Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Before we get started today I want you to think about some of your presuppositions.

A presupposition is the things that you believe to be true without thinking about them.

Like for scripture to be God’s word presupposes that God exist, and the God speaks.

This works for things that are not true as well.

For example for evolution to work you have to start with the presupposition that God either does not exist, or that God is not active in his creation.

What presuppositions do you have about what it means to be a Christian?

Where did you get that idea?

As we study this morning about John the Baptist we are going to talk a lot about the things that come into our mind when we hear different things and I want you to try and think about what presupposition you have about that and where you got it.

Lets dive in to God’s Word.

Read Matthew 3:1-10

Pray

When we look at the first verse of our passage we see somethings that already bring different ideas to our mind.

Terms like Baptist, preaching, wilderness, and most importantly for our message today repent.

I want you to take a second and think about each of these terms and what you think they mean.

Think about where you got that idea.

For me the word Baptist brings to mind doctrinal distinctives.

What does it mean to be a southern baptist?

It also brings to mind the idea of the statistical baptist church, which to be honest is a list of things that I pray this church is not.

None of these ideas are a bad thing but they are not exactly what is meant by the word in this context.

In this specific context what is being said is that John is one who washes people by immersing them in water.

This is not what we know as Christian Baptism.

The baptism of John and the baptism into the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit are different baptisms.

We see a clear example of this in

We see exactly this same idea in Matthew.

What makes the baptism of John and Christian baptism different is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

See when we are baptized as Christians we are not simply repenting, although that is an important part and we are going to come back to that, but it is so much more that that the act is the same, but the meaning is different.

But lets get back to our text as we read through verse 3 once again Matthew continues to tie the events of Jesus life to the Old Testament.

To say this is the plan being fulfilled just the way that God said that it would be.

Matthew quotes from a passage in Isaiah to say he is one that Isaiah prophesied would come before the King and make strait the path.

Lets look at a little more of that passage to see what it has to teach us.

John is the promised voice that will make strait the path for the Lord.

He is the one who will be there when the Glory of the Lord is revealed.

We are going look at that very event in a couple of weeks.

But for now we just need to know that Matthew is making a distinctive point that God had John as part of his plan from the beginning.

Then we get what seems like an strange transition for us.

Matthew goes from talking about this prophecy to talking about the clothes that John is wearing.

This comes back to our presuppositions.

What is the first thing that comes into your mind when you read this verse

I dont know about you, but for the longest time.

One this part of the passage didn't make a lot of sense to me, like why would Matthew suddenly start talking about what John was wearing and what he ate.

When I would think about the things them selves, it spoke of his pore wild nature.

Like he was so pore and live out in the wilderness for so long that he just kind of went savage.

But when I started to challenge those idea and to look at what the scripture had to teach me a saw much more.

Turn back a few pages with me.

Back past chapter one, past the page that says New Testament, past that blank page that always seems to be there, to the very last page of the Old testament.

What is the last thing that we read from the Old Testament?

We get this command to remember the law of Moses then a promise that the prophet Elijah will come before the great and awesome day of the Lord.

What a promise to end the Old Testament on.

But this still is only half what we need to know.

The next place we need to turn is a little further back

What we see in this passage is how recognizable Elijah was.

Just a description of the clothes that he was wearing was enough for king Ahaziah to know who it was that stopped his servants.

So taking these three passages together 2 kings, Malachi and Matthew, we really start to understand what Matthew is doing.

He is restating the message of John in verse 2 in a different way.

He is saying this is Elijah, the one who will be the Harold of the King.

The one through whom the Glory of the Lord will be revealed.

The one who will call for repentance and remind the people to be mindful of the Law.

In this we get a glimpse into the details that God through Matthew as weaved into this book.

In our modern setting, 2000 years removed from the time of John and shamefully ignorant of our bible miss what would have been obvious to the people that this would have been originally written to.

In the very next verse another one of my presuppositions about John as pore wild man is challenged.

The whole area of Judea and Jerusalem is in an uproar about this man.

They are coming in droves to see this man who speaks like no one has spoken in a long time.

He speaks with fire in is belly.

He is passionate about what he is saying.

He is not afraid of what people think and the people are drawn to him.

They respond to him.

But not everyone responds the same way.

Here we see Matthew doing another contrast.

He contrast two different responses to Johns Message.

On the one side you see the response of the people who are baptized.

They are confessing their sins, they are being washed.

Then you see the Pharisees and Sadducees who come to watch.

You can just imagine the guys coming up to the river, they are all huddled together in their little group watching all the weak sinners who need to repent.

But not them they are good enough on their own.

They need no baptism, the need no repentance.

What a contrast.

This is a contrast that we can see today.

There are those in the church who act the same way the Pharisees and Sadducees do.

they see other Christians out doing things and they think better them than me, or they think those people should repent.

I hope and pray that you are not in this number.

Church we are all in need of daily repentance.

We should be on our knees each and everyday crying out before the Lord our need for our savior.

And rejoicing in the completion of his work on the cross.

But if you are among this crowd, that would look down on those who should be your brothers and sisters, who would think that you are good enough.

I have the same words for you that John has for the Scribes and Pharisees.

Your family being Christian is not enough, your works are not enough.

The axe is laid at the root of the tree.

Do you produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

This is the only correct response to the gospel message.

Not acceptance, not some special prayer.

Not making Jesus Lord of your life.

You cannot make Jesus Lord he is and always has been Lord.

What is commanded is repentance.

We see this same thing when Peter preaches at Pentecost.

True repentance shows itself in fruit.

True Repentance is demonstrated in servants heart.

The Fruit of the Spirit, that is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness self-control.

John’s warning to the religious leaders is the same message that we are should be giving to one another each and every day.

If you do not know the Lord now is the time to repent.