Luke 3:7-18 "The Message of John"

Let’s Pray!

Good Morning, Calvary Chapel Lake City!

Thank you to those of you who prayed for 7 year old Faith… the Granddaughter of Greg & Yvonne.

About a week ago Faith had a brain aneurism and was life flighted to Riley Hospital.

But, we praise God… for He has showed Himself strong… answering many prayers from around the world.… and Faith is making tremendous progress…

Please continue to pray… she will remain in the hospital for a few weeks… and the hope is her body heals without additional procedures.

Well, let’s open our Bibles to Luke 3. Luke 3:7-18 today.

Having now studied through the early years of Christ in Luke Chapters 1 & 2…

With the turn of the page, we come to Luke 3… which advances us to when Jesus was about age 30…

The year was around 29 A.D. as Luke established by citing many Roman, Herodian, and Jewish Leaders in vv 1-2…

Leaders known to be cruel, brutal and corrupt… it was a dark time of political and religious oppression.

And, it was at this time… that some 400 years of silence since Malachi… was broken… as V2 states, “the word of God came to John...”

And, Luke 3 begins by sharing the ministry Jesus’ forerunner… John the Baptist.

John came in the spirit and power of Elijah as Gabriel stated in Luke 1:17…

John had a similar spirit of zeal, boldness, and anointing as Elijah.

Both lived ascetic lives in the wilderness and wore a prophetic cloak of coarse hair.

John had similar power to confront Israel who was off course…

And, John came onto the scene addressing the Jews… and letting them know their long awaited Messianic King had arrived… and a first century offering of the Kingdom of heaven was extended…

Seen in the words… “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven was at hand.”

John called Israel to repent… to think differently about how they thought they would enter the kingdom of heaven…

Neither their Jewish heritage or outward observance of the Law would earn them a place in the kingdom.

The King had arrived… and they need to look to Him… and trust in Him… not in themselves.

But, unfortunately, the leaders and Nation of Israel (minus a faithful remnant)… rejected “The Message of John”… our sermon title for today.

In reverence for God’s word, if you are able, please stand as I read.

Luke 3:7–18 But let’s read just vv7-9 to set the scene… “Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 9 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Praise God for His word. Please be seated.

So, here we have John the Baptist in action… what a scene…

And imagine the man…

Matthew 3:4 describes John as being “… clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.”

So… here’s this rugged wild man living out in the desert… probably had a big beard… with a little honey and locust legs stuck in it…

Which may be me soon… I’m growing my beard out.

Eating locusts is foreign to us… some scholars suggest John ate Carob beans… as the Carob tree is known as the locust bean tree.

But by def. “Locust” in Matt 3:4 is “particularly that species which especially infests oriental countries, stripping fields and trees.”

And it was permissible to eat locusts according to Lev 11:22.

Today… you can find recipes for locust dishes. Chef Moshe Basson, founder of the posh Eucalyptus restaurant in Jerusalem… states locusts can be added to boiling broth or a tasty soup. They can be stir-fried, deep-fried, roasted, boiled or dried. All kinds of yummy options.

But, John… he was a purist.

No extra seasoning… or sauces… no truffle oil or microgreens… no “elevated” plating.

Just locusts with a touch of wild honey.

So, here is John… wearing his camel haired cloak… the coarse haired cloak of a prophet as described in Zech 13:4.

And, the multitudes in V7 of Luke 3 are mostly Jewish…

Matthew tells us that “Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him...” (Matt 3:5)… so mostly Jewish, plus some Roman soldiers per V 14.

And, I wonder about John’s approach… was he just waiting for them and then once there was a great crowd he addressed them all?

Or did he just jump out from behind a rock and yell… “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

Scaring them half to death? Probably the former.

But… what’s truly amazing about this scene… is John was out is the desert… and people were coming in droves to see him.

They were exiting Jerusalem… where there stood the Temple… the epicenter of Jewish worship.

Jerusalem… the seat of the High Priest… and the only place a Jew was permitted to sacrifice.

