The Message of John the Baptist
Matthew 3:1-12
January 22, 2004
Introduction
Last week we began our look at the message of John the Baptist, by spending time discussing the word ¡§repent,¡¨ and how that should impact our lives. We¡¦re going to review that some as we go through the message this morning.
This morning we continue our look at the message of John the Baptist by looking at the bigger picture of his message as a whole.
I would invite you to turn in your Bibles to Matthew 3:1-12. If you are using the Bibles in the seats, you can find this on page 682.
MT 3:1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea 2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
"A voice of one calling in the desert,
`Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’ "
4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, `We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
What was it that attracted people to John? Was it his sparkling personality? Unlikely. He may have been a great guy ¡V we don¡¦t know.
Was it his dress? Possibly. Obviously he wasn¡¦t in the running for Blackwell¡¦s ¡§Best Dressed List,¡¨ and he wouldn¡¦t have cared, even if such a thing existed back then.
But I think you¡¦d have to admit that a guy walking around with a camel hair outfit speaking religious messages would attract some attention.
Was it his family? We don¡¦t know anything about his parents after his circumcision, when he was named John by his parents, according to the command of God.
But his father was an influential temple leader, so maybe people went out to see Zechariah and Elizabeth¡¦s son, especially if they thought maybe he¡¦d gone off the deep end.
But I think that while some of these reasons may have been why some people went to see him, the clear implication from Scripture is that what brought people to John was not his personality, his dress, or his lineage.
It was his message.
The message of John was captivating. And more than that, it was convicting. God used John to communicate the need for repentance, in preparation for the coming the Messiah.
So let¡¦s take a look at four facts about his message, and maybe we can catch a glimpse of not just John, but more importantly, the heart of God.
My hope is that as we look at this, we will be able to find something in it from God for each of you, whether you have been following Christ for many years, are new to this relationship with Christ, or even just checking it out for now.
I hope that you will find something beyond a general principle. I pray that God will show you something specific that you can put into your life right away.
In anticipation of that, let¡¦s pray.
The first fact about John¡¦s message was that¡K
1. His message was for everyone.
He didn¡¦t seek an audience with anybody. He made his message available to all who would hear it.
His message was for sinners looking for forgiveness, and for religious people who thought they didn¡¦t need it.
And even a king heard the message, as much as he didn¡¦t like to!
His message wasn¡¦t just for the wealthy. It wasn¡¦t just for the poor.
His message wasn¡¦t just for the learned. It wasn¡¦t just for the ignorant.
His message wasn¡¦t just for the married person. It wasn¡¦t just for the single person.
His message wasn¡¦t just for the Jew. It wasn¡¦t just for us Gentiles. It was for everyone who would care to listen.
And his message wasn¡¦t just for those in ¡§Bible times.¡¨ It was for us as well. Last week I mentioned that his message was timeless, reaching across over 2,000 years to us today.
So what was the message? We see part of what the message is as we look at the second fact about John¡¦s message, and it¡¦s that¡K
2. His message to sinners was to repent.
Verse 2 of our passage says John¡¦s words were:
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
Who needs to repent? Sinners.
Sinners of all stripes and colors. Sinners of all social and economic classes, all racial backgrounds, all religious backgrounds.
Political status didn¡¦t seem to help much! In Luke, we find that he confronted King Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, who had earlier ordered the slaughter at Bethlehem.
The Bible says that if you have broken even one of God¡¦s laws, you are a sinner. In fact, the Bible says that if you have broken one command, you have broken them all.
Ever told a lie? Might as well have been murder, as far as the justice of God is concerned.
Harsh? Maybe. But true nonetheless. And the message for you is to repent.
Last we week I gave you a definition of repent, and it¡¦s basically to change your mind. In other words, ¡§I used to think this way about sin, and now I think this way about it.¡¨
Change your thinking about what is acceptable to God and what isn¡¦t, asking God to transform your mind so you can ¡§get it¡¨ in regard to what is sin and what isn¡¦t.
