A Word about Resisting Temptation on the Road to the Cross

Today I want to share a word about resisting temptation on the road to the cross as I comment on Matthew 4:1-11. 

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Introduction:

Temptation is something we all face, and we usually face it daily.  Temptation is so common that we use it to sell products. Remember the potato chip commercial that says “You can’t eat just one!”

We even use temptation to market our entertainment acts.  One example of this is the singing group “The Temptations.”

The 100th Anniversary of the National Football League provided us a humorous example of temptation. In the commercial promoting that milestone, a large, multi-layer cake with a football as its crown was set in the center of a banquet room full of professional football legends. As the commissioner began making introductions, Marshawn Lynch began eyeing the cake. He reached out for a taste, and the football on top tumbled to the floor. Another famous player, Mike Singletary, saw the ball, pulled off his glasses, shouted “Fumble!” and dived for the recovery. Chaos ensued!

While we can use temptation to sell products, and while we can make light of it, the truth is that temptation is a serious problem that we all face.  The very fact that we resort to it so much for our own purposes shows us that temptation is powerful and that we often fall prey to it. 

We are tempted to sin in many ways, and none of us in our own power can resist temptation.  There is Someone who can resist temptation, however and we will see Him doing that today. He will show us the way out of temptation and if we follow Him and His example, we will be able ourselves to resist more effectively.

The Identity of the Tempter:

Everything except God has an origin and we know that good things come from God. Jesus said that good and bad cannot come from the same source. God can no more do an evil thing than can the shade of black become white. It will never happen. Evil also has an origin; it originated with Satan, and so did temptation. Knowing where temptation comes from helps us learn its purpose.

Satan was Lucifer; He was the beautiful “Day Star” of Heaven. He was the archangel, the most privileged servant of God who played beautiful music to glorify God. Sadly, for all concerned, he became proud and so he rebelled against God. Because of this he was banished from heaven as we read in Isaiah 14:12-15,

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.

We often give Satan too much credit. We imagine him to have the powers of our God, only evil. The Star Trek TV series popularized the idea that both matter and anti-matter exist, and that they are equal but opposite in their power and orientation. We see God and Satan in the same way, but this is not true. 

Satan has the powers of an angel, but he is not God. He is not omniscient, omnipotent, nor omnipresent. He was cast out of heaven, and James tells us that he, like all the demons, trembles at God’s power. 

 Like many defeated people, in his bitterness and anger, Satan wants to cause pain. Satan’s response to God’s discipline of him was to become bitter and he wants to take his revenge against God and to hurt Him. He wants to hurt God through turning God's highest creation, humankind, away from Him. So how can he do that?

In John 8:44, Jesus described Satan’s character this way,

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

2 Corinthians 11:14, Paul revealed that, 

. . . Satan disguises himself as an angel of light

So, Satan’s main tool for this desperate and dastardly plot is deception and his main tactic is not control or possession, but temptation. This is why the Bible calls him a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. He is a roaring lion because he is defeated and toothless, and he’s trying to scare people into siding with him against God. Like many dogs, his bark is worse than his bite; but he can entice or scare God's people into sin, and then he can hurt God. And that's his real intent!

The Opportunity for the Tempter:

Why did Satan decide to tempt Jesus at this time? Was it because Jesus was in a weakened situation? Was he kicking someone when they were down? No!

In fact, Jesus was in a spiritually strong condition. He had just been baptized and heard His Father’s approval. He was completing a fast and the purpose of a fast is to grow closer to God. Jesus may have been closer to God later in His life and ministry, but I would argue that He had never yet been so close to God as when He was in the midst of this fast.

We need to see what Jesus taught about fasting, in Matthew 6 during the Sermon on the Mount:

When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Fasting is tough, physically, but it is revitalizing, spiritually!

Satan likes to try to play hardball because he wants to be just like God. He wants to show his power and all through the Bible he attacks people during or after spiritual highs.

Adam and Eve in the garden

Noah after the flood

David after the covenant from God

Elijah after Mount Carmel

Paul and Silas during a powerful ministry in Philippi

And Jesus after His baptism and affirmation of God from Heaven.

So, we need to be aware of this trend, this tactic. When things are going well, we need to guard our hearts. Satan wants to score as many points as possible by knocking off a successful person, family, or church.

