Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Welcome to the February 8th sermon from Clifford Baptist Church, 635 Fletcher's Level Road in Amherst. Today's scripture is Luke, chapter three, verses one through nine. And the sermon is entitled Preparing the Way, delivered today by Pastor Jeffrey Campbell. Today's sermon from Luke, chapter number three. If you grab your Bibles, go on and turn there. Luke, chapter number three.
[00:00:22] There's a story of biological sisters who went to different churches.
[00:00:29] Both of them loved the Lord, but they had lost their love for one another.
[00:00:34] A family disagreement over their parents estate had left these sisters not talking to one another for 10 years.
[00:00:43] One Sunday, one of the sisters pastors preached a sermon on repentance.
[00:00:50] And that lady quietly left, went home and and allowed the Lord to work on her heart. That week she picked up the phone, she called her sister and said, will you forgive me for my part in our disagreement? The fix was not immediate, but it started something new.
[00:01:13] Months later, the two sisters sat beside each other in church worshiping the Lord.
[00:01:22] I tell you that story because we can relate how many of our families are torn apart by small, unimportant things.
[00:01:31] It's a story of God's grace. It's a story of repentance. It's a story of what can happen when people realize there's more to life than the material things.
[00:01:44] Today we are going to look at a forerunner in the work of the Lord. And you know him well. His name is John the Baptist. And not only does God call him to preach, but he calls him on a bigger scale to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah. And when we understand the job that God allowed this man to do, we understand that there is no earthly individual capable of doing such a great task outside of God's help.
[00:02:14] And as we gather and worship the Lord today, you and I cannot manage to get through our lives without God's help either. And if I can just be frank with you, the pastor can't make it through one day without Jesus. And when we realize how much we need him, we then become excited and compassionate for others to hear that same message. And about that same Jesus that changed our lives.
[00:02:41] John spent years in the wilderness with no one else but God.
[00:02:47] Some of us need a wilderness experience with Jesus because it's amazing what God works in the wilderness that he can make his plan come to fruition.
[00:03:00] And we see that plainly and clearly in the life of John the Baptist today.
[00:03:09] Take your Bible look at Luke, chapter number three. And we're going to look at the first two verses as we contemplate the Title Preparing the Way.
[00:03:24] Now, in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip, tetrarch of Ituria and the region of Trachonitis, and Licinias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priest.
[00:03:46] The word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.
[00:03:55] Point number one today when we talk about preparing the way is this.
[00:04:00] We need to understand the word processed.
[00:04:04] The word processed.
[00:04:08] Approximately 18 years have passed between the closing of Luke chapter 2 and the opening of Luke chapter 3.
[00:04:18] Some 30 years have passed since we last heard of John the Baptist. At the close of Luke chapter number three one, John grew up. And the Bible tells us In Luke chapter one, verse 80, he grew up in spirit and he lived in the desert until the moments that we read about today.
[00:04:40] But notice how Luke gives us historical detail as we open up chapter number three.
[00:04:50] Now, these names may not mean anything to you, but here's what you need to understand when you see these names. Luke is putting history and Jesus together.
[00:05:06] But what Luke also is not able to tell us with just the names is how wicked and dark Israel was in this day.
[00:05:18] When we look at the darkness that surrounds the people in Israel, the Romans have rule, they have influence, they have say so over everything, including worship and the pagan gods that are represented there.
[00:05:36] They are burdened by the rule of the Romans and the religion of the world. Power.
[00:05:44] We see Tiberius Caesar is in reign as and he followed Augustus and he is in his 15th year of reign. We see Pontius Pilate is governor and serves arrogantly and brutally. Herod Antipas and his brother Philip are two of the sons of Herod of the Great and they serve as tetrarchs beside Licinius and they are rulers of quarters or they are rulers of providences of the area.
[00:06:14] But we are giving the religious high. We are given the religious high priest as well.
[00:06:19] Annas and Caiaphas have a relationship. It's not spelled out here. Annas was the high priest. Caiaphas is there behind him. But Caiaphas is Annas's son in law.
