Two Baptisms | Sunday, April 6, 2025

Amen. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Anthony. I love the hat; it's looking very nice. Good morning! If you would, while you're standing, please take out your Bible this morning. If you don't have one, you can raise your hand, and an usher will bring you one.

We are on Sunday mornings here at Cross Connection studying through the New Testament book of Luke, the Gospel of Luke. If you turn to about the middle of your Bible and start turning to the right, you'll find the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and then Luke. We are in chapter 3. Our series here in the Gospel of Luke is called "Meet Jesus." It has taken us almost twelve weeks to finally get to the point where Jesus is in the story. He is actually here in the story today.

So, in Luke chapter 3, picking it up at verse 15, the author of the Gospel says this: "Now, as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, John the Baptist, whether he was the Christ or not, John answered, saying to all, 'I indeed baptize you with water, but one mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor and gather the wheat into his barn. But the chaff he will burn with an unquenchable fire.'"

Now, with many other exhortations, John preached to the people. But Herod the tetrarch, the ruler of that area, being rebuked by John concerning Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, also added this: above all, he shut John up in prison.

God, as we open the Scriptures today, would you open our hearts and our understanding so that we may hear from you? Holy Spirit, we pray that you would speak to us from the text. We believe that this is inspired and given to us to reveal you to us, that we might know you and know your nature and your will.

Lord, we also ask that we would be transformed by your word and by your Spirit. So God, continue that work of transformation in me and in my brothers and sisters, that our lives would evidence for all around us more of the fruit of the Spirit: more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. Transform us by the renewing of our minds. We ask for this.

It in Jesus' name. And all those agreed said, "Amen." Amen. You may be seated.

I'm sure you have noticed, if you've been paying attention at all to things happening in the world and in the news, that it has been an eventful and newsworthy week. This week has been particularly eventful and newsworthy for American markets, but also for global markets, which have been in utter chaos over the last 96 hours or so. The news and political commentary are in an uproar following what is a complete reshuffling of American foreign trade and economic policy. It is a historic thing to behold, a fascinating thing to behold, especially if you are paying attention to any of it.

I would encourage you not to look at your stock market statement. If you have a 401(k) or anything like that, this would not be the time to take a look at that at all. Ever since the outcome of the election in November, there has been uncertainty, expectation, and questions about what exactly would be coming. There is anticipation and expectation regarding the new administration's plans as they relate to foreign trade.

The reason there has been so much wonder about this, even though this is another term for the current president, is that he has had a lot of talk for more than 40 years—longer than he has been president—about what he wanted to do as it relates to foreign trade and economic markets. There has been a reversal in what has come this last week in nearly 80 years of American trade policy. As I said, he has been highly vocal about this for some 40 years, and his views on the subject, regardless of which side of the political aisle you are on, are considered heterodox. They are unconventional and somewhat untested in the modern economic global situation we are in right now.

It has not been clear what the result of this change would be, but we have had a chance in the last 96 hours to see the current result of the change. There has been a lot of expectation and anticipation about this. In the last four days or so, you can see the frenzied hysteria in politics and in the media. If he is good at anything, the current president is good at stirring.

Things are changing, and the markets are presenting a fascinating chaos that is historic. In looking at all this and then examining the text of Luke, particularly the passage we have been going through over the last several weeks, I think the sentiment in and around Judea and Jerusalem in the first century AD is similar to the uncertain expectation present in our own culture.

We read about this in the opening verse that we just discussed. The people were in expectation, but there was also uncertainty. Expectation and uncertainty often go hand in hand. The challenge with expectation bred from uncertainty is that there is an expectancy that something is coming, which could be really bad or really good, but you just don’t know. This has been the case in our own culture. You might have sensed it or at least read about it. You’ve probably had conversations with co-workers, neighbors, and friends who have expressed their uncertainty, regardless of their views on the current administration. It doesn’t really matter; people have their opinions, and everybody has something to say. Thus, there is this uncertain expectation: what is coming?