The Methods of the Tempter:

From this passage we can see some of the techniques that Satan uses. These are probably not inclusive of all his wiles, but they do seem to attack three basic motivations in our lives.

First, we see that Satan appeals to the flesh.  I call this the "Temptation to Greed."

We live in a world that is fascinated by physical possessions. As one pastor friend put it, "People try to get all that they can, put it in a can, put a lid on the can, and then sit on the lid!"

This temptation makes our flesh our God and it denies that God is sufficient to care for our physical needs. We need to remember what Jesus taught about possessions in Matthew 6 in the Sermon on the Mount:

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

People think that owning things will fill the God-shaped hole in our hearts. In truth, not only does having possessions not satisfy us, they actually become a burden!

Next, we see that Satan appeals to our vanity. I call this the "Temptation to Gaudiness."

People have always seemed to crave fame and notoriety, and this especially is true today when we create stars of people who have never achieved anything but a mastery of manipulating social media. People want to be known, they just don't want to put in the effort to be known for something they have actually accomplished! 

In contrast to this, Proverbs 22:29 tells us,

Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.

Again, we need to remember what Jesus taught in Matthew 20:25-27,

But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Finally, we see that Satan appeals to our spirit of rebellion. I call this the "Temptation of Glory."

We, like Satan, want to think we are "large and in charge," but there is only one Omniscient, Omnipotent, and Omnipresent God of the universe. When Frank Sinatra sang about doing things "my way" he was singing the theme song of this temptation, the temptation to place ourselves on the throne of our life and not Almighty God.

When we are tempted to forge our own path, and do things our own way instead of God’s way, we need to remember what Samuel told King Saul in 1 Samuel 15:23, 

For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.

To see this principle from a positive perspective, we should pay attention to what Jesus said in John 14:15-16,

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

Again, Satan may use many other techniques than the ones he tried with Jesus, and we must stay on the alert for his manipulations and deceptions. Satan is the chief of liars, and we can never trust him!

The Defeat of the Tempter:

Satan tried to play hardball with Jesus. He was going head-to-head, and hand-to-hand with God, and while he is powerful, his strength pales in comparison with God's. In fact, the contest wasn't even close. Jesus brushed away Satan with little effort, the way we might brush away a fly or a piece of lint on our jacket.

The reasons for this are simple: Satan brought a knife to a gunfight. Jesus had access to the power of God and the Word of God. Because He was committed to serving God, He used these assets to overwhelm the attempts of Satan to defeat Him.

• The results of this contest present us with some important lessons: 
• Jesus had a relationship with His Father from His childhood.
• Jesus’ relationship with His Father continued into adulthood.
• Jesus’ relationship with His Father was fresh and renewed.
• Jesus made wise use of God’s Word in defeating Satan.
• We can take advantage of these principles as well and if we do, we too can have victory. 

Consider what Paul taught us in 1 Corinthians 10:13, which says, 

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

We need to remember, that while Satan is a cruel liar, God showed His true nature in that passage of Scripture and in Matthew 4, because He nurtures us and cares for us, and He gives us help to escape the tempter.

We, too, have access to the power of God. We, too, have access to the Word of God. If we, too, are committed to serving God, we can use these assets to overwhelm the attempts of Satan to defeat us.

Conclusion:

In our text for today, we have seen how Jesus took Satan's best shot and walked away unscathed. 

Like we saw recently, Jesus is our model. Not only did He model Baptism for us, He also modeled how we can resist temptation. As Paul urged us in Ephesians 6:11-13,

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

If we turn to Jesus in times of testing, He will help us and, like Him, we can be victorious.

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

Pleasing God on The Road to the Cross

 

Today I want to share a word about pleasing God on the road to the cross as I comment on Matthew 3:13-17. 

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.”

Introduction:

My mother was an excellent cook. She was very efficient, and she had learned how to not spend hours in the kitchen, while still producing wonderful meals. She did have one peculiar habit, however.

Often, as the rest of our family enjoyed her cooking, maybe it was oven fried chicken served with mashed potatoes and fresh vegetables, she would sit and pick at her food. Then, she’d say, “I am just not satisfied.”

Next, she would go to the refrigerator and get a couple of slices of bologna, the kind that had the red casing around it that you removed before you ate it. She’d place the bologna on a slice of white bread and administer a healthy dose of tabasco sauce on it. She’d fold the bread and bologna in half and then return to the table.

