Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Are You the One to Come? (Luke 7:18-23)
14 Plays8 days ago
Sunday Message recorded 13 April 2025
by Associate Pastor Josh Shell
First Baptist Church - Columbus, TX, USA
1700 Milam St.
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
Recommended
Transcript
Divine Sovereignty and Overlapping Themes
00:00:06
Speaker
I said this last week to kick this this the message off too. I've been continually amazed by the sovereignty of God and and the different studies and the different series that we have done throughout the year and then even what we're doing on the side within a personal, like whether it's across the street in the youth house or in Sunday school and how the the messages have overlapped.
00:00:30
Speaker
but also how the messages also coincide with the seasons that we're walking through.
Significance of Palm Sunday and Holy Week
00:00:35
Speaker
um And what I mean by that is this, is that as I just mentioned, we're we're in we're on Palm Sunday.
00:00:41
Speaker
We're the kickoff of the Holy Week. Next Sunday, we're going to be celebrating one of the greatest days, if the greatest day this world has ever seen, with the resurrection of our Messiah, Jesus.
00:00:53
Speaker
Right.
Exploring Luke 7: Fulfillment of Jesus' Revelation
00:00:54
Speaker
And so as I was praying over what to speak on um and what to teach on, it just kind of just fell into my lap. As I was reading the next section of what we're going through in the book of Luke in chapter seven, I was like, Lord, you did it again.
00:01:10
Speaker
This is absolutely incredible, right? Because, I mean, obviously with it being Palm Sunday, we could have we could easily focus on the the triumphal entry of Jesus going into Jerusalem and everything leading up to and his ministry and how the people brought these palm leaves and they were singing, Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest.
00:01:29
Speaker
Right? And they were giving him all these accolades. And we can even focusing how in that moment they were praising his name. But yet at the end of the week, they were crucifying him. They were yelling crucify, right? This dramatic shift.
00:01:41
Speaker
But instead of focusing on that, I just thought, man, why don't we just stick with where we're at and look at what we see here in Luke chapter seven.
John the Baptist and Jesus: A Holy Week Connection
00:01:49
Speaker
Because ultimately what we see in the Holy Week is the fullness of Jesus's revelation being fulfilled. Right?
00:01:57
Speaker
Right? We're seeing the fullness of who Jesus is, God incarnate, coming into the world to be our Savior and Messiah. is being fulfilled during the Holy Week with him coming in, going throughout Jerusalem, doing these miraculous signs, doing some incredible teaching, ultimately culminating and what we would called Good Friday, right?
00:02:20
Speaker
Saturday, and then ultimately Resurrection Sunday. Right? But with that being in mind, this passage to look at today, in my opinion, this is, again, when we think about the sovereignty of God, it just only magnifies what this whole week of Holy Week is about because of what we witness here between the interaction of John the Baptist and Jesus.
00:02:43
Speaker
And so, if you guys will, I'm going to ask you guys to stand with me if you're able. If you have not turned to the book or of Luke already, i I encourage you to do so, or you can follow along on the screen.
00:02:54
Speaker
um But we're going to read verses 18 through 23, and that's where we're going to spend our time together.
Questioning Jesus' Identity: Actions Speak Louder
00:02:59
Speaker
So you follow along with me? says this in verse 18, "...the disciples of John reported all these things to him, Jesus, or sorry, to John, and John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?" And when the men had come to him, they said, John the Baptist has sent us to you, talking to Jesus now, saying, Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?
00:03:33
Speaker
get this in verse 21. Verse 21.
00:03:36
Speaker
he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits and on many who were blind he bestowed sight and he answered them go and tell john what you have seen and heard The blind receive their sight.
00:03:55
Speaker
The lame walk. Lepers are cleansed. And the deaf hear. The dead are raised up. The poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who does not earn the blessed is the one who is not offended by me.
Reflection and Prayer on Holy Week
00:04:12
Speaker
Thank you. You guys may be seated.
