 today, we're looking at John the Baptist, and we're going to see some things about dealing with doubt, because in this passage here before us, John the Baptist is dealing with some doubt. He's about to lose his head, and he just wants to make sure that it's for the right person. And so beginning at verse one, and I'll read to verse six, we're going to be looking at the topic of dealing with doubt as we look at the life of John the Baptist as he is in prison. Beginning at verse one, reading to verse six, Matthew chapter 11, now I came to pass when Jesus finished commanding his twelve disciples that he departed from there to teach and preach in their cities. And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to him, Are you the coming one, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said to them, Go and tell John the things which you hear and see. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear. The dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them, and blessed is he who has not offended because of me. Now as we went through chapter 10, let me refresh your memory as we lead up to chapter 11. As we went through chapter 10, we know that chapter 10 gives details concerning Jesus' commissioning of the twelve apostles. Now I mentioned to you that the apostles were taken out of the multitude of disciples. When you go into the New Testament and you begin to read concerning some of the words that are used in regards to those who are following after Christ, you're going to see different words used. You'll see the word multitudes, the multitudes followed him. But you'll also see the word disciples. And then there are times that they actually number the disciples. They'll speak about the seventy that he appoints to go out and do work. You'll see that he has sometimes three that are mentioned, sometimes two, and then there are times when he even has a single one mentioned. What Jesus was doing is out of the multitudes and out of his disciples, he was calling twelve whom he appointed as apostles. The disciple speaks of an individual who's pursuing the Lord Jesus Christ full time. So Jesus spoke about what it means to be a disciple in Matthew chapter 10. The demands that he gives in chapter 10 are the kind of demands that will actually cause some who are fair weather disciples, in other words those who kind of like what he's saying and kind of will listen a bit but won't necessarily fully commit themselves to him. Well it causes them to begin to wonder whether or not they really will follow him. And that's what you see in Matthew chapter 10, when Jesus began to speak concerning the cost of following after him. Out of those disciples he chose twelve apostles. And it wasn't a haphazard kind of thing, it wasn't a spur of the moment kind of thing. It wasn't Jesus looking at a large group of people and saying, you know, Eenie meenie miney mo your one. He didn't do that. The Bible tells us in Luke chapter 6 verses 12 and 13 that Jesus prayed all night. And after praying all night he selected out of the disciples, the twelve whom he referred to as apostles. Later on he speaks concerning that. He says something to them in the Gospel of John in chapter 15 verse 16 when he says to them, you didn't choose me but I chose you. Because he had spent the night in prayer, he chose the twelve and later on he even lets them know that that's how it all came about. So as we see this here in chapter 10 in Matthew, we know that the Lord is instructing his men concerning ministry and the ministry that they're going to perform. He selects them and he gives them a thorough preparation for the work before them. And as I've been mentioning to you, as he selects them he also equips them. He gives them power, he gives them a ministry field, he gives them a method, he gives them a message, he promises provision and he encourages them to have pure motives. You see all of that in chapter 10. And so as he's doing this, he's also preparing them for something else. He's preparing them for the response that will be given to them concerning his message. And as I've been sharing with you, the response that he's preparing them for is the response of persecution. Not every person is going to appreciate the message of the Gospel. And so Jesus made it very clear that those who follow after him are going to have the result of persecution. They'll be religious persecution. They'll be governmental persecution. Your own family will reject you, he said, and society at large is going to turn against the message of the Gospel. So he's preparing them for what's going to take place. Through all of this, they need to know that God is going to be with them and that God will provide for them. They need to rely on the Lord. And in spite of the opposition, they need to be open in their confession of him. For if they confess him before men, he will confess them before his father. But if they deny him before men, his father also will deny, he will deny them before his father in heaven. So there's a price that's going to be paid, you need to remain firm. But you also need to know that no matter what you go through, God will be with you. Now that reminds me of Isaiah chapter 50 verse 7 where it says there, the Lord God will help me, therefore I will not be disgraced. Therefore I have set my face like flint and I know that I will not be ashamed. And so Jesus is teaching them to set their face like flint, even as Isaiah prophesied Messiah would do, and you will not be ashamed. You see shrinking back from faithfulness to him should not occur because you're to pick up your cross and believers are to have heavenly priorities and ultimately receive a reward for our service to him. And so that's what chapter 10 being summarized is talking about. So we enter into chapter 11 and beginning at verse when it says, it came to pass