The Gospel of Luke (8 ) The Ministry of John the Baptist (1) 11/27/2022

First Baptist Church Leominster

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Well let's be seated and now turn in our New Testament to Hebrews chapter 3.

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Pastor Jason will come and read. Here the writer is exhorting his

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Jewish Christian readers to persevere their faith in Jesus. They were tempted because of the threat of persecution to abandon

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Jesus and go back into their Old Testament Jewish practice and belief, abandoning

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Jesus Christ. And the writer says that would be equal to the sin of the

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Israelites in the wilderness returning to Egypt, abandoning their liberty and forfeiting their entrance into the promised land.

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And the writer is asserting that to forsake faith in Jesus is to abandon any hope of entering into heaven, our

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Canaan rest. And so Hebrews chapter 3. Hebrews 3.

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Therefore holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider

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Jesus the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses was also faithful in all

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God's house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself.

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For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. Now Moses was faithful in all

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God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later. But Christ is faithful over God's house as a son.

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And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and are boasting in our hope.

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Therefore as the Holy Spirit says, today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for 40 years.

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Therefore I was provoked with that generation and said, they always go astray in their heart.

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They have not known my ways. As I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest.

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Take care brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living

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God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

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For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

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As it is said, today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.

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For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses?

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And with whom was he provoked for 40 years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?

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And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient?

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So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. Let's pray.

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Heavenly Father, we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for his life, for his death, for his resurrection.

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We thank you for the gift of the Spirit that you've given to each one of us. And Lord, we pray that we would not be deceived by sin.

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We pray, Lord, that we would recognize and see sin for what it truly is. Sin is a lie.

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Sin is a deceiver. And with sin, you never get what you think you're going to get. We pray,

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Lord, that we would have the same view of sin that you have, which is hatred. So, Lord, help us to put to death the deeds of our flesh.

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Help us put to death the sin in our life. And help us to look to you, Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

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And Lord, as we open up your word and as we hear it proclaimed, we ask that you would teach us what it has to say.

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We pray that we would be able to apply it to our lives. Help us, Lord, to live this truth out every day.

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To your praise, glory, and honor. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, let's turn in our

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Bibles once again to Luke's gospel. And today we begin to address

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Luke chapter 3. This is the eighth

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Lord's Day that we've given to this study of Luke, and I suspect we'll be here for the next year or so more, perhaps.

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But today we arrive to Luke chapter 3, verse 1 and following. I wanted to actually get further than we're going to be able to do.

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I wanted to get to verse 20, but we were only able to get through verse 14 today.

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And so really this is the first of at least two Sundays we'll give attention to the ministry of John the

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Baptist. With the opening of Luke chapter 3, verse 1, the story advances about 18 years from the concluding verses of Luke chapter 2.

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And of course that's where we read of Jesus as a 12 -year -old boy in the temple regions of Jerusalem, asking questions and responding to the

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Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. Well, first upon the scene here in Luke 3 is

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John the Baptist, the forerunner and preparer of the people for the soon public appearance of Jesus Christ.

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And so today we'll consider this man, his ministry, and the multitudes to which he ministered, and the man's message to the multitudes.

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And so here are the first 14 verses of Luke 3. Now in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother

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Philip tetrarch of Iteria, and the region of Trachonitis, and Licinius tetrarch of Abilene.

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While Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness, and he went into all the region around the

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Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the

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Lord, make his path straight, every valley shall be filled, every mountain and hill brought low, the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

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And then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

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Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, we have

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Abraham as our father, for I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.

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And even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees, therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

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So the people asked him, saying, what shall we do then? He answered and said to them, he who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none, and he who has food, let him do likewise.

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Then tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, teacher, what shall we do?

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And he said to them, collect no more than what is appointed for you. Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, what shall we do?

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So he said to them, do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.

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It's unfortunate we have to stop there, but this is as far as we're able to address given the time.

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A significant transition occurs from the end of Luke chapter 2 to the beginning of chapter 3.

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The infancy narratives of the first two chapters conclude again with the story of the boy

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Jesus in the temple, but then about 18 years transpired until the silence was broken by the

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Messiah's forerunner, John the Baptist. John here described as the son of Zacharias, who seemed to unsettle everyone with his presence, his message of repentance, and his rite of baptism.

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The time would soon arrive when God would visit his people with salvation through his anointed one, the promised

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King, the Son of David, the Messiah. But the people were to be prepared for the arrival of their

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King, for in bringing salvation to people, the Lord must judge and remove from them that which defiles and destroys, namely sin.

