The Pilgrim's Progress - Matthew 3:11

The Pilgrim’s Progress
December 11, 2011 - Advent 2 & 3
Matthew 3:11

Introduction
- On June 4, 1783 at the market square of a French village of Annonay, not far from Paris, a smoky bonfire on a raised platform was fed by wet straw and old wool rages.
- Tethered above, straining its lines, was a huge taffeta bag 33 feet in diameter.
- In the presence of "a respectable assembly and a great many other people," and accompanied by great cheering, the balloon was cut from its moorings and set free to rise majestically into the noon sky.
- Six thousand feet into the air it went -- the first public ascent of a balloon, the first step in the history of human flight.
- It came to earth several miles away in a field, where it was promptly attacked by pitchfork-waving peasants and torn to pieces as an instrument of evil!   (Today in the Word, July 15, 1993)
- Often in life something new or different causes fear
- People in general do not like change
- You see it in addiction, the force to stay where you are is almost insurmountable
- When an addict recovers from his addiction and reunites with his family, there is a process called homeostasis
- In short this means that the family continues to see the person as he was rather than as he is now, and expects him to fail
- This is a major temptation for the addict to relapse
- Yet, the way forward involves change – change in actions, change in attitudes
- God gave us laws to live by.  They are outlined in the 10 commandments, and summarized by Jesus when he says we should love God with all our heart mind and soul, and love our neighbor as ourselves
- When we break these laws, God calls this sin (1 Jn 3:4)
- When we look back we see all kinds of sin in our life
- This sin separates us from God
- It doesn’t matter if we accepted Jesus 30 years ago, sin still separates us from God
- It’s because we carry guilt, and when we carry guilt it damages our relationship with the one who was sinned against
- We often don’t want to face up to our sins, because that would be an admission of guilt and loss of face
- But the way forward starts with facing our sin

Jesus comes as Savior – Advent 2
- Jesus came to save us from our sins.  Whether we are Christian or not
- He paid the price that a just God requires for disobedience to God’s higher law
- Because of Jesus dying on the cross for us, we can face our sins, deal with them and move along in our journey with God
- Jesus makes it possible for us to face our weaknesses, and address them
- His will for us is that we move forward, not that we stand still in our spiritual journey
- But when we refuse to face our issues, we are stagnant and ignoring God’s intention for our life.
- Change is needed.  It goes against our nature, we are very happy with homeostasis, and staying where we are at
- Some of the issues to face, are seemingly small things
- But some of our issues are very ingrained
- Some seem almost insurmountable, like a Mount Everest in our life
- So how can we deal with these things?

Jesus comes as our Baptizer – Advent 3
- The Israelites in the old Testament had problems
- They were whiners and complainers and idolators
- They turned away from God, wanting to do things their own way
- But from time to time there would be a revival
- Josiah, for instance
- He cleaned out the temple, he threw away and demolished all the pagan idols
- Revival entered the land
- But after he died, things went back to the way they were before
- His son turned against God and the land relapsed
- To make permanent change we need the power of the Holy Spirit
- Jesus came to send us the Holy Spirit, to give us the power to be obedient to God
- Matthew 3:11
- When a person turns to Jesus, they receive the Holy Spirit
- Acts 2:38, Eph 1:13-14
- The Holy Spirit makes us a child of God
- Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit become a part of our lives, and make their home in us (John 14:16-17, 20, 23)
- We are now a new creation, we are different and we desire to be obedient to God (2 Cor 5:17)
- Jesus breathed on the disciples on Resurrection Day, and said “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22)
- The disciples were now a new creation!
- Jesus had just said, “As the Father sent me, I am sending you” - John 20:21
- But in the next chapter we read that Peter relapsed to his former life – he went back home to Galilee and restarted his old business!  Can you imagine?
- Peter, the disciples who went with him, and all of us, need power to live our Christian life to fullest
- This power come through being filled with the Holy Spirit
- Acts 2:8
- Being filled with the Spirit gives us a boldness that cannot be quenched
- We receive the Holy Spirit in a way that He fills every part of our life
- He is a special gift from God, for us
- Being filled with the Holy Spirit empowers us to live in obedience to our God
- When we receive this gift, He gives us a heavenly language to speak
- It is a language between God and us, which builds us up spiritually and helps us to love others the way God loves them (1 Cor 14:2, 4, 18, 39-40)
- It is a prayer language between us and God, which enables us to pray according to God’s will (Rom 8:26-27)
- This may be something new for us, or it may not
- Don’t be afraid of something new, God only gives us good gifts (Luke 11:9-13)
- Even if we have been filled with the Spirit before, we need to be filled continually (Eph 5:18)
- The experiences of life deplete the spiritual resources the Holy Spirit once gave us
- We need God’s touch again

Conclusion
- The Christian’s journey marches forward
- It was made possible by Jesus coming as our Savior, and as our Baptizer
- Today we will open up the altar for prayer
- If you want to accept Jesus for the first time, if you want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, or if you would like prayer for any other reason, today is the day the Lord has made for you!