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Week Four: Matthew 3:1-17
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We are in a series through the first four chapters of Matthew, written by a former tax collector and eyewitness to the life of Jesus Christ. Today we explore Matthew chapter 3, where the greatest announcement the world has ever heard comes forth.
In those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea. Out of John's mouth comes the most important announcement human beings have ever heard: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." This announcement was meant to capture the attention of every human being for the endless ages of eternity.
Matthew tells us who said this by quoting the prophet Isaiah: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord and make his paths straight." John the Baptist was prophesied about some 700 years before he was born.
John's father was a priest named Zacharias, and his mother was a devoted woman of God. He was raised in a godly home and was the cousin of Jesus Christ. They were six months apart in age. When John was born, his parents were old—he was a miracle child. The angel Gabriel announced to Zacharias that his son would be great, filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb, and would come preaching in the spirit of Elijah, turning many people back to God.
John eventually went to live in the wilderness—a dry, barren, desolate place just outside Jerusalem. This is where he gave birth to his ministry. The scripture says that in this place, John preached. Not in the comfort of the city. Not in the limelight of Jerusalem. But in a dry place.
Don't let anybody tell you God can't bring something good from a dry place. Sometimes the greatest thing God will do in your life is born out of a dry place—a place of separation, where there's no distraction, where there's nobody there but you and God. Sometimes it is the blessing of God to lead you to a dry place, for there He gets your undivided attention. Your heart has been crushed. Your mind has been focused. There is nothing else you can do but beg the Lord to meet you in that dry place.
Out of your greatest pain, your driest seasons, your most painful episodes, God could give birth to some of the greatest things in your life. He'll give you visions in a dry place. He'll give you a prophetic word in a dry place.
Notice the text says "the voice of one crying in the wilderness"—not the voice of a savior. The preacher is not a savior. There is only one Savior. Stop worshiping men. I don't care how big their platform is, how big their following is, or how big their church is. You need to stop the idolatry of men.
It didn't say a diva was crying out in the wilderness. I'm talking to all the preachers who just love to be divas—more concerned about an outfit than the preaching of the Word of God. More concerned about a watch, a plane, a jet, gator shoes, than about the Word of God.
We need voices to cry out. Not divas. Not saviors. Not lowercase jesus. Only one Jesus. We need male voices and female voices, old voices and young voices—hearts that have been burned by the flames of God's holy throne. We need voices proclaiming not the wisdom of men, but the wisdom of God.
The Lord never said your sermon was alive and active. He said the Word was alive and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, dividing to the very joints and marrow. Nothing about your three points and a poem is active. John was a voice crying out in the wilderness.
Matthew tells us: "Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey."
Matthew gave us these details about his outfit and diet deliberately. If you were a Jew hearing this, you would be reminded of someone from the Old Testament—the great prophet Elijah, who wore the same outfit in Second Kings.
John's father was a priest. In a patriarchal society, John would have been expected to follow the order of his father—robes, pomegranates, bells. But John didn't wear a robe. He didn't have pomegranates and bells. He wore a piece of animal hair and a belt. His food wasn't bread and fish and wine and grapes. He was consecrated. He ate locusts and wild honey.
When I look at John's outfit, I see a man who was separated. A man who was not afraid to break from tradition to follow the plan and purposes of God for his life. Here's a man who was authentic about his calling in Christ. He wasn't impressed by culture. He wasn't impressed by peer pressure. The man knew he had a call to be in the wilderness and look a fool. Even though his father was a priest, he wasn't afraid to break tradition to fulfill God's purposes for his life.
When I look at his outfit, I see a free man. A man who isn't bound by what everybody has to say about them. A man who doesn't care if they don't like his post or his video or his Instagram thing because he's telling the truth straight like it is. They're not worried if nobody likes their podcast because they tell the truth on the podcast. They're free.
