November 3, 2025 • 47 mins
In this compelling sermon, Pastor Karl dives into Matthew Chapters 3 and part of 4, introducing John the Baptist and the launch of Jesus’ public ministry. He explores the radical call to repentance as forward-facing surrender, the humble wilderness ministry of John—clothed in camel hair and heralding the coming Messiah—and the dramatic baptism where heaven breaks open with the Trinity on full display. Pastor Karl then examines Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, revealing how Satan attacks God’s provision, protection, and promises, and how Jesus defeats every lie with Scripture alone. He emphasizes that repentance is not a one-time event but a lifestyle that prepares the way for the kingdom, that true faith bears fruit, and that heaven meets obedience with strength. Join us for a powerful message that calls every believer to repent, resist the devil, and trust God’s Word in every trial.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
A man will welcome our first eversecond service of three.
Does that make sense? Yeah, yeah.
Hey, I was really interested to seehow everybody is going to divide out.
First service was absolutely packed.
And so good job for coming this one.
So we're, so we have some people.
Good for you.
(00:21):
Good for you at,
It's going to be a it'sgoing to be a good day.
It already has been.
I'm excited for what God's going to do.
Through this, our time together.
If you have a Bibleand brought one with you,
if you go to the book of Matthew.
We're going section by section.
Chapter by chapter, verse by versethrough the book of Matthew.
And my hope today is to get throughchapter three and part of chapter four.
(00:46):
But, we'll see how that goes.
I haven't really planned we're going to dothis section, on a Sunday morning.
We'll get through what we get throughand we'll just keep going through.
It's going to be a long study,
and so we're not going to rush it,but we're not going to cut stuff short.
So, chapter three and chapter
four, we're going to see heavenbreaking through and hell breaking in.
(01:08):
In these, in these two sections.
In Matthew chapter three,
we're introduced to a person named John.
It's called John the Baptist.
Because he baptizespeople in the Jordan River.
John and Jesus, not John the disciple.
That's a different John.This is John the Baptist.
(01:28):
John the Baptizer,and Jesus, our second cousins.
Jesus's mother, Mary,
and John's mother,Elizabeth, are first cousins.
John is about six months or so olderthan Jesus, and they're second cousins.
And God has obviously called John to avery significant and significant ministry,
(01:52):
which is to prepare peoplefor Jesus's public ministry.
And so we're introduced to John today.
And then we'll be introducedto, what is commonly
referred to as the temptation of Jesusbefore he sets out on his public ministry.
And so if you just follow along with me.
Verses one and two of Matthewchapter three, in those days,
(02:15):
John the Baptist, the Baptizer came,preaching in the wilderness of Judea.
Repent,for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
That word repentant or repent,
the act of repentance is a key motif.
It's, it's a it's a key, topic for John
(02:39):
and for Jesus and for the disciples
and for the first church,
to repent.
That word repent is not necessarilya feelings word.
It's an action word.
It may come with feelings of remorse
and feelings of griefand feelings of guilt.
(03:00):
But the word repent is an action word.
It's been said that
heaven's doorsswing on the hinge of repentance.
I titled this whole series Kingdom Now
because in Matthew,Jesus will teach his disciples to pray.
And during that prayer,part of his teaching on prayer
(03:22):
is this your kingdom come, your willbe done on earth as it is in heaven.
In order for God's will to be doneand his kingdom
to come necessitates repentance.
Heaven's door swing on the hinge of it.
It in in Scripture,
when you look at this idea of repentance,this this call to repent.
(03:46):
It's the first words of every major
New Testament message.
The first words of Johnthe Baptist are to repent.
The first words of Jesus in this sermon in
Matthew 417 is to repent.
The first words that the disciplespreach in Mark chapter
(04:06):
six is to repent.
Jesus's instructions to his disciplesafter the resurrection.
The first thing he tells him is preachrepentance.
The first Christian message
was about repentance in acts chapter two.
The apostle Paul, his messagebegan and ended with repentance.
(04:31):
All through Scripture.
In the New Testament, the primary motif
of preachingand teaching begins with repentance.
Repentance.
Well, I like to say it like this.
Repentance is not backward looking guilt.
It's forward facing surrender.
(04:52):
It's not just thatI feel bad over my past.
That's backward looking guilt.
And that may be a part of
the feelings that prompt repentance.
But repentance is really forwardfacing surrender.
Repentance.
As I say this,the proof of repentance is a changed life.
(05:13):
But you cannot repent without a change.
So what the word meansmeans a change of direction.
We can feel bad about sin.
We can be remorseful about sin,
and we can be feel badabout the consequences of sin.
But repentance isn't in placeuntil a life is changed.
There's a change of direction,a change of sides.
(05:38):
Repentance
is less about proximityand more about direction.
And so
for any of
us toclaim that we have repented of our sin,
if that is in fact the case,it will be seen by a change of life.
Does that make sense?
You knowyou can't keep living the same life
and claim to have repented.
(06:02):
That's inconsistent
and it's disingenuous.
And so John's first words here
to the community at large is to repent.
Change sides.
So the first words of Jesus first rose,
the disciplesfirst words of the first church.
(06:23):
And he says, repent. Why?
Because the kingdom of heaven is at hand
when Jesus will teach his disciplesto pray, your kingdom come.
How does that happen?
But first, by repentance,
the kingdom of God cannotcome upon a life in life through a life
to any lives without first repentancehappen in your will be done.
(06:45):
What's that mean? It means repent.
When I go my way, that's called sin.
When I goGod's way, that's called repentance.
Your kingdom come.
It requires repentance.
Repent,for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Verse three.
For this is hewho is spoken of by the prophet
(07:06):
Isaiah when he said, and this is quoting
Isaiah,the voice of one crying in the wilderness,
prepare the way of the Lord,make straight his past.
John the Baptizer is the onewho is making the way
ready for Jesus, the Messiahand his public ministry.
And the way of Jesus is prepared
by repentance.
(07:29):
Repentance prepares the way for Christ.
Repentance means Kingdom come and kingdom
come means repentance.
And requires repentance.
And the first thingthat we need to acknowledge right now,
(07:51):
every one of us,
is the need to repent.
Not just to repent for salvation,
but to live a lifestyle of repentance.
The church has gone astray and and
and lived in great misunderstanding.
(08:12):
When we think that repentance is Jesus,I'm sorry for my sin.
Come into my life and make me a Christianand I'm done.
I have repented.
Repentance is one of those things.
That on a regular basis,
we must live in the lifestyleof repentance.
Father, I realize that my tendencyis to walk away.
(08:36):
I realize my habit is to go my own way,
and I repent.
I choose to go a different way.
It's pervasive.
It's profound.
It's grand.
It's expansive.
And in every wayof my life, father, I repent.
(08:59):
Do you understand?
This is the only way that the kingdomcomes.
It's the way throughwhich the kingdom comes.
It's the hinges that the doors of heavenswing on.
It's required of every person
to live a lifestyle of repentance.
I don't have to know.
I ought not know. It's not my job to know
(09:21):
your need for repentance.
You need to know.
I know for my lifewhen God has called me to repentance,
just not to salvation,but to godliness and holiness.
I know when he's called me to repent,and I know there have been those times
when I've heard that wordand I've been obedient
and I've repented.
And I know those times when I've heard that word it to repent and I've ignored him.
(09:46):
Only to my
shame and disgrace and destruction.
So repentance was very necessary
in light of my sin
and in repentance.
Heaven comes.
I don't know what it is for you.
I don't need to know.
You need to know.
(10:09):
God is saying right now, repent.
Not just look back in guilt,but look forward and surrender.
Father, I repent, I go a different wayand I surrender my future to your way.
Your will, your kingdom.
Do you understand this?
This is vital and crucial.
You cannot followJesus without repentance.
(10:32):
We can claim to be Christian all we want.
We can try to be a good personall we want.
It doesn't matter.
You cannot follow Christwithout repentance.
That's why it was the first messageof John the Baptist of Jesus,
or the disciples of the First Churchof the Apostle Paul himself.
Repent.
Verse four.
Now John were a garment of camel's hair
(10:52):
and a leather belt around his waist,and his food was locusts and wild honey.
My gracious
God, I get a picture of this guy.
He's living out in the wilderness.
He wears a height of camel that can't.
If any of you ever ridden a camel.
So he just one year and rode a camel.
They're not nice creatures.
(11:14):
They're not comfortable.
They're nasty, dirty, stinky.
And this guy is covered in camel hair
with a leather belt eating
grasshoppers and honey,
I there's a lot of different ways
they made grasshoppersand locusts back in the day.
I can't imagine any of thembeing any good.
(11:34):
Unless maybe you put them on a Traeger. Because Traeger makes everything all right.
But I was
talking to someone last week about Johnthe Baptist, and they said, why did he.
Why was he so eccentric?
