Mark 1 b

[Music] mark chapter 1 tonight i just want to reiterate some things here in regards to the witness we talked about the witness of jesus and the testimony of who jesus is we spoke about john the baptist and his ministry his purpose and what the lord brought him to do we're going to look a little bit more into that tonight just to get some context on where we are with john the baptist's ministry as it pertains to jesus's ministry and you know there's quite a bit we we got up to jesus's temptation last week but there are some things we just kind of need to go back over because remember in mark's gospel he highlights more of you know jesus is you know the parables of jesus more than anything we see that uh there's there's quite a a working of jesus's ministry because it shows jesus as a servant of all whereas we see other things that are in the other gospels that have more detail in mark's gospel we are limited on some of the details but we get the gist of jesus's ministry from the perspective of john mark so here in verse 8 john the baptist speaks concerning jesus and an area of jesus's ministry that i think we need to highlight tonight so john then goes on to say in verse 8 i indeed baptize you with water and this is the ministry of john the baptist up until this point remember he was baptizing there near in the jordan many would come to seek him out as to what he's doing what is the purpose of his ministry and they came from all over they came from jerusalem verse 19 of chapter 1 of john's gospel it says now this is the testimony of john when the jews sent priests and levites from jerusalem to ask him who are you you know this message and ministry of john the baptist was very impactful and great because we talked about this a little bit last week from the time of malachi up until the time that john the baptist comes on the scene there have been a period of 400 years malachi was the last prophet that god spoke through and then did not speak through any more prophets for over 400 years until john the baptist so this really intrigued the people john the baptist his message was a message of repentance you know turning away from you know sin and looking to it was a preparation for the coming messiah for the coming promise john understood his position he understood that his ministry was to prepare the way we're going to talk a little bit about that as well but also too we see that the lord sent this was all by god's doing that it didn't matter where john was at he was in a very remote place the wilderness um remember that out in the judean wilderness it was a very dry and deserted place but that didn't stop the lord from the people hearing the message of john so if you really think about this you have this picture of this man who as we've seen his description right you know camel hair and a leather belt and he's eating locust i mean the guy's just out there doing it but he's preaching a powerful message and many are coming and they are being baptized in other words they are accepting and receiving this message of repentance and he's speaking about the kingdom of god he is speaking concerning this promise that the people of israel have longed for and so it goes on to say here that they came and they asked a question who are you he confessed and did not deny but confessed i am not the christ and they asked him what then are you elijah he says no i'm not elijah and in essence he wasn't he was john the baptist because remember that at the close of the book of malachi the prophet malachi said that elijah would come again now we read last week that jesus said in fact elijah did come and he referred that to john the baptist but here they're asking john the baptist if he is actually the actual prophet elijah they didn't understand this is where jesus had to reveal to his disciples that john the baptist came in the spirit and the power of elijah so that was fulfilled in john the baptist's ministry and this is why you see a lot of similarities to how john the baptist was dressed there in mark a chapter one and how we also see the ministry of elijah in um you know first kings but notice what else we see here it goes on to say then he said to them i am not elijah are you the prophet and he answered no now remember they already asked him are you the christ so they wanted to know if he was the anointed one if this are you the one that the father has spoken of that would come and would do this work among the people he says no i'm not him are you actually elijah the prophet no i'm not elijah the prophet because malachi said that he would that he would come and now they're asking him are you the prophet now remember moses in deuteronomy chapter 18 and verses 15 through 18 he said that there would be a prophet that would be raised up and that would come and minister so now they're asking him well then are you the prophet are you the one that moses spoke about are you the one that malachi spoke about are you the one that the old testament scriptures speak concerning that the father will send his servant this is what they wanted to know who he was and i love what john the baptist says then they said to him who are you that we may give an answer to those who sent us well who sent them the jews at jerusalem that's what it says the jews sent priests and levites from jerusalem to ask him who you are and then he says what what do you say about yourself and i love his response his response says i am the voice they asked him this are you the christ no are you elijah no are you the prophet no then who are you i am the voice think about that not a person in the sense but the fulfillment of god's promise because god promised that there would be one who would prepare the way so in essence what he's doing is he's not drawing attention to his person he's drawing attention to the promises of god now this is really important why because this says a lot about john the baptist's ministry people like to praise men and men and women love to hear when others say how godly they are john the baptist wasn't impressed with any of that his focus and his purpose and his intention was that jesus would always get the glory and would be the center of attention at least for him in his ministry so john understood john the baptist understood very clearly who he was and what his mission and his purpose was so he says the voice of one crying in the wilderness makes straight the way of the lord quoting from isaiah chapter 40 right and so basically he says i am as the prophet isaiah has said i am the fulfillment of the promise of the word of god in the context that there would be one who would prepare the way in other words this is what he's doing he's making straight to path so that's what his message did and the baptism that he did with water listen to this guys that was actually symbolically just outwardly a response to what had taken place in the heart of those that received the message so this became an identifying factor to this new message that was being preached prior to john the baptist baptizing listen they didn't go around baptizing people in the old testament like that the levites had their what they call their ritual cleansings they would go into like these