John the Baptist
Rusty Wirt   -   March 9, 2025

Sermon 2: John the Baptist 

Main Passage:  Mark 1:4-11

 

Main Thought: God has a way of using unusual people to share important truths. This is certainly true when it comes to John the Baptist role in announcing the Messiah. John was an outlier, and somewhat of an antagonist figure. But he played an important role is helping people understand the identity of Jesus. His ministry has lessons for us today. One of those is the power of repentance.

 

John the Baptist

  • Was born into a priestly family
  • Preached a bare-knuckle, pull no punches message of repentance
  • Rejected the luxuries of religious leaders
  • Confronted those who held powerful positions
  • Put the focus on Jesus

 

Key Question: When was the last time you changed your mind about something? Did the information that led to that change come from an unlikely source?

 

John the Baptist challenges us to REPENT. The real live action step of repentance is confession. Repentance becomes activated when it is proceeded by confession. And when we confess, we prepare our hearts for the God’s future activity. Following through with repentance and confession is what keeps our personal faith from becoming shallow and lifeless.

 

Into the Text

  1. John preaches confession and repentance (Mark 1:4-5).
    1. Repentance (μετάνοια metanoia)- change of mind or direction. More than a shifting of perspective, this is a turning away from something that is abhorrent to something that is good
    2. Saying no to sin is the way we say yes to forgiveness (Romans 6:1-3)
    3. Confession: (ξομολογέω) to acknowledge, to declare or profess
      1. Confession Happens in Three ways
        1. At Salvation (Acts 2:38-39)
        2. As the healthy behavior of a Christian (1 John 1:9)
        3. To one another in meaningful deep relationships within a Christian Church  (James 5:16)
  2. One Major Form of Confession: Baptism. Here are the reasons you should get baptized:
    1. Jesus was baptized (Mark 1:9-10)
    2. The Trinity was pleased (Mark 1:10b-11)
    3. Jesus orders us to be baptized (Matthew 28:19)
    4. This was the practice of the church (Acts 2:38)
    5. This best represents the death, burial and resurrection (Romans 6:4).
  3. Following God fully will often set you up for trial (Mark 1:12-13)
    1. Not just temptation but testing
      1. πειράζω (peirázō) – to try, make trial of, test: for the purpose of ascertaining his quantity, or what he thinks, or how he will behave himself
    2. Public commitments to faith will be privately tested
    3. But God will care for you while you are in the wilderness

 

Application:

What public commitments to faith have you made?

How is that commitment being tested?
What do you need to surrender to Jesus?

 

Do you need Baptism?