00:04:18
Speaker
going to stop and just pray over our time as we dive into this because, again, I think that, again, when we think about the Holy Week and everything culminating up to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and and and the revelation that is being delivered to us and being fulfilled, this passage is something that parallels it so well.
00:04:36
Speaker
And so I'm excited for us to dive into it but going to stop and pray, and then we'll jump into it together with the remainder of our time. So that you pray with me. Father God, we come before you, and Lord, we give you praise for today. Not just because it's a new day that which you you've given us breath and life, but Father, of the significance of this day, with Palm Sunday, this season, where we get to stop and we get to reflect on the greatest miracle this world has ever seen, and the fact that you sent your son Jesus to come to not just live a perfect life,
00:05:07
Speaker
but to die the perfect death so that way we who are broken and sinful could have life eternal through him. So Lord, as we look at this passage and as we go throughout this week of Holy Week, preparing our hearts for next Sunday with the Resurrection Sunday, i pray, God, that you'll prepare us, that you'll soften our hearts, that you'll open our eyes to the reality of the things unseen that we may not have seen before, that you will work in us so that we can truly be transformed and and daily
Understanding Jesus' Ministry and Prophecies
00:05:35
Speaker
renewed. But we love you, we praise you, and we thank you for this time. It's in Jesus' name we pray.
00:05:40
Speaker
Amen.
00:05:42
Speaker
All right, so again, the point, what I want to reiterate is this. The point of today's message is is for us to remember and to see the full revelation of Jesus being revealed, okay? Because, I mean, that's, again, what Holy Week is about and how Jesus was coming to to the the climax of his ministry to to bring about this, to bring about the the prophecy being fulfilled of his death, burial, resurrection of being our Messiah's Savior and then one day coming back to be our Messiah King, right? So within this, though,
00:06:12
Speaker
Up to the point in Luke chapter 7, we've been seeing we've been seeing the the incredible ministry of Jesus. His teachings have been have been given with great authority and very direct pointness.
00:06:23
Speaker
The miracles have been incredible with the different healings of whether it was the the leper to raising the dead, things like that, that were extremely countercultural or extremely against what they would say against the law when it comes to the purification things, right? So Jesus has been turning everything on its head in his ministry up to this point.
John the Baptist's Role and Imprisonment
00:06:44
Speaker
so and So when we get up here to Luke chapter 7 verse 18, we get reintroduced to a character that was introduced in the beginning that we oftentimes get kind of, that gets sidelined because once Jesus' ministry begins, it's all about Jesus and rightfully so.
00:07:00
Speaker
But we also can't forget about the one who came to prepare the way. right That was all part of God's sovereign plan as well. For him to send this messenger that went before Jesus, so before the Messiah, to prepare the way for him as he began his ministry.
00:07:15
Speaker
um So we see here verse 18 that the disciples of John, John the Baptist, reported all these things to John regarding Jesus.
00:07:26
Speaker
So where was John at at the time this took place? Do y'all remember? He's in prison. Right? He's in prison. Now, before we go any further, i want to do a quick recap of how John ended up getting into prison.
00:07:40
Speaker
Okay? So, if you go back, I'm not going to read through all these passages, but if you go back and look at these references, if you go back to Luke chapter 1 in the beginning, where we see the prophecy of the birth of John the Baptist being foretold with Zacharias and Elizabeth, and the job description that was given to him there in verses 13 through 15, I love, 13 through 17. I would love to read that to you because it's absolutely incredible. But it says, Luke chapter 1, verses 13 through 17, it says this, but the angel said to him, talking Zachariah, do not be afraid, Zachariah, for your prayer has been heard and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear a son and you shall call his name John.
00:08:21
Speaker
And you will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth for he will be great, Before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink. And he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. Even from his mother's womb.
00:08:37
Speaker
Wow. right This is John the Baptist, guy in prison. It goes on and says, And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before them in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of his fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready for the peace or for the Lord a people prepared.
