Messiah's Messenger - Part 3

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Keep your finger in Matthew 3, but I want to start this morning in 2 Corinthians, chapter 7; turn there with me, 2 Corinthians, chapter 7, and look at verse 10. Here Paul describes two kinds of sorrow, worldly sorrow and godly sorrow.  2 Corinthians 7:10, “For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.”  Worldly sorrow leads to death, but godly sorrow produces real repentance that leads to salvation. Paul then goes on, in verse 11, to explain exactly how godly sorrow and biblical repentance manifests themselves. Here's what the real thing looks like, verse 11, “For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you,” and then he explains, “Here's real repentance.” 

First of all, “…what vindication of yourselves.” This is not vindicating ourselves in the essence, in the sense, of making excuses for ourselves, but rather it's a desire to see the trust others have in us restored. “What indignation,” what anger you have about your own sin? “What fear,” a healthy fear and reverence for God? “What longing,” probably a longing to restore the relationships with the one sinned against? “What zeal, what avenging of wrong!” That is a true desire to see justice done regardless of what it costs me. And then he summarizes this way, “In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter.” He doesn't mean you were initially innocent. He's rebuked them for their sin, but rather he means, having really repented, you have now come to the active pursuit of righteousness and integrity. Folks, that is godly sorrow and real repentance!

The reason it's important to understand that is there is also worldly sorrow and worldly sorrow not only eventually leads to death rather than salvation, but worldly sorrow produces false repentance not real repentance. Today we get to see “The Anatomy of False Repentance,” up close and personal in the ministry of John the Baptist. Now, turn back with me to Matthew, chapter 3, and let's read the first 10 verses of Matthew 3; you follow along as I read.

Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, 

‘THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS,
MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD,

MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!’

Now John himself had a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, “We have Abraham for our father”; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Now in this paragraph, including the next two verses I didn't read, we'll look at, Lord willing, next week. In this entire paragraph, the messenger, that the Old Testament promised, would come–the messenger for the Messiah, the one who would announce Messiah, who would identify Messiah. As it turns out, a man by the name of John the Baptist here initiates his ministry of preparing God's people for the appearance of the Messiah. Matthew, in this paragraph, describes three important features about “The Messiah's Messenger,” about John. So far, we've studied the first one in the first 6 verses where we learned about “John's Public Ministry.” Today, we come to a second feature in verses 7 through 10, and that is “John's Prophetic Message,” John's prophetic message. Now, I say ‘prophetic’ because in chapter 11 of Matthew, verse 9, Jesus identifies John the Baptist as a prophet, the last, as it turns out, of the Old Testament prophets. 

And Matthew here gives us a sample of John's prophetic message. What prompted this message? Look at verse 7, “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism.” Now, don't forget back in verse 2, the core of John's message was, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” repent, prepare for the Messiah so that you can enter His spiritual kingdom now and His literal physical kingdom forever. But when the Pharisees and the Sadducees presented themselves for baptism, John knew, he knew that their professed repentance wasn't genuine–it was false repentance.

What do I mean by that? I mean they presented themselves as repentant. They said, “We are repentant; we're here to be baptized.” But it wasn't real; it was a façade. And so, John rebuked them for their false repentance, and according to Luke, chapter 3, verse 7, he directed these same comments at the large crowds as well. It wasn't just the Pharisees and the Sadducees who were demonstrating a false repentance, who sort of jumped on the bandwagon.; there were many in the crowd who did that as well. And in these comments, in verses 7 through 10, John provides us with what we could call “The Anatomy of False Repentance.” How can anyone, let's make it more personal, “How can you know if your professed repentance is false?” Well, in this passage John describes “Six Characteristics of False Repentance,” here's how you can know.  As always, when we look at the Word of God together, look in the mirror as we walk through this this morning, “Six Characteristics of False Repentance.” 

The first is false repentance is driven by “An Unspiritual Motive,” an unspiritual motive. Look at verse 7, “but when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism.” Now this is the first time, in our study of Matthew, that we've met these groups. So let me briefly introduce them to you. The Pharisees arose from a group in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, during the 400 silent years between the Old Testament and the New Testament. They were called ‘The Hasidim,’ the separated ones, and that's because they originally arose to oppose attempts to introduce Greek pagan elements into the Jewish culture. By the time of Christ, there were about 6,000 Pharisees. The Pharisees not only embraced the Hebrew Old Testament as the inspired Scriptures, but they also embraced oral tradition. Oral traditions, which they believed had been passed down from the time of Moses; traditions that bore equal weight with the Scripture. 

