Blessed is the one not offended by Jesus.

So we're going to be reading Matthew 11, 1 to 19.

When Jesus had finished instructing his 12 disciples,

he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ,

he sent word by his disciples and said to him,

Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?

And Jesus answered them,

Go and tell John what you hear and see.

The blind received their sight, and the lame walk.

Lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up,

and the poor have good news preached to them,

and blessed is the one who is not offended by me.

As they went away, Jesus began to speak up to the crowds concerning John.

What did you go out into the wilderness to see?

A reed shaken by the wind?

What then did you go out to see?

A man dressed in soft clothing?

Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in king's houses.

What then did you go out to see?

A prophet?

Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.

This is he of whom it is written.

Behold, I send my messenger before your face,

who will prepare your way before you.

Truly, I say to you,

among those born of women,

there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.

Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

From the days of John the Baptist until now,

the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence,

and the violent take it by force.

For all the prophets and the law prophesied unto John.

And if you are willing to accept it,

he is Elijah who is to come.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

But to what shall I compare this generation to?

It is like children sitting in the marketplace

and calling to their playmates.

We played the flute for you, and you did not dance.

We sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.

For John came neither eating nor drinking,

and they say, he has a demon.

The son of man came eating and drinking,

and they say, look at him,

a glutton and a drunkard,

a friend of tax collectors and sinners.

Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.

Well, good morning, everyone.

Most would be familiar with the axiom,

you can't see the forest for the trees.

It's an old saying.

And basically what it means is

that we often get lost in the details of a circumstance

and lose the big picture.

And sometimes when we do that,

we get immobilized,

because there's that much detail

that we actually can't start the project

or get into the circumstance.

I think that will help us

as we move into Matthew 11,

chapter 11, 12, and 13, in fact.

Jesus sort of digs into the growing opposition he's facing.

So he said he's the Lord of the harvest.

He spoke about his mission as harvesting.

He's the Lord of the harvest.

He promised a bumper harvest.

But this opposition is growing.

And it appears in 11, chapter 12, and 13

that Jesus is helping his disciples

sort of step back from the details

and refocus on the big picture again.

See the forest, as it were,

when they might have been overly focused on the trees,

the huge trees in front of them,

which, as we saw over the last few weeks,

was the huge trees of opposition and persecution

and rejection that Jesus is preparing his disciples for.

So let's just turn back to chapter 9, verse 35 to 37,

just to see how all that plays out.

Jesus describes his kingdom-building mission

of teaching, proclaiming, and healing

as harvesting.

As I said before, he declares himself

to be the Lord of the harvest,

promises a bumper harvest.

Then there's that long section

over the last three weeks we've looked at

where Jesus prepares his disciples for the opposition.

For the persecution, for the rejection

that's going to come to them.

Now, here's how it fits together, I think,

that it's quite likely

that the disciples wouldn't be feeling much excitement

about being involved in the work of harvest

after you work through all that stuff.

And so I think Jesus does then

step back from the detail

and put again, the big picture.

The big picture of the ongoing harvest mission.

And so what Jesus says in these first verses

of chapter 11 is that

he wants his disciples to remember,

go back and focus again,

remember that my harvesting or kingdom-building

is totally and comfortably on track.

And we'll see that in the first 15 verses

of chapter 11 we're going to look at this morning.

So again, let me just make connections.

I love making connections

because structure is really important

in the way Matthew's put together

his account here of the life of Jesus.

If you go back to chapter 10, verse 5,

it's almost identical in a sense

to chapter 11, verse 1.

And I think again,

repeating myself, I think for the third time now,

after detailing the huge challenges of harvest

and the perspective needed to face those challenges,

which is essentially chapter 10,

Jesus now resumes the work of harvesting.

So he's back on track.

It's almost as if there's been an aside.

We'll talk about this really difficult subject,

but no, let's get back on track.

Chapter 1.

Jesus finished instructing his 12 disciples

who went out from there

to teach and preach in their cities.

And he's very keen for the disciples

that good news salvation is everywhere,

but perhaps not as expected

in verses 2 through to 6.

