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So the Bible reading for today will be Matthew chapter 11, the verses 7 to 19, and that can

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be found on page 1484 to 1485 of your pure Bibles.

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So Matthew chapter 11 verse 7.

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As John's disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John.

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What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

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If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No.

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Those who wear fine clothes are in King's palaces.

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And what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.

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This is the one about whom it is written. I will send my messenger ahead of you who

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will prepare your way before you. Truly I tell you, among those born of women

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that has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist, yet whoever is least in the kingdom

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of heaven is greater than he. For the days of John the Baptist, and so from

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the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subject to violence

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and violent people have been raiding it. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until

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John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.

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Whoever has ears, let him hear. So what can I compare this generation?

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They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others.

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We played the pipe for you and you did not dance. We sang a dirge and you did not mourn.

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For John came near the eating nor drinking and they say, he has a demon.

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The son of man came eating and drinking and they say, here is a glutton and a drunkard,

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a friend of tax collectors and sinners. But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.

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This is the word of the Lord.

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Thanks, John.

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Morning, everyone. It is great to be together. This morning, if we have not met before, my

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name is Michael. If you are visiting, it is a delight to have you with us.

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Please, after the service, do not feel like you need to rush off. We have morning tea,

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tea bickies. We would love to get to meet you. If you have any questions about today's

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sermon, we would love to hear from you and see if we can answer anything that you might

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bring up.

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It was wonderful to hear a testimony this morning because testimonies are like listening

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to an audiobook of someone's experience in real time. As we heard, Tony gave us such

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a wonderful witness of God's goodness and mercy. Absolutely beautiful and encouraging

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thing that you did for us, brother. Thank you.

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Keeping with the theme of testimony, we are actually going to look at another one in the

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text in which we find ourselves this morning. It might be a little bit surprising to you

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because it is actually a testimony from our Lord about John, Israel's greatest prophet

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and our Lord's forerunner, which as we will see was given so that we all might be encouraged

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in our own discipleship. But before we look at the text before us this morning, let's

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have a bit of context. As we saw last week, John had been locked up in prison and become

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discouraged and doubtful about the one he was preparing Israel to meet. We see that

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in verses one through to six. He sent his disciples to ask if Jesus was the Messiah

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or if they were to expect someone else. It seems that as John's disciples had asked this

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question and then headed off after getting the answer that the crowd started to murmur

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about John's character and ministry. And so Jesus, he picks up on this and he addresses

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the crowd to teach them and us a few things about discipleship and the kingdom of heaven.

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Church, I have to admit that the passage that we have before us this morning is very complex.

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There's a lot going on in these few verses, so we're not going to get to everything that

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it has to say. However, with that said, I do hope to show you a few things so that you

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have something to go away with and mull over and pray over this week. First, in verses

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seven to 10, I want to show you that Jesus, he protects his disciples. Second, in verses

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11 to 15, that Jesus, he makes a call for all people to come and follow him, to be his

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disciples. And third, in verses 16 to 19, that Jesus warns all people to not reject

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the gospel because of frivolous things. But before we look at any of this, would you

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please join me in asking our Heavenly Father to help us in the task that we have this morning?

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Would you pray with me? Father God, indeed, we thank you for your word. They are the words

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of eternal life and we ask that by your spirit this morning that you would enlighten the

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eyes of our heart, that Christ would be glorified in and among us, that all manner of people

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will be drawn to him by the gospel. We ask for this for the sake of your church and in

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Jesus' name, amen. So if you have your Bibles with you this morning, look with me at verses

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seven through to 10. Jesus, addressing the crowds, he says, what did you go into the

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wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind. If not, what did you go out to see? A man

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dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in King's palaces. Then what

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did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you and more than a prophet. This is the one

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about whom it was written, I will send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your

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way before you. Right, so the first thing that I want you to see here is that the crowds,

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as they started to question the character and ministry of John the Baptist, Jesus, he

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protects him. He protects him. Yes, it's already been noted, John, he has this moment of weakness.

