Matthew 3:1-10 Fruit of Repentance

Matthew 3:1-10

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The 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.

We are all familiar with this description of an event in John the Baptist’s life as he was witnessing about the coming of the Lord.
As we see this text it makes me see that in life, the things we do, the sequence of events that are tied together which in the end has a result.
Because yesterday was today is.
Because there is today, we think that there will be tomorrow.
Work or shall we say the working together of things can have a good result or also at times as we know bad results.
There are many ways to do good and have a good result as we desire to make some sort of gain.
When we look for gain it can be for the time now, or something that we look toward in the future.
You can work hard now, and though you do not see the results of your labor immediately, but because you are expecting a return at some point in the future you consider it good work.
A simple example is that our children study.
They may not like to do it now, but the one who studies well, and diligently seeks to attain knowledge will later, be found in a position to use their knowledge which is of value.
They will be found in a position and acknowledged by people.
This is done with wisdom.
In health it is the same.
If I am diligent in taking care of what I eat, drink, and finding rest and taking care of my health, then later in life I can be a healthy individual.
This is basic knowledge.
The younger children, if you did not exercise and all you did was eat and lay around, would you be healthy?
No.
We all know that you cannot.
But yet, when a little bit of laziness enters into us we do not exercise.
We say I will do it later or start tomorrow.
When we are told to control our eating, we say today we will eat as much as we want and tomorrow we will start.
Most of us think this way.
We do not think about the future and control ourselves today, but we live to satisfy our pleasure now and that is not a good life.
We are to see that the action which you are doing will end up harming you, but we do not think like this.
Leaving aside good or bad, whenever we do something there is a proper order in which to do things.
Is that not so?
When you go exercise, we are told to stretch, warm up, though we do these things daily, whenever you go exercise again another day you start off as a new beginning in order.
Whenever you are going to create something grand there is an order to the work.
If you follow the order to the work properly then it will be easy.
But if you go out of order you will make a mess and things will be difficult.
We all know this basic knowledge.
But there are many times when we do not want to do this.
It is said that you need to button your clothes in order to look nice.
If you start off wrong then you can never finish the work properly.
We know this to be true.
If we are doing something for the first time, there are times that we need the advice of an expert.
But do we listen to their advice?
At times we may.
We may know that person or someone we know may tell us if you do it this way it will be easier.
We should take the advice and do as they suggest but we do not because we have our own thoughts.
Many times we are stuck on our own ideas and want to do it the way we think is right.
That is why after having done a little of the work we see that it is a mess.
What should have been an easy fix has now become a disaster.
When we watch our dramas we see and know what is going to happen and what the writers were thinking as they wrote the script.
We all know that if that character would just speak and say that which is right the situation would be resolved, but because they did not say what was needed to be said bigger problems arise. There are also times when one should not speak but because they have spoken they also have made problems.
We see this happen.
We know that if we meet a con-artist that they are not going to present themselves as such. We know that we should have them sign a contract or something in writing for proof.
But we do not.
Yesterday, we went to go eat at a restaurant.
I learned two things yesterday.
The first thing, is that in order for the restaurant to not lose profit, they took a reservation deposit.
They did so because they do not want to run their business at a loss.
This is the mind of business.
It was an all you can eat restaurant.
You would think that you could stay as long as you wanted and eat however much you wanted, but it was not so.
You had two hours and after when your two hours was done, they turned off the lights at your table.
Though it is all you can eat you can eat as much as you want but you must do so in the time allotted.
It is different from our previous experiences but this is how they run their business to stay in business.
We are in the habit of thinking that we can freely make a reservation for a group of 30 or forty, and that they will have that space available. But what if you did not show up?
Who will suffer a loss?
They will.
They do not want to suffer loss, so they demand that you come, sign an agreement and leave a deposit.
This is how to run a business without suffering loss.
Though we are taught this, people refuse to listen.
Those who refuse to do what they are taught will only suffer a loss for themselves.
That is why when we hear stories of people’s circumstances we see that rather than listen to advice they did what they felt like doing and have suffered for it.
