He Who Is Coming After Me

Well, the next four Sundays we'll be making our way through Matthew chapter 3 and Matthew chapter 4.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention Matthew 4 · chapter mention

And there are four sermons coming up.

And if there was going to be a banner that kind of flown over these four sermons,

there would be a phrase over it.

And you can find that phrase at the end of Matthew chapter 4 verse 16.

Matthew 4:16

A light has dawned.

And so over the next four weeks, we're going to work our way through Matthew chapters 3 and 4,

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

and we're going to see the beginning of the ministry of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

And so this morning we're going to look at John the Baptist,

and the next week we're going to look at the baptism of Jesus,

and then we're going to look at the temptation of Jesus,

and then we're going to look at the start of the ministry of Jesus at the end of January.

It's all about Jesus.

It's all about King Jesus.

Who He is, what He's done, what He's doing,

it's all about Him.

It's all about His grace.

So would you turn with me now to Matthew chapter 3,

Matthew 3:1–12

verses 1 through 12.

And this passage you can just sum up by saying,

John the Baptist is preparing the way for King Jesus.

He's preparing the way.

And we're going to see a few ways in which He prepares the way.

But first, have you ever seen a royal procession before?

Maybe you've seen it in person.

Maybe you've seen it in a movie.

Usually what happens, there's a king royalty in some kind of cart.

And usually, if your mind works like me,

it's kind of you imagine this king in a cart,

and he's being kind of carried by these kind of burly slaves.

You know, they're a cart with poles on it,

and they're kind of walking through a city.

And so in front of this cart,

there is someone announcing to all in the city

who's coming behind him.

And usually this one who's making the announcement

is not just informing people,

but he's calling people to respond.

Bow down, the king is coming.

The king approaches.

The king is in your midst.

Make way.

Make way.

The king has come.

And so that man who's preparing the way of the king,

he's not drawing attention to himself.

He's drawing attention to the one that's coming after him.

Because the king that follows him is mightier than he.

And so Matthew 3, 1 through 12,

is all about John the Baptist

proclaiming and making way for this one who's coming after him.

Up until this point in Matthew,

Matthew has been seeking to convince us

that this baby Jesus is Emmanuel,

the only one who has a rightful claim to the throne of David.

This is the long-anticipated one, the king, King Jesus.

And so what you need to realize about Matthew 3, verse 1,

Matthew 3:1

is something happens between Matthew 2, 23 and Matthew 3, 1.

And so if you look back in your Bibles to Matthew 2, 23,

we're talking about Jesus, Joseph, Mary,

heading back to Nazareth when Jesus was just a little boy,

maybe two.

And then in chapter 3, verse 1,

all of a sudden we're transported forward a couple decades.

And so what we'll see in verse 13 of chapter 3

is that Jesus comes on the scene as a man.

And so what you need to know from the get-go

is there's been a couple decades

that have already elapsed between chapter 2 and chapter 3.

And John the Baptist seems to come out of nowhere

to announce the coming of the long-awaited king.

And not just to announce,

but to call for a response.

2,000 years ago and now.

And so he comes to prepare the way of King Jesus,

and he's going to call us to respond in three ways.

He's going to call us to repent.

And then he's going to confront presumption in us.

And then he's going to point us to the one mightier

than any of us.

He's going to point us to Jesus.

And so let's just jump right in.

Verses 1 through 6.

I'm going to walk through kind of three scenes.

And then we'll land this plane at the end.

What you need to notice first in chapter 3, verse 1,

is that John the Baptist came,

and he came preaching.

He came declaring.

He came announcing.

He came speaking.

The focus is on his voice.

Announcing something.

And if you look down at verse 4,

you quickly realize this is a unique dude

based upon what he was wearing.

Now John wore a garment of camel's hair

and a leather belt around his waist,

and his food was locusts and wild honey.

You just don't see that too often nowadays.

I like ponchos.

And I know how to find a cheap poncho.

Anybody else use a 30-gallon trash bag as a poncho?

