Church Sermon - December 14, 2003

Rev. Mark F. Bartels

Epistle Lesson; Philippians 4:4-9
Old Testament Lesson; Zephaniah 3:14-18
Sermon Text, Luke 3:7-18

This morning I would like to describe to you three characteristics of what a Christian is like.

Number one, we have a Christian who understands that he is a sinner and is sorry for his sin.

This is why the Bible says,

"The soul that sins,

it shall die."

This why the Bible says,

"Cursed is

everyone

who does not continue in

everything

written in the book of the law to do it."

A Christian understands the seriousness of sin and is troubled by sin. A Christian understands, "God can rightly condemn me. I wish that I did not have those sins. I am sorry for those sins. I wish that they were gone. I wish that they were out of my life."

This then gets us to the second part of a Christian’s life.

A Christian is sorry for his sin. And then, a Christian runs to the only place that he can go, for comfort from sin. The Bible tells us that God’s heart toward us has changed.

"The blood of Jesus Christ,

His Son,

cleanses us from all sin."

The Bible gives us a promise that the blood of Jesus covers over every sin that we have ever committed. A Christian believes that, trusts that, and clings to that. A Christian understands that it was at a huge price that his forgiveness was purchased. As Peter says, It was not with gold or silver, but with the holy, precious blood of Jesus Christ.

And by that great price that Jesus paid, my sins are all gone. They are all covered. The Bible is true, when it says that God won’t count a single sin against me, out of grace for Jesus’ sake. A Christian clings to that, finds his comfort there, and knows that his salvation depends totally on the grace of God, in Jesus Christ. So a sinner is sorry for his sins. And, a Christian trusts in Jesus’ forgiveness of those sins.

Then comes the third part of a Christian’s life.

Knowing that I am a sinner, that I deserve to be condemned, and that God forgives me for Jesus’ sake, and Heaven is mine because of what Jesus did for me, changes my heart. Knowing that, a Christian has a changed heart. It causes my heart to say, "I love my Savior so much, that now I want to forsake sin. I want to live for my Savior! I want to do what is right. I want to have a clean heart. I want to have a pure life."

That is the life of a Christian. A Christian is

Here are some examples, in scripture, of people who fit that pattern. King David, who committed adultery and murder. He came to repentance over his sin. He was sorry for his sin. He confessed,

"I have sinned against God."

And, he was deeply troubled. But he trusted in the words of forgiveness that Nathan, the prophet, told him. Nathan said,

"The Lord has removed your sin."

David found his comfort there.

Then, David was the one who said,

"Create in my a clean heart, oh God."

Knowing that his sins were forgiven, he wanted to live for his Savior and have a clean heart.

Peter is another wonderful example. Peter committed the sin of denying his Savior. He became very repentant for that sin. The Bible tells us that he went out and wept bitterly. He was sorry and wished that he had never done that. He understood that he could be condemned, because of that sin. But Peter trusted in Jesus’ forgiveness. It is Peter, who said,

"We are not saved by silver or gold,

but by the blood of Jesus Christ."

He knew that Jesus’ blood covered every single sin. Peter was so joyful, that he went forward with a desire to live a clean life. Rather than deny his Savior, he was willing to even give up his own life, for his Savior.

That is the life of a Christian. Those three characteristics describe a Christian.

Now the question is: Is it possible to be a Christian, if one of these three characteristics is lacking in your life? Is it possible to be a Christian, if one of these is lacking? The answer to that is no, it is not possible. Let’s just go through them each, a little bit.

What if I am not sorry for my sin? What if that is lacking? If I am not sorry for my sin, and I don’t have repentance over sin, then I have no desire to have a Savior. Why would I trust in Jesus, as my Savior? If I don’t have a desire to be rid of my sin, then I have no desire to change my heart and I am not a Christian.

What if I have no faith in Jesus? What if that is lacking? Judas is an example, of someone who did have repentance. Judas was very sorry for his sins. Judas was so sorry for his sin that he ran to the temple, after betraying Jesus, and he cried out, "I have sinned. I have betrayed innocent blood." Then he threw the money into the temple. He was deeply repentant for his sin, but Judas lacked trust. He did not believe that God’s heart toward him would change. He did not believe that for Jesus’ sake, God would forgive all of his sin. Judas lacked trust in Jesus, as his Savior. And so instead of going out and living a clean life, Judas went out and hung himself. Judas was not believer, because one of those characteristics was lacking. He was not a Christian.