mikvahs and they would go and do the purification and you know wash themselves with water and they would even do that in new testament times the religious leaders if they were touched by a gentile or touched something unclean they would have to go wash themselves like seven times the picture of this clearly is in john's gospel remember just in the next chapter where jesus turns water into wine there were how many water pots and what does the bible say they were water pots for what purification ceremonial cleansing so what was common to the jewish people is the fact that that that they would have this ceremonial cleansing but baptism was not a common thing was not a common thing though they would immerse there in the old testament but it wasn't like hey now you're a believer in jesus or a believer in god so this is what really drew attention to john the baptist's ministry and this is what i love about it listen to this that when god calls you it doesn't matter how arid dry and deserted the place is you don't got to worry about getting the people he will send them to you he will send them to you and this is exactly what was happening with john the baptist's ministry and then it says this now those who were sent were from the pharisees and they asked him saying why then do you baptize if you were not the christ nor elijah nor the prophet john answered them saying i baptize with water but there stands one among you whom you do not know it is he who coming after me is preferred before me meaning that this one who is coming i love what john is saying here he's laying something down that perhaps they would not understand and that is that john the baptist i think this statement here is pretty profound he's saying here that the one that is coming is actually one who pre-existed he says here that he is preferred before me and this would be a little bit hard for them to understand because they're saying well we don't know who you are and who could be preferred before you now remember they thought highly of john the baptist because later on when the religious leaders were trying to trip jesus up in you know kind of saying you know well whose baptism you know jesus asked them well what about john's baptism was it from god or was it from john you know and if they would have said well this baptism was from man then they were afraid to say that and because then if they said well john the baptist his baptism was from heaven well that means his message was received his message is validated in other words they would say well we believe that john the baptist was sent by god but if they would have said well it was john's thing it says very clearly there that they were afraid to say that because they believed john to be a true prophet of the lord so what's interesting here is that now john is saying the one who will come after me is preferred before me it's not so much that hey he's better than me or he's a greater one he's speaking about his position also that he has always been his his purpose in his plan is far greater than john the baptist now look it goes whose sandal strap i am not worthy to lose these things were done in bethabara beyond the jordan where john was baptizing so this is a pretty amazing picture here where john the baptist says listen you're concerned about the baptism of mine where i'm preaching a message of repentance but there is coming one who is um one among you whom you do not know and he's preferred before me i'm not even worthy to to unloose the straps on his sandals like this one is who i'm preparing the way for now we're going to go back to john chapter 1 but at mark chapter 1 it says that john says he is will indeed baptize with the holy spirit it says here so in matthew's gospel and in luke's gospel john then goes on to say he will baptize you with the holy spirit and with fire mark's gospel and john does not say that only matthew and luke do and so the picture here is what john has to say about jesus so what does this mean that jesus is the baptizer with the holy spirit we all know the work and ministry of the holy spirit do we not and we also see that the holy spirit has always played a critical role all throughout scripture at the very start of creation right it says that the spirit of the lord it says the earth was without form verse 2 of chapter 1 in genesis and it says in darkness was on the face of the deep and the spirit of god was hovering over the face of the waters the spirit of god was hovering over the face of the water so this shows us very clearly that the holy spirit has had his act in creation he had his act in doing a work as it pertained to creation itself but we also see another thing that i think is important for us to understand that that we learn quite a bit concerning the work and ministry of the holy spirit if you if you think about it you know for a moment the holy spirit himself is not just some type of force or some type of feeling but the holy spirit had his part not only in the creation of the world but also in the creation of man as a matter of fact um in job chapter 33 and verse 4 eliahu you know speaks these words and he says this the spirit of god has made me and the breath of the almighty gives me life so here we see a reference to the spirit of god as he says here has made me creation of man so to speak so this is this is a pretty powerful portion of scripture here that points to the holy spirit's working in creation in genesis 1 but now in the creation of man in genesis chapter 2 in verse 7. but then it also states in job chapter 26 job chapter 26 and verse 13 and job answers you know as he's speaking and job says this in verse 13 of chapter 26 by his spirit he's talking about the holy spirit he adorned the heavens his hand pierced the fleeing serpent notice this he adorned the heavens so by his spirit he adorned the heavens so many look at these two passages in job and they say well here's now where we see the holy spirit's part in this he had a part in creation he had a part in creating man and then it says there in genesis chapter one and the earth was formless and the spirit of god hovered over the earth in its form the way it was so this is the same spirit that we see actively working now in the new testament and remember one of the things that we have that we've learned that the lord said about his spirit also in genesis chapter 6 in verse 3 it says and the lord said my spirit shall not strive with man forever for he is indeed flesh yet his days shall be 102 years so my spirit will not strive with man any longer now some people say well there it is there that this has to do with man now given some of you might feel a relief here now those of you that are 70 and you've heard me say that if you're over 70 you're on borrow time and some people look at this passage and they say well there it is there god is saying now we have 120 years now this has to refer to uh what is going to be taking place at the close of the chapter that it took noah 120 years to build the ark and he's talking about the time frame in which he's going to deal with man through noah's ministry because noah had a ministry and he says my spirit will not strive with man so in other words god is