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Word from Scotland
by Sandy Shaw
As we move on into Luke 3, remember we are studying the essential basicsin the Gospel record. Let us see where that will lead us. In verse 2, the Word of God came to John in the wilderness.
There is now a new Caesar on the throne of The Roman Empire. Again we are rooted in history. He proved to be a bad Emperor and the seeds of decay were sown.
There was political upheaval in ISRAEL, as the nation was divided into four. There was no one king, so they were quite accurate when they said, “We have no king but Caesar”. There was also a question as to who was the real High Priest. There is no one king, and no one clear High Priest. The stage was empty. The scene is set for one to come Who was both KING and GREAT HIGH PRIEST. It is into this political chaos and religious confusion Jesus Christ comes.
We see a man in the wilderness - waiting - and preparing - and - the Word of God comes to him in a new and real and meaningful way. This is the man who has prepared himself to prepare the way for the Coming of Jesus. GOD sends a prophet first to prepare the way for the coming of The King and the Great High Priest. He is sent and what a mission he exercises. Remember the word ‘mission’ is the same as ‘missile’. John is a missile for God.
GOD sends HIS WORD. It is an act of GOD, and when GOD acts in such a way, He sends His Word to a man - or to a group of people who are ready and open to receive and things happen.
John was an unknown man. He was a most peculiar individual, living in the wilderness, eating locusts and wild honey. This is how our GOD chose to work, and launch something radically new into the world.
Verse 3. John came preaching! His mission was to deal with people’s sins and not their hopes or fears or dreams or sorrows, and he dealt with specific sins and not just generalities. John looked for consequences in the lives of those to whom he preached. His aim was to see people being forgiven and sorting out their lives. Forgiveness - nowhere else in the world can anyone be offered FORGIVENESS.
He comes with a penetrating piercing Word - Repent - be forgiven - and get washed.
This is a new sign, for a new Covenant. It is a bath for those who are dirty and a burial for those who are dead. Repent means ‘change your mind’ and turn around towards God.
Now this is GOOD NEWS! No other religion offers Repentance - Faith - Forgiveness and Cleansing, where God blots out our sins as He deals with our past.
John comes preaching from Isaiah. This servant of GOD comes preaching The Word of GOD. He does not come with his own message - with nice thoughts or fine ideas – and he goes to the JORDAN – to the lowest point on the face of the earth - to do a new thing - BAPTISE. Let’s be clear about what this word means - soak - saturate - steep - dip - dunk - plunge. Much confusion could have been avoided if we had called him John the plunger. In this vital fundamental area make sure you are not confused.
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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