The Forerunner – Part 4
Luke 3:1-20 (15-20)
November 26, 2017

If you’ve been with us the past few weeks then you know that while Luke 3 has not necessarily been enjoyable, it has been absolutely ESSENTIAL.

We have been looking at the ministry of John the Baptist
Who came for one purpose and that was to prepare us for Jesus.

John’s goal has been simple.
• He is working to expose our sin…
• He is working to show us our condemnation…
• He is working to reveal to us the judgment which comes as a result…
• He is working to lead us to repent of that sin…

And while pushing for this John will accept no false response.
John is not about to let up until
Our entire mindset and attitude regarding sin changes.

It has been HARSH
It has been PAINFUL
And yet at the same time we are so grateful

This morning we are going to bring the ministry of this forerunner to a close,
But let me remind you again about where we’ve come in this powerful chapter.
#1 JOHN’S CULTURE
Luke 3:1-2

Very simply put John ministered
In a time of Roman domination and Jewish extortion.
An extremely pagan government and an extremely hypocritical church.

It is suffice to say that truth and righteousness
Where not high on the list of cultural priorities.

#2 JOHN’S CALLING
Luke 3:3-6

This culture was sinful and that was a problem
Since the Holy One was on His way.

The One about whom Malachi said:
Malachi 3:2 “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.”

And again Malachi said:
Malachi 4:1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.”

So we quickly realize that the sinful culture in which John lived
Was in no way ready for the Holy One who was about to arrive.

John was called to bring about repentance.

Or again as Malachi said:
Malachi 4:5-6 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. “He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”

• We had children in Israel who would have been unrecognizable to their fathers (that is the Patriarchs who were men of faith)

These people had so far strayed from the faith and devotion of Abraham
That one could hardly even refer to them any longer as his children.

John came to lead the people to repentance
TO RESTORE THEM TO THE FAITH OF THEIR FATHER.

He came as Isaiah said,
To straighten out crooked hearts and to smooth down idolatrous souls.

He was called to make these people ready for the coming Holy One.

#3 JOHN’S CONFRONTATION
Luke 3:7-9

Since the people were so far out of whack and so unprepared,
• John began to confront his sinful culture
• And he refused to simply allow them to go through some symbolic ritual.

With John it was either repentance or bust.
He confronted them on every level.

He confronted their SINFUL NATURE – that they were a “brood of vipers”
He confronted their SUPERFICIAL MOTIVES – “who warned you to flee”
He confronted their SHALLOW COMMITMENT – “bear fruits in keeping…”
He confronted their SHAKY THEOLOGY – “do not think…Abraham”
He confronted their SORRY DISCERNMENT – “axe is already laid…”

There was no way
John was going to let them do what they had always done,
Which was bring some token offering to God
And expect that all was square.

John went after the very root of the problem
And revealed to these people that because of their sin
They were under the very REAL and NEAR judgment of God.

Something had to change or God was about to wipe them out.
#4 JOHN’S COMMAND
Luke 3:10-14

John’s penetrating warning certainly got the attention of the crowds
Because they all responded with the same question, “What shall we do?”

And so John had no problem telling them.
• Show Compassion
• Stop Corruption
• Seek Contentment

But really even more than that John told them to stop loving the world.

The problem with this generation is that they had grown
To value the world more than they valued righteousness.
We know that because they willingly
Sacrificed righteousness in order to gain the world.

That was their root problem and it had to change.

Because the King who was coming was not coming to offer the world.
He was coming to offer righteousness.
And if they didn’t get their priorities straight
There is no way they were going to be willing to follow Him.

So…
• John commanded these people to let their love of the world go.
• John commanded these people to repent of their love of money.
• John commanded these people to flee from their idolatry.

And that is where we left off.
John is not messing around.

This morning we want to look at the final two points of John’s ministry.
#5 JOHN’S CLARIFICATION
Luke 3:15-18

What we notice is that
John had at least succeeded in one aspect of his ministry.
He had captured the people’s attention.

My dad used to talk about all the time when he would come home from a sale with a new load of horses; and we’d ride them to see what they were. Inevitably you’d have one that just didn’t handle right and dad would say, “That horse needs his attention got.” (That meant he was fixing to get in the loading shoot with that horse and wouldn’t leave until that horse knew who was in control)

Well, John has just completed his little stint in the loading shoot
And it is safe to say that he has the people’s attention.
In fact, he has their attention to such a degree
That there is a universal question regarding John.

(15) “Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were wondering in their hearts about John, as to whether he was the Christ,”

Now they don’t think that because John has worked some testifying miracle or because he has even fulfilled some Messianic prophesy.

They are wondering if he is the Messiah because
They have never met anyone who cares so much about holiness as John.

• His passion for righteousness and his willingness to forsake the world was absolutely foreign in every regard.
• He was such a contrast to anything they had ever seen, it caused many to wonder who he was.

John’s gospel gives a little more insight into this curiosity:
John 1:19-28 “This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am A VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE STRAIGHT THE WAY OF THE LORD,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.” Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them saying, “I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. “It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.”

They didn’t know who John was,
But they knew he had to be someone special for this guy was different.

Beyond that, I think there is ANOTHER ASPECT about John that would have definitely been on the mind of at least some of the Jews.

TURN TO: EZEKIEL 36:22-32

If you are familiar with Ezekiel you know that he was a priest in Israel who had been deported to Babylon during the time of the Exile.

While there God used this man in a prophetic role to reveal
• That God was angry because of how Israel had profaned His name through their idolatry
• And His plan for cleansing them of that idolatry.

That is what we read about in Ezekiel 36.
(READ 22-32)

What you have there is a tremendous picture of salvation.
It is actually Ezekiel’s version of the same New Covenant that Jeremiah promised.

It is where God promises to take a people who have messed up
And will Himself clean them and cause them to become holy.

How will God accomplish this?
• He will first wash them with water
• Then He will fill them with His Spirit which will cause them to be obedient.

And thus God says in verse 29, “I will save you from all you uncleanness…”

That was a prophetic promise from God.
And to at least some extent this had to be included in the expectation
That is referred to here regarding John.

INCIDENTALLY, it is the exact same thing Jesus referred to during His conversation with Nicodemus.

John 3:1-5 “Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, ” Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

That reference to “water and the Spirit” was a reference to Ezekiel 36.
It speaks of both repentance and regeneration.

AND I BRING THAT UP BECAUSE
That is also the same reality that John is about to speak of.

(16) “John answered and said to them all, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

Now because we just read Ezekiel 36 and John 3
Perhaps you have a better understanding of what John is talking about.

• These were idolatrous people.
• They loved the world.
• Through their love of the world, they had profaned the name of God.
• And as a result of this sin, they were a people under the judgment of God.

John came to be part of the solution.

WHAT PART DID JOHN PLAY?
“As for me, I baptize you with water;”

This is a reference to Ezekiel 36:25
Ezekiel 36:25 “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.”
It is the same water that Jesus referenced in John 3:5.
It is that cleansing which God said must occur.

Paul referred to it in Acts 19 (which we saw last week in reference to those unsaved disciples of John)
Acts 19:4 “Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”

And this is what John is telling the crowds here.
• I certainly fulfill a role.
• I certainly have a purpose.
• I am the one who comes to lead you to repentance, to in effect wash you from
all of your uncleanness.

But if you’ve read Ezekiel 36
Then you know that you need more than I provide.

For Ezekiel indeed spoke of being washed with water,
But there was something even greater that Ezekiel also referred to.

Ezekiel 36:26-27 “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”

Certainly the people needed to be led to repentance and to be washed of their uncleanness, but that is not all they needed.
They also needed the power to obey God in the future.

If all they had was John’s baptism,
• Then it would have been no different than any other Old Testament ritual.
• They would have had to return daily to continue to be washed and cleansed
over and over and over again.
• Because although they would have been repentant, they would have had no
power to ever overcome sin in their lives.

And this is why John emphatically pointed to Jesus.
“but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

Do you hear what John is saying?
• Yes, you need repentance.
• Yes, you need to be washed.
• And this I can do.

But you also need God’s Spirit to give you the strength to live holy,
AND THIS I CANNOT GIVE YOU.
(I am not mighty enough to do that.)

But there is One who is.
And He is on His way.
He is “mightier than I”

In fact, if you want a comparison, “I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals;”

That was a task usually done by the lowest and most unworthy servant,
And John says, “I’m not even worthy enough to do that for Him.”

But when He comes, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit”

And thanks to Ezekiel 36, you now know what John is referring to.
• He is referring to salvation.
• He is referring to regeneration.
• He is referring to God’s Spirit moving within a person and subsequently causing that person to walk in obedience.