actually stating that the spirit has his part in restraining and unrestraining this is pretty powerful here's another thing i want you guys to kind of take in when you look at how the lord dealt with um let's consider you know saul remember how we see the lord dealing with um you know saul's life and there was a point in time in david's life where he saw something pretty powerful happen in um you know saul's life the bible says that the spirit of the lord it departed from saul but then we see that the spirit of the lord then came upon david and the picture there that i think is really important it says this in first samuel chapter 16 in verse 14 first samuel 16 14 it says but the spirit of the lord departed from saul and a distressing spirit from the lord troubled him now a little bit later we'll see that the lord sends david to saul to stand before him and he plays you know his harp and it calms him it calms this distressing spirit but the point being made listen to this is that the spirit of the lord was upon saul and it departed from him and david seen what it was to see the spirit of the lord depart from a king later on in david's life when he became king and saul was long gone and david committed some pretty horrific sin in his life and the lord was dealing with david david then uttered these words that i think are really really important because he's seen it in verse 11 of psalm 51 now that david is repenting of his sin with bathsheba he says do not cast me away from your presence listen to this and do not take your holy spirit from me why did david say that because he's seen the holy spirit depart from saul is that consistent with old testament teaching absolutely genesis chapter six what does it say there in verse three my spirit will not strive with man much longer and then when you get into the new testament and jesus begins to speak concerning the holy spirit in chapter 14 of john's gospel jesus said in verse 16 and i will pray the father and he will give you another helper that he may abide with you listen to this he could have easily just said that he may abide with you but what is he in that scripture with the word forever that's different than the old testament so let's just say if jesus rewind all the way back to the days of saul king saul and jesus would have said you know i am the baptizer with the holy spirit you know and we are you know looking at this and seeing the work and ministry of the holy spirit and seeing how the lord works you know one of the things that i think is important to take note of is the fact that if saul would have truly had the holy spirit under the new covenant you know it would have been where he would not have to worry because jesus promised that the holy spirit would abide forever you know one of the things that i think we have to always take into consideration is why this is so important about jesus's ministry here we have the holy spirit who is as we see in genesis 1 his part in creation job chapter 26 and job 33 i just gave these passages to you his act in not only creation but also man we also see his part in striving with man we see him come upon saul we see him depart from saul we see the distressing spirit that comes upon saul we see that david's prayer is take not thy holy spirit from me and then all of a sudden jesus comes on the scene and says i will pray to the father to send a comforter and he will abide with you forever this is foreign to god's people now listen to this what is this work in ministry of the holy spirit well john the baptist said that jesus is the baptizer with the holy spirit he is the baptizer with the holy spirit you cannot have the holy spirit without jesus nor does the holy spirit ever take the place of jesus nor is the holy spirit the one to be worshipped and glorified it's jesus and i think here this is probably one of the most important things about jesus's earthly ministry that you and i need to understand that jesus though he was who he is god in human flesh he humbled himself in his humanity to be led by the spirit to show what it is to have a life that is in service unto the father empowered by the holy spirit to do the work of the ministry so john then goes on to say i indeed baptize you with water he will baptize you with the holy spirit now this is a good thing why because up until this point just so you know if the lord had not spoken this is why i think this is so amazing if the lord hadn't spoken through a prophet in over 400 years well they have not experienced the work of the holy spirit in over 400 years isn't that pretty interesting and now jesus comes on the scene and in his earthly ministry after john the baptist is off the scene jesus says and he will come talking about the holy spirit and he will abide with you forever things have changed drastically and this is why we see the witness of who jesus is and who is one of the witnesses of jesus well the bible says it's the holy spirit and so the question that is asked often time is when does the holy spirit come inside of me how many of you guys have ever wondered that question when do we get the holy spirit anybody ever wondered that good some of us here all of you guys you got it but it's a good question because there are some people that say well you know well the holy spirit you know comes in us when we become christians but the question is when did you become a christian because the work and ministry of the holy spirit is really what paul says in regards to our life now as believers so you can't say that the holy spirit was at work in your life if there's really no evidence of a new life the bible says in second corinthians chapter 5 in verse 17 therefore if anyone is in christ he is a new creation old things have passed away behold all things have become new you know you need listen to this you need the holy spirit to help you we are all weak we are all weak and when you find yourself weak physically and also spiritually this is where the work and ministry of the holy spirit look at what happened to saul's body when the spirit of the lord departed from him it says that a distressing spirit came upon him and notice here that jesus the baptizer with the holy spirit now you might say what i don't want is the holy spirit to depart from me jesus said if the holy spirit has indeed indwelt you he will abide with you forever it's hard for a lot of people to swallow but let me explain something to you when the holy spirit dwells a believer that's what god uses as the agent and or tool and person if you will to give us eternal life that's the whole picture now we become you know spiritual because of the holy spirit we can't become that without without the holy spirit that's how that works we we can't walk in the spirit without the work and ministry of the holy spirit you can't do that you have to allow the spirit to lead you to guide you and to direct you now there is power there is power in the spirit this is what we need now jesus the question is always asked did jesus need the power of the holy spirit well it's evident here that jesus's earthly ministry as a servant was in submission to all that god had for him that all that god had for him and so here it goes on to say that he