MATTHEW 3 HOW TO HEAR FROM GOD2017 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Matthew 3 How To Hear From God

It's a new year, 2017, and it's always a blessing to transition from the old to the new. As Pastor Tom Hallman was sharing, 2016 was rough for them and difficult, and I think many of us...

would say something similar. And so as we look towards this new year, we're hoping for better things. We're asking God for better things and greater days ahead. And as we look ahead, I think we would be in agreement in seeing that we desire God, that God would speak to us. And I would ask you to consider that this morning. Do you want God to speak to you?

Would you like 2017 to be a year of hearing from God and just kind of picturing those last couple of verses that we read with Jesus there coming up out of the water and the heavens being opened and the Holy Spirit coming down and the voice from heaven speaks, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. I wonder if you would want 2017 to be a year like that where you have those kinds of encounters with God.

where God is speaking to you and working in your life and directing you and not necessarily that exact scene is duplicated, but you have those occurrences of those connections with God that are real and powerful and life-changing.

changing? Is that what you desire as we now head into this year? I've titled the message this morning, How to Hear from God. Because I think as we look at Matthew chapter 3, we see some very interesting things and important things for us to take note of as we desire for this to be a year where God speaks to us and where we have these powerful encounters with God. There's some great insights from

from the ministry of John the Baptist. And the reason why he was sent and the work that God called him to do will instruct us greatly that we might be enabled to hear from God. And so there's four points I'd like to highlight for you as we work our way through Matthew chapter three and learn how to hear from God. The first thing, the first step, point number one, found in verses one through six is very simply, repent.

If we want to hear from God this year, if we want to hear from God today, if we want God to speak to us in new and fresh and powerful ways, there needs to be repentance going on within our hearts. Look at verse 1 and 2 again. It says,

Here we're introduced to John the Baptist, famous character, but in those days, he wasn't known, he wasn't expected. All of a sudden, there was just this man there out in the wilderness with a message. And his message began with the word, repent. Repent.

Now this was a significant time for the nation of Israel because, well, as we've been following along through the Old Testament and following the timeline of the people of Israel, we saw them go through the times of the judges and the times of the kings and then turning from God. And so the prophets were coming and calling the people to repentance. They were taken into captivity into Babylon, but then brought back and the city was rebuilt and the temple was rebuilt and God did a new work.

But as we ended the Old Testament in Malachi, he was the last of those Old Testament prophets. And then about 400 years passes before John the Baptist comes on the scene. And often those 400 years are described as years of silence, being that the nation as a whole did not have a messenger from God with a message from the Lord like this.

Moses or like, you know, Elijah or like Jeremiah or Isaiah or Malachi or John the Baptist. There wasn't a messenger of the Lord to the people as a whole for those 400 years. And so it's referred to as the years of silence, right?

And I think perhaps some of you who've been reading through the Bible in three years with us look back at the past year and you think that was a year of silence, you know. We started out in year one, Genesis, you know, Exodus, Leviticus, some good narratives, some good exciting things, and then on into the Kings and Chronicles, and then it starts to get a little repetitive, and then you get into the judgment after judgment after judgment of the prophets. And I know it's a struggle, and people kind of just like, you know,

work through those things, and it can be somewhat difficult, but many of you have been really looking forward to the New Testament, right? You've been really looking forward to, I can't wait, get into the Gospels. It's going to be fresh and exciting, and I've had that expressed to me by many people, you know, just that looking forward to it, and that's appropriate. It's good. There's nothing wrong with that.

But I think it's appropriate for us to consider the context of John the Baptist in light of that. That is, as you've been looking forward to the New Testament, as you've been looking forward to, man, I can't wait to dig into the life of Jesus and to hear more about Jesus and to have more of that in my devotional life and in my walk with God, in order for you to be able to receive what the Lord has for you in the life of Jesus, in the Gospels, in the New Testament, that

it must first go through the ministry of John the Baptist. In the same way that in order for Jesus to come on the scene, for Israel to be blessed by the ministry of Jesus, there first had to be this man, John the Baptist, who prepared the way for the Lord. And I would suggest to you this morning that the ministry of John the Baptist still prepares the way for the Lord to work in people's lives.

And as we look at these things today, it's important for us to take note of them, that we would be prepared for Jesus to work, for Jesus to speak, for God to open up the heavens and work in our lives. And so as John comes on the scene, it's the first time in quite a while that they've had a messenger from the Lord like this. And his message, right out from the gate, the very first word is repent.

This word repent means to change your mind. It's not just a change of mind all by itself, but it's also regret that's accompanied by a change of heart towards God.