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All therefore who desire to experience his salvation must separate themselves from their sin, must be cleansed of sin's defilement, must put it away, or they would find themselves the object of God's judgment and condemnation rather than recipients of his salvation.

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And so it was John's mission to prepare the people for the arrival of the King by confronting people with their sin and their responsibility to turn away from living in sin, in other words to repent of their sin.

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Let's first consider the troublous times at the onset of the promised kingdom of God, verses 1 through verse 2a, the first portion of verse 2.

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Important events were about to occur, and the significance of John's appearance in the soon arrival of the promised

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King is subtly impressed upon the reader, for in verses 1 and 2 there's a detailed description of the time and the identification of the prominent political and religious leaders.

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The arrival of the promised Christ was an epic event in history, and so it's set within the context of history.

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And so again the opening words of this episode read, now in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor

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Judea, Herod being Tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip Tetrarch of Iteria, and the region of Trachonitis, Lysanias Tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.

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These first two verses are written as if they were the opening words of Luke's gospel. One could imagine

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Luke's gospel beginning here without the infancy narratives of chapters 1 and 2.

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In fact these verses, Luke 3 verses 1 and 2, may have been the original opening of the gospel.

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The two chapters, the infancy narratives, were later added to the gospel which was written by Luke.

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One notable commentator of Luke wrote this, Luke begins this part of the gospel with a long periodic sentence resembling that of the prologue.

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Remember the prologue back in Luke 1 verses 1 through 4? These are the only two lengthy sentences in his writings that are so constructed, though this instance is not so carefully constructed as the prologue.

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Remember the very high literary Greek that we pointed out of Luke 1 verses 1 through 4?

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These verses do not convey that same literary quality. It clearly marks a fresh start in the story which the reader of the

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Greek text could not fail to note. It again suggests what has already been concluded on other grounds that the

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Luke and infancy narrative was added to the gospel at a stage later than the rest.

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Of course it's the entire gospel of Luke that's inspired by God and penned for us as the

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Word of God. We read that Tiberius was reigning as Caesar of the

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Roman Empire. This was not the Caesar, was not the Caesar Augustus mentioned back in 2 verse 1 who had reigned during the birth of Jesus the

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Messiah. This was 18 years later or many 30 years later. Caesar Augustus had been sympathetic toward the

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Jews and had given the Jewish people a measure of latitude and freedom. Tiberius was not that way.

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Tiberius was bitterly hostile toward the people of God and Tiberius as Caesar exhibited a callous disregard for their feelings and wishes.

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His reign was a troublous time for the Jewish people. Luke introduces

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Pontius Pilate as the governor of Judea. Of course Pilate will play a very important role later in Luke's account of the trial and sentencing of Jesus to be crucified.

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Prior to Pilate, Roman governors of Judea had somewhat respected the Jewish religion but this was not so with Pilate.

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Pilate seemed to do all that he could do to the province, to move the province in an uproar.

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He was very cruel to the Jewish people. He was always putting down defiant uprisings but uprisings which he himself had instigated through his oppression.

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His governing was so blatantly unjust and troublesome he was eventually removed from office by the

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Emperor himself due to the riots and rebellions which characterized his district. He was a very poor governor of Rome.

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One of Pilate's cruel acts is described by Jesus in Luke chapter 13 verse 1. They were present at that season some who told

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Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

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That suggests the cruelty and justice of Pilate. And then there are three

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Tetrarchs listed. All of these men would have been under Pilate's authority.

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A Tetrarch technically was a governor of a fourth part of a province. There are three

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Tetrarchs mentioned here. A Tetrarch would have been regarded and treated as a subordinate prince over a regent.

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These three Tetrarchs mentioned include Herod of Galilee who was referred by Jesus as that fox.

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Herod's half -brother Philip, Tetrarch of Iteria and Trachonitis who was a son of Herod the

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Great and his mother Cleopatra. And then there was

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Licinius of Abilene which was a region that contained parts of what's modern -day

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Lebanon and Syria including perhaps the city of Damascus at that time.

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Herod had ruled as Tetrarch until AD 39 when the Roman Emperor Caligula deposed and exiled him for making his courtesy title an honorary title of king as if it were a real title with authority.

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In other words he was usurping authority as far as the Emperor was concerned and so he was deposed.

