Matthew chapter 11 is our text this morning.
beginning in verse 1. Now 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 when John, that is John
the Baptist, 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 see and 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 is not offended
because of me. Let's ask the Lord to help us
understand this word this morning. Father, Lord,
we assemble for the sole and express purpose
of worshiping you, Lord, to worship you in the
beauty of holiness in the way that you have prescribed
and deserve, Lord, to ascribe worth and glory
and praise to your name. Lord, help us, and we
pray that we have done that. And yet this morning,
Lord, part of our worship is not where we continue
to speak, but we hear. We hear from heaven. Lord,
our King speaks through this word. And Lord God,
our soul is edified and our lives are instructed
and we, Lord God, are illumined in the path before
us that we ought to go. God, help us this morning
to have ears that the Spirit of God opens, eyes
that are opened by your Spirit, and hearts that
will receive the word. We pray this in Jesus'
name and for his glory. Amen. Are you the one
who is to come? Or do we look for another? Those
words did not come from the lips of a skeptic.
They didn't even come from the words of an enemy.
Rather, they came from the illustrious cousin
of Jesus Christ, better known as John the Baptist.
It's interesting. Even John here, he's a zealous
prophet. He's the one who formally introduced
the Lord Jesus Christ to Israel. But he's now
having some doubts. Now keep in mind who he is.
He's the one, upon seeing Jesus for the very
first time, proclaimed, Behold the Lamb of God
which takes away the sin of the world. It was
this man who had the incredible privilege of
baptizing Jesus in the Jordan. But those days
were now long gone. John was no longer baptizing
anyone. He wasn't preaching. He wasn't calling
Israel to repent. Instead, he sat in a cold,
dank prison cell awaiting execution. And as he
sat in that quiet cell, questions began to arise
in his mind. I'm sure there were many questions,
but one more important than all of them. Is Jesus,
the one I had previously baptized, is he the
Messiah or should he be looking for someone else?
And on this beautiful Lord's Day morning, I wonder
if you've ever been where John is. Have you ever
been there? Have you ever had doubts enter your
mind? If you have, you're in good company. I
think an unexamined faith is usually not a strong
faith. Most of God's people have had doubts at
one time or another. So if you have doubts, you're
in good company. We'll see that today. The good
news, though, is that God was working out his
perfect plan, even though his ways are often...
confusing to us. Now we're in Matthew 11. It's
been a couple weeks since we've been in the gospel
of Matthew. What's the context? Remember in the
first 10 chapters, Matthew, he has been revealing
who Jesus is, that he is the Christ sent from
God. But in chapter 11, Matthew's going to turn
a corner and now he's going to start to reveal
the different reactions people had to Jesus.
Some people were confused by him. Others, outright
rejected him. And yet there was another group
that received him and bowed before him as Lord.
Now we just come off chapter 10. Do you remember
in chapter 10, Jesus had been preparing the 12
apostles for their very first missionary endeavor,
their very first missionary journey throughout
Israel. He's done preparing them and he sends
them out, but Jesus himself continues to go out.
traveling throughout Galilee, that's northern
Israel, teaching and preaching, it says, in their
cities. Now, we know he's been preaching about
the kingdom of God. Matthew tells us to teach
and to preach. Now, I don't want to spend much
time on this, but I thought this was interesting.
What is the difference between teaching and preaching?
Is there any at all? Some people think preaching
is just a style. It's just simply teaching done
louder. Because oftentimes I'll hear, oh, he's
a really good preacher. And what they mean by
that is he's a really good orator. He communicates
very effectively through the way he speaks. But
there is a slight difference between the two.
They're closely related, but teaching is focused
on instruction. It's didactic. In fact, that's
the word in Greek. It's didactic. Preaching,
it's a Greek word, karuso, and it's focused on
proclamation. It is persuasive. So teaching,
if we think just in a pure sense, teaching explains.
It explains things like doctrines or ideas or
Bible customs. So if you're having a Bible study,
you're teaching. We're just looking at this.
