PREPARE THE WAY FOR THE LORD
December 10, 2006 - ADVENT 2 - Matthew 3:1-12
Fellow-Redeemed and Saints in the Lord:
Another week has come and gone and we are that much closer to the coming of Christ at Christmas. During the last week, we probably made more preparations in getting ready to celebrate that special day and that special time. Sometimes in this world, we become too busy with the preparations for ourselves or for our family or for our friends or for the things of this world. We may need especially this time to sit back and to consider how we are to prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord.
We heard John’s message in the gospel of Luke. We are going to study the message in depth this morning: "preparing the way for the Lord". We also prepare ourselves for the Lord, not just for the gifts and decorations, the festivities, but also especially as a quiet time that we want with the Lord. The prophet Hosea puts it this way: "Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you"(Hosea 10:12). That is my prayer this morning as we look at these words. Not only this morning, but during this weeks ahead and the year ahead we have found that our hearts are prepared for the Lord. God has come and showered his righteousness on us so that we have the peace and the joy the world does not give to us. We use these words that are really spoken by the prophet Isaiah and quoted by Matthew to describe John the Baptist and to remind us this morning to prepare the way for the Lord. Our theme:
PREPARE THE WAY FOR THE LORD --
I. with repentance, and;
II. with good fruit.
I. PREPARE WITH REPENTANCE
John was related to Jesus and was born for a very specific purpose. John’s life purpose was to prepare the way for the Lord: in the hearts of the believers that were there and people who would come. John had a simple message. He was a wilderness preacher. He didn’t go into the cities to preach, but he stood outside the cities and preached: Prepare the way for the Lord. The people came to him. We are told in verse 5: "People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan." In Mark we hear that all the people came from Jerusalem and the surrounding area.
What did they come to see? Did they come to see John? We might think so as we heard in verse 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." That sounds strange to our ears, but it wasn’t. The early prophets were dressed much the same way. John’s diet of locust and wild honey was what he ate because he was in the wilderness. Locusts were considered a clean food by Jewish law. So it wasn’t that strange for the people who lived in that time. So why did they come? They came because of his message.
Our text began: "In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, ’Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.’" This is a simple message. The word "repent" one commentator has said is one of the worst translations of the Greek word that we have. The original word says, "To change one’s thinking or to change one’s mind." John is preaching "Change your thinking, your mind". Then you know what happens. It changes your hearts and your lives. We are going to see what this word really means. So when you read, "repent" in Scripture, try to remember what that word means: Change your mind; change your thinking; change your heart and your life. John preaches "Change your mind for the kingdom of heaven is near". That is why they came. John was baptizing and preaching a message of repentance for changed minds and changed lives.
John was also the one promised by Isaiah, the Prophet: "A voice of one calling in the desert, ’Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight the paths for him.’" You can imagine how anxious the people of Israel were. The promise of a Savior had been made to Adam and Eve centuries ago. The prophet Isaiah had given more clues saying: "In Bethlehem Ephratha there would be a Savior born. The virgin will give birth. There will be one to prepare the way." So John stood out by the Jordan River saying, "Change your mind. The kingdom of heaven is near." Why was he at the Jordan? Well, his name tells us--John the Baptist. He was a baptizer and a preacher and a way preparer. He was by the Jordan because there was water. It was easy there for baptisms. "I baptize you with water for repentance. I baptize you with water for a change of mind, a change of thinking and a change of heart and change of living. That is why the people came. Verse 6, very simply, very beautifully: "Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River." John’s baptism was a baptism that looked forward to the promise of the fulfillment in Christ. Jesus would come and live, die and rise again. Jesus would provide freely the forgiveness of sins.
It is most amazing to me when we come to this time of the year and look at John the Baptist. In a very real sense John had great power. He didn’t have to go into the cities and synagogue and wait and hope the people would come on a designated Sabbath Day. John stood outside the city, and the people came to hear this message. He had this great power that he could have said, "I am the Messiah," but he never once did. Listen to this. John says, "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. As John had been predicted to come who would be the one to prepare the way for the Lord, he did prepare the way for the Lord. John confesses, "One greater than I will come."
This is a good way to prepare ourselves, isn’t it? Remember at Christmas, One greater than myself is the birthday we celebrate. Jesus is greater than anyone. One who lived a perfect life; and it is his birthday we celebrate. So we prepare ourselves with repentance, with a change of thinking, a change of heart, until we realize that when we come before God we come in the depth of humility. We come in the fact that we do not deserve to have such a precious gift. It is by grace God gives his Son so that you and I are forgiven. So we come with a change of thinking that we are not that important after all. We come with a change of mind realizing that without God and the gift of his Son, we would be lost forever. We come with repentance to prepare the way for the Lord, a change of thinking.
