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Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Is it? Song 439 in your songbooks. Maybe. We'll sing Count Your Blessings if you would stand. We'll sing song 439. Count your blessings. Name them one by one. And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done. Count your blessings. Name them one by one. Count your blessings. See what God hath done. Count your blessings. Name them one by one. Count your many blessings. See what God hath done. Are you ever burdened with a load of care? Does the cross seem heavy? You are called to bear. Count your many blessings. Every doubt will fly. And you will be singing as the days go by. Count your blessings. Name them one by one. Count your blessings. See what God hath done. Count your blessings. Name them one by one. Count your many blessings. See what God hath done. When you look at others with their lands and gold, think that Christ has promised you his wealth untold. Count your many blessings. Your reward in heaven or your home on high. Count your blessings. Name them one by one. Count your blessings. See what God hath done. Count your blessings. Name them one by one. Count your many blessings. See what God hath done. So amid the conflict, whether great or small, do not be discouraged. God is over all. Count your many blessings. Angels will attend. Help and comfort give you to your journeys end. Count your blessings. Name them one by one. Count your blessings. See what God hath done. Count your blessings. Name them one by one. Count your many blessings. See what God hath done. Let's pray, Heavenly Father, Lord, again. We just want to thank you, God, for this beautiful sunny day that you've given us to meet in your house and to hear your word preached, Lord. I just want to thank you for our church and all of the members and our pastor, Lord. And I pray, Lord, that you would just bless tonight. We love you. For it's in Jesus' name we ask all of it. Amen. All right, you may be seated and turn in your psalm. It's a song, 455. Song 455. We'll sing, O Perfect Love. Song 455. 50 50 50 55 Oh, Perfect love, O human thot is Sing thy throne, that theirs may be the love which knows no ending, whom thou for evermore dost joy in one. O perfect life be thou their full assurance, O tender charity and steadfast faith, of patient hope and quiet brave endurance, with childlike truth that fears no pain and death. Grant them the joy which brightens earthly sorrows. Grant them the peace which calms all earthly strife. And to life's day, the glorious unknown morrow that dawns upon thee eternal love and life. Hear us, O Father, gracious and forgiving, through Jesus Christ, thy eternal word, who with the holy goes by all things living, now and to endless ages are untorn. Amen. That sound OK right now? The amplifier's in there. I think some kids turned those all the way up. So one of those was all the way up. So it could be a kid or it could just be Brother Dave that's in there messing with it. So just some announcements here. Service time should be normal this week. So everything should be normal on the list there. So be here in your places on Sunday. We have the women's prayer meeting coming up this Saturday. But the sowing times, everything should be on the church group there as far as what times everybody's going to be meeting up for the sowing times. We will have our normal sowing time on Sunday. And then the sowing marathon in Bluefield, that'll be on March 11. So I think there's a group already set up for that as far as that goes. So if you want to be a part of that, then just to get with Brother Wade who's leading that up. And then our Bible memory for the month, we have Psalm 22 is our chapter memory for the month. And then John 3, 7 is our memory verse for the week. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. And got the birthdays. We already got birthdays. Pregnancy is to be in prayer for Tiara Alesco and Amanda Spina under the pregnancy list there. And we're going to be planning a sowing marathon in Indianapolis, Indiana. You may ask why. There's a group of guys that are there that are wanting to start a church eventually. Whether we help out with that or not, we're going to go out and do a sowing marathon with them and get to know these guys, see what they're about, all that stuff. But all us fellows will go out there and win some souls and come back to West Virginia. But I would like, we haven't planned anything yet. We haven't got a time set up or anything like that. But I would like to get many of the men of the church to go out with us to that. It's about five and a half hours away. So what we may do is like where we go out on Friday, stay the night, get a hotel, stay the night, and then go out that day. And so yeah, it'd be nice, especially the guys that lead up soul winning times and stuff like that. So when we're going out soul winning, you guys can come back to me and say, hey, these guys are legit. They know what they're doing, stuff like that. But yeah, if anything, it'd be a good time to go out and just go out and see what's up in Indiana. But we haven't got anything scheduled yet. But that'll be on the horizon. We just got to find a good Saturday to do that. So just be on the lookout for that. And I think that's about all I got for announcements. We're going to be continuing through the book of Luke today. So we're going to be doing Luke chapter 3. Who's Brother David's going to be reading tonight? And so you got all the names. You got the genealogy. So did you practice it? No? OK. He's just winging it. But with those names, all you got to do is just say it confidently. It doesn't have to be right. You just have to say it with confidence, as if it's right. And then we'll make fun of you later. No, I'm just kidding. No, you'll do fine. But offering boxes in the back there, if you want to give a tie to their offering. Mother's Baby Room is for the mothers of babies only. And so Brother David's going to come and sing one more song we have the script for reading. All right, take your song books. There it is. Thank you. Take your song books and turn to song 441. Song 441. We'll sing Great is Thy Faithfulness, song 441. Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father. There is no shadow of turning with Thee. Thou changest not thy compassions. They fail not, as thou hast been, thou forever will be. Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness. Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. Summer and winter and springtime and harvest, sun, moon, and stars in their courses above. Join with all nature in manifold witness to thy great faithfulness, mercy, and good. Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness. Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth. Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide. Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. Blessings all mine with 10,000 beside. Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness. Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. All right, take your Bibles and turn to Luke, chapter number three. Luke 3 in your Bibles. And we'll have Brother Dave read that for us. Luke 3, if you found your place, amen. And the Bible reads, now in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Iteria, and of the reason of Trichonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene. And Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. And he came into all the country about Jodin, Jodin preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet saying, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare you the way of the Lord, make his path straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough way shall be made smooth. And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him are a generation of vipers, who hath grown thee to flee from the wrath to come. Bring forth their fruit-fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham to our folly. For I say unto you, that God is able to be stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid into the root of the trees. Every tree of their fruits bringeth not forth good fruit, is hewn down, and cast into the fire. And the people asked him, saying, what shall we do then? He answereth and saith unto them, he that hath two courts, let them impart to him that hath none, and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. Then came also the publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, master, what shall we do? And he said unto them, exact no more than that which is appointed you. And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, and what shall we do? And he said unto them, do violence to no man, neither accuse fallacy, and be content with your rages. And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in the hearts of John, whether he were the Christ or not, John answered, saying unto them, all, I indeed baptize you with water, but one mightier than I cometh, the last of the few shoes I am not worthy to unleash, he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost under the fire, whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his fur, and will gather the wheat into his garner, but the chaff will he burn with fire and principal, and many other things, and his exhortation priest unto the people. But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved of him for Herodias, his brother Philip's sake, ripe, and for all the evils his Herod had done, added yet this above all, that he set up John in prison. Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, that heaven was open. And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily safe, like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, thou are my beloved son, and I am well pleased. And Jesus himself began to be about 30 years of age, as was being, as I suppose, the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli, which was the son of Mathak, which was the son of Levi, which was the son of Melchiah, which was the son of Jannah, which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Mathathias, which was the son of Amos, which was the son of Nahum, which was the son of Esli, which was the son of Nagi, which was the son of Maath, which was the son of Mathathias, which was the son of Samiai, which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Judah, which was the son of Joanna, which was the son of Risa, which was the son of Zerulabel, which was the son of Salafiel, which was the son of Neirai, which was the son of Melchiah, which was the son of Adai, which was the son of Kosan, which was the son of Elmodan, which was the son of Er, which was the son of Josie, which was the son of Eliezer, which was the son of Joann, which was the son of Matha, which was the son of Levi, which was the son of Simeon, which was the son of Judah, which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Jonan, which was the son of Eliakim, which was the son of Meliah, which was the son of Menan, which was the son of Matathah, which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David, which was the son of Jesse, which was the son of Obed, which was the son of Boaz, which was the son of Solomon, which was the son of Nahasson, which was the son of Amenadab, which was the son of Aram, which was the son of Ezra, which was the son of Phares, which was the son of Judah, which was the son of Jacob, which was the son of Isaac, which was the son of Abraham, which was the son of Thera, which was the son of Nachor, which was the son of Serach, which was the son of Raggah, which was the son of Phelak, which was the son of Hebrew, Hebrew, which was the son of Salah, which was the son of Kainan, which was the son of Arphaxad, which was the son of Senn, which was the son of Noli, which was the son of Lamech, which was the son of Methuselah, which was the son of Enoch, which was the son of Jared, which was the son of Malleol, which was the son of Canaan, which was the son of Enoch, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God. Let's pray. Dear Lord, I thank you for this opportunity to come back to your house, Lord, and I pray that you will pass with your spirit. In Jesus' name, amen. You did a good job with that genealogy. You didn't have to practice or anything. So you're there in Luke chapter three, and we are continuing our study through the book of Luke here. And chapter two, obviously, was the famous story of Jesus' birth, but then you also saw a really cool story where you see Jesus at 12 years old. In this chapter, we're gonna see that Jesus is gonna start his ministry, and he's about 30 years old when he starts his ministry. Now, look at verse one there. The thing that I was kinda talking about last week in chapter two was the fact that Luke really shows you the point in history when Jesus was here on the earth, because it really just shows you, okay, you got the Caesars, and you have even governors of other places like Syria and everything. And so notice that it says here in verse one of Luke chapter three, now in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being teatric of Galilee, and his brother Philip, teatric of Ituraea, and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysianias, the teatric of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being high priests, the word of God came unto John, the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. So notice that it's giving you all these different rulers. I mean, from obviously Caesar, who's over the Roman Empire, which is at this time ruling over Israel and Judea, they also see these teatrics. Now, what's a teatric? Well, a teatric, think about what a monarch is. What's a monarchy? Monarch would be, you think of mono, like mono e mono, the idea of one. And so a monarch would be like, you have a king or a queen. It's a dictatorship of just one ruler. A teatric, you can see that term tetra that's in there. So if you've ever played Tetris, each block has four different blocks on it, and you get that term, like a four. So what it is is a teatric is where you have a kingdom of four leaders, or four kind of kings, if you will. And so Herod is one of those, but you have Philip, his brother, is another one of those rulers. And it depends on what area that you're at, right? So Herod's over Galilee, Philip's over Iturea, and the region of Tectonitis. And so you see who the rulers are. In Luke chapter two, who was the Caesar at that time? Well, Luke chapter two and verse one, it says, and it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus. Okay, so we're dealing with a different Caesar. And actually, if you were to look up the reign of Caesar Augustus, it goes from like 31 BC to 14 AD. And then what year are we in in Tiberius Caesar? We're in the 15th year. So technically, we're about, we're 29 years. And obviously, that's why, when it says that Jesus is about 30 years old, he could very well be just about to turn 30, right? And you can see how this would work with our calendar where it starts at zero. And your 14 years, in the 14 year, basically AD is when you have Tiberius Caesar taking over, and then you're in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar. And you can see how that works out when it comes to our calendar, which no marvel that that's where our calendar, as far as we're in 2023, we're in 2023 years since the birth of Christ. And people can change that to BCE and CE, but what event happened that changed us going into the common era, right? Or what I like to call Christ era, you know? But so that being said, the thing about Luke is that I believe the gospel of Luke has a theme, and the theme is really showing you the humanity of Christ and the idea that he, and when we get into this genealogy, we're going all the way back to Adam, which is really showing the humanity of Christ and that Jesus is flesh and blood, going all the way back to Adam, and also that we're rooted in history and reality, okay? Meaning that this actually did happen. Jesus was born at this time when this Caesar was in power, and he started his ministry during the time of Tiberius Caesar. Pontius Pilate was the governor over Judea at that time, obviously he's the Roman governor that's over that, and so it gives you all this information. This actually is, and listen, the Bible obviously is the word of God, but it's also a history book, right? And unlike other history books, which you have to take with a grain of salt, the Bible is a history book that is completely correct. So when you're looking at other history books and you're looking at history about other Caesars and other things that are going on, you really have to take that with a grain of salt because that's not infallible. And remember that the victors wrote the history books. So when you're reading a history book, listen, if the history book contradicts what the Bible says, the Bible's right. But in the case of when you're looking at the reign of Tiberius Caesar and the reign of Augustus Caesar guess what, that matches up with the Bible. And so when you look at that history, we can look at that history of those Caesars at least, and say, well, that's definitely right because the Bible states it. So anyway, it's kind of leading into this, what time period are we in? We're obviously during the Roman Empire, during Tiberius Caesar, that's when Jesus is starting his ministry. Now, we're gonna see John the Baptist coming on the scene here. And you remember in chapter one, John the Baptist is in the wilderness until he appears onto Jerusalem. So John the Baptist is basically the predecessor prophet, if you will, that's coming in to prepare the way of the Lord. And that's what it's gonna state here of what his job is, okay? Notice in chapter three and verse three, it says, and he came to pass, I'm sorry, and he came into all the country about Jordan, because in chapter, in verse two there, it says the word of God came unto John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. But he came into all the country about Jordan. Now, Jordan is that river that's running on kind of the right side, if you will, of Israel. And so if you think about when they crossed Jordan to go over to Jericho, they're coming over into the land of Israel. But it says, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Now, I'm gonna get into that as far as what is the baptism of repentance. But the thing that I want you to just notice there is that he's preaching the baptism of repentance. He's not doing the baptism of repentance, he's preaching it, okay? So the baptism of repentance is actually a doctrine, okay? It's a doctrine that's being preached, and I'll get to that as far as what that's talking about. But then it goes on to say in verse four, 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. Every 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, and all flesh shall see what? The salvation of God. So what's John's purpose here? Well, I'll get into, you know, his father Zacharias actually stated the same exact type of thing as far as what John is going to be doing. But there's two main prophecies