The Kingdom of Heaven Is at Hand.

Steve Gentry

[0:06] Welcome to Village Church. [0:08] This is your first time here. [0:09] My name is Steve, one of the pastors here at Village Church. [0:11] And as always, I am thankful and grateful to see each and every one of you. [0:14] If you have a Bible, go ahead and open it to Matthew chapter three. [0:18] We’re going to be covering the first 12 verses this morning, speaking about John the Baptist.

[0:23] And the next Sunday, we’re going to be talking about the baptism of Jesus. [0:26] And then the following week will be Easter Sunday, where we will be covering the first 12 verses. [0:29] [0:29] We’ll be talking about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. [0:32] We’ll be celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ and all that that means for us. [0:37] Now, in light of that, there should be some invite cards around you.

[0:42] If you don’t see any, it’s because it’s on your butt. [0:45] And so we don’t do that for decoration purposes. [0:50] We do that so that you can have an aid in inviting people to come out and be a part of our services here at Village Church. [0:58] And so here’s the challenge that I want to give you. [1:01] If you are a follower of Jesus, then you will have a desire for other people to follow Jesus, [1:08] because that is the ultimate love that you should have for other people,

[1:12] that their eternal destiny is defined by Jesus Christ. [1:16] And so on that Sunday, we are specifically I’m going to let you into my notes right now. [1:22] We are going to be talking about the resurrection and the implications that the resurrection has for all of our lives. [1:28] And so in light of that, you know that even if anything else isn’t true, [1:34] the gospel of Jesus Christ will be shared here on that Sunday. [1:39] And so many people struggle in building a lifestyle of what the scriptures would call evangelism or heralding or proclaiming the good news of Jesus to others.

[1:50] And so if you struggle with that first, a little little side hustle next Saturday morning, [1:56] we’re going to be having a missional living summit here where we’re literally for I think four hours are just going to be talking about how to talk about Jesus with other people. [2:06] I’m going to be doing a main session between two breakouts. [2:09] Other pastors are going to be doing breakouts as well. [2:11] It’s going to be a great morning if you’re if you believe in Jesus, you should come. [2:17] But so that’ll help you. But here’s another thing that is a way to apply what we’re talking about next Saturday.

[2:23] And that is take that invite card or multiple cards. [2:27] I mean, we have thousands of them. So take a bunch of them and invite people to our Easter service. [2:33] And I really believe that you’re a person that should set goals in your life because all people should. [2:39] And so this will be a great moment to start to set goals for your life, spiritually speaking, where evangelism is concerned, [2:46] where you can take that card and commit saying, I will bring at least one person with me on Easter Sunday. [2:53] I will think of someone who needs to hear the gospel and I will bring them.

[2:58] And don’t don’t juke yourself out by saying I’m going to cost someone I don’t know at a gas station like a Jehovah’s Witness. [3:05] All right. Is that ever happened to you? It’s happened to me. [3:07] And it’s always a bad day for them. But it’s like, oh, you really made a wrong choice. [3:12] You picked the wrong guy. But but, you know, you have friends who I hope that need to know Jesus. [3:20] You have family that needs to know Jesus. You have coworkers that need to know Jesus. [3:25] You have people that live on your street that need to know Jesus.

[3:31] And so you should set a goal of at least one person, not that you’re going to invite one person. [3:36] You’re going to bring one person or maybe you’re a little more outgoing. [3:40] And you can say I’m going to bring four people to the Easter service at Village Church, one of the three times two in Midlothian, one in Chester. [3:47] And so you’re going to do that. And for the next two weeks, here’s what you do. [3:52] You take those invite cards home and you think of that person and you pray because evangelism is supernatural. [4:01] You say, God, give me one person, give me this one person.

[4:06] Lord, I pray that they would go to this service with me and day in and day out that captivates your prayers because you know that while you might not feel equipped to share the gospel, [4:18] I can tell you one thing. I am going to share the gospel for you. [4:23] And so that’s like T-ball, man. It’s like playing T-ball as an adult against five year olds. [4:28] If you can’t own at that, you need to go to the doctor. All right, because you should be able to. [4:34] All right. And so just set that goal, because I think so often we set spiritual goals that have nothing to do with reaching people who don’t know Jesus. [4:44] They need to know Jesus, bring them where they can find out about Jesus on Easter Sunday and we will celebrate together.

