 Tonight we're in chapter 3 here in the gospel of Luke. We're going to be looking at verses 15 through 18 Because I want to take my time in the next couple of sections, and so we're going to be looking only at verses third Rather 15 through 18 So in Luke chapter 3 beginning at verse 15 our read to verse 18 and we'll get into our study Luke chapter 3 beginning at verse 15 reading to verse 18 Luke writes now As the people were in expectation and all reasoned in their hearts about John whether he was the Christ or not John answered saying to them all I Indeed baptize you with water But one mighter than I is coming whose sandal strap. I am not worthy to loose He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire His winnowing fan is in his hand and he will thoroughly purge his threshing floor and gather the wheat into his barn But the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire and With many other exhortations he preached to the people Now as we're looking in chapter 3 We're looking at the life of a man by the name of John the Baptist Obviously, he's referred to as the Baptist not because he went to the Baptist Church of Jerusalem But because he was one who baptized and so he's referred to as John the Baptist And as we've seen him already in chapter 1 as well as Being reintroduced to him in chapter 3. We've seen that he was an incredible man a man that God used in an Extremely mighty way. We know that he was a miracle child We know that he was born to a couple that had passed their years of childbearing We also know that as Luke was writing concerning them that they were devout they were righteous believers They were descendants from priests in Israel and one was a was a practicing priest at that time They're described by lucas righteous and blameless people and yet they're advanced in years and elizabeth The mother of john the Baptist is barren In spite of the obstacles of age and her barrenness God had made it possible for them as we've read and studied in chapter 1 for them to have a son The son that god was giving to them was one who was destined to have a tremendous impact on the nation of israel If you remember chapter 1 verses 14 and 15 luke had said prophetically luke was Writing the prophetic words concerning john you will have Joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth For he will be great in the side of the lord and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink He will also be filled with the holy spirit even from his mother's womb And so this miracle child was destined to be used by the lord in a tremendous way We know that he spent the majority of his life from childhood up to adulthood in the wilderness of israel waiting for his call We also know that he being about six months older than jesus was around 30 years old When the word of god came to him and he began his ministry So here he came in chapter 3 out of the wilderness and he came preaching with conviction and courage And uh began to minister to the people as he was proclaiming to them that they needed to get ready for the uh the messiah Who is to come now i'd like you to turn with me for a moment to matthew's gospel I want to show you something our matthew chapter 11 because the lord jesus christ speaks about john in this particular chapter matthew chapter 11 beginning at verse 7 And jesus speaks concerning his cousin And it says here in matthew chapter 11 verse 7 After some people had come and spoken to jesus as they departed Jesus began to say to the multitude concerning john What did you go out into the wilderness to see a reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see a man clothed in soft garments? Indeed those who wear soft clothing are in king's houses But what did you go out to see a prophet? Yes, I say to you and more than a prophet For this is he of whom it is written behold i send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you Assuredly i say to you among those born of women there has not risen one greater than john the baptist But he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he amongst those born of women there has not arisen One greater than john the baptist excluding himself And so the lord jesus christ as you turn on back to luke chapter 3 spoke concerning this man john a man who was fiery A man who was filled with conviction and courage This is a man who came came preaching to the nation of israel and notice with me that as we looked at this passage last time We were together he came preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sin And so as he was coming and preaching the message of preparation telling people to be ready because messiah is going to come People would receive baptism And as they received baptism they were coming in reception of baptism and were in doing so confessing that they were sinners In need of a salvation And as i was looking at this in chapter 3 as i was preparing today concerning this i began to wonder within myself about the message That john had a message that was very powerful a message that was extremely Convicting he was a man who when he spoke he's he meant no words We're going to see that as we continue to see him exposed to us through luke's gospel and all But this was an individual who spoke with tremendous conviction by the power of the holy spirit He had courage as he did so And uh, he was a man who had no problem whatsoever speaking to people in a very straightforward way Remember