1 00:00:01,760 --> 00:00:04,560 So if you haven't yet, you can go ahead and be Turning to Matthew 2 00:00:04,560 --> 00:00:08,800 11. We're going to be in the first 19 verses of Matthew 11 today. 3 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:12,440 And let me catch you up, because over the course of this year, 4 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:15,999 we've been walking through Matthew chapter by chapter, verse 5 00:00:15,999 --> 00:00:18,880 by verse. And so we've gone through the Sermon on the Mount, 6 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:24,160 the Beatitudes. We've seen Jesus doing ministry and the disciples 7 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:28,330 watching. And. And we've even got to a place now where Jesus has 8 00:00:28,330 --> 00:00:32,930 sent out his disciples to go and do ministry. And he's told them, 9 00:00:32,930 --> 00:00:35,530 we heard last week, he's told them, you're going to face opposition, 10 00:00:35,690 --> 00:00:39,050 you're going to face rejection, you're going to face persecution. 11 00:00:39,610 --> 00:00:43,090 And today we're going to actually see that opposition can 12 00:00:43,090 --> 00:00:46,770 come from one of the unlikeliest of places, one of the 13 00:00:46,770 --> 00:00:51,210 unlikeliest of people. So let's read in the first three verses 14 00:00:51,210 --> 00:00:55,690 of Matthew 11 and see where that opposition comes from. When 15 00:00:55,690 --> 00:00:59,210 Jesus had finished instructing his 12 disciples, he went on from 16 00:00:59,210 --> 00:01:03,250 there to teach and preach in their cities. Now, when John heard 17 00:01:03,250 --> 00:01:07,250 in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 18 00:01:07,970 --> 00:01:12,530 and said to him, are you the one who is to come, or shall we look 19 00:01:12,530 --> 00:01:18,770 for another? This is John the Baptist, the one who was anointed 20 00:01:18,930 --> 00:01:24,600 from birth to go and prepare the way for Jesus to go and set the 21 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:28,240 table for Jesus to come and usher in a new kingdom. This is the 22 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:33,200 John the Baptist who, when Jesus was coming up on him as he 23 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:37,560 was teaching, John the Baptist looked and told his disciples, behold 24 00:01:37,960 --> 00:01:42,040 the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is John 25 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:46,040 the Baptist who actually baptized Jesus. And when he baptized 26 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:50,120 Jesus, he heard the voice from heaven, God, say, this is my beloved 27 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:56,360 Son, in whom I'm well pleased that John the Baptist is facing some 28 00:01:56,360 --> 00:02:04,240 doubts now. His circumstances have caused him to wonder, Jesus, 29 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:10,360 are you the one? Are you the Messiah, or should we be looking 30 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:14,920 for someone else? Like John's even getting to a place to where 31 00:02:14,920 --> 00:02:20,860 he's questioning the deity of Jesus. He's saying, I know I proclaim 32 00:02:20,860 --> 00:02:27,260 that you were the Messiah, the Son of God, but can you confirm, 33 00:02:28,300 --> 00:02:35,620 Are you sure that you're him? And John is asking these questions 34 00:02:35,620 --> 00:02:43,790 because he's wondering if maybe Jesus let him down. His circumstances 35 00:02:43,790 --> 00:02:50,350 are pretty dire and he's got maybe some reasons to question. He's 36 00:02:50,350 --> 00:02:54,190 questioning the goodness of Jesus. He's questioning, Jesus, do 37 00:02:54,190 --> 00:02:59,310 you know what you're doing? Because my circumstances caused me 38 00:02:59,310 --> 00:03:04,710 to doubt. And I'm wondering if you can Relate. Maybe you're in a 39 00:03:04,710 --> 00:03:09,530 situation currently, or you can reflect back and say, yeah, been 40 00:03:09,530 --> 00:03:14,610 in a situation