Why did he wear camel hair and leatherbelt and live out in the in a wilderness
and here's here's why.
If you were to read Second Kings one,you'll read about the great prophet
(11:59):
Elijah,
and he is of that model.
Just like Elijah.
Elijah wore hairy camel hairand a leather belt that this whole idea.
And it's not that Johnthe Baptist is trying to emulate Elijah.
It was just that type of austere lifethat the father called him to live.
(12:19):
And so he looks very muchlike an Old Testament.
Matter of fact, the Bible says Johnthe Baptist, though he's a contemporary of
Jesus, is the lastand greatest Old Testament prophet
because it prophesied about the comingof the Messiah before the resurrection.
Jesus will say of this manthat there is no greater man born of woman
than John the Baptist.
And so here's this man, camel hair,leather
(12:41):
bill eating locust, and then he living outin the wilderness somewhere.
He's not seeking a follower.He doesn't have a hashtag.
He doesn't have a website,doesn't have Instagram.
He doesn't have any of that.
So there's no mailing campaign,there's no followers.
And look at what God's doing.
Verse five in Jerusalem and all Judeaand all the region about the Jordan
were going out to him, and they werebaptized by him in the river Jordan.
(13:01):
Confessing their sin like God is just.
He's setting the stage through peoplerepenting
for Jesus, his ministry, to take root.
And all these people from the surrounding
hillsare coming out to John in the wilderness.
They're seeking him out,wanting to be baptized.
Now, I want to I want you to understandthe difference between the baptism of John
(13:22):
the Baptist that we read about hereand the baptism that we practice there.
Different.
John was baptizing for the confessionof sin, as people would confess their sin
and realizing they were out of linewith God in repentance,
changing their life,being baptized in acknowledgment of that,
(13:43):
what we practice, if you
read, Romans six,especially of verse three,
we're baptized into union
with Christ, into his death,in his resurrection.
And so John was baptizingfor the acknowledgment of sin,
just that people would acknowledgetheir sin.
We're baptized.
So according to the New Testament, intothe death and the resurrection of Jesus,
(14:08):
as this statement, I have joined my lifeto the death of Christ,
died to my sin and joy in my life,to the resurrection of Christ eternally.
It's differentthan what John was practicing.
John's just saying thatlisten, acknowledge
you're a sinner separated from God.
That's what his baptism was.
And all these peopleare coming out to be baptized.
Now watch this.
(14:29):
But when he saw many of the Pharisees
and Sadducees coming to his baptism,he said to them, listen to these words.
This this boy is is a rough dude, man.
You snakes,
you brood of vipers!
Who warned you to flee from the wrathto come?
Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
Don't just talk about it.
(14:49):
Make sure it shows up in your life.
And do you do not presume to sayto yourselves, we have Abraham
as our father, for I tell you, God is ableto raise these stones up for children,
children for Abraham.
Even now, the access laterthe root of the trees.
Every tree, therefore, that does not bear
good fruit is cut downand thrown in the fire.
I mean, he just throwing the helm like.
(15:13):
He just knocking them out.
He said, well, who do you think you are.
Don't just talk about this
lip service of being religious.
Prove it by your lifebecause your life doesn't look like it.
Bear fruit in keeping with whatrepentance.
You gotta change who you are.
You just talk about it.
(15:35):
Who warned you to flee from the wraththat's coming?
Did you realize somethingthat when when someone accepts
Jesus as their Savior,you know what they're saved from?
Let me tell you.
Let me tell you what you're saved from.
You're not saved from sin.
You're saved from the wrath of God.
That'swhat we're saved from because of sin.
(15:58):
So in essence, when I accept Jesusas a Savior, what I'm saved from is
God Himself.
I'm saved from God
and His wrath because of my sin.
And what John is saying hereis, who warned you to flee
from that wrath?
You talk a good game.
(16:18):
You talk like you're a religiousperson. It means nothing
to these Pharisees and Sadducees.
These are the two primary religiousand political groups for the Jews,
two very different groups.
The Pharisees.
They were the larger groupand they were the conservative group.
They believe the Old Testament,they believe the scriptures.
(16:40):
They were really, really moral.
They were conservative,
and they were partof the Conservative Party, the Sadducees,
a much smaller group,very vocal, very liberal.
And they had all the money.
Hmhmm.
The more things change,the more they say the same.
(17:02):
And neither of them were good.
The Sadducees being liberal,
they didn't believein the eternal things of God.
They didn't believe in the miraclesof the Old Testament.
They didn't believe in eternity.They didn't believe in heaven.
They didn't believe in hell.They didn't believe in angels.
They didn't believe in demons.
They were sad. You see.
(17:25):
Have you ever
heard that dumb pastor joke before?
It's so old.
It's horrible.
They're just miserable people.
And so you got these conservatives onone side, these liberals on those side
who are both giving lip serviceto religion.
And John says,you're both headed for destruction
because you don't livein a lifestyle of repentance.
(17:49):
Who warns you to flee?
Every tree that therefore doesn't beargood fruit is cut down
and thrown in the fire.
Verse 11 I baptizeyou with water for repentance.
But he was comingafter me is mightier than I,
whose sandals I'm not worthy to carry.
And he will baptize youwith the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fork is already in his hand,and he will clear threshing floor
and gather his wheat into the barn.
(18:10):
But the chaff he'llburn with unquenchable fire.
That's a brutal message, man.
Says no more.
Are you religious people?No more lip service.
Repent.
Bear fruit of repentance.
Show it in your life because otherwiseit doesn't matter and it's of no effect.
(18:31):
It says, I'm baptizing you with repentanceright now, so you acknowledge your sin.
But there's coming one after mewho will baptize you with fire.
And the Holy Spirit.
And he says these words, whose sandalsI'm not worthy to carry in this, in this,
this bondservant or slave culture,
the lowest of the slave in the home.
The lowest slave was the onewhen the when the owners or the masters
(18:54):
would walk in the house, would unbend tountie their sandals and carry their shoes.
For himthat was the lowest of the lowest slave.
That was their job.Do you hear what John saying?
I'm not even worthy to be the lowest ofthe lowest slave of Christ.
I love his humility.
He's not seeking a following.
(19:15):
He doesn't have some social media armybehind him.
He's not asking for followers.
There's no hashtag Instagram.
None of that.
He's the greatest of those bornamong women.
And yet, he says, I'm not even worthyto be the lowest of the slaves
for Christ.
(19:36):
That's a humble life of repentance.
Do you understand?
That.
Then verse 13, Jesus came
from Galilee to the Jordanto John to be baptized by him.
John would have prevented him saying,I don't.
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I need to be baptized by you.
You even come to me.
Can you imagine?
Like like you're sitting in the backyardby your pool of sun.
Jesus walks through the gate. Hey,we got water.
How about youbaptize me? I mean, I want to
know.
I mean, the only time you could feel righttelling Jesus. No.
Like I'm going to baptism.
It makes no sense.
(20:17):
And I'm sure John's like, here's my.
You get this.
You need to baptize me.
And Jesus answered him, let it be so.
Now for us.
It is fitting for usto fulfill our righteousness.
Then he continued, you can sin.
And so here's what's happening.
Jesus wants to be baptized by John.
(20:38):
Here's why.
In baptism,Jesus is identifying with sinners
so he could later justify sinners.
Jesus is not being baptizedfor confession.
Jesus is being baptized for identification
so he can identify with sinful humanity.
Not that he's sinful, butas an identification with sinful humanity.
(21:02):
It's a baptism for Jesus ofidentification, not a confession. Why?
Because Isaiah 5312
says that he was numberedwith the transgressors,
though never transgressed.
So for Jesus to identify with fallen,sinful humanity,
he has to identify with fallensinful humanity.
(21:24):
And to do that, he does that in baptismso that he can justify fallen,
sinful humanity. You understand?
The Bible says in Hebrews chapter fourthat Jesus
as our high priest,the model of the Jewish High priest,
was tempted in every way that we are, yetwithout sin.
Jesus had to be tempted in every way.
He had to identifywith with us in every way so that he could
(21:47):
rightfully hold us accountable for our sin
and rightfully provide the provisionfor the forgiveness of sin.
So he's baptized in identificationwith sinful humanity,
so he can later justifysinful humanity to follow.
That's why he's baptized.
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately
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he went up out of the water and behold,the heavens were open to him.
And he saw the Spirit of God descendinglike a dove and coming to rest on him.
And behold, a voice from heaven said,this is my beloved son,
with whom I am well pleased.
So at his baptism,
which, by the way, the Greek word forfor baptized is baptism,
(22:29):
and it means literally to immerseor dunk underwater.
That's why we baptized by immersion,because the word means to immerse under
water.
That's why we don't sprinkle,because the word baptize means to immerse.
