In the sermon 'The Word Of God Came To John,' Jason Dohm explores the introduction of John the Baptist in Luke 3:1-6, emphasizing his role as a prophet akin to those in the Old Testament. Luke's gospel is framed as a historical account written for a Gentile audience, aiming to affirm the certainty of the teachings about the Messiah. The sermon highlights the political and religious context of John the Baptist's ministry, mentioning key figures like Tiberius Caesar and Pontius Pilate, all of whom are depicted as morally deficient. John the Baptist's ministry is characterized by his call for repentance and baptism for the remission of sins, symbolizing a turning away from sin and turning towards God. The sermon underscores that true repentance is marked by a change of mind leading to a change of life, not a mere verbal acknowledgment. It also stresses that while repentance does not earn forgiveness, it is inseparably linked to salvation, which is made possible through faith in Jesus Christ. The sermon concludes by affirming that God's work is often done outside earthly power structures, highlighting the eternal significance of John the Baptist's message and the coming of Jesus as the Messiah.

The title of the message this morning is, The Word of God Comes to John. Not John the Disciple, but John the Baptist. I'm going to try to say John the Baptist every time, just so there's no confusion with the Disciple of Jesus. There are two prominent Johns. This is not the one we normally think of.

Okay, where have we been and where are we now? This is how Luke frames his gospel. So I'm just going to read the first four verses of Luke. That was a memory text, but we haven't been in it for a while. So just listen again to Luke's framing of the gospel.

He's setting up his gospel. Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word delivered them to us, seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you and orderly account, most excellent Theophilus that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed." So who is Luke writing to? Well me and you is an okay answer for that, but more immediately he's writing to the most excellent theophilist. A good old Jewish name, not on your life. This is probably a Gentile.

Most likely this is a gospel written most immediately to a Gentile. And why is he writing? So that this non-Jew may know the certainty of the things that he had been instructed in. And Those are things having to do with the Messiah, the one anointed by God to come and save sinners. So that is what Luke is about.

Up to this point, we're starting chapter three. We've had the events leading up to and including the birth of John the Baptist and then Jesus. And then at the end of chapter 2 last week, we had this one account from Jesus' boyhood. We have nothing from John the Baptist's boyhood. We have this one account of Jesus' boyhood, nothing like it in any of the other gospels of Jesus at the temple, astonishing the rabbis.

Now we're moved forward to when both John the Baptist and Jesus are about 30 years old. So big gap, don't know anything about it, but here we are. John the Baptist is roughly 30 years old. Jesus is roughly 30 years old, and they are on the cusp of beginning their public ministry. Neither have begun their public ministry yet, but they're both about to.

And because John the Baptist is Forerunner of Jesus the Messiah, his job is to prepare the people for the Messiah. John the Baptist public ministry begins first. That's the whole point of being a forerunner is to make people ready for who is coming and it's Jesus who's coming. So John the Baptist public ministry starts first. That's where we are.

This is where Luke left us off with John the Baptist. It was the last verse of chapter 1, chapter 1 verse 80. So the child, John the Baptist, grew and became strong in spirit and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel. So we don't know how how long he's been in the deserts, but this is where Luke left John the Baptist in the deserts becoming strong in spirit and awaiting his day of being revealed to to Israel. Let's pray.

God I thank you for the text before us. I thank you for this precious, precious gospel that you've given us an orderly account of the things that were fulfilled among the eyewitnesses so that we can know the certainty of these things. Pray that you would give us great confidence in the things that we're learning week by week in Jesus' name, amen. Okay, so we'll subdivide. I'm gonna begin with verses one and two.

Hopefully your Bibles are still open to Luke chapter 3. Follow along as I reread verses 1 and 2. Now in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip, tetrarch of Iteria in the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias, tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests. The word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. In verses 1 and 2, John the Baptist comes on the scene.

If you're taking notes on the handout scene, it fills in the blank. John the Baptist comes on the scene. There are seven names here, aside from John. Five are Gentile rulers, non-Jews who are part of the Roman structure of government, though not all five are technically Romans. They're definitely all five, not Jews.