00:09:03
Speaker
Okay, so again, this is the guy who's sitting in prison, the guy who has come in the spirit and the power of Elijah to come and to prepare the people before the Lord. And if we see that throughout his ministry. If you continue on, we see it in Matthew 3, Mark 1, and then also Luke 3 where we see John preparing the way for Jesus. And if you continue on in the same narratives, we also see John's prophetic message regarding Jesus. And I would love to even read a little bit of that to you because I want you to hear the power that John is speaking in regards to the coming Messiah.
00:09:41
Speaker
In Luke chapter 3, verses 15 to 17, through 17, it says this, As the people were in expectation, all were questioning their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ.
00:09:52
Speaker
John answered them all, saying, I baptize you in water, but he who is mightier than I is coming. the strap of whose sandals I am unworthy to untie.
00:10:06
Speaker
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand. Powerful phrase, right? His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn. But the chaff, he will burn with unquenchable fire.
00:10:27
Speaker
Talk about what the Messiah is going to do, right? John wasn't holding back his punches. You've got remember, John, at this point, he was a student of the Old Testament law. He knew the prophecies. He knew everything that was regarding Jesus from Genesis chapter 3 after the fall with the proto-evangelium of the first picture of the of the of the gospel with Jesus coming back and striking and crushing the head of Satan.
John's Doubts and Messiah Expectations
00:10:51
Speaker
All into Numbers, where where you see Israelites in the desert, and they encounter these snakes in the desert because of their unfaithfulness, and they get bit.
00:11:02
Speaker
And God commands Moses to go and to make a bronze serpent, to put it up on a pole. And to everybody who looks upon it, what happens? Is healed. Right? And then you've even seen Isaiah 53 with the suffering servant. So all these things, here's just just some of the examples of this.
00:11:17
Speaker
When John is, so while John is sitting in prison, he is recalling all these things. about who Jesus is going to be. And gotta remember, Jesus at this point has already said who he was.
00:11:33
Speaker
He says, I am the I am, am the son of God. And if he's truly the son of God, John's like, yes, this is finally gonna take place, what he said there in chapter three of Luke. He's gonna come with his winnowing fork and he's gonna separate the wheat from the chaff.
00:11:48
Speaker
What does that mean to them, you think, in the Jewish context? Because you've got to remember, for them, they've been waiting for this Messiah to come. So that way that he would remove the oppressive power that has been over them for so long. Who's that oppressive power?
00:12:04
Speaker
Rome, right? Rome. And so John is like, yes, Jesus is here. Our Messiah is here. This is going to take place. But yet, what we see here in chapter 7, after he gets in trouble for calling out Herod the Tetrarch,
00:12:22
Speaker
because of his adulterous relationship with his brother's wife. He's now in prison. Jesus is still doing ministry. And guess who's still in power?
00:12:33
Speaker
Rome. So you can only imagine what's going through John's head at this time. And i said I share all that because it sets us up for the question that we see there in chapter in verse 19, where he says, calling two of his disciples, he sent them to the Lord saying, are you the one who is to come?
00:12:53
Speaker
or shall we look for another?
00:12:57
Speaker
Man, talk about an intense question. Not just an intense question, but a deliberate question, a very pointed question. So again, with all this in mind, you can only imagine what's going through John's head.
00:13:11
Speaker
He's probably confused, he's probably frustrated. I mean, he's sitting in a jail cell, right? So you can't really do much but think. And then he could be, it begins questioning.
00:13:22
Speaker
which leads to doubt. Now, are probably thinking, well, I don't know he actually doubted. I don't know. Based off this question, I'm pretty sure he's probably beginning to doubt whether or not Jesus actually is who he says he is because of who's still in power.
00:13:38
Speaker
And so he asks this pointed question, are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another? And if you go to verse 20, you see that the discciles his disciples, John's disciples, who has been following Jesus at this point, right? So you've got to remember, John's in prison. So John probably told his disciples, hey, go and follow Jesus.
00:13:55
Speaker
Learn from him. He's the one to come. He is the expected one. So go and learn from him. And so he calls the two disciples, sends them back to Jesus to ask this question.
00:14:07
Speaker
and And what we see here is an absolutely incredible response by Jesus, right? But first, before we get to that response, I don't want to overlook this. I said that John doubted, right?
