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Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000622A
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00:01 (Breath of Life Theme Music)
00:07 Breath of Life Ministries Presents: 00:12 Sermon #B622 - The Message of John the Baptist 00:20 PB: Mark chapter 1 verse 1 and I'm going to read verses 1 through 8. If you have it, let 00:28 me hear you say, amen. [Audience: Amen.] All right, Mark chapter 1, verse number 1, 00:32 the word of God says, " The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God as it is 00:38 written in the prophets, "Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall 00:48 prepare thy way before thee. Verse 3, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness. 00:54 Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.? John did baptize in the wilderness, 01:00 and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And there went out unto 01:04 him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of 01:10 Jordan, confessing their what everybody? [Audience: Sins.] Come on, confessing their what, 01:12 everybody? [Audience: Sins.] Confessing their sins. "And John was clothed with camel's hair, 01:17 and with a girdle of a skin about his loins and he did eat what everybody? [Audience: 01:22 Locusts.] Locusts and wild what? [Audience: Honey.] And preached, saying, There cometh one 01:30 mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and 01:35 unloose. I, indeed have baptized you with water but He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. 01:46 " Today, I don't want to spend too much time but I just want to challenge you with the subject, 01:53 a message from John the Baptist. A message from John the Baptist. Now when most people talk about 02:00 John the Baptist, what are they talk about? What do they tell you when they begin to talk 02:06 about John the Baptist? What do they say beyond the fact that he is described as one who cries in 02:14 the wilderness? If you would have turned to your neighbor right now and ask your neighbor, 02:17 what can you tell me about John the Baptist, they probably would tell you a sundry of things. 02:23 But if they begin to tell you about John the Baptist at the beginning of his life, 02:28 they would tell you about John the Baptist's miraculous conception and his marvelous 02:34 calling. What am I talking about? You will remember that John's parents, Elizabeth and 02:43 Zechariah were Godly people. What kind of people, everybody? [Audience: Godly.] The Bible 02:48 tells us that they were Godly people. That they were both righteous before the Lord and 02:54 they live blamelessly according to the commandments of the Lord. But the Bible also tells us that 03:06 Zechariah and Elizabeth were childless and they were beyond the childbearing years. Oh but 03:15 prayer. I believe somebody knows something happens when you keep on praying. Do I have a witness 03:21 in this place? [Audience: Yes.] You see, before there were blue pills like we have now, there 03:29 was faith in God. Do I have a witness on this place? [Audience: Yes.] I believe if 03:35 somebody knows that something happens when you push, that means you got to pray until 03:43 something happens. Zechariah, John the Baptist's father kept on praying for a son. Zechariah 03:51 kept on praying for the impossible and one day, the angel of the Lord, Gabriel -- 04:02 everybody say, Gabriel. [Audience: Gabriel.] -- showed up in the temple where Zechariah 04:13 was serving and said, "The Lord, Zechariah, has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth 04:22 will bear you a son and you're to name him, John." Now, Zechariah was an old man. 04:29 Elizabeth was beyond childbearing years but God can do the impossible. Are you 04:38 hearing what I'm saying? [Audience: Yes.] In the six-month of Elizabeth 04:50 pregnancy, Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth and he was sent to a 05:03 virgin by the name of Mary who was engaged to a man named, Joseph. You all to hear what I'm 05:08 saying? [Audience: Yes.] Gabriel told Mary that she was to be the mother of a son of God and when 05:11 she ask, "But how can this happen, I've never been with a man? " Gabriel told her, 05:23 "Nothing is impossible with God." Your cousin who was said to be barren but is now in her 05:32 old age is 6 months pregnant. " So Mary runs off and goes to see her cousin, Elizabeth and when 05:40 she walks in a room, read the Bible, the Bible says that John the Baptist leaped -- anybody 05:49 knows what I'm talking about -- in Elizabeth womb. Do you see what's going on here? I wish I 05:58 had time to preach this, I'm not going to have that much time. I'm going to get you out 06:07 all the time but just being in the presence of Jesus, just being in the presence of Jesus 