And… they left Jerusalem… and their cities… and their homes… their comfort… to see John…

… who was out in the wilderness… the desert…

John had no advertising… no social media posts…

But, thousands head out to see John…

Which was not some casual stroll, but a trek down steep… rugged wilderness roads… about a 10 hour walk… roughly 23 miles.

… to the Jordan River (specifically to “Bethany beyond the Jordan” according to John 1:28… just east of Jerusalem on the other side of the Jordan)…

AND WHY? Why did they go?

Because people recognized that a man was out there… who for miles around was preaching the only authentic message from God.

Something historic… and prophetic… and authentic was was happening in the desert…

Contrasted with what the people were tired of in the city… hypocritical religious leaders… who looked good on the outside, but only wanted to feed their own bellies.

They were tired of the show… and the long emotive prayers… to be seen by men.

They were tired of trekking to Jerusalem to worship God at the feasts… but being raked across the coals financially… being ripped off by moneychangers and priests… before they even stepped foot into the temple.

But, in the desert… a voice was crying out in the wilderness… announcing the kingdom of heaven had come… prepare yourselves for the King.

People wanted reality. They wanted truth. And, they were willing to inconvenience themselves and travel far for truth…

Because religion left them dry… and broke… and they could bear it no more.

There are many teachers today who will not boldly speak the truth of the word of God, but instead only tickle ears with fanciful words… and mysterious concepts.

Many sermons have become motivating feel good speeches… the NEGLECT speaking a word about sin or hell…

They ignore standards of holiness that God has set forth… preferring to please the culture rather than God.

That add works to justification. That pile on shame and guilt… neglecting grace and the work of the Holy Spirit.

Sadly though… in the last days… many will gravitate to teachers and messages that affirm the flesh… at neglect of the truth.

In Paul’s swan song… some of his final written words to Timothy warned of this day, but Paul directed Timothy to… 2 Timothy 4:2–4 “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”

And while we live in these last days where many people today want messages that appeal to their flesh… and agendas… and affirm sin…

… and while many people today cannot bear with healthy teaching…

There remains a faithful remnant… willing to trek out to the desert to hear a word from the Lord.

They are searching for faithful Pastors… even wild men who preach truth…

They are tired of the show… and they will travel and sacrifice to hear one who teaches sound doctrine…

And they will suffer religion… and fables NO longer.

I believe our church continues to grow… NOT because of my good looks or smooth speech… but because people hunger for the bold truth of the word of God.

For we live is a day similar to John… the King is coming… time is short.

Now… picking up in V7… Let’s look closer at the message of John.

V7 “Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”

So… John wasn’t what you would call a “seeker sensitive prophet”… he wasn’t concerned about offending people.

John scans the horizon… and Luke tells us he sees a multitude of Jews… the general public… who NOTE “came out to be baptized”…

These people were coming to get baptized by John… and surprisingly… John harshly addresses them saying… “You family of snakes! Who warned you to escape the coming punishment?”

This was not as surprising a greeting to the other groups Matthew highlights… Pharisees and Sadducees… Matthew 3:7 states, “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?”

These were two groups that clashed and debated one another… BUT collaborated when it served their interests…

And, no doubt they felt threatened and a loss of control… seeing a great crowd heading away from Jerusalem to the desert.

Of these three groups:

The Multitudes were Jews in general.

Pharisees were the religious elite… a middle class scholarly group… who laid many religious burdens on the people… the same group who in Matt 23 Jesus pronounced 7 Woes upon for their hypocrisy.

They came out to question what was happening as observed in John 1…

Along with Sadducees… the aristocrats and priestly elite… they were in charge of the temple and its services… thus they were very wealthy… it was their racket that Jesus would interrupt when he twice flipped tables and drove out those who bought and sold in the Temple for making it a den of thieves.

I was texting a guy the other day about this group, and my talk-to-text translated Sadducees as “Sad Disease.”

Which I thought was humorous and rather fitting, so I left it.

And no doubt they would be sad… hearing this greeting from John… Vipers!…

This was certainly foreign to their ears… NO ONE spoke to the priests and Levites like this.

But, John knew how to spot a desert snake with all the time he spent in the desert.

I imagine the crowd gasped in shock… a few of them probably chuckled.

