back to index2015-12-13 Preparing for Jesus' Coming
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"Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region 00:00:12.200 |
"and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, 00:00:16.100 |
"But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees 00:00:20.300 |
"'You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee 00:00:28.700 |
"'We have Abraham as our father, for I tell you, 00:00:35.000 |
"'Even now the axes lay to the root of the trees. 00:00:37.300 |
"'Every tree, therefore, that does not bear fruit 00:00:42.400 |
"'I baptize you with the water for repentance, 00:00:45.000 |
"'but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, 00:00:50.400 |
"'He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 00:00:58.800 |
"'but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.'" 00:01:02.540 |
Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for this morning. 00:01:12.100 |
And we ask, Lord God, that you give us fertile hearts, 00:01:29.900 |
Okay, Joe, can you check the air conditioning? 00:01:36.500 |
You know, as we said that we wanna spend this week, 00:01:39.500 |
and then next week as we're talking about Christmas, 00:01:42.300 |
when was the last time that you wanted something so badly, 00:01:55.400 |
it's harder for us to get excited about anything. 00:01:57.800 |
Some of you guys who are close to graduation, 00:02:01.600 |
you got like one more class, or six more units to go, 00:02:05.600 |
and you're just waiting for that day you can graduate, 00:02:13.600 |
You know, some of you guys maybe got a Disneyland annual pass, 00:02:22.300 |
and then you're waiting eagerly anticipating for that. 00:02:30.600 |
you made your first date coming up next Saturday, 00:02:32.800 |
and you're praying that Jesus would not come until then, 00:02:34.800 |
at least, so you can experience your first date. 00:02:37.400 |
Whatever it is that you're eagerly waiting for, 00:02:41.100 |
like when was the last time you were so excited, 00:02:53.300 |
our whole life can be dictated by whatever happens 00:02:55.900 |
to catch our attention at that moment, you know? 00:03:02.000 |
you guys are gonna think I'm picking on the Apple, 00:03:06.500 |
Because they know how quickly we get satisfied 00:03:10.600 |
so every six months or so, something new constantly comes, 00:03:15.300 |
and you know, like that excitement of one phone, 00:03:18.200 |
then it kind of dissipate three months later, 00:03:19.900 |
and they build anticipation for the next phone, 00:03:24.800 |
they build anticipation for the next, you know? 00:03:27.300 |
And that's the genius, that's the marketing genius, 00:03:35.700 |
it's like, oh, I need that, and you're waiting for it, 00:03:39.700 |
I think, in my opinion, that's a microcosm of life itself. 00:03:44.300 |
It's not just Apple, you know, I know I pick on Apple, 00:03:48.300 |
We have so many things to distract us in life. 00:03:54.600 |
whatever situation that you may be in, right? 00:03:57.900 |
If you're a parent, there are certain temptations 00:04:10.000 |
When you get older, there's separate temptations that come. 00:04:18.500 |
that you are going from one hope and one thing to another, 00:04:23.600 |
and you know, you're in your 50s and you're in your 60s. 00:04:27.100 |
Now, I don't know when midlife really is, you know? 00:04:30.900 |
I used to think midlife was somewhere in your late 30s, 00:04:33.100 |
but it seems like people are living longer and longer. 00:04:40.700 |
And I can understand, I didn't understand in my 30s, 00:04:42.900 |
like, why are these guys all of a sudden getting a red Corvette 00:04:52.500 |
and they're driving all over the place in their 40s. 00:05:00.800 |
The reason why I think the midlife crisis happens, okay, 00:05:05.000 |
is because you kind of, life just happens to you, you know? 00:05:16.000 |
And then you graduate, and life isn't exactly the way 00:05:22.000 |
and then in college, you work hard to prepare. 00:05:28.000 |
and then you live like that for five, six years, 00:05:34.200 |
Whether you are making money or not making money, 00:05:36.400 |
whether you have a good job or not, have a great job. 00:05:59.800 |
And so, when that really hits you is in midlife. 00:06:05.400 |