Do I got any free people in the room right now? You listening to a free man. I ain't preaching for nobody's approval. I already been down that road, wearing suits every week to try to get approval. But no, no, no. You listening to a free man. I wear my own camel's hair and my own leather belt and I eat my own locusts. I'm a consecrated free man.
There's no context for an expository preacher in Atlanta. This is the land of entertainment. They want eight steps to your next blessing. That's what Atlanta's all about. Ain't no context for my preaching. It ain't 10,000 people. It's like 700 people in here. Ain't no context for what I'm doing, but I'm a free man.
Whether it's 700 of us or 7,000 of us—I'm free, because you can't give me my reward. Your amen is not my reward. My reward is when I take that crown off my head and lay it at the feet of Jesus. What's success for me? "I have run my race. I have finished my race. I have fought the good fight of faith. And now there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness that the Lord will give me on that day. And I will take it off my head. That's my reward. That's what I'm fighting for.** I'm not fighting for a following or a platform.
Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him. They were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.
John ain't in the city, but the whole city came out to him. It says all Judea. I've been to Israel. Judea is 56 square miles from the Mediterranean Sea to the Dead Sea. The whole region went out to see John.
His ministry was so powerful, so anointed, so real, so authentic, so free. The people heard that there was something real happening in the wilderness. They left the comforts of the cities and went out to an uncomfortable place—the wilderness—to hear a voice crying out.
It's tough to go to an uncomfortable place. Sometimes we despise that. But you need that. You need to leave the comfort of what you like, where your itching ears love to be told you're awesome and you're going to be blessed. Sometimes we got to leave the comfort of all these things that make us feel awesome, all this secular humanistic garbage, and go to a place that's uncomfortable.
You might get your toes stepped on. You might leave convicted. I might not tell you every Sunday you're going to be blessed. But that's all right. Sometimes we got to leave what's comfortable to get what you really need. Some of you, what you really need is right outside of your comfort zone.
Some of you have set up camp in comfort. You're so afraid to step out of your comfort zone, to try something different because you're not familiar with that place. Some of you got one foot in the kingdom and one foot in comfort, and you're so afraid. You need to know this year: stop running in and running out.
Might change your life. You might end up in a small group and meet the next handshake, the next open door in your life. How do you know the person who won't fund your next venture isn't sitting in a squad waiting for you to get in there? But all you do is come in and run out every week.
Maybe your comfort zone is being unknown and anonymous. Come out of being unknown. Meet somebody. One handshake might change your life. Get in a squad. Join a team. Meet friends in the context of relationships. God might open the next door for you. Have a relationship. Exchange a number in the lobby. Come out of your comfort zone.
John was telling them: "Get your lives right in preparation for the announcement. Something is coming. Get your lives right." In the same way that they would fix roads for when royalty was coming, John was telling people to get ready. This is a baptism of repentance.
Not everybody that gets close to you is for you. Not everybody that gets near you is for you. Not everybody that follows you is for you. Some people just want to get near you to investigate. Their motives are not pure. They're going to follow you just to troll you.
That's why you got to have discernment about your circles.
When John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them: "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance."
The Pharisees and Sadducees were two political and religious sects. The Pharisees were a big, conservative group. The Sadducees were a small, liberal group. The Pharisees believed in everything of the Lord. The Sadducees did not believe anything outside of Moses—no angels, no demons, nothing spiritual.
You got more faith in red or blue than in God Almighty. You a Christian before you're a Democrat. You a Christian before you're a Republican. I could talk about the sanctity of life and helping the poor at the same time because my allegiance is to the scriptures, not a party.
I could say stop killing babies and give to the poor from the same mouth because I'm a biblicist before a Democrat or Republican. God called us to help the poor. God was serious about life in the womb. He said to Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in your mother's womb." He said about John, "He will be filled with the spirit from his mother's womb."
You have no idea who you're carrying, Mom. I know a woman who almost terminated a baby. That baby today is a mighty young man in the body of Christ. I paid for two abortions in my lifetime. I was ignorant before I studied the scriptures. But you have no idea what's in that womb.
