You should have known better. Are there any more condemning words than those? And so much the worse when they are
true. Sometimes it is even our job to
know better. And when those words strike
the deepest chord; is when we did know better, and made our choices in spite of
knowing better. Those kinds of decisions
and actions, of doing something in spite of knowing better, reflect a hardness
alive and well in our hearts.
Behavior like this in a child seems more forgivable. Perhaps a child with minimal personal
experience chooses to do something they know they should not, for the personal
experience of having done so. As their
parent, we hate this; not because it hurts us from the suffering of that
action, but because it hurts us to see our children suffer from the hurt of
that action. It hurts a parent to see
their child suffer. When the child
suffers from bad decisions, we still suffer.
When the child suffers from bad decisions, and they are fully equipped
with the knowledge of what would happen, we still suffer. Our love of our child, will always lead us to
suffer when our child suffers. What we
as parents want, is for our child never to suffer.
And what happens when you get a bad egg? No parent ever wants to admit, that their
little Johnny has grown up to be a bad egg, even if Johnny has become a serial
killer. But it happens. And perhaps worse than a serial killer, is a
leader in the “right” church, teaching all the “right” things, to those who do
not understand, but completely devoid of love.
At least a serial killer only murders the body. But a religious leader has the potential to
murder the soul, kill hope, and portray an image of God that resembles Satan
instead.
Who would want to serve a God that looks so much like
Satan? And who would want to serve a
God, when all His servants are so mean, or so apathetic, or so hopeless? And His servants, employed in His ministry,
are the very ones who should know better.
But too many don’t. And still our
heavenly parent looks to redeem what causes Him so much grief, and destroys so
many other of His children. Our Heavenly
Father looks to redeem bad eggs, even ones that should know better, even ones
that continue to do so much harm, from the pulpit.
John the Baptist had a message for these religious
leaders. Keep in mind these leaders had
the right Bible. They were not Hindu’s
or Buddhists, or pagans. These were
Jews, and considered the top leaders of their faith. These were Jews who had access to scripture,
and debated it for a living, and in all their spare time. They were supposed to be upright. They were supposed to know more about the
Bible than any other living person on planet earth. Nobody was supposed to know more than
them. Nobody. These men could have been a shining example
of what love for others looks like in the flesh. But they were not. They were serial killers of hope in the
pulpit instead. They were obsessed with
offerings, tithe, and the financial wealth they would bring. They were obsessed with “control” over the
faith, over doctrines. They were
obsessed with keeping the church pure. Sound
familiar?
As we read the message of John the Baptist for the religious
leadership back then, let us instead apply it to ourselves as we should know
better as well. Matthew continues his
account of the fire and brimstone preaching of John in chapter three of his
gospel picking up in verse 7 saying … “But when he saw many of the Pharisees
and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers,
who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” Am I the snake John pleads with? Do I slither between the pews, acting just
interested enough in my neighbor to fool them into thinking I care for them,
but maintaining my heart of stone within?
Is this the plight of my generation, and the one to come, and the one
behind? What wrath does John speak
of?
This was a message of shock and awe. John was talking straight to people who
demanded respect and he offered them none.
They were snakes to him. They
were snakes for what they did to the flock of God. And then beyond the insult of calling them
snakes, John throws the end of days in their face. John brings up the judgment past, and the
flames as destiny for them. This was
beyond unthinkable. How could I be a
snake when I only try to do good? How
many people rationalize their religion with just such a question? They never seek perfection, believing it
impossible. They are right. For perfection is only possible when Jesus
does the work of transformation within us.
But instead of seeking Jesus, we choose to continue to do
the work of perfection upon ourselves, by ourselves. We talk of partnerships with God, but this is
deception. It is only an excuse to do
work ourselves, and then blame God because we cannot finish it. We are snakes obsessed with control over our
salvation. We are snakes spreading a
gospel of self-salvation to all who will listen, but this gospel leads only to
flames of destiny. We call the gospel of
self, truth, when it is the farthest thing from it. And in so doing we pave a highway to flames,
instead of freedom.
Matthew continues in verse 8 saying … “Bring forth therefore
fruits meet for repentance:” Time to let
our deeds reflect our reality. We are
not to try to do good works. We are to
submit, be transformed, and develop a passion for others that cannot sit
still. A transformed heart loves others
so much it cannot sit still, it must reach out in love to help them. A transformed heart would never think to
allow the words that proceed from the mouth to ever be interpreted as hateful,
judgmental, or condemnatory. Words that
flow from a transformed heart are pure love, pure support, and ever point to
Jesus as the only way to find salvation.
The fruits we are to bring are NOT our own. They are fruits of the Spirit. They are gifts given to us by the Holy Spirit
to be employed in the tireless ministry of God.
