Responding to Jesus

The scripture reading comes from Matthew, chapter 11.

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

Please follow along on the screen, the bulletin, or your own Bible.

Starting in verse 1, we read,

When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve 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 receive 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.

As they went away, Jesus began to speak 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 until 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?

It is like children sitting in the marketplaces

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.

Then he began to denounce the cities

where most of his mighty works had been done,

because they did not repent.

Woe to you, Chorazin!

Woe to you, Bethsaida!

For if the mighty works done in you

had been done in Tyre and Sidon,

they would have repented long ago

in sackcloth and ashes.

But I tell you,

it will be more bearable on the day of judgment

for Tyre and Sidon than for you.

And you, Capernaum,

will you be exalted to heaven?

You will be brought down to Hades.

For if the mighty works done in you

had been done in Sodom,

it would have remained until this day.

But I tell you that it will be more tolerable

on the day of judgment

for the land of Sodom than for you.

At that time, Jesus declared,

I thank you, Father,

Lord of heaven and earth,

that you have hidden these things

from the wise and understanding

and revealed them to little children.

Yes, Father,

for such was your gracious will.

This is the word of God.

Great.

Thank you so much, Karen.

And I think let me do some,

I'm not that tall.

Great.

If you don't know me,

my name's Chris.

Really excited to see you this morning.

Wasn't that an awesome song?

Leo and Henrika,

man, that was just,

that was just an awesome song.

That really,

particularly really spoke to me.

We've had a crazy 24 hours.

Our son's just been in the hospital.

And, you know,

actually when you're,

we took him to A&E

and when you're in A&E,

just right next door,

there's this,

just right opposite,

there's this room

which has got resuscitation in progress.

And suddenly just you realize,

like you kind of live this comfortable life

for a lot of your time,

but actually you see

there's so much brokenness

in the world around us.

There's so much of people who need,

there's physical resuscitation,

but there's also spiritual resurrection

that people need in their lives.

And so let me just,

before we begin,

let me just pray for us

and pray that God would really speak to us

and open our eyes to see his heart,

to be broken with what he is broken with,

but also to enjoy him as he wants us to.

So could you just pray with me right now?

Father, I thank you

that you are the Lord of life,

the one who has come to set us free.

Thank you that you have come

to bring in your kingdom.

Thank you that you're the one

who comes to set us free,

to liberate us.

Thank you that you are the one

who wants to change our lives completely.

And Father, we just know right at the moment,

Lord, in our congregation,

there are those who are struggling

and suffering.

Again, we keep bringing Jacob

and Wilson and Gloria

and their family to you.

We just keep praying

for your mercy there,

particularly with just the rounds of chemo

that are going on.

Lord, would you have mercy?

Father, would you be with their family

and all those other people

in Watermark as well

who I know there is sickness

that's going around.

I know there's people struggling

just with family relationships.

Father, would you help us

to run to you

knowing that you're a faithful father

in the midst of this?

And Lord, even as we're going to be going out

to do loving the city

and seeing just different areas of the city

maybe we've not seen before,

Lord, I pray, open our eyes,

break our hearts for what breaks yours

so that we might pray as you call us to

and love as you call us to

and be the people you want us to be.

And Father, we pray as we see today

in your word,

as we come to see how people

are to respond to Jesus,

I pray that you would melt our hearts

so that we come again

like little children

who just know that we have

an awesome Father

who loves to give us good gifts,

who is so faithful,

who is so compassionate,

and yet you are the center of everything.

So I pray speak to us right now.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Great.

So talking of medical things,

a week after my daughter was born,

so this is just about six weeks ago,

we'd gone home

and we were just kind of settling

into the rhythm of feeding

and everything that you do

with a newborn baby.

And then at 6 p.m.,

we get this call from our doctor

saying,

listen, we've just found

an abnormality in the test result

and you need to get to the hospital

immediately

because this could be so serious

this could be sudden death.

Now that's news

which just rocks your world, right?

It throws all of your plans

out of the window.

It doesn't matter

what you were doing before.

Everything stops

and everything's got to change

at that point, right?

Now she's fine, by the way.

So don't come up afterwards

asking like,

what's happened?

She's fine.