It's really simple.

I see that hand back there.

Cut out the, you know, neck,

little holes in the arm.

You can bring it down.

Looks great.

Cheap.

Water repellent.

John the Baptist is basically wearing a poncho of camel hair.

That's what he's doing.

It was cheap and available.

Camel hair.

Wrapped around his waist with a big belt.

He's eating locusts, which were a big grasshopper.

People still eat them in the region today?

Dip them in wild honey?

They're delicious, I guess.

I would not know.

But what you understand is,

why is this guy dressed in camel hair?

Why is he eating grasshoppers and wild honey?

Well, he's living a very basic life,

a very simple life,

a minimalistic life,

because he's all in for the calling on his life.

He's declaring.

He's announcing.

He's preparing the way of the Lord.

And what you need to see is,

if you flip back in your Bibles to 2 Kings 1.8,

do you know who else was wearing a poncho

of kind of camel hair?

Elijah.

Later in Matthew chapter 11,

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

Jesus says that John is the second Elijah who has come.

And so what you need to know from the get-go is,

John is the baptizer,

but what you need to realize is,

John is a prophet.

And he's declaring a message of repentance,

calling God's people back to himself.

So he's a prophet.

And the next thing you need to see here

is that this John the Baptist,

he fulfills prophecy.

He's a prophet who fulfills prophecy.

His ministry is a fulfillment ministry.

And so if you look at chapter 3, verse 3,

it says,

For this is he, John the Baptist,

who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah

when he said,

The voice of one crying in the wilderness,

prepare the way of the Lord,

make his path straight.

The voice of one calling in the wilderness.

John is proclaiming the kingdom.

And he's in the wilderness,

20 miles east of Jerusalem,

along the Jordan,

in the wilderness of Judea.

And so what Matthew is pointing out here is,

it's no coincidence that this guy

in the camel poncho is preaching

what he's preaching.

This was God's plan.

He is the forerunner of the Christ.

This was all according to the will of God.

And his ministry is one of preparation.

We see it in the message itself.

And so if you look back at verse 2,

you see the message of John the Baptist,

what he's declaring.

He's saying,

Repent!

Repent!

Repent!

Do you know what the word repentance means?

The Greek mind would take the word repentance

as simple like change of mind.

It would have been very just kind of common.

It would be like,

alright,

I pull out my drawer,

oh,

I'm thinking about wearing my striped socks.

Oh no,

I repent.

I change my mind.

I'm going to wear my polka dotted socks.

And so for the Greek mind,

it was just kind of changing your mind.

But for the biblical authors,

for the Jewish mind,

oh,

repentance meant so much more.

Repentance,

biblically speaking,

is a radical reorientation

of one's entire life.

It's turning away from living life

with me at the middle of my life,

and it's a turning from that

and turning and reorienting

all of who I am

to living for God and to others.

That's what repentance is.

John the Baptist is calling people

to turn from their sin

and turn to living to God

and all of who they are.

It was a message of repentance.

And then notice,

he gives the reason why.

Repent,

for the kingdom of heaven

is at hand.

He gives the reason.

Now,

the kingdom of heaven

is a phrase unique to Matthew.

And we show,

it's basically the same idea

as the other gospel writers

who talk about the kingdom of God.

And so,

what Matthew is saying,

that John is saying,

is he's repent,

for the kingdom of heaven

is here.

It's arrived.

It's present now.

There's some speculation

of why Matthew uses

the phrase kingdom of heaven.

He's writing to a Jewish audience,

and so,

a good idea is that

he didn't want to use

the name of God

in order to offend

the Jewish audience.

So,

he's talking about

the kingdom of heaven.

What you need to be thinking,

though,

when you hear that phrase,

kingdom of heaven,

don't be thinking

blocks and gates.

Don't be thinking that way.

Here's what you need to be thinking.

When you hear the phrase

kingdom of heaven

or kingdom of God,

you need to be thinking

about the active reign

of King Jesus.

