The American Wisdom Series 
 http://www.americanwisdomseries.com

Presents 

Chapter 3

Caution to students of God's Word - Please remember two things when using our studies: #1. Our commentary is not God's Word. It is only our interpretation or understanding of "His Word" and even though we try our best to be accurate we may or may not be correct. #2. The King James translation, or any other translation, of the original Hebrew text has some words which were given different translations at different places probably because of the interpreters preconceived ideas of what they think God meant to say. For example: According to the notes in the "Drake's Annotated Reference Bible" the Hebrew word hayah in the KJV is Trans. (became) 67 times, (becamest or came to pass) 505 times, (become) 66 times, and (come to pass) 131 times, but for some reason in Genesis 1:2 it is translated (was)! That sure changes the way a person perceives the original creation of the earth, doesn't it?  Gen. 1:2 And the earth was (became) without form, ... Having said that, let us continue with our "Key Knowledge" lessons. These are pamphlets containing knowledge, we believe, you must have to fully and accurately unlock and understand the Word of God.

John 15:26
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

John 16:13-14
[13] Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. [14] He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

This Bible Study was originally written by Roger Christopherson,
 published at http://www.theseason.org/ 

Without the leading by the Holy Spirit, there is no understanding of the truths, for all the truth of the Scriptures are revealed to us by God's Spirit.

 Now here is our revised study of:

The

GOSPEL ACCORDING TO

MATTHEW 

Chapter 3

"In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea.."

Matthew 3:1 "In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,"

So we see that many years have gone by since the births, between Matthew two and three. This is the John that was in the womb of his mother Elisabeth, the cousin of Jesus' mother Mary. The last time John was mentioned he was leaping for joy, in his mother's womb, at the presence of the Christ child, Jesus Christ. The time was six months after the feast of Abia, and that made Christ's conception December 25. This now is thirty years later, and John is now out in the wilderness.

Matthew 3:2 "And saying, "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

"Repent" means to have a change of heart and mind. To feel remorse for your sinning against God, and your turning from the things, and thoughts that will give you a new direction. It will change you for the better.

Many people today feel that if they become a Christian, they will miss out on all the good things of life, however that just is not true. Christians enjoy everything in life more, their entire life is more peaceful, and more trouble-free. The "do-this", and "don't do that" boys would like to regulate your Christian life, however the freedom that we enjoy in Christ excludes those boys. Instead, we can study to learn more about our Heavenly Father, and then His Holy Spirit will direct our path, and we become regulated by our own conscience, which has become in tune with God's Spirit.

Instead of strife, regulation, and judgment from the Kenite type mind from without; theirs is a calmness, and peace that only Jesus can give, when we know that our sins are forgiven, and we are at peace with our maker. We have the assurance that God will pick us up when we are down, and build a wall of protection around our mind, and family when it looks like the road is getting a little tough. We become "can do" type people when we are in God's will.

Matthew 3:3 "For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.' "

This is but a part of the full quotation that John gave in his sermon. The quotation is taken from Isaiah 40:3-31.

Isaiah 40:3; "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God."

Isaiah 40:4 "And every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

Isaiah 40:5 "And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."

John the Baptist's sermon went on to cover the rest of that chapter from Isaiah, that announced the coming of, and arrival of, the Messiah. It told how all the nations will submit to him, and lives will be changed. It is well worth the time to read the whole chapter.

See Live Link to- Isaiah Chapter 40

Matthew 3:4 "And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey."

The camel's hair, leather girdle and meat of locust and honey were the identifying features of a prophet.

Matthew 3:5 "Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,"

Matthew 3:6 "And were baptized of him in Jordan confessing their sins."

Many felt that John was Elijah the prophet, and he was very successful in preaching and turning many to God. However John wasn't, and he never claimed to be Elijah. When he was asked once; "Are you that prophet?" His answer was No.

In Luke 1:16 we read that John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah.

Luke 1:17 "And he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias [Elijah], to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

Later in Matthew 11:14 Jesus was asked by the Kenites about John the Baptist, if he was Elijah, Jesus answered them. If they have believed, he would have been Elijah." However they did not believe, in fact they beheaded John the Baptist. They killed John, and they crucified the Lord. That very last promise that our Lord God made to us before closing out the Old Testament, was the promise of the return of Elijah before the end of this flesh earth age.

Malachi 4:5-6; "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: [5] And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."

Matthew 3:7 "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, "O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"

The "generation of vipers" are serpents. They are the offspring of the snake, Satan, from the "Garden of Eden". They are the "Kenites", the Hebrew word that is properly translated, "sons of Cain". These are the same ones that Jesus spoke of in Saint John 8:44; when He said, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."

This is not spiritualizing a truth, but stating a literal fact. The Pharisees and the Sadducees were Kenites, and were offspring from the Nethinims that took over the Scribes and priest's duties that Ezra and Nehemiah wrote about. They are of the lineage of Cain, their father, that was born through the seduction [beguiling] by Satan of Eve in the Garden of Eden.

Who was the first murderer? It was Cain of course. Genesis 4:8; "And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him." Jesus goes deep into identifying the Kenites, as to who they were in Matthew 23. We see that Jesus is addressing the Scribes and Pharisees, and giving a warning to them in verse thirty three;

Matthew 23:33-35; "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" [33] "Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of the shall ye scourge in your syagogues, and persecute the from city to city: [34] That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Able unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the Temple and the altar." [35]

 Editor's Note:: We see that although our so-called Christian religious leaders of today have turned their back on what Jesus told us to learn, both John and Jesus alike knew who the Kenites are, and where they came from. In that, they knew the mind of the Kenite was of their grandfathers, Cain the murderer, and Satan the Devil. This is the cause of most of our trouble today, just as it was then. The mind of the Kenite, is of lies, deceptions, and even murder and comes straight from Satan, through his son Cain. Yet our church leaders refer to the people called Jews who make up that little country in the middle east as God's chosen people, (Yet, most of them aren't even Israelites, but descendants of Cain.) only a small percentage of them are descendants of our two brothers Judah and Benjamin, from the ancient "House of Judah", who just as we Christians from the other 10 brothers who made up the tribes of ancient Israelites are. Yes, we Christians who now make up the Christian nations living in Europe and the Americas, are descended from the ancient "House of Israel", and are of God's chosen people. Chosen because we are better than the races, who were from God's sixth day creation. No, chosen because he created us on the eighth day for our Lord and savior (Jesus) to be born into this flesh and blood world to a daughter of ours who was still of pure petigree, (Mary) in order to salvage all of mankind, the races included. We all need salvation if we value eternal existence!

Remember as you read this study, or any place in the Bible;

#1. When the talk is about the ancient "House of Israel", it is the ten tribes of Israelites who made up that northern kingdom house or nation and have since their dispersement by Assyria in 745-721 B.C., migrated on to the west and have become the Christian nations of our 21st. century.

#2. When the talk is about the ancient "House of Judah", it is the two tribes of Israelites, Judah and Benjamin, who made up that southern kingdom house or nation and have since, after mixing with the Kenites, i.e. descendants of Cain during their Babylonian captivity in 586 B.C., become the Jewish peoples of our 21st. century, now calling themselves, not Israelites but Israelis, many of whom in 1948 moved back to the middle east and with the help of England organized into the new country called Israel today, which was then recognized by the United States and three days later Russia, 
Live Link to-  "Do you know who you really are?"
Are you a Israelite?
Be thoughtful before you answer.
(Maybe you only think you're a Gentile!)
Live Link to-  "Israel's Lost Tribes"

You must keep these Kenites identified as you continue to study the Bible, for they are the negative force, that has rooted themselves into the religious orders of Judaism from Babylonian captivity to our Lord Jesus Christ's time, and hold high positions in the Temple as well as the government. The position of the Chief priest was appointed by the king of Roman rule, and the Sanhedrim, or "council-chamber" of the Temple, and government, which was like the Supreme Court of the land, were filled with Kenites. Those around Jesus, knew who they were, and their identification is what the "parable of the fig tree" is all about. We will discuss this in detail in Chapters thirteen, and twenty three. The thing to remember is that though they claim to be of Judah, they lie and have no Israel blood in them. This is where the warning of Jesus is aimed in Revelation 2:9; 3:9.

These Kenites carry the negative spirit within themselves, and when you get near them, you can discern it.

Matthew 3:8 "Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:"

John the Baptist is saying, you can repent, and have salvation, but bring me the evidence of your repentance. The evidence is your love from the heart, rather then the deceiving, lying, and combative attitudes that were brought by these lawyers of that day. The Kenite Pharisees and Sadducees came out to rebuke and belittle John. John is saying to them, show me your evidence of repentance, if you claim to be of God.

Matthew 3:9 "And think not to say within yourselves, 'We have Abraham to our father:' for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham."

There is quite a play on words here in the New Covenant. In the New Covenant it opens up that "whosoever shall believe on the Lord shall not perish, but have eternal life." This is everlasting life. The word "Abraham" in the Hebrew means, "father of many nations", and we see that in the word Abraham, are the many nations that will come forth as part of God's elect, to make up His people. They will come from all races, and tongues, and they all have one thing in common; "They all believe on the name of the Lord", and are raised up to Eternal life that God has extended to them.

This is where we get that Abraham is the father of all nations, for if he is, God can raise up any Gentile nation He pleases, and graft them to Himself. Why? Because Abraham had faith in God, and would offer even his own son up. He knew that somehow God would restore Isaac to him, for God made a promise, and Abraham knew that God would keep that promise, even if God would turn the rocks into his children. With this faith, Abraham took the blade and was in the process of not even withholding Isaac, because God asked it of him.

It was by divine intervention that Isaac was born, when Sarah was years beyond childbearing, yet God promised that the seed [children] of Abraham would be as the sand of the sea shore, and the stars of the sky. On that day of sacrifice, God provided Abraham the ram in the bush as the sacrifice to Him; however, John the Baptist is now announcing that the true sacrifice that has come, and it will be Jesus Christ that would be the sacrifice for the sins of the World. Though God's hand held the hand of Abraham; God did not hold the hands of the executioners, as they slay the Son of God, and shed His blood. God did this because He loves you, and His Son Jesus Christ was in the will and obedience to His Father.

This is why John was able to say that God is able to raise up children to Him, from even these stones.

Matthew 3:10 "And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire."

Trees are symbolic for people. The evil root of those trees that were in the garden of Eden, was the "tree of good and evil", and that tree is Satan, the Devil. It was Satan who God addressed as the serpent. The good fruit are those that have repented and know Jesus Christ as their Savior, however the fire that will consume the bad wood, or evil wood [Kenites and followers of Satan] will be consumed in the lake of fire. Jesus spoke of this time in Revelation 20:10-15.

Revelation 20:10; "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." This is following the time of the great tribulation of this earth age, Millennium age, and also the final Judgment. We see in verses twelve and thirteen that; "And they were judged every man according to their works." This is given twice. You will be judged by the things written in the Lamb's [Christ's] book of life, for the works during the Millennium.

Remember where we are? We are at the end of the Millennium. There are no people in flesh bodies nor are there any souls in the ground. The "dead" referred to here are the spiritually dead who are about to be judged from the books and receive their rewards according to their actions! And their last actions recorded in the books just before the Millennium were to worship the beast and his image! God will pick it up from there.

And so it is more than obvious that these books that are opened are the Books of Works. You see, Almighty God keeps perfect records of all His children's activities?  Thank God for this dispensation of grace and for repentance whereby we can have our "activities", our sins, deleted from the books. Also, remember that those of the first resurrection are not subject to the judgment of the second resurrection and/or the second death. We read that in verse 6.

Notice too that the Book of Life was also opened.  This book already has the names of God's elect in this generation written in it. In fact, their names were written in that Book of Life a long time ago, before the foundation of this world. Remember we read of it in Rev. 13:8? All those of this generation whose names are not written in it will worship Satan as Jesus.

Revelation 20:14-15; "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire, This is the second death." [14] "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." This my friend, is what John was talking about to those Pharisees. It is the parable of the tares, given in Matthew thirteen, and God tells us to leave them alone, it is not for us to judge them, for at the appointed time, it will be He and the angels that gather them and cast them into the fire.

These Kenites have grown to the point that their four hidden dynasties, Economics [banking and industry]; Education; Religion; and Politics are fused into one under their United Nations flag, and at God's appointed time, the gathering will take place. However, if one of those tares turn to Jesus Christ and repents, then he is no longer a tare, and this gathering of the wood to be burned does not apply to him. He is no longer a wicked one, but a son of the Living God by adoption, the same adoption that you and I claim in Jesus Christ.

Matthew 3:11 "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He That cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:" "Holy Ghost" is better translated, "Holy Spirit" from the Greek..

This "fire" came on Pentecost day by the Holy Spirit of God, and those that spoke there on that day, spoke in that cloven tongue. That tongue was not the turkey calls babel that is mouthed these days, but it was a clear speech that needed no interpretation. Check it out for yourselves, by turning to Acts 2. Those that speak confusion, are from Babylon, which in the Hebrew tongue is "confusion". But the voice that came from their mouth, when the words of the Holy Spirit was given was understood by all men that were present from all over the world.

"Tongues" means "languages"; and Acts 2:7-8 reads; "And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, "Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? [7] And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?" [8] Did you get that, in the very dialect of the neighborhood that they were born in. There is no confusion to this tongue given by the Holy Spirit. That Spirit, which is the fire of God came down and entered into them. That fire warms the heart of them that love Him, and is a consuming fire to the wicked ones.

Matthew 3:12 "Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

This fan spoken of here is a "winnowing shovel [fan]". God's fan gets rid of the chaff; while Satan sifts to get rid of the wheat [Luke 22:31]. The wheat is symbolic of the rich golden grain, that is God's elect. Those that have repented and turned their lives around. While the chaff are all those whose names are not written in the Lambs book of Life. Those are the tares and things that look like wheat when it is beaten out on the thrashing floor. God's winnowing shovel will seperate thase tares from the wheat, and the chaff will be cast into the fire. As the wheat is dropped to the floor, the chaff blows away.

Matthew 3:13 "Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him."

John knew and recognized Jesus as He walked up, for John and Jesus were cousins.

Matthew 3:14 "But John forbad Him, saying, "I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?" "

John was a very humble person, because in John's eyes it should be the other way around. John thought that Jesus should be the one to baptize him.

Matthew 3:15 "And Jesus answering said unto him, "Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he suffered Him."

John understood that it was necessary that Jesus be baptized, for His time had come, and so John went ahead and baptized Jesus. The word "baptize means to totally submerge. It comes from the word used to dye material. If you are going to dye a piece of material red, you have to have a container of water with red dye dissolved in it. The result then when the material is "baptized" or submerged, is that the material is completely red, inside and out.

When you ask, how do I know if and when I should be baptized? Well, Christ was, and baptism is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God, through your outward commitment, that shows the world, and marks you as Christ's. Baptism by submerging in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is the rite or ordinance by which you enter into the Body of Christ. It is your personal public profession of faith and discipleship to Jesus Christ. It shows your death to sin, and your washing afresh to a new life in our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Baptism we freely ask the Holy Spirit of God to enter and control our lives.

Baptism is essential to the believer, of the head of the church, Jesus Christ was baptized, and it is your public confession to the world of your faith in Jesus Christ.

Matthew 3:16 "And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him."

This is recorded as prophecy is Isaiah 11:2. Lets start with verse one. "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:" This rod is David, and the Branch that came from the root of David is our Lord Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 11:2; "And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom andunderstanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear[reverence] of the Lord." Here are the seven spirits of God. These are the gifts that are given by the Holy Spirit, and these are what God will give us, as He sees our need for them. These "Spirits" or gifts are not given alike to every believer, however we are to use the gifts that He gives each of us, according to our abilities. The gift of "fear, or reverence" before the Lord, is ones gift of intercessory prayer, and this gift should be held very high.

Matthew 3:17 "And lo a voice form heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Truly our Heavenly Father was well pleased in His Son, Jesus Christ, who filled that position of the God head, and made the pathway complete, whereby man can have a way back to the Father, in repentance for man's sins. The blood of Christ paid the price, and the name of Jesus is the only name on earth whereby we can be saved.

Every part of Jesus life was foretold in the prophecies of the Old Testament, and when confronted by the Kenites, Jesus response was always, "It is written"; "Have you not read?"; and so on, to show that what He did was in accordance with what was foretold.

This is also applied to us in these end times, what will happen will also be as it was foretold, and this is why we must continue to study God's Word, that we will not be deceived by the lies and wonders of the Antichrist.

Editor's Note:: We are going to stop here in our "Book of Matthew Study" to review some commentary from chapter3 in an earlier study we published of Matthew.  I don't believe you will find much difference in the general opinion of these two authors, but to read another person's perspective of events that took place may prove helpful in your understanding of the gospel of Matthew.

Spiritually speaking we are in the wilderness today.

The Word of God is precise in every detail and we have seen the clear evidence in just the first two chapters of Matthew that our Father is in complete control of His plan, which always has and always will come to pass exactly as it is written and according to His time table! To that end, as we enter this third chapter of Matthew we are fast forwarded from the events surrounding the young child in chapter two, through the ministry of John the Baptist who would now be about 30 years old and six months Christ's senior, right up to the beginning and "Anointing by God" of Jesus Christ's ministry. That anointing of the "Prophet who would come" (Deut. 18:18) will render John the Baptist the last of the prophets and therefore the "one who would come before Him" preaching and preparing the way, fulfilling the scriptures declaring that it would be so.

Thus shall we enter a "new time", a new dispensation, as describe by Paul in the opening verses of the great Book of Hebrews:

Hebrews 1:1-2
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

[2] Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds;

Matthew 3:1
In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,

Spiritually speaking we are in the wilderness today, the desert where the dry bones (Ezek. 37) abound because of the great spiritual famine which is so widespread throughout the land in these last days (Amos 8:11-13). You see, there was a spiritual famine at the time of John the Baptist as well for the great synagogue had come forth and the scribes and the Pharisees, the chief of whom were not of Judah nor even descendants of Abraham, i.e. they were kenites, now sat in the seat of Moses, which means they were in authority over the church. Jesus Christ pointed this out to His disciples in Matthew 23:2, "Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat."

So what was it John came preaching in preparing the way before Messiah? He preached "repentance" in a BOLD fashion and we are going to see an example of it in his discourse with some kenites a few verses hence.

[2] And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

[3] For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

Isaiah 40:1
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

[2] Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins.

[3] The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

[4] Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

[5] And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

Moving right along... it is also written in Malachi, whose name means "My Messenger", that God will send Elijah the prophet before the great and dreadful day of the LORD, which is His second advent, not His first.

Malachi 4:5-6
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:

That's easy, for it is written:

[6] And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

Matthew 3:4
And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.

Here is how Elijah looked:

2 Kings 1:8
And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.

[5] Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,

[6] And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

[7] But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

The "kenites", the sons of Cain (Kayin in Hebrew), have infiltrated and usurped the tribe of our brother Judah and make the false claim that they are children of Abraham and therefore "God's chosen people"! Sadly, most churches and most Christians believe that LIE, for it is indeed a lie! In fact, only two out of the seven churches Christ addressed in Rev. 2 & 3, the church of Smyrna and Philadelphia, know "the scam", i.e. that these dudes are liars and not God's chosen people at all. They are of the synagogue of Satan. Here is what Christ says to the two churches "in the know", the church of Smyrna and Philadelphia respectively: Rev. 2:9 "I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan." Rev. 3:9 "Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan,which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee."

The point is, they did not fool ol' John the Baptist and he "let them have it with both barrels", so to speak!

[8] Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:

[9] And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

Next, John the Baptist lets them know that they "serve the same bad fruit" as the one who is at the head of their family tree, the tree of Gen. 3 and Ezek. 31, that tree of the knowledge of good and evil (i.e. Satan) who fed his poisonous fruit to mother Eve in the garden of God. That evil tree (Satan) has been sentenced to be hewn down and cast into the lake of fire at the end of the Millennium, along with every other corrupt tree bearing bad fruit.

[10] And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

Matthew 7:15
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

[16] Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

Again, it is real simple as Christ explains:

[17] Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

[18] A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

Remember, in Biblical symbolization - trees are people!

[19] Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

[20] Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Matthew 3:11
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

[12] Whose fan is in His hand, and He will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

[13] Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.

Here is John's humble reaction:

[14] But John forbad Him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

That having been said, Jesus Christ was our example to follow and He was baptized in water.So when we rightly follow His example we do so as recognition and open acknowledgment of our initiation and public confession that we believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and in His death, burial, and resurrection, and that we are asking the Holy Spirit to enter and guide our lives from this point on. Baptism therefore is a beautiful thing!

[15] And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.

[16] And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

Nevertheless, John "saw" the Holy Spirit descend upon Jesus Christ and to that end he both "witnessed" and "bare record" to the fact the Jesus Christ was INDEED the Messiah!

John 1:32-34
And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.

[33] And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.

[34] And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

Matthew 3:17
And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Matthew 17:5
While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

In our next study, we will see the tempter, the old devil, misquote and misapply scripture right to the Messiah! Just imagine the audacity of this low life serpent!

Satan is very knowledgeable of the scriptures and can twist and TURN around the Word of God ever so ingeniously and cunningly.

The time has now come for Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One of God, to begin His ministry, and you know what? Satan isn't going to like that! In fact, he doesn't like any Christian beginning a ministry whereby the truth of God's Word is taught, so take heed to today's lesson! Remember, the old serpent has tried to destroy this One and thwart God's Plan from the very beginning, even from the garden of Eden in this flesh age down through the generations from Adam and Eve, through Noah and his family, through Abraham and Sarah, through Judah, through David, etc... all the way to Mary.

So we are now going to see Satan tempt and even try to destroy Jesus Christ, the second man Adam, in the same manner and fashion as he did the first man Adam and his wife Eve... so get a clue! You "see", Satan is going to use scripture and just twist and modify it ever so slightly and craftily so as to change the truth of God's Word into a lie, an utter falsehood! He is really, really good at doing that, a fact to which the testing by scripture (assaying by fire) of some very major doctrines of Christianity today, such as the any-moment rapture theory, will attest. (A word to the wise.)

In other words, the old serpent is going to misquote and misapply scripture to promote his agenda which is the same today as yesterday, to destroy Jesus Christ, the Word of God, so he can draw the people unto himself. You "see", Satan knows the scriptures very, very well, for he was once a "morning star", a star of light and truth, a beautiful cherub who walked "straight up and down" in God's ways and covered the mercy seat until iniquity was found in him (Ezekiel 28:15 "Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.")

The point is, Satan is very knowledgeable of the scriptures and can twist and TURN around the Word of God ever so ingeniously and cunningly. Again, he has managed to create and change whole doctrines by this method, a method to which most Christians are unaware and not skilled enough in their Father's Word to detect. Therefore, it is important that we take some extra time to note Satan's first temptation and the reason for the failure of the first man Adam, in order to emphasize the victory over Satan by Yeshua in the wicked one's temptation of the second man Adam. To the beginning we go...

Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Here is what God actually said:

Genesis 2:16-17
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

[17]But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

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Editors note: Did you catch it? Did you see it? Did you notice one very important point here? Their were other trees in the garden of Eden besides Christ, the tree of life, and Satan, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the midst of the garden, or else how could you have freely eaten of them?
Again I remind you - In Biblical symbolization Trees are people! See pamphlet #7011.

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Genesis 3:2
And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

[3] But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

Genesis 3:4
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

[5] For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Satan is speaking on behalf of God, appearing as an angel of light, using smooth words that stroke the flesh ego and sound real good, even logical. The problem is... it is not WRITTEN, as in GOD DID NOT SAY IT. This "ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil", is the age old philosophy of "enlightenment", "the god within you" of the "higher educated" intellectuals who think that they are capable of determining the right and wrong paths to follow for themselves (and others) apart from the Word of God. In fact, it is the basis of all "liberalism" as we see it active in leadership today, both politically and ecclesiastically. How vain indeed! However, the record of this earth age shall stand as witness against that lie!

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