{"id":155,"date":"2010-12-05T09:00:26","date_gmt":"2010-12-05T16:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/?p=155"},"modified":"2017-03-29T10:09:03","modified_gmt":"2017-03-29T17:09:03","slug":"the-lord-is-coming-prepare-the-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/2010\/12\/05\/the-lord-is-coming-prepare-the-way\/","title":{"rendered":"The Lord is Coming … Prepare the way"},"content":{"rendered":"

Matthew 3: 1-12<\/strong><\/p>\n

Petaluma is not known for having the best roads.\u00a0\u00a0 Some of the potholes are so deep you can see light at the bottom of them.\u00a0 Well not quite.\u00a0 But there are some deep ones you need to avoid.<\/p>\n

Well just imagine some big golf tournament decided to come to Petaluma , like the US Open.\u00a0\u00a0 You can believe the city leaders\u00a0 would somehow find the money to make sure the roads leading to the golf course were good to go.\u00a0\u00a0 They’d prepare the way.<\/p>\n

That was John the Baptist’s God-given assignment.\u00a0 He was to go ahead and call the people to prepare the way.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Back then, when news came that your King was coming for a visit, you got busy with your neighbors preparing the road.\u00a0 You wanted that King to have a good impression of your town.\u00a0\u00a0 You didn’t want him raising your taxes.\u00a0 You wanted him to send the army to protect you from an enemy. \u00a0So you got the road ready.<\/p>\n

But John did not come to gather a road crew to go out with picks and shovels.\u00a0\u00a0 His work was about the heart.\u00a0\u00a0 The hearts of people needed to be ready for a very special coming.\u00a0 So do hearts today, yours and mine included.\u00a0 For soon we will gather to celebrate the coming of\u00a0 God’s Son who came to set us free.\u00a0\u00a0 And now he comes to us in very special ways.\u00a0 In the gospel of forgiveness and peace.\u00a0 In water, where sins are washed away.\u00a0 In bread and \u00a0wine where he gives us himself.\u00a0 Yes, the Lord comes.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0And one day he will come in the clouds<\/p>\n

What do our hearts tell us this morning about his coming?\u00a0 Are we anxious or indifferent?\u00a0 Are we looking for rescue or not seeing our need?\u00a0\u00a0 Are we ready to welcome this King or think we can just do fine without him?<\/p>\n

Well even though John\u00a0 came at a very special time, his work was not really different than the work that goes on today..\u00a0\u00a0 God’s messengers\u00a0 continue to call out:<\/p>\n

The Lord is Coming… Prepare the way
\nI.\u00a0\u00a0 With repentance<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>1. In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea 2 <\/sup>and saying, \u201cRepent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.\u201d<\/span> What was John calling for?\u00a0 Think about it. You’re heading down the road thinking you’re\u00a0 going to Mendocino.\u00a0 Everything seems fine until you see a sign that says.\u00a0 San Rafael\u00a0 25 miles.\u00a0 San Francisco 40 miles.\u00a0 Suddenly you realize things are not fine.\u00a0 You’re heading south when you should be heading north.<\/p>\n

Repent means to see that in your heart and life.\u00a0 To realize and admit that all too often I have headed in a direction I ought not to go- away from God, against his will for my life.\u00a0 To repent means to look up from this clueless world and see that’s the big picture of you and me.\u00a0 And it’s not a pretty one.\u00a0 God have mercy on me, a sinner<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

But to repent means also to zero in on what’s wrong with my life.\u00a0 If I see a problem to repent means to turn away from it, not ignore it or make excuses.\u00a0 The repentant heart says, I can’t behave like this any longer because it offends my Father in heaven.<\/p>\n

Yet\u00a0 to repent means more than just recognizing I have a big, bad problem.\u00a0 It means turning to God for forgiveness.\u00a0 God have mercy on me<\/em><\/strong>, a sinner. <\/em><\/p>\n

Well John came to point people to God’s forgiving answer. The Kingdom of heaven is near.<\/span> It was near because the King was drawing near, the Lord Jesus.\u00a0 And he is drawing near to you. He will soon come \u00a0in the good news of his birth for you and me.\u00a0 We will hear the Christmas angels sing of the peace he brings.\u00a0 We will remember how this Child came to give us the right to look forward to another day.\u00a0 When the Lord comes on the last day to judge the living and the dead.<\/p>\n

Well how we receive him, makes all the difference.\u00a0\u00a0 The Lord is coming…prepare the way with repentance.<\/strong> For then you will truly celebrate his birth for you.\u00a0 And when you see him come in all his glory on the last day, you will look up into your Judge’s face and see your Savior there.<\/p>\n

5 <\/sup>People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 <\/sup>Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River<\/span>.\u00a0 But Matthew goes on to say, some others came out to see John.\u00a0 Others that John did not expect.\u00a0\u00a0 In fact, Matthew uses a word that tells us to sit up and take notice of these men who came out with the crowds.\u00a0 They came to be baptized but they saw no need to repent.<\/p>\n

Well listen closely to what John says to them.\u00a0 He teaches us a lesson about preparing the way.\u00a0 Beware of misplaced confidence<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