But preaching is going to call people to respond
to the truth that they've just heard proclaimed.
That's why you often find it in a sermon. Teaching
aims at the head. Preaching aims at the heart.
And Jesus Christ did both. He taught. Remember,
he was a master teacher. primarily by parables.
But he also preached, and when he preached, what
was he doing? Persuading, calling Israel to repent.
He and the apostles were doing both of those.
They had been preaching, and what were they preaching
about? Well, the kingdom of God. They said the
kingdom of God was at hand, it was near, because
a king had arrived. Now Matthew is now going
to show us how did people respond to that message,
and the very first response given, Is that of
John the Baptist? It says in verse 2, And when
John had heard in prison about the works of Christ,
he sent two of his disciples and said to him,
Now this is a surprising question. Are you the
coming one? Or do we look for another? Now I
would not think that John the Baptist would have
that question. But I want you to notice where
he is. It says when he had heard in prison. He
was in prison. He had lost freedom. That's why
he didn't go himself. He sends two of his disciples
to Jesus. And John, even though he'd been in
prison, he'd heard all about what Jesus had been
doing. He heard about the great and notable works.
But I'm sure he was wondering, where was the
judgment of God and when was the kingdom coming?
See, John the Baptist, when he preached... about
the Messiah, he said, when the Messiah comes,
he will bring with him the judgment of God. Matthew
3, verse 11. We looked at this before. This is
John's words, not Jesus. I indeed baptize you
with water unto repentance. But he who is coming
after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I'm
not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with
the Holy Spirit and fire. But now look at verse
12. His winnowing fan is in his hands. And he
will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor.
He will gather his wheat into the barn, but he
will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
John's clear here. He said, guys, you need to
get ready. The Messiah is at hand, and when he
comes, he's going to judge sinners with unquenchable
fire. I mean, John was not one to mince words.
He's a bold prophet. He stood courageously for
righteousness. In fact, why do you think he was
languishing away in a prison cell? His mouth,
his courage, and I appreciate both, got him into
trouble, as it should. Do you remember? He had
been imprisoned by a man named Herod Antipas.
What was the big deal? Herod had married his
brother Philip's wife, whose name was Herodias.
Herod fell in love with Herodias, but she belonged
to his brother Philip. So Herod then divorced
his own wife, married Herodias. And that is immoral.
It was also illegal under Jewish law. And John,
who wasn't afraid to speak to powerful people,
he called out Herod's sin. And he's saying, you
are violating God's command and you're going
to bring God's judgment down upon your head.
Well, people in power don't like to be publicly
called out. So he was publicly confronting Herod
and Herodias. They didn't like it. So they had
him imprisoned. So John is sitting in prison
for what? simply boldly proclaiming the truth.
Yet he knew something in the back of his mind.
He said, that's okay, because when Messiah comes,
he's going to smite God's enemies. I don't have
to worry about it. But now he's in prison. When's
the smiting going to take place? Jesus, instead
of condemning sinners, he's eating with them
and drinking with them. He's even, in fact, getting
a moniker. He's known as the friend of sinners.
And John's sitting in that prison cell, and he
can't reconcile that in his mind. He had a certain
expectation of what the Messiah would do, and
Jesus, who he thought was the Messiah, was not
doing that. So doubts begin to come into his
mind. Were his earlier declarations about Jesus
correct? Had he been mistaken about Jesus? Now,
I think it's so very important to remember that
John had received clear, divine, Confirmation
that Jesus was the Messiah. And I want to read
both of these passages because we need to understand
how in the world did John get doubts when he
had experienced so much truth. In John chapter
1, beginning in verse 26, John the Baptist says,
I baptize with water, but there stands one among
you whom you do not know. It is he who coming
after me, he's preferred before me, whose sandal
strap I am not worthy to loose. Now these things
were done in Beth Arbor, beyond the Jordan, where
John was baptizing. The next day, John sees Jesus
coming toward him, and he said, Behold, the Lamb
of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
This is he of whom I said, After me comes a man
who is preferred before me, for he was before
me. Now keep in mind, John the Baptist is six
months older than Jesus. But he says, he was
before me. I did not know him, verse 31. I didn't
know him. but that he should be revealed to Israel.