you're looking ahead, and then you're looking back, 00:06:07.700 |
and you say, "I don't want the first half of my life 00:06:11.300 |
to be repeated at the second half of my life." 00:06:16.000 |
and then you feel like, "Well, I can't change now. 00:06:19.400 |
Am I going to just keep going down this path, 00:06:25.000 |
you all of a sudden, "I got to do something." 00:06:30.400 |
I mean, you might think of like, "Okay, I'm going to do this." 00:06:35.900 |
They're going to travel. They're going to go bungee jumping 00:06:42.400 |
So that when they hit their 50s and 60s and 70s, 00:06:45.100 |
they can look back and say, "Oh, yeah, I did this." 00:06:54.800 |
hoping and thinking like, "If I do this, this is going to happen." 00:06:57.400 |
And then we live the second half of our lives 00:06:59.700 |
regretting what he did, and trying to make up 00:07:01.600 |
for the mistakes that we did in the first half of our life. 00:07:11.200 |
They're always thinking that something today, 00:07:14.200 |
I mean, I'm not happy today, but something tomorrow. 00:07:17.900 |
Something, if I work hard enough, there's going to be a pay-off tomorrow. 00:07:37.300 |
Because relatively, time gets shorter for us. 00:08:01.500 |
Like, you had to find some good places to eat. 00:08:09.600 |
You know, new food coming out, new movie coming out. 00:08:15.500 |
to get, what are some exciting sports things that are going on right now? 00:08:21.000 |
And then you live 20, 30, 40 years, and that's it. 00:08:27.100 |
it's like, became a Christian, went to college, 00:08:54.200 |
that we profess to be the most important thing in our life. 00:08:57.600 |
Now, we say it in our mind, we put it on paper, 00:09:01.400 |
but if we were to examine what you really value 00:09:09.200 |
and how much time you spend talking about it with other people, 00:09:14.600 |
based upon the tangible things that we can see, 00:09:43.900 |
"This guy has mastered all the video games that ever existed." 00:09:57.800 |
has been waiting for the Messiah for over 600 years. 00:10:03.400 |
To them, He was not just some theological person. 00:10:05.900 |
He wasn't just some being that was going to come, 00:10:08.300 |
who was going to be a leader among the Jewish religious sect. 00:10:13.000 |
To them, the coming of the Messiah was the answer to all their problems. 00:10:25.800 |
So, the ten kingdoms went and they disappeared in 730 AD, 00:10:32.600 |
the Babylonians come and they conquer the Assyrians, 00:10:42.100 |
the nation of Israel did not have a legitimate nation. 00:10:46.500 |
And it was the most evident during the time of the Romans. 00:10:54.800 |
and bowed down to the statue every time they entered the Temple. 00:11:00.300 |
that no matter how great you think your God is, 00:11:30.400 |
as they were under the domination of foreign nations, 00:11:34.800 |
grandparents, parents to their children were saying, 00:11:41.300 |
God judged us, and this is the state that we're in. 00:11:46.000 |
and the Kingdom of Heaven is going to be restored." 00:11:49.200 |
And when that happened, all this will come to an end. 00:11:57.300 |
that if the Syrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, 00:12:05.400 |
All the girls who are at the age of 20 to 30, 00:12:18.600 |
Here's a guy who comes, and he becomes a billionaire. 00:12:28.500 |
You have to understand that to live under a foreign, 00:12:35.200 |
meant that they didn't have the kind of freedom. 00:12:38.600 |
They had to worship the gods that they established, 00:12:42.000 |
had to be within the parameters that they established. 00:12:45.400 |
So their hope was that one day Messiah was going to come, 00:12:57.000 |
It says, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. 00:13:08.600 |
Jesus said from the very get-go that he was the Messiah. 00:13:12.700 |
When he rode on that donkey coming to Jerusalem, 00:13:20.900 |
that he's going to come and make everything better. 00:13:24.200 |
I want you to listen to the rest of the prophecy. 00:13:46.100 |
In other words, he's saying that all the battles, 00:13:51.500 |
that he's going to finally conquer all of them, 00:13:53.700 |
and then he's going to bring peace with the other nations, 00:13:56.400 |
and he's going to bring peace within the nation. 00:13:59.800 |
