INTRODUCTION:

            Last Sunday we lit the candle of prophecy which was a call to remember the Old Testament prophecies which spoke of the first advent of Jesus Christ, the incarnation when God took on human flesh so that He might be our substitute and suffer God’s wrath against sin on our behalf that we might be reconciled to God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  This same candle of prophecy was to cause us to recall the promises and prophecies of Christ’s second advent and in anticipation of that event to discard the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light, to literally put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

            This morning, we lit the candle of Bethlehem which speaks of preparation necessary to be ready for the birth of the Christ Child, but also the preparation for the return of the King in His second advent.  Our Scripture this morning focused on the ministry of John the Baptist who was the forerunner, the herald of the coming Messiah.  It focused on how he was preparing the way for the Messiah, preparing the hearts of the people through the baptism of repentance.  Let’s pray and then look at the ministry of John the Baptist as he prepared the way for the Lord.

--PRAY--

 

SCRIPTURE:

            Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 3:1-12 our passage of Scripture for this morning.  Please if you are able, stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.

     Matthew 3:1-12,

            “Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’  For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight!”’  Now John himself had a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, “We have Abraham for our father”; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.  The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.’ ” (Matthew 3:1–12, NASB95)[1]

 

THE HERALD (Matthew 3:1-4)

            In the ancient world it was common for a herald to precede the arrival of a monarch. The purpose was to announce his arrival and to prepare for his safe and proper travel.  With the herald would be a group of servants who under the herald’s direction would make sure the roadway was as smooth and uncluttered as possible.  Holes would be filled in, rocks and debris would be cleared away, and litter would be burned or hidden.  As the group travelled along and worked, the herald would proclaim the king’s coming to everyone he met along the way.  His two-fold duty was to proclaim and prepare.  This is what John the Baptist’s ministry did for God’s great King, Jesus Christ.

            This passage begins with the words, “Now in those days…” (Matthew 3:1a, NASB95)[2] and Matthew uses this phrase as a transition between chapter 2 and 3. Interestingly, nearly 30 years separate chapters 2 and 3.  Chapter 2 ends with Joseph returning from Egypt to Nazareth with Jesus and Mary after the death of Herod the Great.  Chapter 3 begins with the ministry of John the Baptist.  Matthew tells that John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, this was the area just north of Jerusalem and along the Jordan river near where it dumps into the Dead Sea.  This was a barren, sparsely inhabited area.  John had been miraculously born to parents beyond the age of childbearing, a righteous priest named Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth.  When the angel announced the coming birth, he commanded that the baby be named John and that he would be the forerunner or herald of the Messiah.  John did not follow in his father’s footsteps and enter into the priesthood, instead he became what had been prophesied about him, the herald of the Messiah.  What was John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea?  He was saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2, NASB95)[3]  He was preaching repentance, a turning from sin to a life of righteousness in preparation for the coming of the promised Messiah. 

For four hundred years there had not been a prophet in the land. Now when God spoke again through John the Baptist, heralding the coming of a King and a kingdom it was not the expected word of joy, comfort and celebration but a message of warning and rebuke.  The kingdom of heaven is at hand, waiting to be brought in, but Israel was not ready for it.  Had God’s people accepted their King, the Messiah, when He first came to them, the kingdom at hand the John spoke of would have become the kingdom of a thousand years which would have in turn brought in the eternal kingdom.  But instead, they killed the herald of the King and then the King Himself, the millennial kingdom and the eternal kingdom were sovereignly postponed.

Matthew then shows us the prophetic evidence that authenticates the ministry of John the Baptist.  Matthew points out to us that Isaiah prophesied concerning the herald of the Messiah, the forerunner of the promised King.  Matthew writes, “For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight!”’ ” (Matthew 3:3, NASB95)[4]  John as the herald of the Messiah-King did not clear the roads and highways of obstacles but sought to clear men’s hearts of the obstacles that kept them from the King.  The way of the Lord is the way of repentance, of turning from sin to righteousness, of turning moral and spiritual paths that are crooked into straight, ones fit for a King.  The call of John’s voice in the wilderness of Judea was the shouting of urgency commanding people to repent, to confess sin and the need of a Savior.  Isaiah’s words authenticated John’s ministry and message.

