Then John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?He said therefore to the multitudes who went out to be baptized by him, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?He said therefore to the multitudes that went out to be baptized of him, Ye offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
3 sermons cite this verse
… and all the people will see God's salvation. John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, you brood of vipers who warned you to flee from the coming wrath, produce fruit in keeping with repentance. I'm gonna give you six things to write down. Write down number one today. God prepares you through repentance. The way that God gets you ready for what he has for you is through the act of repentance. And if you don't know what repentance is, repentance is a turning away. Repentance is making a 180. And there might be parts of your life where you're walking against the will or plan of God. There might be parts of your life that you're not living up to God's standards. The way that God prepares you is he prepares you through repentance. Repentance, by the way, is not feeling bad about what you've done. Repentance, by the way, is not crying tears of remorse over what you've done. A repentance is changing your mind and making a U-turn and saying, I'm not going to live for me. …
… Okay, that's not a good way to open your first Sunday morning service. Matthew tells us the story. When they came to him, John the Baptist said, you brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees and every tree that doesn't bear fruit will be cut down and tossed into the fire his winnowing fork is in his hand and he will thoroughly clean the threshing floor and gather the wheat into the barn and burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire if john the baptist came to the average town and went to the average church most people would run for cover with that message why was john so denunciatory why was he so accusatory why was he so excoriating in his tone here's why verse one of mark one tells us why look at it the beginning of the what? Gospel of Jesus Christ. What does gospel mean? Good news. That's why. Why was John so denunciatory? Because this is the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ. Now listen, this is what John thought. They're never going to appreciate the good news unless they are aware of the bad news. The good news isn't good unless you know the alternative is really bad. …
… And then there's a change of will. Luke 3, verse 7 and 8, when you look back at when John the Baptist was preaching repentance. He talked about how producing fruit in the way you live and keeping with the repentance that has taken place in your life, in your heart. Mind, heart, and will. It's a total change of mind, a total change of heart, a total change of will that's going on in conversion. That's turning from sin and then turning to Christ. Two key words here. When Peter preached this sermon, verse 36, God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Second word there, Christ. It's the Messiah, the promised Messiah, the Savior, the one who would save us from our sins. So you confess Christ as your Savior. Same thing in Romans chapter 10, verse 9 and 10. To confess your mouth to Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. He died on the cross to save you, and he's risen from the dead. You will be saved. So you confess him as your Savior and also as your Lord. God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. That word right there, it's so huge. I wish we had time this morning to dive into it, but we'd be here another version of this sermon next week. But the word Lord used over a hundred times in the book of Acts, many times used to refer to God the Father, but the majority of time used to refer to …