While we were enjoying all the good food she’d prepared for us, she would sit there and enjoy her half-sandwich of bologna and tabasco sauce. She knew what pleased her, and she didn’t really care what we thought of her awkward food choices.

Baptism is a vital rite of the Christian church, and it is universally celebrated as a special occasion in the life of a congregation. Of course, that does not mean that every baptismal service is flawlessly conducted. Awkward moments can occur.

For example, we have all probably seen the on-line video of the child who does a cannonball into the baptistry, resulting in a tidal wave of water cascading onto the choir sitting below.

On another occasion, a pastor who was baptizing a man much taller than he was smashed the man's head into the side of the pool during the baptism. The new believer came to the surface sputtering words more suitable for his former way of life than for church.

These incidents demonstrate that even the most sacred of our church rites can sometimes become awkward moments. One might say this almost occurred during the baptism of Jesus as well, but the actual outcome pleased His Heavenly Father. Let's look at that together.

Jesus Pleased His Father by His Humility:

Few who read the account of the ministry of John the Baptist would doubt that his was a powerful ministry. He preached captivating sermons which touched many lives. He confronted evil and sin without hesitation. 

Masses of people came to him to repent of their sins and be baptized. Yet, despite all of this, he knew that one was coming who would be far greater than he.

Like John, Jesus had a powerful ministry. He, too, preached captivating sermons which touch many lives. He confronted evil and sin without hesitation. Masses of people came to him to repent of their sin but also to be healed of their diseases and be fed with physical bread as well as the Bread of Life. 

Jesus was a prophet, like John, but unlike John He was God incarnate, who raised the dead and who defeated death and hell on the Cross. John had no doubt that Jesus was superior to himself, and we should have no doubts about that also.

Despite Jesus's obvious superiority to John, Jesus humbly submitted to baptism by him. Jesus's humility began even before the primitive circumstances of His birth, but in Heaven, when He humbled Himself to be born in the form of a man so that He could be the Savior of the world as Paul taught us in Philippians 2:5-11,

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

This humility on the part of His Son pleased God the Father, and when His people choose humility today it pleases Him as well. Consider the Biblical record about humility:

In Exodus 10:3-4, Pharaoh was told,

Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. For if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country . . .

2 Samuel 22:28 tells us,

You save a humble people, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.

2 Chronicles 7:14 reminds us, 

. . . if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Psalm 147:6 says,

The Lord lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground.

Jesus taught His disciples in Matthew 23:11-12,

The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Finally, James told the church in Jerusalem that,

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. (James 4:6-10)

Taking the path of humility on the part of a child of God is never a bad choice for it pleases the Father.

Jesus Pleased His Father by His Desire for Righteousness:

The humility exhibited by Christ was only part of what pleases His Father. Humility, by putting God before our own desires, leads to righteousness, as we find in Micah 6:6-8,

“With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

God is perfect, which, among other factors, means that He has perfect balance all the time in all His attributes and all His actions. Righteousness is a key attribute of God, which balances other qualities like benevolence.

Dr. Fisher Humphreys, a retired professor of theology, has taught for years that God is both good and loving, that is, "We can trust in One who does what is right, in One who loves and is concerned about us."

Part of this goodness, to my way of thinking, is the characteristic of righteousness. Jesus the Son, cared about upholding righteousness, and this pleased His Father in Heaven.

Why is upholding righteousness important? Some people's concept of God is that He forgives all people all sin without any standards at all. In Romans 6:1-2 Paul rebukes that thought strongly, saying 

"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?"

The Scriptures are clear: although God is Love, He also clearly hates sin! How then can we find a way out of this conundrum? Through Christ!

Jesus is the One who fulfilled all righteousness on our behalf. It was He who came to fulfill the Law. As Paul went on to say in Romans 6:5-11, 

"For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus."

The righteousness of Jesus has provided for our salvation. The children of God please Him when they live out the righteous life given to us at such great cost to Him.

Jesus Pleased His Father by His Baptism:

In the present day we are proud of our use of audio-visual techniques to share the Gospel and to worship God. We project hymns onto screens, and we frequently show promotional or motivating videos as well. We incorporate drama, dance, and even puppets into church services. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and the whole galaxy of social media outlets are viewed as vital, and even indispensable, tools for ministry. Yet, we are not the innovators that we think we are.