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He's doubtful, he's questioning Jesus publicly. But look what our Lord does here. He doesn't

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say, oh silly John, no, he makes sure that the crowds understand that John, that he's

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the real deal, even though he was having a crisis of faith. In and around most lakes

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in Australia is something called giant reed. These six-metre watercress looking things,

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well, they're pretty handy if you want to go out sailing or fishing because they tell

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you which way the wind is blowing because they are so sensitive to it. Not so with John,

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says Jesus, as we see there in verse seven. No, he wasn't like some flimsy, wishy, washy

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preacher blowing in the tide of popular opinion. He was a man of conviction and people knew

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it. But you can imagine it. John's now in prison. He's questioning Jesus and so people

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would have been like, he was so confident out there in the desert on his soapbox. But

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now, well, he's like this weed that's blowing in the wind whistling this other tune. No,

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says Jesus. You knew he was a man of conviction. You knew he wasn't like one who sways with

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the tide of popular opinion. That's why you went to go and see him in the first place.

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Jesus defends John's conviction. Verse eight, he defends John against people thinking that

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he'd gone soft. I was helping a mate put down some decking and I was really struggling with

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the task after about 20 minutes. And so he offered me, if I would like, a bag of concrete

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for lunch. That was totally lost on me until he started laughing and saying that I was

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a softy and that I needed to harden up just a little bit. Not so with John, says our Lord.

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No, he was no court jester trying to entertain the civil authorities or the crowds. People

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knew this wasn't a guy out there who was pursuing the pleasures of this line. John, he wore

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animal skin. He had a diet of the desert, we might say, and against all opposition,

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he preached boldly, boldly against sin. That's why these people went to see him. And Jesus,

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he reminds them of that. John was a man of conviction. He was a man of great courage.

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And in verse nine, our Lord defends John's ministry. It seems that people may have been

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questioning if John was even a prophet. And they may have done this because one of the

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things that qualifies a legitimate prophet is that what they said comes to pass. But

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now we have John questioning if Jesus was even the guy that he was preaching about. But notice

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it. Notice how Jesus answers these questions and confirms John's ministry in the doing.

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Jesus says not only was John a legitimate prophet, but he's the one that Malachi, we

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see this in chapter three, a Malachi prophesied about all those years ago, saying in verse

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10, this is the one about whom it was written. I'll send my messenger ahead of you who will

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prepare the way before you. So essentially, our Lord, he's saying to the crowds, don't

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judge John on this one hiccup. Don't judge him by the struggles that he's having, his

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character, his ministry. It's been proven. He's a man of conviction, of courage, and

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of great obedience. And even though he's struggling in the moment, don't sit there and think that

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this battle he's in undercuts who or what he really is. Dear brothers and sisters, I

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think the evangelist Matthew is showing us such a beautiful thing here. You see, even

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though it seemed like the world was turning on John, Jesus, he doesn't. Not only doesn't

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Jesus not turn on John, he goes so far as to defend him. And in the doing, we're all

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showing something of our Lord's faithfulness and his love that he has for all his people,

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even when we are struggling to remain faithful to him. You know, every single disciple of

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Jesus has a different experience of our faith being tested. Some are faced with death, others

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with losing everything, some have their families reject them, others are put in prison, and

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for others, it might even be something that's not so avert. But at the end of the day, when

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hard times hit, the fact of the matter is, disciples, we struggle. We all do it various

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times and for different reasons, but imagine for a moment, if you will, that every time

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we struggled or questioned or doubted that Jesus, that he just cast us off. All disciples,

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including you and me in this very room this morning, would be in so much trouble. This

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is what Matthew shows us. When our Lord's people question, or even when we're under

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attack, Jesus doesn't leave, nor forsake us. He stands at our defence. Might I be so

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bold to suggest to you that this scene shows us something of a bigger picture as well?

