The Baptism of John | Mark 1:4-8 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Series)

The gospel according to Mark in chapter one. Please meet me there. The gospel according to Mark. In verse four, Lord, as we prepare to unpack your word, we ask with great humility and with great need. Please help us with the scriptures.

Lord, we pray that there would be a sense of your power, a sense of your presence. Lord, draw our affections for Christ. Give understanding where there's confusion. Let there be clarity. Let there be edification.

Let there be comfort. Let there be conviction. With us, we will fail. And the purpose of this meeting will fail. And so, Lord, we humbly tell you that we hunger, we really hunger for righteousness.

And we thirst for holiness. And we are in need of greater revelation of Christ. Help us now in Jesus' name. Amen. Mark one four.

John appeared baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached saying, after me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

There was a time in history when the God who spoke creation into existence, And the God who commissioned men to declare divine revelation on his behalf chose not to speak to his people for a startling four centuries. For four hundred years, the people of Israel did not hear once a genuine thus saith the Lord. For four hundred years, God did not inspire any man to record scripture. For four hundred years, there was no prophetic leadership to help the nation of Israel know what God desired from it in that moment, a people who were in covenant with the living God. And that stretch of silence defines a time between the testaments in your Bible.

It is known as the intertestamental period, and it really says something about why God did that. We may not know all of it, but we know to a certain extent that this world at that time knew great shifts politically, socially, even religiously because Israel throughout that time was occupied by one nation after the other. And this is what the prophet Daniel foretold that this would happen. And we see that fulfillment during that period where God seemed to be mute. And with all the transitions and wars and alterations that Israel experienced, there was no man.

There was no guidance. There was no voice. Not one prophet on the scene to bring some kind of direction to God's people. And this must have been a very strange thing for the nation of Israel because they were used to Moses', and they were used to Elijah's, and they were used to Isaiah's coming to the scene and bringing some kind of light, especially when there was darkness and difficulty for the people of Israel. But all for a sudden, it seems as though in that bleak and dark interval period, everything changed.

Everything changed drastically by two simple words that we have read in our reading. In verse four, John appeared. John appeared. And as we heard last week, the significance of this man John who appeared at this time was that he had fulfilled some ancient prophecies many years ago. And that truth alone should tell us as the people of God who love God's word that who this man was and what kind of ministry that he accomplished in the name of God was very important to God.

And if it was very important to God to prophesy about and then to write about in in terms of its fulfillment, then it must be important to us. And you and I got a glimpse of the importance of it when we just looked at the one just one prophecy, just two that were so similar about how understanding who John was helped us confirm the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. John's ministry was so unique. It's almost like a flash in the pan. It's almost like a firework in a dark sky.

He's there one moment and then he seems to just disappear within a few pages. But that ministry, the ministry that this man fulfilled was a hinge between two eras. When he came on the scene, the door of the law and Moses closed and this man paved the way for the grace that is known in the Lord Jesus Christ to be ushered into the world. This man was so important. Great significance.

And as we look here, we realize that we have great motivation. Great motivation by the fact that this is brought before us to discover what it is that God has to say to us pertaining to this man. What is it that we can discover about our faith? What what can we be told about this historic moment for our lives now today? And be assured that we will know something about our faith in Christ.

We will know something about our walk and our practice for the name of Jesus Christ as well. And we will do that by doing something very simple. As you and I come to this text, we will understand it in three ways. We will look at it through the ministry of John the Baptist. And then after understanding something of his ministry, we'll know something about his manners.

Why are his manners important for us to understand? And after his manners, we will know something a little bit about his message. And so we come to verse four and five and we see the ministry or the mandate of John the Baptist. There are many Johns in the Bible. You know that, but there is only one John the Baptist, the first Baptist really.

And the original language would help us clarify it more in seeing that it was actually John the Baptizer. That was his identity. That is what he was known for. That that the simple reason that people saw that the main tenant of this man's ministry was that he had this radical charge for people to join this fire breathing prophet in water, and then to be immersed in that water as a sign of something that is very significant to the Jewish people especially. And it was really a symbol of people saying something happened here.

