The Start of Christ’s Public Ministry

Transcript

GRM 552
12/28/1997
The Start of Christ’s Public Ministry
Matthew 3:1-12
Gil Rugh

We want to direct your attention to the gospel of Matthew this morning and the third chapter, Matthew chapter three. It’s the Christmas season and we naturally focus on events related to the birth of Jesus Christ. We celebrate in a special way the coming to earth of the Son of God who was born into the human race. Often in our thinking we jump to the crucifixion. In a few months we will celebrate the victory accomplished by Christ and His death on the cross and subsequent resurrection from the dead. That certainly is the focal point of all history, the salvation provided in Jesus Christ the Son of God. But I think it’s important to keep in perspective the dimension that we often lose sight of and forget in relationship of the coming to earth of Jesus Christ the Son of God. He came to be Savior to be sure. But He also came to be the King of Israel, Israel’s Messiah, the Christ, The Christos, the anointed One. To have One sovereignly ordained and appointed by God to be King of Israel and to rule over an earthly kingdom.

So, I would like to focus our attention on events in Matthew chapter three which have to do with the public ministry, the groundwork for the public ministry of Jesus Christ. Matthew chapters one and two dealt with events relating to the birth of Jesus Christ and the uniqueness of that birth. Now when you come to chapter three, thirty years have elapsed between the end of chapter two and the beginning of chapter three. We are reminded that we simply have the highlights, so some of the events around the birth of Christ. Then immediately we jump to the beginning of His public ministry and events associated with that ministry when Jesus was about thirty years of age. Then in three years He will be crucified. So, the bulk of the gospels are concerned with the three years of public ministry of Christ. The bulk of that material is concerned with the closing days and hours of the ministry of Jesus Christ. But we want to look at Matthew’s development in chapter three of the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus Christ.


Now Luke adds some details that Matthew doesn’t obviously. Luke will record the presentation of Christ at the temple when He was eight days old. We have the account of Christ when He was twelve years of age in the temple discoursing about His Father’s work. So, there are just a couple of brief glimpses. For all intents and purposes there is almost complete silence on the first thirty years of Christ’s life as He grew and matured to manhood. The Scriptures are concerned with the ministry that He carried out when He came to earth. The chapter opens up with the introduction of one we could call a character, a character of John the Baptist. And he is a character in more ways that one. He is a unique and striking figure who appears on the scene after centuries of time in Israel when there was no prophet in the nation. John the Baptist will come on the scene in the wilderness of Judea not in the capital of Jerusalem but in the wilderness region. And he will proclaim a message of a coming kingdom. And all the nation including the religious leaders will go out to hear him.

No doubt the chapter begins, chapter three verse one of Matthew, “Now in those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea saying, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The events surrounding the birth of Christ are recorded in Luke’s gospel, chapter one. He had a supernatural birth also. Not a virgin birth, but a supernatural birth. Zacharias, his father, and his mother Elizabeth were elderly, up in years. And an angel appeared to Zacharias as he was carrying out a priestly ministry and told him that he and Elizabeth would have a son, and that son’s role would be to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah. I love the account in Luke chapter one. The angel tells Zacharias that they are going to have a son and so on, and Zacharias says, “How shall I know these things are true?” You know, I’m an old man and the angel says, “I am Gabriel who stands in the presence of God.” I mean it’s almost like the audacity of such a question. What do you mean, how do you know these things will come to pass? You know because I just told you. I am Gabriel. “I stand in the presence of God.” But, you want a sign. You open your mouth and will be unable to speak until the baby is born.

You know I sometimes think when I read that passage and think it over that the angels must be in awe of our actions sometimes. We read the Word, and they know this is the word of the sovereign God. We read it and say, I wonder if God will really do that? Oh, I worry, I know He said He would do this, but I just don’t know. Can you imagine that they said that? Why do they doubt? God has said it. Well, at any rate, John is born, John is a relative of Christ and it’s in that chapter as well that Mary the mother of Christ goes to visit her relative, Elizabeth and they have a conversation. Great testimony regarding the sons that are to be born. In preparation, thirty years have now gone by, and John the Baptist appears as far as Scripture is concerned on the scene almost out of nowhere. No other background is given of John and his preparation for this ministry after the events relating to his birth that we just alluded to.


