Imagine that you're just going about your business,
living out your life,
doing the best that you can,
and you start hearing word from others in your community
that there's this guy,
and he's out in the middle of nowhere
on the sandy beach of Lake Diefenbaker,
and he's preaching
and doing some rather strange things,
dunking people in the lake.
And it's supposedly some kind of religious ritual.
A few more days go by,
and more people are beginning to talk about him.
A few more days go by,
and even more people are talking about him.
And then before you know it,
people from your own town
are making trips out to the lake to see this guy.
And some of them are coming back and saying,
ah, it's all a bunch of hogwash.
But others are saying
that this man's teaching
is radical
and life-changing.
They're saying,
we've never heard anyone like this.
Some are even proposing that this man speaks
for God.
And you nod,
and you listen,
and you're interested,
but are you going to make the trip
all the way out to the lake
to hear this guy?
Well, finally,
somebody that you know and love dearly
comes back from the lake,
and it seems as though
they really have changed.
They heard this man speak,
they were dunked,
and now they're pleading with you
to make the trip out yourself
and hear this man for yourself.
So you pack up your things,
you make the trip out to the lake,
you finally reach the spot,
and to your surprise,
there's this huge crowd
gathered right there
on the beach.
listening to this guy.
You push a little closer
to hear what people are saying
as they go out into the water
and say some words
and then get dunked.
But then all of a sudden,
as you catch the preacher's eye,
he looks at you
with this piercing gaze
and calls out to you,
you snake,
who warned you
to flee
from the wrath of God
that is coming?
This is how it was
about 2,000 years ago
on the shores
of the Jordan River
in the land of Israel.
The preacher's name
was John,
the son of Zechariah.
And we read from
John chapter 3,
verse 7,
that the crowds
were coming out
to be baptized by him.
And he said to them,
you brood of vipers,
who warned you
to flee
from the coming wrath?
Produce fruit
in keeping
with repentance.
repentance.
And do not begin
to say to yourselves,
we have Abraham
as our father.
For I tell you
that out of these stones,
God can raise up children
for Abraham.
The axe
is already
at the root
of the trees.
And every tree
that does not produce
good fruit
will be cut down
and thrown
into the fire.
So crowds
of people
were coming out
to him
in the wilderness
and John
was calling
them snakes.
Can you imagine
this?
You brood
of vipers.
And he was
telling them
that God's wrath
is coming.
Who warned
you
to flee
from the coming
wrath?
Now make
no mistake,
John is not
just some kind
of rattle
and tumble
guy who
gets a kick
out of insulting
people.
As we read
last Sunday
in verse 2,
John is a prophet.
The word
of God
has come
to him
and with
these words
he speaks
for God.
You brood
of vipers,
who warned
you
to flee
from the
coming wrath.
In other
words,
according to
God,
his wrath
is coming.
An outpouring
of punishment
is coming.
Why?
Because people
are wicked
and corrupt
and are
deserving
of it.
They are
snakes.
John
goes on.
Produce
fruit
in keeping
with repentance.
And if we
go down a little
further in verse
9,
the axe
is already
at the root
of the trees
and every
tree
that does
not produce
good fruit
will be
cut down
and thrown
into the
fire.
God
likens
the people
to trees,
specifically
fruit trees.
It's a very
common metaphor
in the Bible.
And if we
are trees,
then what
comes out
of us
as we
live
is the
fruit.
And it
can be
either good
fruit
or bad
fruit.
The good
fruit would
be good
deeds,
good words,
good attitudes
and desires.
The bad
fruit would
be sinful
deeds,
wickedness,
evil speech,
and selfish
and hate
filled
attitudes
and desires.
And so
this imperative
produce
fruit
in keeping
with repentance.
It's not
only a plea
but it's
kind of a
stinging
rebuke.
He's
basically
saying what's
coming out
of you
people right
now
is bad
fruit,
sin,
wickedness,
corruption.
He's
saying right
now your
living doesn't
say that you
have a
repentant
heart towards
God.