Now John's disciples,

John's locked up in prison,

we'll say more about that in a minute,

but John's disciples come to ask Jesus a question.

Jesus, are you the one that was to come?

Are you the one that I announced?

Or should we look for somebody else?

Now, I don't know about you,

but I just find that sometimes in the Christian life,

things just don't add up.

Things just don't make sense.

It's confusing.

We just can't work out what God's doing in our life.

Does God love me?

If God loves me,

then why am I enduring this circumstance?

Why are these things happening to me?

I suspect,

we're not actually told,

but I suspect

that may well have been

how John the Baptist was feeling.

Remember John the Baptist is Jesus' cousin?

He's been locked up now

for the best part of a year,

as best we can work out

from the historical records.

And for John,

things just weren't happening

as he expected them to happen.

He obviously knew what Jesus was doing,

but the things that Jesus was doing

just didn't seem to add up.

It wasn't what he expected of Messiah.

Now, flick back with me

to chapter 3 of Matthew,

where John actually is preaching,

fiery preaching to introduce Jesus.

Jesus.

And remember,

he was preaching repentance

in preparation for Messiah,

for God's King and Savior to come.

And when you look at chapter 3, verse 12,

you get the sense that John

was expecting a figure of judgment.

Jesus was,

the Messiah was going to come,

and the idea of fire there

is always God's judgment.

He would come with a winnowing fork.

This is a sort of violent metaphor

of God coming to bring judgment.

He would gather in his people,

his good people,

and the ungodly would be destroyed,

burned up like chaff.

Two years later,

John's languaging in a dungeon,

courtesy of Herod

and Herodias' wife,

he had dared to call out their immorality.

Now, Herod was the leader of God's people.

He should have been set

on the model of godliness,

but no,

he defended his immorality,

and John's now been in a dungeon

for the best part of a year.

Now, I can well imagine John thinking,

how is this working?

How is this happening?

It doesn't make sense

that just when my part of the ministry

was getting underway,

just as people were coming in their hordes

in repentance to be baptized

in preparation for the coming Messiah,

just then when I introduced Messiah,

everything seemed to be charging forward,

suddenly stopped,

and here I am stuck in a dungeon.

What's happening?

What's going on?

It doesn't make sense.

And perhaps it didn't make sense

about Jesus either.

He was confused about Jesus too.

He hears a lot about compassion

and mercy

and restoration

and healing

and teaching.

Well, if Jesus really was

God's king and savior

coming into the world

to reestablish God's kingdom

or rule,

where was the judgment

that was supposed to come with that?

And why am I still in prison?

There's Herod and Herodias.

They just flagrantly

turn a blind eye to God's law

and do the exact opposite

and they're enjoying the good life

and here I am

having preached faithfulness

and repentance.

Here I am stuck in prison.

You can well imagine John being confused.

Just doesn't seem to be adding up.

Well, verse four,

Jesus is really quick.

to assure John

that he did have it right.

I am Messiah,

says Jesus.

My mission is on track.

And he does that

by referring John back to Isaiah,

the prophet Isaiah.

And there's numerous references

there back in chapter 35

and chapter 61

and possibly chapter 26 and 29.

They're written on the sermon outline there.

So he pushes John

back to Isaiah

and he says,

here's the confirmation.

Isaiah said,

this is what Messiah would be doing

and this is what I'm doing.

It's happening

as it was forecast,

prophesied to happen.

But there's another thing

that Jesus is doing

by pushing John back to Isaiah.

Because when you go back

and read those prophecies,

Isaiah is very clear

that Messiah would be known

as much for the day of mercy

as well as the day of judgment.

The two are inseparable.

But when you go back

and read those prophecies,

Isaiah said,

this is what you'd see

of Messiah first.

exactly as Jesus quotes there.

There would be

a day of mercy,

a day of grace,

a day of deliverance

from the effects of sin,

a day of renewal

into God's character

for God's people

in the context

of a bigger day of judgment.

judgment.