[4:52] But this week, we’re fast forwarding from infancy to adulthood. [4:57] Now, Matthew doesn’t tell us about the adolescence of Jesus Christ. [5:01] No New Testament gospel tells us about the adolescence of Jesus Christ. [5:06] And here’s the big reason. Here’s how I answer those types of questions, because God doesn’t want us to care about the adolescence of Jesus Christ. [5:13] If it was vital, he would have told us, but he didn’t. Therefore, it’s not vital. [5:17] It’s a very simple solution. But we go into the adult life of Jesus.

[5:22] But before he does that, he introduces a player in the game named John the Baptist. [5:26] Now, Matthew isn’t that interested in the details of John the Baptist. [5:31] All he’s interested in is the message of John the Baptist. [5:34] Now, if you want to know the background of John the Baptist, you can go to the gospel according to Luke. [5:38] And he will tell you about the parents of John, about the purpose of John and about the the birth of John, rather. [5:45] But in Matthew, all that we have is the message of John in Matthew, Chapter three.

[5:51] And he goes straight into it because that is always what Matthew wants us to understand. [5:56] He wants to over and over get to the gospel. That’s his point. [6:01] And so here’s how we begin in Matthew, Chapter three. [6:04] In those days, John the Baptist came and he was preaching in the wilderness of Judea. [6:10] That’s the entire biography. That’s it. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. [6:16] He gets right into it. He doesn’t give an introduction. He just goes straight to repentance.

[6:20] For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, [6:23] The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight. [6:28] Now, John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist and his food was locusts and wild honey. [6:34] Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region against the Jordan were going out to him. [6:39] And they were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins. [6:43] John was having a huge, unique impact in that area.

[6:48] And they were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins. [6:51] But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, [6:56] he said to them, you brute of vipers, who warns you to flee from the wrath to come? [7:03] Bear fruit in keeping with repentance and do not presume to say to yourselves, [7:09] we have Abraham as our father, for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. [7:15] Even now, the axe is laid to the root of the trees.

[7:20] Every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. [7:24] I baptize you with water for repentance. [7:27] But he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. [7:32] He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. [7:36] His winnowing fork is in his hand. [7:38] He will clear his threshing floor, gather his weed into the barn.

[7:42] But the chaff or the weeds he will burn with unquenchable fire. [7:50] Number one, this morning, when Jesus comes, he demands repentance. [7:53] When Jesus comes, he demands repentance. [7:56] John’s message is simple, but it is not sensitive. [8:02] He does not like set you up by telling you a funny little story. [8:08] You know, he doesn’t prepare you by making you like him.

[8:10] He just looks you straight in the face and he says, guess what? [8:13] Sin or repent or Jesus is going to kill you. [8:16] All right. That’s his message. [8:18] He warns you, makes a declaration and then warns you in light of the declaration and warning of what the future is going to look like. [8:27] But what’s fascinating is John’s audience are people who knew all of the answers to all of the right questions. [8:36] John comes on the scene and he is completely unique in that era.

[8:42] In the Book of Malachi, we have the final prophet of the Old Testament recording and then 400 years of silence between the testaments. [8:52] That is because there was no prophet in the land. [8:55] It was normative in the Old Testament that God would choose a man or a group of men to be his mouthpieces to the culture of Israel. [9:05] And then he ceased to do that. [9:09] In Matthew, what you have with John the Baptist is a radical return to the days of the prophets to be the forerunner of Jesus Christ. [9:22] And so John is unique in many ways.

[9:25] He’s unique in his office. [9:27] He is unique in his activity. [9:29] He is unique in his delivery. [9:31] And he’s very unique in his dress and location and diet. [9:36] And so John is a weird guy. [9:38] In that day, people were not wearing animal skins, leather belts, eating locusts and honey.

[9:44] That wasn’t normal. [9:46] And the reason is, is John was cast into the culture of Israel at a time when they were culturally and actively, religiously, [9:56] against the culture that God wanted to set up and against what God was going to do in Jesus Christ. [10:03] And so God sends John to be a throwback to the prophetic ministry of Elijah. [10:10] Because when Elijah was prophesying, Ahab was king over Israel and Elijah was outside of the city. [10:18] I mean, there are stories in the Old Testament, there are narratives where Elijah would go and sit on a hill outside of the city.

[10:23] And Ahab would be like, I need to hear a prophecy. [10:26] And so somebody go find the prophet. [10:28] And that was Elijah. [10:29] And he would send 50 guys out and they would say, hey, Elijah Ahab needs you. [10:33] And Elijah would just be like, I don’t feel like it right now. [10:35] And he would call down fire from heaven and it would kill them all.