“Now John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness.” He is called the Baptist because he was baptizing people. John the Baptizer, because people who responded to his message were baptized. We’ll see that in a moment. His message is simple, direct: “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” A simple word. The word itself means to be of another mind, and some would like to limit its meaning to just that. It’s an intellectual change of mind, but I think we have to be careful about looking at just the root meaning of a word and limiting it to that. It’s usage determines its meaning and repentance is to change the mind. But it’s a change of mind that involves a change of life. In a little bit John will say to people who want to be baptized that they are, verse eight, “to bring forth fruit in keeping with your repentance.” If it’s genuine repentance, it ought to change your life. So, repentance involves not only a change of your mind but a change of your life that flows out of the change of the mind. What it is, is a call to salvation. Repentance is one of the ingredients of salvation. We sometimes break them out, repentance and faith, a transformed life but in the package of salvation, they all are a part of it. They are all a result of the work of God in the life of the person who is experiencing God’s salvation. It is not fair or honest in dealing with the Scripture to reply, well we pull repentance out and if you tell people they have to repent then you are saying it’s a work. No, it’s part of the package of salvation which is all a result of God’s work in our heart and life. So, when John called them to repent, it is the same message we have to proclaim today. That’s not an old covenant message versus a new covenant message. It is the message of a call to salvation.

Turn over to chapter 17, Acts chapter 17 and verse 30. The apostle Paul is preaching in Greece to the men of Athens. And in verse 30 of Acts 17, he says, “Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all men everywhere should repent.” That is the message that follows the death and resurrection of Christ, that follows the establishing of the church in Acts 2, it is the same message that needs to be preached. “God is declaring to all everywhere, they must repent.” Change their mind about their sin, about the Savior. Turn from their sin, turn to Christ because a day of judgment is coming verse 31 says. So, to be prepared for that you must repent. Very similar to what the message of John the Baptist was. Over in chapter 26 of Acts, verse 20, Paul is preaching to King Agrippa. What would you have to preach to a King or president? A governing ruler? Paul said to Agrippa that his ministry was to “declare at Damascus, Jerusalem, Judea, to the Gentiles,” note the end of verse 20, “that they should repent and turn to God.” Now note this, “performing deeds appropriate to repentance.” We say, well Paul you are blurring the issue of salvation by bringing works into this package. Especially when you are talking to King Agrippa who is not a saved man. Paul did not see that as confusing of the package. Where you repent you turn to God, you do the works, you manifest the evidence of a transformed life. That is what happens in salvation. That is the work of God in a life. There must be a change in thinking and a change in action. That is why salvation is not a decision as such. It is a change, a change in my thinking and a change in my behavior as a result of the work of God in my life and believing the message He has given.


Look over in 2 Corinthians, one other passage. A good study for you sometime is to get a concordance and look up the word repentance and just look at its usage in different context. In 2 Corinthians chapter 7, verse 8 Paul is writing to the Corinthians. He had written them a previous letter, 1 Corinthians and they were made sorry by that letter. It caused them grief. Paul for a time, wished he hadn’t sent them the letter. Verse 8, “for though I caused you sorrow by my letter I do not regret it. Though I did regret it. For I see that letter caused you sorrow but only for a while. I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance. For you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, in order that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow according to the will of God produces repentance without regret, leading to salvation. But the sorrow of the world produces death.” So you see there is a godly sorrow and there is a worldly sorrow. Sorrow may well be part of your salvation in the sense it is when you come to grief over your sin and mourning over that sin that you are brought to repentance in turning from that sin to the Savior and His salvation. People could respond to an invitation and be weeping, but that doesn’t mean they are saved, because sorrow is not salvation. But sorrow may lead to a change of heart and mind and placing their faith in Christ that will lead to salvation.