But Matthew was the Gospel writer quick to note these moments… he was sensitive to hypocrites… he used the word hypocrites or hypocrisy 13 of the 17x in the Gospels…

And here they come… mixed in with the multitudes… … Pharisees, Sadducees… desert snakes…

And as Matthew zooms in on the religious leaders… he wants his readers to know the Jewish elite… known hypocrites for their corruption and compromise… were being rebuked by John…

Matthew also notes the Pharisees and Sadducees were just “coming to his baptism”… just witnessing, but not baptized.

In contrast… Luke wrote of multitude that they “came out to be baptized”…

Luke 7:29-30 also makes a point to mention tax collectors were baptized by John, but the Pharisees and lawyers were not baptized.

The multitudes… including known sinners, like tax collectors… and they humbled themselves and got baptized, but the self-righteous did not. Which is typical.

Now, it’s quite understandable why John would call the Pharisees and Sadduccees a “brood of vipers”, but why ordinary people who were coming to get baptized by John?

From the text… we’ll see that John identifies some of them holding to Nationalism… “We have Abraham as our father”…

Some people think… even today… that ancestry will positionally save them…

But it doesn’t… they need to repent… meaning change their mind of that thinking… that is an error.

Today, you are not justified before God if your Grandfather… or father was a Pastor… or if you grew up in a Christian home… you must believe personally in Jesus Christ.

So, John corrects the people… you think you’re saved because you’re Abraham’s descendents?

NO! You’re a brood of vipers.

You’re a family of poisonous snakes.

J. Vernon McGee said once, “I do not recommend using John’s unusual introduction for a sermon, but I do think it would be appropriate in many churches.”

Good word Dr. McGee.

John’s question in asking these people who came out to be baptized… “Who warned you to flee the coming wrath?” … tells us that John was able to discern that while people were doing the right thing (a baptism of repentance)… their motives seem off.

Woven into the conscience and DNA of every person is belief in God… even if they suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

Paul said in Romans “what may be know of God is manifest (or visible) in them, for God has shown it to them.”

And these people are coming motivated to escape judgment… for self-preservation… like snakes scurrying away from a brush fire.

Others may have been simply curious…

You know how it is when a huge crowd is in motion… and they pick up people along the way… who are just going along with the crowd…

John would have recognized a superficial motive in them.

So… for various reasons… John gives them a wake up call… a coming judgment was on the horizon… it was time to stop the facade…

It was time to stop being spiritually complacent with acts of religion… the King was present… it was high time to be real.

And so he gives them a verbal jolt… to wake them up.

And, look… if you’re spiritually complacent today… it’s high time to wake up.

Israel’s a nation after almost 2,000 years of being displaced… and this sets the stage for the end times to begin…

You know… we’re reading about a guy… John… whom Jesus said, “among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist.”

He was the prophet that the prophets Isaiah and Malachi prophesied about.

And he was the last of those OT prophets… according to Luke 16:16 “The law and the prophets were until John.”

We read in V2 “the word of God came to John”… and that’s the only time that phrase is used in the NT…

But 96x in the OT we read the phrase “the word of the LORD (or God) came to”… some 19 prophets of Old… 20 including John… for this was a common phrase specific to OT prophets.

Rev 19:10 states “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

The purpose of prophecy is to bear testimony to the person and work of Jesus Christ…

NOT to tell people, “I see you riding on a unicorn on a rainbow.” That’s prophetic abuse.

If prophecy doesn’t testify of Christ and bring Him glory… through our hearts and minds being drawn to Him… it’s false prophecy. Don’t buy what they’re selling. It’s snake oil.

John was the greatest of the OT prophets because He was the only one who could say, “Behold the Lamb of God.”

He ran before to announce Messiah… all the other prophets pointed to… and prophesied of Messiah’s Coming, but they never saw Him.

And John was the greatest prophet… but we read nothing about John performing miracles… or calling fire down from heaven…

Which are powerful… and I believe in gifts and miracles, but there’s greater power in pointing people to Jesus… don’t forget that… and don’t place all your emphasis on gifts.

