If you want to open your Bibles,
you can open them up to the book of Matthew chapter 3. And we
began chapter 3 last week by taking a look at verses 1 through
8. And we spent most of our time
talking about the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, and what the
Kingdom of Heaven is, and what that means to God's people. We
looked a little bit at repent. We're going to look a little
bit more at that this evening. And we'll look at the more, mostly
between verses 8 and verse 12. But I want to read, and before
I do that, I want to bring this out in our handout. It says,
I asked this question last week, what did John the Baptist preach? What were the leading themes
of his ministry? What subject did he dwell upon
and expound most constantly? With what message did he prepare
the way of the Lord, as it says there in verse 4? So read with me if you would.
Matthew chapter 3 beginning at verse 1. In those days came John
the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying,
Repent ye. for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand. For this is he that was spoken
of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, the voice of one crying in the
wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his path straight. And that's in Isaiah 40, verse
4, and the same John The same John had his ramnet of camel's
hair and a leather girdle about his loins, and his meat was locust
and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem
and all Judea and all the region round about Jordan, and were
baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many
of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said
unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from
the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits
suitable for repentance. And think not to say within yourselves,
we have Abraham to our father, for I say unto you that God is
able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And
now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees, therefore
every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down
and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water
unto repentance, but he that cometh after me is mightier than
I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you
with the Holy Ghost and with fire, whose fan is in his hand,
and he will thoroughly purge his floor and gather his wheat
into the garner but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable
fire." Now, if you'd like to take your handout, the rest of
tonight's study will be from the handout. In verse 8, John
speaks plainly. This is mid-page of page 1. He
speaks plainly about sin and repentance. We also read that
in over in Matthew chapter 3 verse 2. He plainly declares the necessity
of repentance, warning religious men not to rest in their religious
actions, their religious works. Repentance, turn from and turn
to Christ. But dead men can do nothing.
Do we truly understand what repentance is? The world would like you
to say it's turning from the sins that you committed to being
religious, to going to church on Sundays. Do we truly understand
what repentance is? In reality, very few do. Repentance is just like faith. It is the gift of God. It is
that which God gives to us and works in us. He works repentance
in us. As the Ethiopian cannot change
his skin, nor can the leopard change his spots, a sinner cannot
turn himself to God. Listen to Jeremiah 13, 23, where
it talks about the leopard and the Ethiopian. Can the Ethiopian
change his skin or the leopards his spots? No. The Lord Jesus
Christ, as we read in Acts 5.31, is exalted a prince and a savior
for to give repentance to Israel. That's God's people and forgiveness
of sins. Last paragraph on page one, we
read, that which Christ gives cannot be mixed with works of
man. There's a false repentance with which multitudes are fooled. A false repentance is that which
comes from sorrow, from a sorrow for the consequences of our actions,
not the causes of sin. True repentance is that which
flows from the consciousness of sin itself. Those who know
they're sinners, those who have been shown and given the sight
to see the sinfulness that their flesh is. Repentance is sorrow
that arises because a person fears, I'm sorry, false repentance
is sorrow that arises because a person fears the punishment
of sin. True repentance is godly sorrow
for having offended God. False repentance arises from
fear of judgment. True repentance, page 2, arises
from the revelation of justice satisfied by Christ. Zechariah, listen to the words
of Zechariah 12 verse 10. And I will pour upon the house
of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace
and of supplications. And they shall look upon me whom
they have pierced, and there shall mourn for him. This is
repentance, mourning for him who gave himself for us, he who
satisfied the justice of God in his son, the Lord Jesus. Mourn
for him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness
for him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. I can't help
but think about the remnant of John It's simple. It's unpolished. It's straight
and it's narrow. That's the gospel. The gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ who came to save sinners. Unlike the complicated dress
of the religious leaders, John's was unpolished. It was straight
and narrow. Their dress was complicated. And it was in that day as well
as ours. It says, our Lord says in there, that He came to prepare
ye the way, to remove the obstacles, the complications, as in the
road to the city of refuge, to remove the things that may trip
up the child of God. In Luke chapter 3 verse 36, we
read this account, 3 through 6, we read this account, and
he came into all the country about Jordan, speaking of John
the Baptist, preaching the 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 ye the way of the Lord. make his
path straight, every valley shall be filled, and every mountain
and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be made
straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth, and all
flesh shall see the salvation of God." Brother Don Fortner
wrote these words regarding Luke chapter 3 verse 5. He says, like
John the Baptist, the prophet is out to pull down the high
places, to build up the low places and make a way for the Lord.