It is probably necessary that we do clarify this a little,
Because the charismatic movement has totally hijacked this term
And confused masses of people.

The charismatic movement has said that the “baptism of the Holy Spirit”
IS A SECONDARY EVENT TO SALVATION.

• It is when a saved person prays for a “secondary filling of the Holy Spirit” in
which God then super anoints a person with His Spirit into a new and
greater and more enlightened and more powerful closeness to God.

• This “secondary filling” or “baptism of the Holy Spirit” is also accompanied with
speaking in tongues and other miraculous abilities and manifestations.

Now, as much as I would love to go into all of that right now,
We don’t have near enough time.
(If you want to know more go to our website
And listen to our sermon series on the Holy Spirit which we studied a few years ago)

What I simply want you to understand this morning is that
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is NOT some secondary filling
Or some additional experience to salvation.

THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS SALVATION.
Let me be clear, if you do not have God’s Holy Spirit
Dwelling inside of you then you are not a child of God.

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the absolute tell-tell sign of a genuine believer.
Romans 8:9 “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.”

John 7:38-39 “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

Acts 2:38-39 “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

It is clear that all who believe in Christ receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
He is not merely given to the most loyal of believers,
He is given to all believers.

The question is WHY?
And that is the answer which is given in Ezekiel 36.
TO ALLOW YOU TO LIVE HOLY.

That is why He is called the Holy Spirit.
His main work is to make you holy.
His main work is to work out sanctification in your life.

And the One who has the power to give you this Holy Spirit is Jesus.
John 14:16-17 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”

John 16:7 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”

Acts 2:32-33 “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.”

AND THAT IS WHAT JOHN IS REFERRING TO.
• This crowd has profaned the name of God through their idolatry.
• They most certainly need to repent and to be washed,
• But they also need to be filled with God’s Spirit that they may be holy.

Now, let me say one more thing about this baptism of the Holy Spirit.

There are two words in the Greek that refer to baptism.
There is BAPTO and there is BAPTIZO

The word used here is BAPTIZO.

There is actually a usage of both of these words in ancient Greek culture
That help us see the difference very easily.

Oddly enough it is from a man named Nicandor and it is a pickle recipe.
But in that recipe here is what he says.
You first take the cucumber and BAPTO that is “dip” that cucumber in boiling water and then he says to BAPTIZO that cucumber into the vinegar

Does that spell it out for you a little?
You dip that cucumber into the boiling water,
But you leave it in the vinegar solution until the very properties of that cucumber are changed into a pickle.

That is what happens with the Holy Spirit.
• It is not some experiential dip where you feel all better for a moment.
• It is a full blown immersion into that Spirit and you stay there until the very
properties of the person are changed.

This is what is referred to in passages like:
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

You never thought a pickle could teach you so much about Christianity did you?

In John’s day you had a lot of clean cucumbers,
But you didn’t have many pickles.
(that relates to the church today as well)

John said, I can most certainly wash you, but I cannot transform you.
Only One can “baptize you with the Holy Spirit”
Only one can make you holy.
Only one can save you from your uncleanness.

This was John’s way of saying, “You must run to Jesus!”

But if you’ll notice the Holy Spirit ISN’T THE ONLY THING
John said that the coming One would baptize people with.

John also said that He would baptize people with “fire”.

Here is another widely misunderstood analogy.
Because the charismatic movement tries to make the baptism of the Holy Spirit something different than it is, they also distort the notion of fire. They liken this to the “tongues as of fire” that appeared above the believers in the upper room and thus say that is what John is referring to here.

IT IS NOT.
A proper Biblical hermeneutic will tell you that context is key.
John tells us exactly what fire means in the very next verse.

(17) “His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

So when John speaks of “fire” what does he refer to?
JUDGMENT

• When a farmer went out to harvest the wheat, they just took a sickle and cut down the entire stalk.
• They would then beat that stalk on the ground to shake loose the grain from the head.
• They would then take a “winnowing fork” (pitchfork) and toss everything up into the wind.
• The grain was heavier and would fall straight down and the “chaff’ or empty stalks would blow in the wind several feet away.
• After gathering the grain, he would then “burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire”

So now John has just explained to you exactly what this Holy One will do.

He will come and give you two options.
• You can either have salvation, which is the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
• Or you can have judgment, which is the baptism by fire.

And incidentally, everything John speaks of in regard to that judgment
Can be summed up in the word “thoroughly”

You will not find a reference to judgment in Scripture that is not thorough.
That is to say He never fails to gather a single piece of grain
And He never fails to burn a single piece of chaff.

SO LISTEN TO JOHN NOW.
The people want to know who he is, and John is clear.

Look, I have a role to play, and that is to lead you to repentance
And to wash you of your uncleanness.

But there are two things I can’t do because I’m not mighty enough.
1) I can’t totally save you because I can’t make you holy.
2) I can’t finally judge you because I am not powerful enough.

So in one sense John just told the crowd that they should repent,
But if they don’t, there is really nothing he can do about it.

And that is the reality of every single preacher I know.
I can tell you what the Bible says, but if you choose not to believe me,
There really isn’t really anything I can do about it.

One person today wears a T-shirt which says, “Only God can judge me”
And to an extent they are correct.
But that should terrify them, because John says that He absolutely will.

Jesus is coming, and you will either believe in Him
And be made holy with the baptism of the Holy Spirit
Or you will reject Him and be destroyed in the baptism of fire.

(18) “So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people.”

That is to say that John continually tried to push people
• To the forgiveness that is found in repentance
• And the salvation that is found in Christ.

But a good question at this point would be:
WHY WOULD ANYONE CHOOSE THE BAPTISM OF FIRE OVER THE BAPTISM OF THE SPIRIT?

Well, let’s look at a case study:

John’s Culture, John’s Calling, John’s Confrontation, John’s Command, John’s Clarification
#6 JOHN’S CAPTURE
Luke 6:19-20

Luke actually skips many chronological events here.
There is actually a great deal of ministry that occurs in between Luke 3:18 and Luke 3:19, but Luke is making a point.

So Luke fast-forward’s to the capture of John
And mostly to reveal to us why people wouldn’t listen to him.

(19-20) “But when Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the wicked things which Herod had done, Herod also added this to them all: he locked John up in prison.”

Mark’s gospel gives a little more of an explanation.
Mark 6:17-20 “For Herod himself had sent and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her. For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death and could not do so; for Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; but he used to enjoy listening to him.”

That’s pretty remarkable isn’t it?

We see exactly why Herod locked John up.
• John was telling Herod that he was living in sexual immorality and that he should stop.
• He had stolen his brother’s wife, had married her, and was now living adultery with her.
• Herod didn’t like that message so he sought to silence John.

Luke’s gospel adds “and because of all the wicked things which he had done” insinuating that John confronted Herod for more than just this.

The remarkable things is that Mark said that
“he used to enjoy listening to him”

And that tells us a great deal about people who are enamored with the message of truth, but yet unwilling to yield their lives to it.

Of course you know that Herod will end up beheading John,
BUT THE POINT LUKE IS MAKING IS A SIMPLE ONE.
• Regardless of the fact that John preached the truth…
• Regardless of the fact that John offered forgiveness…
• Regardless of the fact that John revealed salvation in Jesus…
• Regardless of the fact that John warned of judgment for rejecting Christ…

We still find that there were plenty of people who rejected.
• We still find that there were people who refused to repent…
• We still find that there were people who refused to believe…
• We still find that there were people who settled instead for the baptism of fire…

AND THE REASON WHY IS VERY IMPORTANT.

John’s message could be seen in one of two ways.
In fact, as you’ve listened to John’s message
You have listened to it in one of two ways.
In your heart you have already made this distinction.

You either listen to John’s sermon and see it as a tremendous message of hope, or you listen to John’s sermon and see it as horrible message of judgment.

I can also emphatically tell you
WHAT MADE YOU CHOOSE ONE OR THE OTHER.

The difference that determines whether you thank John’s message is full of hope or full of dread is what you think about your sin.

If you hate your sin and want it removed
Then John’s message is full of hope because he offers forgiveness in
response to repentance and he offers the Holy Spirit to all who believe.

But if you love your sin and want to keep it
John’s message is full of dread because the refusal to repent leaves
only one option and that is the coming fire of judgment.

Your view of your sin dictates what you think about John’s sermon.
Your view of sin dictates whether or not you really think
John was preaching “the gospel” (i.e. good news).

Incidentally, Jesus said the same thing to Nicodemus.

John 3:18-21 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

Those who love their sin run from Me
Those who hate their sin run to Me

JESUS IS EITHER SEEN AS GOOD NEWS OR DREADFUL NEWS
DEPENDING ON WHAT YOU THINK OF YOUR SIN.