[10:37] All right. [10:38] And so Elijah had a little bit more of an aggressive ministry than John the Baptist. [10:43] But but he was in the same vein, completely countercultural to what was actually going on in Israel as Israel. [10:52] And so John the Baptist in Elijah’s day was completely wicked because of the reign of King Ahab. [10:57] Now, John comes into it and he is confronting the sins of Israel for a different purpose. [11:04] His purpose is to be the forerunner of Jesus Christ.

[11:08] And John fulfilled prophecy in this way. [11:10] The Book of Malachi said in Chapter four, verse five, that God was going to send Elijah again and that he would come on the awesome day of the Lord. [11:20] And so many people in Israel read that and would read that and say, man, since Elijah is recorded as going up into heaven in a chariot, he didn’t have a death day in the scripture that he’s going to come back. [11:31] But what they didn’t think was is that someone else would come in the spirit of Elijah. [11:36] And that is what would fulfill the prophecy. [11:38] The reason that we know that is what takes place in Luke, Chapter one.

[11:42] And Luke, Chapter one is recorded. [11:43] The parents of Elijah said there appeared to Zechariah, an angel of the Lord, standing in the right side. [11:50] Of the altar of incense. [11:52] And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him and fear fell upon him. [11:55] But the angel said to him, don’t be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son. [12:01] You will call his name, John.

[12:02] You will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth. [12:07] For he will be great before the Lord. [12:11] He must not drink wine or strong drink. [12:13] He will be filled with the Holy Spirit. [12:14] Even from his mother’s womb, he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. [12:20] And he will go before him in a 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 for the Lord a people prepared.

[12:33] And so the reason Elijah’s ministry is so confrontational is because he is talking to a people and he is saying what Luke one says. [12:41] And so, in order to live life in a way that you have not yet been living your life, you need to turn towards the Lord. [12:45] Well, if you need to turn towards the Lord, what’s the assumption? [12:48] You’re living away from the Lord. [12:51] And so you need a complete about face so that you will actually begin to live a life in a way that you have not yet been living your life. [13:01] You need to live towards the Lord because God is about to do a great work amongst you that he has not done before, namely the coming of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, into his adult earthly ministry.

[13:15] And if you don’t turn towards the Lord, the activity of God will happen right in front of you and you won’t see it. [13:21] You’ll miss it. [13:23] I talked to so many people and it’s true of me, too. [13:27] You just want to see God work, but you’re not seeing it. [13:32] And I so often talk to people like that. [13:34] And I understand I empathize because my great desire is that God would work through my life.

[13:41] I want God to work in my life. [13:43] I want God to bless others through my life. [13:46] I want God to use me to see change happen in other people’s lives. [13:50] And the greatest desire of my life would be to see God work on my behalf. [13:56] But what I often hear from other people is you say, I want it, but I don’t see it.

[14:02] I’m not experiencing it. [14:04] I don’t feel it. [14:06] How do I even see it and know that it’s happening if it is happening?

[14:12] And what so often happens is, is I’ll explain what you need to change.

[14:20] Because here’s the key. [14:21] It’s not that God isn’t working in your life. [14:24] It’s that you’re not seeing it. [14:27] If you woke up this morning, and I assume all of you did, God did that. [14:35] Did you know that? [14:37] It’s not that God isn’t working in your life.

[14:40] It’s that you do not have the eyes to recognize the work of God in your life. [14:45] You don’t have the faith to see the work of God in your life. [14:48] And so oftentimes when you say, God, I want you to work, here’s what you’re saying. [14:55] God, you change. [14:57] These are not speaking my love language.

[15:01] Well, God’s not going to change for you. [15:04] God doesn’t need to change because he’s God and you’re not. [15:07] And what God says to us is what John the Baptist says to all of Israel. [15:11] You’re the people of God. [15:14] If you’re not seeing God work, you need change. [15:20] And so often you’ll say, yes, and that’s what I want.

[15:24] I want change until somebody points out what needs to change. [15:30] That’s about how long you want change. [15:33] Because so often we will treat God and we’ll say, but I changed. [15:36] I was wearing purple socks every day and now I’m wearing blue ones. [15:42] That’s a change. [15:45] Friends, that’s not a change.

