What Shall We Do? - [Luke 3:7-14]

Years ago, I was speaking on the radio with a decorated war hero and he had gotten saved after he had got out of the military and he was asked to pray at the National Day of Prayer and I had known about an Evangelical who had been asked to speak in the National Day of Prayer and was told ahead of time.

You can't say Jesus's name. And so I thought I thought certainly. This decorated war vet would say Jesus name and so I said when you got up to pray, how did you end the prayer? And he said I ended it in God's name.

We pray. Amen. I.

Thought oh.

Reminded me of the story of Methodist preacher Peter Cartwright, and he was to preach in front of President Andrew Jackson. And he was told Andrew Jackson is in the congregation. Be careful what you say.

Certain things you can say certain things you can't say and so Peter Cartwright got up to preach. I Understand Andrew Jackson is here. I've been requested to be guarded in my remarks. Andrew Jackson will go to hell if he doesn't repent.

Congregation was shocked but afterwards President Jackson approached the preacher. Sir, if I had a regiment of men like you I Could whip the world and today today we talked about another Preacher of repentance and his name is John the Baptist.

Please take your Bibles and open to Luke chapter 3 the herald of the Lord Jesus the forerunner the preacher of righteousness and repentance. Proclaiming repentance heralding repentance and with boldness and without compromise heralding the truth about the Lord.

Avoiding Common Errors About Repentance

Super simple outline today since so many people have a false view or a wrong view of repentance. What is repentance? Does it apply. The outline is simple. I'm going to give you Several errors people make when it comes to repentance.

Maybe we could call it avoiding errors about repentance avoiding errors about repentance. What I love about the gospel of Luke and by the way, if you're new here at church. We just pick a book and we just start preaching through the book and this is the gospel or the good news about Jesus according to Luke and Luke writes like a physician like a historian very detailed so that you might know exactly who the Lord Jesus is and have certainty about what you see in the text the gospel according to Luke and He wants you to know that Jesus especially in chapter 2 is a man who's born of a woman the Virgin Mary Conceived by the Spirit of God and he's born under a law because Jesus needs to keep the law because we're lawbreakers.

And Jesus need to pay for lawbreakers because that's our only hope of heaven and later in the epistles we'll learn about this Jesus the law keeper and how he Saves us by grace and how he redeems us from slavery of sin and how because of Jesus we have peace with God.

Romans 5 would say through the Lord Jesus Christ and have access to.

God the Father.

Thankfully because of the Lord Jesus that we'll learn about in the gospel of Luke Romans 5 is very applicable while we were still weak at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person though.

Perhaps for a good person one would even dare to die. But God shows or demonstrates his love for us that and while we were sinners Christ Died for us it is by the one man's obedience to Lord Jesus where we are Constituted righteous and therefore there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus and this is the Jesus that Luke proclaims instead of some kind of Jesus that reacts a Jesus who is just watered down far from being worshiped kind of an enabler.

Luke will not let you think that about the Lord Jesus he wants you to think that he's truly God and truly man and Critical in the first two chapters if I had to focus in on something that I don't want you to forget in chapters 1 2 it's found in verse 49 of Chapter 2 as we look through the birth of Jesus and the birth of John the Baptist and the shepherds and the angels and everything else.

Please don't forget dear congregation that at the verse 49 of chapter 2 is very important and He said to his parents his mother and stepfather. Why are you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my father's house?

Of course, you could say back in those days our father you could say the father. But what is Jesus saying when he says my father when Jesus was talking to false teachers? Remember in John chapter 5 and when he called God my father, what did that signal to those teachers?

Jesus answered them saying my father is working until now and I am working. This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him. Not only that he was breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own father.

Making himself equal with God and so the writer Luke wants you to realize. Here's the God man the Lord Jesus Christ and he has an origin. He has a background. He's truly man, but he is truly God he is The God man and in chapter 3 we have John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus in the old days.

