Well, we looked at finished up chapter two in the book of Luke last week. If you have a Bible,
turn to Luke chapter three. We'll be there this morning.
After the completion of the Old Testament, the voice of prophecy was silent for 400 years,
and then one day a man emerged from the wilderness with a divine call to repentance.
And along came John.
Is that a song or something like you?
But we saw Jesus last week, the incarnation, just absolutely fascinating, this 12-year-old boy,
confounding the teachers, and just the brilliance of him as a man and him as a man and him as God himself.
And so do I totally get it?
No, but that's okay.
because he's bigger than all my unanswered questions.
And I think that we'll have those until we take our last breath and see him face to face.
Because the Bible says now we see through a glass darkly, right?
We get it, but we don't get it.
And I'm blessed to be able to see people leave this world.
And know those.
those who know Jesus, all their questions are answered in a moment in a second of eternity,
if that's even a thing.
Because there is no time in eternity anyway.
But we don't really know what went on for the next 18 years or so.
But his cousin, most believe that Jesus and John were second cousins and are close thereabouts.
And because we know that because Elizabeth was Mary's relative, she had went up to see her during the pregnancy.
And John shows up on the scene. And so we're going to read here in Luke chapter 3, the first six verses.
It says now in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, being governor of Judea, Herod, being Tetrarch of Galilee, his brother.
Philip tetrria and trachanitis and lysanias, tectcharch, there's a tongue twister, of Abilene,
while Anas and Caiaphas were high priests.
The word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness, and he went into all the region
around the Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet saying,
the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight.
Every valley shall be filled in every mountain will and hill brought low.
The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth.
And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
Let's pray. Lord, thank you for your word. And Lord, just that we can sit and we can read it. And Lord,
have it do its work in all of our lives. Lord, that it is, it's alive, it's sharp, it's convicting,
it's comforting. And Lord, it knows all the secrets of our hearts. It discerns our thoughts,
Lord. And so we can't go wrong being in your word. And so today I pray that it would have a work in all of us.
Lord, I know that even just reading this morning, Lord, and the things that it causes and
provokes in our hearts and our minds as we, as we look at your word, Lord, I just pray that it would
it would bear much fruit today in Jesus' name. Amen.
So, so Luke starts off with a meticulous, some have called it, or a very accurate historical account.
Right? In these first two books,
There are eight people mentioned in the first two verses. First, we have the, it's the 15th year of
Tiberius Caesar. And you can look up on Wikipedia, Tiberius Caesar. And you can see when he
ruled and reigned. You know, because people say the Bible is just a, it's just a storybook of a bunch of
myths. And, you know, just archaic. Uh, um, um, um, um,
allegories and metaphors and all those things. And yet here, the writer Luke, the disciple of the Lord,
notice I didn't say apostle, he's a disciple, he wasn't one of the 12, but he was a follower.
And he says Tiberius in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar's reign.
Tiberius became emperor. He was the second emperor, first was Augustus. He became emperor. He became emperor.
in 14 AD. And so this time frame takes place around 29 to 30 AD. He named some other players in history that you can
look up and that there is a historical record of them apart from the Bible. And that next one is,
is Ponchi's pilot. Pilot was the fifth governor named by the Roman Emptor. And that next one is Ponzi's pilot.
emperors to rule over conquered Palestine, uh, being the governor of Judea. And that's, that's all the
part of, of, uh, what we know today as a good portion of what Israel is today. There in
Judea, more to the south. And, um, and then there was Herod. Now this is Herod Antipus.
When we, when we read about Jesus as a baby and the Herod that killed all the babies was Herod the
great. This was one of his sons. And he replaced his brother, Archelaus, being the tetrarch of Galilee.
Tetrarch means a fourth of, a fourth of a, and maybe these guys all had some kind of a fourth
position of power or regionally geographically ruled in certain places. And then there was
Philip, his brother. And he was the tetragetically. And he was the tetragetically ruled. And he was the
of itsyria and chaconitis. And he was the son of Cleopatra. Cleopatra of Jerusalem, not of Egypt.
And interesting, many times even in the Old Testament, when the kings are named, a lot of times they'll
name their mothers. And sometimes you can tell what the kid's going to be like by his mother.