For those of us who have been down that road, the Lord forgives you. That baby's in heaven. Don't condemn yourself now. You just teach people to do better.
John called them a brood of vipers—venomous snakes. Some of them hatch inside their mother and eat their way out. These people destroy others on the inside. He told them: "Bear fruit in keeping with repentance." You're so religious and spooky, but your life doesn't match your confession. You're one thing on the platform and another thing in private. You got these long robes, and you pray on street corners, but you're wicked and full of dead men's bones.
"Don't have a mouth that doesn't match your life."
John said to them: "Don't presume to say that you yourselves have Abraham as your father. For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham."
Don't think just because you're Jewish, you're getting into heaven automatically. Even you Jews are going to come through the same door the Gentiles have to come through. And that door has a name—his name is Jesus. Don't think because you are an ethnic Jew, you have an automatic pass into heaven. Your pass into heaven is the same for everybody else: Repent.
"For the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
The kingdom of heaven is God's rule of grace on the earth. It is here with us partially. It started with Jesus Christ. It coexists right now with evil. That's why we have the forces of heaven and the forces of evil. But one day, the kingdom of God will completely overwhelm the whole world in the end. It will topple every other kingdom in this world.
According to Revelation, the only thing that will remain is the kingdom of God.
To all of you who are believers, listen: You cannot understand the teachings of Christ and the ethics of Christ and the principles of Christ and the parables of Christ if you don't understand the kingdom. This is one of the greatest misconceptions in the Western American church.
Some of you think you were just saved to go to church. You don't understand. You were rescued from hell, but brought into a kingdom. You were brought underneath the government of a kingdom. You will never truly understand the teachings of Jesus and the parables of Jesus and the ethics of Jesus if you don't understand the kingdom.
In the kingdom, He teaches you how to do relationships, how to do marriage, how to parent, how to do business, how to do friendships, how to handle your money. In the kingdom, the way up is down—humility. That's different in the kingdom. In the kingdom, He says, pray for your enemies. That's different than the kingdom you came out of.
You won't even understand the rest of Matthew if you don't get the kingdom. If you're saved, you have been brought into a kingdom—a spiritual kingdom that has higher laws, higher commandments, higher principles.
John said: "Even now, the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."
The axe represents judgment. The root of the tree represents time. Notice where the axe is—at the bottom of the tree. The roots signal to people that time is running out. The warning is that for those who are not truly saved, who don't have fruit, who aren't living this thing for real, that axe is going to hit you in the end.
If there's no fruit, there's no evidence of salvation. Those who rejected that will be cut down and thrown into the fire. You can't pretty this up in Atlanta. The fire is hell. There's eternal damnation. There's no way to pretty that up. There's no band-aid over that.
How do you not care about your unsaved loved ones and friends? What are you praying about? I wonder how many people you know that are far away from God—do you call their names before the Father? What if the axe hits them in a car accident and they're not saved?
John said: "I baptize you with water for repentance. But he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I'm not even worthy to carry. Jesus, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."
John told them: "Y'all think my ministry is great? Nah, nah, nah. There's somebody coming behind me whose ministry is going to be greater than mine. I baptize you with water in the Jordan. But when He comes, He's coming with two baptisms: a baptism of the Holy Spirit and a baptism of fire."
He's talking about Jesus. That means Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit? It's not falling down on the floor and dancing in the church. That's bad teaching. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is Ephesians 1:4. When a person is truly saved, Jesus baptizes them with the Spirit. He seals them. He unzips them, pulls out unrighteousness, puts the Holy Spirit in them, and then zips them back up.
Ephesians 1:4—they have been permanently sealed with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit in them is the guarantee of their salvation, the foreshadow of glory divine. So when a person is saved, Jesus baptizes them. They go down in repentance and come up alive with the Spirit. That's called being born again.
