Its received as a gift. Its offered to you freely through Gods grace and mercy. Its a righteousness thats more concerned about the inside than the outside, about condition of the heart. Its more about the life we live than just the words we profess. He talks about how its enough to say dont murder. Jesus says, You shouldnt even hate. You think youre doing great when you dont commit adultery. Jesus says, Dont lust. Do not oppose the sacredness of marriage. He talks about forgiving those who strike you. He talks about loving your enemies. He talks about taking righteousness to a new level. Thats what it means to exceed. What it meant to exceed was the righteousness of the Pharisees was all about them. It was about self-advancement, self-promotion, self-preservation; it was about me. What would this do for me? How will this improve my standing? How will this improve my clout? Jesus said the righteousness from God is not about advancing your kingdom and your agenda. Its about advancing the kingdom of the Lord Jesus. Its about His cause in the world. Authenticity. How did John do in that regard? Lets turn to John 3. This is some more teaching by John the Baptist. John the Baptist, his ministry is about to end. Its about to subside because the Messiah has come. So John baptizes Jesus, and now Jesus launches His earthly ministry. Whats happening is a lot of the people who are following John are now starting to follow Jesus. A lot of the crowd that was following John is now going after this new young upstart, Jesus of Nazareth. He not only gives a good sermon; He performs miracles too. He starts to steal John the Baptists press. How is John going to handle that? In Verse 26 [page 1052], They came to John and said to him, Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan-the one you testified about… Were talking about Jesus now. …well, He is baptizing, and everyone is going to him. Hes stealing your thunder! Hes stealing your sheep! What are we going to do? John the Baptist says, That dirty rascal! That dirty dog! I gave Him His start! Without me, Hed be nothing! Now Hes taking away my sheep! All right, boys! New marketing campaign! New strategy here! Gather around! Were going to take back whats ours! Hes not going to steal our good givers! Does John get territorial on Him? John simply says, You know what, guys? It was never about me. He gives them a little speech about the bridegroom and the bride. He says, You know what? Verse 30, He must become greater; I must become less. He said, This has to happen. He has to increase, and I have to decrease. This should be what every believer believes in his or her heart and practices in his or her life. There is no such thing as a superstar in the Kingdom of God. I cant tell you a single Christian singer, author, pastor, you name it, that I would meet-well, maybe Billy Graham, I take that back; other than him, theres probably not a one that I would meet and go, Ahhh. Its you. Theres no such thing as a superstar in the Kingdom of God. A Christian celebrity-thats an oxymoron. It makes you want to gag. Its about Jesus. Its not about us. The greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven are not going to be the pastors with 15,000 people in the congregation and diamond rings on their fingers. Its going to be the shut-in who never stopped praying, the person who gave everything they could to fund missions and never told anybody. It will be the people who left everything they had to follow Christ. The Bible knows nothing about celebrities. Building our name, building a name for ourselves, is nothing but vain and glory. It just passes. Its nothing. Vanity. Forty years from now, my prayer is that Faith Community Church is still here, and the Gospel is being preached, people are hearing the name of Christ. Will it matter whether they knew that Jeff Williams was the founding minister? Nope. All Star Ministries is going, and there are 150-200 kids coming. Mike [Powers], if they never heard your name, does it matter? It doesnt matter. All that matters is that you know Christ. You see, if thats my attitude when I started ministry or served in a ministry and I didnt receive accolades or praise, nobody strokes me, I dont get offended. I dont quit because nobody appreciates me. They dont appreciate what I do. Nobody patted me on the back. If youre doing it for the reward, and not for Him, it doesnt matter. If not one person this weekend says, That was a good sermon, Pastor Jeff, am I going to get offended and say, Nobody cares. Do you know how much time I put into that? Three drafts and nobody liked it? I quit. Im going to sell shoes. No. Its not about us. John said, It is not about me. Ive done my part. John now is going to fade into the annuls of history. Soon he will be arrested for exposing immorality. Thats going to backfire on him. Hell fade into a memory in church history. As far as John was concerned, it didnt matter because the One he was there to serve, the One he was there to prepare the way for, had come. His job was done. Someday well all be gone. But if we have lived our lives for the advancement of the Gospel and made Jesus known to the world, we truly have not lived in vain. Lets pray: Father, thank You for the message of John. Thank you for the importance of authenticity, being real. You look at the heart and not the appearance. Thank you for the importance of consistency that our walk matches our talk. Thank you for the reality check, the point systems that we trust in that are erroneous. What matters is the grace of God, the love of God. Thats reality: the accountability that we are to repent, that there is a God we answer to, no excuses. Johns message is just as pertinent today as it was then. We thank you for teaching us through Your Word this morning, through Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus name, I pray, Amen.