Now, I'll come back to them in a moment but let me go to the Sadducees. The Sadducees were a much smaller group likely named for Zadok, the high priest in the time of David. They were primarily priests. The Sadducees were from the wealthy aristocratic families that controlled the office of the high priest. Most of the political leaders in Israel, in the first century, tended to be Sadducees. There's debate about whether they embraced the entire Old Testament or not, but if they did, they especially embraced the first five books of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch. They were pragmatists. Don't think of these men as deeply spiritual; the Sadducees were not! Instead, they were pragmatists and, therefore, willing to assimilate Greek culture, and so they were ‘Hellenists,’ the technical term for that. But most importantly, the Sadducees, and this may shock you, were anti-supernaturalists–they did not believe that God intervenes in His world. They rejected the idea that there were angels and spirits. In Acts 23, verse 8, “The Sadducees,” Luke tells us, “say that there is no angel nor a spirit.” In addition, Luke adds “The Sadducees say there is no resurrection.” They rejected the resurrection of the body, and Josephus, the first century historian tells us, they also “Rejected the immortality of the soul.” In other words, the Sadducees believed that this life is all there is, “You die, you're done!” 

Now these two groups were polar opposites. Let me just give you a comparison. The Pharisees were ‘Ritualists.’ The Sadducees instead were ‘Rationalists.” The Pharisees were ‘Legalists;’ they went beyond God's Word. The Sadducees were ‘Libertarians;’ they didn't even keep God's Word. The Pharisees were religious; the Sadducees were political. The Pharisees were thought of and held up as Jewish Patriots because they had defended the Jewish culture against the onslaught of Greek paganism. The Sadducees, on the other hand, were known for and hated for their collaboration with Rome. The Pharisees were theologically conservative; the Sadducees were theologically liberal. They had almost nothing in common except they lived in Israel, and they shared the Sanhedrin. Matthew tells us that these two groups came for baptism, verse 7 says. 

Now the Greek preposition ‘for’ can be actually interpreted in two ways. He could be saying they were coming ‘to baptism,’ that is to the place where John was baptizing. If you have an ESV, that's how they take this preposition. In that case, the idea is they were they were coming not to be baptized , but they were coming to sort of investigate like they often did, and that's possible. More likely, Matthew meant as the NAS translates it here, they were coming “for baptism,” that is, to be baptized by John. Why would I argue that? Well, the rest of the paragraph supports the idea that they came for the external rite of baptism, but without a heart of repentance, and so John set out to correct them. 

The question is “Why?” Why did these two groups come to be baptized by John with a baptism of repentance? We know they didn't really believe his message; our Lord tells us that. Go over to chapter 21, Matthew 21, and look at verse 25. In one of His disputes with them, Jesus asked this question, verse 25 of Matthew 21.

“The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?’ And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’” (So, they didn't believe John.) “But if we say, ‘From men,’ (And here's the motivation.) we fear the people; for they all regard John as a prophet.” And answering Jesus, they  said, (Oh) “We do not know (about John).”  

What's going on here? What we understand from this passage is that when they went out to be baptized, they did so, not because they believed John, not because they believed his message, but solely to preserve their spiritual reputation, since the people thought John was a prophet, and their position, as leaders in the nation, their only motive was selfishness. They didn't want John's popularity to eclipse their own. Now, most of us here are not tempted by that motive unto a false repentance. 

However, Scripture identifies other wrong motives that we can be tempted to with a false repentance. Let me give you two of them. First of all,  real repentance is not “Remorse solely because of the results of your actions.” That's not repentance! The perfect example of this is Judas. Turn to Matthew 27; Matthew 27, and look at verse 3.

Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him (Jesus),  saw that He had been condemned, (Okay, he sees the result of his sin and he doesn't like that result,) he felt remorse and returns the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, (And he even voiced repentance, verse 4.) saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!” And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary (into the holy place) and departed; and he went away and hanged himself.

Now, we know from the rest of Scripture that Judas was not truly repentant. Make sure you understand this, that if your repentance is solely remorse because of the results that your sin has produced, then that's not real repentance. 