Your lives
don't say
that you're
truly sorry
to God
because
you keep
on living
that way
deliberately.
it's the
norm.
If you're
truly repentant
towards him
if you've
truly had a
change of
heart towards
him then
the fruit
that's coming
out of you
the way
that you're
living should
be changing.
And it
seems here
from the way
that John
describes
things that
one of the
biggest problems
here is a
sort of
religious
hypocrisy.
You see
this in
verse 8.
John says
do not
begin to
say to
yourselves
we have
Abraham as
our father
for I tell
you that out
of these
stones God
can raise
up children
for Abraham.
The axe is
already at the
root of the
trees and
every tree
that does
not produce
good fruit
will be
cut down.
So what
are the
people doing?
It would
seem that
they're saying
I'm fine
with God
I'm okay
with him
things are
well between
me and
him because
I'm a
child of
Abraham.
I'm a
descendant of
Abraham.
And God
made that
covenant with
Abraham and
his offspring.
I'm descended
from Abraham
what he promised
to Abraham
is mine and
so I'm good
to go.
I'm safe.
I can do
as I please.
I can live
as I want.
So they were
claiming to be
people of God.
They were
claiming to be
children of
Abraham.
And yet
the way
that they
were living
was not
at all
like the
God that
they were
professing
to worship.
It was
not at all
like the
man of
true faith
that Abraham
was.
John's
saying that
the fruit
that's coming
out of you
you're living
it doesn't
match up
to your
profession
of faith.
faith.
Look at
what your
actions
and your
words
and your
attitudes
are
showing.
They're
showing
that
you're
wicked.
So don't
even start
don't even
begin
to tell
yourself
that you're
all good
with God
because of
your
ancestry.
Or that
somehow
you will
be spared
what you
deserve
for your
sins
because
you're
a
descendant
of
Abraham.
God
can raise
up
children
to receive
the promises
he made
to Abraham
from these
stones
on the
ground
says
John
you
need to
change
your ways.
You need
to repent.
You need
to turn
back to
God.
You need
to begin
producing
in your
lives
that good
fruit that
God
desires
his people
to produce.
Fruit
that fits
with a
truly
repentant
heart.
And if
you do
not
change
if you
do not
repent
if you
do not
begin
producing
that
good
fruit
God
will
give
you
what
you
deserve.
Look at
verse 9.
The axe
is already
at the root
of the
trees
and every
tree
that does
not
produce
good
fruit
will be
cut
down
and
thrown
into
the
fire.
Can you
imagine
standing
there on
the shore
as John
says
these
words
to you
and
these
are
God's
words.
God
is ready
to cut
you
down
because
you are
like a
fruit
tree
that
isn't
producing
any
good
fruit
only
bad
fruit.
He's
saying
God
is ready
to give
you
what
you
deserve
for
your
sins.
In
his
perfect
justice
he is
ready
to cut
you
down
and
throw
you
into
the
fire.
And
the
response
of many
in the
crowds
to this
was
positive.
look at
the next
verse
verse 10
what
should
we
do
then
the
crowd
asked
John
answered
anyone
who
has
two
shirts
should
share
with
the
one
who
has
none
food
should
do
the
same.
Even
tax
collectors
came
to be
baptized.
Teacher
what
should
we
do?
Don't
collect
any
more
than
you
are
required
to
he
told
them.
Then
some
soldiers
asked
him
and
what
should
we
do?
He
replied
don't
extort
money
and
don't
accuse
people
falsely.
Be
content
with
your
pay.
The
people
were
waiting
expectantly
and
they
were
all
wondering
in
their
hearts
if
John
might
possibly
be
the
Messiah.
So
John
didn't
sugarcoat
things
one bit.
He
didn't
beat
around
the
bush.
He
just
preached
what
he
heard
from
God
straight.
He
called
the
people
snakes.
He
preached
that
the
wrath
of
God
was
coming.
He
called
out
that
clear
inconsistency
between
what
people
were
claiming
to
know
God
and
the
way
that
they
were
living
and
he
told
them
that
if
they
did
not
truly
repent
God
would
throw
them
into
the
fire.
