Luke 3:10-14

The book of Luke, chapter 3 verses 10 through 14, and the people ask him, saying, What shall we do then? He answered, saith unto them, he that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none. And he hath meat, let him do likewise. Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? and he said unto them exact no more than that which has appointed you and the soldiers likewise demanded of him saying and what shall we do and he said unto them do violence to no man neither accuse any falsely and be content with your wages may god bless to us is sacred this morning there was a little boy that was walking down the beach, and as he did, he spied a matronly woman sitting under a beach umbrella on the sand, and he walked up to her, and he asked, are you a Christian? She replied, yes. Then the little boy said, do you read your Bible every day? And the woman nodded her head, yes. And then the boy asked, do you pray often? And she’s answered, yes. And the boy asked next, his final question, will you hold my quarter? Why go swimming? It’s not enough to claim you’re a Christian if there’s no evidence in your life to confirm it. A little boy, it’s close questioning of the woman. He wanted to make sure what was holding his quarter. He was going to give it back when he was done swimming. You know, true Christianity, when we really think about it, It’s practical. It gets down to the everyday things of life. It’s not a faith that’s aloof. It’s a faith that is practiced in how you live your life, down to the details of it. John has preached the need for repentance prior to baptism. His concern is that there will be genuine repentance that takes place. So he talks about bringing forth fruits worthy of repentance or meat for repentance. Our text addresses the everyday application of Christianity to your life. It’s not enough to profess Christianity. One must practice it. Let me begin by saying this. True repentance lead you to desire to know the will of God. Do you see that phrase that keeps coming up, what shall we do? Repeatedly. What shall we do? Hypocrats have no desire to produce fruit suitable to repentance. They’re not going to be concerned about what shall we do. The Pharisees and the Sadducees were concerned about external religion. They wish to appear righteous before people. but they lacked any kind of spiritual fruit in their life. Justice, mercy, and faith were absent. It was foreign to that, really. They were all about self-righteousness. In Luke 729, we read all the people that heard him, John the Baptist. The publicans justified God all the people that heard him and the publicans justified God. They declared that God was righteous. Being baptized with the baptism of John, but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves being not baptized of Him. They didn’t want to repent. Therefore, they didn’t want to have to follow up and be baptized. They didn’t want to accept what God said about them being sinners. and in need of repentance and of a Savior. Most of those who belong to these sects expect to be treated with greater dignity than this and respect. John the Baptist was a guy that would speak God’s mind. He would tell people exactly how it really was. And they were offended by his plain and faithful teaching of the Word of God. They didn’t see the need to repent or to show signs of spiritual fruit in their lives. You remember that Jesus was hungry at one point, and he came upon a fig tree in the way as he passed by the fig tree. And there was nothing on it but leaves. We read about this story in Luke 11. Now, a fig tree with abundant leaves should have fruit. fruit on it. But when Christ searched, he found none. It lacked any figs. So we find that Christ curses the fig tree and it withers away. It soon becomes obvious that Jesus is teaching a spiritual lesson in this particular event of the withered fig tree. That fig tree full of these, but barren of fruit, barren of fruit, was a vivid pitcher, really, of the Jewish religion and the Jews of that time. The Jews put on this great, fine, outward show. They had the temple worship, they had the priesthood, they had the sacrificial system, they had the yearly feast. Oh, they received honor as religious teachers of at that time. But beneath all the leaves of the Jewish fig tree, they were utterly destitute of any spiritual fruit. And thus, liable to be cursed. And we’re cursed by God. For the most part, the Jews had an outward religion. No grace, no faith, no real love, no humility, no spirituality, no true holiness. Most telling of all, no interest in a Savior. Think about that. Because they thought themselves righteous enough for God. They thought they could keep the law of God perfectly. They thought they could keep the law and therefore it would be accepted of God. So like the fig tree, the Jewish nation is soon going to wither way. Now these things are not written for the sake of just the Jews of Jesus’ day. They’re certainly written for our understanding and benefit as well. and the object lesson of this fig tree should be taken to heart. Every fruitless branch of the visible church is in danger of