And they formed the rulers of the civil government at this time. Two are Jewish men of the lineage of Aaron They are high priests. So They are at the top of the religious hierarchy in Jerusalem So you're you're getting the hierarchy of authority on the civil side and on the religious side from the top down on the civil side it's Caesar and on the religious side it is the high priests in chapter 2 verse 1 it's been a long time since we were in chapter 2 verse 1, there Luke connected us with the whole world. He got us outside of Israel and it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. So we haven't been in Israel the whole time and we had a window into what was happening in the greater world and we've already been introduced to a Caesar, Caesar Augustus, who called for the census that sent Joseph and Mary into Judea to Bethlehem.

This is the world that John the Baptist was embarking on his public ministry in and this is the world that the Lord Jesus will embark on his public ministry in. Who were these men? Well I'll give you a little. I won't give you a lot but I'll give you a little. Tiberius Caesar is the son-in-law and adopted heir of Augustus Caesar.

So he was his son-in-law, and he adopted him as his heir to succeed him. Augustus didn't like him, but he hoped that ultimately his grandsons would eventually come to the throne through this arrangement. So this was sort of an arrangement of convenience for Augustus Caesar in hopes that his grandsons would rule in his place. Even though he didn't particularly like Tiberius, his son-in-law, he made him, He adopted him as his heir. Now this is the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar's reign.

By the way, in Roman history there are 12 Caesars and Tiberius is number three. You have Julius Caesar and then his grand nephew who he adopted, Augustus Caesar, and now you have this son-in-law of Augustus Caesar that he adopted, Tiberius Caesar, and then there will be nine more. He was known to be a cruel, lazy, immoral drunk. There's Tiberius Caesar, the cruel, lazy, immoral drunk. Punch's pilot you probably already know about three years from the time of today's text, he will make the final judgment allowing the Lord Jesus Christ to be crucified.

In the end, Punch's pilot will be removed for being bad governing and sent to Caesar to explain himself and at that point he just disappears from history. I don't think anybody really knows what happens after that. He's just sent back to Caesar to explain himself after being deposed from being bad at his job. Herod is more fully known by historians as Herod Antipas. That's sort of important because there's a Herod the Great, who was his dad, who is just called Herod at the beginning of some of the gospels.

This is Herod the Great's son, Herod Antipas. Herod the Great is the one who had all the babies born in and around Bethlehem murdered in an attempt to get this one who was born king of the Jews killed. Of course, Joseph had already been warned by an angel to flee to Egypt and so that didn't happen but Herod the Great did kill all the baby boys in and around Bethlehem. So this is the father, talk about the house that Herod Antipas grew up in. This is the house that he grew up in.

A short time from the time of today's text, Herod Antipas will have John the Baptist imprisoned and then in time beheaded. Philip is also the son of Herod the Great, so he's the brother of Herod Antipas, our text says that. He has authority on the other side of the River Jordan. So Jerusalem and most of Israel is on one side, then you have the Transjordan or the other side of the Jordan, and Philip has authority there. I don't think I mentioned that Herod Antipas had authority in the region of Galilee.

Of course, that's very important because Jesus grew up in Nazareth and Galilee will be where a lot of Jesus' public ministry happens. Lysanias had authority in the north, bordering Syria. Historians know his name and that he did hold this position, but little else is known. A lot of commentators wonder why he's even mentioned in this list, but he's the northern part of the territory here and in Galilee and Nazareth are north, so maybe that's why he's mentioned. In terms of the Jewish religious leaders mentioned, Annas and Caiaphas are both called high priests.

Now in Old Testament law high priest was designated as an office for life. So why in the world do we have two of them named here? With both of them being alive. In the Old Testament law high priest was supposed to be an office for life but Rome conquered Israel almost a century before the time of our text and they didn't want a permanent high priest a permanent high priest would be too powerful too influential they didn't want that And they had conquered and so they deposed Annas. And Caiaphas, Annas' son-in-law, was sometimes the high priest.

And each of Annas' five sons also served as high priest at various times. The text doesn't say that, but Annas had a son-in-law, Caiaphas, who was high priest for periods of time. And he had five, Annas had five sons and those five sons all were high priests for periods of time according to external historical documents. But as the patriarch, Annas retained a tremendous amount of influence, and in three years' time both Annas and Caiaphas play leading roles in the trial and guilty verdict of Jesus. So we will encounter Annas and Caiaphas again.

