Good evening from the Panhandle. Well the corona virus has come to our little part of the world. So now we are coping with that. We as a church have decided to let services out for next Sunday and we will go from there. With a congregation of about 45 and all but about 5 or 6 not sick it was an easy decision to make.
Tonight we continue with our study on John the Baptizer. The last time we looked at Matthew's Gospel we saw that God sorts human lives. We met a man name John the Baptizer. John is Christ Jesus' “older” cousin by about six months. John was: "THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, 'MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!'" (Matthew 3:3). John was preaching in and living in the wilderness of Judea, baptizing the repentant in the Jordan River. Repentance, remember involves turning around—going a new direction—having a change of heart—making a new commitment.
Ted Malone, whose radio show came on early in the morning, told of the Idaho shepherd who wrote: "Will you, on your broadcast, strike the note 'A'? I'm a sheepherder way out here on a ranch, far away from a piano. The only comfort I have is my old violin. It's all out of tune. Would you strike 'A' so that I might get in tune?"
Malone honored the request. Later he received a "thank-you" note from the distant shepherd saying, "Now I'm in tune."
One of the purposes and responsibilities of personal and public worship is to enable the aspirant to keep tuned to the Great Shepherd. One of the joys of the Christian life is to help others recapture the missing note! - (1000 Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching.) John the Baptizer was helping people get in tune.
Matt 3:1-10
3:1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea 2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
"A voice of one calling in the desert,
`Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.'"
4 John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, `We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
1. “for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (vs. 2)
“Kingdom of Heaven” means the same as “kingdom of God,” which is the phrase used by Mark and Luke. Matthew is writing to Jewish Christians, and he uses the phrase “kingdom of heaven” to honor their reluctance to use God’s holy name so they don't somehow profane it. The kingdom of God/kingdom of heaven was about to be ushered in, but not by John the Baptizer.
John call to people to repent, why? Because the kingdom of heaven had come near. John was calling the Children of Israel to turn away from the world that they had known so that they might see the Kingdom of Heaven in their midst. John was announcing that a great page in human history was in the process of being turned. The day is coming when history will come to a close and God will make all things right. The way to prepare for that day is to repent. You must turn from the things of this world and turn to Christ Jesus.
John did not call people to repent so that the kingdom would come—the coming of the kingdom was not their work but God’s. He calls them to repent because the kingdom had come near—it was upon them. Eggizo (eng-id'-zo) in the perfect tense suggests that the coming of the kingdom has already been accomplished.
Christ Jesus would repeat John’s statement that the kingdom has come near (3:2; 4:17; 10:7). He would also say, “But if I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matthew 12:28). Christ Jesus' miracles demonstrated His God-given authority over earthly powers. He also pointed to His Second Coming as the time when God’s kingdom will be fully established (Matthew 24-25).
In his teachings, Christ Jesus did not only warn that the kingdom was imminent, but He also helps you to understand the “rules of the road” so to speak for kingdom living. He has encouraged you to adopt a kingdom lifestyle in the here and now. In their statements that the kingdom had come near, John and Christ Jesus are telling you that you don't have to die and go to heaven to begin experiencing God's kingdom.
You begin to live a kingdom life the moment that you allow God to become your king. You begin to live a kingdom life the moment you, however imperfectly, try to do what God wants you to do—the moment that you ask Christ Jesus to become Lord of your life.
Are you a citizen of the Kingdom of heaven? Why not move your citizenship there right now?
2. “Kingdom of heaven” (vs.2)
The words “Kingdom of heaven” is a comprehensive concept. Within this broad concept, there are at least three distinct meanings seen.
First John the Baptizer was referring to the kingdom of heaven as being “at hand” because of the earthly presence of its heavenly king, Christ Jesus. And because Christ Jesus was about to present this kingdom to Israel and the rest of the world.
Second, following Israel's failure to repent and their opposition to Him, Christ Jesus in Matthew 13 revealed the kingdom as a reality perceived by some people and hidden from others. The kingdom in this sense, exists between Christ Jesus' first coming and the rapturing of the church. It is during this “Church Age” that the Holy Spirit is moving over the face of the earth convicting, comforting, and guiding. Folks, we are in the church age now and when this age closes out with the rapture the Tribulation will come.
Now here's the thing, we have no idea when Christ Jesus will come to take the Church home. All that we know is that it will happen. Are you ready to go if it happened right now?
Third, there is the kingdom in this world's comprehensive climax. Upon that day in the future – in fulfillment of Daniel's prophecies and innumerable other Old Testament prophetic passages that point to a grand and golden age of righteousness and peace on earth – the Son of David, Christ Jesus will reign over the entire world.