06:20 in Mary's womb caused John to live for joy in his mama's womb. Somebody knows that something 06:24 special happens when you come into presence of Jesus. Demons tremble in the presence of 06:30 Jesus. Satan is speckled in the presence of Jesus. Babies leap in their mother's wombs in the 06:40 presence of Jesus. John the Baptist had a marvelous calling on his life before he even left 06:52 his mother's womb that's why the Lord told us, "Before you even born I knew you. While you were 06:59 yet in your mother's belly, I had already set you apart. I've already ordained you to be a 07:07 prophet to the nations. " Let be those who see Him right now. Don't you ever forget that 07:15 before you were born, before your parents got together, before grandma knew grandpa, 07:23 understand God had a plan for your life and there is no devil in hell that can stop God's plan 07:34 for your life because what God has for me, it is for me. So number 1, we can learn from John 07:42 the Baptist life, what is his message? Understand he has a miraculous conception but not 07:47 just a miraculous conception, he has a marvelous calling. But not only that, we can also learn 07:53 from John the Baptist that he had a unique wardrobe and an unusual diet. John the Baptist, 07:58 in other words wore some funny clothes. He ate some funny food. The Bible says he wore camel's 08:03 hair. He ate wild honey and locusts. How about that? Let there be a lesson for somebody 08:11 to be. Just because you eat tofu, just because you eat Swiss steaks, ready burger and 08:20 grillers and haystacks, don't let anybody call you crazy. Are you hearing what I'm saying? You 08:27 go some places and you order a bean burger or better yet you go to McDonald's and you order a 08:33 veggie sandwich. Anyone ever done that? You go to McDonald's, "May I have a veggie whopper?" 08:38 That's Burger king. May I have a veggie big Mac?" Come on say amen. You can see I don't go. 08:43 Hallelujah. But understand, can I have a veggie burger on the menu? "We'll that's not on the 08:49 menu. You say, "Oh, but it is. Just give me some bread, give me some mayonnaise, give me some 08:59 ketchup, give me a tomato, give me some lettuce and because I'm not vegan, give me some cheese," 09:04 and you tell them, "That's a veggie sandwich." that's what you want and because they love 09:14 to see you smile, they'll give it to you. Do I have a witness in this place? Just because 09:27 you're not rich and famous doesn't mean you're less than. You put on your clothes, just 09:35 make sure they are clean and you go on about your business. Are you hearing what I'm saying? God 09:46 uses ordinary people to do as He commands because little becomes much when you place it in the 09:59 master's hand but not only that. We also know from John the Baptist life that John was a 10:09 sho'nuff preacher. I said John was a sho'nuff preacher. Now, David was a singer. Are you 10:16 hearing what I'm saying? [Audience: Yes.] But John was a son of preacher. John wasn't 10:22 afraid to preach the word. John was not afraid of the gospel. John the Baptist wasn't afraid 10:28 of people either. Some of you will remember how he call the religious leaders of this day a 10:33 brood of vipers. That means a pack of snakes. How about that? Calling them the church leaders 10:38 a pack of snakes. I was just in D.C. this weekend NAD meetings, I'm glad I didn't call people a 10:43 pack of snakes. But john wasn't afraid to call sin by its right name and speak out on the 10:48 political and social issues that were in opposition to the will of God. Most people miss that 10:55 about John's ministry. They miss that aspect of his ministry. In fact, if you read the Bible 11:03 carefully, you would discover that God's preachers and God's prophets have always had a word 11:12 from the Lord. A word from the Lord about social justice and politics. Think about it. It was 11:18 politics, an insane political policy that put Moses' people in slavery. It was politics and a 11:22 preemptive presidential decision to murder all the little boys in Egypt. You know what's that 11:34 called? That's genocide. Everybody say, genocide. [Audience: Genocide.] Genocide, 11:42 that was Germany was under Hitler. Genocide, that's called "darfur" in Sudan. Genocide, 11:46 that's called apartheid under Africano rule. That's Genocide. It was politics and a crazy 11:52 political decision to kill all the boys of one race. Genocide that made God call Moses out of 12:00 a bush and he said, "Moses, go tell mean old pharaoh to let my people go. " God's preachers and 12:08 God's prophets have always had a word from the Lord about social justice and politics. Read your 12:16 Bible. People get mad of me and brother live, you preach too much about social justice and 12:28 politics. But that's what the world is all