[00:06:37] But here's what father in law still, father in law still calling his shots behind the scene.
[00:06:43] Even though he doesn't hold the title of high priest, Annas still calls the shots.
[00:06:50] And what we see is a wicked backdoor manipulation going on, not only in Roman rule, but in religion rule out of these seven names that are Given four, four of them will play a prominent role in crucifying Jesus Christ.
[00:07:20] It is a dark time for Israel as a nation.
[00:07:23] It is a dark time spiritually for them as well.
[00:07:26] And in the end of verse two, it tells us something is about to change.
[00:07:33] Remember, as the New Testament opens, there's 400 years that God has not done anything.
[00:07:41] And God's been moving a little bit, but God's about ready to show up.
[00:07:47] Look at verse number two.
[00:07:51] Annas and Caiaphas being the high priest. The Word of God came unto John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.
[00:08:00] When we see the Word of God come, we see that John is not necessarily pursuing anything. He's out spending time with God. He is in the wilderness. He is allowing God to work on him and to change him and to prepare him before he ever steps in any role that God has for him. There's a lesson there.
[00:08:23] There's a lesson for all of us, no matter our age, that before we say yes to God and we jump into a ministry or jump into where God's called us, we've gotta make sure that we are prepared.
[00:08:37] And I'm not saying you've gotta know it all or you've gotta have done it all. Listen, at 43, I still don't know that I'm prepared to be a senior pastor.
[00:08:48] There's a lot of work to do in my life.
[00:08:51] But what I want you to hear is this. In those years in the desert, God was working on John the Baptist, who, long before he marched into the city, preparing the way for Jesus.
[00:09:04] And we must allow the Word of God to be processed through our minds and to our hearts and in our lives so that we are living out the Word of God day by day.
[00:09:19] And when we understand what it means to be called by God, I don't care what role or what title you have, it is an amazing thing to serve the living God.
[00:09:40] In whatever role God has for you.
[00:09:44] As I tell people that are coming to our church, the person in the nursery that rocks the baby, their job is just as important in the sight of God as my job.
[00:09:57] And so as we prepare and seek God's direction, we want God's word to be processed in our life and in our heart. And we've got to spend time alone with God and let God do that work to prepare our hearts. But what we see here is John the Baptist is out living in the wilderness.
[00:10:18] And if you remember, the angel told Zacharias that his son would turn the hearts and make ready a People prepared for the Lord.
[00:10:28] Zacharias himself would testify earlier in Luke that his son would go before the Lord and prepare the way.
[00:10:37] And now God's word is calling. John, it is time.
[00:10:44] It's time to come out of that desert and start to prepare the way the Lord.
[00:10:52] You mean that God could use the one that's eating locusts and honey and dressed in camel hair to bring good news to the people of Israel?
[00:11:02] Absolutely it can.
[00:11:08] It's not a matter of where you are, but when God calls you. Here's what I need you to understand. You better. Listen.
[00:11:18] I ran from God myself.
[00:11:21] I know what it's like. And here's what I tell you from the depths of my heart. Do not run from what God asks you to do.
[00:11:30] Maybe there's somebody in this room or watching Livestream that's battling with God that feels like they've been in the wilderness. They're trying to figure things out. Here's what I'm going to ask you to do. Just submit to what God wants you to do.
[00:11:44] It will save you so much heartache and so much pain and so much self destruction if you just be obedient to him.
[00:11:53] But in that wilderness, John the Baptist is being prepared.
[00:12:01] And out of that wilderness he responds to the call from God. He moves from the desert and the wilderness to the busyness of a city because that's what the Lord asked him to do. Do real quick. I look back at some of the famous people in the Old Testament that were called by God to do things.
[00:12:22] You think of Abraham who was called to leave his country and go into a different land. Some of us, if God asked us to do that, we'd be like, not me, God, you got somebody else.
[00:12:34] We think of Moses who out of all places was called from a burning bush.
[00:12:47] He was inadequate in a lot of ways.
[00:12:50] But at the very end, we understand those words. The great I am sent him.
