Luke 3:7-14 – Getting off the Path to Wrath

1. Repentance Will Help You Escape Ruin (Luke 3:7-9)

A. True Repentance Requires Results (Luke 3:8a)
B. True Repentance Requires a Relationship (Luke 3:8b)
C. A Failure to Repent Brings Judgment (Luke 3:9)

2. Repent of Your Greed (Luke 3:10-14)

A. Be Generous (Luke 3:10-11)
B. Be Honest (Luke 3:12-13)
C. Be Content (Luke 3:14)

Did you know that Bill Wilson, one of the two men who developed AA, Alcoholics Anonymous, in the process of breaking free from alcohol, became an incessant womanizer and chain smoker? People praise him for developing a twelve-step program for getting free from alcoholism, but all he really did was come up with a way to substitute one addiction for another. Yes, he broke free from alcohol, but only because he became addicted to sex and nicotine.[2]

Isn’t that amazing? Luke 3:1-6 taught that truly being set free from sin requires repentance—a 180 degree turn away from sin, and a turn toward God. It is filling your life with the things of God in place of the sinful patterns from before. Because of this, only Christians can truly repent. Non-Christians can repent of and turn from their sin, but unless they fill their lives with the Word of God and a growing relationship with God, they will only end up being enslaved to something else as we saw from Bill Wilson.

True repentance, as John came preaching it, requires both a turn from sin, and a turn to God. Only in this way will the chains of sin be broken. Only in this way will judgment be escaped. Only in this way can we get off the path to wrath. This is what we will see today from Luke 3:7-14.

Luke 3:7-9 explain that repentance will help you escape ruin. Let’s begin by looking at Luke 3:7.

1. Repentance Will Help You Escape Ruin (Luke 3:7-9)

Luke 3:7. Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”

Some people were coming out to John to be baptized by John, but they had not repented of anything. They were coming because this was the religious experience of the day. It was the thing to do is you wanted to appear holy. But John says to them, “You religious rulers haven’t repented. You just want to appear holy. You just want everybody to think you’re righteous. And so here you are to get baptized. This is the height of religious hypocrisy.”

He calls them a brood of vipers or a nest of vipers, to identify them with the greatest religious hypocrite of the day—Annas the High Priest. He was supposed to be the greatest religious ruler, but he used his power and authority to whisper, and hiss like a viper in the ears of politicians and judges in order to influence their decisions his way. So these people are like him. They want to appear holy, but they haven’t actually admitted to any fault or sin.

Then John says, “Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”

In other words, “Some of you don’t think you’re sinners. You don’t think judgment is coming upon you because of your hypocrisy. You don’t think wrath is coming. And if you don’t think judgment is coming, then you’re not going to repent.” You see, one of the motivations for turning from sin, and turning back to God is the understanding that judgment is coming. Sin has consequences. Sin will destroy your life, your marriage, your family, your future, your joy and peace, and even your reward in heaven. But if, like these people, you don’t believe you are sinning, then you also won’t think that there are consequences on the way. And if you don’t think there are consequences, then there is no motivation to repent.

That is where many of the Jews were at. They didn’t think they were sinning, and they didn’t think that wrath was coming, and yet they came to be baptized by John. Why? To appear holy and righteous. So John says, “Why are you even here? If you truly are not sinning, as you claim, then there is no reason to repent and be baptized. But since you are here to be baptized, this means you must have repented from sin. But none of you will admit that, so why are you even here? What is the point?”

You see what John is doing? He is trying to point out to them their sin. They were self-righteous, and they didn’t even know it. They came to be baptized to appear holy and to appear like they were repenting, but none of them wanted to admit that they needed to repent.

So in Luke 3:8, he goes on to tell them what true repentance looks like. First he says that true repentance requires results.

A. True Repentance Requires Results (Luke 3:8a)

True repentance has fruit. Look at Luke 3:8.

Luke 3:8. Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance.

He says to them, “Look, before I baptize you, why don’t you do some actual repentance? Tell me, and all the multitudes here, what pattern of sin you are involved in, and what you’re going to do about it, how you’re going to turn from it and back to God, what your repentance will look like, what sort of fruit, what sort of teachings and actions are you going to change. If you can do that, then we will talk about baptizing you.”

True repentance requires fruit—actual changes in attitude and actions. But beyond this, John says in the last half of verse 8 that true repentance requires a genuine relationship with God.

B. True Repentance Requires a Relationship (Luke 3:8b)

Luke 3:8b. “…and do not begin 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.”

