Matthew 3:1-12
Today we are going to talk about the story of a man and his message. It should cause us to figure out where we fit into the story.
John’s message was simple; “Repent of your sins and turn to God for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” More often than not these words are viewed as strong words of warning. Maybe it is the persona of the person delivering them, but I would like to suggest that they could also reflect an invitation to join in to something bigger than anything they had ever heard of. God’s kingdom on earth was coming and John was giving them the key to entering in and becoming a part of that Kingdom. The way to enter the Kingdom has never changed. Today we think of both the warning and the invitation and encourage you to take it both ways.
“In those days John the Baptist came to the Judean wilderness and began preaching. His message was, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” The prophet Isaiah was speaking about John when he said,
“He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the LORD’s coming! Clear the road for him!’”
John’s clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey. People from Jerusalem and from all of Judea and all over the Jordan Valley went out to see and hear John. 6 And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River.
But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to watch him baptize, he denounced them. “You brood of snakes!” he exclaimed. “Who warned you to flee God’s coming wrath? Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.
“I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.”
The Man: John the Baptist
He was named John when he was born by his mother. His parents were Zechariah and Elizabeth and she was related to Mary the mother of Jesus. They were pregnant at the same time. John was sent from God to prepare the way for the ministry of Jesus on this earth. His father, Zechariah, was a priest who one day had an encounter with the angel of the Lord in the temple. We read about it in Luke 1:
While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. 13 But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John. You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God. He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.” Luke 1:11-17 NLT
Zechariah was an old man and when he heard this message he questioned the angel who promptly told him because he had doubted he would not be allowed to speak until the baby was born.
His birth was certainly ordained by God.
When it was time for Elizabeth’s baby to be born, she gave birth to a son. And when her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had been very merciful to her, everyone rejoiced with her.
When the baby was eight days old, they all came for the circumcision ceremony. They wanted to name him Zechariah, after his father. But Elizabeth said, “No! His name is John!”
“What?” they exclaimed. “There is no one in all your family by that name.” So they used gestures to ask the baby’s father what he wanted to name him. He motioned for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s surprise he wrote, “His name is John.” Instantly Zechariah could speak again, and he began praising God.
Awe fell upon the whole neighborhood, and the news of what had happened spread throughout the Judean hills. Everyone who heard about it reflected on these events and asked, “What will this child turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was surely upon him in a special way. Luke 1:57-66 NLT
Move forward about thirty years and we read these words in Matthew 3:
“In those days John the Baptist came to the Judean wilderness and began preaching.”
“John’s clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey.”
“He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the LORD’s coming! Clear the road for him!”
There was something clearly different about him. John the Baptist came out of the wilderness, wearing wild animal skins, smelling badly, and preaching repentance. He is not genteel or polite, he offends all those who might be offended but he cuts right to the chase, “repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near. You have been waiting for the Messiah, pay attention – he’s coming.” He is saying to the people of his time, and also to us, “repent, get ready, prepare the way of the Lord.” Cut through all the distractions, eliminate the nonsense in your lives and pay attention. Stop turning away from God, God is in search of you so quit running after all that glitters.
His Message: Repentance
A. Repent of your sins
In John Steinbeck’s story The Wayward Bus a dilapidated old bus takes a cross country shortcut on its journey to Los Angeles, and gets stuck in the mud. While the drivers go for assistance, the passengers take refuge in a cave. It is a curious company of people and it is obvious that the author is attempting to get across the point that these people are lost spiritually as well as literally. As they enter into this cave, the author calls the readers attention to the fact that as they enter they must pass a word that have been painted over the entrance. The word is repent. Although Steinbeck calls that to the readers attention, it is interesting that none of the passengers pay any attention to it whatsoever. Repentance is a good word for us to hear and think about. Repentance is what you and I do when we humble ourselves before God. We repent of our sinfulness and sinning ways.
Repentance is an essential starting point of the Christian journey. We begin our walk with God by admitting that we need Jesus’ sacrifice and expressing our sorrow for the sin in our life.
Have you ever truly repented before God with a godly sorrow? That means that you were so overcome with your sinfulness and the fact that you needed a Savior that you cried out to God and accepted His gift of salvation. This is what John was preaching over and over to those who would listen. He also said something else would happen. He said that when you repent you would be turning to God.