In Micah 4, 6, "In that day," declares the Lord, 00:14:14.500 |
and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion, 00:14:19.600 |
He said he's not only going to bless the rich, 00:14:22.600 |
the aristocrats, he says the lame who are outcast, 00:14:26.500 |
even they will benefit when this Messiah comes, 00:14:35.300 |
I will raise up the booth of David that has fallen, 00:14:43.400 |
I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, 00:14:45.700 |
and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them. 00:14:48.400 |
They shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, 00:14:50.400 |
and they shall make gardens and eat their fruits. 00:14:55.200 |
and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land 00:14:58.000 |
that I have given them, says the Lord your God." 00:15:01.300 |
See all this is the description of the kingdom of heaven. 00:15:11.500 |
because this Messiah that we've been prophesying, 00:15:21.300 |
You think I'm depressing, they're much more depressing. 00:15:26.400 |
almost every prophet is warning the nation of Israel, 00:15:31.800 |
Those of you who've been studying Isaiah with us, 00:15:33.900 |
we're in chapter 9 now, it's 9 chapters of judgment. 00:15:37.300 |
And we have about 40 chapters to go, right, of judgment. 00:15:51.800 |
But the glimmer of hope that we see in all the prophecies 00:15:55.600 |
is that in the midst of God declaring judgment, 00:15:57.800 |
He says, "But God will not stay angry forever. 00:16:11.000 |
out of hundreds of verses that I could have chosen 00:16:13.600 |
that the nation of Israel was clinging onto for dear life. 00:16:22.300 |
"There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 00:16:26.800 |
He came as a witness to bear witness about the light 00:16:36.000 |
Jesus says of John the Baptist, Matthew 11, 11, 00:16:40.000 |
there has not risen a greater man than John the Baptist." 00:16:45.700 |
Think about how exaggerated of a statement that may sound. 00:17:01.700 |
I mean, what do you know about John the Baptist? 00:17:04.300 |
That he'd say, think about who he's talking about. 00:17:31.000 |
And Jesus says, "John the Baptist is greater than him." 00:17:58.500 |
And at the end of his life, because he hits the rock, 00:18:08.700 |
And Jesus says, "John the Baptist is greater." 00:18:16.500 |
Are you really saying what I think you're saying?" 00:18:21.400 |
I'd say, "Oh, okay, he's not talking the truth." 00:18:27.600 |
What made John the Baptist greater than everybody else? 00:18:31.600 |
because the Bible doesn't describe his childhood. 00:18:44.600 |
that makes John the Baptist greater than anybody else 00:19:23.600 |
It's like we have the President of the United States 00:19:33.400 |
He didn't say, "Hey, prepare for the coming of the Messiah. 00:19:56.100 |
was to repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. 00:20:05.600 |
and the way that you need to prepare is to repent. 00:20:09.800 |
If you notice, if his message was to prepare the way 00:20:13.800 |
we would think the natural thing to do is go to the Temple, 00:20:16.800 |
because that's where the Bible is being taught. 00:20:19.000 |
That's where the people were being discipled. 00:20:21.800 |
So you would go there and you would discuss with them, 00:20:24.000 |
because that's where the religious people were gathered. 00:20:27.600 |
Instead, he goes out to the wilderness of Judah, 00:20:33.800 |
And I'm not sure exactly what drew people to him, 00:20:40.600 |
We don't hear about miracles of John the Baptist. 00:20:44.600 |
He was just a strange guy out in the wilderness. 00:20:47.500 |
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, 00:20:58.400 |
What was it about John that people were so intrigued 00:21:01.700 |
that even the leaders of Israel left their Temple, 00:21:09.800 |
that they recognized in Jesus, they recognized in John. 00:21:24.500 |
Prepare for the coming of the Messiah by repenting. 00:21:44.000 |
because it was something that they've always done. 00:22:04.500 |
is because that's the expectations of people. 00:22:09.300 |
They did it for themselves to be seen by other men. 00:22:17.900 |
where the women and the Gentiles were supposed to come, 00:22:25.900 |