This was also true in the first-century world, around the year AD 29. There was a frenzied hysteria in Judea as the people were in expectation, wondering about what was to come. They didn’t know what would happen next, but they knew that something was occurring. Not only did they recognize that something was happening, but they also wanted a change in the world as they had experienced it. By this time, in 29-30 AD, the people of Israel had been under the occupation of a foreign invading force, the Romans, for nearly a century. In that cultural context, they desired change; they did not like the world as it was. The prevailing mindset among the people was that something had to change. I know you’ve never thought that, but that’s how they felt. Something has to change.

The world as they experienced it was no longer workable. The order that once existed had to change. The authoritarian rule of Rome was not tenable, and the people did not like it. If you study history from the first century in that region of the world, what we would call Israel at that time—Galilee, Judea, Samaria—you will see that this was a resistant, revolutionary people. To be given the role of governor of that place during that time was not a fun position.

We know that the governor of Judea at this time was a man named Pontius Pilate. We saw that several weeks ago in Luke chapter 3, in the opening verses. You did not want that post because these were a resistant, revolutionary people, and it did not take much for them to be stirred up into what we would term an insurrection. I know a lot of people don't like that word, but that is what it would be. This was a political tinderbox in this part of the world.

The people were looking at the authoritarian rule of Rome and deemed it untenable. They were also looking at the immoral and greedy family of Herod, who was the king set over the region of Galilee and Judea. He was not a Jewish individual, and the gang of the Herods was intolerable for the people. They did not want Herod to be their king any longer.

Furthermore, all of Jewish life revolved around Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, and the temple at Jerusalem, along with the priesthood that ran it. For the last two generations of high priests, introduced again in the opening words of Luke chapter 3—Annas and Caiaphas—the people did not like them either. The religious establishment had succumbed to excess and indulgence; it was really a power play and a money play. Consequently, the religious establishment was no longer bearable for the people.

The sentiment among the people was clear: something had to change. Into that mix, a wild preacher showed up in the wilderness. We are told in the Gospel of Matthew that he wore a coat of camel hair and a leather belt.

Locust and wild honey. He was something else. He was in the wilderness, and people were leaving the safety, security, and comfort of home in the villages, towns, and cities to go out into the wilderness to track this guy down because he was fascinating. Word was spreading very quickly about this Baptist, John, who was preaching to the people.

So, multitudes of people were coming to him. Why were they coming to him? Because they were seeking change. These people were always looking for someone to lead the change. There was an anticipation and an expectation among the Jewish people at this point in time that there was one coming who would lead a change. They called him the Messiah, a term that means the anointed one. Their prophets had spoken of him for centuries. All of their rabbis were focused on the coming of the Messiah.

Their expectation was that the Messiah would come and establish a kingdom, with Jerusalem as the seat of that kingdom. He would get rid of the indulgent, excessive priesthood in Jerusalem and secure the city as the point of his political power and reign. From there, he would depose Herod and get rid of him, and then he would go on to Rome and eliminate Roman rule. This was the expectation of the people.

We know from history in the first century that a number of individuals rose up as would-be messiahs, false Christs who amassed followers. What did they do? They led mob insurrections, which were immediately smashed by Rome. Rome did not tolerate it.

So, the people were looking for change and they went out to John the Baptist. Lo and behold, what was he preaching? He was preaching change. However, it was not quite the change that they were anticipating or expecting. They wanted someone to change Jerusalem, change Galilee, change Rome, and get rid of Caiaphas, Herod, and Caesar. Instead, he said something needed to change.

They didn't just need a change; they needed to change. That was not what they wanted to hear, but that was the message he was giving to the people. He was telling them, as we considered in the text last week, that they needed to change. They needed to leave their greed, and they needed to...

People needed to leave their desire to take more than they ought to take. They needed to stop intimidating others and lying to get ahead. Instead, they needed to give to others, share, and be content with what they had. That was a revolutionary message. As a sign of their change, the word that he uses for change is "repent." He says, "You need to repent. I know you want to change in Jerusalem, in Galilee, in Rome. But what I'm calling you to do is to repent." You need to change.

As a sign of your decision to change, he calls them to come down into the water and be baptized. "Baptito" in Greek means to immerse in water. He is not only preaching independent change in yourself, but he is also preaching that as a sign of your change, you should come be immersed in water to declare to your friends and everybody else that you are committing to be changed. Amazingly, multitudes of people are doing that in a context of a world that was chaotic, turbulent, and tumultuous, where they wanted something to be different. He says, "Yes, things do have to change, and you have to change."