when Jesus finished commanding his 12 disciples, that he departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities. And so he finishes his instructions, they go off and Jesus himself goes off into ministry. He's teaching and preaching in the cities of Galilee, even as they also are. I want to point one thing out, I'll say it briefly, but notice with me how it says, he departed in verse one, he departed from there to teach and to preach. Teaching and preaching, that is what Christians do. That's what we're supposed to do, teach the word of God and preach the word of God. Teaching is the dissemination or the giving of information, provoking people to receive and learn. Preaching is the ministry anointing of declaration, giving information but provoking people to make a decision. And every time the word of God is opened up, there will be a combination of teaching and preaching. Teaching for those who are saved is a way of them being instructed, provoked to learn. It appeals to the mind. Teaching does that, preaching appeals to the will for a person to make a decision. You can do both simultaneously and it occurs simultaneously. Jesus' commission he had and that he gave to his disciples was that they would go out and they would teach and they would preach. In Luke chapter 4 verses 42 and 43, Luke says, Now when it was day, he departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought him and came to him and tried to keep him from leaving them. But he said to them, I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also because for this purpose I have been sent. And so the Lord Jesus Christ has taken this message out. He's preaching and he's teaching. He's going to the cities, many of the cities that his disciples will also travel to and he's doing ministry. As all of this is taking place, verse 2, When John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, said to them, said to him, Are you the coming one or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said to them, Go and tell John the things which you have, what you hear and see, the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear. The dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them and blessed is he who is not offended because of me. John the Baptist. John the Baptist is the cousin of the Lord Jesus Christ and he has been imprisoned. He's in jail. He's in a place more than likely, it's called Makaris. It's a fortress that is to the south by the Dead Sea. And there he is imprisoned and while he's imprisoned, he continues receiving updates from his disciples. His disciples still have access to him and so they're undoubtedly coming and sharing with him the things that they are seeing and the things that they're hearing coming from the message of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now John was what we would call today a fearless preacher. He had been sent by God in order to prepare the way for Messiah and when you look at his message, it's very basic and it's very clear. His message is found in Matthew 3 verse 2, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And so John has been preaching repentance. Now he's an example of what Jesus had been teaching his men. He was one who feared God more than he feared man and what had happened in the life of John is he had preached to a political official named Herod. Now it's interesting when you look at that, how that Herod in some ways rejoiced. He actually respect John. He enjoyed much of what he had to say. Herod would listen to John preach and the Bible tells us in Mark chapter 6 verse 20, Herod feared John. Knowing that he was a just and holy man and he protected him and when he heard him, he did many things and heard him gladly. He protected him, did many things and listened with joy to what he had to say. That's very interesting when you consider it. You see what happens is Herod has a mixture of respect and superstitious fear of John because he knew that John was a man of God. But it was this that moved Herod to protect him. And it's interesting when it says he protected him, the question has to be asked from what and from who? And the answer is supplied by Scripture. Who was he protecting him from? He was protecting him from his wife, Herodias. Herodias did not like John. And the Bible makes it very clear. You see, when you see that this was a man who actually feared John because he knew he was just and holy. When you see that Herod was a man who protected him, who heard him, who did many things, listening to him gladly. When you see this, what you're seeing is a man at war within himself. On one hand, he respects the goodness of John. On the other hand, he is torn by his evil passions. Herod enjoyed John's preaching. There are a lot of people who are that way. They like hearing what's being said. They enjoy the word. I'll give you an example. This is basic. I think all of us in this congregation understand it being San Bernardino. I think it's a very important thing. All of us in this congregation understand it being San Bernardino. Many of us San Bernardino residents, San Bernardino County residents. You hear a minister get up and say something about, we'll say Islam, and says it point blank and says strong things. There are quite a number of people who aren't even Christian, who will rise up and say, that's the way it is. That's how it should be said. They will say that. They will say that. They walk up and say, that's what needs to be said. You should say it. But when you say something about the sin that you would call their pet sin, the thing that they keep, that they enjoy, and you say something about that, it's a different story entirely. On the one hand, they like the fact that you stood up and you said what needs to be said, but when you say something that speaks to their own personal life, that actually