A theological term: regenerated. Made alive. I can see now. I can sense now. I can hear God now. I can understand the scriptures now. Because for all the atheists, the scripture says you can't understand it except the Holy Spirit help you. That's why you think there's errors in there because you're not guided by the Spirit.
There's no contradictions in Scripture. You just need the teacher—the author of the Bible—to help you understand it. The Bible was written by 40 men: 39 Jews, one Gentile, guided by the Holy Spirit. They wrote over 1,500 years. They lived on three different continents. They spoke three different languages. And yet there is a unity of thought from Genesis to Revelation. That's an impossibility apart from the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
You can't get 40 people in a room to agree about nothing. Yet there's agreement from 1,500 years, three different continents, three different languages, one unity of thought. You can't understand it without the Spirit.
So Jesus baptizes with the Spirit. Then it says it baptizes with fire. Some people think this is zeal, this is power, this is anointing that makes for good preaching. We can keep that. But in context, that fire is judgment.
So when it's all said and done, watch: You can run from Him, but when it's all said and done, Jesus will baptize everyone. It's just which baptism do you want? When it's all said and done, Jesus will baptize everyone. Some with the spirit for salvation, some with fire for damnation. It's just which one do you want.
When it's all said and done, Jesus will baptize everyone. Nobody escapes the baptism of Jesus. But everybody's going to get baptized. It's just which one do you want? How you respond to Him determines what baptism you get. I believe right now some of y'all in this room going to leave with the baptism of the spirit in Jesus' name.
John said: "His winnowing fork is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
If you've never been to the Middle East or never studied this, you don't know what this means. The winnowing fork and threshing floor is a slab of concrete where they used to fix wheat. You would take a winnowing fork and throw the wheat up in the air. When the wheat hits the air, the wind would blow the chaff—the unusable part of the wheat—off of the wheat. The chaff gets blown away. Then the wheat falls down to the ground. Then you gather that wheat and put it in a safe place.
So the winnowing fork means separation. It's what the Lord is coming to do in the end. He will separate the wheat from the chaff. The chaff is the unusable part—those who rejected the Lord, those who rejected the gospel, those who want nothing to do with Jesus.
The winnowing fork will separate the wheat from the chaff. He will take the wheat—the saved—and gather them into His barn: heaven and eternal life. The chaff He's going to burn with unquenchable fire. It's no good to Him.
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you. Do you come to me?"
That's staggering. When John saw his cousin, he says, "I can't baptize you. You're so great; you need to baptize me." It's almost like John was saying, "My baptism is for repentance, Lord, but you've never sinned. There's no need for me to baptize you."
It was like John felt unworthy to baptize Jesus. I know what it is to feel unworthy to serve the Lord. When I look at my past and when I look at my mistakes and my failures, when I look at my struggles and my identity crisis, when I look at the stuff that I've done and the people I've hurt, when I look at the nasty things I've done in the dark, when I look at the fact I was in church my whole life but walking out—when I think about myself and the darkness of my heart.
When I think about the things I've lusted over and the people I've wounded and offended, all the times I had to say I'm sorry—like, sometimes I just feel like I'm not worthy to get up there and preach your word, Lord.
But look, nobody's worthy to serve Him. That's why His calling is so glorious. It's like you were unworthy, but He still called you anyway. You got a past, but He called you anyway. He knows the darkness of your heart and is using you anyway.
The man with the microphone still got issues in his heart. I still got dark areas I'm trying to work out of my heart. Please don't look at me like I'm perfect. I still struggle. I'm on the backside of Romans 7 with Paul. The thing I want to do, I don't do. And the thing I should be doing, I don't do.
When I find myself doing the thing that I don't want to do and not doing the thing that I should do, I say, "Man, oh, what a wretched man that I am." Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ.
Jesus answered him: "Let it be so for now." That is, "Serve me anyway." I hear the Lord saying to somebody: "Serve me anyway. But Lord, my life is ratchet. Serve me anyway. But Lord, I'm still sleeping around. Serve me anyway. But Lord, I don't understand the Bible. Serve me anyway."