We see this happen in our lives.
We can take these examples and look at our spiritual lives.
You can look at me and think because I am a pastor that I am perfect.
Am I perfect?
No pastor is perfect.
I am not sure how you see me, but when I look at myself I see the mistakes that I make.
When we spend together there are times when I get angry, frustrated, and at times I may get greedy. I am like everyone else.
Do you think that I never get the desire to have something that someone may have?
I do not anguish over that desire but I too have them.
But because I know that it is not mine to have I am quick to let go of those things from my heart. That is the difference.
But if you ever see me make a mistake and think that the pastor is no better, I say to you again, we are not perfect.
I am not perfect, but because I preach to you to be so, I strive harder to be so. This is the difference.
When people talk to pastors we get the feeling as if we are not even allowed to breathe.
People put impossible expectations on the pastor.
This is not the way.
Though we at times may stumble and fall, the number of times we do so decreases and the time between the occurrences increases and we strive to continue to change at a rate that is maybe a little quicker than others.
This is our way of leading by example.
Does not the Apostle Paul tell us to follow him as he follows Jesus.
The life he says he lives is a life of suffering as recorded in the Bible.
Jesus did not come to live a life of pleasure but a life of suffering.
Paul lived his life in pursuit of living that life that Jesus lived.
Paul tells us to follow in this path is the life of a Christian.
But when we see what we are faced with and the result that is to follow we have no desire to do what is laid before us.
Whether you do or not is decided by the individual.
Can you know the struggle that takes within unless I tell you about it?
You do not know.
Although the struggle that takes place within, if it continues to build the accumulation will eventually be evident to others.
Like Pastor Lee preached on Friday and I have said many other times, though we share the message with you, I look at myself first.
Is there anything that is conflicting with the message in my heart, before I am able to share the Word with you?
Is there any fault within me?
The Word says to “repent and to live a life that bears the fruit of repentance,” but am I living this life as a pastor bearing the fruit and leading others by example.
These are things that I wrestle with in my heart.
Last night as I was contemplating what message God would have me share with you, I read a letter that was written to me.
I have expressed to you that there is something that I too am selfish for.
What is my biggest desire?
Food.
What else?
What do you think that I desire from what you see of me?
There are things that each person sees when they look at someone and thinks that person really likes whatever it may be.
The desire to win.
Just as you see me and think that I have these desires, I too look at myself and see that I have desires within me.
These things can be seen by others.
Though it may be evident, it would be fine if it did so in a good way but there are many times these desires are revealed that are not good.
Why? Because without realizing it the desires of my heart and the flesh reveal themselves because that is how we are made.
Though I use myself as an example I am letting you know that in your life when you have things that you are unable to let go of, they will be revealed in time through the life that you live.
You know this and I am using myself as an example.
When you see me, do I look like I want money?
Do I want status?
Do I want a big ministry?
I have no such desires for these things because I am trying to live the life that God has given me .
God has given me His promise, but if I look at myself and see if there is anything that I want more than anything is for God to fulfill His promise and touch my wife and allow her to once again walk on her own, but much time has gone by since that promise was given.
From the time I heard God give that promise until this day I have desired this.
I have told my sons that when they pick a wife to pick a woman who is like there mother.
Though spiritually she is well, she does lack something.
Do you know what that is?
She lacks health.
But since God promised to raise her up one day, from that day do you know what selfishness entered into my heart?
From that day I heard the promise I became greedy.
All last night as I struggled with myself and looked at myself and I saw that I became greedy for my wife to have the health of a healthy woman.
It would be nice if she was as healthy as that woman, or if she could run like that person, like that person....
Whenever I saw someone healthy I would ask myself when will my wife be able to walk like that?
When will she be like that?
When that day comes then I am free of my burden.
To put it nicely I desire that my wife be able to walk on her own, but to put it in a bad way, I want her to get up so I can start doing what I need to do.
This has become a habit.
I have even told my wife look at that person, how nice it would be if you could get up and walk like them.
Many years have gone by in this manner.
Many years have gone by and now when I see a healthy person or a young person I look.