about John the Baptist when it comes to him coming, right? The idea of John the Baptist coming before the Lord or prepare the way. And this, the voice of one crying in the wilderness comes from Isaiah chapter 40. Go to Isaiah chapter 40. Now, in other places, it'll state that the prophet, you know, as I said, the prophets, like in Mark chapter one, it talks about, talking about the prophets we're talking about, John the Baptist, and it'll bring up Malachi chapter three, right, and it'll bring up the fact that, behold, I send my messenger before the face of the Lord, right, and he shall prepare his ways. And both those passages kind of talking about the same thing, talking about John the Baptist, but right here, this is very clear, we're talking about Isaiah the prophet, but this is coming from Isaiah chapter 40. Now, if you know the book of Isaiah has 66 chapters, and what would be the first chapter that would, if you were to split Isaiah up into like the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament, the 40th chapter would be starting into the New Testament. And the first thing that's mentioned as you go into the 40th chapter is John the Baptist coming on the scene. And so, and that's something that you see in the gospels, that John the Baptist, I mean, you see it in John, in Matthew chapter three, you see it in Luke, actually chapter one, where John the Baptist is actually being born, you see it in Mark chapter one, and you see it in John chapter one, where John is baptizing Jesus, and in Isaiah chapter 40 here, notice what it says in verse one, it says, comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God, speaking comfortably to Jerusalem and crying to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Notice this in verse three, the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. So this is clearly talking about John the Baptist. You're like, well, how do you know? Because in the New Testament, it says this is talking about John the Baptist. So this is, when you're looking at the New Testament, and it says, as is written in the book of Isaiah, then you should probably go back there and see what it was saying. Now, sometimes it'll quote everything about it, and sometimes it'll just quote a little piece of it, and you can go back and get more information. But basically, he's preparing the way of the Lord, and then it goes on to say in verse four, every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. Now, what's it say in the New Testament? All flesh shall see the salvation of God. Here it's saying that all flesh shall see the glory of the Lord, and it says, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. But then it says in verse six here, notice this, it says, the voice said, cry. So the voice of one crying in the wilderness, right? But then it says, the voice said, cry, and he said, what shall I cry? Right, so what is he crying in the wilderness? And this is, it says, what shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withers, and the flower fadeth, because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely the people is grass. So all the goodliness of the flesh is as grass. It fadeth away, it falleth away. In verse eight it says, the grass withers, and the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever. O Zion, that bringeth good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain, O Jerusalem, that bringeth good tidings. Lift up thy voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid, say unto the cities of Judah, behold your God. This is exactly what John the Baptist is doing. He's preparing the way of the Lord, basically saying that one cometh after him whose shoes latch, and he's not worthy to unloose. Obviously, behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, it says in John chapter one. But it's stating here that what shall I cry? All flesh is as grass, but the word of our God shall stand forever. What's it say? That's actually quoted in the New Testament. And 1 Peter, go to 1 Peter chapter one, 1 Peter chapter one, and I'll say this, the Bible also says, for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. So when it says that all flesh shall see the salvation of God, obviously you could be saying, well, we're talking about Jesus, because I mean, if you think about it, Simeon, right, is saying that God told him that basically he would not see death until he saw the Lord's Christ. And then what did he say exactly in Luke chapter two? I don't have it written down, but basically he says, I've seen thy salvation. Yeah, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Who's that? Jesus, right? The eternal life. But in 1 Peter chapter one, verse 23, it says, being born again, not a corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, but a word of God which liveth in the body forever, for all flesh is as grass, so this is where this is coming from, it's coming from Isaiah chapter 40, for all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man is the flower of grass, the grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away, but the word of the Lord endureth forever, and this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. That's exactly what it's talking about in Isaiah chapter 40. The New Testament is just putting so much more clarity on that. We're talking about the good tidings, right? And Isaiah 52, seven is our moniker verse, right? When it talks about behold upon the mountains, the feet of him, or how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings that publisheth peace, that publishes salvation, and that Seth and the Zion thy God reigneth, and that's what it's stating here, is that John the Baptist is this voice in the wilderness, but it's saying, what are you gonna cry? What shall I cry? And it's basically saying, cry that all flesh is as grass, but the word of the Lord endureth forever, and bring good tidings, saying unto Zion thy God reigneth. And the New Testament just clarifies that, and the fact that being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorreld, by the word of God which liveth in the body forever, for all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man is the flower of grass, the grass withered, the flower faded, or falleth away, but the word of the Lord endureth forever, and this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you, because faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, and obviously I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. So when you're dealing with John the Baptist here, what is he, what's his job? His job is to prepare the way of the Lord, and notice that it's stating that, it's saying that every mountain shall be brought low, and every valley shall be exalted. If you think about it right, you have a mountain range. The idea is that the valley is gonna be brought up, the mountain's gonna be brought low, and you're basically just making everything flat and smooth. So it's just like, when Jesus gets on the scene, it's just like, it's ready. It's ready just to go, just walk straight ahead for him to do his job, and that was John the Baptist's role, and even when Jesus starts his ministry, John the Baptist is saying, I must decrease, he must increase, but I must decrease, and he ends up getting put in prison, and obviously we know the story that he's beheaded and all that, but we see that his job is to prepare the way of the Lord, but it's also to preach salvation, it's to preach the gospel. So he's preparing the hearts of the fathers, as it says about Elijah's gonna come, and that's Malachi chapter four, that he's gonna come in the spirit and power of Elijah, and he's gonna prepare the hearts of the fathers and of the children, and he's preparing the way of the Lord, and he's preaching the gospel. Now, his father Zacharias stated that this is what he was going to do. Okay, so go to Luke chapter one again, Luke chapter one and verse 76. And then I'm gonna be getting into what's this baptism of repentance, because people think that John the Baptist preached some of the gospel than what we preach now. It's this dispensational dipstick type of theology that teaches that there's more than one gospel. No, there's only one gospel. Listen, the gospel of the kingdom, and the glorious gospel, and the gospel of Jesus Christ, they're all the same. You're just explaining it in different ways. Listen, the gospel of Jesus Christ is glorious, and it is the gospel of the kingdom, and it is the everlasting gospel. It's just attaching things to explain to you what we're dealing with. We're dealing with an everlasting gospel that's glorious, it's of Christ, and it's my gospel too. Like Paul says, my gospel, well, guess what? It's my savior, but it doesn't mean that Jesus is only my savior and no one else's, right? And so the idea here is that it's the same gospel, John's preaching the same thing that's been preached from the beginning of time, and guess what? It's the same gospel that we preach right now. And notice what it says here in Luke chapter one in verse 76, it says, and thou child, so he's talking about his son, obviously he was just born at this point, but and thou child shall be called the prophet of the highest, for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways. I mean, completely consistent with what the Bible says, Isaiah 40, you know, Malachi chapter three, even going into Malachi chapter four about what he's going to do. Notice in verse 77, so he's preparing the ways of the Lord, so that is the job that he's doing, but it says