Back to Matthew chapter 3, Matthew chapter 3. “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Now something happens. That is why I want to focus our attention on this portion of the word. We sometimes focus on the birth of Christ; then we jump to the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. I have no problem with the connection that we make so often, but then we back up and we spiritualize the other part of the message. Jesus Christ was born to be the Savior by dying on the cross. But Jesus Christ was also born to be the King of Israel. He came and offered a Kingdom to the nation Israel. We don’t want to lose sight of that focus, and that is where Jesus Christ ministry begins. In fact with the connection with His birth, Matthew chapter 2, the Magi came to Jerusalem asking a question, in verse 2 of Matthew chapter 2, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?” Verse 6 is a quote from Micah the Prophet, “And you Bethlehem, land of Judah are by no means least among the leaders of Judah, for out of you shall come forth a ruler who will shepherd My people, Israel,” “a ruler who will shepherd My people.” He will be
the King of My people. Old Testament passages like Ezekiel 34 refer to the King of Israel as the Shepherd of Israel. We don’t want to lose our perspective here. Jesus Christ did not just wander around teaching and waiting for the cross. He came and offered Himself to the nation as their King. If the nation would have accepted, the offer was that He would have established a kingdom on this earth, an earthly Kingdom over which He could rule. Now in the plan of God, Israel rejected Him so that Christ would go to the cross and die to be the Savior. But we don’t want to lose sight of the offer of the Kingdom. That is what takes place in verse 2, “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”


Matthew’s favorite expression for the Kingdom is the “Kingdom of the Heaven.” He uses it 32 times in his gospel. The other gospel writers prefer the “Kingdom of God.” My understanding is they refer to the same thing. We are talking about the Kingdom prophesied by the Old Testament prophets that would be established on the earth. The Jewish nation would be the central key people, the Jewish King, the son of David would sit on the throne, Jerusalem would be the capital of the world. During that time “the dessert will blossom like the crocus”, (like the rose as we usually think of it). “The lion will lie down with the lamb”. “The child will play in the home of the poisonous snake”. “The knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the seas”. Tremendous passages like Isaiah 2, Isaiah 9, Isaiah 11 and on they go. That is the Kingdom we are talking about. I tell you that because many people read this and say oh, the Kingdom of Heaven, that is spiritual meaning, Christ’s reign in our heart. No, that is not what He is talking about. He is talking about the reign of heaven on earth. That is what was involved in Jesus’ prayer, which we call the Lord’s prayer, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.” That will be the Kingdom of Heaven, the reign of God on the earth. We are not talking about the reign in the heart. John even says here “the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” He means we are on the brink of the Kingdom; he doesn’t say it is here. It is at hand, in the sense that the King is present. Now if you will accept Him the Kingdom will be established.

Look in Daniel. You will see why the expression “Kingdom of Heaven” fits. Daniel chapter 2 tells us when we can anticipate this Kingdom and how it will be set up. Partly why the Jews were confused over the matter and in their unbelief they could not understand or would not believe when the King was present to explain it. Verse 44 of Daniel 2 says, “In the days of those Kings,” and we have come down through earthly empires climaxing with a final form of earthly Kingdoms, the world rule of the anti-Christ. In the days of those Kings, associated with the anti-Christ and lead up to his reign, the God of Heaven will set up a Kingdom. So you see why it is called the “Kingdom of God” in the gospels and it is called the “Kingdom of Heaven.” The God of Heaven will establish a Kingdom. So the God of Heaven establishes a Kingdom, you can call it the “Kingdom of God” or the “Kingdom of Heaven.” The Kingdom of God refers to the God who resides in Heaven. It is in the simple background in the Old Testament which is why Matthew would call it the Kingdom of Heavens or the Kingdom of Heaven.

While you are in Daniel, turn over to chapter 7, verse 14. Daniel chapter 7, verse 14. Here you anticipate the coming kingdom, the same truth developed with different images in chapter 7 is what is developed in chapter 2 of Daniel. And then verse 13, the climax of earthly empires is the earthly empire of the Christ. Verse 13, “I kept looking in the night vision and behold in the clouds of Heaven, One like the Son of Man was coming, came up to the ancient of days was presented before Him and to Him was giving dominion, glory and a kingdom that all the peoples, nations, men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, His kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.” So the establishing of that Kingdom takes place at the appointed time.