If she's righteous, if she loves God or not.
Yeah, people like Jezebel and Athenia and some different ones that are real not desirable.
But Philip is mentioned here, and it's been said. History says that he was more noble than his brothers.
Or maybe he was just a wanny and wouldn't stand up for himself.
because we see his wife or ex-wife or shared wife, however you want to look at her, was the fall
and the demise of John the Baptist. And so, but he did have a town named after him, right?
Cessoria Philippi. And this is where Jesus, right, had asked Peter that famous question, right,
that you love to ask people. Right, there's some questions in the Bible that you like to ask.
people. And
that Jesus asks. Right? When Jesus asks a question, it's a good idea to kind of listen.
Because it might apply to you. It might be a question to you. I just mentioned it.
Our brother Rich McIsaac that went home to be with the Lord and we did his service here on Friday.
And I always bring up a question at funerals. The question is in John 11, verse 25, when Jesus is
is standing there at the grave, the tomb of Lazarus, his sisters are mourning. And he tells Martha,
I'm the resurrection in the life and he who believes in me. Though he were dead yet shall he live,
and he finishes with a question. Do you believe this? Do you believe this? That's a really good
question to answer. Do you believe that? Because Romans tell us, if you do believe it, right?
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead.
You're a saved person.
And you're willing to confess the Lord Jesus.
I actually quoted that verse to a dying gal on Tuesday.
Before Richie's funeral, I went and visited this gal.
And she was dying.
Her son asked us to come.
She was much younger than me.
And that's always kind of a reality check.
Right?
Have you noticed, death isn't prejudiced?
Takes everybody, right?
Everyone from the infant to the centurion.
And so, and everyone in between.
And I looked at her and I quoted that.
Or it says, if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
confessed with your mouth, the Lord Jesus.
She wasn't talking real well.
And so I asked her, I says, do you believe this?
And she nodded her head like that.
And I was wondering, maybe you guys can answer this.
I don't know. Was that enough?
Probably was enough, right?
I don't know. I can't argue that. I didn't know her heart. Right?
But, and so I used it in my message at Riches Deal. You know, she gave Jesus the nod.
So if you're here today, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, I used it in my message at Rich's deal.
And the nod is pretty close to a cowboy's heart, because especially if you're rodeo, right?
Whether that shoot gate opens or not is determined on your nod, right?
And whether you get to heaven or not is determined on your nod towards Jesus.
And so if you haven't given Jesus the nod, would you just do that?
Do us all a favor. Maybe you're the last Gentile.
And we're out of here.
So please don't hold us up.
But you remember, he asked Peter that question, you know,
who do men say that I am?
And Peter goes, wow, some think you're Elijah, some think you're Isaiah,
some thinks you're one of the prophets.
And he goes, well, who do you say that I am?
Right, Jesus gets personal.
And he asks you that question and me that question.
I mean, really, in your heart of hearts,
the very depths of your soul.
What do you say about Jesus?
What do you say?
Who do you say that he is?
And who is he to you personally?
It gets really weighty.
Oh, well, you're burying me, man.
That powerful verse, Matthew 16, 16.
Easy memory verse.
You are the Messiah or the Christ,
the son of the living God.
And you remember, Peter, or Jesus tells me, says,
Peter, you didn't come up with that on your own, buddy.
You had some help.
Flesh and blood is not revealed this to you,
but my father in heaven.
And so,
that was that
at Cessori of Philippi,
where, that God, it's name, from this brother of Herod.
and in the end,
Peter accepts Jesus as his Savior and Lord.
Now, this two things are very distinct, can I just say?
Jesus is your savior and your Lord.
I kind of like to listen to the Boise State Broncos coach get interviewed,
because he's quite bold, right?
And he always starts off saying,
I'd like to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
And he gave an explanation why he does that.
He says, because the reason I do that, he goes,
I know some people don't like it, makes him feel uncomfortable.
When I say I want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
He says, I realize that makes some people uncomfortable.
But he says, I do that for a couple reasons.
Number one, I want to maintain an attitude of gratitude.
And number two, I want to realize that it's not me doing this.
It's not necessary.
are players having a stage where they can proclaim the name because many of his his players do.
And I think Boise State was dubbed one of the most Christian football teams in all of the NCAA.