about. Isaiah preach against the governmental 12:37 policies that oppressed the poor and help people in captive. Jeremiah preached against the 12:46 government's reliance on military might Amos preached against the government's home 12:54 made religion that had nothing to do with God's will, God's righteousness or God's justice 13:05 and John the Baptist preached the same. When John the Baptist win against the government, John 13:13 spoke out against the government because the government was operating an opposition to the 13:25 will of God. And whenever the government operates in opposition to the will of God, 13:33 whether it's and Pharaoh's Egypt or Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon, wherever the government operates 13:41 an opposition to the will of God, whether it's slavery in Goshen or slavery in Alabama, 13:50 whether that's genocide in Sudan or genocide in Rowanda, whether the government operates in 13:58 opposition to the will of God, the man of God or the woman of God, has to speak truth to power 14:05 and has to speak to the word of God, even if that word is not popular. That's what John did. 14:14 John, preached the word. John's preaching got him put in jail. John the Baptist spoke out 14:27 saying, "Thus say the Lord." As a result John the Baptist was thrown into prison. John the 14:33 Baptist was a political prisoner just like Nelson Mandela but the only difference being Nelson 14:39 Mandela walked out of prison and John the Baptist was killed in prison. But most of you 14:48 remember, popular by John the Baptist was that he had the privilege of baptizing Jesus. 14:54 When he saw Jesus coming to be baptized, he said, "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the 15:00 sins of the world. " I mean God has bless me and privilege me to able to sea a lot of people get 15:09 baptized and baptized a lot of people but can you imagine baptizing Jesus? Baptizing the 15:19 King of kings and the Lord of Lords?" When John pulled Jesus up out of the water that heavens 15:28 opens up, the holy ghost descended like a dove. A voice came from heaven saying, "This 15:33 is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased." John, number 1, had a miraculous conception. 15:40 John number 2, had a marvelous calling. John number 3, ate different. John, number 4, he 15:52 dress funny. Number 5, he preach the word. Number 6, he was thrown in prison but number 7, 16:00 he baptized Jesus and number 7 is completion. But in this text, Mark 1, the spotlight on John's 16:05 preaching. John's message is on getting ourselves together. Get yourself right. In the text, 16:07 he's not speaking to the political but in this text he's speaking to the personal. In 16:21 other words, despite of what's going on around us, despite what's going on with election 16:31 ballots and results in the state of Florida, despite what's going on with the election in the 16:40 state of Georgia, despite what's going on with wildfires in California, despite what 16:46 everybody else is doing in their lives, there's some personal stuff we must address in our own 16:55 lives. Before you look at somebody else look at your own self in the mirror. Before you 17:05 point your finger at somebody else, make sure you understand there are three fingers pointing 17:17 back at you. When it comes to personal stuff, John says, "We need to start with repentance. " 17:26 John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching proclaiming the baptism message of 17:36 repentance for the forgiveness of sin. Now, the first thing I want to know and I'm almost 17:42 done, is that the message that John the Baptist preaches is number 1, a break from the 17:50 traditions that shaped him. A break from his upbringing. A break from the traditions that 17:58 John, found himself growing up in. Now, remember, study the word, John's father was a 18:09 priest. John's mother came from a long line of priests traced all the way back to Aaron, the 18:20 high priest. That tradition taught that the forgiveness of sin came only by the sacrificing 18:32 of animals. Blood atonement pay the price for human beings like you and me to be forgiven but 18:42 John's message that he preached was a break from that tradition. John said, "You don't have to 18:54 get a lamb but anymore for the forgiveness of your sins. You don't have to get a goat, a 19:03 sheep, a bullock to be cleanse from sin. Behold the lamb of God which takes away the sins of the 19:09 world. He says, "Jesus was the perfect sacrifice. " He said, "Jesus, who knew no sin became 19:17 the sacrifice for our sins that to he's shed blood we might receive forgiveness from sin. " 19:24 Jesus, -- he said -- came from the bosom of the Father to the bosom of a woman. Jesus put on 19:34 humanity so that we might put of divinity. Jesus became the