They would have front men they would have people that would go out ahead of time to make sure that everything was set for the King's arrival and That's exactly what happens here in John 3. Let me just read these verses again as we approach our passage today, which is in chapter 3 verse 7.

But let's just catch up for last week chapter 3 verse 1 in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Iturria and Trachonitis and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene.

During the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas. Here's the grammatical center of those verses. Here's the key point. You think these other guys are really big shots and leaders and everything else. But here's the main issue the Word of God.

Came to John the son of Zechariah in The wilderness. God is speaking for the first time in 400 years through a prophet. God is speaking. What will he say? The Messiah is certainly going to come soon. What is God going to do and it's in the midst of all these crazy people sinful people vile people wicked people those that would actually chop John's head off and Crucify Jesus.

John the Baptist shows up. Nothing's going to stop God and his word because God is sovereign and he has dominion and he rules and in the midst of chaos. That can't stop the Lord Jesus from coming and what did John preach and he went into all the region around, Jordan.

And.

Said.

You need to have your best life now. I'm gonna start calling John seeker sensitive John by the way. He's so nice. And he went into all the region of Jordan proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

The Lord Jesus is going to come recognize that you're sinful and in a unique baptism. This is not Christian baptism. This was not a Jewish baptism of cleansing. If you wanted to be a Jew and you were Gentile, this is unique to John.

Jesus is going to show up. Get baptized. Preparation baptism looking to the Lord Jesus. Get ready acknowledge your sins. The king is coming. And What John the Baptist does if you see in verses 4 and following is he prepares the way of the Lord?

Those verses in chapter 3 verses 4 5 6. Literally would be let's make sure the roads are nice. Let's make sure the roads are smooth. Let's make sure when the king travels he gets there easily. It's almost like let the red carpet out.

The red carpet treatment by the way on a side note. It was 1902 New York Central Railroad. Put out plush crimson carpets to direct people to board the 20th century limited passenger train. And this was the origin of red carpet treatment.

Put out the red carpet for Jesus. He's coming. Matter of fact. Luke chapter 1 said that that was exactly going to happen. You John the Baptist will go before the Lord to prepare his ways. And with great figurative language you can see in verses 4 and following this voice that cries out in the wilderness from Isaiah.

Prepare the way of the Lord. Make us pass straight, etc. So now we come to our outline in our passage Luke 3 7 to 14 avoiding common errors about repentance. By the way, I put it this way so that you say to yourself.

I don't want to fall into that error. I Want you to avoid these errors. Error number one to ignore repentance ignore repentance. That's the first error. Never preach it never do it. I.

Read of a.

French preacher in 1650 Southern France preached 50 sermons in a row on two words repent ye. And One of those sermons lasted four and a half hours. I Don't think he ignored it. By the way. I always love fall ahead for Daylight savings time because that means I get to preach for an extra hour works out perfect.

Some of you were thinking what do you do when you spring back? You don't preach. No. No, I just ignore that one back in verse 3 again proclaiming a baptism for repentance. And at the end of the gospel of Luke remember what Jesus said in the Great Commission in Luke chapter 24.

Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead. And Jesus said and that repentance. For the forgiveness of sin should be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem.

You need to think rightly about sin. You need to change your mind. You need to think properly when it comes to sin. Ie we sin and God is holy and there's going to be nuclear winter when sin and holiness come together unless that sin has been Forgiven.

Charles Hodge said there's no duty which is either more obvious in itself or more frequently asserted in the Word of God than that of repentance. Everywhere you look the word is repent. Repent repent.

And sometimes there are words in the Bible that mean repent. But aren't technically repent. In other words, you don't see the word, but you get the idea. Circumcise your hearts a breakup follow ground.

Turn from your wicked way wash your heart from wickedness. And if you start looking at the Old Testament Ezekiel preaches repentance. Jesus sends the twelve out in Mark 6 and they preaching repentance.

Peter after the ascension of Jesus said repent and let each of you be baptized. The prodigal son I think typifies what a repentant heart is like when Jesus was teaching in Luke 15 about that Prodigal son, it says when he came to his senses when he repented.