Centuries before we were even born God was using audio-visual means to declare His presence and His plan for us. 

• He used pillars of smoke and fire to guide the Israelites in the wilderness and assure them of His presence. 
• The Ark was a physical reminder of His covenant with them.
• The fire from Heaven on Mt. Carmel demonstrated His power.
• The star over Bethlehem and the Spirit descending as a dove graphically illustrated God's engagement with humanity. 
• The Lord's Supper is not only audio-visual, but it is also palatable, tactile, and olfactory as well. 

God was way ahead of us in using these techniques to communicate His love and truth to us. This should not surprise us since God is Creator and we are His creation, and we should approach the use of these tools with humility.

Baptism, of course, is a powerful audio-visual sermon which testifies to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and the transforming effect that this has on the lives of His people. In the case of Jesus, it was a prophecy of what was yet to come. 

Remember we are on the road to the Cross with Jesus. Everything that we read, everything that we see Jesus teach and do will all point us to that most important point in the history of the human relationship with God.

In the case of a believer, it is a testimony of what Jesus has done for them and a declaration of their trust in faith in Christ. As Romans 6:4 says, 

"We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life."

When a child of God is baptized, they are preaching a powerful sermon about redemption and God's love for us. This also pleases the Father.

Conclusion:

My mom would cook great meals with the purpose of pleasing her family, not herself. In that way she was humbling herself, putting us first, and having the attitude of a servant.

The task of servants is to please their master. As servants of God, we should always endeavor to please Him. How can we do that? Our passage for today gives us some concrete ways.

As we live humble, righteous lives, and as we obediently follow the commands of Christ our Savior to be witnesses for Him (including following Him in baptism), we please our Lord. 

May we all live so that we meet Him in person we will hear our Lord say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

Every Blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about Repentance on the Road to the Cross

Today I want to share a word about repentance on the road to the cross as I comment on Matthew 3. We will begin by reading verses 1-6:

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’” Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

Introduction:

One thing that bemuses foreign visitors to the USA is that we have so many legal jurisdictions. Each one of our 54 states and territories have their own legal statutes and traffic regulations. Much of them are the same, but the differences can trip up a driver.

For example, in many places in New Orleans it is almost impossible to make a legal left-hand turn. The usual routine is to go a block beyond where you want to turn left and then make three right turns until you are facing the direction that you wanted to go.

Also, it is now illegal to make a right turn on a red light in Washington DC. And if you drive your car into downtown Manhattan, you will have to pay a $9.00 per day tax.

It is very common for jurisdictions to ban U-turns. This is very inconvenient and irritating when your car’s navigation system instructs you to make one and then continues to fuss at you because you can’t!One interesting thing about the road to the cross is that it began with someone insisting we must make a U-turn.  

First, Let’s See the Preacher of Repentance:

We understand situations based on our perspective. Each of us has a role to play in God’s Kingdom. This is reflected in our spiritual gifts, and it is also reflected in our individual callings. 

Like a football player who plays only in certain game situations, we too have specific roles to play in God’s Kingdom. Paul taught the Corinthian church about this in 1 Corinthians 3:1-10 and this fact still applies to the church today:

But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 

One very important but very difficult role is that of prophet. Prophets forth-tell the Word of God, and they confront sinful humanity with the truth of God. This is not a particularly pleasant task at times, as we see in1 Kings 18:17 & 18: 

When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?”  And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father's house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals.

It is a pretty tense day when the leader of your country calls you a troublemaker to your face! Still, Elijah did not back down, and he continued to share God’s truth!

In our passage today, we see that John, too, was a prophet of repentance. He was only the next in a long line of prophets. Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel and many others had come before he did, and each one made calls to repentance. 

Like Jonah, however, John specialized in this task. He knew his calling from God and the task that he was required to perform, and he engaged it with every fiber of his being, regardless of the cost to him. In the end it cost him everything.

We must remember that God does not call everyone to live and serve in the manner that John did. John had a specific calling and a specific mission that required him to live in the manner that he did. We probably will not be asked to do that.

However, each of us needs to ask the questions, “What is my Calling?” and “What are my spiritual gifts?” Then, when God answers those questions, we need to be willing, like Elijah and like John, to fulfill that calling using our gifts.

