We are approaching the fourth Sunday in this glorious season of Advent, as we anticipate entering into the Christmas season. This Sunday, the fourth candle will be aflame. And during the season of Advent, one of the characters from Holy Scripture, it is so often and rightly so, associated with Advent, is John the Baptist.

Remember, as we've been studying in this series, Mary and Elizabeth, that Elizabeth and Zechariah were the parents of the forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ, John the Baptist. And so I want to spend a little bit of time in Luke the third chapter, which talks about this important, important figure in Holy Scripture. At halfway through verse two of chapter three of Luke, there we read. "The Word of God came to John, son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan proclaiming." 

John was a herald. And the herald is given the task of communicating the message that they're given to communicate. A herald doesn't change the message. A herald doesn't interject something to the message. It doesn't smooth out any kind of things that might be rough in the message.  No, the herald simply brings the message. And that was John the Baptist's call. And what was his herald? What was it that he was proclaiming? We go on picking up in the second part of verse three that "he was proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins."

John's baptism made disciples of those in Jesus Christ who was to come. Jesus' baptism that he instituted was a baptism after he came. The baptism of John and the baptism of Jesus, they're essentially the same because they both give the forgiveness of sins. Let's go on.

Verse 4. "As it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God." 

In ancient day it was a custom that before a king or a nobleman would travel, there would be officials that would be sent first and they it clear the road for the king or for the nobleman. What is being communicated here by John it's figurative language with regard to the coming of the Messiah is what does the valley or the mountain or the crooked ways or the rough ways, what do they represent? They represent those barriers to the message of John. Those barriers to repentance. Remember, repentance is turning around and going a different direction. And by God's grace, repentance, is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So the call here then is to remove the barriers of repentance. Barriers of repentance, like self righteousness or pride or self deification or rebellion against the Lord. To remove them. And when the King, the Lord Jesus Christ came, the king went to the cross and bore all of our sin, all of it paying the debt we could never pay, winning for us the forgiveness of all of our sin. 

Here's the point, our call, our call is to call people to repentance. Our call is to proclaim the glorious gospel of the forgiveness one in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our call is to be like John the Baptist, pointing people to Jesus. 

Gracious heavenly Father, we give you thanks for this time in your Word. Your Word is truth. We praise you O Lord. We praise you for your goodness and for your mercy that you show to us. We thank you Lord for the witness of John the Baptist, how he pointed to you. And we pray, O Lord, that you would use us. That you would use us to call others to repentance and to proclaim the sweetness of the gospel to them. Thank you Lord for this call that forms our days in Jesus name. Amen. 

Well, it's going to be a wonderful Sunday this Sunday, the fourth Sunday in an Advent. And of course right around the bend is Christmas Eve. Two glorious service at 3:00 and 5:00. This is a perfect time of year to invite someone who doesn't have a church home to be your guest to worship with you, to experience the richness of this time and the joy that is ours in Jesus Christ. Encourage someone.

Pastor Eibel