And he had felt that shame of repentance father. I've sinned against heaven and in your sight. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. And so wherever you look in the Bible repentance is there so we want to make sure We don't ignore it.

Paul on top of Mars Hill. By the way has anybody here been on top of our Mars Hill Areopagus. Jim McStay. Well good for you. Amazing. What else could you say right now? You have to say what I say the pastor Paul is on the top of this place where they would discuss political things and philosophical things.

And what does he tell them? Well, it should be obvious times of ignorance. God overlooked Paul said but now he commands all people everywhere to Repent to think rightly about sin. And some people responded with laughter.

Some people responded with snickering. And some people.

Believed.

It was 1517 and Martin Luther was in Wittenberg Germany. And he put up 95 statements to try to have the reform come in the Roman Catholic Church and out of the 95 statements his first statement was When the Lord and Master Jesus said repent he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.

And so even as Christians we understand what John is doing is talking about Unbelievers should repent and think rightly about sin. But even as Christians We're a repenting people and we're trying to be corrected and think rightly about our sin so that we repent and ask God forgive us.

Not Turning Repentance Into a Work

Number two second error. First one is ignore repentance, and I don't think anybody here really does. Number two turn repentance into a work. The second error that happens a lot is Turning repentance into some kind of work.

In other words you have to clean up your life in order to come to Christ. That's where I'm going with this now. I want you to keep your thinking caps on because we're going to get a little theological here for a moment.

And then we'll get back down to The hay on the lower levels, but I want to make sure you understand this if I were to say to you What comes first? Regeneration or faith being born again or believing a mate being alive.

You used to be dead and now you're alive and believing. You'd probably say well. It just depends. Chronologically it happens at the same time. I can't be a regenerate unbeliever, and I can't believe believing unregenerate and so it seems to me in time.

They happen at the same time. They're like Siamese twins, and you would be right. But theologically and logically. You can't exercise faith until you're born again until you're alive because dead people don't believe.

They're they're dead and so chronologically repentance and faith are simultaneous theologically. Being born again is first. Similarly here with the Bible teaching on Repentance if I ask you Repent and believe which one comes first.

Well, you mean to tell me that I can be a repentant unbeliever, or I can be a believing unpenitent. Chronologically faith and repentance is simultaneous. No problem there, right? It's like a coin the tails is I'm thinking rightly about sin Repentance and the head side is I'm trusting in the Lord Jesus.

So again, they're simultaneous in time, but like with regeneration and faith theologically. There's there's an order. There's a priority and that is faith comes first. That's why we believe in sola fide not solo repentance, but sola fide.

By the way.

When you think about the order theologically John Calvin for instance says it ought to be a fact beyond controversy that repentance not only comes first Constantly follows faith. But is also born of faith.

For since pardon and forgiveness are offered through the preaching of the gospel in order that the sinner Freed from the tearing of Satan the yoke of sin and the miserable bondage of vices may cross over into the kingdom of God.

Surely no one can embrace the grace of the gospel without betaking himself then from the errors of his past life.

The.

Motivating power for repentance comes from faiths looking to the Lord for Forgiveness and and mercy. I could maybe put it something like this if you're going to grab The Lord Jesus with the hands of faith that cling to him.

You're not going to grab him with hands of sin and self and everything else when you grab him all those other things. That you need to repent of fall from your hands and so without belaboring this. Too much.

I just want to make sure. Here's the point when you're preaching the gospel to people and you tell them in light of who Jesus is and what he's done. Let me tell you your response if you want to say believe that's fine because in the Bible believe is Implied repentance if you want to say repent, that's fine because with repentance there's faith.

I say one I mean both and I tell them you must repent. I'm not saying clean up your life so that you can believe. I'm not saying there's something before faith. I'm not saying you know what. I can't offer you the good news of Jesus until you stop sinning as.