We Also Must See the Need for Repentance: 

Matthew 3:7-12 reads,

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Why was John sent to call people to repentance? Because repentance is necessary for salvation. Without repentance there is no salvation as Jesus taught in Luke 13:1-3, which reads:

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

In Acts 3:19 Peter told the Sanhedrin, the Jewish leaders in the Temple and Jerusalem, the same thing: 

Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.

But what does it mean to repent?

• It does not mean to just feel sorry, nor to do penance.
• It means to make a decision of the will to do right.
• It means that we agree with God about our sin, and we have decided to seek His help in blotting it out.
• It means deciding to make a “U-turn” in our lives.

Another vital question to ask is, who needs to repent? To answer that, we must consider the Biblical record which would include:

• The people who know that they are sinners, like the woman who anointed Jesus with oil.
• The people who aren’t sure if they need to repent, like the woman at the well.
• People who don’t think they need to repent, like the Pharisee who prayed arrogantly.

In short, all people need to repent, Romans 3:9-12 tells us:

What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.  All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Human pride rejects the concept of repentance. Our opinion in this matter doesn’t matter, however. The Holy God of the Universe says that we must, and He wants us to show the world that we have.

Next, We See the Symbol of Repentance: 

Matthew 3:7-12 reads,

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.

Symbols are important, even if they are not important in themselves. They are important because they represent a deeper meaning, like the symbols on a road sign or the symbols on the controls on a car. The symbol of repentance is baptism.

Baptism was a relatively new practice at this time. Converts to Judaism were often baptized as a rite of passage and this might be why many synagogues were located near water. The Essenes, producers of the Dead Sea Scrolls, also conducted water baptism by immersion. Without the right meaning though, baptism has no effect.

Baptism is an audio-visual symbol of repentance to illustrate that people have decided to repent and allow Jesus to become their Savior and Lord. When you go under water it shows you died to your old life. When you come up it shows you have a new way of life. It is also a symbol of being washed clean of our sin by the shed blood of Jesus.

The proper meaning of baptism is a symbol of repentance and new life in Christ. If there is no internal change in your life before being baptized, then all you have done is gotten wet! However, if you have repented and received new life and are baptized, you have preached a powerful sermon to all who watched!

Finally, Let’s See the Example of Repentance:

Matthew 3:15-17 reads,

But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Jesus came to the earth for many reasons:

• He came to seek and save that which was lost.
• He came to defeat sin, and death, and hell. 
• He came to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. 
• He came to bring light to people walking in darkness.
• He also came to be a model for our lives, which is why Paul said, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ”

Jesus, being fully God and fully man, lived a sinless life, and he did not need to repent. John the Baptist knew this and tried to prevent Jesus. Jesus never sinned and was one with the Father. There was no need for Him to repent because He’s never done wrong. So, what was Jesus doing?

Jesus was leading by example.

Jesus was baptized because it was the right thing to do in His ministry as our spiritual leader. Leadership by example is the best form. The motto of a good leader is, “Follow me and do as I do.” The motto of a bad leader is “Do as I say, not as I do.”  Such is a poor leadership model. Jesus was baptized to show us what to do. We all need to follow His example.

Conclusion:

Jesus showed us what we need to do by His example of obedience, but before we can follow Him on the road to the cross, we must repent.

Just like the traffic codes that inhibit or prohibit making U-turns, many factors in our culture may inhibit us from repenting. As a country that began in rebellion, and which has promoted both rugged idealism and cultural conformity, taking a stand for Biblical truth is often difficult. 

The fact remains, however. The only way we can join Jesus on the road to the cross is by beginning with a U-turn.

Have you repented of your sin and become a child of God? If you are a child of God, do you have a besetting sin that is holding back your spiritual growth? In either case, Jesus has shown us what to do in these situations, and like John the Baptist, His counsel to us today and forever is: 

Repent!

A Word about a Vision of a New Beginning

Today I want to share a word about a vision of a new beginning as I comment on Luke 3: 1-20. We will begin by reading verses 1-3:

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Introduction:

Sometimes in life, we just need to start over. I remember a time when that happened in my childhood. It was painful at the time, but I learned from it.

I was in upper elementary school when I had an assignment to write what I thought was a very long paper. It probably wasn’t that long, and I don’t remember the subject. However, I do remember how long it took me to get that paper about 90% complete using pen and paper.