Secondly real repentance is not the “Desire solely to regain what your sin lost.” The perfect illustration of this is Esau. Turn with me to Hebrews; Hebrews, chapter 12, verse 16; Hebrews 12, verse 16, “See to it…(The writer says.)…that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.” He gave away everything that came with being the first son for a bowl of oatmeal or something comparable–it's ridiculous! Verse 17, “For you know that even afterwards (Here it is.) when he desired to inherit the blessing,” what drove his supposed repentance? He wanted to regain what his sin had lost. And he goes on to say, “he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, (even) though he sought for it with tears.” Listen, if you're here this morning, and you say you've repented of your sins, but you've done so solely out of remorse for the results of your actions or out of a desire to regain what your sin lost, that's not repentance. True repentance is driven by an awareness that we have sinned against whom? God! Psalm 41 verse 4. “O LORD, be gracious to me; heal my soul for I have sinned against You.” In Psalm 51, verse 4, David knowing full well that he'd sinned against everybody in his life; He is especially taken up in repentance with the fact that he'd sinned against God. He says, “Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight?” That's the motive behind real repentance. But a characteristic of false repentance is an unspiritual motive.

A second characteristic is “An Unchanged Heart.” Verse 7, “(And) But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers.’” Now, it wasn't very seeker-sensitive of John to call those who said they had come to repent the offspring of snakes. Now, the Greek word for viper here can describe a variety of venomous snakes, but since John was ministering in the wilderness of Judea, he may have meant the Palestinian Viper, which is found in that area. So, what did the spiritual leaders of the nation have in common with snakes? Why did he call them that? Well, first of all, like snakes, they were spiritually dangerous. The viper’s venom is deadly to its prey, and the teaching of Israel's leaders was equally deadly spiritually to their prey. Turn over to chapter 23,  look at Matthew 23, verse 13, Jesus says, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people.” How? Through their teaching. “For you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.” Look down to verse 15, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.” Your teaching is spiritually dangerous-it's deadly! The Palestinian Viper often lies in wait, sometimes camouflaged in its environment, until its prey comes along within striking distance, and then it strikes quickly injecting its venom through its long-hinged fangs, and that venom immobilizes its prey, allowing the viper to consume the prey at its leisure. Human fatalities from these viper bites are rare if you receive prompt medical attention. But untreated, its bite can be fatal. And John says, “So was the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees!”

Also, like snakes, Israel’s spiritual leaders were morally deceptive–outwardly, they appeared to be righteous, but inwardly they were evil hypocrites. If you're still in Matthew 23, look at verse 25, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they're full of robbery and self-indulgence.” Verse 27, “…you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside you're full of death and decay” (Paraphrase). In other words, they were morally deceptive. The Pharisees and the Sadducees came to be baptized with a baptism of repentance, but their hearts were unchanged–they were still snakes. Like them, sadly, many today misunderstand repentance. Repentance is not trying to clean up your life; it's not trying to get rid of some troublesome sin in your life that you just don't like; it's not your own efforts to change your life. What is repentance? 

Look at the first several beatitudes in Matthew 5. First of all, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Repentance is recognizing your spiritual bankruptcy and throwing yourself on the mercy of God. Verse 4. “Blessed are those who mourn.” Repentance is mourning over your sin. In verse 6 of chapter 5, repentance “is hungering and thirsting for righteousness” (Paraphrase). It's asking God to change you, that's repentance. True repentance is only found in a heart that God has changed. 

A third characteristic of false repentance is “An Unconcerned Conscience.” Verse 7 goes on to say, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” Now, there are a couple of ways John could have meant this. I think the most likely, and a number of commentators point this direction, is John probably means the question like this , “Who directed you into thinking or supposing that you could get away from or somehow evade or somehow escape the wrath that's about to come?” It's sarcasm! The picture is, it's like they're snakes in the grass writhing and wiggling ahead of a grass fire–they're running from the grass fire.

By the way, this is the only time Matthew uses the Greek word for wrath in his entire Gospel. It is ‘the settled disposition of God against evil that demands that He punish it.’ You say, “What does wrath of God look like?” Well, this is not an exhaustive list; there are others, but here are several expressions of God's wrath. First of all, God's wrath rests right now on the person who refuses to believe in Jesus Christ. John 3:36, “…the wrath of God abides (remains) on him.” If you're here this morning and you've never repented of your sins, in the mind of God, the wrath of God is stuck to you like a stain you'll never get rid of. It's like a thunderstorm over your head waiting to break someday. God's wrath of abandonment causes Him today to give sinners over to their sin. Romans 1:24, 26, 28, “He “gave them over…He gave them over…He gave them over,” today. 