I'm participating because there's something that happened here first, and I wanna show that and declare that. And it's so so incredible when we really understand the significance of this man's mandate. Because I hope you and I would be able to answer as Christians why baptism is important. I hope you would be able to answer that. And I hope your answer would be something along the lines of, well, Jesus commanded us to be baptized.

And it's a way of identifying with his death, burial, and resurrection. And that would be right. And though baptism is a non negotiable ordinance for the Christian and in the Christian faith, it did not begin with Christians. It didn't start with Christians. The serious simple reason that John here seems to introduce the concept.

And the physical act of baptism is very similar to the same drama that we experience when a believer gets baptized. The very word baptism means to be immersed, to be dipped, to be consumed, to be enveloped by a substance and the substance is water. John was doing that and if you've been baptized, you know what that's like. But I want you to think for a moment without answering out loud. What is the difference between John's baptism and the baptism that we partake in in the name of Jesus Christ?

Is it important to know that distinction? Well, it was important to Paul because he found some disciples in Acts 19. Remember that? And he asked them, what what baptism were you baptized into? Well, John's.

And he goes, well, that was a baptism of repentance. And then he baptizes them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. So clearly, clearly there is some kind of distinction between the two. And does it really matter to know? Well, if you wanna know God's word, it does.

And I think there is one way of knowing, at least being guided into the direction of greater clarity and it is by arrival, towards the Jewish people primarily, not Gentiles. And when John here is preaching to these Jews, this call to baptism was absolutely scandalous because these Jews in Jesus' time believed that their access to God's favor and then being able to secure his saving work was completely connected to their race. Everything about their stand, everything about their security, everything about their their enjoyment of God in their minds was completely connected to the fact that Abraham was our father. God called the man Abraham, and he called them yes, but he also made a covenant with his descendants. And we are his descendants.

And because we are his descendants, we enjoy certain privileges and certain promises. That's it. They boasted in that. They taught that. They believed that.

It was a cultural thing. It was even a spiritual thing. Though it was false. So when John comes on the scene, he's calling the chosen people of God to do what? Repent.

Repent and confess your need to be forgiven by God. And John doesn't just say repent. Or you're gonna experience the wrath of God. Hold on for a second. We're the people of God.

You're telling us that God will pour out his wrath on us? Who do you think you are? And so this was startling. This was this was something that really shook the nation and actually brought the nation to its knees. And so when he when he calls them to do this, you have to understand that there was a great sacrifice, a great humility to respond to it.

And I looked at that and I thought, well, haven't many prophets in the old testament called the same nation to repentance? Haven't they called them to confess their sins? What's different with John? Isn't John just like any other man who said Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, repent, repent. You have turned from God.

One main difference. Yes, repent, but get in this water. Get in this water and declare your repentance. Meaning what? You're gonna have to you're gonna have to participate in a symbol.

You're gonna have to participate in a sign. And what is that sign? Remember, he's speaking to a people who already have a sign. And the sign was circumcision. We are connected to God through that.

And now all for a sudden John comes and he speaks about this other sign, baptism. And what does it signify? That you must renounce any trust that your entrance into the kingdom of heaven was secured because of your ethnicity or your ancestral identity. That as you come into this place, you are instead making a personal commitment to God and a declaration to everybody else that I am dependent alone upon the mercy of God. The mercy of God.

Not because of Abraham. Not because of the covenant. Not because of the things that we have in history. No. Simply because I need his mercy.

And that was the sign in baptism. That was what John was calling him to do. And the purpose there was to invite people to no longer rely on the false hope that just because they were born into a Jewish family, that they could evade God's wrath and they automatically had the kingdom of heaven. And so you can imagine how this was so stirring and upsetting to some. John said the Messiah is coming and your good standing with the Jewish Messiah is not because you're Jewish.