I have always been a slow writer and that evening it took me until nearly bedtime to get as far as I had. Then disaster struck!

My mom gave me a glass of milk as a snack to help me finish strong. I promptly tipped it over onto my paper. The paper was soaked, the ink ran, and all my efforts were ruined.

I began crying. I was literally crying over spilled milk!

I wanted to give up and go to bed, but my mother would not let me. Lovingly but forcefully, she told me to buckle down and start over.

I don’t remember if she said it on this occasion, but in similar circumstances she often told me to, “Straighten up and fly right.”

So, I dried my tears and got back to business. In the end, in a fraction of the time that I took during my previous efforts, I produced a better product.

In the same way, at the beginning of the 1st Century, God’s people needed a new beginning. They had made a mess of their relationship with God, they had neglected their mission from God, and they needed some forceful love from God. 

Our scriptures for today show us John the Baptist introducing this new beginning to the people of Jerusalem and Judea.

A Vision of the Present:

To be able to move forward in life, we must know where we are in the present.

On February 29, 1966, NASA astronauts Elliot See and Charles Bassett flew from Houston to St. Louis to undergo simulator training for their upcoming Gemini space mission. Lambert Field was experiencing clouds, rain, and fog. During the instrument landing, they became disoriented and started their approach from the wrong place. When they emerged from the clouds, they saw they were to the left of the runway and they tried to adjust, but crashed into a building and they both were killed.

If you start from the wrong place, it is very hard to end at the right place. This is why we reconcile our bank accounts, and why businesses take periodic inventories. You must know where you are and what you have before you move forward.

At this time, God’s people were in a messy situation. Rome was in control, but that control was exercised in different ways in different places.

Jerusalem and Judea were ruled directly by Rome through Pontius Pilate. He was only concerned with collecting taxes for Rome and keeping the peace, often with a heavy hand.

Herod the Tetrarch, also known as Herod Antipas, was ruler in Galilee. He was the son of Herod the Great, and he was no more righteous or ethical than his father was. He had stolen his brother’s wife from him, and he imprisoned John when confronted with his sin. Later, when Antipas had the chance to free Jesus on the night He was betrayed, he just sent Him back to Pilate. From that moment he and Pilate became friends of like mind.

The Jews were divided into the Sadducees and the Pharisees. Worship took place in the synagogues as well as in the temple. Annas was the high priest by right, but he had been deposed by Pilate and replaced by his son-in-law, Caiaphas, who was officially the high priest, but Annas was still very influential.

In the middle of all of this turmoil, the Jewish faith had degenerated into liberalism and fundamentalism, and neither branch was interested in God’s mission for Israel.

If this is where Israel was in the 1st Century, where are we today? We live in an increasingly secular society, in which people are increasingly frustrated and equally vocal about their frustrations. We are increasingly polarized in many areas of life, including politically, economically, and socially. 

Where are we personally? Are we committed to God’s mission for us? Or, are we engaged in self-centeredness and pride? John saw the clear need for Israel to repent. What about us, today?

Before we can have a new beginning, we must realize where we are. We must also realize from where we have come. 

Let’s continue by reading verses 4-6:

As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

A Vision of the Past:

One issue we have today in our churches and in our society is that our leaders often act as if history began when they took office. Our past is the foundation upon which we have built today, and today is the foundation upon which we build the future.

The New Testament was built upon the Old Testament. The New Covenant makes no sense to us without understanding the Old Covenant. The New Testament writers quote the Old Testament over 280 times, and this is what Luke was doing in our passage for today.

Like me in elementary school, Luke was writing a research paper. He had researched the Gospel story, and his books of Luke and Acts are his report of it to Theophilus. My report was spoiled, and I needed a new beginning. Luke’s report was that people had spoiled the Old Covenant and that they needed a new one.

The main thing to note is that the Old Covenant was a good one. The problem was that while God kept it, humans did not. And they were suffering because of it.

What about us? What have we spoiled in our lives? John’s answer for that is to repent and move forward. What have we done right? The Biblical answer to that is to build on them moving forward. How can we do these things?

We can find that answer in verses 7-9 and verses 15-18. Verses 7-9 tell us:

He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Verses 15-18 also tell us:

As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap   whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. 

