Friend of Sinners

Good morning. Lots of new faces. Welcome to Jefferson Park. It's so good to see lots of family visiting and other just new guests with us. We typically walk through books of the Bible. We're walking through Luke right now. If you don't have a Bible, I hope there's one in front of you or the pew in front of you or the pew in front of you. Just keep tapping shoulders till you get one. You're welcome to take that home with you. We want you to have the word of God if you do not have a copy. This morning we're with Luke. We've been walking through this gospel for, well, about a year. We took a long break. The gospel continues to present Christ as the one who proclaims the good news to the poor. Luke continues to do a bit of a switch to show the weak are the ones that receive Christ. The poor are the ones who are blessed. This morning we're going to see a number of different interactions where the themes of Luke come together. And if we think about this, I wanna present two goals for us as a church. Two goals for us. First, we must hold firm to the faith once for all handed down. We must hold firm to the faith once for all handed down. This is why we open the service with a call to worship. We're gonna end it with scripture reading. We seek to sing the word. We seek to read the word. We try to find the oldest songs possible to sing together. And then the second goal. We want to invite every possible question. Invite every possible question. There's a firmness, a confidence. We must hold the truths together. And then there's an openness. Inviting the questions. There's two dangerous extremes that churches can just lazily fall into. One is to become just so committed to the crossing of the T's and the dotting of the I's that you're just gonna fold your arms and just say, we've got the truth and that's it. It's dangerous. And there's another danger that we're just gonna welcome every question. You can question everything and we never actually come to any answers. No, the church needs to be the place where we hold the truth with such confidence. We love questions. Questions means somebody wants to learn. Questions means somebody is actually growing and learning something more about Christ. Well, this morning we look at the vision there, the idea. Because John is going to come and ask an important question. We see John here modeling what I wanna call healthy doubt. We'll walk through the text. I hope I can convince you there's actually healthy doubt. There's ways in which we can ask questions that produces the kind of faith and strength in the faith. What we gotta do here is separate doubt and skepticism, though. John is asking a question seeking understanding by faith. He's going to be putting contrast to religious leaders that, as you just heard, reject the purpose of God. This morning, the one thing I hope we walk away with this morning is this. Jesus is our only hope, and he gives us great hope. That's the one thing I hope we walk away with. Jesus is our only hope, and he gives us great hope. There's three sections to the text. There's verses 18 through 23, 24 through 28, and then 29 through 35. 18 through 23, that's where we're gonna look at doubt assured. Doubt assured. 24 through 28, greatness promised. Greatness promised. And then 29 through 35, rejection warned. Jesus is our only hope. He gives us great hope. Here we see doubt assured. Verse 18, the disciples of John report all these things back to him. Well, John the Baptist is in prison. He confronted Herod about an inappropriate marriage. He was a very bold and courageous prophet, and he wasn't afraid of the consequence. He was put in jail. Now, John the Baptist, he's heard of all the things that have happened, and we have to think immediately, what has he heard about? Well, Jesus healed a centurion's servant, and he raised the dead of a widow. And I assume the one that would probably be most concerning for John the Baptist is the centurion. The Roman centurion represents Rome's oppression. If you're a nationalist, as John the Baptist probably was, as he appears to have been, as someone who's waiting for the vengeance and the justice of God to come to free Israel, you're probably really confused as to why Jesus, the hope for Messiah, would be helping the assumed enemy. Rome and the centurion represent the oppression Israel's under. And we see here a kind of doubt. John calls to the disciples, having heard these things, are you the one who is to come or should we look for another? And the men came and they said, John the Baptist sent us. Are you the one who is to come or should we look for another? I think we see here real doubt. a real concern. And it's important that we recognize this as doubt. And what we have to realize, John the Baptist, he's a pious, godly man. In just a few verses, Jesus is gonna say he's the greatest man to be born of woman up to this point. Can a pious man doubt? Let's just walk through the things that John the Baptist knows about Jesus. Remember, John the Baptist is the second cousin. I think