Now, that is not to say that John did not speak against power. He did. In fact, the very last verse that I read a moment ago shows that he spoke politically against Herod, and it didn't go well for him. The text tells us, kind of as a parenthesis of what's coming, that he eventually gets arrested by Herod, thrown in jail, and ultimately John the Baptist is beheaded by Herod because he calls out the power structure and the immorality of Herod. The consequence for him is that ultimately he is put to death for this.

But John is calling for the people to change. I hope that I am doing a good job of expressing what is going on here, but everyone was seeking a total transformation and change. They wanted a revolutionary transformation. It is very similar to what people are looking for in every age, even in ours. They look at the world as it is, at the conditions of maybe California, and they say there needs to be a change in Sacramento. They look at the nation and say, "There needs to be a change in Washington." They look at the world, at economic issues, and say there needs to be a change on Wall Street, or there needs to be a change at the UN, or there needs to be a change in Brussels, or there needs to be a change in Beijing. There needs to be a change. Everybody's looking for change.

Looking for and desiring change is something many of us experience. Recently, there have been massive changes happening in our culture that have caused a lot of uncertainty and expectation. What's going to happen? What's going on? While everyone is seeking this change, John comes and says, "I know that you want things to be different, and the first thing that needs to change is you."

Now, it might seem a little cliché, but regardless, point number one is this: If you want change, you change first. None of us like to hear that. I certainly don't. We all want change, but what we really want is for that other person to change. If you're married this morning, you know exactly what I'm talking about. You've had the thought before: Something needs to change. She needs to change, or he needs to change. Everything would be better if they would just change.

We think like this not just in small relationships and marriages, but also in larger connections, culture, and government. If there was just a change, things would be better. We often resist John's point here. Yes, the change is this: You repent, turn, and change. Fundamentally, John's call for repentance was a call to personal responsibility. You are responsible for making a decision, a volitional change.

Fundamentally speaking, none of us want to do that. We want something to change. We want situations to change, circumstances to change, and people to change. We often think we will change when we see them change. But that's not what John is calling for.

As I mentioned, there were many messianic figures, what the Bible would call false Christs, who rose up and tapped into the desire for change. Everybody has this universal desire for change. Even if things are good, you might still think, "It could be better. I want more. I want it better." It is very easy for charismatic individuals to rise up and grab hold of that desire.

Of this desire for change, it had happened a number of times in the first century. We know the names of individuals who are mentioned in the Scriptures who did that very thing. They would lead the people to resist and revolt, encouraging them to fight the power structures in Jerusalem, Galilee, or Rome, to depose Herod and get rid of Caiaphas.

We wanted to see all these changes, and we have a lot of people today who will come and tap into that inner desire we have for change, whether it's in Washington, Sacramento, Wall Street, or Beijing. Then someone like John shows up and says, "We don't need a change; you need to change."

What was his message? His message is very simple, given to us in Matthew 3:2. He said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Repent. Change. A change of mind, a change of heart, a change of direction. You need to repent and change because there is a new rule coming. When he says the kingdom of heaven is at hand, he is saying there is a king who is coming, and he is bringing a kingdom that is fundamentally different from the kingdoms of this world.

It is a kingdom that is not of this world, and you need to change because a massive change is coming: a new king and a new kingdom. This is much bigger than just a new world order; he is talking about a total transformation of the cosmos. The King of kings and his kingdom are coming.

So, because the King of kings and his kingdom are coming, you need to change. You need to repent. Why? Point number two: If you don't change, everything will change, and you will be burnt. That's his message. Change is coming. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. If you don't change when the kingdom of heaven comes, everything will change. If you have not repented, if you have not changed, you will be burnt.

This is one of the key messages we find in the Scriptures. The message of John is relatively simple. Multitudes are coming to him, and he says, "Repent." It is a simple word that means change. Change course. You were going in this direction towards indulgence.

Greed, immorality, selfishness, and carnality are all things that are in opposition to the way of God and the nature of God. He says you need to turn from that, repent, and turn to going in this direction—God's way, on His path. Why? Because His kingdom is coming, and if you are found to be in opposition to His kingdom, you will be burnt.

