Matthew 3
¹In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea ²and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." ³This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
"A voice of one calling in the desert,
'Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.' "
⁴John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. ⁶Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
⁷But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. ⁹And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
¹¹"I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹²His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
¹³Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. ¹⁴But John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"
¹⁵Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John consented.
¹⁶As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. ¹⁷And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."

Introduction: 30 years passed between Chapters 2-3.　For over 4 hundred years the nation had not heard the voice of a prophet. Then John appeared and a great revival took place announcing the coming of the Messiah Jesus Christ.

Things We can Learn for 2008

1. Get Ready, Jesus is Coming! (vs.2) True then & True today.
   Read Matthew 24:36-46 “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor..........”
   • Let Jesus find us faithfully loving & helping people
2. Avoid Prideful Religious thinking & ways (vs.7) .
   • They believed their good works saved them.
   • They were obsessed with keeping rules and failed to show God’s grace, mercy &Love to people.
   • They saw themselves as higher & looked down on people.
   • They were concerned with appearing to be good than truly knowing God & Loving people.
3. Humble Yourself.
   1. John's Baptism of repentance = Represents an Attitude change
      Saving attitude= “I’m no good, I need to be changed”
   2. Jesus’ Holy Spirit baptism - Salvation by faith in the finished work of Christ
   3. Baptism of fire (Matt.3:12)
4. Let God’s Love be the foundation of your Personality. ( vs.16 )
   - I am valuable because I am God’s much loved child!

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Preacher: Rob Flaherty | Permanent Link