Matthew 11:1-6

Matthew chapter 11 is our text this morning.

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

beginning in verse 1. Now it came to pass when

Jesus finished commanding his 12 disciples that

he departed from there to teach and to preach

in their cities. And when John, that is John

the Baptist, had heard in prison about the works

of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said

to him, Are you the coming one, or do we look

for another? Jesus answered and said to them,

Go and tell John the things which you hear and

see, the blind see and the lame walk, the lepers

are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are

raised up and the poor have the gospel preached

to them, and blessed is he who is not offended

because of me. Let's ask the Lord to help us

understand this word this morning. Father, Lord,

we assemble for the sole and express purpose

of worshiping you, Lord, to worship you in the

beauty of holiness in the way that you have prescribed

and deserve, Lord, to ascribe worth and glory

and praise to your name. Lord, help us, and we

pray that we have done that. And yet this morning,

Lord, part of our worship is not where we continue

to speak, but we hear. We hear from heaven. Lord,

our King speaks through this word. And Lord God,

our soul is edified and our lives are instructed

and we, Lord God, are illumined in the path before

us that we ought to go. God, help us this morning

to have ears that the Spirit of God opens, eyes

that are opened by your Spirit, and hearts that

will receive the word. We pray this in Jesus'

name and for his glory. Amen. Are you the one

who is to come? Or do we look for another? Those

words did not come from the lips of a skeptic.

They didn't even come from the words of an enemy.

Rather, they came from the illustrious cousin

of Jesus Christ, better known as John the Baptist.

It's interesting. Even John here, he's a zealous

prophet. He's the one who formally introduced

the Lord Jesus Christ to Israel. But he's now

having some doubts. Now keep in mind who he is.

He's the one, upon seeing Jesus for the very

first time, proclaimed, Behold the Lamb of God

which takes away the sin of the world. It was

this man who had the incredible privilege of

baptizing Jesus in the Jordan. But those days

were now long gone. John was no longer baptizing

anyone. He wasn't preaching. He wasn't calling

Israel to repent. Instead, he sat in a cold,

dank prison cell awaiting execution. And as he

sat in that quiet cell, questions began to arise

in his mind. I'm sure there were many questions,

but one more important than all of them. Is Jesus,

the one I had previously baptized, is he the

Messiah or should he be looking for someone else?

And on this beautiful Lord's Day morning, I wonder

if you've ever been where John is. Have you ever

been there? Have you ever had doubts enter your

mind? If you have, you're in good company. I

think an unexamined faith is usually not a strong

faith. Most of God's people have had doubts at

one time or another. So if you have doubts, you're

in good company. We'll see that today. The good

news, though, is that God was working out his

perfect plan, even though his ways are often...

confusing to us. Now we're in Matthew 11. It's

been a couple weeks since we've been in the gospel

of Matthew. What's the context? Remember in the

first 10 chapters, Matthew, he has been revealing

who Jesus is, that he is the Christ sent from

God. But in chapter 11, Matthew's going to turn

a corner and now he's going to start to reveal

the different reactions people had to Jesus.

Some people were confused by him. Others, outright

rejected him. And yet there was another group

that received him and bowed before him as Lord.

Now we just come off chapter 10. Do you remember

in chapter 10, Jesus had been preparing the 12

apostles for their very first missionary endeavor,

their very first missionary journey throughout

Israel. He's done preparing them and he sends

them out, but Jesus himself continues to go out.

traveling throughout Galilee, that's northern

Israel, teaching and preaching, it says, in their

cities. Now, we know he's been preaching about

the kingdom of God. Matthew tells us to teach

and to preach. Now, I don't want to spend much

time on this, but I thought this was interesting.

What is the difference between teaching and preaching?

Is there any at all? Some people think preaching

is just a style. It's just simply teaching done

louder. Because oftentimes I'll hear, oh, he's

a really good preacher. And what they mean by

that is he's a really good orator. He communicates

very effectively through the way he speaks. But

there is a slight difference between the two.