[00:12:59] We think of Samuel, who struggled even to recognize whether that's God's voice or not. Has anybody ever done that? Is anybody guilty of God? Is this you?
[00:13:11] And hear Samuel's prayer speak. Your servant is listening.
[00:13:20] Think of Isaiah just simply says, here I am. Send me.
[00:13:24] We wish every one of us were like that.
[00:13:27] The disciples leaving their livelihood and their family to be fishers of men. Here's what I want you to understand. As God's call came, there was a sense of urgency, but there was also a sense of total commitment.
[00:13:44] And so when we process the word of God, we've got to realize that, yes, God can use Clifford Baptist Church.
[00:13:54] But there's urgent matters as well that need to be taken care of.
[00:13:59] And a simple yes or a simple I will is a commitment on your part to do the Lord's work.
[00:14:10] When we understand John the Baptist coming out of that wilderness, he's coming out of that special time with God to pursue what God has for him.
[00:14:26] We understand that that's not going to be easy.
[00:14:30] But he's coming with a message that is direct.
[00:14:33] And let this be the warning. These following words are not my words. They are God's words.
[00:14:40] But the directness of the Word of God allows us to understand that it is urgent. But we must be committed as God's people.
[00:14:54] When we look at God's Word today, do you believe that God still calls people?
[00:15:04] Could God be calling you?
[00:15:09] And when we realize what that means. It's often the wilderness seasons that God uses to call his people and to allow them to process what God's will is. But in order to process the will of God, you've got to process the Word of God.
[00:15:27] And some of us struggle with what that will of God is. Here's my advice. Get into the Word of God and let God lead you.
[00:15:39] God's word comes to John in the wilderness.
[00:15:41] It's just him and the Lord. No platform, no personal gain, no agenda there. Maybe today you are in that wilderness allowing God to grow you. Here's what I need you to understand. Just answer the call where you when the Word of God comes to you.
[00:16:00] The Word of God processed let's look at the Word of God preached.
[00:16:06] Look at verses three through six.
[00:16:11] And he came into all the country about Jordan preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins as 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.
[00:16:31] Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be brought low. And crooked shall be made straight. And the rough way shall be made smooth and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
[00:16:46] That second point is the Word preached.
[00:16:51] As John the Baptist is moved by God, he begins preaching in the area of the Jordan River. And John the Baptist is called specifically to be the forerunner of Christ.
[00:17:03] Now listen. Some people will confuse that. Some people will try to label him as Christ. Some people will label him as the Messiah. And he is quick to defer that. That is not who I am.
[00:17:17] But the message that he brings is one that is preparing the people of the coming of The Lord Jesus Christ, the one who has come to save. And there are three words that are important to his ministry as he begins to preach.
[00:17:34] The first one is repentance.
[00:17:37] He is calling the Jewish people to change their ways and change their attitudes toward God and turn from their sin and turn, turn to God.
[00:17:48] Now remember, this is what the angel told Zacharias would happen real quick. Take Luke chapter one. Go back to Luke chapter one and look at verse number 16.
[00:18:00] This is what the angel says about Zacharias son and many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God, and he shall go before him in the spirit and in power of Elias. And turn their hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just. And to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
[00:18:24] The angel told him, this is what your son is going to do. And as he begins to preach that word, repentance is one that is often described as a 180 degree turn.
[00:18:38] When you are completely sold out and following sin and then the Lord changes you and you turn and you begin to follow the Lord by faith. That's what that term is described as.
[00:18:51] When we understand that that is key here. You can't keep going down the road of sin.
[00:18:57] You've got to turn.
[00:19:00] And that's the message that John is preaching. It's one of repentance. But there's also a second word is a forgiveness or a forgiveness of sins.
[00:19:13] The Jews carry that burden of never, ever being able to hold every word, every letter of the law. They could not live it out. It was impossible. It could not be done. But they carry that guilt and they carry that burden. But John's message was this. If you will turn to God and this new covenant, it gives you hope, but it also gives you a promise of forgiveness.
[00:19:41] Their antennas started going off.
[00:19:43] They're listening.
[00:19:46] There's a new way to be forgiven by God.