[15:47] That’s just a sock. [15:49] All right. [15:50] Well, we’re talking about is a fundamental rewiring of your affections. [15:55] What we’re talking about is a fundamental change in your desires. [15:59] We are talking about a change in the direction of your love, of your like, of your practice, of everything about you. [16:09] Because if you think that you can be going in the direction that is called in Luke away from the Lord and then the change that you have is towards the Lord and it’s not going to denote a massive change in the way that you live your life.

[16:26] I will tell you, you don’t understand how God works because so often we say we want to see the work of God. [16:32] But it never changes anything about the direction of our lives that we’re living because God is not beholden to you, friend. [16:40] You are beholden to God and change is necessary. [16:46] You have to change. [16:49] And so John the Baptist comes to these people and he spouts Isaiah chapter 40 verse three. [16:53] He says, a voice cries in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert, a highway for our God.

[17:01] John was not pointing to a geographic entity either. [17:07] When he says kingdom of heaven, that’s unique language. [17:09] But here’s the only place where John is somewhat seeker sensitive. [17:13] When he says the kingdom of heaven, it is because they did not see themselves at that time worthy to invoke the divine name. [17:20] So they wouldn’t say kingdom of God. [17:22] They would say kingdom of heaven because it was more palatable to their ears because when they would hear someone invoking the name of God, the reaction of that would be like, oh,

[17:31] you think you’re holy enough to use the name of God? [17:33] But that’s what he means. [17:35] And so he’s not pointing to a geographic location, which is why he had set up shop outside of the city. [17:41] So because he’s not coming into the Holy Land, he’s calling them out of the Holy Land to make a specific point, I believe, to the audience, [17:52] because he’s telling them you have to come out of your land in order to hear what God wants to do in your life. [17:59] And so often you will bind God to your plan, to what you want, to what you are doing, to how you think life should go.

[18:10] And you will set up this entire place where you say, this is the structure in which I will allow you, God, to work. [18:20] And God says, that doesn’t look like my kingdom. [18:22] How do you want me to work in it? [18:25] It looks a lot like your kingdom. [18:28] It looks a lot like what you’re building without me. [18:32] That looks a lot like what you think God should do and what you deserve for God to do.

[18:38] And God will often say, you need to come out of that and you need to come to the hillside because God’s about to restructure the whole program. [18:44] Because Israel had built an identity where they believed that when the Messiah came, [18:50] that he was not so much liberating them from their sin, he was going to liberate them from the oppressors that were outside of them. [18:57] So the problem was never Israel. [18:59] The problem was everybody else.

[19:03] Do you know anything about blaming other people? [19:06] Do you know anything about thinking that the greatest problems in your life are the people that are against you? [19:11] John the Baptist is looking at Israel and he said the problem isn’t outside, the problem is inside. [19:16] Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. [19:21] He was to turn the children of Israel back to God. [19:26] John is telling them, he’s saying you are not ready for what God is about to do.

[19:32] If you don’t change, you’ll miss it. [19:35] I mean, think about it. [19:37] The gospel of Jesus Christ was getting ready to happen. [19:41] He’s the forerunner. [19:42] The Son of God was literally going to be walking around in front of them. [19:49] That’s a pretty big move.

[19:51] That’s a pretty big work of God. [19:53] But John is warning them, if you’re not careful, you’ll miss it. [19:57] And what do we know from the story? [20:00] Many of them miss it. [20:02] Friend, it’s not that God’s not working in your life. [20:06] It’s that you’re missing it because you’re so stuck on yourself.

[20:09] Number two, your life reveals your repentance. [20:13] Your life reveals your repentance. [20:18] What’s fascinating about the baptism aspect of this narrative is that baptism wasn’t a practice that they had. [20:23] It was a practice for people who weren’t Jews. [20:27] And so if you were a Gentile pagan and you wanted to convert to Judaism, which did happen many times, actually, [20:35] what would happen is is one of the ceremonies that you would go through is a baptism ritual that would represent the cleansing of your old identity and entering into your new identity into Judaism.

[20:48] And so we have carried that over into the church under the authority of Jesus Christ. [20:52] He has told us you are to practice this. [20:54] But when we see John the Baptist doing it, it is before the coming of Jesus Christ. [20:59] And more than that, it is for people who should have already been in the life of God. [21:04] But John is pointing to something that is not the ritual cleansing that they would go through for temple worship, but rather it seems to be a one time practice for Jews. [21:15] And he’s saying you need to lay off the cultural Judaism that has built this religion that is not changing your life.