The active,

dynamic,

reign of King Jesus.

His present rule.

And so,

the king of the kingdom of heaven

is King Jesus.

And so,

the inbreaking of the kingdom,

the presence of the kingdom,

is the arrival of Jesus.

And so,

what John is saying is,

repent,

because

God is now reigning

on earth in Jesus,

and that reign

is going to spread.

The Messiah has arrived.

Another way

to say it is,

change your living

because the king

has come.

And he's brought

with him

his rule,

his gracious rule,

his holy rule.

Live in light

of who he is.

And then in verses 5 and 6,

we see the response.

All sorts of people

are coming out of Jerusalem,

Judea,

and the surrounding areas,

and they're going out to him.

And the question is,

why are they going out to him?

Did they hear about

his camel poncho?

Did they want to see

the latest fashion

and prophetic wardrobe?

Is that what they wanted to do?

No.

They got wind

that a prophet's in town.

There's a prophet

in the wilderness

declaring repentance.

There's been 400 years

of silence,

and now God is speaking again,

calling his people

to come back to him.

And the people respond

to this call to repentance.

Those who go out to him,

they respond.

And they respond

by being baptized.

They respond

by confessing their sins.

Real repentance

shows up

in the real confession

of real sin.

The recognition

that yes,

I am a sinner,

and I have committed sins,

and I confess them,

and I'm repenting of them.

I'm turning from them.

And baptism

was simply

this demonstration

that they were,

yes, repenting.

Demonstrating publicly

that yes,

I am saying,

no more to that lifestyle.

That was what I used to be.

This is a tremendous

step of humility.

One other thing

you've got to realize

about this baptism

going on.

John was baptizing Jews.

Back in the day,

baptism would be something

Jews would do

to Gentiles

in order for them

to become

Jewish converts.

And so,

for a Jew

to baptize a Jew

was unheard of.

This is

something unique

going on.

So,

it appears

that God,

we come to the end

of this passage

or this section

in verse 6,

it appears God

is on the move again.

We've had a prophet

sighting on the outskirts

of the Judean wilderness

on the Jordan River.

You know,

one of the questions

we could ask

is if you were in Jerusalem,

you heard about this guy,

what would you have done?

Would you have gone

to see him?

So,

John the Baptist

was creating

quite a stir

and the people

in Jerusalem

were flocking to him

and it would have

aroused

the interest

and suspicion

of the religious

establishment.

So,

now we move

to the second scene

in verses 7-10

where we see

John the Baptist

having called people

to repentance,

now he's going

to confront

presumption.

He's preparing

the way

of King Jesus

and

he says

some hard things.

In verse 7

we read,

but when he saw

many of the Pharisees

and Sadducees

coming for his baptism

and what you need

to realize

is that these Pharisees

and Sadducees,

they were a delegation

sent from

the Sanhedrin

which was

kind of the religious

establishment leadership

in Jerusalem,

they were sent

to go check

what's going on

on the Jordan

with John the Baptist

out.

And so,

what you need

to realize

is they're not

going to be

baptized.

They're going

to check out

what's going on.

And so,

they're being sent

and what you also

need to know

is Pharisees

and Sadducees

were two very

different theological

groups.

Pharisees,

they believed

all of the Old Testament,

they were committed

to the oral law,

they were known

for making rules

upon rules

upon rules

to apply

the oral law

to everyday life

and they were

just known

for making

so many rules

that nobody

could fulfill

them all,

nobody could

obey them all.

They believed

in the resurrection,

the Sadducees,

good way I learned

this,

they were sad,

you see,

because they didn't

believe in the

resurrection,

they maintained,

they were committed

just to the authority

of the first five

books of the Bible,

they were an

aristocratic group,

they were a priestly

group,

so they were tied

to the temple

and they were

just well connected

and so you have

two very different

theological groups

but they share

a common political

mission

and that is

to stay in power.

And so the Sanhedrin

sends them out

to the Jordan

to check out

what's going on

with John the Baptist.