Come back to Daniel chapter 4 while you’re in Daniel. You know some people want to say, well, you know the Kingdom is God’s rule over the earth. Well, God has always had His universal rule in the general sense. John the Baptist wouldn’t have to come and announce the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand in the sense of the sovereign reign of God over all things all the time. This has always been present “not at hand”. When Nebuchadnezzar in his pride thought that he was king over everything, ultimate authority, he had to learn that God was the sovereign King of everything. So in verse 17 of Daniel 4, “this sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers and this decision is a command of the Holy ones, in order that the living may know that the Most High is Ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whom He wishes and sets over it the lowliest of men.” So in the sense of God reigning generally over all things at all times, that has always been true. John the Baptist didn’t have to come on the scene and announce, “the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” and mean the universal rule of God over all things. That has always been present and a reality. Here in chapter 4 look at verse 26. “And it was commanded to leave the stump with the roots of the tree as it was your kingdom will be assured to you after you recognize that it is Heaven that rules.” Now you can see why Matthew picks up the Kingdom of Heaven. Heaven rules. Well, what does He mean? Well, there is a universal rule of Heaven. But there will be a specific time when that rule of Heaven now will be carried out over a specific earthly kingdom, the Messianic Kingdom. That is the Kingdom that is prophesied through Old Testament prophecy. It is a unique and special kingdom on this earth. Verse 37 of Daniel 4 says, “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of Heaven.” And the “King of Heaven” is God. So, the Kingdom of Heaven is the reign of God on earth. Now the prophesied reign of God on earth is the time when the will of God as is done in heaven will actually come to earth and be carried out and His Son will reign over the earth.

Another thing I say, this is not just some spiritual kingdom that exist in the hearts of people because that has always existed. You’re in the Old Testament, go back to Psalms 37, Psalm 37. Here David, the psalmist is writing, and he is a thousand years before Christ. Look at Psalms 37, verse 30, we break into it here. Verse 29 says, “the righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever, the mouth of the righteous utters wisdom and his tongue speaks justice, the law of His God is in His heart.” God has always reigned, so to speak, in the hearts of believers. That is not a kingdom that is at hand either. That is not a prophesied future kingdom because in the Old Testament God, so to speak, reigned in the hearts of those who were His servants. But there is a unique kingdom prophesied in the Old Testament that will take place on this earth in physical tangible form. The reign of the Messiah of Israel over the nation Israel and through Israel, over the entire earth. Now when John comes and says, “repent, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand,” that is the Kingdom he is talking about, this coming earthly kingdom.


When he says to repent, you have to be born again to get into this Kingdom. Remember what Jesus said to Nicodemus in John’s Gospel, chapter 3 verse 5? “Unless you are born again, you will never see the Kingdom of God.” You have to be “born again”, “born from above”, to get into the Kingdom, Jesus said. Now Nicodemus says “I don’t understand. How am I going to go get born again? Go back to the womb and start over?” He is puzzled. Jesus says, there is no excuse for you not understanding this Nicodemus. “Are you the teacher of Israel and you do not understand these things?” Nicodemus should have known from the Old Testament that you have to be born again. You have to experience God’s salvation to enter into the Kingdom that He will establish on this earth. So when Jesus tells Nicodemus “you must be born again,” He is saying the same thing that John the Baptist said. “Repent”, you must turn from your sins to the living God, and trust in Him for salvation. That is the message of the coming Kingdom.

Well, come back to Matthew. I take it nothing has changed, on the offer of this Kingdom. I’ll say more about that. Maybe I ought to say a couple of things about it now. So many a people in this church, people at Indian Hills have struggled with it. People have left Indian Hills because they no longer believed the theology to which we hold regarding future things, that Christ is coming again, that the church is different than Israel, that there is yet a future earthly Kingdom over which Christ will rule and reign. I think we need to be careful on this crucial area of theology. This is the only Kingdom in which the Jews knew anything about, as prophesied in the Old Testament. I can find no place in the New Testament, in the gospels or the epistles, where there is ever a change from this promise of this coming earthly kingdom. I am today anticipating the time when Christ will return to earth bodily and establish an earthly Kingdom. Now, I am anticipating an event before that, called the rapture of the Church. But I look forward to the time when Christ returns to earth, and we return with Him in glory to establish His Kingdom. This Kingdom has a Jewish focus; it is a Kingdom focused on the nation Israel. With Jerusalem as the capital of the world it will be an honor to be a Jew. Today it is a scourge in most of the world. It is going to get much worse for the Jews. In the earthly Kingdom people will be honored to know a Jew, to have contact with the Jews.

