John the Baptist is one of the great characters of the Bible. His purpose was simple,

to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Jesus himself said of John

that he was the greatest of those born of women.

This greatness was not in himself, not his personality, not talent,

but his greatness was in his task, introducing people to Jesus.

Join Scott Pauley now as he leads us in a study of this great man.

Music We talk Pauli now as he leads us in a study of this great man. We jokingly say that every good sermon has three points.

Now, in reality, every good Bible sermon has one point.

It has one great thrust, but it may be divided and

organized differently. Every sermon is a little different. And I bring you now to John the

Baptist sermon, his first sermon. We might even say his only sermon. He was a man who was not afraid

to repeat truth again and again and again.

A truth that is given once and should be given once is worthy of being repeated.

This is the one sermon, really, that John the Baptist seemed to preach everywhere that he went to every group that he spoke to.

And indeed, it has three distinct parts.

I want us to look at each one of them. Let's begin

with the first one. In Matthew chapter three, verse number two, he says, repent ye for the kingdom

of heaven is at hand. The first thing that I want to observe about John's sermon is that there is in an announcement. Remember, he's a herald. That's what every preacher is, announcing the good news. And he comes with good news. What is the good news? The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Now I want you to take a trip with me. We've got to go around the world, and we've got to go back in time 2,000 years.

But I want you to sit in the wilderness with the group of people who are listening to John preach. You see, one of the great challenges is bridging the world of the Bible with our

world today and different cultures, different time periods, but many similarities.

And so if you'll try to understand these people, they're living under Roman different cultures, different time periods, but many similarities.

And so if you'll try to understand these people, they're living under Roman oppression.

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