It's a change of mind. It's a change of heart. But then it's also a change of action, a change of behavior. So it's a change on all levels where your mind is changed, your heart is changed, and you're going in a different direction. You're stopping those things that were not good, that were not of God, and you're putting in their place things that are good and things that are of God.

This word repent is also different than the idea of regretting sin because of the consequences, you know, having that sorrow because of the pain that was caused or having that sorrow because, you know, there was consequences as a result of the sin. But it's a recognition of my ways are not good and my decisions aren't the best. And even when I'm trying my best, I don't measure up and it's not the best way to live and it's not in agreement with what God has said.

And so John the Baptist comes on the scene. Again, the first time in a long time that God has spoke to them as a whole, as a nation. And he calls them to repent, to change their mind, to change their heart, to change their behavior. Now, there must have been some really crazy, awful stuff going on.

for this to be the primary message, the main message for John the Baptist to share. The first things first, the first thing he says is repent after 400 years of silence. Man, it must have been crazy terrible. You might think that, right? In Luke chapter 3, we have a little bit of extra insight from Luke on the ministry of John the Baptist.

And as he calls people to repentance, it's interesting to see the response of the people said, well, what should we do? You're calling us to repent. Here you are on the scene preparing the way for the Lord. So what does that mean? What do you want us to do? And it's interesting. John goes on to explain to them. He says, here's what you need to do. If you have two tunics, give to someone who doesn't have any. And if you have extra food, well, share that with somebody who doesn't have food.

In other words, give to people who are in need. He goes on to share with the tax collectors because the tax collectors ask the question, well, what about us? What do we need to do? We have this particular occupation. What does repentance look like for us? And John the Baptist tells them, collect no more than what is appointed for you. Collect the appropriate amount, he says. In other words, don't cheat, don't steal, and don't take advantage of people.

In your role as a tax collector, you have that opportunity and many tax collectors would, but here's what repentance looks like for you. Be a person of integrity and do what's right. Have good business practices. Don't cheat, don't steal, and don't take advantage of people. Well, then the soldiers pipe up and they say, well, what about us? What does repentance look like for us? And John the Baptist tells them, don't intimidate people, don't accuse them falsely, and be content with your wages. And so he tells the soldiers, you have authority, you have power, don't abuse it.

And be content. Now, I walk through all of these different examples that are given in Luke chapter 3 just to make the point. It wasn't that the people were murdering people every day. And that's why there was this strong call to repentance. There was 400 years of silence. And so, you know, everybody went crazy, complete anarchy, absolute rebellion against God. And they're just killing people. That's not what was going on. As this call to repentance is going out,

And there's some requests for clarification. Well, what does that look like for me? There's what we would look at and consider probably some simple and basic things, some reasonable things that, well, yeah, you need to stop being so consumed with yourself and look at others in need and seek to help and seek to participate in meeting those needs. And yeah, in your workplace, you need to make sure that you're a person of integrity and you're not cheating or stealing or taking advantage and

Those who have authority, and many of us do in a variety of different aspects, that you use that authority in a way that's good, and that's a way that's a blessing and honoring to God and not abused. And wow, that message of being content, that's

That's necessary for every one of us, especially this side of Christmas, right? Now you got everything and then you still didn't get what you want. And so you're not happy because, you know, your spouse didn't get you that present that you wanted. Well, hey, be content with what you did get. And that message of contentment is something that we all need. And Paul says, Godliness with contentment is great gain. And so being content with where we're at and being content with where God has us is important.

Now, that's not the whole extent and, you know, hits every situation imaginable that we might be experiencing, but hopefully it gives you a little bit of an idea. And here's the point. We might hear this message of repent. You might look at point number one, repent, and think, well, that's good. I can't wait to point number two where it really applies to me because this one's, you know, it's for other people here. I look around, I see, yeah, yeah, Ronnie needs to repent and Jonathan needs to repent. But, you know, I'll wait for point number two for something for me. You know, what does God want to say to me? I don't know yet.

Now, you know what? There's a lot of little things in your life. Even if you're not involved in outrageous sin, there's need for repentance for every one of us. There's things that God wants to show us where our hearts are wrong, our hearts are out of line, our hearts are not in the right place. And God wants to do some work and he wants to speak to us. But the message of John the Baptist and this call to repentance is part of the process of God speaking to us.

Pastor David Guzik puts it this way. He says, repentance does not describe something we must do before we come to God. It describes what coming to God is like. So don't think of, okay, I want to hear from God. So first things first is repent. And that's, I got to do that before I can come to God. I got to clean up my life and get my life right. And then I can come to God and hear from God. And

He says, no, no, this is what repentance to God or repentance is. It's coming to God, coming to God and turning from sin, turning from our ways. It's one step. It's not two separate things. For example, if I invite you to come to church on Sunday morning, well, you came to church this morning. Now that automatically means you left somewhere else.

