I don't know about you guys, but I'm a little sore today. Got a bad hip, bad ankle, kind of feel like an Army football player. No kidding, man. I was texting with my son yesterday and he was on a ship in the South China Sea on kind of hazardous duty and he managed to get up and watch the game on his phone at 5 AM. What I will say is anybody that serves our country, I'm all in. You want to go to West Point? Want to go to Coast Guard? Want to go to Navy? Whatever. God bless you.

Friends, today we're in Luke chapter three, and the title is God doesn't have any grandchildren. He only has children. He doesn't have any grandchildren.

If you'd open your Bible or if you would open your Bible app to Luke three. It starts out basically with John the Baptist preaching in the desert. He was preaching a baptism calling people to repentance, to turn away from their sin, to have a change—literally have a change of mind—turn away from their sin and turn to the Lord.

And he says, quoting Isaiah the prophet:

A voice of one calling in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked roads shall become straight. The rough way smooth and all mankind will see God's salvation. — Isaiah (quoted in Luke 3)

I don't know if you know this or not, but in the old days, when kings would go to visit a place, they would let it be known that they were coming and a herald would come. All the people in these rural town places, just like in Rwanda, they would get their little picks and hoes and shovels or whatever they had, and they would fill in the road. So when the king would come, it was all smooth.

John was appointed by God. He was anointed by God to be that voice to call Israel, to call God's people, to turn from their sin and be ready for Messiah.

The Calling to True Repentance

So there we pick it up. Verse seven. It says, John—basically, crowds were coming out to be baptized. John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized, "Hey, thanks for coming." How does he start a sermon? You want to make a short career in the ministry? Start it out like this. He says:

You brood of vipers. — Luke 3:7

In other words, bunch of snakes. "Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" Not exactly an opening we would use as we start a sermon, but there was something that God gave John the Baptist. God was very angry with certain people because they were play acting. They were pretending to be very religious. "Look at me. Look how religious I am. Aren't I a great person?" So when they came out to be baptized for the repentance of sin, what God knew—which maybe the people didn't—is they didn't have any desire to humble themselves. None at all. They were only going out to do this baptism so people could go, "Look how spiritual they are. Look how religious and faithful they are." When in fact, reality did not match the external act.

It was as if there was a Hollywood set. You've seen them. But behind it is nothing. I remember going in seminary to the old PTL headquarters. It was a beautiful campus. It was all that brick where it's like one long, one short, one long, one short, and had slate roofs. It's gorgeous. Except when you went inside the buildings. When you went inside these beautiful, historic Williamsburg-looking buildings, they were stunning. You go inside and they're completely empty and they had vinyl or linoleum floors. Recording studios. But the outside looked so good.

John says to the crowd who are coming out to be baptized:

You brood of vipers who warned you to flee from the coming wrath. — Luke 3:7

See, we actually think that Jesus is our buddy. He's kind of a doting Santa Claus, and all he's going to do is put his arms around everyone. Well, he would love to put his arms around everyone. However, he is a holy God, and he calls us to turn away from things that not only destroy us, but destroy and hurt other people. Turn away from our sin, turn to him. He wants us to be his kids, not just have an outward form of religion.

I understand about having an outward form of religion. I was an acolyte in the church, one of those guys that wears the little robe and carries the cross. I did that for years, and I appreciated it. I loved the feeling and emotions of it, but I didn't know Christ.

So these people coming out to be baptized actually were play actors. They're very religious Jews. In fact, a good deal of them were the ones who actually put Jesus to death. God, through John the Baptist, is speaking a word to them to turn and truly repent.

So it says:

You brood of vipers who warned you to flee the coming wrath. — Luke 3:7

Then in verse eight, he's speaking to these Jews who had this great outer appearance. He says:

Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not say to yourselves, "We have Abraham as our father." For I tell you, out of these stones, God can raise up children for Abraham. — Luke 3:8

The first thing he was saying is, look, if you truly have turned away from your sin, and it's a gift to even be able to do that. If you've turned away from your sin and turned towards God—well, if you take a snapshot at any moment of your life, it may look pretty rough. But if you take the whole video, over time, there should be some change in your life if God, the Holy Spirit lives inside of you. If you actually have turned from your sin to the Father, there should be some change.

Annette and I planted dogwood trees, one in the backyard, one in the front yard. We moved in our house on December 23, 1989—that's always a great idea. We planted one little dogwood in the front and one in the back. After we've been in the house thirty some years, I think it was last year I went out and I look at the tree in the back, the one that I shoot my deer through. It's so thick, it's so big, it's so beautiful. Bless that dogwood. But in the front, it looks like the Charlie Brown Christmas tree. Annette has done everything. She's put Miracle Gro on it. She kind of dug around it and put better soil. We prayed over it. We kind of laughed about Jesus cursing the tree that didn't bear fruit. But bottom line, after years of trying to help this tree, it just would not grow. It wouldn't produce fruit. It was about this big and bare and spindly like the Charlie Brown Christmas tree. The other one was thriving, so I cut it down.