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And then in verse 2 we read of the Jewish high priesthood. It said to have had two high priests at that time,

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Annas and Caiaphas. The Jews would have only had regard for one living high priest, not two.

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And that there were two was another imposition of Roman authority, unjust Roman authority. Annas was the older of the two.

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He served as high priest from AD 6 until he was dismissed and replaced by Roman authority and the

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Jews greatly resented that, that the Romans were appointing who was the Jewish high priest. And so he ruled as high priest from AD 6 until replaced in AD 15.

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Then three other Jewish men were appointed by Rome to be high priest and then finally Caiaphas was appointed, who was the son -in -law to Annas.

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Caiaphas was probably appointed by the Roman due to his willingness to serve the Romans in that religious leadership position.

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The Jews looked to Caiaphas as a legitimate high priest but they would have also had high regard for his father -in -law,

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Annas. And of course both of them were involved in the trial of the Lord Jesus, moving to have him executed.

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Well based on the information of verse 1, the date can be fixed based on these rulers to be about AD 26,

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AD 27. And we might say in summary the times were characterized by political oppression and religious corruption.

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It was at this time the word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.

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J .C. Ryle gave some encouraging words about John and the ministry of the word coming at such a difficult time.

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Let us learn never to despair about the cause of God's truth, however black and unfavorable its prospects appear.

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At the very time when things seemed hopeless, God may be preparing a mighty deliverance. At the very season when

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Satan's kingdom seems to be triumphing, the little stone cut without hands, that's an allusion to Jesus, may be on the point of crushing it to pieces.

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The darkest hour of the night is often that which precedes the day. Let us beware of slacking our hands from any work of God because of the wickedness of the times or the number and power of our adversaries.

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He that observeth the wind shall not sow, he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.

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Let us work on and believe that help will come from heaven when it is most needed.

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In the very hour when a Roman emperor and ignorant priests seem to have everything at their feet, the

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Lamb of God is about to come forth from Nazareth and set up the beginning of his kingdom. What he has done once he can do again.

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In a moment he can turn his church's midnight into the blaze of noonday. Amen. We ought to be optimistic about the kingdom of God.

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It will increase. We may be assured of that. Well, after the setting forth of the account within a stage of history, we read of John and his ministry in verses 2b through verse 6.

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At the end of verse 2, we have introduced to us God calling

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John the Baptist. We read, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.

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In typical Old Testament style, the prophet receives his message from God. John was called in commission of God to declare his word,

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God's message to his people. And the form of these words set forth

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John to be one as one of the great prophets of the Old Testament. The language particularly can be associated with both

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Isaiah and Jeremiah. Luke emphasizes God calling

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John to his prophetic role and proclamation ministry. John serves as a transitory role as an old covenant preparer and foreteller of the coming

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Messiah. The Messiah would of course usher in the messianic kingdom, the kingdom of God.

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And although John announced that the promised kingdom of God was at hand, John was not a citizen of that kingdom, but served

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God before its commencement. Notice where it was that the word of the

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Lord came to John. Not in Jerusalem, where the current Jewish leadership resided, but rather in the wilderness, desert region, hill country where there's not a tree within miles, barren place.

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And the idea present is that if God is going to be known and made known, it would have to be outside the existing

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Jewish institutions. What is suggested is that the religion of Judaism centered in Jerusalem was corrupt and apostate.

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God would speak to his people, but he would reveal himself through his word, proclaim to them in the wilderness.

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Some have suggested that John was possibly a resident of the Essene community at Qumran, near the

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Dead Sea. That was the community that had preserved the Dead Sea Scrolls. This was a community of devoted ascetic

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Jews who had withdrawn from the established Jewish religion in Jerusalem, believing that it was so corrupt and not capable of reformation.

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And there they awaited a final battle at the end of history, when they believed that a heavenly

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Messiah would appear to give them victory over their enemies, that is the Romans in the first century.

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Qumran was basically a priestly community, believing that they were the ones who were representing the true

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Jewish priesthood. And remember, John was born of a priest,

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Zacharias. He was in from a priestly family, but it's never recorded that John ever sought to attain to the ministry of the priesthood.

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And interestingly, the Qumran community, situated on the shores of the Dead Sea, in the wilderness of Judea, had an

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Old Testament verse of scripture on which it based its identity. The whole community at Qumran saw themselves identified in Isaiah 40 verse 1, which reads,

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The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord. The community thought that that was them.

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But if John ever was a part of that community or influenced by its teachings, it clearly never did represent them or never sought to transmit their way of life to others.