And while John was the greatest prophet… profoundly Jesus said… Luke 7:28 “but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

John died before the cross… resurrection, ascension and the New Covenant.

It’s humbling to think that Kingdom Citizens…have greater advantages than the prophets of old, but we do.

And this should make demons and Satan shudder. You have the in-dwelling Holy Spirit…

And a Gospel message that the gate of Hell cannot prevail against.

So… what excuse do we have to be spiritually complacent?

I like hobbies more? I like sports more? I work a ton. I’m busy with projects.

There’s no good excuse to be spiritually complacent.…

We sit here and wonder… how could John call the multitude a ‘brood of Vipers.’

I wonder what would he say to many… NOT all, but many in the church today?

I’m sure it wouldn’t be smooth words and flattering speech.

We have greater spiritual capacity with the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit…

We have greater spiritual power to be witnesses to Jesus Christ with the Baptism with the Holy Spirit…

Jesus ascended and gave spiritual gifts to men…

Israel is a Nation… we can read the signs of last days, as clear as we read the weather app… and it all testifies that the King is coming…

But what will He find when He comes?

Will He find faith? Will He find servants busy about His business?

Being part of the body of Christ… contributing.

Wisely investing what He gave before He departed?

We’ve got so many spiritual advantages… but do we bear fruit?

And, this is what John presses into as he continues to address the multitudes.

He didn’t just insult them and leave them there… now he instructs them.

V8 “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.”

John’s message was “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

So, he’s telling them, if you’re truly out here to repent… to change your mind about the kingdom of heaven… to recognize that you need to think differently about how to enter the kingdom…

And no one was exempt… the same message went forth to the leaders and common people alike.

Entering the kingdom was NOT by keeping the law and works, but by trusting the King who had come.

And then… the proof would be seen in the fruit.

Your change of mind should be visible. There should be some evidence or fruit of this change in thinking.

And, this command of John is truly sound council even for us today.

There should be spiritual progress in our lives after we change our mind from unbelief to belief in Christ.

Our actions… our lifestyle… our personal character… it should stop reflecting the world and reflect Christ.

And, John will drive these point home with the crowd…

But, what an advantage we have over them. After Pentecost… a whole new dispensation started called the Church Age…

It was marked by Jesus Ascending to heaven, so the Holy Spirit would descend...

Jesus said in John 16:7 “Nevertheless 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 depart, I will send Him to you.”

And Jesus said the Helper… Gk. paraklētos… the Holy Spirit… will guide believers into all truth.

He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me.

He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.

And, what a great advantage we have being in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit.

I don’t know about you, but I need a guide… because I can find myself on the wrong path.

I’m not who I used to be, but I haven’t arrive either.

As long as any of us are breathing… we need a guide because we all have a tendency to drift.

“we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.” (Heb 2:1)

Our walk must be marked by: Intentionality… consistency… discipline… sacrifice… tearing down high places… eyes affixed on Jesus… and His word.

Abiding in Jesus and bearing much fruit.

For the Jews in John’s day… they took good steps to trek into the wilderness and get baptized by John.

Which was not Christian baptism, but a baptism identifying with a change of mind…

A good step, but more was needed…

And John would point to the Coming One… preparing hearts to receive the King…

And, people were humbling themselves in response… people were confessing their sins according to Mark 1:5.

That’s not an easy thing to do publically, but they were. Amazing scene.

And what was all this worth? John tells them “bear fruits worthy of repentance?”

Worthy by def. is in the sense of “to weigh”… “of weight”…

They’ve repented… they’ve been immersed in water/ baptized… now their life should bear fruit deserving of how they were thinking differently.

And, John warns them not to fool themselves into thinking that their connection to Abraham was sufficient.

“Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

And so it must be for any true child of Abraham.

Belief is truly the only fruit one can bear that is worthy of repentance.

Because one must turn from unbelief to belief. That’s the repentance… the required change of mind that will bear fruit in eternity.

Not birthright.

John… with a Master Teacher move… looks down into the Jordan River and says to the multitude, “For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.”

I wonder if John was thinking back to how in this very same Jordan river… in the very same location… Gilgal in the OT… Bethany or Bethabara (meaning “House of Passage”) in the New…

It was here that Israel crossed into the promised land…

How could John but think of the significance of where he stood.