[21:22] And you need to deal with God, repent and become into the life of God. [21:29] And he’s telling them you have to believe that you need change to the extent where you’re going to practice something outside of the norm.

[21:39] He’s telling them the life that you were used to is not the life that God is going to call you to. [21:44] And this reveals that he is pointing them away from their current religious practices. [21:49] And he’s telling them the life that the leaders of the religion at this time are leading you towards is not doing you any good. [21:55] You need a new work. [21:58] And then the religious leaders show up. [22:01] See, note in verse seven, when the Pharisees and the Sadducees show up the way that John treats them, here’s what the story tells us.

[22:11] But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees, two different groups of religious leaders, but they would serve on councils together. [22:20] Coming to his baptism. [22:22] Coming to his baptism. [22:24] Sometimes you miss things. [22:26] It’s not your fault.

[22:30] Everybody else was coming for baptism.

[22:33] But the original language tells us these guys were coming to baptism. [22:37] And so the language leads us to believe that they were not coming for a work. [22:42] They were coming to observe a work. [22:45] They were coming to judge a work. [22:47] They were coming to measure a work. [22:50] In other words, the Pharisees and Sadducees didn’t think that God needed to do anything in their lives, but they had set themselves up to say, we’re going to judge what God is doing in everybody else’s life.

[22:58] Have you ever heard a message so good and you said, man, I wish so and so was here to hear it. [23:06] That’s not always bad until like the fifth or sixth time you do it. [23:10] And then you need to realize God doesn’t need to work in their life. [23:14] Maybe he’s got a message you need to receive into your life. [23:17] And then it continues and he tells us they were coming to baptism. [23:22] He said to them, you brood of vipers.

[23:24] And I love that language is the language Jesus would use as well in his ministry. [23:28] And the reason that he says this specific thing, I think, and then many commentators believe it is that because the snakes are shrewd and they are dangerous. [23:38] In other words, they can convince many people of their venom being un-toxic.

[23:47] So he looks at them, he says, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? [23:51] And this is a play on words. [23:53] He’s making fun of them because he knows that they did not come because they think they need change. [23:59] And we get that from the viper comment. [24:00] And then he looks to them and he says something different, but similar to what he said to everybody else. [24:06] He says, bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

[24:11] And this is fascinating because that type of language is different than the way that he talked to everybody else. [24:18] And so he’s saying something different about them than everybody else, because he’s saying you have a primary set of practices that should be helpful. [24:26] You have a primary set of practices and you have a primary way of discipling other people that fundamentally has things that if people apply them to their lives. [24:36] And if you are applying these practices to your very own life, it should breed the life of God. [24:42] It should breed fruit that makes you repent.

[24:46] But that’s his point. [24:49] Because it isn’t.

[24:52] Matthew, Chapter seven, Jesus says something similar. [24:56] Jesus speaking says, beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. [25:03] You will recognize them by their fruits. [25:06] Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? [25:08] I don’t know about you, but I don’t know the answer to that question offhand, because grapes just show up at the grocery store and figs are Newton’s. [25:17] All right.

[25:18] So, but but I’ll let you know the answer is no. [25:21] All right. [25:22] It’s no. [25:23] Verse 17. [25:25] So every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. [25:29] A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.

[25:34] Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. [25:38] Thus, you will recognize them by their fruits. [25:42] What’s fascinating to me about this text, and I understand why it’s this way.

[25:48] But I’m willing to wager that every time you use this text, it’s over there.

[25:56] It’s another person. [25:58] It’s this is how God has given me a measure to see if they are legit. [26:04] All right. [26:05] And for good reason, he says, beware of false prophets. [26:07] So there’s a huge element of that in the story. [26:10] But what I want you to understand is I don’t think that false prophets typically set out to be false prophets.

[26:18] Some do. [26:20] Some are con artists. [26:21] Some are just trying to bilk you for everything that you have. [26:23] But I think by and large, many of them set out with the best of intentions and they became false prophets along the road because they believe lies. [26:33] And many of you believe lies, too. [26:37] And so sometimes you need to turn text like this around to be a mirror into your own soul, because so long as you’re only saying, do you have bad fruit?

[26:47] You are not asking yourself the question, what is my fruit like? [26:51] And so John the Baptist, what he’s doing to the Pharisees and according to the setting that I have in the context, he’s doing in front of people. [27:00] He says bear fruit in keeping with repentance. [27:02] And so he’s begging a question to them. [27:05] What type of fruit are you producing with your life? [27:08] And so that’s the question I have to ask myself.