God's wrath will be displayed during a future seven-year tribulation. We saw it in Revelation 6:16 where they cry out, “This is the wrath of the Lamb!” The wrath of God will be displayed at the second coming, Colossians 3:6; it's because of these sexual sins “that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience.” And God's wrath will find its eternal display on fallen angels and unrepentant sinners in the Lake of Fire, Revelation 20. But here's the point, the Pharisees and the Sadducees who came to John that day were totally unconcerned about God's coming wrath, but for different reasons. The Pharisees weren't concerned about God's future wrath because “They were convinced of their own self-righteousness.” Luke 18:9, Luke writes, “He (Jesus) told this parable to some people (the Pharisees) who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt.” They weren't concerned about future judgment because, “It's going to go well for us; look how good we are, look at what we do and don't do!” The Sadducees were unconcerned about God's future wrath because they “Denied the afterlife and they denied the judgment.” They believed death was the end. They didn't have any concern about God's future wrath–that's false repentance. If you don't have any concern that your sin deserves the wrath of God, and that wrath will come apart from repentance, if that wasn't involved or isn't involved in your understanding of salvation, then your repentance is not real repentance. Real repentance not only acknowledges the personal guilt of sin, but it also affirms what sin deserves and the reality of our future judgment under God's wrath.

The fourth characteristic of false repentance is in verse 8, “An Unchanged Life,” “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” Let me read it to you literally from the Greek text; here's how it reads, “Therefore make (or produce) fruit worthy of the repentance.” Let me say that again, “Therefore make (or produce) fruit worthy of the repentance.” I love that, and there are two really important theological observations that we need to make out of that passage. Observation number one, “Repentance for salvation and the fruit worthy of that repentance are two different things.” Make sure you're clear in your mind on this. For example, in Acts 26:20, Paul was proclaiming to the Gentiles “that they should repent and turn to God.” There's repentance, and that they should perform deeds worthy of that repentance. That's a different thing.

Let me explain it to you this way. Repentance happens in the heart and is unseen; its fruit can be observed in your heart and in your life. Repentance for salvation happens in a moment of time; you repent and believe, it happens in a moment, but its fruit grows over time. Repentance and faith save, but the fruit of repentance doesn't save; the fruit of repentance provides evidence that your repentance is real, and therefore, your salvation is genuine. So, they are two different things; don't confuse them.

A second theological observation here is that “Repentance in your heart will produce fruit in your life.” If you've really repented, there's going to be fruit. Go over to Luke, chapter 3, where Luke records John's ministry and in response to this statement, you'll notice in verse 8 of Luke 3, he says, “Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, verse 10, “The crowds were questioning Him saying, ’Then what should we do?’” Okay, so we're supposed to bear fruit in keeping with repentance or worthy of repentance. What does that look like? Well to everyone, he says in verse 11, “he would answer and say to them, ‘The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.’” In other words, he says, “Here's the fruit of repentance; stop being greedy with the stuff God's given to you and be generous with others,” Verses 12 and 13, “Some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, ‘Teacher, what should we do?’ (What does the fruit of repentance look like in our lives?) And he said to them, ‘Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.’” In other words, abandon extortion and exercise fairness. That's what repentance, the fruit of repentance is. Verse 14, “Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, ‘And what about us?’ (What does that fruit of repentance look like in our lives?)… ‘Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.’” In other words, don't extort money from people by threats and false accusations, and be content with what you're paid. You see, the point is, real repentance in the heart produces the fruit of decreasing patterns of sin and increasing patterns of righteousness. 

You know, some people struggle with their salvation and they ask themselves this question, I used to do this when I was a young Christian, “Was I repentant enough at that moment of salvation? Was I remorseful enough? Did I really regret my sin enough?” That's not the way you need to approach this. The way to examine the genuineness of your repentance at salvation is not to determine if you felt enough remorse in that moment, but to examine your life since for the fruit of repentance and the fruit, its practical righteousness. And what about as believers? You know last week; I talked about the continual repentance that's to be a part of our lives. The way to assess your ongoing repentance is not to say, “Have I committed that sin again since I said I was repentant? If so, I must not have been repentant.” That's not the way to examine your repentance, but rather, I mean, let me just say, think about Abraham. Abraham struggled with the sin of lying his whole life so that's not the way to measure your repentance. The way to measure your repentance is to ask, “Have I made real changes to cut that sin out of my life. Am I putting off that sin? Am I putting on its opposite virtue?” Here's the question, “Do I see real progress away from sin and toward righteousness?” That's real repentance. False repentance, on the other hand, is completely opposite.