What he's saying here is to these very religious people: look, if you really love the Lord, the one that you say you love and serve, then produce fruit in keeping with repentance. I would say it's not really a work. It's actually an outflow of a reality. If you're in Christ and if you have the Holy Spirit, if you have a heart for God—which is actually given by God—there eventually will be some fruit. And if there is no fruit, it begs a question.

And so here we get to this awesome part. He says, don't say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father. The Jews knew that God made a promise to Abraham. He said, "I've got a covenant with you, and it's going to last. I'm going to be faithful, and I'm going to be your God." So people just kept remembering, we have Abraham as our father. We have Abraham as our father. Never mind that we don't know God. Never mind that we don't love God, but we've got a good pedigree.

I remember when I came to Roanoke, there was a lady from South Roanoke. We were at a cocktail party somewhere, and I was just 29 years old. I looked like I was 15, and I was just having a nice conversation with this lady, and then she found out I wasn't from here. So she kept digging on me. "Oh, you found that Holy Roller church, church of the Holy Spirit." Then she proceeded to tell me about her father and her grandfather and how they came over on the Mayflower. It was like, great. Half of them didn't have any teeth. They smelled. They hadn't had a bath in three months, and someone got out of prison. Whatever. She kept trying to create this scenario for me like, we're great because we've been here forever. We're great because we have a great pedigree. I should have been more sensitive, but her food was falling out her mouth. She was a little intoxicated, and I just had it. I said, "Ma'am, can I just be honest with you? I'm from Richmond and we didn't even know Roanoke existed." Bad pastor.

But the point is, these Jews that were coming out and putting on a show seemingly—hey, look at us, we're turning from our sin—they weren't. But they were banking. They were depending on their right standing with God based on who was their great, great, great, great, great grandfather. In other words, we have Abraham. We have a pedigree. And what God is going to say here is, I don't really care who your great, great, great, great, great grandfather is.

We often have people come in for marriage counseling. We want to find out if we're joining two people who are equally yoked. But we also want to make sure that they're equally yoked in Jesus, that they build their house on the rock, not on good wishes, emotions, and feelings. Oftentimes, we'll just ask the question: "Tell me about your relationship with Christ if you have one." Then usually they jump in and say, "Well, my uncle was a Methodist minister." I didn't really ask you about your uncle. I just want to know, do you have a relationship with Christ? They'll tell me some other religious stuff or how their grandfather and grandmother built a church out there somewhere, and I'm like, "No, no, no, no. That's not what we're asking. What we're asking is, do you know the Lord?"

Because the Lord actually loves you enough that he wants you as a child. He didn't want you to be three, four, five generations removed from a relationship with him. He wants you personally to know him. And so appreciate that your uncle was a Methodist minister, or in this case, appreciate that you had father Abraham. But I tell you this, out of these stones before you, God can raise up children for Abraham. Right? If that's the only requirement to be in the kingdom of God, God can do this and make stones children of Abraham.

One commentator said this: they were claiming we're in the lineage of Abraham, Abraham, Abraham, Abraham. He goes, but what they didn't realize is you gotta have the faith of Abraham. It's not just that we have a line that we can draw a pedigree, but Abraham was justified by faith. So if you're going to claim Abraham, that you're his kids, his real kids are actually people that have faith. The Bible says that not all of Israel is Israel, only those who are circumcised of heart. So Jesus is basically calling them out.

The axe is already laid at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. — Luke 3:9

See, God is a holy God. Yes, he is loving. He's kind. He's a friend that's closer than a brother. He weeps. He cares. He comes alongside, but he's also a holy God. Friends, the church has lost his teaching. The very fact that God is holy is why he's loving. His holiness is a sign of his love.

It says the axe is laid at the root. Every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into fire. Then there's kind of a punch in the nose, if you will, to these play actors, these religious people.

Well, what then shall we do? The crowd said. — Luke 3:10

It's kind of like, What must I do to be saved? They basically said, John, what must we do?

The man with two tunics shall share with him who has none. The one who has food should do the same. — Luke 3:11

So we're going to see three pictures here. We're going to see the crowd. We're going to see tax collectors and soldiers.

When the crowd came forward, what did Jesus say? Hey, look, if you got clothes, plenty of them, share them because there are a lot of people who don't. I remember a couple of years ago, it was literally 10 degrees, maybe colder. I went to a recruiting station with a kid that was born in Sudan, and I was freezing. I had this really nice down jacket, really expensive down jacket, and this kid shows up, and he has a Walmart cotton hoodie that probably was good down to about 60 degrees. I'm like, Oh my gosh. It was my favorite down coat. It was without hesitation. I'm like, I've got another jacket. It's not as nice as this one. I got another one at home. This kid is going to freeze to death. Well, wouldn't it just make sense to give him this jacket? It's not because I'm pious or great or whatever. It's just the love of God. That's what you would do. So my boy, my Sudanese boy, my friend, he was sporting a nice jacket because that's what generous people do. That's what kingdom people do. That's what people who love God do. We share, and we don't do it to be seen by men, but we do it because we can't help it. The love of God, the love of Christ, is in us.