00:14:20
Speaker
Or that he was questioning,
00:14:25
Speaker
There's some of you in the room today who struggle with this idea of of questioning and doubting and that it's a negative thing and that it could even be sinful.
00:14:37
Speaker
And then I'm gonna answer this, okay? If y'all have questions about this, you come talk to me after, right?
00:14:46
Speaker
Questioning or doubt without faith leads to sin. Does that make sense? Questioning or doubting in of itself is not sinful.
00:15:00
Speaker
It's when you choose to walk in lack of faith of who ah to the one who's able to answer your questions or doubt, that's where it becomes sinful. You begin to go down the dark and narrow path that leads to destruction rather than coming back into the light where answers can be seen.
00:15:17
Speaker
And so for John, what I want us to see here is that the example that he sets here is that in the moment of his questioning, the moment of his doubting, what does he do? Does he sulk in his doubt?
00:15:30
Speaker
Does he seek other inmates in the jail? Like, hey, dude, can I get some wisdom from you? No, what does he do? He goes back to the source of his faith.
00:15:42
Speaker
He goes directly to Jesus to seek a clarifying answer. So my encouragement to you guys is this. For those of you guys are in the room who are questioning, those who are doubting, because let's be honest, this church, Christianity in general, you heard the state you heard the phrase, it's full of hypocrites.
00:16:07
Speaker
Well, they're not wrong. except the fact that we're full, it's just full of broken people. Everybody in this room, whether you are saved or not, you are broken, you are sinful, you are not the perfect example of love, of compassion, of humility, of meekness.
00:16:29
Speaker
But if you're a believer in this room, we should be an example of the one who is.
Jesus' Miracles: Actions Versus Words
00:16:33
Speaker
And we should walk in humility in that. So that way we can be the best example that we can be on this side of the of of the heaven for those who need a witness to the perfection that Christ is.
00:16:53
Speaker
So again, if you're in this room and you're questioning or doubting, that's not, I just want you to hear me say this, it's not a bad thing to question or doubt.
00:17:02
Speaker
But where it gets bad is is when you allow it to lead you down a very dark and lonely path separating yourself from the answers.
00:17:10
Speaker
So if you're in that place today, I highly encourage you to surrender those questions, those doubts, to the one who is actually capable and able and willing to bring clarity to your questioning. That is Jesus.
00:17:23
Speaker
For us, it's the Holy Spirit today. Does that make sense? So, but now moving on to verse 19, I want us to look at how Jesus responds to this questioning. Jesus responds to this doubt.
00:17:39
Speaker
Okay? Okay. It says this and verse 21, in that hour, he healed many people, diseases and plagues and evil spirits. And on many who were blind, he bestows sight and he goes on and and does all these miraculous things, right?
00:17:58
Speaker
And so in light of this question, Jesus hears the question and instead of speaking directly to it, he just allows his actions to speak louder than his words.
Relational Gospel and Compassionate Ministry
00:18:10
Speaker
He allows his miracles to be an example for the disciples of John so that when when he goes when they go back, they can give personal eyewitness testimony to what Jesus is actually doing.
00:18:24
Speaker
Let me ask you something. When it comes to sharing the gospel, what do you think is more effective? Do you think going and just spatting off scripture or going and just spatting off knowledge is good enough to bring someone to salvation?
00:18:41
Speaker
Yeah, because i mean, the reality is that behind those things, the spirit can move. But let me ask you this. Or do you think it's more effective to go and to actually be relational with people around you?
00:18:54
Speaker
Rub shoulders with them. Get to know them. share your experiences and likeness with them so that when when they do ask questions, you're able to have a more intimate response with them and what Jesus actually has actually done in your life rather than jesus just having a scholarly answer that has no love or no mercy or no compassion behind it.
00:19:18
Speaker
Does make sense? but That's the whole premise of Jesus's ministry. he is He's walking among the broken sinners, demonstrating his love for them in a way that the Pharisees and the Sadducees and all the other religious leaders were not doing.