And so when it saysJesus came up out of the water,
it means by necessityhe was totally immersed in the water.
Do you follow so he comes up outof the water after being totally immersed.
(22:52):
And the Bible says,The Spirit of God descends
as like a dove,and a voice from heaven is heard.
This is my son, in whom I am well pleased,
that what we see here
is a manifestationof what's called the Trinity.
Have you heard about what the Trinity is?
You heard that word Trinity.
(23:13):
The Trinity is a Christian doctrinethat there's one God
manifest in three personsGod the father, God the son, God
the Spirit, equal in nature,all being God.
Different manifestations.
The Father is God,but the father is not the son.
The Son is God, but son is not the spirit.
(23:35):
The spirit is God,but the spirit isn't the father.
They're all God.
Different manifestations now,
you may know or have been told
by people who don't understandand by some cults,
that the Trinity,the Trinity is not in the Bible,
and that therefore God is not equal
(23:59):
in three persons,but distinct in different natures.
For instance,that the son was created by the father.
That's false.
The Bible's
very clearabout the doctrine of the Trinity.
It is true that the word Trinityis nowhere in Scripture.
You can look all through every pageand word of the Bible,
and you will not find the word Trinity.
(24:22):
It doesn't mean the Trinity isn't there.
The doctrine of the Trinityfor the Christian Church
was clearly defined, in at the Council
of Nicaea in 325 A.D.
and they said,this is what the Scripture says
about the nature of God, Godthe Father, God the Son, God the spirit.
That's put the verbiage around itso everybody knows.
(24:44):
It was a responseto, heresy called Arianism,
that rejected the ideathat Jesus was eternal with the father.
And so they said,let's set it straight for all Christians.
The doctrine of the Trinitythat God is one God.
God is Father, God the spirit, Godthe Son, co-equal but different persons.
(25:06):
And so the doctrine of the Trinitywas really fleshed out in 325 BCE.
But the Trinity is all through Scripture,Old Testament and New Testament here
and then the leastyou have the Spirit of God
and the father saying, this is my son,
father, son, spirit.
You see that all at the same placeat the same time.
(25:28):
Okay, so don't doubtthe doctrine of the Trinity.
Don't be fooled by people'sarguments about it.
But I want you to, I want to I want topoint something else out about this to.
And this is just super practical, okay?
Especially for parents.
What does God the Father
say of God the Son in verse 17?
(25:48):
This is what
my beloved son finish it,
with whom I am well pleased.
This is the father saying over his son,
this is my beloved.
I'm so proud of him.
I'm so pleased with him up to this pointfor what we know.
Scripture.
What had Jesus done to make the fathersay, I'm so proud of you.
(26:18):
From from what we know, Scripture
and anything he showed up
and anything.
From what we know in Scripture,he hasn't done anything.
And what does the father say?
Man, I love you and I'm so proud of you
parents, please understand this.
(26:40):
The love of the father,
the pride he has in his son
has nothing to do with performance.
Simply his person.
Parents get this.
Make sure that your children know.
(27:01):
That you love and your love for them.
And your pride in themhas nothing to do with their performance,
just simply for who they are.
When you get upset
at their lack of opportunityor performance, what's that?
Tell them.
(27:21):
That you're pleased when they get it.
Parents,
please hear me on this,especially if you got little.
I don't careif they're little or old. Doesn't matter.
I, I just had my my middle son compete
in a jujitsu, competitionthis last Saturday.
He took jiu jitsu for three months.He got third place.
(27:43):
It's like it
and but but here's my point.
We're talking to him.
Had nothing to dowith how he performed it.
Just.
Man, I'm so thankful
that you still have this desireto do stuff and you're able to.
And how fun that must have been.
I'm just proud of you for yourselfout there getting after it
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had nothing to do with what he did.
So parents, please, please do this man.
You get a little girl, a little boy,oh, boy, all that matters.
Listen, I just love getting to watchyou do your thing.
That's it.
I'm just proud of you.
Nothing to do with your performance,
(28:27):
parent.
You understand that?
Take if you from God the Father.
And so verse four
or chapter four, chapter three.
Heaven breaks through the Spiritof God upon the Son of God.
(28:49):
For the father.
Chapter four.
Hell breaks in the moment this happens.
Great moment.
Then Jesus was led by the spirit intothe waters to be tempted by the devil.
He had to be tempted.
Jesus could not escape this life withouttemptation in every way we are. Why?
Because he has to identifywith every temptation we face.
(29:12):
If Jesus was tiptoed in every way,at the core of every way we are,
we can make a charge against him.
You cannot condemn me because of my sin,
because you don't knowwhat it's like to be me.
You understand that we would havea charge against God.
So in order to take every charge away fromlike we can't charge God with anything,
Jesus had to be tempted
(29:32):
in every way that we areand had to face it without sinning.
And so he's led
is this great moment with the father,and he's led in the desert to be tempted.
And after fasting 40 days and 40 nights,
I love how
simplisticthe Bible puts this next statement.
(29:54):
He's fasting 40 days and nights
and it says he was hungry.
You think?
I mean,I didn't get breakfast this morning
and I would say I'm hungry.
40 have any of you fasted before?
Like like a biblical fastingon a medical fast, but a difficult fast.
(30:14):
Yeah.
For like you missed a mealand because you're busy
a day, two days,three days a week, 40 days, anybody?
40 days and nights.
Have a church planner friend in Ohio?
He played right tacklefor University of Georgia back in the day.
He's a big, big man.
He's done 240 day fast.
(30:34):
He now he a lot of weight to lose.
No big deal. But I'm
but but
for 40 day fat that's that'sthat's brutal.
And at some pointyour body starts eating itself.
And so yeah he's found and for dayshe was hungry no doubt.
And the temperature came to him and said,
we're going to see the three temptationsto Jesus in those same two ways.
We're tempted.
(30:54):
The devil isn't creative,but he's consistent.
The devil cannot.
I said, if you are the Son of God, giveman these stones, become loaves of bread.
Couple things going on here.
One thing I want you to stand.
Regardless of the temptation.
There's a way out.
None of us has to give in to temptation.
(31:17):
When I was, When I was a little boy.
I've told this storya few different times.
My mom and dad really want usto memorize the Bible,
and they knew that the way to my heartwas through a Baby Ruth candy bar.
And so
my mom put a Baby Ruth candy baron top of the frigerator
not one of the cheap little ones,like the big full thing.
And she wrote this versefor first Corinthians 1013
(31:38):
on a, on a index cardand put on a mag on the refrigerator.
She said, when you memorizethat verse, you're gonna have a candy bar.
And it was first Corinthians 1013.
There is no temptation which come uponyou, which is common to everybody.
And God is faithfuland just and won't allow you to be tempted
beyond what you can handleand will with the temptation.
Make a way out so you can handle it.
(31:59):
And so what that told meis that whatever temptation
I face is common to everybodyelse, I'm not special and neither are you.
Your temptations are exactlywhat everybody else faces, nothing new.
So don't think thatdevils singling you out special.
You're going to
be tempted in the wayeverybody is tempted, and God is faithful
(32:20):
and just, and he won't allowthat temptation to be too much for you.
And even beyond that,he'll give you a way out
that you can handle itso you don't have to sin.
That's what I learned growing up,
Carl. You're not special
to every temptationeverybody else faces your dad.
Face it, your brother face it.
Your uncle's face it.
Your friends faces. Same.
And you can handle it.
(32:41):
And you'll even have a way out.
And what that told me is
I need to look for the way out.
And what that told me is,
sometimes I don't want to way out.
Sometimes I want to sin.
So God is faithfuland just to provide a way out.
He's also faithful and just to holdme accountable for my sin,
(33:04):
because sometimes I choose it.
And he's also faithfuland just to provide, to provide
the payment for my sin through Jesus.
And so these temptations.
The devil starts with with Jesus.
If you are the Son of God, he'ssaying a couple of things.
He's raising a question.
(33:26):
He said, do you think you gota relationship with with God?
He's your father.
If he's your father,why would he treat you like this?
You think this relationshipyou have with him is
is is solid and good?
If so, why?
Why is he?
Why is he doing to you what he's doing?
(33:48):
He's also raising is raising thisthis point.
If you are the Son of God,why don't you prove it?
Why don't you prove it?
Do you see how the
devil just starts raising questionsin our minds about the father?
And this is the first temptation command.
These stones become bread loaves of bread.
Why does he start with that temptation?
Because. Why? Because he's hungry.
(34:10):
It's the temptationof his greatest felt need.
And what the devil is saying?
The temptation, number one, isyou cannot trust the provision of God.
That's the.
That's the first temptation.
You can't trust
God to take care of youbecause obviously he hasn't.
(34:30):
If you have thisgreat relationship with God,
why would he let you be
in such need right now?
Why would you trust him to providefor you?
Because obviously, look back, he hasn't.