7 <\/sup>But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: \u201cYou brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 <\/sup>Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 <\/sup>And do not think you can say to yourselves, \u2018We have Abraham as our father.\u2019 I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham<\/span>.\u00a0 Boy oh boy!\u00a0\u00a0 John told it like it is.\u00a0 These religious men were supposed to be\u00a0 showing others the way.\u00a0 But they saw no need to confess their sins.\u00a0 They saw no need for God’s mercy.\u00a0 They thought they were everything God wanted them to be.\u00a0 John came down on them for their unspiritual attitude.\u00a0\u00a0 As far as John was concerned they were the devil’s slithering offspring deceiving themselves and others.\u00a0 And so he tells them in so many words.\u00a0 Don’t fool yourselves.<\/p>\n

You see, these men prided themselves on being descendants of Abraham with whom God had made a special covenant.\u00a0 Surely this must make us right with God<\/em>.\u00a0 We come from Abraham. <\/em><\/p>\n

We can do the same if we are not careful.\u00a0 My church teaches the Bible correctly<\/em>.\u00a0 I grew up in a Christian family.\u00a0 I belong to an orthodox church.<\/em> Friends, those are true blessings but they do not make us right with God. \u00a0\u00a0The Lord is coming….prepare the way<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0 Beware of such misplaced confidence. <\/strong><\/p>\n

So John took a firm grip on \u00a0the bars of their spiritual prison and rattled them hard. I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.<\/span> God would do that when the gospel went out to us Gentiles.\u00a0 He would take hearts of stone like ours once were and make them hearts of faith.\u00a0 For it’s not bloodline that makes people children of Abraham.\u00a0 It’s when people share the same faith as Abraham, faith in a promise, faith in the One through whom all nations would be blessed.\u00a0 Faith in the coming Lord, Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

But how easy it is to neglect our faith.\u00a0 How easy it is set aside those things that strengthen our faith, Bible reading, Sunday worship, our Lord’s Supper.\u00a0 How easy it is maybe just to keep our head on our\u00a0 pillow or stay home and drink coffee.\u00a0 But it wouldn’t be so easy if we truly believed what John said to these men. 10 <\/sup>The 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<\/span>.<\/p>\n

So in a way John is here for us like he was long ago.\u00a0 Like then, he’s not here to gain a following.\u00a0\u00a0 He’s here to prepare the way. He’s here to take the stage only long enough to introduce you to the One God wants you to know.\u00a0 The Lord is coming… Prepare the way.\u00a0 Look to him, his messenger urges.<\/strong><\/p>\n

John’ appearance tips us off.\u00a0 John\u2019s clothes were made of camel\u2019s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey<\/span>. He\u00a0 wore the plain clothes of an Old Testament prophet like Elijah.\u00a0 He lived\u00a0 out in the desert away from the people.\u00a0 John\u00a0 wanted his hearers to know.\u00a0 It wasn’t about him.\u00a0 It was about the One who would soon come among them. It was about the one who had come to seek and save the lost.<\/p>\n

Yet it was John’s message that did the real pointing.. I baptize with water<\/span>, he said.\u00a0 In fact, that’s all any pastor can do.\u00a0 All we can do is apply some water in the name of the triune God.\u00a0 What gives baptism its power, what makes it a means of grace that brings forgiveness is the Lord who won our forgiveness on a cross long ago and the Spirit he gives.<\/p>\n

So look to him<\/strong>, John urged his hearers.\u00a0\u00a0 …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<\/span>.\u00a0 Jesus did that in a powerful way on Pentecost where his saving gospel began its march across time.\u00a0\u00a0 So that now 100’s of years later the Lord has come to you in the gospel and saved you by his grace.<\/p>\n

So look to him, his messenger urges, whether it be John the Baptist or any other messenger faithful to his calling.\u00a0 Look to Christ, his messenger urges.\u00a0 For he will decide your eternity.\u00a0 12 <\/sup>His 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.\u201d<\/span> John paints a powerful picture of the last day.\u00a0 He compares it to the farmer separating the wheat kernels from the chaff, the husk that we once threw away.\u00a0 And I suppose what grabs our attention is what\u00a0 happens to the chaff.\u00a0 In short, it warns of hell<\/p>\n

But let’s not overlook what it also says, what our Lord promises to all who look to him in faith.\u00a0 At his coming, we will all be gathered like wheat. Those now living. Those fallen asleep in faith.\u00a0 We will all be brought in from this sinful dying.\u00a0 The angels will gather us together and we will be with the Lord forever!<\/p>\n

So the Lord is coming.\u00a0 The One born for you.\u00a0 The One who forgives your sins\u00a0 The One who gives you eternal hope. \u00a0Christian, \u00a0Prepare the way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Matthew 3: 1-12 Petaluma is not known for having the best roads.\u00a0\u00a0 Some of the potholes are so deep you can see light at the bottom of them.\u00a0 Well not quite.\u00a0 But there are some deep ones you need to avoid. Well just imagine some big golf tournament decided to come to Petaluma , like the US Open.\u00a0\u00a0 You can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":848,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155\/revisions\/848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}