But the Gospel of Matthew

is what we're going through

and been going through

over the last few weeks

has been telling us

news,

but of a different kind.

He's been telling us news

that Jesus is the king

of all creation.

He is the one

who is bringing God's kingdom

in of healing,

of restoration,

of life,

drawing people back to God,

transforming them

in every single way

physically,

emotionally,

spiritually.

And the response

that Jesus has been calling for

is to repent

and believe

and to follow him.

And this news,

it's easy,

particularly if you've been

in church for a while

and you kind of read

these stories,

to kind of think of this news

a bit like,

you know,

you hear about some orphan

in Guatemala

who just got reunited

with their family

and you think,

oh,

that's nice,

isn't it?

But it doesn't always feel

like personal news.

Personal news

which actually is going to

reshape entirely

your whole of your world.

Sometimes it feels like

distant news.

But Matthew

is coming to us

saying,

this news

is not distant news.

The news of who Jesus is

is personal news for you

and you've got to

respond to it.

And so,

the book of Matthew

is actually structured

around five

different teaching points,

blocks of teaching

that Jesus gives,

which actually is to correlate

onto the five

books of Moses

in the Old Testament

showing that Jesus

is the new Moses

who's bringing God's word

to people.

But if you look

on the screen,

I don't know if you've got

the PowerPoint up there.

Maybe we haven't.

Yeah?

Ah, great.

You'll see that actually

what we've just been,

we're in the second of these

and we've just heard

how Jesus taught

the people,

the disciples

about mission

and he's been sending

them out

on mission.

And right now

it says

Jesus had finished

instructing

his disciples

and actually

you'll see

every one of these blocks

of teaching finishes

with that kind of phrase

due when Jesus

had finished

these sayings,

these parables,

these teachings.

and what he's done now

is he's sending them out

and just as Jesus

had taught them to go,

now what he's doing

is he himself

is going out

preaching and teaching

and he's going to show you

how people

are going to respond

to the news

that as they are

to proclaim it

you're going to see

responses.

So chapters 11 and 12

are all about

how people respond

to Jesus,

the news

of this king

in town.

And so I want to look

in this passage

at just three kinds

of responses

to those who are doubters,

to those who are resistors

and to those who are believers.

Okay?

So that's kind of

where we're going.

We're going to go

through the passage.

So the first one,

doubters,

kind of 2 to 15

verses 2 to 15.

So if you've got

your bulletin

just kind of follow along

with me as you go.

So doubters.

John the Baptist

is the dude.

I mean,

I call him

Jay the Beat

because he is just,

he's got this

no-nonsense

preaching style

which is like

he's calling people

to repent

in anticipation

that God's kingdom,

this Messiah figure,

is going to just

totally change

everything.

And there's this

atmosphere of expectation

in Israel

at the time

that God's kingdom

is coming.

and John's message

has gone viral

and everyone's been

coming out

to see.

And John has been

preaching

in the light

of the prophecy

after prophecy

in the Old Testament

which tells you

that when this Messiah

comes,

oppressive rulers

will be removed.

There will be a time

of peace

and harmony.

There will be

this restoration.

There will be

this life.

And John has seen

Jesus

and he's gone,

this is the guy.

He's gone in

John 1,

he says,

this is the Lamb of God

who takes away

the sin of the world.

He said,

this is the one

who will baptize you

not with water

but with the Holy Spirit.

The one who's going

to bring new life

and liberation

to you.

And he's also

going to be the one

who's going to judge

God's enemies.

He's going to burn

them like chaff.

This is what

John's been preaching.

This is what

he's expecting.

But J the bee

has got in trouble

because Herod Antipas,

who is like the

chief executive

of Galilee,

he has gone to Rome

to visit his brother

and when he's

sawing his brother,

he met his wife

and his wife,

his brother's wife

was hot

and she was bored

with Herod's brother

and so what happens

is she leaves

his brother,

Herod divorces

his wife

and they get

together

and they get

married.

And John

really condemns

him from this.

He really

says,

this is not

what you should

be doing

as a leader

in Israel.

And if you'd

say that to any

authoritarian leader,

what do you think

you're going to get?