in verse 7 how it says he spoke to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him Rude of vipers who warned you to flee from the wrath to come But an amazingly powerful thing to do could you picture him on tbn or any other christian station Being interviewed by paul crouch or somebody and have him speak like that to the audience Do you think he'd be asked to come back? I doubt it very much because people would think that this guy's message Was abrasive they would think he was abusive even they would they would have a problem with the man Like him today But this is an individual who had no problem saying listen god is righteous and man is not He had no problem saying god is sinless, but we are sinners. He had no problem with that He wasn't concerned about Sanctifying people's egos and giving them self confidence and and self esteem The bottom line is he knew that people needed to see themselves as depraved Not simply people who are victimized He wanted people to see themselves as being separated from god Not just simply in need of personal fulfillment You see today we have many people as a matter of fact I would say probably the majority of americans who who believe that life is really a quest for personal fulfillment John would have a problem with that. He'd say no life isn't isn't a pursuit of personal fulfillment life is To glorify god And you need to see yourself for what you are Because if you don't There's really no way that you're going to glorify the lord So we're in the season now of american idol I wonder do any of you watch any of it raise your hand. I want to know do you you watch it, huh interesting, isn't it It really is I mean I watch it and sometimes i'm ashamed to say that I laugh But I do I say oh my goodness because they come out they're saying I am the next american idol like like big bird did yesterday and Probably wasn't kind was it but I but I Watch it and I say You know my my goodness But so many are saying that they indeed have incredible talent in the world has been waiting for them to be unleashed on the world And then we see their their you know auditions and you know One says well I can't really sing because the wooden platform here is Is causing my voice to not sound as good as it is and then they stand on the rug and and are even worse and And and yet and yet their mind and this is what amazes me. It's it's extremely delusional, but their mind Really is telling them that they are sounding exquisite That they are absolutely better than anybody who's ever existed in the world will stand in line to hear them in concert It amazes me, but it also hurts and it really does it actually hurts. I'll tell marie sometimes I'll say you know this is this is sad Because they're deluded because they really have gotten caught up with what they want to be Reality which is that they might someday stand on a stage and and command the adoration Of of millions of people. I how sad that really is when you really begin to think about it That for them the peak of their existence is going to be if they cut a record deal and go and sing in malls for a year And that to me is very sad It really is but you want to know something I have encountered an awful lot of people who morally are american idols They absolutely believe they're a lot better than they are They believe they're good And perhaps they're not as as bad as the next person and maybe they're better than some But the problem is is they have this this this awareness of their own spirituality in such a way that it's over inflated You see the gospel And the message even of john which was preparatory for the gospel to be presented through jesus the the message tells us That we are we are sinners that we are cut off from god And that the only thing that we have awaiting us is as a is judgment And and if god hadn't stepped into into the world to rescue us Then we ultimately would be lost forever in in eternal damnation as a matter of fact You're going to see that when he says in verse 17 the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire That's another way of saying that there is eternal judgment awaiting those who reject him. That's the gospel That's the message the message that isn't hasn't been sent by god to massage our egos But to awaken us from our delusion And and we are deluded many of us are deluded into believing that we are much better than we actually are And it actually really does take a strong message and sometimes through a man like john the baptist a strong messenger Who is willing to put his head on the line and ultimately lose it as we know he does For speaking the truth in such a way That it that it helps people to realize that they're lost And that they need to make a choice a decision as to whether or not they're going to pursue god or continue in the sin that they're living in You know today churches have become aware of the flow of culture And unfortunately what has happened is the church has begun to accommodate this flow And so what we end up doing is entertaining people who are who are lost instead of challenging them I was reading something just today where a pastor said worship is not all doom and gloom Where we take our bibles and just bore each other Let's show the world that we also can have fun And I think within myself if that really is I mean is that the reason that I have been created and is that the reason That I stand behind this pulpit and share with people so that I