where I've doubted the goodness of Jesus. I've 41 00:03:14,610 --> 00:03:22,170 doubted his plan. I've doubted even if he was God. Maybe even for 42 00:03:22,170 --> 00:03:26,450 some of you, you've walked with Jesus for years and years, decades 43 00:03:26,450 --> 00:03:31,930 even, but a circumstance has happened and it's caused you to say, 44 00:03:32,090 --> 00:03:36,060 ooh, wait a minute, wait a minute, Jesus. That was not what 45 00:03:36,060 --> 00:03:42,180 I was expecting. And your unmet expectations can cause you 46 00:03:43,300 --> 00:03:51,180 to doubt the goodness of Jesus. And John's message, if you 47 00:03:51,180 --> 00:03:57,940 remember, was one of, if you don't repent, then there's gonna 48 00:03:57,940 --> 00:04:03,560 be punishment and wrath and judgment for you. But if you will 49 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:08,360 repent, if you will confess your sins, if you will be baptized, 50 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:13,960 then there's blessing in store for you. And John has not only done 51 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:18,760 that, but he's preaching that message. Yet he finds himself in 52 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:23,720 what looks more like a situation of punishment or wrath. 53 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:28,600 Why am I here, God? How did I get here? And why are you not doing 54 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:34,710 something about this? You can do something about it. And Jesus 55 00:04:34,710 --> 00:04:39,030 knows. He knows what John is thinking. He knows what John's feeling. 56 00:04:39,350 --> 00:04:45,430 And he responds to John in a loving, gentle, compassionate way, 57 00:04:46,790 --> 00:04:50,550 but in a truthful way, too. Let's look at these next three verses, 58 00:04:50,550 --> 00:04:55,310 starting in verse four, and see how Jesus responds. And Jesus 59 00:04:55,310 --> 00:04:59,550 answered them, meaning John's disciples. Go and tell John what 60 00:04:59,550 --> 00:05:04,030 you hear and see. The blind receive their sight, and the lame 61 00:05:04,030 --> 00:05:08,230 walk. Lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised 62 00:05:08,230 --> 00:05:12,470 up. And the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed 63 00:05:12,470 --> 00:05:18,350 is the one who is not offended by me. I love how Jesus responds 64 00:05:18,350 --> 00:05:23,830 to John in this moment of doubt. He points back to his track 65 00:05:23,830 --> 00:05:31,430 record. He says, john, look at what I've done. I've given sight 66 00:05:31,510 --> 00:05:36,550 to the blind. I've raised the lame to walk. I've cleansed lepers. 67 00:05:36,550 --> 00:05:40,550 I'm preaching good news to the poor. You know, John, and your disciples 68 00:05:40,630 --> 00:05:46,390 know that these are messianic prophecies from Isaiah 35 and 61 69 00:05:46,630 --> 00:05:52,200 that speak to me, that speak to what I'm doing. So rest assured, 70 00:05:52,200 --> 00:06:00,920 John, I am the Messiah. I am him who you were looking for. You 71 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:06,440 don't need to look anymore. And so I'm going to give you a truth 72 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:09,920 that we see from John that you may want to write down today. It's 73 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:16,570 the first truth. Jesus responds to our doubts by reminding 74 00:06:16,570 --> 00:06:24,530 us of what he's done to prove who he is. Jesus responds to our 75 00:06:24,530 --> 00:06:28,370 doubts just like he did to John's by reminding us of what he's 76 00:06:28,370 --> 00:06:38,410 done to prove who he is. I had Jesus loving parents who raised me 77 00:06:38,410 --> 00:06:42,410 and my two younger brothers in a way that pointed us towards Jesus. 