[27:10] What type of fruit am I producing with my life? [27:12] And oftentimes that is where the lies in your life start. [27:16] Because I have heard so many people diagnose unhealthy fruit in their lives, abundant, a great cluster of unhealthy fruit in your life. [27:32] Yet you will end the conversation. [27:34] But I’m a good tree.

[27:41] Prayer. [27:42] I just don’t have any.

[27:46] And when I do last like 30 seconds and I trail.

[27:51] The word, I mean, I just can’t get into the scripture. [27:54] It just seems totally irrelevant to my life. [27:56] I can’t understand it.

[27:58] I don’t really have biblical community in my life. [28:02] I have relationships and I have coworkers and I have friends, but I don’t have discipleship relationships that are lively. [28:10] I don’t like going to community group because I have to hear all sorts of stuff about people and they just want you to care. [28:18] And I don’t.

[28:20] And it doesn’t feed me anything. [28:23] So I don’t go. [28:25] I, you know, discipleship group, I guess I get it. [28:28] But when Pastor Steve says that we just, you know, need to be in the word together and applying it to our lives and trust the spirit, read the Bible with each other and trust the spirit to do something. [28:38] And then just put your life into it and talk to other people about it. [28:41] I mean, the Bible doesn’t speak my love language, so I need a curriculum written by somebody else.

[28:50] And honestly, I don’t like anyone.

[28:55] Great Commandment says to love God, and I feel like he’s distant. [28:59] It says to love others. [29:01] But, oh, it’s exhausting. [29:04] And they and, you know, they get and they get and they take and they take, but they ain’t given.

[29:12] But I’m a healthy tree. [29:15] A good tree. [29:16] Friends. [29:18] I don’t even have to qualify it. [29:21] Look at the words of Jesus. [29:23] Look at the words of John the Baptist.

[29:25] No, you’re not.

[29:29] Good trees bear good fruit.

[29:33] What kind of fruit are you bearing?

[29:37] What kind of fruit is your life producing? [29:41] Right now.

[29:44] How do you know then if you are bearing fruit in keeping with repentance? [29:48] And I think that is very simple to answer. [29:51] I don’t think it has to be complicated. [29:53] I think you want to complicate it so that you won’t have to answer it for yourself. [29:57] But it’s as simple as looking at what your life is producing right now. [30:01] Not what you want it to produce.

[30:06] Because we all have these dreamy pictures of ourselves. [30:10] And so we say what we want it to produce. [30:13] This isn’t talking about a week from now. [30:16] Today, right now, last night, this morning, what are you producing? [30:21] Because many of us have made a third way that Jesus doesn’t give us an option. [30:26] I was at a hotel this weekend for a conference.

[30:29] And in the morning, they gave us a fruit cup and it’s a mixed fruit cup. [30:35] And I like them. [30:36] I mean, they’re nowhere near as good as fried things. [30:39] But, you know, it’s fine. [30:41] It’s very colorful. [30:42] And some of them are really sharp and a little bit sour and just kind of zing you.

[30:48] Some of them are really sweet. [30:49] You get a hold of strawberry, very sweet. [30:52] But then you get the melons, right? [30:53] And it’s kind of bland, if you’re honest about it. [30:56] All right. [30:56] And some of you believe that you’re not bearing good fruit or bad fruit.

[31:00] You’re bearing bland fruit. [31:01] You’re a melon.

[31:05] And so you’re measuring your life not by Jesus’s scale, but you’ve introduced a third middle way that you inhabit. [31:12] And it’s a special way that Jesus must have given you a special revelation about. [31:16] You’re the bland fruit.

[31:19] Friend, Jesus doesn’t want you to lie to yourself.

[31:25] He doesn’t give that as a category.

[31:29] He says you are either good or you are bad. [31:32] And the liberating reality is to be honest.

[31:37] And admit what is actually happening in your life. [31:41] It just is true. [31:44] You are either bearing fruit that keeps with repentance or you are bearing fruit that is taking you away from the Father.

[31:55] Because then John gets real and he tells us number three, Jesus came for judgment.

[32:02] Jesus came to straight up judge. [32:06] That is why he came. [32:08] And what’s interesting, what he points out to the Pharisees is the first line of defense that they had for everything.

[32:15] Abraham.