Therefore I came baptizing with water. And John
bore witness, saying, I saw the Spirit descending
from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.
I didn't know him, but he who sent me to baptize
with water said to me, Upon whom you see the
Spirit descending and remaining on him, this
is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. Now
here's John's testimony. I have seen and testified
that this is the Son of God. One more passage
and it won't be as long. Matthew 3. Then Jesus
came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be
baptized. John tried to prevent him saying, I
need to be baptized by you and you're coming
to me. But Jesus answered and said to him, Permit
it to be so now for thus it is fitting for us
to fulfill our righteousness. And thus he allowed
him. When he had been baptized, Jesus came up
immediately from the water. Same story here.
Behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he
saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove
and alighting upon him. But now look at verse
17. And suddenly a voice came from heaven saying,
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
There's a lot of confirmation here. John is an
eyewitness to the fact that the Spirit of God,
like a dove, descended and alighted upon Jesus
at his baptism. So he saw with his own eyes something,
but he heard with his own ears a voice out of
heaven. It was the voice of God the Father declaring
over Jesus in the Jordan River, This is my beloved
Son. And in case you're misunderstanding, this
is the one in whom I'm well pleased. So you would
think that there is not a possible way that John
the Baptist could ever have doubts about Jesus
being the Messiah. I mean, after all, he had
irrefutable proof. He had seen and personally
heard and witnessed firsthand. But what's happened?
He's now sitting in a prison cell wondering,
is he the Messiah? How could that be? I mean,
how did John go from that one who was so sure
to one who now has doubts? Suffering skews our
perception. Suffering brings confusion. John,
John the Baptist, he had a misunderstanding about
the role of the Messiah and about the timing
of the Messiah's work. Yes, it is true, and John
knew this, that when Messiah comes, he will bring
judgment. He will judge the unrighteous, and
he will also usher in the kingdom of God. But
Jesus had not done that. He had not brought in
God's judgment. And if this were the kingdom
of God, then why is John sitting in this dark
prison cell? See, everything that John had preached,
everything that he had longed for had not come.
So naturally he wonders, was I wrong? Was my
zeal blinding me? Was I mistaken? Because everything
he expected to happen failed to happen. Let me
just say this. False expectations are still with
us today. This is why some reject Christianity
outright. Because here's their argument. They
say, if God is almighty, if he's all -knowing,
and if he's all good, then certainly he would
clean up this world and put an end to wickedness.
He would end genocide. He would end human sex
trafficking. He would stop the exploitation of
the poor and all the corruption we see around
us. Is that a true statement? Will God do that?
Absolutely. But they fail to understand God's
plan and they really fail to understand God's
patience. Thus, they reject him altogether. Since
he's not judged yet, they assume he must not
exist because he would have been fed up by now.
And their false expectations cause them to reject
Christ. But there are others who are Christians.
And they have some assumptions and false expectations
as well. Excuse me. Because I serve the Lord
Jesus, certainly my life must go better than
the one who doesn't. I must be exempt from some
suffering. I mean, others will wonder and they'll
reason this way. If God is sovereign, why did
that happen? Let me just say this. As Christians,
I will go to my deathbed that God is sovereign.
He's absolutely sovereign. He's in control of
all events at all times over all people. People
wonder, and I've been here. If God is sovereign,
then why did he allow X to happen? Why did that
happen to me in childhood? Why did my wife die?
Why was my husband taken? Why am I sick and suffering
this way? Why did I lose my job? If I'm a servant
of the Most High King. And friends, we know in
our head, we know that we're not promised health.
We know we're not promised prosperity. None of
us are promised an easy life this side of heaven.