He gets thrown

in prison

awaiting execution

on death row

because that's

not the kind

of thing you do.

And imagine

if you were

John the Baptist,

you've gone

from being

the talk of the

town to now

languishing

in the dungeon

and you've been

expecting God's

enemies to be

destroyed,

but here you are

about to be killed

by God's enemies.

It's not surprising,

I can understand it,

that suddenly

doubts start

creeping in.

You start going,

is this Jesus

really the real

deal?

I don't know

if you've ever

had that,

have you?

Where the promises

of God are what

you've read in

scripture and then

your circumstances

just don't seem

to align in some

way.

Maybe you've been

praying for healing

and really trusting

God to heal someone,

really expecting it,

and then they just

seem to get worse.

Or maybe you thought

God was going to

bring you this

provision of a new

job and you've got

this interview and it

all seems to be going

well and then suddenly

it falls through.

And you just wonder,

is this for real?

You read something

in scripture that

goes, man, I'm not

sure if I can really

deal with this.

And we begin to

question God and this

is where John's

head space is at the

moment.

He's going, is Jesus

really the Messiah?

Which is why he goes,

sends his disciples

to go, are you the

one who was to come?

Or should we expect

another?

another?

You see, John gives

us an amazing lesson

in how to deal with

doubt and questions.

Because what he does,

you know, generally I

think in the church, we

don't deal with doubt

and questions very well.

We often deal with them

in a couple of ways.

One, I think we just

hide them, right?

You know, we feel

ashamed of what other

people will think about

us, whether they'll

reject us.

And so we kind of keep

it to ourselves.

That's the worst thing

to do with doubt.

That's like having a

wound which you just

leave and it just gets

infected and it becomes

more toxic and dangerous.

But what does John do

here?

John opens up.

He shares his doubt.

And then he humbly

runs to Jesus with

them.

And he does it through

his disciples because

obviously he can't do it.

He's in prison.

But just think about

that.

He's got a ton to

lose.

His whole reputation,

his whole ministry is

staked on everything he's

been saying about this

Messiah.

And now he's coming out

going, hey guys, I'm not

really sure whether it is

true or not.

That's a lot to lose.

He might want to hide

that, but he doesn't.

He doesn't even just open

up to a small group of

friends and say, hey, just

keep it between yourselves.

No, he runs to Jesus

himself because he wants

to know the truth from

Jesus.

And this is amazing because

I think if you are a

believer or if you're not a

believer, I think what he's

trying to show us is there

is no question or doubt

which is off the table.

You can open up to others

in your community group,

to elders, to friends,

but he's going to say,

don't just stop there with

kind of horizontal sharing.

No, you've got to run to

Jesus as well.

And some of us go, but I

can't tell God what I'm

really thinking.

Don't you think he already

knows?

The Psalms, as we saw just

now, teach us how to bring

our doubts to God and to

wrestle with him.

Doubt is only a disaster

when you run away from God,

not when you run to God.

You see, not running to

Jesus with our doubts and

our questions because we

think he'll be displeased

at us is a bit like when

you've seen somebody who's

just had an emotional

breakdown and tears are

running down their face and

you go to them, are you

okay?

And they say, I'm fine.

And you go, listen, I know

you're not fine, but until

you open up, I can't help

you.

That's why Jesus calls us to

run to him.

So that's the first thing.

Don't hide.

John doesn't hide.

The second thing that often

we do unhealthily in church is

I think when some people

express their doubts, then

other people just kind of shut

them down or just kind of

dismiss them or just give

cheap answers to them.

That often justifies us

hiding those doubts.

But look at how Jesus

responds to these things.

Notice he doesn't

chastise him.

He doesn't say, how can you

be such a weak follower?

No, he does three things in

the same breath.

Okay, this is beautiful.

First of all, he actually

points him to scripture.

He points him to his work and

then he honors him.

Here's verse four and six.

It says, go and tell John

what you hear and see.

The blind receive sight, the

lame walk, lepers are

cleansed, the deaf hear, the

dead are raised up, the poor

have good news preached to

them, and blessed is the one

who is not offended by me.

Do you see what Jesus is

doing?

Jesus is actually quoting

Isaiah 29, 35 and 61 in one

sentence.