can prove to the world that I can have as much fun as the world Is that what salvation is intended to do? It did god say look and i'm going to send my son jesus christ to dying across In order that you might be free to have some good times. I have a real problem with that There's a writer by the name of oswald chambers Who said we must never confuse our desire for people to accept the gospel With creating a gospel that is acceptable to people And so what john would do is john would speak the truth and he called people to repentance And as he was preaching to them he told them there must be fruit that is Demonstrating true repentance in other words your lives will demonstrate if you've turned away from your sins He had said to them and we saw this last time you to reject self righteousness You're to reject greed you're to reject violence and you're to begin to love other people You're you're you're to turn away from yourself and turn to god and in doing so your life is going to demonstrate that In the way that you treat other people In roman's chapter 13 verse 9 the bible says the commandments you shall not commit adultery You shall not murder you shall not steal You shall not bear false witness you shall not covet And if there is any other commandment are all summed up in this saying namely you shall love your neighbor as yourself You see if I love my neighbor as much as I love myself. I'm not going to commit adultery. I'm not going to murder them I'm not going to steal from them. I'm not going to lie about them. I'm not going to covet what they have Because I love them now my mom taught us Children she had four of us She really should have only had one me but she had four She didn't ask me permission to have the others But my mom taught us as we're growing up To love one another That was a real big thing in the family to love each other to have love for one another And to you know just just to rejoice with each other and if something good happens to one of my siblings and my brother and my sisters I should be glad about that. I was taught to do that. My mom taught us that That she didn't favor one or the other and she taught us to care about each other and and to be fair with one another From the time we were small and I can still remember some of the lessons that she taught us in that In that way and she was speaking to me recently and told me That prior to my father going home to be with the lord somebody had a company had stopped by her house In order to share with them or actually to sell them Some things related to caskets and funeral arrangements and you know writing up wills and things like that And my mom said that one of the salesmen said to her You need to put all of your things You know the things that you own and all your will in order and put it down in writing and and all of that because When you're when when you die when your husband dies He said Your children are going to be vultures Uh taking everything and my mom just told me this recently and she said that when they said your kids are going to be vultures My mom says she stood up from the table there She walked to the front door and opened the door And she said you can leave Because she said my children are not vultures They weren't raised to be vultures and they're not going to do something like that, which my mom of course is 100 Correct. I didn't want my father's things. I want my father And so that's how we were raised and that's the truth So the bottom line is love Love is what god has called us to do and and if i'm loving a person then again, i'm not going to be self-righteous I'm not going to be greedy. I'm not going to be violent. I'm just going to be loving them And that's what we've been looking up looking at up to this point And so as we continue on in verse 15 as this is all going out on luke says Now as the people were in expectation and all reasoned in their hearts about john Whether he was a christ or not john answered saying to them i indeed baptize you with water But one mightier than i is coming whose sandal strap i am not worthy to lose He will baptize you with the holy spirit and with fire So during this time according to verse 15, there's a great expectation occurring in the nation of israel a growing number of people Are hoping for the arrival of messiah And john begins to fit into their expectations notice how it says in verse 15 all reasoned in their hearts about john Whether he was the christ or not You see john's preaching has attracted tremendous attention It had said in verse 7 multitudes came out to be baptized And so his his ministry is gathering a lot of attention now In matthew 3 5 3 5 and 6 it says jerusalem all judaea All the region around the jordan went out to him and were baptized by him and the jordan confessing their sins So his ministry is far-reaching and greatly respected by the general population And so there are people now who are obviously looking for messiah, but they're now growing confused about john And part of the reason that they're getting confused about john is because john is baptizing he's baptizing jews You see baptism is basically Reserve for gentile converts and so as he was baptizing he was calling people to repent and turn back to god And that was a message that was familiar to them if you remember second chronicles chapter 7 verse 14 If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face You remember how god said then i will hear from heaven i'll