His theological interpretation of Holy Scriptures is not a matter
of learned speculation, but a passionate conviction. His preaching is
not intended to make sinners feel good about themselves, but
to bring them down in the dust before God by the burning penetration
application of his words to their hearts. Isn't that what happened
to those two men on the road to Emmaus when the Lord revealed
to them in the scriptures the things concerning himself? Their
hearts burned within them. Others may comfort when afflicted,
but the prophet, the true prophet, afflicts the comfortable. We
are trying to accomplish now by PEP, publicity, propaganda,
and promotion, what once was done by preaching. The woods
are full of trained religious personnel. They are called preachers.
But we need prophets, writes Don Fortner, men in whom the
word of the Lord burns like fire, men who carry and are weighted
down with the burden of the word of the Lord. I listened to a
message. Go ahead and turn to page three,
but I want to share with you. I listened to a message by Brother
Gabe Stoniker. Kathy and I both did. And I heard
a message. of a man who was convicted of
his own sin. When you hear messages from men
who are convicted of their sin and of the salvation of the Lord
Jesus Christ, you cannot help, if you know God, but to sit back
and say, that was a wonderful message and it applied to me.
What a great message. It was titled, Examine Yourselves. Last Sunday, if you folks are
interested in tuning into sermon audio and listening to it, it's
just a man who is convicted of his own sin, standing before
men, praying that God would convict them the way he did him. Top of page 3, we read, the kingdom
of heaven is a kingdom into which one must be born into. That's
what we read in John chapter 3, beginning at verse 5. The
Lord himself speaks these words, verily, verily, I say unto thee,
except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Marvel
not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. The wind
bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound air, but
canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. So is every
one that is born of the spirit. Yet the kingdom is also the kingdom,
yet it is a kingdom which must be willingly entered by personal
repentance and faith. Listen to the words of Psalms
110.3, thy people shall be willing. Willing to what? Willing to enter
into the kingdom of God. We don't come kicking and screaming. When the Lord shows us the depth
of our sin, there's nowhere else to go. I got no other place to
go. I'm like the disciples. And the
Lord asked them, will you also go when many turned and walked
away and would walk with him no more? No, Lord. There's no
other place. You have the words of life. Thy
people shall be willing in the day of thy power. Surrender to
Christ must be a willing surrender. Listen to these words, these
lengthy words in Luke chapter 14, 23-33. And the Lord said
unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and
compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I
say unto you, that none of those men which were bidden shall taste
my supper. And there went great multitudes
with them, and he turned, and he said unto them, If any man
come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife,
and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his life also,
he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his
cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of
you, intending to build a tower, saideth not down first, and counteth
the cost, whether he hath sufficient to finish it? Lest, happily,
after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it,
all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to
build. and was not able to finish. Or
what king goeth to make war against another king, sitteth not down
first, and consulteth whether he is able with 10,000 to meet
him that cometh against him with 20,000? Or else, while the other
is yet great way off, he sendeth an ambassador, and desires conditions
of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be,
of you that forsaketh not all, that he hath He cannot be my
disciple. So we see there is a cost. There's
a personal willingness that must be met. We must be made to repent,
and we must be given the gift of faith, as we read in Ephesians
2. The bottom of page three, we
have more scripture here to support this. Look at chapter 8, verses
34-38. Whosoever will come after me,
let him deny himself and take up his cross. Let him deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his
life shall lose it. But whosoever shall lose his
life for my sake and the gospel's, The same shall save it. Page four. For what shall it
profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his
own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange
for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be
ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful
generation, of him also shall the son of man be ashamed when
he cometh in his glory of his father with the holy angels.
In Matthew 9 of our text, we read these words, and think not
to say within yourselves, we have Abraham to our father. For
I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children
unto Abraham. What is the Lord saying to us
here? What John the Baptist is preaching is plain. God does
not need man. You're the clay. I forgot to
put a R on there. You're the clay. You have no
authority to dictate to the potter. Why makest thou me thus? You have no authority to say
that to God. Just because you are of Abraham gives you no right
to declare a right to the promises of God. God is almighty. God Almighty is sovereign in
all things, independent of man. He told his hearers, God does
not need us. He can do without us, but we
cannot be without him. He said to the Pharisees and
the Sadducees, God does not need you to fulfill his promise to
Abraham. He can raise up these stones
from the Jordan River and make them the heirs of his grace,
if it so pleased him. That's the sovereign God we serve.
What does that mean? It simply means this, and it
clearly means that God does not need man. Man needs God. It means that no earthly privilege
or performance or pedigree is a guarantee of divine favor.
