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Preparation is not always fun but it is fundamental.

• If you’re going to make a meal, you need to prepare with a menu, purchasing ingredients, fixing the food, setting the table, and making sure your guest list has RSVP’d.
• If you’re going to bake a cake, you’ve got to prepare by greasing the pan, so the ingredients don’t stick to the pan.
• If you’re going to paint a wall, you should tape off trim areas and windows. You will also be wise to use primer before painting with your selected color.
• If you’re going to travel, you need to pack your suitcase, map your journey, and plan some sort of itinerary.
• Students (and teachers), you need to begin mentally preparing that you must return to school next week… and when you test, you need to prepare with reading materials and study groups.
• Pregnant parents need a “to go” bag for when labor begins… and prepare the house with crib, diapers, clothes, diapers, toys, diapers, and other baby proofing areas of sharp edges and areas of the house… and diapers.

Preparation is not always fun but it is fundamental. Preparation is important to accomplishing your intention.

Preparation is important to accomplishing your intention. In fact, there’s an adage: If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail. There are some things in life that if we don’t prepare then we will have deep regret.

EXAMINE        Matthew 3:11-12
¹  In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ²  “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” ³  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’” ⁴  Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.  

God’s messengers prepare the way for the king (3:1-4).

• Matthew’s Gospel skips forward close to 30-years.
• John the Baptizer is the first prophet in 400 years.
• John preaches in the wilderness with a message of calling people to repent.
  • He’s candid & confrontational.
• Matthew explains J’s min. fulfills Isa’s prophecy.
  • Isaiah 40:3-5 “A voice cries in the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together”
    Malachi 3:1 Lord will send a messenger to prepare the way
  • In OT, messengers of the royal court would have a team to prepare the route for the king to enter a city. They would straighten the crooked paths, smooth the hills or valleys, and subtract the obstacles along the route.
  • John wanted to clear the spiritual clutter from people’s lives. He challenged them to repent and ready their heart for the Lord to enter.

• We prepare the way by living differently. John looked different in the way he dressed and the food he ate. Matthew also makes it clear that John was different from the Pharisees & Sadducees. Today, being a Christian doesn’t require you to eat bugs, wear clothes that make you itch, or live in a remote wilderness – though that last one doesn’t sound too bad sometimes. But living for God will make you different.
  • Character: We cannot control our reputation with others, but we can uphold integrity before God and maintain our moral standards according to God’s word. Mt 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
  • Communication: Your words won’t be insensitive or vulgar. You’ll speak constructively and with honesty. Jas 3:10 “our tongues are not meant for cursing but for blessing” / Eph 4:29 “Let no corrupt talk come out of your mouth, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”
  • Conduct: Your attitude won’t be negative or unfriendly toward others. Your actions will seek to exhibit the heart and hands of Jesus. 1Pet 2:12 “Keep your conduct among unbelievers honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”

• We prepare the way not just by living differently but loving differently. In other words, Christians should be known for extravagant grace and generous kindness.
  The early church loved their enemies, forgave persecutors, cared for the poor, fed the hungry, visited the struggling – all under the harsh oppression of Roman rule.
  – What makes orgs like C-Fil-A or Disney stand out is their over-the-top hospitality. It’s surprisingly different because it exceeds the minimum or average standard. Likewise, the way Christians treat others – certainly one another [speak on it…] – but also unbelievers, can be the difference of making disciples or repelling unbelievers.

We prepare the way of king Jesus by living distinctly and loving others differently.

Some ways we can prepare the way for the king…

à Volunteer for First Impressions today. Use QR.
à What’s an over-the-top surprising way to bless your neighbors?
– Speak words of affirmation. Mark Twain said, “I can live for two months on a good compliment.” Encouragement is like oxygen to the soul.
– See and meet needs.
– What if we helped fund neighborhood block parties with the aim of sharing Jesus?

à Ultimately, we must view evangelism, outreach, Great Commission not as an extra event but regular rhythm. By all means, let us not stop attractional events – and we need volunteers/workers frequently! That’s being part of a growing church, with the alternative not something we want to consider. But attractional is not effective as missional – and until we understand and apply that idea, we will not grow to God’s design for the church as disciples who make disciples of Jesus.

God’s messengers proclaim the word of the king (3:5-10).