I look and think that person walks in a certain manner and their health is lacking here and there.
When I see someone in a wheelchair and look at there face I think about their health.
Without realizing I was now judging people and looking at them in a different manner.
It was now a habit.
When I look at myself because it is a habit I stand here without fault, but when someone else looks at me, I was being seen as a sinner but I did not realize this.
That which started out as a desire to have my wife be healthy as others had now become something totally different within me but I did not know it.
Can you imagine the disappointment that I caused others?
I did not know.
If I did not have a time to reflect on myself, then I would continue to be doing that which I was already in the habit of doing.
But last night when I became aware that my behavior is causing the disappointment in others I decided that I will stop doing it.
Another way to see the matter is this. Though I may have been looking at someone and thinking that because of the way they walk they are not well in a certain area, but that too is shall we say a form of judging and pride had entered into my heart.
I fell further into a more terrible sin.
As we look at people and think thoughts about them we do not realize that as we judge them we are committing a great sin of pride.
I saw that I had bit my own tail and had fallen down in sin without even realizing where I stood.
There was also another thing.
Many of our church people have i-pads.
It was something that I did not desire to have because I do not like these things but it was given to me.
I have no idea of people’s email addresses, phone numbers, passwords.
When I am asked to give my id or password I have no idea what they are.
I have to go find it in my desk where I have it written down somewhere.
I do not memorize it nor do I care to.
I had no desire to have this device.
As I use this to prepare my sermons there are many good things in it as well as many temptations.
Especially where many of you like which is YouTube.
It has already been two years since having this.
When I first had You Tube I decided that this was not for me and removed it from my i-pad.
For many months I did not watch it, but my children always came and showed me fun and interesting videos.
I thought that there are many fun things to watch so I had my son put it back in.
But as I watch sports videos, and accidents and other things they are not the only things that show up.
As you continue to watch you see that there are many temptations that are there.
Because they are there you watch it.
I did not go in to watch it, but as I am watching the sports or bloopers of sports, I end up watching the other videos as well.
But I never thought that it was sin, because for me it was just entertainment.
This means that I have fallen into a trap and do not know it.
Without making a decision to do something about it, if someone else sees me then they will think that as a pastor I have a problem.
So last night, I made a decision and again erased You Tube.
Why?
Without doing so, not only am I not able to stand right, but when others sees me I will not be seen as a person of good character.
When I did not have the i-pad or You Tube did I not have anything to preach to you about?
No.
The i-pad only makes it easier to write out my sermons.
The things I watch when I have time or to calm down after I get angry or bored though it may start off as entertaining and as funny can lead to the wrong kind of funny and cause me to fall into temptation.
There are many temptations in today’s media age.
Though I know this and refuse to erase it and enjoy it once in a while is sin.
When I do not cut out sin from my life and then asked if am I living a life that bears the fruit of repentance, I will fail to pass.
If I fail to pass the test then when I go before the Lord I will not be rewarded.
If I do not share this with you about me can you ever know?
You do not.
You can if you went through all my things, but if I refused to admit my fault what would you think?
It does not change the truth.
When we lay out all things before us, we see that it is not the title that allows me to stand, or that you would hold me up in a place in your thoughts that allows me to be successful.
If I do not walk the path to God in the right way, I will be nothing more than a sinner who will continue to live in sin.
When God gave me the promise to restore my wife then I am only to look to God and wait for Him to fulfill it.
But as I looked at others and desiring my wife to have what they had, suddenly I was looking at them with my standards, and I was creating a habit of looking at other women.
I had changed.
Just like watching those videos for entertainment but then later I had fallen into sin without knowing it.
As I looked at myself and the sin I had fallen into, I realized that without making a decision, I will one day become a great sinner and fall away because of my sin, and when I am called to stand before the Lord and He tells me because I refused to decide to turn away from sin and to live a life that bears the fruit of repentance, then I will have nothing to say in response to Him, for I will be found convicted of my sin.
Why would I be a pastor to only end up like this?
I decided I cannot live a life like this.
When we have a desire we pray fervently to God.
I do not remember where I pulled this letter from, so I am unable to tell you the source.
But it is a poem.