You know the Lord never called perfect people. He just said "follow me and I will make you." I never see the Lord roll up on a perfect person. He just called people who had issues and said "follow me," and as you follow me, I will make you.
That is, as you follow me, I will transform you into what I want you to be. So He called me ratchet, and it's transforming me. I still got darkness in my heart, but it's transforming me. I still struggle with lustful desires, but it's transforming me. I still get jealous of that man's ministry from time to time, but it's transforming me.
I'm being faithful. Lord, why? Yeah, Lord, I'm holding it down. I'm still on the back side of the mountain. Don't nobody know Philip Anthony Mitchell. Like, what's up with me, Lord? Yeah, Lord, what about me?
Every time you doubt God's love because you failed last week or you feel like you're not being a good person or you missed your quiet time, every time the devil starts making you feel bad, just find a cross somewhere and stare at it. That is the symbol of love, not your performance.
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he came up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. And behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased."
Notice the text: Jesus just came from nowhere. He hasn't healed anyone yet. He hasn't raised any dead bodies yet. He hasn't preached a sermon yet. He hasn't multiplied food yet. He hasn't done nothing. And a voice comes from heaven saying, "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased."
We see the authentication of Jesus. But we see the affirmation of Jesus before he did anything. Not affirming him because of a miracle or affirming him because he can preach or affirming him because he was a good husband or affirming him because he went to church—the Father affirmed him before he did anything.
His affirmation was not based on performance. His affirmation was based on relationship.
I want to help all my brothers in this room where a father failed you or somebody failed you. We still boys searching for someone to say good job and well done. I want you to know your Father in Heaven has affirmed you before you did anything.
If you belong to Jesus, you were affirmed before you did anything. You were affirmed in Jesus.
And for my sisters, all my ladies—before you did anything, this is important because a lot of us are bound by performance-based Christianity. We think if we read enough or if we pray enough or we attend church enough or we give enough, God will love you more.
God loved you when you were in your mother's womb. He called you before the foundation of the world. He knew the day you would be saved. His love for you is not based on performance. It's based on relationship.
Paul wrote to the church in Rome that while we were still sinners, Christ died for you. And he said, "This is how the Lord demonstrated his love."
Every time you doubt God's love because you fail or you feel like you're not being a good person, stare at the cross. That is the symbol of love, not your performance. If it was based on your performance, you could brag. So to level the playing field, I know the Lord loves me not because I'm an awesome pastor or I was the perfect husband or the perfect father—I know he loves me because of the cross. That's how He leveled the playing field for everybody who was saved.
We serve one God who exists in three co-equal persons: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. The scripture calls it the Godhead. Theologians call it the Trinity. Notice the Son is in the water. The Father is speaking from heaven. The Spirit is descending like a dove. All three persons of the Trinity operating all at the same time at this baptism.
Genesis 1:26 says, "Let us plural make man in our image and in our likeness." And so He singular made them. God—Elohim plural. Notice all three persons of the Godhead: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.
This whole text was about a man who was the forerunner of Jesus, a man who went first to prepare the way of the Lord.
I know you're not John the Baptist, but listen to me. The final words of the Lord before He left were: "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you. And I will be with you to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:19.
He gave that command to everyone who was saved. So get married. Hang out with friends. Build your business. Do your entrepreneurial ventures. Do all of that. But as a follower of Jesus, my question to you is: What part of your life intersects the great commission?
Because if you are a follower according to these scriptures, some way, somehow, in some shape or form, your life is supposed to be preparing the way for the second coming of Christ. No baby in a manger this time, right? No baby coming to bring peace. The scripture tells us the next time Jesus comes, He's not coming to bring peace. He will be returning on a horse with the armies of heaven behind Him. And the scripture says He's coming to make war against the ungodly and the wicked.
Our command, brothers and sisters, is to do everything we can while we got time to spread the gospel, to win souls, to multiply disciples, to bring as many people aboard the ark of safety as possible. You can do that through your prayers. You could do that through financial support. You can do that through serving.