The Jews believed that the Israelites were the chosen people of God. When they say, “We have Abraham as our father,” they are making a claim to being the elect nation of God, the chosen nation. And they were right—God did choose Israel to be the nation by which the promised Messiah would come and through which a light would come to the Gentiles. But what they deduced from this was that God needed them. They believed that since there was no other elect people in the world, that God would never judge them, would never send his wrath upon them, because if He did, He would not be able to accomplish His purposes in the world. They said, “Hey, we are the children of Abraham. God chose us, He elected us, to accomplish His will in the world, and He is not going to choose anybody else. So if he judges us, He’ll be stuck.”

They even believed that Abraham sat at the gate of hell to keep any Israelite from accidentally going there.[3] They taught that the merits, that the Israelite forefathers were so good, that it covered over all the sins of all future Israelites. Some liberal branches of Judaism taught that Jews could sin all they wanted, and it didn’t really matter, because the goodness of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses would make up for their sins. (Kind of like the Catholic practice of selling indulgences based on the goodness of the saints.)

John responds in verse 8 by saying, “That’s rubbish. Don’t stand on the goodness of Abraham. Don’t think you will escape punishment because you are an Israelite.” He says, “If God wants to, He is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.” Being the elect of God means that God has chosen us to accomplish his purposes in this world. But if we refuse to do His will, He will turn to other people. God will accomplish His will, whether it is through us, or through somebody else. He will accomplish His will, even if He has to use lifeless stones to do it. God’s will is always accomplished—so be careful. If you fail to do what God wants you to do, He will cut you off, and raise up somebody else to do it. That’s what John is telling the Jewish people here.

Paul says much the same thing to us in Romans 11. He basically says, “Don’t boast about being elect in Christ. Remember, you were grafted in because other branches were cut off. And if the natural branches were cut off, you can be cut off also.” Both John and Paul are saying, “Hey, don’t become proud and haughty of your position. God doesn’t need you to accomplish His will. He wants to accomplish His will through you, but if you resist Him, He’ll turn elsewhere. He can accomplish His will with stones if He wants to. He can graft in new branches if He has to.”

John summarizes this point in verse 9 with the picture of a tree being cut down and thrown into the fire. With this picture, he tells us that Failure to repent brings Judgment.

C. A Failure to Repent Brings Judgment (Luke 3:9)

Luke 3:9. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

One of the Biblical symbols of the Jewish nation was the fig tree. Remember when Jesus goes to Jerusalem near the end of His ministry, and near Jerusalem, finds a barren fig tree, and curses it? Later as the disciples walk by that fig tree again, to their amazement, they notice that the fig tree had withered and died. Jesus did that to show what was going to happen to the Jews because they had not repented. They did not have the fruit of repentance.

But here in Luke 3, they are being warned of the coming judgment, and John is pleading with them to repent before it is too late. The ax is laid to the root of the trees, he says. The fig tree is about to be cut down. Judgment is coming upon Israel. Why? Because she does not bear good fruit. There is no fruit of repentance in their lives. They are remaining in their sinful ways, rather than turning to God for freedom and deliverance. John is pleading with them and warning them to repent and return to God.

At the end of Luke 3:9, he tells them what will happen if they don’t. They will be cut off and thrown into the fire. We know from the rest of the New Testament, and from church history, that this is exactly what happens. The Jews did not repent. They end up rejecting Jesus Christ as the Messiah, and so they get cut off. In A.D. 70, roughly 40 years after the events in Luke 3, Israel was cut down and thrown into the fire. This does not mean hell. The word fire is usually a reference to judgment, not to hell. Sometimes, it does refer to judgment in hell, but normally, it refers only to temporal judgment on this earth. That is what John speaks of here, and what began to happen to Israel in A.D. 70 with the destruction of Jerusalem, and has continued to go on even until today.

But there is a time coming, when God will finish what He has promised to Israel. You see, God made very clear and specific promises to Israel which He has not yet fulfilled. And God must fulfill them literally to the people of Israel, or else He will be a liar. And we know that God cannot lie, and so His promises must have a future fulfillment. But for our purposes today, I want you to notice that being elect, being of the nation of Israel, being the chosen people of God, did not spare them from the temporal judgment of God.

Similarly, if you are a Christian, if you have believed in Jesus for eternal life, then you are elect. You are chosen by God to accomplish His purposes in this world. But even though you have such a privilege and honor, do not allow sin to continue unchecked in your life. Just because you are elect, just because you are God’s child, just because you are God’s chosen instrument, does not mean that you can escape the consequences of sin.

There are many who teach that because they are the elect of God, they will not experience the wrath of God. Others teach that since Christ has forgiven us of all our sins, past, present and future, we can go ahead and live any way we want. But these ideas are similar to what some Jews believed—that they were elect and so God would never punish them, and that Abraham had covered their sins, so they could live any way they wanted. But John corrects them of this thinking. Though they are God’s chosen people, Abraham’s goodness was not enough to keep them from experiencing the fire of God.

