Fruit That Proves the Root" | Luke 3:7-14 | First Baptist Church of Kamloops

Miles and miles he had trekked through the Judean wilderness, the cracked earth, the white heat, the silence broken only by the sound of wind gust gusting across the desert. He had not made this journey casually. He'd been thinking about it for weeks. Ever since rumors had begun swirling through the villages about this prophet, finally, a prophet has arisen once again in Israel, and he's been preaching at the River Jordan. And this man had heard these rumors and heard the tales and the gossip, and he he realized that there was something stirring inside of himself, and that something it felt like hope. [00:04:52] (46 seconds)  #JudeanWildernessHope

He wanted it to be true. And so he goes out into the wilderness in pursuit of this prophet that they are calling John. And he arrives at the river, and as he's approaching where John is preaching, he sees the crowds and the multitudes, and he recognizes that this event is much larger than what he had previously expected. And so he kind of threads his way through the multitudes, and he comes up near the water by the River Jordan, and he's watching others as John is preaching make their way down into the River Jordan, and they're getting baptized, and they're coming up from the water, and they're dripping, and their clothes are soaked, and yet there is something about them, and he begins to suspect that they truly have been changed by this message that they've heard or at least that's how it looks from where he is standing. [00:05:38] (53 seconds)  #SeekingJohnAtJordan

And as he waits, he feels something that he hasn't felt in a long time. He feels that this display of religiosity is not merely a display. He suspects that it is real. And then John, this baptizer, opens his mouth to preach and looking right at the audience, looking right at him, he says, you brood of vipers. [00:06:30] (42 seconds)  #WatchingBaptismsTransform

There's something in the prophet's voice that has reached deep inside of him and he's feeling emotions that he didn't think he would feel. It's not quite guilt. It's not quite fear, but there's something going on here. It's the way you feel when someone describes the sickness or the disease that they've been diagnosed with. And as you listen to this man describing this disease, you get that cold sort of settling certainty as you listen where you begin to realize that as this man is describing this disease, you recognize those symptoms in yourself. He had not come expecting to be undone. [00:07:38] (43 seconds)  #ConfrontedByBroodOfVipers

But John isn't finished. And what he says next will either be the most terrifying thing that this man has ever heard or it just might be the most merciful. It depends entirely on how you hear it. [00:08:21] (16 seconds)  #RecognizingSpiritualSickness

It's the danger of assuming that just because we were raised as Christians, just because we go to church, we consider ourselves to be in the faith, just because our parents walked with god before us, just because we have sat in this church week after week, Sunday after Sunday, and somehow all of these things justify us before the lord and therefore, we are safe. In a word, it is the danger of thinking that the fruit that God requires from us has somehow been credited to our account simply by virtue of our religious background. [00:10:38] (38 seconds)  #ReligiousDangerAlert

And is this danger that John is confronting these crowds with? You're religious. Don't count on it. It's not enough to satisfy the lord. That's what he's saying to them, and that's what he's saying to us. From verse eight this morning, this is the word. We are commanded to turn away from sin, and it doesn't mean some sort of abstract ethereal acknowledgment in our heads that we ought not to sin. John says turn away from sin. There's a negative aspect to it, but there's a positive aspect to it. You are to turn towards righteousness. [00:11:17] (38 seconds)  #DontAssumeSalvation

Yes. Indeed, I did. And then he starts off, and you're like, well, did you read the next yes. I read the next verse. I was aware that Isaiah the prophet says, comfort my people. Comfort them. Speak to them in a tender voice and that John's fulfillment of this prophecy was, you sons of the devil. So, we need to take a look at this for a moment. It is true. John and Luke quotes it for us. John is the fulfillment of this passage from Isaiah 40. If you were here last week, you'll recall Isaiah 40 verses one and following starts off with comfort comfort my people, speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned. [00:12:25] (41 seconds)  #NotEnoughToBeReligious

This is how a husband speaks to a grieving wife. This is how a father might speak to a frightened child. God is telling his messenger. God is saying to John the Baptist, get close, lean in, speak directly to the deepest parts in these people's hearts. Get in there. Press on them because this is what is necessary to move them from spiritual paralysis and lethargy to hope, to go from despair to faith. [00:14:48] (31 seconds)  #IsaiahFulfillment

The insight here, the key that unlocks this apparent contradiction is in verse two where it says speaking tenderly to these people. It's not confined only to being warm and affectionate. It can be admonishment. It can carry a sharp edge of warning, and yet even with the sharp edge of warning, it can still be in its deepest intention an act of speaking comfort and encouragement. The purpose in every case is to draw the person closer to God. That is the purpose. [00:15:50] (37 seconds)  #SpeakToTheHeart