And Herod is the proof.
Herod saw John’s message as bad news and the coming Messiah as a threat
Only because Herod didn’t want to part with his sin.

And yet those who hated their sin and wanted it gone
Saw John’s message as good news and the coming Messiah as their long awaited hope who could finally free them from their sinful hearts.

And friends, that is where we are this morning.
There is no doubt that John’s message is direct, and bold, and penetrating, and convicting, and confrontational.

However, if you see it as negative and harsh
That only reveals that you still love your sin and don’t want to part with it.

I invite you at this moment to change your mind about sin and see that it only leads to judgment.
I invite you to throw it aside and run to this Jesus whom John spoke of who alone can forgive your sin and make you holy.

And if you do, Jesus promises not only to forgive you,
But also to baptize you with His Holy Spirit
That He might make you new.

Luke 11:9-13 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. “Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? “Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

If you ask God for forgiveness and salvation and holiness
Through Jesus Christ, God will grant it.

He will give you the Holy Spirit when you ask.

Let me close with one final quote from John the Baptist.
• It comes from John’s gospel on a day when John’s disciples leaving John to follow Jesus.

When they asked John about it, here was the end part of his answer:
John 3:30-36 “He must increase, but I must decrease. “He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. “What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. “He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true. “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure. “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

That was the point John wanted you to see.
RUN TO JESUS.

The Forerunner – Part 3
Luke 3:1-20 (10-14)
November 19, 2017

As you know we are working through Luke’s gospel
And currently we are looking at the ministry of John the Baptist.

John is the forerunner for Jesus.
He is the one whom God sent before Jesus
TO PREPARE THE PEOPLE FOR HIS COMING.

According to Isaiah he is:
“The voice of one crying the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the LORD, Make His paths straight.”

According to Malachi he is:
Elijah the prophet who “will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that [Messiah] will not come and smite the land with a curse.”

John the Baptist came for one purpose
And that was to prepare the people for the arrival of Jesus.

I can’t stress enough how important his ministry was and is.
And yet, I also must admit that this type of ministry
Is rapidly disappearing in our culture today.

John’s message was about sin, judgment and the necessity of repentance
And yet we see increasingly today that people do not want that message
And so fewer and fewer churches are preaching it.

Many today try to skip the message of John
And instead try to bait people to a Jesus
Who can either make their miserable life better,
Or to a Jesus who is a great addition or “upgrade”
To their already comfortable life.

You know how it goes…
“Are you sick, hurting, or depressed? Do you have back pain, knee pain, joint pain, or is one leg longer than the other? Are you deaf, blind, dumb, bald, or otherwise impaired? Is life boring, hard, or unfulfilling? Do you need money, healing, happiness, companionship, or recognition? Well then friends let me tell you about Jesus. He heals, He restores, He makes life better at every turn. He cures cancer, heart disease, arthritis, water on the knee and general stupidity. He can give you a breakthrough, a deliverance, a rescue, an upgrade, a reboot and an absolute good feeling. Just come as you are, and take this Jesus and watch all your problems vanish away.”

• And of course the most corrupt offer this Jesus for a seed faith payment relative to how big you want the blessing to be.

• The more sly among us just want you to agree to come to their church, give to their offerings and pad their egos.
What you don’t hear mentioned much anymore is the message of John.
Which is a message of absolute and total self-denial and repentance.

Why is John’s message so important?

Because the Jesus those carnival barkers offer is not the real Jesus.
• The real Jesus will give you fulfillment and life abundant, but it does not come in the form of this world.

• The real Jesus will require you to lose everything to follow Him.

• Jesus tells you to say good-bye to your possessions, your comfort, your family, your reputation, and your safety. (Not come get more of it)

• In return He will give you Himself and His righteousness, which is required for entrance into eternal life.

• But obtaining the real Jesus is costly!

And the simple fact is this.
Because following Jesus is so costly, no one comes to Him
Unless they have come to understand the value of righteousness
And their lack of it.

People have to see their desperate and hopeless condition
Before they will just follow this Man
Who demands that they turn their back on the world.

You understand this.
I have yet to see a person just sign up for chemotherapy because they value the experience.

Agreeing to follow Jesus is an agreement to forsake this world
And NO ONE WILL DO THAT unless they realize that
Only in following Jesus can they have the hope of eternal life.

• Before a doctor can get a patient to take chemo, they first have to convince
them of their terrible condition.
• Before a sinner will follow Jesus, they must also be convinced of their terrible
condition.

IN THAT SENSE, JOHN IS THE BEARER OF BAD NEWS.
He did not come to save men, he came to condemn them.
(Or more accurately to reveal that they were already condemned)

John did that so when Jesus came by offering nothing but righteousness,
The people would value Him and follow Him.

That is the ministry of John and that is the ministry that Luke is showing us here in the 3rd chapter of his gospel.
Now we’ve been working through it for the last couple of weeks.

We’ve seen:
#1 JOHN’S CULTURE
Luke 3:1-2

We saw that John ministered in a day of Roman domination and Jewish exploitation.
• The Roman rulers of the day were corrupt and immoral.
• The Jewish leaders of the day were also corrupt and immoral.

It was a bad time to be a Jew.

#2 JOHN’S CALLING
Luke 3:3-6

In short, God sent John to preach
“a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

That is to say, John came revealing to people
That they were sinners in need of forgiveness
And that this forgiveness would only come through repentance.

He was that forerunner that Isaiah spoke of who would prepare the people for Jesus.

#3 JOHN’S CONFRONTATION
Luke 3:7-9

This we saw last week, where John confronted the people on every level.

He confronted:
• Their Sinful Nature – “brood of vipers”
• Their Superficial Motive – “who warned you to flee”
• Their Shallow Commitment – “bear fruits in keeping with repentance”
• Their Shaky Theology – “we have Abraham as our father”
• Their Sorry Discernment – “the axe is already laid at the root of the tree”

In short, John unequivocally revealed that
These people were in absolute total and imminent danger before God.

Far too long they had lived in their apathy and in their spiritual blindness
Totally unaware of just how angry God was.

God had grown weary of their empty words
And because of their fruitless lives the axe was laid at the root of the tree
And God was ready to judge them.

THAT WAS JOHN’S CONFRONTATION.

NOW…
If you were willing to take John’s message to heart
Then there is REALLY ONLY ONE RESPONSE.
In fact, the response of this crowd seems to be THE UNIVERSAL RESPONSE of those who have come face to face with their sin and the judgment they deserve.

The response can be seen in 4 words:
“What shall we do?”

You’ll see it asked 3 times here in Luke’s gospel.
By the crowds, by the tax collectors, and by the soldiers; they all ask the same question.

But it’s not just here that this question is mentioned.
Do you remember Pentecost?

After Peter preached that the people were responsible for having killed God’s Messiah?

Acts 2:37-38 “Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

The revealed fact is that
Those who come to a full understanding of their sinfulness and the reality of their judgment understand that there is no longer anything to say.

• They were not interested in making excuses…
• They were not interested in arguing about the punishment…
• They were not interested in denying the charges…

They time for talk had passed, and in full submission they simply ask,
“What shall we do?”

Now, you may immediately recognize that while John and Peter answer very similarly, they do answer a little different.

It is true that both tell the people to repent and to be baptized,
But while John will give specific behaviors that must change,
Peter simply tells people to believe in Jesus.

I think it’s important for you to understand why their message is different.
JOHN PREACHED BEFORE JESUS AND PETER PREACHED AFTER HIM.

• Before Christ, all a person was required to do was to humble themselves
before God and demonstrate their contrite and repentant heart through
their change in behavior.

• However, after the cross and the redemptive work of Christ, Peter could point
people to the forgiveness which only comes through faith in Christ.

That is why their message is different.

It is also worth noting that as we sit today,
John’s message is NECESSARY BUT INCOMPLETE in regard to salvation.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN?
Acts 19:1-7 “It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples. He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism.” Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. There were in all about twelve men.”

Even the people who were the most faithful followers of John
Still needed faith in Christ to be saved.

Even though they had responded correctly to John,
They still were not saved.
They had to place their faith in Christ and fully submit to Him.

And if Jesus had already arrived on the scene by Luke 3
That is exactly what John would have preached as well.

But Jesus has not yet shown up
So all John can do is push them to a genuine brokenness and contrition
Which will prepare them for Jesus who will soon arrive.

So I just want to make sure you understand what we are studying here.
• FOR THEIR DAY, John’s message is complete.
• FOR OUR DAY, John’s message is still absolutely essential, but it is
incomplete until that message includes the necessity of faith in Jesus.

AND TO BE FAIR TO JOHN,
In a short while His message will include that very invitation.

John 1:29-37 “The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! “This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ “I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. “I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ “I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.” Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.”

