Jesus, the Messiah, the Lord
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
My cloning experiments have finally paid off.. I am so excited Im beside myself
What do you call a woman who is really good at darts? Amy
We have just finished what many theologians have called the Prologue to John. And we are coming into the time of ministry of Jesus. We are about to walk through the first seven days of Jesus ministry on Earth, and of course John is trying to set us up to see how significant these days are and how shaping of the earth it could be. John is going to again make a correlation to Genesis 1 where we see creation in seven days to where we see the coming of Christ in seven days showing us a new creation is here. In the genesis account there are two sections of three days followed by a seventh day of blessing. Just as we will see here in John First three days Jon bears witness to Christ, followed by three days of Jesus with his disciples followed by the first miracle at the wedding in Cana. Again John trying to reach into the minds and the worlds of his audience, something we don’t always pick up on at a quick glance.
19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”
22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
And I love this, because JTB is living a life that when people see it they are thinking that he could be the one… they are thinking he may be the one we are waiting on here, he has all these qualities that we have waited on… and here is the thing we can learn from that… we should be living a life where when people look at us they see something totally different and they realize we have something that they need and they want a little bit of it… and they come to us and look and say I have to have that… that peace imn the middle of the storm please give me some of that. I want to be like you and we get to say no no no its not me… its HIM!
in the first 18 verses, it was the dawn of the new creation… and now the question will be how do we respond to it… and this will be the first peeople and how they respond to it...
24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.)
And f course the they are the priests and the levites from verse 19.... the religious elite… they see this cool thing going on and they want to squash it. Youth group… growing…don’t really like it… Pharisees this religious bible scholars… and their whole philosophy was if Israel could be holy for just one day the end of the world would come… so they became religious police… and they missed the spirit of the law and became stuck on the letter of the law.... you know the people who you are afraid to be around.... they believed they were righteous and didnt want anyone around that wasn’t.
and the problem is we can become legalistic… and use theology as a weapon and keep people away… and that doesnt mean theology isnt important… it just means tthat we shouldnt use it as the weapon to keep people away....
Charles Swindoll… after seeing pharisees at his church for a really long time...
“The problem with legalists is that not enough people have confronted them and told them to get lost. These are strong words, but I don’t mess with legalism anymore. I’m 72 years old; what have I got to lose? Seriously, I used to kowtow to legalists, but they’re dangerous. They are grace-killers. They’ll drive off every new Christian you bring to church. They are enemies of the faith. Other than that, I don’t have any opinion! So if I am trying to force my personal list of no-no’s on you and make you feel guilty if you don’t join me, then I’m out of line and I need to be told that.”
Charles Swindoll
I want to do whatever it takes to keep us away from the pharisaical spirit that can get into churches because it keeps non christian people away and we can’t get to grace… and most studies show us that in Comanche county is 90% unchurched....
Now that doesnt mean you go to that person that you know is like that and rip them apart… you gotta start with you… you may be a person on the right.. and think the left is wrong… vice versa… we are all legalists… vaccines have divided us… and we have to make sure our heart doesn’t turn cold and demonize them..its not building up… How can we do that? you have to let them know.... don’t be a grace killer… we have to realize its secondary… Paul saus 1 Cor 15 the Gospel is what is most important… and we shouldn’t know far more about these things than the gospel… we could have people change their mind and agree with us and still go to hell in the end...
Town North Korea.... edge of demilitarized zone… white walls etc… they want to try to draw people from south Korea over....they want them to see this town that is legit… but no one actually lives there… the lights are controlled by auto switches… and the problem with pharisseeism is that there is nothing inside....
So the pharisees send people to snuff the movement… so they ask him
25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
Baptism was a symbol within Judaism that you were becoming a jew… and you were a gentile and bcoming a Jew a purification image that you were coming to the life a Judaism. So they had these huge pools and you would come in and be purified… coming from one life to another.... and Christianity took and made it Christ centered… which is the same thing that Jesus did with the passover meal… he changed it and made it Christ-centric
I remember my baptism..... There was no such thing in the first century as a Christian who hadn’t been baptised… it was their altar call… it was the thing that said hey I raised my hand… the way you knew that was this outward sign they took.
I was baptized Easter of 2001// shifting my allegiance away from that.... something beautiful happens with baptism.... he really doesnt want usto be baptized because it is a declration to the world… a great beautiful symbol… Romans 6:3-4
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Its just a symbol.... no its a big deal… I think it is very important… but I am not going to be legalistic about it.... if you need to be baptized you need to let me know, amnd we can get yo ubaptized, and we are saying the kingdom is still advancing in the world…
WHy are they questioning John? It was only for gentiles in clean purified water.... and he is doing it in the jordan in gross water… and only by priests… and he is a dirty dude… its not safe and cute and pristine so it must not be good. and he is the wrong person at the wrong time… and you have to fight against that attitude,
The second part of this question
IF you are not the messiah… no… nor elijah… no… even jews today set out a chair for elijah because that means the end times are coming… Deut 18..... a prophet that would come and fulfill everything God had told israel.... they are looking at the datea and trying to discern the will of God.... and that is part of what we do in our lives...
And now people want to know what the will of God is for their lives more than ever in specificcs.... and he tells them all three NOPE.... have you ever thought maybe the box that you have put GOd in for your life is dead wrong....
THe Bible tells you the will of God… we think the will of God is like we look into a crystal ball.... here is the place to move.... God won’t tell you every single detail… that is what faith is about.. but we lack faith… and God says lets get down to business… you want to discern the will of god? Read the Bible.... Matthew 25 tells us what to do with our time… feed the hungry… clothe the naked… visit those in prison… dont gossip… there are lots of dos and don’ts and the question isnt do you know, but do you obey? There isnt a question of whether you should get baptized.... its a command.
What the Bible wants us to do is to become discerning people… he hasnt given us magic.. he has given us minds.... Romans 12:2
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Your mind becomes transformed into a sense that you become a discerning person.... the first step
Gordon T Smith about discierning teh will of GOd
“The most helpful place to begin is with the principle of friendship with God. We have the potential for a unique, dynamic relationship with God, and it is from this relationship not as servants but friends - that we can discern and respond to God’s will for our lives.” Gordon T Smith
Its not that God’s will is a secret locked up in the box.... the village… box… secret… we think that is what God’s will is and the key is friendship with him.... and we start to relate because we start to discern the heart...
THe friendship blossoms, and you don’t have to set aside one moment becasue it is more organic… and you know where that friendship gets developed the most? In the fire.... and that sucks....
Deeter Zander… not performing.... but relating and having a friend that we relate to and have what he knows for us
26 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know,
27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”
28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
THey would do anything for a teacher.... but wash their feet… because that is what slaves did… and he would say there is one that is coming that I really have to follow.... and JTB is one of those guys who know who he wasn’t and who he was....otherwise we cant live the life that God has setup for us… You have to know where your lane is in life… you cant be… and he is saying the one that is coming after me is the one that you have to look at
People actually respond and become children of God and not just robots...