forgive them of their sins and i will heal their land And so this is a message that they were familiar with They knew that the old testament prophets very often had called the nation of israel to repentance and god had said That if you repent i'll heal you if you repent i'll forgive you of your sins if you repent i'll be amongst you And so as they're hearing this message from john who has come and spoken to the nation and says to the nation You need to repent you need to turn away from your sins You need to do the right kinds of things demonstrating that god is amongst you What happens is people begin to question amongst themselves could this possibly be messiah Now this isn't the only place that this is handled. Let me turn you right now to john's gospel I want to show you something there john's gospel chapter 1 and i want to show you something john chapter 1 And you'll see that this is really an ongoing kind of thing in john chapter 1 verse 19 Now this is the testimony of john when the jew sent priests and levites from jerusalem to ask him. Who are you? He confessed and did not deny but confessed i am not the christ They asked him what then are you elisha? He said i'm not are you the prophet? He answered no Then they said to him who are you that we may give an answer to those who sent us What do you say about yourself? He said i am the voice of one crying in the wilderness make straight the way of the lord As the prophet isaia said now those who were sent were from the Pharisees And they asked him saying why then do you baptize if you're not the christ nor elisha nor the prophet? john answered them saying i baptize with water but there there stands one among you whom you do not know It is he who coming after me is preferred before me whose sandal strap i am not worthy to lose And so this is something that was an ongoing situation with them You see as they came these priests and levites came they asked the question of john you just read that in verse 19 They asked him who are you so people are wondering they're wondering if you're messiah So what do you have to say about yourself verse 20 says well he confessed and didn't deny i but confessed i'm not the christ I'm not messiah. I'm not the anointed one Had john claimed to be messiah there were people who were prepared to accept him, but he immediately made it very clear I'm not the christ As a matter of fact i find it interesting that he answers a question that wasn't even asked and so they asked him in verse 21 Well, who are you are you elisha? He says i'm not Now if you're messiah if you're not messiah then maybe you're another great figure. How about elisha now? Why would they say elisha? Well when you begin to look at elisha in the old testament you discovered that there were similarities that one of the similarities Obviously was that he looked similar to elisha in second kings chapter 1 verse 8 elisha is described as a harry man wearing a leather belt around his waist Matthew 3 verse 4 says that john was clothed in camels here with a leather belt around his waist So one he looked similar to elisha two both elisha and john had similar ministries. They called the nation to repentance elisha preached to the king ahab and a nation pursuing idolatry But john preached to harrid and a nation in need of national repentance And then three the jews were looking for elisha to come as promised in malachi Because malachi 4 5 says i will send you elisha the prophet before they come into the great and dreadful day of the lord And so john answers and said i'm not elisha so they say to him in verse 21. Are you the prophet? Now when it says there are you the prophet there was a belief in the coming of a second moses at the end of the age Deuteronomy 18 15 says the lord your god will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst from your brethren Him you shall hear Deuteronomy 18 18 i will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren and will put my words in his mouth He shall speak to them all that i command him They were expecting A man like moses a human being bringing to them message of god I was in israel a while back It's been a few years now talking to the guide we had at that time Who was an orthodox jew? And as we were speaking I had never asked him this question before and he had been our guide on several occasions over the years and I had never asked him this question before I didn't want to insult him And I was waiting for the lord to open the door so I could share with him But he was the guide not only to me but many calvary chapels. He'd heard many of our messages We'd all had very faithfully presented the gospel through our teachings and all I knew that he was aware of the messages and all in the gospel as a matter of fact This was a man who whenever I would go to a site would turn to me and say look in this particular site You ought to use the gospel of mark more than the gospel of matthew because matthew says this and mark says this And I mean he knew the new testament because he'd been at the site so many times and heard chuck and others preach So he'd say this is really the best place for you to use john here Or there are six different places you and he used to do that And so he was so convincing very often our our people on the tourists actually thought that he was a christian In reality, he wasn't a christian. He was an orthodox jew was very very well versed in basic bible, especially new testament