Annas and Caiaphas presided over the false charges and condemnation of Jesus. So Seven names. Let's back up and summarize. Let me give you three things to summarize these seven names. One, this is good history.

Historians have verified all of this. So you have very specific people tied to very specific governmental positions. And if you didn't have scripture, the historians would say, yep, all of this is right. The Gospel of Luke is so much more than accurate history, but it is indeed accurate history. So you have external historical sources that confirm over and over and over again the historical content that Luke has given us.

It is good history. Two, Generally speaking, what we know of these seven men is bad. Seven men, seven track records, seven bad track records. Generally speaking, These are bad men. Why does it matter?

Because Jesus didn't come to preside over a golden age. If you're wondering about that, you don't need to wonder anymore. Jesus did not come to preside over a golden age. This was no golden age. The rulers were, generally speaking, bad men.

Jesus came to conquer darkness and to make the way for sinners to be reconciled to God and to destroy the works of the devil. He came into a dark world to wage warfare against darkness and to destroy the works of the devil that are on display in men like these seven men. Three, at the time of our text, these were the important men. If you weren't looking up front, I gave you the air quotes. Okay.

These were the important men of the day. Neither John the Baptist nor Jesus were known at this moment or had any earthly authority at any point. Fast forward. If you didn't have a Bible, would you know any of these seven names? Would your eyes have ever landed on any of these seven names?

Maybe Tiberius Caesar, maybe. They're forgotten, but everybody knows John the Baptist, and everybody knows the Lord Jesus, at least in name. Listen to what David Garland says. When Luke wrote his gospel, all of these worldly leaders had long since departed from the world. Let me just pause there for a second.

So even in the short period of time between these things happening and Luke writing his gospel these men are off the stage. When Luke wrote his gospel all of these worldly leaders had long since departed from the world. They were the high and mighty in their day when John came preaching. Luke records Jesus being tried before the high priest Caiaphas, Herod Antipas, and Pilate and sentenced to his death, but he was resurrected. The rule of these earthly leaders was short-lived and new rulers took their place.

There seems to be an endless supply of new Lord High Hoopoobahs wearing the crowns, wielding the scepters, holding the reins, calling the tunes and ruling the roost are so they think. Their reign is ephemeral, ephemeral just means temporary in the extreme. Luke gives us the people who think they're calling the shots and then he introduces John the Baptist and the Word of God, the eternal Word of God comes to him and comes through him. Friends, understand this. The Bible is a history of God doing the most earth-shaking things outside of the earthly power structures.

What is the Bible? It's God shaking the earth through people that nobody knows their name. Now they do in Scripture and there are many other names. Why do you think God does this? God does this to show that He is King.

Caesar isn't King. Pontius Paul isn't really governor. God is King. So he's so often pleased to raise up people and do the most earth-shaking things outside of the earthly power structure. You wouldn't even know these names, but you know John the Baptist and you know Jesus.

Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Yes, indeed, because God raises up people like them. While these seven men had earthly authority, and supposed that they were calling the shots, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. Chapter 1 verse 8, he said that John grew and became strong in spirit and was in the desert till the day of his manifestation to Israel. And now that time has come.

Now he's going to be manifested to Israel. He's going to be revealed to Israel. He's going to be revealed to Israel. He's going to be made known to Israel. Understand that the way in which Luke introduces this positions John the Baptist as an Old Testament prophet.

Meaning when you read these two verses, it reads like the beginning of Isaiah. It reads like the beginning of Jeremiah. It reads like the beginning of Ezekiel. Of course, there was only Old Testament prophets at that time because there was no New Testament. It's just beginning to be lived out.

It'll be written later. But now after about 450 years without a prophet, meaning somebody coming on the scene sent by God to declare the word of God to the multitudes to come and stand before the world and say, thus says the Lord to the world. It's been about 450 years, there's been none of that. Now there is another prophet. Old Testament prophets are often introduced alongside the rulers who presided during the time of their prophesying to clarify the time of their ministry.