I've got that right, maybe twice removed, I don't know how it works. of Jesus. When Mary walks in the room, John the Baptist starts doing spiritual somersaults in the womb of his mother. He was prophesied in the Old Testament as the one who's gonna prepare the way in both Malachi 3 and Isaiah 40. He would have grown up with Jesus, either hearing from his cousins about what was happening or knowing him personally and seeing who he is. He was a bold, faithful man of God who proclaimed the gospel in the wilderness. Remember, he baptized Jesus. At the moment of the baptism, he received the revelation. Jesus is sitting in the water and the father declares about Jesus, this is my beloved son. He saw the Holy Spirit descend upon him. He should have great assurance and awareness, this is the Messiah, but now he has a moment of doubt because the Messiah isn't doing the kind of Messiah-like things he thought he would be doing. Even more so, we know from John's own confession, he declares when Jesus arrives, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He's seen great witness of Jesus Christ. He's been appointed and anointed by the Holy Spirit to be a proclaimer of Jesus Christ. He has made a great confession of faith in Jesus Christ. And yet here we see doubt. And there could be, I hear the centurions being healed. That doesn't make any sense to me, Jesus, as to what I thought you were gonna do. I think the best way to explain why there's doubt is John the Baptist's message is repent. The kingdom of God is at hand. Vengeance and wrath and justice are coming. And John the Baptist put together all the different promises of God that they were all gonna come together with this one coming of Jesus Christ. He failed to see that there are two comings of Jesus Christ. Jesus first came not to condemn, but to bring mercy. Jesus first came to eat with sinners and be the friend of sinners, and then he will come again. He has come. We can look back. We're about to celebrate Christmas. He's come to save us. He died for our sins. He rose again. Judgment. is the second coming of Christ. I believe that's what is really at the heart of the confusion regarding John the Baptist. What I wanna show here is he's a wonderful model for us. Notice what he does with his doubts. He doesn't linger in his own room and try to figure things out on his own. That's dangerous. When we have doubts, the intuitive thing is to let me just kind of hunker down and figure this out on my own. No, you take it to the Lord in prayer. You talk to others about it. He's not going to get by himself and just figure these things out. No, he does what's best. He takes it to Jesus himself. And I wanna, again, separate here. A skeptic is somebody who's always just trying to knock out a truth, asking every question about every angle, trying to just undermine every possible way in which something could be true. No, a doubt says, I think there's an answer, I just need to ask the right question. Oftentimes, we're not asking the right question. Oh, but John, John is asking the right question. And this, this morning, is the question of questions. Are you the one? If you're not a Christian this morning, welcome. This is the question. Is Jesus the one? If you're not the one, should we be waiting for another because what you're doing doesn't match what I expect the one to do. Are you the one? Notice John doesn't ask, do I really have sinned that bad? Did God really make a promise that there would be a one? No, he has perfect confidence that he's a sinner in need of a one. What he wants to do is to verify, in prison, about to die, that his faith has been placed in the one. This is what's most important. Jesus is either the only Savior or he's not a Savior. We need to understand that. Jesus claims, and what he does makes him either the only Savior we must believe in or he's not a Savior. He's not one way up to God alongside of other religious leaders or great figures or even your own strength. No, he's either the Savior or he's not a Savior. And John the Baptist is asking the right question. Are you the one? Is my faith in the right one? Well, he must be the only Savior. Why? Well, he came from heaven. His beginning wasn't at the birth with the Virgin Mary. No, he came down from heaven and entered the womb. It was a virgin conception. And then he was born and became a perfect man. He lived the perfect human life. He is the only human. He is the most human because he did not sin. And then he died. He died as if a sinner. He died being counted as if a sinner, being treated for the sin we have committed. And then he rose again. And we just go to the statements of Jesus. He says he is the way, the truth, the life. He himself declares no one can come to the Father except through me. He is either the only Savior or he's not a Savior. If you're not a Christian, you probably and should have hundreds of questions. If you read the Bible, you're gonna come up with lots of questions. There's lots of good questions to ask the Bible. There's moral questions, there's