Matthew 3:7-10

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

John the Baptist didn’t exactly preach a “seeker sensitive” message. He opened with repentance for those who might come to the Messiah, and then turned his steely gaze upon the high and mighty religious leaders of the day: Pharisees and Sadducees. Did he open with a warm reception, honoring them for their on-going service to the Temple and the Jews? No. He insulted them right to their faces.

These Jewish leaders were very religious men, yet God’s Anointed called them out as a “brood of vipers.” Why did these religious men need to worry about the coming wrath of God? Because even though they were very religious in their activities, their hearts were far from God (Matthew 15:8). I wonder if some of us “good church folk” might have the same problem?

You go to church. You attend a Sunday school class. You believe in God. You own a few bibles. You throw a few bucks in the plate. You live a pretty moral life. You are good with the whole “Jesus thing.” All of these are good things, but none of them are saving things…and none of them are truly the “good fruit” that flow out of a true saving faith. Be sure, friend, that you aren’t following in their footsteps.