to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins through the tender mercy of God. So when you're looking in Luke chapter three, what it says that he is gonna, he's preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Here it doesn't say anything about baptism, repentance, or anything like that. It just says that he's gonna give the knowledge of salvation by the remission of their sins, meaning this is that, you know what? There is no salvation unless you have remission of your sins, okay? That's why Islam doesn't work. That's why these other religions don't work, because they don't have anybody to remit their sins. They don't have forgiveness of sins. Now we know that there's so many verses on the fact that it's by the blood of Christ that we get remission of sins, but that's another sermon for another day, but the idea here is that by the remission of sins, through the tender mercy of our God, not through our actions, not through us repenting of our sins or something like that, it's through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us. Who are we talking about? We're talking about the Lord Jesus that has come, and it says to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace. By the way, we're dealing with the gospel of peace, which is the same gospel, right? The glorious gospel, the gospel of peace, the everlasting gospel, we're talking about the same gospel, the good tidings. Now, when it says that it's through the tender mercy of our God, go to Titus chapter three. Titus chapter three, Titus chapter three, and it'll explain this verse. To give knowledge of salvation unto this people by the remission of their sins through the tender mercy of our God. Well, how do we achieve that? How do we get that tender mercy of our God? How do we get that remission of sins? And I don't want to belabor this because there's so many verses on this. I mean, Acts talks about this a lot as far as how we get the remission of sins, but I just think that when you're dealing with the tender mercy of our God, let's look at a verse where it talks about being saved by mercy, okay? And in Titus chapter three and verse four, it says, but after that, the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, remember the salvation of our God, or salvation shall appear unto all flesh, right? All flesh shall see the salvation of God. Well, it says the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to what? According to his mercy, he saved us. By the washing and regeneration of water. No, that's not what it says. By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by repenting of sins, turning over a new leaf, stop sinning. Is that what it says? No, it says that being justified by grace, by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. So when it says that he's gonna give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins through the tender mercy of our God, we're talking about not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Nothing in there about turning over a new leaf, stop sinning, being sorry for your sin, confessing your sins, or anything like that, okay? Now, let's get into what the Bible teaches about this baptism of repentance, because listen, if you read Luke chapter one, you would see that the remission of your sins is through the tender mercy of our God, not through our actions, not through us turning over a new leaf or giving our life to Christ or anything like that. Listen, he gave his life for us that we be saved. We don't give our lives to be saved. Now, after we get saved, we should give our lives to him, and that's why it says, these things I will that thou will affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works, these things are good and profitable unto men. So if you believed in Christ, listen, it is good and profitable unto men, and I will that they, this is a faithful saying that thou affirm that you maintain good works. Why? It should be fruitful, and it should be profitable unto men, that's why. But not for salvation. That's completely separate. Now, in Mark chapter one, Mark chapter one, go to Mark chapter one and verse four. Mark chapter one and verse four. Okay. The repentance crowd loves John the Baptist for some reason. But the thing is is that they misunderstand everything John the Baptist says. They're like the flying Pharisees. I mean, literally, these repentance of sins preachers are like the Pharisees that are coming to him to be baptized and you know what John the Baptist would say to all these Baptist preachers that say you have to turn from your sins? He would say bring forth therefore fruits beat for repentance and he would call them a generation of vipers because they're literally what he's rebuking because they're the ones that are teaching a workspace salvation and teaching that you have to be righteous to be saved. And you know what? John the Baptist actually didn't preach repentance of sins to be saved. Now, what does it say here in verse four of Mark chapter one? John did baptize in the wilderness and preached baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. So notice that he's baptizing in the wilderness and he's preaching baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Notice how those things are separate, right? He's baptizing but he's also preaching baptism of repentance. Now, go to Acts chapter 19, Acts chapter 19 and verse four. And notice what it says here. About what this baptism of repentance is. Very similar what's said in Mark chapter one and verse four. But in Acts chapter 19 and verse four, notice what it says. Then said Paul, John barely baptized with the baptism of repentance. So this is accompanying. You know, the baptism of repentance is accompanying, accompanying, I can't say that. Accompanying. Accompany, anyway, you know what I'm saying. It is going alongside with, you know, anyway, baptizing somebody. But notice that it says, with the baptism of repentance saying. So in Luke chapter three, what does it say? He's preaching the baptism of repentance. So that's what he's preaching, that's what he's saying. And here it's saying that he's baptizing people with the baptism of repentance saying unto the people that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. So what is the baptism of repentance that he's preaching? To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Go to Matthew chapter 21. If you don't believe that, Jesus has something to say about what John the Baptist preached. Matthew chapter 21, verse 32. You know what's interesting is that probably more things about what John actually said is in John, the book of John. Now obviously John, we're talking about John the apostle, John, but John the Baptist, Christ says more in John. And guess what? That term repent is never used in the book of John. So this idea that John, he preached repentance, and I'm gonna give you a verse, but I mean, listen, you could go John chapter one, John chapter three, and just see all this preaching that's being done by John and nothing in there about repenting of your sins. And even repenting isn't even mentioned there. But in, by the way, repenting of your sins is never mentioned in the Bible. Repent is used a lot. Sometimes they'll talk about turning from transgression, but you gotta get context as far as what you're dealing with there. But when it comes to eternal salvation, turning from sins is never mentioned. And notice what it says here in Matthew 21, verse 32. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and you believed him not. But the publicans and the harlots believed him, and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward that ye might believe him. So when you're dealing with repenting here, when it says he preached the baptism of repentance, what's he preaching? You don't believe. You need to repent and believe. Meaning that it's just a matter of, okay, and listen, there's other things in the Bible where it says repentance from dead works and the faith toward God. The idea there is that you're believing in these dead works. You're believing in your own righteousness. Whatever it is over here that you're believing in, you need to repent of that and believe on Christ. And it's very clear that we're dealing with belief when we're dealing with this, but John 3.36, and it's probably a verse that maybe a lot of you use out soul winning, but guess what? Guess who said that? John the Baptist. John the Baptist is the one that says this. It says, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. So what did John the Baptist preach? He preached that you should believe on him, that you should come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. But by the way, John 3, when he's stating that, he already baptized Jesus. He already knows that Jesus is the one. So he's preaching the believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He's believe on the Son. And that's no different than what everything else in the Bible teaches as far as salvation is concerned. It's by faith alone in Jesus Christ. Believing on the Son of God. So when you're dealing with this, he preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Listen, that fits perfectly. Because the Bible defines it. You know what people do? Is they take a phrase like baptism of repentance, and then you just make it say whatever they want. And they just ignore what the Bible actually teaches when it defines it. But, and by the way, it doesn't say baptism of repenting of your sins. It says baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. You can't just be autistic and just like