78 00:06:42,980 --> 00:06:48,340 But oftentimes as a teenager, I didn't like their rules. I didn't 79 00:06:48,340 --> 00:06:51,660 like their restrictions. I would frequently tell them that they 80 00:06:51,660 --> 00:06:57,260 were the strictest parents in town and they wore that as a badge 81 00:06:57,260 --> 00:07:03,300 of honor, saying, good, that's what we want. But even though I didn't 82 00:07:03,300 --> 00:07:08,100 understand what they were doing, they were still raising me 83 00:07:08,100 --> 00:07:13,740 in a way to point me towards Jesus. And so thank you, Dad. I appreciate 84 00:07:13,740 --> 00:07:18,220 that. And here I find myself 30, 40 years later and I have four 85 00:07:18,220 --> 00:07:23,180 children, three of whom are teenagers. And they frequently don't 86 00:07:23,180 --> 00:07:30,660 like or understand things that their mom or I ask of them. They 87 00:07:30,660 --> 00:07:35,060 don't like the circumstances, they don't like the decisions. And 88 00:07:35,060 --> 00:07:38,910 so we have a saying in our house that that comes up more often 89 00:07:39,070 --> 00:07:44,910 than I'd like to admit that says, my only desire is to bless 90 00:07:44,910 --> 00:07:50,670 you, never to harm you. My only desire is to bless you, never 91 00:07:50,750 --> 00:07:55,710 to harm you. And that's come up so often that I'll get a look 92 00:07:56,350 --> 00:08:01,910 from them that says, I don't know if I believe that, and that's 93 00:08:01,910 --> 00:08:07,740 fair, that's a fair response. But it gives me the opportunity to 94 00:08:07,740 --> 00:08:14,380 point to my track record. And so I'll take them back and say, let 95 00:08:14,380 --> 00:08:18,940 me tell you about all the ways that I've sought to bless you time 96 00:08:18,940 --> 00:08:25,340 and time again. You can look at my track record and see my desire 97 00:08:25,340 --> 00:08:31,110 is to bless you, never to harm you. And because of that, you can 98 00:08:31,110 --> 00:08:35,910 trust me even when you don't understand, even when you don't like 99 00:08:35,910 --> 00:08:42,950 it. You can trust me. My desire for you is good and I'm an 100 00:08:42,950 --> 00:08:47,990 imperfect Father. But this is actually what our perfect Heavenly 101 00:08:47,990 --> 00:08:51,430 Father tells us. You can turn to it or you can look on the screen. 102 00:08:51,430 --> 00:08:56,920 But in Jeremiah 29:11, a verse many of you are familiar with, this 103 00:08:56,920 --> 00:09:00,680 is what we hear from our Heavenly Father. For I know the plans 104 00:09:00,680 --> 00:09:05,920 I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans for welfare and good 105 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:12,720 and peace, and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 106 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:20,360 Our Heavenly Father has good plans for us, not evil. He doesn't 107 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:25,930 want to harm us. His plans are good even if we don't know them fully. 108 00:09:27,850 --> 00:09:33,690 He knows he cannot give us his plan fully. He can't lay it all out 109 00:09:33,690 --> 00:09:36,450 and say, okay, then this is going to happen, then this, then 110 00:09:36,450 --> 00:09:43,370 this. Because we're selfish in controlling children who would say, 111 00:09:44,250 --> 00:09:49,310 I know you thought that that would be a good idea, God, but that's 112 00:09:49,310 --> 00:09:51,870 going to be too hard. That's going to be too challenging. I don't 113 00:09:51,870 --> 00:09:54,830 want to go through that trial, I don't want to go through that grief. 114 00:09:54,910 --> 00:10:02,670 So let's go this way. Wouldn't this be better? God knows if he gave 115 00:10:02,670 --> 00:10:09,990 us the plan, that's what we would do. But also his desire is 116 00:10:09,990 --> 00:10:15,070 that we would trust him when we don't know the plan, that we would 117 00:10:15,070 --> 00:10:23,830 trust that He's a good God. He goes on to even give us a new Beatitude 118 00:10:23,830 --> 00:10:27,630 that speaks to this in verse six there. If you had memorized the 119 00:10:27,630 --> 00:10:29,870 Beatitude, you may not have realized there's one more that you 120 00:10:29,870 --> 00:10:34,230 need to add to the list. And blessed is the one who is not offended 121 00:10:34,230 --> 00:10:41,470 by me. Another way that you can think about this. Blessed is 122 00:10:41,470 --> 00:10:47,630 