son of man so that we might become 19:40 the sons of God. Jesus came from heaven where the river never freeze, winds never blow, 19:55 flowers never fade, nobody's ever sick. In infancy, he's startled a king; in boyhood, he 20:05 puzzled wise men. In manhood, he ruled the course of nature and in death, He gave life. I have 20:16 come that you might have life, that you might have it more abundantly. Now, I must be 20:27 honest, I don't know why God gave John this message to preach repentance for the forgiveness 20:39 of sin I believe that God called him to preach this relevant message for such a time as this. 20:46 He needs to preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins. But I do believe it had something to 20:55 do with the fact that he needs to preach this message for the times in which he lived. You 21:03 see, friends, traditions have sometimes a way of getting in the way. Sometimes we get 21:09 trapped in our traditions. Listen to me carefully. We get trapped into doing just stuff 21:17 because it's the way we've always done it and nobody knows the meaning of the tradition 21:26 what is symbolized in the tradition? What stands behind the tradition or the real power 21:38 of the tradition? We do it, just to be doing it. We can still be doing 8-track ministry in the 21:46 internet download society because we've always done it that way. I wish I had time but 21:54 I must stop right there. John saw the people sinning in his day. He then saw them observing 22:02 the traditions of animal sacrifices to get their sins forgiven. But then John saw the 22:12 people going right back and doing the sin thing they had asked forgiveness for. They had 22:19 what we called a jailhouse salvation. You know how jailhouse salvation? That's when 22:32 some people are in prison, when they are in jail, they want to give their lives to the Lord 22:45 because they're in jail but some of them, just as soon as they get out, they go back doing the 22:57 very same thing that got them in jail in the first place. Going right back to doing whatever it 23:04 was they were doing before they came to the church house. John saw the people in his day 23:15 sinning, getting forgiveness for sin through the tradition of animal sacrifices. But then they 23:22 went back and did the same sin that they did before they asked for forgiveness. Now, we don't 23:33 have animal traditions in our day. We don't have sheep, lamb, bullocks or goats but we have 23:47 communion every quarter. We get dressed in our black and white because we don't wear black and 23:56 white for somebody they think that's a sin. We posses in the church. We sing the blood, and 24:05 all that's good. We do observe the tradition or remembering how our sins are forgiven. The bread 24:13 reminds us of Jesus' body. The grape juice reminds us of Jesus' blood. What can wash away my 24:21 sins, we say. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. We go to that tradition every quarter and then 24:32 some of us go right back out doing the same thing we were doing before we observe that 24:46 tradition. Now, you all going to look at me like I'm crazy all you want. Look at me holy all 25:00 you want but somebody knows what I'm talking about. We go back doing the same things after 25:11 communion we were doing before communion. Let's get real; some of you have numbers programmed 25:22 in your cell phone that you should have deleted a long time ago. Somebody you're looking at 25:30 me right now on Sabbath morning. On Saturday night you got some mischief already planned while 25:38 I'm preaching, you're plotting. After somebody commits today to returning tithe and offering, 25:53 somebody's going to go right back out of this church robbing God for what is his when you 26:03 leave here today. After hearing this message on John the Baptist message, after hearing both of 26:14 our choirs today, somebody is going to run out here today go to the dinner table after church 26:23 crucify the preacher, barbecue the elder, roast the deacon and they're going to curry the 26:32 choir. Do I have a witness in this place? We practice the tradition but we leave out of 26:38 here and go and do the same thing. I'm tired of going through another year of usher 26:54 day, deacon day, alumni weekend, graduation revival and there's no change. Does anybody what I'm 27:03 talking about? But John's message was a break from a tradition folks had gotten used 27:11 to. Sin; go get forgiveness from sin from an animal sacrifice and then go back and do the very 27:19 same thing again. John, says, "Enough is enough. The game is over. Stop." But then there is 27:28 one more thing. I'm not saying I want to call to your mind. Attention about John's message 27:40 of repentance for the forgiveness of sin. John's message was not only a break |
Revised 2018-11-28