will baptize you with the holy spirit and notice what else it says very clearly here and it came to pass in those days that jesus came from nazareth of galilee and was baptized by john in the jordan now you look at that verse right there and you think wow that must have been an amazing thing but actually there was a conversation that took place before this john tells jesus i don't want to baptize you not because john you know uh didn't like jesus or didn't feel that jesus was worthy of being baptized in his mind he's like i couldn't do this one you are the messiah and technically if you're born without sin the messiah does not need to have this outward symbolism express his response inwardly that's what baptism is an outward manifestation of an inward reality in your faith in christ jesus so he's saying how is it that you the messiah would need to be so why did jesus get baptized i believe that in his humanity jesus identified with sinners he identified with sinners and we know this from the term that he is a friend of sinners so notice that the holy spirit number one jot it down in john 14 16 the holy spirit abides he abides in you and jesus said forever he abides in you forever secondly we see that the holy spirit according to john chapter 15 and verse 26 jesus said the spirit of truth he says the spirit will testify of me so the spirit witnesses he's one of the witnesses of who jesus is the third thing we see in john chapter 16 in verse 13 jesus said that the holy spirit will guide you into all truth the holy spirit guides us he leads us and then in john chapter 16 and verse 14 this is the fourth thing we see that jesus said concerning the holy spirit that he will glorify me the holy spirit never glorifies himself he glorifies me so if you notice here that the work and ministry of the holy spirit is to always draw attention to jesus keep our focus on him and remember what jesus told the disciples he said he's going to remind you of the things that i've taught you he's going to remind you he's going to lead you he's going to guide you he's going to abide with you and he's going to be with you forever the forever abidence of the holy spirit so when does the holy spirit indwell a person according to john chapter 7 in verses 37 and 39 the holy spirit indwells a person the moment they confess jesus as their lord and savior they confess with their mouth and believe in their heart that jesus christ is lord if a person truly makes that confession with their mouth and truly believes it in their heart the holy spirit then indwells the person and according to second corinthians 5 17 they become a new creation and the bible also says in first john chapter 4 first john chapter 4 in verses 12 through 14 that the holy spirit dwells within us the holy spirit indwells the believer and remember paul's word to the church in 1st corinthians 3 verse 16 and his word to the individuals of the church first corinthians chapter 6 and verse 19 he says to the church as a whole in chapter 3 the spirit of god dwells in you guys then he says to the individual in the same way the holy spirit indwells you as a person so tonight listen to this you're not just at a bible study and you're not just attending a church service tonight tonight you and i collectively together embody as a church the work and ministry of the holy spirit now alone individually you and i also have the work and ministry of the holy spirit at work in our own lives that's why the bible says very clearly according to ephesians chapter 4 and verse 30 that we are sealed by the holy spirit of promise under the day of redemption but what does it say there grieve not the holy spirit you can grieve the holy spirit when you grieve someone there is a you know a pain that comes with grief so grieving the holy spirit is that's where you get conviction and you start to have feelings that you know man i did something wrong that's not knowing right from wrong trust me if it was that easy we wouldn't need the holy spirit a child knows right from wrong we need the conviction of the holy spirit because we are prone to sin we are prone to to to continue in this disobedience like a child who knows right from wrong but they just keep doing wrong right and then they have to be corrected and disciplined and chastened if you will right but but here's the point the holy spirit when we grieve him this is why listen this is why when you commit sin it never feels good never the pleasure is short-lived but you've realized that you've lied you've cheated you've you've done something wrong and it just doesn't feel good no more you feel then you feel unclean you don't you don't anybody know what i'm talking about okay so this is this is what is a clear indication that you know you've grieved the holy spirit of god that's in you then you can what is called quench the holy spirit according to first thessalonians chapter 5 in verses 19 through 21 it says do not quench the spirit do not despise prophecies so how do you quench the holy spirit what's the difference between grieving the holy spirit and quenching the holy spirit well the quenching of the holy spirit is not believing god to do a greater work so you're quenching the spirit's power to work now i want to help you guys with something because i don't want you to think or in any way feel that i'm telling you that you have control over the holy spirit because you don't but you can quench the holy spirit like as we go through the gospels we've already studied you know matthew and john but remember that there were times when jesus went into the cities and the people told him we don't want you here and remember it says that jesus then would leave that city and there was no miracles performed there because they rejected jesus in a sense that's a quenching of the holy spirit in our lives today you can experience a greater work and move of the holy spirit in your life if you just truly believe that god still works in this dynamic now i know that we walk a fine line here with this because you have some way out stuff that people attribute to the holy spirit like barking like dogs there's people that really believe that's a work of the holy spirit in a church service or they say things like being drunk in the spirit and then they're like moving around like they're drunk but their eyes are closed uh that's not in the bible or laughing in the spirit where they just keep laughing and laughing and laughing in a church service and you know they're saying that they're laughing in the spirit that probably looks like that in that type of setting but that's nowhere found in the bible there's a lot of things like this that that are given in the scriptures where you know we see the work and ministry of the holy spirit and we think that it's a free-for-all if it's something that's like you know kind of wow look at how spectacular that is well how spectacular is a person on all fours barking like a dog that that actually is pretty demonic and you see here in america um we have this weird view of the holy spirit okay so some of the things that we see in american churches that that say it's a work of the holy spirit like you know people shaking and they don't stop they they're