[00:19:50] The third word is baptism.
[00:19:54] John baptized those who were willing to come turn from their sin and be forgiven of that sin and committed to walk with the Lord.
[00:20:05] And I'm grateful because through his preaching he called the people to turn and to come to Jesus.
[00:20:11] But our baptism identifies in similar ways. It identifies with that turning from sin.
[00:20:19] Our baptism identifies with the turning to God and the committing to walk with the Lord. But we also have the privilege to identify with his life and his death and his burial and his resurrection.
[00:20:33] They did not have that.
[00:20:37] So as we think about how our baptism is different, we have Christ's death to celebrate as well.
[00:20:46] But it is also a celebration of a life that's turning from sin, turning to God and walking with him.
[00:20:58] When we think about this message, you may say, oh, that's fine, I can deal with that message.
[00:21:04] John's message also fulfilled scripture.
[00:21:09] Paths made straight, valleys filled, mountains leveled out. The crooked made straight, rough is made smooth.
[00:21:16] This is a picture of what would happen if a king was coming to town.
[00:21:22] Back in biblical days, if a king was coming to town, they would send out folks to make sure that there was nothing in the way, nothing that would hinder the king getting to town.
[00:21:35] And so we see that picture here, but it was prophesied years before.
[00:21:43] And as we see, John the Baptist is making the way clear that Jesus would come and be received as that promised Messiah and Savior.
[00:21:54] And here is the great news in verse number six.
[00:21:59] As the way is smooth and the way is clear, verse number six says this and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
[00:22:08] Here's what that means.
[00:22:10] Salvation was getting ready to move outside of just one nation to the world.
[00:22:16] There were no obstacles that would hinder any one nationality, any one person from coming to Jesus.
[00:22:25] It was all made smooth.
[00:22:32] When we understand that that salvation wasn't only for the Jew, the Gentile would be welcomed in friends, we should have reason to praise God.
[00:22:45] The Word of the Lord should lead our lives.
[00:22:51] But we see as he preaches it, it's shared with the other people. The good news is beginning to be spread around that area and around the world that Jesus is the way. Jesus is coming.
[00:23:05] Turn from your sin and turn to him as God.
[00:23:09] That's the message of John the Baptist.
[00:23:12] It calls people to repentance. It calls them to turn to God and seek forgiveness. But the Word of God can make a way when there is no way.
[00:23:23] And that was John's job, simply to preach the truth of God.
[00:23:29] And the Word of God will level those ways to the throne of grace. And that is Jesus.
[00:23:39] How many of y' all know the Word of God is living and powerful and stronger than any two edged sword?
[00:23:47] How many of you know that the Word of God is truth According to John 17?
[00:23:52] How about the Word of God being a seed as Luke 8 tells us?
[00:23:58] How many of you know the Word of God does not return void as Isaiah says, the Word of God is a light unto our path. The Word of God brings new life. According to First Peter chapter one, the Word of God is alive. It is true. It is powerful and productive and it must be preached.
[00:24:21] John the Baptist preached the truth and word of God.
[00:24:27] And as Christians and believers today, we must desire that same truth to continue to lead us and change us in this day.
[00:24:38] Maybe there's an area of your life that needs to turn.
[00:24:45] Maybe you're sitting here today and you don't know Jesus and you need to do that 180 turn.
[00:24:53] But also there's a challenge.
[00:24:55] As Christians, if we have processed the word of God, our lives must preach the Word as well.
[00:25:04] And that leads us to our third point.
[00:25:08] Look at verses seven through nine.
[00:25:12] And then he said, then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him. O generation of vipers who have warned you to flee from the wrath to come.
[00:25:24] Bring 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 of Abraham.
[00:25:39] And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees.
[00:25:45] Every tree, therefore, which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.
[00:25:56] Point number three.
[00:25:58] The word produces.
[00:26:01] The word is processed. The word is preached, and the word produces.
[00:26:06] Many respond to the call John is preaching. And many, many respond to come and be baptized, signifying their lives will be changed. They will look to God, they will turn from their sin, and they will commit to following God Almighty.