Make sure you understand what I am saying. It is so important that you understand this. The Bible teaches that if you have believed in Jesus for eternal life, you are safe and secure in the arms of Jesus forever. If you are elect, if you are a Christian, you are going to heaven, no matter what. But be warned by what John says here. Just because you are a Christian does not mean you will not be disciplined for rebellion and sinful disobedience. Although in Christ, we have forgiveness from all sins, there are still consequences for those sins. Because we are children of God, He disciplines us, for He disciplines those He loves.

Sometimes this discipline is temporal—during this life. The Bible is very clear that if we continue in sin, we may experience sickness, or premature death, or something else. Other times, the discipline will be after this life at the judgment seat of Christ—the Bema. Jesus talks about it frequently. Paul talks about it everywhere. Their teachings about this future event are given as a warning, an incentive, an encouragement to live for Christ now because we know that, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:10, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” All of us. You. Me. Paul even. Billy Graham. Everybody will appear before Christ on that day.

Why? So that we may receive what is due to us for the things done while on this earth, whether good or bad. You see, in Biblical times, when a king enters into a town as we talked about last week—he sent his herald before him to prepare the way, and when the king arrived in that town, one of the first things he did was to go sit on the judgment seat, it was an actual seat in the town called the Bema, and from there, the king would pronounce judgment on the people of that city for how well they had prepared for his coming. Blessings and honors and riches and privilege for those people who prepared well for his coming. But for those who did not, he stripped them of their wealth and privilege and honor in the city, and kept them from participating in the festivities that were about to begin.

John’s message to you and I today, if he were here, would be identical to what he told the Jews. He would say “Repent of your sins and turn back to God. And do not say to yourselves, ‘Oh, we are the Bride of Christ.’ Do you not know that your veil is torn and your wedding dress is muddied? If you do not, you will have a very tearful wedding day. Your groom will be ashamed of you.” Well, hopefully, that is not what you want. Hopefully, you want to be confident and unashamed before Christ when He comes. That’s what I want. I want to hear Him say the words, “Well done good and faithful servant.”

So the question is now, “Well, what should we then do? If judgment is coming, how can we prepare?” I’m glad you asked. That is the correct response. When we hear that judgment is coming, as John declared it is, in Luke 3:7-9, the proper response is to ask the question, “What should we do?”

Remember Jonah’s message to the people of Nineveh? He told them judgment was coming, and they asked, “What should we do? What should we change? What do we need to repent of?” And they were able to avert the impending judgment. This is the way the people who heard John responded also. They heard John’s warning, and they asked, “What should we do? How should we then live? What changes should be made? What should we repent of?”

These are the questions they asked. And in Luke 3:10-14, John confronts one of their sins. He challenges them on one of the more prominent sins of that day. It’s given to us as a test case. As an example. Take the principles you learn here and apply them to whatever sin you are struggling with. The main sin John tells them to repent of in Luke 3:10-14 is greed.

2. Repent of Your Greed (Luke 3:10-14)

Luke 3:10. So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?”

In Luke 3:11, he tells them to be generous.

Luke 3:11. He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.”

The people in Luke 3:10 want to keep their possessions. John tells them in Luke 3:11 to share with those who have need. Food and clothing, or whatever you have. Psalm 41:1-2 says, “Blessed is the man who considers the poor; The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive.” A lot of us, when we see someone in need, what do we do? We say, “I’ll pray for you. God will provide.” But in James 2 we read, “What good is it, my brethren, if one of you is without clothes or food, and you say to him, ‘Be warm and well fed. I have faith that God will provide for you’ but you don’t do anything to help that person, what good is it?” That’s the same thing John is saying here. Help people in need. Don’t be greedy; give to the needy. Be generous.

He turns and says the same thing to the tax collectors when they ask in Luke 3:12-13.

Luke 3:12. Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”

John tells the tax collectors to be honest in Luke 3:13.

Luke 3:13. And he said to them, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you.”

The tax collectors in Luke 3:12 were notorious for ripping people off and for taking more than what they were supposed to. You see, tax collectors were paid, but were allowed to give themselves pay raises by taxing the people more. They were told by the Roman Government to collect a certain amount of money from the people, and send that money in. Any extra money that they could collect could be theirs to keep. And so tax collectors became very greedy. They could impose tax hikes on the people for almost any reason they wanted just to increase their own bank accounts. But John tells them to stop doing this and be honest.

Luke 3:14a. Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?”

