Luke 3:1-6
Prepare The Way
Woodlawn Missionary Baptist Church
February 5, 2006
Introduction
(I found chapter 2 in Ian Malin’s book "Preparing For Revival" helpful in preparing this message.)
Read Luke 3:1-3
We all have our heroes, don’t we? Each of us have people whom we admire. We wish we could know them and spend time with them. I am thinking this morning of famous dignitaries: kings, queens, presidents and great rulers. If you could entertain any one of them from past or present in your home, who would it be? (Allow for answers) How would you entertain them? How would you prepare? I don’t know exactly what preparations you might make, but I know that many of you cannot stand to have any kind of company in your home without cleaning and rearranging and putting some things away.
In ancient times, when a king was to visit a city, a messenger would go before, telling the people to get ready. The people of that city would then get busy preparing the road along which the king would travel. Hundreds of years before Christ came on the scene; Isaiah prophesied that there would come a man who would be that messenger. His name would be John, sent of God to tell the people to get ready for a visit from the king.
His message was plain, but not easy. His instructions were clear, yet difficult. All of humanity would see the glory of God, and the time to prepare for it was now. Isaiah said that while our lives are short lived, that message would never change.
God created man to be a perfect reflection of His glory. Everything He has ever done, is doing or will ever do in the future is done so He might be glorified. But man has sinned and marred God’s image. Man is no longer a reflection of God’s glory. We have exchanged the glory of God for our own affections. We have determined to live for our own glory. We even resent being told that is our purpose. What kind of God is that who demands glory? What kind of God do you serve who is so selfish?
I’ll tell you: He is the only true God! Beside Him there is no other. God said in Isaiah that He would not share His glory with another. In Exodus He said His name is Jealous. God is the only God. He is the high, holy and majestic One who is worthy of all glory! And when He says that all of us will glorify Him and were in fact created solely for that purpose, He is justified in doing so because He makes the rules!
The very fact that we resent being told what to do is evidence of our sinful natures. To live for any purpose other than to magnify and exalt the God of heaven is to reject God’s purposes and even God Himself. God is at work, and in fact has always been at work making us into people that rightly reflect who and what He is. He is at work making us into the worshippers we were created to be. He is at work changing our hearts and minds so we come to understand that the more we delight in magnifying His glory the more we are blessed for doing so.
We were created to be worshippers! That’s why verse 6 can say that all humanity shall see the salvation of God. Look at Isaiah 40:5 in your outline.
“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.
In Luke we’re told that all of humanity is going to see the salvation of God. In Isaiah we’re told that all of humanity is going to see the glory of God. The salvation of God and the glory of God are none other than Jesus Christ! Did you know that every man or woman, every boy or girl ever conceived is going to see the glory of God? Every member of the human race is going to behold the salvation of God? Paul told the Philippian church that…
“God also hath highly exalted him (Jesus), and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
There is coming a day when everyone is going to acknowledge and see and know the salvation of God. I do not mean that everyone will be saved. To the contrary, most will spend eternity in the everlasting lake of fire in a place called hell, but all will see and know the salvation and glory of God.
The question that begs an answer then is this: Are you ready? Are you ready for an encounter with God? God longs for fellowship and intimacy with you today. His heart beats for an encounter with you, but there are some things you must do. Let’s read verses 4-5 now.
“As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth.”
Raise The Valleys
If a king were coming to town, the people of the community would get busy preparing the road along which the king would travel. Part of their work would be to fill in the low places: the valleys in the King James Version. You might think of them as wash-outs or potholes.
Every one of us has parts of our lives that are sunk down. After all, we’ve all sinned and fall short of God’s glory. The fact is that we just don’t measure up to God’s standards of perfection, and here is what we need to recognize: there is no shame in seeing and acknowledging it.
Why in the world we go around trying to convince the world that we’ve got it all figured out is beyond me. Everybody knows you’ve got problems. Everybody knows you can be a jerk sometimes or you’re your marriage isn’t what it could be. Everybody knows you fall and will fall again. It seems that the last person to see it is us!
When John preached that we need to raise the valleys, he was saying that we all have areas in our lives that are in decline; where we have fallen short and are living far below God’s best for us. These low areas may come about as a result of neglect of our spiritual lives, neglect of our family lives, neglect of relationships, disobedience, unconfessed sins, failure, hurt, unforgiveness or other such things.
In preparing the way for God to come…these areas must be dealt with. We need to recognize them and admit that they are hindering God’s purpose and preventing Him from coming in [and meeting with us]. We must confess them and ask for His help to deal with them. Then He delights to come and help us. If you feel unworthy, unaccepted or unloved by God because of painful experiences, you need to come to a fresh understanding of God’s unconditional love for you and His total acceptance of you. Where there are unhealed wounds in your life, you may need to open your heart for His healing touch. You need to realize afresh how much God loves you, what He has done for you and who you really are in Christ.
Every valley must be raised and every low area built up so that the Lord can come in power and blessing.