He knew his Bible.

Okay.

And he's also, these are all

passages which are about what

the spirit anointed Messiah is

going to do.

And what he's done at the same

breath, he's actually said,

now compare what scripture says

about the Messiah with what I'm

doing.

Look at the signs of what I'm

doing, the restoration, the

healing, the deliverance that I'm

doing, what you hear and you

see that I'm doing, and trust

me, on the basis of what you

see that I am doing here,

trust me with even the things

you don't understand with what's

going on right now.

You see, he says, blessed is the

one who's not offended by me.

That means the one who's not

stumbled by me, but the one who

comes and runs to me and trusts

me.

And that's what God actually tells

each one of us to do.

To run to Jesus with our doubts

means that we run to scripture

and that we run with comparing

the reality of the world, the

reality of what's going on with

who Jesus really is and what he

shows us.

And that's why, actually, if you

are wrestling right now with

questions, we want to ask you,

like, come to us.

We'd love to do one-on-one Bible

study, either CG leader and elder

staff, member of the congregation.

We'd love to just walk with you

in that.

And allow yourself to wrestle with

God's word and allow him to speak

to you.

But don't just keep it between you.

Allow yourself to run to Jesus

with all of that and to pray.

Because what he wants you to do,

he's not going to answer every

single question that you have.

That's why he's God and we're not.

Because there's always mystery.

But he's going to show you.

He wants you to see enough of his

goodness and his grace so that with

the stuff that you can't see right

now, you know I've got enough to be

able to hold on and to trust him.

That's what Jesus is doing with John

right here.

You see, he points into scripture.

He points into his works and what

you're seeing him already do in his

life.

But the third thing he does, he also

honors John.

Now, this is amazing.

This really is extraordinary.

You see, instead of shaming him,

he honors his faithfulness.

He goes, 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?

These who wear soft clothing are in

king's houses.

What's he saying?

He's saying, was he just going out?

Was John just like a trendy kind of

cultural speaker who just told you

what anyone wanted to hear at the

time?

Was he a kind of guy who was really

in it for the money and was kind of

a bit of prosperity gospel teacher?

He says, no.

He was all the time.

He was going against the current.

No, he wasn't in it for the

lifestyle because, listen, he wore

goat's hair.

Now, that's not in Berbera's next

range of jackets.

He wasn't up to that.

No, John was a prophet, he says.

And he says he's the greatest man

who's ever lived.

That's pretty, that's a huge

commendation.

Now, why?

He's not saying that because of his

performance in life.

He's saying that because he lived to be

the witness to who Jesus is, the one who

was preparing the way for Jesus.

That is the highest honor you could have.

He says, until this point.

You see, the Old Testament had said

there'd be this Elijah-like, Old

Testament prophet-like figure who would

come and who would herald the Messiah

going to come in and bring his kingdom.

And Jesus says, John is that man.

John's that man.

And he says, why is John in prison?

Well, he says, from the time of John the

Baptist until now, there's been violence

and people trying to attack the kingdom

of God.

And actually, that's what's going on with

John right now.

The kingdom of God is being attacked by

violent men.

But that's nothing to do with actually

that God has failed in his promises or

his plan.

Because God is still working his promises.

But at the same time, he is honoring

John by commending him in front of

everybody.

You know, and if you go, hey, I wonder,

maybe that's just John the Baptist.

That's kind of what God does with him.

He's a pretty cool guy.

Well, actually, it's exactly what God

does with Job in the Old Testament,

who has a lot of questions.

But at the end, God honors him with

his friends.

It's the same that he does with Peter

in the New Testament.

It's the same he does with every single

person who runs genuinely to him,

wrestles with him.

He will bring you to that place where

you can trust him.

And instead of shame, you receive honor.

You see, why do we come to Jesus with our

doubts?

Because if you go anywhere else,

you're never 100% sure exactly what the

response you're going to get.

But when you come to Jesus, you can be 100%

guaranteed at the response you're going to

get.

It's not going to be condemnation.

It's not going to be a private, well,

let's just keep this to ourselves.

It's going to be the gracious honoring of

the King of Kings.

Isn't that awesome?

Which means this.