Matthew tells us that John the Baptist stood out from the other religious leaders of the day.  He claimed to be God’s messenger, but he did not live, dress, or talk like the priests, scribes, Pharisees or Sadducees.  Those religious leaders were proper, well-dressed, well-fed, and worldly.  John on the other hand wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, which were as plain and dull as the wilderness where he lived and preached.  His clothes were practical and long-lasting, but definitely not as comfortable or as fashionable as what the religious leaders wore.  He was very much like the prophet Elijah in the way he dressed.  His diet was locusts and wild honey, which was nourishing but nothing more.

John the Baptist’s dress, food, and lifestyle were a rebuke to the self-satisfied and self-indulgent religious leaders.  At the same time, it was a rebuke to most of the people, who may have not been able to indulge in the privileges of their leaders, but they admired and longed for the same advantages.  John purpose was not to turn the people into hermits.  He called no one, not even his disciples to live and dress as he did.  But his way of living was a very clear reminder of the many loves and pleasures that keep people from exchanging their own way for God’s.

 

THE HEARERS (Matthew 3:5-6)

            News of this eccentric prophet preaching in the wilderness spread quickly and he began to draw large crowds out in the wilderness along the banks of the Jordan river.  Matthew tells that the crowds were coming from Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan.  What may have begun as a small gathering soon swelled to thousands.  They came out to see and hear him because they believed he was a prophet.  There had not been a prophet in Israel since Malachi four hundred years earlier.

            Matthew tells us that they were being baptized by John in the Jordan river as they confessed their sins.  This is significant because baptism like this was not a traditional Jewish ceremony.  This was nothing like the Levitical washings, which was a washing of the feet, hands, and head, also these washings were repeated since they represented purification from sin.

            John’s baptism was one time.  The only one-time washing the Jews performed was for Gentiles, signifying their coming as outsiders into the faith of Judaism.  For a Jew to submit to John’s baptism demonstrated, in effect, that he was an outsider who was seeking entrance into the people of God—an amazing admission for a Jew, after all he was already a member of God’s chosen race, a descendant of Abraham, an heir of the covenant of Moses, and he is coming to John to be baptized like a Gentile!

            This act of baptism symbolized before the world that those being baptized realized that their national and racial descent, or even their calling as God’s chosen and covenant people, could not save them.  They had to repent, forsake sin, and trust in the coming Lord for salvation.  It is that of which the baptism was a public witness, as they confessed their sins.  They had come into the kingdom just like the Gentiles, through repentance and faith—which included an admission of sins.

            Not all of these acts of repentance were sincere;  many were superficial and hypocritical.  John knew this and even refused to baptize some who came out to be baptized by him.  He instead called them out for what they were and sharply rebuked them.  He spoke of one coming who was mightier than himself who would judge hearts and motives righteously.

 

THE HEART OF MAN (Matthew 3:7-10)

            Among those who were coming out to be baptized by John, were some Pharisees and Sadducees.  John singled them out for a special warning and rebuke.  We are already acquainted with the Pharisees and Sadducees from our series in Mark.  The Pharisees were self-righteous; they were legalistic and had no regard or respect for those outside their sect.  They outwardly appeared righteous to the common people, but inwardly they were full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.  The Sadducees were from the priestly aristocracy; they were compromisers both religiously and politically.  They claimed to accept the law of Moses as supreme and the only religious authority, and they scorned the legalistic traditions of the Pharisees.  They did not believe in anything supernatural, denying the existence of angels, demons, the resurrection to name only a few.  Because of this they lived only for the present, getting whatever they could from whomever they could.  The two groups had nothing in common, but both held seats in the Sanhedrin.  Even though they were so different from one another, Matthew lumps them together and it is clear from John’s response to them being there that he considered their basic problem and need to be exactly the same.

            It is interesting that Matthew informs us that they were coming for baptism.  It is hard to imagine why the self-righteous and proud Pharisees and Sadducees would ask to be baptized by John.  Maybe some of them were simply curious about what made John so popular with the people.  Some of them surely thought that he was a prophet as the people believed and they came to check him out for themselves.  If John truly were a prophet perhaps they could gain his approval, pretend to be repentant and capitalize or take over the movement.  Whatever their reasons for being there, they were wrong, wicked reasons.  They were not repentant; they had not confessed their sins; they had not changed at all.  John saw right through their façade.  They were not genuinely seeking true righteousness that delivers from judgment.  They were the same smug, self-righteous hypocrites that they had been when they set out to find John the Baptist.

