Preparing the Way: A Call To Repentance, Part 2

Matthew 3:1–12 ESV

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’ ” Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Prayer

Today we are continuing our message from last week.

“foresaw that the two great plagues of His Church upon earth would always be the doctrine of the Pharisees and the doctrine of the Sadducees.”

J. C. Ryle, Warnings to the Churches (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1967), 51.

“The sins of the flesh are bad, but they are the least bad of all sins. All the worst pleasures are purely spiritual: the pleasure of putting other people in the wrong, of bossing and patronising and spoiling sport, and back-biting; the pleasures of power, of hatred.

For there are two things inside me, competing with the human self which I must try to become. They are the Animal self, and the Diabolical self. The Diabolical self is the worse of the two. That is why a cold, self-righteous prig who goes regularly to church may be far nearer to hell than a prostitute. But, of course, it is better to be neither.”

C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (Glasgow: Collins, 1955), 92.

Everyone experiences fire, the question is: will you experience the fire of judgement or purification?

Preparing the Way

“Elijah Preparing the Way” (Matthew 3:1-6)

Last week we considered the man, JTB.

We saw how he was the Elijah who is to come.

We saw how he brought a message of repentance because the rule and reign of God had come near in Jesus Christ.

The Kingdom of Heaven is here; therefore, You must turn from your sin and trust the Savior.

Matthew 3:5–6 ESV

Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

His message of repentance was preparing the way for the Lord Jesus.

This week we are going to see his message applied to a particular group of people.

Matthew 3:7 (ESV)

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism...

Opposition to the Way

“Fire of Judgement” (Matthew 3:7-10)

This is the first encounter in the book of Matthew with these spiritual leaders.

If you remember,

Magi’s arrival - ignored the Messiah’s birth.

Now the group that John is going to rebuke here need more clarification.

Who were the Pharisee’s and Sadducee’s?

The Pharisee’s consisted a group that referred to themselves as “the separate ones”

Set apart from the rest of society.

Strict adherence to the law with a desire to put it into practice.

The Sadducee’s consisted of a group that were likely descended from the priest “Zadok” in the OT.

They were the religious elites, they likely had much power and authority.

Prided themselves with keeping the traditions of that priesthood of Zadok.

This group, though they are often mentioned together did not like each other.

Why would this lead JTB to call them, “You brood of vipers!”?

The Pharisee’s and Sadducees were the religious leaders who lived a hypocritical lifestyle.

This is the reason Jesus for the destructive teaching of the Pharisee’s...

Luke 12:1–3 (ESV)

“Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.

Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.

These religious teachers were hypocrites.

They burdened the people with laws that they themselves did not keep.

“You Pharisees, who are so conceited of your own righteousness, that you think you are in no danger of hell; and you Sadducees, that think there is none.”

When you hear the Pharisee’s and Sadducee’s...

you should not think about people entirely different from yourself.

If you just hear them and think, “There are all the enemies of Jesus!”, we miss the point.

We should NOT see ourselves as entirely different from the Pharisee’s or scribes. For instance...

Have you ever said "I'll pray for you" and didn't actually pray?

Have you ever judged others for their judgmental attitudes and actions?

Have you ever said "I forgive you" but continued telling others how you've been wronged?

Have you ever used harsh or unkind words to your family on the way to church, but then been friendly to everyone at church?

Have you ever uttered the words, "Your kingdom come, your will be done," while having no intention of submitting to God in an area of your life?

Matthew 3:7 ESV

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

Seed of the Serpent

“The Wrath to Come”

He literally calls them “Offspring of snakes”.

If you’re paying attention you realize that John is picking up an age-old conflict between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.

He calls the Pharisee’s and Sadducee’s “Seeds of the serpent!”

“You think you’re in the line of the seed of the woman, but you’re not!”

“You think you’re standing on the right side of the fence, but you’re wrong!”