Reasons Behind John's Doubt
00:19:41
Speaker
Because they were more worried about their their presentation. They were more worried about their circumstances than they were worried the heart condition and the personal life of those that they were trying to minister to.
00:19:53
Speaker
right And that's not a new thing. that's so yeah You see that in the Old Testament. right You even see that back in 1 Samuel with with Eli and his sons who are working the temple.
00:20:06
Speaker
we We have a tendency of making things about us rather than truly making things about other people. Which is why the two greatest commandments in this life is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And then to what?
00:20:18
Speaker
Love your neighbor as yourself. Because if you're truly loving God, you should have no other response than to love your neighbor.
00:20:31
Speaker
So Jesus, in response to John's question, he, rather again, speaking to John and just giving an answer, he demonstrates his power and his authority and his overall witness to John's disciples. So that way, when they go back to him, they're able to give them him at a personal eyewitness account to what Jesus is doing. And y'all catch how fast Jesus did this, by the way?
00:20:55
Speaker
Within that hour, Jesus got to work. Right? So he demonstrated his power very quickly. um But there's something else I wanted to bring to light here when it comes to this doubt that John that john had. Okay?
00:21:13
Speaker
Because I don't want us to think like, man, John was just really bad for having this doubt or this questioning. Because again, in light of everything that just happened, John has been, he's done everything in his power or everything he's been commanded him to make sure that he prepared the way for Jesus.
00:21:30
Speaker
And he's, again, probably sitting there like, man, why has this not been fulfilled yet? But there's four things that read from John MacArthur that what really stood out to me this week when it comes to the reasoning behind John's doubt.
00:21:47
Speaker
The reasoning behind John's doubt. And there I wanted to share these four things. Again, these are not my points. These are from John MacArthur. okay And this is not even an exhaustive list. There's probably more things that that actually cause doubt, and even in your own life. But I just wanted to share these four things because I feel like if you're in this room today and you're questioning or doubting, this will probably be beneficial to you and where you can begin to understand where your doubt is coming from.
00:22:12
Speaker
Because it's one thing to know that you doubt. It's another thing to actually get to the root of the issue and figure out why you're doubting. Right? So the four things are this. One, personal tragedy.
00:22:24
Speaker
Personal tragedy. When bad things happen in our life and when things don't work out the way we want them to work out, it brings us into this place of isolation or questioning. Right? And for John, that's exactly what happened. He is imprisoned despite his faithfulness.
00:22:39
Speaker
He's done everything the Lord has required of him, but yet he is sitting in prison because of his bold truthfulness to confront sin. So that's one thing. The second thing is popular influence.
00:22:52
Speaker
Popular influence. The influence of others or the influence of what culture is saying or or or what society is saying in that moment or what they've been saying even in tradition. Yeah, I threw that out there.
00:23:03
Speaker
Tradition, right? For John, he had a misconception about Jesus as Messiah and as not only as Messiah Savior, but also as Messiah King. Again, when you go back to look at what he was waiting for, when you go back to Luke 3, he was waiting for messiah the Messiah not only to come to heal and to bring compassion, but rather he was kind he was ready for him to come into what?
00:23:28
Speaker
Establish his kingdom now. not later. And so this is not the thoughts of his own, but rather, I mean, it's just based off of what was told in the prophecies, right?
00:23:40
Speaker
And so he's not necessarily wrong for this, but if you don't have a a humble approach to ah to the truth, then you allow popular influence around you to have sway in your thinking, you'll find yourself in a position of questioning or doubting.
00:23:57
Speaker
And the third one was incomplete revelation, which kind of goes off of what the second one was. Because he had an inaccurate picture of who the of who the coming kingdom was for. So it wasn't that he was just waiting for Jesus to come and and to remove the power that was oppressing them. But rather, he was expecting Jesus to come and to establish his kingdom. Then, for who? Jews.
00:24:20
Speaker
The Jews. Because again, that was what has been communicated the whole time, that God will come back and reestablish his kingdom for his people, which were the Israelites. But when Jesus got here, what did Jesus do?