ending up as a withered tree. A religious profession, church membership, confidence in rituals and ceremonies, being without spiritual graces, though, leave you under the curse. forsaking the need for repentance and faith, many a visible church becomes barren, fruitless. Eventually the Lord’s curse falls. You cannot be content just with the leaves of religion. Fruit showing that you truly know the Lord should be evident in your life. So hypocrites, have no desire to produce fruit suitable or anything suitable to repentance, anything worthy of it. But those saved by God’s grace have a desire to walk in newness of life. What shall we do? Constantly, this question comes up from these various people. What shall we do? Now, many classes of people came to know Christ, came to believe in the Messiah that John was proclaiming. These were common people, and they were deeply affected by John’s preaching. They repented, they believed in the coming Savior, they submitted themselves to the baptism of John, and so here and now they inquire, what would God have us do? How should we live now that we’ve come to faith in Christ? They want to know God’s will for their lives. Hypocrats don’t want to change their. hypocrites don’t want to change their ways, but sincere people want to know what God would have them do. I’m reminded of Paul on the Damascus Road. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? That’s the change that comes in people’s lives. So in general, a real Christian embraces the idea of mortification of sin. This putting away of the old way of life. doing things differently than they used to do them. How would God have me live now? They want to walk in newness of life. They want to break off these old sins. In Pilgrim’s Progress, remember Mr. Christian, as he’s following the narrow way, and he’s on his journey, he spies two men tumbling over the wall on the left side of the narrow way. It soon these two men, formalists in hypocrisy, catch up with Mr. Christian, and they enter into a discussion with him. And Mr. Christian says, gentlemen, once came you and wither go you, and formalist and hypocrisy say, we were born in the land of vanglory and were going for praise to Mount Zion. Christian says this, why can you not in at the gate? which stands at the beginning of the way. Why don’t you come by repentance and faith? And then he goes on and says, no, you not, that it’s written, that he that entereth not in by the door, Jesus Christ, but climbeth up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber, quoting John 10.1. You can’t come in this way. Coming in the wrong way. And formalist and hypocrisy said to go to the gate for entrance was by all their countrymen counted too far about it’s too far away to go all the way to the beginning and go through the gate. Therefore, their usual way, they said, was to take a shortcut, to climb over the wall onto the narrow way. Repents and faith are necessary. Mr. Christian says, but it will be counted to trespass against the Lord of the city whether we are bound, that you violate his revealed will. Formalist in hypocrisy didn’t care. For as they put it, it was a custom of longstanding. We’ve been doing this for years, hundreds of years, that people have climbed over the wall. Now Bunyan here is captured the idea perfectly. The hypocrites are always interested in a shortcut to heaven. The righteous go through the narrow gate. They go through repentance and faith, and then they’re concerned about staying on the narrow road, following what God would have them do. What shall we do? So I asked you this morning, which are you? Which are you? Are you the hypocrite or are you a genuine Christian? What place does the will of God have in your life? For those who are converted under John the Baptist, they’re concerned, what shall we do? The second thing is that true repentance leads you to be charitable people. Notice verse 11. He that he answered and saith unto them, he that have two coats, let him impart to him that hath none. He hath meat, let him do likewise. Now, practical Christianity requires that you do not just look on your own things, but you also look on the things of others, that you’re concerned about your neighbor, or to put it in its shortest sense, you are to love your neighbors yourself. John focuses here on the basic necessities, food and clothing. You are in desperate straits, of course, if you have neither one of them. But if you have two coats, consequently, one to spare, you can give one to spare, a person who has need that he might keep warm. You are to give according to your ability out of what you can spare. Christ doesn’t say you have to take the coat off your back and give it to them, but if you have extra, you can. You can provide. If God is giving you extra, then you see someone in need, you provide for their need. That seems simple enough, doesn’t it? So that somebody doesn’t go naked, but it’s indeed cloth. Nor does this passage forbid you from having two coats. That’s not inherently evil that you would have two coats, but the point is, well, if someone is in need and you have two, we’ll share. In a similar manner, if you