We are in Matthew chapter 3 this morning.
We have been going through a sermon series in the Gospel of Matthew.
We started it in Advent, and we're going to go straight,
go right through the rest of the book now that Christmas is past.
So we're in Matthew chapter 3.
And my name is Sean, for those of you who don't know me.
It's my privilege and joy to preach God's word to you this morning.
Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's word.
Heavenly Father,
your word in Matthew 3 has a sobering message for us.
Won't you help us to be alert physically, spiritually,
to the urgency of repentance and faith in Jesus.
Won't you cast down any fleshly confidence
and false assurances that we presume upon and cling to.
And fix our eyes and all of our hopes
solely on Jesus Christ, your son, our king, Allah.
Speak to us.
You promise the baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire
for those who repent and believe.
So, Lord,
fill us more and more with your Holy Spirit
and make those who are not yet born again,
born again,
baptize in your spirit.
Even this morning.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
If you are able, please stand
so that we can honor God as we read his word.
I will be reading out loud from Matthew 3, verses 1 to 12.
In those days,
John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea.
Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah
when he said,
the voice of one crying in the wilderness,
prepare the way of the Lord,
make his path straight.
Now John wore a garment of camel's hair
and a leather belt around his waist,
and his food was locusts and wild honey.
Then Jerusalem and all Judea
and all the region about the Jordan
were going out to him,
and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan,
confessing their sins.
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees
coming to his baptism,
he said to them,
you brood of vipers,
who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Bear fruit in keeping with repentance,
and do not presume to say to yourselves,
we have Abraham as our father.
For I tell you,
God is able from these stones
to raise up children for Abraham.
Even now,
the axe is laid to the root of the trees.
Every tree, therefore,
that does not bear good fruit
is cut down and thrown into the fire.
I baptize you with water for repentance,
but he who is coming after me
is mightier than I,
whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fork is in his hand,
and he will clear his threshing floor
and gather his wheat into the barn,
but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.
This is God's holy and authoritative word.
You may be seated.
Earlier this month,
Bashar al-Assad,
the Syrian dictator,
was overthrown in a military coup
and fled to Moscow.
Some of you may have read that in the news.
He and his father,
who preceded him,
ruled Syria under a brutal dictatorship
for five decades.
And when the victorious rebel group
took over Damascus,
thousands of Syrians
stormed the capital to celebrate
while also dismantling various statues
of those former dictators
and defacing their posters.
However, not everyone celebrated
when that happened.
The Alawites,
which is a Muslim minority sect
that makes up about 10% of Syria,
supported Bashar al-Assad
because Assad was himself an Alawite.
The majority of Syria's military
and political elites,
including their intelligence agencies
and their paramilitaries,
were all made up of Alawites.
But now that there has been a regime change,
these Alawites are fearing for their safety.
They fear retribution,
and they're calling for amnesty,
for a general pardon and forgiveness
of all political offenses
that took place in the previous regime.
Because one's fortunes can change overnight
when there is a regime change,
and it matters which side you're on.
Matthew 3, 1-12 is a warning
about a regime change that is underway.
2 Corinthians 4-4 describes Satan
as the God of this world,
and we can see why in this next chapter
in the Gospel of Matthew,
when the devil offers Jesus
all the kingdoms of the world
and their glory.
Because under God's sovereign rule,
Satan for a time has been allowed
this authority on earth.
As Matthew 12, 26 makes clear,
Satan too has a kingdom,
and this world is ruled,
as Ephesians 2, 2 says,
by this prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that is now at work
in the sons of disobedience.
But Satan and his kingdom
will eventually be destroyed
and give way to the kingdom of God,
to the consummation of the kingdom of God.
And John the Baptist announces
in this passage
that that regime change,
which will in the future be consummated,
is already afoot,
has already begun,
because Christ the King has come.
And so that's the main point
of my message this morning,
is repent,
for Christ the King has come.
Repent means turn.
It says in Acts 26, 20,
repent and turn to God,
performing deeds
in keeping with repentance.
It means you do a U-turn
from living for yourself
to living for God,
from living under the dominion of Satan
to living under the dominion
of Jesus Christ.
It means you do a turn
from living for your selfish,
sinful desires
to obeying God from the heart.
And this message is urgent.
This message is urgent
because regime change
is already afoot.
Repent for Christ the King has come.
And there are two reasons
that Matthew gives us in this passage,
because the kingdom is at hand,
and secondly,
because judgment is at hand,
both brought by,
ultimately,
the Messiah.
We were told at the end of chapter two
that Jesus grew up in Nazareth,
which is why he's called the Nazarene.
Some time has now elapsed since that time,
and Jesus is an adult,
as you will see later in this chapter.
He says in verse one,
in those days,
John the Baptist came preaching
in the wilderness of Judea.
Matthew includes the detail
that John's preaching ministry
took place in the wilderness of Judea,
and this is not an incidental detail.
Matthew is making the theological claim
that John is the voice of one
crying in the wilderness,
as prophesied in Isaiah 40, verse three,
which he quotes later in verse three.
The wilderness has marked
very important transitional seasons
in the history of God's people.
If you remember,
it was in the wilderness
that God first appeared to Moses
and appeared to his people
on Mount Sinai.
It was in the wilderness,
to the wilderness,
that God led his people
out of the exodus in Egypt.
It was in the wilderness
that people journeyed
until they arrived
and conquered the promised land
that God had promised to give them.