Now John identifies a fifth characteristic of false peace(?) repentance(?) in verse 9, and that is “An Unfounded Confidence.” Sadly, listen carefully, people with false repentance often have the greatest confidence of their salvation. I remember there was a man, whose wife called me when I was at Grace Church, and said, “Tom, I've discovered this little black book in my husband's briefcase, and it's filled with details of his sexual exploits with both men and women.” I remember confronting that man at his office and for six months, I met with him and his wife and urged him to examine himself to see that he was in the faith. And I showed him the passages that say someone living in such patterns of sin cannot be a Christian, and yet for six months He maintained, “I have to be, I am a Christian, I know I'm a Christian.” People with false repentance often have the greatest confidence in their salvation. By the way, he eventually came to faith in Christ. The problem is such people have misplaced confidence.

There are several wrong places to put your confidence of eternal life. Don't put your confidence “In Your Personal Righteousness.” That was where the Pharisees went. Don't put your confidence “In Some Arrogant Denial of God's Future Wrath,” ‘not going to happen;’ that was the Sadducees. Don't put your confidence “In an Arrogant Denial of God's Perfect Justice.” You see, a lot of sinners are convinced that it's going to go well for them in the judgment. And when you ask them, “Why?” It's because they think God grades on a curve. It's like, “Well, I'm not as bad as a lot of people, and you know, I think my good is going to outweigh my bad.” And listen, “God doesn't grade on a curve; He doesn't with anyone, and He won't with you.” Galatians 3:10, “As many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘CURSED BY GOD IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM,’” You want your obedience to get you out of hell and into heaven? It's got to be perfect! James 2:10 says, “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.” And in context, that’s showing prejudice for some external reason, that's enough, James says, to shatter the law of God 

Another wrong place to put your confidence is “In Your Spiritual Heritage.” That's the message of verse 9, “And do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father.’” He's saying, “Listen, don't believe the idea, that was popular in the first century, that every physical descendant of Abraham is going to escape God's wrath, is going to be saved.” One rabbi, for example, wrote in a Jewish Midrash, “In the age to come, Abraham sits beside the gate of Gehenna and suffers no circumcised Israelite to go down there.” That's not true! And of course, you know the Bible does say there are definite advantages to being a descendant of Abraham. Paul talks about those in Romans 3, Romans 9; they had the Law, from them came the Messiah, there were a lot of wonderful things about being Jewish, but having Abraham as your ancestor doesn't guarantee your spiritual salvation. Paul says you have to have “the faith of Abraham.” A lot of people who are Jewish are not truly circumcised in heart; they don't belong to God. As one writer put it, “God is not interested in family trees which bear no fruit in changed lives.” In John 8, Jesus talked to some unbelieving Jews, and said, “Your father isn't Abraham. Your father is the devil.” 

Now back in verse 9, John adds, perhaps as he points to loose stones lying there on the riverbank, “For I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.” Now in Aramaic, there's a pun, actually, the language that John would have been speaking, there's a pun with the words ‘children’ and ‘stones.’ But his point here is that, “Listen, okay God made you Jewish, so what? If God wanted to, He could make these stones Jewish–that's not your great spiritual advantage!” I think he's also sort of reminding them of Ezekiel 36, that God can change hearts of stone into hearts of flesh, whether Jew or Gentile. 

You know, the point is this as you sit here today, your confidence of heaven shouldn't be in the fact that your family has always been connected to the Christian Church. It shouldn't be that your parents were wonderful Christians. Your repentance is false if your confidence is grounded in your personal righteousness, your denial of God's future wrath, or His perfect justice, or your spiritual heritage. And let me add, “Your repentance is also false if you're trusting in your baptism, in your church membership, your church attendance, some sinner’s prayer you prayed when you were five, or the fact that you professed Christ and it's written in the front of your Bible–those are all wrong places to put your confidence.