And with that then,

Jesus, in a sense,

concludes this first interaction

with a wisdom statement,

verse 6.

Blessed is the one

who is not offended by me.

That of itself

is probably an allusion

back to Isaiah chapter 8,

Isaiah 8:13

verses 13 and 14.

And in that context,

it's a warning

not to reject God's work

among his people.

Why?

Because it might be

unexpected

in the way it's delivered.

And if you go back

and read chapter 8,

that's exactly what was happening

for God's people.

They were looking

at an invasion

by Assyria.

And they were scratching

their head.

Could this possibly

be God's hand?

And God says,

yeah,

absolutely right.

It is my hand.

This is my way

of purifying my people.

So come back

into Matthew 11.

Jesus is gently

saying to John,

don't trip over me

because I'm not

delivering Messiah's promise

as you might have expected.

I just want to pause there

briefly and say

that's a wonderful

perspective for us

in our work

of harvesting

continuing today.

It was a wonderful

perspective for John's disciples,

for Jesus' disciples,

and it comes right down

to us.

In spite of

growing opposition

and unbelief,

in spite of the huge

personal cost

that was detailed

in chapter 10,

in spite of the huge

challenges

as harvest workers,

God's good news salvation

is happening everywhere.

And it's still

happening in our world.

People are still

being confronted

by Jesus

through his word

and they're still

being radically

changed,

radically renewed.

Yes,

massive opposition,

growing opposition

in our Australian culture,

but nothing

ever has

and ever will

stop

the work

of harvest.

because the Lord

of the harvest

is busy

in his harvest field.

And then secondly,

the perspective

is good,

is that

we don't always

experience

God's salvation

and renewing

as we might expect.

The whole letter

to Hebrews

is about Christians

who thought that,

well,

once we become

Christians,

then life will

get easier.

Our sins are forgiven

and God will give us

this and this

and this

and this

and they find out

that their expectations

were quite wrong.

And we experience

that,

don't we?

That sometimes

we realize

that being a Christian

is actually harder.

It puts us

at odds

with our families.

It puts us

at odds

with our neighbors.

And yet,

the Lord

will use

those situations

of conflicts

to be

our maturing,

our growing.

so again,

like God's people

experience

in the Old Testament,

sometimes the greatest

periods of growth

or most times

the greatest period

of growth

comes from

really unexpected

circumstances,

sometimes even

left field

intersections

in our lives

that just

shake us out

of our tree

and we fall

flat on our face

and suddenly

we realize

that,

boy,

we've been

looking here

depending on that

and we need

to come back

and trust

the Lord.

It's not

what we expected,

is it?

And yet,

these things

are good things

and evidence

of God's kindness

to us.

So,

God's good news

salvation

is happening

everywhere,

not quite as expected

and then

Jesus goes on

then in the next

verses to

affirm

specifically

John's harvest

work

and I think

I want to add

in there

that he's

picking up a theme

here that doubt

is not unbelief.

We'll pick that up

in a minute.

So,

in verse 7,

as soon as

John's disciples

leave,

Jesus then uses

the opportunity

to address the crowd

and he speaks

to the crowd

specifically

about John

and it's a very

positive,

affirming

statement.

So,

John's just come

with a question

that might reflect

confusion

or doubt

or maybe even

a touch of anger

and stern correction

of Jesus.

Why am I still

in prison?

But Jesus

doesn't get

put off track

with that.

He warmly

affirms

John's ministry,

John's harvesting

and he spells

out

the significance

of John's ministry

to the crowds

who

probably by now

have dismissed

him.

He's out of sight

for more than a year.

Out of mind

probably.

Or perhaps

the crowds

Jesus feared,

the crowds

might have taken

John's

doubting question

or confused

question

as,

like we do

today,

some sort of

political backflip.

You know,

there was John

12 months ago,

he's this fiery

preacher for repentance,

he was convinced

that this was the

Messiah

and now

we've got

this pathetic

John just

asking this

wimpy question.

Whatever the

reason,

Jesus uses

the opportunity

to affirm

the ministry

of John

to the crowds.