What does the Lord promise with changed thinking and a changed attitude? There are numerous examples. Remember David and Nathan? David had committed adultery and put to death her husband. David was thinking everything was right. Nathan comes and tells him the account of a rich man who took his neighbor’s last beloved sheep to serve as food for his guests. David was incensed, realizing that this was not right. Nathan told him, "You are the man." David said, "I have sinned." Nathan said, "Your sins are forgiven." It was as simple as that. Forgiveness comes without condemnation, without penance. God’s love is freely given and freely received. Peter said the same when crowds realized they had put to death Jesus. He said to them as he says to us: "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord" (Acts 3:19).
It is not a shameful thing to confess our sins. A change of thinking, a change of heart is found in repentance. Repentance in our day and age is kind of like the word "sin." The world would like to shove it under the rug and forget it. There is much worldly repentance, really, where people are sorry that they got caught. The world tries to deny any guilt at all, because we are innocent until proven guilty. So our natural, sinful man takes a step further and says, "Let them find out if I am guilty." People do not readily admit when or if they are guilty. I have only known a couple of people who once arrested, as faithful believers, confessed. They didn’t go through with the trial and said they were guilty and had done the crime. That is repentance: not admitting sorrow because they are caught but because they have done wrong. Listen to some of the famous confessions on TV. It is not a confession when they say, "I am sorry if...." Repentance is I am sorry because I am guilty. The Lord tells us that this is repentance, a change of thinking, a change of heart, and a change of life. Paul wrote in Corinthians: "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death" (2 Corinthians 7:10). Prepare the way for the Lord with a change of thinking, a change of mind and heart.
Repentance does show our dependence on God when we say, "Lord, I have sinned. I sin every day and I sin much. Sometimes I sin openly and sometimes secretly, sometimes with my words, actions and also my thoughts. Sometimes I commit sin when I forget to do the things I ought which are also sin." Sometimes I am not so loving." But what does the Lord say: "Come to me all you who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest." Rest for your souls through his forgiveness. We come to God with repentance: with the change of thinking. Godly sorrow brings the change from the worldly thinking that says we can’t admit weakness. It is not a weakness. Sorrow over sin is our dependence on God. The prophet Joel says: "Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity" (Joel 2:13). This is the word of our God saying, "Come to me, and I will not condemn you. I will forgive you." Our Lord is the only God like that. Allah is not like that. Buddha is not like that. All the false gods demand perfection or condemnation. The Lord our God says, "My Son is the one who lived perfectly to save you from your condemnation."
In the midst of all the hustle and bustle, we prepare our hearts for the Lord with repentance, a change of mind, a change of thinking, and a change of heart. Repentance reveals itself with good fruits.
II. PREPARE WITH GOOD FRUIT
Remember, John is outside the city in the region of Judea, a wilderness area, staying by the water. We have to remind ourselves that water was precious. Many people came out there just to get water. John stayed there for the specific purpose that he would have water for baptizing. John would also have water for his own needs. He would not have to go to the well and get water to drink. John preached the message of repentance: a change of mind, a change of thinking, and a change of heart that would lead to a change of living. Remember, in the Gospel of Mark all came to John, even the Pharisees and Sadducees came where John was baptizing. That was quite astounding, because the Pharisees and Sadducees were leaders of the church. They were not very excited about John’s message. They were very upset that the people were going to him and that he was baptizing. This was something they never heard of. These church leaders trusted and believed in circumcision. They trusted and believed in the law. It said: "You must do and do and do until you die." Hopefully, you had done enough. John would tell them the Savior was coming, the Messiah, the Promised One. He will do everything so that you can die in peace. The kingdom of heaven is near. John knew the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
The Sadducees didn’t even believe in a resurrection. 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?" Why was John able to say that? We also see Jesus saying the same thing--the coming wrath. God’s wrath was going to come. Jesus acted in righteous anger against the Pharisees and Sadducees. You may remember a few of those. Jesus drives out the moneychangers in the temple. They had made it a place of selling and buying rather than worship. Jesus called the Pharisees and Sadducees white washed sepulchers. They looked good on the outside, but on the inside they devoured widows’ houses and take advantage of the poor.
What did John know? Verse 8: "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance." He said to the Pharisees and Sadducees, "I don’t know what is in your hearts; but I can see what is in your lives". Repentance is a change of thinking, change of mind, change of heart and a change of life. If lives are not changed, the hearts have not changed either. The thinking hasn’t changed. These leaders of the church still trusted in the law. In fact for them if they kept the law, they would be separated forever from God.