These fruits show all who look that our heart is ever filled with
repentance and love. These fruits alone
are worthy to bring. Our fruits, our
skills, our offerings are as the offering of Cain, based in self, and
reflective of snake behavior.
Matthew continues the admonitions of John in verse 9 saying
… “And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I
say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto
Abraham.” John the Baptist at last
removes the only surety Israelites had, he takes away the relevance of their
ancestry. The faith of Abraham belongs
only to him. It does not belong to those
men who have no faith in God for their salvation some 2000 years later. It is no different with us. Our church fathers may have had great faith,
and done great deeds in the eyes of the Lord.
But their faith belongs only to them, not to us, if our actions do not
reflect the transformed heart that drives this kind of passion. John the Baptist makes no excuses for
them. They will each face eternity for
what they have done, for what they have believed. Transformation is personal. What my wife experiences is not my own. What my mother believes is of no consequence
to me. My heart must be transformed by
Jesus, or my heart remains in the provinces of snakes.
John concludes his warning in even starker language in verse
10 saying … “And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore
every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the
fire.” Our ancestry is terminated. From this day forth, each man will face his
fate, based on the submission to Jesus Christ he has pursued. John was preaching of the nearness of God in
human form. John was saying it is here,
it is now. Now is the time to abandon
trust in self, trust in self-made interpretations of the law, and instead seek
the author of the law. Every prophecy
ever given could be rightly interpreted by the God who was walking the streets
of Nazareth and the roads of Galilee. No
more need for majority opinion, each leader could seek the author Himself. What remains in the province of snakes after
this opportunity was destined for the flames that will someday purge the earth
of all evil.
John then shifts the focus even more squarely upon Jesus as
the only way to avoid this fate as Matthew continues in verse 11 saying … “I
indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is
mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with
the Holy Ghost, and with fire:” Here is
where the twist re-emerges even for bad eggs, even for vipers, even for
me. The offer of baptism unto repentance
is freely offered to ALL of these same men.
Notice, John never once calls out any of them for the specific sins he
knows they are guilty of. Notice, that
John only continued to offer repentance, and to starkly make them aware that
even as religious leaders, they need it too.
Perhaps their need is greater than all.
And now he offers a promise, and a prophecy. John foretells of the baptism of the Holy
Spirit by fire to all who believe. John
is offering this promise and this prophecy to these very men. These vipers could become baptized by the
same Holy Spirit that would baptize the other followers and disciples of
Christ.
Think of this offer for a minute. Not only is God interested in the redemption
of these men, He is willing to restore them to what proper leadership means in
the New church, in the New faith. If
anyone was less deserving it is these very men, yet it is to these men who God
appeals to. To receive this offer, one
must only embrace humility and submit before Jesus who is right around the
corner. Think of the freedom of that
embrace. All your questions
answered. All your words motivated by
the Holy Spirit from that day forward.
A new gospel. A new
method of preaching and teaching by testimony, instead of by intellectual
awareness. They are each and all offered
a personal experience with God on earth.
This is not fire and brimstone, this is heaven reaching out to each of
them. This is not the punishment that
vipers deserve, it is the honor of becoming a participant in the ministry to
redeem others. This is not a message of
fire and brimstone based on fear to motivate, only shock and awe to awaken how
desperate the need is. And it is ONLY
this way of frank speech within the leadership of the church. As it is in ours, never intended for the
common sinner.
John then describes Jesus as more than God in human form,
but God in eternal form as Matthew continues in verse 12 saying … “Whose fan is
in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into
the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” The God of eternal judgment is also the God
of eternal redemption. To refuse to
allow our salvation from Jesus, is to embrace self to try to find the same
result. But self can only fail at
salvation. Only Jesus can succeed at
that work, at the work of perfecting us from us, saving us from us.
Should we refuse to trust Him, refuse to accept His gift of
salvation to us, we are destined to become the chaff of eternal history. The mercy of God to extend time to try to
save every last soul that can be saved is not infinite. Time will one day reach its end, and the days
of sin have been numbered. The method of
escape is so easy, and so clear. It
should be best understood by those in ministry.
Yet John shows us, that those in ministry often have the greatest
need. Learning to be devoid of self, to
forego trusting in self to save, is sometimes hardest for those involved in
religious things.
John the Baptist has said harsh things. He has preached fire and brimstone, but only
to the leadership of the church to wake them up to their great need. But his twist has ever been the hope of Jesus
Christ. Even to those bad eggs who should
have known better, and most deserve condemnation, John has offered none. Instead he offers continued opportunity to be
baptized not only to repentance, but with fire by the Holy Spirit in days to
come. That is quite a twist, and it is
one we should all seek. And then, if
only to add heaven’s stamp of approval on the ministry of John, Jesus would
enter the scene …
No comments:
Post a Comment