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Faith in the Face of Doubt - Matthew 11:1-19
September 4, 2025 · 47 min
Matthew 11:1-19 - Faith in the Face of Doubt | Kingdom Come Bible Study Part 20 by Tim Hatch
Series Tim Hatch Live September 4, 2025 · 47 min · Tim Hatch Live
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Empowering multimedia ministry for bold Christian living: Weekend Messages, Deep End Podcast, Deep Dive Bible Study. Tim Hatch, Lead Pastor, Waters Church, 26 years of pastoral ministry, book author.
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0:00 Doubt is a part of any faith, and doubt can arise even in the most steadfast of hearts. Matthew 11 actually introduces us to doubt from an unlikely place, John the Baptist.0:12 But if we examine this text and how Jesus handles his doubt, perhaps we can embrace principles that disable our doubts. You don't have to let doubt become disabling. Welcome to kingdom0:24 come episode 20. Hey, everybody. Welcome in to episode 20 of kingdom come. And my name is Tim. This is Tim Hatch0:35 live on YouTube, and we are going through the gospel of Matthew with our journals in hand. Help hopefully, you have the journal. If you don't currently have the journal, well, don't let that stop you.0:47 Check it out at ask at tim hatch live dot com. We can get it out to you probably quicker, but you can also go to timhatch live dot com slash journal. And that is just to help you engage with0:59 this content. Hello to the pray dot com audience. So glad for all of you. I ask and pray that your, time in this content is helpful and beneficial to1:11 your faith. Also, to our YouTube audience, would appreciate a subscribe or at least a like on the video should this content help you grow in Christ1:23 Jesus. Well, if you guys take out that kingdom come journal again, you will notice that we are actually turning the page in Matthew's gospel to what we have termed or titled part 4 of the1:35 movements of Matthew's gospel, and this introduces us to the idea of the mystery of the kingdom. That is, there is a mysterious nature to the mission of1:47 Jesus. Mystery is a key term, actually, in the New Testament. There are several mysteries of the New Testament, if you will. Mystery of faith, the mystery of the kingdom, the mystery of the Gentiles being1:59 grafted in with Israel to become 1 new people of God. There's several mysteries. There's also the mysteries of Revelation, several mysteries actually in that book alone. By the way, on the2:11 YouTube channel, I have a, Revelation study that I did many years ago, the 4 views of Revelation. Check that out at YouTube dot com slash timhatchlife. But, anyway, this portion of Matthew's gospel,2:23 we are dealing with Matthew 11 through 16. And we'll be studying these texts that underlie the reality that the kingdom has a sense of mystery to it. Now when we talk about mystery in the Bible, we are not talking about2:34 some unexplainable, you know, riddle that we have to discover. No. It it return the idea of mystery refers to God's hidden plan that has now been revealed in Christ Jesus. This is all over the2:46 book of Ephesians, all over the book of Colossians, and here, though not explicitly stated, is the big theme of Matthew 11 to 16. The Jewish people were looking for a, political savior. They were2:58 looking for a king. They were looking for the true son of David to arise, defeat their enemies, and liberate Israel from the constraints and the bondages of the Roman Empire. Well, God's work was not about that. Christ3:09 did not come to be a liberating political leader. He came to liberate the soul from sin and not the nation from subjection to Rome. This was mysterious. This was unexpected,3:21 if you will. But it was revealed through Christ. The big idea is that the kingdom had come, but not in the way that the people imagined it to come. So3:33 how does this apply to you? Well, it applies to you very simply like this. In what ways do we put expectations on God, on Christ, on the Christian life that are not aligned with his purpose and his plan3:45 as revealed in Christ Jesus. Now any number of false teachers are are really peddling a false expectation of3:57 Christ. AKA prosperity gospel preachers are basically using the message of Christ to make money or to tease the greed within you. That4:09 is, that if you do the following things, God will make you rich because God's plan for you is riches. Well, that's not actually true. Sometimes God's riches are there and they come to many, many people, but sometimes4:19 people who are truly a faith also struggle financially or go through seasons of poverty or maybe even lifelong poverty. And James says that God has chosen the poor to be rich in faith. So that's 1 example of where we4:31 put these