John warns them in verse 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." Here he talks about the fire of destruction, the fire that would burn but not consume. Jesus would soon come and look for good fruit, signs of repentance, of a changed thinking, heart and life. Also in our last verse: "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." So once again very clearly Scripture teaches about heaven and hell. Very clearly Scripture points out that hell is a place of torment with unquenchable fire, burning but not consuming -- eternally. John didn’t see any of the good fruit of the Pharisees and Sadducees. He knew that they came out to just check up on him. The church leaders wanted to make sure John was doing what the church wanted which wasn’t necessarily what God wanted.
John also knew their faulty defense. "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." Ever since Abraham, his descendants always said, "Abraham is our father. God loved him and blessed him and promised him great things and a great nation." But that didn’t make them God’s children, did it? God could make stones his children if he needed. They had now become Abraham’s children by birth, but not by faith. John knew that. They needed to hear that. They were reminded the ax is at the root of the tree, the winnowing fork is in his hand, and the kingdom of heaven is near.
Today, we gather because the kingdom of heaven is near, God’s kingdom. Luke says it is within us. How does that happen that God’s kingdom is within us? It happens because God has put faith in our hearts. If we had our choice from the time we were born, none of us would be here. We are all born with sin in our hearts. Actually we are even sinful from the moment of conception. We would choose not to look for God or never to be concerned about God and choose very worldly and unspiritual things and be would be lost forever. Thankfully, by God’s grace, he chooses us out of darkness to drag us into his light. God chooses us out of millions and billions to be called his children, not only as Abraham’s children, but also especially as God’s children by faith. Our reaction is that we live lives with changed thinking, changed hearts. Our changed lives are lives that produce good fruit because of all that Christ has done for us. In John: "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name" (John 15:16). We think we are so independent and so important in this life and in our own eyes. Our Lord says, "You are a branch on a vine. If you are cut off, you are lost." So there is that connection with God as being the vine and we are the branches. In this vital connection we get everything we need. If we think we don’t have everything we need, we should ask him. We would get everything that we need. Of course, we have to remember that everything we need is not everything we want. Heaven forbid that God would give us everything we want. What a sad place this life would be. Praise God that he gives us everything we need.
What are some of the good fruits of changed hearts and lives? There are all kinds of lists of good fruits. We want to learn about the source of all our good fruit of lives of repentance. We find good fruit comes from and with the wisdom of God. Christian fruitfulness takes a change of thinking and a change of heart and a change of life during this season. We know that. The stores are decorated with Christmas things before Thanksgiving or earlier. It is easy to think that this is all there is. It is easy to think that we don’t have enough and need more and our kids need more, our families and friends need more. And we think we need more. What we really need is a change of thinking, hearts and lives.
We must turn to what God says in his wisdom. From James: "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere" (James 3:17). As you hear that list and study it today and this week, you realize there is nothing materialistic in this list, is there? Sincere, considerate, peace-loving, submissive, full of mercy, impartial--all character traits of a Christian. This is the tree that produces good fruit. As you and I get to hear God’s word and study it and read it for ourselves, we begin to understand God’s wisdom and it produces fruit in our lives. We don’t have to look very far or go very far outside the doors of the church or the comfort of God’s house to find those who are not filled with peace, who are worried, scared, frightened. So the Lord says in our lives, we as trees are to let that fruit be seen--peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy, good fruit, impartial and sincere.
How does this change happen? The believer is blessed who does not sit in the seat mockers or stand in the way of sinners the Psalm writer tells us. "He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers" (Psalm 1:3). Even though John says the ax is already at the root of the trees, we know that the tree root, which is watered and healthy, is much harder to cut down than a shriveled, dead tree. Psalm 1 says that is the believer. When we anchor our roots in the word of God find that he who is the Water of Life waters us. Then we are prepared in this life. This life is a desert or wilderness in which we make our pilgrimage with God’s word is the source of our Water of Life. We have what we need and our hearts are prepared.
The prophet Isaiah put these words of fulfillment in the mouth of John. Matthew says to us from Isaiah and through John the baptizer: "Prepare the way for the Lord." Prepare our hearts for the Lord with repentance, a change of mind, a change of thinking, a change of heart and a change that will produce good fruit. Paul in Colossians used this prayer which is fitting for us this morning: "And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way; bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God" (Colossians 1:10). That is repentance, a change of mind, heart, life, and bearing fruit. How? Growing in the knowledge of God. You and I today are a little bit more prepared for the coming of the Lord as we have now grown in the knowledge of God. We see our sinfulness and the importance of our change of our thinking and hearts and lives. "As trees who are blessed with the Water of Life, we can and are excited and anxious to produce good fruit. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
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ADVENT 2 readings:
MALACHI 3:1-4; PHILIPPIANS 1:3-11; LUKE 3:1-6
