011622- “Prepare The Way For The Lord” Matthew 3:1-12; Luke 3:1-9...

Mark 1:1-4 “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: ‘Look, I am sending My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way. A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way for the Lord; make His paths straight!’ John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”

Prophecy quote Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 3:1
Isaiah 40:3 “A voice cries: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’”

Malachi 3:1 “’See, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to His temple, the Messenger of the covenant you desire— see, He is coming,’ says the Lord of Hosts”

John 1:29 “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’”

Synoptic Gospels:
-To be similar in content, order, and statement. To share a common point of view.
-Matthew, Mark & Luke cover many of the same events in Jesus’ life. John is different.
-Is this a problem? No! God inspired 4 authors to record the events in a slightly different way to different audiences

Matthew 3:1-6 “In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Wilderness of Judea and saying, ‘Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!’ For he is the one spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, who said: ‘A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord; make His paths straight!’ John himself had a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then people from Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the vicinity of the Jordan were flocking to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins”

Sermon In A Sentence: Like the people of John the Baptizer’s day, we must accept his message to prepare the way of the Lord in our lives.

Prepare The Way Of The Lord In Your Lives By:
-Repenting of your sin: Luke 3:2-3, 2 Corinthians 7:10, Luke 3:2-3, Matthew 3:8
-Seeking the Kingdom of Heaven: Matthew 3:1-2, Matthew 3:11, Matthew 3:7-10

• Pharisees:
  -Religious leaders in Judaism
  -Their name meant: “separated ones”
  -Placed Oral Law above Written Law
  -The “legalists” of their day
  -Adversarial toward Jesus
• Sadducees:
  -The “liberals” of their day
  -Often opposed the Pharisees
  -Didn’t follow the Pharisees Oral Law
  -Adversarial toward Jesus
  -Being baptized to testify that you follow Jesus:

Matthew 3:11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but the One who is coming after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to remove His sandals. He Himself will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire”