Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him,
“Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,
and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I
say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these
stones. And even now the ax is laid to
the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is
cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Luke
3:7-9 )
John the Baptist had a simple sermon with profound
implications. In fact, it could be
summed up in one word, “Repent!”
Repentance is a result of the gracious activity of
God—where He changes our mind with the light of truth and changes our heart
with the Spirit of life. Conviction of
sin must lead to conversion from sin—the result of that cleansing being
confession by baptism and consecration to righteousness.
Not many in our culture understand the meaning of
repentance. To most it is just a word
some weirdo with a sandwich board sign declares on a sidewalk, “REPENT! THE END
IS NEAR!’ But, they haven’t the foggiest
idea of what that means. Fewer still
have actually repented of their sin.
John was plain that true repentance was not just fear,
“Then he said to the multitudes
that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee
from the wrath to come?” (v.7), but must lead to fruit, “Therefore bear fruits worthy of
repentance,” (v.8a). Doubtless, John had seen this in his desert
dwelling: lightning strikes the dry trees and bushes, which driven by the hot
winds becomes a raging fire. Then all
the asps and adders slither speedily away from the flames to seek the safety of
the river. Spiritually speaking, that is
what John saw in many coming down to the Jordan River . Escaping the fires of Hell is an admirable
goal, but salvation is more than a fire insurance policy—it is a radical
transformation—otherwise the fear of judgment stops short of the faith that
leads to the fruit of righteousness.
In Acts
24:24-25 this reality is reinforced,
And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was
Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. Now
as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come,
Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time
I will call for you.”
It is obvious that Felix
was terrified by the prospect of judgment, but was unwilling to act upon that
conviction. Such conviction is essential
for conversion, but is not conversion of itself. Conviction must lead to commitment. That was too inconvenient for Felix.
True repentance isn’t based on an earthly connection
but an eternal one, “do
not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to
you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.” (v.8). God has children—but not grandchildren! Some think they are going to heaven because
of their Christian parents and upbringing.
There are those who rely on their name being identified with some
church. But God won’t check a church
membership roll to determine whether you get into heaven some day, but if your
name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life!
Those relationships can be the open door to salvation, but we must walk
through it. Having a father as a
preacher isn’t the same as having God as your Father.
True repentance isn’t just about feeling sorry, but
being different.
And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every
tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” So the people asked him, saying, “What shall
we do then?” He answered and said to
them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has
food, let him do likewise.” Then tax
collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we
do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more
than what is appointed for you.”
Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?” So he
said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with
your wages.” (Luke 3:9-14 )
I could take you to the
county jail and you would find cells full of prisoners that are sorry for what
they did. That sorrow would quickly
dissipate if they were let out and many would return to a life of crime. Repentance means you are sorry enough to seek
God to change you. You don’t just grieve
over the pain your actions have caused you, but the pain you brought to Jesus
on the cross!
John wasn’t about elevating himself but exalting Jesus.
Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts
about John, whether he was the Christ or not,
John
answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier
than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize
you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His
winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing
floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with
unquenchable fire.” And with many other exhortations he preached
to the people. (Luke 3:15-18 )
John had the
crowds—religious rock star status, but he wasn’t about popularity. He was about pointing people to Jesus! He humbly put it this way, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
(John 3:30 ) Following John’s example, our daily prayer
will be, “Father, let others see more of Jesus and less of me!” I guarantee that if you want others to see
more of you, they will see less of Him!
Not many churches would have John as their pastor. He didn’t know about being
seeker-sensitive! Not only were his
sermons loud, “negative,” and pointed in calling out sinners (politically
incorrect), but his dress was too coarse—camel’s hair tunics—and his diet too
bizarre—locusts and honey.
He was bold to call all to repentance—even the
powerful, “But
Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother
Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, also added this, above all, that he shut John
up in prison.” (Luke
3:19-20 ). This kind of
preaching will get the preacher into trouble.
John stuck his bony finger into the face of Herod and branded him an
adulterer. I suppose he had never heard
of separation of church and state! Such
prophetic preaching today—confronting the authorities and their wickedness—might
not land you in prison or cost you your head—yet—at least not in America
Preparing to meet God means we have heard the herald
of the King and have repented of our wicked ways. It is the church’s task to summon sinners to
repentance and faith in Christ. This is
our message!
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