So John will get there, he’s just not there yet, because he has yet to see Jesus.

So, I simply want your theology to be accurate.
• What we are learning from John this morning IS NOT how to be saved.
• What we are learning from John IS what true contrition or repentance looks like.
And this true repentance is necessary for salvation.
So you need to hear what John is saying,
And you need to let what John is saying drive you to Jesus.

Well, now that we’ve clarified that a little bit,
Let’s look at this 4th reality of John the Baptist’s ministry.

John’s Culture, John’s Calling, John’s Confrontation
#4 JOHN’S COMMAND
Luke 3:10-14

When you read that as a whole
There are a couple of things that should immediately stand out to you.

FIRST, as we mentioned, all of these people understood that repentance required a change of behavior.

They did not ask, “What do you want us to say?”
They asked “What shall we do?”

They knew the time for empty promises and shallow remorse had passed.
They knew God demanded a life change.
REPENTANCE REQUIRES ACTION

SECOND, it is obvious to us is that to every group John referenced the exact same sin, which was greed.

• You have the crowds who horded their possessions
• You have the tax collectors who cheated people out of money
• You have the soldiers who were brutal and discontent

But when you strip them all down, they all come from the same root sin
WHICH IS GREED OR LOVE OF THIS WORLD.

That is the root sin that John addresses with every single person.
These people loved the world and John sees that
As the main issue that is keeping them at odds with God.

Incidentally, no other gospel writer hits love of the world or greed as much as Luke does.

While Luke will hit some of the same stories as Matthew and Mark like:
• The weedy soil that was choked by the love of the world
• The Rich Young Ruler
• The widow who gave all she had (Mark)
• Not storing up treasure in heaven

Luke will also include stories that no one else mentions at all, like:
• Zaccheus who left his wealth
• The foolish farmer who built bigger barns to hoard all he had
• The wise manager who used money for eternal reward
• The rich man in Hades who enjoyed all his good in this life

In think probably most telling about Luke
Is the way he delivers the beatitudes.

You will remember Matthew talking about being poor in spirit or hungering and thirsting for righteousness. That is to say Matthew took those beatitudes on a spiritual note.

But listen to how Luke records them:
Luke 6:20-26 “And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. “Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. “Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets. “But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full. “Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.”

From Luke’s perspective there is a definite link between
A person’s commitment to Christ and their love of the world.

When you read Luke’s gospel it becomes very clear that
• He understood that it was impossible for a person to love Christ and love this world at the same time.

• He saw that it was impossible for a person to follow Christ and follow this world at the same time.

And so it is not surprising that Luke also records this sermon from John.
It fit EXACTLY THE POINT that Luke will make throughout his gospel.

So let’s look at what John has to say
To these who are in such danger before God.

There are three commands
1) SHOW COMPASSION (10-11)
“And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “Then what shall we do?” And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.”

These people knew they were in danger before God
And they wanted to know what they could do about it.

John wasted no time in confronting their greed by revealing that
They had hoarded the things of this world
To the exclusion of offering compassion to those in need.

• They had brothers and sisters who did not have a coat in the winter…
• They had brothers and sisters who did not have food…
• Meanwhile they had more than they needed and still did not share it.

Their love of the world had grown greater
Than their love for their neighbor.

And I think you understand how “out of whack” that is,
Since loving your neighbor is the second greatest commandment.

These people didn’t love their neighbor, these people loved their stuff.
These people loved the world.

And we are reminded that a person who hoards their possessions
Even while their brothers and sisters in Christ are in need
Is so out of place that it is impossible to consider them a Christian.

Listen to John the apostle:
1 John 3:13-18 “Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”

Listen to James
James 2:14-17 “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”

• John says that a person who hoards their stuff to the hurt of another cannot
claim to have the love of Christ in their life.
• James says a person who does that cannot claim to have true saving faith.

This is a serious issue.

In contrast Jesus said:
Luke 6:27-35 “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. “Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. “Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. “If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.”

God is generous. It’s hard to claim to be like God if we aren’t as well.
Those who refuse to be generous reveal that they love the world more than God.
They demonstrate that the love of Christ is not in them
And that their faith in Him is weak and worthless and even dead faith.

You could even go so far as Matthew 25
Where Jesus spoke of the judgment and you may recall that He promised to put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left and then He will say to those on His left “Depart from Me because when I was hungry you didn’t feed Me and when I was naked you didn’t clothe Me and when I was sick and in prison you didn’t visit Me.”

And when the people asked when this occurred Jesus answered, “When you didn’t do it to the least of these, you didn’t do it to Me”

It’s not that we save ourselves through benevolent works,
But those who refuse to be generous
Clearly demonstrate that they do not love God.

So when the crowds want to know what to do to avoid God’s wrath
John is matter of fact and says that they had better stop hoarding the world and had better stop helping the poor.

So first John says: Show Compassion
2) STOP CORRUPTION (12-13)
“And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.”

And of course you are familiar with tax collectors.
(But since Rebecca is a tax collector I like to really emphasize it)

Tax Collectors in Jesus day where the lowest of the low.
They were scum of the scum.
In fact, tax collectors weren’t even allowed to testify as a witness in court
Because they were considered totally dishonest.

First off a tax collector had decided to go to work for the very Roman arm that was in power over the Jews.
• Most Jews wanted liberation from Rome, these tax collectors had gone to work for them.

But the worst part was that tax collectors had authority to really tax you for whatever they wanted as much as they wanted and they had the strong arm of the Roman centurion to back them up.
• They could tax you for going, tax you for coming, tax you for buying, tax you for selling, tax you for owning, tax you for working, tax you for giving, and tax you for receiving.

• And once they paid Rome all that Rome required they were free to keep the rest and as such had grown quite rich off of the back of the Jews.

It was the perfect scenario of extortion.
They could satisfy their greed to the fullest extent.

And so when they become aware of their guilt before God
And want to know what they should do, John again answers directly.

“Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.”
• John did not rebuke them for working for Rome.
• John did not call them traitors for having a secular job.
• But John was clear that cheating the people was a sign of greed and thus had to go.

JOHN IS NOT THE ONLY ONE TO REBUKE SUCH EXTORTION.

Listen to Jesus talk to the Pharisees:
Matthew 15:4-6 “For God said, ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,’ and, ‘HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH.’ “But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,” he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.”

They actually withheld what their parents deserved under the banner of having “consecrated it to God” Of course God never saw that money either.

Jesus also confronted the Pharisees:
Mark 12:38-40 “In His teaching He was saying: “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation.”

They actually devoured widow’s houses.

Like those corrupt landlords you see in many western movies.
You get into financial trouble and they are happy to bail you out with a loan, just put up your home as collateral, and when you can’t back the loan, I get your house.

Or listen to James:
James 5:1-6 “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you.”

Withholding pay from their workers, taking bribes against the innocent.

John is talking about people who sacrifice their morals to gain money.
• So should we talk about cheating on your taxes?
• Should we talk about gambling or lottery tickets?
• Should we talk about squabbling with siblings over inheritance?
• Should we talk about lying to get a promotion?
• Should we talk about cheating the company on the time clock?

Oh I know you can defend all of that as recreation or just fun,
But what you can’t deny is that
There is not one single God honoring motive behind it.

• I’ve met a lot of people who cheated on their taxes but I never met anyone who did it because they thought it glorified God.

• I’ve met a lot of people who gamble or buy lottery tickets but I never met anyone who did it because they thought it glorified God.

• I’ve met a lot of people who take bribes or cheat the company out of time but never met anyone who did it for the glory of God.

MY POINT?

There is only one possible motive behind all of those actions
AND THAT MOTIVE IS GREED.

People do those things so that they can get more of the world
Even if they have to be immoral to accomplish it.

And John calls the tax collectors on this very thing.
YOU HAD BETTER LEAVE THE GREED ASIDE.

Show Compassion, Stop Corruption
3) SEEK CONTENTMENT (14)
“Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.”

Now granted you can see in these soldiers hints of many problems.

Most likely these were not Roman soldiers here, but probably Jewish soldiers,
Like the temple police who had been sent by the Pharisees.

And with the weight of the military arm behind them they had learned that
They could get away with all sorts of things in order to gain more money.
They could take money by force
They could make false accusations
Certainly they did the latter in Jesus’ trial.

We’ve all heard of the proverbial jail in Mexico
That arrests you until you give up your watch or your car, etc.

The point is that those with power
Prey upon those who are weaker and they do it all for money.

And the ROOT ISSUE according to John is DISCONTENTMENT.

That is to say, they didn’t think their job paid them enough so they were willing to do something immoral or dishonest to compensate.

And that opens up a whole new can of worms.