Yet so many of us are caught off guard because
we still assume life must be easier for us if
we are God's children. So when suffering comes,
you know what it does? It brings this wave of
confusion. And we find ourselves doubting. Is
this all right? Is he who he says he is? Do I
look for someone else? Have I followed a lie?
John, he's in prison. You may be. Now, of course,
you're not in a prison like he was, but you may
be in a prison of pain or of heartache or of
a bitter disillusionment. See, the problem is
that when God does not act in the way that we
think he should, in the prescribed way we had
expected, it throws us for a loop. It does. Suffering,
I believe this with all my heart, suffering brings
a fog where we lack clarity. And we can't reason
correctly. So we begin to wonder and we begin
to doubt, where is Jesus? Where is God? And doubts
come. And they come primarily because some of
the false expectations we held to. So we're left
doubting God because he did not work the way
we thought he would. By the way, that was Israel's
problem. It's the chief reason why they rejected
Jesus as Messiah is over false expectations.
What were they expecting? A political Messiah,
a strong, robust, military -like figure who would
deliver them from Roman occupation. But what
do they get? Lowly, meek, mild Jesus riding on
the foal of a donkey. They could not see that
the Messiah, he would first come in humility
on a donkey before he would ever ride on that
victor's war horse. He had come to deliver them
from a greater slavery than slavery to Rome,
and that was their slavery to sin. John the Baptist
was confused. He wasn't wrong, though. Who's
confused? He just had the timing messed up. He
was correct in thinking the Messiah will bring
in God's judgment. There is coming a final, in
-time, eschatological judgment that will fall
upon sinners. Paul writes about it in 2 Thessalonians
1. He says, it is a righteous thing with God.
To repay with tribulation those who trouble you.
Stop right there. The Thessalonians, they were,
excuse me, Thessalonians, I said, Thessalonians
are the people. The Thessalonian people, they're
suffering. Look, they're being troubled, and
they're wondering, where's God? And so Paul's
like, hey, listen, it is a righteous thing. God's
going to pay back all those who cause you trouble.
They're going to get it, man. God will pay them
back with tribulation, verse 7. And give you
who are troubled rest with us. When, though?
When the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed from heaven
with his mighty angels. Now look at these next
two verses. In flaming fire, taking vengeance
on those who do not know God and on those who
do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
These shall be punished with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord and from the glory
of his power. when he comes in that day to be
glorified in the saints and to be admired among
all those who believe because our testimony among
you was believed. Do you see it? There's a judgment
coming, but it will come at the second advent
of Christ. It did not arrive with the first.
John did not know that. Prophets often were,
they knew things would happen, but they were
never given clear instruction when. So it's true.
John had the right to think that Jesus, the Messiah,
would usher in the kingdom of God in its final,
end -time fullness, I should say. That's true.
That's the day when all tears are going to be
wiped from our eyes and all pain will be forever
gone and death will be but a distant memory.
Well, when in the world is that taking place?
That too will occur at his second advent. What
John did not know was that the Messiah would
first Give his life as an atoning sacrifice.
Be buried and rise again the third day to inaugurate
the kingdom of God. John had no idea that a time
of grace would be extended to all mankind, including
the Gentile nations. So he was confused. Caused
doubts. God's ways often confuse us. I mean,
he does not work like we would expect. Think
of Joseph. God allowed him to spend years in
an Egyptian prison, never telling him why he
was there. Yet God was with him. But he was working
out his plan to promote him to second command
next to Pharaoh so that he might save his people.
But Joseph didn't know that. God's timing often
confuses us. Think of Lazarus. This is one of
Jesus' best friends on the earth. Jesus got word
that Lazarus was sick. Jesus said, okay, let's
stay here. He waited two more days before leaving
to go visit Lazarus. And in that time, Lazarus
died. Lazarus had two sisters, Mary and Martha.