I didn't tell you, leave your home on Sunday and then drive down these roads and then arrive at Living Water, right? That's not really necessary. If I say, come to church and you come to church, it's already included. You left somewhere to come here. In a similar way, repentance and turning to God, it's one thing. You're doing that. When you turn from something and turn to God, that's what repentance is.

It's that change of mind, that change of heart, that change of behavior, that change of action to lay aside the things of ourselves, the things of sin, the things of this world, and to grasp hold of and walk in the things of God. Now this word repent that John the Baptist uses, I'm going to get a little bit technical here. It's in the Greek, it's in the present tense, it's imperative, and it's also in the active mood. Now here's what that means. It's imperative. That means it's a command. It's a command.

So this word repent is not an optional thing. If you feel like it, if you want to, you know, for some of you, it might be a good idea. This is a command given to every one of us. There needs to be, there must be, you must repent. But it's also in the active mood, which means that you personally have to involve yourself. You have to do this. Nobody can do this for you. And this isn't done to you.

I can't repent for you. Jesus can't repent for you. Nobody else can repent for you. You have to repent. You have to make the choice. You have to make the decisions and follow through with the actions. It's your responsibility. But then it's also in the present tense, which is significant because it means then it's not a one-time occurrence. As long as there is a present, this command is appropriate and applicable.

Could also be translated repent and keep on repenting. Or keep yourself in a state of repentance. That's what we're commanded to do here by John the Baptist. That we keep ourselves in that condition of grasping hold of God and letting go of the things of this life and of the world.

And so it's not a one-time event where you would look back and say, well, I repented. You know, back in 1981, I repented. I'm good. I don't need to do it anymore. No, no. For us as believers, repentance is going to be the ongoing lifestyle up until eternity.

That we are constantly being pulled back to the things of this world, and so we're constantly having to repent. And although we've repented of the things that we have known about and the Lord has shown us, there are things that God will still yet reveal to you about your heart and your behavior and your activities that you don't even know are a problem, you don't even know are an issue.

But as God reveals them, he's calling you to repent of them. And so repentance is going to be this ongoing lifestyle for us as believers. And so it's a message that is appropriate for us today. And it's the first part of hearing from God. If you want God to work in your life and you want the heavens open and God to speak, there needs to be first this repentance, this change of mind, change of heart, this letting go of the old to grab hold of the things of God.

Moving on to verse 3 here in Matthew 3, it says, Here Matthew explains the reason why this was his message was because this was his mission. He was sent to prepare the way of the Lord and to make his paths straight.

This is a quotation from the prophet Isaiah who prophesied about this messenger who would come before the Messiah, before the Savior. And he would prepare the way of the Lord and make his paths straight. The idea that Isaiah had in mind as he was writing those things and giving forth that prophecy is in those days as kings were going to places that they had recently conquered or visiting their territories, they would send teams ahead of them.

And these people would go ahead of them and announce, hey, the king is coming. He's like two days away. And so get everything ready. Maybe you've experienced this in the workplace. You know, you get a call. We had this when I back worked at Paychex. And we'd get a call. Hey, corporate is down in Orange County today. That means they're coming here tomorrow. Get everything ready. And everything had to be cleaned up and set straight. And so they would fill the potholes in the roads and make sure the king could just roll in nice and smooth and everything looked nice and everything was in order. And so they would get everything ready.

That was the idea. That was the mission of John the Baptist. He was the one calling out saying, hey, the king is coming. Everybody get ready. Everybody look busy. You know, fill in the potholes. Start getting things in order so that he can just go in nice and smooth, that his paths are straight in.

I think if he was writing today, he would maybe talk about, you know, the work of the secret service that as the president goes into a new place, similar, there's a team that goes in ahead of time and they secure the location and they work out the logistics and here's the way in and here's the way out and here's plan B, here's plan C, here's the timing, here's how everything's going to work and everything is prepared beforehand and ahead of time so that then when

When it's time, then they just roll right in. Everything's ready. Everything's prepared. Everything's scheduled. And all things are accounted for. That was John the Baptist's mission. That was his ministry. And that's what repentance does. Here's the thing for you and I to consider. Repentance in your life prepares the way for the Lord to just roll right in and begin to work.

It prepares the way for him to have just a straight path. If you want God to have a straight path to your heart, a straight path to your life, to speak to you, to work in you, it's repentance that is the preparation for that. It begins that work. It enables you. It opens you up to receive the work of God and the word of God. And so again, it's an appropriate message for us this morning.

