Please open your Bible to Luke chapter three, verse one. Our text today is found in verses one through nine. Luke 3, beginning at verse one.
In a moment when we read this text you will immediately notice the detail with which Luke establishes the historical setting existing at the time of these momentous events. As often as possible I like to emphasize in your thinking the fact your Bible is a history book. In fact, it is the authoritative history book of all history books. It is quite shortsighted and altogether deficient to attempt a proper study of history apart from a careful, respectful study of Scripture.
It has been said that those who are ignorant of history are destined to repeat it. May I say more importantly, those ignorant of the history recorded in the Bible may be destined for much worse. The history of the Bible begins with an authoritative record of the creation, the fall of Adam, the entrance of death and the curse into the very good creation and a subsequent global flood in the days of Noah. Furthermore, the post flood world experienced the judgment of God at the Tower of Babel whereupon mankind’s language was confused. Shortly thereafter God called a man named Abraham with whom he established a covenant through which the whole world would be blessed.
In time through Abraham the Messiah, Christ the Lord, came as pertaining to the flesh. As seen already in our journey through Luke’s inspired text the forerunner of Messiah was born, and Christ was born of Mary. We come now to the season in which the Father prepares the nation of Israel for the official recognition of Jesus as the Son of God and the Savior of the world.
May I ask you: do you trust this history? If you are unwilling to listen, or for any other reason you are ignorant of this history, then you are headed for a lost eternity. Nothing could be more serious than having an attitude of heart that is ready to hear the message of the gospel. Do you scoff and mock the Bible? Do you ignorantly categorize it as a book of myths? Do you turn away in unbelief? Do you esteem the words of men more than the words of God in the Bible?
I wish I could shake you and wake you to the frightening reality that faces you. Many of you are in the snare of the enemy. Many of you are blinded by his lies and deluded by the deception of false spirituality. Indeed, if the light or the understanding you think you have is actually darkness, then how great is that darkness! Beware my friend. If you refuse to accept the historical record of God’s Son recorded in the pages of Holy Scripture, you will surely perish.
Now look with me at Luke 3:1-9:
1Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,
Notice the historical details Luke records for us. These details are all collaborated by secular historians. Now look at verse two:
2Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.
3And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;
4As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
5Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;
6And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
7Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
9And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Now pause with me and take careful note of the phrase “and the word of God came unto John.” Remember this is John, so named by the angel who appeared to Zacharias announcing the birth of the forerunner of Messiah. This is the man who was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb. Although born into the priesthood, John never served in Jerusalem. Rather, as he came of age he separated himself from the flow of normal Jewish life and lived in the wilderness.
He was in an obscure place until the day the word of God came to him. G. Campbell Morgan, noted Bible teacher in Great Britain who traveled widely as a Bible teacher in the United States between 1919 and 1929, makes this insightful comment on this phrase as it relates to John. He writes:
“The Greek preposition is epi; and it ought to be rendered, “The Word of God came upon John.” The force of the preposition is that of pressure from above. The word of the Lord came upon him, pressed down upon him from above. Here is the qualification for preaching. The message of God comes upon a man. It is a great thing that he be prepared in every way; but preparation leaves a man unable to preach until the word of the Lord falls upon him. That is the keynote to the marvel of this ministry.” (Unquote)
We might say John’s experience was like that of Jeremiah the prophet who said, “Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.” When the word of the Lord presses upon the preacher he cannot forbear. He cannot be silent. He can say, “I’m done with preaching, and I will not speak any more in his name.” But the call of God, you might say the pressure from above stirring the heart like a burning fire, is relentless. The result is the preacher at some point cannot refrain from speaking but must carry the word of God to all who will listen.
So, John is under the weight of the call of God. He knows the Lord. He has walked with the Lord. In some ways, no doubt, he prepared himself for the day when he would confront his nation with the message of repentance and the news of the imminent arrival of the Messiah. He is devoted to the Lord and is filled with the Spirit. And finally, he is released by the timing of the Lord whom he served. And so Luke says, “the word of God came unto John.”
I wish I could have heard his first sermon. John didn’t shoot blanks. His preaching hit the mark. From the first time he spoke heaven was behind him. This is the prophet who bridged the Old Testament era to the coming New Testament era. This is the man of whom Jesus would later say of woman there was never born one greater than John the Baptist.
The word shut-up in his bones flowed with the witness of the Spirit of God as he thundered the message of repentance in all the country round about Jordan. This prophet of God is breaking up the fallow ground and preparing a people ready to receive the coming Messiah. He was fearless and pointed. He preached to the common man, but his message resounded into the halls of the government when he openly rebuked Herod’s adultery with his brother Philip’s wife.
He demanded fruit unto repentance. He rebuked the idea of following God while harboring unconfessed sin in the heart. John’s Spirit filled preaching insisted men get right with God and prepare to bow the knee to the coming Messiah. John’s fame spread until thousands went out of Jerusalem and Judea to hear him preach and many humbled their heart and immersed themselves in repentance of which his baptism spoke.
Many mused in their heart as to whether John was the Messiah, however, he quickly dispelled such an idea saying one mightier than I comes whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose. We shall see John introduce the Messiah to Israel and to the world in a future message, but now as I close look again at verse nine:
“And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.”