And
surprisingly
maybe
many
responded
!
to
this
with
sincere
humility
and
actually
repented.
They
humbled
themselves.
They
said
John
you're
right
we
need
to
change.
They
began
confessing
their
sins
as we
read
in the
gospel
of
Mark
and
they
went
out
into
the
water
and
they
were
getting
baptized
and
they
were
asking
these
kinds
of
humble
and
sincere
questions.
What
does
this
mean
for
me
now?
Do
I
need
to
quit
my
job?
I'm
a
tax
collector.
I'm
a
soldier.
The
first
thing
John
mentions
in
verse
11
is
the
problem
of
greed
and
a
lack
of
compassion.
The
problem
of a
concern
only
for
one's
self.
He
says
anyone
who
has
two
shirts
should
share
with
the
one
who
has
none.
Anyone
who
has
food
should
do
the
same.
There's
people
suffering
poor.
They
lack
the
necessities
of
life
and
many
of
you
have
an
abundance.
You
have
extra,
more
than
you
need
and
yet
you
are
greedily
keeping
those
things
to
yourself.
You
are
selfishly
withholding
from
them
when
it's
in
your
power
to
help.
even
tax
collectors
came
to be
baptized.
What
should
we
do?
Don't
collect
any
more
than
you
are
required
to,
he
told
them.
There's
a whole
study
that you
could
do here
on tax
collectors.
It was
a very
complicated
system
that they
had under
Roman
rule.
The Romans
outsourced
tax
collecting
to local
agents
and
those
agents
were
allowed
to
add
their
own
fees
and
you
combine
that
with
greed
and
corruption
and
pretty
soon
you
have
these
hated
individuals
going
around
collecting
through
extortion
using
threats
and it
was
really
ugly
and
yet
some
of
these
men
had
a
change
of
heart
too.
They
repented.
notice
John
doesn't
say
you
need
to
quit
your
job
you
can't
be
a
tax
collector
anymore
instead
they
were
to
bring
the
fruit
of
repentance
into
the
job
that
they
had
and
do
what
was
right
collecting
only
as
much
as
required
which
would
likely
have
included
a
reasonable
amount
for
them
to
live
off
as
well.
Some
soldiers
came
what
should
we
do?
John
says
to
them
don't
extort
money
and
don't
accuse
people
falsely
be
content
with
your
pay.
There's
some
debate
over
what
kind
of
soldiers
these
were
whether
Jewish
or
Roman
but
whatever
the
case
their
military
status
their
equipment
and
perhaps
their
strength
were
often
things
they
would
be
tempted
to
use
to
take
advantage
of
others
and
again
we
see
that
word
extort
money
often
motivated
by
greed
here
too
John
doesn't
say
you
got
to
quit
your
job
serving
in
the
military
isn't
inherently
immoral
but
as a
soldier
there
are
those
unique
temptations
to
bully
to
take
by
force
to
plunder
don't
do
that
anymore
says
John
be
content
with
your
pay
one
of the
things
I
notice
in
each
of
these
three
examples
is
just
how
much
greed
is
in
all
three
of
them
greed
and
self
interest
sometimes
greed
looks like
ignoring
the
plight
of
the
needy
other
times
it's
more
obvious
it
looks
like
taking
advantage
of
others
using
your
position
or
your
power
but
in
all
these
cases
John
is
saying
the
good
fruit
that
repentance
should
lead
to
is
compassion
generosity
sharing
with people
who are
in need
kindness
towards
others
contentment
with what
God has
given you
even if
you're
going
through
challenges
and so
these are
some good
questions
to ask
God
in
prayer
Lord
does
greed
live
in my
heart
what
should
I
do
in
keeping
with
repentance
are
there
changes
I
need
to
make
have
I
been
ignoring
the
plight
of
the
poor
or
the
needy
around
