“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.’”the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord! Make his paths straight!’”The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make ye ready the way of the Lord, Make his paths straight;
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… Behold, I send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way. the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem, and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and his diet was locusts and wild honey. And he was preaching and saying, After me one is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I baptize you with water. but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Immediately coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opening and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him and a voice came out of the heavens. …
… It is written in Isaiah the prophet, I will send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way. A voice of one calling in the desert, prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel's hair with a leather belt round his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message. After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I'm not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. Thanks be to God for his word. Father, we pray that as we turn now to the Bible, that you will enable us both to speak and to listen in such a way that your word comes home with conviction and compulsion to our minds, calling us to repentance and to faith and to obedience and to all the encouragement that is provided for us in thinking again of the good news. …
Isaiah the prophet, I will send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way, a voice of one calling in the desert. Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel's hair with a leather belt round his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message. After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. Amen. Father, help us now as we turn to the Bible, that you will be our teacher, that the Holy Spirit will enable us to think properly, to respond humbly, and that we might find that, as it were, Christ stands in the midst of us, not only as the one who orchestrates our praise, but also as the one who preaches the Word home to our hearts. Only you, O God, can accomplish this, and it is to you we look. In Jesus' name, amen. …
… And as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah, a voice, one calling in the wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord. Make straight paths for him. Even valleys shall be filled in and every mountain hill made low. The crooked road shall become straight. The rough will become smooth and all the people will see God's salvation. John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, you brood of vipers who warned you to flee from the coming wrath, produce fruit in keeping with repentance. I'm gonna give you six things to write down. Write down number one today. God prepares you through repentance. The way that God gets you ready for what he has for you is through the act of repentance. And if you don't know what repentance is, repentance is a turning away. Repentance is making a 180. And there might be parts of your life where you're walking against the will or plan of God. There might be parts of your life that you're not living up to God's standards. …
… Behold, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. Make his path straight. John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Then all the land of Judea and those from Jerusalem went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, There comes one after me who is mightier than I, whose sandals strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. I indeed baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. four characteristics about this second greatest person. First, he was anticipated by Scripture. That's how Mark begins the gospel. Mark begins by quoting two Old Testament prophets. One is Malachi, Malachi chapter 3. The other is Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 40. …
… Because in Luke 3, when John announces his ministry, He quotes from Isaiah chapter 40 and declares that he is the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way for the Lord. Silence in Israel. Silence in Zechariah until the voice is born and the voice speaks of what? The word. from the silence to the voice who will announce and point to the word made flesh. He is going to be a unique prophet. Other prophets for sure announced good news and they foretold the coming of the Messiah. But to John, it would be given the privilege of saying, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Not just looking to the future, but declaring in the present, it is he. You notice in verses 16 and 17 what John's ministry is? Going, turning, preparing. He goes before the Lord. He turns. He turns. You think of John's message when he bursts on the scene is repent. He turns many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. …
… as it is written in Isaiah the prophet, behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord make his paths straight. John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. So also, the evangelist John begins his gospel with John the Baptist pointing to the adult Jesus. And Matthew and Luke, after they have given their accounts of Jesus' birth, begin the real story with John the Baptist and the adult Jesus. What you and I need to get right, as the days narrow down to Christmas, is the message of John the Baptist about the ministry of the adult Christ. John the Baptist got it. He understood that we all need a savior. Life not only narrows down, it tightens like a vice. The judgment upon our sins comes upon us and there is no way out. You remember your past? Remember your sins? How you hurt others, hurt yourself, and broke God's commandments? You remember your past, but can you do anything about it? No, the vice of judgment tightens. John knew his job was to prepare the way of the Lord. As Isaiah 40 verse 3 says, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord. But this is an important point. John the Baptist did not know the identity of that Lord, did not know it would be Jesus from Nazareth. Listen from the first chapter of St. John's Gospel. The next day, he, John the …