false expectations on God, on Christ, on the movement of the Christian life, and they don't align with God's purpose in Christ Jesus. So when we talk about the mystery of the kingdom, that's what we're talking4:42 about. Let us not fail to see Jesus for who he is. When we do, that leads us to the first section under part 4, which we have titled doubt in the face of4:54 faith. And that, again, is in your kingdom come journal, take it out, and you will see exactly what I mean. So this is Matthew 11 to 16, a new part, a new segment of the gospel. Let's get started because here's5:06 the fact that we are met with right on the first couple of verses. Okay? Right in the first pericope of Matthew 11. Doubt can arise in the most experienced of5:17 saints. John the Baptist, believe it or not, is case in point in that regard. Matthew 11, Bible's out. Let's take a look at the text. Verse 1: When Jesus had finished5:29 instructing his 12 disciples (now remember, that was the commissioning sermon of Matthew 10, because he saw the needs of the sheep without a shepherd, people harassed and helpless, sends them out, heal the sick, cast out5:41 demons, cleanse the lepers, preach the Gospel. Do this wherever you can find a receptive audience. Okay, that's the message that has been finished. Verse 1: So he went on5:53 from there to teach and preach in their cities. He joins the mission. He sends out the 12, and he also does it himself. But verse 2, here we go: Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of6:05 the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him Are you the 1 who is to come, or6:17 shall we look for another? Now, of all the people that you would expect to doubt Jesus' ministry, how many know John the Baptist would have been on the bottom of the list? But here we are: the mighty preacher of the6:28 wilderness, the radical evangelistic prophet, the true forerunner of the Lord Jesus who said, I saw the Spirit descend on him as a dove. This is the 1 whose tongues I am6:39 unworthy to untie. This is the 1 who will baptize with fire, with the Holy Spirit. This is the 1 who is greater than I. He should be baptizing me. Remember? Remember all that? You can't get much more confidence that6:51 Jesus is who he is than John the Baptist. And now this great man is wondering, Jesus, are the 1 who is to come, or should we hold out for7:03 somebody else? It is just unimaginable to me that this great man could struggle with what he's seeing in Jesus. But here's a couple of good points about doubt that might7:15 encourage some of the doubters out there. And I'm 1 of them, you're 1 of them. No matter who you are, there are going to be doubts in the Christian life. Number 1, everyone doubts. Number 2, expressing your doubts is not7:24 sinful. Jesus does not rebuke John, as we're going to see in this passage. Number 3, Your doubts could actually lead you to greater trust in God, as I believe it does here for John the Baptist. The question, of course,7:35 is why does John doubt? And I think that we can unpack or tease out some reasons why we doubt. So there's a couple of hints right here in the text. Number 1, that John7:47 was in prison, and he's only hearing about the deeds of Christ. And he's disconnected, isn't he? He's disconnected from Jesus in this whole event, in this whole movement. So let's revisit the ministry of7:59 John the Baptist just so that we remember. This is the guy who said, Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. He challenged the Pharisees, he challenged the Sadducees, the religious leaders who were so confident in8:10 their religious law keeping that he said, you're not actually doing what God wants, and don't presume that you're children of Abraham. And God can raise up from the stones the children of Abraham. And then this line,8:21 verse 10, the axe is laid at the root of the trees. Every tree that doesn't bear fruit is cut down and thrown the fire. So you see that John's ministry is a ministry of real prophetic utterance.8:33 He is right in line with the Isaiahs and the Hoseas and the Amos' and the Malachi's of the Old Testament, the Elijah Elisha motif. These guys who were hard hitting, no nonsense,8:45 powerful prophets of God calling people to repent. Don't assume you're safe. The axe is coming. The fire is on the way. Repent. And then he even says, the 1 that comes after me, what's he gonna do? He's8:57 gonna baptize you. The word baptize means to immerse you in the Holy Spirit and and fire. In other words, John's ministry had a sense of divine retribution upon sinners to it. God's going to9:09 cut down the prideful. God's going to bring a purifying fire on the nation. And John's message is absolutely commensurate with the Old Testament prophets. They often describe the nation's spiritual condition and