And so on one occasion he and I were speaking and we're having a cup of coffee And in northern israel by the sea of galilee. I still remember where it was And as we're drinking this coffee he looks at me and he sees you probably wonder why we jews don't receive jesus christ as our messiah And I smiled at him And I said, well, yeah, I'd I'd like to you know I'd like to know He says because we believe That god is going to send a prophet like moses He got that from where I just read to you deuteronomy 1815 deuteronomy 1818 We believe that god is sending unto us a prophet a man Like moses who is going to lead as a great Deliverer the nation of israel out of its trouble We cannot believe that god took upon himself human flesh because we believe That would violate god's command against making a graven image of anything in heaven And so for us messiah has to be a human being has to be He says and that's why you christians who claim that jesus christ is god in the flesh are not received by Those of us who are orthodox Because we are looking for a man Like moses to deliver us And it was at that moment for the first time that I can remember That I actually saw so that's how antichrist Will be accepted by the nation So that's how it's going to happen You don't want to receive messiah because you believe it's a violation of god's word So contrary to god's word you will receive the antichrist The interesting thing though is that belief goes all the way back To even the time of of john the baptist When people were wondering who are you if you're not the messiah are you elisha? If you're not elisha, are you the prophet? Just exactly who are you What are you saying about yourself and and what would you have us to know about you? And that's why john makes it very clear. Listen. I am not the messiah I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. So turning on back to luke chapter three As you turn back they wanted to know listen if you're not the messiah and you're not elisha a prophet Then why are you baptizing people? You might find this interesting Jews did not receive water baptism Though they would baptize themselves in ritual bath prior to Making offerings and a variety of other things Gentiles when they converted from being a gentile into becoming a jew would be baptized So they wanted to know why john was baptizing people Because as they were being baptized They were actually beginning to identify with something that was new now When god began to work in the nation of israel and even prior to that when god began to work with the People with people when he began to work with abraham He gave abraham a visible sign and that was circumcision When he gave to the nation of israel something that was visible He gave to them not only circumcision that to put into the law, but also he gave to them The law of moses that they would hold fast to And then with john what they give to him as a symbol is water baptism So these are all symbols of how god is working amongst men through circumcision the law of moses and now baptism unto repentance And so this is what's taking place here And so they're in expectation according to verse 15 The reasoning in their hearts about john whether he's the christ or not verse 16 But john answers saying to them i indeed baptize you with water But one mighter than i is coming whose sandal strap i am not worthy to lose He will baptize you with the holy spirit and fire when jesus comes There will be a new symbol by which people will be identified as children of god It's going to be the gift of the holy spirit It's going to be the holy spirit purging your life living in you and empowering the people of god You see in joel chapter 2 verses 28 and 29 The old testament says it shall come to pass afterward that it will pour out my spirit on all flesh Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy your old men shall dream dreams your young men shall see And also on my men's servants and my maid servants. I will pour out my spirit in those days So god had made a statement. He said listen. I am going to pour out my spirit as the great promise And and the power of the holy spirit coming upon us that is coupled with the word of god is going to be a Transforming power that god uses to reach the world Ezekiel told us i will spring sprinkle clean water on you. You shall be clean I will cleanse you from your filthiness into your idols I'll give you a new heart put a new spirit within you I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes And you will keep my judgments and do them. Obviously this was ultimately fulfilled on the day of pentecost 120 people are awaiting the promise that god had given in an upper room there in jerusalem And god baptizes them through the power of the holy spirit What is it that we need today if it's not the power of the holy spirit? What is it that the church needs today? It's not gimmicks It's not programs. It's not ways to entice people into the four walls of a church What we really need is we need the power of the holy spirit When I first got saved the holy spirit began to work in my life as a 20 year old And after five years of drugs and alcohol and everything that went along with that That there was a refreshing that took place in my life. There was an invigoration. There was a power surge There was something that happened that was so transforming that it radically caused me to change in such a way that for 36 years I've been following