I have one desire.

If I can only walk I will not desire any other blessing.

There is someone out there who is praying this way because they are unable to walk.

If I can only live I will not desire any other blessing.

This is a prayer of someone who is going to die soon.

If I can only hear, I will not desire any other blessing.

If I can only speak, I will not desire any other blessing.

When there is something that one is unable to do, to be able to do that there are many people who are fervent in their prayers seeking that one ability.

If I can only see, then I will not seek any other blessing.

For some as long as they can see they will be willing to live as a homeless person.
They would be satisfied as long as they could see.

All of you can speak, see, hear, walk and do everything.
But there are people out there who are praying earnestly for these things.
You have all these things but are you grateful?
Do you give thanks?
We do not.
We take for granted that which we have while others are desperately seeking to have what we have which we are ungrateful for.
We do not see that our lives are which others desire to have to be content but fail to be.
If this is the manner in which we live, then as we live out lives not bearing the fruit of repentance, how can we stand before God and what will we say to Him?
When I pray and ask God for the blessings for my wife from whose point of view am I asking?
It is from my point of view.
I am the one who desires that my wife be healed in a certain manner but that has lead me down a path where I have fallen into sin.
Had I not had something awaken me to see this, I would have continued on the path thinking that the path I was on was right.
Why?
It is because everything I do is from my point of view.
When I am the standard, I am the one to think that because God has promised to heal my wife I want her to be healed like that person.
Because I see from where I stand I see what I want and desire what I want, and because I know that God will heal her I want her to be healed the way I want.
But as I see what I want I do not see that I am changing because of the sin in my life.
It is because I see from my point of view.
This is the problem.
Because I see things from my point of view and fail to see my sin, the bigger problem is not knowing that I am a sinner.
If I make an excuse for myself and say to you “Am I really a sinner?”
Do you think of me as a sinner?
If I make an excuse and say God is the one who promised to heal her, and He is going to do so, then why can’t I ask for something better, bigger, and more?
If I see things from my point of view, my view becomes a reason that I validate for myself.
I am unable to confess that I am a sinner fallen in sin.
Without making the decision to let go of myself, I cannot repent and turn my life into the right path.
For example, when we eat, a person who likes to eat salty and spicy will continue to do so no matter how many people tell them the food is seasoned well, because the food will never be seasoned enough to their taste.
If they continue to eat this way, then in the future the accumulation of such eating habits will be evident in a form or disease to their body.
Depending on the choice I make today, the consequence for my choices will surely affect me later.
If I choose to eat better, though it may be difficult, stretch and exercise then I will be able to restore my health.
It is always one more bite that we eat which is the reason that we fall.
Likewise in our walk, it is always that one little thing that becomes a problem for us in our faith.
If you see nothing from where you stand, it does not mean that there is nothing there?
Yesterday, we fogged our home for the first time in many years because of cockroaches.
They were coming out during the day so we decided to fog the home.
Because you do not see cockroaches in your home, does it mean that there are none there?
When you spray the chemical during the day, you do not know how many roaches have died because they do not come out during the day.
But when you spray it at night, you can see in the morning how many have died because they come out during that time.
When I look at myself I do not look to judge myself if I am doing good or bad and think that all that I do is right.
When I have taken steps and spoken words to the point that they have become habits to which I am not able to admit as sin, then I have come to a point where I will not change.
You must change to live the proper life of a Christian.
But in order to change where must you point the direction of your life?
Is it to the pastor?
Where are you to take your life?
You are to take your life in the direction in which the Bible shows you.
No matter how well a pastor preaches he is still a man who is a sinner and makes mistakes.
No matter how righteous a pastor may seem they may also have dark soul.
The point is you are to read the Word and tend to the matters of your heart accordingly.
There is something that is happening in our garden that is unbelievable.
Have you seen it?
We have turned the soil and planted all the seeds on the same day.
But if you look at the new vegetables as they sprout and grow in one row you will see the vegetables all lined up from shortest to tallest as if we were at a grade school having lined up the children from shortest to tallest.
We have planted them all on the same day and given them the same amount of water at the same time.
If there were taller ones in between shorter ones it would be easier to understand.
There might be less water going to one, or a difference in the soil or the difference in the seeds.
But having planted them all in a line they have lined up in order from one inch to the tallest being over a foot or greater.
The same soil, same water, the same time.
It is not only in one line but the entire garden is this way.