science questions, there's history questions, there's so many good questions. There's really only one most important question. Is Jesus the one? promised of for thousands of years? Even going back to God promising Satan, I'm gonna crush you through one child born of a woman. Promises to Abraham, you'll have a child, he's going to reverse the curse. Promises to David, you'll have a son one day who will reign forever as king. Is he the one that was promised and is he the one who conquered death? Is he the one who's risen again? Is he the one who can actually take away your sins? If we look at it down to one question, is Jesus risen? That's it. If he is raised from the dead, everything else is true. If you're not a Christian, we have a sin problem. And Jesus is the only one who can take away our sin. Jesus is the only one who can care for us and be a friend to us in our sin. He's the only one who can truly help us. What you must do is believe. So John asked the right question, are you the one or should we look for another? There isn't other saviors, there's only one. Then notice in verse 21, in that hour he healed many. Jesus now takes center stage, his disciples have asked a good question, an important question, a necessary question. And notice how Jesus responds and he's always kind of indirectly answering questions. He just starts healing people. He takes people with diseases and plagues and he heals the blind. And then after healing all these different people, look at verse 22. Go and tell John. He's doubted, now I'm gonna give you an assurance. Go and tell John what you've seen and what you've heard. This isn't mysticism, this has happened, this is history. Right here, Jesus is saying, what you've seen and what you've heard, the blind receive sight, the lame walk. Lepers are cleansed. The deaf hear. The dead are raised up. And the poor have the good news preached to them. It's clear. He's fulfilling there what Isaiah 35 promised. Go and judge on the Baptist that the one that you've been waiting for is doing all the things that the God's Word said he would do. This isn't just redeeming Israel as a nation, as a people over against Rome, no, it's healing, it's helping, it's resurrecting. He's helping him see that the mission's a little more complicated than just I'm gonna come and bring justice. Verse 23 is really the key verse for this whole section. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me. Blessed is the one who does not stumble over me. What we've sung already in our songs and heard in the scripture readings, he is the cornerstone. He's either the one you believe in and you build your life upon or you trip over him, you're offended by him. He's either the cornerstone or a stumbling stone. The blessing of Christ is that we receive him and are received by him. The blessing of Christ is that when we see Jesus, we're not offended. Because what Jesus came to do was to preach the gospel to sinners. The gospel is only offensive if we deny the most basic premise, that we are creatures who've rebelled against our creator. That's the premise underlying the entire gospel. We're creatures who've rebelled against our creator. We get offended when we don't see ourselves properly, we don't see Jesus properly. If you're gonna wanna believe in a gospel that Jesus is gonna fix all those problems out there, it's gonna eventually be offensive and unsatisfying and you're gonna stumble. If you believe Jesus needs to come and affirm you and who you think you are and who you wanna be and all the things you wanna do, then you're eventually gonna be offended and stumble and you're gonna walk away from the faith. However, if you believe in Jesus as he presents himself, last week we saw he has all authority. He speaks and sickness departs. He shows compassion and declares to a dead son, rise up and the dead are alive again. He has great authority, he has great kindness. And he uses all of his authority for us. If you're expecting a different kind of savior, you're gonna be offended. The question is, are we believing Jesus as according to his word and what he said. Blessed are those who are not offended by him. If we flip it around, blessed are those who believe Jesus as he's been revealed. Blessed are those who believe Jesus and embrace Jesus and build their life upon Jesus, the rock, the resurrected one, the one who's by the hand of the Father. So first we see doubt assured. He has told John the Baptist, No, know that I am the Messiah. Know that I am the one. Blessed are you if you're not offended by me. Now, the story takes a turn. Jesus takes this opportunity and he makes another pretty interesting statement. Look at verses 24 and 28. The second point, greatness promised. John's messengers, they had gone. Jesus began to speak to the crowds. He takes a T to a moment. And he's asking some funny questions. What did you go into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in king's courts. Then why did you go, what then did you go to see? A prophet? Yes. The whole idea here is if you wanna