A Vision of the Power:

When something is not working, we need to try something else. Doing what you did before without making any changes means you will get the same result. As one pundit said, “The only time hitting your head against the wall feels good is when you stop!”

Many times, when something is not working, is because it has no power. The first step in most trouble shooting check lists asks, “Is the power cord plugged in?” The second step is often, “Is the device turned on?”

A key problem with the Old Covenant was that people lacked the power to comply with it. Sin is addictive. The tagline from the potato chip commercial applies here: “You can’t eat just one.” People in their natural state can’t avoid yielding to sin. We can’t sin just once. It is literally and spiritually impossible.

It does not matter who you are, it doesn’t matter who your parents are, it doesn’t matter who you know, it doesn’t matter where you are from, no one can resist sin without help. And John was explicit about the results of sin:

First, sin separates us from God. No one can withstand God’s wrath. Also, God is like the farmer who is winnowing his wheat. He is separating the wheat from the chaff. The wheat is His harvest, but the chaff is blown away and discarded. Unrepentant sinners are left with no hope and no joy.

Sin also brings to us punishment. Sinners are cutdown like worthless trees and they are burned in fire. Unrepentant sinners are risking an eternal damnation in torment. Consider Luke 16:19-25:

There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.

The answer for this terrible problem, of course, is Jesus. John prophesied that Jesus, and here he is really saying only Jesus, can give people the power to overcome sin and avoid the desolation that was coming.

  

Sinners without Jesus remind me of a car sitting on a railroad track with a train coming. The train cannot and will not stop, but some sinners are oblivious to that fact, and they sit there until the train hits them.  Other sinners see the train coming, but try as they might, as desperate as they are, they can’t get their car started and the train hits them. Sinners who are hapless, helpless, and hopeless just throw up their hands in resignation, and the train hits them. Some may even get out of their car and dare the train to keep coming, and, of course, the train hits them.

The effects of sin hit like a freight train unless we get help. The only one who can help us, of course, is Jesus! He is the only one with the power and will to satisfy both sides of the Covenant! 

Finally, verses 10-14 show how His power will make a difference in our lives:

And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”

A Vision of the Possibilities:

John told the crowds that Jesus had the power to make the difference in their lives. Jesus also was righteous, which meant He not only could make a difference, but also that He was willing to do what it took to make a difference. He was willing and able to give us new beginnings.

New beginnings means that there are new possibilities. Old patterns are restrictive, and they often don’t support growth. This is why vintners in Jesus’s day did not put new wine in old wine skins. The old skins are hard and set in their pattern, but new wine needs to find its own shape, so to speak.

One way to make unproductive trees or vines more productive is to prune them. When we lived in the country, my wife wanted a muscadine vine, so I built an arbor and planted a male and a female vine at both ends. The vines grew and were productive for a season or two, but then they grew so big and matted that they no longer had the capacity to produce. The next winter I pruned them severely to the point that I was afraid I had gone too far, but I had not. The next summer they produced more than ever before.

Likewise, iron ore, silver, and gold are not very attractive in their natural state. When they are refined, however, and they are placed in the hands of a craftsman, they can be transformed into useful, beautiful, or beautiful useful objects.

Even more appropriate is the analogy of recycling aluminum cans or glass bottles. When one of these items is used, they become soiled, and then they are discarded. How much more like unrepentant sinners can an object be? Yet, these items can be rescued from the trash, melted, and then reformed into new, unused and unsoiled products.

In our passage for today, John gave some specific guidance to some specific people about their specific issues. Many other issues exist beyond these, and we might ask the question, what about us? What about my growth issues?

Paul wrote almost half of the New Testament and about half of all he wrote consisted of practical counsel about growing and maturing in the Lord. We cannot cover all of that at this time, but the message of our focal passage is clear:

• In Christ we can have a new beginning
• In Christ we have the power to grow and mature and change
• In Christ we can experience transformation
• In Christ we can avoid separation, desolation, and eternal damnation
• In Christ we can break out of our destruction patterns and find a new way of life

Conclusion:

When I looked down upon my ruined school paper, I wept, because I had lost hope.

When God looked down upon His ruined creation, He wept, and then He sent us the Source of Hope, Jesus.

John told the unrepentant sinners who came to him that they could have a new beginning. So can we today!

Happy New Year,

Dr. Otis Corbitt