You know probably the book that changed my life Was the God was the gospel of Luke well true and all these other books of the Bible. But written by a man was the whole Christ by Sinclair Ferguson by the way.

Just curious how many people read the whole Christ by Sinclair Ferguson. I love being your pastor. Good job that book changed my life, and when I met Sinclair Ferguson a while ago. I saw him again. I said Sinclair that book changed my life.

The way I preach the flavor that I preach in the tincture that the attitude that book changed my life. Thank you for writing that and normally know these stage Scottish guys are like okay. Thank you. You know.

Thank you something like that. And he grabbed my hands with two of his hands and said thank you. And I said I think the congregation sees it as well, too. Instead of scolding people trying to encourage people in this whole idea of of who Jesus is and how do you preach it?

But in that book it has a little history to it and the history is there was an argument in Scotland in 1700s and that argument was do you tell people that are unbelievers they have to stop sinning in order to come to Christ.

Or do you offer them Christ even as sinners? And it was called the Merrill controversy, and it had men involved like Thomas Boston and Robert Ralph Erskine and and Ebenezer Erskine think if I had another child I'd probably name him Ebenezer.

What's the nickname for Ebenezer by the way? What Ben oh that'd be perfect. I was thinking neither, but that wouldn't work out. You have to be united to Jesus in order to forsake sin. That's why it's so Lafitte believe on the Lord Jesus, and you'll be saved.

When I say repent I'm not saying stop your sinning. I am saying think rightly about your sin. But I'm not telling people to stop sinning so that they might believe because Jesus justifies the ungodly.

Now in the 1600s a man wrote a book called the marrow of modern divinity. And he has an evangelist speaking to a legalist and they're talking back and forth legalist. I can see repentance. Consists in a man humbling himself before God and turning from them all to the Lord the evangelist.

Would you have a man do all this before he comes to Christ by believing the legalist? Yes? I think it is very fitting the evangelist. Well. I tell you you would have him do what's impossible. It's impossible as an unbeliever to turn from your sins, and so we preach exactly what 11.

Chapter 11 verse 21 says in Acts the hand of the Lord is with them and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. Sinners don't have to stop sinning in order to come to Christ they come by faith and when they come by faith Inevitably and always they will come by faith repenting.

Religious Heritage Is Not Repentance

Error number three. Exchange religious activity or religious heritage for repentance. This is amazing. Chapter 3 verse 7 John the Baptist said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him. They're coming to him on the wilderness you brood of vipers.

Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come bear fruits in keeping with repentance and do not begin to say to yourselves We have Abraham as our father for I tell you God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.

You think that you're going to? Escape the hell of God the wrath of God the burning lake of fire by simply getting dunked in the Jordan. I Didn't tell you that don't get that from me back in verse 7 who warned you to flee from the wrath to come by simply Getting baptized.

I haven't. John the Baptist said that's not the way to go. It's like there's all kinds of snakes Slithering around and then they're by the fire and they want to escape the fire to be okay. But they don't want to change from their snake nature.

You want to get baptized. But you don't want to have any change in your life. You want to get baptized to be forgiven you crowds and you Pharisees and Sadducees and everything else. But you don't want to have any internal change because you don't want to stop sinning.

I'm not going to tell you that John the Baptist said keep living the way you've always lived, but say you're forgiven. I mean that kind of sounds like today when people say well. I've been baptized. I've been a church member I serve I.

I go to church, and I just do that because I'm kind of just giving God a couple. You know little gifts here and there, but I'm not going to change in any of my sins. I'm going to live the way I'm going to live.

Snakes in the fire they're running from the fire, but they don't want to be any less snake ish. Doesn't that remind you by the way? Where's the other story about a viper in a fire in the in the Bible remember that story?

I mean, it's just so funny the fight the viper in the fire running. Paul said after the shipwreck in Malta the native people in Acts 28 showed us unusual kindness. For the kindled the fire and welcomed us all because it began to rain and was cold when Paul began to gather a bundle of sticks and put them on a the fire a Viper came out because of the heat and fastened onto his hand you can imagine just lifting the hand up.