In a moment when we read this text you will immediately notice the detail with which Luke establishes the historical setting existing at the time of these momentous events. As often as possible I like to emphasize in your thinking the fact your Bible is a history book. In fact, it is the authoritative history book of all history books. It is quite shortsighted and altogether deficient to attempt a proper study of history apart from a careful, respectful study of Scripture.
It has been said that those who are ignorant of history are destined to repeat it. May I say more importantly, those ignorant of the history recorded in the Bible may be destined for much worse. The history of the Bible begins with an authoritative record of the creation, the fall of Adam, the entrance of death and the curse into the very good creation and a subsequent global flood in the days of Noah. Furthermore, the post flood world experienced the judgment of God at the Tower of Babel whereupon mankind’s language was confused. Shortly thereafter God called a man named Abraham with whom he established a covenant through which the whole world would be blessed.
In time through Abraham the Messiah, Christ the Lord, came as pertaining to the flesh. As seen already in our journey through Luke’s inspired text the forerunner of Messiah was born, and Christ was born of Mary. We come now to the season in which the Father prepares the nation of Israel for the official recognition of Jesus as the Son of God and the Savior of the world.
May I ask you: do you trust this history? If you are unwilling to listen, or for any other reason you are ignorant of this history, then you are headed for a lost eternity. Nothing could be more serious than having an attitude of heart that is ready to hear the message of the gospel. Do you scoff and mock the Bible? Do you ignorantly categorize it as a book of myths? Do you turn away in unbelief? Do you esteem the words of men more than the words of God in the Bible?
I wish I could shake you and wake you to the frightening reality that faces you. Many of you are in the snare of the enemy. Many of you are blinded by his lies and deluded by the deception of false spirituality. Indeed, if the light or the understanding you think you have is actually darkness, then how great is that darkness! Beware my friend. If you refuse to accept the historical record of God’s Son recorded in the pages of Holy Scripture, you will surely perish.
Now look with me at Luke 3:1-9:
1Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,
Notice the historical details Luke records for us. These details are all collaborated by secular historians. Now look at verse two:
2Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.
3And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;
4As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
5Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;
6And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
7Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
9And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Now pause with me and take careful note of the phrase “and the word of God came unto John.” Remember this is John, so named by the angel who appeared to Zacharias announcing the birth of the forerunner of Messiah. This is the man who was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb. Although born into the priesthood, John never served in Jerusalem. Rather, as he came of age he separated himself from the flow of normal Jewish life and lived in the wilderness.
He was in an obscure place until the day the word of God came to him. G. Campbell Morgan, noted Bible teacher in Great Britain who traveled widely as a Bible teacher in the United States between 1919 and 1929, makes this insightful comment on this phrase as it relates to John. He writes:
“The Greek preposition is epi; and it ought to be rendered, “The Word of God came upon John.” The force of the preposition is that of pressure from above. The word of the Lord came upon him, pressed down upon him from above. Here is the qualification for preaching. The message of God comes upon a man. It is a great thing that he be prepared in every way; but preparation leaves a man unable to preach until the word of the Lord falls upon him. That is the keynote to the marvel of this ministry.” (Unquote)
We might say John’s experience was like that of Jeremiah the prophet who said, “Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.” When the word of the Lord presses upon the preacher he cannot forbear. He cannot be silent. He can say, “I’m done with preaching, and I will not speak any more in his name.” But the call of God, you might say the pressure from above stirring the heart like a burning fire, is relentless. The result is the preacher at some point cannot refrain from speaking but must carry the word of God to all who will listen.
So, John is under the weight of the call of God. He knows the Lord. He has walked with the Lord. In some ways, no doubt, he prepared himself for the day when he would confront his nation with the message of repentance and the news of the imminent arrival of the Messiah. He is devoted to the Lord and is filled with the Spirit. And finally, he is released by the timing of the Lord whom he served. And so Luke says, “the word of God came unto John.”
I wish I could have heard his first sermon. John didn’t shoot blanks. His preaching hit the mark. From the first time he spoke heaven was behind him. This is the prophet who bridged the Old Testament era to the coming New Testament era. This is the man of whom Jesus would later say of woman there was never born one greater than John the Baptist.
The word shut-up in his bones flowed with the witness of the Spirit of God as he thundered the message of repentance in all the country round about Jordan. This prophet of God is breaking up the fallow ground and preparing a people ready to receive the coming Messiah. He was fearless and pointed. He preached to the common man, but his message resounded into the halls of the government when he openly rebuked Herod’s adultery with his brother Philip’s wife.
He demanded fruit unto repentance. He rebuked the idea of following God while harboring unconfessed sin in the heart. John’s Spirit filled preaching insisted men get right with God and prepare to bow the knee to the coming Messiah. John’s fame spread until thousands went out of Jerusalem and Judea to hear him preach and many humbled their heart and immersed themselves in repentance of which his baptism spoke.
Many mused in their heart as to whether John was the Messiah, however, he quickly dispelled such an idea saying one mightier than I comes whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose. We shall see John introduce the Messiah to Israel and to the world in a future message, but now as I close look again at verse nine:
“And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.”
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