put words together without grammar. And listen, I'm not against autistic people, but I'm just saying like you got to be, you have to understand grammar if you're gonna look at the Bible. You have to be literate. And obviously there's autistic people that can read. I'm not saying that that's, but what I'm saying is that you can't be dyslexic where you're basically trying to put words wherever you want them, and you just start sticking sins over here. Listen, the grammar's there for a reason. Listen, when the Bible says that he preserved every jot and tittle, I do believe that's talking about the grammar. And that means that you can't just take words and put them wherever you want. Now when it comes to what John the Baptist preached, it's very clear that he preached believe on Christ, believe on the Lord, and that's how you get the remission of sins. Now throughout the Bible, it confirms that, because later on it'll state that we get the remission of sins by belief on Christ. But that's what John preached. Now go to Luke chapter three again, Luke chapter three. And in verse seven here, he's going to rebuke certain people that are coming unto his baptism. So he's out there baptizing people, and he is dunking people under water. Okay, so I mean, it's not saying that John didn't baptize people with water. Okay, obviously he did that. I mean, that's kind of how he got that moniker of John the Baptist. He's literally baptizing people under water. But what you have to understand is that he baptized with the baptism of repentance, meaning this is that, I don't believe John was baptizing people who he thought were not saved. And there are people that came out to be baptized of him that he rejected. Now let's look at what he says here in Luke chapter three and verse seven. It says, then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him. So there's a multitude that's coming to be baptized of him, and it says that he says unto this multitude, old generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 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 unto Abraham. Now also the ax 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 who is he talking to particularly? Is he just talking to everybody that's coming unto him or a certain group of people? Well, go to Matthew chapter three. Matthew chapter three has the same discourse, but it tells you exactly who he's talking to. There's a multitude of people that he's talking to. You say, well, why here does it say he's speaking to the multitude and just telling you the multitude? Because what it's gonna state is that there's a lot of these people, okay? A multitude would mean like a lot, right? Multiples, like it's the idea there is that it's not just a few, it's a multitude that are coming to him that he's rejecting, and he's calling a generation of viper, vipers. Matthew chapter three and verse seven says, but when he saw many, so you kind of see that multitude there, many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, oh, generation of vipers who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come, and it goes through the same kind of discourse here, right? So when you're in Luke, it says a multitude that came for to be baptized of him. See, when you look at these two passages, you see here that, well, who's in this multitude? Well, it's the Pharisees and Sadducees, and they didn't just come to his baptism, they came to be baptized of him, and what does he do? He rejects them. Because we don't just baptize people just to baptize them, right? You don't just come down to the river and be like, I wanna get baptized. No, you have to believe on Christ before that, okay? The whole point of baptism is that you're already a believer. It's believers' baptism, not just to be baptized for no reason, and obviously we reject this infant baptism stuff, because what doth hinder me to be baptized? If thou believeest with all thine heart, thou mayest. So obviously, that's the prerequisite to being baptized with water, is that you believe. That's the only prerequisite, but it is a prerequisite, meaning you have to be a believer to be baptized, and you know what he's saying to these Pharisees? He's stating, you're not saved. So they're coming to be baptized of him, and it's not just any multitude that's coming to him, it's the Pharisees and Sadducees, and he's rejecting them, he's calling them a generation of vipers, and it says, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits, meet for repentance. Think about this. Later on, Jesus, in Matthew 23, states that these Pharisees, right, the Pharisees, and he's rebuking them throughout Matthew 23, you know, you vipers and blind guys, and woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, right? And he states to them that you'll capacity and land to make one proselyte, and you make them twofold more the child of hell than yourselves, okay? So when he says, bring forth fruits, meet for repentance, meaning like, the idea here is that the tree is known by its fruit, the prophet is known by its fruit, and you'll know a false prophet, according to Matthew chapter seven, by his fruit, and he's basically saying, bring your fruit, and see if it's worthy of repentance, meaning this is that there's certain people in the Bible that, it says, peradventure, God will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, meaning this is that there are some people that have gone past that point. If they're twofold more the child of hell than the Pharisee, then they're past the hope of salvation. They can't come again unto repentance to be renewed, okay? And he's basically saying to them that your fruit is a whole bunch of corrupt fruit, and it's not worthy of repentance because they can't repent, and then he's saying to them, don't think, you know, don't think to yourself that you have Abraham to your father, like, that's gonna save you, because he's saying, you know, of these stones raise up children unto Abraham. God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham, and here's the thing, the Bible states that those that are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. If you be Christ, then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise? The idea is that it's by faith. By faith, you're all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. You're Abraham's seed according to faith. You are blessed with faith for Abraham if you believe, okay? But if you don't believe, it doesn't matter if your physical father is Abraham, you're gonna be like the rich man that is crying out to Father Abraham, saying, send Lazarus to cool my tongue. So when he's talking to these Pharisees, he's not saying, listen, you need to really repent of your sins. This is what the repentance crowd wants you to think. You just need to really, you need to be worthy of repentance, you know? You really just, you need to have works worthy, does it say works or does it say fruit? Okay, fruit is the product. You ever see a produce stand? What is that? The product of the labor that you put forth into the field, the produce, okay? And he's saying, bring forth fruits that are worthy for repentance, meaning this is that your fruit is two-fold more the child of hell than yourself. Now, he doesn't say that, Jesus says that to them later on. And guess what? In the same chapter that Jesus says that about their proselytes, and what's a proselyte, but basically someone they converted, when he says that, he calls them a generation of vipers, just like John the Baptist. So when you're dealing with him rebuking these guys, he's talking about corrupt trees. Because he's saying that every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is shewn down and cast into fire. The idea here is like it says in Jude, these are trees whose fruit wither it, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots. That's what you're dealing with, okay? And John the Baptist saw it for what it was. John the Baptist was the greatest prophet to ever be born of a woman. And that's what Jesus said. So he had some discernment, okay? He knew, he knew how to spot a false prophet. Because Jesus said you'll know them by their fruits, and he's basically saying, you know, if you want to prove to me, they're coming to be baptized of him. He's like, you want to prove to me that you're a believer, then show me your fruit. And I'm not talking about going to church. I'm not talking about like your good deeds, because listen, a lot of false prophets will have good deeds that they'll show in front of men. But in the end, they'll reprobate unto every good word. And they profess that they know God. They have a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof. And that's who you're dealing with here. You're dealing with a bunch of reprobates that are actually converting people and showing corrupt fruit, and that's why he's saying the ax is laid to the root of the trees. And listen, the Pharisees and Sadducees are a huge culprit. Not every single one of them, right? Because Nicodemus is one of those Pharisees that came to him by night, and I believe Nicodemus got saved. But by and large, the Pharisees and Sadducees, listen, the Sadducees didn't even believe there's a resurrection. They didn't believe in a spirit or an angel. Do you think they're saved? You think they have any knowledge of salvation? I mean, they completely deny the Bible. And then the Pharisees at least are saying there's a resurrection, okay? But going on from that, as far as what John is rebuking them, right? John, I do believe, had people that he baptized