What if a clean life is lacking? What if that characteristic is lacking? That is what today’s scripture reading is all about. John the Baptist was preaching repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The Pharisees and the Sadducees were coming out and saying that they were sorry, and wanted to be forgiven for their sins. They wanted to be baptized. John the Baptist pointed at the crowds and said,

"You brood of vipers. You brood of vipers. Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."

These were people who, though they said that they were sorry for their sin, didn’t think that they had anything to change in their life. They had no desire to change anything. They had no desire to live a better life, no desire to live a cleaner life. They didn’t want to change anything. And so, John the Baptist gave them a stern warning.

Let me give you an example. It would be like this. What if there was someone who beat his wife. When his wife confronted him, she said, "You should not be beating me."

He replied to his wife, "I am sorry. I am sorry that I have been beating you."

She then turned to him and said, "I forgive you. I forgive you for beating me. Now what should we do?"

He turned to her and said, "Honey, I have no intention of changing. I still plan on continuing to beat you, because you deserve it. You are worthless and you are good for nothing."

Now, what is wrong with that picture? He claimed to be sorry. He was forgiven by his wife. But the fruit was not there. He had no desire, no intention to change. He did not want to live a different life. What was that a sign of? It was a sign that he really wasn’t sorry for these sins. He really didn’t want them gone from his life. That forgiveness was seen just as a ‘free ticket’. "She’ll forgive me, so I can keep on doing what is wrong."

There are some people in the Christian Church, who believe that is what it means to be a Christian. There may even be some here, today. They are people who are committing certain sins, and they have no intention of changing their life, whatsoever.

For instance, there may be somebody who thinks, "I know that I talk badly about people, but I have no intention of changing that. I don’t want to change that."

There may be other people who think, "I am living in some sin against the Sixth Commandment, which says, ‘You shall not commit adultery’. I know that it is wrong, but I want to live with that. I have no intention of changing that."

And, there may be still other people who think, "I know that I hurt or harm people in one way or another, and I know that it is wrong, but I have no intention of changing it."

And yet, they claim to be Christians. They come to church. They say, "I am sorry for those sins. I know that they are wrong. But, I know that Jesus forgives me. My sins are all washed away."

They see forgiveness as a ‘free ticket, a free ticket’. "I am sorry. I am forgiven. But, as long as Jesus forgives me, I am going to go right on sinning."

That is not the Christian faith.

If there is anybody here today that fits that pattern, it is not too late to truly repent, truly be sorry, truly understand that my sin, even one sin that I love and cling to can condemn me. I know that God’s promises are true. Jesus has washed away every single sin by grace and He forgives me. That creates in our hearts a desire to live for our Savior.

Some of the people, who came to John the Baptist, were sorry for their sin. They did trust in God’s free, full, and complete forgiveness. What did these people say to John the Baptist? They asked him what they should do? "What should we do then?"

They knew that they were sorry. They knew that they were forgiven. So, John told them that if they have two coats, go and share it with the one who doesn’t have any. That’s a clean heart. That’s a new life. That’s a life of love.

He also told them that if they had food, they should go and share it with somebody who doesn’t have any. That is a clean heart. That’s a desire to live for our Savior.

He said to the tax collectors that they should not charge more than they are required to charge. That is a clean heart that wants to serve God.

To the soldiers he said, "Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely - be content with your pay." That is a clean heart, forgiven by Christ, with the desire to live for our Savior.

Now, I don’t want anybody here to get a false impression. For example, let’s say that I am someone who commits the sin of talking bad about other people. I am sorry for the sin. I know I am forgiven of that sin. That is a clean heart. I have a desire to live for my Savior.

But, I don’t want anybody here to get the false impression and think that that the person will never again say something bad about somebody again. That false impression could cause us to fall into despair.

The Bible makes it very clear that while I have a desire to live for my Savior, as a Christian, I also have a sinful nature. That sinful nature of ours still wants to do what is wrong. The new man in me and the old man in me struggle with each other. Sometimes, in weakness I fall. I listen to that old man. I say things about other people that I should not be saying.

So what do we do, then? Then, as Christians, we repent of our sins. We trust in Jesus’ forgiveness of our sins. And by the help of the Holy Spirit, we commit, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Savior (because He alone saves us), to live for Him, a clean life, with a clean heart.

As we prepare for the Coming of Jesus, our hearts are prepared for His Coming as

Amen.

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