have sufficient food to eat and somebody’s going hungry, will you give them of your abundance? Help them a bit. Now again, nowhere in scripture are you required to care for those who are lazy and refuse to work. For the Bible says, a man, does it work? Neither should he eat. That’s the principle. Not that we should give things away to the lazy. But if there are honestly needy people, you should show charity toward them. Isn’t that what the scriptures are teaching here? That doesn’t seem to be too difficult. I think what John is teaching is the same thing that we read about in the book of James chapter 2 in verses 15 and 16. This is the same type of teaching that we find in this passage of scripture. He says here, if a brother or a sister be naked and destitute of daily food, here’s the same two issues. And one of you say unto them, depart in peace, be you warmed and filled, notwithstanding you give them, not those things which are needful to the body, what does it profit? Even so faith, that if not works, is dead being alone. That’s not much of a faith. It’s not a very practical Christianity, is it? So one way of discovering whether you’re sincere with your dealings with God is to consider your dealings with your neighbor. Those who fail to obey the second table of the law with regard to their neighbor must be considered violators of the first table of the law. If you read earlier in James chapter 2 if you fail in one point of law, you’re guilty of the whole law, right? Jesus taught if you saw a brother there was hungry, or thirsty, or naked, or destitute, and you help them, well, what does he say? And as much you’ve done it under one of the least of these, my brother, and you’ve done it under me. So we won’t do it under the least of our brother, and then we won’t do it under the Lord, right? Bear words, don’t fulfill the commandment here. I’ll pray for you that you’ll be warmed and filled. Well, that’s nice. Send them away hungry. Send them away naked, but I’ll pray for you. That’s hypocritical. That’s not how you’re to conduct your Christian life. You’re to share your goods with them. You can love in word and tongue, but God would have you love also indeed. Right? That’s the true faith. That’s the truth thing. So are you a charitable person? You consider the plight of others? I read a story about a woman named Claire Booth, Lucy. She reached 75 years of age. And she was asked, do you have any regrets? And she said, yes, I should have been a better person. I should have been kinder, and I should have been more tolerant. She says, sometimes I wake up, in the middle of the night, and I remember a childhood girlfriend of mine who had brain, a brain tumor. And she called me three times asking me to come over and see her. And I just was too busy to do it. And then she died. So I’ve sat there at that funeral. I had remorse. And I was profoundly ashamed. He said, you know what? 56 years later, I’m still ashamed. That I didn’t care enough to visit her, the sick. so to speak in her time on need. I didn’t think about her. I think about myself. True repentance lead you to be charitable to people. Secondly, true repentance leads you to be just. Now notice verses 12 and 13 here in our text. Then came also publicans to be baptized and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? and he said unto them exact no more than that which is appointed to you. appointed you now you know what a publican is don’t you a public in here is a tax collector if the IRS is hated you can imagine what it must have been like back in those days it was necessary and honorable I’m sure to collect taxes because god said we should pay that which is due however tax collectors were viewed as corrupt and greedy individuals publicans work directly for the Roman government. Remember the Israel is under Rome, and so they were collecting taxes for the Romans, and thus they were despised by the Jews. The problem was there was a great temptation to charge more than they actually owed in taxes, and you get to keep the profit. And if they didn’t pay it, well, you just turn them in. As someone that didn’t pay their taxes. So if they owed really 500, you say, you owe a $500. You owe a $500. thousand dollars and what could they do about it? No wonder these people were despised. And so the tax collector got rich. He could, you know, pocket the extra 500 bucks and so forth. Can you imagine how this went down? Is everybody that he could, he fleeced in some capacity. So they inflated the tax amount and they would turn over what was actually owed to the Roman government and keep the rest. So the tax collector, extorted money from people was common. That’s why they were so despised. Now, after being brought to repentance, submitting to baptism, the public can say, well, what would you have us to do? Knowing what they had been doing? Now what do we do? What would the Lord have us do? And so John requires them to exact no more than that which is appointed to you would be just and fair, and then take your portion as the tax collector that Rome allows you to have. That’s it. Now notice he doesn’t say you have to quit your job. There was