Your standing before the Messiah will be dependent upon your realization that you need to be forgiven for your sins. And despite your lineage, you will come personally and say, I I repent. And I will get into this water and make it a sign to whoever wants to see it that I do need God's mercy. And so this is contrary to the common false concept that each son of Abraham each son of Abraham needed to make that decision and join this man to participate in this wonderful act. Perhaps we may not see that, but you actually do.

I'm not reading that into the text, and you see it in Matthew's gospel. Turn there just to just to get a final confirmation of why John's baptism has a different emphasis than Jesus' baptism, at least baptism in Jesus' name. In Matthew three, look at verse seven. Matthew three seven to nine. 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?

I love John. I love this guy. We we can use a few of them today. I don't know about you. This man saw these pompous Pharisees, these religious leaders and teachers nicely dressed with their groomed beards and their heads stuffed with theology.

And here they are attending the baptism service. And John looks at them and he says doesn't say welcome to Maranatha Bible Church. Hey, you snakes. Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Can you imagine?

These men were at John's service, but they had no intention to change. Do you think that's common in church services today? Do you think that it's possible that today there are people who like to hear in your face preaching, but have no desire to be conformed to Christ likeness? I think you know the answer to that. John confronts them.

And look what he says in verse eight. Bear fruit in keeping with repentance, 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. That is exactly what was going on through their minds as they were seeing this strange man in water plunging people one after the next. We have Abraham our father.

We have circumcision. We are Jews. We are God's chosen people. And then this man, the son of a priest looks at him. He says, are you are you relying on the fact that you are son of Abraham?

You're a brood of vipers instead. Get in this water and declare your need for the mercy of God to be shown on you. Some did, some didn't. Now to make this message even stronger, when you go back to verse four of Mark one, we read, John appeared baptizing in the wilderness. In the wilderness.

Probably because nobody would invite this guy to their conferences or their synagogues. More than that. Not just because there was plenty of space for people to come. There was no padded pews in the wilderness, my brother, my sister. But Israel was very familiar with wildernesses, weren't they?

They had a history with the desert. It it it covers most of the themes of the Old Testament. And the significance of the wilderness was that God at one point called the nation of Israel out of slavery, delivering them from Pharaoh's grip, and brought them into this wasteland so that he can make a covenant with them. So that he could bring them to a certain mountain and appear on that mountain and give a law and give instructions so that these people who have known their redemption in this God can be identified with him in a certain way, and it was it was external. And here's John after four hundred years of silence.

And the streets of Jerusalem can hear the echo of a wild man who's preaching in the desert. Drawing people out of their homes, drawing people out of the temple, drawing people out of the synagogue to see this man who was on fire preaching fire. And as they come, perhaps not knowing the significance of what's happening, I believe to a certain extent, here is God through his prophet John leading his people Israel again into the wilderness, not for the old covenant, but to establish a new one. I am ready to make a new covenant with my people. And I'm gonna send my forerunner.

He's gonna be in the wilderness. I'm gonna bring my people there and hopefully they'll catch on. So John here in his baptism is very important because it has a different emphasis, very similar in many ways, but still a different emphasis. It had a shock value to the Jewish people. And Christ comes and he gives new instructions to his church and we are baptized in the name of the father, son, and the holy spirit and we identify with his work on this side of the cross.

Now, hopefully, that brought about some clarity to you and I just because we wanna be sharper in truth, but I would like to take this time to speak on something else. I would like to take this time to mention a point of where we stand as a church and why we believe in believers baptism. One of the reasons why we do not hold to infant baptism, and there are many reasons for that, is because that practice of baptizing a child or or a baby in in particular sends a message that God is establishing a covenant with a new people in the same way that he formed a people in the old covenant. Let me say that again. When we practice the baptism of infants, many reasons why I believe theologically it doesn't line up, and one of them is that we are conveying a message that God in the new covenant is forming a people in a very similar way that he did in the old.

What do I mean by that? In Jesus Christ, God has been and continues to gather a people from all nations, we sang it, all tribes, all tongues, different cultures, different backgrounds who all share one thing in common, faith in the son of God. Trust in his saving work. But in the old testament, God primarily had a people with one specific race who identified with them through familial descent. If you were born to a son of Abraham, if you were born to this specific nation, then you automatically, at least if the parents are faithful, are in covenant with God.