that ended up not being saved. And go to Acts chapter 19 again, and listen, this is gonna happen to anybody. If this happens to the greatest prophet to be born of a woman, and obviously Jesus is greater than John, right? It's kinda like it's manifest that Jesus is better than every person, right? So when I say that John the Baptist is the greatest prophet to be born of a woman, that's because that's what Jesus said. And obviously the Son of God is being excluded from that category because Jesus is better, right? But John the Baptist, I mean, by the mouth of Jesus saying he's the greatest, and yet there were people that he baptized that ended up not being real believers. Now, they end up getting saved later on, but... So when it comes to this, obviously we try to do our best to make sure that everybody that we baptize is actually a believer, but there's gonna be times where some people didn't actually understand salvation. And what I'm gonna show you is that this is the only case in the Bible where we see someone getting baptized again, okay? And notice what it says here. And I believe the only reason that they're getting baptized again is because they didn't believe to begin with, okay? Not because, well, we're in the New Testament now, and we gotta get baptized in the New Testament. You got New Testament saved, brother. It's like there's only saved, and it's not New Testament or Old Testament saved. You're either saved or not, okay? But Acts chapter 19 and verse one, it says, And it came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper coast, came to Ephesus and finding certain disciples, he said unto them, and notice that it doesn't say believers, it says disciples. Okay, I mean, Judas was the disciple. So it doesn't say he came across certain people that believed or certain saints, okay? It says he came by finding certain disciples, and he said unto them, have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? So he's assuming they believed, right? But he's saying, have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? And they said unto him, we have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. Okay, so they're like, we don't even know that there is even a Holy Ghost. Now, you may say, well, I mean, maybe that's possible. They didn't understand, you know, they haven't heard of him yet. But here's the thing. What does Paul say here in verse three? And he said unto them, unto what then were you baptized? And they said unto John's baptism. Now, I want you to think about this before, you know, I read the rest of this. In all the places where you see John the Baptist preaching, what do you see him saying? There's one that's coming after. I indeed baptized with water, okay? When he's talking about baptizing in water, he says, I indeed baptized with water, but there cometh one after me whose shoes latch and I'm not worthy to unloose. He shall baptize you with what? The Holy Ghost. But you're gonna tell me that you never, you didn't even know there was a Holy Ghost. Did you even hear what John said? And the truth of the matter is that they didn't hear what John said. They didn't believe what John preached because, you know, Paul's gonna state now, he said, then said, Paul, John barely baptized with the baptism of repentance saying unto the people that they should believe on him, which should come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. So obviously they didn't understand what they were believing. They got baptized by John, but if they didn't understand that the Holy Ghost was even, they said, we don't even know whether there even, if there be any Holy Ghost. He's not saying like, we don't know if we've been filled with it, you know, we don't know if we have the Holy Ghost. He's saying, we don't even know if there is a Holy Ghost. Okay? So it's kind of like you missed what was said, right? And that's why in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, when Paul is saying, you know, if you keep remembering the things which I preached unto you lest you believe in vain, the idea there is if you don't remember what you believe, then you didn't really understand it. You didn't really believe it. You know, if you don't remember that Jesus was resurrected from the dead, if you don't remember that, okay, then you didn't believe in vain. You didn't believe in the right thing. And the same thing here is that they believed in vain, meaning they didn't believe obviously what John preached. They didn't know there was a Holy Ghost. They didn't know to believe on Christ because that's what Jesus, that's what John the Baptist was saying. And notice what it says in verse five. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. So simply this is that baptism is after you believe. And if you got baptized, but you didn't believe, like you weren't, you realize, okay, I didn't understand. I didn't believe what I needed to believe. What should you do after that? Then you should get baptized after that because you just got wet before. So this is a great passage to show somebody that like, let's say they got baptized, but they didn't understand salvation. They weren't saved back when they got baptized to show them, hey, here's people that got baptized. And I believe these guys were sincere. I don't believe that they were like out there trying to deny the truth. I think they just didn't understand it, didn't actually believe it. And John the Baptist baptized them, but here's the thing, he's not perfect. You know, even though he's like the greatest prophet to be born of a woman, even John the Baptist baptized people that didn't understand completely. And so we have to know that when it comes to, when we go out soul winning, listen, there was a Judas amongst Jesus' disciples. So the servant is not above his master. So if we have false converts, or we have people that get baptized, and then we find out they're not saved, or they didn't actually believe it, listen, it happened to John the Baptist, it happened to Jesus, like, we just have to realize the reality of the situation, okay? And ultimately, all we can do is just go off what people say, you know what I mean? Use the sermon, obviously, but at the same time, when I go up to somebody at the door, and I give them the gospel, and they say they believe it, and they say, hey, yeah, I believe that. Yeah, let's ask Jesus, you know, you wanna ask Jesus for that gift of salvation? They say yes, you pray with them, and they say they believe it. At what point do you just, you have to just kinda trust that they're actually telling you the truth, right? And there's gonna be times where they don't. There's gonna be times where they didn't really understand, and they were just kinda going along to get along, okay? And it is what it is, but obviously, we try to be as diligent as we can, but even John the Baptist ran into this case. Now, go to Luke chapter three and verse 10 here, and so when he baptizes them, something that's stated when people get baptized from John is that they get baptized of him, and then they confess their sins, okay? But listen, his prerequisite to getting baptized is that you're already a believer, right? So the confessing of your sins is like after the baptism, which the baptism doesn't save you, right? Because Paul says Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. So the prerequisite to getting baptized is being saved, being a believer, and then after they would get baptized, they would confess their sins, and you know what? That's just, I believe, just getting right with God. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, meaning physically speaking, to get right with God, you confess your sins on a daily basis to the Lord, and listen, if you're following the Lord in believer's baptism, I mean, that's probably a good day to go ahead and confess your sins and get everything right with God, right? And so, but notice what it says in verse 10. And the people asked him, saying, what shall we do then? Now, it doesn't say, what shall we do to be saved? What must I do to be saved? It doesn't even say anything about being saved in this verse, does it? It just says, what shall we do then? Well, there's a lot of things you should do. And what this has come down to is that this is really just the fact that John didn't just preach salvation, he also just preached truth. And he was a preacher, and he preached other things that were not dealing with salvation. And notice what it says here, he answered and said unto them, he that had two coats, let him impart to him that hath none, and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. So he's basically just saying, well, here's something for you to do, and basically help out others, in part, give meat and give clothing to those that need it. Verse 12, then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, master, what shall we do? Notice that, it's not like, what shall we do to be saved? How do I get saved from this condemnation of hell? It's just like, what shall we do now? And he's kind of giving different answers, depending on what their job is, right? Because the one people he's just kind of giving, like, just straight up, anybody should be doing this. But then the publicans, it says, and he said unto them, exact no more than that, which is appointed you. So I mean, you're dealing with a publican, a tax collector, right? So he's basically saying, just don't defraud anybody. But then it says, and the soldiers, likewise, demanded of him, saying, and what shall we do? And he said unto them, do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely, and