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You know, every single one of us has an accuser before God who points out all our sins, all

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our stumbles, and all of our stupidity. But brothers and sisters, we also have the Lord

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Jesus Christ who confesses us before his father as his blood-purchased people. Yes, the devil

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might be the accuser of the brethren, but our Lord Jesus Christ is the confessor of

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his people. And he claims his blood over his people and as Paul tells us in 2 Timothy,

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he remains faithful even when we are faithless, for he cannot disown himself. Church, we

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mustn't for a moment think that Jesus doesn't care about us when we struggle, or when we

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face trials of various kinds. Now as we see here, Jesus remains fiercely loyal to those

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whom he has purchased with his blood, to those who belong to him. He is our Lord, he is our

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Saviour, and as we wonderfully see here in our text this morning, he is our Defender.

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First, Jesus protects his disciples. Second, he calls all people to become his disciples.

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We read in verses 11 through to 15, truly I tell you among those born of women there

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hasn't risen anyone greater than John the Baptist. Yet whoever is least in the kingdom

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of heaven is greater than him. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom

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of heaven has been subjected to violence and violent people have been raiding it. For all

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the prophets and the law prophesied until John, and if you're willing to accept it,

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he is the Elijah who was to come. Whoever has ears, let them hear.

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Right, so as I said before, there's a lot going on in our text, but I think it's really

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important that we understand how our Lord, how he views John here, because there's an

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important contrast that he's going to give us so that we can understand something about

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how important our own discipleship really is. So first, let's have a look at what Jesus

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has to say about John, and then let's look at the contrast that's happening there in

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verse 11, because it's quite important that we see what's going on here when it comes

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to us. So first, Jesus saw John as pretty much the greatest prophet to ever live. We

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see this language here in verse 11. It's a high compliment, especially when you think

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of the Old Testament prophets, but we might ask, what does Jesus mean by this? What does

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he want his church to see here? I think there's a few things. First, other prophets, they

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looked forward to John's ministry. We see that there in verse 10 and in verse 13. He

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was the Elijah to come. We won't get into that this morning. And so John, he has this

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unique role that was revealed from the get-go. He's going to be a different kind of prophet.

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Second, I'd also say that he had a greater ministry than other prophets because all those

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that came before him only spoke of the Messiah from afar off, whereas John, he actually got

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to physically meet Jesus. He got to introduce the Messiah to Israel, and he even got to

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baptize him. Third, John was filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb. We see this

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in Luke. And when he met Jesus, the Spirit of God revealed to him that Jesus, that he

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was the Lamb of God that was going to take away the sin of the world. Fourth, in the

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face of all religious and governmental authority, John remained completely loyal to the gospel.

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And fifth, even though he was the Billy Graham of the Middle East in popularity and reputation,

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once Jesus rocks up on the scene, he commends his own disciples to Jesus, saying that he

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must increase while he must decrease. These are just a few of the things that Jesus may

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have had in his mind when speaking about John. This is what makes our text so startling. You

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see, with a resume like that, Jesus still goes on to say that John isn't even as great

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as the least in the kingdom of heaven. So what are we to make of this contrast? Well,

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first of all, Jesus is not saying that John isn't saved. As it's already been said, John

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saw Jesus and when he saw him, he confessed him as God's sin solution, the ultimate answer

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to God's salvation plan. So what did he mean? What did Jesus mean when he said whoever is

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the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John? Well, I would like to put it to

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this morning that this becomes a little bit more clearer when we look down at verse 13,

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where Jesus says, all the prophets and the law, they prophesied until John. You see,

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the time that we're living in now, dear ones, isn't a time of sacrifice and temples and

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the Mosaic law. There was a time and that was the case, but with the coming of Jesus,

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well, all of that, as we saw in our Galatian series, has been fulfilled, which means we're