proclaim9:19 that there was a judgment coming. John was just like them. Here's why John is doubting, because Jesus comes along. What is he doing? He's healing people. He's setting them free. He's cleansing lepers. He's opening blind9:31 eyes. He's healing centurion servants. He's helping Jairus, the synagogue leader's daughter from dying, raising her from the dead. He's touching9:43 the untouchables. He's showing mercy, compassion, and kindness. He's feeding the thousands. He's called these tax collectors in to be part of the movement. And Simon the Zealots and Peter and9:55 John and these fishermen, these average ordinaries. And John has some questions. He he he's he's wondering, how come, Jesus, you're doing these things that that don't don't10:07 align with what I was talking about? You know, the where's your axe? Pick up your axe and get chopping. You know, get that get that match and start lighting some fires. See, for John, judgment on the nation was overdue.10:17 For John, the axe must fall. And Jesus comes as the compassionate, merciful servant of God, bringing hope, bringing mercy to those who were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. Here's what John did, and10:28 it's something that we all do. Are you ready? He superimposed on Jesus his own ambitions. There are so many Christians that do that. We superimpose on God our own imagination of what God should do and what God should be.10:39 Have you ever done that? I've done that. In fact, I would suggest to you that this is the greatest impediment to growing faith. That God does not meet your expectations, and10:51 therefore you are cast into a sea of doubt. And if you let those doubts start taking up ownership of your heart, you will prove yourself to have never actually been in the faith because you believed in11:03 an imaginary Jesus, not the actual Jesus believed in a fabricated God, not the actual God a God of your own making, if you will. Now, I said in the beginning, and I mean this, is nothing wrong11:14 with expressing doubts. In fact, if you have doubts, best to express them to people who can help you than to just harbor them within your heart and pretend like everything's fine, because everything's not fine. Now, what11:25 I love about John, and let's give him credit for this, he goes to the source with his doubts. He goes to Jesus. What you love about Jesus is the response. The response is so wonderful, because Jesus is merciful and kind11:36 even withouters, and that's good news for everybody here. Verse 4 says, And Jesus answered them, Go and tell John what you hear and see. The blind receive their sight the lame walk, lepers are cleansed the deaf hear, the11:46 dead are raised. The poor have the good news preached to them. Oh, by the way, before we go any further, can we just look at the needs and the answers? Blind get sight. Lepers get cleansing. Deaf11:58 hear. Dead come alive again. But the poor don't have money given to them. Do you ever think about this? Anybody who tells you that Jesus is a socialist, think again. The poor get the good news12:10 preached to them. The poor don't get money because money can become just another snare in their life. No, the poor get the good news preached to them. The good news, the Gospel of Jesus Christ empowers people to take12:19 ownership of their life, to take responsibility for their situation, and then through the power of the Holy Spirit, the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, the wisdom of God coming into their life, they can become productive12:28 members of society and provide for the needs of their own family. Anyway, back to the original point of this teaching is how do we handle doubts? We go to Jesus. And that's what I love about John. He goes to Jesus12:38 directly. And in Jesus, this is what you see. The answer that Jesus provides John, what does he do? Now, you don't see it unless you have your paper Bible out or study Bible out.12:50 You will see little letters next to verses here. In verse 5, you'll see little letters that refer to Old Testament passages. And what Jesus does is what he always does. He goes back to the Old13:02 Testament. He goes back to the Scriptures, the Jewish Scriptures, and the prophecies about Messiah. And he basically says, John, I am fulfilling Scripture. Now, this is all going to lead to 1 teaching point, but I've got13:14 to unpack it for you for a second. The first text that we could go to is in Isaiah 35 verse 46. Say to those who have an anxious heart, Be strong. Fear not. God will come with vengeance with the recompense of God. Now,13:23 that's what John the Baptist wanted. Yes, vengeance, recompense. He will come and save you. Woah, woah, wait. What? It's almost as if it just turns on a hinge there. And then verse 5, The eyes of the blinds shall