Only Caleb and Joshua from the previous generation crossed into the Promised Land because they did not doubt… they had faith.

And Joshua had twelves stones from the Jordan taken… as a remembrance that Israel crossed over the Jordan on ‘dry land’ as the LORD miraculously dried up the waters.

Joshua 4:7 “… these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.”

V9 states Joshua also set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan… “and they are there to this day.”

Were they still there in John’s day?

How impactful would it have been if John pointed to those very stones and ask, “You think you’re true ‘children of Abraham’ because you’re Jews by birth? See these memorial stones from Joshua’s day? God can raise up true spiritual children for Abraham from these very rocks if He wants to.”

How humbling would that be? Physical descent and ritual mean nothing without faith.

At the Triumphal entry, had the people not cried out ‘Hosanna’… ‘Save now, we pray!’… Jesus said ‘even the rocks would cry out.’

God doesn’t need us, but He wants us… because He loves us… so He invites us to be His bride… to be His family. What a privilege.

John continues amping up the warning.

V9 “And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

The picture of an ax being laid to the root of the trees (plural)… is one that bears the image of many trees… perhaps an entire forest being cut down.

But, not all the trees… the fruit inspector goes through first and marks the trees that don’t pass inspection… only the trees that don’t bear good fruit are harvested and burned.

The picture here is not mysterious… it’s not complicated… a child can understand what is being portrayed…

“If I were a tree… would I want to be cut down and burned?”

Spell… No.

N.O. That is correct.

In my best “Speak and Spell” voice.

Remember those? Texas Instruments 1980’s

The context is the coming wrath V7… trees cut and burned V9… baptizing with fire V16… gathering the wheat into His barn (and “His” is capitalized in my Bible), but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire V17.

What is John’s message? Judgment. He’s warning the people that time is short… bear fruit worthy of repentance.

You just got baptized… now make it more than just getting wet.

Don’t just get your free T-Shirt saying, “Dunked in the Jordan by John” and go home…

Go home showing some fruit of a changed mind.

That’s my prayer every Sunday… that this living word of God that we study will change hearts.

That you’ll leave here equipped for the week ahead… and leave a little more like Jesus.

And while John’s word pierced like arrows… using words like “vipers”… “wrath”… “Ax” … “cast into fire...”

While this wasn’t a fluffy message… the forerunner came to prepare the way of the Lord.

And he may have had just one shot with some of these people and he lays it out with bold truth…

The King is coming… the kingdom of heaven is at hand… change your mind… and bear fruit worthy of repentance… because judgment is coming.

And, this imagery of a forest being cut down… may have reminded some of the Jews of when the Lord faithfully protected them against Assyria’s invasion of Jerusalem in 701 B.C.…

Isaiah prophesied against Assyria stating in Isaiah 10:34 “He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.”

Isaiah wrote, “Those of high stature will be hewn down, And the haughty will be humbled.” … by the Lord.

But, now… this imagery was being used NOT against the enemies of Israel, but against God’s own people.

And the people would need to choose… what are we going to do with John’s message?

Humble ourselves and believe in the coming King…

Or harden our hearts against the King in disbelief.

And, it boils down to that choice… for them and people today…

And, look… people get bent out of shape about this crying out, “How can a loving God send people to hell?”

He doesn’t send people to hell… that’s a willful choice.

He sent His Son to die on the cross for the sin of mankind… and you can choose to believe that or reject that truth?

God went above and beyond to show His love for the world… and to be both just against the unrighteousness of sin… and the justifier of people who commit sins (which is all of us by the way… Rom 3:23)…

God loves you so much that he led you here… He knew you wouldn’t make it in a normal church with a really educated Pastor…

He led you here to Calvary Chapel… where we meet in a Cafetorium…

It’s like a Cafeteria and Auditorium… a ‘Cafetorium.”

To a Pastor who wears Jeans… and really only has this testimony to stand on… I once was blind and now I see.

In grace he called me when I was… figuratively on my own road to Damascus…

Because when God chooses the foolish… He gets the glory.