⁵ Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, ⁶ and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. ⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
⁹ And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

John’s preaching was unique and appealing. People were drawn to the simple and straightforward message of God. The message always matters more than the messenger; and when that gets reversed, things go off track.

For the people, it takes courage to confess sin and go public with faith, yet that’s what they were doing with John (in multitudes). OT baptism was mostly confined to non-Jewish converts (cf 2Ki 5:14), though Jews did have ongoing ritual cleansings (cf. Ex 29:4).  NT baptism is a public identification that one’s life is under the lordship of Jesus (Ro 6:1-14). It’s renouncing Satan’s pleasures and selfish priorities and affirming the prominence and commands of Jesus. Further, in this case John’s baptism of Jews was essentially declaring Jews as being outside the covenant promises of God and being reinstated through repentance and faith (cf. Ro 2:28-29).

John viewed the Jewish religious leaders as those who were obscuring the word of God.

• The Pharisees obscured Scripture with their oral traditions. They were rule-oriented; in some sense like fundamentalists/conservatives.
• The Sadducees obscured Scripture by not always accepting religious teachings (i.e. resurrection), and they frequently cooperated with Rome; in some sense like progressives/liberalism.
• Matthew uses one direct article to link the parties (cf Mt 3:7; 16:1, 6, 11, 12, to indicate distinct parties (cf. Mt 22:34) became allies in an uncommon manner against a perceived threat to their power.^[1] Their issue was that multitudes were going to John for baptism rather than to them for spiritual advice. So, they decided to exercise private reconnaissance and public reprimand of John.
• Instead, John rebukes them,
  • Naming them “offspring of vipers” Previously, Matthew spends 18 verses about offspring, and now the Jewish religious leaders are offspring of snakes; FYI, satan is identified as a snake.
  • Insisting they “flee from the wrath to come.” This preaching stands in contrast to what people associate with Jesus; since John was Jesus’ forerunner and Jesus – along with the NT – spoke about hell and God’s wrath.[2] Further, Jesus instructed the disciples hell was a legitimate location, a place of eternal judgment with forever fire, condemning darkness, and more terrible than we can imagine, with weeping and gnashing of teeth. So, John’s preaching to the religious leaders was not an attempt at one-upping righteousness or side-stepping theological discussion. Instead, John gave vivid and vital information for them to consider regarding how their present life would impact their eternal soul.  
    • Charles Spurgeon: “If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”
  • Urging them to “bear fruit in keeping with repentance”
  • Rejecting their claims to be “children of Abraham.” John understood the promises of a Jewish Messiah and the Abrahamic covenant. Yet, he did not allow nationalistic pride or religious tradition supersede the kingdom of God. The old phrase, “God has no grandchildren” communicates that one cannot rely on social culture or family lineage without their own personal faith. Physical descent does not automatically equate to spiritual ascent.
    • God has raised up children of Abraham from those previously with stony hearts with the Gentiles becoming living stones (Ez 36:26; 1 Pet 2:5).
    • And those who do not have faith in Jesus as the Messiah, and bear fruit in His name, will be like branches chopped off the tree and then thrown into the fire, which equates to eternal judgment (cf Ro 11:19, ff.)

• Proclaiming the word of the king is to live with repentance. John’s message and Jesus’ gospel started with repentance (cf. Mt 4:17; Mk 1:4, 15). But their message didn’t just start with repentance, it was sustained by it.
  • 1^st beatitude: Mt 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
  • Concluding SOM explains that practicing religious hypocrisy without authentic repentance will equate to a collapsed spiritual house unto eternal damnation.
  • Jesus’ ministry was for those who acknowledged they were sinners not pretending to be righteous, acknowledging they’re spiritually sick not religiously healthy (cf. Mt 9:13; Mk 2:17).
  • Repentance was part of Jesus’ commission to the early church (Lk 24:46-47; Ac 2:38).

It’s as if you’re taking notes from John’s/Jesus’ preaching, and you’re like, “Got it – Point 1 is ‘Repent. What’s point 2?” And they’d respond, “That’s my message.” The challenge with many Christians is they want to learn new stuff, or perhaps even say, “I want to go deeper” (aka “I’m not being fed”) but they’re not applying what they already know. Many Christians are trying to be educated beyond their obedience, and that’s not how discipleship works.

John/Jesus teach “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” Sounds apocalyptic, and it is because John/Jesus were saying that if we don’t understand repentance, we’ll never be able to move forward in Christianity. In fact, this is the message that Jesus gives to each of the churches in Revelation, to repent of various actions that are hindering their faith and obedience.