me
when
it's
in
my
power
to
provide
to
share
with
others
who
are
in
need
have
I
been
prioritizing
my
family's
finances
only
around
what
I
want
or
have
I
been
making
choices
that
serve
all
of
us
best
the
needs
that
we
all
have
we
might
have
expected
that
everybody
hearing
this
would
just
poo
pooh
John
like
who
wants
to
hear
this
shut
up
I
am
generous
all
those
poor
beggars
well
God
helps
those
who
help
themselves
right
I'm
not
greedy
there
are
lots
of
people
who
have
more
than
I
do
and
I'm
not
being
paid
what
I'm
worth
that's
our
natural
sinful
response
and
yet
surprisingly
here
again
maybe
many
responded
favorably
to the
words
coming
through
John
the
people
were
waiting
expectantly
and
were
all
wondering
in
their
hearts
if
John
might
possibly
be
the
Messiah
and
John
overheard
their
wonderings
and he
didn't
hesitate
to
declare
I'm
not
the
Messiah
no
but
the
Messiah
is
coming
verse
16
John
answered
them
all
I
baptize
you
with
water
but
one
who
is
more
powerful
than
I
will
come
the
straps
of
whose
sandals
I
am
not
worthy
to
untie
he
will
baptize
you
with
the
Holy
Spirit
and
fire
his
winnowing
fork
is in
his
hand
to
clear
his
threshing
floor
and to
gather
the
wheat
into
his
barn
but
the
chaff
he
will
burn
up
with
unquenchable
fire
so
John
says
no
I'm
not
the
Messiah
one
who
is
greater
than
me
is
coming
and
John
begins
to
whet
the
appetites
of
the
people
by
telling
them
of
the
greatness
of
Jesus
even
before
people
know
who
he
is
and
it
starts
with
this
series
of
contrasts
first
let's
notice
the
contrast
in
greatness
John
says
essentially
you think
I'm
great
no
not
at
all
there's
somebody
about
to
be
here
coming
who
is
far
more
powerful
than
I
in
what
way
he
goes
on
I'm
just
immersing
you
in
water
and
it's
symbolic
but
the
one
who
is
coming
has
the
power
to
bring
about
the
spiritual
reality
that
this
baptism
points
to
he
has
the
power
the
authority
to
actually
grant
forgiveness
and to
cleanse
you
and
wash
you
of
your
guilt
and
your
sins
by
the
spirit
of
God
he
will
baptize
you
with
the
Holy
Spirit
another
contrast
notice
the
statement
of
worthiness
that
John
makes
about
Jesus
here
he
is
so
great
he
is
so
powerful
he
is
so
worthy
that
I
am
not
even
worthy
to
untie
his
sandals
for
him
this
is
one
of
the
lowest
acts
of
service
that
you
could
possibly
do
for
a
person
and
John
says
I'm
not
even
fit
to
get
down
on
the
ground
on
my
face
and
untie
his
sandals
for
him
not
even
worthy
to
be
in
his
presence
it's
a
statement
of
true
humility
but
also
just
how
great
and
worthy
Jesus
is
could
it
be
that
John
even
knows
now
that
his
cousin
is
both
the
Messiah
and
the
very
son
of
God
could
it
be
that
John
is
quite
aware
of
his
own
sinful
heart
and
his
own
need
to
repent
even
as
he's
calling
the
people
to
it
let's
talk
about
the
baptism
statements
that
are
made
here
John
says
I
baptize
with
water
but
he
will
come
and
will
baptize
you
with
the
Holy
Spirit
and
fire
we're
going
to
talk
about
the
fire
in
just
a
second
but
let's
first
talk
about
what
it
means
to
be
baptized
in
or
with
the
Holy
Spirit
this
is
a
really
difficult
concept
it's
a
challenging
metaphor
and
there's
a lot
of
discussion
among
Bible
believing
Christians
as to
what
does
this
mean
and
the
difficulty
here
is
going
to
two
things
first
he
just
kind
of
mentions
it
in
passing
we're
just
given
a
snippet
of
the
preaching
we
don't
have
the
whole