go see something that's awesome, go to the castles, go to the kingdoms. You went out into the wilderness to see a guy dressed in camel's hair eating locusts. What did you expect? No, you went out there because he's preaching the Word of God. You went out there because he's proclaiming the Word of God. You didn't go out there to have your best life now wrapped up in great clothing and in luxurious living. Notice he says, not just a prophet, he's more than a prophet. And he quotes Malachi three, verse 27. Luke seven, verse 27. This is whom it is written. He's more than a prophet because he's a prophet that was prophesied about. Behold, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you. There's a way in which John the Baptist is a great prophet because he's the last prophet who gets to say he's coming and look, there he is. He's the prophet who gets to declare this is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He could have quoted Isaiah 40. We see later on in Malachi that the justice of God is going to come after this one who prepares the way comes. I wanna spend most of our time here on verse 28. Because again, the last verse of the teaching or the section is worthy of our attention, and we're gonna have to do some thinking here. Verse 28, I tell you, again, Jesus is drawing attention. He's trying to make it clear there's something important for us to hear. I tell you, among those born of women, none is greater than John. Okay, John the Baptist has a certain kind of greatness, yet, The one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. We've got to think through this. What does it mean to be great here? We have to ask this, what does it mean to be great? We can actually go all the way back to Genesis 12, one to three, that's the Abrahamic covenant. Remember, part of that covenant was that Abraham would have a great name, God does promise a certain kind of greatness to his people. There's a greatness promise there, and it's a greatness that Abraham receives by faith, and it's a greatness that Abraham accomplishes by going up to and growing up to the one who is truly great, that is God. Greatness is demonstrated in Abraham by his faithfulness, his faithfulness. Here we need to ask the question, for fun, Is John a New Testament prophet or an Old Testament prophet? Is he an Old Testament prophet or a New Testament prophet? Write down your answer, we'll see who gets it right. He's an Old Testament prophet. He appears in the New Testament, but he's an Old Testament prophet. The Old Testament doesn't end until Jesus dies. And the New Covenant doesn't begin until Jesus rises again. Go to Hebrews 8. The Old Testament is now made obsolete because of the death of Jesus. The New Covenant begins with his resurrection. John the Baptist is this wonderful hinge figure because he's the Old Testament prophet who gets to say he's here, he's here, he's here. But he doesn't ever live in the New Covenant. But if we look at John the Baptist, his greatness is that he is faithful to the task God set before him. His greatness, as defined here by Jesus, he is a great man. He was faithful to what God had set before him. Now the hard question. How is it that kingdom citizens are greater than John? How is it that kingdom citizens are greater than John? I'm gonna try to walk through a logical argument. Please feel free to ask questions afterwards. First, being a citizen of the kingdom has nothing to do with your birth. Notice there's an emphasis, no one born of a woman is greater than John. There's been no one born of a woman who's shown greater faithfulness than John. But being part of the kingdom is by faith. Being born in the kingdom, which is gonna be inaugurated with Jesus' resurrection, is not something you're born into. Second, the kingdom here introduces the fact that there's a significant difference in the old covenant and the new covenant. The old is made obsolete with his death, the new is brought in with his resurrection. The Old Testament was constantly looking at the promises, the king is coming, the New Testament declares Christ is risen, the king is here. Does it make sense? We're in Advent season. Advent is, he's coming, he's coming. Advent is about the excitement and the joy that we're looking at the Old Testament promises. The king is coming, the king is coming, and then we get the New Testament, the king is risen. We know he's come. Second is, second is there's a difference between the Old Covenant and New Covenant. The third reason here is that the kingdom is promising the king will come. And Christ fulfills all those promises. The fourth point underneath the question, how are we greater? How are the kingdom citizens greater than John? Christ has now given us redemption accomplished. The greatness is in what we do. The greatness is in our own position. The greatness is in the fact that Christ now is risen. He's at the right hand of the Father. We have a better position. Galatians argues, you're no longer a servant, the law, as a tutor, like a child. No, you're now sons. Our