Now, multitudes of people come to Him with the expectation of change. He is giving this message, but underneath the surface, they might be wondering if He is the one. This may not mean a lot to you, but it would mean everything to the people who were having this under-the-surface conversation with each other as they listened to the Baptist preach and went down to be baptized by him. They are wondering, as it says right in the text, whether he was the Christ or not.

"Christ" means "anointed one." "Christos" in Greek and "Messiah" in Hebrew have the same meaning: the anointed one. Every Jewish person knew what the anointed one was because they had been reading about or being taught by their rabbis and prophets about what the anointed one was for centuries. In their minds, there was so much contained in this concept of the anointed one. Suddenly, they think, "Well, maybe he is the one." This crazy-looking guy in the camel hair tunic with the leather belt—maybe he is the one. He might be the anointed one.

As the repentant baptized people wondered whether or not he was the Christ, John answers for them. He says, "Listen, let me dispel all the questions right now. I am not the one." That is what he explicitly says in the Gospel of John. But here he says this: John answered, saying to all, "I indeed baptize you with water. Yes, I am immersing you in water, but one mightier than I is coming. He is so mighty that I am not worthy to loose the sandal strap of His foot. I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."

Now we have more baptisms. We have this baptism of water, which we have talked about for the last several weeks. John is immersing people in water. It is a sign and an exterior demonstration that they have repented.

This is, at the end of the day, just getting wet in the water. It's not doing anything metaphysically or transformationally other than making them wet. It's a demonstration of what has taken place in their minds and in their hearts. They have turned; they are saying, "I want to turn away from self-indulgence, greed, and immorality, and I want to turn to God." Now, as a sign of that, they are being baptized.

He says, "I baptize you with water, but there's one coming, and I'm preparing you for him. My preaching and my work is just to ready you for his coming. He is greater than I, and when he comes, he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." What is that? That is a big concept, in fact, a very big concept for American Christianity going back the last hundred years, especially the early 1900s. This includes events like the Azusa Street revival in Los Angeles, Pentecostalism, and the charismatic expression of Christianity, which is the fastest-growing segment of Christianity in most of the rest of the world at this time.

This unlocks the whole concept of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. There are many ideas and thoughts about the baptism of the Holy Spirit that I think are good but not entirely accurate. So, what is this baptism of the Holy Spirit? When you start to piece things together from the Scriptures, it becomes clear that this is what the prophet Ezekiel foresaw in Ezekiel 36:26 when he predicted that God would give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. When he puts his new spirit within you, the Spirit will guide you and teach you to walk out the precepts of God and do what is pleasing to Him.

Let me read it exactly. Ezekiel 36:26 states, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will keep my judgments and do them."

There is a turning from immorality, carnality, self-indulgence, and selfishness to turn to God. In this turning to God in faith, trust, and repentance, there is a baptism of the Holy Spirit that takes place where God does something in you that is transformative. He gives you a new heart and a new spirit. He baptizes you in the Spirit.

I think this is the same thing that Jesus speaks about when he has a conversation with a highly regarded religious leader of his time named Nicodemus in John chapter 3. Nicodemus comes to him and says, "Unless you are born again, you will not see the kingdom of God."

Nicodemus's brain is overwhelmed. He says, "I don't understand this." Jesus responds, "That which is born of flesh is flesh, earthly birth. That which is born of the Spirit, the born-again experience, is spirit. You must be born of the Spirit to see the kingdom of God."

This born-of-the-Spirit, born-again experience is connected to the work that Jesus does. When you turn to Him in faith, He baptizes you, immerses you in His Spirit. First Corinthians, chapter 3, and chapter 6 say that then you become the temple of the Holy Spirit. God's Spirit comes and resides in you. There is a spiritual transformation that takes place when you trust in God. This is the greater baptism that John speaks of: He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

I believe all Christians, when they trust in God and become followers of Him, are baptized in the Spirit into Christ. This is what Paul says in First Corinthians, chapter 12, verse 13, when he states, "For by one Spirit we all were baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, we have all been made to drink into one Spirit."