When you get to Acts chapter 1 verse 6 the disciples of Jesus ask Him a question in preparation for the ascension. They say, “will you at this time restore the Kingdom to the Church?” This is not what they say. “Will you at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?” What did Jesus say? Guys you don’t understand the Kingdom already exist in your hearts. No. He says what? You don’t need to know when I am going to restore the Kingdom to Israel. You just need to do the work I give you to do. The substance of what He says is, “It is not for you to know the time or the seasons when those events will take place.” So I take it there is a coming earthly Kingdom, and it will soon be established.


Okay, back in Matthew chapter 3. The ministry of John the Baptist is referred to in Old Testament prophesies a number of times, verse 3, “this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet” saying, and he quotes from Isaiah chapter 40 and verse 3. “The voice of one crying in the wilderness make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.” So just like when the coming of the King or a significant figure, someone would go before, preparing the road, calling the people to get ready for the arrival of the King, smooth out the road, fill in the potholes. Get the way ready, here comes the King. John the Baptist fills that role, for spiritual preparation of the nation. The King is coming, the Messiah of Israel. In connection with his birth in Luke chapter 1, we won’t turn there. In Luke chapter 1, verse 16 and 17 we are told that John fulfills the prophesy of Malachi 4:6. In Luke chapter 1 verse 76 we’re told that Malachi 3:1 fulfilled in John the Baptist. He comes in the spirit and power of Elijah. He carries on an Elijah kind of ministry in preparing the nation spiritually, calling the nation to repentance.

Now John is dressed for the occasion, I think it is good for us to dress for the occasion. Now in our day we just think that one dress fits every occasion. But generally, there are things fitting. I watched the President giving a banquet, most people there are not in their jogging shorts, they mostly have ties and dress clothes, and they dress for the occasion. John is dressed for the occasion. And it is a unique dress I take it because it is described here. If this was just like everyone else was wearing, there would be no purpose for the description. He is wearing a camel hair garment and a leather belt about his waist. And you go back to 2 Kings chapter 1 verse 8 and it sounds a little bit like Elijah. And I take it there is a connection in his appearance with the Old Testament prophets. And there is no doubt in the mind of these Jews that a prophet has appeared on the scene. The nation will be impacted by him, in fact in chapter 21 verse 26 of Matthew when the Jewish leaders want to kill John, it says they are afraid because the multitudes considered him to be a prophet and he was. More than a prophet, the greatest of the prophets. He has a unique diet, locusts, and honey. Now Leviticus 11:22 says locust are part of the approved diet for the Jews, but it is a rather different diet. Locust and honey. If I am going to eat locust, I would like some honey with it. In fact, I would just as soon go right to the honey and skip the locust, but I can understand putting honey on your locust. But it shows here. He comes on, out of step with the nation in that sense. He comes as God’s spokesman, with the idea of somewhat, an ascetic lifestyle and appearance.


All Jerusalem is going out to him. It is interesting, you think he might appear on the streets of the capital city, but he appears out in the wilderness region of Judea. It is like you are in the county, but you are not in the city, you are out in the wilderness region. All of Judea is coming out to him and he is over by the Jordan river and he is baptizing them in the Jordan, verse 6, “as they confessed their sins.” So here he comes proclaiming, “Repent! The kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” We are on the verge of establishing a Kingdom! “Repent!” Now why did they need to repent with the establishing of the Kingdom? Well, you remember, in preparation for the establishing of the Kingdom the Old Testament was clear, first the Messiah would appear and make the nation pass through judgement. And in that judgement, unbelieving sinners will be excluded from the Kingdom and brought under condemnation. So, if we are on the verge of establishing the Kingdom, you need to repent. You need to be born again. You need to turn from your sin to God and His salvation is the message. There is tremendous response. And John is baptizing those who respond as they confess their sins. So, you see involved in repentance is the agreement with God about sin. I am a sinner. I need His salvation. I am acknowledging that and publicly declaring my identification with John the Baptist and his message in ministry. I am a guilty sinner who has turned to God for salvation in preparation for the Messiah. That is what is taking place.