As we look forward to this new year and what God has in store for us. If you want to hear from God, you can open the doors wide and prepare the road and fill in the potholes and make sure everything is taken care of so that he has easy access. He can roll right in by repentance, by changing your mind, changing your heart, changing your behavior to let go of the things that are not of God, to let go of the things of this world, to let go of the things of your own self and

and to grasp hold of the things of God. The people began to respond to the message of John. We read it in verses four through six. It says, now John himself was clothed in camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins."

the people begin to respond to the message of John the Baptist. Now, he was kind of a weird guy. Describes him there in verse 4 of being clothed in camel's hair. And that wasn't like, you know, an awesome fashion statement that everybody was like, wow, there's this really good designer out in the wilderness. You got to see his tips, man. I mean, the way he fashions his camel's hair garments, they're just amazing. They're so comfortable. That's not what it was at all. In fact, it's

The camel's hair garment that John the Baptist was wearing was probably uncomfortable. It probably was not pleasant to be in, and it probably wasn't fashioned incredibly well. It was very basic and simple and rudimentary. But he has this awesome paleo diet that you just got it. I mean, you can lose so much weight. If you hear this diet from this guy, John the Baptist, he only eats locusts and wild honey.

And so everybody's rushing out because he has this amazing diet. No, that's not it at all. In fact, that's not a diet that anybody would have wanted to live on, but it was just him surviving off of the bare essentials. He was a weird guy, wearing weird clothes, having a weird diet, but with a strong message, a call to repentance. And the people responded to that.

His job was to prepare the way of the Lord and the people were being prepared. They were responding. It says in verse six, they came out to him. They were being baptized by him and confessing their sins. That word confess, it means to fully agree with.

That's the idea of confession. It's not so much like a ritual, like we might think of it, like, you know, a thing that you do, but it's an agreement where we recognize and we agree with God, my ways are not good, and I've been trying it my way for a long time in these different areas, and I recognize, I agree with you, God. It's not the right way. These are not good things. This is not a good attitude. This is not a good heart. These are not good activities, right?

And so they're baptized in this agreement. We recognize we fall short. We don't measure up. We need God's help. We need a savior. We fully agree with God about that. And as they're baptized, it speaks of their death to that old life, to those things that they were holding on to and the commitment now to live this new life in agreement with God. And so this is the beginning of the ministry of John the Baptist. And again,

the beginning for us if we want to hear from God. If we want to experience what God has for us, this is where to start. You can invite God to work mightily in your heart and in your life with repentance. It's ongoing. It's regular, continual, turning away from sin to turn to God. The commentator William McDonald said, "...the king would soon appear."

but he could not and would not reign over people who clung to their sins. And that's something for us to consider. The Lord will not reign over people who cling to their sins. He calls us to repentance, not to perfection, but to repentance, that we would let go of those sins and allow him to work in us. Well, we find the religious leaders come on the scene in verses seven through 10, and that gives us point number two,

And that is bear fruits of repentance. Now, for those of you who are waiting for point number two to hear from the Lord, now's your chance. Bear fruits of repentance. That's point number two. Verse seven says this. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, brood of vipers who warned you to flee from the wrath to come.

As John is out there baptizing and he's proclaiming his message to the crowd that is gathered, he sees in their midst Pharisees and Sadducees. Now these were two groups of religious leaders that were there amongst the people of Israel. These religious leaders were highly esteemed by the people.

And thought to be really the most righteous of all the people were these religious leaders, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They were thought to be righteous. Righteous.

These religious leaders knew the scriptures very well. They studied the scriptures. They were students of the word of God. They had disagreements about which parts they believed and didn't, but they knew the word of God. They were also very religious. They kept the rituals. They kept the sacrifices. They kept to the greatest detail that they could, the things that God had called them to do in the law.

And then even their traditions on top of that. They did their best to follow God in the way that they thought God wanted them to follow him. And so they were highly esteemed, thought to be righteous. But as John is ministering and he sees them in the crowd, he calls them out, he points at them, he highlights them directly and says, brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come.

