Fruit Worthy of Repentance

Reading: Matt. 3:7-10

"But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, 'Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance... and even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.'" Matt 3:7-10

These men were the religious leaders of the day, the most knowledgeable about the scriptures among the people. Why did John use such strong words against them? What was their sin? What did Jesus have to say about them?

"... a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! 

How can you, being evil, speak good things? 

For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart 
brings forth good things, 

and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things."
Matt. 12:33-37 NKJ

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! 
For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, 
and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: 
justice and mercy and faith."
Matt. 23:23 NKJ

Being students of the scriptures, they would have known the following two OT verses:

"He has shown you, O man, 

what is good and what does the Lord require of you... 

but to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God?"
Micah 6:8

"For I desire mercy and not sacrifice,
and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings."
Hosea 6:6

They looked impressive in their fine clothes, but the question is what was in their hearts? Jesus had a way of cutting through the external and going directly to the central issue of what was in their hearts. Did they even know God, His Nature and heart as a Father? (Ex 34:6) Some how they arrogantly sought to produce the appearance of righteousness by following every little part of the law and in so doing forgot the most important part... to humbly love God and love people. Jesus calls us to a simple life of faith, not following an infinite number of laws. One of them asked Him,

"'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?' 

Jesus said to him, 

'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 

with all your soul, and with all your mind. 

This is the first and the great commandment. 

And the second is like it: 
You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 

On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.'" 

Matt. 22:34-40 NKJ

What would fruit worthy of repentance look like?

Paul said to the Ephesian Church:

"Therefore I,, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, 

for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. 

Be patient with each other, making allowances for each other's faults because of your love. 

Make every effort to keep yourselves united together in the Spirit, 

binding yourselves together with peace." 

Ephesians 4:1-3 NLT

Also see "A Beautiful, Honest Heart:"  "Fruit of a Beautiful, Honest Heart" How do we bear worthy fruit? See John 15:1-8

What fruit is the church in our country bearing? Are we salt and light? Why has our nation devolved into such spiritual darkness? What is our place in reaching our nation? (2 Chron 7:14, Dan 9) And how do we find the balance of love and mercy, yet at the same time speak of the repentance that is the first entry point into the kingdom of heaven and is the transformation out of bondage of sin that creates so much human misery?

The Message: The Kingdom of Heaven

Reading: Matt. 3:2

John the Baptist preached:

"Repent, 

for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"
Matt. 3:2, NKJ

In the last post we looked at what it means to repent. Here we will look at the Kingdom of Heaven. What is this Kingdom of Heaven that John and and Jesus speaks of? Where is it and why can't I see it? Here is a quote from one of the helps in my favorite Bible:

Defining the Hope "The NT records 137 references to "the kingdom" and over 100 of these are during Jesus' ministry. His entire approach as Messiah, the Savior-King centers on this theme. What does "the kingdom" refer to?... God's sovereign rule in the universe. He is King of the heavens. But more specifically, here it refers to the entry of God's long anticipated Messiah, the promised Son of David who would not only be the Savior, Deliverer, and King of Israel, but KING of all mankind!!!

In declaring the kingdom is "at hand", that is "drawing near", John was announcing that the rule of God's King was about to overthrow the power and rule of all evil, both human and hellish. The kingdom was near because the King was here. And His presence, introducing the power of the Kingdom of God, meant a new world of potential hope to mankind. Man would no more need to be held hostage to either the rule of death over mankind, resultant from human sin... Further, the kingdom of darkness would be confronted and the death, deprivation, disease, and destruction levied by satanic power would begin to be overthrown. As God's King, Jesus offers the blessing of God's rule, now available to every human experience, as well as deliverance from the dominance of either flesh or the devil." Kingdom Dynamics 1293 New Spirit Filled Bible, Jack W Hayford. For more information on the New Spirit Filled Life Bible.  produced by Thomas Nelson Bibles. Click on the link or more info.

The New Living Translation says our key verse this way:

"Repent of your sins and turn to God, 

for the Kingdom of Heaven is near." 

Matthew 3: 2 NLT

The Kingdom was near, because the King was here and walking among His own people. For millenniums past the Jewish people longed for the coming of Messiah to deliver them from oppression. Their King came and they did not recognize Him. The apostle John says it this way:

“He came unto His own, and His own did not receive Him. 

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, 

to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, 

nor of the will of man, but of God.”

 John 1: 11-13 NKJ

Received: (not) #3880 Paralambano to receive from another from beside, near, take unto, associate with oneself.

Received: #2983 Lambano to take, to receive, act, to get a hold of, catch, hold, obtain, be amazed.
Jesus came to His own Jewish people, yet most of them did not receive Him. Though He walked among them, near them; they did not come beside Him, take His teachings and His Spirit into their hearts and lives. Many would not even associate with Him. But for those who grasped, caught hold of what He was saying and took it into their hearts were amazed and became the children of God.

In the two millenniums since the King was near and walked the earth, it was rare for His own Jewish people to receive Him. But that is changing. Jewish people from all over the world are beginning to come to Jesus, their Messiah... Machiach in Hebrew. I will write more about this hopefully in the near future and do a review of a new book that I am reading.

When Jesus walked the earth He had much to say about The Kingdom of Heaven. It is the theme for most of His parables. He typically starts them with "The kingdom of heaven is like..." He uses the parables to give us an earthly example we can identify with in order to teach us a spiritual kingdom reality. The kingdom is the message, the good news, for mankind. We were once to have dominion over our world, but we lost that to the devil, when we fell into temptation and sinned. He has wreaked havoc on mankind ever since. Through Christ, that stronghold can be broken even now to a smaller degree and later when Christ returns evil will be completely destroyed! For now, we enter the kingdom through repentance and conversion with a childlike, humble faith... the kind of faith that trusts completely in the King of the kingdom and make Him the ruler, the Lord of our life.

"Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted
and become as little children
you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."
Matt. 18:3 NKJ