[32:18] If you were to go to one of them and you were to say, you know, how is your life right now? [32:24] How are you bearing fruit and keeping with repentance? [32:27] Oftentimes in that culture, they would immediately go to, I don’t know if you noticed by the garb I’m wearing, but I am a direct descendant of Abraham. [32:37] And I will go completely back to him. [32:40] You know, every single ancestor until I get to Abraham, I’m one of God’s chosen because of Abraham. [32:45] And John the Baptist, by the way, who’s also got that lineage.

[32:51] This isn’t like somebody from the outside coming in. [32:53] This is someone of the same lineage.

[32:56] He looks to them and he says, do not presume to say to yourselves, verse nine, we have Abraham as our father. [33:05] I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. [33:09] What he means there is. [33:11] God is not beholden to Abraham’s bloodline. [33:14] Abraham’s bloodline is beholden to God.

[33:19] It’s as if God wanted to take those stones, give them the ability to reproduce and magically turn their blood into the bloodline of Abraham. [33:29] Guess what? [33:29] God could do it. [33:31] Now, that would be really freaky, but God could do it. [33:34] That’s the stuff of horror movies. [33:35] But his point is God could do it.

[33:38] So don’t you dare try to presume. [33:44] Well, I was raised in the church.

[33:49] My dad was a deacon. [33:52] My dad was a pastor.

[33:55] I have perfect attendance to community group the last three weeks.

[34:03] Ever woken up the day after community group and things weren’t going your way. [34:07] But God, I went.

[34:10] How dare you.

[34:16] John’s message is so countercultural here that he then looks to them and he says this. [34:22] First, and even now, the axis laid to the root of the trees. [34:27] See, here’s what’s fascinating is he starts talking about bloodline. [34:31] And then he says God has an axe in his hand and he is taking that axe and chopping away at the roots. [34:39] God will take your family tree that you are so proud of that you are banking everything on and he will burn it.

[34:49] Because he’s not interested in who your daddy was. [34:51] He’s interested in what’s going on in your life right now.

[34:56] And he continues.

[34:58] And he says, Therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruits cut down and thrown into the fire. [35:04] I baptize you with water for repentance. [35:06] But he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. [35:10] He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. [35:13] His winnowing fork is in his hand. [35:16] He’s going to use it to separate the wheat from the chaff or the weeds.

[35:21] And he’s going to put the wheat into his storehouse. [35:24] Those are the people that are keeping with repentance. [35:26] And the chaff, those who do not keep with repentance, you will forever be condemned. [35:32] Jesus came to judge.

[35:37] What you’ve got to think through here is the posture of John the Baptist. [35:40] And I find his posture. [35:43] Amazing.

[35:46] John was an impressive person. [35:48] I made sure to check with my parents, but no angel appeared to them when my mom was pregnant with me. [35:55] Surprised me because I mean, let’s be honest. [36:01] Pretty impressive. [36:03] They said, No, no, just normal stuff.

[36:08] And an angel appeared to his parents. [36:10] Not only that, they said he’s going to turn the people of God back to God. [36:16] And they gave him a specific name to give their son. [36:18] They need to do a baby book. [36:20] I mean, even the pregnancy was supernatural. [36:22] And then in his life, he is turning people back to God.

[36:27] The Texas, he’s gathering a crowd. [36:30] He’s baptizing. [36:32] People are repenting. [36:33] He’s confronting religious authority. [36:36] John the Baptist is an impressive person. [36:40] And look at how he wields, how impressive he is.

[36:46] I believe that every single person has something that is impressive about them. [36:51] I believe that some of you are really good at hiding it. [36:56] But I believe everybody has something that’s impressive and it doesn’t, you know, it can be an ability. [37:02] It can be a talent. [37:03] It can be, you know, a discipline that you’ve worked your whole life. [37:07] It can be, you know, something physical.

[37:08] It can be something mental. [37:10] It can be your relationship with God. [37:12] It can be your bank account. [37:13] It can be your house. [37:14] You know, it can be your hair or lack thereof. [37:18] I mean, there are there is something in every life.

[37:21] I believe this, that if you get to know someone enough, you will find something impressive about them. [37:27] But you got to understand that the way that John wields what is impressive about him is amazing because he wields it to show his humility.

[37:37] He’s gathering the crowds, but he wants the crowd to understand that if you are impressed by him and miss the one that he’s pointing to, you’ve missed everything.