A sixth and final characteristic of false repentance is “An Unrealistic Hope,” verse 10. The person whose repentance is false has two extremely unrealistic hopes. Their first hope is that “God's judgment will never come,” at least for them. And John responds to that in the first half of verse 10, “The axe is already laid at the root of the trees.” Let me read to you that sentence in Greek because in Greek, ‘already’ comes first. “Already the axe to the root of the trees is being laid.” Now, John may mean that the axe has already started chopping at the root. More likely, however, I think he means that the woodsman has already decided which tree is to be cut down, and it's so imminent that he's left the axe lying there at the root of that tree. A Modern equivalent would be if you ride past a lot on your way home that it's going to be developed; it hasn't been cleared yet. All the trees are there and some of the trees have these ribbons around them, and the ribbons mean either those trees are going to be cut down or those trees are going to be left, and the others are going to be cut down. That's the idea here. John's point is that for the person who's never truly repented, God's judgment is certain and it's imminent; they're already marked for judgment. If you're here this morning and you've never repented, you've never placed your trust in Jesus Christ, let me tell you, in the mind of God right now, it's like you have a ribbon wrapped around you marked for destruction, marked for judgment–it's coming. Hebrews 9:27, “It is appointed for men once to die and after this comes judgment.”

The person marked by false repentance also harbors the “Unrealistic Hope,” secondly, that “God's verdict will not be just.” Look at John's response in the second half of verse 10, “therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” Notice, there are no exceptions, “every tree.” And here it's not the fruit of repentance like it was back in verse 8, but it's “good fruit,” generally.  In other words, every person whose life doesn't produce, in New Testament terms, “the fruit of righteousness,” verse 10 says, will be “cut down.” That is, ‘cut down at the root,’ referring to utter destruction and thrown into the fire, that is cast into hell. By the way, this is true of the person who doesn't claim to know Jesus Christ in chapter 7, verse 19, Jesus talks about them. It's also true in John 15, verse 2 of the person who professes Jesus Christ but bears no fruit in their life. Jesus says that branch (?) tree(?) is going to be cut down and thrown in the fire as well. You see, friend, if you've never truly repented, “How do you know that?” Well, evidenced by the absence of fruit in your life. If you've never truly repented, God's verdict about you has already been decided; you will not be the exception to His perfect justice. He's not going to grade your life on a curve; His wrath is coming. You'd better run “from the wrath to come.” 

But where, where can you run from the wrath of God? And the answer is, “To Jesus the Messiah!” That was John's message that day and it's his message to you today. You see, Jesus came, and He died for sin, in order to save all of those who believe in Him, “rom the wrath to come.” John, chapter 5, verse 24, Jesus says this, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life,” and listen to this, I love this, “and does not come into judgment.” If you repent and trust in Christ, you will not come into judgment’ that's the only way you can be rescued “from the wrath to come.” In Romans, chapter 5, verse 9, Paul writes, “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood (having been declared right with God by our trust in the life death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.), we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.” 1 Thessalonians 1:10 describes Jesus as the One “who rescues us from the wrath to come.” If you're here this morning, friend, and you have never repented and believed, you had better run to Jesus the Messiah! He's the only One who can rescue you from what's coming. As you sit here this morning, your life is marked for destruction unless you will turn to Jesus Christ. 

And, Christian, if you're here this morning, you've repented and believed, what's the Lord's message for you? I love this from 1 Thessalonians 5: 9, here's His message to you, if you've repented and your repentance is real, as you can see you in this text, and you have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, 1 Thessalonians 5:9, “God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation (How?) through our Lord Jesus Christ.” That's your future; He's not destined you for wrath; He's destined you for obtaining eternal salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Let's pray together. Our Father, thank You for the clarity of Your Word. I Pray that You would use it. Lord, You know, I prayed all week that You would not allow this message to unsettle the genuine faith of a true believer, but Father, at the same time, I pray that You would use it to unsettle the false, misplaced confidence, of those who have only demonstrated false repentance. Father, I pray that You would use this to draw them to Yourself. May You produce true repentance in their hearts today, true faith in Your Son. 

And Lord, for the rest of us who are already Christians, encourage us that we have not been destined for wrath but for obtaining salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. He is the One who saves us from the wrath to come–what a Savior! Lord, we thank You and praise You in His name, Amen!