According to Luke, John the Baptist “preached the gospel to the people” (3:18). Yet how different was John’s gospel compared to what is often called the gospel today. John not only told his audience that Jesus was coming, he warned them of God’s wrath and the fires of hell (3:7, 9, 17). He preached the necessity of works, warning fruitless persons that they would be cast into hell (3:9). He called his listeners to repentance, a repentance that was much more than just remorse, but a change of lifestyle (3:8-14). He revealed a Messiah who was coming to judge them, one who would separate the wheat from the chaff and then burn the latter (3:17).
So what’s the good news in all of that? Only a small portion of what John said could actually be considered purely good news, and that is that the Messiah will “gather the wheat into His barn” (3:17). That’s it. Everything else John said could be considered very bad news, but bad news that makes the good news so good! Unless the bad news is understood, the good news makes no sense.
This is perhaps the greatest flaw in the modern gospel. "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life" caters to selfish, sinful people, who easily interpret "God loves you" to mean "God approves of you," which is simply not true for sinners. God so disapproves of those in rebellion against Him that He intends to cast them into hell. And God's intention to cast people into hell is not exactly "a wonderful plan" for their lives.
"But people will not receive our message if we preach the gospel that John preached!" is often an honest excuse that is proffered by modern preachers. Yet is it better to preach a false gospel that results in false, deceived converts who are all cast into hell in the end, or to preach a true gospel that results in just a few converts? At least it is better for the rejected preacher to walk away, shaking the dust off his feet, knowing that he has no one's blood on his hands.
How do we know when our gospel is producing true converts? We know when they repent, and when they "bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance" (3:8). What kind of fruit is God looking for? When John's convicted audience asked what they should do, did John say, "Go to church faithfully every Sunday?" No, the very first things John said was this: "The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise" (3:11). John knew that the Lord is going to say to everyone when they stand before His judgment throne one of two things, either, "I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat" or, "I was hungry and you did not give Me anything to eat." He will say either, "I was naked and you clothed Me" or, "I was naked and you did not clothe Me" (Matt. 25:31-36, 41-43).
If we aren't caring for the poor in Jesus' spiritual family, we really have no basis to believe that we are truly born again and on the road to heaven. This is a basic fact of Christianity, but one that is being ignored by much of the modern church.
Notice that most of the other things that John told his convicted audience to do to show their repentance revolved around their stewardship of money. In fact, five of the six specific acts of repentance that John prescribed had something to do with money: (1) Share your food with the hungry, (2) Share your clothing with the naked, (3) Don't overcharge your customers, (4) Don't steal other people's money, and (5) Be content with your wages. If one's "conversion" doesn't affect his attitudes and actions regarding money, one is not truly converted.
Finally, Luke's genealogy of Jesus is actually through Mary. Heli, whom Luke lists as being the father of Joseph (3:23), was only his father by marriage to Mary. Matthew’s listing was Jesus’ genealogy through Joseph, who (of course) was not really Jesus’ father.
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David Servant ( - )
David Servant is the Founder of Heavens Family, helping the least of these world-wide. David Servant has been serving in ministry since 1979 as a church-planter, pastor, teacher and missionary. When David Servant read the results of his high-school vocational aptitude test, he laughed. The results told him that he was best suited for a career in ministry or in entertainment. At the time, David's future goal was to live in a log cabin in the wilderness and live off the land for the rest of his life. The Lord, however, had different plans for David Servant. God didn't intend for him to run away from the world, but rather to play a part in changing the world by building God's kingdom. David received his call to ministry during his (reluctant) freshman year at Penn State, and one year later was enrolled in Bible School.David Servant is the author of eight books, including Forever Rich, and the The Disciple-Making Minister, a 500-page equipping manual that has been translated into more than 20 languages and is being distributed to tens of thousands of pastors.