And they're in good company because Notre Dame's right there with them, Ohio State's right
there with them with the national championship.
Those kids are, they're bold as lions for the Lord.
I don't know what he's doing in these college athletes, but he's getting their attention.
And it's a good thing because that's old car.
need replacements.
And I'm way behind A ball here.
I'm, you know, I'm in my 60s.
And years ago, we went to a conference and one of the speakers got up and said,
if you're 40 years old and you don't have a replacement, you're late.
So, so hopefully some of these young bucks will step up and carry the torch of the
until the Lord comes.
But a lot of people, a lot of people, they want Jesus's savior,
but not near as many people want Him as Lord.
To have a savior means you just want to be rescued.
Amen?
I want to be rescued, for I know what I deserve.
I definitely want a savior.
But they leave it there.
That's all they want.
They just want rescued.
They just want their sins forgiven.
This Lord's still.
man, that's a little invasive. Right? You're kind of getting in my business. You're cramping my
style. To have Jesus as Lord's means that you're willing to return the favor. Right?
Having Jesus as Lord means you're willing to return the favor. You're willing to lay down your life.
In fact, he said, you can't be a good. You can't be a good. You're willing to return the favor. You're willing to lay down your life.
He's disciple unless you do that.
So last of all, we have mentioned here, I know that was kind of a side note, but,
Lassanias is mentioned here.
He's also mentioned by Josephus, the historian, but we don't know a lot about him, that he also
ruled. And then a couple other players. Number six and seven is Annas and Caiaphas, the high priests. Well,
this is kind of funky. The high priests? Because there was only one high priest. And when he became
high priest, he was high priest until he died. In the Old Testament, religious structure. And so two high priests,
it doesn't make sense. And so here, um, look, lists these religious leaders of Judea in the period of John and
Jesus's ministry. Caiaphas was actually the high priest, but his father-in-law, Anas, the patriarch of the family,
was the real influence among the priestly class. And this is off, right? This is off because there should have only been one.
And it's as those things changed and got more, should I say, corrupt in that 18 years from the time that
Jesus was 12 years old, right, until now. There's two high priests. I'm wondering if one of these guys
was standing there when the 12-year-old Jesus was confounding his teachers. Very possible.
And so, but these guys are real historical figures as well, outside of the Bible.
which I just love it. Because in November of 1990, scholars discovered what they believed to be the family tomb of
Caiaphas. This is 1990. On an ancient burial box and ossuary are the, from that era, is the inscription reading Joseph's son of Caiaphas. The remains of a 60-year-old male were discovered in the box.
and they believe that this is the Caiaphas that it's speaking about here.
Once again, the archaeologist Spade, right,
confirms the historical accuracy of the Bible.
This is the most historical document mankind has.
And then I have to ask that question.
Do you believe that? Right?
Because some are in that, well, I don't know, man.
I just don't know, you know.
I don't know if God had enough time to do these things.
Really?
Do you realize that time to God is like a coin in his pocket?
Right?
God doesn't need time.
God's not bound by time.
He can do anything he wants.
I mean, anything. Let your imagination run wild and it can't even scratch the surface of the beginnings
of what God can do. And so it's really laughable for God or for man to put God in this little,
this little box. Stephen Knight was talking this morning and he comes up to me. He goes,
you know, he's really, he's being pastoral. And he's, he's, he's, he's, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he
He comes up to him and he goes, do you really, really realize how insignificant we are?
I says, yes, like a grain of sand, right?
Like a grain of sand or the earth.
And we start doing analogies to one another, right?
I said, like a grain of sand, like a speck on a speck on a speck, like the earth.
compared to Canis Majoris, the big dog star.
You've got some of you have seen that, right?
Canis Majoris, it can fit like seven quadrillion sons inside Canis.
Quadrillion, how big is?
I don't even know how big that is.
That's a lot.
And Steve said, yeah, what about when you get in an airplane and you start going up and you look down?
You can see your town.
You can see a few vehicles moving, but you can't see anybody.
Who do we think we are anyway?
We think we're so cool.
And I'm sure God shakes his head sometimes and goes, really?
