"Repent!"_Matthew 3a_Jul 4 2021

Introduction / Illustration

Welcome…

Series: God With Us

Bibles: Matthew 3

(Pray…)

Before we get to Matt 3 - I want us to use our imagination as we peel back the curtain...

Imagine charges are brought against you

You are standing before the judge in court…(highest court in the universe…)

You are charged as a guilty sinner...

Two options: plea guilty / or plea not-guilty (no contest)

Guilty plea - no trial - you pay an immediate penalty

Not guilty - no way you can win this trial - you pay the penalty

You notice the Judge’s Son in in the courtroom

You know the Son paid the penalty for your sins

You realize there is an amazing Eternal Life for you

A life full of faith - an abundant life

Not only that - but you know that if you could access this life -

Believe it or not, the Judge himself would literally adopt you to be his very own child

If there is only some way to access this Eternal Life!

But wait, there’s more!

If you could somehow access this new life, he would literally make you a new person

And for the first time in your life, you would be given a true purpose in your life

And the Son himself would forgive you of all your sins

He would literally take on, and take away, your sins

And forever after, his Father would see only his Son’s righteousness in you

You would give him all your sins, all your guilt - and he would give you his righteousness

If only there was some way to take advantage of this Eternal Life

Question: How do you compel the Judge to apply his Son’s payment to your credit?

Luckily, this court allows for a legal provision

This legal provision can simply be added to a guilty plea

All you have to do is plead guilty - and repent!

Today, I want to talk about repentance

When I was growing up - repentance was taught as something almost scary

The angry preacher would shout, “Sinner repent!”

God was angry at me - and my punishment was to repent

Repentance was something shameful that was made public

When I was a young adult, I was shocked to discover Rom 2:4...

Romans 2:4 ESV

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

Every kind and merciful thing God does for us is to lead us to repentance

Suddenly, repentance is not the bait & switch part of a salesman’s pitch

Suddenly, repentance is sweet & beautiful - repentance is full of mercy and grace

We need to stop and ask: What is repentance?

In a broad sense, repentance is agreeing with God

It’s turning away from your old life - towards Jesus

As J. Vernon McGee says, “It’s when you and I take our proper place as a sinner before God”

But think about it - when you repent, you are agreeing with the Lord - that you are guilty - and your sins are death - but also that you are in complete need of him

That’s what it means to stand in our proper place before God

When our kids were younger -

I took them out to go on a walk

The further we went, the more hungry I got - But I didn’t say anything

We neglected to bring snacks

Then they started to complain about being hungry

And our conversation turned into our memories of seeing food places a few miles up the road from where the car was

Then I used it as a teaching moment: repentance

If we could stop and turn around - and hike back to the car...

Acts 3:19:

English Standard Version (Chapter 3)

19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out

We turned back because we agreed with our stomachs!

Now, why do I refer to repentance as a legal provision?

Because the Law of God is not violated when he shows us mercy

In fact, Paul said the righteous requirement of the Law was fulfilled in us - because he condemned our sin on the cross

Jesus fulfilled the Law and died on a cross - we accept what he did for us when we repent & turn to him - and place our faith in him

God doesn’t just “look the other way” when it comes to our sins

God forgives us because a price was paid - he dealt with our sin

And the cross was the business end of his justice for us

But not everyone is forgiven

God gave us repentance as a way for us to cry out to him - to confess our sins - and to humbly say, “I’m sorry - I agree with you Lord, I need you - I turn from my sins and ask that you forgive me”

So God, in all his infinite holiness and righteousness - allows us to turn to him

He sees our sinfulness, but he allows for the provision of us asking for his forgiveness

In the process, his Law is never broken - his holiness is never in question

But he allows us to turn to him - His Son paid the penalty

And that payment is made available to anyone who responds in humility

Before you became a Christian, you stood guilty before a holy God

You can never plead not-guilty

You have to admit you’re guilty - but you’ve been given the provisional option of repenting

Repentance is distinctly different from faith - but the two go together

You can’t have true repentance - and then not live by faith

Nor can you live a faithful life for the Lord without ever repenting

You can’t truly even bear fruit in your life without repenting

In order to live for the Lord, you need to get right with the Lord first

Repentance is “getting right” with the Lord

In order to walk with Christ - and have Eternal Life - you need to show a true repentance

And that’s what we’re going to look at today

Main Message

Matthew 3:

English Standard Version (Chapter 3)

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 3 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.’ ”

So, here’s John the Baptist - the cousin of Jesus - we’ll see next week that he baptizes Jesus

But he’s preaching a strong message - repent!

And within these first 12 verses, the writer of Matthew tells us what repentance is - and what it’s not

There is a great sense of urgency in what John says - “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

In other words - John is out in the wilderness - and all these people are coming to him -

And his message is - there’s no time to waste - get right with the Lord right away - don’t procrastinate - don’t put this off any longer - don’t blow it - the time is now

There needs to be a sense of urgency when we preach the gospel to others -

There’s no time to waste - repent right away - don’t procrastinate - don’t put this off any longer - don’t blow it - the time is now

We need to be calling others to repentance

Keep your place and take a peak at Matthew chapter 4

After Jesus is baptized, he’s tempted by the devil - and then he officially begins his ministry

And look at the first words of Jesus in verse 17

English Standard Version Chapter 4

17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Jesus preached the same message - the same words as John - with the same sense of urgency

The most obvious thing we can get out of this - is that this is important!

