Flee from the Wrath to Come
Notes
Transcript
Intro: Easter is a time of wonderful worship when we as Christians celebrate the glorious Resurrection of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. He has put death to rest as He defeated sin on Calvary and rose again to life on the third day from the tomb. And because of His Resurrection, we can sing the words of many great hymns such as The Old Rugged Cross, Christ Arose, My Redeemer Lives. But there is a new song out by Mercy Me, “Oh Death”;
Oh death, I will not be afraid, In the end, you will lose, I will dance on your grave with the One who buried you
Oh death, I will not be afraid, In the end, you will lose, I will dance on your grave with the One who buried you
You ain't nothin' but a stone that my Savior rolled away, Set you straight and set me free, Oh death, you are dead to me!
You ain't nothin' but a stone that my Savior rolled away, Set you straight and set me free, Oh death, you are dead to me!
“You ain’t nothin’ but a stone that my Savior rolled away”, is an awesome line with such a great truth! But as we think about what Christ has done for us on that first Easter, I want us to go back to the beginning of His earthly ministry, to the day He came to be baptized of John the Baptist, so we can truly appreciate His victory over our sin and the pangs of death.
Text; Mt. 3:7
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Prayer
For over 400 years, the nation of Israel had not heard the voice of a prophet. Then John appeared and a great revival took place. John was the last and greatest prophet of the Old Testament and the first to appear on the scene as the prophet of the coming Messiah. His message was a message of judgment leading to a baptism of repentance.
1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.’ ”
4 Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.
5 Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him
6 and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.
John’s baptism fulfilled two purposes; it prepared the nation for their coming Messiah, and it presented their Messiah to the nation. And many people confessed their sins and were baptized. But the true depth of the Easter is found in our text this morning as John spoke to the Pharisees and Sadducees, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”
1. Brood of Vipers; 7a
1. Brood of Vipers; 7a
If you were wanting to win someone to Christ, you probably don’t want to start out by calling them a “Brood of Vipers”
Brood- offspring, signifying descendants or children
Vipers- small but very poisonous desert snakes [John was familiar with them living out in the wilderness]
Calling the Pharisees and Sadducees a “brood of vipers” pointed out the danger of their religious hypocrisy. Like the desert viper, they often appeared to be harmless, but their brand of godliness was venomous and deadly.
The Pharisees and Sadducees were the two major religious groups in Israel at the time of Christ.
The Pharisees were more religiously minded [traditionalists, Baptists, Catholics]
The Sadducees on the other hand were more politically minded [liberals, United Methodists, Presbyterians USA]. In either case, each group were hypocrites in their faith.
16 They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.
Why did John accept other people in a baptism of repentance but not them? Because, all they wanted was information, not transformation. Like some people today, they don’t mind attending a church service as long as it doesn’t affect how they live their lives.
It is dangerous for people to believe that because they were born into a Christian family, and maybe even baptized in a Christian church, their status before God is secure. This kind of thinking is the norm in western society, where “Christian” is a family or social identification [vs. 9-10]
In Scripture baptism is not a sign that you have been born into a covenant family; instead, it’s a sign indicating that regardless of what family you’ve been born into, you must personally repent, confess your sins, and put your faith in the Lord.
It makes a difference of how you live your life and whom you choose to live life in, because John belts out a warning to all people; “Flee the wrath to come!”
2. The Wrath to Come;
2. The Wrath to Come;
Every ungodly man has the wrath of God abiding upon him. It will fall upon man at his death and then on the Day of Judgment and will last forever. That wrath is on man because of his SIN!
If God is a God to be believed and trusted, it is necessary that “the wrath to come” must take place! God cannot allow sin to go unpunished!!
What kind of holy and just God would treat the honest and dishonest the same, the sober and the drunk, the truthful and the liar, the merciful and unmerciful, the pure and the wicked.
Just as there are certain laws that govern His creation, laws that govern a society, there is law that governs sin and it’s necessity that it must be punished!
11 God is a just judge, And God is angry with the wicked every day.
36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
Charles Spurgeon; If you take poison, it will kill you; or if you indulge in drunkenness, or if you take almost any form of disease, it will bring pain and mischief to you,—so, sin must bring upon you the wrath of God, it cannot be otherwise.
3. Flee the Wrath;
3. Flee the Wrath;
The great news of Easter is that no man has to be judged in their sin. We have the ability to “flee the wrath to come”
Flee- escape danger, run away to safety; to make the straight route
8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. 9 There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”
10 So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her.
11 But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, 12 that she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.
Too many people today are taking too much time fleeing sin and getting to the Savior. This is not to be a casual walk, but a break-neck run to Jesus. Why? Because Jesus took God’s wrath for us!
4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
Jesus took our place as guilty sinners so we could take a place of acceptance before a Holy God!
Close;
19 “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.
20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate,
21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’
25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.
26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’
27 “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house,
28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’
29 Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’
30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’
31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ”
Judgment is real, and Jesus did rise from the dead!
Which will you choose this morning?
God’s wrath or God’s Son?
