The Voice of God. John s message was stern and powerful! To the impenitent Jewish leaders, he said,

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1 December 4, 2016 Advent 2 Text: Matthew 3: In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare 1 the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.'" 4 Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 7 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? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 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. 10 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. (ESV) The Voice of God If you were a Jew in the years just before Christ, it would have easy to give up hope in the promised Messiah. I mean, where was God the last 400 years when Israel was overrun and conquered by the Greeks and then the Romans? So many promises... so long ago! Had God forgotten them? Or had they out-sinned his mercy? Neither. God remembered his people and his mercy and grace were, and still are, from everlasting to everlasting. But wait. I hear a faint voice in the distance. There is a stirring deep within the bosom of the land of darkness. The Messianic age is about to dawn. Hush, be still! Quietly ever so quietly the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth had grown to maturity. He was the second Elijah, the one who had come in the spirit and power of Elijah. 1 Not unlike the original, he came out of the desert wilderness clothed in camel s hair and eating locusts and wild honey. 2 And, behold, this man is now baptizing sinners in the river Jordan. He raises his voice. And, O what a voice it is! He cries out, The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight. 3 The Jewish leaders who were watching John were suspicious. So they demanded that he identify himself. And he did. He said to them, I AM THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING OUT IN THE WILDERNESS! 4 Notice that he does not tell them his earthly name, i.e., John. Instead, he tells them who God says he is: He is THE VOICE. He is the voice prophesied by Isaiah 700 years earlier. 5 The emergence of John was like the sudden sounding of the voice of God. After centuries of prophetic silence the prophetic Word of God thundered again. He fearlessly denounced sin and evil wherever he might find it. If the Pharisees were preaching works-righteousness, John never hesitated to say so. John s message was stern and powerful! To the impenitent Jewish leaders, he said, You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit Page 1 of 5

2 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. 6 With these mighty words, John condemns the impenitent. And so it is today. If you remain a scoffer, a hard-hearted fool, a believer in your own inherent goodness, or a self-anointed prophet or mystic, you shall be firewood. But John also preached another message. He said to one and all, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 7 This was a message of hope. Where is the kingdom of heaven? Let s think about this. The kingdom is where the King is. That seems obvious. Since Jesus is THE KING OF KINGS AND THE LORD OF LORDS, he reigns wherever his subjects are. His subjects are true believers, whether in heaven or on earth. So, when you think of Christ s kingdom, think of his bride, the Church. The Church on earth is called the Church militant (It is called militant because it must still fight against the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh). But Christ's Church is also in heaven. It is called the Church triumphant because it remains sinless and holy forever. It no longer has to fight against the forces of darkness. Those in heaven died trusting in heaven s great King: Jesus. They made it into heaven because they died, not in their sins, but in Christ Jesus. But, in our text, John says that the kingdom is at hand. What does this mean? The promise of the Savior had been sounded from the fall of Adam and Eve to Malachi, the last Old Testament prophet. 8 But now John announces that the kingdom is at hand because Jesus, has been born and will soon bring about our salvation by his suffering and dying on the cross. So, the kingdom of everlasting life is at hand because Jesus has come. Regarding the Messiah, John said, After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 9 And again, he said, He must increase but I must decrease. 10 He pointed us poor sinners to the Savior and said, Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. 11 But we sinners cannot obtain the kingdom of God without repentance. But today, modern pastors preach repentance-lite. They say it s about changing the direction of our lives. They talk about doing away with the junk in our lives. And they say it s about improving our lives by changing our priorities. But I rarely find modern preachers who associate repentance with sin. Rarer still is the preacher who will say that the punishment for sin is hell. But I won t play that game. What we sinners need is full-strength repentance. Page 2 of 5

3 Repentance, properly speaking, consists of two parts: The first is contrition, that is, to truly acknowledge our sins, to be genuinely sorry for them, and to cease and desist from them. The second is faith, but faith specifically in Christ alone for the forgiveness of sins. Thus, we may summarize repentance as a daily turning away from our sins and a daily turning in faith to Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. And make no mistake about it: This is hard work! It s hard work because you and I are sinners. It s hard work because our sinful flesh prods us to want what we should not want. We would rather flap our tongues than bite our lips. We would rather complain about what s wrong with others than take a hard look at what s wrong with us. We would rather spend a day buying Christmas gifts than to spend an hour with Jesus. My friends, as we prepare ourselves for the coming of the Christchild (and for his second coming as well), let us remember that we live in an evil culture. For the last 50 years, sin-lite has been preached from our pulpits. And just look at what we ve reaped: Terrorism, violence on our streets and on our campuses, and the breakdown of law and order. But we can t live like this. We cannot sell our souls to the lowest bidder, for it means death. And besides, it s Advent and John the Baptist is crying out, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand! 12 And know this: God means business! Suppose, for example, that you are in a movie theater that suddenly catches fire. Quickly, smoke fills the building. Everyone heads towards the front exits but all you hear from the front are screams of fear. Then you hear a voice behind you. He identifies himself as a fireman. He yells, Don t follow the crowd, come to the sound of my voice and I will get you out! So, you turn around and move toward his voice. Finally, he grabs you and gets you safely out of the building. That s a picture of what repentance is. You turn away from the crowd that shouts, Follow me. The crowd finds only the deadly flames. You will listen only to the voice, the voice that says, Repent, cease your course or you will die. The voice is the way of life. Finally, Jesus runs toward you and lifts you out of the smoke and flames. And now you sing, I once was lost but now am found. Was blind, but now I m free. Yes, repentance brings life. Jesus, the Giver of life gives you life. He also gives you forgiveness. Beloved, hear God speak to you through Isaiah. The LORD lifts up his voice and says, Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, Page 3 of 5

4 and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD s hand double for all her sins. 13 Double, here, means double forgiveness, not double punishment! He not only forgives our sins, he also forgets them forever. So, beloved, I say to you: Be of good cheer; Jesus is here! Yes, to you Jesus says, You shall not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). So, thank God for the voice of John the Baptist. He points us to Jesus and says, Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29. May we always listen to God s voice in the Scriptures. In the name of Jesus: Amen. Soli Deo Gloria! Endnotes 1 In Luke 1:15-17, of his son, the angel said to Zechariah, He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared (ESV). 2 Regarding the first Elijah, we read, They answered him, He wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite (2 Kings 1:8, ESV). Regarding John the Baptist, the second Elijah, St. Mark says, Now John was clothed with camel s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey (Mark 1:6 ESV). 3 See Matthew 3:3, ESV. 4 See John 1:23. 5 Isaiah says of him, A voice cries: In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken. (Isaiah 40:3-5, ESV). 6 See Matthew 3:7-10, ESV. 7 See Matthew 3:2, ESV. 8 Malachi was the last prophet to write an OT book. But most scholars regard John the Baptist as the last OT prophet. See 9 See Mark 1:7. Page 4 of 5

5 10 See John 3: See John 1: See Matthew 3:2. 13 See Isaiah 40:1-2. Page 5 of 5