He addresses them, and instead of saying, you guys are really righteous, so this message doesn't apply to you, he says, in fact, the opposite. You guys especially need to hear this message. And again, I think this is so appropriate for us, where we are as a body, where we are in reading through the Bible in three years. It would be very easy for us to be here, you know, two years in and thinking, we've got this down, you know, we've been reading, and we've been reading the Old Testament now, and I know the Word of God, and

I come to church, you know, and things are in order. Things are good. But oftentimes, for us who are believers, and I would say even especially those who have been believers for a long time, we need the call to repentance even to a greater degree than someone who is an unbeliever out in the world who's never heard of the Lord. Now, obviously, they need repentance. And you understand what I'm saying, though, that so many times we're kind of

less aware of our issues than the unbeliever. We get so comfortable and complacent in our rituals, in our achievements, in how many scriptures we've read or memorized or know, and

were looked upon around the church and thought to be righteous. You know, you look at Jonathan, you think, wow, that's a really righteous guy, you know, and he probably doesn't need this call to repentance that Jerry's giving forth this morning. So he's just kicking back in there, you know, in the back playing Pokemon Go or something and just having a good time because, yeah, go for it, Jonathan. You don't need repentance. You're a righteous man. You're a pastor. And it could be easy for us to have that mentality. But here, John the Baptist speaks to those who are the most religious and

the most involved in spiritual things. And it's essentially the same message, a little bit harsher, a little bit more strict, a little bit more of a sting, but he calls them to repent. In verse eight, he says, therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance. And do not say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father, for I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. He tells these religious leaders to bear fruits worthy of repentance.

And to not think to themselves, repentance is not that big of a deal for us because we are children of Abraham. We don't need to repent. We're Jews. Not only that, we're the best of the best Jews. It was commonly expected and accepted in those days that Jews had no danger of ever going to hell. They were guaranteed entrance to heaven because they were descendants of Abraham. That's what they thought.

And these religious leaders were, you know, the cream of the crop as far as the Jews were concerned. No need to repent. Repentance isn't necessary for us. We don't need to examine our hearts or change our ways. There doesn't need to be this kind of work in us. That would have been their mindset, their attitude as they were approaching this ministry of John the Baptist. But John the Baptist looks at them and says, you know what? You think you're the exception. You think this message is not for you. And

And for us this morning, I would extend that to us and say, listen, don't think that you are the exception, that you don't need this message that's called a repentance because you read the Bible every day or because you come to church or because of this or because of that. Don't think that this message is not for you. Listen, if you want to hear from the Lord, this is the beginning of the path. We need to bear fruits of repentance.

It speaks not just of an acceptance of the idea or the concept, but that there needs to be action that goes along with it. There needs to be fruit that is evident. There needs to be actual changes in your life that prove that you agree that repentance is necessary and an important part of hearing from the Lord. Now, these religious leaders showed up, and as they're there, I think they probably could agree with the concept of

Yes, there needs to be repentance. Yes, repentance is really good. Yes, repentance. Good job, John. Preach it. All those people out there, they need to repent. You're right. Amen. But see, they were missing the point. Even though they agreed with the concept, they didn't think it applied to them. And again, this morning, that's why I would say to us, don't think that you are the exception. Don't just agree with the concept. Point number one, Jerry, I love it. Yes, lots of people need to hear that message. So make sure you preach it.

But make sure we turn it around and also acknowledge and recognize that message is not just for unbelievers. And it's not just for people who are in, well, what we would call like outright sin, but it's for all of us. There's areas that God wants to work in your life. There's areas that God has already been trying to speak to you about. There's areas that he's been highlighting and bringing up. And there's things that he wants to do. And it's so easy for us to cling on to those things that God is calling us out of.

All the while being very religious, looking really good, and nobody around us knows the difference. They just think we're really righteous. We agree with the concept of repentance. But John the Baptist would call us to say, don't just agree with the concept. Show it. Live it out. Demonstrate it. Make it real in your life. And as he gives this message, there's a great sense of urgency that he gives in verse 10.

He says,

It's right here. It's right there upon you. The need for repentance is not, you know, you got some time, like an early warning system. Hey, judgment's coming. You got a couple of days to get your life right. This call to repentance comes with great urgency. Listen, the ax is at the root already. The work is already there. You're right on the cusp of it. And there needs to be immediately, urgently, a turning away.

From those things that God reveals to you and those things that God is speaking to you about. Judgment is not far off. And the time is shorter than you think. And I don't mean that to announce that there's going to be some, you know, crisis or some doom and gloom type of thing. It's not that at all. But that God is going to be working.

and the ax is at the root of the trees, there's an urgency for you to not put off your repentance to another time, to not change your life for another day, to not change your life another week, but for today, for you to respond, for this moment for you to respond. Like, don't even wait for the altar call at the end kind of thing, you know? Like, respond now to the things that God is speaking to your heart because, well, the ax is at the root of the trees, right?

And God calls you to repentance urgently. He calls you to take it seriously and to change your life in talking about repentance and turning away from sin. I always like to ask people who are coming out of a sinful situation or turning away from something that God's called them out of, maybe those who are caught in some kind of sin, I always ask the question, what are you going to do? What are you going to do?