You could do that through the things you care about—like the people in your job who aren't saved. You can pray for them. You don't know how to share the gospel? Support gospel ministries financially.
Some part of your life should be intersected with the great commission because we as followers of Jesus have been given the command to prepare the way for His second coming.
In my prayers, I'm not just praying for me and my wife and my children. I'm crying out for family members who aren't saved. I'm crying out for friends who aren't saved. A portion of my income goes back into this church to support gospel ministry. I'm serving you right now. I'm sharing the gospel in stores. I'm sharing the gospel online, in DMs, out in the street.
I wasn't doing this because I got a platform. I was doing this when I had no platform, before I knew I was called to be a pastor. I was out there being concerned about the gospel. I'm eternally conscious.
It don't matter how young or how old you are. Some part of your life should be flowing into the stream of the great commission. Whether in your prayers or your giving or your serving or your desires. Somebody said all of it. That would be perfect. But that's not the American church.
There's a lot of preaching right now, but to what end? I'm just asking you, right? Like, what are we doing? To what end? If we're not about His last words, what are we about?
You don't got to belong to 2819. You belong to the family of God. I'm talking to every person watching me live right now, anywhere you're watching me live across the country. I'm talking to you watching me live. I'm talking to you in the YouTube chat watching me live. I'm talking to you who will catch this message on demand.
You said you're a follower of Jesus. What part of your life is flowing into the great commission? What are you praying about? Where's all your money going? Who are you serving? Who are you helping? Who do you care about? What are the desires of your heart? Do you care at all about the thing Jesus called us to do?
You don't got to be a part of our church. You could be praying for the gospel to spread. We need an awakening in this nation. The mission of Jesus has a church. Jesus has a mission. So He created a church around the mission and raised up people to be progenitors of the faith and proclaimers of the faith.
You could do it in the way that you live. You can live right and spread the gospel. You can love people and be kind and forgive. Your life could be a witness and spread the gospel. You could do that shy and quiet. They say, "Man, something is different about her or him." Some way, somehow, some way.
Time is running out. Prepare the way for the second coming of the Lord, who isn't coming back to make friends. He's coming back to separate and to make war. What group is your family members in? What group are you in?
Let's be radical disciples and radical gospel spreaders in Jesus' name. But I'm coming back to you in this room. What group are you in? Every head bowed, every eye closed. I'm talking to you. It's the most sacred moment of your life.
What group are you in? What baptism do you want? Do you want the baptism of forgiveness that leads to life and purpose, or do you want the baptism of fire that leads to separation? It's your choice.
I'm talking to you right now, my brother. I'm talking to you right now, my sister. You've been in church your whole life, but you're not saved. Your parents are saved, but you're not saved. You've done religion, but you're not saved. If you died in a car accident on the way home, you're going to get that baptism of fire.
You can have the baptism of the Holy Spirit right now. You could be saved right now. Forgiven right now. Set free right now. God could become your Father right now. He'll wipe away your past right now. You could leave a brand new man, a brand new woman right now. This is the most important thing you've ever heard in your life. Not later. Right now.
You are a sinner and so am I. You have broken God's laws and so have I. The scripture says if you die in your sin, you're going to be separated from God for all eternity. That's the baptism of fire.
But God in His love, not wanting you to perish, sent His son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who died a sacrificial death for you. The scripture says if you would just keep it real, keep it 100, no cap—just put your faith in Him, repent, turn from sin and say, "Lord, I trust you. I believe in you. I'm throwing my life on your lap"—He says, "If you do that, you will be saved."
You get the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Your sins will be forgiven. You become a brand new woman. You become a new creature, a brand new man. You leave here today with your name sealed in heaven. You leave here with the promise of eternity.
If you die, you'll be in glory. You leave here to live the rest of your life in purpose—the abundant life that Jesus died to give you.
I'm asking you a real question. What part of your personal life flows into the stream of the great commission?