The language

is a bit

strange,

but the point

is clear.

Jesus puts

a couple of

options

to the crowds.

So,

what do you

have in mind

when you think

of John the

Baptist,

that guy

you went out

to see

in the wilderness?

Well,

Jesus is really

saying,

you're not

to think

of John

as a reed

on the river

bank.

In other words,

somebody who's

fickle,

who's lacking

conviction,

who's sort of

blown about

by the political

breeze.

He came,

made a big

splash,

and now he's

gone again.

Blown away

by political

public opinion

or perhaps

personal circumstances,

maybe even

he's rejecting

Jesus now.

No,

says Jesus,

do not think

of John

like that.

Nor,

were you to

think of him

at the other

end of the

extreme,

someone who

just craved

the easy,

ostentatious

life and

reputation of

some sort of

powerful

government

official.

And if this

was a reference

to Herod and

Herodias,

probably in the

day,

powerful government

officials were

also powerful

and enjoying

the good life

because of

corruption,

an extortion

of their people.

So,

Jesus

has given

the crowds

two pretty

obviously

silly extremes.

He's not

this,

and he's

not that.

So,

what is he?

And Jesus

then goes on

to say,

he's a prophet.

Not just a

prophet,

not just any

prophet,

but the

greatest

prophet.

John was a

special messenger

or worker

of God.

Why was he

so special?

Why was he in

a category by

himself?

Because he

himself was

the subject

of a prophecy.

He was,

as Malachi

said,

he was the

one who

would be

like the

new Elijah,

who would

have the

privilege of

preparing

and announcing

God's long

promised king

and savior.

And Jesus

is very clear

here.

Nobody spoke

as clearly

about Jesus

as did

John the

Baptist.

Yet,

end of

verse 11,

yet,

because John

died before

the death and

resurrection of

Jesus,

his understanding

of Jesus and

how his people

would experience

salvation in

God's kingdom

was very

limited.

And

exceptionally

limited compared

to our

understanding,

because we

live in this

side of the

death and

resurrection and

ascension of

Jesus.

So John was

the greatest

prophet.

He spoke the

most clearly of

Jesus at that

point in time,

but even his

testimony to

Jesus is

dwarfed by

what just

an ordinary

Christian like

you and I

can do.

Now,

again,

I just want to

pause because

Jesus' affirmation

of John

indirectly also

affirms us

in our

harvest work.

And the

first thing,

coming back to

it,

is that

Jesus doesn't

put John's

doubts or

confusion in

the category of

unbelief.

Jesus goes on to

speak about

unbelief in

verse 16,

and he's very

open and clear

about it,

but he

obviously doesn't

put John's

doubts and

question and

confusion in

that category.

Why not?

What's the

difference?

Because John

was searching

for truth.

John was

trying to

understand

Jesus,

and ultimately

he gets the

affirmation in

verse 6 from

Jesus that

he is the

blessed,

one of the

blessed of

verse 6,

because of

what he did

with his

doubts.

He brought

his doubts

to Jesus.

He was

determined to

discover the

truth from

the lips of

the one who

could give

him the

truth.

Then he

was determined

to align his

life and

experience

and circumstance

and hope

with what

Jesus said

to him,

rather than

his own

thinking and

expectations.

We'll see a

little bit more

of that when

we come to

look at

verses 16

to 19.

The second

thing is that

I just want

us to note

in passing

here that

Jesus had

such a

warm testimony

to John.

This is an

important point

because I'm

going to take

us back into

chapter 10

for this,

especially

verses 32

and 33

of chapter

10.

See,

back then

Jesus said,

look,

if you stand

with me,

I will never

abandon you.

And there's a

sense here in

which Jesus

is actually

doing publicly

that which

he said back

in chapter 10

verses 32

and 33.

He's not

ashamed to

stand with

his cousin,

even though his

cousin is now

shamed by being

imprisoned.

He's not

embarrassed by

John's persona.

And remember,

John was a

pretty weird

looking guy.

He affirms

John's harvest

work,

even though

John's period

of harvesting

was relatively

short and

actually cut

short by

his circumstance.

