I think this will be the first time our 8:00 service was bigger than our 9:30 Sunday morning service. I appreciate your coming out. Actually, yesterday was much worse (Pastor is referring to the weather. We were in the middle of a heavy snow storm.). If we were going to cancel anything, we should have cancelled yesterday because this is nothing compared to yesterday. I got stuck going home. I was stuck for a while. That was the worst weather Id been in in my life. The snow was hitting me so hard, it hurt while I was trying to get my car out of there. I think we cancel churches in our city largely on the forecast rather than reality because, unless you are coming from where the Jacobs did-coming from Clinton, it wasnt that bad. I wanted to get on WCLO and put Faith Community Church-OPEN in big letters; but Im guessing, having seen three [services] now, well probably be down about 400 people or so-which means we need to take another offering (congregation laughs along with Pastor Jeff). Im glad you appreciate the Saturday night team here this morning. Mrs. Bales is now back, but Mrs. Bales team is taking the night off. Peter and Janet are back from Costa Rico, and were looking forward to hearing some good stories there and adventures. They just had one of those laid-back honeymoons, kayaking, zip-lining, whitewater rafting-one of those quiet ones. So anyway, Im glad youre here. I am wearing a shirt that is supporting our missions team. Well be telling you why were wearing these at the closing of the service today. So lets go ahead and dig into the Word, shall we? In the Book of Luke, I believe, is where were parked for a while. Youre getting version #3. I preached this last night. I didnt like it, so I parked in a restaurant after the service for about an hour. That was my mistake last night because I let the snow get worse, and that got me stuck. I revised it, and then I got home and I still didnt like it. So, at one in the morning, I finally said, Okay, Im happy with this now. So I did the third revision, so youre getting version #3 there, which were going to stick with. So, last time we left John the Baptist, he was a baby. He was the fulfillment of the prophesy of Isaiah, of the prophesy of Malachi, that one would be born to prepare the way for Messiah. Zachariah and his wife, Elizabeth, welcomed their son, John, into the world. Thirty years have now passed, nearly 30 years, and John the Baptist goes into the desert to hear from God. He goes where he can be alone. He goes away from the hustle and bustle of the city, but now the time of ministry has come, so he leaves the desert and goes back towards the city. He stays on the outskirts in the countryside. The people meet him half way-they come to Him. He has an in-your-face style. John is brazen. He is probably the first hellfire and brimstone preacher. He is a turn and burn kind of guy. Yet, the audience, the crowd, theyre listening to John. Theyre compelled. After all, hes wearing camels hair for clothes. He has a leather belt. He lives on locus and wild honey. I would bet you his hair is not exactly G-Q. Its probably…Hes been in the desert, windblown, sun…Hes quite a sight. Yet, hes not a raving lunatic. The words that come out of his mouth are true, and theyre from God. This man is anointed of the spirit. So people come to him, and they want to find out what do I have to do? Whats required of me? The first thing that John will do is tell them they are accountable to God. Hell talk about accountability. In Verse 3 [of Luke Chapter 3, page 1016 of pew Bibles], it says, He went into all the country around Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. If you didnt have your sins forgiven, you must repent. Its not enough to simply go through the rituals, the hand washing, ceremonies, observing the festivals and the Sabbath, put your phylactery on and recite your prayers-your schema-and do all these things a good Israelite does. You have to repent. You have to get your life right before God. Repent means to change your mind, to do an about face- to rethink your attitude, rethink your position and make a change: thats repentance. He says, Youre accountable to God. Stop the excuses. Stop passing the buck. The buck stops with you. Thats Johns message. Johns message is still as appropriate, still as applicable, to us today as it was when he first spoke these words. All of us try to justify our sins, justify our wrongdoings. We come up with reasons why we do or say what weve done or said. We learn from the Book of Genesis that God holds us responsible, doesnt He? Lets take a look right now at a clip which is reminiscent of Genesis. You might even see yourself in it a time or two (log on to www.sermonspice.com and type in the title the bite in the search box you can view what was played). I think we get the drift, dont we? Weve offered up some of those excuses. They offered up the same ones. John the Baptist said, God doesnt buy it, and I dont either. Were accountable to God. He gave them a reality check. Lets look at the next verses, 7-9, John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, You brood of vipers! Thats a good way to start your message, John. Thatll really hook them in right there, get them on your side. …Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father. For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. For ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Thats a pretty graphic word picture there. John is pretty straight forward. He pulls no punches. His reality check, Have you been trusting in your own goodness, your own righteousness, your spiritual heritage? Oh, because we are descendents of Abraham, thats good enough. Because we were lucky to be born as descendents of Abraham, as Israelites, then were righteous. We have favor before God. John the Baptist