brings conviction, they don't like that. You can say, we need to deal with this, this, this and that, and they'll go, amen. And if you say, but you know what, man? New Year's, where were you? Were you getting drunk? Oh, don't get my personal affairs, man. It's that way. Anyway, it was Christian Brothers wine. I'm telling you, you know it and I know it. Absolute truth. He heard him, heard him gladly. Many of the things he said he would do until, until his pet sin was exposed. His pet sin, his wife. The Bible tells us how John ended up being put in prison in Matthew chapter 14, verses three and four. In Matthew 14, three and four, it says, Herod had laid hold of John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, for John had said to him, it is not lawful for you to have her. We'll look at that in detail when we get to Matthew chapter 14. It's only two years from now. But the Bible does not refer to Herodias as Herod's wife. The Bible refers to Herodias as his brother Philip's wife because Herod had stolen Herodias from his own brother. And John said it's not lawful for you to have your brother's wife. Herod, his wife Herodias wanted him dead for that. Herod eventually imprisoned John for preaching and he's now imprisoned, awaiting his future, which is going to be that he will lose his head for preaching the truth. So he becomes an example. John becomes an example of someone who was persecuted even as Jesus in Matthew 5, 10 says, who was persecuted for righteousness sake. And while in prison, it seems something about Jesus's ministry has unsettled him. Doubts begin to arise. Can a believer doubt? The answer is absolutely. This is a man, when you read the story of John, this is a man who had an amazing beginning, even from the beginning, where his father and mother who were well past the age of having children were given the blessing of having a child. This is a child that was filled, the Bible says filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb, who was specially prepared by God in the wilderness until he came forth to proclaim that Messiah was about to come. This is an amazing man. Jesus will speak about him in the same passage and tell us how great he is in just a moment. So can somebody who has that kind of phenomenal relationship with God, can that somebody encounter doubt? And the answer is obvious, yes. So the question has to be asked, if somebody can have doubt, how did that happen? And how did that happen in the life of John? How did doubt begin to arise in him? Because many of us, we wanna walk in faith and we wanna be faithful every day and every moment of our lives, but the fact is, is we're weak and we know that there are times when as much as we believe, we have to cry out sometimes to the Lord. We say to the Lord, I believe, but you have to help my unbelief. There's a time where I'm wavering. Sometimes and I'm not sure. How did that happen in John's life? Well, there are a few things I'll point out here. One of those things is that he has not had any personal contact with the Lord for some time. Some commentators say it's been at least a year since he's had personal contact with Jesus Christ. And so he's now in a difficult situation. He's preparing to give up his life. And it's possible that he may at this point have begun to feel a bit alone, perhaps even forsaken. He could possibly say something like this. I've been faithful, but it seems that I've been left on my own. I've been faithful. I haven't shrunk back from speaking the truth. I've stood up even to herit himself. And here I am languishing in a prison. My future is obviously determined. I'm not gonna make it alive out of this place. But God, I feel like I've been abandoned by you. I wonder how many in this room, if not all of us, I wonder how many of us could say that there have been seasons as believers in our lives where we have felt completely left alone. What's going on, Lord? I've tried to be faithful. I have been to best my knowledge. But it feels as if you've abandoned me. Even godly people on occasion can experience that. The Psalmists in Psalm 44 verses 23 and 24 records a very honest prayer. It says, Awake, why do you sleep, O Lord? Arise, do not cast us off forever. Why do you hide your face and forget our affliction and our oppression? Awake, Lord, arise. Do something, help me. It seems as if I've been left on my own. I've wanted to be faithful. I've done the best that I can. I've spoken to my mom. I've spoken to my dad. I've shared with my friends. I've shared with my family. I've shared with my coworkers. I've gone on the streets and I've witnessed with witnessing teams. And I've been faithful to you. But right now it seems like the heavens are brass and when I cry out to you, it's like you're asleep. It's like you don't hear me. Wake up, Lord. Arise, help me. Can't you see what's going on? That's a very human thing that many believers have gone through. Here's something for you. In those seasons, in those times of your life, it's those times that God can draw closer to you. And it's those times that He teaches you deeper things. No matter how deep you go into whatever it is you're dealing with, remember one thing. God is deeper still. God is deeper still. You're never alone. You're never by yourself. You're never forsaken. Or He has said, I will never, never, never leave you nor forsake you. Jesus said, I will not leave you orphans I will come again to you. He never leaves you completely alone but there are times that you may feel that you have been left alone. Many years ago there was a song that became a song that the Lord spoke to my heart through. It was by a Christian band called Sweet Comfort Band. And the title is simply When I Was Alone. And part of it goes like this, when I was alone I came to know a friend of mine. When I was alone his voice was never hard to