What do you do when you feel like your company undervalues you?
• Do you steal from the company?
• Do you take privileges that aren’t yours to take?

Certainly ministers aren’t exempt
In our day of exploitation and using God to pad their own pockets.

They were not content with what God had provided
And therefore they did something immoral to compensate.

That is a real problem.
James 4:1-4 “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

• Do you hear him there talking about wrong motives?
• Do you hear him speak of greed and selfish desires?

This was in essence what Jesus was getting at in Matthew 6
In the Sermon on the Mount when He first warned the crowd about being GREEDY (storing up treasure on earth instead of heaven)
And then warned the crowd about WORRYING (consumed with not having enough)

Both demonstrated a lack of contentment with what God had provided.

If you want to SUMMARIZE John’s sermon here it is actually quite easy.

John wanted this entire crowd to realize that
They valued the world more than they valued righteousness.
Because these people would sacrifice righteousness to gain the world.

They would forsake compassion,
They would forsake integrity,
They would forsake contentment
If they could just get a little more of the world.

And the question is which of those would you forsake to gain the world?

Now wait a minute preacher! I admit that I have some of those problems, but they don’t keep me from following Jesus.

Let me just ask you then, “Are you sure you’re following Jesus?”

Listen to Jesus:
Luke 9:57-62 “As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Did you catch what Jesus said?
• If you want to follow Me, then you should know I’m homeless. I don’t possess the world and you won’t either.
• If you want to follow Me, leave your inheritance behind.
• If you want to follow Me, then do so without worldly approval.

Jesus was about to ask people to forsake the world.
Anyone remember the Rich Young Ruler?
(Jesus told him to sell it all)

Jesus was about to ask people to forsake the world,
And John knows that so long as they love the world
They will never follow Jesus.

The only reason a person will follow Jesus
Is if they want righteousness more than anything else,
Because Jesus doesn’t offer anything else.

John is trying to get rid of all those weeds
So that nothing distracts people from Jesus when He calls.

Now it is true that we are on the other side of the cross.
We now understand that forgiveness comes from trusting in Christ.
Forgiveness comes when we submit our lives to Christ.

BUT YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THAT
IN ORDER TO FOLLOW CHRIST YOU CANNOT LOVE THE WORLD.

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

So the call of John is simple.
You need to walk away from your greed so that you can walk after Jesus
Because you cannot seek both at the same time.

The Effectiveness of Faith – Part 4
Romans 4:18-25
November 12, 2017

As you know we’ve been walking through that all-important doctrine known as SOLA FIDE, or the belief that sinners are justified by faith alone.

In order to better examine this point
We’ve been walking through Romans 4
Where we examine the justification which Abraham received from God.

• We found out very quickly that this justification was “credited” indicating that it was not earned by works.

• We found out that his works (namely circumcision) merely indicated that the faith he gave God was genuine, but did not participate in his justification at all.

• And last time we realized that not only does faith bring justification but faith is also the only way in which the promise we hope for can be guaranteed.

That is because if salvation is not by faith alone
Then it cannot be by grace alone.
And if salvation is not by grace alone then it cannot be secure.

WHY?
Because if any part of our salvation or hope of the promise rests upon our ability to do something, then there is always the chance that we might fail.
There is no genuine lasting hope when salvation depends upon us.

In fact, the last time we saw a covenant which depended on man
Was the Mosaic covenant of the Law,
And we saw that it never brought salvation. All it ever brought was wrath.

So Paul has been adamant that justification
And the security of the promise can only come through faith.
IT IS FAITH AND FAITH ALONE.

So, at this point we can confidently say that
NOT ONLY IS FAITH ESSENTIAL, BUT FAITH IS ALSO EFFECTIVE.

Faith effectively allows sinful people to be justified
And to receive a guaranteed promise of salvation.

And one could think that after having proven this point Paul would move on, but he doesn’t.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO PAUL TO MAKE ONE MORE OBSERVATION.

We say that faith is effective, but what kind of faith is effective?

Not all faith is the same.
The point is there is a required amount of faith in order to function in life.
(Every time you turn on the faucet you exercise faith
That the water will come out and that it will be safe to drink)

But obviously this is not the type of faith that God is looking for.
The faith God wants is more than just the general faith of mankind.
God is looking for what we call “saving faith”.

The difference is clearly seen in James.
James 2:14-19 “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”

James rightly reveals that even demons believe in God,
But that does not make them saved.
There is obviously something more to saving faith.

Remember it was Luther who said, “We are justified by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone.”

Luther understood that there was a difference
Between saving faith and non-saving faith.

Perhaps you remember those 3 Latin words that reformed theology holds on to in regard to faith.

NOTITIA – referring to the information which a person must have.
ASCENSU – referring to the intellectual ascent to those facts as true.
FIDUCIA – which speaks of trust in those facts

In fact, several times in Scripture we see people
Who are said to have some measure of faith or “belief”
Who do not end up being saved.

Look at:
John 2:23-25 “Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.”

I don’t know what type of faith they had,
But it wasn’t enough faith to cause them to gain Christ.
He refused to give Himself to them.

John 8:30 “As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him.”

It there says they believed,
But look at what Jesus says about those people just 14 verses later.

John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

Obviously something is wrong
Because regardless of their faith they are still children of the devil.

Or how about this guy in the book of Acts:
Acts 8:9-13 “Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great; and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, “This man is what is called the Great Power of God.” And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts. But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike. Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.”

This sorcerer believed, but a short while later he offers Peter money so that he can get the ability to give the Holy Spirit (and presumably start his own TV network where he can ask people to send in money in exchange for his gifts)

And look at what Peter tells him:
Acts 8:20-23 “But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! “You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. “Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. “For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.”

So obviously, even in the Bible
NOT EVERYONE who “believes” ends up being saved.

So we say that FAITH IS EFFECTIVE, BUT WE MUST ALSO ASK, WHAT IS EFFECTIVE FAITH?

There are two main that set saving faith apart from regular faith.
Saving faith Obeys
Saving faith Perseveres

If you don’t obey you don’t really believe.
That is why Jesus said:
John 8:31 “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;”

(Like the Weedy Soil)
If you don’t obey you don’t really believe.

And if you don’t persevere you don’t really believe.
1 John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.”

(Like the Rocky Soil)
If you don’t persevere you don’t really believe.

Neither the weedy soil (who doesn’t obey)
Nor the rocky soil (who doesn’t persevere)
Have the type of faith God is looking for,
And that is evident because neither brought any fruit to maturity.

There were no works to prove their faith,
And if you will remember we mentioned a couple of weeks ago,
That works prove faith.

And so as we read the Scripture,
We quickly find that in order to be saved, God wants faith,
And the faith we are speaking of is a LIFE-CHANGING FAITH.

And according to Paul it is the faith of Abraham.
Which is what Paul taught us last week.

Romans 4:16 “For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,”

It is those who have saving faith who will be saved,
It is those who have the faith of Abraham who will be saved.

BUT WHAT DID ABRAHAM’S FAITH LOOK LIKE?

That is what Paul will show us here at the end of the chapter.
6 characteristics of the faith of Abraham.
#1 HE HAD A SIMPLE FAITH
Romans 4:18

I’m thankful, that if we have to have a faith like Abraham to be saved,
That the first characteristic is that it was simple.

Think God it doesn’t require
Some great amount of intellectual ability to be saved.

Abraham’s faith is really pretty simple.
“In hope against hope he believed,”

He hoped for something in which, humanly speaking, there was no hope.

Let me reiterate again what God told him.
Genesis 15:3-5 “And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.” Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”

For a traveling alien living in a foreign country with a barren wife,
That promise seems just a tad out of reach.

But despite the utter absurdity of what he hoped for,
Look at the simplicity of his faith.
“he believed”.

THERE IT IS.
Simple, matter of fact, not complex.
Abraham just believed.

And this is the first aspect of saving faith.
It is a simple belief.

“In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE.”

DO YOU WANT TO SEE HOW SIMPLE ABRAHAM’S FAITH WAS?
All Abraham did was believe what God said.

“he believed…according to that which had been spoken”

Abraham simply believed God’s word.
Isaiah 55:10-11 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”

People continually try to make more out of faith than God intended
God never asked you to do more than believe what He said.

People today seem to try and take that to a new level.
They first put words in God’s mouth and then try to believe that.
They first try to pretend God said something
And then they try to make it come true by believing it.

That is not what Abraham did.
That (as a matter of fact) is what Satan tried to get Jesus to do.

Matthew 4:5-7 “Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself
down; for it is written, ‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU’; and ‘ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'” Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.'”

Satan was really challenging the faith of Jesus there.
Satan wanted Jesus to force God to protect Him.

That is not faith in God that is faith in faith.
That is manipulative, and it goes beyond what Abraham did.