context
and
second
it
it's
a
metaphor
that
we're
just
not
as
familiar
or
comfortable
with
and so
often
what we
do
when we
get to
a
passage
like
this
as
Christians
is
we
look
around
the
Bible
at
the
rest
of
the
stuff
that
it
teaches
about
the
Holy
Spirit
and
how
he
works
in
our
lives
and
then
some
of
that
we
inevitably
end up
reading
back
into
this
statement
to
try
to
get
an
understanding
about
what
it
means
to
be
baptized
in
the
Holy
Spirit
it's
kind
of
that
principle
of
interpreting
the
unclear
statement
like
this
one
by
the
other
clear
statements
that
are
made
elsewhere
in
the
Bible
and
so
if
we
look
to
some
of
those
other
passages
that
speak
about
the
work
of
the
Holy
Spirit
in
the
life
of
a
believer
we
discover
that
there's
this
initial
work
that
God's
Spirit
does
in
us
and
then
there's
an
ongoing
work
that
he
does
in
us
Jesus
talked
about
that
initial
work
that
the
Spirit
does
in
us
with
a
man
named
Nicodemus
in
John
chapter
3
he
told
Nicodemus
that
he
needed
to be
born
again
of
the
Spirit
that
he
needed
a
spiritual
rebirth
Paul
spoke in
his
letters
of
God's
Spirit
regenerating
us
washing
us
renewing
us
Titus
chapter
3
verse
5
God
himself
actually
dwells
in
us
by
his
Spirit
and
then
there
are
also
a lot
of
passages
that
refer
to
the
Spirit's
work
in
our
lives
using
other
metaphors
we
hear
about
the
Spirit
coming
upon
people
or
overshadowing
Mary
as we
heard a few
weeks back
the Spirit
fills
people
God
pours
his
Spirit
upon
people
and
then
there's
all
the
effects
that
come
about
as a
result
of
that
we
could
look
at
lots
of
passages
!
for
but
some
of
the
most
significant
are
giving
life
making
our
hearts
new
and
cleansing
us
from
sin
so
what
specifically
does
John
mean
when
he
uses
these
words
he
will
baptize
you
with
the
Holy
Spirit
one
way
of
looking
at
this
baptism
of
the
Spirit
refers
to
that
initial
spiritual
rebirth
and
indwelling
of
the
Spirit
which
happens
when
a
person
repents
and
believes
in
Jesus
and
if
you
kind
of
follow
this
line
of
interpretation
John
would
be
saying
something
to
the
effect
of
Jesus
will
immerse
you
in
the
Holy
Spirit
essentially
meaning
that
he
will
thoroughly
and
abundantly
pour
his
spirit
out
upon
you
and
in
you
maybe
a
helpful
analogy
here
could
be
that
of
plunging
a
sponge
into
water
when
the
sponge
comes
out
it's
soaked
all
the
way
through
the
water
is
inside
it
and
all
through
it
and
it's
changed
from
this
utterly
dry
thing
into
a
thoroughly
saturated
thing
and
often
the
most
emphasized
effect
of
this
kind
of
take
on
baptism
in
the
Holy
Spirit
is
this
new
spiritual
life
that
we
receive
another
angle
of
interpretation
here
is to
see
this
baptism
of
the
Spirit
is
emphasizing
more
specifically
the
washing
and
cleansing
of
sin
this
is
one
of
the
ordinary
everyday
purposes
of
baptizing
something
back
in
those
days
soak
it
dip
it
immerse
it
plunge
it
into
water
why
in
order
to
wash
it
to
cleanse
it
to
get
the
stains
out
of
it
to
get
the
dirt
out
of
it
if
we
kind
of
follow
that
line
of
interpretation
John
might
be
saying
that
you
know
Jesus
will
wash
you
or
cleanse
you
not
with
water
but
with
the
Holy
Spirit
meaning
that
he
will
rid
us
and
purify
us
of
our
guilt
and
sin
and
corruption
by
the
power
of
the
Holy
Spirit
either
way
both
of
these
things
are
true
they're
things
that
are
stated
in
other
places
in
the
scriptures
but
let's
not
lose
sight
of
the