And that covenant is in a sense sealed through, at least for the males, circumcision. Now, here's the point I'm trying to make. If water baptism, as the argument often goes, is a continuation of circumcision from the old. Right? It replaces that sign of the covenant, and now it becomes something that believers partake in and initiate with their own children, then what are we telling to a watching world about how God forms a covenant with his people?

I argue that we send a very similar message that circumcision did, which is what? He belongs to Christ. She is identified with Christ. He or she has died with Christ. Why?

Because they were born to Christian parents. They were born to Christian parents. I'm not saying that those who hold to that view, pedobaptism, are intentionally conveying that message. What I am saying is that the practice can send a confusing idea. And we have to understand that we may be undermining a certain element of gospel witness that is very powerful when it is honored in the right way.

So if we can all agree that covenant with Christ in the new covenant is exclusively for those who are born again, then can we all agree that the new covenant covenant sign should be reserved for those who have proven evidence of a spiritual rebirth. And so I'm persuaded that if we do not interpret baptism correctly, not just in its definition, but in its application, then we might we might be blurring something that God intended to be a dramatic demonstration of awesome witness to his saving power and what it means to be in covenant with him. It's not through familial descent. It's not through what kind of home you were born into. It's because you were born again.

And here's the sign that someone has been born again. More of that to come in a future time. John called this people to be baptized and it was a very public thing, very public. And he was speaking to a people who already had tradition, who had a sign, and so there was friction there. But there are people who felt the piercing conviction of his word, and so they flooded into the wilderness.

They came to receive this, to participate in it. And though the emphasis is different, may I bring this to you as well? The challenge is no different in the new covenant. It's still a challenging call to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now in our day, we have different practices, especially in our evangelism, and one of them is inviting people to the front if they wanna receive Jesus Christ as Lord.

Some of you have done that. Some of you have a testimony where that is where you have received Christ, and you have people who debate that kind of model. And one of the arguments is you never see an altar call in the Bible. You never see people the apostle is saying come forward, come to the front, and you'll receive Christ and repeat after me. And so there's great debate about this.

But if there is anything in the bible, in the new testament of there being a public demonstration or display of one's faith, it was water baptism. It was water bath. That's how your faith went public. That's how what God did in your heart now goes before people. And so we need to be serious about water baptism.

It it shouldn't be a side issue. It's amazing how casual we become with the ordinances of the Lord Jesus Christ for his church. We become light with the breaking of bread, and we come almost become very loose about what baptism is and and why we should take it as serious. We have to take it seriously because the church took it seriously, at least the early church. And, yes, it was a step of obedience, but it was also a demonstration to a watching world.

I am in covenant with this Jesus. That was his mandate. That was what really made him stand out as a prophet among many other things. But we come to his manners in verse six. We're told that he called people to be baptized, but for some reason, the Holy Spirit wants to tell us about his dress and his diet.

Now John was clothed with camel's hair. That wasn't luxurious by the way. And wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. His manners. A short portrait gives a student of the Old Testament an understanding that John the Baptist is following in his footsteps of one of the greatest prophets that Israel has ever known, Elijah.

Elijah. You go to second Kings chapter one, you see that Elijah wears similar attire. You see that even John really echoes Elijah's kind of preaching because he was confrontational. He was bold. He was fearless.

And so when we see that, we go, wow. Okay. This is what we're told about John, that he was the he was the one who came in the the spirit and power of Elijah. He he's gonna he's gonna preach like Elijah. He's gonna minister like Elijah.

And would you know it? He brought about very similar results as Elijah. He brought a nation to his knees. And mind you, John the Baptist never performed one miracle. You can't find one miracle that John the Baptist performed.

And you have many people who think that we're gonna get the world's attention if we just have more miracles. Here you have a man who is just drenched in the power of God. He spoke the word and the people came. This man was like Elijah. But interestingly enough, we're told that he ate locusts and honey.