Matthew 3:7 ESV

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

When the text says that they were “coming to his baptism” Matthew wants to see that they were in opposition to him baptizing.

We get a glimpse a few verses down what these leaders were thinking to themselves....

Matthew 3:9 ESV

And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.

These religious leaders have apparently been saying that “Abraham is our father!” referring to the fact that they thought their ethnicity would save them.

This is the kind of argument Jesus gets into with these men in John’s gospel.

John 8:39–40 ESV

They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did.

They were arguing in other places that Abraham is their father

And they thought this would be able to save them.

They misunderstood the nature of salvation and the nature of God’s plan for the world.

John corrects them and says that God could even from these stones raise up children of Abraham.

His point is to show these ethnically blind Pharisee’s that God could and would bring His children into the fold (John 10:16-17).

“upon this many of the Pharisees and Sadducees, who expected to be treated with greater respect, were so provoked, that they turned their backs, and refused to be baptized (Compare Luke 7:29–30; Matt. 21:25.).”

The “Blank Bible”: Part 1 & Part 2 (Matthew)

John scathingly asks them “Who warned you!?”

The warning was to flee from the wrath to come.

What does John mean by wrath?

The wrath is God’s wrath toward sin.

Colossians 3:5–6 ESV

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.

It’s for these things that God’s wrath is coming.

And these Pharisee’s and Sadducee’s are standing right in the way of God’s wrath coming for sin.

Ephesians 5:6 ESV

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

Application

There should be at this point a chilling reality we need to keep at the forefront of our minds.

The wrath of God is coming on all the son’s of disobedience.

Matthew–Luke Comment

No one avoids God’s judgment because of his ancestry. No one is saved by one’s parents’ faith, nor does a position as a spiritual leader save. Indeed, religious leaders are prone to the self-righteousness and moral display common to hypocrisy.

Children

This means you can grow up with Christian parents and assume that everything is “Ok” between you and God, and not really know Christ.

Parents

You have two choices with your children...

1. be a hypocrite.

2. seek your children’s forgiveness.

“When my children hear godliness out of my mouth and they see wickedness in my life, then I point them to heaven, but I lead them to hell"

-Alistair Begg

What is needed to save them from the wrath to come?

Matthew 3:7–8 (ESV)

“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

Repentance.

Genuine repentance that will prepare the way for the Messiah.

Sincere Repentance

“Bear Fruit”

To bear fruit in keeping with repentance means that their repentance should do something.

There should be fruit coming forth from the repentance.

Institutes of the Christian Religion Chapter II: Of Faith. The Definition of It. Its Peculiar Properties

The human heart has so many recesses for vanity, so many lurking places for falsehood, is so shrouded by fraud and hypocrisy, that it often deceives itself.

They were deceived and John tells them to bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

Take for instance two men get drunk at the bar.

Both are Christians.

Nobody saw them get drunk.

Drunk #1 - Upon sinning in this way was convicted of his sin and sought to confess his sin to a friend.

Drunk #2 - Rather than confessing his sin continues to hide it until his wife saw the

Matthew 3:10 ESV

Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Judgement is Coming

“The Tree is Coming Down”

John is warning them that the axe is ready to cut you off from the blessing of Abraham because you are not bearing fruit like God designed.

Since they are not bearing fruit, the kingdom will be handed over to those who will make it to bear fruit.

There is a sense of urgency here.

Everyone experiences fire, the question is: will you experience the fire of judgement or purification?

Matthew 3:11 ESV

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

The Way Revealed

“Fire of Purification” (Matthew 3:11-12)

Notice the way John compares his ministry with that of Jesus’

The Worth of the Son

“Unworthy to be a Slave”

Remember what Jesus says of JTB...

Matthew 11:11 (ESV)

Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.

Jesus says JTB is the greatest but John says that Jesus is exponentially greater than him.

To the point that John says he is not even worthy to pick up his sandals.