And so many of the prophets
employed the imagery
of God turning the wilderness
into paradise
because that's what God
time and time again did
in redemptive history.
Isaiah 43, verse 19 says,
Behold, I am doing a new thing.
Now it springs forth.
Do you not perceive it?
I will make in the wilderness
and rivers in,
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 44, verse three,
For I will pour water
on the thirsty land
and streams on the dry ground.
I will pour out my spirit
upon your offspring
and my blessing
on your descendants.
So when you see wilderness,
in short,
it's already,
it's a place of transition,
a place of promise,
a place of anticipation.
So when you hear wilderness,
regime change,
the smell of regime change
is in the air.
God is about to break in
and establish his rule
among his people.
That there is a new prophet in town
is already newsworthy.
That he is preaching
in the wilderness
is already newsworthy.
But what takes center stage
here in this passage
is not who John is
or where he is,
but what he says.
He is preaching,
which is even more important
than his baptizing.
He says in verse one,
John the Baptist came
preaching in the wilderness
of Judea.
And this is what he preached.
Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven
is at hand.
And this is not just
the message
of the previous era
because it's the exact same message
that Jesus preaches
later in the gospel of Matthew
in Matthew 4, 17.
Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven
is at hand.
We need to turn away from sin
and turn toward Jesus
in faith.
Why?
For,
because,
the kingdom of heaven
is at hand.
As the regime changes,
you must pledge allegiance
to the right king.
The word kingdom
in the Bible
doesn't primarily refer
to a place
or a territory
or a realm
like when we speak
of the kingdom
of Saudi Arabia,
which is I think
the official name
of the country.
It rather refers
to a dominion,
to the kingship
and the rulership
of someone
when it speaks
of kingdom.
And so,
when it says
that the kingdom
of heaven
is at hand,
what it means
is the king
of heaven
has begun
his rule.
The king
of heaven
is taking charge.
Of course,
there is a sense
in which God
has always reigned
over all the earth.
He is the sole creator
and Lord
of all the heavens
and the earth.
However,
the Bible
always acknowledges
that the world
is not the way
it's supposed to be.
Ever since
the fall of humanity,
there has been
rebel forces
at work
in this world
who resist
God's rule.
That's why
in Zechariah 14,
5-9,
it prophesied
of the day
of the Lord
saying,
then the Lord
my God
will come
and all the holy
ones with him.
On that day,
living water
shall flow
out from Jerusalem
and the Lord
will be king
over all the earth.
On that day,
the Lord
will be one
and his name
one.
What does it mean
that the Lord
will be king
over all the earth?
He already is king
over all the earth,
but he will be king
over all the earth
in the sense
that he will subdue
all the rebel forces
and bring all
under his submission
and rule.
What does it mean
that on that day,
the Lord will be one
and his name one?
The Lord God
is already one,
but on that day,
all peoples
will be brought
under the one name
of God
and every knee
will bow
and every tongue
will confess.
And so that's
what it means
here,
that the kingdom
of heaven
is at hand,
that the king
of heaven
has come.
But Matthew
is also unique
in speaking
of the kingdom
of heaven
rather than
the more typical
kingdom of God,
which is the expression
that Mark,
Luke,
and John
prefer to use.
Matthew,
however,
prefers to use
kingdom of heaven
even though he does
on occasion
use the expression
kingdom of God
and I think that's
because he wants
to emphasize
that the kingdom
that God brings about
is not an earthly kingdom
in contrast
to the expectations
of many of his fellow Jews,
but rather it's
a heavenly kingdom.
And God is the one
who rules in heaven.
God is described
as the God in heaven
throughout the Old Testament
and so it's Matthew
saying that God
for heaven himself
will reign as king
over his people.
This expression
kingdom of heaven
is related
also to another
peculiar Matthew
expression.
It's the father
in heaven,
which is a common
phrase for us.
God is never called
the father in heaven
in the gospels
of Luke and John.
He is only called
the father in heaven
once in the gospel
of Mark,
but in Matthew
he's called
father in heaven
14 times.
And how were we
taught to pray
to God
in Matthew 6
by Jesus?
Our father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come
and your will be done
on earth
as it is in heaven.
In short,
when God's rule
and kingship
begin to take effect
on earth
as it is in heaven,
that's when the kingdom
of heaven
has come.
And when exactly
is that going to happen?
In the distant future.
No,
it says,
the kingdom of heaven
is at hand.
That's a translation
of a word
that means to draw near,
but it's in the perfect tense.
If the word were in
the present tense,
we translate as
the kingdom of heaven
is drawing near,
that it's approaching,
but that it's still
in the future.
That's how we would
translate it.
But if it's in the perfect tense,
we translate it as
the kingdom of heaven
has drawn near,
meaning it has already
come.
It's not consummated yet.
It's not completed yet,
but it has already begun.
God's reign
has already begun.
We know that
from the parallel expression
in Matthew 26,
when Jesus says
that the hour
of his betrayal
is at hand,
that the hour
of his betrayal
has drawn near,
and immediately
in the following verse,
Judas approaches
and betrays Jesus.
What Jesus is saying here
is that the kingdom
of heaven
is at hand,
meaning it's already here,
and that's such
an amazing thing
to think about.
Because God's people
have been waiting
for hundreds of years
through exile
and through pain
and through oppression
and through sin,
waiting for the Messiah,
the king,
to come and deliver them.
And John comes on the scene
and starts saying,
the kingdom of heaven
has drawn near.