The key to a lifestyle of repentance is nearness to God and God’s people (Ja 4:8). This protects against rationalization of wrongdoing, blameshifting of others to make yourself feel better, or potential coping habits like workaholism, alcoholism, or other forms of medication to cover pain and problems. Being near God and God’s people exhorts us to humble devotion with repentance rather than self-deception (cf Heb 3:12-14).

à Simple action step: join a family life group.

God’s messengers perform the work of the king (3:11-12).

¹¹ “I baptize you with water for 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 and fire. ¹² His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

John explained how his ministry was different from Jesus. John’s humility toward Jesus was evidenced in his words that he’s not worthy to carry the Lord’s sandals. Further, John baptized people based upon humble repentance. Yet, Scripture does not record a single time of Jesus baptizing someone into the water. However, we know the salvation work of Jesus caused people to be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

Jesus taught the Holy Spirit would come upon His disciples. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments; and I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper to be with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive… [but] he dwells with you and will be in you.” (Jn 14:15-17)

Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Fire was used to purify precious metals like gold and silver, and burned away the impurities that didn’t belong.^[3] Those who do not have God’s Spirit will be purified with holy fire and works of wood, hay, and stubble will not last, but only that which has the purity of faith (1Cor 3:12-14). In the last judgment, Jesus will be like a farmer during the harvest to separate the wheat from the chaff, with the chaff only good to be burned in the fire (cf. Mt 13:36-43; 25:46).

So, the work of the king is to labor in the Lord’s harvest, so people are gathered as wheat and not excluded like chaff. Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful but the laborers few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Mt 9:37-38) Jesus sends His disciples on mission to “heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons; feed the hungry, share water with strangers, clothe the naked, care for those imprisoned; and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 10:8; 25:44-46; 28:19-20).

There is kingdom work for each of us. Each Christian is filled with the same Holy Spirit and entrusted with various gifts for a collective work. If all of us are not doing our part, then the body is lessened and deprived of its greater potential.

This last month, SPBC has lost 2 members – one very active with a recent legacy. She was like a steam train carrying multiple freight cars by investing her life to “train up children” and grow godly generations. There are people today on the train tracks because of her work and witness.

• How about you?
• What cars are you adding?
• Who’s on the spiritual track because of you invitation and influence?

APPLY/THINK

As we embark on a new year, let us consider a “High 5”

• 1x week fast from something: a meal, full day, social media, television, … you pick. Fasting is not just abstaining but adding spiritual pursuit. So, replace the time with prayer/Scripture.
• 2x month participate in a family life group.
• 3x month contact different church friends needing encouragement. You can utilize Breeze or printed church directory.  
• 4x month share gospel with someone. Let the Spirit lead you to who, when, where.
  • Someone recently illustrated this with the game “Battleship.” You keep dropping grace bombs until you get a “hit.” Then, you know where to focus. And the aimed response instead of “You sunk my battleship,” is “You saved my life!”
  • Until we understand that Satan has waged a war against the souls of your family members and friends, we will not have the urgency that is needed for our gospel witness.
    Church – let’s wake up to heaven, let’s wage war against hell, and let’s march in the victory that Jesus promises!
• 5 days week read Bible. In USA, we plead with Christians to read their Bibles 5-days a week when in regions where the Bible is prohibited and Christians persecuted, they would weep if they could have 1-page of Scripture, much more a book or all 66 books at their fingertips.
  Again – church, let’s hunger and thirst for God to do something we’ve not yet seen but always dreamed we would. Let’s pray and work toward revival in our life, our church, and our community. Let’s become part of a movement of God using people from all walks of life, ordinary disciples whom God uses to do extraordinary works because we’re attentive to the Holy Spirit, applying God’s word, and attuned to the lostness that surrounds us.

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^[1] Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), 56.

[2] Mt 5:22, 29-30; 7:23; 8:12; 10:28; 13:30, 40-42, 50; 22:13; 23:15, 33; 24:48-51; 25:30, 41, 46; Mk 9:43, 48; Lk 16:23; 19:27; Jn 3:16-17, 36; 5:24; 1 Thess 1:10; Eph 5:6; Col 3:6

^[3] Charles R. Swindoll, Matthew 1–15, vol. 1A, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2020), 57.