be13:33 opened, the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped, the lame will leap like a deer, the tongue of the mute will sing, the waters will break forth in wilderness streams in the desert. Judgment of God How do we reconcile this13:42 text? The judgment of God, the vengeance of God is coming. But also the merciful works of God's grace shall appear. They both go together,13:54 friend. Here's how they both go together. In Christ Jesus, we see the benefits of God's love and compassion and mercy toward sinners. The eyes of the blind, the ears of the deaf, and the lame leaping like a deer. God14:05 will show mercy. And God will bring vengeance and justice. And he does this perfectly in the person of his son Jesus. Jesus14:18 heals the sick, raises the dead, cleanses the lepers. And we all know this now. This is not a big surprise if you know anything about the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus will bear on14:30 himself the judgment for the sins of those who believe on him at the cross. So the recompense of God is laid on Christ. The vengeance of God is laid on Christ. For all who believe in14:42 Christ, and their eyes will be opened and their ears will be unstopped, they will leap like a deer. See how that works together? See how this text only can possibly come together in Christ? Because in Christ you have14:54 the merciful acts of God's kindness toward those who believe in him, and then you have him taking the judgment for their sins upon himself. Now everybody outside of Christ bear the consequences of their sins in hell15:05 forever. So it is always best to believe in Christ because in Christ you have payment for your sins. Otherwise, you pay for them. Now, there's another text that Jesus references here or alludes to in15:17 what he tells John to look at. The the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear and the dead are raised up. The poor have good news preached to them. Well, there's another text that Jesus has in mind here, and that is15:25 Isaiah 61. The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to what? Bring good news to the poor. So that is almost a direct quote there in Matthew chapter 11 from Jesus from Isaiah chapter 61. And15:36 then he's binding up the brokenhearted, proclaiming liberty to the captives. Notice that Jesus doesn't include that 1. He doesn't include that 1 to proclaim liberty to the captives because15:48 John is in prison, and I'm sure he thought, I could use some liberty right now. But Jesus doesn't quote that verse, kind of as if to say, John, I've bad news for you. You're in prison. You're going to be bound. And that15:59 deliverance is not going to come in this life. But what Jesus is doing to John is he is revealing that he has come to fulfill the expectations of the Old16:11 Testament, the old covenant prophecies of Messiah. Now, what did John expect in Messiah? He expected judgment. He expected the axe. He expected the fire. He expected the hammer to be thrown down. Well, it16:23 was thrown down on the person of Christ to those who believe on him. And also, merciful acts of kindness were expressed in the person and ministry of Jesus Christ.16:35 All that to bring you to some of the things that I believe are the roots of our own doubts. If you have ever wrestled with doubts, I think in order to handle your doubt properly, you have to wrestle with where they come16:47 from. Number 1, I would suggest that they are misaligned expectations of God. I wanted God to, heal my dad and he died. I wanted God to give me this great marriage and he didn't. I16:59 wanted God to give me a ministry and this authority and I didn't get. It. And what you were really serving was not God. You were actually serving your own desires, and you wanted God to just kind of be the means to that17:09 end. God refuses to be the means to another end. God is the end, and everything else is the means. Got it? There's another root of doubt that we struggle with, and I think it is this: disappointment with life. John was17:21 in prison. John was in prison for doing what? What was John in prison for doing? For calling out sin. Remember, he calls out the sin in Herod's life, and17:34 Sorry. He's marrying his brother's wife, and John calls it out. And he gets punished, basically, for doing the right thing. Let me sum it up.17:46 John gets punished for doing the right thing, and that can sometimes be a disillusionment to our own faith. God, I'm doing what you want me to do, and all I see is pushback.17:58 All I see is hardship as a result. And some of us, we would allow that disappointment to lead to doubt, unfulfilled expectations or plans or agendas, and it hurts. And it could lead to doubt. Here's number18:09 3, comparison with others. Don't you think, and this is not in the text