It is at hand.
I wanted to try
to capture this excitement
for you guys,
and I was trying
to think about
what would be
the best way to do that.
I was thinking
of a modern analogy,
and the only thing
I could think of
was these trailer
reaction videos
that I saw
of when the Star Wars
rise of Skywalker
came out.
Have you guys
seen this movie
or have seen
any of these trailers?
I have not seen
the movie,
but I have seen
the trailer reaction video.
and this is a,
I've learned recently,
thanks to John's
in particular,
that Star Wars,
not John the Baptist,
John Buckley,
that Star Wars
has a rabid fan base.
And in 2019,
so every year,
they have a Star Wars celebration.
Do you guys know this?
Every year.
And in 2009,
the Star Wars celebration
was held in 2019
in Chicago,
and this gathered
an estimated
65,000 fans.
65,000 fans
gathered just
to celebrate Star Wars.
And when they showed
the teaser trailer
for the Rise of Skywalker
for the first time,
you can see on camera
the reactions
of tens of thousands
of people there,
and especially honing in,
focusing in on people
who were particularly expressive.
And it's really
something to watch.
They are rubbing
their hands in excitement.
They're bobbing up and down.
And there's collective gasps
throughout the stadium.
They're covering their mouths
with their hands
in amazed disbelief.
Their eyes are wide
with wonder.
And there's spontaneous cheers.
And then at the end of it,
they celebrate
by jumping up and down
at the end.
And in that reaction video,
grown men with beards
hyperventilate
and cry.
I'm not trying to mock you
if you're one of those people.
Because they've spent years
waiting for that movie
to come out,
longing to satisfy
their nostalgia
and to fulfill
their epic fantasies.
And it's finally here.
And they can't help
but cry.
Isn't it sad
that people get
more excited
about the coming
of the Rise of Skywalker,
the movie,
than the second coming
of Jesus sometimes?
If people can get
that excited
about the movie,
think about the palpable
excitement in the air
and the anticipation
of this momentous announcement
that the kingdom of heaven
is not in some distant future.
It is here.
It's at hand.
It has drawn near.
The long-awaited king
has come.
And Matthew tells us
that we can trust
John's announcement
because he quotes
Isaiah 40,
verse 3,
in verse 3
of this passage.
For this is he
who was spoken of
by the prophet Isaiah
when he said,
the voice of one
crying in the wilderness,
prepare the way
of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
Isaiah had prophesied
that there would be
a herald
that precedes
the coming of the Lord.
And he will cry out
in the wilderness.
That's why John's there.
Prepare the way
of the Lord,
make straight his paths.
When a king of old
marched out anywhere,
there would always be
heralds and guards
that precede.
And they would go out
before him.
They would open
all the gates
and open all the doors
and they would clear
out the streets
and make people
move out of the way,
move things that are
in the way,
out of the way,
clear the streets,
say,
make way for the king
because it does not
befit the dignity
of a king
to jostle through
a crowd
and to be pushed
to and fro.
So the herald
goes before him
to announce
the coming of the king
to prepare
the way
of the Lord.
And that's how
John views himself
in relation to Jesus
as a servant
and a herald
of the king,
as a stagehand
who works backstage
to get the set ready
so that the lead actor
can come to the scene.
Matthew concurs
with John's assessment
because even though
John was prophesied
of in scripture,
as verse 3 makes clear,
Matthew intentionally
does not use
the fulfillment formula
that he always uses
when speaking
of how Jesus
fulfilled the scriptures.
The word fulfill
and its variation
is used 15 times
to speak of the scriptures
being fulfilled
in the gospel of Matthew
and every single time
it refers to Jesus
and no one else.
This confirms
what Ed said
in his sermon
last week
that Jesus
is the only
expected person.
Jesus,
not John,
even though
he was prophesied of.
Jesus, not John,
is the promised one.
Jesus, not John,
is the expected one.
Jesus, not John,
is the coming one
who fulfills
the scriptures.
Jesus.
But we must not
be fooled into thinking
that John was a nobody.
He's actually
quite important.
Look at verse 4.
Now John wore
a garment of camel's hair
and a leather belt
around his waist
and his food
was locusts
and wild honey.
Why does Matthew
take a sudden interest
in John's clothing
preferences
and diet?
The Bible seldom
notes what people
are wearing
so this detail
is important.
There was another
prophet in history
who dressed
just like John.
2 Kings 1.8
says that Elijah
wore a garment
of hair
with a belt
of leather
about his waist.
And Elijah, too,
was associated
with the wilderness
and with the Jordan
where John
is baptizing.
Elijah is arguably
the greatest prophet
of the Old Testament.
That's why
as the fountainhead
of the prophets,
I guess he appears
alongside Moses
representing the prophets
and the law
at Jesus' transfiguration
later in the gospel.
And moreover,
it was prophesied
in Malachi 4.5,
Behold,
I will send you
Elijah the prophet
before the great
and awesome day
of the Lord.
So the messenger
that comes
to prepare
the way for the Lord
was expected
to be
a second Elijah.
In fact,
later in Matthew 17,
Jesus himself
confirms
that John the Baptist
is that prophesied
Elijah.
And Jesus says this
about John the Baptist
in Matthew 11.11,
that among those
born of woman,
there has arisen
no one greater
than John the Baptist.
Isn't that something
to hear from Jesus?