find. Loneliness would leave me. That is when I learned to say, I love you. I love you. That became a song that still resonates in my own soul because my testimony that I have, part of it when I've only given my full testimony and even that wasn't really full, but I've only one time ever done that. And I was sharing how that, the scripture that spoke to my heart as a young man was where Jesus said, now I'm alone and yet I'm not alone for you are with me. Because loneliness is something that you can deal with and you can feel sometimes that it's just you and even the Lord himself doesn't seem to be present. But the Bible tells us in Isaiah 41 verse 10, fear not for I am with you. Be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. And so he could feel that he's been forsaken and abandoned. A second thing when you look at him it's possible that Jesus just didn't fit into the picture that he had been proclaiming. When he spoke of Messiah, he spoke of the one who was in a come who's winnowing fork was in his hand who was bringing judgment. But instead of bringing judgment, Jesus instead is ministering with compassion and with grace. Perhaps John was expecting Messiah to preach a different message, one of judgment. But instead here comes Jesus preaching grace and truth and he did it with gentleness and kindness. I remember receiving a letter many years ago now from somebody who was real upset at me. And she said to me, you're not like the apostle Paul. You don't preach the word with the fire and judgment. I wrote back, I said, sweetie, I have to tell you, I don't want to be like the apostle Paul. I want to be like Jesus and there's a difference. You can't take a human being and use a measure model. Why not use Jesus? He's my model. And John has one ministry, but he sees Jesus with grace and truth. I mean, Jesus actually sat down and ate with sinners. And John is saying his winnowing fork is in his hand. He's gonna bring judgment and there he is sitting down with these lowlifes in Jewish society. And they don't think they didn't come and tell John, well, you know, your cousin knows up to your cause. You know what he's doing? Maybe I have the wrong guy. Maybe what he's doing? Well, maybe that's not him. Jesus is a friend of sinners. In Matthew 11, 28 through 30, he said this, Jesus said, come unto me, all you who labor in our heavy laden, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, my burden is light. When you combine those, you can come up with this one. It may be that his perception of Jesus and who Jesus actually is and what he actually did, it just didn't match up. Jesus didn't act the way John and others were expecting Messiah to act. When you look at the common belief during the time of Christ concerning Messiah, the common teaching was this, that Messiah is to free Israel from foreign bondage, banish all disease, affliction, hunger and pain and Messiah will establish a kingdom filled with wealth, health and continual happiness and that's not taking place. Instead, Jesus has given a message that it's going to be some time until these things actually occur. Instead of heaven on earth, his disciples were being prepared to occupy until the return in that persecution was going to be part of what they were going to endure and that just didn't fit in with what John perhaps had thought concerning Messiah. Now on one hand, John's doubts are understandable. He's in prison and he's about to lose his head but the question has to be asked, does God condone doubt? Do you find a scripture anywhere where he says, you doubt, well I'm glad you do. No, of course not. Why does God not condone doubt? Because doubting God is speaking against God's faithfulness. God is faithful and for me to find myself doubting, in essence, is to say God is not faithful. When you look in the book of Numbers in the Old Testament chapter 23 verse 19, we read God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should repent. Has he said and will he not do? Or has he spoken and will he not make it good? When Paul was speaking of the Lord in 2nd Thessalonians chapter three verse three, he simply said the Lord is faithful. So when I'm doubting God, I am saying in essence, you are not faithful to your word. So God nowhere in the Bible ever condones that. He never says it's okay to doubt. He actually asked the question, why did you doubt? Because I am not to be weak in my faith, but strong in my trust for the one who can do all things. So what he does here is the right thing. He resolves his concern by sending two of his disciples to speak to Jesus. That is a wise thing. It's always good to seek to resolve questions instead of stewing in confusion. And so by sending his disciples who are still there with him to go and speak to Jesus, he's settling his own concerns, but he's also settling any concerns that they might have when they receive the response to the question. And so it says again in verse two, when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to him, are you the coming one or do we look for another? So they asked the question, are you the coming one? The words coming one is what is called a messianic title. It's the title of Messiah. And you see that used in Psalm 40 verse seven. That is what is called a messianic prophecy. And it says then said I low I come in the volume of the book it is written of me. That's a messianic passage. Or in Zechariah chapter nine verse nine, rejoice greatly oh daughter of Zion, shout oh daughter of Jerusalem, behold your king is coming to you. He is just and having salvation lowly riding on a donkey, a colt, the fall of a donkey. The coming one was a messianic title. So they're saying to him, are you Messiah? Well I want you to notice how he responds to this. Verse four, Jesus answered and said to them, go and tell John the things which you hear and