When did Isaiah prophesy? You know from Isaiah 1 because it says the kings that were ruling when he was prophesying. It clarifies the time of his ministry. Old Testament prophets are often introduced as the son of to clarify their accurate identity. Just listen to Isaiah 1 verse 1.

It's amazing that Riley already read this. Isaiah 1 verse 1, it's a perfect example, but I want you to know that it's simply representative of a much bigger pattern. Here's Isaiah 1, verse 1, the vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. That reads about like our text. Jeremiah, in 1 1, Jeremiah is introduced as Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah.

And it said that he came in the days of King Josiah. In Ezekiel one, Ezekiel is called Ezekiel the son of Buzi. And the timing is fixed to the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity in Babylon. You always get the prophet, who their father was, and who was ruling at the time that they came. So by how Luke is writing to us, Luke is saying, John the Baptist is like Isaiah.

John the Baptist is like Jeremiah. John the Baptist is like Ezekiel. That's why Luke is positioning things these ways. He's mimicking Old Testament prophetic books. So the word of God came to John the Baptist.

What exactly does that mean? Well, let's start with what it doesn't mean. It doesn't mean that He had an inkling, an impression, a sense, a nudge from the Lord. Prophets thunder, thus saith the Lord. And then words put in their mouth, not a sense or an inclination.

Jeremiah described it this way, God's word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones. I was weary of holding it back and I could not. That's what happens when the word of God comes to a prophet. It's like a fire and they can't hold it back even if they want to it has to escape because God has put words into their mouth this is unmistakable direct revelation from God in a way that you and I have never experienced it. So I'm going to have trouble describing it very accurately because I have not experienced it.

But I do know that it's unmistakable direct revelation from God, exact words from God, so that John the Baptist could thunder without hesitation thus saith the Lord repent for the remission of sins so that is John the Baptist the prophet of God made known to Israel. I think the big takeaway from verse 1 and 2 is just this comparison with the beginnings of other prophetic books and that Luke is just telling us. John the Baptist is like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the prophets of the Old Testament. God is putting words in his mouth just like he did the former prophets. All right, verse three.

And he, John the Baptist, went into all the region around the Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. You have a summary statement here of his whole public ministry. He went about baptizing, or preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. If you look at a map of Israel, the Jordan River is a dividing line from north and south. It's like a straight north-south line that divides Israel.

In the north, coming out of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus grew up in the north of Israel, near the Sea of Galilee. If you look at the Sea of Galilee, you see the River Jordan running out of the Sea of Galilee and it just goes south until it runs into the Dead Sea. It's called the Dead Sea because it has an incredibly high salt content. So most things can't live in it because of the salt content. So it is a dividing line from north and south in Israel coming out of the Sea of Galilee, going south into the Dead Sea, and it goes into the Dead Sea just east of Jerusalem so very near Jerusalem.

In the parallel texts in Matthew 3 and Mark 1 it says that John the Baptist quote came preaching in the wilderness of Judea. So it is this southern portion of the Jordan River not far from Jerusalem. It would be near where the Jordan River runs into the Dead Sea. So John the Baptist is a fine nickname. I have no complaints there.

He baptized multitudes, but he was actually John the preacher. He came preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. The baptisms were simply the response to the message that he preached. Baptisms were just a response. There is no John the Baptist without his preaching.

The baptism was the response that he was calling you to with his preaching, to repent for the remission of sins. Those who said, you're right my sins have made me terribly guilty before God. You're right I desperately need for my sins to be forgiven. I repent." Those were the people who were baptized. It was a response to the preaching.

He preached, you are guilty before God, You are in a desperate state before God. If you repent, you'll receive the remission of sins. People who said, Amen, I receive that. I'll do that. I'll embrace that.

Went down into the waters and were baptized. It was the sign of receiving his preaching. Those are the people who submitted themselves to be baptized as a profession that they were repenting. Now, Let's just take the words one at a time. John the Baptist went preaching.

What exactly is preaching, the Greek lexicon? To be a herald, to proclaim openly. That's what the Greek lexicon Says that preaching is to be a herald to proclaim openly to be the town crier who goes out Into the city square to say hear the words of the king Okay, The king sends a crier out to cry out to people the words that he's sending to his people. That's simply what preaching is. That's a definition of my job actually, but the prophets did it in a very distinct and special way.