I do not know if it has to do with the seed or the soil.
I have been pondering over this greatly.
If this is a problem with the soil then who must tend to it?
Today in your hearts you are all given the same message.
You are all reading, hearing, and receiving the same Word of God.
The seeds have been sown, but for those seeds to bear fruit of 30, 60 or 100 times in your heart is whose responsibility?
It is your responsibility.
Without tending to the field in your heart, it will be no use to spread good seeds into it, for it will not bear fruit.
Then what will you say to the Lord when you stand before Him having to give account for your life?
Your heart can only be tended by you.
As you tend to it, there are many problems that each of us may come across.
It is different to each person.
For me, I did not think it was a problem to look and think and ask God for the things of my heart, but ended up standing in the path of sin, which lead to pride and judging others.
When you are unable to see sin change you, you too may fall.
There are many difficulties in tending to your own heart.
Pride is one of them.
As it was for me, though it started with a promise that God gave me.
There are many writings on the issue of pride.
They say that pride is refusing to change according to God’s Word though you have heard it.
It is pride.
You question what is the need to live exactly the way it is written?
Do you have to do it that way?
To think that you do not have to live or do what is written in the Bible means you are ignoring God’s Word and putting yourself in the place of authority.
This is pride.
If you hear the Word of God and put it into your heart then there has to be a change, but to not do so and to be stubborn in your way is because of pride.
To say that you love God but hate a person is pride.
The Bible teaches us that you cannot do this.
You cannot love God who is unseen when you do not love a brother who is seen.
It is a lie.
We ignore this teaching and think that we are able because we are with pride.
To look at things from our point of view and dictate to God how we think things should be is because of pride.
Rather than trust God and put everything in His hands we decide what the result should be and judge the situation in our eyes.
To propose to God how things should be is pride.
When the Lord tells us to do something, or our parents tell us to do something and we reply we will do it later, what is that?
In faith it is because of pride.
You think you can do it the way you want.
Why do I have to do it that way?
Why do you think like this?
It is because you think you have more right which comes from pride.
When someone points out your mistakes and refuse to accept the rebuke to change that is pride.
The reason is you think that you did nothing wrong.
You think that you are good enough.
You look at things from your point of view which is pride.
When you are like this you are unable to tend to your heart and therefore unable to yield an abundant harvest.
God tells us to only preach on the first point but we go on to the second and the third.
This is pride.
We do not think of it as pride.
God says to only say one thing.
We should only say one thing but we go on and on.
When we describe something rather than be honest we exaggerate it.
When we do this it is because we put ourselves in God’s place and think that we are doing God’s work for Him, which is pride.
When we hurt others and leave them with emotional scars it is because of the pride that is in us.
Because we did not know these things it has been hard for us to tend to the field in our hearts and it has been difficult for you to reap an abundant harvest in your lives.
When I look at myself and reflect on the promises that God has given us and even pastor Lee has said many times before, God has promised us a revival many times, but if it has yet to come, then I say to myself that it is my fault, and though I know it is my fault, because I did not know what the seed of my fault was, I have come all this way thinking that I was good enough where suddenly last night this problem was brought to my attention.
If I do not bear the fruit of repentance in my life, if I do not change, not only will I not be respected by my own congregation, but I will also not be able to be respected by my own children.
If this is the case, what will I be able to say in response to God when I stand before Him?
I will be able to say nothing.
I will be cast out into darkness.
I will be judged a sinner, a false pastor.
I decided that I must not live this life.
I am declaring this to you.
I decided this and again erased You Tube.
I have also changed the way I think.
If God wants to heal my wife this way or that way, in any way that He decides in His will, but I will lay down all my cares unto Him.
No matter how tempting the things of this world may be, I am not filled with joy because of them.
I have been well without it until now and it is not from which I find my joy.
I will tend to my heart according to the Word.
I have decided to live this way and sharing what I have decided to do with you.
If there is anything in which I stumble according to the Word, do not hide it from me, and come and tell me.
When you come and tell me, though I am unable to see the sin in my life when I look from my view, but as you tell me from where you stand and tell me what is wrong I will change it.
Because I need to tend to my heart so that I too may have an abundant harvest, and please the Lord with the fruit of my actions as His servant.
Not only for me, but may this also apply to your life as well, so that you may reap an abundant harvest in which the Lord has called you for and as you answer His call to His will may you richly be blessed through His Word.
May you live a life that bears the abundant fruit of repentance.

Sermon by Pastor Howard Park
Translation by Miguel Park