The Tax Collectors

The tax collectors also came to be baptized, they said, Teacher, what should we do? — Luke 3:12

What do you reckon they said to John?

Don't collect any more than you're required to. — Luke 3:13

In other words, tax collectors, how did they make their money? A tax collector usually was a Jew who was hired by Rome to take taxes from Jewish people. So they're like, okay, here's the amount. Maybe you sit at the gate. Right? When people are coming and going on this road, here is the tax, whatever it is. They said, hey, anything over and above that that you can get is yours. So they would add maybe double, maybe triple the tax so that they could enrich themselves while ripping off their fellow Jews. So when they say, teacher, what do we have to do to bear fruit worthy of repentance? He says, Stop ripping people off.

God actually cares about how we act. Is doctrine important? Yes. Bad doctrine leads to bad practice. Bad doctrine leads to hurting people. But what he's saying is, he's not going anti-doctrine, but what he's saying is, I also care how you live. I care how you treat people. I really do. I want you to be that light on the hill. You guys, you're cheating your brothers and sisters, so stop cheating them. Stop.

The Soldiers

Now comes the third group.

Then some soldiers came up to John the Baptist, and they said, What should we do? — Luke 3:14

Personally, after seeing the first two groups, I probably wouldn't have asked the question, but they did.

The Test of Generosity

John the Baptist replies, because he's not messing around. Here's a guy who eats locusts and wears camel's hair. He's not playing around. He says, cutting right to the chase, stop extorting money. Don't accuse people falsely, and be content with your pay. So many of these things revolve around wealth and possessions. The first group is the crowd. He says, if you have extra clothes, share them, or extra tunic, share them. The second group is the tax collectors. Stop ripping people off. The soldiers, he's basically saying, stop using your position of power to extort money and rip people off. Be content with your pay.

Maybe the obvious question from all three groups is, what would be the sign that we're believers based on how we steward God's stuff? Hey, don't worry. This is not the annual tithing sermon, but generosity is all through the scriptures. What he's saying here is the way you handle God's resources is a sign. It's a litmus test. Just like if you have a hot tub or a pool and you put that strip down in there and it tells you the pH, it don't lie. What he's saying is, the way you handle God's resources and the generosity of your heart is a clear sign of who you really are and whether you have a relationship with God or just outward spirituality.

Waiting for Christ

And the people were waiting expectantly, and they were all wondering in their hearts if John the Baptist might be the Christ. — Luke 3:15

Do you ever have that sense of waiting? If you look out at the world, do you ever think, this is not how it should be? Like, Lord Jesus, save us. We're perishing. Lord, when are you going to come? There are a lot of horrible things that go on in this world. On the outside, it looks so pretty. And there are good things in our world. Can we celebrate that and say yes to that? But there's such a brokenness underneath. Such a brokenness.

And there's a sense in us where we're waiting and we're longing for God to come, for everything that is crooked to be made straight, everything that is lifted up to be leveled, and everything that's a rut to be filled in. We want God to come and make all things right. And we're waiting because we know that the kingdom of God is not like this.

The Coming Judgment

John answered them. He said, "I baptize you with water, but one more powerful than I will come later, I am not worthy to untie the thong of whose sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." — Luke 3:16

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 good news to them. — Luke 3:17

Does that seem like good news to you? What if your identity is in Christ? If you've received the gift of faith that he's given you, it is good news. It just doesn't sound like good news. But do you see the picture?

Imagine you're in Israel on the threshing floor. You've got wheat and some kind of farm implement, and you're throwing the wheat up in the air, and the breeze or the wind that seemed to always be around—when you throw the wheat up, the wind would blow the chaff, the little particulate and the non-wheat part. It blows it away and the wheat would fall to the ground. The chaff is over here, stuff you can't eat, can't use, but the wheat actually got put in the barn.

And so this is a foreshadowing of the holiness of God. There will be a time where the Lord who loves the world, who wishes that none would perish, in his holiness, he's not going to force anybody to love him. There will be a day where our holy God will come with his winnowing fork, and there will be a separation of wheat and chaff. Those who've actually received the gift of grace and put on the Lord Jesus as witness and evidenced by fruit, and others who are just play actors or could in fact be God haters.

Friends, in this time of waiting, I pray that you will not settle for an outward form of godliness. You would not settle that your uncle was a Methodist minister or your great-great grandfather and grandmother built a church out in Saint Swithens in the swamp, but you would recognize God's call to you is to be his child and to represent him in this world.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.