He is not even worthy to do the job of the lowliest slave.

Matthew 3:11 ESV

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Holy Spirit

“Regeneration”

John is picking up here the two distinct kinds of baptisms.

Matthew 3:11 (ESV)

“I baptize you with water for repentance,

Outward

Uses water to accomplish it.

John’s baptism is distinctively different from Jesus’ baptism because of the agent doing the baptism.

Matthew 3:11 (ESV)

but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Jesus’ baptism was first an inward transformation through the Holy Spirit.

Notice something as well....

This is NOT what you do, this baptism of the Holy Spirit is something that Jesus Himself works in YOU

But this transformation has a certain quality to it....

Fire

“Purification”

The quality of the transformation is that of purity and holiness.

Notice though that the HOLINESS is the FRUIT and NOT the ROOT.

This is often so backward from the way we speak of it.

We often speak of it as being holy in order to get the transformation.

Where the opposite is actually the case.

Application

This means that you and I don’t need a little moral clean-up job.

We need an inward heart reorientation.

We need as Ezekiel says for the Spirit to make dry bones comes to life again.

Romans 5:9–11 ESV

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

What will be the result of this transformation in us?

Jesus is coming to plant the seed of the Word so that a harvest of righteousness will grow!

Matthew 3:11–12 ESV

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Bringing in the Harvest

“The Great Harvester”

John now picks up an agrarian illustration to explain what “the Coming One” will accomplish.

He will bring the harvest into His barn.

{Image of Wheat and Chaff}

The wheat will be gathered, and the chaff will be destroyed.

The wheat: represent the useable portion, the grain

The chaff: represents the outer shell that holds the wheat.

The “Coming One” will do two main actions harvest and destroy.

The harvesting of grain consists of clearing the harvest floor by gathering the wheat into the barn.

Gathering the Wheat

The nature of the wheat that Jesus will be gathering is not something the wheat themselves created.

He is NOT saying here that Jesus is gathering wheat that simply make’s themselves wheat.

Matthew 3:9 ESV

And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.

The mystery and the beauty of this passage is that God did exactly as JTB says.

Matthew 2. John’s Message (3:7–12)

The God who made Adam from the dust, and brought forth Israel from Sarah’s dead womb, could as easily have made Israel from stones.

He raised up dead stony hearts to become children of Abraham.

Israel is not special in and of themselves, they are special because God has a special relationship with them.

The Gentiles who were once those with “stony hearts” would be the ones raised up as children of Abraham (Ezek 36:26-27).

God would transform the Gentiles stony hearts with hearts of flesh by placing His Spirit within them.

This is the same fulfillment we see Paul discuss later in Galatians.

Galatians 3:6–9 ESV

just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

We are now considered to be sons of Abraham not because of our ethnic background but because we are those who have faith.

Our faith shows that we are sons of Abraham.

The Pharisee’s though they had the correct linage did not understand that God was not the God of ethnic partiality.

He is the God who walks with His people by faith.

The children of Abraham are those who cling to Christ by faith.

Everyone experiences fire, the question is: will you experience the fire of judgement or purification?

Destroying the Stubble

The destroying consists of burning the chaff because it is useless.

Malachi 4:1 ESV

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.

It is interesting to note here that the gathering of the harvest does not happen in this age.

Jesus explains later to his disciples that the kind of harvest he is bringing.

Matthew 13:37–43 ESV

He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

To place this within the context of JTB, JTB was preparing the way for the Son of Man who was coming to sow the good seed.

Jesus will be the One who declares the kingdom of God, and the good seed will be those who are of the kingdom.

JTB is declaring that Jesus is the One who is bringing the judgment of God...

in His first coming by taking our judgment for us,

and in His second coming by judging those who are “the weeds” who “causes of sin and all law-breakers”.

JTB declares at this moment in history of the judgement which is coming.

Everyone experiences fire, the question is: will you experience the fire of judgement or purification?