Pastor Rusty Milton
"Preparing the Way"
Luke 3:15-18; Isaiah 40; Acts 2; Luke 12:49-50

God always deals with sin by fire. In Luke 3, John the Baptist announces two gifts from the Lord: His Son, and His Spirit. Baptism is the mark of both. In Luke 3:16, we see John explaining the coming of the Holy Spirit as a baptism of the fire of purification, revealing our sin and drawing us toward repentance and salvation through the Son. The mark of this baptism is not perfection in this life, but an awakening of spiritual sensation, discernment of good and evil, and the ability to fight sin in life.

But we also see fire  as a symbol of judgment. Christ brings salvation, but he also is the arbiter of judgment on all sin: we either accept his atoning sacrifice and therefore escape our judgment, or we receive due judgment for our sins onto ourselves.

Let us then gladly submit our lives to God and rest in his salvation, which brings the baptism of purifying fire, and allows us to escape the fire of judgment.

Isaiah 40

English Standard Version

Comfort for God's People

40 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
    and cry to her
that her warfare[a] is ended,
    that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord's hand
    double for all her sins.

3 A voice cries:[b]
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
    make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
    and the rough places a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
    and all flesh shall see it together,
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

The Word of God Stands Forever

6 A voice says, “Cry!”
    And I said,[c] “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
    and all its beauty[d] is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades
    when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
    surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
    but the word of our God will stand forever.

The Greatness of God

9 Go on up to a high mountain,
    O Zion, herald of good news;[e]
lift up your voice with strength,
    O Jerusalem, herald of good news;[f]
    lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
    “Behold your God!”
10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
    and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
    and his recompense before him.
11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
    he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
    and gently lead those that are with young.

12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
    and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
    and weighed th