[00:26:23] And as those people come now, put this in your imagination. As they start coming. John says, hold on, hold on, hold on.
[00:26:31] You are a family of vipers.
[00:26:38] Now look, if I told you that, you wouldn't be back here next Sunday.
[00:26:46] But here's what John was saying.
[00:26:49] Don't you come out of ill intent for the wrong reasons.
[00:26:55] Don't come because of the wrath of God, because you're scared.
[00:26:59] Don't come because you're connected to Abraham and you can trace your descendant. Don't come for that.
[00:27:07] Don't come to God for the wrong reasons. And he connects them as a viper, signifying that they are connected to Satan the serpent.
[00:27:20] Are you just coming to avoid God's wrath?
[00:27:24] Don't claim kinship to Abraham and think that you will be okay.
[00:27:31] Natural dissent or fear of God's punishment doesn't save you.
[00:27:41] Just because your daddy and your mama go to church don't mean you're okay.
[00:27:48] Just because your family's been in church for years doesn't mean anything.
[00:27:53] Does it save you when we think we can connect those dots and we're okay? No.
[00:28:03] Because you hold a title or even because you're serving doesn't mean you're okay, here's what he says in verse number eight.
[00:28:15] Bring forth, therefore, fruits worthy of repentance.
[00:28:20] You've got to show fruit.
[00:28:24] If you're coming saying, I'm going to change my life and I'm going to change my ways, you better do it.
[00:28:32] And Christians today, we get labeled because our lives and our word do not match.
[00:28:41] The world is simply fruit inspectors, and they don't see the fruit.
[00:28:48] They hear the noise, they hear what we claim, but they don't see the fruit of worthy of repentance.
[00:29:04] Here's what John the Baptist says.
[00:29:07] Bring forth fruit worthy of repentance.
[00:29:10] If you truly turn from sin and you truly turn to following the Lord, you better bear that fruit, and I better see the evidence, because here's the warning.
[00:29:23] And this warning is still true in 2026.
[00:29:28] Look at verse number nine.
[00:29:34] And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees.
[00:29:40] Every tree, therefore, which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.
[00:29:49] The axe will cut every tree that does not bear fruit.
[00:29:57] Luke continues to tell later on in Luke chapter six that the good tree brings forth good fruit.
[00:30:04] But here's what I want to leave you with today. The axe laying at the root of the tree.
[00:30:12] And John is not the one that swings the ax. Praise be to God.
[00:30:16] John's not there to judge. He's not there to condemn. He's just there to warn. The ax is at the root.
[00:30:23] And if the tree doesn't bear fruit, here's what will happen. It will be cut down and it will be thrown in the fire.
[00:30:32] I love to preach about Jesus and him being love, but there is a warning that comes with Jesus as well.
[00:30:42] If our lives as Christians doesn't produce fruit, we are no different than this tree.
[00:30:49] And judgment is at our feet.
[00:30:52] And that judgment will be carried out one day. Listen. Listen. These are words of warning, but these are also words of grace.
[00:31:01] John says, the ax is there, but it's not being used yet.
[00:31:06] You still have time. You still have time.
[00:31:11] And so when we understand the word being processed and the word being preached, the word must produce fruit. And the fruit isn't good. The tree will be chopped down.
[00:31:23] I'm grateful today that I'm not your judge.
[00:31:29] I hope you don't think that I am.
[00:31:33] But as we understand, we have the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, just like John the Baptist had, we must do the same thing with it.
[00:31:46] We must let it process. We must let it infiltrate our lives.
[00:31:51] We must let it go out of our mouths and through our lives to be preached to others and then pray for the harvest of fruit.
[00:32:00] Today, I'm not asking you to look at somebody else.
[00:32:06] I'm asking you to look at your own tree, because that's the only one that you're responsible for your own life.
[00:32:15] As Christians, do we have fruits to bring forth? The one that lives in us and the one that lords over us and the light that shines through, through us should produce good fruit in our life.
[00:32:31] And so today is that word producing fruit Christian? That's your challenge. That's your question for the day. The ax is at the root. Is your life producing the fruit?