They did it from unmistakable direct revelation. John the Baptist was preaching a baptism. What is baptism? Again, the Greek lexicon. To immerse, to submerge.

That's literally what the name means. I forget which commentator I was reading actually does his own translations as he goes and he didn't translate it baptism because he says we don't know what baptism is. He just be immersed for the remission of sins. It is not a sprinkling. It is a complete dunking.

That's what it means to immerse or to submerge. Listen to John chapter three, verse 23. Now John was also baptizing in Anon near Salim, because there was much water there. Okay so where was John baptizing? He was baptizing places where there was a lot of water.

Okay because baptism means to submerge. You go down into the water and you are submerged and that is the sign. The baptism symbolized repentance. What is repentance? Again, to the Greek lexicon.

I'm trying to get at the Greek words that are being translated. The Greek lexicon says, a change of mind of a purpose formed or of something done. So if you form a purpose, and then you think, no, that's not right, you change your mind. I was going to do that, I'm not going to do that. That's not the right thing to do.

Or of something you've done, you did something, but now you changed your mind. Like, I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry I did that. It's often described as a change of mind that results in a change of life. That's a really good way to think about repentance.

That's actually backed up by our text. In next week's text, John the Baptist will say, bear fruits worthy of repentance bear fruits worthy of repentance meaning John the Baptist says true repentance isn't just talk anybody can talk you say you've changed your mind if that's true it will show up in your life there will be fruit if repentant if repentance is a real root there will be fruit John the Baptist says bear fruits worthy of repentance. Like demonstrate that there are actually, you really did change your mind. You're not just saying you changed your mind, but nothing happens from it. It is agreeing with God and then acting accordingly.

God this is who you say I am I agree. This is what you say is good I agree. You say I haven't done what you said is good I agree. This is what you say is good, I agree. You say I haven't done what you said is good, I agree.

This is what you say is evil, I agree. You say I've done those things that you said were evil. I agree. You say I have to renounce those things. I agree and then acting accordingly acting like you really did change your mind and agree with God about those things.

The repentance was for the remission of sins. In other words, why repent? For The remission of sins. What is the remission of sins? Here's the Greek lexicon.

A release from bondage or imprisonment. Forgiveness or pardon of sins. Letting them go as if they had never been committed. That's in the Greek lexicon. The cancellation of the penalty.

If we were for shouting in church, now would be the time. Hallelujah. There is a release from bondage or imprisonment for those who repent, who change their mind, agree with God, and then act accordingly. There is the forgiveness or pardon of sins, letting them go as if they had never been committed for those who repent, agree with God, and then act accordingly. There is the cancellation of the penalty.

No punishment, nothing owed for those who repent. Praise God. This is what John the Baptist was heralding this is what the town crier was sent into the city square to say Thus says the King Hear ye hear ye The King says that if you change your mind and agree with him about your sins and then act accordingly as Evidence that you've really changed your mind the king says he will release you and pardon you as If you had never committed those sins The king says he will cancel all of the penalty there'll be no punishment there'll be no debt owed oh You accept the king's term Terms Come down into the water and mark this day with an unforgettable, tangible sign. Okay? The king has sent his terms to you.

You accept those terms? Okay, let's have an unforgettable, tangible sign of that. Come down into the water. That's what's happening in our text. Before we close this section, I consider this important point by J.C.

Ryle. Ryle writes this, Let us notice in this passage the close connection between true repentance and forgiveness. He told his hearers that except they repented of sins, their sins would not be forgiven. We must carefully bear in mind that no repentance can make atonement for sin. The blood of Christ and nothing else can wash away sin from man's soul.

But while we say all this we must carefully remember that without repentance no soul was ever yet saved. We must know our sins, mourn over them, forsake them, abhor them, or else we shall never enter the kingdom of heaven. But there is nothing meritorious in this in other words repentance doesn't buy forgiveness okay that is not the relationship they have an unbreakable relationship But it's not that repentance is a good work that overthrows the guilt of your sin. That is never taught. That's what Ryle is saying.

There is nothing meritorious in your repentance. It forms no part whatever of the price of our redemption. Our salvation is all of grace from first to last. But the great fact still remains that saved souls are always penitent souls. Saved souls are always repenting souls.