says, Reality check. That doesnt mean anything. It doesnt mean a thing. Do you know of people who trust in that sort of thing? Are you somebody who trusted in that, a member of the right church, growing up in the right denomination, the right spiritual family? Maybe you had gone through the right ceremony as an infant or a young adult, so youre all set in matters of eternity? You can recite the right creeds and say the right thing. Because I can say the right thing, therefore I must be okay. John says, Those things dont mean anything. Those things mean nothing. If you think because youre a child of Abraham, youre right before God, God can raise up from these stones, children of Abraham. What a blow to their system, to find out that the spiritual reality they had thought was true was an illusion. My wife used to give me points for certain things Id do around the house. I would negotiate on those points. I would ask her, How many points is that worth? Doing the dishes, thats 5,000 points. Id be excited about it, so Id do the dishes thinking, Im getting 5,000 points. I was supposed to take out the garbage or cut the grass, but instead Id make a meal-which doesnt happen very often. That has to be worth some points. Id negotiate, This was harder than that. I got 5,000 points for that! This should at least be worth 10,000! Sometimes, shed say, Okay, 10,000 points! Id say, Oh yeah! Im amassing this volume of points. Im talking six figures worth of points. So there was coming a day when I decided I was going to cash in my chips. I went to her, all excited, and I said, I have like 100,000 points. What can I get? I was like a little kid redeeming his coupons at Happy Joes or Chucky Cheese, How many presents will these tickets buy? What can I get? She looks at me and says, Nothing. My points are worthless? Yeah. I guess so. But I did jobs and I got points. What do I get? Thanks. Thanks for carrying out your share of the load as a member of this family. What a rip off! Ive been trusting in these points! Ive been working for these points. These points are meaningless! I was devastated. Never again will I fall for the point system. If I just know the right stuff…If I just go through the right ritual, the right ceremony, certainly thats going to score points with God. If I just dress the right way, if I just say the right things…If I just make sure I give the right amount of money, do the right good deeds… We were joking around this week about a very sad chapter in the history of the church. Some of you might have heard during the reformation…Now this is not a knock on, this is just a history reality. The Catholic Church-Catholics-would be ashamed of this, just like Protestants have done things we are ashamed of, the Catholic Church-before the reformation-sold letters of indulgences. They needed money to build St. Peters Basilica. The dome was not there, so rain and the elements and wind and birds could fly in the Basilica. It was a disgrace, so Leo-the Pope-came up with an idea that some people just barely make it into heaven, but other people get into Heaven with righteousness to spare. You can tap into that righteousness, and for the right amount of money, well give you an indulgence that will pardon you of your sin. It will even free your loved ones from purgatory. Theres a man by the name of Johann Tetzel, who was the marketing guru. He traveled around Germany selling these things. He had a catchy little phrase that says, When into the coffer a coin rings a soul from purgatory springs, and they made all kinds of money. The more you gave, the more sins were atoned for; you could even free loved ones from purgatory; you could even pay for freedom from future sins with enough money. What do you think their surprise and shock is when they get to Heaven and find out the letter is no good there? Their money is no good there. And Luther says, You dont get to Heaven by buying indulgences. We get to Heaven by grace through faith. Thats what Christ has done. You cant purchase your way to Heaven. We shake our heads at them, and we say, I cant believe people really believe that. Yet, people believe that now. Some people will listen hook, line and sinker to evangelists who tell them on television, If you just send me $1,000, youll be in right standing with God. He is going to bless your life. So they write the check. But it doesnt matter, just like if I say, If you give a million dollars to the building fund, youre going to go to Heaven. Wait a second, now well have to think about that. I want to get the elders together and talk that through. Nope, not even then. Its by the grace of God. Its not what you do; its not your goodness and morality. There are people who are thinking they have a whole mess of points, only to find out thats not the system that God uses. Thats not where righteousness comes from. Salvation is a gift that was purchased at a very expensive price through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. So John gives him a reality check. Thirdly, he talks about consistency. We are in Luke, Chapter 3. In Verses 2-3, he talks about accountability. In Verses 7-9, he talks about reality, and in Verses 10-14, he is going to talk about consistency. The way you live your life matters. What should we do then? the crowd asked. John answered, The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same. Tax collectors also came to be baptized. Teacher, they asked, what should we do? Dont collect any more than you are required to, he told them. Then some soldiers asked him, And what should we do? He replied, Dont extort money and dont accuse people falsely-be content with your pay. So he is telling them the way you live your life matters. If youre here today, and you think youre right with God, but if your life is not displaying the fruits of repentance, true