And I

think that

might also

then be

an outworking

of verses

41 and 42

of chapter 10.

I said last

week that it

was a bit hard

to understand

exactly what

that was,

but I think

this could be

an outworking

of it.

In other words,

Jesus is saying,

here's John,

he's a good

example.

I said that

different people

had different

points of

engagement in

the harvest,

different levels

of involvement

in the harvest.

People were

doing different

sorts of things.

Is one better

than the other?

No.

They're all

equal.

It's all

part of the

family business,

the harvesting.

John had his

part.

Yes, he was

an outstanding

prophet.

Short period

of time,

yes.

Truncated

out of the

blue,

yes.

But he

did his

work of

harvesting

for the

great king.

And the

third thing

I want to

just draw

your attention

to here

is that

any believer

is better

able to

witness or

speak about

Jesus

than John

the Baptist.

That's quite

a remarkable

thought.

We just

loathe it.

I think we

go too fast

over it.

You're a

Christian here

this morning.

You've got a

vastly

greater

understanding

of Jesus

than even

John the

Baptist

had.

Because you're

this side of

his death

and resurrection.

John could

only begin

to picture

how Jesus

would bring

salvation and

what it would

mean to be in

his kingdom

and what his

kingdom would

look like.

We can see

that in a

detail that

John could

never even

have imagined.

We've

experienced it.

We experience

it daily.

So it

seems strange

to me that I

keep hearing

Christians saying

I don't know

what to say.

I don't

know how to

testify to

Jesus.

Well,

moving on.

The third

thing as

Jesus

harvesting

works on

track,

Jesus does

say expect

people constantly

to attempt

to redefine

salvation and

God's kingdom.

Now we're

going to

look at

some of

the difficult

verses here,

12,

13,

14,

15.

And they

are difficult

verses.

Verse 12

particularly has

been argued

over by

scholars for

generations.

Many

commentators and

commentaries dig

into that verse

in depth and

I'm not going to

do that this

morning.

I'm just going to

offer you what I

think is a

reasonable

alternative for

that verse.

Recognizing it

is a difficult

verse.

And I think the

context is really

important.

Given,

oh better read

the verse.

So what does

it mean then

when Jesus

says from the

days of John

the Baptist

until now,

the kingdom

of heaven or

the kingdom

of God has

suffered violence

and the

violent take it

by force.

It's a strange

verse,

isn't it?

I think that

given that Jesus

is explaining

to the crowd

the significance

of John's

ministry in

relation to

his own,

then the

phrase from

the day of

John the

Baptist

until now

describes

Jesus'

mission of

reestablishing

the kingdom

of God

from the

time it

began in

the context

of John's

ministry.

So Jesus

is now about

to make a

comment that

sort of sums

up and reflects

his period of

kingdom building

or harvesting

work.

the first

phrase that

the ESV

has in

here,

the kingdom

of heaven

has suffered

violence,

can also

be translated

properly and

I think

better.

The kingdom

of heaven

has been

coming

forcefully

or has

been forcefully

advancing.

Now that

makes sense

when we

understand

chapter 8

and 9

and Jesus'

teaching

ministry.

is it

where each

miracle

was Jesus

seizing back

his kingdom

from Satan

and the

kingdom of

this world

or the

kingdom of

evil.

Each time

a person's

life was

renewed,

it was a

forceful

transition,

a forceful

battle,

excursion

into the

world of

evil and

an extraction

and a

renewal.

It's a

picture language

in other

words.

It's a

metaphor.

And it

speaks of

the ongoing

work of

the gospel.

The kingdom

of heaven

or the

kingdom of

God has

been forcefully

advancing.

The violent

take it by

force?

Well I

think that

accurately

reflects the

experience of

Jesus.

Throughout the

ministry of

Jesus, and

we've seen

that already

in these

chapters up

to this

point,

chapter 11,

12, and

13 digs

into this

even more.

The

opposition and

the rejection

and the

challenges that

Jesus faced,

especially from

the Jewish

religious

establishment.