00:24:33
Speaker
He came for the Jew first, then also for who? The Gentiles.
Jesus' Compassionate Approach
00:24:40
Speaker
So when he was seeing the miracles and the witnessing and the testimony of what Jesus was doing towards the Gentiles, you can only begin to see the cogs turning in his head, like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
00:24:49
Speaker
Is this the guy who I really thought he was?
00:24:53
Speaker
Does he not know who those Gentiles are? Yeah, okay, so you see where he's coming from with this? And then the fourth, the final thing that John john MacArthur brings about is a wrongful expectation.
00:25:07
Speaker
Wrongful expectation. Again, this goes back to his expectation of Jesus immediately executing judgment on the wicked. But again, rather than showing execution and judgment on the wicked, what does he do?
00:25:21
Speaker
He shows compassion. He shows mercy. He brings healing, not just to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles. Not just to those who believe, but also to those who don't believe.
00:25:38
Speaker
Talk about putting, ah spinning the needle on his head, right? I mean, like, John is sitting there like, what is happening? And so when his disciples, when John's disciples returned back to him with this answer that Jesus gives them, right? He says, he answered them, go and tell John what you have seen and heard, that the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. You can only imagine how small John became.
00:26:13
Speaker
Put yourself in his shoes.
00:26:17
Speaker
The guy that you put all your faith, all of your trust in, your hope who has been who who the Lord proclaimed to you, who put the Lord who put a a divine plan in your life to go and prepare the way for, you begin to question him, and then you hear about what he's doing.
00:26:38
Speaker
And you hear the the love and the compassion and the purpose behind it and how that is not just for the Jew but also for the Gentile.
00:26:48
Speaker
You can imagine that this moment, not only did John feel small, but he also probably felt the greatest relief he had ever experienced in his life.
00:27:00
Speaker
Talk about what Paul talks about later when he talks about like when we bring our our prayers and requests before the Lord, that he brings about peace that surpasses all understanding in our hearts and our minds. That's exactly what happened to John. I would assume it. We don't actually see his response recorded in Scripture.
00:27:18
Speaker
but I can only imagine how he felt.
00:27:23
Speaker
I'm not gonna say that I'm advocating for the show The Chosen, but they actually depict this scene in one of their seasons, and it's actually a really incredible scene of how John responds. and So if you wanna see kind of ah a cinematic or a creative right taken to this, go watch that episode of The Chosen. but So you can only imagine that the the relief that John has just wipes away any doubt, wipes away any questioning, and brings him to a place of faithful assurance in the full revelation of who Jesus is.
Purpose of Jesus' Life and Sacrifice
00:28:03
Speaker
And I'm here to tell you today that if you're in a similar spot like John, you too can have the full revelation of who Jesus is today, this week.
00:28:16
Speaker
especially as we go into Easter.
00:28:22
Speaker
Because for Jesus to come, to do all these great miraculous things, to have all these incredible messages, it wasn't for his own glory.
00:28:34
Speaker
It wasn't for his own purpose. Who was it for? For God. to bring about clarity, to bring about the full revelation of God's divine sovereign plan that was set in place from the very beginning of time.
00:28:51
Speaker
That he loved his people so much, his creation, you and I, so much that he would ultimately send his one and only son, Jesus, who's God incarnate, to come to do all these incredible things, but ultimately to die.
00:29:10
Speaker
We've been walking through a series on Wednesday a night across the street on the parables of Jesus. And one of the things that it keeps talking about is how everything from the the beginning of Jesus' ministry leads up to the triumphal entry.
00:29:26
Speaker
Everything he's doing has purpose for the sole purpose of him coming into Jerusalem so that way he can come in and proclaim who he actually is. Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah, the Anointed One, our Redeemer.
00:29:44
Speaker
And that's exactly what we will see this week. And I encourage you guys to read through the the different accounts of Passion Week, of Holy Week, as we go through this week. But again, though, this is just one of the glimpses, even before Jesus is even thinking about going to Jerusalem. he I mean, it's on his mind, I'm sure. But even before he even gets ahead that way, we see it here. The full revelation of who Jesus is on display to John the Baptist, the one who came to prepare the way.
