#19 Lu. 3:10-14; HOW THE SAVED SHOULD LIVE

 

Introduction:

 

    In our text last Sunday John the Baptist began to preach in

the wilderness of Judaea.  He preached that the Lord was about to

come and that men should repent and get ready for the coming of

the Lord.  John further preached that those who did repent should

come to him for baptism.  The baptism was not intended to save

them, but was to intended to give evidence that they had already

been saved.  Some scribes and Pharisees came to John and wanted

him to baptize them, but John refused to baptize them.  He called

them a generation of vipers and told them that they should first

show some evidence that they had repented of their sins and

believed in the coming Lord and Christ.  In other words, if one is

saved he should show by the way that he lives that he is saved.

In our text today, that very same idea is continued.  In this text

John tells in greater detail how a believer in the Christ should

live.

 

I.  The people coming to John with a question

 

    The opportunity to give this greater detail about godly living

presented itself to John when many of the people came to him for

baptism and inquired about how they should live.  V. 10, "And the

people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?"  The people

heard John tell the scribes and Pharisees to bring forth fruit

meet for repentance.  If they did not hear John tell the

Pharisees, they at least had heard bout it.  Therefore many of

them who came to John to be baptized asked him, "What about us?

What are we supposed to do?  How are we supposed to live our

lives?"

    Now in order for us to properly understand this question and

to understand John's answer to them, we should be aware that John

did not refuse to baptize these.  These were people whom John

considered as having repented of their sins and as having believed

in the coming Christ whom he preached.  Therefore when they came

to him to be baptized John baptized them.  These were not people

who still needed to repent and trust the coming Lord and be saved.

These were people who had now repented of their sins.  They had

believed in the coming Lord.  They had already been saved.

    So the answer that John gave to them was not instructions in

repentance and salvation.  They were already saved.  The answer

that John gave to them was instructions in how to live their lives

now that they are saved.

 

II.  The answer that John gave to the well fixed

 

    The first answer that John gave was directed to those who were

well heeled.  They were pretty well off financially.  They had

more than enough to be able to share with others.  V. 11, "He

answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him

impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do

likewise."  John said that those who are able to share with others

who are in need should do so.  He said let the man with two coats

share with one who has none.  He said let the man who has plenty

to eat share with the one who does not have enough to eat.  I dare

say that there are not many Christians today in our part of the

world who would be unable to share with others.

    Now I want to commend the people of our church for their

generosity toward those in need.  I especially commend the ladies

of our auxiliary for contributing such a good food shower to the

storeroom of the Texas Baptist Institute and Seminary.  They give

their food and they give their money.  And many of your men folk

have also had a part in contributing to this worthy cause.  If it

were not for people like you many of the students would not be

able to feed their family and stay in school.

    But we need not wait until our church or an auxiliary of our

church takes an offering for those who are in need.  Each family

who is able to do so should look around and find somebody who is

in need and share some of the good things that God has given to

us.  And we need not wait until Thanksgiving time or Christmas

time to share with others.  They have to eat all year long.  It

would not hurt us to share with someone on a regular basis.  Now I

am not talking about handing out to people who are too lazy and

too sorry to work.  I am talking about helping those who are in

need.  Neither am I talking about taking the tithes and offerings

that should go to your church and giving it to the poor and

calling that tithing.  It is not tithing.  I am talking about

giving above your regular tithes and offerings to help those who

are in need.

 

III.  The answer that John gave to the publicans

 

    In his next answer John was talking to those who were

publicans.  That is, they were tax collectors for the Roman

government.  The Roman government placed a tax upon all the

nations within her empire.  The method which the Romans used to

collect taxes for the Caesar made it very easy for the tax

collectors to abuse the people.  For instance, they would hire

certain local people to collect the taxes from the rest of the

local people.  These locals who collected taxes for Rome were

called "publicans."  That name is not to be confused with the

word, Republicans.   The word, publican, had to do with the tax

office that a man held and had nothing to do with his politics.

    The Roman government gave these publicans great authority over

the people, but gave the people no protection whatsoever from the

publicans.  They were told by Rome to collect a certain amount for

the government of Rome.  It was to be expected that they would be

allowed to collect a little extra from the people in order to

provide themselves a salary.  However, Rome allowed them to

collect all they thought they could get from the people without

starting a revolt.  Many of the publicans got fabulously rich off

of the people by charging them outrageously high taxes.  They

collected all that Rome wanted and lots, lots more.