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And the passage which was embraced by the Qumran community, Isaiah 40 verse 1, is here in Luke 3, ascribed to John individually.

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He is the prophet foretold in Isaiah 40. He is the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, calling upon the people of God to prepare themselves for the soon arrival of the

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Messiah, their King. This was the essence of John's ministry. He was a preparer of people.

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John's calling is set forth at the end of verse 2, but then his ministry is described in verses 3 through 6.

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He went into all the region around the Jordan, that would be the Jordan River, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying, and here's

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Isaiah 40 verse 1 and following, quoted, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the

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Lord, make his path straight. Every valley shall be filled, every mountain and hill brought low, the crooked places shall be made straight, the rough ways smooth, and all flesh will see the salvation of God.

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Well, in the ancient world, world highways would be constructed by leveling hills, filling valleys, so as to enable a monarch, a king, to come and visit a region in order to establish order, administer justice, and exercise judgment.

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The people of Judea were to prepare the way for the coming king by preparing themselves through repentance and baptism.

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That was the highway construction, the metaphor being used. John was preparing the highway for the

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Messiah by preparing the people for the king of the Jews, who was about to visit his people as king, as the promised king.

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Now, what about this matter of John's message in practice regarding a baptism or repentance for the forgiveness of sins?

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A number of questions can be raised by Christians. First, how does John's baptism relate to Christian baptism?

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Second, what about the role and nature of repentance that he emphasized? He wouldn't baptize anyone unless they gave forth fruit, fitting or revealing true repentance.

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And third, what about the expression for the remission of sins? Does this not imply that salvation comes through works, being baptized, something which is clearly refuted elsewhere in Scripture?

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How do we deal with that, being baptized for the remission of your sins? Well, let's take each of these questions in turn.

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How does John's baptism relate to Christian baptism? First, we should understand there are clear differences between John's baptism and Christian baptism that was instituted after the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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No person baptized by John nor John himself had an understanding or belief that his baptism symbolized the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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They were clueless about that. Rather, the idea of washing or cleansing from sin was before the minds of these people with regard to their baptism by John.

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It would have been viewed as washing from sin. And yet as Christians, we would refuse to baptize anyone who did not see their baptism linked with their idea of union in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.

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That's why we as Baptists emphasize the Bible teaches immersion to picture the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

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John's baptism was not performed in the name of the Holy Trinity, in the name of the

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Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as is Christian baptism. And John's baptism was performed on people who were looking forward in faith to the coming of Christ, whereas Christians are baptized as they look on to Jesus as their

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Lord and Savior because of his life, his death, burial, and resurrection. And yet as we read in the

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New Testament, the early disciples of John, who later became Jesus' disciples, were not required to undergo a later baptism.

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And so the proper way to view John's baptism is that it was a precursor to Christian baptism.

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But upon the subsequent death of Christ, baptism was infused with new meaning, greater meaning, fuller meaning.

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And Christ himself commissioned his disciples to baptize his followers in the light of what he did on their behalf.

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And so he commanded his disciples in Matthew 28, Go therefore make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them, and notice the

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Trinitarian formula, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe, or to do everything

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I've commanded you. And lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. Thus that concludes the

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Gospel of Matthew. For Jewish people to submit to the baptism of John, it would have been quite a humble admission on their part.

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For although God had commanded and commissioned John to baptize, baptism by immersion was not completely foreign to the

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Jewish mind. Baptism was viewed as ceremonially washing that which was unclean or defiled, needed to be cleansed, thereby rendering that thing washed and cleansed, and thereby regarded to be used in the service of God thereafter.

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And the Jews regarded all Gentiles who became

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Jewish proselytes to undergo baptism, because they regarded Gentiles as unclean and in need of being washed clean by God before they were accepted by him, before they could become a true

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Jewish people. Well, when John commanded all Jews to undergo baptism, he was declaring that the

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Jews were as unclean and defiled as Gentiles. And that would have been apparent to all of them.

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Jews also need to be cleansed from their sin, and that's what the heart of John's message was.

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You people need to be forgiven of your sins, and just because you're Jewish, that does not bring you an exemption.

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What about the role of repentance? The essence of John's preaching was repentance from sin in preparation for the coming of the

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King. Only repentant ones would receive salvation, which would come through him, the coming

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King. And so John's preaching had a forward look in anticipation of the forgiveness of sins which the

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Messiah would bring. Of course, baptism itself does not convey the forgiveness of sins.

