Repent, Change Your Allegiance!
Luke 2:47-52, “Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, ‘Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.’ ‘Why were you searching for me?’ he asked. ‘Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?’ But they didn’t understand what he was saying to them. Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.”
Malachi 4:5,6, “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”
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“In Those Days…”
Matthew 3:1 says, “In those days, John the Baptist came to the Judean wilderness and began preaching.”
Luke 1:76-79, “And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
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“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is Near”
Matthew 3:2, “His message was, ‘Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.’”
Matthew 26:3, “When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders.”
Defect - Change our Allegiance - Bend our Knees and Wills before Him - or Be Destroyed.
Matthew 3:3, “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!’”
Matthew 3:4-6, “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. People from Jerusalem and from all of Judea and all over the Jordan Valley went out to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River.”
Mark 1:4, ”John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
Matthew 3:7-11, “But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to watch him baptize, he denounced them. ‘You brood of snakes!’ he exclaimed. ‘Who warned you to flee the coming wrath? Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire. I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.’”
Matthew 3:12, “He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.”
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“Let it be so Now”
Matthew 3:13, “Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John.”
Matthew 3:14, “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?”
Matthew 3:15, “But Jesus said, ‘It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.’ So John agreed to baptize him.”
Matthew 3:16-17, “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. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.’”
Challenge:
Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near