position is now better, is now greater in the new covenant, because Christ, the real Son of God, is at the right hand of the Father, and we get to be sons who call God Father. That's a new benefit of the new covenant. The second way is that Jesus has accomplished Righteousness. In the Old Covenant, how were sins handled? They were covered by sacrifices. Over and over again. The reason they keep having to kill animals, they only covered sin. They only covered sin. They only covered sin. What did Jesus do when he died on the cross? He took it away by taking it upon himself. It's greater. The forgiveness we have is greater because it's not just promised. It's realized. It's accomplished. It's fulfilled. And the third thing, Jesus promises in the great discourse in John, when I go away, I will send the Holy Spirit and he will indwell you forever. Faithfulness we can have is greater because the very power of God indwells us in a way it did not indwell John the Baptist. The Holy Spirit indwells and seals believers in a way that he did not indwell and seal John the Baptist in Old Testament believers. citizens of the kingdom, believers in Jesus Christ. There's a greater position we have as sons. There's a greater power we have by the Holy Spirit. There's a greater forgiveness we have because it's accomplished, it's done. There's a greater aspect to it because John was declaring, there will be a king, he will be the king. We get to herald the good news, the king is risen. Today, we are called to be greater than John the Baptist. And we do it the same way John the Baptist Abraham did, it's by being faithful. Are we faithful? Are we faithful to hear the promises of God? Are we faithful to keep the commandments of God? Are we faithful? Remember back in Tower of the Babel, that's Genesis 11? What was the sin there? They wanted to make themselves great by building up this great tower. And then God had to come down and look at it. That's how pathetic it was. It was a great act by man, but it was nothing compared to the greatness of God. Then Genesis 12, that's when God promises Abraham a true greatness. True greatness is growing up and trusting the one who is fully great, God great. Believing everything he says and obeying everything he commands. If we're going to be great in the kingdom, it's living by faith. It's being faithful. The main difference is John the Baptist didn't have the Holy Spirit the way we do. John the Baptist didn't have the assurance of forgiveness the way we do. John the Baptist didn't call God Father the way we do. Christian, are we being faithful? Are we being faithful? See, we like to believe that greatness is something we gain for ourselves. Greatness is something we pull in for ourselves. The world says, exalt yourself and be exalted by others, and that's what greatness is. Christ says, draw other men to me and grow up closer to me. That's what greatness is. The world says, find your greatness in the prestige of work, a larger paycheck, and more influence. Christ says greatness is in loving your neighbor, serving others, being poured out for the betterment of other people. You realize this changes everything. Greatness can be accomplished while serving in the nursery. Greatness can be accomplished in the home, caring for children and loving your spouse. Greatness isn't in getting the promotion at work, but it's being a faithful worker in your employment. Faithful is looking at your syllabus as a school, as a student, and saying, I want to be faithful and I want to do the work for the glory of God. It's not about getting an A, it's about doing the work according to what God would do. Greatness is turned upside down. Oh, the warning we need here in this materialistic age that says get a greater reputation, have more influence, get more power, have a better paycheck. Oh, if you want to be great, believe the promises of God and be faithful. Parents, you can be great by pointing your children to Jesus. what we consider too often just menial task or the continuation of the work that's so belaboring. No, this is glorious, great work. Greatness is promised by being faithful. Finally, the last thing Jesus turns us to is rejection warned. We see John the Baptist asking a question in doubt by faith. We see Jesus making the opportunity to make clear, those who will be of the kingdom will be greater than John. Finally, we see rejection warned. And notice here, my text, the ESV, the text in the pew, 29 and 30 are in parentheses. This is Luke giving us kind of a narrative insight. When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, They declared God just, true, right, because they had been baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and the lawyers, those who were responsible for having the Word of God and handling the Word of God and teaching the Word of God, oh, this phrase, they rejected the purpose of God for themselves. Not having been baptized by Him. That parenthesis is very important because it's setting up what Jesus is going to teach. There's two groups. There's