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living in a new time. That's why we have the Old Testament and the New Testament in our

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Bibles. The Old, it looks forward to Jesus in the shadows and the types and the New explains

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how Jesus fulfilled all that was promised about him. And so what Jesus is saying here

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is that John was more like one of the prophets of Old in that he only looked forward to the

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fulfillment of these things. And even though he got so very close, he didn't actually get

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to experience all these things in their fullness for himself. If we think about it, John didn't

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get to see, even though he confessed him as the Lamb of God, but he didn't get to see

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him crucified. He didn't even get to hear that Jesus was raised from the dead or that

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the Spirit of God was given from the Father and Son to the church on the day of Pentecost.

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Now, if we follow the timeline of John's life, he died in prison before these things came

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to pass. That's why this contrast is so important for us to pick up on here, because unlike

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John, we don't live in the darkness, putting our faith in the types. Now, we live in the

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light of the gospel. This is an awesome, awesome thing that we are reminded of here

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this morning. Because we live, because we live on this side of the life, death and resurrection

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of Jesus. We're more privileged, think about this, than the greatest prophet to ever walk

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the earth. As we, unlike the people in the Old Testament, enter into our Lord's kingdom

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with the fullness of the gospel proclaimed to us. I think there's a warning in this as

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well. I do. I think there's a warning here, because without great privilege also comes

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great responsibility. As you may have noticed it just before, as the text has been read

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out a couple of times now, that all of this has to do with Jesus' central message. And

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that is the kingdom of heaven. As to enter, it means to enter into eternal life with God.

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Now, we're not going to spend oodles of time here, and there's a lot of different interpretations

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here. But verse 12 is something that I think we all need to think about. Because as Jesus

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has just talked about the privilege of this fuller revelation of the kingdom, he then

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goes on to say that the kingdom, it isn't something that can be entered into passively,

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or without any efforts on our part. That's not to say that we're saved by our works.

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That is not what Jesus is saying here. But it is to say that we must actively strive

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to enter his kingdom, to essentially raid it. To put it simply, Jesus is using such

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language, hyperbolic language here, to drive the point home that no one, no one must be

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haphazard or apathetic towards what the gospel really is holding out. Now, when you hear

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the gospel proclaimed that you must repent and trust in the kingdom's king, Jesus, the

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one who is on the scene, these aren't suggestions. The time of the fulfillment of the law and

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the prophets and the things that John preached about, all that they looked forward to had

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come near in Jesus Christ. And Jesus says, reach out and snatch the offer that is really

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being held out. Repent and embrace the good news of the kingdom by faith and be passionate

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and zealous to enter it, no matter the cost to you. In other words, the language that

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Jesus employs there in verse 12 is to simply say no one's sleep walks their way into the

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kingdom of heaven. The gospel, it demands a response, it demands faith, it demands that

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we embrace the king of the kingdom. So first, Jesus protects his disciples. Second, he calls

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all people to be his disciples. Third, Jesus warns people to not reject the gospel because

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of frivolous things. Look with me at verses 16 to 19. To what can I compare this generation?

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They're like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to others. We played the pipe

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for you and you didn't dance. We sang a dirge and you didn't mourn. For John came neither

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eating or drinking and they say he has a demon. The son of man came eating and drinking and

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they say he's a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. But

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wisdom is proved right by her deeds. Right, so we're going to break this last point down

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and see what Jesus is doing here because he's essentially giving his audience an illustration

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to say that those that heard his and John's ministry that they saw and heard what they're

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preaching about, well they're like children in the marketplace which chucked tantrums

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because they weren't getting their own way. Some of them, they wanted to play the pipes

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and dance. That's kind of like alluding that they wanted to play weddings while others wanted

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to sing funeral songs. But because they weren't getting what they wanted, they essentially

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wanted to pack their toys up and go home. And so if we understand what Jesus is saying

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here, you'll see that he is warning the people before him that they are going to miss out

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on entering into the kingdom of heaven because they were rejecting the gospel because they

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didn't like the people that were calling them to it. John came along. He's a pretty hairy

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serious guy. He was straight down the line and he, yeah, he had a limited diet and wardrobe.