            John was fully aware of their hypocrisy and their insincerity.  John addressed them as a group with very strong words.  He began by calling them a brood of vipers.  Vipers were a small poisonous desert snake that John would have been well aware of.  A brood refers to the offspring of something, in this case vipers.  This was not a nice name, calling them this pointed out the danger of their hypocrisy—as well as the fact that their wicked ways had been passed on to them by the original serpent, their spiritual forefathers.  Like the desert viper, they often appeared harmless, but their brand of godliness was venomous and deadly.  John continues the viper figure with his question: “Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”  The picture is that of a brush fire,  or a farmer burning the stalks in his field after harvest, and the vipers and other creatures fleeing before the flames in order to escape.  The implication is that the Pharisees and the Sadducees were expecting John’s baptism to be a kind of spiritual fire insurance, giving them protection from the flames of wrath to come.  True repentance and conversion do protect from God’s wrath, but superficial and insincere professions or acts of faith tend only to harden a person against genuine belief, giving a false sense of security.  John would not be a part of such hypocrisy and deceit.  It was the deceitfulness of their true master, Satan, and not genuine fear of God’s judgment, which led them out to hear John and to seek his baptism as some added fire insurance.

            John was not done; he goes on to tell them that they need to bring forth fruit in keeping with true repentance.  In other words, the truly repentant heart will produce spiritual fruit in keeping with or authenticating true repentance.  Our repentance is seen by its correspondingly genuine works, which is seen in both our attitudes and actions.  A right relationship with God brings right relationships to our fellow human beings.  Those who claim to know Christ, who claim to be born again, will demonstrate a new way of living that corresponds to the new birth.  Genuine repentance is an acknowledgment of sin, a feeling of guilt because we have offended God, and then a change of mind which results in a changed life that bears fruit in keeping with repentance.  This kind of repentance is a gift of God, and John could see that this was not true of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and without the evidence of true repentance he would not baptize them.

            Knowing what they were thinking, John continued, “and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.” (Matthew 3:9, NASB95)[5]  The Pharisees and Sadducees believed that simply because they were descendants of Abraham, members of God chosen people, made them spiritually secure.  John is saying that being a descendant of Abraham is not a passport to heaven.  It is a great advantage in knowing and understanding God’s will, but without faith in the Lord that advantage becomes a more severe condemnation.  If Abraham himself were justified only by his faith, how could his descendants expect to be justified in any other way.  John says do not think this way because God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham, that is, true children of Abraham that come to the Lord in faith as Abraham did.

            John then spoke of the coming judgment and from his words he believed that God’s ultimate judgment was imminent.  Because the Messiah had arrived John said the axe was already laid at the root of the tree, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  At the end of every harvest season the farmer would go through his vineyard or orchard looking for plants that produced no good fruit.  These would be cut down to make room for productive vines and trees and to keep them from taking nutrients from the soil that were needed by the good plants.  A fruitless tree was a worthless and useless tree, fit only to be cut down and thrown in the fire.  Fruitless repentance is worthless and useless; it means absolutely nothing to God.  The fire mentioned here is the biblical symbol for divine judgment and is used often in both the Old and the New Testaments in reference to divine judgment.

            John was directing his rebuke directly at the unrepentant Pharisees and Sadducees, but his message of judgment is for every person, every tree…that does not bear good fruit.  Every tree is every person, if we refuse to turn to God for forgiveness and salvation which results in no fruit, we will be cut down and thrown into the fire.  But the one who seeks God in true repentance asking for forgiveness and salvation and produces good fruit in keeping with repentance will live.  Salvation is not verified by a past act, but by a present fruitfulness.

 

THE HOPE (Matthew 3:11-12)

            John does not end on judgment but also gives a measure of hope in his final comments.  Here he speaks specifically of the Messiah, the One who he has been announcing will soon arrive.  The One who had come in order that no one need face God’s judgment.

