Before I share the message let’s take a few minutes to review. Luke says the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. This is John the Baptist the forerunner of the Messiah. We noted that John’s ministry fulfilled the words of Isaiah in chapter forty of his prophecy.
We also have noted the content of John’s powerful preaching as he called the people to repent. He insisted they bring forth fruits suitable for repentance. He insisted they turn away from the false security of a false hope. Not one of his people possessed a right standing with God simply because they were the physical descendants of Abraham. You will recall we applied this truth to our own lives. We must beware lest we embrace a false hope. Remember, no one is saved until the heart repents and turns to the Lord for mercy and grace found in the Lord Jesus Christ.
As we shall see from our text today, as the people responded from the heart to John’s message they asked the question, “What shall we do then?” It is interesting to note the people listening to the preaching of the Apostle Peter on the Day of Pentecost asked the same question when they said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do?
Peter told them to repent and to confess Christ in baptism. This they did and some three thousand souls were saved that day.
The convicting work of the Holy Spirit brings us to a place of repentance. In that state of mind we ask the same question, what shall I do then? Let me say this as clearly as I can: you are repentant when you are ready to obey the Lord. Those who repent are ready to obey the gospel as it is made plain to them.
Now look with me at verse ten as we read our text:
Luke 3:10-20:
10And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?
11He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.
12Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do?
13And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you.
14And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.
15And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not;
16John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:
17Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.
18And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people.
19But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done,
20Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison.
Now look again at verse eleven. In this verse John is illustrating to the average person how to demonstrate real repentance. He says if you have two coats, then give one to him who has none. Likewise, if you have food, then give to him that has none.
This is fruit demonstrating genuine repentance. Once the heart is set right by repentance, then we are ready to love others. The Apostle John says it this way in his first epistle where we read:
“Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”
May I say you need to demonstrate genuine faith by showing love to one another.
Next, John said to the publicans (the tax collectors), to collect no more than that which is ordered by those who appointed you a tax collector. In other words, John is saying show me the reality of your repentance by turning away from the practice of sin. In the case of the tax collectors John is saying their fruit unto repentance was to stop stealing from the people.
May I ask you a question? Do you practice sin? Is there a particular sin standing between you and true repentance? May I say your fruit unto repentance is to turn away from that sin. I wonder, what sin is keeping you from coming to Christ? Can I ask you a heart-searching question? Are you willing to go to hell and perish under the weight of eternal damnation because you refuse to let go of sin? Think about that.
Next, look again at verse fourteen. The soldiers came to John. I take these men to be gentiles in the Roman army of that day. Certainly, Israel had no standing army as they were subject to Rome at that time. The soldiers came to John and said, what shall we do?
John told them what fruit unto repentance looked like in their life. He said do no violence to any man, do not falsely accuse any man, and be content with your wages.
Clearly, John the Baptist insisted when true repentance occurs there must be a change of heart that deals with the sins characterizing one’s life.
Now I want to close with a very interesting passage from Matthew’s gospel connected to the ministry of John the Baptist. Listen closely:
23And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?
24And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things.
25The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him?
26But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.
27And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.
28But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.
29He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.
30And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.
31Whether of the two did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.
32For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.”
Sadly, the same crowd that resisted the preaching of John the Baptist also fought against the Lord Jesus. The did not repent under John’s preaching, nor did they repent at the preaching of the Son of God.
Now listen closely as I finish. Which of the two sons in our Lord’s parable picture you? Are you like the first son who said, “I will not do what you are telling me,” but you changed your mind and repented and obeyed.
Or are you like the second who said, “Oh, yes, I will do what you say”, but then did not. Are you the second son? Do you say, “Oh, yes, I will serve you Lord”, but then you never repent. Think about that. There must be fruit unto repentance. Otherwise, we are like the second son. I encourage you to search your heart and be of serious mind. If you have failed to repent and do not have a new heart surrendered to obedience, then humble yourself today and call on his name. He will grant forgiveness and a new life in Christ will begin.
