“All That God Requires”October 01, 2017 A.D.by Pastor Ben Willis

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW 3:1-6, 13-17 [NLTse]
In those days John the Baptist came to the Judean wilderness and began preaching. His message was, 2 “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” 3 The prophet Isaiah was speaking about John when he said,
“He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! Clear the road for him!’”

4 John’s clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey. 5 People from Jerusalem and from all of Judea and all over the Jordan Valley went out to see and hear John. 6 And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River…

13 Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to talk Him out of it. “I am the one who needs to be baptized by You,” he said, “so why are You coming to me?”

15 But Jesus said, “It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.” So John agreed to baptize Him.
16 After His baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on Him. 17 And a voice from Heaven said, “This is My dearly loved Son, Who brings Me great joy.”

SERMON
This past week we’ve been reading the prophets Zechariah and Malachi, and just got into the opening chapters of the Gospel of Matthew as we’re reading through the Bible together this 2017.

Zechariah prophesied around 520 BC when the Jews were first allowed to return to the Promised Land from their years of exile in Babylon (the lands of modern-day Iraq). He prophesied mostly to encourage them in the work of rebuilding the Temple.

Malachi prophesied about a hundred years later: The Temple had been rebuilt and worship and the sacrificial system had been reestablished, but they were mixing with the nearby Samaritans and other surrounding peoples and so the LORD was being worshiped alongside other idols and powers, corruption was rampant, and the rich were taking advantage of the poor and helpless just like the wicked-old-days before they were exiled from the land! The days of Malachi were the days of Ezra and Nehemiah and their leadership and reforms.

And through the prophet Malachi the LORD condemns Israel for not recognizing His love in preserving them across their history as a nation and people, and for offering second-rate sacrifices (animals that were blind, stolen, crippled, and sick; He rages, “You wouldn’t offer such to your governor for his taxes, but you offer such to Me!”). The Levites and priests were to live reverently and “awe-inspired” before the LORD and the people, truthfully teaching Israel God’s Way, but instead they were showing favoritism in the teachings and the ways they carried out God’s Laws: Permitting the worship of other gods/idols; allowing for casual divorce; preaching to some that their sin and wickedness weren’t so bad; supporting the practice of sorcery; and turning a blind-eye to lying, withholding people’s wages, the oppression of widows and orphans; foreigners being deprived of justice; and withholding God’s full tithe from Him.

Israel and their leaders used the excuse that it was “too hard” to serve the Lord (1:13). But the LORD never intended for human beings to follow Him by our own strength and power.

The Prophet Zechariah a hundred years earlier told the Jewish governor, Zerubbabel, and high priest, Jeshua, “It is not by force nor by strength, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” (4:6) (More popularly known as, “Not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD.”)

And then the Lord is silent for about 400 years, letting that Word resonate in the hearts and minds of His Covenant People: “Not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD”…

And along comes Jesus Christ! John the Baptist doesn’t want to baptize the Lord thinking it best for Jesus to baptize him! But the Lord Jesus responds, “We must carry out all that God requires!” And now take notice: The Lord Jesus is baptized by John, and as He comes up out of the water He is baptized in the Holy Spirit!

“The life You’ve called us to is too hard for us,” the leaders of Israel cried out to the LORD. But Zechariah had told them, it’s “Not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD!” And the Lord Jesus tells John they must do all that God required: And Jesus is baptized in water and then baptized in the Holy Spirit! Our Father has never intended for us to live the new life He’s given us on our own: By our own strength; by our own power. We, too, must carry out all that God requires. And God requires us to be baptized in the Holy Spirit!

We need the Holy Spirit to help us in our weaknesses (Romans 8:26). We need the Holy Spirit to convicts us of our sin, opens our eyes to God’s truth, and to grant us spiritual gifts to be able to accomplish all the Father calls us to. The Holy Spirit counsels believers and guides us. Because the Holy Spirit lives within us, we can be confident asking God to help us in our times of need, and to give us the courage and grace to live as we should.

Some Christians believe that we receive the empowering baptism of the Holy Spirit when we put our trust in Christ. But that can’t be true because every single example of the Holy Spirit filling someone happens after they’ve come to faith in Jesus.

Other Christians believe that you simply have to ask and then believe you’ve received Him, even if nothing ever happens. And yet every example of the Holy Spirit filling someone in the Bible is accompanied by some manner of extraordinary event, even if those events were only experienced by the one being baptized. (Which is, of course, what happened with the Lord Jesus: Only He saw the dove, and only He clearly heard the Father’s voice. And then only He was aware of that inner-calling that drove Him into the wild places of that land for 40 days of prayer, fasting, and temptation…)

Think about what it was like for you being baptized: Whether water was poured over your head like a washing and cleansing or whether you were dunked under water like a dying and rising to new life… Baptism is the language the Bible uses to speak of being filled with God’s Spirit: The Bible speaks of it as an immersion in the life of the Spirit. The Lord Jesus says, “John immersed in water; you will be immersed in the Holy Spirit!” If we’re baptized in the Holy Spirit like we’re baptized in water, you can’t imagine the Holy Spirit merely sneaking in quietly while you are asleep and taking up residence in you unnoticed! (Of course, it may start that way, but eventually we’re going to experience “the plunge” of it all, or else Jesus and Luke would not have called it a “baptism” in the Spirit…

How do we receive the Holy Spirit? How are we baptized in the Holy Spirit? How are we filled and kept filled with the Holy Spirit?

1) Put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Savior for your sins and commit to follow Him as the Lord of your life;
2) Be baptized in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit;
3) And, seek the baptism in the Holy Spirit in prayer and with the laying on of hands of other Spirit-filled believers.

Then, once you’ve received the Holy Spirit, keep repenting and seeking the Lord (according to Psalm 51:11); don’t upset the Holy Spirit in you by saying “no” to His direction or by neglecting His promptings (Ephesians 4:30; 1 Timothy 4:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:19); keep praying that He would keep filling you (Ephesians 5:18); always follow the Spirit’s leadings (Galatians 5:16, 25); and, keep about that which keeps you growing spiritually, sowing to the Spirit, they say (Galatians 6:7-8).

“But for you who fear My name,” Malachi preached to those hard-hearted Israelites so long ago, “But for you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in His wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves led out to pasture… You will tread upon the wicked as if they were dust under your feet! (Malachi 4:2-3)
[Move to behind the Lord’s Table…]

If you do not believe you have received the Holy Spirit – that is, been baptized in the Spirit or been filled with the Holy Spirit (it all refers to the same experience) – then, publicly declare your trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior from sin and the Lord of your life by celebrating the New Covenant God has made with us by eating and drinking Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross by faith, and then, after Closing Song and Benediction, come forward and have the Elders lay hands on you that you may be filled with power from on high! (And Elders, if you’re not sure whether or not you’ve received the Holy Spirit, be first in line so that you can, in-turn, then pray for others.) Let’s ask Him for what He desires to give us. Let’s carry out all that the Lord requires. Let’s humble ourselves before the Lord so that He may lift us up!
[Go right into praying for the bread and the cup…]