So, this is a salvation work that John is talking about. What is he saying? What I'm doing here, as you heed my preaching and are baptized in water, does not save you. It readies you in that context. But when you receive the one who is mightier than me, John says, when you receive Him, when you trust in Him, He, by His grace, will immerse you with His Spirit, and you now are His.

If you are not regenerated in this way and not saved by the gracious saving work of Jesus Christ, then you are not immersed in His Holy Spirit. But John says if you turn to Him in faith, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

However, he also says He will baptize you with fire. This triggers a whole new discussion because what is this baptism of the Holy Spirit? We see that, but what about the baptism of fire? I want that. Well, not so fast. You might not, because the obvious question is what...

What is a baptism of fire? Thankfully, John, anticipating your question 2,000 years ago, answers it for us in the very next sentence. He speaks of the one who is mightier than him, who will baptize you in the Holy Spirit. His winnowing fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor.

This concept is hard for us to grasp today because, as I assume, there are probably no wheat farmers among us. Any wheat farmers here today? Look at that— not a single wheat farmer. So, when we read this, we might think, "I don't know what this means." That's understandable because you're not a wheat farmer.

However, if you were a wheat farmer in Judea 2,000 years ago, this would have made total sense. Why? Because in Judea, or in and around Galilee, where wheat was farmed, when the wheat was ready for harvest, they would go and take a sickle— that little C-shaped blade you've seen before. They would gather the wheat and cut it at the root, at the bottom of the stalk. Then, they would bundle it together in sheaves and take the grain to a rock foundation surface. There, they would break up the heads of the wheat. The grain is inside the husks, and as they would break it up, the wheat would dislodge from the husks, leaving the grain and the husks together.

But that's not very useful; you need to get rid of the husks. The husks are the chaff, which is not helpful if you want to collect the grain. So, what do you do? There were a couple of methods they would use to separate the grain from the chaff. One method involved taking a broom-like tool, often just the very sheaf of grain that had been used, and fanning it. The lighter chaff would blow away, leaving the grain behind. Alternatively, they would toss the grain and the husks up into the wind. The wind would carry away the chaff, and the grain would remain, allowing them to collect it and take it to the barn.

Now, what would they do with the chaff? Notice what John says: the one who is mightier than him, who baptizes with the Spirit, also baptizes with fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clean out the threshing floor. He will gather the wheat, the good stuff, into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.

You might say, "He will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire." I want that; I want a fire baptism. But you really don't, because that's judgment. We have two new baptisms here. John is...

Baptizing with water, but Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit. That's the good one. He baptizes with fire—unquenchable, consuming fire. John says the Messiah is coming, and he is coming to harvest. He is going to harvest the wheat and separate the wheat from the chaff. In other texts of the New Testament, we read that he is coming to gather fruit from the vine or from the tree. Every unfruitful branch he cuts off. What does he do with the unfruitful branch? He casts it into the consuming fire, but he collects the fruit to his barn or the grain to his barn.

He is coming to harvest and gather. He will gather the wheat and the fruit, and he will take the chaff and the unfruitful branches and cast them into the fire to be consumed, as the chaff and unfruitful branches are not what he wants. As I said in point two, if you don't change and repent, everything will change when his kingdom comes, and you will be burnt. But this is the better one: point number three. If you do change, when everything changes, you will be blessed. That's what I want. I want that one, not point two.

So, there are two baptisms, and one of them is not water. One is the baptism of the Holy Spirit by Christ, which is salvation. The other is the baptism by fire, which is judgment. If you repent, then when his kingdom comes—because remember what John says: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." It's coming. If you repent, then when the kingdom of heaven comes, you will be blessed. But if you do not repent when the kingdom of heaven comes, then there will be a burning, a fiery judgment that will consume.

John's message is pretty clear: change is coming. The kingdom of heaven is coming. The King is about to come onto the scene. He is going to bring a kingdom, and all the people wanted that kingdom. But he says, if you want that kingdom and you want to be a part of it, you must turn to him in faith. You must be born again by his Spirit. Because if you're not born again by his Spirit, even to the most religious, the most self-righteous, Nicodemus, Jesus would...