We have no idea what Elijah ate. So why do we need to know that? And I believe the Holy Spirit wants to tell us more than just he was a fulfillment, more than just he was like someone, but there was something here about his custom, about his lifestyle that teaches us as servants of God the great the great lengths that he went to to fulfill his calling for the Lord, and that this man really, really believed what he preached. Let me explain. John's display here was not a call then nor is it a call now that the children of God who wanna serve God should deny any delight and material blessings that God would gift and God would give.

That that would be wrong. To be hermits or to or to just eat crumbs off of a old piece of bread and water as your regular diet, that is not that's not what what's happening here. But at the same time, the strategy behind this man's apparel and his appetite was a radical visualization to a people who heard him preach that these things, these disciplines were molded by a certain truth that I believe. What was it that John believed? What was it that he was aware of and made other people aware of?

Jesus is coming. The Lord of Isaiah 40, the Lord of Malachi three is on his way. And John was so convinced of that that even when he was arrested, he seemed to feel like this was a contradiction because he really, really trusted that the kingdom was going to be ushered in his lifetime. He knew his call, and though his understanding wasn't complete in the first and second advent of Christ, he still had that faith. The Messiah is on his way.

He's on his way in my lifetime. And perhaps he is doing what he is doing here in verse six to show a people that his life was not all about what Jesus said you and I can make our life all about. Remember what Jesus said? Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Is not life more than some of you need to hear this.

Is not life more than food? Is it not more than clothing? And our generation's Instagram would say otherwise. Nothing wrong with food, I love it. Nothing wrong with clothing, we need it.

But when life becomes about it, then there is something wrong. John the Baptist had an effective ministry. And as strange as he might have seemed when he approached his audience, he was a man who showed them I actually believe what I'm saying. I I don't get caught up in the comforts of this world or the luxuries of this world. I really, really believe Jesus is on his way.

And so and so look at my priorities. Look at my yeah. Radical? Yes. And he never pushed that standard on others, but he did teach it by way of example and I wanna prove that to you.

Because there was a time when the people in the crowd asked John, what what do we need to do? That's how you know revival has hit a place. When the crowd begins to ask the preacher, what do we need to do? What do we need to do? And I want you to see it for yourself in Luke chapter three how John begins to give instructions about how they should live in light of the fact that the Messiah was coming.

In light of the fact that he was on his way, and he's gonna usher in his kingdom. And some will know the saving grace, and some will know his wrath. So this crowd of people after hearing that there was wrath coming in verse nine and verse 10 of Luke three, the crowds asked him, what then shall we do? And he answered them, whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, And whoever has food is to do likewise. Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said that now when tax collectors come to your church you know the spirit of God is moving.

Tax collectors come. Okay. What do we need to do? The crowd already spoke up, the general public. Now the tax collectors come, the cheaters, the ones who would take more than what was required when they worked for Rome so that they can have an extra buck in their pocket.

John looks at them, and and he says, collect no more than you are authorized to do. Soldiers, in verse 14. Soldiers? Which soldiers? Roman soldiers.

Roman soldiers who could care less about Jewish religion are now so pricked in their hearts by John's preaching that they come and ask him, and we and we what shall we do? And he said to them, do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation and be content with your wages. Be content with your wages. Notice that John didn't say to the crowds when they said, what shall we do? Sell all your tunics and only have one outfit like me.

He didn't say that. He says, if you have more than you you need, would you look beyond yourself and stop hoarding your possessions and and be a person who serves and sacrifices and and helps others who may not be as as prosperous as you? Would you look beyond yourself? Which tells me something very, very, very important about repentance. Remember, that's what what he preached.

And then general crowd says, what shall we do in light of what does it look like to repent, John? What does it look like to be in right standing with the Lord? And you know what he highlights out of everything? He gets to the core of the matter. The thing that the general public then and today need to continually repent of is selfishness.

