Mat 3:7-10; When You Really Change, You Change What You Do.
length: 61:52 - taught on Dec, 19 2023
Class Outline:
Tuesday December 19, 2023
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? 8 "Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; 9 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. 10 "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.
Was it the intention of the Pharisees and Sadducees who went out to see John, to be baptized by him, the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins?
John’s address to them makes it unlikely. Even if they did come out for baptism, were they truly repentant? According to John’s description, “brook of vipers,” no.
John brings in the language of judgment, which is one side of the coin concerning the coming of Christ - blessing to some, judgment to others.
True repentance is not a matter of words and ritual only. It is a real change in life.
“Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;”
When you change, you change what you do.
That repentance of the unbeliever should produce fruit is true of the Jew and Gentile.
“So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but kept declaring both to those of Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance.”
The imagery of bearing fruit will also be deployed in Jesus’ teaching.
It is obvious that Christ wants us to produce fruit. It is by what we do in response to God’s demands rather then by what we hear or say that we will be judged.
“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 "So then, you will know them by their fruits.”
Fruitlessness is one of the most prominent elements in Matthew’s emphasis on judgment.
"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 "You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. 35 "The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. 36 "But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. 37 "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
Words do matter, but words come from the heart. Other people can be fooled by hypocrisy, but God cannot. He sees the heart.
God wants you to live the eternal life He gave you.
There’s the parable of the sower:
"And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."
After the parable of the vineyard owner, where the vinegrowers reject the Father and kill His Son.
'THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,
THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone;
THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD,
AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES'?
43 "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. 44 "And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust."
And there is the barren fig tree which He saw as He traveled into Jerusalem.
Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. 19 Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, "No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you." And at once the fig tree withered.
The one who establishes himself on the cornerstone is to produce the fruit of the kingdom. The tree represented Israel. Because of who she was, elect of God, she was to produce the fruit of it. Those who do not produce fruit are judged.
The unbeliever:
Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
The believer:
For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, 3 inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. 4 For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.
6 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord — 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight — 8 we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. 9 Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences.
There is a war going on inside every believer. There is a life which has deeds of the flesh and a life that has the deeds of the Spirit. Every life has deeds. They cannot be avoided.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. 19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice [prasso: do, bring about, or accomplish] such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 26 Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.
Paul’s intent was not to make us judge one another or to question our eternal security, but to set before us the contrast between the deeds of the flesh and the deeds of the Spirit - the fruit of each.
Application:
God has given you work to do, which is your fruit. He has done so in order to bless you. For the greatest blessing in the world is to be like Him.
Do you want to be like Him or is it just words?
Be honest. And know that the only people who don’t want to be like Him are those that don’t know Him. We all need to know more of God the Father and Son. The Spirit is our help. If you do not know Him, the solution is simple - repent and produce the fruit of it.
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