Oh, and let me address something here. I have heard on occasion, and seen on TV, this phrase, or something like it: ¡§The Big Guy and I have an understanding.¡¨
And what they basically mean is that God just kinda turns His head or winks His eye, because, after all, I¡¦m a human and I¡¦m gonna blow it sometimes.
Folks, this is a faulty line of thinking, and it has very serious eternal consequences. If this describes you, you need to hear that God punishes sin ¡V He doesn¡¦t wink at it.
He¡¦s made a provision for that, by punishing Jesus in your place, but you need to put your trust in that, receiving that provision as your own.
Sinners need to repent.
The third fact about John¡¦s message is that¡K
3. His message to the religious was to repent.
Surprise!
Your religious standing doesn¡¦t make you exempt. You might be have been part of the church your whole life. You might be a leader in the church. You might have a Bible big enough to choke a mule.
Doesn¡¦t matter. If God shows you something in your life contrary to His Word, you need to repent.
John directed much of his comments here to the religious leaders. They thought they had it made in the shade, but John let them know that it wasn¡¦t the fact that they were the ¡§clergy¡¨ of their day. They needed to repent.
John figured they had not really repented before. Why?
John gives us a clue by telling them in verse 8 to:
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
They were not producing fruit.
We talked last week that repentance should bear at least the following fruits:
„Y Your attitude toward God will be altered.
„Y Your relationships with others will be altered.
„Y Your ethics will be altered.
„Y Your speech will be altered.
„Y Your behavior will be altered.
This is important because although repentance begins in your mind, it doesn¡¦t end there. It needs to show in your life.
If you consider yourself a religious person, you¡¦d better examine yourself, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal anything in you that needs to change.
Let me park on something for a minute in this regard.
This was a problem with the Pharisees and it¡¦s still a problem today in the Christian church.
It¡¦s when we look down our spiritual noses at someone who¡¦s not like ¡§us.¡¨
In other words, they¡¦re not Christians, and they don¡¦t ¡§look¡¨ just right. They¡¦re sinners, and they lead lifestyles that are contrary to Biblical standards.
Maybe you know something about them that disgusts you, and you figure they¡¦re beneath you, not worth your time.
Or maybe they don¡¦t dress just quite right, or wear their hair just right, according to your standards.
Or maybe, just maybe, they belong to the ¡§wrong¡¨ race, whatever race that might be.
And in your effort to keep yourself from being ¡§polluted¡¨ by these people, you avoid them altogether, and talk down to them and about them.
The Pharisees were guilty of this. And later, when we get to the part when Jesus calls Matthew, we find that Jesus rebukes this attitude.
Those people out there are made in God¡¦s image, and we have no right to decide if God loves them or not. He does love them! He sent His Son to die for them!
They may not be worth your time, but they¡¦re worth God¡¦s time.
So if this is you, and understand, I¡¦m not pointing fingers at any specific persons, because I don¡¦t know about any of you in this regard, but if this is you, you need to repent.
Get off your religious high horse, removing the plank from your eye, and begin to see others as people who need the love of Jesus.
Your religious standing doesn¡¦t make you exempt from the need to repent.
Also, your religious ¡§heritage¡¨ does not give you a free pass. Maybe your momma or daddy loved Jesus and you think that you¡¦ll be okay because of their ¡§standing¡¨ with God.
Sorry ¡V that won¡¦t cut it. Someone once said, ¡§God doesn¡¦t have grandchildren in heaven.¡¨ In other words, you get into heaven based on your relationship with God as a son or daughter of God, not based on your parents¡¦ relationship with God.
You need to come to God on your own, repenting of your sins, and accepting God¡¦s provision for your salvation.
The fourth fact about the message of John is that¡K
4. His message introduced the Messiah.
In verse 2 he says that the kingdom of heaven is near! The Messiah was coming, and He would establish a new kingdom, made up of those would follow Him.
This was the basis of his message for repentance.
Look back at verses 11-12:
11 "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
Allow me to point out three specific points about the Messiah from John¡¦s message here:
„Y He is more powerful than JTB.