And so they

weren't there

to repent,

they were there

to do some

recon.

And John

confronts it.

Look at verse

seven.

I just wouldn't

recommend this

approach.

If you're going

to kind of like

a family gathering,

I just wouldn't

recommend this

approach.

He starts off

by saying,

you brood

of vipers.

A brood

is an offspring

of vipers.

Snakes.

You offspring

of snakes.

Snakes!

You snakes!

And then sarcastically

he asks this,

John the Baptist,

who warned you

to flee the wrath

to come?

What are you

doing here?

Because we know

you're not here

to repent.

What are you

doing here,

you brood

of vipers?

And then he

says,

hey,

bear fruit

in keeping

with repentance.

He calls them

to change their

ways.

True repentance

of one sin

results in a

changed life,

a bearing of

a new kind

of fruit,

of good fruit,

godliness,

a life lived

to God

and for the

good of others.

And we all

know that can

only happen

through Jesus.

But what I

want you to

key in here

is in verse

nine.

In the ESV,

he says,

and do not

presume to

say to

yourselves,

we have

Abraham as

our father.

For I

tell you,

God is

able from

these stones

to raise

up children

for Abraham.

Do not

presume.

What John

is saying

to these

Pharisees

and Sadducees

is that

you're not

saved from

the wrath

to come

because of

your genetic

relationship

to Abraham.

Don't

presume you're

saved when

you're not.

Don't base

your salvation

on your

relationship

to this

guy or

how well

you know

your Bibles.

That's not

how a sinner

is saved

from the wrath

of God.

He's basically

saying,

don't think

that you are

something when

you're not.

Don't think

that you're

saved when

actually you're

not.

It's a hard

thing to say

to someone.

He brings

up Abraham.

And we can

ask the question,

well,

how did

Abraham get

saved?

I mean,

back in

Genesis 15,

was God

so impressed

with Abraham's

righteous living

that God

essentially said

Abraham,

man,

you live

such a

godly life.

I don't

need to do

anything to

save you.

Let me

just kind

of rubber

stamp it.

You're

in,

buddy.

You're

in.

Impressive

life.

Very

impressive.

That's not

what saved

Abraham.

In Genesis

15,

6,

we read

this.

Abraham

believed

God and

it was

credited to

him as

righteousness.

God

accepted

Abraham,

not on

the basis

of his

works,

but on

the basis

of his

faith in

God.

On the

basis of

God's

kindness

and grace

to him.

It's all

about God's

grace.

It's always

been about

God's grace.

Trusting

in him.

God's

grace is

his

undeserved

favor.

I learned

early on

an acronym.

God's

riches at

Christ's

expense.

Grace.

You don't

deserve it.

You don't

earn it.

You can't.

God loves

us,

not because

we're

lovable,

but because

God is

loving.

It's who

he is.

he loves

us even

as we

are,

sinners.

And what

we see

here is

at least

some people

are willing

to admit

that they're

sinners.

Not

everybody

does.

The

Pharisees

and Sadducees

were not

willing to

admit that.

They thought

God accepted

them because

of their

linkage to

Abraham or

how clean

and separate

they were

from the

sinful

rabble.

That's not

how God's

grace works.

We see

God's

amazing

grace.

We just

get a

hint of

it in

verse 9.

We read

it.

We have

Abraham as

our father.

Do not

presume to

say to

yourself,

hey,

we're

saved because

Abraham is

our father.

For I

tell you,

God is

able,

from these

lifeless

stones,

and John

the Baptist

is pointing

to the

stones in

the Jordan,

God is

able,

from these

lifeless

stones,

to raise

up children

for Abraham.

It's all

about God's

grace.

God's power

to save

is not

limited to

DNA or

man-made

religious

traditions.

Christians.

It's all

by His

grace.

And so

what we

see in

these

Pharisees

and

Sadducees,

this delegation

that's come

out to do

some recon,

there is a

presumption.

There is

arrogance that

they're in

good standing

with God

because they're

related to

Abraham.