They made it a den of robbers instead of a place of prayer. 00:22:36.000 |
He started his ministry by cleansing the Temple, 00:22:39.500 |
and then he ended his ministry by cleansing his Temple. 00:22:43.700 |
What is happening in this Temple is not pleasing to God. 00:22:49.500 |
he doesn't come to prepare the religious people. 00:22:56.200 |
In fact, when the Pharisees and the Sadducees 00:23:02.600 |
bear fruit in accordance to your repentance." 00:23:08.700 |
He says to repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. 00:23:14.100 |
And the only way that you're going to be able to recognize it 00:23:35.400 |
You better not pout, and I'm telling you why. 00:24:07.000 |
You better not pout, because I'm telling you why. 00:24:09.900 |
This is a song that we learn when we're little kids, 00:24:11.900 |
and we sing it, we don't really think much about it, 00:24:23.200 |
They go to school and say, "This is heresy, teacher." 00:24:34.600 |
Because if you're not perfect, if you're not doing these things, 00:24:40.100 |
But the problem is, if the Messiah was coming, 00:24:43.900 |
if God was coming to judge between right and wrong, 00:24:55.200 |
The Scripture clearly says that we are all naughty. 00:25:06.100 |
that we've been studying, right, for three chapters, 00:25:19.400 |
He's preparing a foundation so that he can say, 00:25:24.400 |
So basically, in a nutshell, what Paul is doing 00:25:26.800 |
in the book of Romans, the first three chapters, 00:25:39.300 |
Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, 00:25:53.300 |
"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." 00:25:57.700 |
He didn't come to distinguish between good or bad, 00:26:06.200 |
When these Pharisees said, "Why are you spending 00:26:08.000 |
all your time with these tax collectors and these sinners?" 00:26:12.800 |
have no need of a physician, but those who are sick, 00:26:21.100 |
For I came not to call the righteous, but the sinners." 00:26:28.400 |
for the Messiah to come, because without repentance, 00:26:39.000 |
when the Messiah came, they saw, of course they saw Him. 00:26:47.800 |
But when Jesus came, not only did they reject Him, 00:26:58.900 |
is preparing the way to receive and see the Messiah 00:27:12.200 |
to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel, 00:27:14.300 |
the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." 00:27:18.300 |
What authority does Satan have over the world 00:27:26.300 |
And I think you and I know the answer to that. 00:27:32.500 |
Sin is what causes people to come to religious festivities, 00:27:36.800 |
come to worship week after week, hear the gospel. 00:27:55.500 |
Because once you see the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ, 00:28:02.000 |
It's just like if you've tasted something good, 00:28:05.500 |
The fact that there is no appetite for the things of God 00:28:18.900 |
and on the message of the sermon at the mount, 00:28:21.300 |
he talks about how to enter into the kingdom of God. 00:28:25.300 |
And in that sermon at the mount, the Beatitudes, 00:28:29.600 |
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." 00:28:38.600 |
He didn't say, "Blessed are those who learn." 00:28:41.400 |
He didn't say, "Blessed are those who know theology." 00:28:45.300 |
He didn't say, "Blessed are those who do good things." 00:28:48.400 |
He said, "Blessed are those who are pure in heart, 00:28:53.600 |
See, if Jesus is coming, and he's the Son of God, 00:28:59.000 |
But to be able to see the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ, 00:29:06.100 |
So John the Baptist was preparing their heart 00:29:17.000 |
"Strive for peace with everyone, and for holiness. 00:29:32.900 |
And you say, "Oh, it's the woman that you put into the garden." 00:29:37.500 |
"Oh, it's the serpent that you put in the garden." 00:29:48.000 |
Any sin that we compromise and we justify for ourselves 00:29:55.400 |
when we recognize that we have no ability to justify our sins. 00:30:05.100 |
What prevents us from seeing the glimpse of the glory of the gospel, 00:30:10.700 |
is because we constantly make excuses for our sins. 00:30:54.200 |
That their own Maker has come into the world. 00:31:00.500 |
It wasn't just about some kingdom and Israel being restored. 00:31:16.300 |