the one who is willing to let God unfold his plan as he sees fit. 123 00:10:49,390 --> 00:10:53,070 Blessed is the one who is willing to let God unfold His plan 124 00:10:53,710 --> 00:10:59,710 as he sees fit. I think if we're honest, we get upset with God 125 00:10:59,790 --> 00:11:04,150 or we feel like he's letting us down when our plans don't come 126 00:11:04,150 --> 00:11:10,760 to fruition. Because we love a God who is a Savior who would save 127 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:16,120 us from eternal punishment. We love a God who is a comforter who 128 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:21,480 meets us in our brokenness and brings us comfort. We love a God 129 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:26,120 who is a provider and gives us what we need and even what we want 130 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:32,580 sometimes. But if we're honest, we don't always love a God 131 00:11:32,580 --> 00:11:39,300 who is ruler, a God who is Lord, a God who gets to dictate our 132 00:11:39,300 --> 00:11:43,260 circumstances, who gets to dictate the plan that he has for 133 00:11:43,260 --> 00:11:49,140 us because we want the plan. And the problem is we can let our 134 00:11:49,140 --> 00:11:54,660 circumstances dictate the kind of expectations we have of Jesus. 135 00:11:56,420 --> 00:12:01,180 John's circumstances caused him to have a temporary short sighted 136 00:12:01,180 --> 00:12:07,020 view of Jesus. And he may have even been wondering something that 137 00:12:07,020 --> 00:12:12,100 you may have wondered before too. Jesus, if you can change their 138 00:12:12,100 --> 00:12:18,380 circumstance, why have you not changed mine? If you can heal them, 139 00:12:18,380 --> 00:12:21,980 why have you not healed me? If you can save my child, if you can 140 00:12:21,980 --> 00:12:27,950 save their child, why would you not save mine? If you can change 141 00:12:27,950 --> 00:12:34,470 their circumstances, why have you not changed mine? And John's 142 00:12:34,470 --> 00:12:38,630 wondering that because his circumstances are pretty dire. He's 143 00:12:38,630 --> 00:12:43,150 in prison. Herod's put him there because he spoke truth to Herod 144 00:12:43,470 --> 00:12:47,550 about his marriage to his brother's wife Herodias, and said, 145 00:12:47,950 --> 00:12:52,170 you shouldn't have done that. And so Herod doesn't like him. Herod's 146 00:12:52,170 --> 00:12:56,290 wife hates him. And so he's in prison. He may not realize it yet, 147 00:12:56,290 --> 00:13:00,770 but we know he's on death row. And so his circumstances are pretty 148 00:13:01,010 --> 00:13:05,890 dire. And so he's bringing maybe out of those circumstances 149 00:13:05,970 --> 00:13:12,290 what could be a fair question to God, to Jesus. And Jesus, in His 150 00:13:12,290 --> 00:13:15,850 loving way, just kind of gives him a rebuke and reminds him of what 151 00:13:15,850 --> 00:13:21,940 he's done that points to who he is so that John can remember that 152 00:13:21,940 --> 00:13:27,620 he's a part of a bigger plan. John, I'm not out just to save your 153 00:13:27,620 --> 00:13:32,380 circumstances. I'm out for a bigger plan than that. And your circumstances 154 00:13:32,380 --> 00:13:40,340 are a part of my plan. But the thing that John does that we ought 155 00:13:40,340 --> 00:13:45,970 to learn from is he brings his doubt to Jesus. He doesn't hide it. 156 00:13:46,210 --> 00:13:49,210 He doesn't sit on it. He doesn't go somewhere else. He brings 157 00:13:49,210 --> 00:13:53,690 his doubt to Jesus. So the second thing I want you to write 158 00:13:53,690 --> 00:13:59,210 down today is the right response to doubt is to take our 159 00:13:59,210 --> 00:14:06,010 doubt to Jesus. The best thing you can do with your doubt is to 160 00:14:06,010 --> 00:14:10,510 take it to Jesus. And the inverse of that is true. The worst 161 00:14:10,510 --> 00:14:14,670 thing you can do with your doubt is to go anywhere else other 162 00:14:14,670 --> 00:14:18,830 than Jesus. But that's what we feel like sometimes we should do. 163 00:14:18,830 --> 00:14:22,550 I can't bring this to Jesus. I'm embarrassed. I'm