the lord as a transformed individual That didn't come because of one day. I decided I'm a bad person and I need some help My dad had taken me to a psychologist and the psychologist couldn't do anything for me I talked about my problems, but they weren't being dealt with I talked about my sins, but they couldn't be forgiven. He couldn't forgive me of my sins He didn't even believe in sins more than likely All I had is just, you know, some neuroses or some, you know, bad childhood experiences Or whatever it is that he was beginning to ascertain through conversation with me But you want to know something? You know, he could not talk me out of the life that I was living He could not talk me into being a loving person. He could not talk me into being a forgiving person He couldn't talk me into being a gentle person. He couldn't talk me into being anything like that He couldn't do that. You cannot talk somebody into that Because if somebody can talk you into that then somebody else can talk you out of that It took the conviction of the Holy Spirit It took the power of God, a radical transformation and empowering To cause this person to be radically transformed into the person that you see today And that's what God wants to do in our lives You know, we don't preach religion here What we say is, listen, get connected to God through Jesus Christ So forgive you of your sins Not only that, he'll empower you to live a life that glorifies him and is pleasing to you Now you don't get saved so that you can have a perpetual happy day You get saved because you're a sinner in need of God's forgiveness You get saved because you know that you're cut off from God And you design a relationship with him You get saved because you know that you've sinned against God and God alone And you need to be transformed by God and forgiven by him That's why you're saved And when you're saved, your life begins to be It begins to demonstrate the reality of that And that's why John had said, listen If you're going to receive this baptism that leads into repentance Or the baptism of repentance And what you need to do is you need to demonstrate that you really have repented by a changed life But I can't change my life That's why I need something more than a symbol That's why water baptism never will save me Because water baptism, all it can do is wash the outer person It just cleanses the skin God wants to put a new heart within you God wants to transform you from the inside out Oh man, so many times people get caught up with the outside You know, when I was a young guy, so long ago The bad thing was not wearing shoes and having long hair And it was all outside It was all outside Today, the bad seemed things to be You know, wearing piercings and tattoos And you can't really be a Christian if you have that Bringing your nose and I think that we just get caught up with the superficial so much, don't we? We get caught up so much with the outside We really, really do You know, God, when I got saved, God didn't say, okay, now you're like me You better get a short haircut So that people will listen to you God said in his word, I'm forgiving you of your sins And I will transform you and conform you into the image of my son And so I didn't go around asking if there were any photographs of Jesus So that I could wear my hair like that or look like that Trim my beard like that I just began to read the Bible to discover what he was like And I think that the church gets caught up so much in the superfluous, the superficial When what God wants to really do is just transform our lives And the only way my life can be transformed That's right Is by the Holy Spirit Now I wish I would have said, I wish I'd have said the Holy Spirit and then it would have popped That would have been good But that's the only way That's the only way Just the Holy Spirit I'm not going to ask you to raise your hand So don't worry But if you had a quiet moment just between you and the Lord And the Holy, and God said to you Have you been baptized by my spirit? Do you know, be on a shadow of a doubt That you're walking in my power And then he said, and how do you know that? What would your answer be? Don't say anything, please, of course, I'm not asking you to But could you say, you know what? I know I've been baptized in the Holy Spirit I know that because as I've read the Bible I've discovered that Jesus Christ is the Holy Ghost Baptizer It wasn't John the Baptist and it wasn't his apostles Sometimes people say, well, you know this baptism in the Holy Spirit That's a first century, first generation kind of thing And God baptized the early church in the day of Pentecost But that doesn't mean that it's repeatable I don't see anywhere that the apostles were the Holy Ghost Baptizer I see that Jesus Christ is I can still remember When I was a young believer going to a revival at a Pentecostal church And I still remember as they gave the invitation to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit I was so hungry for the things of God I can still remember saying, God, I just want whatever you have for me And I went up there and I prayed and I sought the Lord And that was, you know, 36 years ago Kneeling down at a little Terriene bench that they call it And praying God in Jesus' name, fill me with your spirit I don't care if people think I'm odd or strange or uncool What I really want is your power because I'm aware of the power of sin And I'm aware of the