[00:32:46] I just made that up. That was a rhyme. I know, but serious enough, the warning's there. Your life must produce. Let me tell you one quick story as I close.
[00:33:01] There was a guy that was looking for a house, and he bought a house. And the front yard was an apple tree.
[00:33:11] Every spring, it produced beautiful blooms. And the neighbors would come by, and the neighbors would say, that's going to be a good year.
[00:33:18] It's going to be a good year. Look at all the blooms on your beautiful tree.
[00:33:23] Springtime passed, summer came, fall came, and guess what? No fruit.
[00:33:28] And here's what the owner said. It must have been the weather this year, or it didn't get pollinated, right? Something must have happened. Something crazy happened. I'll give it another year.
[00:33:38] Next year, the same thing happened.
[00:33:40] The blossoms came, no fruit.
[00:33:46] He called in the expert, and the expert simply said this.
[00:33:52] The problem isn't in the tree.
[00:33:56] The problem's in the root.
[00:33:59] And what you need is you need to go in there and you need to break up that hard ground and you need to give it some nutrients, and you need to water it, and you need to cut back some of those dead places and then see what it does.
[00:34:11] The owner of the home did that. And in the front of his yard, he was ashamed to even leave the tree, it looked so bad.
[00:34:21] But the next year, it produced.
[00:34:26] We got to get to the root of the problem.
[00:34:30] And the root of the problem, not necessarily in this church, but in this world, is there's no fruit, there's no fruit.
[00:34:45] When the world looks at the church, it just says, it's just like me. Why should I go?
[00:34:50] The world's doing the same thing that I'm doing. Other church doing the same thing that I'm doing. Why should I even give it a chance?
[00:34:56] I don't need the church.
[00:34:59] I don't need Jesus.
[00:35:03] Christian today.
[00:35:05] Is there some areas in your life that you need to cut back and prune back. And you need to dig down into the root of the problem in the soil.
[00:35:12] That way the Lord can work that you can bear fruit.
[00:35:19] Maybe today you're here and you never accepted the Lord Jesus.
[00:35:24] There's always something in the way.
[00:35:28] There's always something holding you. There's always something that holds you back.
[00:35:34] John the Baptist came to pave the way.
[00:35:38] Today I prayed. The simple word of God has paved the way for you to come.
[00:35:43] Jesus Christ does love you.
[00:35:46] He loved you enough to go to an old rugged cross and take your sin there.
[00:35:51] He loved you enough to not hold that punishment over your head. If you will just come by faith and believe.
[00:35:59] If you will turn from that sin and you will turn your life, follow him and commit to following for the rest of your life, you will be saved today.
[00:36:10] Is there somebody that needs Jesus as savior?
[00:36:16] Christian, let's do that work right now.
[00:36:20] In this time of invitation, pray.
[00:36:25] Father God, thank you.
[00:36:32] Thank you for unconventional people like John the Baptist.
[00:36:39] Simple obedience with a message just to come to God, turn from sin and turn to God and believe him and follow him with your life.
[00:36:53] But there's one caveat.
[00:36:56] You gotta produce fruit.
[00:36:59] Oh God. For that Christian today whose life may not be producing the fruit it needs to God, thank you for the grace that the ax is just sitting at the root. It hasn't been used yet.
[00:37:13] Oh God, I pray that one would come and get to the root of the problem, God. And I pray, Lord, that you will do the work in that heart, Lord, that that tree that belongs to you will produce fruit.
[00:37:25] Oh God, I pray for that one that needs you, Lord. A clear invitation to simply come.
[00:37:33] Turn from sin, turn to God and live for him.
[00:37:39] God, if one needs you today, God, I pray they will not let anything stop them, Lord. For that one in the wilderness season, God, grow in my praying and we'll be careful to give you the praise and honor and glory for all you do in Jesus name.
[00:37:58] Amen.
[00:38:00] Clifford Baptist Church invites you to join us for worship every Sunday morning at 11am for more information about our church, please call our church office at 434-946-0555.