Now, being a pastor and having been involved in many situations where people are caught in sin or people are caught up in things and there's a lot of emotion, there's a lot of sorrow, there's a lot of guilt, there's all kinds of feelings and there is legitimacy to those things and you have to sift through and sort through those things. But now we get to the end of all those feelings. Now, what are you going to do? What's going to change? What actions are you going to take?

It's not just about whether you feel bad or not. And it's not just about what you think about it or what other people think about it or how they feel. Now, what are you going to do? What steps will you take? How will you bear fruit of repentance? What actions will you take? It's a necessary part of repentance that we demonstrated, that we don't just agree with the concept, but that we take it so seriously that our lives show repentance is important and it's an important part of

of hearing from God. It's the message and ministry of John the Baptist. Well, moving on to verses 11 and 12, we have point number three, continuing to learn how to hear from the Lord. It begins with repentance and not just the concept and the idea, but then living it out and bearing fruits of repentance. Now, point number three in verse 11 and 12 is be baptized in the Holy Spirit. If you want to hear from God, it's a turning away from the things that are not of God, but then also it's a receiving of

that filling from God of the Holy Spirit. Verse 11, John says, As John continues his message, he says, I baptize you with water, right?

And there's three kinds of baptisms that he mentions here in verse 11. The first kind is what he was doing, baptizing in water. But then there was also the baptism of the Spirit that he mentions at the end of the verse. And then the baptism with fire that is at the end of the verse and distinct from baptism with the Spirit. The word baptize, it means to immerse.

And so as John the Baptist is baptizing people, he's immersing them. He's completely submerging them in the water. And it signified their repentance, their death to the old life, and their commitment now to the new life. But he says this is not the only kind of immersion. Jesus, when he comes, the Messiah, the Savior, he will immerse people in the Holy Spirit.

And we don't have time this morning to get into all of the details about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but let me summarize it with just a couple points. First, the cross of Jesus Christ enables us to have a new life as believers in Jesus, where we are filled with the Holy Spirit.

We are born again by the Holy Spirit and now the Holy Spirit resides in us and we have the opportunity and capacity to be filled with the Holy Spirit to overflowing, to impacting every aspect of our life, every aspect and every moment of our day that we can have

this filling, this empowering, this work of the Holy Spirit leading us, convicting us, speaking to us, revealing the word of God to us. We can have this experience with God being filled with the Holy Spirit ongoing continually because of what Christ did for us upon the cross. Jesus immerses his followers in the Holy Spirit and empowers his people by the Holy Spirit to live the life that he's called us to live.

So there's the baptism of water, the immersion in water, the immersion in the Holy Spirit. But then he also says the immersion in fire. Jesus immerses people in fire. Now this isn't the fire of like passion or excitement. This is the idea of judgment or purging, a cleansing fire, the fire that burns and leaves behind only what is pure.

You can see this demonstrated in verse 12. It says, Here, John the Baptist, as he talks about the baptism with fire, he gives the threshing of wheat as an illustration.

And what they would do is they would go on top of a hill to process the wheat that they had harvested and they would stomp on it and stuff and separate the wheat from the chaff. But once it was all separated, it was still in this big pile of mess with the wheat and the chaff all together. And so they would throw the wheat and the chaff into the air and the wind would blow away the chaff because it was light and the wheat would fall back down.

And they would just keep on doing that, keep tossing in the air, and there'd be less and less chaff, less and less chaff, less and less chaff, until finally, it's just the kernel of wheat that's left there on the top of the hill. And when there was no wind in that area, then they had a winnowing fan, and they would blow and wave this fan to blow away the chaff. And John the Baptist says Jesus has this winnowing fan, and he's throwing the wheat and the chaff in the air and blowing away the stuff that is not good, the stuff that is not of God, and

That's going to be gathered up, burned with unquenchable fire. But his wheat will be gathered into the barn. Jesus is cleaning out his threshing floor, separating the wheat and the chaff, and purging, cleansing, purifying work is what he's involved in. Now here's the thing that I think we need to understand from this. He couples these two things together, the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the baptism with fire. That holiness and the Holy Spirit go hand in hand.

You need to know. I think there's not one of us who would say, you know, I don't really want the Holy Spirit to be at work in my life. I'm good, thanks. I think we would all say, yeah, we want God to speak to us. We want God to pour out his spirit upon our life. We want God to work in our life and for the power of the Holy Spirit. But there is a holiness that goes along with the filling of the Holy Spirit. And there needs to be a willingness to let go of

and let God purge the things that are not of God out of our lives as we invite him to fill us with his Holy Spirit. If you want to hear from God, be filled with the Holy Spirit. And that's not something you do in the sense of you say these magic words and then you have the filling of the Holy Spirit. That's something you ask God to do to you. As opposed to repentance, that's active. You do that.