They're closely related, but teaching is focused

on instruction. It's didactic. In fact, that's

the word in Greek. It's didactic. Preaching,

it's a Greek word, karuso, and it's focused on

proclamation. It is persuasive. So teaching,

if we think just in a pure sense, teaching explains.

It explains things like doctrines or ideas or

Bible customs. So if you're having a Bible study,

you're teaching. We're just looking at this.

But preaching is going to call people to respond

to the truth that they've just heard proclaimed.

That's why you often find it in a sermon. Teaching

aims at the head. Preaching aims at the heart.

And Jesus Christ did both. He taught. Remember,

he was a master teacher. primarily by parables.

But he also preached, and when he preached, what

was he doing? Persuading, calling Israel to repent.

He and the apostles were doing both of those.

They had been preaching, and what were they preaching

about? Well, the kingdom of God. They said the

kingdom of God was at hand, it was near, because

a king had arrived. Now Matthew is now going

to show us how did people respond to that message,

and the very first response given, Is that of

John the Baptist? It says in verse 2, And when

John had heard in prison about the works of Christ,

he sent two of his disciples and said to him,

Now this is a surprising question. Are you the

coming one? Or do we look for another? Now I

would not think that John the Baptist would have

that question. But I want you to notice where

he is. It says when he had heard in prison. He

was in prison. He had lost freedom. That's why

he didn't go himself. He sends two of his disciples

to Jesus. And John, even though he'd been in

prison, he'd heard all about what Jesus had been

doing. He heard about the great and notable works.

But I'm sure he was wondering, where was the

judgment of God and when was the kingdom coming?

See, John the Baptist, when he preached... about

the Messiah, he said, when the Messiah comes,

he will bring with him the judgment of God. Matthew

Matthew 3:11

3, verse 11. We looked at this before. This is

John's words, not Jesus. I indeed baptize you

with water unto repentance. But he who is coming

after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I'm

not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with

the Holy Spirit and fire. But now look at verse

12. His winnowing fan is in his hands. And he

will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor.

He will gather his wheat into the barn, but he

will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

John's clear here. He said, guys, you need to

get ready. The Messiah is at hand, and when he

comes, he's going to judge sinners with unquenchable

fire. I mean, John was not one to mince words.

He's a bold prophet. He stood courageously for

righteousness. In fact, why do you think he was

languishing away in a prison cell? His mouth,

his courage, and I appreciate both, got him into

trouble, as it should. Do you remember? He had

been imprisoned by a man named Herod Antipas.

What was the big deal? Herod had married his

brother Philip's wife, whose name was Herodias.

Herod fell in love with Herodias, but she belonged

to his brother Philip. So Herod then divorced

his own wife, married Herodias. And that is immoral.

It was also illegal under Jewish law. And John,

who wasn't afraid to speak to powerful people,

he called out Herod's sin. And he's saying, you

are violating God's command and you're going

to bring God's judgment down upon your head.

Well, people in power don't like to be publicly

called out. So he was publicly confronting Herod

and Herodias. They didn't like it. So they had

him imprisoned. So John is sitting in prison

for what? simply boldly proclaiming the truth.

Yet he knew something in the back of his mind.

He said, that's okay, because when Messiah comes,

he's going to smite God's enemies. I don't have

to worry about it. But now he's in prison. When's

the smiting going to take place? Jesus, instead

of condemning sinners, he's eating with them

and drinking with them. He's even, in fact, getting

a moniker. He's known as the friend of sinners.

