Have you ever had someone claim something, but it just doesn’t seem to add up? We live in a skeptical society, where everyone wants to debate just about everything. A lot of times, people will say “if you can prove it then I will believe it.” I think Luke 16 would argue against that, at least in some instances. But, the point is people are always looking for you to prove what you say. We are going to see an instance of this in today’s text. The time of the text is during John the Baptist’s ministry. He is reaching people, and they are being baptized. This draws the attention of the religious leaders of his day. The religious leaders come out to talk with John the Baptist. This is what he says to them, “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 do not think to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father. For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.'”
What a greeting, right? Most pastors I know would be ecstatic to have people wanting to come to their church or ministry that we are doing. However, John the Baptist calls the religious leaders a “brood of vipers.” It’s almost like he doesn’t want them there. It’s not that John that Baptist wouldn’t welcome them in. Rather, it is he wanted to know why they were coming. Where they coming with pure motives or was there something else behind their visit? I’m not saying that we should call potential visitors a bunch of snakes by any means. However, I believe we would be served well to make sure that those coming to be a part of our fellowship are genuinely saved before they are granted church membership. That is entirely different than someone just coming to visit the church. Certainly, any and all are welcome to visit the church. At Westlake, we love our visitors and our members. My point is that it is important that those who are considered members, and have joined the church, we need to examine their life like John the Baptist is doing to the religious leaders coming to him here. John the Baptist knew that the religious leaders believed they were God’s children because of their heritage. John knew that salvation isn’t by works or family line, it is by faith. This is why he tells them to “bear fruits worthy of repentance.” John was saying, “if you are truly God’s children, prove it with how you live.” John the Baptist wanted to make sure that those he baptized didn’t have a false sense of assurance of their salvation.
Our life should bear evidence of our profession. Claiming to be a Christian while constantly living in sin with no desire to obey God would be like a man claiming to love his wife while beating her every day. Would you believe that man? Of course not! It’s not that as a Christian, you or I will be perfect. However, we should feel the sting of conviction when we sin, it should break our hearts that we have grieved God, and we should be striving to live for God. We must also reject any teaching that says we can be saved by any other means than the Gospel. It is vital that we allow God to examine our life, and to reveal the truth about our standing with Him. Is there proof of your profession?
By His grace and for His glory,
Pastor Justin