Think of the most religious person you know, the most goody-two-shoes person you can imagine. It's probably not you, and it's probably not me. There is somebody, but even that person, unless they are born again, will not see the kingdom of God. They will be cast out as chaff or an unfruitful branch to be burned. That's the bad news. However, always with the bad news is the good news. That's what we call the gospel.

So, what was the response? John is preaching this to the people. Look at verse 21. Here's the response: when all the people were baptized, I have to stop right there. Does this mean every single person who came to him was baptized? I don't know, but it seems like it. That's awesome! If it is true, they hear this message and want change. John says, "Here's the change that I'm calling you to. I'm calling you to turn from the way you've been going—self-indulgence, greed, selfishness, immorality, carnality. Turn from that. Turn to God. Be baptized as a sign and symbol of your repentance."

So, all the people were baptized. When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized. While he prayed, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon him.

Now, let's just stop there because we have these pictures. Maybe you had a children's Bible at some point in time, and there was a dove sitting on his shoulder. That's not what happened. What exactly happened? I don't know, but I know it wasn't that.

So, what happened? Well, there's an amazing thing taking place here that really leads us into a discussion of the nature of God—the triune nature of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All three are seen here but are presented as one God in three persons throughout Scripture, which is a whole other discussion that I don't have time for today.

However, we see it in texts like this. There is Jesus being baptized, and as he's being baptized, something miraculous happens. The heaven is opened. I don't know what that means, but I would love to have seen it. Something comes upon him and remains upon him that looked almost like a dove coming upon him, and that is the Holy Spirit. This is an imagistic representation of what we just talked about—the baptism of the Spirit. We're seeing it here. The Holy Spirit is descending upon him and remaining upon him. And the Father from heaven says, "You..."

"Are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Here we also have the challenge of the nature of Christ. Is He God? Yes. Is He man? Yes. Is He fully God and fully man? Yes. This is what the church spent 400 years in early church history discussing and trying to understand. They were trying to articulate what was happening here.

In verse 22, the Father is saying, "You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." In the very next verse, we start the genealogy of Jesus, which states He was the son, or supposed to be the son, of Joseph. So, He is fully man, but He is also fully God. Is He the Son of God? Yes, He is the Son of God. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Finally, we see Jesus for kind of the first time in the text. After 10 or 12 weeks of meeting Jesus, He finally shows up. In this scene of the baptism of Jesus, I think it reveals point number four: the baptism from above. The Holy Spirit is descending upon Him. The baptism from above bestows the love and pleasure of the Father. I think this is beautiful.

John says, "You need to turn to God because His kingdom is coming." The King and His kingdom are coming, and you need to turn to Him and trust in Him. Turn away from everything that you were doing and going after. Turn to Him, and as you turn to Him, He is going to put His Holy Spirit upon you. In you, you become the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the Father's love and pleasure will come upon you as well.

Now, prior to turning to God in repentance, we are in opposition to the Father, at enmity with God. But when we turn to Him in faith and repentance, He says, "You are my child," and He bestows His love. It's a fascinating thing.

In American culture in 2025, there are a lot of people who are confused about identity. I kind of understand that because we live in a broken and chaotic world, and people are trying to sort out, "Who am I in all of this? Who am I?" People are confused about this, and the culture is not helping, as it heaps on even more confusion in the form of moral confusion and identity chaos.

But when you become a Christian and you are baptized, the Holy Spirit comes upon your life and into...

Your life undergoes a transformation of identity. You are now in Christ. What does that mean? Paul, in Ephesians chapter 1, describes this new identity. He says that in Christ, you have the love and pleasure of the Father bestowed upon you. You have been adopted into His family as children. You have been set apart, predestined unto this adoption, and you have been given a new nature and an inheritance. You have been given every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. He has redeemed you, bought you back, and forgiven your sin. This is what Paul describes as your identity in Christ in Ephesians chapter 1.

We are blessed with every spiritual blessing. We are chosen by God, made holy, predestined unto adoption to be His sons and daughters, accepted, redeemed, and forgiven. It's beautiful. This is what we have in Christ. That is the good news of the gospel.

So, whether we are sitting here in April of 2025 or in Judea in 29 AD, we would look at a broken and fallen world affected and stained by sin and its curse, and we would rightly say that something has to change in this broken, fallen world. John says a change is coming. The kingdom of heaven is coming. But you have to be ready for that coming kingdom. The only way to be ready is to turn to God in faith and repentance, receiving His grace and forgiveness.