wonder
and
beauty
of
what
John
is
declaring
here
I
mean
John
is
out
there
in
the
wilderness
and
it's
water
he's
washing
with
water
but
Jesus
is
coming
and
he's
going
to
wash
or
immerse
you
with
the
Holy
Spirit
of
God
I
mean
think
about
this
a man
is
coming
says
John
who
will
plunge
you
or
who
will
wash
you
in
the
Holy
Spirit
of
God
I
mean
this
gotta
be
a
very
special
man
very
powerful
I
mean
who
has
the
power
and
the
authority
to
send
the
very
Spirit
of
God
himself
to
work
on
people
the
Spirit
of
the
Lord
the
Spirit
of
Yahweh
what
man
can
go to
work
in a
person's
life
by
that
the
one
coming
after
me
he
can
he
will
says
John
all
right
now
the
fire
part
he
will
baptize
you
with
the
Holy
Spirit
and
fire
here
again
there's
a
couple
different
interpretations
Some
see
this
fire
as
being
positive
and
various
explanations
are
given
some
suggest
that
it's
a
purifying
fire
that
cleanses
us
from
sin
some
see
this
baptism
with
fire
as
being
part
of
that
work
that
the
Spirit
does
when
he
first
comes
in
to
live
in
a
believer
burning
away
the
impurities
others
point
to
the
manner
in
which
the
Spirit
came
on
the
day
of
Pentecost
there
was
that
appearance
of
the
Spirit
descending
upon
them
and
it
looked
like
tongues
of
fire
coming
to
rest
on
them
but
a
good
number
of
others
recognized
that
fire
is
not
usually
a
positive
thing
in
the
Bible
there's
a
couple
passages
where
it
has
a
painful
cleansing
!
and
purifying
effect
but
more
often
than
not
it
refers
to
judgment
and
that's
what I
think
John
means
to
say
here
there's
a
sort
of
parallelism
in
the
context
here
he
will
baptize
you
with
the
Holy
Spirit
and
fire
his
winnowing
fork
is in
his
hand
to
clear
his
threshing
floor
and
to
gather
the
wheat
into
his
barn
but
he
will
burn
up
the
chaff
with
unquenchable
fire
notice
how
that
second
parallel
metaphor
seems
to
mirror
and
explain
the
first
in
both
cases
there
are
two
outcomes
some
are
put
into
the
Holy
Spirit
and
others
are
put
into
fire
the
wheat
is
gathered
into
the
barn
but
the
chaff
is
burned
with
unquenchable
fire
I
think
if we
read
this
in
context
it's
not
a
positive
baptism
with
fire
this
being
plunged
into
the
fire
is
an
illusion
it's
a
reference
to
what
Jesus
would
later
say
about
hell
in
other
words
there
are
two
baptisms
that
Jesus
will
do
by
his
great
power
one
plunges
believers
into
life
and
cleanses
by
the
Holy
Spirit
and
the
other
plunges
those
who
reject
Jesus
and
refuse
to
repent
into
the
unquenchable
fire
of
hell
and
everlasting
punishment
and
Jesus
himself
will
be
active
in
this
process
his
winnowing
fork
is
in
his
hand
to
clear
his
threshing
floor
uses
the
metaphor
of
a
farmer
who's
working
on
his
harvest
this
is
before
the
days
of
combines
this
is
before
the
days
of
John
Deere
and
Case
way
back
in
these
days
everything
was
done
manually
the
winnowing
fork
was
like
a
hand
tool
almost
like
a
pitch
fork
that
a
farmer
used
and
basically
the
idea
was
that
they
would
use
it
to
scoop
up
a
mixture
of
grain
and
straw
and
chaff
and
then
they
would
in
an
open
and
breezy
area
they
would
throw
it
up
into
the
air
and
the
wind
would
kind of
blow out
the lighter
stuff
the straw
and the
chaff
and the
heavier
kernels
of grain
would just
fall back
down
to the
ground
separating
the
two
separating
the good
from
the
bad
or
the
worthless
so
John
says
that
the
one
coming
after
him
has
power
he's
already