In other words,
under the old covenant,
before Jesus established
the new covenant
and poured out his spirit
among his people,
John the Baptist
is the greatest
of all human beings
who ever lived
in God's estimation.
He's the goat.
And he was popular.
He says in verses 5-6,
Then Jerusalem
and all Judea
and all the region
about the Jordan
were going out to him
and they were baptized
by him in the river
of Jordan,
confessing their sins.
People are thronging
to him
from Jerusalem
and all Judea
and all the region
about the Jordan
and they're listening,
paying attention to him
and they're getting
baptized by him.
Josephus,
who was a first century
Roman Jewish historian,
independently says this
about John
in one of his books.
Now when many others
came in crowds
about John,
for they were very
greatly moved
by hearing his words,
Herod,
who feared lest
the great influence
John had over the people
might put it
into his power
and inclination
to raise a rebellion,
for they seemed ready
to do anything
he should advise,
thought it best
by putting him to death
to prevent any mischief
he might cause
and not bring himself
into difficulties.
John was so popular
and so influential
that he put King Herod
on notice.
His crowds
were flocking to him
and hanging on his
every word.
People openly wondered,
as you see in the
Gospel of John,
whether he might be
the Christ,
the Messiah.
He is the greatest
of all prophets
in the Old Covenant.
But look at what he says
in verse 11.
I baptize you
with water
for repentance,
but he who is coming
after me
is mightier than I,
whose sandals
I am not worthy
to carry.
He will baptize you
with Holy Spirit
and fire.
This is an amazing,
shocking statement.
Shoes are filthy things
in general, right?
If you walk around
Cambridge enough,
you've stepped on
all kinds of dirt
and pigeon poop
and dog poop, right?
But in the ancient Near East,
shoes are even filthier
because it's a desert climate,
it's hot,
people's feet get sweaty,
and it's old streets
where not just people
and vehicles,
but all kinds of animals
are roaming the streets
and dropping their excrements.
Sandals,
open-toed sandals,
caked in dirt
that require daily
feet washing.
So imagine
these filthy sandals,
they're so dirty
that Jewish rabbinical teaching
says this,
every service
which a slave performs
for his master,
every service
which a slave performs
for his master
shall a disciple do
for his teacher
except the losing
of sandal thongs.
So everything
that a slave does
for his master,
a student should do
to his teacher
is what the Jews
are saying.
You should bring him water,
you should serve him,
you should attend to him,
you should listen to him,
you should do everything
like a slave
to his master
except
taking their sandals.
That's too lowly
even for the teacher
and even for the student.
Only a slave
should do that.
And yet John singles out
that particular
humiliating act
and says that
he is not worthy
to do that
for the coming Messiah.
Imagine
a guest coming
into your house,
plopping down
on a seat
and then sticking
one of his foot out
expecting you
to remove
the shoes
and carry it off
somewhere.
What would you do?
You'd probably
stare them down
and say,
go take your own
shoes off.
And then in your mind
you're probably
cursing their
insolence
and arrogance.
but imagine
when that
happened
instead of
responding
that way
you knelt down
with your head
bowed in shame
and said
I'm not worthy
to remove
those sandals.
that's
what John
is doing here.
John is a
humble man
but if all we do
is marvel
at John's
humility here
then we're
missing the point
of this passage.
If I make
John the focus
of my sermon
then John himself
would be unhappy
because that's
precisely
the opposite
of what
John does
here.
The point
of this passage
is not
John's
humility
it is
Jesus'
glory.
John's
saying that
he's not
worthy to
carry
Jesus'
soiled
sandals
that's not
exaggerated
false
humility
that's
the cold
hard
fact
because he
is not
worthy
to carry
Jesus'
sandals.
But how
can someone
be unworthy
to carry
someone's
dirty
sandals?
If you
actually turn
to Isaiah
40 verse
3 which
Matthew quotes
in verse
3 I think
I have that
to show
and you
look at
the full
context
and it
is original
setting
he says
this
in the
wilderness
prepare
the way
of the
Lord
make
straight
in the
desert
a highway
for our
God.
Who is
John
making the
way for?
it's
God.
You'll
notice that
the word
Lord is
in all
caps
which means
it's not
the word
for Lord
that means
master
but rather
the proper
noun
the name
for God
in the
Old Testament
Yahweh.
Isaiah
prophesied
that John
would prepare
the way
not for
some
mere
mortal
only
but for
God
himself.
This is a
remarkable
Christological
claim because
Matthew is
saying that
that God
is Jesus
God in
human flesh
the divine
king.
John calls
Jesus the
one who is
coming after
me.
In verse
11 later in
Matthew 11
through John
calls Jesus
the one who
is to
come.
You might
recognize that
phrase from
the book of
Revelation which
we were in
not that long
ago.
This expression
the one who
is to come
is laden
with theological
meaning.
20th century
theologian
G.R.
Beasley Murray
entitled one of
his books
The Coming
of God
because the
coming of
God to
save his
people is
one of the
major themes
of the
Bible and
his coming
to his
people is
always
associated
with his
kingship.
He says in
Deuteronomy
33 verses
2-5
The Lord
came from
Sinai and
dawned from
Seir upon
us.
Thus the
Lord became
king in
Jeshurun when
the heads of
the people were
gathered all the
tribes of Israel
together.
It's because
God came to
rule over his
people that he
became king
over them.
Similarly he
says in
Psalm 96
verses 10-13
Say among
the nations
the Lord
reigns.
Why do we
say that the
Lord reigns?