If we're disciples of Jesus in Watermark,

one of the things about disciples of Jesus is

we're to become like him and to be like him.

So that Watermark needs to be a place where

it's the most open place for people to come

with your questions wherever you are.

It needs to be a place where those who are

doubting, those who are wrestling, find

others to walk alongside you, point you to

scripture, point you to Christ, to run to him

together and to find that deepening faith as

you wrestle.

Do you know, like a lot of people who grow up

in Christian homes, many of them go through

this crisis of faith, right, where they just

start wrestling with stuff.

Don't get panicked by that if you're a parent

or anything.

We all need to go through wrestling with God.

Enable it to, our faith go from just an

intellectual idea to a reality where you know

that you know that God is good.

That's for doubters.

Let's come on to resistors.

Okay, secondly.

And this is going down from verses 16 to 24.

See, resistors have seen the kind of things that

Jesus has been talking about.

They've seen the miracles.

They've heard the teaching.

But unlike doubters who have questions but they're

open for Jesus to speak to them, resistors are

hardened.

You see, they willfully, repeatedly ignore and resist

Jesus.

What does he say?

Verse 16, he says, to what shall I compare this

generation?

Notice it's a generation, not just a few individuals.

This is a whole culture within the villages that

Jesus is going to.

And he says, they're like fickle children sitting in

the marketplace.

And it doesn't matter how you bring the gospel to

them.

You can bring it kind of John the Baptist style, like

turn or burn, self-denial, like neither eating nor

drinking, he says.

Or you can do it Jesus style, like a party of grace, eating

and drinking with tax collectors and sinners.

It says it doesn't matter which way you do it.

They're like a deaf grandfather.

You know, it doesn't matter if you speak softly and sweetly or

loudly and seriously.

They're just not listening to you.

And Jesus says that this is serious.

You know, I've got a friend who I've had a ton of

conversations with him about the gospel, about

Christianity.

Christianity.

And he said to me, you know, I think Christianity is the

most plausible religion in the world.

I mean, it just makes total sense.

Like it just changes people.

It gives people purpose, hope, meaning it just answers like

so many questions.

It just makes like total sense in almost every way.

And I said to him, and he said, but I don't believe in

Jesus.

And I went, wait, help me out with that a little bit.

And, you know, he came back with some things and I pushed him

a little bit and he said, okay, let me just be honest with

you.

The reason I don't want to become a Christian is because if I

truly trusted in Jesus, I have to change my life.

And I'm quite comfortable the way I am and it seems scary to do

that, so I don't really want to.

I appreciated his honesty because that's the truth.

That's a resistor to you.

You see, and Jesus says to a culture like this, whoa, doom.

That's like going, ayah, Chorazin.

Ayah, Bethsaida.

It's whoa.

It's like this deep cry of pain, a deep cry of lament, and a deep

cry of threat all in the same words.

It's right from your heart.

You know, when Isaiah sees God, he goes, woe is me for I am ruined.

He's like going, I'm screwed.

That's kind of what it means.

Like judgment's coming upon me.

Now for Jesus to say that, you've got to begin to sit up and take notice.

Because think about it.

Jesus is the most compassionate person who's ever lived.

He's the one who weeps over the harassed and the helpless.

He's the one who's that friend of tax collectors and sinners.

He reaches out to the brokenhearted.

He reaches out to the outcasts.

He draws in people from every background.

He is gentle and lowly.

He's the most gracious person in the entire universe.

So when Jesus says, whoa, you've got to go, whoa, this is serious.

You see, our culture doesn't like the idea of judgment.

Except, you know, because it sounds harsh.

Except when you see like atrocities like in Rwanda, Myanmar, the rape in Nanjing or sex trafficking or all these horrific injustices.

Then people go, when is God going to put an end to this?

Like, this is evil.

This is wrong.

Why?

Because deep down, we actually really want judgment.

We want the world to be put to rights.

We want God's kingdom to heal and restore.

And God says he will do that.

And there will be a day of judgment where he will come and both bring an end to injustice and bring a life of healing and freedom.

And, you know, the basis of that judgment will not be based on our performance.

Because, as Isaiah said, if it was based on any of our performance, we'd all be screwed, if I can say that.