Me, me, more, more, pile it all up. And you know that a work of repentance is becoming real in your life when you begin to look look outward and you begin to see the needs of others and you wanna use your resources to be able to extend the grace of God to those who are in need of it, then the tax sectors come and and they say, well, what do we need to do? He didn't say quit your jobs. He didn't say quit your jobs, leave everything, sell your homes, and come live in the desert with me. There's plenty of space.

He didn't say that. And then the Romans come and they say, what do we need to do? And he doesn't command them to no longer work for Rome. He didn't say you work for an evil government, leave it even if you don't have any income, just get out of there. He doesn't say that.

I mean, as radical as John the Baptist was, he was very realistic. You know what he tells him to do? Just be content with your pay, man, and stop manipulating the system and and being ugly with people so that you can get a promotion. Be content with your wages. And I think this is a wonderful insight to apply to my own life.

Because I realized that as John was preparing the way for the first coming, Jesus is planning and preparing to come again. And I want to know, Lord, what do I need to do to prepare for your arrival? Be less selfish. Learn to be content in Christ. Do not do not be abusive to people.

Do not do not be harsh to people. Do not try to trick people. Do not try to make this life about how you can gain the most in this life. Live in light of my return. And I tell you today, live in light of the return of Jesus Christ.

It will look like something. But this was not John's core message. John didn't come on the scene to give behavioral modification tips. People asked practical advice, he gave it. John was very, very specific in how people should live, and he was inspired by the Holy Spirit.

But John's core message was not about you need to do this. It was about a person who will do something in you. That's what he says in Mark one seven to eight. We looked at his his ministry. We looked at his manners.

And now you and I look at his message. In Mark chapter one verse seven, And he preached and he preached saying, after me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I've baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. John, as you can imagine, was successful in his ministry, but as successful as he was, never gave the impression that he was somebody who was mighty. He never failed to clarify to his people, those who were even blessed by his ministry, that there was somebody more significant and more mighty than him.

And he always pointed to him. He always declared him. And John's message clarified any confusion, but additionally, as we read here, he never failed to declare also not just the superiority of Christ, but the superiority of his ministry, his work. He says, I baptize you with water, but he who is coming, the eternal king is on his way. And by position, he is he is far greater than me, and so great is he that I'm not even worthy to take up the task of the lowest slave, and that was to untie the dusty shoe of a master and then wash the feet of that man.

I don't I can't even do that. That's how awesome Christ is to me. I don't even deserve to serve him in such a way. But he is also superior in that his baptism is much more powerful and needed than mine. I baptize you with water.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. In other words, I I do an external symbolic work with you guys. He's gonna come in and do a spiritual work inside of you guys. My work is symbolic. Christ's work is supernatural.

And he's on his way to do it, and I'm trying to get you all ready for it to happen. And so as he looks to them, he is saying very clearly that I am inferior, that I am not the one that you are looking for. I'm not the Christ. I'm just the messenger. He made that clear in different places.

And what's so important to understand again with this audience is as they heard John the Baptist declaring that there is this Messiah on his way who will do a a baptismal work in the Holy Spirit, it was not a foreign concept. They knew it because the prophets declared, as Joel did, for example, I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. That there would be a spiritual work in the heart that will take that heart of stone and make it into a heart of flesh. That the law will be written on your hearts. They knew that, and they knew that it wasn't just going to be for limited men, limited people, limited messengers, that it was gonna be available to all, to servants, men and women, young and old.

And so you can just imagine the excitement in that desert, in those services as John would say, he's coming. The ones that the prophet said would come, he's on his way, and he's going to baptize all of you. Or at least those who would believe on his name. And this is what's so significant about the baptism of Jesus. We don't have time today to dissect and to unpack all the blessings, the spiritual blessings that come from the gift of the Holy Spirit that is only accessible through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

But look at the imagery and consider the implication of what would happen to someone who does connect to this Messiah by faith and then receive the Holy Spirit that is promised through him, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. It's the same word that you and I believe about water baptism. And when you and I understand water baptism, which means to dip or to be immersed in, that tells us something about what baptism in the Holy Spirit is. It means that the believer who is connected to Christ will be immersed with the Holy Spirit. In the same way that every part of your body is drenched when you get into a body of water and somebody helps you obey the Lord Jesus Christ in that matter.