And John's sitting in that prison cell, and he

can't reconcile that in his mind. He had a certain

expectation of what the Messiah would do, and

Jesus, who he thought was the Messiah, was not

doing that. So doubts begin to come into his

mind. Were his earlier declarations about Jesus

correct? Had he been mistaken about Jesus? Now,

I think it's so very important to remember that

John had received clear, divine, Confirmation

that Jesus was the Messiah. And I want to read

both of these passages because we need to understand

how in the world did John get doubts when he

had experienced so much truth. In John chapter

John 1 · chapter mention

1, beginning in verse 26, John the Baptist says,

I baptize with water, but there stands one among

you whom you do not know. It is he who coming

after me, he's preferred before me, whose sandal

strap I am not worthy to loose. Now these things

were done in Beth Arbor, beyond the Jordan, where

John was baptizing. The next day, John sees Jesus

coming toward him, and he said, Behold, the Lamb

of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

This is he of whom I said, After me comes a man

who is preferred before me, for he was before

me. Now keep in mind, John the Baptist is six

months older than Jesus. But he says, he was

before me. I did not know him, verse 31. I didn't

know him. but that he should be revealed to Israel.

Therefore I came baptizing with water. And John

bore witness, saying, I saw the Spirit descending

from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.

I didn't know him, but he who sent me to baptize

with water said to me, Upon whom you see the

Spirit descending and remaining on him, this

is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. Now

here's John's testimony. I have seen and testified

that this is the Son of God. One more passage

and it won't be as long. Matthew 3. Then Jesus

came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be

baptized. John tried to prevent him saying, I

need to be baptized by you and you're coming

to me. But Jesus answered and said to him, Permit

it to be so now for thus it is fitting for us

to fulfill our righteousness. And thus he allowed

him. When he had been baptized, Jesus came up

immediately from the water. Same story here.

Behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he

saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove

and alighting upon him. But now look at verse

17. And suddenly a voice came from heaven saying,

This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

There's a lot of confirmation here. John is an

eyewitness to the fact that the Spirit of God,

like a dove, descended and alighted upon Jesus

at his baptism. So he saw with his own eyes something,

but he heard with his own ears a voice out of

heaven. It was the voice of God the Father declaring

over Jesus in the Jordan River, This is my beloved

Son. And in case you're misunderstanding, this

is the one in whom I'm well pleased. So you would

think that there is not a possible way that John

the Baptist could ever have doubts about Jesus

being the Messiah. I mean, after all, he had

irrefutable proof. He had seen and personally

heard and witnessed firsthand. But what's happened?

He's now sitting in a prison cell wondering,

is he the Messiah? How could that be? I mean,

how did John go from that one who was so sure

to one who now has doubts? Suffering skews our

perception. Suffering brings confusion. John,

John the Baptist, he had a misunderstanding about

the role of the Messiah and about the timing

of the Messiah's work. Yes, it is true, and John

knew this, that when Messiah comes, he will bring

judgment. He will judge the unrighteous, and

he will also usher in the kingdom of God. But

Jesus had not done that. He had not brought in

God's judgment. And if this were the kingdom

of God, then why is John sitting in this dark

prison cell? See, everything that John had preached,

everything that he had longed for had not come.

So naturally he wonders, was I wrong? Was my

zeal blinding me? Was I mistaken? Because everything

he expected to happen failed to happen. Let me

just say this. False expectations are still with

us today. This is why some reject Christianity

outright. Because here's their argument. They

say, if God is almighty, if he's all -knowing,

and if he's all good, then certainly he would

clean up this world and put an end to wickedness.

He would end genocide. He would end human sex

trafficking. He would stop the exploitation of

the poor and all the corruption we see around

us. Is that a true statement? Will God do that?

Absolutely. But they fail to understand God's

plan and they really fail to understand God's

patience. Thus, they reject him altogether. Since

he's not judged yet, they assume he must not

exist because he would have been fed up by now.

And their false expectations cause them to reject

Christ. But there are others who are Christians.

And they have some assumptions and false expectations

as well. Excuse me. Because I serve the Lord

Jesus, certainly my life must go better than

the one who doesn't. I must be exempt from some

suffering. I mean, others will wonder and they'll

reason this way. If God is sovereign, why did

that happen? Let me just say this. As Christians,

I will go to my deathbed that God is sovereign.