Do you understand this temptation?
(34:50):
If this relationship is so goodbetween you and the father,
why would he let you go hungry?
Why would he let you be in so much need?
It makes no sense.
Take matters into your own hands.
Do this yourself.
Anybody?
(35:14):
You can't trust God to take care of you
because he's left you without.
What kind of loving God is that?
That's a temptation.
It's the same temptationof Eve in the garden.
(35:35):
When the devil came to even said,why would you trust God
to provide for you?
Look what he's kept from you.
It's the same thing with Adam.
Or with, with Abraham and Sarah.
What?
God said he's going to give you a son.
How many years has it been?
You can't trust him to provide.
He hasn't done it yet.
(35:58):
Let's solve this ourselves.
But he answered, it is written,man shall not live
by bread alone, but by every wordthat comes from the mouth of God.
I love the how Jesus responds.
He just gives one Bible.
I'm not going to talk to you about it.I'm not gonna argue with about it.
I'm not going to try to read anything.
(36:19):
Here's what the Bible says.
Here's what the Bible says.
There's no discussion.
Then the devil took him to the holy cityand sat him
on the pinnacle of the temple and set him.
If you are there, it is again, right?
If you are the Son of God,throw yourself down, for it is written,
he will command his angels concerning you,and on their hands
they will bear you up, lestyou strike your foot against a stone.
(36:40):
The devil says, fine, Jesus.
You want to quote Bible up the Bible?
Do you know the Bible?
Or you know the devil probably knowsthe Bible better than me, and you.
And so he takes so much to the pinnacle
the temple, the top of the temple,the pinnacle, all the way down
to the bottom of the Kidron Valleythat it overlooks was 450ft.
And so the devil's like look, 450ft.
(37:02):
Go throw yourself down, the Bible says,or you won't quote the Bible.
I'll quote the Bible.
The Bible says,so come out and see angels.
Concerning is quoting Psalm 91
and he he's saying, here's the deal.
You based on the track record Jesus,you can't trust
God's provision,nor can you really trust his protection.
(37:22):
That's the second temptation
he hasn't provided for you,and he will not protect you.
Like I said,the devil isn't created a bit.
He's consistent.
And Jesus said to him, againit is written,
you shall not put the Lordyour God to the test.
No discussion, just the Bible.
(37:43):
Friends take.
Let's take our cue from from Jesus.
Our response to every question,our response to every temptation,
our response to everywhatever has got to be.
The Bible says
what the Bible says.
The Bible says
when we got to know the Bible,but to our response
as we go, the Bible says,but here's the thing.
(38:03):
The momentyou or I respond in this culture today,
the moment we respond withthe Bible says we're going to be labeled
ignorant and bigoted and whateverother title you want to put on people.
Because it flies in the face
of culture to say the Bible says, let'sso all it's so archaic.
(38:25):
Well, the Bible says.
And we've got to be willing to bear that,
to bear that badge.
I'm a man of the Bible.
I'm a woman of the Bible.
We're a family.
The Bible in the Bible says that's justthat's just how it is.
You can label me however you want.
You can call me whatever you want.
That's fine.
(38:45):
But the Bible says.
In this culture,there was so much confusion
and so much verbiage about all kinds of.
Identities and genders and relationships.
And the Bible says.
(39:06):
Roles and the Bible says.
Again,the devil took him to a very high mountain
and showed him all the kingdomof the world and their glory.
And he said, all these I will give you,if you will fall down and worship me.
What right does the devil
have to give kingdoms to God?
(39:29):
Well, in Luke four six
we learned that for a time being,
he's the ruler of this dark world.
See? And in the garden at the sin of Eve
and Adam, the devil was giventhe title deed of the earth.
He owns it.
The good news is we read the last bookof the Bible, revelation chapter five,
(39:52):
and we see the lamb who was slain,who gets the title deed back.
But in the meantime,
over this dark world,the devil still yields power.
And the devil tells Jesus, look,if the point of this whole thing,
let's just get pragmatic.
Now, if the point of this whole thing
is that the world worshipyou, let's just circumvent the cross.
(40:16):
Why go through that?
Just bow down.
All the kingdoms are mine to give you.
I'll give them all to you.They'll worship you.
Which is the goal anyway, right?
Because
after all, Jesus, you can't really trustthe promises of God.
That's the third temptation.
(40:37):
You can't really trust his promises.
You can't really trust his word.
And so let's getlet's get to where we want to get,
but let's do it a different way.
For me,
this would probably bethe greatest temptation.
I mean, other than the bread one,
because when I'm hungry,that would be fantastic. But.
(40:58):
But I'm so pragmatic.
Let's understand what the goal is.
Let's get there by any way possible.
And if we can do iteasy, let's do it easy.
And that's what he's telling Jesus.
Well, we'll get to the worship
if you part, but let's do itwithout the suffering part.
Let's do it off the cross.
(41:18):
You can't really trust the promise of God.
He has his promise of,
of of a resurrection, his promiseof redemption through your blood.
You can't really trust that.
Let's get it a different way.
And then Jesus said in verse ten.
(41:41):
Shut up.
You, you.
He's done.
Be gone, Satan.
And he doesn't say, be gone,because I believe he does
say be gone because I trusthe doesn't to be gone because I anything
he says be gone because it is written,
you shall worship
the Lord your God and serve him,and only him only shall you serve.
(42:05):
I love the fact man that Jesus.
He doesn't boil it down to what he thinksor what he believes in. Nothing.
He boils it down.This is what the Bible says.
This is what the Bible says.
And I'm going to build my life,
and I'm going to build my responseon what the Bible says.
Basically, what Jesus saying is
my job is to honor my father.
(42:25):
That's my job.
And however he wants me to do that,I'm going do that.
I will believe his provisionbecause the Bible says I will believe
his protection, because the Bible saysI will believe his promise.
Because the Bible says
my job is just to honor him.
Verse 11then the devil left him, and behold,
angels came and were ministering to him.
(42:51):
Jesus met every temptation with Scripture,
every temptation with Scripture.
That's our key.
The Bible says.
And and I want you
to understand this, that heavenalways means obedience with strength.
Heaven always
meets your obedience with strength.
(43:12):
Just be obedient, repent.
He'll meet you with strength.
And angels came and ministered to him.
I want to close with this verseto wrap this whole thing up.
James four seven
submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil,and he will flee from you.
(43:32):
This whole thing startswith submitting ourselves to God.
It's repentance.
Father, I submit my will to yours.
I submit my agenda to yours.
I submit my future to your design.
I humbly submit myself to you.
You are king.
I'm your slave.
Do with meas you will submit yourself to God.
(43:55):
Then resist the devil.
There's a lot of uswho have tried to resist the devil
and be good people,and change our lives in ourselves.
It doesn't work.
Behavior modification doesn't work.
There has to be a submission to God first.
It has to be a repentance first.
And when we submit ourselves and repent,
then we're able to resist the devil.
And the moment the devil sees submissionto God in repentance and resistance,
(44:20):
he runs away.
Do you understand that?
But it starts with our repentance.
And so, according to what John
the Baptizer said, according to what Jesuspreached, according to the disciples,
according to the first church,according to Paul, repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
(44:43):
I want you to pray with me.
Father, I thank you
that you've not left us her own devices,as you not left us to,
to this world.
According to our effort.
I thank youthat you've given us your word,
that you've given us your son,that you've given us your spirit.
(45:04):
And I pray that in these momentsthat you would call us to repentance.
Not just our
remorse over our past, but in
submission of our future.
Friends,I want to invite you in this moment.
Like I said, I don't need to know.
It's not for me to know
your need of repentance.
(45:24):
You need to know it
and the need to repent.
The moment
you live in repentance and submission,
which is obedience,
heaven meets you with strength.
And so I invite you in this moment,just simply between
you and the father to say, God, I repent,
(45:47):
I repent.
I agree with youabout this part of my life.
I've lived in rejection
of your design.
I acknowledge that,
and I come before you today in repentance
and submission.
(46:07):
Not because of who I am,but because of what you've done.
Jesus, I pray you, make me a new person.I want to go a different way
and I give you my life.
I give you my future.
I give you my direction.
May walk in newness of life.
Now God.
And then in this moment,
would you then also commit.
(46:29):
Father I,
when I choose to resist the devil,
the attitude he creates in
me, the grudges he continues in me,
the habits he propels in me,I submit to you,
I resist him, make him run away.
He has no authority in my life anymore
because I'm submitted to you.
(46:51):
Jesus, I love you.
Thank you for this opportunity.
Thank you for this church thing,for these people.
May your kingdom come and yourwill be done on earth as it is in heaven.
In your name I pray, Amen.
Friends, I love you.
I'm proud of you.
Good job.
For the first second service of the three.
(47:12):
I want you this
week to read chapter fourand get into chapter five.