If John the Baptist preached a message, and Jesus repeated it - I want to take note of it - and make it important

Go back to chapter 3 - verse 4

It’s pretty clear that many people were coming out to him - “Jerusalem, and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan” - that covers a wide area with a lot of people

But verse 7 focuses on the Pharisees and Sadducees - and what does John call them? “You brood of vipers!”

It’s an insult - and a way for him to be brutally honest with them - that they’re faith is not sincere

Coming out to see John to get baptized had become sort of the “thing to do” - and the Pharisees wanted to see what was up

As John was something of a spiritual rock star - a prophet in the wilderness - the Pharisees and Sadducees wanted a part of this

They didn’t want the people to grumble about them - we don’t know, maybe the people had already called them out

The Pharisees and Sadducees could see that many people loved this John character - the strange man who dressed funny and ate locusts

But I’m sure the people were blessed from him because he was full of the Holy Spirit

If the Pharisees and Sadducees didn’t come, they could be accused of not accepting this blessing

So now here come the experts - they have come to look at this spectacle of a man - to look down their noses at him -

And probably even get baptized - in order to say they did it

It must have been really hard for them to come all the way out there - to see this crazy prophet

But it would have been hard to ignore John the Baptist forever -

RC Sproul considered John the Baptist to be among the greatest OT prophet - even though we’re reading this in the NT, the OT was still in effect

And the Pharisees and Sadducees would have seen him as a prophet too - they couldn’t afford to dismiss him

Also, John was extremely popular with the people - if they refused his baptism, the people would turn on them

So here they come - on their pompous train

They probably even felt that they could teach this weird, homeless dude a thing or two

At the very least, they could straighten him out

But John holds nothing back from them

And what he says to them is probably what eventually got him arrested - Matthew 4:12

“Baby snakes - who are trying to hide from the wrath of God” is my paraphrase of verse 7

Imagine saying this to these elite Jewish leaders - these guys were the experts in the Law - they were the teachers of the teachers

They were the ones who taught others about God’s wrath

And now John is telling them that they are in danger of it!

And verse 8 is one of my favorite verses of all time - it sums everything up

English Standard Version Chapter 3

8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

He’s saying, “If you’re truly repentant, then you’ll truly bear fruit - if not, then you’re not of God”

You can’t just say, “I repent”

You can’t merely tell God you’re sorry, if you really are not

I love this because this theology is so consistent with the rest of the Bible

This doctrine simply says that our faith must be real - real repentance produces real faith which produces real fruit

It’s consistent with Galatians 5 - that we’re not under the Law, but we have the fruit of the Spirit

That this fruit doesn’t even come from us - it comes from the Spirit

It’s consistent with James - that “faith without works is dead”

It’s consistent with Eph 2 - “For by grace you have been saved - not a result of works - for we are created in Christ Jesus for good works”

It’s consistent with what Jesus said in John 15 - and in verse 4 he says,

English Standard Version Chapter 15

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

We can’t bear fruit by ourselves - because it’s not even our fruit

The Father prunes us in order to produce more fruit [v. 2]

True faith produces real fruit that comes from God

Have you ever done anything for the Lord - that if you were not a Christian, there would be no way you could ever do it?

Have you ever had to deal with a difficult person - but you still displayed love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and or self-control?

That’s from the Holy Spirit

John saw these weasels coming towards him and he called them out as phonies

The Pharisees liked to say they were the sons of Abraham

Remember in John 8? And the Pharisees were trying to impress Jesus by saying Abraham was their father?

And then Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

Look at Matthew 3 again

John the Baptist tells them:

English Standard Version Chapter 3

9 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.

If God wanted more “sons of Abraham” he could produce them from the rocks on the ground

That’s like saying, “I go to church, so I’m a Christian”

I had a friend of mine - he was British...

“My mother was a vicar of the Church of England”

“You’re not listening to me - a vicar of the Church of England”

I looked at him and said, “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance”

Our credentials do not come from a church, or any good works we do...

Listen to this section of Matthew 3 from the Message:

When John realized that a lot of Pharisees and Sadducees were showing up for a baptismal experience because it was becoming the popular thing to do, he exploded: “Brood of snakes! What do you think you’re doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snakeskins is going to make any difference? It’s your life that must change, not your skin! And don’t think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as father. Being a descendant of Abraham is neither here nor there. Descendants of Abraham are a dime a dozen. What counts is your life. Is it green and flourishing? Because if it’s deadwood, it goes on the fire.

I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. The real action comes next: The main character in this drama—compared to him I’m a mere stagehand—will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He’s going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.”

John the Baptist is drawing a comparison - between himself and Jesus

John said he’s not even worthy to carry his sandals

Craig Keener said, “Matthew’s readers would not need to know Hebrew to realize that John was preparing the way for 'God with us’”

John is hurling judgmental insults - but the Son of God is coming and is already here - both Savior and Judge will soon pronounce eternal judgment

Matthew 3 is an ultimate warning - get right with the Lord, or there will be eternal consequences

But Matthew 3 also contains ultimate hope: It’s not over - you CAN get right with the Lord - the Lord has given you a way to get right with him

Does your life bear fruit in keeping with repentance?

Do you have a real faith?

There is a chronological order here -

In verses 6 and 8 -

There is confession of sins - there is baptism - and there is bearing of fruit

It all comes after repentance

Do you want to walk according to the flesh, or according to the Spirit?

Do you want an abundant life which bears the Spirit’s fruit?

Your new life in Christ must start with repentance - everything starts there - but your repentance must be real

(Pray…)