KINGDOM COME

SEPTEMBER 28-30, 2009 MONDAY-WEDNESDAY

TEXT MATTHEW 3 http://www.biblica.com/bible/verse/index.php?q=matthew3&niv=yes

PARAPHRASE

“The Preparer”

In the days of Jesus, John the Baptizer lived off locusts and wild honey in the desert of Judea in the tradition of the prophet Elijah who lived in the desert conditions that resulted during his day after he told King Ahab it wouldn’t rain for a long time because he was sinning by worshiping the fertility god, Baal. Prophesied by Isaiah as one like Elijah, a lone voice in the wilderness calling out to prepare the way for the Messiah by making people morally and spiritually aware of how they were living, John preached to those who came out from the surrounding regions to the desert to see him about their need to confess and turn away from their sin because the kingdom of God was so near they would begin experiencing it at any moment. And, as many confessed their sins and repented, John baptized them in the Jordan River.

But John had strong words for the Pharisees and Sadducees who came as agents of the religious establishment to check on what he was doing out in the desert. Calling them a pack of snakes because they had no intention of confessing their sins, repenting or changing their righteous way of living, John sarcastically asks who warned them to flee God’s coming wrath by appearing in the desert alongside those of genuine repentance. He tells them that being genealogically related to Abraham isn’t the basis for entering God’s kingdom, that God’s kingdom transcends culture and race, and that the Judgment has already begun for those who refuse to confess, repent and change because they think they are so good they don’t need to.

John then tells the crowd that while his baptism is with water for repentance, one more powerful and holy than him is coming who will baptize them with the Holy Spirit and fire – a baptism that will go way beyond repentance of sin to purify their souls of its sinful nature. He tells them the one who is more powerful and holy than him, the Messiah, on Judgment Day will separate those with the Holy Spirit into the kingdom of God from those without the Holy Spirit into the fire of Hell where they will suffer eternally.

“God’s will”

When Jesus, the one more powerful and holy came from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John, John told him he thought the baptism should be conducted the other way around. However, Jesus told John that it was proper for him to baptized by John this way now in order to fulfill God’s will for his life - God’s will that he identify with the sinful human race and God’s will that he take on the role of the suffering servant. And as Jesus came out of the water, heaven was opened, the Spirit of God descended on Him like a dove and God’s voice proclaimed that Jesus was His son, whom He loved, and with whom He was very pleased.

PRINCIPLES

The Gospel writer Matthew told his first century readers (as he tells us today) that the kingdom of God was so near they (we) would soon be experiencing it.

How did Matthew tell his first century readers (as he tells us today) that the kingdom of God was so near they (we) would soon be experiencing it?

-through John living the life of the prophet Elijah

-through John preparing the way of the Messiah

-through John preaching the repentance of sin

-through John baptizing those who genuinely repented

-through John warning the Pharisees and Sadducees of their self-righteousness

-through John declaring the Messiah’s preeminence

-through John announcing the Messiah’s baptism with the Holy Spirit will be
purifying to the soul

-through John proclaiming the Messiah as the Judge of who enters the kingdom of God

-through John baptizing Jesus as heaven opened

-through John baptizing Jesus as the Spirit of God descended upon Him

-through John baptizing Jesus as God proclaimed He was His Son, whom He loved and with whom He was well pleased

PRAYER

Our Father, We praise You for Your Prophets, who like Elijah and John have prepared the way for Your Son, the Lord, the Messiah to come into the world and into our hearts.

Our Father, We praise You for Your Prophets, who like Elijah and John have spoken Your Word and by doing so have made us aware of how we morally and spiritually live so that we have been led to a confession of our sins, repentance, and a decision that we need to change and that this change requires a Savior in our life because of our inability to transform and change our sinful nature on our own.

Our Father, We praise You for Your Son who followed Your will in identifying with our sinful nature by going through John’s baptism with water – a washing away of confessed and repented sins as our suffering servant.

Our Father, We praise You for the heavens opening as Your Son came out of the water and for Your Spirit descending upon Him and for Your proclamation that He was your Son, that You Loved him and that You were pleased with him for fulfilling Your will.

Our Father, We praise You for Your Son’s preeminence and the preeminence of His baptism by the Holy Spirit and fire which doesn’t just wash away our confessed and repented sin, but purifies our soul of the sinful nature we are unable to do anything about on our own.

Our Father, We praise Your Son as the Judge of who enters Your Kingdom based on whether their soul has been purified through His baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire or whether their soul has been purified through a baptism of self-righteousness.

Our Father, We ask that You use us as prophets today in this world. That You help us to prepare the way for Your Son to enter into the lives of many people by helping them see why the road of their lives is not straight and what they need for it to be.

Our Father, We ask that You use us as prophets today in this world to speak of the preeminence of Your Son above all other gods and the preeminence of His baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire because of how this purifies the soul of our sinful nature that we are otherwise powerless to do anything about and as a result otherwise remain eternally separated from You.

Our Father, We thank you that Your Kingdom has come, that we have experienced it in our lives and that we can do Your will by pointing others to Your Kingdom Come as well.

We pray all of this in the Name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, AMEN.

PRAISE Listening to 'Kingdom Come' by Hillsong United @imeem http://x.imeem.com/leTuoybMQy