Luke – Page 141 – I'm Following Jesus

KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Wednesday, October 04, 2017
Chapters: Matthew 3, Mark 1, Luke 3
Message: Preparing The Way For Jesus

Hello My Friend,

When I was younger the thought of hell horrified me. The thought of hell should horrify all of us, but the truth is many blow it off as something funny or mythical. Hell is real, it is not what it is portrayed in the world, it is complete and utter darkness, isolation, burning torture, and pain for eternity. This is why Jesus came, to give us an option to escape this horrific fate. When we get saved there is no better feeling than to know that hell is no longer an option. Part of being saved is telling others how they too can be saved, and when Jesus calls on us to tell someone about Him, He means business, it is called soul winning and it all started with John the Baptist. He was the one God sent to prepare the Jews for His first coming, we who are saved today are preparing all for the day He returns. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” – I Thessalonians 4:16-17.

The story of John the Baptist is written in three of the four Gospels, John is described as a pretty rugged looking guy, but he carried a very important message, and did not care who they were, the same message applied to all. People would flock to the Jordan river to get baptized by John as a remission of their sins.

“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.” – Mark 1:1-5.

“and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” Baptism was a way for them to proclaim that God meant more to them then their sin, and that they, in fact, repented of their sins. Remission; Forgiveness; pardon; that is, the giving up of the punishment due to a crime. Just like today, baptism never saved anyone, it was their confessing their sin and seeking forgiveness from God that saved them. It is blood that has always been required for the remission of sin, back then they used unblemished animals in exchange for their own lives, but it was not a permanent solution, it had to be repeated. All that changed when Jesus gave His own life, the unblemished flesh of the Son of God is the only solution to permanent salvation. “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:” – Hebrews 9:12-13.

All of a sudden the Pharisees and Sadducees show up, these were the religious groups who based salvation on their works. They also believed they were saved because they were of Abraham’s seed, but John said something that no one ever did before, being one of his seed will not save them.

“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: And think 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. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” – Matthew 3:7-12.

“We have Abraham to our father:” This time their proclaiming that they were the children of Abraham was not going to do them any good because it would not save them from being cast into the fiery pit of hell. There are many who proclaim to be Christians, but they too are deceiving themselves because the only way we can be saved, whether a Jew or Gentile is through our faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, His sinless death, burial, and resurrection. “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” – Romans 10:12.

Luke goes into more detail about John preaching to the people, after they heard that being Abraham’s seed would not save them they began asking them what they needed to do to be saved. John, fully knowing the answer to this tells them what they can do to show they are.

“And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. Then came also 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 any falsely; and be content with your wages. And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their 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 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 he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.” – Luke 3:10-17.

“And as the people were in expectation,” You see, many of them read the Scriptures and knew that a Saviour was coming, they expected something amazing to happen through him since John was the first prophet to start preaching in over four hundred years. From the time that the Scriptures revealed a Saviour would come out of the children of Israel whenever a son was born they waited in anticipation to see if he were the Messiah, naturally since John was preaching all this new stuff they wondered if it were him. Remission of sins is not about receiving Christ and continuing to live in sin, it is about receiving Christ, fulling knowing that He is the only way to salvation, and removing the sin. You know, people think that the second they get saved things will change immediately, this is a false presumption, it takes time to remove sin from our lives, especially if we do not know what we are doing is sin, but we can overcome all sin, we just have to want to. “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” – I Corinthians 10:13.

Jesus Christ Magnified: “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:” – Matthew 3:11.

Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for sending Your Son to give us all a way to not only have Your presence in our lives, but that it may be forever. You could have chosen any other way to redeem us, but You chose to use a lowly, humble Shepherd to not only show us the way to You, but that we will be able to have a lasting relationship with You. I want to walk in the wisdom of Your Word as I make wise choices today, You have given me the freedom to choose how to live my life and I choose to live it with Your Son. I know I will not always be in Your will, but Your mercy and grace is sufficient enough to get me back on track every time. Open my heart, let me ponder Your Word, keep it with me daily, and live in obedience to Your commands as a testimony of thanks for giving Your Son for the permanent remission of my sins. In Jesus’ name. Amen

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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