ashamed. What 164 00:14:22,550 --> 00:14:28,230 is he going to think of me? I've been walking with him and now 165 00:14:28,230 --> 00:14:34,390 he's going to think I'm a failure. But Jesus is a compassionate 166 00:14:34,390 --> 00:14:39,420 God. He wants us to bring our doubt to. Just like he wants us to 167 00:14:39,420 --> 00:14:44,420 bring our fears to him, our anxieties to him, our needs to Him. 168 00:14:44,900 --> 00:14:48,700 He wants us to bring our doubt to him because he wants to meet it 169 00:14:48,700 --> 00:14:56,260 with his compassion and his truth. Let's see his compassionate 170 00:14:56,260 --> 00:15:01,140 response to the people about John. He doesn't tear John down. 171 00:15:01,300 --> 00:15:05,530 He actually builds him up. Let's look at verses 7 through 15. 172 00:15:08,010 --> 00:15:11,850 As they went away, John's disciples, Jesus, began to speak 173 00:15:11,850 --> 00:15:15,770 to the crowds concerning John. What did you go out into the wilderness 174 00:15:15,770 --> 00:15:19,410 to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to 175 00:15:19,410 --> 00:15:23,050 see a man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear 176 00:15:23,050 --> 00:15:26,210 soft clothing are in king's houses. What then? Did you go out 177 00:15:26,210 --> 00:15:30,610 to see a prophet? Yes, I tell you. And more than a prophet, this 178 00:15:30,610 --> 00:15:34,410 is he of whom it is written. Behold, I send my messenger before 179 00:15:34,410 --> 00:15:38,690 your face who will prepare your way before you. Truly, I say 180 00:15:38,690 --> 00:15:41,690 to you, among those born of women, there has arisen no one greater 181 00:15:41,690 --> 00:15:45,090 than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is Least in the kingdom of 182 00:15:45,090 --> 00:15:48,810 heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist 183 00:15:48,810 --> 00:15:52,050 until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence and 184 00:15:52,050 --> 00:15:55,610 the violent. Take it by force for all the prophets and the law 185 00:15:55,610 --> 00:15:59,370 prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he 186 00:15:59,370 --> 00:16:04,890 is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. 187 00:16:06,970 --> 00:16:12,810 What Jesus is doing here is he is building up John and his message. 188 00:16:12,810 --> 00:16:17,890 And he is further connecting what John said about Jesus to the 189 00:16:17,890 --> 00:16:22,330 fact that I have done those things. John has been a faithful 190 00:16:22,980 --> 00:16:26,420 prophet. And so he's telling the people, because they're probably 191 00:16:26,660 --> 00:16:30,340 wondering, Jesus, what are you going to do about John's situation? 192 00:16:31,380 --> 00:16:35,500 If you care about John, what are you going to do? And Jesus is 193 00:16:35,500 --> 00:16:43,620 saying, john has fulfilled what he came to do. John has fulfilled 194 00:16:43,620 --> 00:16:50,190 his plans that my Father gave him to do. And because of that, he 195 00:16:50,190 --> 00:16:54,750 is a great prophet. He doesn't criticize his doubt. He says, actually 196 00:16:54,750 --> 00:17:01,470 he's a great man of faith because he was faithful to the end. 197 00:17:02,510 --> 00:17:07,830 You see, John was the first one, the first prophet, the first 198 00:17:07,830 --> 00:17:13,430 word of God. For 400 years there was silence. And then God sent 199 00:17:13,430 --> 00:17:21,699 John prepare the way to be the Elijah for Jesus. And so the thing 200 00:17:21,699 --> 00:17:26,459 that we see here from John brings us to the third truth. I want 201 00:17:26,459 --> 00:17:34,819 you to consider. Having doubt doesn't make us faithless. It reveals 202 00:17:34,899 --> 00:17:42,070 our need to remember Jesus faithfulness. Having doubt doesn't 203 00:17:42,070 --> 00:17:47,790 make us faithless. It reveals our need to remember Jesus faithfulness. 