repentance has not happened. If there is true repentance, there will be a change. If there is true repentance, it will affect how you treat your fellow man, how you live your life. What you do matters. What you do is a reflection of whom you belong to, of the condition of your heart. Thats what the Lord is concerned with. Some of you know Im an old comic book geek. When the movie Batman Begins came out, I was really excited. I went to go watch the movie, and there was a line in the movie that was probably one of my favorite lines in a movie of all times. Let me set the stage for you. Multi-millionaire Bruce Wayne is coming back to Wayne Manor, but hes not Batman yet. He doesnt know who he is. He has millions of dollars, but he has no job. So he decides to spend the money on wine, women and song. He is living the life of a playboy, and he is in some fancy restaurant having dinner with some attractive women. One of them jumps into the restaurant fountain, and soon he follows suit. They are frolicking in the fountain in their clothes. Hes all wet; he comes out, and he runs into a childhood sweetheart, a childhood friend. Hes embarrassed about his appearance and his behavior. Then he gives her a nice excuse as to why he is the way he is. Lets watch and see. This is from Batman Begins. (Summary: Bruce is seen frolicking with two young socialites. He sees an old flame and says, rather embarrassed, All this, this is not me. The old flame replies, Bruce, its not what you are on the inside that counts. Its what you are on the outside that truly matters.) Its not who you are underneath. Its what you do that defines you. John says, You have to have your walk match your talk. If your walk doesnt match your talk, your talk doesnt matter. Youre not fooling God; youre not fooling me, John says. You need to have consistency between the two. If youre going to really be serious about God and really repent…But youll notice the one thing that John cant say. He cant say, And the Holy Spirit will help you do this. Why? Because the Holy Spirit did not yet come. The Holy Spirit was promised by John. He foretold of the Holy Spirit. In the Book of Acts 2, Peter gives a similar message. Its a call to repentance. People ask, What must we do? He says, Repent, but then Peter adds something that John cant. He says, We baptize in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. What we have that those people did not have is we have the Holy Spirit of the living God who lives and dwells the believer, and He powers us and equips us to live a kind of life that pleases God. He equips us to say no to sin. He equips us to live lives free. Its not that were not sinners; were still sinners, but were no longer bound by the power of sin. We sin, but we sin because we choose to. Were not a slave of sin any longer. Were certainly free from the penalty of sin because Christ took that penalty for us. So he says, Youre accountable to God. He talks about accountability. He talks about spiritual reality; the point system you are trusting in is invalid. God doesnt grade on a curve. God doesnt hand out arbitrary points for your good deeds. He is looking for authenticity, sincerity of heart. Thats what hes going to talk about in these last verses. In Verse 15, The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ. John answered them all, I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. And with many other words John exhorted the people and preached the good news to them. As abrasive as John was, as in your face as John was, his motivation was right, and his desire was to see people come to Christ. He talks about it with a word picture here of a winnowing fork. What was that? A winnowing fork was when you would take your harvest of grain, while it was on your threshing floor, and youd take the fork (we do it with combines now) and lift that wheat into the air. The heavy stuff, the grain, would come down on the floor, and the chaff would blow away. Usually, youd just sweep it up and youd burn it. So youd separate the wheat from the chaff. John says, When He comes, Hes going to separate true believers from those who are just putting on a good act. How will He do that? Lets turn to Matthew 5 together. Jesus is teaching in what is called the Sermon on the Mount. He is going to raise the bar to an unbelievable height. Who are the most righteous people of the day? The Pharisees? The teachers of the law. They were regarded as the holy men. They were the elite of society. The common people deemed them as being right with God. There was no way they could obtain to their level. Jesus, with that as a backdrop, says something unimaginable to them. Verse 20 [page 959], For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of Heaven. Surpasses! Not just equal to, or not close to their righteousness: you have to pass their righteousness. That must have been such a defeating thing to have heard if you were listening that day because you would have said, I dont compare to the Pharisees let alone surpass them in their righteousness. Those guys are as righteous as it gets. It would be like saying to you, Unless your golf game is better than Tiger Woods, you will not be considered a golfer. I guess theres no hope for me. But the stakes here are a lot more serious than a game of golf. He says, You will not enter the kingdom of Heaven. Whoa! This is bad news. How in the world can my righteousness succeed? Their righteousness was a false righteousness. Their righteousness was a righteousness concerned with externals. It was concerned with appearance. It was concerned with the temporal. Christ spoke of a righteousness which came from God. The righteousness that you have that surpasses the righteousness of the Pharisees is none other than the righteousness of Christ. Its received as a gift. Its offered to