Chapter five starts the greatest
message ever preached called the sermonon the Mount, chapter five, six and seven.
There's a lot there,so read those two. Chapter four.
In chapter five.Let's get into that next week.
Invite your friends with you.
Invite your huddleto come to church with you,
and live a lifestyle of repentance.
(47:33):
Heaven will meet you with strength
I love you. Let's sing.
A man will welcome our first eversecond service of three.
Does that make sense? Yeah, yeah.
Hey, I was really interested to seehow everybody is going to divide out.
First service was absolutely packed.
And so good job for coming this one.
So we're, so we have some people.
Good for you.
(00:21):
Good for you at,
It's going to be a it'sgoing to be a good day.
It already has been.
I'm excited for what God's going to do.
Through this, our time together.
If you have a Bibleand brought one with you,
if you go to the book of Matthew.
We're going section by section.
Chapter by chapter, verse by versethrough the book of Matthew.
And my hope today is to get throughchapter three and part of chapter four.
(00:46):
But, we'll see how that goes.
I haven't really planned we're going to dothis section, on a Sunday morning.
We'll get through what we get throughand we'll just keep going through.
It's going to be a long study,
and so we're not going to rush it,but we're not going to cut stuff short.
So, chapter three and chapter
four, we're going to see heavenbreaking through and hell breaking in.
(01:08):
In these, in these two sections.
In Matthew chapter three,
we're introduced to a person named John.
It's called John the Baptist.
Because he baptizespeople in the Jordan River.
John and Jesus, not John the disciple.
That's a different John.This is John the Baptist.
(01:28):
John the Baptizer,and Jesus, our second cousins.
Jesus's mother, Mary,
and John's mother,Elizabeth, are first cousins.
John is about six months or so olderthan Jesus, and they're second cousins.
And God has obviously called John to avery significant and significant ministry,
(01:52):
which is to prepare peoplefor Jesus's public ministry.
And so we're introduced to John today.
And then we'll be introducedto, what is commonly
referred to as the temptation of Jesusbefore he sets out on his public ministry.
And so if you just follow along with me.
Verses one and two of Matthewchapter three, in those days,
(02:15):
John the Baptist, the Baptizer came,preaching in the wilderness of Judea.
Repent,for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
That word repentant or repent,
the act of repentance is a key motif.
It's, it's a it's a key, topic for John
(02:39):
and for Jesus and for the disciples
and for the first church,
to repent.
That word repent is not necessarilya feelings word.
It's an action word.
It may come with feelings of remorse
and feelings of griefand feelings of guilt.
(03:00):
But the word repent is an action word.
It's been said that
heaven's doorsswing on the hinge of repentance.
I titled this whole series Kingdom Now
because in Matthew,Jesus will teach his disciples to pray.
And during that prayer,part of his teaching on prayer
(03:22):
is this your kingdom come, your willbe done on earth as it is in heaven.
In order for God's will to be doneand his kingdom
to come necessitates repentance.
Heaven's door swing on the hinge of it.
It in in Scripture,
when you look at this idea of repentance,this this call to repent.
(03:46):
It's the first words of every major
New Testament message.
The first words of Johnthe Baptist are to repent.
The first words of Jesus in this sermon in
Matthew 417 is to repent.
The first words that the disciplespreach in Mark chapter
(04:06):
six is to repent.
Jesus's instructions to his disciplesafter the resurrection.
The first thing he tells him is preachrepentance.
The first Christian message
was about repentance in acts chapter two.
The apostle Paul, his messagebegan and ended with repentance.
(04:31):
All through Scripture.
In the New Testament, the primary motif
of preachingand teaching begins with repentance.
Repentance.
Well, I like to say it like this.
Repentance is not backward looking guilt.
It's forward facing surrender.
(04:52):
It's not just thatI feel bad over my past.
That's backward looking guilt.
And that may be a part of
the feelings that prompt repentance.
But repentance is really forwardfacing surrender.
Repentance.
As I say this,the proof of repentance is a changed life.
(05:13):
But you cannot repent without a change.
So what the word meansmeans a change of direction.
We can feel bad about sin.
We can be remorseful about sin,
and we can be feel badabout the consequences of sin.
But repentance isn't in placeuntil a life is changed.
There's a change of direction,a change of sides.
(05:38):
Repentance
is less about proximityand more about direction.
And so
for any of
us toclaim that we have repented of our sin,
if that is in fact the case,it will be seen by a change of life.
Does that make sense?
You knowyou can't keep living the same life
and claim to have repented.
(06:02):
That's inconsistent
and it's disingenuous.
And so John's first words here
to the community at large is to repent.
Change sides.
So the first words of Jesus first rose,
the disciplesfirst words of the first church.
(06:23):
And he says, repent. Why?
Because the kingdom of heaven is at hand
when Jesus will teach his disciplesto pray, your kingdom come.
How does that happen?
But first, by repentance,
the kingdom of God cannotcome upon a life in life through a life
to any lives without first repentancehappen in your will be done.
(06:45):
What's that mean? It means repent.
When I go my way, that's called sin.
When I goGod's way, that's called repentance.
Your kingdom come.
It requires repentance.
Repent,for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Verse three.
For this is hewho is spoken of by the prophet
(07:06):
Isaiah when he said, and this is quoting
Isaiah,the voice of one crying in the wilderness,
prepare the way of the Lord,make straight his past.
John the Baptizer is the onewho is making the way
ready for Jesus, the Messiahand his public ministry.
And the way of Jesus is prepared
by repentance.
(07:29):
Repentance prepares the way for Christ.
Repentance means Kingdom come and kingdom
come means repentance.
And requires repentance.
And the first thingthat we need to acknowledge right now,
(07:51):
every one of us,
is the need to repent.
Not just to repent for salvation,
but to live a lifestyle of repentance.
The church has gone astray and and
and lived in great misunderstanding.
(08:12):
When we think that repentance is Jesus,I'm sorry for my sin.
Come into my life and make me a Christianand I'm done.
I have repented.
Repentance is one of those things.
That on a regular basis,
we must live in the lifestyleof repentance.
Father, I realize that my tendencyis to walk away.
(08:36):
I realize my habit is to go my own way,
and I repent.
I choose to go a different way.
It's pervasive.
It's profound.
It's grand.
It's expansive.
And in every wayof my life, father, I repent.
(08:59):
Do you understand?
This is the only way that the kingdomcomes.
It's the way throughwhich the kingdom comes.
It's the hinges that the doors of heavenswing on.
It's required of every person
to live a lifestyle of repentance.
I don't have to know.
I ought not know. It's not my job to know
(09:21):
your need for repentance.
You need to know.
I know for my lifewhen God has called me to repentance,
just not to salvation,but to godliness and holiness.
I know when he's called me to repent,and I know there have been those times
when I've heard that wordand I've been obedient
and I've repented.
And I know those times when I've heard that word it to repent and I've ignored him.
(09:46):
Only to my
shame and disgrace and destruction.
So repentance was very necessary
in light of my sin
and in repentance.
Heaven comes.
I don't know what it is for you.
I don't need to know.
You need to know.
(10:09):
God is saying right now, repent.
Not just look back in guilt,but look forward and surrender.
Father, I repent, I go a different wayand I surrender my future to your way.
Your will, your kingdom.
Do you understand this?
This is vital and crucial.
You cannot followJesus without repentance.
(10:32):
We can claim to be Christian all we want.
We can try to be a good personall we want.
It doesn't matter.
You cannot follow Christwithout repentance.
That's why it was the first messageof John the Baptist of Jesus,
or the disciples of the First Churchof the Apostle Paul himself.
Repent.
Verse four.
Now John were a garment of camel's hair
(10:52):
and a leather belt around his waist,and his food was locusts and wild honey.
My gracious
God, I get a picture of this guy.
He's living out in the wilderness.
He wears a height of camel that can't.
If any of you ever ridden a camel.
So he just one year and rode a camel.
They're not nice creatures.
(11:14):
They're not comfortable.
They're nasty, dirty, stinky.
And this guy is covered in camel hair
with a leather belt eating
grasshoppers and honey,
I there's a lot of different ways
they made grasshoppersand locusts back in the day.
I can't imagine any of thembeing any good.
(11:34):
Unless maybe you put them on a Traeger. Because Traeger makes everything all right.
But I was
talking to someone last week about Johnthe Baptist, and they said, why did he.
Why was he so eccentric?
Why did he wear camel hair and leatherbelt and live out in the in a wilderness
and here's here's why.
If you were to read Second Kings one,you'll read about the great prophet
(11:59):
Elijah,
and he is of that model.
Just like Elijah.
Elijah wore hairy camel hairand a leather belt that this whole idea.
And it's not that Johnthe Baptist is trying to emulate Elijah.
It was just that type of austere lifethat the father called him to live.