nothing unlawful for, you know, to collect taxes. That’s not the problem. But before the publicans here were thieves. And now, they are to be honest in their tax collecting, let him that stole, steal no more, so to speak. Now, you can’t read this without thinking about. about that little guy, Zachias, that we’re going to study later on here in the book of Luke chapter 19. This man, Zachias, was a chief tax. Not the little guy. He was a, you know, he was big up in the tax collecting business. And therefore, he was very rich, as the scripture tells us. Yeah, the more people you can collect taxes from, the more money you make. So he wanted to see Jesus, but he was short of stature, so he had to climb up at the sycamore tree where Christ was passing by so that he could see Jesus. And Jesus stops when he gets there and sees him. Told him to come down, this day, I must abide at your house. And this caused the crowd to moan and groan. Oh, what’s Jesus doing going to this guy’s house for? This guy’s a crook. Doesn’t he know that? However, Jesus sought Zacchaeus out as he tells us here that he might bestow salvation upon him. Today, salvation has come to your house. That’s what. Now Zachias is regenerated. Now he is different than he used to be. And what does he say to Jesus? Now that he’s converted. Now that he is a changed man. He knows how guilty he’s back. He knows he’s cheated people. So what does he say? Was his repentance and faith for you? He says to Jesus, I will restore what I’ve wrongly taken from the citizens. He desires to make amends, and thus he gives half his goods. He says, I’ll give to the poor. Now think about this. Sometimes you can’t return what you’ve extorted. Maybe the person has already died. Maybe the person has moved to a different district or something. And sometimes you can’t give it back. But he said, in order to compensate for that, I’ll give half my goods to the poor. And what he can correct, he says, I’ll restore fourfold to them. Now, in the law, there are different requirements about repayment. Sometimes it’s double and so forth. But he’s going to go fourfold here, which I believe the Roman law required at the time. So he’s going to follow the Roman law here, at least on this. That’s what salvation does when someone comes to. oath Christ. It changes them. It changes their whole thinking. Oh, he’s a just and honest person. He wants to do right. He doesn’t want to cheat people. He wants to be as fair as possible now. Where you’ve wronged anybody, you want to make it right. You desire a clear conscience before God and man. Is this how you live? I know none of us here are tax collectors, at least that I know of, but the principle. Apply the principle here. The whirling is greedy. The worldling is selfish, ruthless hands on the cash. Get their hands on the money. That’s the bottom line to them. But you must always think, what would be right to do in the eyes of God? What would God have me to do here? What would the Lord have me do? Because I’m going to have to give an account to him. You seek honest gain. You would rather be poor with a clear con. than rich with a guilty conscience. True repentance leads you to be just, just in all your dealings with men. Fourthly, this morning. True repentance leads you not to oppress others and to be content. Verse 14. And soldiers likewise demanded him saying, and what shall we do? And he said under them, do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely, and be content with your wages. Now you’ll notice that the scripture does not forbid someone from entering into military service. It doesn’t say here, get out of the military. You can’t serve in that capacity. It’s evil. That’s not what John the Baptist says. The military is used by rulers to protected citizens, defend the nation, and as such, a Christian is allowed to serve in. in the military capacity here. So, John doesn’t say leave. He says, this is how you behave as a soldier. That’s what he’s getting across to them. One, you don’t oppress others. Now, some Jews were certainly in the Roman military. Maybe they were soldiers under King Herod, or maybe a Philip of Ietoria or something of that nature. but upon repentance, they have to change their ways. They have to avoid the common abuses associated with soldiers. Having, you know, weapons and wielding authority, soldiers could abuse their position. They could compel you to carry their goods and all their equipment and so forth. For, you know, miles or whatever the case may be. they could do violence to others. They could threaten you. They could bully you. They could pull the sword out on you if they had to. For the least offense. They could falsely accuse you. They could wrong you, accuse you and get you into trouble. Maybe they could do that to extort money from you. The lesson is here that those with authority or military training of that or whatever nature they have, they have to be careful not to abuse the authority that they have. To do violence, to no man here relates to the, not to the enemy on the battlefield, but to the citizen at home, among whom you are dwelling. No authority given to you allows you