B. Turn to God
I like this phrase because it is something that we should not just do once. It is something what once we have become a Christ follower we will do daily. In every situation we face we learn to turn to God. These words are powerful and life-changing if you apply them to your life.
When you are struggling in your marriage: Turn to God
When you are in the midst of troubles at work: Turn to God
When you are facing a death in the family or terminal illness: Turn to God
When your kids are disappointing you and not doing what you want: Turn to God
When stuff happens that you don’t understand: Turn to God.
In the daily pursuit of just living your life: Turn to God
When things are going wonderful and you couldn’t be happier: Turn to God
When your children achieve some measure of success: Turn to God
When you accomplish something at work or home: Turn to God
I think you are getting the message. In all things turn to God and rely on Him and trust in Him.
Peter wrote about this in 1 Peter 4:10-11:
God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 11 Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ.”
C. The Kingdom of Heaven is coming
“But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”
John’s message was simple in some ways yet hard for those hearing to understand. He said that the Kingdom of Heaven was coming. Jesus was bringing it to earth. In many ways we are to be living in that Kingdom right now. Jesus came and he left us with the structure of a church that was to be His body functioning on this earth.
Our Motives: What’s in it for you?
“But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to watch him baptize, he denounced them. “You brood of snakes!” he exclaimed. “Who warned you to flee God’s coming wrath?”
John had been preaching in the wilderness to those common people who came as the Bible says to “see and hear.” A bunch of religious rules keepers show up to no doubt look down their proverbial noses at this phenomenon that was taking place in the desert. John must have been a type A personality because he doesn’t dance around much; he just calls it like he sees it. (This would eventually cost him his head)
Many people have some kind of formal connection to Christianity but they have no personal relationship or connection to God and His word.
I go back to those words found in verse Mathew 3: People from Jerusalem and from all of Judea and all over the Jordan Valley went out to see and hear John.
Notice that phrase: “see and hear.”
There is a major difference between seeing and hearing. Let me ask you a personal question today. Why are you in this place today? What is it that you are looking for from Christ? Are you just coming and seeing what is going on? Are you a spectator of faith?
I would encourage you to move beyond just coming to see and begin hearing the life changing, life altering message of Jesus Christ.
John was hard on the Pharisees because they were religious but had no relationship with God. Jesus was hard on the Pharisees for the very same thing.
You and I have been invited to be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven. We have been invited into the family of Christ. We have been invited to live out our lives on this earth in a biblically based godly way that will affect everything we do.
A highly successful lawyer lived about 300 miles away from his lonely father. They had not seen each other for years, even though they had an agreement he would make a quarterly visit every year. His father calls him up and asks, “When are you going to visit?” John the son proceeds to tell his dad about the demands on his time, his courts schedules, meetings and so on and so forth, everything that prevented him visiting. So his father says, “I’ve been thinking a lot about this, when I die, do you intend to come to my funeral?” John responds, “Dad! I can’t believe you‘d ask that. Of course I’d come to the funeral.” His dad replies, “Good. Let’s make another deal. Forget about the funeral. I need you more now than I will when I die”
God offers us repentance as entrance into His kingdom. God does not rejoice at the death and punishment of a sinner but that he may repent and live. You and I have been given an invitation to new life today. The Lord needs you more now than when you are about to die. I don’t think anyone in this room wants to reject this invitation. Timing is everything. Right now you may think the cost is too great. You may think that you need to wait until you are older or maybe just about to die. The invitation is to live out the Christ life now. The invitation is to be His hands and feet and to bring His light into the darkness of the world around you.
John continues to address the Pharisees by reminding them that their actions and motions in life matter.
Our Motions: Living in the Kingdom
“Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones.”
The Pharisees have a problem with John. He doesn’t dress properly, he speaks without proper decorum, he smells. How can they pay any attention to what he says – he obviously doesn’t belong in the right circle.
On the television show M*A*S*H, Dr. Charles Emerson Winchester III made it clear what separated him from everybody else. "I’m a Winchester," he was heard to say more than once. For him, it was his family name that made him superior to everyone else. Other people carry other burdens. One woman received her education at Harvard and found a way to work Harvard into every conversation.
