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.