Abraham had a simple faith, that simply believed what God said, And he believed it beyond the point of human logic.

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.”

Obviously by simple I don’t mean easy.
I just mean it’s not complicated.
Abraham believed God.
(It really is that simple)

So Abraham had a simple faith.
#2 HE HAD A STRONG FAITH
Romans 4:19

When I say his faith is simple, I also don’t want you to think it was weak.
That is not the case at all.

DID YOU NOTICE WHAT PAUL SAID?
“Without becoming weak in faith”

It didn’t matter what circumstances he walked through,
The bible says that Abraham did not become weak in faith.

WHAT TYPE OF CIRCUMSTANCES DID HE GO THROUGH?
He had to face some discouraging facts right in the face.

“he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb;”

We know that Abraham had made some mistakes up to this point.
When he was 86 years old he went in to Hagar and conceived Ishmael.
Obviously that was an act of disobedience.

But now, 14 years later, when God reiterated that promise.
Genesis 18:9-11 “Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” He said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing.”

Even though Abraham could look at his own body,
He could look at Sarah’s body and see that physically,
There was no way Sarah was having a child.

Now listen, there is nothing complex about that faith,
It is still simple, but it is obviously also very strong.

DO YOU REALIZE IT’S BEEN 25 YEARS SINCE THE INITIAL PROMISE?
There was a time when I believed God, but not anymore.
It’s been too long. It is too difficult now.

But not Abraham.
His faith was strong.

He literally believed the impossible.
John 11:23-26 “Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

God isn’t asking for some sort of complex faith,
Just a simple strong faith.
He just wants you to believe what He says.

And to continue believing it even if your body is dead,
And your brother has been in the ground 4 days.

It was simple It was strong
#3 HE HAD A STEADY FAITH
Romans 4:20

And of course this walks very closely to the previous points.
But not only did Abraham believe the impossible,
And believe even when logic said he shouldn’t have,
But Abraham also never wavered.

“yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith giving glory to God,”

What a great statement about the type of faith that God is looking for.
“he did not waver”

God is not looking for a faith that is dictated by the polls…
God is not looking for a fair weather faith…
God is looking for a faith that will not quit.

James 1:5-8 “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

In contrast speaking of apostates:
Jude 12-13 “These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.”

Abraham “did not waver”.
Obviously his steadfastness was a result of his strong faith.

The reason we know his faith was strong, was because he did not waver.
He continued to seek God…
He continued to trust God…
He continued to obey God…

This is what God wants from us.
1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”

Too many times today our faith is anything but steady.

Our faith becomes shaky any time we base our faith on our experiences
Or on our circumstances instead of on God’s word.

That again is why the first and foundational doctrine of the Reformation is SOLA SCRIPTURA.

You have to know what you are believing.

When we don’t stand solely on God’s word we vacillate.
We ride the fence, we speak out of both sides of our mouth.
We are anything but a model of conviction.

This is why God is so adamant to give us His word.
Ephesians 4:11-14 “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;”

The point is God wants us to know what He said,
Believe what He said, and continue to believe what He said
Without wavering until it happens.

Don’t let circumstances unnerve you…
Don’t let false prophets unnerve you…
Don’t let your own logic unnerve you…

Just have the faith that continues to believe God
Without wavering until God comes through on His word.

And did you notice the end of that verse?
The reason God wants us to have that type of unwavering (steady) faith
Is because that type of faith gives “glory to God”

That is to say trusting God honors Him.

When God says something is true and you believe that
Regardless of how it appears that gives God great honor and glory.
That credits God as One who is trustworthy and powerful.

Abraham’s simple, strong, and steady faith glorified God.

A simple faith A strong faith A stead faith
#4 HE HAD A SINCERE FAITH
Romans 4:21

And this statement obviously can be seen in the other points,
But it also gives a little more insight.

We see the characteristics of strength and steadiness again:
“and being fully assured that what God had promised”

That still encompasses all that we have said.
He simply believed what God said, he believed it through logic,
And he never wavered, but was fully assured.

But this verse gives us MORE INSIGHT into the faith of Abraham.
“being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform”
If you had any doubt until now,
We can see that 100% absolute recipient of the faith of Abraham was God.

Abraham wasn’t really concerned if his body was fit enough…
Abraham wasn’t really concerned if his faith was strong enough…
Abraham wasn’t really concerned if he might have heard wrong…
Abraham believed that God could and would do what He said.

Even consider the incident of when God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac.

Remember what Scriptures says about Abraham’s thought process regarding that command?

Hebrews 11:17-19 “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; it was he to whom it was said, “IN ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS SHALL BE CALLED.” He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.”

That is sincere faith.
Many times we claim to believe in God,
What we really are believing in is ourselves.

We say we believe that Jesus can save us,
But really we place our hope in the fact that we walked the aisle,
Or that we prayed a prayer, or that we really believe.

God isn’t asking you to believe in faith.
God isn’t asking you to believe in prayer.
God isn’t asking you to believe in submission.
GOD IS ASKING YOU TO BELIEVE IN HIM.

Don’t get off track.
People today say, “Prayer works!” (true)
People say, “Faith works!” (true)
People say, “Submission works!” (true)

But those are demonstrations of faith, not recipients of faith.
Don’t trust in your own works or abilities.
The faith of Abraham was in God not in his response.

He knew that God could do what He said.
“He was able also to perform”

That is the faith God wants.
To believe that Jesus was MERCIFUL enough to take our sins.
Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

To believe that Jesus was RIGHTEOUS enough to overcome the grave.
Romans 10:9-10 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

To believe that Jesus is POWERFUL enough to secure our salvation.
Hebrews 7:25 “Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

To believe that Jesus is FAITHFUL enough to come back and get us.
John 14:1-3 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

IT IS FAITH IN GOD THAT ABRAHAM HAD.

DO YOU SEE WHAT SAVING FAITH LOOKS LIKE?
It is simple faith (simply believing what God said)
It is strong faith (even when logic says otherwise, it still believes)
It is steady faith (life circumstances can’t shatter it)
It is sincere faith (he doesn’t believe in himself, he truly believes in God)

#5 HE HAD A SAVING FAITH
Romans 4:22

Because Abraham’s faith was simple, strong, steady, and sincere,
God “credited to Him as righteousness.”

God forgave his sin, God washed away his past,
God instantly justified him
Apart from any work, ability, or goodness of his own.

Abraham was saved because he gave God
The type of faith that God was looking for.

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

That is what I want you to realize this morning.
There is a difference between faith and saving faith.
There is a difference between faith and the faith Abraham had.

God isn’t just looking for some sort of sentimental, intellectual belief.
A faith that wavers with the whims of logic,
A faith that falters under testing,
A faith that puts you at the center instead of God at the center.

God simply wants you to believe what He said,
And believe it so much that not only do you obey it,
But you do not waver from it, until the promise is fulfilled.

The Bible says, if you will give God that kind of faith,
God will give you righteousness.

John 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

That is why God saved Abraham – HE HAD FAITH
Real – Effective – Faith

Now because of that Paul makes one more point about Abraham’s faith for you and me.
#6 HE HAD A SAMPLE FAITH
Romans 4:23-25

“Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him,”

That is an interesting statement.
I would have thought that it was purely for Abraham’s benefit.

But Paul said it wasn’t.
God actually had Moses record that story for more than just Abraham.

(24) “but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.”

Paul said Moses recorded that story not just for Abraham,
But for you and me as well.
Romans 15:4 “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

And WHO IS “US”?
“those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.”

Paul says God recorded this story about Abraham’s justification
So that those of us who believe like he did might benefit.

Abraham was believing what he could not see.
• He was believing in descendants and was believing in land.
• He was believing God would keep that promise.

And what are we trusting? JESUS
Like Abraham we are trusting someone else to achieve for us what is impossible for us to achieve on our own.

We are trusting that Jesus will save us.
(25) “He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.”

That verse is all about the total effectiveness of Jesus.

We know why He died.
• He died because He was bearing our sin.
• He “was delivered over because of our transgressions”
• And that we are all aware of.

We say that He did not die for any sin of His own.
But how do you know that?
How do you know that He didn’t have any sin of His own?

The answer: BECAUSE HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD

Now, the resurrection proves that Jesus was innocent
(death couldn’t hold Him)
And since the resurrection proves that Jesus was innocent
It also proves that He did not die for His own sin.

So if He did not die for His own sin then He must have died for someone else’s, correct?

What that means is that when Jesus rose,
It was proof to us that He really did justify us.

He rose because we were justified.
He didn’t rise FOR our justification.
He rose “because of our justification.”