For he
comes.
For he
comes to
judge the
earth.
He will
judge the
world in
righteousness
and the
people in
his
faithfulness.
Isaiah 40
verse 10
Behold the
Lord God
comes with
might and
his arm
rules for
him.
Malachi 3
1
Behold I
send my
messenger and
he will
prepare the
way before
me and
the Lord
whom you
seek will
suddenly come
to his
temple and
the messenger
of the
covenant in
whom you
delight.
Behold he
is coming.
Over and
over and
over again
God is
described in
the scriptures
as the one
who comes
because our
God is not
a God who
stays at a
distance
spectating
with his
arms crossed
but God
who intervenes
the God
who comes
to save
to judge
to deliver
to reign
among his
people.
That's why
Jesus is
Emmanuel
God with
us.
And because
Jesus is the
one who is
and who
was and
is to
come because
Jesus is the
king of the
kingdom of
heaven, John
is right to
herald Jesus'
coming and
then get out
of the way.
Do you
know that
Christ the
king has
come?
Do you
relate to
Christ the
king rightly
as John
does?
Have you
pledged your
allegiance to
Jesus as his
loyal subject?
Have you
submitted every
aspect of your
life to him?
If we think
about it, we
give mere
mortals, sinful
human beings
more respect
than we give
to God
sometimes.
The quality
of attention
we commit
to God,
the amount
of space
we devote
to God
in our
thoughts
and in
our hearts
and our
affections,
the degree
of reverence
that we pay
to God,
the extent
of obedience
that we
give to
God,
make a
sad mockery
of the
surpassing
glory and
worth of
God the
king.
How
different our
lives would
be if we
just grasped
this truth of
how transcendent
and how
glorious our
king really
is.
How much
more grateful
we would
be.
How much
less grumbling
there would
be.
Consider the
examples of
the apostles
in the book
of Acts,
in Acts 5
41, they
are unfairly
arrested and
then unfairly
tried and
then beaten
for proclaiming
Jesus, but
they don't
complain to
God saying,
you know,
God, I've
been so
faithful to
you, I
think I
deserve a
little better
than that.
No, it
says that
when they
were released,
they left
the presence
of the
council rejoicing
that they
were counted
worthy to
suffer this
honor for
this name
of Jesus.
How do you
respond like
that to
suffering and
persecution?
Because they
knew the
surpassing
worth of
Jesus.
They knew
that they
were not
worthy to
carry Jesus'
sandals, so
they rejoiced
to get to
do anything
for Jesus.
They rejoiced
to suffer
this honor
for the
name of
Jesus.
What about
you?
Of course,
everybody wants
to do
glorious and
spectacular and
honorable and
great things
for God.
Even
unbelievers
do that.
Some of
them.
Paul said
there are
some who
preach the
gospel for
selfish gain.
But are
you willing
to suffer
this honor
for Jesus'
sake?
are you
willing to
be ridiculed
and ostracized
for him?
To be
marked in
your workspace
and your
school as
that crazy
evangelical?
are you willing
to associate
with difficult
hard to love
people for
his sake?
Are you
willing to be
the least and
the last for
Jesus' name's sake?
Are you willing to
take backstage
instead of center
stage for
Jesus' sake?
Are you willing to
be forgotten for
his name's sake?
Are you willing to
be misunderstood
and disliked
for Jesus'
sake?
Are you willing
to be poor
for Jesus'
sake?
Are you willing
to do what
he wants you
to do
rather than
do what
you want
to do?
Are you
willing
if he gives
you the
honor to do
so,
to carry
his sandals?
if that's
all you
got to
do
in life?
I'm a
small man,
might not
get to do
much for
God in
this life,
but if I
can carry
his sandals
for the rest
of my life.
we must
repent
because the
kingdom is at
hand, but also
because judgment
is at hand.
He says in
verse 7,
but when he
saw many of
the Pharisees
and Sadducees
coming to his
baptism, he
said to them,
you brood
of vipers,
who warned
you to flee
from the
wrath to
come.
The Pharisees
and the
Sadducees
were the
two dominant
Jewish
religious sects
at that
time.
They
together
made up
the
Sanhedrin,
which is
the highest
ruling
class,
basically
the legal
and political
authority,
religious
authorities
among the
Jews.
But these
Sadducees
and the
Pharisees,
they were
at loggerheads
with each
other.
They didn't
really like
each other.
They disagreed
on many
theological
issues to
paint them
in very
broad
strokes.
The
Sadducees
were the
religious
liberals of
their day.
They were
the academic
and political
elites.
They were
in cahoots
with the
Roman
government.
They argued
that there
is no
resurrection
and no
angels,
no spirits.
But the
Pharisees,
who were the
religious
conservatives
of the day,
believed in
all those
things.
And they
preached strict
adherence to
the Old
Testament law.
They were
the
constitutional
originalists
of their
day.
They sought
to purge
and to
purify
the Jewish
people.
All that to
say they
didn't get
along.
And you
can see
that throughout
the Gospels
and the
book of
Acts.
But when
you find
the Sadducees
and the
Pharisees
making common
cause to
oppose
someone,
that's bad
news.
And that's
what you
see here.
And that's
what you
see again
later in
chapter 16
when they
come together
to test
Jesus.
So notice
it doesn't
say that
they came
to John
to get
baptized.
They came
to his
baptism.
They're on
a surveillance
mission.
They're watching
him,
assessing
him.