    John told those whom he baptized not to do that.  At least,

they were not to do it any more.  Some of them came to John and

asked John and John told them.  V. 12, "Then came also publicans

to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do?"

Our KJV says that they addressed John as their Master.  That is,

they addressed him as their teacher.  The Greek word that here is

translated "Master" means "teacher."  The most of these Publicans,

probably all of them, had been dishonest with the people.  They

had taken advantage of them simply because they had the power and

authority to do so.  They were making themselves fabulously rich

at the expense of the people.  Oh, it was perfectly legal.  All

the Roman government cared about was getting their taxes.  They

did not care how much the publicans got over and above that.  I

think it highly commendable of these men that they would come to

John, now that they are saved, and ask John, "What about it, John?

What are we supposed to do now?"  At least they showed a

willingness to change.

    John did not hesitate to tell them.  V. 13, "And he said unto

them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you."  Collect

only that which you are supposed to exact for Rome plus that which

is allowed to you for a salary.  Stop charging the people more

than what is just and fair.  Stop being selfish.  Stop being

dishonest in your dealing with others.

    Now so far as I know, there are not many Christians who are

occupied as tax collectors for Uncle Sam or for the state of

Texas.  However, there are many Christians to whom this principal

applies.  If John were here to talk to the business people, to the

doctors, to the lawyers and other professional men of our area,

John would say, "Charge a fair price for your merchandise or for

your services.  Do not take advantage of the people just because

you have them over a barrel and they have to buy your products or

have to have your services.  When one has invested his time, money

and energies in going to school and learning a trade, he is due to

make a fair profit or a fair wage for his services.  But I am

convinced that John would tell a lot of doctors, lawyers,

plumbers, and a lot of other people today to stop trying to get

fabulously rich off of the people.  Stop taking unfair advantage

of them.

 

IV.  The answer that John gave to the soldiers

 

    What is surprising to me is that Luke says that even some

soldiers came to John to be baptized of him and they, too, wanted

to know, "What about us?  What are we to do?"  V. 14, "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."  It is highly probable

that these soldiers had become proselyte Jews.  Luke does not say.

Some have speculated that they might even be of Hebrew blood and

just hired out to the Romans to do police work in Israel.  That

could be, but I think not likely.  At any rate they were in the

Roman army and they came to John to hear him preach.  Then after

hearing him preach, they decided that they believed his message

about the coming Christ.  They repented of their sin, trusted in

the Christ and were baptized by John.  Now they wanted to know

what special instructions he had for them to live by.

    John gave the soldiers three special rules to follow.  First

of all, they were to do no violence to any man.  That is, they

were not to take advantage of the power of their position and just

rough people up unnecessarily.  Perhaps in the course of doing

their duty as a soldier they would be forced to hurt somebody, but

that is not what John was talking about.  They were not to allow

themselves to get blood-thirsty and to abuse their power and to

hurt people unnecessarily.

    Secondly, John told the soldiers not to accuse any man

falsely.  In that day, the chief reason that this might be done by

soldiers was in order to confiscate their property.  John says,

"Don't do it.  Do not accuse a man falsely.  Do not try to

confiscate his property."

    Thirdly, John told the soldiers to be content with their

wages.  In that day, it was common for soldiers, especially those

who were serving in a foreign land, to do much like the tax

collectors did.  If their own government did not pay them as much

as they wanted they would use their power to get more.  They would

often just take that which they saw and wanted.  They would often

force the people to pay them wages in addition to what salary they

already got from the Roman government.  This was especially true

of high ranking officers.  John said, "Stop doing that.  Learn to

live within your wages.  Learn to be content with them.  Learn

that the real joy of living is not in seeing just how much money

you can earn.  There is a lot more to life than just money.

    In our day, John's advice could well apply not only to

soldiers but to officers of the law.  Yet in some respect it would

apply to us all.  For example: Do not abuse your power and

authority and hurt other people unnecessarily.  That applies to

Christians of our day who are in the military, especially those

who are abroad.  A soldier can well abuse his power, but the

Christian is not to allow himself to do so.

    The admonition to not abuse one's power and authority could

well apply to the Christian law officer in our day.  He is

certainly in a position to abuse his power if he choses to do so

and at lease some of them do chose to do so.  But the Christian is

not to live that kind of life.  He is to use his power and

authority to uphold law and order and for the good of the people.

He is not to use it as a means of abusing people.