He's absolutely sovereign. He's in control of

all events at all times over all people. People

wonder, and I've been here. If God is sovereign,

then why did he allow X to happen? Why did that

happen to me in childhood? Why did my wife die?

Why was my husband taken? Why am I sick and suffering

this way? Why did I lose my job? If I'm a servant

of the Most High King. And friends, we know in

our head, we know that we're not promised health.

We know we're not promised prosperity. None of

us are promised an easy life this side of heaven.

Yet so many of us are caught off guard because

we still assume life must be easier for us if

we are God's children. So when suffering comes,

you know what it does? It brings this wave of

confusion. And we find ourselves doubting. Is

this all right? Is he who he says he is? Do I

look for someone else? Have I followed a lie?

John, he's in prison. You may be. Now, of course,

you're not in a prison like he was, but you may

be in a prison of pain or of heartache or of

a bitter disillusionment. See, the problem is

that when God does not act in the way that we

think he should, in the prescribed way we had

expected, it throws us for a loop. It does. Suffering,

I believe this with all my heart, suffering brings

a fog where we lack clarity. And we can't reason

correctly. So we begin to wonder and we begin

to doubt, where is Jesus? Where is God? And doubts

come. And they come primarily because some of

the false expectations we held to. So we're left

doubting God because he did not work the way

we thought he would. By the way, that was Israel's

problem. It's the chief reason why they rejected

Jesus as Messiah is over false expectations.

What were they expecting? A political Messiah,

a strong, robust, military -like figure who would

deliver them from Roman occupation. But what

do they get? Lowly, meek, mild Jesus riding on

the foal of a donkey. They could not see that

the Messiah, he would first come in humility

on a donkey before he would ever ride on that

victor's war horse. He had come to deliver them

from a greater slavery than slavery to Rome,

and that was their slavery to sin. John the Baptist

was confused. He wasn't wrong, though. Who's

confused? He just had the timing messed up. He

was correct in thinking the Messiah will bring

in God's judgment. There is coming a final, in

-time, eschatological judgment that will fall

upon sinners. Paul writes about it in 2 Thessalonians

1. He says, it is a righteous thing with God.

To repay with tribulation those who trouble you.

Stop right there. The Thessalonians, they were,

excuse me, Thessalonians, I said, Thessalonians

are the people. The Thessalonian people, they're

suffering. Look, they're being troubled, and

they're wondering, where's God? And so Paul's

like, hey, listen, it is a righteous thing. God's

going to pay back all those who cause you trouble.

They're going to get it, man. God will pay them

back with tribulation, verse 7. And give you

who are troubled rest with us. When, though?

When the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed from heaven

with his mighty angels. Now look at these next

two verses. In flaming fire, taking vengeance

on those who do not know God and on those who

do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

These shall be punished with everlasting destruction

from the presence of the Lord and from the glory

of his power. when he comes in that day to be

glorified in the saints and to be admired among

all those who believe because our testimony among

you was believed. Do you see it? There's a judgment

coming, but it will come at the second advent

of Christ. It did not arrive with the first.

John did not know that. Prophets often were,

they knew things would happen, but they were

never given clear instruction when. So it's true.

John had the right to think that Jesus, the Messiah,

would usher in the kingdom of God in its final,

end -time fullness, I should say. That's true.

That's the day when all tears are going to be

wiped from our eyes and all pain will be forever

gone and death will be but a distant memory.

Well, when in the world is that taking place?

That too will occur at his second advent. What

John did not know was that the Messiah would

first Give his life as an atoning sacrifice.

Be buried and rise again the third day to inaugurate

the kingdom of God. John had no idea that a time

of grace would be extended to all mankind, including

the Gentile nations. So he was confused. Caused

doubts. God's ways often confuse us. I mean,

he does not work like we would expect. Think

of Joseph. God allowed him to spend years in

an Egyptian prison, never telling him why he

was there. Yet God was with him. But he was working

out his plan to promote him to second command

next to Pharaoh so that he might save his people.