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Faith has always been the sole instrument that God employs to grant the forgiveness of sins.

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Their act of repentance from sin and submitting to baptism, acknowledging their sin and need for God's forgiveness of them, were acts and responses of faith in God's promise of salvation.

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They were baptized because they believed what John was saying about the truth of God.

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Repentance was essential, without which the forgiveness of sins would not be granted by God. But repentance was an act and response of faith in the

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Messiah, whom John declared would soon appear. Baptism was performed on those who believed

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John's preaching and teaching. The preaching of repentance from sin was at the heart of John's proclamation, and repentance from sin remains an essential element of New Testament gospel preaching today, or at least it should be.

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For this, in my opinion, is one of the greatest errors and problems present among evangelicals today. The absence of the call to repentance in gospel preaching.

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William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army in the 19th century, he said, in the century ahead, the greatest danger to Christendom is the offering of salvation without repentance.

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Boy, he was prescient. He understood what was coming down the road. Sadly, in these days, if one says the scriptures teach you must repent of sin and believe on Christ for salvation, that voice is frequently disregarded as one who teaches salvation by works, although he's not.

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That he is denying salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. That is a false charge.

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For in preaching the gospel, we're to command people to repent of their sins and believe on Jesus Christ alone for eternal salvation.

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Repent and believe. When we attempt to bring people to saving faith in Christ, we are to proclaim to them the necessity and the importance of repentance, just as John did.

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We are to instruct, plead, and even command sinners to repent of their sin, turning in faith to Jesus Christ for salvation.

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Repentance is turning away from sin, turning on to God through Jesus Christ. Faith in Jesus Christ.

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We're to tell all people everywhere that if they refuse or they fail to repent of their sin, that they will die in their sins and they'll be damned forever.

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John took the direct approach, didn't he? He just didn't point out some, say you brood of vipers, that apparently everybody who came out wanting to be baptized, he called them brood of vipers.

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That's the direct approach. You can imagine how people responded. They would respond and react probably like people do today, when you speak directly about sin and the need to repent of sin.

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We are to press people with their responsibility to take action with respect to their own souls.

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They are responsible before the Lord. They are accountable to the Lord. Consider the following verses, which commands are given to people to respond to the gospel.

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We read in Mark 1, our Lord Jesus called people to repent and believe the gospel of the kingdom of God.

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Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. That's salvation,

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New Testament salvation, and saying the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel.

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We later read, our Lord warned his hearers that unless they repented their sins, they would perish, implying they would die under the wrath of God.

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Luke 13 verses 1 through 5. They were present at that season, some who told him about the

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Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus said, answered and said to them, do you suppose that these

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Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans? Because they suffered such things,

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I tell you no, that unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, that would have been perceived as an act of God, not a cruel act of Pilate.

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Do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

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We might apply it today. You think those people in the Ukraine today being wiped out are more wicked or sinful than anybody else in the world?

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Jesus would say, I tell you, unless you repent, you'll also perish. This is the sentence of fallen man, and salvation is only through Jesus Christ.

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Our Lord made it very clear to his listeners, they were responsible to take action in turning away from their sins.

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And here, and we see in Luke 3, they were they were to turn from their sins and contrition before God, humility, brokenness before God.

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If they had true saving faith in Christ, and they'd turn from their sin and submit to him as King, as Lord, and as Savior.

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The Apostle Paul proclaimed on the day of Pentecost that these Jewish people must repent of their sins in order to receive the forgiveness of sins.

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Peter was preaching to Jewish people on this day. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this

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Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the

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Apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? How did Peter answer them? What shall we do? Peter said, repent, let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the

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Holy Spirit who will enable you to live a life before God.

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And in Acts 17, Paul, before the Gentiles in Athens, commanded all people everywhere to repent.

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He declared to them that God had no longer tolerate their idolatry. He'd put up with the nonsense long enough. He declared truly these times of ignorance

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God overlooked, describing times before the coming of Jesus Christ. But now God commands all men everywhere to repent.

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Why? Because he is appointed a day on which he would judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained, and he's given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead.

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Repentance is necessary. And in 2nd Corinthians 5, the Apostle Paul wrote of pleading with people to be reconciled with God.

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Verse 20, now then we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were pleading through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf.

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Be reconciled to God. People need to be reconciled to God, and that can only take place through faith in Christ.

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And that faith is shown in turning from sin and turning unto him. Repentance.

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And so, yes, we're commanded to believe, but that faith must be demonstrated, shown forth in repentance.