            John begins his final words by explaining how his baptism differed from that of the Messiah.  He said, “I baptize you with water for repentance.” (Matthew 3:11a, NASB95)[6]  John’s baptism represented a ritual the Jews often used when a Gentile accepted the God of Israel.  The ceremony was the mark of a person becoming a part of the chosen people.  In John’s ministry it marked the outward profession of inward repentance, which prepared the person for the coming of the King.  As the apostle Paul explained many years later, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” (Acts 19:4, NASB95)[7]

            The second baptism that John mentions is by the Messiah, a baptism by the One John says is coming after me who is mightier than me, whose sandals I am not fit to untie.  One of the lowliest tasks of a slave was to untie and remove the sandals of his master and guests and to wash their feet.  It was a symbol that Jesus Himself used in teaching His disciples to be servants. The humility of John is seen here, showing the greatness of the One whom he heralded.  John always put Jesus above himself, recognizing the importance and greatness of the Messiah.

            John said that the Messiah who was coming is mightier than I, one way He is mightier is in His baptism with the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit was promised by Jesus as another Helper, that He may be with you forever.  At Pentecost and during the initial formation of the church, the Holy Spirit did come upon the disciples, baptizing them and establishing them in the body of Christ.  Since that time, every believer is baptized into the church by Christ with God’s Spirit.  1st Corinthians 12:13 says, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free.” (1 Corinthians 12:13a, NASB95)[8] John’s word about the baptism of the Holy Spirit must have been comforting and exciting to the faithful Jews among his hearers.  The Old Testament prophets had promised that the Holy Spirit would be poured out on man.

            The third baptism that John mentions that the Messiah will perform is the baptism of fire.  In the context of this passage, I believe that this can best be seen as representing God’s coming judgment, especially since fire was just used to represent judgment and because of the illustration that John uses to end his message.  Both verses 10 and 12 contrast the fate of believers and unbelievers, those who bear good fruit and those who do not (v.10) and the valuable wheat and the worthless chaff (v. 12).  Because of this it seems logical and natural to take verse 11 also as a contrast between believers (those baptized with the Holy Spirit) and unbelievers (those baptized with the fire of God’s judgment).

            As in the preceding verses, John again gives consolation to believers but warning to unbelievers. “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:12, NASB95)[9] In Israel and other parts of the world, farmers would find a hard surface or make one for a threshing floor.  They would bring the harvested wheat here and then an ox or a team of oxen would drag heavy pieces of wood around over the grain to separate the stalks and hulls from the wheat.  Then the farmer would take his winnowing fork and throw the grain up in the air and the heavier wheat would fall back down but the chaff would blow away.  Eventually nothing was left on the floor but the good wheat.  This would be gathered into the barn where it will be forever safe, just as the Messiah will separate everyone who belongs to Him and He will keep them forever safe and protected.  In the same way as the farmer, He will burn up the chaff, those who do not belong to Him, with unquenchable fire.  The long-awaited Messiah would perform both of these functions.  That final separation and the ultimate judgment will take place at the second coming of the Lord Jesus, when the unsaved will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

CONCLUSION:

            What does this have to do with Advent?  The second candle is Bethlehem and represents preparation for the birth of Jesus Christ.  John the Baptist’s ministry was also about preparation, preparing the hearts of people for the coming Messiah-King.  John is calling us as well to prepare our hearts to celebrate Christ’s birth, but more importantly to prepare are hearts for Christ’s second advent, when He will separate the ones who are His from those who rejected Him.  His people will go into eternal life, the unsaved into eternal punishment.  Now is the time to prepare our hearts for that day.  John calls us to repent and turn from our sin and follow the Lord Jesus Christ by faith.  John says that true repentance is seen by bearing fruit in keeping with repentance.  Where is your heart?  Does it need some cleansing?  Theologian Erich Sauer writes concerning repentance, “Repentance is a threefold action.  In the understanding it means knowledge of sin; in the feelings it means pain and grief; and in the will it means a change of mind.” [10]  True repentance first of all involves understanding and insight, intellectual awareness of the need for moral and spiritual cleansing and change.  Second, it involves our emotions.  We come to feel with pain and grief the need that our mind knows.  Third, it involves the will and the appropriate actions that result from what our mind knows and our heart feels.  In just a moment we are going to remember the Lord’s death until He comes by partaking of the Lord’s Supper.  Paul tells us to examine ourselves before we eat the bread and drink from the cup so that we do so in a worthy manner.  This would be a time to repent and prepare your heart before the Lord.  Take a moment to examine your heart.

 

[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[8] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[10]Sauer, Erich, The Triumph of the Crucified. Grand Rapids, MI : Eerdmans, 1951. p. 67.