And we, like Abraham, have chosen to simply believe that.
• We believe because God’s word says it.
• We believe regardless of the circumstances around us.
• We believe even though He has yet to return and take us home.
• We believe it because we believe that God can do exactly what He said.

And because of that faith in the work of Christ
We also are credited with righteousness.

And that type of faith (like Abraham’s) is EFFECTIVE.
God responds to that kind of faith with justification.

It is saving faith.

The Forerunner – Part 2
Luke 3:1-20 (7-9)
November 12, 2017

As you know, we are working through Luke’s gospel,
Which we have called “The History of Redemption”

We have here a historian bringing to us “the exact truth”
About the Savior whom God sent into the world.

After a lengthy section outlining the births of John and Jesus,
We have now moved forward to the days of their public ministry
And it all starts with the ministry of John the Baptist.

The first 20 verses of Luke 3
Are dedicated to giving us the ministry of this forerunner.

We started looking at it last week:
#1 JOHN’S CULTURE
Luke 3:1-2

• Luke did what all historians do, he placed our story in its proper setting.
• He showed us who the rulers of the day were (both secular and spiritual)

We learned that John’s ministry began in A.D. 26

But more than that, we learned that it was not a good time to be a Jew.
Israel was under Roman domination
And their spiritual leadership was corrupt to say the least.

John ministered amidst a corrupt and sinful culture.

#2 JOHN’S CALLING
Luke 3:3-6

We noted that John came “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins;”

His sole purpose was to prepare men for the coming Messiah,
And this preparation can be summed up with the word “repentance”

It is a word that literally refers to “a change of mind” but it is such a deep and convicting change of mind that the actions are also changed.

John’s purpose, as prophesied by Isaiah,
Was to reveal to people about the tragic condition of their hearts
And to lead them to a brokenness because of it.

According to Isaiah,
Their hearts could be compared to rough and crooked terrain.
They were full of potholes and bumps, they were crooked and rough.
Their hearts were filled with wickedness and disloyalty, worldliness and corruption.

In short, their heart was no place fit for a king.
John came to confront that and lead people to remorse and sorrow.

• He came to lead spiritually arrogant men to be “poor in spirit”
• He came to lead people who loved their sin into a mourning regarding it.
• He came to lead stubborn people into meekness
• He came to lead immoral people to hunger and thirst for righteousness
• He came to lead hypocritical people to be pure in heart

THIS MORNING we actually get into John’s ministry.

John’s Culture, John’s Calling
#3 JOHN’S CONFRONTATION
Luke 3:7-9

Well, how did you like that?
I’m not sure calling it “confrontation” is a strong enough word.
John sounds down-right mean doesn’t he?

I think it’s safe to say that there aren’t many churches that would have asked him to come “in view of a call”, and not many who would have allowed him to stay long.

John comes across as
Harsh, judgmental, unsympathetic, unloving, mean-spirited, and bold.

John embodies a persona here that would quickly be called “unchristian”
By almost everyone in our culture today.

And yet, might I remind you that, this man was filled with the Holy Spirit?

Now certainly that filling does not indicate that it was impossible for John to sin, or that he couldn’t get off-course. He can, and later while in prison, he will.
But this is not one of those instances.

John is here, filled with God’s Spirit,
Speaking to these people just as God would speak to them.

Back in verse 2 we read that “in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John”

These harsh words are God’s words.
(In Matthew 12 and Matthew 23 they are also Jesus’ words)

John is declaring war on sin.
That is no laughing matter to God,
And therefore it is no laughing matter to John.

I just want you to catch that first, so that the next time someone confronts your sin you won’t immediately assume that they are “unchristian” for doing so.
It may be that they are speaking the very words of God to you.

None the less, here is John’s confrontation.
And if you look at these 3 verses
You’ll notice that there are 5 things John takes issue with.

1) THEIR SINFUL NATURE (7a)
“So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers…”

“brood of vipers” is certainly not an endearing term.
It literally means “sons of snakes”

It is to reveal them as children of the devil as opposed to children of God.
John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

And this is again a very important understanding.
John was not talking to good people who were just doing bad things.

That is the way our society likes to view it isn’t it?
People do the sinful things but instantly, even if they acknowledge what they did was wrong, they will say, “Look, I’m not a bad person.”

We like to have this view that I’m a good person who just made a mistake.

Well that is not how John talked to these people.
These were bad people.

It is a FOUNDATIONAL. Those of you who have been with us on Sunday nights will remember it as the doctrine of TOTAL DEPRAVITY.

We are not a people who are basically good who just do bad things.
Because of Adam we are born as bad people
Who do whatever we can get away with.

Remember Jesus confrontation of the Pharisees who were angry at Him for not making His disciples wash their hands before they ate?
Matthew 15:15-20 “Peter said to Him, “Explain the parable to us.” Jesus said, “Are you still lacking in understanding also? “Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. “These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”

It is important for humanity to understand.
We do not become sinners when we sin, we sin because we are sinners.
A thief doesn’t become a thief after he steals, he steals because he is a thief.

And that is true for all sin and all sinners.
People sin because they are sinful.

Now, that DOESN’T MEAN that everyone sins as much as they could or even that all people sin the same amount.

Some of us have really good restraint systems around us to help us.
I grew up with a dad who had a healthy belief in discipline,
And the type of discipline that brought physical pain.
I had a built in deterrent from doing the sinful things that were in my heart.

Our society has a justice system that brings various forms of punishment and this restrains a lot of people from being as bad as they might be.

But it doesn’t change that the evil is within you.

That is what John points out.

These were not basically good people who were coming to him,
These were children of the devil.

This is so important to our understanding of repentance.
We realize then that what God is calling for is not a change in behavior,
But a change in heart.

This is the very foundation to why Jesus will say
“You must be born again”.

And every person must come to grips with this reality,
Or I can assure you that you will not be saved.
This is the essence of being “poor in spirit”.

As long as you think you’re basically good,
There’s no hope of salvation,
But once you realize that you’re a child of the devil,
Then you’re beginning to get it.

But it has been my observation that most people fail to see that.

Let me show you what I mean.
TURN TO & READ: PSALMS 14

In that Psalm you saw two very distinct types of people described.
• You saw the corrupt fool who doesn’t do good and who is useless.
• And you saw the righteous generation whom God is with.
And when you read that, which one did you decide that you were?

I know how we are prone to read it.
We read about that wicked person as everyone worse than me,
And I am clearly that righteous person who God loves.

But would it surprise you to know that Paul quoted that Psalm about you in Romans 3?

And would it surprise you even more to know that Paul said that the fool in that Psalm was you?

Romans 3:9-12 “What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”

When you read Psalms 14, you are the wicked fool.
Then who is the righteous one? Christ

Look at the next Psalm
TURN TO: PSALMS 15

This Psalm starts with a good question.
“O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill?”

And then you read David’s answer. (2-5)

Now be honest, can you check all those off?
If you said “yes” then you just missed the second one which says that you speak truth in your heart.

The fact is, by those criteria you are not qualified to stand before God.
Who is? Christ

That is why we cling to that precious doctrine of imputation
Whereby we realize that Christ did not come to make us righteous,
But rather Christ came to be our righteousness.

He doesn’t whip me into shape so that God will accept me.
He imputes His alien righteousness to my account.

But the point is, that there is no goodness in my whatsoever.
I was born with a broken and carnal heart, a child of wrath,
A child of the devil, a son of a serpent in desperate need of redemption.

I’m sure John’s people did not appreciate being called “brood of vipers”
But that exactly what they were,
And until they realized that, they were not ready for salvation.
Their Sinful Nature
2) THEIR SUPERFICIAL MOTIVE (7b)
“You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”

In other words John wants to know, WHY DID YOU COME?
It insinuates that even though they came,
They were coming for the wrong reason.

John reveals the RIGHT REASON for coming
And that is “to flee from the wrath to come”,
But according to John that is not why they came.

In other words, we don’t know why they came,
But it wasn’t because God was angry
And they were afraid of His judgment.

So after revealing to them that they were sinful to the core
John now reveals that their motives are all wrong.

And incidentally, Jesus seconded John’s message.
Matthew 11:7-11 “As these men were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? “But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ palaces! “But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. “This is the one about whom it is written, ‘BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY BEFORE YOU.’ “Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

According to Jesus, John was regarded by many as sort of a side show.
“Let’s go out in the wilderness and watch that raving lunatic!”

John’s gospel gives a little background as to why some of them might have been coming.
John 1:19-25 “This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am A VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE STRAIGHT THE WAY OF THE LORD,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.” Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

That passage indicates that many were simply “Heresy Hunters”.
• They’d been sent out there by the Pharisees to get some straight answers as to who this guy thinks he is.

• They were there to hear him hang himself with some blasphemous claim so that they could run back to the Pharisees and report about him.