And that's saving faith in Christ and true repentance toward God are never found asunder. Where you find saving faith, you find people who are agreeing with God about their sins and turning from them. Listen to the preaching of Peter on the day of Pentecost. So now we're fast-forwarding past all of Jesus's work including his death, resurrection, ascension. Now the day of Pentecost is coming.

Peter's preaching. Listen to Acts 2.38. Then Peter said to them, Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. Peter could be John the Baptist, except for he adds Jesus. John the Baptist's preaching was sufficient for his time because Jesus hadn't come and done his work, but now Jesus has come and done his work.

And so John the Baptist preaching by itself without the addition of Jesus Christ as the missing piece for how it is that a perfectly holy God can forgive sins. It's not the overlooking of sins, It's the pouring out of the penalty for that sin on a substitute. That needs to be added now to our gospel. But you see Peter just on the day of Pentecost using the same words, telling people to repent, telling them that they should be baptized. This is Christian baptism, not just the baptism of John now, but the addition is faith in Jesus and his work.

But telling them that this results in the remission of sins It's almost exactly what John the Baptist is saying in our text So that is the preaching of John the Baptist Verses 4 through 6 Luke 2 verses 4 through 6 as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet saying, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight. Every valley shall be filled in every mountain and hill brought low. The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth. And all flesh shall see the salvation of God." John the Baptist was the rare prophet who was himself the subject of prophecy, meaning That he would come and prophesy and fulfill certain purposes of God was foretold by other prophets who foretold it centuries before. Centuries before John the Baptist came on the scene, The prophets foretold John the Baptist will come on the scene.

They didn't say his name. They said exactly what he would be doing. So John the Baptist is that rare prophet who was himself the subject of centuries old prophecies. There are several actually, but Luke here quotes one of them, Isaiah 40 verses 3 through 5. So that's what you're seeing in Luke 3 is the quotation of Isaiah 40, 3 through 5.

It should be noted that Luke quotes the Septuagint. What in the world is the Septuagint? The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. So of course the Old Testament was given in the Jewish language in Hebrew, but during the time of Jesus there it had been translated into Greek, the worldwide language, as close as they had to a worldwide language. So that is what is being quoted, the Greek translation.

So if you actually Take your Bible and you go back to Isaiah 40 verses 3-5, and you make a word by word comparison, you will find differences. That is explained by the double translation. He's quoting the Greek translation, and we're reading the English translation of the Greek translation. So it's a double translation that happens actually fairly frequently in the New Testament. So when you do those comparisons with the Old Testament, sometimes you see differences and you say, why is he quoting it wrong?

It's the double translation that you're actually seeing. So that isn't unusual. Even in Jesus's quotation, Jesus sometimes quotes the Greek translation also. The point is that Isaiah 40, verses 3 through 5 exists to foretell the coming of John the Baptist to make the people ready. Why do we even have Isaiah 40 verses 3 through 5?

It's to foretell the coming of John the Baptist to make the people ready so that there are markers where you can identify this is the Messiah. This is one of the markers. When we went through John I don't know how many times I used the phrase, marks of the Messiah. Giving sight to the blind is a mark of the Messiah. And and and and all the way through John we were seeing the marks of the Messiah.

This is one of those marks. A prophet will go before him to make the people ready and he'll be a voice of one crying in the wilderness to make ready for the Lord. John MacArthur has this note in the study Bible. A monarch, a king, traveling in wilderness regions would have a crew of workmen go ahead to make sure the road was clear of debris, obstructions, potholes, and other hazards that make the journey difficult. In a spiritual sense, John was calling the people of Israel to prepare their hearts for the coming of the Messiah.

So during this time, you didn't have I-40 to Wilmington, okay, where you can get to Wilmington in two hours and 15 minutes, or faster if you drive faster. So a king traveling through sparsely used roadways would send a work crew ahead to make sure that the road was passable for his travels. This is essentially referencing that. Now, Many of the commentators say what the valleys are. The valleys represent and what the mountains and hills are.