But Joseph didn't know that. God's timing often

confuses us. Think of Lazarus. This is one of

Jesus' best friends on the earth. Jesus got word

that Lazarus was sick. Jesus said, okay, let's

stay here. He waited two more days before leaving

to go visit Lazarus. And in that time, Lazarus

died. Lazarus had two sisters, Mary and Martha.

They're grieving. They're distraught. They're

doubting. Why did Jesus delay? Why didn't he

come earlier? Had he come earlier, he could have

saved our brother. Yet Jesus knows that he will

bring glory to God by raising Lazarus from the

grave. But they didn't know that. His timing,

his ways. See, false expectations. That's exactly

what's plaguing John right now. False expectations

about God's ways or his timing will often lead

us to doubt. But there's something we see more

in this text. John did the right thing. He took

the doubts to Jesus. He didn't keep his doubts

or questions hidden. Let me just say this as

an aside. Friends, seek out, if you're having

questions or doubts, talk to people. Don't be

left alone with your thoughts. John took them

to Jesus. This is what we ought to do. And I'm

so thankful for the way the Lord responds to

John's questions. He did not rebuke John. He

didn't say, scold John for being hard -headed

or stiff -necked. He didn't say he had a lack

of faith. He simply goes and answers him with

the word of God. Look at verses 4 and 5. Jesus

answered and said to them, Go tell John the things

which you hear and see. The blind see, the lame

walk, the lepers cleanse, the deaf hear, the

dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel

preached to them. He said, here, let me give

you some evidence. Objective evidence. People

that couldn't see are seeing. People that couldn't

walk are walking. People that were outcast because

of a skin disease are cleansed. The people who

couldn't hear are now here. And by the way, the

dead, they have life again. And the poor, they're

here in those good tidings of great joy. Now

why did Jesus answer this way? He could have

simply said, yes, I'm the Messiah. Go tell John

I'm the Messiah. Go say, you remember the voice

you heard? Remember the dove you saw? That's

enough. He didn't do it. Instead, he gave scriptures.

Not just any scripture, by the way. He was quoting

from Isaiah. He's quoting two passages, primarily

Isaiah 35 and Isaiah 61. Why is he quoting those

two passages? Because Isaiah, more than any Old

Testament prophet, wrote about Christ and they

wrote about the coming of the Messiah. So Jesus

is saying, go tell John, who had been very familiar

with Isaiah's writings, let me go tell John that

what he read in Isaiah is being fulfilled in

me. Isaiah 35. Then the eyes of the blind shall

be opened, the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped,

then the lame shall leap like a deer in the tongue

of the dumb thing, for water shall burst forth

in the wilderness and streams in the desert.

By the way, just as a side note, when Jesus'

side was pierced in that desert, that water poured

forth, didn't it? Isaiah 61. The spirit of the

Lord God is upon me, because the Lord, that is

Yahweh, has anointed me to preach good tidings

to the poor. Jesus, he has sent me to heal the

brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to captives.

And the irony here, the opening of prism to them

who are bound. Where's John? He's in prison.

Michael Andrus says this. He said, the proof

of Jesus, the proof Jesus offers of his Messiahship

is, first of all, that his kingdom is one where

the rejected are received. In the first century,

none were more shunned than the blind, the lame,

the lepers, and the deaf. They had no place,

no name, no value. They were seen as canker sores

on the culture, excess baggage on the side of

the road. And I love this. But those whom the

people called trash, Jesus called treasures.

So he made his kingdom above. Basically, John

says, hey, go take a scroll, tell John to open

it to Isaiah 35 and 61. Tell him to read. Then

he'll have his answer. But can you see, once

you read those passages and you hear what Jesus

has been doing, now it's abundantly clear. Jesus

is the Christ of God. The prophecies of Isaiah

are being fulfilled in him. It would be futile

to look anywhere else. Now there's a whole lot

more of what the Messiah is going to do, but

John can't understand it. By the way, the twelve,

his inner twelve, do you remember how dense they

were? Sometimes you're like... What is with these

guys? They didn't get it either. Jesus would

say, I'm going up to Jerusalem. They're going

to kill me and I'll rise again. And they're like,

what's he mean? They're going to kill him. He's

going to rise to death. That's not a hard statement.