Level The Hills
Not only do the low places have to be built up and filled in, but the high places must be leveled. Boulders and rocks in the way must be broken or removed.
The mountains and hills speak of the hard, resistant areas in our lives we must deal with before the Lord can come to us – things like pride, unbelief, resistance to the Holy Spirit, self-will, self-effort, self-righteousness, a critical spirit and other such things. These are obstacles to the knowledge and presence of God that prevent Him from coming to us in all His fullness.
Most often we can’t even see the high places in our lives. Pride in all its various forms is a very deceitful thing that we may see in others but not in ourselves. Yet these things can block and hinder God’s deeper work within us without our realizing it. The spirit of pride must be dealt with in our lives, and we must be brought to a place of brokenness, submission and humility before the Lord. Only then can we make a highway for the Lord in our hearts that is clear of obstacles and hindrances so that He can come to us.
Make The Crooked Paths Straight
There’s only one way to keep a road or path straight, and that is to maintain focus. How often do we run along and then realize that our priorities are all out of whack? How often have you become overwhelmed by life only to realize that you’re not headed in the direction you really wanted to go? If we could look down on the roads we’ve taken in life I think we’d find one curve after another as we’ve chased after this thing or that thing, slowly meandering toward something that we’re not really certain of.
There’s only one solution for this problem, and that’s to realize our purpose for being here. I’ve already stated it for you. When Jesus came to earth, He encountered people and problems every day that could have distracted Him from His purpose, but in every instance He told the people that He was headed for the cross. That’s why He came and He never forgot it.
Why are you pursuing this thing or that thing? Why are you spending your life following after that dream? Is it God’s purpose for your life? Is it the path God would have you to take? We ought to so live our lives that we have spiritual blinders on. There are hundreds of great opportunities you can pursue in life, but only one is God’s chosen purpose for you. Putting blinders on doesn’t just keep you from turning to the left or right – they keep you centered on what is most important to you.
Listen to me: Whether you do or not God is headed in one direction. He’s not going to bless this turn and that turn while you chase after everything that comes along. He is going to stay on track and gently (and not so gently) prod you along the path He wants you to travel.
Make The Rough Places Smooth
When the low places are built up and the high places brought down, the final part of preparing a highway is to grade and roll the rough and bumpy surface of the road to make it completely even and smooth.
The uneven areas of our lives speak of the inconsistencies in our Christian living – the ups and downs, the hot and cold; the rough places where we still need further refining to make our lives smooth and straight. Are you harsh in your relationships with others – your wife, husband, children or family members? Are you impatient, irritable, unfair or unkind in your dealings with others? These rough areas must be made smooth. It is the work of the Spirit in our lives to produce in us the consistent qualities of Christlike character and behavior. But we must ask Him to deal with the jagged reactions and responses of our self-life and replace them with the even responses of the Spirit-filled life.
How level and smooth is the highway of your heart? How consistent are the marks of the Spirit-filled life seen in your life every day? This will not be done through self-effort, though you must do your part. Only the Spirit within you can level the uneven places. So you must cooperate with Him in the pressures and problems of everyday life, denying the self that wants to react and rise up and asking the Spirit of Jesus to live through you instead.
Conclusion
I don’t know whether Jesus Christ is on your list of important people you’d like to have in your home to spend time with and get to know, but I know that you are on His list. More than you are aware He wants to enter your life. Today He stands at the door of your heart, like He stood at the door of the Laodiceans.
“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
What a terrible picture in the Scriptures of the King of kings, standing outside the door and knocking, hoping and wishing the people would let Him in! These were no heathen people – they were one of His churches! His very own people had shut Him out!
What about you? Today Christ is speaking to you through this message and He wants to come into your life. He has announced His coming; but are you willing to make the necessary preparations? John preached “the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” In other words, he preached that those who claimed to be ready for the king were going to do more than say so, there would be an obvious outward display of repentance and faith.
Perhaps today you have placed your faith in Christ, but you have never demonstrated your desire to live for Christ by being baptized. Come today and follow the Lord in baptism. Others of you have been saved for years and years, but there are potholes in your life that need to be filled. There are high places in your life that need to be leveled; crooked places that need to be refocused or rough areas of your life that need to be submitted to Christ. It is time for you to come out from the privacy of your pew and take action!
Why come out from the privacy of your pew? It is time for several reasons. Because if you don’t come out then no one has to hold you accountable. Because if you don’t come out then you’re living a lie before young believers who need an example of brokenness to follow. Because when you step out of that pew, young or old, new believer or long time believer, you are telling everyone in the room that you have chosen to step across the line and follow Christ openly.
You say you want to see the salvation of God. You say you want to see the glory of God. You say you’re ready and willing for an encounter with Christ. I say to you: where is the evidence of your desire?
We serve a glorious God! He is worthy of our praise today – and the greatest praise you can offer Him is not a “hallelujah!” but a broken and contrite heart that desires to fellowship with Him. Won’t you offer yours to Him today?