(12:19):
And so he looks very muchlike an Old Testament.
Matter of fact, the Bible says Johnthe Baptist, though he's a contemporary of
Jesus, is the lastand greatest Old Testament prophet
because it prophesied about the comingof the Messiah before the resurrection.
Jesus will say of this manthat there is no greater man born of woman
than John the Baptist.
And so here's this man, camel hair,leather
(12:41):
bill eating locust, and then he living outin the wilderness somewhere.
He's not seeking a follower.He doesn't have a hashtag.
He doesn't have a website,doesn't have Instagram.
He doesn't have any of that.
So there's no mailing campaign,there's no followers.
And look at what God's doing.
Verse five in Jerusalem and all Judeaand all the region about the Jordan
were going out to him, and they werebaptized by him in the river Jordan.
(13:01):
Confessing their sin like God is just.
He's setting the stage through peoplerepenting
for Jesus, his ministry, to take root.
And all these people from the surrounding
hillsare coming out to John in the wilderness.
They're seeking him out,wanting to be baptized.
Now, I want to I want you to understandthe difference between the baptism of John
(13:22):
the Baptist that we read about hereand the baptism that we practice there.
Different.
John was baptizing for the confessionof sin, as people would confess their sin
and realizing they were out of linewith God in repentance,
changing their life,being baptized in acknowledgment of that,
(13:43):
what we practice, if you
read, Romans six,especially of verse three,
we're baptized into union
with Christ, into his death,in his resurrection.
And so John was baptizingfor the acknowledgment of sin,
just that people would acknowledgetheir sin.
We're baptized.
So according to the New Testament, intothe death and the resurrection of Jesus,
(14:08):
as this statement, I have joined my lifeto the death of Christ,
died to my sin and joy in my life,to the resurrection of Christ eternally.
It's differentthan what John was practicing.
John's just saying thatlisten, acknowledge
you're a sinner separated from God.
That's what his baptism was.
And all these peopleare coming out to be baptized.
Now watch this.
(14:29):
But when he saw many of the Pharisees
and Sadducees coming to his baptism,he said to them, listen to these words.
This this boy is is a rough dude, man.
You snakes,
you brood of vipers!
Who warned you to flee from the wrathto come?
Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
Don't just talk about it.
(14:49):
Make sure it shows up in your life.
And do you do not presume to sayto yourselves, we have Abraham
as our father, for I tell you, God is ableto raise these stones up for children,
children for Abraham.
Even now, the access laterthe root of the trees.
Every tree, therefore, that does not bear
good fruit is cut downand thrown in the fire.
I mean, he just throwing the helm like.
(15:13):
He just knocking them out.
He said, well, who do you think you are.
Don't just talk about this
lip service of being religious.
Prove it by your lifebecause your life doesn't look like it.
Bear fruit in keeping with whatrepentance.
You gotta change who you are.
You just talk about it.
(15:35):
Who warned you to flee from the wraththat's coming?
Did you realize somethingthat when when someone accepts
Jesus as their Savior,you know what they're saved from?
Let me tell you.
Let me tell you what you're saved from.
You're not saved from sin.
You're saved from the wrath of God.
That'swhat we're saved from because of sin.
(15:58):
So in essence, when I accept Jesusas a Savior, what I'm saved from is
God Himself.
I'm saved from God
and His wrath because of my sin.
And what John is saying hereis, who warned you to flee
from that wrath?
You talk a good game.
(16:18):
You talk like you're a religiousperson. It means nothing
to these Pharisees and Sadducees.
These are the two primary religiousand political groups for the Jews,
two very different groups.
The Pharisees.
They were the larger groupand they were the conservative group.
They believe the Old Testament,they believe the scriptures.
(16:40):
They were really, really moral.
They were conservative,
and they were partof the Conservative Party, the Sadducees,
a much smaller group,very vocal, very liberal.
And they had all the money.
Hmhmm.
The more things change,the more they say the same.
(17:02):
And neither of them were good.
The Sadducees being liberal,
they didn't believein the eternal things of God.
They didn't believe in the miraclesof the Old Testament.
They didn't believe in eternity.They didn't believe in heaven.
They didn't believe in hell.They didn't believe in angels.
They didn't believe in demons.
They were sad. You see.
(17:25):
Have you ever
heard that dumb pastor joke before?
It's so old.
It's horrible.
They're just miserable people.
And so you got these conservatives onone side, these liberals on those side
who are both giving lip serviceto religion.
And John says,you're both headed for destruction
because you don't livein a lifestyle of repentance.
(17:49):
Who warns you to flee?
Every tree that therefore doesn't beargood fruit is cut down
and thrown in the fire.
Verse 11 I baptizeyou with water for repentance.
But he was comingafter me is mightier than I,
whose sandals I'm not worthy to carry.
And he will baptize youwith the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fork is already in his hand,and he will clear threshing floor
and gather his wheat into the barn.
(18:10):
But the chaff he'llburn with unquenchable fire.
That's a brutal message, man.
Says no more.
Are you religious people?No more lip service.
Repent.
Bear fruit of repentance.
Show it in your life because otherwiseit doesn't matter and it's of no effect.
(18:31):
It says, I'm baptizing you with repentanceright now, so you acknowledge your sin.
But there's coming one after mewho will baptize you with fire.
And the Holy Spirit.
And he says these words, whose sandalsI'm not worthy to carry in this, in this,
this bondservant or slave culture,
the lowest of the slave in the home.
The lowest slave was the onewhen the when the owners or the masters
(18:54):
would walk in the house, would unbend tountie their sandals and carry their shoes.
For himthat was the lowest of the lowest slave.
That was their job.Do you hear what John saying?
I'm not even worthy to be the lowest ofthe lowest slave of Christ.
I love his humility.
He's not seeking a following.
(19:15):
He doesn't have some social media armybehind him.
He's not asking for followers.
There's no hashtag Instagram.
None of that.
He's the greatest of those bornamong women.
And yet, he says, I'm not even worthyto be the lowest of the slaves
for Christ.
(19:36):
That's a humble life of repentance.
Do you understand?
That.
Then verse 13, Jesus came
from Galilee to the Jordanto John to be baptized by him.
John would have prevented him saying,I don't.
(19:56):
I need to be baptized by you.
You even come to me.
Can you imagine?
Like like you're sitting in the backyardby your pool of sun.
Jesus walks through the gate. Hey,we got water.
How about youbaptize me? I mean, I want to
know.
I mean, the only time you could feel righttelling Jesus. No.
Like I'm going to baptism.
It makes no sense.
(20:17):
And I'm sure John's like, here's my.
You get this.
You need to baptize me.
And Jesus answered him, let it be so.
Now for us.
It is fitting for usto fulfill our righteousness.
Then he continued, you can sin.
And so here's what's happening.
Jesus wants to be baptized by John.
(20:38):
Here's why.
In baptism,Jesus is identifying with sinners
so he could later justify sinners.
Jesus is not being baptizedfor confession.
Jesus is being baptized for identification
so he can identify with sinful humanity.
Not that he's sinful, butas an identification with sinful humanity.
(21:02):
It's a baptism for Jesus ofidentification, not a confession. Why?
Because Isaiah 5312
says that he was numberedwith the transgressors,
though never transgressed.
So for Jesus to identify with fallen,sinful humanity,
he has to identify with fallensinful humanity.
(21:24):
And to do that, he does that in baptismso that he can justify fallen,
sinful humanity. You understand?
The Bible says in Hebrews chapter fourthat Jesus
as our high priest,the model of the Jewish High priest,
was tempted in every way that we are, yetwithout sin.
Jesus had to be tempted in every way.
He had to identifywith with us in every way so that he could
(21:47):
rightfully hold us accountable for our sin
and rightfully provide the provisionfor the forgiveness of sin.
So he's baptized in identificationwith sinful humanity,
so he can later justifysinful humanity to follow.
That's why he's baptized.
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately
(22:07):
he went up out of the water and behold,the heavens were open to him.
And he saw the Spirit of God descendinglike a dove and coming to rest on him.
And behold, a voice from heaven said,this is my beloved son,
with whom I am well pleased.
So at his baptism,
which, by the way, the Greek word forfor baptized is baptism,
(22:29):
and it means literally to immerseor dunk underwater.
That's why we baptized by immersion,because the word means to immerse under
water.
That's why we don't sprinkle,because the word baptize means to immerse.
And so when it saysJesus came up out of the water,
it means by necessityhe was totally immersed in the water.
Do you follow so he comes up outof the water after being totally immersed.
(22:52):
And the Bible says,The Spirit of God descends
as like a dove,and a voice from heaven is heard.
This is my son, in whom I am well pleased,
that what we see here
is a manifestationof what's called the Trinity.
Have you heard about what the Trinity is?
You heard that word Trinity.