00:30:13
Speaker
And so if Jesus is going to answer the question for him, guess what's going to happen? He's going to answer the question for you if you allow him to. And then he wraps up with this verse in verse 23 after he tells the disciples to go and to share with John what he all that is happening. He says, and blessed is the one who is not offended by me.
00:30:39
Speaker
Blessed is the one who is not offended by me. What does that statement mean? It's kind of something you see in the Beatitudes, right? But what this statement means, it's actually, that is it's a statement that's derived of of from the from the passage in Isaiah chapter eight, verses 14 and 15, regarding Jesus being the stumbling block or the snare or trap for those who do not believe or fear in him.
00:31:09
Speaker
So he's saying that for those who do not believe or fear in me, My message, my witness, my testimony, this power is going be a stumbling block. But for those who do believe in me and who are not offended by me, they will be blessed.
00:31:29
Speaker
This statement is not a statement of assurance that you will not face hard things in life. This statement is not a statement that you will not have questions or doubt, but rather this statement is a statement of assurance to those who have true faith in Christ and that they walk faithfully in his word and allow it to enrich them daily in and out.
00:31:48
Speaker
As Paul talks about, right? Putting on the full armor of God daily, carrying the sword of the spirit with us, his word, being ready in and out of season.
Faith Amid Doubt: John's Steadfast Belief
00:31:58
Speaker
That's what Jesus is saying here. And what a powerful statement for John to hear in this moment. Again, you gotta remember, he's sitting in a jail cell asking these questions, wondering when the timeline is actually gonna take place for the kingdom to be established. And then Jesus says, blessed.
00:32:15
Speaker
Blessed is the one who's not offended by me. And again, man, if you think there was any questioning or doubt or anything like that in John's mind, I could just imagine it going away in that moment.
00:32:27
Speaker
What power and authority? Jesus spoke. And you actually see it played out because what would ultimately happen to John?
00:32:36
Speaker
He would get beheaded. He would stay in prison. Some events would take place with Herod and his wife and his wife and and his daughter, and it would ultimately culminate with the daughter asking for John the Baptist to be beheaded, and Herod says okay because he made the promise here that he can't take back, and he gets beheaded.
00:32:58
Speaker
for hit walking faithfully and not being offended by Jesus. But the reality is that the reason why John was able to do that is because he had full assurance of hope in who the Messiah was.
00:33:11
Speaker
And I think it was because of this moment that reassured him of who Jesus is. So again, if you're in this room today,
00:33:22
Speaker
you're walking through a season or a trial or a hardship, something that is causing you to question, something that's causing you to doubt, all hope is not lost.
00:33:36
Speaker
If you bring those things before the Lord and you seek direction and clarity, He is ready and willing and able to answer and to respond and give you the things you need to get through this season. Amen.
00:33:52
Speaker
I'm to call all the seasoned people out there out a little bit. Okay, for those guys who are a little bit older than me, right? Which is all of you. I'm just kidding. um Just kidding, just kidding. But I'm sure we could sit here and we could have story after story and testimony after testimony of how God allowed circumstances to come into our lives that were hard, but yet he also provided a way for us to get through them.
00:34:19
Speaker
Let's go back and look at the story of Job. Job was in a very similar situation as John the Baptist, where he was walking faithfully, did nothing wrong, but yet by God's command, things started happening to him that he did not understand, and he could have easily turned away from the Lord. That was the whole plan, right, for Satan to try to deceive Job.
00:34:39
Speaker
But what did he do? He remained faithful, first off. was without sin. But even in the moment of his groaning, moment of his pain, hardship, what did he do?
00:34:53
Speaker
He pressed into the Lord even more. He brought his complaints. He brought his anger, his frustration. He brought everything to the Lord so that way the Lord can carry his burden and not himself or his friends.