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We are to obey the gospel, turn from sin unto Christ. And so as a manifestation of true faith, repentance is necessary in order to receive salvation.

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Not all faith is saving faith. Only that faith that leads to repentance from sin and turning to God in obedience to Jesus Christ the

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Lord is saving faith. Just because somebody said they believe on Christ, well that's fine, that's good, but demons do that much.

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They know who Jesus Christ is, and the Scriptures say, and with respect to demons, they tremble at the thought, you know, and he was indicating, you know, you people, you know, you say you believe, but you don't tremble, you're haven't arisen to the level of demons yet.

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You know, true saving faith is seen in turning from sin, submitting to Jesus Christ the

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Lord, the Savior. And so repentance is necessary, and this is what

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John the Baptist declared in Luke 3. He said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come, therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and don't begin to say to yourselves, we have

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Abraham our father. Just because you're Jewish, that doesn't make you exempt from the judgment of God, is what

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John was telling them. For I say to you, God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.

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And even now the axe, it presents God as a lumberjack.

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Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees, therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

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There's individual accountability, individual responsibility. You can't say because I'm in the right group,

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I'm in the right Christian church, I'm in the right Christian family, that somehow I'm safe.

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No, every individual is accountable before God, unless a man, woman, child repents of sin, turning to the

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Lord Jesus Christ in faith, he'll not inherit salvation. But God will judge him, cut him down as a man cuts down a fruitless tree with an axe, consigning him to everlasting punishment.

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These are hard words, I understand, they're direct words, but we need to be direct.

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Some of us can be so subtle that we can feel like we're talking truth to somebody, but they don't have a clue as to what we're really saying.

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That wasn't John's way, he was direct. And really it would be unloving to do differently, wouldn't it?

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Certainly it would. Well let's consider the multitudes to which John the Baptist ministered.

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Top of page 7 in your notes. These Jewish people were like many who today profess to be

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Christians. They were ill -prepared for the coming King. They were ignorant of the great danger they were under before God.

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They were totally unaware they're standing before God. They thought they were safe. One of the indicators of the impending judgment of God is presumption.

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Presuming you're okay, when there's no biblical basis to conclude that.

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When people believe themselves to be okay but are not concerned about their souls or their responsibility and accountability before God, they're in danger of damnation.

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These people to whom John preached were presumptuous, thinking that they had salvation because they were

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Jewish people. Abraham, the Old Testament patriarch, was their ancestor, their father.

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And so they were in need of being aroused from indifference and to be awakened to the true nature of salvation through Jesus Christ.

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And so John purposed by his dress, his boldness, his dress as a prophet, his boldness, his message to shake them from their lethargy.

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And that's what we see in verse 7. John's hearers did not see that how they lived was important or essential in order to have a saving relationship with God.

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John commanded them bring forth fruits in keeping with repentance. They thought they were safe because Abraham was their ancestor, their father.

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They thought they were immune to God's judgment, that God was going to deal with us according to a different standard. Oh yeah, he was going to get on those

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Gentiles, they deserve it, but we're exempt because we're Jewish and we have

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Abraham, our father. They were living as though there were no accountability, as though they wouldn't have to answer for how they lived.

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And John purposed to dispel this notion. Every tree that brings forth, doesn't bring forth fruit, good fruit, is cut down and thrown into the fire.

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And so this was a man's message to the multitudes. It was a wake -up call, a call for preparation.

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He sought to dispel their delusions, to remove their props, to dismiss their objections. He sought to strip them of all pretension and all hope of salvation as long as they refused to turn from their sin.

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He dealt with sin and specifics, a good pattern for us to follow. And it was certainly the way our

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Lord dealt with souls. He identified specific sins when he saw them and told people they needed to abandon them.

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The multitudes were to live apart from greed and freely give to those in need. Verse 11, he told the tax gatherers to be honest in their dealings.

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Businessmen need to be honest. He told soldiers to be just with people and content with their wages.

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He declared to these Jews they were no better off than defiled Gentiles who needed to be ceremonially cleansed by baptism in order to become a proselyte to Judaism.

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Every individual is in need of repentance if he desired to receive the forgiveness of sins.

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And so if John were here today he would probably deal in specifics. Put away from you those things which defile you, whether it be in print, on the tube, or on the screen.

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Stop putting before your eyes that which is ungodly, that which incites your passion, which is so readily available on the

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Internet. Cease to be found in places where you would be ashamed to be found if your

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Lord were suddenly to appear. Be kind and generous to the needy.