But the baptism of the Holy Spirit, that's, Lord, baptize me in your Holy Spirit. Fill me, immerse me in your Holy Spirit. That is what we invite God to do for us. And so I would say it this way. Let Jesus flood your heart and your mind and your soul with the Holy Spirit. Surround yourself with the things of God and give God a multitude of opportunities every day to pour out his Holy Spirit upon you.

Give God a multitude of opportunities. Be immersed in the Holy Spirit. But as you do and as you request that of God, at the same time, let Jesus separate you from the things of this world. And be willing to let him purge and let those things die and let those things be burned away, which is not of God.

If you think about John the Baptist, he was one who is filled with the Spirit. He was immersed with the Spirit. Luke 1.15 tells us, from his mother's womb, he was filled with the Spirit. And so he had this work of God, this work from God, this filling of the Holy Spirit from the beginning. That's what empowered him and enabled him to do this. And at the same time, John was separated from the things of this world. Again, he was clothed in camel's hair.

He ate locusts and wild honey. This was not fashionable things, popular things. This was not having anything to do with things that people would admire. These were just the basic bare necessities because his life was not focused on what he wore or what he ate. His life was focused on his mission for God. The commentator William McDonald puts it this way, "'It must have been a convicting, scalding experience to meet John.'"

His absorption with spiritual realities must have made others realize how poor they were. His self-renunciation was a stinging rebuke to the worldliness of his day. As John the Baptist came on the scene, he says, it must have been really convicting to encounter John the Baptist. And maybe you've had this experience where have you ever spent time with somebody and then you walk away thinking, man, I don't know the Lord at all. Because they just know the Lord so well. You might walk away thinking, I'm spiritually bankrupt. And

That encounter with that person who's just on fire with the Lord and walking with the Lord is a stark contrast. It helps you recognize, wow, I'm really far from God. John was separate from the world. He was not focused on the things that the world was focused on. He was focused on the things of God. And to be baptized in the Holy Spirit goes along with that. Again, we're turning away from the things of this world and letting those things go and being consumed, immersed, and filled.

with the things of God and the spirit of God. Give God a multitude of opportunities to pour out his spirit upon you and to empower you for the life that he's called you to live. Well, one last point, let's finish it up. Verse 13 through 17 gives us point number four, and that is do what Jesus says. If you want to hear from God, you want God to break through the heavens and work mightily in your life, begins with repentance, not just the concept, but bearing fruit

making action, taking action in your life, giving God the opportunity to fill you a multitude of times all throughout every aspect of your life, being willing to let go of the things that are not of God, and now obedience to Jesus, putting into practice the things that he calls us to do. Verse 13, it says, then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent him.

saying, I need to be baptized by you. And are you coming to me? As John is ministering, now Jesus comes on the scene. The one he's been promising to come, but he didn't fully know who he was yet. He knew Jesus. They were related. They were cousins, but he didn't yet fully know that Jesus was the Messiah. That'll come in just a minute. But he knows there's something special about Jesus. And so when Jesus comes and wants to be baptized, John says, I

you know, I should be baptized by you. And notice what it says in verse 14. John tried to prevent him. John said, no, no, Jesus, not going to baptize you. He tried to prevent him. This is something that you need to know. If you want to hear from God, you need to know he is going to tell you to do things that you don't want to do and don't agree with and don't understand. This is inevitable.

When you walk with the Lord, when you follow the Lord, he is going to give you instruction that you don't want to do, that you don't agree with, and that you don't understand. Because, well, Isaiah tells us in Isaiah chapter 55 verse 9, the Lord speaking through Isaiah says, God's ways are way higher than our ways.

And so if you're going to obey the Lord, you need to understand you're going to have to let go of your own thoughts, your own understandings, your own ways, because his ways are not your ways. And he's going to call you to do things that you don't want to do, things that you don't agree with, things that you don't understand. It's inevitable. John the Baptist experienced it. Every follower of God will experience this call to do what they don't understand or don't want to do.

but it's a surrender. It's a part of the repentance, letting go of our ways. If you insist you have to understand everything before you do it, you're not going to follow the Lord. We have to let go. That doesn't mean we're brainless or clueless, but you get what I'm saying, that we must put God's word and his instruction above our own ideas, our own understanding, our own preferences. In verse 15 says,

Jesus answered and said to him, permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all unrighteousness. And then he allowed him. Verse 16, when he had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water and behold, the heavens were open to him. And he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.