God has mercy on whom he will have mercy. And it means that
it is no problem for God to transform hearts as hard and cold as stones
to turn a cold stone into a heart of love, into a heart of love
and faith, as it would be to transform these rocks. The children
of Abraham are not Abraham's natural descendants, but those
who, like Isaac, are the children of promise and of grace. In Matthew
3.10, Which we read, and let's read that again if you would.
Turn in your Bibles to 310. And now also the axe is laid
upon the root, under the root of the trees. Therefore every
tree which bringeth not forth fruit is hewn down and cast into
the fire. In Matthew 310, John faithfully
exposes the utter usefulness, uselessness of false religion. Judaism Judaism had turned into
a degenerate religion. It had degenerated into nothing
but an outward ceremonial system of works that God was determined
to cut down and destroy as a fruitless tree. How his message needs to
be heard in our day as well. All free will works religions
are useless, damning religions. All ceremonial realistic religions
are useless. All useless religions will one
day be destroyed, and there is only one way to deal with a useless
religion, and that is to come out of her. Listen to Revelation
18.4, And I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out
of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins. This is speaking of the great
wicked city of Babylon. And that ye receive not of her
plagues. Page 5. In 2 Corinthians 6. 14 all the way through 2nd Corinthians
7 1 we read be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers
For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness not only
stop there for just a moment. These are words that rang high
With me in the first five years my wife and I were not equally
yoked during those five years. And I'm not talking, this is
not talking about us coming out of a relationship, it's talking
about us starting a new relationship. Many of you, as well as I, know
many of young men who are single. Our best advice that we can give
to those single brethren who come to us and ask us, I'd like
to start dating this person or that, is are they believers in
the Lord Jesus? And I'm not talking about believers
who attend services of works, religions. I'm talking about
those who believe the sovereign grace of God Almighty and His
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. You want to give good advice
to the young ones out there? Tell them to go to churches of
sovereign grace teachings. Go to wherever in the United
States you think you need to look, but go to them and go to
them alone. Be ye not unequally yoked. That
is not an easy life to live, and I have seen very few who
have become related in either dating or even marrying. of those
of a different yoke, and very few of those have survived. Going on in our scripture, in
our reading there, page five, and what communion hath light
with darkness? And what conquered hath Christ
with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth
with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple
of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the
living God. As God hath said, I will dwell
in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they
shall be my people. Wherefore, come out from among
them, and be ye separate. Sayeth the Lord, and touch not
the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and I will be a
father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and my daughters.
Sayeth the Lord Almighty, having therefore these promises, dearly
beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh
and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Now look
at verse 11, if you would, in Matthew in your Bibles. I indeed
baptize, writes John, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. But he that cometh after me is
mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall
baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. John the Baptist
spoke in plain terms about the person and the work of God back
in our handout, page 5. And the work of God, the Holy
Spirit. He preached that there is such a thing as baptism in
the Holy Spirit and that it is the special office of the Lord
Jesus to baptize His church into the Holy Spirit. Did you catch
that? It's the responsibility of Christ to baptize His people
into the Holy Spirit. The baptism in the Holy Spirit
is not a second work of grace. but a primary work of grace.
It is not something we work up in feelings, frenzies, and ecstasy,
but something we enter into when we are born of God. Who is it that gives birth to
His people? Who is it that gives life, spiritual
life, to the people of God? It is Christ Jesus. The Lord
Jesus Christ baptized his church in the Holy Spirit at Pentecost,
as we read in Acts 2, verses 1 through 4. And when the day
of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord
in one place. And suddenly there came a sound
from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house
where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them
cloven tongues like the fire, and it sat upon each of them.
And they were filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak
with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Now folks,
that's not that thing you see in some of those churches where
people are sitting around, and they got their eyes closed, and
their hands are waving back and forth, or some guy who's dancing
back and forth across the stage, saying he's filled with the Holy
Spirit. That's not what that's about at all. The Holy Spirit
speaks of one thing. Did you know that? The Holy Spirit
speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Lord Jesus Christ alone.
That's it. He does not speak of himself.
That's what it is to be filled with the Holy Spirit, is to have
Christ dwelling in you. That is the one-time act that
we just read about there in Acts. It can no more be repeated than
His crucifixion. It was only done once. It only
needed to be done once. Did Christ need to be crucified
more than once? When He sent the Holy Spirit,
the Comforter, to his people, that spirit has always been there.