convulsing um remember that the people that convulsed were the ones that jesus casted demons out of it was the only people that convulsed in the bible but when we see it today and they say oh they're shaking because they're under the power of the holy spirit that's what the holy spirit does he puts you under this power listen if you were ever given an opportunity to travel to the middle east if you go to places like india where there's over 300 million or 30 million excuse me 30 million gods and the kundalini spirit all these different types of demonic oppression that's out there let me tell you something when those people worship their false god guess what they look like it looks like a pentecostal church service same exact thing there's people falling down they're standing behind them they're laying them down there's people shaking back and forth there's people running and all that is they don't even have a bible there because christianity they're not christians they're worshiping a false god and it's all demonic activity and it's hard for me to accept the fact that when you come here to the states most of the people here don't know that that's taking place over there somebody then comes and says this is a work of the holy spirit and you got the church all caught up on this stuff and guess what happens it's not a true work of the holy spirit and god will deal with all of this some people say well then how do we how do we know who do we believe i says jesus and the bible just read your word you'll see the truth you know and some people say well you know i just i just feel well of course i feel something at a pep rally doesn't mean the holy spirit was there i feel something when one of my old favorite songs come on from back in the day doesn't mean like oh that's the holy spirit man you know it's like we can't base this relationship with god off of a feeling jesus is the baptizer so what are we baptized with this is why i'm explaining all this to you how the spirit is operated in the old testament how he operates in the new testament and how he operates in our lives today now listen i want you guys to understand one thing you know people have mistakenly misinterpreted what i said when i talk about the gifts of the holy spirit and i speak against certain things that perhaps people we know practice but i want to tell you i i don't speak from an outside person who has seen this or watch some youtube videos or following a certain type of preacher who preaches against it just so you guys know news flash for some of you i lived it because i was raised in a hyper charismatic pentecostal church my indoctrination was pentecostalism and all of these things i was too young at the time to really study the scriptures and understand but when i became a young man in my early 20s and started studying the word of god i had to make a decision am i going to follow the traditions that i've been taught throughout my upbringing and ceremonialism or am i going to follow what the word of god teaches and it was hard because i had to really come to terms with some things and really say i have to cut myself loose from people that have been a part of my life for my whole life but i did it i even came to the point where in my years of upbringing i went to church with my mom i came to a point where i didn't go to church with my mom no more because she believed one way i believed another and it wasn't like this fun thing it was it was a difficult thing it was a debate every time you know it's like no no david i don't think you're right about that no no no no no no no no you know and i understand where it was coming from it was coming from what she knew and and really it wasn't we weren't that far off to be honest with you i believe in the gifts of the holy spirit i believe therefore today i believe in prophecy i believe in word of knowledge i believe in the gift of speaking in tongues i believe in divine healing i believe that the spirit is still at work today in the church that we are continuationists that the spirit still continues to do this but what i don't believe in is the things that you cannot support in scripture and if then if you say well the spirit now is just moving in some new way well man i can say that about a lot of things if i get enough people to follow me and a bunch of weirdos to follow me then i might as well just embrace polygamy hey after all guys in the old testament they had more than one wife god didn't strike them dead i can embrace all kinds of weird stuff but if you want to be safe and you want to know that you're being led by the spirit what does this look like well one the spirit indwells the believer so there is an actual work in ministry of the holy spirit and you and me here's another thing so be careful this is why a lot of times i don't want to despise prophecies i don't want to what i do then rather than despise it rather than say oh no no no you know that's that's not prophecy what is prophecy well the bible speaks about prophecy in a certain way in scripture foretelling of something that's going to come about so then we weigh things with the word of god i've had people speak a prophetic word over my life and i've seen it come to pass i've had trust me more words spoken over my life that it never come to pass you know so i'm always very careful then you got those people that that's all they want to do they want to go to a place because they want to hear a word so they just that's what they live on but they never pursue the word of god they have the word right here you want a word there's 843 000 of them right here you can sit down and just get it 24 7 if you really want it but jesus baptizes with the holy spirit because he is the giver of eternal life and the spirit is to abide with us and who is the holy spirit well in acts chapter 5 in verse 3 acts chapter 5 and verse 3 ananias and sapphira ananias lied to the holy spirit that's what peter said you lied to the holy spirit then he goes on to say you have not lied to man but you've lied to god peter then calls the holy spirit god this obviously is a support to the doctrine of the trinity that god is father god his son and god is holy spirit but we see here that the holy spirit now it goes from one who can be grieved one who can be quenched one who could be lied to that the holy spirit is the third person of the trinity so now we have the work and ministry of the holy spirit indwelling us and this is what john the baptist said jesus came to do so then it says he was baptized and then look at what happens in john chapter one you go back there and it says in verse 29 the next day john saw jesus coming toward him and said behold the lamb of god who takes away the sin of the world now that's interesting because remember it was a lamb that was used in the exodus right the passover meal it was the land that kind of brought them out there in exodus 12 right the passovers they're preparing to go out they were brought out by the lamb and paul goes on to say in first corinthians 5 that christ is the passover lamb and remember in hebrews chapter 10 and verse 5 it says offerings and sacrifices you did not desire but a body you have prepared quoting from psalm chapter 40. john