So the two high priest thing here with Annes and Caiaphas, it tells us, it tells us that things were not right spiritually.
in Judaism. They're in Palestine. They're in Israel. Things weren't right. The mention of these two corrupt
high priests reminds us that the Jewish leaders were more interested in power politics than in serving
God. And a lot of people are interested in a lot of different things. That are interested in a lot of different things.
that are above who God is in their life.
You realize that's idolatry, right?
Anything that you pour into that has place above your God is idolatry.
It won't be tolerated.
Idolaters will not inherit the kingdom of heaven.
And so it gets really strange.
but, and we'll look at, we'll look at that strangeness, because I think we're seeing it today here
in a second. But if you look at the end of verse two there, where it says,
the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. The word of God came to John.
The word of God came to John. Now, this is interesting. I, I'm. I,
I love that phrase, the word of God.
Right.
It just kind of has a ring to it, doesn't it?
Or in the Old Testament, it's the Word of the Lord.
And so when you look at that and how many times it's in the Bible,
it's 308 times in the Bible, the Word of God or the Word of the Lord.
And the Word of the Lord is powerful.
But John's in the wilderness.
Well, John shouldn't have been in the wilderness.
He was a descendant of Aaron.
John should have been in the temple being trained.
Right, he's almost 30 years old. He's from 20 to 30. They would do training and then they would start their ministry at 30.
John should have been in the temple. Why was he in the wilderness? Because things were out of whack.
That's why. And God doesn't have to do things according to our traditions and our religion.
God can do anything he wants, right? Now, God doesn't. God does not, right?
contradict his word.
But John is in the wilderness.
This is interesting.
And why is that?
Some believe in three theologians, they have a name for it.
They call it syncretism.
Syncretism.
I didn't know what syncretism meant.
Sounds a lot like synchronized, but I didn't know.
And so I went to Wikipedia.
Synchratism is the practice of combining different beliefs than various schools of thought,
attempted union of principles or parties irreconcilably at variance with each other.
And trying to bring them together.
We talked about this in the incarnation, right?
the mixture of God and man.
Jesus was not not that.
He was truly God and truly man.
I have to leave it there.
Those were the boundaries that our church fathers came up with very wisely, by the way,
I believe it was inspired, right?
Jesus was truly God, truly man.
He was not mixed.
And so this is what this syncretism does.
R. C. Sprawl says, from antiquity, the people of God have always faced the dilemma of intrusion of
syncretism into their worship. Probably the most destructive thing that ever happened to the Jews in the
Old Testament was when the kings and the peoples wanted to blend their religion with the pagan culture around them.
That is what syncretism does. It borrows a little bit from the temple of bail, a little bit from the temple of
Ahteroth and then mixes that together with the Jewish religion. Any time syncretism takes a little bit,
or takes a place, something corrupt is added to the religion of God. At the same time,
something vitally important is removed from the truth of God. So how do you keep that from happening?
Well, you let the word of God lead, obviously. Right?
because the word says this.
There's going to be a distinction, right?
James tells us, says,
adulterers and adulteresses.
Those are syncretism people.
Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?
Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy.
of God.
You can't mesh the two.
Right?
And then Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians,
therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch the unclean thing and I will receive you.
God's not going to receive it.
This mixture of wickedness along.
We try to put Jesus in there.
We try to set off Jesus.
Right?
we try to just Jesus in your yoga.
We try to mix Jesus in Islam.
We try to mix Jesus with witchcraft and necromancy and all these things.
We try to put Jesus in there.
No, he's separate.
And he requires us to be separate and to come out from that and be distinct.
And that's why, listen, you know, I've been condemned about talking to.
about politics from this pulpit. And honestly, it's a scary thing. Because I would never want to mix
those two things together. And yet, the church comes along and it has been said that the church is the
conscience of the nation. We're supposed to proclaim the Lord. We're supposed to proclaim these things
publicly. We're supposed to let our elected officials know what the scripture says and speak
that truth to them. And hopefully it would have its way. You can't, you can't mix this two together.
You can't allow it to be syncretism. And so he says there's two things, right? Two things here.
Separate yourself right from the world. Realize that it's not your home. You're just passing through.
That's so, that's why I love doing funerals. It's because that reality is just so in your face.