The mountains and hills represent what the crooked places mean and what the rough ways are. I actually think that is over prescribing it. The things that they say are logical as far as it goes, but I'm not sure we should actually be attaching those things because the text doesn't. It could be when I look at it. I say it could be those things It's logical, but I think that's actually over prescribing it that Isaiah is simply say saying Remove every obstacle for the king Okay, if it's a valley remove it if it's a mountain remove it if it's a hill remove it if it's a crooked place Straighten it if it's a rough way smooth it Any obstacle, remove the obstacles for the king, each and every obstacle.

That's actually what John the Baptist's preaching of repentance is. You have all of these obstacles in your life. Remove them. You have all these things holding you back from salvation. Repent!

Clear the way! Change your mind and act accordingly. And it is all flesh that will see this salvation of God. In the other gospels, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, is where Matthew and Mark end. Luke's the one who gives the extended out through all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

Jews, yes, all flesh. Gentiles, yes, all flesh. This salvation is for the whole world to see. This salvation is for the whole world. Most excellent theophilists, not just for Jews.

So Luke Writing a gospel to the most excellent Theophilus includes a little more so that he can see. Back in Isaiah, it was that all flesh would see the salvation of God. Before we move on to a few applications, Let's review what Zacharias, filled with the Holy Spirit, said of his son 30 years earlier. So turn back to the end of Luke 1. Starting in chapter 1 Verse 76, Zacharias, filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesies about his son.

Let's see how it checks out. Chapter 1, verse 76, And you, child, and you, John, will be called the prophet of the highest. For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission of their sins through the tender mercy of our God with which the day spring from on high has visited us to give light to those who sit in darkness in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace. John the Baptist is coming exactly, to do exactly what his father prophesied 30 years earlier, filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesying. John the Baptist is doing exactly these things.

In the next week, I think the next couple of weeks we're in John the Baptist still getting more of his preaching and the people asking him questions, what does this mean for us? And he's going to be answering those questions. Applications I'll give you two. There were wicked rulers then there are wicked rulers now so what? Now what?

J.C. Ryle says this, let us learn never to despair about the cause of God's truth, however black and unfavorable its prospects may appear. At the very time when things seem hopeless, God may be preparing a mighty deliverance. Let us beware of slacking our hands from any work of God because of the wickedness of the times or the number and power of our adversaries. Let us work on and believe that help will come from heaven when it is most wanted.

Amen. Amen. That we live in dark times is no excuse to slacken in the work. Actually it should give us hope that God is about to Send a great deliverance. Isn't that what the people of God should be thinking?

This probably means God is about to send a great deliverance. Let's work harder. Wicked rulers are not a new thing. Never stopped the people of God before it shouldn't stop us now two we repent and trust Jesus God gives the remission of sins like they were never committed. A release from bondage in prison, a pardon and forgiveness of sins like they were never committed, the penalty canceled.

The penalty canceled. Listen to Paul in Acts 20. So in Acts 20, Paul is exhorting the Ephesian elders. There was an elder team in Ephesus and he summoned them and now he's exhorting them. He says this in Acts 20 verses 20 and 21, I kept, he's talking about his life among them.

He'd lived for three and a half years in Ephesus and ministered among them. He's talking about his three and a half years there. I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews and also to Greeks repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. So here Paul gives us his gospel. Gospel, Paul, what gospel did you preach to the Jews?

Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. How about the Gentiles? Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. A turning away from sin, self, okay? And a turning to God in Jesus Christ.

Repentance is a turning away and a turning towards. Paul preached that to everybody regardless of audience. We're seeing the seeds of that in the preaching of John the Baptist as well. The New Testament is remarkably consistent on this topic from the very beginning of the gospel. Repentance for the remission of sins and of course this is not the overlooking of sins it's Jesus and the work that he did.

Let's pray. God it makes my heart sing when I think about remission, the things that are wrapped up in that word, the liberation from bondage and imprisonment, pardon and forgiveness of sins as if those sins had never been committed, and the canceling of all punishment, any debt. Pray that you would make us our repenting people not to earn salvation, but so that we would be turning away and turning towards the Lord Jesus in faith and his work. Thank you for the remarkable consistency of the New Testament message. Pray that we be able to articulate it so clearly when people want to know why we have hope.

Thank you for our text. In Jesus' name, amen.