His own

experience has

been all

sorts of

people are

trying to

capture the

kingdom of

heaven for

their own

agenda.

Israel.

They're

trying to

hijack it

and make

it what

they want

rather than

what they

hear Jesus

saying it's

going to

be.

The

Jewish

leaders,

they wanted

political

deliverance.

They wanted

to enjoy a

period of

dominance as

the leaders of

a new world

empire.

That's what they

wanted the

kingdom of

heaven to be

when it

wouldn't just

be deliverance

of Israel,

but it

would be

dominance over

all other

nations.

Crowds

looked at

some of the

Old Testament

stuff and

thought,

well,

when Messiah

comes,

he's going

to bring a

time of

unprecedented

prosperity.

We're going

to really

enjoy the

good life.

We're going

to have

money to

burn and

all sorts

of good

toys to

play with.

Others in

the crowd

wanted to

make God's

salvation and

kingdom about

physical

healing.

restoration in

this life.

So I just

want all my

eggs and

pains fixed.

I don't

really want

any notion

of spiritual

renewal or

spiritual

commitment.

I just want

to be able to

enjoy life as

I know it

now, but

without the

eggs and

pains.

So Jesus is

useful as a

Mr. Fix-It,

but let's not

get carried

away.

And so on

and so forth.

But ultimately

the point

sits easily

with this

passage and

fits easily

with Jesus'

ministry.

From the

very start

of Jesus'

mission, the

kingdom of

heaven has

been advancing

exactly as

planned, and

yes, that is a

spiritual battle.

It doesn't

happen easily.

And yes, it

has not been

and will not

be without

opposition.

opposition.

And it

won't be

without

unbelief in

many different

forms.

And friends, I

think this is

the point that

John missed in

the original

question that he

sent to

Jesus.

This is the

perspective that

explains why he's

in prison.

And this is the

perspective that we

need to remember

until Christ

returns.

The harvest will

happen as

planned, but it

will never be

free from

opposition, from

a whole range

of people, some

who will surprise

us.

And verse 14

and 15, the

challenge is to

respond to

Jesus as he

is, as he was

spoken about, not

as they want him

to be or demand

him to be.

But you

see, that's

verse, end of

verse 15, he

who is the

ears to hear.

In other words,

Jesus said, look,

this perspective of

understanding that

the kingdom will

advance in the

midst of

opposition, that

requires spiritual

insight.

And I think that

then links us into

verses 16 to

19, where Jesus

then says, looks

around him at the

crowds and said,

well, actually,

we're talking

about spiritual

insight, that's

one thing this

generation, in

other words, people

at large are

seriously lacking

him.

They just don't

have the spiritual

insight to see

Jesus as they

ought to see him.

And that leaves

the only option

therefore as

unbelief.

And Jesus speaks

about unbelief

here, and the

heading I want to

use is, unbelief

wants a saviour,

but doesn't want

God, ultimately.

Jesus likens the

attitude of people

to children

playing.

And I don't

know, I can

remember from my

own days when the

family got together,

I'm talking about

whenever I was a

child, there was

always one of the

mob, and there

was a mob, but

there was always one

who wanted to

control things, or

several that wanted

to control things,

and that would just

set up a big

fight.

And we'd end up

not playing anything

because nobody

would agree to,

you know, back

off and let it

happen.

I think that's

what Jesus is

saying here.

Whatever happens,

people aren't

happy.

They're not

satisfied.

And John and

Jesus refused to

play that game.

So as if John,

Jesus is still

affirming John by

saying John wasn't

the one who's

fickle, the

fickle ones were

the crowds.

Fickle ones are

the people who

hear Jesus teaching

initially with

excitement, hear

John's teaching

initially with

excitement, but

then rejected

him.

At first they

rejected John

because he was

embarrassing, he

was not

attractive, he

was not

cultured, he

was not the

sort of person

God would use

to announce the

coming of

Messiah.

But then

afterwards, when

they understood

his message of

repentance, they

rejected him

because he was

too harsh, too

demanding.