And there's that thing just stuck on his hand. Uh-oh is right. The native people saw the creature hanging from his hand they said to another No doubt this man is a murderer though. We escaped the sea capital J.

Justice the God of justice has not allowed him to live see. What goes around comes around with Karma? He did bad things the universe is going to judge him and there's Paul with that viper. However, Paul shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.

They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited for a long time and saw him no misfortune come to him they changed their minds and said That he was a god. I mean can you imagine John the Baptist here you brood of vipers in?

Matthew he's saying that to the Pharisees and the Sadducees and here he's saying it to everybody. They probably the crowds have probably imbibed the the teaching of the Sadducees and the Pharisees. I Just want to have my sins dealt with but I don't care about living for the Lord.

I don't care about being godly I don't care about repenting. I don't care about striving after holiness. I just want to have my sins forgiven and John Says that's a delusion. You need a wake-up call for that.

That is.

Hypocrisy that is a false profession and John the Baptist will call it out matter of fact. He'll call it out so much that he'll is have his head chopped off later. Essentially John the Baptist is saying this you come out here to me.

And you want to get baptized for the remission of sins and say you know what I never want to change. I never want to have any fruit. I never have any evidence. I don't want to think rightly about sin and how it's a Trespass against God and I don't want to think about how it defames God and attacks his holiness.

I just want to live the way I'm living. But I want to have the security blanket at home at night thinking if I die in my sleep I'm going to heaven and basically he says you know what your father is Satan.

If you think that way you're satanic. Remember in John 8 44 Jesus said you were of your father the Devil because the devil's a liar the devil's a slander. You think of the serpent back in Genesis chapter 3.

He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there's no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie he speaks from his own nature for he's a liar and the father of lies. That's your father.

You think father Abraham had many sons and many sons had father Abraham. I'm one of them and so are you so let's just praise the Lord. No, you have father Abraham when you're a repenter and when you're a believer, and you're trusting in the Lord Jesus.

Everybody's just not a father of Abraham a son of Abraham because they're Jewish. Satan lies it's a lie to think I'll just do a religious activity and that takes care of it. It's a lie to think that God does not want us to think about our sin and trust in the Lord only.

It's a lie. It's a seat of the serpent. Verse 8 again. We have Abraham as our father. That's not a religious duty. That's religious heritage. He says do not begin to say to yourself don't even think about it.

Don't pass go don't go there. Don't lay down there. You're in your bed at night thinking. You know what my dad's a Christian my dad's a pastor my mom's godly. I'm just in by getting in. I'm in by membership.

I've been by a long line of Protestants. If you haven't thought rightly about your sin trusted in the Lord Jesus bearing fruits of repentance. Then you ought not to be saying to that to yourself. The real offspring of Abraham are repenters are believers.

And I trust that if you're here today, and if I were to ask you If you were to die tonight stand before God if God were to ask you why should I let you into heaven? I? Hope your congregation. It wouldn't be because you would say I've been baptized because I'm in a Christian family, and I've done these things.

Because if you could get into heaven by those things why kill Jesus why murder Jesus? It takes the death of Jesus our sin is so bad a little moral reform won't work. So we need the Lord Jesus the loving Savior to come be a shepherd and guide us and before he guides us He saves us and so the only answer.

When we stand before God, it's not even our faithfulness. I was good. And I served and I I said what I was supposed to do and I and I loved other Christians. And I loved you. It's not even that our sanctification your sanctification is not a Savior right your holy livings.

Not a Savior your only Savior is you stand before God and you say I deserve to go to hell. And I shouldn't be here because I'm a sinner, but I have a Savior. I have an advocate that stands between you father and and me and I have a mediator who stands There right there.

I meant to say mediator between you and me advocate with me. Number four misunderstand true repentance. Ignore repentance. Turn repentance into a work exchange religious activity for repentance and now the fourth error.