The Messiah would not be just another preacher or prophet. He would be one of power and authority to do the next two things I want to point out, the first of which is that¡K
„Y He will baptize with the Holy Spirit.
John¡¦s baptism was in a sense, a preparation, an outward sign that someone was prepared to receive the Messiah. It was a baptism in water.
Jesus, on the other hand would baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit.
Fire in this context could mean judgment against those who reject Him, but more likely it is used in the sense of purifying someone.
When baptized with the Holy Spirit, He purifies us and refines us, conforming us into people made righteous by Him, and being made useful for His Kingdom.
Titus tells we are renewed in Christ by the Holy Spirit, and His working in us makes us fit to serve Him in our lives.
Can you say that you have been baptized by the Holy Spirit? Is your life exemplified by a yearning, a thirst for God, and a life of obedience to Him?
If not, then you need to plead to God for that! He¡¦ll give it to you, I promise. And more than that, He promises to fill you, giving you power to live for Him and serve Him.
The third point about the Messiah as John describes Him, is that¡K
„Y He will ¡§clean house.¡¨
This is one of the hardest lessons for the Church to get a hold of, at least on the personal level.
You see, not everyone who calls Him ¡§Lord¡¨ is a believer!
Jesus Himself said as much. Call yourself a Christian all you want, but if you have not truly put your trust in His finished work on the cross, you are not a Christian.
And it doesn¡¦t matter what you¡¦ve done in His name.
Jesus said that people will come to Him at judgment and say, ¡§But Jesus ¡V we spoke in Your name. We did miracles ¡V we even drove out demons in Your name! You¡¦ve gotta let us in!
Jesus will look at them and say, ¡§Sorry ¡V I never knew you.¡¨
Yowza!
And not only that, He is going to judge the religious establishments.
Folks, the message here is that some are going to be very surprised about Jesus¡¦ opinion of them and their ¡§ministries.¡¨
And so it behooves us here at AWC to reflect on what we¡¦re doing and why.
Are we seeking the face of God, asking Him to show what He wants us to do, or are we just going through the motions, hoping that God will just smile and bless our efforts?
I¡¦m happy to tell you that the leadership of this church is actively seeking God¡¦s face. They are committed to coming before God on a regular and frequent basis, asking God for His vision for this church.
We don¡¦t want to be just another church in town. We want to be effectively used by God to expand His kingdom.
We want to be a church made up of people who are serious about following Christ, not just giving Him lip-service.
We want to be a church that helps people follow the Great Commandment to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and who loves our neighbor as ourselves.
We want to be a church that is serious about doing our part to fulfill the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all Christ commanded.
We want to be a church that does not need to fear the threshing of God, but welcomes it. Because the time is coming, and He will bring His judgment.
Sounds harsh, I know. But it¡¦s not meant to be pretty.
John¡¦s message was harsh then, it¡¦s harsh now. And one of the most interesting parts of the harshness is that most of that harshness is directed to those who call themselves followers of God but don¡¦t have any evidence of it in their lives.
Conclusion
You¡¦ve filled in the blanks of your note-taking guide, I hope.
But I need you to listen up for a moment, and not tune me out.
One of the biggest mistakes we can make in listening to a message like this is to think that it applies to someone else.
¡§I don¡¦t need to hear this ¡V but I know someone who does, and I hope they got it this morning!¡¨
That, my friends, was the attitude of the Pharisees, and God didn¡¦t let them get away with it then. He¡¦s surely not going to let you or me get away with it now.
So I want to take just a moment for some silent reflection. Some time for us to invite the Holy Spirit to reveal to us something we need to repent of.
Don¡¦t let pride get in the way here. Let Him show you, and give it to Him, asking forgiveness and His purifying love to cleanse you through and through. And then I will pray.
The message of John is for us, as surely as it was for his listeners. Don¡¦t lose that perspective, but rather let it permeate your spirit this morning as you take some time right now.
(Silence, then prayer)