Right? And the old hym should be played at every funeral. Oh, this world is not my home. I'm just passing through. My treasures are stored up somewhere beyond the blue. Right? It's not our home. Now, so, so this makes it tough. Well, pastor, then how do we do this? How do we live this life? How do we? How do we be in the world but not of the world? Because it's a juggling act sometimes. Doesn't it seem to be?
Because in the whole political realm, the Christians that are called to that, God bless them.
They're struck with this compromise all the time to get anything done.
They have to compromise a little bit.
And does that infect them?
Not just affect them, but does that infect them?
But does that infect them?
it's a hard thing. But we have to keep ourselves separate from the world, but be an influence in the world,
or that witnesses, right, that Jesus promised to those in the book of Acts that would receive the Holy Spirit
and receive power from on high to be those powerful witnesses in a lost and dying world.
And secondly, is just read the word of God. It keeps you, right?
some benefits, just some benefits from reading the word.
Right, this week we read in Proverbs, right?
It says, and we always know Proverbs 3, 5, and 6, but when you read clear down to
verse 8, it says, trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding
and all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths.
Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil.
It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones.
there's a cool benefit, right?
You want your blood pressure to go down?
Start reading the word.
Get convicted.
You might even start walking.
Slow down on the sugar.
It fills you with wisdom and knowledge.
Colossians 2, 3, in whom Jesus or the word are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Want to be full of wisdom and knowledge?
No, Jesus.
I mean, really know him.
Not just his Savior, but His Lord.
Let him direct and dictate your life.
Psalm 1 encourages us in the word, right?
It says, blessed is a man who walks, not in the council of the ungodly,
nor stands in the pathway of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful,
but his delight is in the law of the Lord.
And in his law, he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit in its season.
Whose leaf will not wither and whether and whatever he does shall prosper.
There's prosperity from the word.
There's wisdom and knowledge from the word.
There's health to your flesh and strength to your bones from the word.
There's fruit.
John the Baptist was on fire.
And the word of God came to him. Right?
The word of God came to him.
God began to stir and fam that flame.
I love what Charles had in Spurgeon and says,
You set a man on fire and people will come from miles around to watch him burn.
I love the story of George Whitfield.
There was a philosopher that was a contemporary to Whitfield,
agnostic at best, probably atheist.
and he told a friend, he said, I'm going to go listen to George Whitfield preach.
He says, why would you go listen to George Whitfield preach?
You don't believe a word he says.
He says, no, I don't, but he does.
It's provocative.
When you hear that fire of the Holy Spirit in the heart of a man, and here the word of God comes to John in the wilderness.
Do you imagine? People driving around town. Hey, have you heard that guy? Yeah, he's up at poker peak.
Have you been to poker peak? It takes a little bit to get there. But people were going.
They wanted to hear what this man had to say. And he was teaching or preaching a baptism of repentance.
Baptism of repentance. Now, baptism of repentance. Now, baptism.
to the people, right, was something that was familiar. The Jews did, had baptism in the Old Testament.
But it was usually for a proselyte, a Gentile who wanted to become Jew and he would have to get ceremonially
ceremonially clean. And so he would immerse himself. A baptism means immersion. And he would
immerse himself and he would, he could get right with God that way, become a proselyte Jew.
So this whole baptism of repentance thing, it was for both.
It was for Jew and Gentile alike.
You could get right with God by repenting of your sin.
It is interesting that as John starts preaching, he preaches repentance.
Well, when Jesus comes in right behind him, he does the same thing.
Preaches repentance.
That there wouldn't be this barrier.
between man and God, but that he would turn from it. And then in verses 4 through 6, he quotes Isaiah,
the prophet. It says, and the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord,
make his path straight. Every valley shall be filled in every mountain and heel brought low.
The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth. And all flesh shall see
the salvation of God.
John being a fulfillment of this prophecy.
His dad also talking about it.
They're back in chapter one about what this kid would do.
And no doubt those who saw these things of Elizabeth becoming pregnant and having this baby.
And the Bible saying that the Holy Spirit would be on this guy from the womb, right,
that he would be like a Nazarite.
And so he was quite an anomaly.
And he was making straight the way of the Lord.
Now, when it talks about this, where he quotes this, it says,
you know, every valley be filled, every mountain shall be brought low.