be content with your wages. So I mean, it's just kind of like, do your job, don't be violent to anybody. And violence is violating innocent people, okay? So if you're in war and you're a soldier, listen, there's a time of war and a time of peace. So that's not a sermon for another day, but this idea of being content with your wages, not accusing someone falsely, basically, just be an honest soldier. And then it goes on to say in verse 15, and as the people were in expectation, all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ or not. So muse means like to think. You think of an amusement park. The idea is like, it's just fun. Like it's basically a place to go where you don't have to think very much. So amuse is like basically not thinking. Muse is to think. So they're basically just kind of thinking and kind of pondering the fact of whether John's the Christ or not. In verse 16, it says, John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water, but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose, he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire, whose fan is in his hand, and who will thoroughly perch his floor, and will gather the wheat into the garden-room, but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable. So when it says here, he'll baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire, notice that he's dealing with a mixed multitude here, right? He's talking to a group of people that he's saying, your, the ax is laid to the root of the tree, right? You're gonna be hewn down and cast into the fire, but he's dealing with people that are saved, getting baptized, and he's kind of telling them, okay, here's what you do to try to be an honest soldier or to be a good publican, if that's possible, right? And going on with your life to be a good Christian, right? So he's talking to a mixed multitude here. He said that he's, that Jesus coming after him is going to baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire, and there's two groups of people here. The Holy Ghost is being applied to those that are saved. The fire is being applied to those that are the chaff, right, you have the wheat and the chaff because the next verse clarifies that you're dealing with the Holy Ghost is with the chaff, the, I'm sorry, the Holy Ghost is with the wheat, and then the chaff is talking about being baptized with fire, and those that are going to hell, guess what, they're baptized with fire. So I don't believe that this baptism of fire is talking about believers. This is where you get, well, the Holy Ghost, fire power, it's like this Pentecostal fire, being baptized with fire. It's like, listen, a lot of Pentecostals, most Pentecostals are gonna be baptized with fire, but it's not the fire they are thinking of, okay? Because they don't believe on Christ, they believe in work salvation, and they're going to go to hell, and that's gonna be the baptism of fire. So when it's talking about baptism of fire, that's not a good thing. That's not being applied to Christians. That's being applied to the unsaved, okay? Then it goes on to say, in many other things, notice this, in his exhortation preached he unto the people. So notice that we're talking about him preaching exhortation Why, because he's preaching the word, being instant, in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort. He's a preacher. He's a prophet. And he ends up going to prison for that, because notice in verse 19, but Herod the tetrarch being reproved by him for Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, added yet this above all, and he shut up John in prison. Now, for sake of time, I don't want to get into this, but basically he preached that he should not, that Herod should not have Herodias to be his wife, because that's his brother Philip's wife. So he married his brother's wife, and John rebuked him for that, reproved him for that, and basically he was put in prison for it. And ultimately, he ends up getting beheaded because of it, because the whole story of Herodias' daughter dancing for Herod, and then Herod makes this stupid oath, and because of the oath, he ends up actually beheading John the Baptist. Now, in Mark, it talks about the fact that Herod actually heard John gladly, and he actually did a lot of the things that John said. Now, Herod, I don't believe, got saved, because later on, Herod, he kills John the Baptist, and I believe he's done after that. Jesus doesn't even speak a word to Herod when Jesus is brought to Herod before he's crucified, and he calls Herod a fox, and that's another sermon for another day dealing with Herod. Now, go to Luke chapter three and verse 21. Luke chapter three and verse 21, Jesus is gonna be baptized by John, and it says in verse 21, that now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also being baptized, and praying that heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, thou art my beloved Son, and thee I am well pleased. Now, Matthew, and for the sake of time, you can look at that later on for your homework, but Matthew chapter three, when Jesus comes to John, John's like, he forbade him, it says. It says, I need to be baptized unto you, right? And so, you can understand where John the Baptist is coming from here, because this is the Son of God that's coming to him, and saying, I need to be baptized unto you. But a lot of things that we see here is that, well, Jesus says to him, suffered to be so now, for thus, let me just read it here. I have it in my notes, but it says, suffered to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. So water baptism, we see, it doesn't have to do with washing away sins, because Jesus didn't have to wash away any sins, okay? And by the way, this isn't when Jesus became God, or this isn't when Jesus became the Son of God. This is just where the Spirit was given unto him without measure. And John the Baptist talks about this in John chapter three, that the Spirit is given unto him without measure. Anybody that's ever been filled with the Holy Ghost, or being baptized with the Holy Ghost, listen, no one has ever been baptized with the Holy Ghost like the Lord Jesus, because obviously, he's the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you see the Trinity here. You see the Holy Ghost coming upon the Son of God, and you see, you hear the Father saying, this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. Or in this case, it says, in thee I am well pleased. So we see here the baptism of Jesus, and he's basically starting his ministry. And notice in verse 23 here, it says, and Jesus himself began to be about 30 years of age. So this is how we know how old Jesus was when he probably died, because he was about 30 years old. You say, well, how do we know that he was 33 or around that time? The only way that we really know that, or we assess that, is because in the book of John, there are three passovers that take place. So basically, it has to at least be three years, because of just the fact that there's a Passover going on in John chapter two, and then there's a Passover going on in like John chapter eight, I believe. And then, obviously, Jesus was killed on the Passover. So when you add up these Passovers, you get a little over three years. Now, you could say, well, maybe he's a little more than 33 years, or maybe the fact that he started his ministry when he was about 30, or maybe it was three and a half years, who knows? Obviously, that seems to be a good number when it comes to ministries. But we don't really know exactly, but we know it's around three years, and then he was about 30 years old, and that means he was about 33 years old or around there when he was crucified. Okay, so this is the only place in the Bible where it tells us his age, as far as how old Jesus is at this time. So Luke gives a lot of information as far as like where are you at in history, the age of Jesus, because it talked about him being 12 years old, and he's doing this over here, and he's 30 years old when he's starting his ministry. So it's just a lot of information that Luke really shows us here, okay? Now notice what it says here, that he began to be about 30 years of age, being, notice this, as was supposed. Now that's a very important phrase there. Being as was supposed the son of Joseph. So that's why, you know, like you'll even see in John chapter one where it says we have found Jesus Nazareth the son of Joseph, right? And you'll even see like his disciples stating this, but it's like they don't, obviously like by law, you know, it's kind of like his stepdad, right? But at the same time, like, it's stating here that people thought, like, is this not the carpenter's son, right? And is not his mother with us, and his brothers, and his sisters, right? So being as supposed the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli, which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi, which was the son of Malachi, which was the son of Jannah, which was the son of Joseph. Now, what you're gonna deal with here is that this is a different genealogy than Matthew, okay? From the very beginning here, because go to Matthew chapter one, Matthew chapter one, and I'm just gonna straight up tell you that this is the genealogy of Mary. You can say, well, it doesn't say Mary here. Well, I believe it uses Joseph because it's kind of, it would be weird if you said Mary, the daughter of Heli, the son of, does that make sense? Like, if you went back from Mary being the daughter of, I don't think you can switch it. The way that you would