It's like

they carry

an Abraham

card and

they pull it

out and

there's this

unfolding of

the Abrahamic

family tree and

they're like,

there's Abraham,

there's me,

I'm in.

Hey,

everything's

cool.

I couldn't

be further

from the

truth.

We're not

saved based

upon our

relationship to

other people,

humans.

It's all

about God

and His

grace and

reconciling us

to Himself.

And you've

got to ask

the question,

why was

John so

ticked?

Because

he's not

pulling any

punches either.

Not only

are these

Pharisees and

Sadducees,

are they

believing

something wrong,

they're actually

teaching other

people to

believe the

same thing.

You can see

why he would

be so

confrontational.

Jesus will

later call the

Pharisees

whitewashed

tombs.

who tie up

burdens on

people that

they can't

carry.

Later in

Matthew 23,

Jesus drops

some woe,

W-O-E

bombs on

the Pharisees.

Woe to

you, you

hypocrites.

So John is

confronting these

arrogant religious

leaders.

You think you're

safe when you're

really not.

You need to

repent.

You need to

confront your

presumption and

you need to

turn from it.

And in

verses 10 and

11, he goes

on to provide a

very stern

warning of

imminent judgment.

The axe is at

the root of

the tree.

God is lining

it up to cut

it down.

If you don't

repent, it's

going to be cut

down and thrown

into the fire.

It's a reference

to hell.

Strong, strong

words.

Strong, strong

words.

Presumption comes

with serious

consequences.

So in this

section, we see

John the Baptist

calling these

people snakes,

saying you are

presuming you're

saved when you're

not, and then

warning them of

the judgment and

impending punishment

to gum.

Judgment is real.

The stakes are

high.

And so we have

a confrontation

of presumption.

He's preparing

the way.

The last scene

is in verses

11 and 12.

John continues

to prepare the

way, and now

he moves from

a call to

repentance, a

confrontation of

presumption, and

now he moves to

pointing to the

one mightier

than him.

pointing to the

one who

follows, preparing

us for Jesus.

When we repent,

we're called to

turn from sin and

turn to God, and

John the Baptist

has called us from

sin, from

presumption, and

he's now going to

aim us at Jesus.

And he does so

with a few

contrasts.

The first

contrast is

this.

It's between

John himself,

and the coming

one.

He says in

verse 11, I

baptize you with

water for

repentance, but

he who is

coming after me

is mightier

than I.

John is

recognizing this

one coming

after him is

mightier than

I.

of course he's

talking about

Jesus.

Jesus comes on

the scene,

verse 13,

he's preparing

the way.

I need to

make a

connection for

you.

It's a

Christological

connection.

It's about

Jesus.

Would you

look back up

to verse 3?

That's where

John the Baptist

is, Matthew's

saying John the

Baptist fulfills

Isaiah 43.

He is the

voice of one

crying in the

wilderness.

And then it

goes on to say

prepare the way

of the Lord.

The Lord,

in Isaiah 43,

is a reference

to God

himself,

Yahweh.

This prophet

in the wilderness,

this voice,

is preparing

for God's

coming.

Do you know

what that means?

If we were to

run the logic

through rightly?

What Matthew

is saying is

this,

John the Baptist

is the voice

in the wilderness.

Jesus is the

God,

is God who

has come.

He's Emmanuel,

God with us.

And so the

connection you need

to see here is

John the Baptist

is preparing the

way for God

himself who's

come,

setting up

kingdom,

setting up his

reign.

It's subtle

but powerful.

Matthew is saying

that Jesus

is our Emmanuel

and that the

reign of Jesus

is the reign

of God

in our midst.

That's why

John is saying

the one coming

after him

is mightier

than I.

It's God.

God in the

flesh,

Emmanuel.

And what we're

going to see

throughout the

Gospel of Matthew

is that Jesus

does something

that only God

in the flesh

can do.

He forgives sin,

he raises the

dead,

he casts out

demons,

he speaks

authoritatively

like God

speaking because

he's God

in the flesh.