Some think this is a picture of what would happen to the, the,
human heart when they saw the salvation of God, talking about the proud and the arrogant,
who have exalted themselves and appear as high mountains must be brought low.
Those who have been abased and those who have been oppressed must be lifted up.
Kind of like along with the beatitudes that Jesus talked about, right?
Blessed are those who mourn, blessed are the righteous, blessed of the poor and spirit.
all the thorns and rocks and stones and obstacles that fill our sinful hearts of stone must be
changed. The crooked places be made straight and the rough places made smooth because the Messiah is here.
That was his, that was his herald. He was the herald of the king. So back in that day,
when a king would come to a city, a herald would go before him into the city and let the city, the people of
the king is coming. The king is coming. I'm telling you the king is coming, folks. He's coming soon and very
soon. And John was that herald for Jesus. Then, right, then all flesh will see the manifestation of the
salvation of God. And so, right? Then all flesh will see. The manifestation of the salvation of God. And so,
I believe this could be literal as well.
Speaking of those, Revelation 16 talks about every island fled and the mountains disappeared.
Psalm 97 talks, the mountains will melt like wax in the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
That this is, you can take this literally.
And you can read into it spiritually, yes.
Sometimes that can, we could get a little, shall I say, Richie.
reaching for something that isn't quite there.
I was James and Madeline Babani.
Some of you remember the couple from Iraq.
They showed up at our prayer meeting last week.
And we got to visit.
And Madeline said she had a vision of this.
And she said it was the wildest thing.
She goes, because she said,
I always wondered in my heart.
How could these things be?
How could every man?
be made low. And she said in her vision, it turned to sand and just went,
it was just level. It was a wow. That's kind of wow. Maybe. We don't know.
But he ends there with seeing the salvation of God. Jesus is the literal salvation of God. Jesus is the
of God. And this is why it is important for us to take God's word literally. Read it literally.
I get a little frustrated when people say, well, no, I don't really believe, you know,
Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Really? Well, you can go online and look, see, is anybody ever
been swallowed by a whale. Two of them came up. One in 2020.
swallowed by a humpback whale. This dude was. He was in full gear and I think he thought,
oh, that tastes terrible and just burped him back up. But there was another one. James Brantley
back in the 1800s was swallowed by a sperm whale. He was a fisherman. Then the whale was
harpooned. I don't know how the story went and ended up on a shore. And so somebody came
along. I don't know if they were trying to salvage the whale or not. Or not.
He was crying out the hole in the top of their head or what, but they rescued him.
He lived.
Taking God's word literally, listen, is a very safe thing to do.
It's a very safe to do that, right?
So if you take God's word literally, if you take God's word,
literally, and you're wrong, you're still just a stupid human that is insignificant.
Right? Seriously. You haven't elevated your stuff. Well, I have a PhD in biblical theology.
Right? No offense if you have a PhD. God bless you. Thank you for enduring that.
Cemetery. I mean seminary.
And that's a safe place to be because you stay humble, you realize, Lord, I'm just taking it at face value.
I'm not reading stuff in there that's not there.
I'm not putting that gap theory in there in Genesis.
I'm just reading it, right?
Because I know you're not, you're not, you know, bound by time or my own stupid intellect.
which I think that disqualifies itself.
But I'm okay.
Just read God's word literally.
You mean you believe in the trees of the fields
shall clap their hands?
I've seen windstorms in Idaho.
They're pretty close.
You realize creation praises God.
Right?
we're the only ones that choose not to.
But if you take God's word as an allegory or a metaphor,
then you are the one to choose what part is an allegory or a metaphor.
Jesus is usually pretty clear when he uses a parable,
the kingdom of heaven.
We read it this week, right?
The kingdom of heaven is like.
it's like.
Then he's making a connection.
But when people on their own start doing this,
then you are left to your own interpretation.
And absolutely you become the authority on God's word.
Are you the authority on God's word?
No, you are not.
You can read it at face value, folks,
and that's probably where it stops for you and I,
lest you be on seriously dangerous ground.
And reading something,
into it that is not there. In the Old Testament and the New Testament, God forbid you to add to or take away
from the words of this book. He forbid it. Now, I know we've got our opinions. And opinions are like feet.