explicitly, but it could be implied, that maybe there was a part of John that thought that Jesus' ministry, which gained from John's ministry,18:21 which was kind of launched from John's ministry and was succeeding way more than John's ministry ever was. But why wasn't Jesus suffering as John was? Well, the suffering was about to come. In fact, worse suffering was18:32 about to come upon Christ than John's suffering. But perhaps maybe there was just a hint of comparison of why does everybody seem to love this guy and they all hated me? Maybe. I'm not saying that this is something that18:44 comes from the text. I'm just saying for you, maybe that comes to a place where you start to doubt God's goodness and maybe even Christianity. Here's another 1: cultural pressure. I think this is a large 1 for younger18:54 people. That cultural pressure, you want to be liked, you want people to think well of you, you don't want to be an outcast, you don't want to be an outsider. It's tough. It's tough when you're young to not have19:02 everybody like you. And perhaps John was bending a little bit under the weight of suffering. Again, we can only surmise these points, but I do believe that these are some of the key roots of our own doubts. And young19:14 people especially need to hear this. Just because the culture doesn't like you doesn't mean you've missed out on God's blessing. You will only, through living, realize that cultural19:26 approval is at best temporary. And, at the very most, inconsequential to the validation of yourself.19:38 At best, temporary and, at the very most, inconsequential to validating yourself. Which means you can gain the approval of culture, but once you gain it, you have to keep it. And to keep it, you have to keep19:49 dancing. You have to keep dancing and performing. Because here's the thing about culture: it shifts, it changes. It ebbs, it flows. What's popular today is not popular tomorrow. Just ask or look at any celebrity who20:00 reached the pinnacle and then had to realize very quickly they have to shift. Have to change. They have to agree. They have to disagree. They have to do you know, something else has to become, part of their shtick in20:09 order to stay relevant. And this is the problem that we all wrestle with to some degree even as Christians because there is a shiftiness to culture, we will never truly20:21 appease people, and trying to please people is a fool's errand. Here's number 5, disconnection from Christ, which I think, if you remember, John is in prison. He has only been able to hear of Jesus'20:33 ministry, not watch Jesus' ministry. And that disconnection, that isolation, if you will, from the movement of Jesus could have been the seedbed of his doubt, which is an easy 1 for us20:45 to apply. If you wanna grow your doubts, don't go to church. If you want to increase your skepticism of the Christian faith, don't be involved in the visible attributes of the Christian faith. Just skip20:57 a couple Sundays. Don't have a small group community. Be on your own. Only listen to podcasts and worship music. And I guarantee you, the doubts will creep in. The fear, the anxiety, because there is something21:08 supernatural that happens when the church gathers. There is something supernatural. It is unquantifiable. It is special. Even when I, yours truly, goes away on vacation and I am disconnected21:20 from the body of Christ, there becomes within me, I wouldn't say doubt, but there becomes within me this kind of gross nature, this kind of gross version of myself. I hate seeing it because I've been out21:32 of relationship. I've been out of fellowship. And I think, if you take a look at these, maybe screenshot that, those are the 5 areas that I think become seed beds for doubts in our walk with21:44 Christ. Anyway, Jesus does something here, back to Matthew 11, that is absolutely essential we see. He brings him to the Old Testament21:56 and says, John, I want you to remember what the Old Testament scriptures teach. Wouldn't have said Old Testament. He would have just said Scriptures because they are Scriptures, and they are Scriptures. But we call them22:07 Old Testament Scriptures the Jewish Scriptures, if you will. I want you to look at the Scriptures and see me on the page. Did not Isaiah speak about good news to the poor? Did not Isaiah speak22:19 about healing of the sick? The lepers leaping like a deer. The deaf ears open. So I need you to hear something. Are you ready? The answer to your doubts is always the word of22:31 Christ. Romans 10 17 says, Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. This word of Christ means22:42 we hear what? The word of who the Messiah is. Faith does not just simply come from reading the Bible as a book. Faith comes from seeing22:54 Christ in it. Did you get that? Huge