(23:13):
The Trinity is a Christian doctrinethat there's one God
manifest in three personsGod the father, God the son, God
the Spirit, equal in nature,all being God.
Different manifestations.
The Father is God,but the father is not the son.
The Son is God, but son is not the spirit.
(23:35):
The spirit is God,but the spirit isn't the father.
They're all God.
Different manifestations now,
you may know or have been told
by people who don't understandand by some cults,
that the Trinity,the Trinity is not in the Bible,
and that therefore God is not equal
(23:59):
in three persons,but distinct in different natures.
For instance,that the son was created by the father.
That's false.
The Bible's
very clearabout the doctrine of the Trinity.
It is true that the word Trinityis nowhere in Scripture.
You can look all through every pageand word of the Bible,
and you will not find the word Trinity.
(24:22):
It doesn't mean the Trinity isn't there.
The doctrine of the Trinityfor the Christian Church
was clearly defined, in at the Council
of Nicaea in 325 A.D.
and they said,this is what the Scripture says
about the nature of God, Godthe Father, God the Son, God the spirit.
That's put the verbiage around itso everybody knows.
(24:44):
It was a responseto, heresy called Arianism,
that rejected the ideathat Jesus was eternal with the father.
And so they said,let's set it straight for all Christians.
The doctrine of the Trinitythat God is one God.
God is Father, God the spirit, Godthe Son, co-equal but different persons.
(25:06):
And so the doctrine of the Trinitywas really fleshed out in 325 BCE.
But the Trinity is all through Scripture,Old Testament and New Testament here
and then the leastyou have the Spirit of God
and the father saying, this is my son,
father, son, spirit.
You see that all at the same placeat the same time.
(25:28):
Okay, so don't doubtthe doctrine of the Trinity.
Don't be fooled by people'sarguments about it.
But I want you to, I want to I want topoint something else out about this to.
And this is just super practical, okay?
Especially for parents.
What does God the Father
say of God the Son in verse 17?
(25:48):
This is what
my beloved son finish it,
with whom I am well pleased.
This is the father saying over his son,
this is my beloved.
I'm so proud of him.
I'm so pleased with him up to this pointfor what we know.
Scripture.
What had Jesus done to make the fathersay, I'm so proud of you.
(26:18):
From from what we know, Scripture
and anything he showed up
and anything.
From what we know in Scripture,he hasn't done anything.
And what does the father say?
Man, I love you and I'm so proud of you
parents, please understand this.
(26:40):
The love of the father,
the pride he has in his son
has nothing to do with performance.
Simply his person.
Parents get this.
Make sure that your children know.
(27:01):
That you love and your love for them.
And your pride in themhas nothing to do with their performance,
just simply for who they are.
When you get upset
at their lack of opportunityor performance, what's that?
Tell them.
(27:21):
That you're pleased when they get it.
Parents,
please hear me on this,especially if you got little.
I don't careif they're little or old. Doesn't matter.
I, I just had my my middle son compete
in a jujitsu, competitionthis last Saturday.
He took jiu jitsu for three months.He got third place.
(27:43):
It's like it
and but but here's my point.
We're talking to him.
Had nothing to dowith how he performed it.
Just.
Man, I'm so thankful
that you still have this desireto do stuff and you're able to.
And how fun that must have been.
I'm just proud of you for yourselfout there getting after it
(28:05):
had nothing to do with what he did.
So parents, please, please do this man.
You get a little girl, a little boy,oh, boy, all that matters.
Listen, I just love getting to watchyou do your thing.
That's it.
I'm just proud of you.
Nothing to do with your performance,
(28:27):
parent.
You understand that?
Take if you from God the Father.
And so verse four
or chapter four, chapter three.
Heaven breaks through the Spiritof God upon the Son of God.
(28:49):
For the father.
Chapter four.
Hell breaks in the moment this happens.
Great moment.
Then Jesus was led by the spirit intothe waters to be tempted by the devil.
He had to be tempted.
Jesus could not escape this life withouttemptation in every way we are. Why?
Because he has to identifywith every temptation we face.
(29:12):
If Jesus was tiptoed in every way,at the core of every way we are,
we can make a charge against him.
You cannot condemn me because of my sin,
because you don't knowwhat it's like to be me.
You understand that we would havea charge against God.
So in order to take every charge away fromlike we can't charge God with anything,
Jesus had to be tempted
(29:32):
in every way that we areand had to face it without sinning.
And so he's led
is this great moment with the father,and he's led in the desert to be tempted.
And after fasting 40 days and 40 nights,
I love how
simplisticthe Bible puts this next statement.
(29:54):
He's fasting 40 days and nights
and it says he was hungry.
You think?
I mean,I didn't get breakfast this morning
and I would say I'm hungry.
40 have any of you fasted before?
Like like a biblical fastingon a medical fast, but a difficult fast.
(30:14):
Yeah.
For like you missed a mealand because you're busy
a day, two days,three days a week, 40 days, anybody?
40 days and nights.
Have a church planner friend in Ohio?
He played right tacklefor University of Georgia back in the day.
He's a big, big man.
He's done 240 day fast.
(30:34):
He now he a lot of weight to lose.
No big deal. But I'm
but but
for 40 day fat that's that'sthat's brutal.
And at some pointyour body starts eating itself.
And so yeah he's found and for dayshe was hungry no doubt.
And the temperature came to him and said,
we're going to see the three temptationsto Jesus in those same two ways.
We're tempted.
(30:54):
The devil isn't creative,but he's consistent.
The devil cannot.
I said, if you are the Son of God, giveman these stones, become loaves of bread.
Couple things going on here.
One thing I want you to stand.
Regardless of the temptation.
There's a way out.
None of us has to give in to temptation.
(31:17):
When I was, When I was a little boy.
I've told this storya few different times.
My mom and dad really want usto memorize the Bible,
and they knew that the way to my heartwas through a Baby Ruth candy bar.
And so
my mom put a Baby Ruth candy baron top of the frigerator
not one of the cheap little ones,like the big full thing.
And she wrote this versefor first Corinthians 1013
(31:38):
on a, on a index cardand put on a mag on the refrigerator.
She said, when you memorizethat verse, you're gonna have a candy bar.
And it was first Corinthians 1013.
There is no temptation which come uponyou, which is common to everybody.
And God is faithfuland just and won't allow you to be tempted
beyond what you can handleand will with the temptation.
Make a way out so you can handle it.
(31:59):
And so what that told meis that whatever temptation
I face is common to everybodyelse, I'm not special and neither are you.
Your temptations are exactlywhat everybody else faces, nothing new.
So don't think thatdevils singling you out special.
You're going to
be tempted in the wayeverybody is tempted, and God is faithful
(32:20):
and just, and he won't allowthat temptation to be too much for you.
And even beyond that,he'll give you a way out
that you can handle itso you don't have to sin.
That's what I learned growing up,
Carl. You're not special
to every temptationeverybody else faces your dad.
Face it, your brother face it.
Your uncle's face it.
Your friends faces. Same.
And you can handle it.
(32:41):
And you'll even have a way out.
And what that told me is
I need to look for the way out.
And what that told me is,
sometimes I don't want to way out.
Sometimes I want to sin.
So God is faithfuland just to provide a way out.
He's also faithful and just to holdme accountable for my sin,
(33:04):
because sometimes I choose it.
And he's also faithfuland just to provide, to provide
the payment for my sin through Jesus.
And so these temptations.
The devil starts with with Jesus.
If you are the Son of God, he'ssaying a couple of things.
He's raising a question.
(33:26):
He said, do you think you gota relationship with with God?
He's your father.
If he's your father,why would he treat you like this?
You think this relationshipyou have with him is
is is solid and good?
If so, why?
Why is he?
Why is he doing to you what he's doing?
(33:48):
He's also raising is raising thisthis point.
If you are the Son of God,why don't you prove it?
Why don't you prove it?
Do you see how the
devil just starts raising questionsin our minds about the father?
And this is the first temptation command.
These stones become bread loaves of bread.
Why does he start with that temptation?
Because. Why? Because he's hungry.
(34:10):
It's the temptationof his greatest felt need.
And what the devil is saying?
The temptation, number one, isyou cannot trust the provision of God.
That's the.
That's the first temptation.
You can't trust
God to take care of youbecause obviously he hasn't.
(34:30):
If you have thisgreat relationship with God,
why would he let you be
in such need right now?
Why would you trust him to providefor you?
Because obviously, look back, he hasn't.
Do you understand this temptation?
(34:50):
If this relationship is so goodbetween you and the father,
why would he let you go hungry?
Why would he let you be in so much need?
It makes no sense.
Take matters into your own hands.
Do this yourself.
Anybody?
(35:14):
You can't trust God to take care of you
because he's left you without.
What kind of loving God is that?
That's a temptation.
It's the same temptationof Eve in the garden.