The baptism didn’t save them. The next verses make that clear. Verse 7, “But when he saw many of the Pharisees coming out, coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee the wrath to come?”” In effect that’s what John does because the Pharisees and Sadducees, they are the key people. They are the political leaders even within the nation. Now there are political leaders over them, but they are the governing bodies in the nation of Israel under Roman authority. That would include the governor like Herod, or the governor like Pilot would be.

Why does he treat them like this, the Pharisees and Sadducees? Well, the problem is they are coming for a baptism without repentance. John recognizes there is no change of life. You note what he says in verse 8, “Therefore bring forth fruit in keeping with your repentance. Don’t come out here thinking you can get baptized and that takes care of it. If you have truly been born again, if you have truly repented, I would expect to see it in your life. Now John’s ministry hasn’t been going on for a long time, probably six months. So, it’s not like he expects there to be a ten-year pattern. What he expects here obviously is when you have repented, when you have been born again, your life will change rather quickly. For example, the most famous Pharisee who was ever saved was the apostle Paul. He was the son of the Pharisees, and he himself was a Pharisee. Paul repented of his sin, and what happened? His life changed immediately. John says I see no evidence of repentance in your life. I see no transformation of life.


We have two groups here: the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They are markedly different. The Pharisees were the traditionalists in Israel. They were those who held on to the Word of God, who claimed to be the guardian of the Word of God. They added all kinds of laws and rules and regulations to protect the Word of God. So, when we were all said and done, you have volumes of laws you have to keep so you are sure you don’t break one of God’s laws. And it’s their laws and commandments that become a burden to men. They added to their load. They didn’t help them come to a salvation in God. Paul was a Pharisee. So, they would have been “the conservatives” in Judaism, the traditionalists. The Sadducees are a much smaller group, but more powerful. The chief priest is a Sadducee. So, they held the power if you will, but they are much smaller in number. The amazing thing about the Sadducees, the chief priest in Israel is a Sadducee, the Sadducees did not believe in the supernatural. Can you imagine how far Israel had sunk? Here you had the nation, and the chief priest of the nation doesn’t believe in angels, doesn’t believe there’s a spirit world, doesn’t believe in the bodily resurrection?

Turn over to Acts 23. Paul’s on trial before the Sanhedrin which is made up of Sadducees and Pharisees. The dominant group in this is the Sadducees. Ananias is the high priest. He’s a Sadducee in verse 2. We want to jump down to verse 6 where Paul, perceiving that one party were Sadducees, the other were Pharisees, began crying out in the counsel, “brethren, I’m a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I’m on trial for the hope and the resurrection of the dead.” So what he is going to do is split the judges. The real issue here men is I believe in bodily resurrection. Well, if that’s the issue, the Pharisees are on his side because they wouldn’t want to side with the Sadducees. “And a dissension rose between the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Verse 8, “For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit.” But the Pharisees believed in it all. So, you see you have the liberals and the conservatives within unbelieving Israel even at that time.


Back in Matthew 3 I want to note here. If we were doing this today, we would say, well, John was running a seeker service I guess and this is wonderful. Think of the impact of the Pharisees and Sadducees come out. Think of how John might have been able to rationalize. If the Pharisees and Sadducees get baptized by me, they’ll hardly be able to attack me. They have given validity to my message. I’ll have access to every nook and cranny of Judaism with the Pharisees and Sadducees having supported my ministry. This is wonderful. You know there is no veering from the message that is to be proclaimed. It is a message of you must come to salvation in Him. There are not games to be played here. We are happy to have you here. We hope you’ll feel comfortable. I am going out of my way to say nothing offensive today. That’s just not the way God’s spokesman are to carry out God’s ministry. That doesn’t mean that you go beyond what the Scripture says, but you better not stop short of what it says. Here John speaks boldly to these men. There is going to be no change. There will be some men from these groups saved. But by and large they will be the leaders after three years who rejoice at the murder of John and who lead in the crucifixion of the Messiah. It shows you can have mass movements with the popularity of it when salvation is not going on. We want to be careful. People get caught up in the emotion of the event. A prophet’s on the scene. The whole nation’s going out. The religious leaders go out. John tries to be careful to keep his message clear and only allow those who have truly been born again and evidence with a transformed life to be identified with his ministry and message. If salvation was by baptism, then John should have baptized them. He tells them they need to be saved first. That’s missing in their life.