the baptist says that jesus is the lamb of god who takes away the sin of the world this is he of whom i said after me comes a man who is preferred before me for he was before me i did not know him even though they were related because their mothers were listen to this he says i didn't know that my relative was going to be the messiah i mean jesus's brothers didn't believe he was the messiah mary knew who he was because the angel told her and he goes on to say here i did not know him but that he should be revealed to israel in other words this is god's doing my job is just to prepare the way and now he's here the way has been prepared and he goes on to say here i didn't know him now that he should be revealed to israel therefore i came baptizing with water in other words preparing the way and john bore witness saying i saw the spirit descending from heaven like a dub notice that it says here like a dove and he remained upon him and i did not know him 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 and i have seen and testified that this is the son of god john the baptist boldly testifies now there's a lot happening right here just in the fact that he says now the one who is going to baptize with the holy spirit he says this is a whole different game now the message is still the same but now those that receive the message of the kingdom the good news the gospel can now be partakers of this heavenly calling because of this work and ministry of the holy spirit so jesus is baptized and what happens is we see the very power of god fulfilled in jesus's baptism over jesus's you know life by way of the holy spirit coming down in the form of a dove now in matthew's gospel we see here that this whole picture of jesus's baptism matthew chapter 3 and verse 13 goes on to say 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 you are coming to me jesus answered and said to him permit it to be so now for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness now remember in second corinthians chapter 5 and verse 21 it says he who knew no sin became sin that we might become the righteousness of god this is what jesus is saying right here so that we would fulfill all righteousness the only way that it could be done is if jesus identified himself with sinners in this body of flesh that was prepared for sacrifice that's pretty powerful man and then the bible says then he allowed him and when he had been baptized jesus came up immediately from the water and behold the heavens were opened to him and he saw the spirit of god descending like a dove and a lighting upon him so he came upon him he he it like he just rested upon him and suddenly a voice from heaven saying this is my beloved son and who i am well pleased this is what john's gospel was talking about in chapter one when john the baptist said that he was told he doesn't give us the verse where it was said but it's evident that god had spoke to john the baptist in some way and said when you see the spirit descend upon this one that's the one that you're preparing the way for and john says i've seen it i've seen the spirit come upon him and the bible says here that the heavens opened up and jesus heard the voice and john heard the voice but nobody else did jesus and john saw the dove descending and they heard the voice but nobody else seen it john then knew that jesus was as he boldly proclaimed in john chapter 1 the son of god now guys all of this to you as you look at this you might say why all of this just for this because we have to keep in mind that the next thing that happens after jesus's baptism is pretty powerful jesus now in his earthly ministry is led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by satan led to be tempted by satan and now now look at this now this is not the only thing that it says about jesus's ministry it and and i want to answer a question that was just recently asked they probably didn't know i was going to address this in the sermon but but it's good just to reiterate this but you know in matthew chapter 3 you know it talks about jesus's ministry and what he was going to do as he would baptize with water and or excuse me baptize with the holy spirit and then it says here and with fire it says in verse 11 i indeed baptize you with water matthew chapter 3 verse 11 unto repentance but he who is coming after me is mightier than i whose sandals i am not worthy to carry he will baptize you with the holy spirit listen to this and fire mark's gospel doesn't say that and neither does john's gospel only luke and matthew say that luke chapter 7 says the same thing now listen to this but notice what they both add his winnowing fan is in his hand and he will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn and he will burn up the chaff with quenchable fire with unquenchable fire this is the baptism with fire you know a lot of people think that you know the baptism with fire is some second experience that's going to happen with the holy spirit and that you know uh i i don't know what they think but in both cases of matthew and luke it has to do with judgment so the best way to interpret this that the baptism is most likely refers to judgment and purification only jesus can do that jesus judges our sin and he did it at calvary's cross and by the working ministry of the holy spirit we are becoming purified it's called sanctification this is the process we're going through it's the work and ministry of the holy spirit so you become born again and you become saved and yes you might still make mistakes and you might still be doing these things but there's conviction in your life now and through this process of sanctification there is purifying that's going on in your life because that is the work and ministry of the holy spirit in your life you want to be more in tune with the things of god you want to be more strong in the spirit you want to be more strong in the word of god you want these things to be a part of your christian life listen you need to learn to walk in the holy spirit and if it was good for jesus to go to john the baptist and say no you need to baptize me and then the holy spirit descended upon him and we see that immediately as the spirit came upon jesus then he was taken into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil if you want to overcome the trials and adversities that you face in your life there's only one way to overcome jesus taught us this by being led by the spirit and when the enemy comes against you isaiah promises when the enemy comes against us like a flood the lord will raise up a standard by his spirit so the spirit enables us it empowers us to do this work so the spirit i believe for us we need to understand some things well the spirit it says concerning him in first corinthians chapter 12 and verse 1 that we're not to be ignorant of the holy spirit oftentimes we are we don't realize that according to acts chapter 13 and verse 2 that the holy spirit even commands he directs us where to go what did he say there set apart barnabas and saul for the work of the ministry that was the holy spirit saying that how that happened we don't know some say a prophetic utterance that maybe somebody got up and spoke