He challenged

the religious

lifestyle and

the belief that

they were

acceptable to

God because

they were Jews,

because they

were good

people.

And any

preaching about

repentance just

crashed through

that.

And so John

had to go, his

teaching had to

go.

And likewise

the nature of

unbelief caused

people to reject

Jesus.

He was the

other extreme.

He came with

the idea of

celebration.

He came

engaging with

the down and

outs of

society.

So what did

they say about

Jesus?

Well, actually,

Jesus, you're

too much like

the people you

say you're

here to save.

We can't have

you saying that

we will be going

into God's

kingdom hand in

hand with

prostitutes and

the down and

outs and the

riffraff of

society, the

people, the

tax collectors,

the people you

seem to love

hanging out with

Jesus.

That's not going

to work either.

That's an

outrage.

That's an

embarrassment.

That's an

affront to us

good Jewish

people.

So they

weren't happy

with Jesus

either.

Lacking

spiritual

insight, people

fail to see the

significance of

either John or

Jesus.

And in their

ignorance and

unbelief, they

reject both.

John, because his

call to repentance

was too harsh,

threatened their

sense of

inherent goodness

before God.

And Jesus,

because his offer

of grace was too

generous and too

widely offered.

They

instinctively knew

they needed a

savior.

They weren't

rejecting the

concept of

savior.

What they were

rejecting was

God.

Their

unbelief meant

they backed

their own sense

of sovereignty

and their

own inherent

sense of

goodness.

And they

thought, well, I

don't need to

repent, but nor

am I willing to

accept that the

riffraff of society

will also join me

in heaven on the

same basis of

grace.

I'm looking for a

savior that will

fit in with my

ideas, will fit in

with my sovereignty,

that will be

acceptable to me.

In verse

16, no, the

end of verse 19,

sorry, it is,

wisdom is justified

by our deeds.

Again, against

persistent unbelief,

the truth and

reality of the

gospel is

demonstrated in

changed lives.

lives, changed

lives that begin

with a recognition

of sin, then

repentance, and

then leads to the

Lord Jesus for

complete renewal and

acceptance with God

and a place in heaven

with him forever.

There's the mark of

the gospel.

There's the context

of the gospel.

The good news

gospel is happening,

it is changing

lives and there

will always be

opposition trying

to knock it

down or

redefine what

the gospel is and

what the kingdom

of heaven looks

like.

That's our

reality.

Now, just want

to finish with a

very, very quick

challenge.

So, there are

many, many

categories by which

we can divide

people in our

world, and we

do all the time,

we have to for

various reasons.

Essentially, Jesus

only uses two

categories to

divide people.

There's belief

and there's

unbelief.

So, the

challenge this

morning for any

and all of you

here is which

category are you

in?

So, speaking

specifically to

those who might

be caught in

unbelief, is your

unbelief hidden

behind a veneer

of searching for

more truth?

Well, if only I

could understand

things better, then

Jesus would be

acceptable.

Well, we've got

the good news

gospel spelled

out very clearly.

We've got it

confirmed.

We've got it

written as a

record in the

Bible.

We've got it

confirmed by

eyewitnesses in

the Bible.

We've got the

testimony of

countless tens of

thousands of

millions down

through the

generations.

How much more

proof do you

want or need?

Or is it, in

fact, just

another form of

unbelief?

Just throwing a

handful of dust in

the air?

Because ultimately

you don't want the

salvation that

Jesus offers.

Either because you

think you don't

need it, or

because you think,

well, I do need

it, but I want to

modify it to suit

me.

I want to take on

the bits I like

and, you know,

cut off the bits I

don't like.

Which would mean

then that the

ultimate reason for

your unbelief would

be that you

refuse to give up

your own

sovereignty.

And that can

only mean, if you

refuse to give up

your own

sovereignty, then

that can only

mean that you

continue to

believe you're

competent to

earn your

salvation, and

that God

will have to

ultimately give

you a place in

heaven because you

have earned it.

you are worthy

of it in your

own right.

You are worthy

of it in your own

right.