If you change, if you repent and turn to Him, then He will pour His Holy Spirit upon you, and you will receive the pleasure and love of the Father as one of His children, His sons or daughters.

In the fallen world that we live in, it's very easy for us to look around and point out the immorality, greed, and carnality. We see it constantly. We can see it in our leaders, in our neighbors, and even in our spouses. Don't worry; they see it in you too. We observe all of this and point out the wickedness, saying that it needs to change. There needs to be a radical change in the selfishness, arrogance, and immorality. We feel this inclination that we need to force the change, or perhaps we think that if we just had a change agent to come in and bring the transformation, everything would be different.

Change brings a lot of hope, and there is a desire within us for that change. We often don't articulate this thought; we keep it to ourselves. We might think, "If there were just a massive change, and if I were at the top, everything would be so much better." Yes, for you, everything would be so much better. However, for everybody else, it would be hell. So, that's not the change we're looking for.

There is only one true hope for change, and it is the coming of the kingdom of heaven. This is why Jesus taught His followers to pray, "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." That is our prayer. The church has been praying this, according to the instruction of Jesus, for 2,000 years. We want that change. Everyone, whether religious or irreligious, desires it. They want the kingdom of heaven. Our entire culture is working towards this.

You hear about it a lot right now in a new form, but it's the same story with new words. What are the new words of the same old story? Silicon Valley, as of November 2022, says that AI has been unleashed. What is AI going to bring? If you listen to the futurists and theorists from Silicon Valley, they will tell you that what is coming is an AI and robotics revolution. They claim it will bring so much abundance, creating a utopia of abundance. Everything will be taken care of for you; it will all be cheap and massively produced by robots and AI. Everything is going to be awesome.

So, is that what's coming? I don't think that's what's coming. It's the same old story. What is coming? The scriptures declare that the kingdom of heaven is coming. I understand the objection at this point. Someone might say, "Listen, this is a 2,000-year-old text. John said, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It's coming. Where is it?'" Here we are, 2,000 years later, waiting. Where is it? When is it going to get here? Good question.

Are one of the sons and daughters of God, you are now a part of His kingdom. Your citizenship is in heaven. That's what Philippians 3:20 says. Second Corinthians 5 states that you are an ambassador of His kingdom here and now.

What does an ambassador do? You are serving as a representative of His kingdom here on behalf of His kingdom until His kingdom comes. As a citizen of heaven, the kingdom of God, and as an ambassador of the kingdom, we pray, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Here’s the awesome thing: one day, God will answer that prayer, and the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, His paradise will come. What is that? That opens up so many discussions. In fact, I've had a number of questions in the last several weeks about the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven. I say, not in two minutes, but I might be able to do it justice in maybe three or four weeks.

In just a couple of weeks, we're going to do a series on the kingdom of heaven. What is it? How is it disclosed to us in the Scriptures? If you're a follower of Christ today, you've turned to Him in faith and repentance. You have been made His child, and you have a citizenship, a passport if you will, for heaven. You are a representative of His kingdom now, here in this place. You pray, "Lord, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Jesus will one day answer that question. What will His kingdom look like? In part, it will answer the deep desire and want of every human heart for the world as it ought to be. That's what the Scriptures speak of. But unless you repent, you will not know that kingdom because there is a judgment and a baptism of fire.

This is the message that the church has. Let me tell you, it's not a popular message, but it is the message we need. Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? Lord, I thank You that You speak with clarity.

Truth, you do call us to turn to you in faith. As we turn to you, you are so gracious and good. You pour out your forgiveness, redeem us, and set us apart as your children. You give us a new identity.

Lord, you pour your Spirit upon and in us, directing us into this world to be a light shining in a dark place. God, I pray this week that you would help us to shine a little bit brighter. Would you produce in our lives the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control, and all the other virtues associated with your Spirit?

Lord, may we see those things, and may others see the work of your grace in our lives. Give us boldness to share the reality of the truth of the gospel, the good news of your grace and forgiveness. We ask this in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, "Amen." Amen.