They're grieving. They're distraught. They're
doubting. Why did Jesus delay? Why didn't he
come earlier? Had he come earlier, he could have
saved our brother. Yet Jesus knows that he will
bring glory to God by raising Lazarus from the
grave. But they didn't know that. His timing,
his ways. See, false expectations. That's exactly
what's plaguing John right now. False expectations
about God's ways or his timing will often lead
us to doubt. But there's something we see more
in this text. John did the right thing. He took
the doubts to Jesus. He didn't keep his doubts
or questions hidden. Let me just say this as
an aside. Friends, seek out, if you're having
questions or doubts, talk to people. Don't be
left alone with your thoughts. John took them
to Jesus. This is what we ought to do. And I'm
so thankful for the way the Lord responds to
John's questions. He did not rebuke John. He
didn't say, scold John for being hard -headed
or stiff -necked. He didn't say he had a lack
of faith. He simply goes and answers him with
the word of God. Look at verses 4 and 5. Jesus
answered and said to them, Go tell John the things
which you hear and see. The blind see, the lame
walk, the lepers cleanse, the deaf hear, the
dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel
preached to them. He said, here, let me give
you some evidence. Objective evidence. People
that couldn't see are seeing. People that couldn't
walk are walking. People that were outcast because
of a skin disease are cleansed. The people who
couldn't hear are now here. And by the way, the
dead, they have life again. And the poor, they're
here in those good tidings of great joy. Now
why did Jesus answer this way? He could have
simply said, yes, I'm the Messiah. Go tell John
I'm the Messiah. Go say, you remember the voice
you heard? Remember the dove you saw? That's
enough. He didn't do it. Instead, he gave scriptures.
Not just any scripture, by the way. He was quoting
from Isaiah. He's quoting two passages, primarily
Isaiah 35 and Isaiah 61. Why is he quoting those
two passages? Because Isaiah, more than any Old
Testament prophet, wrote about Christ and they
wrote about the coming of the Messiah. So Jesus
is saying, go tell John, who had been very familiar
with Isaiah's writings, let me go tell John that
what he read in Isaiah is being fulfilled in
me. Isaiah 35. Then the eyes of the blind shall
be opened, the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped,
then the lame shall leap like a deer in the tongue
of the dumb thing, for water shall burst forth
in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
By the way, just as a side note, when Jesus'
side was pierced in that desert, that water poured
forth, didn't it? Isaiah 61. The spirit of the
Lord God is upon me, because the Lord, that is
Yahweh, has anointed me to preach good tidings
to the poor. Jesus, he has sent me to heal the
brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to captives.
And the irony here, the opening of prism to them
who are bound. Where's John? He's in prison.
Michael Andrus says this. He said, the proof
of Jesus, the proof Jesus offers of his Messiahship
is, first of all, that his kingdom is one where
the rejected are received. In the first century,
none were more shunned than the blind, the lame,
the lepers, and the deaf. They had no place,
no name, no value. They were seen as canker sores
on the culture, excess baggage on the side of
the road. And I love this. But those whom the
people called trash, Jesus called treasures.
So he made his kingdom above. Basically, John
says, hey, go take a scroll, tell John to open
it to Isaiah 35 and 61. Tell him to read. Then
he'll have his answer. But can you see, once
you read those passages and you hear what Jesus
has been doing, now it's abundantly clear. Jesus
is the Christ of God. The prophecies of Isaiah
are being fulfilled in him. It would be futile
to look anywhere else. Now there's a whole lot
more of what the Messiah is going to do, but
John can't understand it. By the way, the twelve,
his inner twelve, do you remember how dense they
were? Sometimes you're like... What is with these
guys? They didn't get it either. Jesus would
say, I'm going up to Jerusalem. They're going
to kill me and I'll rise again. And they're like,
what's he mean? They're going to kill him. He's
going to rise to death. That's not a hard statement.
They didn't get it. Jesus was going to die, be
buried, and rise again. No one understood it.