Maybe they're
curious to
see what
John has
to say.
His message
about
repentance,
purification
may have
resonated with
the Pharisees
somewhat.
But we
know that
they were
unrepentant
from John's
response.
And John
chastises them
severely.
He says,
you brood
of vipers
who warned
you to flee
from the
wrath to
come.
Vipers are
venomous
snakes.
And the
point of
this comparison
is that
these Jewish
religious leaders
are full
of deadly
poison.
Snakes
are scary,
right?
I mean,
most of us
are afraid
of snakes.
There's
good reason
for that.
If you
don't count
mosquitoes
who spread
diseases that
kill humans
but don't
actually kill
humans
themselves,
snakes are
still to this
day the
animal that
kills the
most human
beings.
it's the
deadliest
animal to
humans.
These
religious
leaders
were like
them.
Jesus
also will
later
call them
twice in
the gospel
of Matthew
brood of
vipers because
they were
hypocrites and
they shut
the kingdom of
heaven in
people's faces.
they spewed
out their
poison with
their deadly
deceptive
words and
they plotted
to kill
Jesus.
And so
John describes
them as a
brood of
poisonous snake
hatchlings that
are slithering
away at the
coming disaster.
Maybe when
you fell a
tree with an
axe and it
falls to their
habitat, they
slither away or
maybe there's a
fire that breaks
out and then
these snakes
slither away and
that's how John
describes these
Sadducees and
the Pharisees.
he warns them
in verses 8 and
9, bear fruit in
keeping with
repentance and
do not presume to
say to yourselves
we have Abraham as
our father for I
tell you God is
able from these
stones to raise
up children for
Abraham.
The Pharisees and
the Sadducees were
not repentant
because and we
know that because
they bore no
fruit in keeping
with repentance.
they had not
turned back from
their sins.
They did not
have deeds that
showed that they
were truly
repentant.
I often use this
analogy when I
speak of repentance.
Imagine that your
friend is giving
you a ride and
you are using the
GPS to navigate for
him and you're
giving him
directions and then
he takes a wrong
turn and so he
needs to do you
turn and so you
tell your friend hey
you gotta turn
around.
There's no way to
get there another
way.
You need to do a
U-turn and then
your friend says
oh okay thanks and
then he keeps
driving the same
way.
What would you do?
You would be
totally justified in
wondering whether
your friend heard
you or not.
Hey did you hear
what I said?
You have to turn
around or you will
never get there.
because if he
really heard and
if he really
believed what you
said he would
have turned
around.
Similarly someone
who turns back
from their sins
and turns toward
God will start
walking in a
different direction.
by this I don't
mean that you
never sin again.
Sure we take
wrong turns here
and there but
the fundamental
direction of the
person's life has
been reoriented.
They're not going
the same way
anymore.
That's repentance.
The Pharisees and
the Sadducees did
not repent.
Their confidence
lay instead on
a presumption.
We have Abraham
as our father.
Because of their
Jewish ethnic
heritage they
presumed that they
were safe.
We are the chosen
people of God.
We are the people
of the promise.
God will never
abandon us.
Don't you know?
God always keeps
his promises.
But they did not
remember that in
all of biblical
history God always
saves a faithful
remnant.
only the remnant
of Noah's family
was saved from
the flood judgment.
Not all of the
offspring of Abraham
but only the line
of Isaac inherited
the promise.
Only the remnant
of Caleb and
Joshua entered
the promised land.
After God's people
were exiled
Isaiah named
one of his sons
Shir Jashub which
means a remnant
shall return.
He prophesied that
while the tree of
faithless Israel
has fallen that
there still remains
a trunk of the
tree that is
faithful a remnant.
Micah referred to
God's people as the
remnant of Jacob.
Jeremiah prophesied
that when the Messiah
comes he will gather
the remnant of his
flock.
It is for all these
reasons that Paul
concludes in Romans
9.8 it is not
the children of the
flesh who are
children of God
but the children
of the promise
that are counted
as offspring.
The physical
national identity
of the Jews
has always been
subordinated to
their spiritual
identity.
It is the
spiritual children
of God who are
the remnant
true Israel.
That is why Jesus
warns the Jews
later in Matthew
21.43
John's warning
here in verse 10
is urgent.
Even now the axe
is laid at the
root of the trees.
Every tree therefore
that does not bear
good fruit is cut
down and thrown
into the fire.
Do you hear that
axe at the root
of the tree?
If you have not
repented it is
urgent that you
hear that sound
of the axe at
the root of the
tree, thud.
Thud.
Judgment is at
hand.
Don't ever
presume that you
are safe just
because of your
spiritual pedigree
or your family
background.
Such false
assurances abound
today among
Christians also.
How many times
have you heard
words like this?
I've been going
to church all
my life.
My parents
and great
parents,
grandparents
are Christians.
My dad's
a pastor.
I lead worship
at my church.
I'm baptized.
Everyone who
knows me thinks
I'm a mature
Christian.
I don't
remember a
time when I
wasn't a
Christian.
None of
that matters.
What matters
is that you
have truly
repented of
your sins
and trusted
in Jesus
Christ for
your salvation.
Have you
done that?
Are you
bearing fruit
in keeping
with repentance
or is there
unrepentant
sin in your
life?
Verse 6
teaches us
that the
people coming
to be baptized
by John
were confessing
their sins.
That's an
essential aspect
of repentance.
Is there
unconfessed
sin in your
life?