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Stop the bickering, backbiting in your families which have no place in a home which honors

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Christ. Repent of these things. Forgive one another. Confess your faults one to another.

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Own up to your own sins and turn from them. And if it so applies, then stand up and acknowledge your sin and make public your repentance and be baptized as the

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Lord commanded of all his disciples. That's how we confess Christ initially.

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For again it's only people whose lives are characterized by faith and repentance who have any interest or inheritance which will be revealed when

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Christ comes. We too are to prepare ourselves. Christ is coming to judge all the world.

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Our lives are to so manifest works of righteousness that by our works we will validate our profession of faith, that we have true faith in Jesus Christ and our lives show it by how we act and react.

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So in the light of the ministry of John the Baptist, many of the verses of Holy Scripture, it behooves us to understand rightly the nature of biblical repentance.

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Now as you well know, I send out these notes to many people, about 350 addresses now and about 120 or more are pastors.

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And so I fill out our notes sometimes because I know that they're going to be using them in their own congregations and we don't have the time to go through all the rest of these notes in detail.

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But we spent quite a bit of time in talking about the nature of true repentance and so we're just going to hit on a few of these.

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But I hope if you would profit from it that you would read this at a later time. But we want to reiterate this or state this very clearly because we're living in Roman Catholic New England.

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What repentance is not is not penance. I have a friend who is a funeral director and I got to know him because I'd done so many funerals here.

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I've done 107 now since getting here in 1998 and so I got to know the man well.

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He was a good man, retired fireman, military guy.

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He was lamenting how wicked the society was and as we're driving to the cemeteries, what we really need today is a renewal of the teaching of penance.

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I said I won't name him by name but no you know the Bible doesn't teach penance, it teaches repentance and I proceeded to explain the difference to him and he received it well.

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Repentance is not penance. Biblical repentance should not be understood as doing penance.

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Repentance is taught everywhere in the Bible. Penance is taught nowhere in the Bible. Those who prescribe penance teach that penance is something that a person must do in order to appease

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God. Say so many Hail Mary's, do this or that. Penance is viewed as making satisfaction to God for one's own sin through the things that he does.

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They make penance a sacrifice that satisfies God with respect to sin. The only sacrifice that God accepts for sin is the sacrifice of his son on his cross and so the teaching and practice of penance is a denial of the gospel.

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The belief and practice of penance is foreign to the gospel. It denies the full satisfaction that Jesus Christ provided God when he died on the cross for the sins of his people.

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Jesus cried out from his cross, it is finished. It is not finished is the belief of those who say that you are to do penance, that there's something more you must do in order to satisfy

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God's justice with respect to your sin. There's nothing you can do to satisfy

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God's justice. They say that penance means a more complete payment of the debt which the sinner owes to God.

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The Bible teaches, the gospel announces that Jesus Christ paid all that was required for all the sins of his people.

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We are commanded in Scriptures to repent. We're never commanded in the Scriptures to do penance.

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Repentance simply is fully turning oneself from serving sin to submitting to God and doing his will.

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We're to repent, turning away from your iniquities. And then we went through and we identified what biblical repentance is and I've listed 11 aspects or characteristics.

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We're not going to rehearse those individually other than just quickly and briefly.

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True repentance involves a true awareness and acknowledgement of personal sin. A lot of evangelism seems to think that you can convince a person as a sinner if he can just say

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I'm a sinner like everybody else in the world of a sinner that somehow that qualifies as conviction of sin.

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It doesn't. Conviction of sin centers on me, my sin, my guilt.

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And secondly, true repentance includes a sense of one's guilt before the Lord. I am guilty.

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I have transgressed God's law. I am deserving of his wrath. And then true repentance involves a sense of shame due to our sin.

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Adam and Eve, when they sinned, they were ashamed when they were found themselves, discovered themselves to be naked.

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That shame is different than guilt. Guilt is an actual standing before God. I am guilty.

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Shame is how I feel. I'm ashamed of what I've done, who I am.

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True repentance leads to a sorrow over personal sin, not just a mere acknowledgment. True repentance includes a desire and effort toward restitution, if that's possible.

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My friend Tony in Sacramento grew up as a thief in his two brothers. He was converted.

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He filled up his van three times with stuff he stole from people's houses and stores and returned it all, confessing his sin to each and every one of them.

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And he attempted to make restitution. True repentance involves confession of sin, acknowledging it.