No one was expecting it. That's why Judas will
later turn away. Once Judas realizes, yep, Jesus
is headed for death, let me get my money while
I can. See, Jesus is then now redirecting John's
focus back to the scriptures, back to prophecies
being fulfilled in him, and these are objective
proof of the Messiah's credentials. I think this
helps us with our doubts. You and I are not given
information, all the information, or the reasons
why God allows certain things to happen. I can't
tell you on how many times as a pastor I've had
people ask me, why did God? And I always look
at them and I'm like, I have no idea. I don't
know. But we are given something. We're given
precious gospel promises that we can rest upon
and find peace even in the midst of difficulty.
You know the rest of the story about John, right?
He doesn't get out of the prison cell. Spoiler
alert, he dies. He will meet the executioner's
sword. But the promises of God stood firm. Our
doubts, our questions may not be resolved and
they may not be answered this side of heaven.
that we can find peace as we learn to rely upon
the truthfulness and the firmness of the word
of God. This is what we need. The word of God
is the antidote. It's the medicine to our doubts
and our fears and our questions. In doubt, the
word of God becomes our anchor and our light.
It steadies us. It illumines the path before
us. When we're in a season of very, very difficulty,
and it just seemed like it was wave after wave
after wave after wave after wave, and I was caught
off guard. I thought, man, we're so many just,
I don't know, misunderstandings and confusion
in my heart and mind. But I love to hear the
promises of God's word. Because I would just
say, God, you can't lie. This is truth. So when
we are in a metaphorical prison, And life feels
uncertain, and for many it feels very uncertain
right now. The word of God reminds us of something.
This is where you are blessed, church. It reminds
you that God is unchanging, that he is good,
and that he can be trusted. Jesus pronounces
a blessing upon those who truly trust in him.
Look at verse 6, the last verse here. Blessed
is he who is not offended because of me. The
word offended is a Greek word, skandalizo. It
can mean, it's the idea of apostasy, but really
the root word is the idea of being caught in
a trap. You're held firm in a trap. You're tripping
up. The person, this person who's blessed, places
his faith in Jesus, who he is, rather than who
they expect him to be. God blesses. Now listen,
he blesses those who do not turn away from Jesus
in the midst of trouble. So we could say it like
this. Blessed by God are those who continue to
hold on to faith in Jesus even amidst the storms
and difficulties of life. Blessed is that man.
Blessed is that woman. Listen, John didn't escape
execution. You and I don't always, the guy doesn't
win the girl in the end. They don't always get
a home with a white picket fence and 2 .3 children
or whatever it is. That's not how life works.
But you continue to trust Christ. And God's plan
is still sure, although it may not fit your expectations.
In John 6, the Lord Jesus gave that great discourse
about the bread of life come down from heaven.
And he said some hard things that people didn't
like. One of the hardest things he said, hey,
unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you
have no life. To a Jew, that's repulsive. Eat
your flesh and drink your blood? Yeah. John 6,
verse 60. Therefore, many of his disciples, when
they heard this, said, this is a hard saying.
Who can understand it? Now, look down at verse
66. I always think that's a 666. John 6, verse
66. From that time, many of his disciples went
back and walked no more with him. They gave up
the discipleship. They gave up like this is not
the one. They appeared to be disciples, but they
were offended because of Jesus. They got tripped
up. Along the way. Again, Michael Andrews, he
said, Jesus does not scold John for doubting.
Instead, he reminds him that a special blessing
awaits those who continue to trust despite their
confusion and despite the difficult circumstances
in which they find themselves. Jesus may not
offer immediate vindication to the righteous.
Or immediate judgment on the wicked. But he reassures
us nonetheless that God's plan is on schedule
and it's on track. Amen. See, here's the thing,
church. This is the thing I want to drill down.
We must not allow our preconceived notions of
how God should be or how he should work or what
he should do trip us up in our walk of faith.