They WEREN’T COMING because they wanted forgiveness that they might escape God’s wrath,
They WERE COMING because John was quite the site and they wanted to see how the battle between him and the Pharisees was going to play out.

John called them on it.

And if we wanted to we could chase quite a rabbit here as to
Why people attend church
Or why people get baptized,
Or even why they ask for forgiveness.

Israel often went through the motions with horrible motives.

Joel 2:12-13 “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; And rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil.”

Amos 5:21-25 “I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. “Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. “Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. “But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. “Did you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel?”

The point is, they often came with wrong motives
And God who reads the heart, knew it.

When you come before God, you had better make sure it is for God
And not some self-serving purpose of your own.

John confronts their sinful nature; their superficial motive
3) THEIR SHALLOW COMMITMENT (8a)
“Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance,”

The implication here is obvious.
These are a people with no follow through.

John understood how easy it was to say, “I’m sorry”
And how rare it was to see anyone actually change.

This goes back to what we talked about last week.
• There is a great difference between remorse and repentance.
• There is a great difference between attrition and contrition.

• There are plenty of people who feel bad when they get caught, but they don’t really hate their sin.
• There are plenty of people who promise they’ll never do it again to get out of punishment, but you can’t believe them.

They were a people who say things and don’t do them.
And this was Israel.

Hosea 6:1-6 “Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. “He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him. “So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth.” What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud And like the dew which goes away early. Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth. For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”

Psalms 78:34-37 “When He killed them, then they sought Him, And returned and searched diligently for God; And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer. But they deceived Him with their mouth And lied to Him with their tongue. For their heart was not steadfast toward Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant.”

Isaiah 58:3-5 “Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’ Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, And drive hard all your workers. “Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist. You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high. “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the LORD?”

They had a shallow commitment to say the least,
And John says they still do.

He was not interested in some group of people who were going to run out there and get a little token holy water so that they could feel all better about themselves as they ran back to their sin.

• If you’re really interested in having your sinful heart made clean…
• If you’re really interested in escaping the coming wrath of God…
• If you’re really serious about repenting…
THEN PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS – PROVE IT!
CHANGE!!!

NOW LOOK, I understand that there will always be times when we fall short of our desires to walk holy and obediently before God.
After all, we do still all live in the flesh,
And perfection is not yet within our grasp.

So I AM NOT SAYING that if you make a commitment to Christ
And then fail that somehow you are a hypocrite.

The person John is confronting is the person who is making a verbal commitment but who doesn’t have the slightest intention of changing.
It’s not that they tried and failed it’s that they never even intended to try.

David prayed about his enemies in Psalm 5
Psalms 5:9 “There is nothing reliable in what they say; Their inward part is destruction itself. Their throat is an open grave; They flatter with their tongue.”

(incidentally another Psalm Paul quoted about you in Romans 3)

But David said you can’t reason with these people
Because you can’t believe anything they say.

The tragedy is when God feels the same way
About the commitments we make to Him.

John the Baptist was confronting that.
• He was confronting their Sinful Nature (they had wicked hearts)
• He was confronting their Superficial Motive (they came for the wrong reasons)
• He was confronting their Shallow Commitment (they were all talk)

4) THEIR SHAKY THEOLOGY (8b)
“and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.”

The belief was based upon God’s promise to Abraham.
(We talked about it last Sunday night as God’s Promise)

Genesis 15:5 “And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”

• Then Abraham asked God how he could know for certain that his descendants were going to inherit this land.
• And that’s when God arranged the covenant with Abraham and passed between the pieces saying:

Genesis 15:13-16 “God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. “But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions. “As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. “Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”

And the Jews banked on that.

Here was John railing on about repentance and all the while these Jews were thinking to themselves, “It really doesn’t matter, after all God already promised that Abraham’s descendants are going to inherit the promise.”

So while God might prefer that we repent,
It’s really a moot point because He already made the promise.

They failed to understand that this promise was spiritual not genetic.
Abraham’s descendants are those who are faith,
Not those who can genetically trace their lineage back to Abraham.

Galatians 3:7 “Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.”

John 8:39-40 “They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. “But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do.”

Beyond that, you DON’T become a child of God by being born in a Christian home. You become a child of God by being “born again”

John 1:12-13 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

These Jews didn’t understand that.

They thought God had promised descendants like the stars of the sky
And so it didn’t really matter if they repented,
God was sort of stuck with them.

To which John said:
“for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.”

What does that mean?
• It means if you think it’s just a numbers thing then let me assure you that God could kill every one of you and still fulfill His promise to Abraham.

• Creating descendants is not that hard, God can do it right now out of these rocks.

• You are in no way off the hook, your theology is shaky to say the least.

It’s like people today who think they are going to heaven because:
• They were born in a Christian home…
• They “asked Jesus into their heart”…
• They got baptized…
• They go to church…
• They are American…

But they have never demonstrated the faith that Abraham demonstrated.
They are trusting in the wrong things.

This crowd was in danger before God because they were sinful people but because they thought they were fine regardless they never brought God any kind of real commitment.

And John is calling them on it.
He confronts their sinful nature; their superficial motive; their shallow commitment; their shaky theology
5) THEIR SORRY DISCERNMENT (9)
“Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Now this was a simple analogy.
If you don’t understand it, let me read to you the time when Jesus will use it.

Luke 13:1-9 “Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. “Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. “And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ “And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.'”

John’s implication is that the man responded to the vineyard-keeper by saying, “Fine I’ll hold off on chopping it down, but I’m going to leave the axe right here.”

The idea is that this tree is in imminent danger.
It is out of chances…
If things don’t change its judgment will come soon…

And in telling that parable John says, “INDEED the axe is already laid…”

The implication is that the axe was there, but they didn’t realize it.
They were in grave danger but were oblivious to it.

They were a people under God’s judgment and didn’t even know it.

AND LISTEN FOLKS; THAT SHOULD REALLY GET YOUR ATTENTION.
Do you realize that it is possible to be in grave danger before God and not even know it?

Look at all the people in the gospels who Jesus said will be shocked when He shuts the door and says, “Depart from Me for I never knew you.”

THEY WERE IN DANGER AND DIDN’T EVEN KNOW IT.

• Well how do you tell?
• How do you know if you’re under the wrath of God?
• How do you know if the axe is laid at the root of your tree?

Poverty? Poor health?
No, temporal things like that have never been the barometer
By which we measure God’s displeasure.

TURN TO: ROMANS 1:18

You notice here that we are dealing with
PEOPLE WHO ARE UNDER THE REVEALED WRATH OF GOD.

They are under God’s wrath
Because they have failed to honor God as God or to give Him thanks,
But have instead suppressed His truth and remained in their unrighteousness.

Let me show you what their wrath looked like.
(They are under judgment and don’t even know it)

(21-23) Futile speculations and a darkened foolish heart
As evidenced by the fact that they do not glorify the true God of heaven but instead seek to redefine God into something they want.

(24) People who live impure lives which results in a dishonored body
(which is to say they use their bodies outside of God’s intended purposes)

(26) People who have immoral and degrading passions to do things which are unnatural to God’s original design and thus receive their due penalty

(28) People who are given to improper actions because they don’t think straight.
Like:
Unrighteous deeds Hateful toward God
Wicked deeds Rebellion
Greed Arrogance
Evil Boasting
Envy Looking for new ways to do evil
Murder Disobeying their parents
Strife Don’t get why it’s wrong
Deception Can’t trust them
Anger Unloving (selfish)
Gossip No mercy
Slander

And they don’t see anything wrong with doing those things
Even though God says they will be punished for it.

These are people who have the axe laid right at the root of the tree.
It doesn’t matter how many times they go to church, it doesn’t matter if they have Christian parents, it doesn’t matter if they’ve been baptized.

Their lives demonstrate that they are under the wrath of God,
And the tragedy is that they don’t even know it.

That was the people John was dealing with too, and he confronted it.
• People who were sinful in their heart
• People who had faulty motives
• People who were all talk and had no real commitment to God
• People who had bad theology and thought they were safe for the wrong reasons
• People who were under the wrath of God and didn’t even know it

AND THAT IS EVERYONE WITHOUT CHRIST!!!

John came to these people and confronted them.
Perhaps this morning he confronted you too.

The answer then is to REPENT and FALL ON CHRIST!
• Hate your sin for how it offends God
• Trust that on the cross Jesus offered payment for sin
• Ask Christ to forgive you for it and cleanse you from it.
• Throw your helplessness upon Jesus as your only hope
• Ask Him for the righteousness that only He can provide

THAT BROKEN STATE IS PRECISELY WHAT JOHN IS SHOOTING FOR.
We’ll carry on with him next Sunday morning.