see, the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them and blessed is he who is not offended because of me. Notice his answer is not simply yes, I am Messiah or no I am not Messiah. That would not have satisfied John completely. So what is the answer here? How do you resolve doubts concerning the Lord and who Jesus Christ is? I want you to notice what Jesus did here. Jesus pointed to scripture. That's how you resolve your questions concerning who Jesus Christ is. A friend of mine was getting his degree and was speaking to me many years ago now and he said what I want to know is I want to know some of the statements of Christ where he declares who he is. He says, do you know any scriptures that speak concerning who Jesus Christ is? Well you can look in the Gospel of John and Jesus makes self declarations. He says in John 635, I am the bread of life. He says in John chapter eight verse 12, I am the light of the world. He says in John chapter 10 verse seven, I am the door. He says in John chapter 10 verse 11, I am the good shepherd. He says in John chapter 11 verse 25, I am the resurrection and the life. He says in John 14 verse six, I am the way, the truth and the life. He says in John chapter 15 verse one, I am the true vine. If you want to know, if he's the coming one, just see what he says about himself. He's bread, he's light, he's a door, he's a shepherd, he's life, he's truth, he tells you who he is. And if you want your doubts resolved, it isn't gonna come by you contemplating your belly button. It's not gonna come by you trying to have some feel good emotional things. It's gonna come from the word of God. And that's why Jesus pointed John to scripture. You wanna know who I am? You've got a mistaken understanding of who I am. Let me remind you of what Isaiah said because these passages, these things that he's speaking about are actually passages out of the book of Isaiah. He quotes Isaiah 29, 18 and 19. Isaiah 35 verses four through six. Isaiah 61 verse one. Isaiah tells us these things. And he's quoting the scriptures and he's telling them the answer to your question. And by the way, by way of application, the answer to ours will always be found in the Bible. Not by turning on religious television or not by learning worship songs and those things can be great, of course. If you want your doubts concerning the Lord Jesus Christ resolved, it comes through the word. No other way. It comes through scripture. God is not a man that he should lie. Neither the son of man that he should change his mind. Has he not said it? Will he not do it? It comes from the word, guys. And if there's anything the church needs to today be reminded of and we need to embrace once again with strength, it's the power of God's word. It's interesting how after Jesus quotes these things that he says something that really speaks to my heart in verse six when he says, blessed is he who is not offended because of me. The word offended means to be caused to stumble. It speaks of being entrapped or snared. Blessed is the one who does not stumble when they see what God truly is like. You see, all of us understand this. We all are being different. We have a way of seeing different things in scripture. Much has to do with our personal experience, how we were raised, how we were educated, where we lived and all of that. That all goes into how we see life and how we interpret life. And so you get saved, you start reading the Bible and you may have come from a background that, that man, I mean, the things you did were so bad and so you get saved and before you know it, you start projecting on everybody else. And you're afraid that they're gonna do bad things that you did. And so you'll be reading your Bible and you'll see things where it's, you know, where it says, repent the kingdom of heaven is at hand. You know, or you brood of vipers and those things, yeah, yeah, they resonate within you. Or you may have been raised, understanding the love and grace of God in such a deep degree that everything to you is grace. And so there's no balance within you. And that's one of the reasons why reading the Bible gives us the whole picture. And as you start getting the whole picture, you start to see that God is bigger than you think he is and that you can't take the Lord and put him in some kind of little box that you create, something from your own imagination and say this is the way he is and this is what he'll always do and he can't do anything any different than this. Because what we've done at that point is we have taken God and we've tried to make him into something that he really isn't. And that's what kind of, well, that's what? Can contribute to your disappointment sometimes in the Lord and you can say to him, things like after going through some valiant, going through some pain and going through disappointment and going through discouragement and hurt and even your spirit can be down within you and you begin to cry out and you say, God, you abandoned me, God, you've left me here by my own, I feel that I've been rejected. Lord, I've done the best that I can. I don't understand it or something will happen in your life and you'll say to the Lord in your cheerful, prayerful way, you'll say, God, you know this is the one thing I asked you, never let this happen in my life and you did and I know that you allowed it and you're a good God and a compassionate God but I don't understand why you let this happen to me. I don't understand it. I've done my best, I've read, I've prayed, I've witnessed, I go to church, I serve, I give, I do all of those things and here it is that I am now just a bend, I don't understand it, blessed is he who is not offended because of me. God is bigger than what I've tried to create him to be. Abraham in the Old Testament is speaking to the Lord. God says he's gonna go and deal with Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham begins to speak to the Lord because God says he's gonna deal with them and he says, for the sake of 50, will you spare that city? For the sake of 50, I'll spare the city. For the sake of 40, will you spare the city? For the sake of 40, I will spare the city. Well, for the sake of 30, will you spare the city? For the sake of 30, I will spare the city. Well, I've taken it upon myself to speak to you. I might as well ask again. For the sake of 20, will you spare the city? Yes, for the sake of 20, I will spare the city. Well, I might as well ask again. For the sake of 10, will you spare the city? Yes, for the sake of 10, I will spare the city. Why did you stop at 10? Because Lot, his wife, husbands, children and husbands, a number of 10, 10 family members lived in the cities that God was gonna destroy. For the sake of 10, there's another way of saying, for the sake of my family, will you spare that city? What he was learning about God is that God is merciful to even the smallest amount. And God in the sight of Abraham was revealed to be something Abraham didn't know, even at that point in his walk with the Lord. God has a way of teaching you things if you're open, if you'll listen. And what you think he is is very often not what he really is. And one of the things you're gonna learn as a believer, and I can speak this with experience, is though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death and you will, you are never alone. You are never alone. For thou, the psalmist said, for you are with me. Your rod, your staff, they comfort me. That's what you learn when you walk through valleys. That's what you learn when you are imprisoned and paying a price for being faithful to God. That's what you learn when you begin to ask him and say, God, I'm gonna be real with you. Why is this happening to me? Listen, Lord, I dedicated my children, but they're not walking with you. I prayed for the job. They just fired me. I asked you for the house. I can't make my payments. Did you abandon it? I thought you, I knew you. I was so sure. I rejoiced and now I'm, blessed is the one who's not offended because of me. Blessed is the one who learns that I'm not, like C.S. Lewis would say concerning Aslan, the lion, blessed is the one who learns that I'm not a tame lion, that you cannot control me. I am the cut over you and I will teach you what you need to know even in the toughest of moments and it may seem cruel, but it is never cruel. It is to help you. I was 14 once and a man stabbed me. Stabbed me right here. Stabbed me. And the thing about that, I'll never forget is my mom was there. And when the man stabbed me, my mom didn't do a thing about it. Didn't do a thing about it. Sheila had a guy stab me in the stomach, sliced me. I still remember when it went into my side. I still remember seeing his hands as he slit me and my mom didn't do a thing about it. The man was a surgeon and he was removing my appendix and she did nothing about it because it had to be done. My appendix was ready to rupture and had he not removed it, it would have poisoned my entire system and I could have died. I had to be put under anesthetic and I had to lay still on a table and I really did see him plunge the scalpel in my side. I woke up when he put it in me. I saw him as he sliced across my abdomen and then I went out like that. I fainted. I didn't need anesthetic, man, I was out. And he took out this poisonous substance from my body so that I could live a healthy life. And the wisest thing you can do when the Holy Spirit is operating on you to remove something that's going to destroy you, stay still, stay still. Seriously, stay still. You never want to interrupt the operation of the Spirit of God. Stay still because he'll remove it, you will heal and he will use you for his glory and you will learn how good God really is. You say to the Lord, we used to say it like this, I don't know if you have ever said anything similar but we used to say this, Lord, I want to be on fire for you. One of my professors whom I loved very deeply, Dr. Moore once said, if you ever pray to be on fire for God, remember that fire burns and fire consumes. And if you want to be on fire for God, you will be consumed and he will purify your life so you can be used for him. Blessed is the one who is not offended because of me. Blessed is the one who hasn't put me in this little religious box saying that God does this and he won't do that and he loves me because I'm special. Blessed is the one who allows God to be who God really is so God can do the work in that person so they can understand more of him. You see, depth comes through going through deep things. And so Jesus is actually giving a tender rebuke when he says this. Now you can see why I wanted to stay just up to verse six and now I'm looking at the time and I'm gonna move on a little bit. Verse seven. As the part of Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John, what did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments. Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in King's houses. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you and more than a prophet for this is he of whom it is written, behold I sent my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you. Assuredly I say to you among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it he is Elijah who's to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. What do you expect for a man of God? What do you think a man of God is supposed to be like? What is a man of God supposed to be like? There are a lot of people who don't know. They think a man of God is to be a certain thing. He's supposed to be a certain way. And so once again we put God in a box and we say well a man of God is supposed to do this, do this, do this, he's supposed to look this way, he's supposed to act this way. If I went by what people say what I'm supposed to look like right now but I'm supposed to be like. There are so many people who had changed the way I dress and the way I look. There are so many people and maybe it would be good to do that. I should think about it. But there would be people who would do that. You shouldn't say this and you should say that and you shouldn't have said this and you should do this. There's so many people who want you to say what they want you to say and to do what you want them to do. What is a man of God supposed to be like? Well when Jesus speaks about him he makes it very clear this is a man of God. And he begins to speak to the multitude concerning John. What do you think he's like? Is he supposed to be a reed? When he speaks of that, is he supposed to be spineless? Does he move with every wind of man's opinion? Does he vacillate constantly? Does he somebody that actually puts his finger into the wind of doctrine and say okay they like hearing this right now, I'll teach that? They like this kind of music, I'll play that. They want this kind of decor, I'll do that. Is that how it works? Do you want your preacher to come up and say to you the things that tickle your ears? Or do you want the truth? And John was a man who was courageous. He stood up and spoke the word of God in the way it ought to be spoken. Because he knew that in the Lord he would be grounded. It's like what it says in Psalm 16 verse eight, I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved. You see men of God are not to preach to tickle ears. Men of God are to be loyal to God and to preach in such a way that they will hear from him, well done my good and my faithful servant. It's not for the applause of men, like it's been said, it's the applause of heaven. They want to hear from God. And I really believe that in these last days because we're busy entertaining goats instead of feeding sheep, we have a way of filling up our congregations with people who have no heart for Christ at all. But we certainly don't want to discourage them from coming. So we don't say anything that causes them to be offended. John wasn't that way because he knew that it was God that he was to please. In 1st Thessalonians two, three and four, Paul said it like this. He said, the appeal we make doesn't spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We're not trying to please men, but God who tests our hearts, what is a man of God like? He speaks the truth courageously. In verse eight, what is a man of God like? He's committed to the Lord and he's sacrificial. What did you go out to see, a man clothed in soft garments? The term soft garment speaks of a man who is self-indulgent and self-seeking. When you see a description of John in Matthew three verse four, Matthew three four tells us he wore a garment of camel's hair, a leather belt about his waist. His food was locust and wild honey. A self-indulgent man would not make the sacrifices that a genuine minister does. He goes on in verses nine and 10. What did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written. Behold, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you. A prophet? Yes, because he spoke the words of God. More than a prophet? Because he was an object of prophecy. And that's why he would say he was a prophet and more than a prophet. He was not only a prophet, but he was the object of prophecy. Malachi three one, behold, I will send my messenger. He shall prepare the way before me. And Jesus goes on in verse 11. Assuredly I say to you, among those born of women, there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist, but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And so born of women is simply another way of speaking about basic humanness, if you will, those born of women. When he speaks about not risen, that's a way of saying has not arrived on the stage of history. So positionally, with the exception of Jesus Christ, there hasn't been born one greater than he. But he goes on in verse 11 and says, but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. On earth, John is great, but Jesus is always greater than he. In Matthew 23, 11, it says, he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And in Matthew 20, verse 28, the Son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life or ransom from any. When he says in verse 12, from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force, there is an opposition and resistance to the gospel. But that doesn't cause proclaimers of the gospel to cease proclaiming it. We don't look, Christians do not look to start any kind of argumentation. We don't look to start fights, we don't do that. We have a gentler spirit than that. But at the same time, we don't yield our position in Christ and our beliefs of Jesus simply because there are people who will oppose you because we know that that's part of the cost of being a Christian. So on the one hand, the Bible says that a man of God, minister is not to be argumentative. But on the other hand, we're supposed to have a spine of steel. And the way I've learned to describe it is we're to be velvet and steel. Steel in the sense of unbending and unyielding, velvet in the sense of being tender. And I believe that strength can be seen with the tenderness Jesus was velvet and steel. He was strong and immovable, but he was tender to those he came into contact with. And what God has called us to do is to go forth, even when there are those who oppose it and to remain strong as we present the truth of the gospel. And then finally, verse 13, all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. John is the last Old Testament prophets. And if you're willing to receive it, it is he or he is Elijah who is to come. Now is he saying that John is Elijah, the Old Testament