A Picture Of Repentance Series

Introduction

I. John the Baptist brought a message of the need for repentance before God.

II. Luke, quoting from Isaiah chapter 40, wrote that John was,

A. “The voice of one crying in the wilderness; Prepare the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight. 5 Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill brought low; and the crooked places will be made straight and the rough ways made smooth; 6 And all flesh will see the salvation of God.’”

B. The king is coming, but not just any king, THE KING.

C. John the Baptist is proclaiming the coming of Lord, King and Savior, Jesus Christ.

III. Today, when a dignitary comes to town what does the city do?

A. The graffiti is washed away;

B. Street sweeping machines come out of hiding;

C. Barricades are put in place,

D. A city wants to put on it’s best face, and suddenly what once was shabby is not turned into sheik.

E. Make way for the President of the United States of America.

IV. In the first century, when a king was coming to town,

A. Roads were straightened;

B. Ditches, or valleys were filled,

C. Hills were brought as low as possible,

D. Everything possible was done to make the king’s journey into town a pleasant one.

E. Make way for king whoever.

V. John the Baptist says,

A. Get busy,

B. King Jesus is coming

C. Do everything possible in your life to be ready,

D. Turn from your wicked ways, and repent from your sin, so that you may be ready for judgement day to arrive.

E. John’s message was a message to bring conviction of sin, and repentance of heart.

VI. And further, John the Baptist states plainly that “Repentance of Heart, Ushers In a Change of Action.”

VII. I read a great story about conviction of sin this week.

A. The story goes something like this,

1. Two deacons from a local church were out fishing on prayer meeting night.

2. One of them said to the other,

a. “I really feel guilty about being out here.

b. I know pastor is really encouraging the body to be more involved in corporate prayer, and here we are fishing.”

3. The other deacon said,

a. “I couldn’t be there, even if I was home,

b. My wife is sick.”

B. At least one of the church leaders felt guilty about not supporting the work of His church, BUT

C. Not guilty enough to pass up the fishing trip.

VIII. Now me, of all people am not saying that going fishing is a sin, BUT

A. I will say that if we are being convicted in an area we need to deal with, AND

B. We don’t deal with it,

C. It is probably fair to call that SIN.

D. And maybe you have heard it said, “The wages of sin is death...” (Rom 6:23)

IX. When sin in our lives is made visible, there is only one thing to do, and that is to repent.

A. But what does repentance look like?

B. That we shall look at this morning.

X. In Luke, chapter 3, we are once again drawn to a story of John the Baptist.

A. John is proclaiming the coming Messiah, and people are responding,

1. Some are convicted of their sin, and respond with acts of repentance.

2. Some are convicted, and respond with acts of arrogance,

3. And John the Baptist just keeps on proclaiming that salvation is coming.

B. When true conviction of sin is evident, action will surely follow.

A Message of Repentance Is Not Always Pleasant (vs. 7)

7 He therefore began saying to the multitudes who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

I. I want you to imagine a Sunday morning with me for a moment.

A. You get out of your comfortable bed, eat a hearty breakfast, take a nice warm shower, and put on your freshly laundered clothes.

B. You leave your air conditioned home, and get into your air conditioned car for the comfortable journey to an air conditioned worship facility.

C. On the way, you think or even say, “I sure hope the pastor brings a nice, inspiring, uplifting message this morning.”

D. You enter the building, at your convenience, take your usual seat, and the pastor opens his message with something like,

1. “You brood of sinners.

2. What are you doing here?

3. Who told you that you would be welcome in God’s presence anyway?”

E. How long would you stay?

F. I venture to say that most of us would never have heard the third sentence.

II. Now go with me to the first century,