but it doesn't say that it sounds like it just happened audibly what we do know is that the holy spirit is giving credit to direct saul and barnabas in their ministry we also see too that according to first corinthians chapter 2 in verse 10 and on it talks about the holy spirit searching all things if you want to draw closer to god you have to be in the spirit what did john say in the book of revelation in chapter four he says i was in the spirit on the lord's day and then i heard a voice from heaven he was in the spirit so we have to be led by the spirit we could also be you know directed in ministry by the holy spirit according to acts chapter 8 and verse 39 we just talked about acts chapter 5 in verse 3 the holy spirit also judges we see that with ananias and sapphira we also see according to first corinthians chapter 12 and verse 11 that the holy spirit gives gifts that we could use strengthens us according to romans chapter 8 and verse 26 the holy spirit helps us in prayer when we don't know what to pray for the holy spirit helps us in that time of praying and we also see according to john chapter 14 and verse 26 that the holy spirit helps with the word of god it helps us to understand the word so this is why jesus in his earthly ministry listen to this was led by the holy spirit but you know what else happened there too on that day you know the emphasis should always be made that john said in john chapter 1 and verse 29 behold the lamb of god that takes away the sins of the world the word the before the word lamb is the definite article in the original language what does that mean he wasn't just talking about any land he didn't say behold a lamb of god that takes away the sins of the world it could have just been any lamb he's talking about a specific lamb one that perhaps they were waiting for one that in some way in their history they were looking to to take care of something for them there was a land that was promised four thousand years or two thousand years rather before jesus comes on the scene and that's found in the story of you know abraham and isaac and genesis chapter 22 abraham goes to sacrifice his son the son of promise we know the story and it's an interesting dynamic because the first time the word love is ever mentioned in the bible is in genesis chapter 22. it's not mentioned before that and the word says in genesis chapter 22 abraham take your son your only son isaac whom you love you know what's interesting about this whole picture here is that we know that the story goes on to state that abraham then takes his son up to mount moriah this was the mount that god had told him to go to it was a specific mountain so he just didn't do this on his own he did this at really the request of the lord he obeyed god so what did he ask him to do he asked him to sacrifice his son so the first time the word love is used in the bible it's associated with what sacrifice and the last time the word love is used in the bible in revelation chapter 12 and verse 11 it says and they did not love their lives to the death that's the last time the word love is used in the bible what is that passage saying they were willing to sacrifice their lives to die the book ends of the bible from genesis to revelation is love and sacrifice and that's pretty amazing isn't it so going back to the story there you know abraham takes his son you can read it in genesis chapter 22. do that for your homework tonight but his son isaac then realizes you know we're here and we are about to sacrifice so he asks his dad any question that any young boy would ask and he says we have the altar we have the wood we have the fire we have everything but where's the sacrifice and abraham didn't tell isaac that he was the sacrifice he just told him to come with him there nor did he tell his servants who he left at the base of mount moriah that that he was going to sacrifice his son he actually told the servants that him and his son will be back but he knew he was going there to sacrifice his son then he tells his son isaac the lord will provide for himself the lamb and then they call it the binding of isaac he's not resisting he's not fighting the scene then changes you can read it from one verse to the next now isaac's on the altar and he's tied down and his dad's standing over him with a knife that he's about to thrust in his chest abraham's about to sacrifice his son and then it says the angel of the lord then cried out to abraham and said abraham abraham you know do not harm the lad for the lord knows now that you love him and then it says immediately the scene changes and there is a ram caught in the thicket so isaac's like so abraham and isaac go and get the ram and they sacrificed the ram there but abraham told isaac that the lord would provide for himself the lamb not a ram the land came two thousand years later when john the baptist echoed that statement and said behold here's the land that abraham was talking about because when jesus went to calvary's cross it was the same mountain that abraham and isaac were on two thousand years later and jesus carried the wood like isaac did on his back jesus was sacrificed and he was given there all of this to fulfill what the people had been waiting for the lamb of god who would take away the sins of the world and remember that isaac was a promisee to abraham and sarah was he not and so was jesus when the rebuke came to the serpent and the reminder to eve that god would raise up a seed that would ultimately crush the head of the serpent isn't that pretty powerful so then you look at all of this and then we say man that's pretty amazing how it just all ties in yes but jesus still needed to be led by the holy spirit into the wilderness to be tempted so this spirit that we see that comes upon jesus is the holy spirit who is what creator right co-equal co-eternal isn't this what the scriptures teach concerning the holy spirit he was there active in the beginning of creation job says he created man he adorned the heavens he was a restrainer in genesis 6 he's a restrainer in second thessalonians and we also see that he forever abides now with the believer and jesus said he is the one who gives this holy spirit he is the baptizer with the holy spirit now today we ask the question so we have the holy spirit in us yes so where do the gifts of the holy spirit fall in place well we see that gifting of the spirit in the book of acts the disciples receive the indwelling of the holy spirit in john's gospel at the close of john's gospel in chapter 20. jesus says this to the disciples in verse 21 so jesus said to them again peace to you as the father has sent me i also send you and when he had said this he breathed on them and said to them receive the holy spirit if you forgive sins of any they are forgiven them if you retain the sins of any they are retained that just goes back to the binding and loosing as well that's the whole idea there but now it says they received the holy spirit they didn't receive the holy spirit before because the holy spirit hadn't come because jesus was here on the earth so all the miracles that were being performed was because jesus was present here but jesus said in john 14 i must go