prophet reincarnated? No, he is not a resurrected Elijah, nor is he reincarnated. Because the Bible teaches it's appointed unto men to die once. And after this, the judgment, the Bible does not teach reincarnation. So what are you saying, Jesus, when you say that? Well, all we need to do when we find a scripture that says something like that is find the cross reference and develop it. And looking into Luke chapter one, verse 17, it tells us what Jesus would be speaking of. It says there, he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous to make ready of people prepared for the Lord. And so it's a fulfillment of Melchized prophecy concerning the forerunner of Messiah. And Jesus is simply saying that. And then finally he says, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. John is the forerunner, I am the Messiah. If you receive this, you will be saved. I believe in these last days that God is still working. I believe that you can see things dark and in many ways there's a darkness and who's to argue that there isn't. But I can say this, I believe that the days that we have right now are still days of opportunity. When I got saved, during that period we had similar things going on, and I'll close with this illustration, we had similar things going on. There was concern over the climate. Though at that time the scientists were saying that we were freezing, not heating. There was war, we had the Vietnam War. There was an unrest. I mean, when you speak about violence today and there is violence, you need to just remember for a moment that there was a time in the history of the United States when I grew up where you could be on a college campus at like in Kent State, for example, and the National Guard actually shot and killed students. You don't see that today. There was violence, there was war, there was rumor of war. There were so many things that we went through and so I was a hippie and being a hippie I just said, I'm just gonna check out of this aside. I'm just gonna do my drugs, get drunk, do those things. I don't need any part of any of this. I don't care about Vietnam. I don't care about what's going on. I didn't care about that. That's what was going on. And then there was a man by the name of Chuck Smith. He was a pastor in a small church there in San Ana. They called Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. And Chuck used to go to Huntington Beach and he would be there facing the pier on the main street. And as he was there, he would see the hippies come walking by. And when the hippies came walking by, he would under his breath, he would say those dirty little morons, they ought to take a bath. Why don't they cut their hair? They need to go and get a job and they need to become productive citizens and he would grumble under his breath at the hippies who were walking around it as very possible that I was one of those kids that would walk by that he would say those things about because that's where I hung around. But he had a wife named Kay. And Chuck told us this many times, my pastor and he would say, now I'll be grumbling under my breath. Those dirty hippies need to get a job, put some shoes on, cut their hair. It was from my dad's generation. They were the same age. Then he'd look at his wife and she'd be crying, praying and crying, praying and crying. Pastor Chuck used to say that what moved his heart to reach the lost kids was the broken heart of his wife in her prayers. And through that time where everybody was saying, we're living in terrible times and we were, there were riots in the streets, Watts riots, Detroit riots, Chicago riots, New Jersey there were riots. There were students taking over college campuses having sit-ins in the dean's office and the whole nine yards and deaths on campuses and you name it, some of the leaders of that day, the John F. Kennedys, the Robert Kennedys, the Martin Luther King juniors were assassinated. Violence, turbulence, anger. There's no hope for this generation. And out of that, the Lord reaches a raw race, a Greg Laurie, a Mike McIntosh and me and others like me who now pastor some of the most powerful churches in the United States because our God is still on the throne. He is still on the throne, he's still on the throne. There's no doubt about it, there's no doubt about it and I may have some in this room right now that God is speaking to and he's saying, you need to do something for me and you're just, I don't know, no, it's time, it's time. Well, I've been disappointed in God oh and he's never been disappointed in you but guess what, he can still use you, why can't he? Don't let the devil whisper in your ear that you can't be used that as a lie from hell, you can't be used, Jesus can use you. He can't, do not be stumbled, do not be stumbled. Plant your feet in Christ, hold fast to him, get into the word of God, be committed to God and watch what God will do until Jesus returns. He's raising up an army, why not be part of it? Why not be used by God? And you say, well, it can't be used. My mom was crippled her last year of her life, she couldn't get out of her bed and she would weep and when I would speak to her and she'd say, I can't do anything, I'm useless and I said, mama, you are the prayer warrior, you are a woman, all I need to do is call you and say, mama, can you pray and you will take it to the Lord, God is using you. Even in your crippled state, you can be used by God, he's bigger than your body, you can be used by him. Don't forget it, don't be offended because you put God in a box and he didn't play the game the way you said he's supposed to, he's bigger than anything you could imagine and he is greater than anything you could imagine and he can use you. Don't forget it, deal with your doubt, let God be God and watch what he'll do in your life. Hope fast to him in these last days.