to mistreat others. You never have an excuse for acting in an ungodly manner toward those who are your fellow citizens. Your Christianity is to influence your life regardless of your occupation. false accusations being unlawfully violent is never acceptable in the eyes of God. Now, perhaps we could apply this in a situation today. Let’s say you were a police officer, and you have authority as a police officer, and you have a gun. You’re not to bully or to harass others. Police brutality sadly happens at times, but but there are, and we know there are unlawful shootings that occur sometimes where police kill people who really were posing no threat to them. These things happen, but the policeman is supposed to uphold the law, and he’s supposed to be cautious about abusing his authority. That’s what we would see. And so whether you have, you know, you’re in the military or whether you’re in the police force or whatever authority you have, you can broaden this out. out to, you know, you could make it into a politician. Whatever authority you have here, don’t abuse it. Don’t abuse it. Don’t oppress others with it. And then he says, you have to be content with your wages. I guess they had the same problem in those days that we have in our military today. They don’t pay much. Considering the danger you put your life in, they don’t pay you much. And so, the soldiers would complain. They paint us so little, making us work so hard, you know, putting our life in danger. You know, sometimes we don’t get adequate food supplies and equipment and so forth. We don’t get paid much. You can imagine the grumbling. Anybody that has to march for miles, you can imagine the grumbling that takes place. You remember when Paul was, they had to get him out of Jerusalem. take him away. I think they took him to Cesarea, if I’m not mistaken, at that time, in order the Jews wouldn’t kill him. And they had foot soldiers take them out to a certain, overnight to a certain place. You could imagine having to do that in the middle of the night. And then the Calvary would take him the rest of the way to Cesarea. Well, you could imagine if you were, you know, you three in the morning, get up, we’re going to march, you know, all these miles, and take this one guy to this city, and you’re thinking, we’ll have to do this tonight, you know. So you see those kinds of things happening and people grumbling. Now, as a Christian, here, you have to learn to be content, whether your outward circumstances are poor or good. You must learn to view everything as in God’s hands and that somehow he will provide for you. Sure, you can seek to improve your pay. You can seek to improve your job position. There’s nothing wrong with that. But to be continuously, you know, murmuring and complaining, that’s not going to be acceptable. Do all things without murmurings and disputings, Philippians 214. Now, you can have a grumbling, complaining attitude about everything. It’s easy to fall into that spirit. You’ve probably known people that they grumble about error. It doesn’t matter what it is. is they’re complaining about it. Look at the Israelites in the wilderness. They were constantly murmuring about their circumstances. And God tells us in 1 Corinthians 1010, neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured were destroyed of the destroyer. The angel striking them down dead. We have to learn that God is in control of our circumstances, and sometimes he plays us in a situation where we not have much money. The thing is we have to find contentment in the truth that God is in control. And he has given us what we have. You will not always be treated fairly in this life. you can be cheated. I’ve been cheated and I’m sure you’ve been cheated in this life. and yet God is a way of rewarding his people. has a way of making up for when you get cheated by this person over here, somehow, somewhere along the line, God makes it up. He cares for our needs in spite of this. So here’s what we see about Christianity then. You don’t have to oppress others. Don’t use your position or authority to harm others. And be content. Be a contented person. So practical Christianity is one which affects your everyday life. And that’s what we need, isn’t it? If you truly repented, if you’ve truly believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, it should show in your life. You will desire to know the will of God. What would God have me do? You will be charitable. You will be just in your dealings with us. You won’t oppress others. You will not be murmuring, complaining all the time. You’ll learn to be content, whether you are based or bound, as Paul says. These are the things that demonstrate to us a real change in life, a real difference. A true repentance has taken place. Let us take heed here from John’s teaching. For what John teaches, really, is taught also in the rest of the New Testament. It’s not like this is unusual teaching. It may not be a publican, or it may not be a soldier, but it applies to every aspect of your life, and it can be broadened out to be applied to every one of us. Let us take it to heart this morning. Well, let us close.