Incidentally, many will go through this process. Matthew will bring it up over in chapter 7. Verse 22, Jesus will say in the sermon, His first public sermon as recorded by Matthew, the sermon on the mount. Verse 22, “many will say to Me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy in Your name, in Your name cast out demons, in Your name perform many miracles.” And I will declare to them, “I never knew you, Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.”” You see the practice of lawlessness is an evidence of a lack of transformation of life. The same thing John was preaching. The very serious concern ought to be the people who are going along with the movement. The larger the movement is, the more people who just jump in. The larger the church is, the more people who are just riding along. Very dangerous. We need to be sure of our salvation.

Back to Matthew 3 verse 8. “Therefore bring forth fruit in keeping with your repentance. Do not say to yourselves we have Abraham for our father. For I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children from Abraham.” I mean, I don’t care who your parents are. The Jews were stuck on this. We are physical descendants of Abraham. There is a parallel for today. The Church is not Israel, but we struggle with the same thing. When you are a Christian and you have kids, it’s hard not to be convinced those kids are either saved or going to be saved and we just love it when they get baptized. We just love it when they are baptized as kids, make the profession, get baptized, because then if they wander when they become adult we can always look back and say well I have the comfort in my heart to know they are saved. And we are more like the Jews than we like to admit. Without the evidence Scripture does not accept the claim. So, we just want to learn from the danger in what happened here. These Jews raised in it, they had heard it so much, their parents were so convinced as long as they went through the motions, they are saved. They are saved. We’re raised in this. What did the Jews say? They are my children. They were raised in Judaism. They are Jewish in their blood. It’s in their veins. So they go to adulthood, they are offended if anybody implies they are not saved. It doesn’t matter. Physical descendants? God can bring those out of stones.


It’s a problem Jesus will address in John chapter 8 when He said, “if Abraham was really your” spiritual “father, you would do the works of Abraham.” It would be manifest in the way you live and in what you do. “The ax is already laid at the root of the trees. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Do you know what that means? It means judgement is at hand. That’s what it means the ax is already laid at the root of the tree. They are ready to cut down the tree. The point is we are on the verge of judgement. If you are on the verge of the kingdom, you are on the verge of judgement. As the Old Testament passages regarding the kingdom make clear, the further you establish the kingdom, the Messiah will purge the nation, Isaiah 4:4, Ezekiel 34:16, Malachi 4:1 are just a sample. You note “every tree that does not bear fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” That’s the same thing Jesus is going to talk about in Matthew 7. We just read a verse out of that chapter. He’s going to say the exact same thing.

You know people wandering around today saying well, as long as you say you have believed in Christ. If there is no evidence in your life that doesn’t mean you are not a Christian. Oh, here we are told if you don’t bear good fruit, you are still under judgement. In other words, John is preaching, Christ will preach, and it’s a consistent message of Old and New Testament, God’s salvation transforms a life. There is no salvation where no transformation of life is evident. Now you don’t get saved by cleaning up your life. Don’t turn it around. But when God changes you on the inside, your life changes. We have a hard time grabbing on to that because we don’t like to think it means what it says. “Many will say to Me on that day, “Lord, Lord, we did” all these wonderful things. We don’t like to think that as many may be lost as this may indicate, that all these “carnal” Christians supposedly walking around out here, all these dear young people who to our dear impressions have been raised in believing churches and who have wandered off are lost. People that have been taken to churches are lost.

John gives a strong warning here, “as for me I baptize you in water for repentance, but the One who comes after me, I am not even worthy to unbuckle His sandals.” That’s how far superior to me He is. He Himself will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. All I can do is baptize you with water. And all that does is symbolizing that you are declaring your repentance that you have been cleansed by God. The Messiah, He’ll do the baptizing with the Holy Spirit and with fire. It seems it may be the Holy Spirit here referring to the salvation. All who believe will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. The rest will be baptized with fire. That seems to be in view of what the next verse. “His winnowing fork is in His hand. He will thoroughly clean His threshing floor. And He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with the unquenchable fire.” So, either you get baptized with the Spirit or you get baptized with fire. You either are the wheat or you are the chaff. So, a word of warning about the coming of the Messiah and the seriousness of the issues.


