Standing Against the World Part 1; Luke 3:15-20

Delivered during the Sunday morning worship service, 7/25/2021. We have all ready learned that one of the primary functions John the Baptist filled was to introduce Jesus of Nazareth as the long-awaited Messiah. In this message he will do just that-- comparing his own baptism and ministry to the greater baptism and "mightier" ministry of Jesus. By looking at the life and words of John the Baptist, we will gain valuable insight into what it means to be Christ-like in our own lives and ministry. We will analyze the humility, truthfulness, boldness and suffering of this Old Testament prophet and realize that by standing for the standards of the Kingdom, he stood against the prevalent religious and social standards of his day. We will make the same argument for Christians today-- that if we are to stand firm on the doctrines of Scripture, we will by necessity have to stand against the corruption of those doctrines by the culture around us-- but especially by what we will call "modern Christendom". Ultimately we will realize that like the saints who have gone before us-- if we boldly stand for truth, will find ourselves standing against the world.