Most of them have them and they all stink. Because you're not the authority.
I'm not the authority on God's word.
It maintains its own authority.
It maintains its own sharpness.
And God will not allow it.
He will not allow you to be the authority on his word.
Read it.
Believe it.
Live it.
And have a blessed life.
Let's you be guilty of adding to or taking away.
The word of God is alive and it's sharper than any two-edged sword.
The right of Hebrews tells us, right, dividing to soul and spirit and bone and marrow
and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart.
It's a powerful thing.
It changes our lives.
But it cannot be infected with our foolish opinions.
Psalm 138 verse 2 is a very powerful scripture where it says that God magnified.
or esteems his word even above his name. God takes his word seriously. Because ultimately,
ultimately, the word of God is a person. And his name is Jesus. Right. It's synonymous with the
logos of God. And so the word of God came to John and he proclaimed it. He said,
make straight the way of the Lord. It's pretty straightforward. And you can't go wrong.
when you read God's word at face value, because it changes your life.
And I think what I, what spark the conversation that Steve and I had this morning is he's,
he's reading through the Bible in 90 days.
And that's a lot of reading.
But the thing about it is, is, is, it's absolutely overwhelming.
The Word of God.
It really does put you in your place.
It puts us in our place.
And that's where we should stay.
God's going to use us just like John. God's going to come to us. His word's going to come to us if we let it.
And he's going to use your life. And when you're done, you're done. Just like we're going to see later in John's life.
We're going to do communion. So if you take your elements.
You can get that little, little piece of, I'm not sure what that is, but we'll get the
out bread, we'll, we'll pretend it's bread.
And first Corinthians chapter 11, Jesus, when he breaks the bread.
He says, take and eat, this is my body, which is.
is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same manner, he also took the cup after supper.
And this cup is a new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.
And then Paul goes on and says, for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you
proclaim the Lord's death till he comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks this cup of the Lord
in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
But let a man examine himself.
And so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner, eats and drinks judgment to himself.
So it's a good thing.
That as we close this service and remember, the Lord's sacrifice for us,
and have a hunger to know him,
him. It'd be a good idea right now to just take a second and examine yourself. And if there's unconfessed sin,
if there's something you need to get right in your heart, just as John told the people, right,
repent, turn from your sin. And then he's going to give him instruction when we look at it next week.
But that's what we have an opportunity to do here. I wouldn't want you to drink or eat this unto yourself as
judgment.
But you say, oh, Lord, forgive me.
I'm not worthy of your body and your blood.
See, God can work with that because God loves humility.
And when we humble ourself before him, he's going, I can receive that.
So let's hold the bread before him, shall we?
Father, we do hold this bread before you.
Lord, we thank you so much that it is truly that symbol of your incredible
price that you paid there on the cross, Lord. And before, as you gave your back to the smiters, your word
tells us, and as they removed the hair out of your beard with a handfuls of, of rage and anger,
we thank you for the body that's broken. Would you bless it as we partake and we remember
your sacrifice? Bless the bread in Jesus' name. Let's partake.
Likewise, he took the cup, just a symbol, but a very powerful one,
provoking us to remember our Lord.
There's a song I remember one time hearing it during a community service.
I just want to sing a couple lines.
It goes like this if you know it, sing along with me.
Oh, the blood of Jesus.
Jesus. Oh, the blood of Jesus. It makes me white as snow. Let's do that one more time. Oh, the blood of Jesus. Oh, the blood of Jesus.
O, the blood of Jesus. Oh, the blood of Jesus. It makes me white as snow. Lord, we thank you for this
precious blood that was shed for us, Lord, that truly washes us clean.
Lord, we remember your blood poured out, that drink offering sacrifice, Lord,
that was poured out for all of humanity, that payment that covers every sin.
It will simply by our will bring it to you.
So we do that now. Lord, may you forgive any sin, Lord, right now that.
That anyone is willing to confess, Lord, and your blood covers it and it scrubs it away.
forever more. We thank you for your blood. Bless the cup. We pray in Jesus' name. Let's partake.
Amen and amen. Hey, God bless you. The prayer team's going to be over here. Shake a friend's hand.
Have some fellowship. And see you either next week or in the air. One of the two.