They didn't get it. Jesus was going to die, be

buried, and rise again. No one understood it.

No one was expecting it. That's why Judas will

later turn away. Once Judas realizes, yep, Jesus

is headed for death, let me get my money while

I can. See, Jesus is then now redirecting John's

focus back to the scriptures, back to prophecies

being fulfilled in him, and these are objective

proof of the Messiah's credentials. I think this

helps us with our doubts. You and I are not given

information, all the information, or the reasons

why God allows certain things to happen. I can't

tell you on how many times as a pastor I've had

people ask me, why did God? And I always look

at them and I'm like, I have no idea. I don't

know. But we are given something. We're given

precious gospel promises that we can rest upon

and find peace even in the midst of difficulty.

You know the rest of the story about John, right?

He doesn't get out of the prison cell. Spoiler

alert, he dies. He will meet the executioner's

sword. But the promises of God stood firm. Our

doubts, our questions may not be resolved and

they may not be answered this side of heaven.

that we can find peace as we learn to rely upon

the truthfulness and the firmness of the word

of God. This is what we need. The word of God

is the antidote. It's the medicine to our doubts

and our fears and our questions. In doubt, the

word of God becomes our anchor and our light.

It steadies us. It illumines the path before

us. When we're in a season of very, very difficulty,

and it just seemed like it was wave after wave

after wave after wave after wave, and I was caught

off guard. I thought, man, we're so many just,

I don't know, misunderstandings and confusion

in my heart and mind. But I love to hear the

promises of God's word. Because I would just

say, God, you can't lie. This is truth. So when

we are in a metaphorical prison, And life feels

uncertain, and for many it feels very uncertain

right now. The word of God reminds us of something.

This is where you are blessed, church. It reminds

you that God is unchanging, that he is good,

and that he can be trusted. Jesus pronounces

a blessing upon those who truly trust in him.

Look at verse 6, the last verse here. Blessed

is he who is not offended because of me. The

word offended is a Greek word, skandalizo. It

can mean, it's the idea of apostasy, but really

the root word is the idea of being caught in

a trap. You're held firm in a trap. You're tripping

up. The person, this person who's blessed, places

his faith in Jesus, who he is, rather than who

they expect him to be. God blesses. Now listen,

he blesses those who do not turn away from Jesus

in the midst of trouble. So we could say it like

this. Blessed by God are those who continue to

hold on to faith in Jesus even amidst the storms

and difficulties of life. Blessed is that man.

Blessed is that woman. Listen, John didn't escape

execution. You and I don't always, the guy doesn't

win the girl in the end. They don't always get

a home with a white picket fence and 2 .3 children

or whatever it is. That's not how life works.

But you continue to trust Christ. And God's plan

is still sure, although it may not fit your expectations.

In John 6, the Lord Jesus gave that great discourse

about the bread of life come down from heaven.

And he said some hard things that people didn't

like. One of the hardest things he said, hey,

unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you

have no life. To a Jew, that's repulsive. Eat

your flesh and drink your blood? Yeah. John 6,

John 6:60

verse 60. Therefore, many of his disciples, when

they heard this, said, this is a hard saying.

Who can understand it? Now, look down at verse

66. I always think that's a 666. John 6, verse

John 6:66

66. From that time, many of his disciples went

back and walked no more with him. They gave up

the discipleship. They gave up like this is not

the one. They appeared to be disciples, but they

were offended because of Jesus. They got tripped

up. Along the way. Again, Michael Andrews, he

said, Jesus does not scold John for doubting.