key. If you want to grow in your faith, examine the scriptures to see Christ in the pages of holy23:06 scripture, because that is what scripture is about. Scripture is about Jesus. And that's exactly what Jesus does here for John's doubt. He ties his life and ministry to Old Testament prophecy. In Luke chapter 24,23:17 it's a great passage. Let me see if we can get there. Luke chapter 24, and this is on the morning of the resurrection. Jesus is walking on a road with some guys who23:29 are on the road to Emmaus. Very, very important passage of scripture. And they are saying, look, we're really bummed out because we had hoped. Right? Verse 21. We had hoped that he was the 1 to redeem Israel.23:42 And I got a new feature here, guys, on the channel. And all this the third day since these things happened, some women told us that the tomb is empty. Now we don't know what's going on. What does Jesus say? Foolish23:54 ones and slow of heart to believe, all the prophets have spoken, should not the Christ suffer these things enter his into his glory? And then check out this verse. And beginning, verse 27, with all the prophets24:06 and Moses, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. Jesus is making clear that if you want to properly read the24:17 scriptures, you have to interpret the scriptures through the lens of how they reveal Christ. And so then he does this for 7 miles, 7 mile journey from24:29 Jerusalem to Emmaus. He gets to their house. They implore him to stay. He takes the bread. He breaks it, gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened. They24:41 recognized him. He vanishes. Now look at this next line that they say to themselves. Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road while he opened to24:53 us the scriptures. Hearts burn when scripture is opened. Okay. But, but don't miss this. When we see in the25:04 scriptures, Jesus. Hearts burn when the scriptures are opened and we see Jesus on the pages of25:16 scripture. That is exactly what John the Baptist experiences here in Matthew chapter 11. John, go back to the25:28 old, again, the scriptures and see that what I'm doing has been prophesied. So then leads me all to verse 6. And blessed is the 1 who is not offended by25:39 me. Now the word offended is the Greek word skandalizo. I don't think we have to do much you know, etymology here to understand that we get the word scandal from this word. But25:51 basically it means to cause someone to experience anger or shock because of what has been said or done. Jesus is saying, listen, I have come to fulfill scripture. I have come to reveal the father. I have come to reveal26:02 who the father is, not who you think he is. And when that process happens, those who are not offended, those26:14 who are not put off, there's a great blessing for them. You're going to be blessed. If you can see Christ in the pages of scripture, if you can receive the father through the revelation that is26:26 in Christ Jesus of the father, as Jesus will say to Philip, if you've seen me, you've seen the father. And if that does not offend you, there is a blessing in store for you. Let me tell you who doesn't get26:37 offended by the Scriptures revealing Christ as God for who he really is. You know who doesn't get offended? God's people. God's true26:48 people do not find offence in the Biblical text, because they see Jesus in the text, they believe it, they receive it, it is beautiful to them.27:00 God's true people do not get offended when God's Word says something that culture doesn't agree with. God's true believers don't get offended when Jesus confronts the sins that our culture27:12 believe are no longer sins. False believers get offended. False believers get up and walk out and leave. I can't take that. How dare the pastor say that? We27:24 don't get upset about that, because those people are not God's sheep. Jesus says in John 10, My sheep hear my voice. They know me. They follow me. They won't follow a stranger.27:36 All that the Father gives me shall come to me. All that the Father gives me shall come to me, and I will no wise cast out. To receive the Scriptures without offense is a great blessing27:48 because it is a revelation of the condition of your soul that you are truly a believer. Isn't that beautiful? So as a pastor, I28:00 can testify. This gives tremendous liberty to the preaching of God's truth in the pulpit of my church. I need only to express Christ and him crucified.28:12 And those who believe it are God's sheep. And they will hear it, they will receive it, and they will not get offended. And those who will get offended, all that is the sifting of the wheat and the tares. All that28:24 is is the revelation of the true condition of the soil of that person's heart. And if they get offended, and believe