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True repentance, there's a confession of specific sin, not just sin in generalities.

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True repentance includes a hatred of sin in all its forms, whenever it's detected. Not just sorrow for having been caught, but there's sorrow for sin itself.

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And true repentance includes a hatred of sin. True repentance, with true repentance, there's a cessation, a turning from those former sins.

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And I want to strongly emphasize this. Repentance isn't a one -time act.

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You repent at the beginning of salvation and you're covered for the rest of your life. Becoming a Christian, you enter into a life of repentance.

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Every day there's sins that we need to repent of. Some we're not aware of until, you know, the

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Holy Spirit convicts us or we read about in the Word or hear about it. But we're a repenting people and we never arrive, of course, in this life to perfect holiness.

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True repentance is turning to God and His Son, Jesus Christ. It's not just turning away from sin.

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That's only important to the degree you can now turn to Jesus Christ and receive forgiveness and life through faith in Jesus Christ.

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And so repentance is turning from serving sin and now you're submitted to God. Before you lived for sin and you rejected and resented

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God for intruding on your liberty and freedom, you become a Christian.

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And now you're living for Christ, for God, and you're struggling against sin that wants to keep you from doing so.

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We used to live for sin, now we live to stop sinning. It's a whole new way of thinking and a whole new way of life, becoming a true

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Christian. And then true repentance, of course, we have to understand is a work of God's grace.

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It's not something that you can produce in your own heart and life. You need the grace of God to do so.

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In fact, repentance is set forth in the Scriptures as something that God bestows.

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He gives people the gift of repentance so that they are enabled to turn from sin that leads to life.

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And so it's not a work, a meritorious work that we perform, but rather it's a desire and an effort that God has placed upon your heart.

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He's put it there. He's given you a new heart and you know it's new because it was never there before.

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And now you want to live for Christ. You want to live for righteousness. And that was never your desire in the past.

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It is now. What do you attribute to that change? That you got wise one day?

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No, the grace of God was operative in your life and he revealed himself to you through the gospel. We'll close with these words of Charles Spurgeon.

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There must also be a willingness to obey the Lord and all his commandments. It's a shameful thing for a man to profess discipleship and yet refuse to learn his

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Lord's will upon certain points or even dare to decline obedience when that will is known.

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How can a man be a disciple of Christ when he openly lives in disobedience to him? If the professed convert distinctly and deliberately declares he knows his

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Lord's will but does not mean to attend to it, you're not to pamper his presumption, but it's your duty to assure him he is not saved.

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Has not the Lord said that he that takes not up his cross and comes after me cannot be my disciple?

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Now mistakes as to what the Lord's will is may and are to be tenderly corrected.

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Sometimes people don't realize things. We, you know, we understand today what sin is in a way we never knew what sin was 20 years ago, 30 years ago, and so we're to instruct people so that they know.

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But anything like willful disobedience is fatal. To tolerate it would be treason to him that sent us.

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Jesus must be received as King as well as priest. Where there's no any hesitancy about this, the foundation of godliness is not yet laid.

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John the Baptist, Jesus declared, was the greatest man born a woman, accepting himself of course.

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And he set a good example for us, gave a good message, and may we use him as a as a model for courage, clarity, directness, concern for the glory of God.

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And you remember, and we'll get into it next week, Herod didn't like it.

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And so Herod jailed him. Why? Because John the Baptist told King Herod, it's unlawful for you to have that woman.

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He was living in adultery, and John told the king that to his face. And that resulted in his imprisonment, and later in his beheading.

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But he spoke about sin, and we are too. It's not popular, people will hate you for it, but the

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Lord will use it to call his people. And may the Lord use us to be faithful to him, and faithful to truly loving to those that we know they need salvation through Jesus Christ.

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Amen? Let's pray. Thank you our Father for your kindness to us, and mercy in Jesus Christ.

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And we thank you our God that you moved ones in our own lives to confront us, and tell us about our need of salvation in Jesus Christ.

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And some of us can recall quite vividly how we rebuffed their witness, and really abused them when they were only concerned about our souls.

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Help us our God to be genuinely loving and concerned for the souls of those about us, and to be able to speak to them of Jesus Christ.

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We are in need of courage our God, boldness that only the Holy Spirit can give us.

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And we are in need of wisdom our God, to know what to say to people, when to say it, how to say it.

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And so help us, and guide us, and enable us as a church, and as individual Christians to be faithful to you our