204 00:17:48,590 --> 00:17:54,990 Listen, doubt isn't a sin. Okay, let me say that again. Doubt 205 00:17:55,150 --> 00:18:01,830 isn't sin. But what doubt does is it brings us to a fork in the 206 00:18:01,830 --> 00:18:08,170 road where we can either go towards unbelief or we can fall back 207 00:18:08,170 --> 00:18:16,170 on Jesus and what we know to be true about him. The greatest risk 208 00:18:16,330 --> 00:18:22,330 today, our greatest risk today is not the doubt that we came in 209 00:18:22,330 --> 00:18:26,730 with. It's whether or not we'll let Jesus replace our doubt 210 00:18:26,970 --> 00:18:34,470 with faith. All right? That's what we're at risk missing out on 211 00:18:34,550 --> 00:18:39,190 is letting Jesus take our doubt and replace it with his truth 212 00:18:39,590 --> 00:18:45,590 and with faith in him. This is what Jesus points to next as he calls 213 00:18:45,590 --> 00:18:53,390 out that generation and calls them immature children. Let's look 214 00:18:53,390 --> 00:18:59,510 at what he says in the last four verses, starting in verse 16. 215 00:19:01,430 --> 00:19:04,550 But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children 216 00:19:04,630 --> 00:19:08,950 sitting in the marketplace and calling to their playmates. We played 217 00:19:08,950 --> 00:19:12,270 the flute for you and you did not dance. We sang a dirge and you 218 00:19:12,270 --> 00:19:15,790 did not mourn. For John came neither eating nor drinking. And 219 00:19:15,790 --> 00:19:19,310 they say he has A demon, the Son of Man, came eating and drinking. 220 00:19:19,310 --> 00:19:22,230 They say, look at him. A glutton and a drunkard, a friend 221 00:19:22,230 --> 00:19:27,960 of tax collectors and sinners. Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds. 222 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:33,800 Jesus is addressing the immature faith of that generation. 223 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:40,320 He's saying, you cannot receive what I'm teaching because 224 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:44,520 you're acting like children. Children who would play in the marketplace, 225 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:50,600 play a flute or play a dirge. He's not. He's counterbalancing that 226 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:54,920 against. When he's spoken before about childlike faith. He's 227 00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:58,080 saying, that's not how you're acting. You're actually acting with 228 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:03,360 a childish, immature faith because you just want me to meet 229 00:20:03,360 --> 00:20:10,000 your expectations. But the truth is, Jesus did not come to meet 230 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:16,720 anybody's expectations. He came to build his kingdom, his way. 231 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:23,070 He didn't come to build my kingdom or your kingdom. He didn't 232 00:20:23,070 --> 00:20:27,550 even come to build his kingdom, our way or their way, the 233 00:20:27,550 --> 00:20:31,670 way they wanted. They wanted him to overthrow Rome. And he said, 234 00:20:32,230 --> 00:20:37,030 I got bigger plans than that. I'm building my kingdom, my way. 235 00:20:37,750 --> 00:20:42,430 And so you can either grow in your faith and have a mature faith 236 00:20:42,430 --> 00:20:49,700 and understand that, or you can stay in a childish faith, a child 237 00:20:49,700 --> 00:20:53,460 who may be stubborn or selfish, or only want their way and 238 00:20:53,460 --> 00:20:56,940 throw a fit when they don't get their way. That's what Jesus 239 00:20:56,940 --> 00:21:01,220 is calling them. And if we're honest, sometimes we can respond 240 00:21:01,220 --> 00:21:07,380 that way, too. We can get mad at Jesus because he's not doing what 241 00:21:07,380 --> 00:21:12,300 we think he should do, because maybe he's not getting us out of 242 00:21:12,300 --> 00:21:16,700 our circumstance, maybe because he's not building kingdom 243 00:21:17,180 --> 00:21:22,300 or letting us build our kingdom, our way. And Jesus is saying, 244 00:21:23,260 --> 00:21:27,060 that's not what it's about. It's so much bigger than that. My 245 00:21:27,060 --> 00:21:32,460 kingdom is so much bigger than that. If you'll just lean into me, 246 00:21:34,060 --> 00:21:40,460 if