ILL>> I played Santa this week at the nursing home - The outfit was fine but the beard was rank, so I had to spray it with something. - I hugged - asked if they were good little boys and girls, passed out gifts and even danced with some of the ladies. I couldn’t tell who really believed in Santa and who was just playing along with me. It was really fun.
Some older children play along, just for the fun of it. Christmas is fun and nothing is wrong with pretending about Santa.
There is a real problem I believe many people are pretending to believe in Jesus!
Do you pretend to believe in Jesus?
ILL>>> Santa - do you really believe or just pretend , like the Pharisees?
When our family knows we have company coming we work frantically for several hours so our house will be ready for company. You don’t do that do you? Then it takes about 20 minutes to mess it up again.
Jesus is coming to you in 2004, how will you prepare for Him? Would you clean up?
ILL>>>The problem is when you teach kids how to clean up their room and than go back later they say. “It’s clean” but when you walk in you notice several things that are still a mess. Kids must be taught what clean is.
ILL>>> I was a Veterinarian clean-up man my last year in High School. Know why I was assigned those the jobs? I was the only guy who was willing to do it. The other guys who worked there did a terrible job of cleaning anything and pretended that was the best they could do. So guess who got all the nasty clean up jobs?
Do you know what clean is? Of course all of us say yes - I am an adult. But do you know what a clean life is? When you compare you rightousnesses with Christ what do you see? Do you pretend your ok? Do you pretend to believe in Jesus?
John the Baptist prepared the world for the coming of the King. Here is what he said...
I. Prepare for the King 3:1-6 (by repentance for the remission of sins. ) v3
A monarch traveling into the wilderness would send a crew of workmen ahead of him to clear a path, straighten the roans fill valleys and top off mountains and hills
John is the herald that goes before that king. A VOICE - SAYING PREPARE YE ...
A. This year get your life straight before God, by repenting. - Everyone needs to repent!
Do you pretend to believe in Jesus? - If you believe you will repent!
One of Jesus first sermons was (Mat 4:17 KJV) From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
B This year get you life leveled with God - Valleys and Mountains -- What do you need?
(Luke 11:2 KJV) And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
Am I a kingdom person? If not, how can I be? If so, how should I live?
ILL>>>> Preparing for large Christmas Eve family gathering, a mother had been giving out orders like a drill sergeant: "Pick up your things! Don’t get your clothes dirty! Put away those toys."
Well, her 4-year-old daughter had been underfoot all day, so she sent her to the next room to play with their wooden Nativity set.
As the mother scurried around setting the table she overheard her daughter talking to her toys in the same tone of voice the mother had used: "I don’t care who you are, get those camels out of my living room!"
C. This year make crooked places straight in your life and rough smooth.
Dr. Morris Chapman talked about EKG during the 2003 Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. Dr. Chapman also introduced Dr. Ken Hemphill as the national strategist for Empowering Kingdom Growth. Empowering Kingdom Growth is an all-out concentration on the Kingdom of God.
Tonight I will ask the deacons to help me create a ministry team that will investigate ways to help our church grow. I hope to have this team represented by every section of the church. The goal will be to plan for growth. That brings me to my next point. As Christians we must ...
I. Prepare for the King
II. Produce for the King 3:7-14
Matthew Henry---By the fruits of repentance it will be known whether it be sincere or no.
By the change of our way must be evidenced the change of our mind. -
Do you pretend to believe in Jesus? - If you believe you will repent!
A. Produce a life that shows repentance. v8
1. Not fake like the people who came to follow the crowd into baptism
2. Not to proud to change - the Jews were proud of Abraham (don’t even begin to say)
ILL>>>
Christmas with all its trappings of lights, bows, gaily wrappings, greens and such seems like a time when the evil of the world is being hidden from view. And for some that is exactly how they deal with Christmas. They put on their finest clothes, clean their houses, decorate their lives with false kindness, and act so sweetly even toward those who they dislike. Some families spend the whole rest of the year bickering and arguing over petty jealousies and hurts and yet at Christmas they put that all under the wrappings and treat each other with smiles and hugs and kisses, but only for a day or two. After the Christmas presents are opened and the decorations come down, they are once again at each other’s throats. That’s not the way John wanted Christmas to become. He wanted the joy and love of Christ to influence the whole year, each believer, and every church.
B. Produce a fruitful life revealing repentance or be cut down and burned v9
1. Fruit of giving reveals true repentance and faith v11
ILL>>>Some children were asked what love is. The responses were quite interesting and instructive for us adults. One said, "Love is when my mommy makes a cup of coffee for my daddy and takes a little taste before she gives it to him to make sure it tastes okay." Another said, "Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you’ve left him alone all day." A response was, "You really shouldn’t say, ’I love you’ unless you really mean it, but if you mean it you should say it a lot, people forget." One boy said, "When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth." And finally 7 year old Bobby said, "Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."
Yes, Christmas is the time we think a lot about love. And it’s also what motivated John’s conversation with the crowds he encountered. It might not sound much like love, but it still is love. Because John knew that to announce the coming of the Savior would take a lot of pointed confrontation about sin, repentance and the fruit of repentance.
2. Fruit of honesty reveals true repentance and faith v12-13
Tax collectors were especially heinous sinners according the masses of Israel as you’ve heard before. John doesn’t tell them to quit their profession and become a monk. He only admonishes that they keep their profession free from greed and self-gratification. Do the work assigned, collect the correct amount, but no more. Treat the people with respect and don’t seek to line your own pockets which is what many of the tax collectors did
3. Fruit of integrity reveals true repentance and faith v14
And to the soldiers who asked him John was similarly down to earth. He didn’t ask them to leave their bloody work, but to do it with professionalism. Soldiers were notorious for using their brute force to advance their own salary and their commander’s graft. John wanted them to remember that God was in charge and that his commands were more important than that of their own sinful hearts or of their evil earthly commanders.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Mt. 6:33)
ILL>>>The legend is told of the time Satan and his demons were having a Christmas party. As the demonic guests were preparing to depart, one grinned and said, "Merry Christmas, your majesty!" At that, Satan replied with a growl, "Keep it merry my friend. If they ever get serious about it, we’ll all be in trouble." *...
Do you pretend to believe in Jesus? - If you believe you will repent!
I. Prepare for the King
II. Produce for the King
III. Prevent the judgment of the King 3:15-17
3 fires
A. v9 The fire of Judgment in hell is near - unfruitful = unrepentant
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matt10:28
B. v16 The fire of the purifying of God
Matthew Henry--- John can only baptize with water, a symbol of a purified life as only Christ can, At salvation He baptizes with the Holy Ghost; he gives the Spirit to cleanse and purify the heart, not only as water washes off the dirt on the outside, but as fire purges out the impurities within, and melts down the metal, that it may be created into a new creation
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2Cor.5:17.
C. v17 The fire of Hell
God will separate the seed from the trash (wheat from chaff).
1. God the HS is the wind of the winnowing fan
2. God gathers the saved
3. God burns the lost with an unquenchable fire of HELL.
Fear not; I am the first and the last: 18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. REV 1:17
Do you pretend to believe in Jesus? - If you believe you will repent!
I. Prepare for the King by repenting
II. Produce for the King by repenting
III. Prevent the judgment of the King --- by repenting