poised
to
clear
his
threshing
floor
there's
going to
be a
great
separation
the
wheat
here
represents
those
who
repent
and
are
forgiven
it
represents
those
who
are
reconciled
to
God
those
who
are
to
be
gathered
to
be
with
him
as
sons
of
his
everlasting
kingdom
and
the
chaff
represents
those
who
refuse
to
repent
it
represents
the
wicked
unquenchable
fire
and
again
Jesus
is
going
to
say
more
about
this
and
even
more
explicitly
than
this
a
fire
that
will
not
be
quenched
that
burns
forever
eternal
punishment
is
what
we
all
deserve
for
our
many
sins
against
our
all
glorious
holy
God
verse
18
and
with
many
other
words
John
exhorted
the
people
and
proclaimed
the
good
news
to
them
notice
the
mixture
exhortation
and
good
news
proclamation
side
by
side
repent
the
wrath
of
God
is
coming
the
powerful
one
who
is
coming
after
me
will
clear
his
threshing
floor
he
will
plunge
you
into
unquenchable
fire
but
side
by
side
along
with
that
God
is
merciful
he
desires
to
forgive
you
he
wants
to
wash
you
he
wants
to
cleanse
you
by
his
holy
spirit
he
wants
to
gather
you
to
himself
there's
this
solemn
sober
warning
but
there's
also
this
sweet
and
gracious
invitation
coming
from
God
to
us
through
John
do
you
hear
God
speaking
to
your
heart
through
these
words
these
are
not
just
words
that
God
spoke
to
them
back
then
these
are
the
same
words
God
would
have
for
us
today
as
hard
as
that
is
to
hear
you
are
all
snakes
sinners
my
wrath
is
coming
the
axe
is
at
the
root
of
the
trees
I
will
cut
you
down
but
I
would
rather
you
repent
I
would
rather
you
turn
to
me
and
come
to
me
and
confess
your
sins
to
me
I
will
forgive
you
I
will
wash
you
clean
I
will
cleanse
you
of
all
of
that
by
my
Holy
Spirit
through
the
one
who
is
coming
I
would
rather
you
change
and
begin
to
produce
the
good
fruit
that
I
made
you
to
I
would
rather
you
be
among
the
good
grain
that
I
gather
into
my
barn
at
the
end
than
the
worthless
chaff
which
must
be
burned
it's
a
hard
message
which
came
through
John
but
sometimes
we
need
the
hard
and
straight
truth
sometimes
we
need
to
be
confronted
even
rebuked
called
out
because
of
wrong
things
that
we
have
done
God's
desire
and
wish
is
not
for
us
to
perish
but
for
us
to
repent
and
to
be
saved
that's
why
he
sent
Jesus
his
own
dear
son
into
our
world
one
who
will
later
on in
this
story
take
the
punishment
that we
deserve
upon
himself
die
on the
cross
to
atone
for
us
so
that
we
could
be
justly
pardoned
and
forgiven
fully
so I
want to
ask you
have you
repented
have you
confessed
your sins
to
God
have you
received
this
life
and
renewal
!
and
washing
and
cleansing
of the
spirit
that
John
was
foretelling
nothing
matters
more than
this
in life
this
should be
our top
priority
because
someday
Jesus
will
return
and
he
will
clear
his
threshing
floor
let's
pray
father in
heaven
I know
that these
words are
not
easy
but
they're
your
words
and
we
trust
that
they
have
a
good
purpose
and
work
to
do
in
each
of
our
lives
and
so
I
pray
that
you
would
help
us
to
see
how
they
apply
to
each
one
of
us
what
are
those
things
Lord
that
we
need
to
repent
of
whether
we
know
you
or
do
not
God
what
is
that
good
fruit
you
long
to
produce
through
us
and
most
importantly
have
we
repented
have
we
come
to
you
and
have
we
been
washed
and
cleansed
by
you
I
pray
that
would
be
the
reality
of
everyone
in
this
room
go
to
work
in
our
hearts
we
pray
amen