In other words, this work of Christ by the spirit will consume every part of who you are. No part will be untouched. Nothing will be left out. From head to toe, you will be affected by the influence of the Holy Spirit once Christ plunges you in his power and his presence. More specifically, we learn later on that the Holy Spirit does many things.

And he has a specific mission, and and the main mission, the umbrella mission of of the Holy Spirit is that he will what? Glorify me, Jesus said. He will glorify me. And so I like to take that truth and relate it to this, that when Christ will come and take that heart of faith and then pledge it completely into the reality of the Holy Spirit, his power, his wisdom, his grace, his blessings, then every part of you will seek to glorify Christ. K.

Why am I bringing this up? Let me tell you why I'm bringing it up. Because this is the standard of the work of Christ. This is the extensive work of Jesus Christ in a believer's life. It's not a sprinkled work.

It's it's not a part work. It's not like some of you gets wet. No. It's a plunging work where every part of you is profoundly affected by God's power in the Holy Spirit. And I I bring that up because salvation is a miraculous work.

It's miraculous work. It affects everything about who you are. And I wanna ask you today, according to John's word, according to Jesus word, echoing John's word, has that been true of you? Could you say that when when I understood my need of Christ, and Christ took my heart and unified it and allowed the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit to be real in me, that from head to toe something happened? I think differently, I see differently, I hear differently, I move differently, I react differently, not perfectly, differently.

The very suggestion of what will happen in relation to the Holy Spirit suggests that it will be a wonderful thing. An observable thing. A tangible thing. A seeable thing. When somebody goes in the water and comes out, you've seen it just a few weeks ago, you know that person just got baptized.

No question about it. Should it be any different when somebody comes into faith with Christ? Something happened. You were immersed. Who are you?

You were one person two weeks ago. Now you're someone else. And yes, it's not a perfect thing, but it is a new direction thing. And you begin to grow and walk in that more and more and more. And there is hours worth of study to see the spiritual blessings that come that makes this promise so exciting.

But in summary, what John is saying is that this reality, this experiential thing in the Holy Spirit can only be accessed by one person that is Jesus Christ. This alteration, this transformation, this spiritual work cannot be known unless Christ is known. He's the only one that can take you and then baptize you in the Holy Spirit. And I wanna make that call to you today Because there there could be some in here who are satisfied in their tradition like the Jews were. And there could be some who who understand the principles of of Christianity and the tenets of the Christian faith, but they cannot say that I've collided with the Holy Spirit.

That Jesus Christ changed me. He took me, and he buried me, and he brought me up, and there's something new in me. We cannot minimize as simple as salvation is in terms of how we come to it. We cannot minimize the miraculous in it. John the Baptist, the ministry, the manners, and the message.

May God use us to prepare people for the return of the Lord. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in this moment that you help us realize what Christ has made possible. And Lord, we thank you that there is an indwelling work of the Holy Spirit, but you call us for continual fillings of the Holy Holy Spirit. And Lord, if there's any part of us that's dry, if there's any part of us that has become contaminated or dominated by the flesh, Lord, fill us afresh.

Fill us afresh. Lord, help us live in light of your return. Thank you for your clarity. Thank you, oh God, for teaching us what we need to know. Because with every detail of this book, we realize that we have a greater understanding of you and that is what we want in this life, fellowship with you.

And so Lord, as we sing to you, we rejoice we rejoice in the knowledge that there is a new covenant people that you are creating. And it will not come through familial descent. It will come through the rebirth by the spirit of God. And Lord, you are still calling people to join your family. And if there's anyone in here that doesn't know you, may they know that they cannot rely on their parents.

Salvation is not a package deal. May they realize that they cannot rely on even tradition that they have observed. But that must come from a work of the Holy Spirit in the heart. You can make that known. We ask that you would.

In Jesus' name, amen. Let's stand and worship the Lord.