But it will be based on how you responded to Jesus.

It will be based on him.

Because he is the center of God's plan of redemption.

And if in this life you say, I don't want you, Jesus, then Jesus, at the day of judgment, will turn around and say, then you won't get me or my father.

Because I and the father are one.

You know, this is hard.

But it's scripture.

You know, one Thessalonians says, resistors will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.

He's saying, if you don't get Jesus, you're cutting yourself off from the source of life itself.

You know, God's presence is like the sun shining.

And the rays are like all the good gifts we enjoy in this world.

You know, you think of sex.

You think of food.

You think of laughter.

You think of the beach.

You think of friendship and kindness.

And all those beautiful things that we enjoy in this world.

The Bible says, those are the rays which come from the sun.

And God and Jesus is the sun.

And, you know, the reason why, actually, we can all enjoy the sun right now is because of God's common grace, his gracious gift to each one of us, whether we are believers or not, so that we will see his goodness and we will turn and repent and tumble to him.

And, you know, woe says, if we seek to blot out the sun in our lives right now, we don't want God.

God will remove his sun from the sky and you'll be left with darkness.

That's a scary thought, right?

It's a scary thought.

But he gives us the time right now.

Why?

Because he doesn't want anyone to perish.

He wants everyone and he's saying, wake up.

The sun is setting.

Repent.

Come back to me today.

That's the message.

And Jesus here isn't talking to non-religious people.

This is the really scary part.

Jesus is talking to three very religious towns.

Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum.

Capernaum, who thought that religion, the equivalent of going to church or praying or even believing in God and being moral, could actually save them.

And he says, no, it won't.

It won't.

What saves you is trusting in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

That's what saves you.

And he says, and this is the really hard part.

He says, the three wickedest pagan cities in the Old Testament, Tyre, Sidon, sorry, Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom.

Even they, that's kind of like going the Nazis, ISIS, the Khmer Rouge.

They're going to get a lighter deal on judgment day than you guys, you religious communities who knew the message, but you resisted it.

So that means when we hear the gospel, it's dangerous because we need to respond to it.

But this message isn't for people who are doubting.

It's not, if you're going, okay, I'm not sure whether I'm really saved.

Maybe I'm coming under judgment.

Or if that's your heart, then you're probably not one of the resistors.

Jesus is just calling you to run to him now.

A resistor doesn't even care about that.

But right now, there may be some people here who are in that category.

And so Jesus is going to say to you, do you listen to sermon after sermon, but think it's about everybody else and not about you?

He's going to say, is your faith just boxed into maybe some kind of religious ritual coming on Sunday?

But the rest of your life, your priorities, your sexuality, your money, you don't want Jesus to lay any hands on that.

He's going to say, do you think you're going to be saved just because you're a good person?

Then he'll say, hear the warning of woe from Jesus.

Wake up.

Now is the chance to repent.

That's the hard part that Jesus, you know, sometimes we think Jesus is just compassionate.

He can also be hard.

But he's both.

Because he loves us.

But if right now there are those of us who have loved ones and we really feel this message.

Because we have loved ones who are resistant.

And we've been praying for a long time and going, is there hope?

That this message can feel scary, right?

What it should do, it should lead us onto our knees to pray and to not give up praying.

Why?

Because there's a great hope in this passage too.

This is my third point.

It's to believe us.

Do you know where Peter, Andrew, and Philip, the disciples, came from?

They came from Bethsaida.

John 1 tells us that.

We know that actually verse 1 of this passage tells that Jesus went into their towns, the towns of the disciples, to preach and teach.

And Jesus also made Capernaum his home base for ministry.

So it's likely that many of the other disciples actually came from these same towns as well.

Which is extraordinary.

Because what that shows you, in the middle of this hardened, resistant culture, God can break through into people's lives and draw them to himself and bring salvation.

Isn't that amazing?

And here's what Jesus says is the response for those who come to him.

He says this.

And this is verse 25.

I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children.

Yes, Father, for such was your gracious, pleasing will.

Who is he talking to?

He's talking about his disciples.

And do you know what he calls them?

He calls them little children.

He doesn't just call them children.

You notice he called them little children.

That is actually really unflattering for a load of macho fishermen.