We also have noted the content of John’s powerful preaching as he called the people to repent. He insisted they bring forth fruits suitable for repentance. He insisted they turn away from the false security of a false hope. Not one of his people possessed a right standing with God simply because they were the physical descendants of Abraham. You will recall we applied this truth to our own lives. We must beware lest we embrace a false hope. Remember, no one is saved until the heart repents and turns to the Lord for mercy and grace found in the Lord Jesus Christ.
As we shall see from our text today, as the people responded from the heart to John’s message they asked the question, “What shall we do then?” It is interesting to note the people listening to the preaching of the Apostle Peter on the Day of Pentecost asked the same question when they said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do?
Peter told them to repent and to confess Christ in baptism. This they did and some three thousand souls were saved that day.
The convicting work of the Holy Spirit brings us to a place of repentance. In that state of mind we ask the same question, what shall I do then? Let me say this as clearly as I can: you are repentant when you are ready to obey the Lord. Those who repent are ready to obey the gospel as it is made plain to them.
Now look with me at verse ten as we read our text:
Luke 3:10-20:
10And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?
11He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.
12Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do?
13And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you.
14And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.
15And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not;
16John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:
17Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.
18And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people.
19But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done,
20Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison.
Now look again at verse eleven. In this verse John is illustrating to the average person how to demonstrate real repentance. He says if you have two coats, then give one to him who has none. Likewise, if you have food, then give to him that has none.
This is fruit demonstrating genuine repentance. Once the heart is set right by repentance, then we are ready to love others. The Apostle John says it this way in his first epistle where we read:
“Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”
May I say you need to demonstrate genuine faith by showing love to one another.
Next, John said to the publicans (the tax collectors), to collect no more than that which is ordered by those who appointed you a tax collector. In other words, John is saying show me the reality of your repentance by turning away from the practice of sin. In the case of the tax collectors John is saying their fruit unto repentance was to stop stealing from the people.
May I ask you a question? Do you practice sin? Is there a particular sin standing between you and true repentance? May I say your fruit unto repentance is to turn away from that sin. I wonder, what sin is keeping you from coming to Christ? Can I ask you a heart-searching question? Are you willing to go to hell and perish under the weight of eternal damnation because you refuse to let go of sin? Think about that.
Next, look again at verse fourteen. The soldiers came to John. I take these men to be gentiles in the Roman army of that day. Certainly, Israel had no standing army as they were subject to Rome at that time. The soldiers came to John and said, what shall we do?
John told them what fruit unto repentance looked like in their life. He said do no violence to any man, do not falsely accuse any man, and be content with your wages.
Clearly, John the Baptist insisted when true repentance occurs there must be a change of heart that deals with the sins characterizing one’s life.
Now I want to close with a very interesting passage from Matthew’s gospel connected to the ministry of John the Baptist. Listen closely:
23And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?
24And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things.
25The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him?
26But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.
27And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.
28But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.
29He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.
30And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.
31Whether of the two did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.
32For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.”
Sadly, the same crowd that resisted the preaching of John the Baptist also fought against the Lord Jesus. The did not repent under John’s preaching, nor did they repent at the preaching of the Son of God.
Now listen closely as I finish. Which of the two sons in our Lord’s parable picture you? Are you like the first son who said, “I will not do what you are telling me,” but you changed your mind and repented and obeyed.
Or are you like the second who said, “Oh, yes, I will do what you say”, but then did not. Are you the second son? Do you say, “Oh, yes, I will serve you Lord”, but then you never repent. Think about that. There must be fruit unto repentance. Otherwise, we are like the second son. I encourage you to search your heart and be of serious mind. If you have failed to repent and do not have a new heart surrendered to obedience, then humble yourself today and call on his name. He will grant forgiveness and a new life in Christ will begin.
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