You know, I think one of the harshest diseases 00:31:21.100 |
or sickness to deal with in life is Alzheimer. 00:31:25.100 |
You know, the older I get, I hear more and more about it. 00:31:31.100 |
husband and wife, and the wife or the husband 00:31:41.000 |
You know, it's part of living in this fallen world, 00:31:57.500 |
try to give them a hug, and like, "Who are you?" 00:32:01.700 |
because they don't recognize me, or my wife, or my family. 00:32:08.700 |
of when Jesus came into the world as a light, 00:32:11.900 |
and everything was made by Him, for Him, sustained by Him, 00:32:35.400 |
You think, like, "Oh, I see a cliff, and I see a bridge, 00:33:02.600 |
1 John 3, 2, it says, "Beloved, we are God's children now, 00:33:10.900 |
we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is." 00:33:25.200 |
When you see Him as He is, He says, "You shall be like Him." 00:33:29.400 |
And the reason why we only see traces or glimpses of it 00:33:36.400 |
and all of sin, inside and out, is dealt with, 00:33:47.400 |
"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. 00:33:50.400 |
Now I know in part, then I shall know Him fully, 00:33:56.600 |
Right now, we're seeing dimly, through a dimly lit mirror. 00:34:02.000 |
And so everything that we are seeing of Christ 00:34:12.600 |
but if you're going to recognize Him, you have to repent. 00:34:20.000 |
who were confessing one thing, and doing something else. 00:34:24.300 |
He says, "If you want to see God, you must repent. 00:34:31.700 |
You must own up to the compromises that you make. 00:34:40.600 |
frustrated with the sins of other people than yours? 00:34:58.700 |
"Well, I sinned because of that woman that you sent." 00:35:14.800 |
for me to really understand what he was saying. 00:35:20.100 |
about a growing glimpse of the glory of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:35:23.900 |
He says, "Up until now, each visitation of joy 00:35:27.000 |
had left the common world momentarily a desert." 00:35:43.400 |
every time he experienced this visitation of joy, 00:35:45.900 |
the common world momentarily became a desert. 00:35:49.500 |
It's just, I just, the more I experienced God, 00:35:56.000 |
"Even when real clouds or trees were in my vision, 00:35:59.600 |
they have been so only by reminding me of another world." 00:36:53.200 |
is coming out and is transforming everything. 00:38:02.100 |
and I'm not just talking about understanding, 00:38:36.900 |
He says, "If you take away this hedge of protection, 00:38:39.000 |
let me at it, and he's going to curse you and die." 00:39:21.100 |
He's like, "He doesn't know what he's talking about. 00:39:44.400 |
"This is happening to you because of your problem." 00:40:11.200 |
right, this is the part that's hard to understand. 00:40:44.800 |
That's basically what he says in my translation. 00:41:29.300 |
I lose all my children, my wealth, my health, 00:41:53.500 |
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, 00:42:34.300 |
He doesn't say, "God, you're not worthy of my praise." 00:42:42.300 |
See, salvation happens when God opens our eyes 00:42:48.400 |
Isn't that why you come here every single week? 00:42:54.800 |
Isn't that why you put up with difficult people? 00:43:09.900 |
See, the story of Job will not make any sense 00:43:18.000 |
if God opened your eyes even just a little bit 00:43:40.900 |
And nobody comes to the Father but through me." 00:43:54.600 |
so that we may have a clearer vision of our Savior 00:43:59.400 |
I pray that the next couple weeks that we have, 00:44:03.000 |
that it's not just something that we think about, 00:44:06.600 |
but we make a decision that I'm going to pursue Christ 00:44:15.000 |
He says, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 00:44:20.700 |
as we again welcome the praise team to come up? 00:44:30.900 |
not only today, but as we think about Christmas 00:44:33.800 |
and as we think about the preparation of the coming Messiah. 00:44:44.200 |
In Psalm 139, and I pray that this would be our prayer, 00:44:47.200 |
and I encourage you to pray this after I read this. 00:44:49.200 |
It says, "O Lord, You have searched me and known me. 00:45:06.800 |
And verse 23 says, "Search me, O God, and know my heart. 00:45:20.400 |
and make that a sincere prayer that we offer up to God.