John’s answer to them is to be content.

Luke 3:14b. So he said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.”

The soldiers had power because they were in the military. They had weapons and authority to put people in prison, or even kill people if they wanted. And so they would go around intimidating people and accusing them falsely, all in efforts to get more money for themselves. The phrase do not intimidate anyone is the Greek word diaseisete which literally means “to shake down.” You often hear of police officers doing a shake down, and the soldiers would do the same thing, but often, just to scare people, or get more money for themselves.[4]

Sometimes, they would even go on strikes and refuse to defend the public officials unless their wages were increased. Sometimes they would even threaten the lives of the public officials in order to get a pay raise. The point being brought out in all of these verses is that these people were greedy, and they needed to repent and turn from their greed by being generous, honest and content.[5]

We’re greedy too, aren’t we? Greed is an inherent part of our sinful nature. We hoard our possessions and want to keep them to ourselves. We think that what we have we deserve because we have worked so hard for it. And while that is sometimes true, it is more often than not just an excuse. What you have, you have because of the grace of God. Yes, you may have worked for it, and yes you may have earned it, and invested it, and saved it, but who gave you the job you have, and the health you have to work at it, and the mind you have to invest it, and just the simple fact that you live in America where such opportunities to make money exist? God gave all of that to you. So don’t think it belongs to you or you deserve it. Don’t be greedy.

The Scriptural principle to overcoming greed is found right here. The only way to overcome greed is to give your money and possessions away. That’s how you repent from greed. If greed is getting more and more and more, then repenting, turning 180 degrees from greed, is giving more and more and more. The way to tell if you are greedy or not is by determining how much you give. Most people in the United States are greedy, because most people only give 2 or 3 percent of their income away.

John says in Luke 3:10-14 that the way to break free from the sin of greed and materialism is to give. Take a 180 degree turn from getting more, and turn toward God by giving more. There’s no other way. Greed and materialism are only defeated as we turn from collecting, hoarding and keeping our money and possessions and turn to giving them away. That is the fruit of repentance. The issue of greed as presented in Luke 3:10-14 is just a test case, an example of something we need to repent of.

There are numerous other sins though that need to be turned from. Galatians 5 lists adultery, sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, participation in demonic activities, hatred, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, the feeling that everyone is wrong except you, envy, murder, drunkenness, wild parties and many others. Maybe you need to repent of watching too much television, or not treating your spouse or children right. Maybe you need to repent of a lack of Bible Study or prayer. Shopping too much. Materialism, money, pornography, drugs.

It’s probably a different thing for each one of us. Do you know what your struggle is? If you have one in mind, you have three options regarding it. First, you can continue in your sin, never being set free. That is a terrible and depressing way to live though. And aside from being a depressing way to live, remember, judgment is coming. The ax is already laid to the root of the tree. That’s the first option. Always be enslaved. Always be in bondage. I hope none of you pick that option. But if you want to be free from your sin, there are two other options.

So secondly, you could enroll yourself in a secular based, self-help program like Alcoholics Anonymous. Over the years, there have been thousands of such self-help programs that have been modeled after AA. There’s Debtors Anonymous, Emotions Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Codependents Anonymous, National Association for Children of Alcoholics Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous, Incest Survivors Anonymous, Adult Children Anonymous, Bulimics Anonymous, Anorexic Anonymous, Child Abusers Anonymous, Sexaholic Anonymous, Fundamentalist Anonymous, Parents Anonymous, Pill Anonymous, Shoplifters Anonymous, Smokers Anonymous, Spenders Anonymous, and Workaholics Anonymous, just to name a few.[6] But as we saw with Bill Wilson, the founder of AA, though you might get freedom from one addiction through such a program, you will only substitute it for another. There is not true freedom from such programs.

The third option is the only one that truly works. The only one that truly gives you deliverance. This third option is genuine repentance. Turn from your sin, and turn toward God. If you want some help in some of these areas, there is an excellent, Biblically based ministry called Setting Captives Free Ministries. We have included a brochure about them in your bulletin. They currently have completely free Biblically based ministries for breaking free from pornography, overeating, homosexuality, alcoholism, smoking and a couple of others. We all need to break free from the sins that hold us back, not only so that we can escape judgment at the Bema, but also so that we can be used by God here and now while on this earth and experience all that God has for us. Repent today. Your life will never be the same.

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Notes on Luke 3:7-14

[1] Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, 258-259.
[2] Francis Hartigan, Bill W.
[3] Edersheim, 271.
[4] Wycliff Bible Commentary, 203.
[5] Bible Knowledge Commentary, NT, 211.
[6] Gary Gilley, 12 Step Recovery Programs.

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