That's pretty common. Misunderstand true repentance, and it's kind of connected to the last one. But we'll make it separate for our message today. Misunderstand true repentance true or false. You're saved by faith alone.

True true or false you're saved by faith alone, but that faith won't be alone. In other words, you're saved by faith alone in the courtroom of God. You're justified by faith alone because you're looking to the Savior.

But after God saves you and gives you the Spirit of God who dwells in you. You will do things that show out of gratitude Fruits and evidence of your Christian life. You're saved by faith alone, but that faith won't be alone true or false.

Are you sure?

Yes, good. All right. That's that old thing you do when you're a pastor true or false. You're saved by works true or false. True Christ works, of course, it's similar faith and repentance is to faith in this regard.

Saved by faith alone and that faith won't be alone. And what happens is when you see real repentance? It's going to have fruits. Real repentance has fruits and.

That's what.

John says in verse 8 bear fruits in keeping with repentance have Fruit that matches your profession that illustrate it. And if you go down to verse 10, we're gonna back up a little bit in a second. But in chapter 3 verse 10, you see three groups of people versus 10 and following that need to bear fruits of Repentance essentially fruits of repentance our loving God and loving neighbor, but there's the crowd the tax collectors and the soldiers.

They know their sin full, but it's a shallow kind of thing. And so he says to group one. After they ask him what every group asked him, what should we do? The crowds ask him verse 10. What should we do?

He answered them whoever has two tunics. That's the thing you put underneath your cloak. Kind of almost like underwear kind of thing is to share with him who has none and whoever has food is to do likewise.

Not that hard somebody doesn't have what they need for clothing and you have an extra set of clothing and you can't wear two. Clothing's at the same time. How do I say that? You can't wear two under things at the same time.

I guess you could. If you don't need to well, then you should share you should love your neighbor. Well tax collectors verse 12. They came out to be baptized by him. What's what's fruit that bears? What's the fruit from real repentance teacher?

What shall we do? And he said to them collect no more than you were authorized to do. Tax collectors Sinners prostitutes, they're all in the same group. Is it wrong to work for the IRS?

Come on.

But it's wrong to work for the IRS and Clam down on people that shouldn't be clamped down on. It's not wrong to be a tax collector. But it's wrong to extort people. It's wrong to take advantage of your Position so what John the Baptist does not say is quit being a tax collector.

But what are some fruits from the tax collector? Well, the obvious one is You know what verse 13 collect no more than you're authorized to do be unloving to other people. There's that old phrase by Luther God doesn't need your good works.

I mean, he doesn't need anything right? He's self-sufficient. He's of himself, but your neighbor does and so what does a tax collector need to do? Well, you want to see the fruits so you can check to see what the root is if I have no fruit.

Do I have any root? Well, what's the fruit. Be kind to people love them? Don't defraud them. Don't extort them. By the way, that's why you paid to have the franchise of tax collector so you could get extra money.

But you ought not to do that because it's wrong and it's sinful be fair do your job rightly. Well, there's another group that asked him. Basically, what do we do to bear fruits of repentance? What shall we do verse 14 soldiers said and he said to them?

Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation and be content with your wages. Maybe Roman soldiers probably Jewish soldiers and they had the power they had the strength they had the swords and they could get money from you if they wanted to and They could probably Justified by saying we don't get paid that much to do this kind of job and we're going to take it from other people that we're Guarding don't do that.

The root of repentance shows the fruit of repentance.

It says.

Something here about threats. Do you see where where it says threats? Don't threaten anyone. You know what the Greek word for a threat is.

Shake.

Orcs.

Ever heard this phrase before in the Mafia shook him down. Right. It's almost like they're a money tree and you just shake it until the money comes out of their pockets. Don't shake anybody down. You've got the power to do it.

Don't shake them down. Faith without works is dead. Repentance without fruit isn't real repentance. You could probably say to yourself All right. Am I really a Christian? This is a good exercise for everyone.