They're not in danger from Rome or some outside invading army. No. They are in danger from the wrath of god, which is to come, and they don't even sense it. And so out of love and affection for them, trying to shock them from their paralysis and their lethargy, John the Baptist says, you sons of the snake, you children of the devil, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Oh, man. We're all gonna sit up on our on the edge of our seats now where all of our ears are are are attentive now to what he's trying to say. This is necessary so they don't rely on a misplaced sense of confidence in who they are. They need to deal directly with the Lord. [00:17:12] (50 seconds)  #LeanInAndPressOn

Imagine a physician or a doctor. You, have some symptoms, and, you're not sure what to make of those symptoms. So, of course, you do the natural thing. You go, you visit the doctor, and imagine this doctor having run his various tests and having conducted his physical examination detecting that there's something seriously wrong, like cancer, something that could be potentially lethal. And he can tell that you're a little nervous and and you're a little bit frightened being there in the doctor's office knowing that there's something wrong. And so he wants to soothe you. He wants to put your mind at ease. And so he says, hey, you know what? Everything's gonna be alright. You know what? You got a clean bill of health. Just relax, buddy. Just take it easy. Go home. Get some rest. [00:18:02] (48 seconds)  #TenderWarning

But is that a kindness? Is that speaking to the patient's legitimate need? No. It's a profound act of cruelty dressed in the costume of politeness. It's not kind at all. Truly tender word, truly loving thing to say in that moment is the alarming word. Hey. Something serious is going on here. You're sick. You might die. We need to take action immediately in order to correct the situation, in order to preserve your life. That's what John the Baptist is doing here. He's saying essentially, you are sicker than you know, and you must act now. [00:18:57] (50 seconds)  #WakeFromSpiritualCruelty

To call these people a brood of vipers is not a failure of his Isaiah commission. It is the fulfillment of speaking tenderly, of crying out for comfort. It is the most tender thing you could say to them because it is the most true thing they need to hear. Israel's husband has not cast off his beloved Jerusalem, and I can say to you today, church, God has not cast you off either. But he's not going to flatter you into your own ruin. He's not gonna say to you words that are ultimately deceptive that will lead you down the path of destruction. God loves you. He died for you, and he cares for you far too much to flatter you or to stroke your ego. [00:19:47] (43 seconds)  #TenderTruthNotFlattery

John the Baptist preaches to them, and he says, essentially, this is the diagnosis. You need to take drastic action, but the pardon that you require is going to result in the iniquity being named. Grace cannot reach a man who does not know how lost he is. [00:20:31] (22 seconds)  #NameTheSinForGrace

and the same is true when it comes to preaching. The faithful preacher, the preacher who genuinely loves his people must sometimes press on the wound before he applies the ball. And that's what John is doing here. He's that kind of preacher. You say, well, I'm not a preacher. I'm not sure I fully relate. Yes. You can relate. As a parent, you watch your teenage child making decisions, taking choices that you know are going to ultimately lead them down a path of destruction. The child is comfortable, even cheerful in their open rebellion. What does a loving parent do? [00:21:21] (35 seconds)  #PressWoundBeforeHealing

But the loving parent who cares deeply for their child, who sees their child going down the path of destruction, doesn't speak in nuance with technicalities and a bunch of caveats, so the thing is watered down into oblivion. The parent who truly loves their child says, this is the issue and it must stop. That's what John is doing. His question, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come, do We're going to going that. Will not be enough before the holy lord of heaven. So he's probing their motives. He's pressing the wound. He's asking if there's anyone in the crowd who's truly reckoned with what they are doing by being baptized. [00:22:24] (55 seconds)  #LoveRequiresClearWords

Do they want the form of repentance without its fruit? John refuses. He's not gonna baptize people who have not counted the cost. This is incidentally 10 speaking tangentially for a moment. This is why we don't do infant baptism. The Baptist, the guy who shows up and starts doing baptisms, his message would not be understood by a six or seven day old infant. Baptism is where we count the cost, and we say we follow Jesus and we die to ourselves. This is what this is what the Baptist is preaching. [00:23:19] (38 seconds)  #CountTheCostOfBaptism

he tells them that there's a way to escape the wrath. Now let's hear about that. You can flee from it. You can run from it. You can get away. And he says that the vipers are there and that they are fleeing. He's a bit astonished. He says, who warned you to flee? But the point is this, they are in the right direction. They're headed in the right way. They have come for baptism. They have come seeking repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And so when God forgives the sins, what John is indirectly saying here is when God forgives your sin, that's when you are safe, and you're running from this wrath. I'm shocked that you're here, but I know that you're running in the right direction because as you have arrived here, you're looking to be forgiven for your sins. That is good news. [00:27:41] (59 seconds)  #FleeFromTheWrath

To be a descendant of Abraham is to be, by birth, a member of the covenant community. In other words, just by virtue of who you are by birth, you can make the mistake of thinking that God is somehow indebted to you when he is not. John tells them, don't say this to yourselves. Don't think this to yourselves. Don't believe it. It's not true. It has become a spiritual narcotic that is keeping them from responding correctly in repentance to the lord. [00:32:08] (38 seconds)  #DontTrustPedigree