That will lead up to the baptism of Christ here and the formal entry into His public ministry. The message is simple. When we talk about the first coming of Christ, we ought to associate the events with the events of the second coming of Christ. People say, well He was crucified on the cross. The Jews rejected Him. There is no kingdom. That’s a terrible, terrible injustice to Scripture. It really borders on blasphemy. I mean Gabriel stood in the presence of Zachariah, the prophet of God, and when Zachariah doubted his word, he said, “I am Gabriel who stands in the presence of God.” I mean the point is that there is no doubt that what I say will happen. Not because of his own personal power but because he is a messenger from the presence of God. Now God Himself has said there is coming a kingdom on this earth over which His Son will rule.

People say, oh, that’s been canceled out because somebody didn’t believe. Oh, we just write off the Word of God like that. I hope not because I am hoping about heaven. I am hoping about my eternal destiny based upon what God has promised. I hope He’s not going to change His mind because enough people don’t believe in the future. We’re on pretty shaky ground if it depends on that, the faithfulness of men rather than the reliability of God. You know when we celebrate the first coming of Christ, we ought to in that context celebrate what? He is Lord to be King. And no one or nothing can ever, will ever stop that purpose of God.

It’s remarkable! We are today celebrating, we have this week, and we are remembering in these weeks, the physical birth of Christ in a physical place at a physical time. Almost 2000 years ago at Bethlehem, Christ was born. We realize there will come a time in the future that Jesus Christ will just as physically be on this earth. Jerusalem, physical Jerusalem, will be the capitol. The Jews will be the dominant nation of the world. And all the earth will be under the authority of the Messiah of Israel. And the will of God will be done on the earth just as it is done in heaven. And we will be around Him. You remember when we studied that together. We talked about this, and it seems so unreal. You know people took trips to Israel and walked through Bethlehem. And you say boy it’s amazing. Christ was born here. Isn’t it amazing? We go to Jerusalem now and talk to the Messiah? Look at these Jews. They are thrilled. They were the scourge of the world. Now everybody wants to say they know a Jew.


Now in that context you have to keep in mind a baby born in Bethlehem who is the kind of Israelite is the Judge of all. “God is declaring to all everywhere that they should repent because He has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness.” And the proof has been given because He’s raised that Man from the dead. The promises of God have been doubly confirmed to us. We have the promises of His Word and the stamp if you will of assurance in the resurrection of Christ.

Now this Christ is coming again. Are you ready? That’s the message. Have you repented? It doesn’t say have you come to church. They came out to hear John the Baptist. That didn’t make them believers. That didn’t save them. That exposed them to a message that if believed could bring them to salvation. But you could come to church every week for years. That doesn’t mean you are saved. Pharisees and Sadducees could come out and hear John preach. But if they didn’t believe what he said, he said what are you doing here? What’s the purpose? Have you ever really repented, come to understand your sinfulness, bowed before God turning from your sin to the Savior He provided believing that He died for you? You say, I think so.

Has there been a dramatic transformation of your life as a result of that? That’s the evidence. A good tree will bring forth good fruit. You will bring forth works that are consistent with repentance, with salvation. The amazing thing is there is still time. There is still opportunity. You are here today. You can bow and believe the message and experience that glorious salvation. That’s the message of truth concerning Jesus Christ the king and the Savior. Let’s pray together.

Thank You Lord, for Your Son, Jesus Christ. Thank You Lord that He is the king, and someday He will rule on this earth in a kingdom characterized by righteousness. What glory that will be for this world, for all those who are redeemed by His grace. Lord, may we take to heart the warning of coming judgement, that these are days of grace and mercy. How tragic that men, women and young people sin against grace. They reject mercy and thus will be brought to a judgement where there is no mercy. Thank You for this day of salvation, and I pray this message might be carried to each of our hearts for the accomplishing of Your purposes in Christ?s name, amen.