That’s what John the Baptist was dealing with in this lesson. John the Baptist was completely unimpressed with the very thing that the Jewish people had built their lives upon. They were the "children of Abraham." Then comes John the Baptist followed by Jesus preaching and teaching that your heritage doesn’t matter. What matters is how you live out your life and faith.
We hate to hear John the Baptist because we know how it translates to our situations. We can hear him now. "Just because you are members of the church, just because you give your weekly offerings, just because your great-grandparents were in the church, just because you are doing a ministry, doesn’t mean it is time to relax and take it easy and give in to this temptation of thinking this matter of being Christian is under control." In other words, don’t presume your past has taken care of your present.
John’s message today, without any frills, is “Repent!” Take a look at your life, see where you have put your priorities, where your treasure really lies, and turn around and see God looking to guide you. Repentance is not a once-in-a-lifetime event, but a daily action. We need to “die daily to our sin”, as Luther reminds us. Richard Jensen says it most powerfully, “the repentant person comes before God saying, ‘I can’t do it myself God. Kill me and give me new life. You buried me in baptism. Bury me again today. Raise me to new life.’”
Repentance is simply to stop running after everything else and see that God is pursuing us. Repentance is to make decisions for God in our daily life that shows where our hope lies. To recognize that to be a child of God needs to determine the decisions we make every day. Clothes, status, fame, the right accent means nothing – only the fact that God has claimed us and loves us.
Repentance is the ongoing lifestyle of the people of the kingdom. Repentance is to bear fruit of the kingdom. We are part of the kingdom of God when we bear good fruit. The Bible says we are to bear the fruits of love, patience, joy and kindness. If we do not, we have decided to move ourselves out of the kingdom.
We are a part of the kingdom when we feed the hungry, clothe the naked and give drink to the poor. We are an alternative culture that needs to repent of ways in which we have bought into the values of the culture around us.
The call is one of repentance.
Where are you today in your relationship with Christ?
This is not a negative message today. John’s message wasn’t negative. It was both a warning and an invitation.
You are being invited today to enter the Kingdom of the Christ child we celebrate at Christmas.
Dallas Willard tells of when the REA (Rural Electrification Administration) extended the electrical lines to his home in Missouri. He says, “When those lines came by our farm, a very different way of living presented itself. Our relationships to fundamental aspects of leisure, preparing food, and preserving it — could then be vastly changed for the better.”
Those farmers, “in effect, heard the message: ‘Repent, for electricity is at hand.’ Repent, or turn from their kerosene lamps and lanterns, their iceboxes and cellars, their scrub boards and rug beaters.” The power was now inside their homes to make their lives better, if they would accept it.
But some did not accept the kingdom of electricity. They were suspicious of it, even afraid of it. Some thought it cost too much. Some just did not want to take the trouble to change. The blessing was there waiting for them to enjoy, but they were not taking advantage of it.
In the same way, the kingdom of God is here waiting to be enjoyed. Some say it costs too much. Others are suspicious. Still others don’t want to take the trouble to change. But it is here nonetheless. The Bible says, “...the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him” (Romans 10:12).
I would like you to pray with me if you are sincere about accepting the invitation.
"Heavenly Father, have mercy on me, a sinner. I believe in you and that your word is true. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that he died on the cross so that I may now have forgiveness for my sins and eternal life. I know that without you in my heart my life is meaningless.
I believe in my heart that you Lord God raised Him from the dead. Please Jesus forgive me, for every sin I have ever committed or done in my heart, please Lord Jesus forgive me and come into my life as my Lord and Savior today, I need you to be my Father and my friend.
I give you my life and ask you to take full control from this moment on; I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ." Amen.
Today we are giving you three ways to respond to this message. You can respond by coming to pray during this closing song or you can fill out your invitation and place it here at the front or give to those who are collecting them at the door. The last option is to go the Next Step room in the upper foyer and there will be someone there to pray with you and lead you to new life in Christ. Song
Closing remark: If you accept this invitation today you will never look at this scene again the same. We see nativity scenes a lot of places during Christmas. My neighbors put up this one.
Damon’s restaurant boldly put a scene in their lobby.
From now on when you look at a nativity scene think about this. You are a part of Christ family now and you are looking at something that happened in your family along time ago. It becomes personal. You are a part of God’s family. You are sons and daughters of God.
Let us go from this place today rejoicing, worshipping and telling others the Good News that Jesus Christ was born and that He invites us Kingdom.