Prepare The Way
Mal. 4:4 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn…
There were 500 or so years between the closing of the Old Testament in the book of Malachi until the ministry of John the Baptist. All of Israel was without the Word of the Lord waiting until Elijah would come or the Messiah would appear in order that they would be delivered from the current oppression of the Roman Empire.
There was a corrupt religious order in place, a ministry of rules and regulations that were enforced by scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees. Rules and regulations that God never intended. God was going to set it straight.
Mentioned last week about a prophetic word that I heard from Paul Cain that God was coming to the church to remove everything that bears His name but that does not bear his character. WE know that judgment begins with the house of God.
I. The Messenger Of Change Luke 1:14-16
A. The Birth Announcement
1. He will be great in the sight of the Lord. v.15
2. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit v.15
3. He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.
4. He would minister in the spirit and power of Elijah v.17
- turning the hearts of the fathers to the children
- the disobedient to the wisdom of the just
- to make a people prepared for the Lord
5. The hand of the Lord was with him. V.66
B. The Witness Of The Holy Spirit v.76-79
1. He will be a prophet of the Most High God v.76
2. He would prepare the way of the Lord/Messiah
3. He would give knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of sins. V.77
4. He would have the mercy of god
5. He would give light to those sitting in darkness
6. He would guide into the way of peace
B. The Place Of Preparation v.80
1. He was in the deserts (revelation to manifestation)
- it is here in the desert that God has His perfect work in you.
- There are no distractions, a place of utter dependence
2. He grew and became strong in spirit
3. God was making the messenger the message.
Matt. 3:4 “Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.”
- John’s simple lifestyle prophesied against the people
- he ate locusts, wore camel hair, wore long hair
- he was a visual protest against self-indulgence
Q. How many of you would welcome this guy into your church to preach?
II. The Message Of Change Luke 3:2-20
A. John’s Manifestation To The People v.2
1. The Word of the Lord came to John
- notice it didn’t come to the religious leaders of the day
B. The Message of Change is…Baptism Of Repentance
1. The Message hasn’t changed. God is calling everywhere through the voice of His prophets to repent. Or in modern translation: Wake up. Get real, get your life turned around and look to God!
2. Matthew says that John came preaching “Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is near.” This is the same message of Jesus and which followed right through the birth of the church in Acts. God’s Kingdom from John on has been forcefully advancing…and forceful men lay hold of it! Matt. 11:12 God’s rule and authority and being established on earth as it is in heaven. Repentance gets us facing in the right direction and opens our hearts to receive His rule over our lives.
3. We need to repent: (an about face) and take an honest look at our lives. Repentance is good medicine.
4. When God takes residence in an individual’s life, everything must change!
5. Repentance will give us revival: God is jealous for our total loyalty, unreserved dedication, unblemished love and our unswerving commitment. God wants all of you!
6. We need more conviction and absence of it may reflect that we have flirted with the world for too long and have forgotten how to blush. Beware when you no longer feel the convicting power of the Holy Spirit in your life. * Samson was a man who wasn’t aware the Spirit of God left him *
7. Repentance precedes revival and there can be no revival without tears of conviction and sorrow. Dr. Michael Brown has said, “Heaven and earth have become fairy tales..We talk the right talk, but our tearless prayers, our whole hearted pursuit of the things of this world, our obsession with worthless entertainment, our idolization of sports, our lack of burden for the lost, our dwelling at ease while the world perishes….all this testifies against us. Revival will open our eyes! The spiritual becomes more real than the natural, and eternal matters become more urgent than temporal matters.
C. The Message Of Change is…Prepare The Way Of The Lord
1. Realize that God’s Word stands in judgment against you. Heb. 4:12,13 “For the Word of god is living and active. Sharper than any two-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing souls and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges, the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”
2. Make straight paths for Him Is. 40:3-8
- take inventory of your entire life…family, marriage, job
- as for me and my house we will serve the Lord
- look for crooked places, rough places
- bow down low in humility realizing that all flesh is as the grass and all its loveliness is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
- God will blow everything away that is not of Him
3. We prepare the way by our huger for more of Him! Where is our time spent? We need to learn how to spend less time in the Supper Room and more time in the Upper room.
4. All mankind shall see God’s salvation. His glory will be revealed! Hab. 2:14 “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”
D. Produce Fruit With Repentance 3:8
1. Religion can’t save you. (Abraham is your father….so?)
- religion kills, it’s the letter of the law. It has a form of godliness but has very little substance.
2. The Ax is already at the root v.9
- who are you connected to? (money, wealth, success)
- where are we drawing life from? The well of Christ or the well of self-religion?
- We need to draw from the Vine!
3.We need to bear fruit because Jesus is inspecting us
- three x the question is asked, what should we do?
- Need pure religion: James “Pure religion is this, look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted from the world.”
- John said to share with the one who has none..give the tunic. Ned to get rid of greed, to be content with what we have.
- Don’t accuse falsely, slander or gossip
E. Christ Is Coming! V.16
1. SomeOne is coming who is more powerful than John. SomeOne is coming who is more powerful than any preacher today..
- WE NEED TO GET LOW IN HUMILITY
2. He is baptizing with the Holy Spirit and with fire
- the Refiners fire is coming to burn away all sin
- Jesus is coming for a Bride without spot or wrinkle
3. His winnowing fork is in His hand.
- the wind of the Spirit is blowing to separate the wheat from the chaff and to separate the impurities from your life.
III. The Response To The Message
A. God Is For You Not Against You.
1. His heart is towards you.
2. v.18 John exhorted the people and preached the good news to them. The message is either good news or bad news depending how you respond.
3. God cares so much that He is probing your heart right now.
4. Scripture says in Luke 13:6 that a man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil? Sir, the man replied, leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.
- the wrath of God says cut down the tree
- God’s mercy says I’ll give it more time
- My Word will dig around it and my Spirit will fertilize it.
B. Turn To God To Change And Prepare Yourself For Him
1. By Repentance
2. By Preparing A Way For God
3. By Producing Fruit