me, 27 years of pastoral ministry, I have seen people get offended at28:36 the silliest of things. The silliest of things. The smallest of details in the Biblical text. They walk out and think, I'm going make a statement. I'm going walk out on this church. You're not making a statement about28:47 our church. You're making a statement about you. You're telling us who you really are. This this word is true. This word is sure. This word has stuck around. You'll date all the way back to the old28:59 testament scriptures 3500 years. You've been on this earth for 35 years. You think you're better than the scriptures? You think you're smarter than that ancient wisdom? Get over yourself. Seriously. Move on. And pastors,29:09 preach the word and let the chips fall where they may. Can get a good amen? Amen, amen, amen. Let's go on in the text because I could talk about that all day. Verse 7: As they went29:21 away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John. Now, this is great because Jesus uses this opportunity of John's doubt and his addressing of that doubt to address John the Baptist. And he's going to address not29:32 John the Baptist, but he's going to address the condition of the generation to which he and John the Baptist ministered. But first, he draws a comparison between himself and John the Baptist. So he says, okay, about John29:42 the Baptist. What did you go out into the wilderness to see? When you looked at John, what did you see? Did you see this guy that was weak, a reed shaken by the wind? What did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft29:49 clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in king's houses. In other words, John the Baptist was a tough guy. And remember, this is all in the context of the mystery of the kingdom. The kingdom comes in a way29:58 that you do not yet see until it is revealed to you in Christ Jesus. So the ministry of John the Baptist, tough, hard nosed, no nonsense preacher. He is a man who did not bend, a man who stood firm, a man30:10 who looked and dressed like a prophet. That's why Jesus says, what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes. I tell you more than a prophet. Verse 9. Verse 10. This is who this is he of whom it is written, behold, I will30:19 send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you. Jesus says John is more than the there's Old Testament prophets, Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel, these great men of God. Guess what? John was more30:30 important than them. John was more than them. He was a messenger. Malachi three:one. That's quote from verse 10. I will send my messenger, more than a prophet, a30:42 messenger before me. He will prepare the way before me. He will come right before Christ comes. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. That's all Malachi three:one. So John had30:53 the explicit privilege, the once in 100000000000 privilege to be the messenger, the forerunner of God in31:05 the flesh. More than a prophet. By the way, John looked a lot like Elijah. Remember, he wore camel's hair, belt, leather belt, ate white honey and locusts. He had the look of the prophet, the sound of the prophet, the31:17 attitude of a prophet, challenging sinners and calling them to repentance. Then Jesus says, Truly I say to you, verse 11, among those born of women there has31:27 arisen 1 greater than John the Baptist. In other words, he is at the top of the list of all men born to women. Yet,31:39 big qualifier here, yet the 1 who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.31:51 Now, Jesus says something here that you could possibly misinterpret. How could we? How could I? I could not be considered greater than John the Baptist. Now, this is what Jesus32:03 means to say. Let's understand the term greater. Jesus is not here saying that everyone is greater in terms of their importance, every member of the kingdom is greater in terms of their importance than John. I don't32:13 think you get much more important than being the forerunner of Jesus in terms of your role. What I believe Jesus is saying here is that we are greater in terms of our standing and privilege32:25 before the Father. The fact is that John, for as great as he was under the old covenant, failed to experience the blessings of the new covenant. He didn't fail himself, he32:37 was executed for his testimony and for his witness. He was executed for his prophetic ministry. He will have his head cut off. John's role greater than yours. John's privileges less32:49 than yours. That's how it works. Consider, friend, your privileges in Christ, all your sins forgiven (Ephesians one:seven). You are adopted as a son or daughter of God (Romans33:01 8 15 to 16. You have access to the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 10 