00:35:11
Speaker
So again, if that's you today, that is my prayer. That you allow the Lord to take those things from you. Because the greatest news is this. This is the point of the gospel message. And I'll wrap up with this.
00:35:25
Speaker
Jesus has already taken the burden away from you. When he chose to die on the cross for your sins, he took the full weight of the wrath of God upon his shoulders.
00:35:37
Speaker
that way you wouldn't have to carry it. So gonna step on your toes for a second. If you're in this room and you are feeling that you're being burdened by something, it's because you're choosing to burden yourself with it.
00:35:55
Speaker
All you have to do is walk by faith. And trust that God is there to meet you, to carry and take away those burdens from you. That's the purpose and the point of the gospel.
00:36:07
Speaker
That's the purpose and the point of Jesus coming to die on the cross. And not only just to die on the cross, but to be buried And then three days later, as we will celebrate next Sunday, to rise from the grave.
00:36:21
Speaker
And from that resurrection, he is proclaiming victory over sin, evil, and death, and over the schemes of Satan. Satan has no power over you. He may have power today in this side of heaven before Jesus comes back, but let me tell you something.
00:36:36
Speaker
He has limited power.
00:36:41
Speaker
Because Jesus already has claimed victory over everything that he's capable of doing. So you may experience momentary trouble, momentary trial or affliction here on this earth, but man, when you have faith in Christ and you surrender your heart and your mind to him and you walk in him and you surrendered him salvation, guess what happens?
00:37:01
Speaker
Those momentary trials, troubles and afflictions here on earth turn into glorious riches in heaven for eternity on the other side. That is what we as Christians cling to. That is what we as Christians, our followers of Christ, hope for.
Invitation to Embrace Salvation and Closing Prayer
00:37:17
Speaker
And this idea of hope is not a negative thing. It's not like, man, I really hope this, I really hope this takes place. No, it's confident assurance of the things unseen of what God is already doing. When you hope in it, you're longing for it. You're putting your whole faith, truth, and trust in it.
00:37:32
Speaker
Does make sense? So I'm gonna ask the worship team to come on up. We're gonna go to a time of invitation.
00:37:42
Speaker
As they come up, though, I want to read, if you allow me to, two more verse or two more passages, short verses here. One is Hebrews 4, 14 through 16.
00:37:56
Speaker
Because of Christ, this is what we can hope in. Since then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without what?
00:38:15
Speaker
Sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to God or draw near to the th throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help him in a time of need.
00:38:30
Speaker
What a gift Jesus is for us. What a hope we now have in Jesus, our Savior. The man who was stricken with sorrow to be our suffering servant is now the man who is victorious and sitting at the right hand of God right now, preparing a place for you and I for when the day when he returns, he will call us home back to him and we'll have eternal dwelling with him forevermore. Sorrow free, pain free, guilt free, everything's free.
00:39:03
Speaker
What a gift. So if you need to receive that gift today as we go into this time of invitation, I pray that you can come down talk to me or talk to somebody that you know who will guide you into salvation. But do not miss the opportunity while we still have today.
00:39:17
Speaker
Will you pray with me? Lord God, we just thank you so much for your word. We thank you for your truth and your full revelation. Father, you have not left any stone unturned that needs to be turned over.
00:39:30
Speaker
God, there are things about you that we still do not understand, but at the end of the day, everything that we need to know about you, you have revealed. And what truth and power and grace and peace we can find in those things.
00:39:43
Speaker
So again, Lord, there's anyone in this room today who has not walked faithfully with you or who has not ever surrendered their life to you, I pray that today that they will find peace and rest for their soul.
00:39:55
Speaker
that they will turn their life over to you and surrender. that way you can have full reign in their life. And pray that for those of us who have surrendered our lives to you, Father, that we will willingly relinquish our burdens to you and live them to you daily. So that way you can have full reign in our life as well.
00:40:15
Speaker
So we will not be hindered or that we will not hinder your gospel message. Lord, just have your way in our lives. we please or May we have a desire to please you and long for you each day. It's in Jesus' name we pray.
00:40:27
Speaker
Amen.
00:40:33
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.