There is no need for repetition. Go on to page six. However, as
we receive the benefits of Christ's death by the new birth, so when
sinners are born of God, they are born into the spiritual kingdom
and forever live in the realm of the spirit. Listen to Romans
chapter eight. 3 through 17, for what the law
could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending
his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh. Now, think in that, take that
into consideration, and we read this, that the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the
flesh, but after The Spirit, whose Spirit? The Holy Spirit
that dwells within us. For they that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit,
the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is
death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither can
be. So then they that are in the
flesh cannot please God, but ye are not in the flesh, but
in the Spirit. If so be that the Spirit of God
dwell in you. There you go. We see right there
the Holy Spirit being baptized and immersed in the Holy Spirit.
Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none
of His. And if Christ be in you, the
body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because
of righteousness. But if the spirit of him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies
by his spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, We
are debtors not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For
if you live after the flesh, you shall die. But if ye through
the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For
as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God. For ye have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit
of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself
beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God,
and if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs
with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may
be also glorified together. Ye are not in the flesh, but
in the Spirit, is what we just read there. The Spirit of God
dwells in us, and we dwell in the Spirit. All believers walk
in the Spirit. We are led by the Spirit, we
are taught of the Spirit, and we have the witness of the Spirit
within us. And then lastly, Verse 12 of
our text in Matthew 3, John clarifies judgment and security in Christ
our Lord. Before we read page 7, look at
verse 12 with me if you would. Whose fan is in his hand, and
he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into
the garner, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable
fire. We see right there the Lord John
declares clearly the judgment of God in the last part of that
and the security of Christ in the first part of that. John
the Baptist spoke plainly about the danger of unbelief and the
certainty of divine judgment. He told his hearers about the
wrath to come. Who hath warned you of the wrath
to come? The unquenchable fire and the
chaff that must be burned. He spoke of forgiveness, but
he also spoke of judgment. He spoke of mercy, but he did
not fail to tell sinners of God's wrath and of hell and of eternal
torment. There is no prophet to a sinner
for a preacher to keep back what the Bible teaches us about hell.
If you go to a lot of these churches nowadays that preach God loves
everybody, they very rarely speak about hell at all. Folks, if
you don't understand the depth of your sin and what you deserve,
how are you going to understand the depth of God's grace and
His love for you? Judgment is coming. It is this
very truth that highlights the grace of our Savior. Either we
will stand before a thrice holy God and be judged for our works,
or we stand in our substitute who has died in our place and
taken our judgment upon himself. Every unconverted sinner needs
to be plainly warned and convinced of that fact that he is hanging
on a thread over the brink of hell. One more breath and he
may fall headlong into destruction. But with that, there is also
good news. John the Baptist told his hearers
of the safety and the security of all true believers in Christ
and by Christ. As surely as Christ will burn
up the chaff in hell, so shall he also gather his wheat, as
we read there in verse 12. He'll gather his wheat into his
garner at the day of his appearing. All who are preserved in Christ
for eternity by God the Father to them that are sanctified by
God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called, as
we read in Jude 1.1, were redeemed at Calvary by God the Son and
shall be born again called and sealed in time by God the Holy
Spirit. That's what we read over in Ephesians
1.13 and 14. In whom ye also trusted after
that ye heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation,
in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until
the redemption of the purchase, possession, unto the praise of
His glory." Sealed, sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. And
these ones are kept by the power of God through faith in Christ
Jesus. That's what we read in 1 Peter 1, verse 5. Turn to page
8, if you would, please. And our Lord declares this of
those that are the wheat, those that He will gather as His wheat.
He declares this in John 10, 27-30. They shall never perish. He says in these words, My sheep
hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall
any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them
me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out
of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. In John
6, verse 35 through 40, we read these words again, our Lord saying,
and Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh
to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall
never thirst. But I said unto you, that ye
also have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth
me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no
wise cast out. For I came down from heaven.
not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me.
And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that all
of which He hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise
it up again the last day. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on
Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise Him up at the
last day. I thought about this song as I finished it. I thought, you know, what great
words for us to consider as we think about the message that
John the Baptist sent, that John the Baptist gave. You know, all
of God's preachers preach one thing. They preach Christ and
Him crucified. It says John preached the repentance
of sins, baptism and the repentance of sin. Well, that's what the
repentance of sin is. It's turning from our righteousness
and turning to the righteousness of Christ. Folks, there's only
one righteous, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. If you're
not in Christ, if the Spirit of God dwelleth in you and does
not dwell in you, and you are relying on your own righteousness
to stand before God, you will be cast out as the shower. But
thankfully, thankfully, God is merciful to some, and some he
calls the wheat. Some he says, whose fan is in
his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor and gather his
wheat into the garner. Not all will be cast away. By God's grace, some will be
saved through faith, the gift of God. Amen? Amen.