And God knew you would need the simplicity of what we read in Nehemiah 8… which was part of my morning devotion yesterday…

Ezra and the Levites “read distinctly from the book… they gave the sense… and helped the [people] to understand the reading.”

God leads and guides us in many and various ways… in both our justification and in our sanctification.

Jesus said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Hebrews tells us He forever makes intercession for us.

But it comes down to this… do you trust in Jesus… who died for your sins… and rose again proving God accepted the payment?

If you say ‘Yes’… you bear fruit unto eternal life… and the coming judgment for unbelief is not for you.

God even sealed you with His Holy Spirit as a part-payment… as a deposit of the same in kind of what is to follow… Glory… everlasting life.

If you say ‘No’… you bear fruit, but unto eternal death. You exit this world… you stand before God, and He will open the books and ask you about your works…

“Tell me about your righteousness, and what earns you a place in eternity.”

And what will you say?

“I was a good person. I treated people well. I donated money to charities. I once saved a puppy.”

What can you say to a perfect and Holy God… when the bar is beyond reach by our works?

Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount… Matt 5-7… that God looks on the heart…

Even if you never physically murdered someone and broke the Sixth Commandment…

Jesus said, “whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of judgment.”

And that was just one of many heart issues.

How do you keep a law that examines your heart? Your motives. Your inward intent. Your secret thoughts.

It’s impossible.

All of our righteousness is as filthy rags. Your works will not save… you need to believe in a Savior… and He is the One John was pointing to… the Coming King… Jesus Christ.

And, the people of John’s day… not the Pharisees and Sadducees… but the multitudes… they are pierced to the heart… and ask an honest question…

V10 “So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?”

The people are under conviction… hearing the word of the Lord as given to John…

And they’re asking… “What do we do in response to this? How do we change?”

You know the message is powerful… when this is the posture of the hearer’s hearts.

And, John gives them pretty ordinary instructions… what seems self-explanatory…

Sadly… God in His word has to instruct us to NOT do things like steal… and hate… and look at people lustfully.

Micah 6:8 “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?”

We need simply instruction… because we’re thick… and we have a sin nature… like a moth to the flame… we’re drawn to it…

It’s the power of sin that God is presently saving believers from in our sanctification.

And Jesus declared in John 17:17 “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”

And John likewise broke it down simply for the people…

V11 “He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.”

To people in general he tell them… share clothes and food with people who have none.

Love your neighbors as yourself. The fruit of the spirit is love. This was a fruit of repentance.

And it’s not something extravagant. It’s almost embarrassing that it needs to be said at all, but God often wants to see our integrity in how we handle other people.

And how open handed we are with what He blessed us with.

V12-13 “Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you.””

Now you know it’s a powerful sermon when the IRS shows up.

But, unlike our IRS… these tax collectors were corrupt… and had a history of scandals… and we’re often accused of taking people’s money unjustly… fraudulently… and for personal profit…

Very much UNLIKE our IRS… I could barely say all that with a straight face.

I wonder if any of the tax collector’s we know by name were there?

Matthew was the tax collector over Capernaum. Zacchaeus was the Chief tax collector over Jericho.

Were these guys present?

Rome auctioned the right to be a tax collector to the highest bidder… and required a certain amount of taxes to be collected… but Rome didn’t set a limit on how much could be collected.

So, Tax collectors were free to over tax… and they did… and were hated for it.

And John… whom they call teacher (Rabbi) tells them… “Just collect what the government requires.”

Stop ripping people off… a fruit of repentance.

V14 “Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?” So he said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.””

Interesting… as the crowd gathered… it would seem Roman Soldiers were dispatched as peace keepers.

The Jews had a long history of rebellion against Rome… so tensions ran high when many Jews gathered.

And these soldiers… Gentiles mind you… had power to intimidate people into carrying their gear as pictured in Matthew 5:41 “And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.”

Or extort people through false accusation.

And, John tells them to be content with their wages… and don’t intimidate… be gentle.

Were any of the Centurions who came to faith present in this scene? Cornelius… the Centurion with Great faith at Capernaum… or the Centurion at the Cross?

How important is it for us to plant seeds?