I can't wait

to get to the

Sermon on the

Mount.

Jesus is like,

let me clarify

some things for

you because I'm

God.

And so the

contrast is the

one mightier

than I and

then John,

look what he

says about

himself.

In verse

11,

he's mightier

than I

whose sandals

I'm not

worthy to

carry.

The lowliest

of all

servants in

this culture

had to deal

with feet.

It was the

nastiest job.

Sandals,

dust,

gross

stuff.

It was left

for the lowliest

of servants.

And what John

is saying is

I'm unworthy.

I'm unworthy

to even carry

his sandals.

You see the

contrast?

The one

mightier than I,

Jesus,

Emmanuel,

God in the

flesh,

and John,

an unworthy

servant.

It points to

Jesus,

how awesome

he is,

how glorious

he is.

The second

contrast that

comes out in

this little

section is

the contrast

of baptisms.

John,

baptism is a

baptism of

water,

and the

baptism that

Jesus will

bring is a

baptism of

the Holy Spirit

and fire.

With the

coming of

Jesus,

he brings

with him

the messianic

age,

a new age

for God's

people,

a new way

of relating

to God.

It's the

fulfillment of

what was

predicted in

Ezekiel 36

and Joel

Joel 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2,

a new era

in which God

will dwell

within his

people by

his Spirit

in order to

enliven them

and empower

them to live

for God.

The Spirit of

God makes

us new.

He gives us

new hearts,

Ezekiel 36.

The Holy Spirit

enlivens and

empowers Christians

to live obediently

under the reign

of King Jesus.

John says,

I baptize you

with water for

repentance,

but he is

coming after me,

the one mightier

than me,

whose sandals

I'm not worthy

to carry.

He's going to

baptize you

with the Holy

Spirit and

with fire.

Very different

ministry,

folks.

John is

basically saying,

hey, I'm

calling you to

repent of your

sin and I

baptize you as

a sign of your

repentance, but

the one who's

coming after me,

he's going to

pour out his

Spirit on you.

And he's going

to pour out his

Spirit upon his

people in a new

and glorious way

so that they can

walk in obedience

to him.

Acts 2,

Pentecost,

the Spirit pours

out on the early

church.

It's a game

changer.

The fulfillment

of Joel 2,

the indwelling,

the enlivening,

empowering,

pouring out of

the Spirit of

God.

Inaugurating a

new life,

a new day.

And so the

contrast is

between this

baptism of

water that

leads to

repentance

and the

baptism of

the Holy

Spirit,

this outpouring

of the Spirit

of God that

radically changes

people.

It makes them

new people.

There's that

little reference

to fire,

baptized with the

Holy Spirit

and fire.

It's most likely

a reference to

the purifying

work of the

Spirit in the

life of the

believer from

start to

finish.

church.

It's a

different baptism,

different pouring

out, a

powerful pouring

out.

The last

contrast is

Jesus as

judge.

It's in

verse 12.

Again, John

the Baptist is

pointing us to

this one

mightier than

I.

He's God.

He's going to

pour out his

Spirit on his

people in a

very unique and

powerful way.

In verse 12

he says

essentially,

he's the

coming judge.

His winnowing

fork is in

his hand and

he will clear

his threshing

floor and

gather his

wheat into

the barn,

but the

chaff he

will burn

with unquenchable

fire.

It's an

agricultural

picture that

everybody would

have been

aware of.

It's a

separating out

the wheat

from the

chaff.

It's a

picture of

judgment.

It's a

picture of

separation.

And it's a

picture of

punishment.

What I want

you to

notice here

is the

word

his.

His

winnowing

fork is

in his

hand and

he will

clear his

threshing

floor and

gather his

wheat into

the barn.

It's his

harvest.

He's the

Lord of the

harvest.

Jesus comes

and he's

establishing his

kingdom and

he's going to

separate the

wheat from

the chaff.