There's a lot of cool things happening in these verses, but just staying focused on John the Baptist. Here's John the Baptist fulfilling his ministry, calling people to repentance. Jesus comes. He tries to prevent him. No, no, no. I shouldn't baptize you. You should baptize me. Jesus says, no, it's the right thing to do. So he goes ahead and he does what Jesus tells him to do. And then he gets to be part of this amazing experience and encounter with God.

It's not just Jesus who experienced the heavens being opened, the Holy Spirit coming down, and the voice from above. It's not just Jesus who experienced those things. John got to be part of that experience with him.

We know that from John chapter one, verse 33. And here's what John says in John 1, 33. He says, I did not know him, the Messiah, Jesus. I didn't know he was the savior, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, upon whom you see the spirit descending and remaining on him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. As Jesus, I'm sorry, as John is preparing the way for Jesus and proclaiming the Messiah is coming, the one who baptized with the Holy Spirit, he says, I didn't know who he was gonna be.

But the one who sent me told me, when you see this happen, then you know that's the one that I'm sending to save the world. John was being faithful to do the first thing the Lord told him. He went to baptize. And when Jesus asked him to baptize him, he said, oh, no, no, I don't think so. But when Jesus told him, no, no, it's right. Go ahead and do it. As he obeyed Jesus, then he got the confirmation that

of his whole ministry, his whole life, and everything that God had called him to. He got to experience that confirmation, and he got to experience this encounter with God and hear from God in this incredible way. Now, God had spoken to him already, but as he obeyed the first thing, he got to hear from God in a greater way. He didn't understand why he should baptize Jesus. He didn't agree with it. He didn't want to do it. But when he did it in obedience, he

The Lord spoke in a powerful way and then he knew who the Messiah was. For you and I today, we need to do what Jesus says. If you want to hear from God, this is vital. And it can be challenging because sometimes, and I would say regularly, the Lord is going to ask you to do things you don't understand, you don't want to do, and you don't agree with.

But it's as you obey the Lord that you get to experience greater encounters with God, greater experiences with God. You get to hear from God in different ways and God will work uniquely in your life as you are faithful to obey him. And so this morning, as we consider these things, I pray that your heart would be one that says, yes, I want to hear from God today.

not in a way that says, I don't want to change. I'm just going to sit here. I'm going to do nothing. But God, you speak to me and do wonderful works in my life. If that's your heart, well, I'm sorry. You're not going to experience the work of God in your life. But if you're here this morning and you say, Lord, I'm willing to repent. Just show me. Show me the things that you need me to turn from, the things that are out of line in my life. I agree with the concept, but Lord, I also want to take the action and put it into practice. And so show me, direct me.

Maybe there's some things already the Lord's shown you. Bear fruits of repentance and be filled with the Holy Spirit. If you want to hear from God and want God to work in your life, give God an ongoing, constant, continual invitation to work in your life, to pour out His Holy Spirit upon you. At the same time, recognizing that also implies I'm willing to let go of anything. Purge me. Just, yeah, get rid of the chaff. Get rid of the junk. Fill me with your spirit and be willing to obey the Lord. Do what He says.

Even if you don't agree, even if you don't understand, take God's word and put it at the highest priority of your life and let that override every cultural thing that you have. Let that override everything your mom ever told you and everything your grandma ever told you and everything that your boss tells you and everything that your spouse tells you. Let God's word override everything that you desire and everything that you plan for and everything that you hope for and everything that you prefer. Let God's word override

Be the overriding factor over all things in your life. And you will experience the work of God in a powerful way. He will speak as you walk with him in repentance, filled with the spirit, obeying the Lord Jesus. Let's pray. Lord, as we consider the ministry of John the Baptist this morning, I thank you, God, for this opportunity. Lord, that you love us so much that you humble yourself and desire to work in us and speak to us. And we're unworthy and undeserving of

But God, we thank you for your work. And I pray, God, that you would help us to take heed to this message, to these things, Lord, that we would let go of this life, of this world, and that we would grasp hold fully of you. Fill us, Lord, with your Holy Spirit. Purge us of the things that are not of you and help us, Lord, to be obedient in every area, in every aspect of our life. It's not just the big things, the big sins, but Lord,

Lord, every corner, every relationship, every conversation, every decision, you call us and command us to be part of that in cooperation with you, in obedience to you, in representing you. So Lord, help us to obey you as we let go of the things of this world. And I pray, God, as we go forward, that you would speak powerfully and work mightily in our hearts according to your goodness and grace in our lives.

Lord, also as we head into this time of fellowship, I pray that you would bless the food, you would bless the hands of those who made it, and that you would just allow us to have a great time together enjoying some good food and fellowship and reflecting on your work in our hearts. We pray that you'd be with us in our midst as we continue to seek you and walk with you together. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.