power of my old nature And the temptations and the drawing back that occurs And if I don't have you living within me and strengthening me Then Lord, I'm not going to survive I need your power See, within three months after getting saved I went into the military And anybody who's been in the military will tell you That's a difficult place to live your faith out It really is The temptations are incredible and continuous In our barracks, we had our beer machine right there in the barracks You could go for, you know, a quarter or whatever it was You could buy your beer, take it back to your bunk And you could drink yourself into oblivion Any time you want, didn't cost hardly anything at all to do that There was temptation everywhere You'd go to the city I was stationed in Fort Bragg, you'd go into Fayetteville And Fayetteville, it's bar after bar after bar after bar There's fighting and the variety of things It's there all the time You can do that any time you want You can blow your paycheck in a day It's very easy to do that It's not hard, a lot of my friends did that all along Me, I started thinking, Lord, I want to live for you And this is a very dark place It's a very difficult place This is a place filled with temptation Lord, it's easy for me to stumble I need help I need your power And sometimes I was successful Sometimes I wasn't I can't say that I walked unscathed Because I didn't I blew my testimony more than one time there in the military But I knew that without God's power I would not have survived I knew that And I began to actually consciously pray My last year in the military While I was stationed there at Fort Bragg I would pray on a daily basis And I would say, God, keep me strong Make me strong, I need to be strong I need your spirit I need your spirit to work within me Because Christianity is not a philosophy Alone, it has philosophic tenets and all of that But it's not a philosophy alone It's a relationship with God And it's empowering And see, that's what he's saying He's saying, listen I'm not worthy to even bend down And tie the sandals of the Lord Jesus Christ He must increase I must decrease I'm just the voice of one crying in the wilderness Prepare the way of the Lord But he's the one you're preparing for I can baptize you with water As you confess your need for God But he baptizes you with the Holy Spirit And with fire He's the one that you need in your life He's the one who's going to empower you And strengthen you He's the one who's going to give you a heart of flesh As he removes that heart of stone He's the one who's going to write his word On the tablets of your heart And he's the one who's going to give you the power To be able to fulfill that Which he gives you the desire to do It all comes from him Therefore, he says, don't look to me Like I'm a psychic because I'm not Look to him And open your heart to him And be willing and asking him Lord, in Jesus' name, empower me with your Holy Spirit Because Lord, you know beyond a shadow of a doubt How difficult it is out there for us And without you, without your power You know, I'm going to just be swept away by this world So he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit And with fire If you have never taken that moment To say, God, in Jesus' name, fill me with your Spirit Empower me with, I encourage you to do that tonight I encourage you to do that Because you need it You need his power There have been people who have asked me How come you're so bold? And I can be Part of it, I guess, is because I come from a family Where I was given permission to talk when I wanted to My mom didn't get mad at me if I said what was on my mind So I had freedom Secondly, yeah, I was a hippie And hippies didn't care what other people thought about them If people hated us, so what? Who cares? I don't care, who are you? What do I care? That's true And I'm still pretty much like that People hate me, I don't care But that's not really it, that's flesh What makes a person bold is the Spirit The Holy Spirit Because you come to believe that this is true And that if people don't get right with God They're going to hell And when God puts love in your heart for people You will tell them the truth Even if they don't like you for doing so And so that comes, I believe, from the Spirit of God I mean, they crucified Jesus and cut John the Baptist's head off Well, how do we expect them to treat us? And so he's saying that He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire Verse 17 His winnowing fan is in his hand He will thoroughly purge his threshing floor And gather the wheat into his barn But the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire And with many other exhortations he preached to the people Well, in other words, as he's winnowing And separating the wheat from the chaff Not all people are going to receive Messiah And that's quite obvious during the time of Jesus Multitudes rejected him And they ultimately did find a way to have him crucified Not all will receive Messiah Jeremiah tells us in chapter 35 verse 15 I have also sent to you all my servants the prophets Rising up early and sending them Saying, Turn now everyone from his evil way Amend your doings and do not go after other gods to serve them Then you will dwell in the land which I have given you and your fathers But you have not inclined your ear nor obeyed me So Jeremiah was saying, Listen, you need to turn your ear to the Lord and obey him He