The contrast

emphasizes that

Jesus, this

one mightier

than I, he's

the judge who's

come.

And so be

warned.

Be warned.

There's another

reference to the

unquenchable fire.

The chaff will be

thrown into the

unquenchable fire.

The unrepentant

will be thrown

into the

unquenchable fire.

It's a reference

to hell.

The stakes are

high.

And it all

has to do

with your

relationship to

Jesus.

Jesus.

So this

coming one

is God,

Emmanuel.

He ushers in

the life and

the spirit.

He's the

judge who's

going to

separate the

wheat from

the chaff.

John the

Baptist is

pointing us

to the only

one who can

save us.

Jesus.

So here we

are looking at

some things that

happened two

millennia ago and

John the Baptist

is still preaching

today.

He's still calling

us to respond to

King Jesus.

And I just want

to point to you

four areas of

how we respond.

Repent of your

sins.

Turn away from

a life lived

opposed to God.

Your sin is

real and it's

against a real

God.

And let me just

urge you not

just to turn from

some of your

sins.

Turn from all of

your sins.

Turn from a

life lived for

yourself and turn

to the giver of

life, the one

mightier than you,

the one and

only one who can

save you.

Jesus.

So repent.

Confess your

sins to God.

experience forgiveness

that's only found in

him.

Second thing is

don't presume.

Presumption will

always minimize

sin.

And when sin is

minimized, there's

really not much

need to repent of

anything.

Okay.

Presumption keeps

a sinner from

thinking that they

are in desperate

need of a Savior.

you.

So don't presume.

If you're taking

notes, write down

Luke 18, 9-14.

Jesus tells a

parable.

Parable between

a presumptuous

Pharisee and a

sinful tax

collector.

Let me just

commend you to you

to read.

Don't presume.

Ask God to show

you your sin.

Help Him to see

your need for a

Savior.

Don't presume.

Third, trust in

Jesus.

He's God in the

flesh.

He pours out the

Spirit.

He's the judge.

He alone is the

one you can trust.

He is able to

save you.

He's able to

bring children of

Abraham out of

lifeless stones.

He's able to

change your

stony heart

into a heart

that believes.

He's the only

one that can do

that.

This is what's

amazing about

Jesus.

He already knows

you can't save

yourself.

He already knows

that.

And so that's

why He came.

He came to

give Himself

as a ransom

for many.

He's the one

mightier than I.

He's the one

mightier than you.

He's the only one

that can rescue you

from your sin.

So trust Him.

Cry out to Him.

Confess your sins

to Him.

He is glad to

forgive you based

on the shedding

of His blood.

The last thing is

serve the King.

When you're brought

into the Kingdom

of Heaven, you come

under the act of

reign of Jesus,

you realize how

unworthy you are.

I didn't deserve

this.

There's nothing

I can bring to

the table.

There's nothing

I can really give

Him and impress

Him with.

It's all about

Him.

It's all about

His power.

It's all about

His glory.

It's all about

His purposes.

I'm just happy

to be here.

So you start

to realize how

unworthy you are.

And you start

to realize,

I'm unworthy

to carry His

sandals.

He is so

glorious.

glorious.

But we serve

Him with

gladness.

We serve Him

with the joy

of salvation.

Because we know

it is only by

His grace that

we've been saved.

It's His kindness

to us to include

us in the Kingdom.

And so we serve

Him with gladness.

So whatever

Jesus has called

you to do,

serve Him

with gladness.

We're all

unworthy servants.

We're all saved

by grace.

He is worthy.

If you want a

place to serve,

come to the

ministry fair,

January 31st.

Find a place

where you can

leverage your gift

for the glory

of Jesus.

John the Baptist

is still speaking

today.

Still preparing

the way of

King Jesus.

Let's respond

in humility.

Let's pray.

Jesus,

You are the one

mightier than I,

mightier than us.

It's about Your reign

and Your kingdom.

God, would You

have Your way

in our lives?

Would You save

this morning?

We pray this

in Jesus' name.

Amen.