so he can come and now the spirit indwells the believer but he also empowers the believer and at the close of luke's gospel he says tarry in jerusalem until you receive power from on high he said it after he did this here in john he says until you receive power on high that which the holy spirit shall come upon you and in acts chapter 1 we see that they carried in jerusalem jesus ascends and in acts chapter 2 the holy spirit comes upon them and you see now the outworking and ministry of the holy spirit as he empowers them so you have the person of the holy spirit and you have the gifts of the holy spirit and why are the gifts there so that we can do the work of the great commission that jesus said is our responsibility to go into all the world and make disciples and then when you say things like well you know i know i'm not called to be a leader i know i'm not called to be a pastor i don't really know the bible listen that's fine you don't need to know that if god calls you you're going to do it because he will enable you and he will empower you god doesn't need your help or your wisdom he just needs your submission to his will and he takes care of it by the work and ministry of the holy spirit and jesus was led by the spirit to be tempted by the devil listen to this guys one thing we should never ever ever forget about the temptation of jesus listen for you and me we need to understand one thing that i think is really really important about this whole picture here of jesus's time in this god is never the one who tempts us he doesn't tempt us satan does temptation is not a sin it's just the reality that we are in need of a savior we need the holy spirit to lead us to direct jesus's ministry in the wilderness and being tempted is this clear picture and he is the baptizer with the holy spirit listen tonight you might feel fatigued you might feel tired you might feel overwhelmed you might feel stressed out you might feel you know like man you know i don't know about tomorrow i don't know about next week you know and somewhere down the line you've been lied to and making you think that to feel that way is bad or you don't have enough of the holy spirit just news flash in the book of acts they didn't get filled with the holy spirit one time peter was filled multiple times with the holy spirit so there are times where you just have to say i feel empty and rather than say lord feel me say lord empty me so that i may be filled and it's not like this thing that you just snap your finger and it happens i mean you got to grow yourself in the spirit you got to be in the word you got to be in prayer you got to be seeking the lord these are things you have to do on your part so that the spirit of god can lead you direct you strengthen you and grow you so you want to be strong in the spirit you want to be led by the spirit these are the things you have to do and you have to discipline yourself and you might say well i don't have strength to discipline myself well if you just obey the word of god the spirit will give you the strength to be obedient and discipline yourself it's all by the working and ministry of the holy spirit then you say so you mean to tell me that if i have the holy spirit i can get through anything you better believe it and every believer has the indwelling of the holy spirit we all have different gifts but we all have the spirit in us because there's a lie everybody say lie there's a lie going around that says if you don't speak in tongues you don't have the holy spirit that's not true the spirit indwells the believer paul says we'll all speak in tongues it's a rhetorical question in your bible when he says that notice the question mark and the answer is no not everybody will some will some won't can everybody absolutely but not everybody will and there's an emphasis on that how do i know the holy spirit is in someone well they say things like well you know you got you gotta you gotta speak in tongues or do something like that to show that there's evidence no jesus says they will know you by your love and have you ever just studied first corinthians 12 and it talks about all the gifts and then jesus gets to the excuse me well the holy spirit gets to the end of that passage of scripture and he says this through paul's writing he says this desire a more desire the best gift so what is the best gift out of all those gifts some people say it's tongue some people say it's prophecy some people say it's word of knowledge some people say it's this it's that you got people running after that like oh we got to do this we got to do that but no what it means is whatever situation you're in whatever gift works if you're in a situation where word of knowledge works that's the best gift right then and there for that in other words be in tune with the spirit so god can use you any way the spirit desires first corinthians 12 11 says for the spirit distributes distributes each gift accordingly as he wills not as you will you know those people that say i just couldn't help it i just had to speak in tongues i just had to do it i had no control excuse me galatians 5 says the fruit of the spirit is self-control that wasn't the spirit that was all you you just like attention and the spirit never testifies of himself he always points to jesus think about that for a moment you see the inconsistencies but then we have to accept that because it's like we're in church don't speak against that no you have to speak against untruths one more thing he says desire the more you know the best gift and then he says i love this and he gets into chapter 13 which is the love chapter right go read the love chapter tonight but what does he say and i will show you a more excellent way what's more excellent than all these gifts you just explained to us love my goodness well i can't speak in tongues who cares you love like christ's love you're a step ahead of the game paul says whether i speak with tongues of men or tongues of angels but have not love i'm sounding brass and clanging symbols boy do we need to be led by the spirit tonight who desires to be led by the spirit tonight do you desire that tonight seriously you really want that well there's only one way that can happen forsake sin and ask the lord to fill you if you desire to be led by the spirit tonight if you desire a fresh work of the holy spirit listen it's not going to happen with me putting oil on your forehead you might just wake up with a pimple tomorrow morning you know that's about all you're going to get out of that because it has nothing to do with my faith that has everything to do with your faith the woman with the issue of blood did jesus say my faith made you well what did he say your faith do you have faith tonight that you can forsake sin and say lord forgive me of my sin i just need a fresh work of the spirit in my life i'm sorry lead me guide me into truth bring me back to that fellowship that i had with you when i was in tune with the spirit who wants that tonight well if that's you stand to your feet i want to pray with you tonight you

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Length: 69min 21sec (4161 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 16 2021