you freely through Gods grace and mercy. Its a righteousness thats more concerned about the inside than the outside, about condition of the heart. Its more about the life we live than just the words we profess. He talks about how its enough to say dont murder. Jesus says, You shouldnt even hate. You think youre doing great when you dont commit adultery. Jesus says, Dont lust. Do not oppose the sacredness of marriage. He talks about forgiving those who strike you. He talks about loving your enemies. He talks about taking righteousness to a new level. Thats what it means to exceed. What it meant to exceed was the righteousness of the Pharisees was all about them. It was about self-advancement, self-promotion, self-preservation; it was about me. What would this do for me? How will this improve my standing? How will this improve my clout? Jesus said the righteousness from God is not about advancing your kingdom and your agenda. Its about advancing the kingdom of the Lord Jesus. Its about His cause in the world. Authenticity. How did John do in that regard? Lets turn to John 3. This is some more teaching by John the Baptist. John the Baptist, his ministry is about to end. Its about to subside because the Messiah has come. So John baptizes Jesus, and now Jesus launches His earthly ministry. Whats happening is a lot of the people who are following John are now starting to follow Jesus. A lot of the crowd that was following John is now going after this new young upstart, Jesus of Nazareth. He not only gives a good sermon; He performs miracles too. He starts to steal John the Baptists press. How is John going to handle that? In Verse 26 [page 1052], They came to John and said to him, Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan-the one you testified about… Were talking about Jesus now. …well, He is baptizing, and everyone is going to him. Hes stealing your thunder! Hes stealing your sheep! What are we going to do? John the Baptist says, That dirty rascal! That dirty dog! I gave Him His start! Without me, Hed be nothing! Now Hes taking away my sheep! All right, boys! New marketing campaign! New strategy here! Gather around! Were going to take back whats ours! Hes not going to steal our good givers! Does John get territorial on Him? John simply says, You know what, guys? It was never about me. He gives them a little speech about the bridegroom and the bride. He says, You know what? Verse 30, He must become greater; I must become less. He said, This has to happen. He has to increase, and I have to decrease. This should be what every believer believes in his or her heart and practices in his or her life. There is no such thing as a superstar in the Kingdom of God. I cant tell you a single Christian singer, author, pastor, you name it, that I would meet-well, maybe Billy Graham, I take that back; other than him, theres probably not a one that I would meet and go, Ahhh. Its you. Theres no such thing as a superstar in the Kingdom of God. A Christian celebrity-thats an oxymoron. It makes you want to gag. Its about Jesus. Its not about us. The greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven are not going to be the pastors with 15,000 people in the congregation and diamond rings on their fingers. Its going to be the shut-in who never stopped praying, the person who gave everything they could to fund missions and never told anybody. It will be the people who left everything they had to follow Christ. The Bible knows nothing about celebrities. Building our name, building a name for ourselves, is nothing but vain and glory. It just passes. Its nothing. Vanity. Forty years from now, my prayer is that Faith Community Church is still here, and the Gospel is being preached, people are hearing the name of Christ. Will it matter whether they knew that Jeff Williams was the founding minister? Nope. All Star Ministries is going, and there are 150-200 kids coming. Mike [Powers], if they never heard your name, does it matter? It doesnt matter. All that matters is that you know Christ. You see, if thats my attitude when I started ministry or served in a ministry and I didnt receive accolades or praise, nobody strokes me, I dont get offended. I dont quit because nobody appreciates me. They dont appreciate what I do. Nobody patted me on the back. If youre doing it for the reward, and not for Him, it doesnt matter. If not one person this weekend says, That was a good sermon, Pastor Jeff, am I going to get offended and say, Nobody cares. Do you know how much time I put into that? Three drafts and nobody liked it? I quit. Im going to sell shoes. No. Its not about us. John said, It is not about me. Ive done my part. John now is going to fade into the annuls of history. Soon he will be arrested for exposing immorality. Thats going to backfire on him. Hell fade into a memory in church history. As far as John was concerned, it didnt matter because the One he was there to serve, the One he was there to prepare the way for, had come. His job was done. Someday well all be gone. But if we have lived our lives for the advancement of the Gospel and made Jesus known to the world, we truly have not lived in vain. Lets pray: Father, thank You for the message of John. Thank you for the importance of authenticity, being real. You look at the heart and not the appearance. Thank you for the importance of consistency that our walk matches our talk. Thank you for the reality check, the point systems that we trust in that are erroneous. What matters is the grace of God, the love of God. Thats reality: the accountability that we are to repent, that there is a God we answer to, no excuses. Johns message is just as pertinent today as it was then. We thank you for teaching us through Your Word this morning, through Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus name, I pray, Amen.