But when things happen, it's hard. You know,
it makes sense sometimes. Like, we like to make
sense. I know when someone gets a cancer diagnosis
and we're like, oh, well, did they smoke? Did
they do this? Because we want to like, oh, well,
that's why. It's not why. But then suddenly when
someone's taken the prime of life, and I think
of Brother J .D., throws us for a loop. We're
not prepared for it. It's jarring. Where was
God? He was there, ushering him into the kingdom.
It just doesn't fit our expectations. You're
meant to grow old together, right? Every couple
who wants children are expected to get children.
Every man or woman who wants to get married is
expected to get married. Well, that's not how
life is in a fallen world. One commentator said,
so as long as the world stands, Christ and his
gospel will be a stumbling block to many. To
hear that we are all lost and guilty sinners,
that we can't save ourselves. To hear that we
must give up our own righteousness and to trust
in the one who is crucified between two thieves.
To hear that we must be content to enter heaven
side by side with publicans and harlots. And
to owe all our salvation to free grace. This
is always offensive to natural man. Our proud
hearts don't like it. We are offended. But let
the caution of these verses sink down deeply
into our memories. Let us take heed that we are
not offended. Thousands, he continues, will be
found have had to offer salvation and they will
have rejected it. Why did they reject it? They
don't like the terms. They would not stoop to
enter in at the straight gate. They would not
humbly come as sinners to the throne of grace.
In a word, they were offended. And then will
appear the deep meaning in our Lord's words.
Blessed is he who shall not be offended in me.
Blessed is the one who does not trip up over
Jesus. Blessed is the one who doesn't trip over
Jesus when he doesn't work in the way they think
and thought he would work. Vance Havner, you
all have many people familiar with Vance Havner.
I love how he paraphrases this verse. He said,
blessed is he who does not get upset by the way
I run my business. I love that. Blessed is the
man or woman who doesn't get upset by the way
that I run my business, sign Jesus. So what's
the final verdict then? What do we do? You trust
him. Where else do you go? There's only one.
One mediator between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus. There's only one name under heaven given
among men whereby we must be saved. That's the
name of Jesus. There's only one who is his way,
the truth, and life. There's only one way that
someone will enter into heaven, and that's by
the door whose name is Jesus. There's only one
good shepherd who gave his life for the sheep,
and his name is Jesus. You trust him. He gave
his life for you. You give your life to him.
Let's pray. Father, thank you. Thank you for
your word, for the hope. Lord, there may be some
of your saints or some of your children. They're
sitting here and, Lord, questions are entering
their mind. Their hearts are cloudy. Lord, I've
been there. Life just doesn't make sense. It's
not working out. The boxes aren't checking the
way they thought they would. And, Father, as
best they can, they're holding on to faith. They're
trusting you. But, Lord, it's just they're struggling.
And, Father, my prayer as a shepherd of this
group, an under -shepherd, twice as a true shepherd,
as the under -shepherd, Lord, would that you
in your spirit. would comfort them, point them
to the scriptures, let them rest in your ways
and in your promises, Lord, even when it doesn't
make sense to them. God, we need you, Lord. There
are some who are hurting. I still think of my
sister Kim. I think of Maddie and the family,
Lord, who've experienced quite a jarring reality.
Lord, God, undergird them with strength that
they need at this time. Lord, there are some,
Lord, no doubt, Lord, who in private moments,
Lord, their hearts are just, they're a mess.
And they want to keep it together on the outside.
But Lord, God, help them to turn to you. But
let them not be offended or tripped up because
you don't work in the way that they thought you
would. Father, help them not to turn away. But
Lord, continue in faith wherever that leads them.
Because Lord, you alone are the one who is worthy.
But you're also the only place where true life
and eternal life is found. It's in your son,
Jesus. Lord, help us to make much of him. Lord,
if there is one who today who is lost, Lord God,
whose heart is... undelieving and cold. Lord,
I pray by your spirit, convict them, open their
eyes, bring them to faith this morning, we pray
in Jesus' name. Amen.