Have you
taken steps
to turn
away from
that sin
or are you
still hiding
and abetting
that sin?
Locking,
marching,
and lockstep
with that
sin still.
Guys,
I might not
know it,
but in every
church there
are people
who are
doing that.
That's why
this is so
urgent.
Judgment
is at
hand.
And the
unrighteous
will not
inherit the
kingdom of
God.
This is the
reason why
we are
a credo
Baptist
church.
I'm going
to a little
bit of
theology and
baptism here,
so stay
with me.
Credo
baptism means
believer's
baptism as
opposed to
paedo-baptism,
which is
infant baptism.
Because
Colossians 2
makes the
connection between
the circumcision
of Christ and
being buried
with Christ in
baptism,
some sincere
Christians,
many of whom
I respect,
argue that we
should baptize
infants in a
same way that
the Israelites
circumcised their
male infants.
They see
baptism as a
sign of the
covenant community
and that babies
too can be a
part of that.
However, in that
passage in
Colossians 2,
Paul does not
connect Christian
baptism to
Jewish
circumcision.
He connects
Christian baptism
to the
circumcision of
Christ,
which he
explicitly says
is not made
with hands.
In Ephesians 2,
11-12,
Paul explicitly
says that
circumcision in
the flesh made
by hands is
obsolete.
And John the
Baptist here makes
it very clear to
the Pharisees and
the Sadducees that
they cannot presume
to enter the
kingdom of heaven
just because they
were born a
Jew.
just because
you had Abraham
as their father.
He says God is
able from stones,
from inanimate
dead stones to
raise up children
for Abraham.
How much more
than can God
make children of
Abraham out of
Gentiles and out
of all the
nations?
I think the
argument here is
compelling.
that your
ethnic or
biological,
physical heritage,
inheritance is
no credit or
merit to anybody
for salvation.
Everyone needs
to be converted.
Even all the
Jews need to
repent of their
sins.
This is
demonstrated in
a remarkable way
by John here
baptizing Jews.
He says in
verse 5 that
people came from
Jerusalem and
all the region
around the
Jordan.
these are all
Jewish regions.
The people who
are coming to
him are Jewish,
at least the
vast majority of
them.
Now, and some
historians, this
is not certain,
but some
historians think
that John's
practice of
baptizing people
like this once
is related to
the Jewish
practice of
proselyte
baptism, where
they take
Gentiles who
come and say,
I want to be a
Jew, and they
baptize them as
they convert to
Judaism.
It's possible
that John's
baptism preceded
it.
I don't think
anybody knows
for sure.
But even if it
is related to
Jewish proselyte
baptism, what
he is doing
here is a
radical departure
from that
practice because
in Jewish
proselyte
baptism, you
never baptize
Jews.
Jews don't
need to be
baptized.
It's the
Gentiles that
need to be
baptized.
But here is
John baptizing
throngs after
throngs of
Jews to
make the
provocative
point that
all people,
Jews or
Gentiles, must
repent for
Christ the
King has
come.
This is why
repentance is
always tied with
baptism in the
Bible.
Acts 2.38, when
Peter is preaching
at Pentecost, he
said, repent and
be baptized, every
one of you in the
name of Jesus
Christ for the
forgiveness of
your sins, and
you will receive
the gift of the
Holy Spirit.
You cannot have
true, genuine
baptism apart from
repentance.
So John also
says in verse 11,
I baptize you with
water for repentance,
but he who is
coming after me is
mightier than I,
whose sandals I am
not worthy to carry.
He will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit
and fire.
For those who
truly repent of
their sins and
believe in Jesus,
and for those who
are baptized as an
outward profession
of their inward
faith, God promises
this wonderful gift
of the Holy Spirit.
This is not
something that John
the Baptist can
give, or a
pastor or any
other church leader
can give anyone.
It is God's
prerogative alone.
That is why John
says that only the
coming one who is
mightier than he
can baptize you in
the Holy Spirit and
fire.
It is the
individual's
responsibility to
repent of sin and
believe in Jesus.
It is the church's
communal responsibility
to then to assess
their credible
profession of faith
and baptize them in
the name of the
Father and Son and
the Holy Spirit.
And it is the
responsibility and
the prerogative of
God alone to impart
the living spirit of
God.
This is why spirit
baptism is the
privilege of every
single believer.
This doesn't mean that
you can't be more
filled with the
Spirit.
We can be.
We are in fact
commanded to be filled
with the Spirit more
and more.
However, every
Christian, true
Christian, born in
Christian, is baptized
in the Holy Spirit
because that's what
1 Corinthians 12, 13
says.
For in one spirit we
are all baptized into
one body.
Jews or Greeks, slaves
or free, and all were
made to drink of one
spirit.
But if you refuse to
repent, instead of
being sanctified by the
Holy Spirit, instead of
being consecrated by the
Holy Spirit, you will be
consumed by the Holy
Spirit.
And that's what verse
12 means.
His winnowing fork is
in his hand, and he
will clear his
threshing floor and
gather his wheat into
the barn, but the
chaff he will burn
with unquenchable fire.
The farmers in those
days, when they harvest
the wheat, they will
gather them all in the
threshing floor, and
they will use a big
winnowing fork to scoop
up bunches of the wheat,
and they will fling it
up into the air, and
while the heavy
kernels of wheat fall to
the ground, the light
chaff and all the husks
and the gunk that you
don't need will be blown
off by the wind because
they're light.