19. You have the indwelling Holy Spirit. John 733:12 39. You have a living hope. First Peter 3, verse 3 and 4. You have authority over spiritual enemies (Luke 10 nineteen). All of these33:24 are your privileges in Christ Jesus, and therefore you are greater than John the Baptist, the least in the kingdom of heaven. The person who has small faith, even they, have33:36 all of these privileges in Christ Jesus. They are yours not on the basis of your, level of faith. They are yours based on the efficacy of Christ's33:48 work. My hope is in Christ. I have authority over spiritual enemies not because I am some great spiritual saint, but because of the name of Jesus, the name above all names, the name at which every knee will bow and every34:00 tongue confess and every demon must flee. Right? I have forgiveness of sins not because I have worked to gain that forgiveness, but because Christ has paid it all at the cross and I34:11 am set free in Jesus' name. I have adoption as a son not because I'm a good person or, I'm attractive to God or whatever, but because Christ34:23 has made me his own. I have access to the Father because the veil was torn at the cross. I am a new creation because of what Jesus has done and not34:35 because of what I have done. Amen. That is the point of Jesus telling us that the least in the kingdom is greater than John the Baptist, who was the greatest among those born of women. Okay, now34:46 verse 12. Let's continue. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence and the violent take it by force. Now this is a text that gets very34:58 misconstrued. There are 2 basic interpretations of this text, and you can take either because I believe they work together. The first option is that the kingdom has been attacked. The violence has been35:10 suffered by the kingdom of heaven since John the Baptist. Remember, John the Baptist was put in prison. And so there's also an undercurrent, if35:22 you will, of animosity and attack against Jesus as people are starting to question and doubt and attack him and condemn him and say maligning things about him. So that35:33 is potentially the interpretation of this text. So there are violent people who are going to come and take the kingdom by force. They're going to take hold of the kingdom. That is, they won't own the kingdom. They would35:42 just attack the kingdom by force. Option number 2 is this: that entering God's kingdom is a matter of violence. That is, is a matter of35:54 you're going to have to have a dogged attitude, a dogged attitude to enter the kingdom. You will have to strive to enter the narrow gate. You will have to beat your body and make it subservient to Christ, and his36:05 will, first Corinthians chapter 9. You will have to war in the heavenly places, Ephesians chapter 6. Many early church preachers, believed that that was the interpretation of this text because they suffered greatly36:17 for the kingdom of God. They suffered violence as they lay hold of the kingdom of God. So what's my answer out of those 2 options? I believe both go perfectly together. If you think being in the36:29 kingdom will not take dogged determination, think again. It will. It will take that dogged determination because there will be violent attacks against you. Now, in America, we are so disconnected from this we have no36:41 idea. But the large portion of Christian history and Christian throughout history, the majority have experienced some measure of physical or legal36:53 or emotional, familial, cultural attacks against them for their faith. And so you will have to fight to37:05 enter into the kingdom of heaven because those attacks will come, they'll push you back on your heels. If you are not truly in Christ, you will fail, you will doubt, and your doubt will give way to37:16 disbelief. That is what Jesus is speaking here in Matthew 11. Then he turns and he says, For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah to who has come.37:28 So he is the Elijah to who is to come, and all the prophets prophesied. Now, he's the final messenger. Jesus lays it out right there. This is Malachi37:39 four:five, last verse of the Old Testament. Send the prophet Elijah before the great and awesome day of the Lord. And then verse 15, He who has an ear, let him hear. Will we be those who hear37:51 this and receive it as the mystery of the kingdom is unfolded through the person of Jesus Christ? It doesn't mean there won't be wrestling. Doesn't mean we won't have doubts. It doesn't mean we won't have questions. It38:01 just means that as we hear it, and it collides with our expectations of what God is supposed to be and God is supposed to do, our ears and our wrestling will lead to greater faith and trust. Or will we be dull ofShow more
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