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His sermons were usually about judgment, about condemnation and the need for repentance.

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It was too much for some. And so they accused him of having a demon. Jesus on the other hand,

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well he came and he eats with sinners. He was kind. He's tenderhearted. He sits with

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the leper. He has time for the widow. He is there for the orphan and had a much more larger

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range of things that he was happy to eat and drink. But this wasn't good enough for some.

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So they accused him of being a glutton and a drunkard. One was a faithful servant of

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the kingdom who had one ministry style. The other was the king of the kingdom who had

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another ministry style and both came with the good news of the kingdom. And both says

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Jesus, both weren't good enough for the crowns. So Jesus closes with these awesome words.

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Jesus was proved right by her deeds. Essentially he's saying no matter what you think of us

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now, the fruit of the gospel will vindicate truthfulness and gospel proclamation. And so

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be very, very careful with how you listen to what's being said and what you are in

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danger of rejecting because of frivolous things. Just recently I was speaking to someone about

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the brilliant singer-songwriter Keith Green. Now I mentioned to you to him this morning

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because he was a man that was passionately zealous for the gospel and he proclaimed

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it so clearly in word and in his songs. But many wrote him off in the 70s because he had

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long hair and he travelled with a drummer. I think about my favourite preacher, a guy

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called Leonard Ravenhill, a powerful evangelist who was used mightily of God yet so many wrote

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him off because he was too passionate behind the pulpit and too loud for some conservative

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groups in the 50s and 60s. And I mentioned these couple of guys to you because it's amazing

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how people will often criticise methods of ministry and in the doing throw the whole

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thing out, throw the baby out with the bathwater. Brothers and sisters, we have to be aware of

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this, all of us for ourselves. Australia is a nation of consumers and thus we have to

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be careful that we don't approach absolutely everything as a consumer. The gospel and even

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Jesus himself. That's the danger that we are being warned of here in these last verses.

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We can treat Jesus like the salad bar at Sizzlers wanting to fill our plates with all the things

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that taste good and are to our pallets. All the while casting off the things that just

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aren't to our taste. Jesus, he warned the generation around him that the message that

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he and John both proclaimed was done admittedly in radically different styles but both of

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them had this one message of truth. And people were in danger of throwing all the way and

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not passionately coming after the kingdom, embracing the Messiah because they didn't

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like John's style or Jesus's methods. As it's been said before, this is an interesting

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but complex passage that we have before us this morning. But as we end, I do think there

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is a simple truth that could be held out to us and it's this. Jesus calls us all to hear

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the gospel, to embrace the kingdom passionately and follow him as his disciples and as we've

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seen as we do this, he will never, never leave nor forsake us all the days of our life. No,

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he will confess us as his, not just for a moment mind you but for all eternity. Brothers

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and sisters, Jesus never fails his people because his blood shed on the cross is his

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testimony to the world that we belong to him. Let's pray. Father, we ask that you would

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fill us with your spirit, that we would be those that would pick up our cross and follow

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hard after you, that we would see the straight and narrow and by your spirit walk on it all

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the days of our lives. Father, we ask that we would be a people that would testify, like

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we heard our brother this morning, testify of your goodness and your gracious, that there

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is no one that is outside of your reach, that the kingdom, the gospel is for all nations,

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all peoples, all tribes, all languages. Would you make us passionately zealous for the gospel?

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Would you use us for your kingdom and glory? And we ask, Father, for those of us that are

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struggling here this morning, that you would help us by your most holy spirit to lift our

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eyes to you and to know that you are the one who has called us, that you are the one who

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defends us, you are the one who has purchased us and that what you have started, no one

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can snatch out of your hand. Amen.