those who have been baptized, and we have to remember John the Baptist, his baptism was a baptism of repentance. It was turning away from sin and turning to God. Those who rejected John and his baptism were rejecting their need for repentance. Notice there. I'm arguing, and I believe it's clear, that by rejecting their need for repentance, they're rejecting the purpose of God for themselves. That is terrifying. God has a purpose. It's a glorious purpose. That all men would hear of Jesus, believe in Jesus, repent of their sin, and be renewed back in relationship with him. One might say God loves you as a wonderful plan for your life. There's a purpose. That you would be renewed by God in that relationship, but notice when they reject repentance, when they reject God's word, they're rejecting God's purpose for them. What are they really doing? By rejecting repentance, they're holding on to sin. They're choosing to hold on to sin, and by doing so, they're rejecting God. Go back to the confession of those who were tax collectors, that is the outsiders, the despised people. When they heard this, God is just. God is true. They can rejoice in God because they rejected their sin and believed in Him. Failure to see our need for repentance is why we fail to see God. Failure to see our need of repentance is why we fail to see God. Let's just take a look back. The Roman centurion, a Gentile, He believes Jesus so much, he says, if you just say the word, my servant will be healed. Jesus then contrasts this, and he marveled at his faith. He says, I've not seen faith like this in all of Israel. And then drop down here, the religious leaders, those who are supposed to be learning and studying and teaching God's word, they have no faith. There's a foil there. The Roman centurion should be the one who rejects God, but he believes. The Pharisees are the ones who should believe in God, but they reject Him. The Pharisees are a great warning for us. How dangerous is it for us to know much about God's Word and nothing of our own sin? Will we take God's Word seriously? I pray you will take God's Word seriously. But if we know God's Word thoroughly, And yet know nothing of our sin. Oh, what a dangerous, religious rebellion we lead against God. Luke puts us back into Jesus' teaching, verse 31. To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? Jesus loves some analogies and similes. They are like, Children sitting in the marketplace, calling to one another. We played the flute for you and you did not dance. We sang a dirge and you did not weep. What does that mean? I believe what he's picturing here is in the marketplace, you're gonna have a group of kids. And it's kinda like whenever we were to ask any group of kids, hey, what game do you wanna play? You're gonna have these group over here, this group over here, they're gonna wanna play checkers, and this group over here, they're gonna play Monopoly, and they're gonna be so unhappy bickering over what game they should play, they never have any fun playing anything. You get the picture? Anybody ever experience anything like that? I see parents nodding their head yes. If you were just to say like, kids, what do you wanna do? Even if it's adults, what do you wanna do? We're gonna bicker. childishness about that. You actually don't have any fun. You know, I wanted to play a sweet melody, so we would dance. And no, I wanted to play a lament, and then we did not weep. It's childish foolishness. There's a discontentment there. There's just children squabbling. That's what he's picturing. Then he explains more clearly. This generation, these men who shouldn't know my word, but are rejecting the very purpose of God for themselves, they're like children squabbling. He gives an explanation. For John the Baptist, he came eating no bread, and drinking no wine, and you said he has a demon. And then, The son of man, he came eating and drinking, and you say, look at him, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. You see here, they're skeptics. Nothing's ever satisfying. They're gonna find a problem no matter what. Oh, John the Baptist, we don't like how pious he is. He fasts more than we do. There must be something wrong with him. We don't like Jesus. He doesn't fast like we do. He must be a glutton. There's something wrong with him. They're skeptics. They're just trying to bicker away like children squabbling. Let's find a problem with everything else and never have any fun. Remember when Jesus said, judge not lest you'll be judged? This is what he's talking about. Constantly holding somebody up to some moving field goal. where they never know what's expected of them. Holding somebody up to our own judgment and condemning them because they don't live up to whatever we think of them. This is what the Pharisees and lawyers were like. Each one of these sections ends with just an incredible verse. Verse 23, blessed is the one who is not offended by me, worthy of our meditation. Verse 28, I tell you among those born of women, none is greater than John, yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. And now, this verse, yet wisdom is justified by all her children. Your assignment, if you so wish to accept it, is to discuss one of these verses over lunch today with your family and friends. What does this mean? Wisdom is justified by all her children. Well, wisdom is the opposite of whatever's going on with these children. That's childish, foolish, squabbling. Remember, wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord. Wisdom has a reverence about it. Wisdom has an awe. Wisdom doesn't boast and make rash judgments. Here, notice it says wisdom is justified. Justified has two meanings in scripture, and it's very important we get these two meanings correct. The one we talked about on October 31st, Justified means declared not guilty. It's a declaration by the judge that says not guilty. It's a legal declaration of righteousness. You can see that kind of judgment, that justification in Romans 3, 21 through 26. God has declared us not guilty by punishing his son with our sins. He is now both just and the justifier. The second way in which the Bible uses the word justified is like the witnesses that testify in a court. You see this as a lawyer's evidence. You see this in James 2, 14 to 26, where James Constance says, show me your works and it will justify what you claim to believe. Justified by the evidence should lead to a court or a judge declaring a verdict. Here, justified, I believe, is the evidence kind. There's evidence, there's a testimony. Wisdom is justified, wisdom is proven, wisdom is made evident by all her children. Other translations, other places, the words made deeds. Wisdom is proven by what it produces. Let's go back to Jesus' sermon on the plane. A bad tree out of the bad treasure produces bad fruit. A good tree out of the good treasure produces good fruit. Wisdom is proven. Wisdom is demonstrated. Wisdom is declared based upon what it produces. He's showing here that these men who are supposed to be teaching and upholding the law and leading Israel in worship, they've rejected God. Their production justifies them as foolish. But Jesus declares, John the Baptist, himself, his disciples, Lord Willem, they're proven by the fruit. That's why we go back and we see that they declare God is just. He's true. He's proven himself over and over. And we, the way we live, should also be proof. The warning is that when we hear the word of God, when we get some notion, some sight, some vision of our sin, are we gonna walk away quickly from that mirror and pretend it's not that big of a deal? Are we gonna reject the purpose of God that He would call us to repentance to either know Him for the first time or know Him truly and rightly and more faithfully? We're gonna do the wonderful invitation of Jesus Christ. Confess. Confess. Bring your sin to Jesus who washes it away, who cleanses you, who restores you. There's a warning. Rejecting to repent of sin means we reject God. Hearing of our sin leads us to confess and to be received by God. As we conclude, Jefferson Parish Baptist Church, I pray and I'm thankful we are a church that takes God's word seriously. We need to hear the danger. Are we taking it seriously enough to judge those outside? Are we taking it seriously enough to be judged by our own sin? I really appreciated Brian's prayer in that when he prayed for the man, those who committed the great travesty of the prayed killing. That isn't just all that sin out there. No, we're sinners just like him. That sin resides in me. And it's by God's grace alone I haven't acted out on that sin. We're sinners just like that man, or whatever great travesty you can think of, whatever great sin you can think of, we're all sinners, guilty the same way. And that's why we proclaim the one God, the only hope, who can actually save us. Notice that last line, it is true. He's a friend of sinners. He is not a friend of those who hold him to sin. He's not a friend of those who boast in sin. He's not a friend of those who intentionally practice sin. He's a friend of those who confess and repent. He is the friend of sinners, and he is the one friend we need, and he's the only friend who actually helps us. We hear the warning, if we love sin, we reject God. We hear the promise, if we are faithful, God gives us his own greatness. We hear the assurance, Jesus is the one. Believe in him. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you that you are kind. You are quick to mercy, you are slow to anger. You are patient with us. In our rebellion, You confront us with kindness and grace to draw us out. We thank you, Lord, for the word of God that allows us to see our sin according to your truth and your standards, and we thank you that the word of God shows us, most importantly, your own Son, the risen King, who sits at your right hand. In his name we pray that you would draw us closer to be faithful, to know you, and to proclaim you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let us stand and sing our song of response, Jesus a Friend of Sinners.