    The admonition not to falsely accuse anyone could certainly

apply to the law officer of our day.  The Christian worker on the

job should likewise heed this counsel----and the Christian at

church---or at home ---or at play.  This is an admonition that

could well apply to all of us in all situations.

    Likewise the admonition to be content with what we have would

well apply to us all.  This does not mean that we should not plan

and provide for the future. Nor does it mean that we are never to

seek to advance ourselves in any way.  What it does mean is that

we should not become greedy and always after more, more, more,

more.  Or, to put it in the terms of one of the Ten Commandments,

"Thou shalt not covet."

 

V.  Other groups that could be cited

 

    Now, brethren, I hope that you can see that Luke has not

attempted to cover the entire field.  There were people of many

different walks of life that came to John and wanted to know how

to live their lives other than just tax collectors and soldiers.

Luke was just using these two groups to teach us a lesson that all

Christians are to live godly lives.

    We could certainly cite others as examples.  For example,

preachers are to live godly lives.  From the things we hear on the

news today, you would think that preachers of our day need to have

a good talk with John and let John instruct them in some things to

do and some things not to do.  A Baptist preacher was arrested

here in the East Texas area and accused of stealing a valuable

collection of books out of a library right here in Texas.  A

Methodist preacher in Dallas is thought to have killed his wife.

They still haven't pinned it on him yet, but they are still

trying.  Several different Catholic priests have been in the news

lately accused of having affairs with nuns and even with teenage

boys.  The Jim Jones, Jim Baker, and Jimmy Swaggart scandals have

shocked our nation.  The Garner Ted Armstrong affair has not

altogether been forgotten.  Let me tell you that there is no

excuse for anyone who claims to be called of God to preach God's

word to get involved in that kind of living.  God has called all

Christians to live godly lives and He especially calls upon those

who really are His preachers to set an example.

    Other church officers should likewise listen to John.

Deacons, youth workers, song leaders, pianists, soloists, church

choir members, and teachers should live godly lives.  We should

not allow ourselves to get absorbed in the affairs of the world

and attracted by the sins of the world to get involved in the

ungodly ways of the world.  Oh, the Devil is sharp and he could

outsmart us all and re us all into his trap if it were not for the

help of God.  But we should live close to God and depend of the

help of God to live godly lives.

    Let me go ahead and toss in a few other choice bits of advice

to Christians that I think John would give us if he were here

today.  Housewives, do not go hankpanking around with some other

man.  Be true to your husbands.  Husbands, the same goes for you.

Do not go messing around with some other woman.  Young people, do

not even one time get involved in the use of liquor or drugs.

Stay off the booze bottle.  Stay away from the honky-tonks.  Say

"No" not only to drugs and liquor, but say "No" to premarital sex.

Both young and old should avoid shacking up with somebody.  Oh, I

know, they don't call it "shacking up" any more.  They call it

having a "live-in."  Let me say to you that it is just as sinful

and just as wicked for an older person to have a live-in as it is

for a young person to have one.  It is worse.  They surely ought

to know better.

    Let me say to you that it is high time that those who claim to

be Christians to stop that kind of living.  God will not put with

whoremongering around, popping the pills, sniffing whatever there

is to be sniffed, gambling, boozing, cussing and in general living

like the Devil.  You might get by for a little while.  You might

think, "I am grown and nobody can stop me."  Don't count on that.

God can stop you and sooner or later He will.

    Nobody, but nobody ---saved or unsaved---nobody gets by with

living that kind of life.  The Christian especially is not going

to get by very long.  God is going to lay the lash on his hide.

The unsaved will get his eventually.  It may not be until he is in

the fires of hell, but you can be sure that he will not get by

with his ungodly sins.  He will rue his sins forever.

 

Conclusion:

 

    Let me ask you if you are saved.  I do not need to ask you if

you are a sinner.  I know the answer to that.  I know that I have

sinned and I know that you have, too.  I do not need to know what

you have done to know that you have sinned.  I know that you have

sinned because the Bible says that all have sinned.  So the

question is not, "Have you ever sinned?" but "Have you ever called

on Jesus Christ and asked Him to save you from your sins?" If you

are not sure that Jesus has saved your soul then you had better

make sure.  You can make sure by talking to Him about it and

asking Him to take care of your soul.

    If you are saved, I want to tell you that you will be a lot

better off in life if you will yield your life to God than you

will if you bow your neck and deliberately go against God's will

for your life.  What I am going to ask you to do is to get your

life straightened out with God and ask God to help you to keep it

that way.