And that's how they
separate the chaff from
the wheat, and then the
wheat is gathered into
the barn, and then the
chaff is gathered and
burned.
And that's the imagery
that Jesus uses here of
divine judgment.
I know it's not a
comfortable subject, but
it says so here in the
Bible in verse 7.
Who warned you to flee
from the wrath to come?
divine wrath is a reality.
Because God is just, because
God is holy, he can't but
have wrath towards sinners who
have offended his glory and his
rule and his holiness.
That's why there's such urgency to
repent.
I can't improve on his words.
I want to quote at length part of
Jonathan Edwards' sermon from the
18th century preached during the
Great Awakening.
A famous sermon he delivered in
Enfield, Connecticut called
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry
God.
And this is what he says.
Your wickedness makes you, as it
were, heavy as lead.
And to tend downwards with great
weight and pressure towards hell.
And if God should let you go, you
would immediately sink and swiftly
descend and plunge into the
bottomless gulf.
And your healthy constitution and
your own care and prudence and best
contrivance and all your
righteousness would have no more
influence to uphold you and keep
you out of hell than a spider's
web would have to stop a falling
rock.
There are the black clouds of God's
wrath now hanging directly over
your heads, full of the dreadful
storm and big with thunder.
And were it not for the restraining
hand of God, it would immediately
burst forth upon you.
The sovereign pleasure of God for
the present stays his rough wind.
Otherwise it would come with fury
and your destruction would come like
a whirlwind and you would be like
the chaff of the summer threshing
floor.
The God that holds you over the pit
of hell, much as one holds a spider
or some loathsome insect over the
fire, abhors you and is dreadfully
provoked.
His wrath towards you burns like fire.
He looks upon you as worthy of nothing
else but to be cast into the fire.
He is of purer eyes than to bear to
have you in his sight.
You are 10,000 times more abominable
in his eyes than the most hateful
venomous serpent is in ours.
You have offended him infinitely more
than ever a stubborn rebel did his
prince.
And yet it is nothing but his hand
that holds you from falling into the
fire every moment.
It is to be ascribed to nothing else,
that you did not go to hell the last
night, that you were suffered to awake
again in this world after you close your
eyes to sleep.
And there's no other reason to be
given why you have not dropped into
hell since you arose in the morning,
but that God's hand has held you up.
It's a frightening description of God's
wrath.
And it is true because as Habakkuk 1.3
says, God is of purer eyes than to see
evil.
He cannot even see evil.
He cannot condone or tolerate evil.
So why does God hold
even unrepentant sinners up this very
moment?
2 Peter 3.9 says,
The Lord is patient toward you,
not wishing that any should perish,
but that all should reach repentance.
every hour that you live,
every minute of your life,
every second of your life is a
gracious opportunity from God to
repent of your sins.
And if you have yet to repent and turn
to Jesus, then let me tell you how to
do that.
Romans 5.8-9, we read from earlier in
the assurance of pardon.
God shows his love for us in this,
that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.
Since therefore we have not been
justified by his blood,
much more shall we be saved by him
from the wrath of God.
How are we saved from this fiery wrath
of God?
It's the blood of Jesus.
The death that Jesus died on the cross
in our place,
in the place of sinners.
He was pierced for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities,
and God has laid upon him
the chastisement,
the punishment that we deserved.
This is what it means when the Bible
speaks of Jesus as the propitiation
that God put forth.
Propitiation to propitiate is to
satisfy God's wrath.
1 John 4.10 says,
In this is love,
not that we have loved God,
but that he loved us
and sent his son to be
the propitiation for our sins.
Why did God send Jesus
to be the propitiation for our sins?
Because God loved us,
because God loved sinners,
so that he might provide a way
for Jesus to satisfy his just
and holy wrath.
David Wells, Christian theologian,
summarizes it this way.
Man is alienated from God by sin,
and God is alienated from man by wrath.
It is in the substitutionary death of Christ
that sin is overcome and wrath averted,
so that God can look on man
without displeasure,
and man can look on God without fear.
Sin is expiated,
and God is propitiated.
This is an amazing reality.
Think about that wrath,
and fire wrath of God,
and then look down a little bit,
and I will end with this,
and at the end of chapter three,
at what God says of his son, Jesus,
after he is baptized.
In verse 17,
this is my beloved son
with whom I am well pleased.
that's the word that Jesus deserved to hear.
That's the word that Jesus should have heard
all his life.
Instead, on the cross,
Jesus faces the unrelenting, fiery wrath
of God the Father
because he is taking our place
so that in his death and resurrection,
God can look upon us with pleasure
and say,
this is my beloved son,
because we're all in Jesus.
We're called sons sometimes in the Bible.
This is my beloved son
son in whom I am well pleased.
That's what God now says
over every single one of his people
who have turned,
who have repented,
and trusted in Jesus.
Let's pray.
Father,
I confess that I am weak.
I have preached your gospel,
but I cannot make a single person repent.
And I cannot make
a single person receive the Holy Spirit.
But I trust in you,
O Lord God,
and your son, Jesus,
the coming one,
who is mightier,
who baptizes in the Holy Spirit and fire.
Lord, go through this room.
Save every single soul.
Baptize every single one
in the Holy Spirit and fire.
And for all those who are already,
who are already saved,
all those who already belong to you
and have repented of their sins,
assure them of the great confidence
that they now have in Jesus,
that they are your beloved child.
that Jesus' perfect righteousness
covers us.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.