Seeds planted today… in the right soil… will yield a harvest in time… be a seed planter.

Because look… people look around at the world and they know it’s a mess.… and they don’t have an answer how to fix it.

We have the answer… it’s the Gospel… the King is coming… He’s going to set up His kingdom… ruling and reigning…

Paul said “we preach Christ crucified”… “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men.”

And if you believe… your sins are forgiven and you’ll be there… witnessing Him do… what no politician or world leader can do.

It’s the best news around… we’re not going to find better on our news apps.

Even the best political policies will not fix what only God can do eternally… and with His Second Coming.

And, the people in John’s day… were living with a similar expectation that we have today… waiting for the Messiah… the Savior to come.

Look at V15 “Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not,”

There was a national and historic expectation of the Coming Messiah… again… we live once again in a time of expectation of His coming.

The people then see and hear John… and they begin to reason in their hearts about John.

Reasoned means “to consider… to ponder.”

There had been 400 silent years… and finally the silence is broken and a prophet came on the scene…

And he would not leave them reasoning long… for John fulfilled his role to announce the King…

V16 “John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

John humbly recognizes that his baptism pales in comparison to the baptism Christ will bring.

John understood and embraced his role to prepare the way of the Lord… and then for John to get out of the way.

In John 3, people were gravitating to Christ… and John’s disciples state “all are coming to Him” and John said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

It wasn’t about John’s ministry… John rejoiced to be the friend of the bridegroom and to simply hear the bridegroom’s voice.

There was no jealousy in John… or self promotion… or holding tightly to “His ministry.”

John said, “this joy of mine is fulfilled.”

How amazing would it be if every Pastor and so-called prophet today had this same heart?

Pointing to One mightier… One who is coming… One who we are not even worthy to loose His sandal strap (which was the role of the lowest slave).

But pride… and self-promotion are rampant. Paul warned against those who “do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly...”

Paul says to avoid them.

At the end of V16 Jesus’ superior baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire is declared…

And remember the repeated context of judgment in this passage to avoid confusion.

Some of our Charismatic brothers and sisters liken “fire” to Pentecost… Acts 2 when they were filled with the Holy Spirit and there appeared to them Acts 2:3 “divided tongues, as of fire… sat on them… ”

Read that carefully… “As of” indicates “it was like or similar to” fire, BUT no actual fire sat on them.

I’m all about the Holy Spirit and don’t want to take away from His work, but I also an not going to beat the text to say something it’s not.

John is talking about actual fire… John was warning people and letting them know they need to make a choice.

Receive the King… and be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

Reject Him… and be baptized with the fire of judgment.

And as we close… that same context of judgment is pictured in V17.

V17 “His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”

The people in John’s day… who lived in an agrarian society would be well familiar with harvest time… and separating the fruit of the wheat kernels… from the useless chaff… which are husks that were burned or left to blow away in the wind.

And, just so there is no confusion… in Matt 13, Jesus shared a very similar picture in the Parable of the Wheat and Tares…

And when Jesus interpreted the Parable… He explained it pictured the end of the age… and He sowed good seed, but the devil sowed tares who are “sons of the wicked one.”

And a day is coming when Jesus and His angels will sort it all out.

Wicked unbelievers who bear evil fruits will be cast in the furnace of fire (John said unquenchable fire) where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth.

In contrast Jesus said, Matthew 13:43 “Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

You must decide. I pray today is your day of salvation as you trust in Jesus Christ.

(worship team come)

V18 closes us out… “And with many other exhortations he preached to the people.”

NLT reads, “John used many such warnings as he announced the Good News to the people.”

Preaching a complete Gospel includes warnings… don’t shy away from that.

The first three chapters of Romans establishes all are condemned because of sin… then introduces justification through faith.

If you don’t know you’re a sinner, then why would you need a Savior.

John was right to warn of coming judgment… and V18 leaves us hanging to wonder what other messages did John preach?

You’ll have to ask John when you see him in heaven.

Let’s pray!

If you need prayer, please pray with someone on the sides as we close with this last song.

Go forth bearing fruit… and pointing people to Jesus as you enter the week ahead.