(35:35):
When the devil came to even said,why would you trust God
to provide for you?
Look what he's kept from you.
It's the same thing with Adam.
Or with, with Abraham and Sarah.
What?
God said he's going to give you a son.
How many years has it been?
You can't trust him to provide.
He hasn't done it yet.
(35:58):
Let's solve this ourselves.
But he answered, it is written,man shall not live
by bread alone, but by every wordthat comes from the mouth of God.
I love the how Jesus responds.
He just gives one Bible.
I'm not going to talk to you about it.I'm not gonna argue with about it.
I'm not going to try to read anything.
(36:19):
Here's what the Bible says.
Here's what the Bible says.
There's no discussion.
Then the devil took him to the holy cityand sat him
on the pinnacle of the temple and set him.
If you are there, it is again, right?
If you are the Son of God,throw yourself down, for it is written,
he will command his angels concerning you,and on their hands
they will bear you up, lestyou strike your foot against a stone.
(36:40):
The devil says, fine, Jesus.
You want to quote Bible up the Bible?
Do you know the Bible?
Or you know the devil probably knowsthe Bible better than me, and you.
And so he takes so much to the pinnacle
the temple, the top of the temple,the pinnacle, all the way down
to the bottom of the Kidron Valleythat it overlooks was 450ft.
And so the devil's like look, 450ft.
(37:02):
Go throw yourself down, the Bible says,or you won't quote the Bible.
I'll quote the Bible.
The Bible says,so come out and see angels.
Concerning is quoting Psalm 91
and he he's saying, here's the deal.
You based on the track record Jesus,you can't trust
God's provision,nor can you really trust his protection.
(37:22):
That's the second temptation
he hasn't provided for you,and he will not protect you.
Like I said,the devil isn't created a bit.
He's consistent.
And Jesus said to him, againit is written,
you shall not put the Lordyour God to the test.
No discussion, just the Bible.
(37:43):
Friends take.
Let's take our cue from from Jesus.
Our response to every question,our response to every temptation,
our response to everywhatever has got to be.
The Bible says
what the Bible says.
The Bible says
when we got to know the Bible,but to our response
as we go, the Bible says,but here's the thing.
(38:03):
The momentyou or I respond in this culture today,
the moment we respond withthe Bible says we're going to be labeled
ignorant and bigoted and whateverother title you want to put on people.
Because it flies in the face
of culture to say the Bible says, let'sso all it's so archaic.
(38:25):
Well, the Bible says.
And we've got to be willing to bear that,
to bear that badge.
I'm a man of the Bible.
I'm a woman of the Bible.
We're a family.
The Bible in the Bible says that's justthat's just how it is.
You can label me however you want.
You can call me whatever you want.
That's fine.
(38:45):
But the Bible says.
In this culture,there was so much confusion
and so much verbiage about all kinds of.
Identities and genders and relationships.
And the Bible says.
(39:06):
Roles and the Bible says.
Again,the devil took him to a very high mountain
and showed him all the kingdomof the world and their glory.
And he said, all these I will give you,if you will fall down and worship me.
What right does the devil
have to give kingdoms to God?
(39:29):
Well, in Luke four six
we learned that for a time being,
he's the ruler of this dark world.
See? And in the garden at the sin of Eve
and Adam, the devil was giventhe title deed of the earth.
He owns it.
The good news is we read the last bookof the Bible, revelation chapter five,
(39:52):
and we see the lamb who was slain,who gets the title deed back.
But in the meantime,
over this dark world,the devil still yields power.
And the devil tells Jesus, look,if the point of this whole thing,
let's just get pragmatic.
Now, if the point of this whole thing
is that the world worshipyou, let's just circumvent the cross.
(40:16):
Why go through that?
Just bow down.
All the kingdoms are mine to give you.
I'll give them all to you.They'll worship you.
Which is the goal anyway, right?
Because
after all, Jesus, you can't really trustthe promises of God.
That's the third temptation.
(40:37):
You can't really trust his promises.
You can't really trust his word.
And so let's getlet's get to where we want to get,
but let's do it a different way.
For me,
this would probably bethe greatest temptation.
I mean, other than the bread one,
because when I'm hungry,that would be fantastic. But.
(40:58):
But I'm so pragmatic.
Let's understand what the goal is.
Let's get there by any way possible.
And if we can do iteasy, let's do it easy.
And that's what he's telling Jesus.
Well, we'll get to the worship
if you part, but let's do itwithout the suffering part.
Let's do it off the cross.
(41:18):
You can't really trust the promise of God.
He has his promise of,
of of a resurrection, his promiseof redemption through your blood.
You can't really trust that.
Let's get it a different way.
And then Jesus said in verse ten.
(41:41):
Shut up.
You, you.
He's done.
Be gone, Satan.
And he doesn't say, be gone,because I believe he does
say be gone because I trusthe doesn't to be gone because I anything
he says be gone because it is written,
you shall worship
the Lord your God and serve him,and only him only shall you serve.
(42:05):
I love the fact man that Jesus.
He doesn't boil it down to what he thinksor what he believes in. Nothing.
He boils it down.This is what the Bible says.
This is what the Bible says.
And I'm going to build my life,
and I'm going to build my responseon what the Bible says.
Basically, what Jesus saying is
my job is to honor my father.
(42:25):
That's my job.
And however he wants me to do that,I'm going do that.
I will believe his provisionbecause the Bible says I will believe
his protection, because the Bible saysI will believe his promise.
Because the Bible says
my job is just to honor him.
Verse 11then the devil left him, and behold,
angels came and were ministering to him.
(42:51):
Jesus met every temptation with Scripture,
every temptation with Scripture.
That's our key.
The Bible says.
And and I want you
to understand this, that heavenalways means obedience with strength.
Heaven always
meets your obedience with strength.
(43:12):
Just be obedient, repent.
He'll meet you with strength.
And angels came and ministered to him.
I want to close with this verseto wrap this whole thing up.
James four seven
submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil,and he will flee from you.
(43:32):
This whole thing startswith submitting ourselves to God.
It's repentance.
Father, I submit my will to yours.
I submit my agenda to yours.
I submit my future to your design.
I humbly submit myself to you.
You are king.
I'm your slave.
Do with meas you will submit yourself to God.
(43:55):
Then resist the devil.
There's a lot of uswho have tried to resist the devil
and be good people,and change our lives in ourselves.
It doesn't work.
Behavior modification doesn't work.
There has to be a submission to God first.
It has to be a repentance first.
And when we submit ourselves and repent,
then we're able to resist the devil.
And the moment the devil sees submissionto God in repentance and resistance,
(44:20):
he runs away.
Do you understand that?
But it starts with our repentance.
And so, according to what John
the Baptizer said, according to what Jesuspreached, according to the disciples,
according to the first church,according to Paul, repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
(44:43):
I want you to pray with me.
Father, I thank you
that you've not left us her own devices,as you not left us to,
to this world.
According to our effort.
I thank youthat you've given us your word,
that you've given us your son,that you've given us your spirit.
(45:04):
And I pray that in these momentsthat you would call us to repentance.
Not just our
remorse over our past, but in
submission of our future.
Friends,I want to invite you in this moment.
Like I said, I don't need to know.
It's not for me to know
your need of repentance.
(45:24):
You need to know it
and the need to repent.
The moment
you live in repentance and submission,
which is obedience,
heaven meets you with strength.
And so I invite you in this moment,just simply between
you and the father to say, God, I repent,
(45:47):
I repent.
I agree with youabout this part of my life.
I've lived in rejection
of your design.
I acknowledge that,
and I come before you today in repentance
and submission.
(46:07):
Not because of who I am,but because of what you've done.
Jesus, I pray you, make me a new person.I want to go a different way
and I give you my life.
I give you my future.
I give you my direction.
May walk in newness of life.
Now God.
And then in this moment,
would you then also commit.
(46:29):
Father I,
when I choose to resist the devil,
the attitude he creates in
me, the grudges he continues in me,
the habits he propels in me,I submit to you,
I resist him, make him run away.
He has no authority in my life anymore
because I'm submitted to you.
(46:51):
Jesus, I love you.
Thank you for this opportunity.
Thank you for this church thing,for these people.
May your kingdom come and yourwill be done on earth as it is in heaven.
In your name I pray, Amen.
Friends, I love you.
I'm proud of you.
Good job.
For the first second service of the three.
(47:12):
I want you this
week to read chapter fourand get into chapter five.
Chapter five starts the greatest
message ever preached called the sermonon the Mount, chapter five, six and seven.
There's a lot there,so read those two. Chapter four.
In chapter five.Let's get into that next week.
Invite your friends with you.
Invite your huddleto come to church with you,
and live a lifestyle of repentance.
(47:33):
Heaven will meet you with strength
I love you. Let's sing.
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