have to do this genealogy, you can't switch from being the daughter of to the son of, okay, and just the way it would flow, I guess. But either way, what we're dealing with here is that Heli is his father-in-law, okay? Now, Matthew, we know for sure is his actual, like, this is Joseph's actual physical lineage because it says begat. To beget somebody, that means it has to be a physical relationship there, right? But if you're the son of somebody, that can be by marriage. Because, for example, I'm son-in-law to Barry and Michelle Kirk, okay? Son-in-law, but Barry and Michelle didn't beget me. You know, Joe and Christine Robinson beget me. So if you're looking at my genealogy, if you will, right, is the fact that it would be, I'm this, you know, James, beget Joe, and then Joe, beget Jason, right? You can look at it down that way. But you could say, Jason, the son of Barry, the son of, you know, going down the line, because by law, because of marriage, that's true, okay? Now, Matthew chapter one and verse 15 here, it says, and Elihu begat Eleazar, and Eleazar begat Matthan, and Matthan begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. And notice here, it's even, it's careful right here, it's not gonna say that Jesus was born Joseph, that Joseph begat Jesus, it says that he was the husband of Mary, which, of whom was born Jesus, right? So Jesus was born of Mary. In the genealogy in Luke, we see that Heli is the, Joseph is the son of Heli, that's a different person. Actually, I mean, there's no way you could look at these two genealogies and say they're the same. But one big way that you can definitely tell this is a different genealogy is the fact that in Matthew, it talks about David begetting Solomon, and Solomon begetting Rehoboam. If you go to Luke chapter three and verse 31, if you go back to where David is in this genealogy, Solomon is not in this genealogy, okay? Notice what it says in Luke 3, 31, it says, which was the son of Maliah, which was the son of Menon, which was the son of Methathah, which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David. And Nathan was one of David's sons. So in both genealogies, it goes back to David, right? So physically speaking, Jesus' flesh and blood goes back to David. He's at the seat of David. The line that Joseph's of is the kingly line, because you have all the kings from Solomon, Rehoboam, going down the line of the kings of Judah, okay? Even to Zerubbabel, okay? And here, we see that Nathan is in this line, and it goes down from Nathan, okay? And so this is a different genealogy. This is Mary's genealogy, okay? And so this shows you the physical flesh and blood that Jesus had was through this line, okay? And look at Luke 3 and verse 38, it goes all the way back to Adam. Now, obviously, Joseph's genealogy would go back to Adam. Everybody's genealogy goes back to Adam. But the idea is that when you're dealing with the genealogy in Matthew of Joseph, the important thing is that he's of Abraham, he's of David, because it says the beginning of the generation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham, right? And then it goes down from Abraham, down to David, down to obviously Joseph. But it says here at the very end of the genealogy, it says which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God. Because Adam didn't have a physical father, okay? He was actually made of the dust of the earth. And to explain that, go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Because literally, God fathered Adam from the dust of the earth, right? So, but when you're dealing with Jesus and Adam, there is a difference, okay? There's a big difference, because notice what it says here in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 45. It says, and so it is written, the first man, Adam, was made a living soul. The last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that which, that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual. So notice there's a big difference between the first Adam and the last Adam, because the first man, Adam, was natural, okay? And notice what it says in verse 47. The first man is of the earth, earthy, right? He's made of the dust of the earth. He came from the earth, right? The second man is the Lord from heaven, okay? So there's a big difference between Adam and Jesus. Jesus came forth from the father. That's where he came from. Adam came from the dust of the earth, okay? He's from the earth, earthy, and that's why he that cometh from above is above all. He that is of the earth is earthly and speaketh of the earth. And so when you're dealing with this genealogy, obviously flesh and blood wise, he comes all the way back to Adam, but through Mary, and this is where you get the fact that he's made of a woman, made under the law, and obviously to redeem us from the law. He had to be made under the law, but he was made in the likeness of simple flesh, but he didn't have sin in his flesh from his father because he didn't have a physical father, okay? So there's definitely similarities with Adam and Jesus in the fact that Adam didn't have a physical father, Jesus doesn't have a physical father, but there's huge differences between them, right? One's the Lord from heaven, the other one was created from the dust of the earth, okay? Jesus wasn't created from the dust of the earth. He's not from the earth, right? And so the last thing I wanted to say with this genealogy, which I'm just gonna talk about, and is the fact that in this genealogy, if you went back to Genesis, Kayinan, and you may know what I'm talking about here, a so-called contradiction in the Bible, but Kayinan in verse 37 is found in the son of Enos, Kayinan. That's in all the genealogies in Genesis, it's in Chronicles and everything, but in verse 37, it says that Arphaxad, that Kayinan was the son of, I'm sorry, in verse 36, that Kayinan, which was the son of Arphaxad, and if you looked in Genesis and you looked in Chronicles, you won't see that Kayinan, okay? And what people will say is, well, that's a contradiction. Well, I wanna state this. This has nothing to do with the King James Bible. This has nothing to do with translation. This doesn't even have to do with the Texas Receptus. Even the critical text has Kayinan in verse 36. Like if you looked up the Westcott and Hoare text, most Greek manuscripts have Kayinan in there. So if someone were to say, well, you know, this is an error, I mean, you're not even talking about translation at this point. Obviously, this Kayinan is supposed to be there, okay? Because God's Word is perfect. It's without error, okay? And here's what it comes down to, is that sometimes in the Bible, people are taken out of genealogy. It's actually Matthew, case in point. If you looked at Matthew, and you looked at so-and-so begets so-and-so, you're gonna see people missing. Now, there's different reasons, and listen, we could all go down the line as far as why was Kayinan not listed in Genesis, in that genealogy. But here's the thing, just because you say, if you said James Henry Robinson beget Jason Robinson, that's not lying, it's not wrong. Actually, the Bible does that all the time, okay? So what in Genesis is what you have is that you have Arphaxad begetting Selah, and Kayinan's not mentioned in there. And what really is going on is that Selah is a grandson of Arphaxad, okay? Everything's fine, there's nothing wrong with that. And listen, there are other writings that have Kayinan listed, that other Kayinan, meaning after the flood Kayinan, that are listed that aren't in the Bible. But listen, the Bible's the final authority anyway, so I don't really care what these, I don't care if the Septuagint says it, I don't care if there's some other books that are out there that talk about Noah and talk about Shem and talk about this. But here's the thing, there are other places that state this guy existed, okay? But in the end, you have to take the Bible and say, I believe this is the word of God. Because if there's anything else that has to validate that for you, then that is actually above the Bible. And so if someone ever comes to you and says, well, you know, there's a contradiction between Kayinan, no, the Bible's right. He was left out of the genealogy over here, but you know what, that's done all the time. And the New Testament, I believe with Jesus' genealogy here, Mary's genealogy, it's like, gives us every single person that's in that line. I believe every single person is in that line, whether they were taken out from a genealogy because maybe they were wicked or something like that back in the day, or whatever the reason is, Luke 3 is giving us that name because it's making a point like every person, all the way back to Adam. And so I just wanted to talk about that, take it for what it is, but the Bible's right. And the Bible's true and it's perfect. And let's end with a word of prayer. The Heavenly Father, we thank you for today. Thank you for your word. Thank you for the book of Luke, and just pray it should be as we go back to our houses, and as we come back to the point of time, and Lord, we love you, and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name, amen. So by the day, we'll come and sing one more song, and then we'll be dismissed. All right, take your songbooks and turn to song 468. Song 468, we'll sing Isn't He Wonderful? If you would stand, we'll sing song 468. Mm, mm, mm. Isn't He wonderful, wonderful, wonderful? Isn't Jesus, my Lord, wonderful? Eyes have seen, ears have heard, it's recorded in God's word. Isn't Jesus, my Lord, wonderful?