Matthew 3
1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"
3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight.' "
4 And John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.
5 Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him
6 and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,
9 and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
10 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.
14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?"
15 But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him.
16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.
17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
From the first to second chapters of Matthew we jumped from Jesus as a child being brought from Egypt to Nazareth to Jesus being 30 years of age.
We are introduced the ministry of John the Baptist, the one that Jesus described John as the greatest prophet:
Matthew 11:11 “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist”
John was incredibly straight forward. He was a straight shooter who told people the truth. Some found the truth offensive. We are told why people are offended by the truth in John 3:19-21 “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
If we will hear the truth, and walk in it we will find freedom.
John 8:32 “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Let’s look at some of the things that made up John’s message.
John spoke plainly about sin
· In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"
John’s message stressed the need for repentance! The idea that we are all going to heaven except those who are really bad was not something that was taught in the New Testament, yet that is the idea that is prominent today.
“How can a God of love send anyone to hell?” is a question asked today. The message of God’s love cannot be separated by God’s command that we repent.
Acts 17:30-31 “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
We need to proclaim the love of God, and the truth of God’s word, but the message of His love does not reduce His requirement for holiness. Let me put it another way, if your spouse says they love you, but they cheat on you, they don’t come at night, they don’t support you in any way, they don’t care about you…do they really love you, or are they just talking?
Listen to what John said:
“Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance”
In case you still think that salvation is strictly a “works” thing, let me remind you of Cornelius. If anyone could have been saved by works it was Cornelius!
Acts 10:1-6 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, "Cornelius!" And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, "What is it, lord?" So he said to him, "Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter. He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do."
All that Cornelius was doing was not enough. If you want to be saved by works, you can never do enough works!
Rather than spending all your time working, God has called people to repentance:
Luke 5:30-32 And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, "Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."
Repentance does something that nothing else can do.
Acts 3:19 “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out…”
Repentance is the only thing that can get your sins blotted out. Repent and be converted
· repent “change your mind”
· be converted “change your direction”
John spoke plainly about hypocrisy
· But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance…even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Don’t think that we are the only generation that has ever had hypocrites! There have been hypocrites in every generation, and ours is no different.
Hypocrites will never come up to you and introduce themselves as hypocrites. When someone becomes a hypocrite they end up deceiving themselves. That is the very warning that James and John give us.
James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
We are not the only generation who has ever had hypocrites.
The Bible has some strong things to say about hypocrites.
Hypocrites cannot come into God’s presence (Job 13:16)
Job 13:16 He also shall be my salvation, For a hypocrite could not come before Him.
A hypocrite’s joy is short-lived (Job 20:5)
Job 20:5 That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment?
A hypocrite’s joy doesn’t last (Job 8:13)
Job 8:11-13 “Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh? Can the reeds flourish without water? While it is yet green and not cut down, It withers before any other plant. So are the paths of all who forget God; and the hope of the hypocrite shall perish…”
When a hypocrite is in leadership bondage results (Job 34:30)
Job 34:30 That the hypocrite should not reign, lest the people be ensnared.
Hypocrites are only concerned about how they appear (Matthew 6:5)
Matthew 6:5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.”
The heart of a hypocrite is far from the Lord (Matthew 15:7-8)
Matthew 15:7-8 “Hypocrites ! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.’”
Hypocrites pretend to be loving people (Romans 12:9)
Romans 12:9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.
The hypocrites put on a good show by coming to John, but John spoke to them:
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance…
John spoke plainly about Jesus
· I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.
John the Baptist had the most incredible spirit. He never promoted himself. He didn’t have an inflated view of himself or of his place in the ministry.
John 1:22-23 Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?" He said: "I am
'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Make straight the way of the LORD,"' as the prophet Isaiah said."
John had one goal and that was to promote Jesus.
John 3:28-32 “You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’ He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.”
John’s coming was prophesied by Malachi.
Malachi 4:5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.”
When the angel Gabriel was sent to Zacharias to tell him that his wife Elizabeth was going conceive and give birth to this son that he was told to name John, Gabriel described God’s plan for John.
Luke 1:17 “He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
In the verses we read today, John described an important aspect of the ministry of Jesus.
“I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Just as John baptized people with water, Jesus will baptize believers with the Holy Spirit.
John spoke plainly about eternal judgment
· His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
Some people have a really hard time with the idea of punishment being eternal. First, let me remind you that hell was not created for man. It was not God’s will for any person to go to hell.
Jesus talked about the eternalness of judgment.
Matthew 25:41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels”
Isaiah spoke of this place of eternal judgment.
Isaiah 66:24 “And they shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh."
Isaiah 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness has seized the hypocrites: “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?”
This is why it is so important to believe in Jesus, because if you do not believe in Him, you do not have eternal life.
John 3:17-18 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
When it comes to eternal judgment, hell is only the first stop; the lake of fire is the final destination.
Revelation 20
11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.
14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
John was straight forward in his teaching about eternal judgment.
The things that John told us about:
John spoke plainly about sin
John spoke plainly about hypocrisy
John spoke plainly about Jesus
John spoke plainly about eternal judgment