Right?

But what is he saying?

He's saying his kingdom doesn't operate the way our kingdoms do.

He doesn't work the way we do.

Let me show you a picture.

This is my daughter, Elodie.

How many of you would entrust your investment portfolio to her?

How many of you would actually give her a job in the company or wherever you work?

Probably not many.

Why?

Because she's weak.

She can't even hold her head up.

Can't even hold her hand up by herself.

She's dependent.

She's significant in many ways.

She's inadequate.

She can't do very much.

You know, this is who God says he loves to reveal his kingdom to.

People who are weak, insignificant, inadequate, fragile, incapable.

And Jesus actually says that's what we're all like if we're going to admit it.

Some of us think we are the wise and understanding in this passage.

Why?

Because we're actually, a lot of us, we're really quite smart.

Guys, really capable.

You can do a lot of stuff, great education, all those kind of things.

But even if you know your Bible so well, you know Christianity like the back of your hand.

You know, that can be dangerous.

Because it stops us from being like little children.

And it's little children who get the kingdom of God's presence coming to us.

You know, when we start going, yeah, I can do this by myself.

It's like my daughter going, hey, I can get food by myself.

You know, I don't need you guys.

And you know, that's not a great place to be, right?

With what's going to happen, she's going to die.

But some of us, right now, we're feeling weak.

Maybe we've just been out of community for so long.

Maybe you're just feeling dry spiritually.

Maybe you're just feeling like you've stagnated.

Maybe you're feeling fragile.

Maybe you're feeling like, I don't know what's going on.

Maybe you're feeling overwhelmed with all the things that are happening in your world.

Do you recognize that right now where you are, that can be a great place to be if you recognize that?

If you recognize that you are just a little child and you desperately need Jesus.

Because, you know, when we run to Jesus, whether you're a doubter, whether you're a resistor, or wherever you are right now,

do you know what Jesus says he's going to do?

When we cry out for more of his presence in our lives and we're desperate for it,

we're not just kind of, oh, it's okay.

This is fine news for me.

No, this is news that you know you need right now, that there is a Savior who has compassion on you.

Do you know what happens?

Just like when my daughter cries for food, my wife doesn't go, ah, sort yourself out.

She doesn't go, grow up, will you?

You're six weeks old.

She doesn't do any of that.

She delights to bring her presence and to satisfy her.

Jesus wants to start a revival in Watermark.

Did you know that?

He wants to start actually today in our hearts.

But he won't be able to do anything, if I can put it like that.

I mean, God can do anything.

But he chooses not to do things with people who are unwilling to come as little children.

For people who think they're okay.

But he loves, he's his gracious will when we come to him as little children, going, Jesus, I need you right now.

I come with all my questions.

I come with all my issues.

I come dry.

I come needing you.

And you know, right now is the time where God wants to saturate us with his presence.

Do you want that?

Do you want to respond to Jesus like that?

Some of us, we need to go, God, I'm not in a great place right now.

My heart is hard.

I just feel all over the place.

My motivation is pretty low.

You need to just come and be real with God right now about that.

Come and revive my heart.

Because Jesus says, and it's the last thing.

He says, the person who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater even than John the Baptist.

Do you know why?

Because we live in a post-cross, post-resurrection age of the spirit of God.

Where we can come face to face and experience God's presence in a way that John the Baptist never could.

We can know Jesus in a way that John the Baptist never did.

So do we want to this morning?

I want us to just stop and pray for a second.

I'm going to invite the communion stewards to come up.

But what I'd like you to do is actually just to take stock of where you are right now.

I actually want us to pray.

And you may pray silently if you want to.

But actually, if anyone wants to pray out loud and to just come and cry to God with wherever you are.

Asking for more of him.

Asking to see Jesus for who he really is.

Asking that his kingdom, that restoration place, would come and start being at work in our hearts and our lives.

So take a minute just to actually honestly go, where am I?

Where am I with Jesus?

How am I responding to him today?

And I want you to just do business with God right now.

For more of Jesus?

And I want you to just do business with God.

Yes.

I don't know.

Whatever.

I'll just thank God.

I want you to do business with God.

Did you say, what does God right now?