Truly, that day will see God's kingdom come. This earth has not experienced such peace and righteousness since the Fall. And it never will until Christ Jesus sets foot on the earth as the Lion of Judah and ruling king. This peace can only be found in Christ Jesus and it is available for anyone who will call on His name.
3. Confession and Baptism (vs. 5-6)
A voice in the wilderness, a voice of a prophet after 400 years, was this the voice of Messiah? No, not the Messiah but the one preparing the way for the Messiah. What was his message, “repent because the kingdom of heaven was at hand.”
John was preparing the people for Christ Jesus, preparing them for the salvation that only Christ Jesus can bring. John was preaching The Gospel – the good news- of the kingdom of heaven. This message excited and convicted the people of Jerusalem and the surrounding country side. I think many came to hear the prophet John out of curiosity and left repentant and baptized. The people came out and heard the Good News, that their sins could and would be forgiven.
John prepared people's hearts making the path straight for the coming of Christ Jesus by preaching repentance. I think people are still searching for this Good News. And we brothers and sisters have what they are looking for – the saving message of Christ Jesus.
For centuries baptism had been one part of a four part step necessary for a Gentile to become a Jew ( the other three were sacrifice, circumcision, and memorization of portions of Moses' Law.) The word baptize means “to dip or to immerse.” Ritual immersion for the purpose of converting proselytes and for other religious purposes had been practiced for centuries by the Israelites before Christ Jesus advent.
This however was more that just ritual immersion, the underlying theme behind this immersion was that it was a way to identify followers of Christ Jesus. Because it happen in conjunction with repentance it was symbolic of sin being washed away. And not just any sins, the people who came to John confessed their sins, not the sins of others, just their sins.
Repentance and baptism is a personal matter that you and you alone. Only can choose, no one can choose it for you. No one can repent for you and no one can be baptized for you. Will you choose to repent and be baptized, will you invite Christ Jesus into your life today?
He made free use of Christian vocabulary. He talked about the blessing of the Almighty and the Christian confessions which would become the pillars of the new government. He assumed the earnestness of a man weighed down by historic responsibility. He handed out pious stories to the press, especially to the church papers. He showed his tattered Bible and declared that he drew the strength for his great work from it as scores of pious people welcomed him as a man sent from God. Indeed, Adolf Hitler was a master of outward religiosity--with no inward reality! - Today in the Word, June 3, 1989.
4. Pharisees and Sadducees - (vs. 7-10)
Talk about strange bed fellows. We say Pharisees and Sadducees together so much I think sometimes we forget that they are two separate and distinct groups of Israelites. Actually the Pharisees and the Sadducees were quite different, basically the Pharisees were the legalistic and the Sadducees were liberal.
The Pharisees claimed Mosaic authority for their interpretation of Jewish Laws. The Sadducees represented the authority of the priestly privileges and prerogatives established since the days of Solomon, when Zadok, their ancestor, officiated as High Priest. The Pharisees believed in the supernatural -- angels, demons, heaven, hell, a resurrection, and so on -- while the Sadducees did not. But out at the Jordan they had joined forces, just as they would throughout Christ Jesus' earthly ministry.
Both of these seemingly religious groups were curious about this so called prophet who was preaching in the wilderness. So both groups sent representatives out to hear John preach. Was this really Elijah come back or was it just another upstart threatening the status quo and challenging their authority and power. The men who came out had no intention of repenting and being baptized. After all they were so spiritual they didn't need to or at least that is what they thought. They were hypocrites - they claimed one thing, but they lived another.
But John let them have it with both barrels. First he called them “offspring of poisonous snakes” or “children of poisonous snakes.” The image of a poisonous snake represents danger as well as stealth. The danger of the religious leaders was a subtle one that caught most people off guard. Their hypocrisy was leading people away from God not to Him. Brothers and sister in Christ, do your actions point to Christ Jesus or to someone or something else?
The Pharisees and the Sadducees did not get off with just a stern warning or a slap on the wrist. John pronounced a judgment on them if they didn't change their hypocritical ways. They thought they were safe because they were decedents of Abraham, but in reality the ax was ready to cut them off from God and of being thrown into the fires of hell. They were facing a clear and present danger and they ignored the warning.
If you do not know Christ Jesus as Lord and Saviour you are in danger of being thrown into the everlasting fire. Do you know Him today? If you don't, don't turn Him away again. Invite Him into your life as your Lord and Saviour, now!
Thanks for dropping by and may our Lord and Saviour, Christ Jesus richly bless you.
Biblesurfer
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