you'll trust me, I'll reveal to you that I'm building my 247 00:21:40,460 --> 00:21:46,820 kingdom, my way. And so I think we need to take our cues from 248 00:21:46,820 --> 00:21:54,020 John. He didn't run from Jesus. He didn't try to hide his 249 00:21:54,020 --> 00:21:59,460 doubt. He took his doubt to Jesus, the one person who could replace 250 00:21:59,460 --> 00:22:06,420 his doubt by pointing him back to truth. Because Jesus loves to 251 00:22:06,420 --> 00:22:13,090 respond to our doubt with compassion and truth. We love the 252 00:22:13,090 --> 00:22:18,610 compassion part. It's the truthful part that sometimes hits 253 00:22:18,610 --> 00:22:24,290 us between the eyes. And we're like, oh, man. But that's what we 254 00:22:24,290 --> 00:22:29,410 need. That's what we need to be reminded of. And that's even what 255 00:22:29,410 --> 00:22:33,770 he says in verse 19 when he's talking about wisdom is justified 256 00:22:34,010 --> 00:22:40,330 by her deeds, Jesus is pointing to the fact that my wisdom 257 00:22:40,330 --> 00:22:43,250 and the wisdom of my Father is greater than you can understand. 258 00:22:45,170 --> 00:22:50,050 And he's actually pointing to the Gospel, saying, you cannot understand 259 00:22:50,450 --> 00:22:56,050 why a gracious, perfect heavenly Father would send His Son 260 00:22:56,290 --> 00:23:01,050 to give his life. You want me to stay here and overthrow Rome, 261 00:23:01,050 --> 00:23:06,430 but I'm actually laying down my life so that you can have life 262 00:23:06,670 --> 00:23:14,310 in our kingdom. I'm willing to die so that you can have a relationship 263 00:23:14,310 --> 00:23:20,990 with us, so that you can learn what it looks like to trust in me, 264 00:23:21,630 --> 00:23:26,190 trust in my Father, so that you can actually allow my Holy Spirit 265 00:23:26,190 --> 00:23:32,800 that I'm going to send to you, remind you time and time again that 266 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:37,200 I'm good, that I love you, that I only want to bring blessing 267 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:45,880 to you, not harm. I don't know what kind of hurt or pain you may 268 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:54,730 be facing today. Many of you walked in with doubt, doubting the 269 00:23:54,730 --> 00:23:58,690 goodness of God, doubting if he was going to change your circumstance 270 00:23:58,690 --> 00:24:06,050 or your situation, wondering maybe even if he is the Messiah. 271 00:24:08,450 --> 00:24:13,410 Maybe a financial hardship has caused you to have concerns. Maybe 272 00:24:13,890 --> 00:24:18,690 loss of a relationship or a loved one has caused you to have 273 00:24:18,690 --> 00:24:24,210 doubts in the goodness of God. Maybe because you haven't found the 274 00:24:24,210 --> 00:24:31,010 right job or the right partner, your doubt has grown. Maybe 275 00:24:31,010 --> 00:24:35,250 because he hasn't healed you the way you want him to, you're doubting 276 00:24:35,250 --> 00:24:39,090 if he has the power to heal. And if he doesn't have the power 277 00:24:39,090 --> 00:24:48,470 to heal, maybe he's not God. Whatever doubt you came in with, 278 00:24:48,870 --> 00:24:55,070 Jesus wants you to respond by bringing your doubt to Him. He wants 279 00:24:55,070 --> 00:25:02,190 to meet you with compassion and truth. He does not want you to 280 00:25:02,190 --> 00:25:14,860 live in a perpetual season of doubting Him. And so I. I know many 281 00:25:14,940 --> 00:25:19,780 who are hearing today who are watching online have doubt, have 282 00:25:19,780 --> 00:25:23,660 seeds of doubt even that have been planted maybe long ago. Maybe 283 00:25:23,660 --> 00:25:29,020 something happened to you as a child or a young adult and it's planted 284 00:25:29,020 --> 00:25:34,900 seeds of doubt that are bearing fruit that are not the fruit 285 00:25:34,900 --> 00:25:39,820 that Jesus wants you to bear. And he wants you to bring that to 286 00:25:39,820 --> 00:25:45,220 him so he can uproot that seed of doubt and plant in new seeds of 287 00:25:45,220 --> 00:25:53,540 truth. So there's a couple of ways that I'm going to ask you to 288 00:25:53,540 --> 00:26:01,220 consider responding today. For some of you, you've never come to 289 00:26:01,220 --> 00:26:07,580 Jesus and made him your Savior or your Lord. Maybe you have had 290 00:26:07,580 --> 00:26:13,460 doubt in the fact that is he the God. Or maybe you think you've 291 00:26:13,460 --> 00:26:19,580 done too much and so you doubt if he can save you based on everything 292 00:26:19,580 --> 00:26:27,340 you've done. Surely he cannot save me. He Loves saving people no 293 00:26:27,340 --> 00:26:33,620 matter what they've done. So my prayer for you today is that you 294 00:26:33,620 --> 00:26:40,050 would respond by surrendering fully to Jesus, that you would bring 295 00:26:40,050 --> 00:26:44,370 your doubt, that you bring your hurts, that you'd bring sin 296 00:26:44,370 --> 00:26:49,410 and lay it down before him and say, jesus, I trust you. I'm not 297 00:26:49,410 --> 00:26:54,850 holding back anymore. I trust you. You are the Messiah. You are 298 00:26:54,850 --> 00:27:00,650 the Savior. You are the Lord. There is no other. Will you save 299 00:27:00,650 --> 00:27:05,970 me? There may be some of you who need to respond with baptism 300 00:27:05,970 --> 00:27:11,890 today. Maybe you have been doubting that Jesus hasn't transformed 301 00:27:11,890 --> 00:27:15,810 your life yet. Maybe you gave your life to him. But you haven't 302 00:27:15,810 --> 00:27:18,130 followed through in believer's baptism because you've been waiting 303 00:27:18,130 --> 00:27:21,850 to see some evidence in your life that makes you feel like, okay, 304 00:27:22,010 --> 00:27:27,820 I'm good enough now to get baptized. You're never good enough 305 00:27:27,820 --> 00:27:32,460 to get baptized. He just wants you to trust in him and say, I am 306 00:27:32,460 --> 00:27:37,380 sanctifying you day by day. You can trust in me for your next 307 00:27:37,380 --> 00:27:42,020 step of faith. And so if you've never taken a step of baptism, 308 00:27:43,460 --> 00:27:48,500 today may be the day I pray. You wouldn't leave with that question 309 00:27:48,500 --> 00:27:54,770 lingering out there. We want to talk with you about that. But 310 00:27:54,770 --> 00:28:01,290 there's also many in the room that have doubts, that have unmet 311 00:28:01,290 --> 00:28:08,650 expectations of Jesus. Doubting isn't a sin. Jesus does 312 00:28:08,650 --> 00:28:13,050 not want to condemn you. He will not condemn you for having doubt. 313 00:28:14,650 --> 00:28:21,040 He invites you. He invites us to bring that doubt to him. He will 314 00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:27,000 respond with compassion and truth. You don't have to be afraid 315 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:34,680 of him. He's a loving God. His only desire is to bless you, never 316 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:40,920 to harm you. Whatever doubts you may have, whatever hurts you 317 00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:46,410 may have, you can bring them to him. He wants to meet you in that. 318 00:28:48,730 --> 00:28:51,850 There's going to be pastors and prayer team members down front. 319 00:28:52,490 --> 00:28:56,490 You can come to us. We would love to pray with you. We'd love 320 00:28:56,490 --> 00:29:00,290 to remind you of the truth of Jesus. You may just want to come 321 00:29:00,290 --> 00:29:04,250 to the altar and go straight to Jesus yourself. You may want to 322 00:29:04,250 --> 00:29:08,850 go to somebody else in the room, a mentor or friend, and have 323 00:29:08,850 --> 00:29:16,220 them pray over you. My prayer today is that you won't leave this 324 00:29:16,220 --> 00:29:22,420 room with doubt. Whatever doubt you may have, you would bring 325 00:29:22,420 --> 00:29:27,580 it to Jesus and let him remind you of what he's done and who he 326 00:29:27,580 --> 00:29:36,100 is. So I'm going to ask the prayer team to come forward. I'm 327 00:29:36,100 --> 00:29:41,070 going to ask you to go ahead and stand. Whatever way the Holy 328 00:29:41,070 --> 00:29:47,590 Spirit wants to move in. You trust Him. It will be good. His desire 329 00:29:47,590 --> 00:29:51,670 for you is good. Let's respond now.