said, And I've sent my prophets, they got up early And they preached all day, but you wouldn't listen to them And that's the United States today, by the way And that's the truth Even churches like this, see people don't know what Calvary Chapel is Sometimes they drive by and they see a big building They see a lot of cars, they wonder what's going on They think it must be entertaining or something They show up, they get a Bible study and they get bored Because they don't know what to expect They walk in thinking there must be something Maybe there's some trampolines or some trapezes or something There got to be something going on in there And they roll up and they come in and they look around And they say, Oh, I don't need this, you know, this isn't what I was expecting Just because somebody goes to church and somebody may even put up with a message Doesn't mean they're saved And so God has a way of going in and he has a way of lifting up that That wheat and as he's lifting up the wheat, everybody knows this Whenever you take care of wheat and you separate it You go onto a hill where the wind is blowing You have all the wheat there that is put there in its kernel You take that pitchfork if you will You throw it up into the air The wind catches the chaff and blows it away And the kernel hits the ground And ultimately they gather up the kernel of wheat The chaff has been blown away It's been separated And that's what happens with the preaching of the word of God When God's word goes forth When John was proclaiming the message Even tonight when the word goes forth People's lives are thrown into the air The chaff blows away and the wheat settles And that's how it works Not everybody receives Christ Not everybody follows Jesus Christ Not everybody wants Jesus Christ There are so many people today that claim to be Christian Or believe themselves to be And I think they're greatly deceived Because their lives don't demonstrate that they know God at all I encounter people like that quite often No judgment, just fact Just fact Ultimately God is the judge And sometimes people may be not walking with the Lord at that moment But that doesn't mean he's not convicting them But so often people I believe especially today Are getting such a watered down message They don't even repent They think that they're Christian Because they show up at church and maybe give or serve once in a while They don't have a relationship with God It's temporary at best And they did it so they could get something out of it John says, listen, you need to know that his winning fans in his hand He's going to thoroughly purge his threshing floor He's going to gather the wheat into his barn The chaff will burn with unquenchable fire That speaks of judgment And with many other exhortations He preached to the people And he passionately, passionately called to them Wanting them to listen To listen Ezekiel 1831 Cast away from you all the transgressions Which you have committed Get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit For why should you die, oh house of Israel Let God work in your life to transform you And that's the preaching of repentance Not very popular As a matter of fact, some people find it mean-spirited But you want to know something? If one of my daughters, my unmarried daughter My unmarried daughter was being asked out on a date by somebody And I didn't know him And I got a phone call And somebody said, you know, Pastor David, I need to let you know something You know, this guy's chasing down your daughter Wants to be with her And I want you to know that he has a history of breaking hearts I also want you to know that he has made it very clear in front of me That he's intending to break your daughter's heart And I think I better warn you Because he doesn't have good intentions for her What kind of father would I be If I knew that and didn't tell her anything What kind of father would I be If I knew that somebody was going to rip her off And hurt her and possibly take her And break her heart What kind of dad would I be If I didn't sit down with my little girl and say, listen baby girl I need to let you know something I've heard some things about this guy and I'm concerned about it Because it came from a good source And I think it's true So honey, would you mind if I sat down with him tonight When he comes over and kill him I'll do it nicely And I'll give him a free funeral too I'll preach a good message, I promise you I mean, what kind of dad would I be If I didn't sit her down and say, baby girl You need to be aware of something, I don't approve of this Would that be a good dad or a bad dad I think that's a good dad Because as a father, I want to protect those whom I love And I believe that the preaching of repentance And preaching with conviction Is safeguarding the ones you love You're telling them the truth So even if they get upset And they walk out saying, oh, I've been judged Maybe that was the Holy Spirit's conviction Saying it's time to change It's time to stop playing It's time to get right with God Maybe that's what was happening Not just rain on somebody's parade John was bold, courageous Preached with conviction Because he was anointed by the Spirit And he said, you've got to get right with God Because if you don't, he has an unquenchable fire awaiting you And he will separate the wheat from the chaff He knew that not everybody would listen But those who did became followers of Jesus Christ