[37:48] Note that he says someone mightier than me is coming. [37:52] He’s like, you think water baptism is really impressive? [37:54] He’s like, I didn’t make the water.

[37:57] He’s like, someone mightier than me is coming and he’s going to make my baptism look lame. [38:02] He’s going to baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. [38:05] And it’s not a consuming fire. [38:07] It is a fire that’s going to give you the power of God in your life every day. [38:12] Is someone is coming whose sandals I am not worthy to walk behind him and carry his sandals for him. [38:22] That is an amazing posture given the impressive nature of John the Baptist, because he wanted them to understand if you see me and you don’t see beyond me to the one whom I am presenting to you, then you’ve missed everything.

[38:42] It’s countercultural to the way that you are conditioned because we are conditioned to try to do everything that we can to get people to see what is impressive about us.

[38:53] I mean, look at Instagram.

[38:57] It’s the best of you. [38:59] It’s not the worst of you. [39:01] And if it is the worst of you, no one follows you.

[39:07] You don’t usually present that which is honest. [39:12] You present that which will make you look good to everyone else. [39:16] And John the Baptist challenges that. [39:18] And he says, if you want to know if repentance is real in your life, how are you wielding that which is impressive? [39:27] Are you wielding what God has given into your life to show how great Jesus is? [39:32] Or are you wielding it to impress everyone about how great you are?

[39:38] Friends, Jesus is coming to judge John nine. [39:45] Jesus says, I have come specifically to judge. [39:49] And John 12, he says, my word is judgment because my word is always going to be with you. [39:59] And then Jesus takes all judgment onto himself.

[40:03] See, John couldn’t do that for you. [40:06] The Pharisees couldn’t do that. [40:09] I can’t do that. [40:11] What’s so amazing about repentance is it returns you to a place that you cannot get yourself to. [40:20] But faith in Jesus will guarantee for you.

[40:25] Every week we reflect on the Lord’s Supper.

[40:29] The bread represents the broken body of Christ. [40:32] The cup represents his shed blood. [40:35] And when we eat and when we drink, it represents something amazing.

[40:41] It represents how much we need and how little we have.

[40:47] Some of you are impressed with yourself, but communion strips you down to the basic elements of the fact that there is literally nothing that you can bring to this table. [41:00] You have nothing to offer. [41:02] And the only way that you are given admission to this meal is if you’re willing to admit that you have nothing to offer to Jesus and you have everything that you need him to offer to you. [41:19] And you come and you eat and you drink and you are given and you submit and you are filled. [41:28] And you leave nothing for Jesus. [41:31] You just take.

[41:33] And he gives.

[41:37] The bread is the life that he gave you. [41:43] The cup is the blood that was shed to pay the penalty for everything that you have ever done wrong. [41:50] All of the sin that you have ever committed. [41:53] And so often we sit in these seats and we defend and we want to clarify and we want to impress and we want to make much of ourselves. [42:04] And John the Baptist is looking at us and he’s saying, you need to repent because you’re going to miss the kingdom of heaven. [42:12] It’s happening right in front of you.

[42:17] In just a moment, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, the tables in the front and tables in the back will be open for you. [42:25] And you will come and you will eat and you will drink and you will take from Jesus.

[42:32] And what you need to do in response is simply go and change everything about your life. [42:38] Because so often we get distracted and we live away from God when we need to live towards God. [42:44] If you’re not a Christian, in other words, if you’re sitting there and you’re saying, I don’t know that I’m a follower of Jesus, I’m going to ask you to abstain. [42:50] I’m going to ask you to not eat and drink of communion. [42:53] But it’s not because we’re better than you, but it’s because I don’t want you to lie and tell me you’re a Christian when you’re not. [42:58] I want you to be honest in this moment. I want you to be real in this moment, maybe for the first time ever.

[43:04] And I want you to admit that maybe you’ve had all of the right practices, but you’ve had none of the faith. [43:09] Maybe you’ve known all of the key phrases and you’ve never really applied them to your life.

[43:16] Today can be the day of salvation for you. [43:19] Right now you have the opportunity to turn from your sin and to trust Jesus Christ as your Lord and as your Savior. [43:28] If that’s you, I’m going to ask you to walk out in just a moment to talk with someone, to pray with someone, maybe to ask questions. [43:36] But understand that Jesus is coming to judge based on what you have done with His life.

[43:47] When you’re ready, come.

[44:08] I’m going to ask you to walk out in just a moment to talk with someone, to pray with someone, maybe to ask questions.