Instead, he reminds him that a special blessing

awaits those who continue to trust despite their

confusion and despite the difficult circumstances

in which they find themselves. Jesus may not

offer immediate vindication to the righteous.

Or immediate judgment on the wicked. But he reassures

us nonetheless that God's plan is on schedule

and it's on track. Amen. See, here's the thing,

church. This is the thing I want to drill down.

We must not allow our preconceived notions of

how God should be or how he should work or what

he should do trip us up in our walk of faith.

But when things happen, it's hard. You know,

it makes sense sometimes. Like, we like to make

sense. I know when someone gets a cancer diagnosis

and we're like, oh, well, did they smoke? Did

they do this? Because we want to like, oh, well,

that's why. It's not why. But then suddenly when

someone's taken the prime of life, and I think

of Brother J .D., throws us for a loop. We're

not prepared for it. It's jarring. Where was

God? He was there, ushering him into the kingdom.

It just doesn't fit our expectations. You're

meant to grow old together, right? Every couple

who wants children are expected to get children.

Every man or woman who wants to get married is

expected to get married. Well, that's not how

life is in a fallen world. One commentator said,

so as long as the world stands, Christ and his

gospel will be a stumbling block to many. To

hear that we are all lost and guilty sinners,

that we can't save ourselves. To hear that we

must give up our own righteousness and to trust

in the one who is crucified between two thieves.

To hear that we must be content to enter heaven

side by side with publicans and harlots. And

to owe all our salvation to free grace. This

is always offensive to natural man. Our proud

hearts don't like it. We are offended. But let

the caution of these verses sink down deeply

into our memories. Let us take heed that we are

not offended. Thousands, he continues, will be

found have had to offer salvation and they will

have rejected it. Why did they reject it? They

don't like the terms. They would not stoop to

enter in at the straight gate. They would not

humbly come as sinners to the throne of grace.

In a word, they were offended. And then will

appear the deep meaning in our Lord's words.

Blessed is he who shall not be offended in me.

Blessed is the one who does not trip up over

Jesus. Blessed is the one who doesn't trip over

Jesus when he doesn't work in the way they think

and thought he would work. Vance Havner, you

all have many people familiar with Vance Havner.

I love how he paraphrases this verse. He said,

blessed is he who does not get upset by the way

I run my business. I love that. Blessed is the

man or woman who doesn't get upset by the way

that I run my business, sign Jesus. So what's

the final verdict then? What do we do? You trust

him. Where else do you go? There's only one.

One mediator between God and men, the man Christ

Jesus. There's only one name under heaven given

among men whereby we must be saved. That's the

name of Jesus. There's only one who is his way,

the truth, and life. There's only one way that

someone will enter into heaven, and that's by

the door whose name is Jesus. There's only one

good shepherd who gave his life for the sheep,

and his name is Jesus. You trust him. He gave

his life for you. You give your life to him.

Let's pray. Father, thank you. Thank you for

your word, for the hope. Lord, there may be some

of your saints or some of your children. They're

sitting here and, Lord, questions are entering

their mind. Their hearts are cloudy. Lord, I've

been there. Life just doesn't make sense. It's

not working out. The boxes aren't checking the

way they thought they would. And, Father, as

best they can, they're holding on to faith. They're

trusting you. But, Lord, it's just they're struggling.

And, Father, my prayer as a shepherd of this

group, an under -shepherd, twice as a true shepherd,

as the under -shepherd, Lord, would that you

in your spirit. would comfort them, point them

to the scriptures, let them rest in your ways

and in your promises, Lord, even when it doesn't

make sense to them. God, we need you, Lord. There

are some who are hurting. I still think of my

sister Kim. I think of Maddie and the family,

Lord, who've experienced quite a jarring reality.

Lord, God, undergird them with strength that

they need at this time. Lord, there are some,

Lord, no doubt, Lord, who in private moments,

Lord, their hearts are just, they're a mess.

And they want to keep it together on the outside.

But Lord, God, help them to turn to you. But

let them not be offended or tripped up because

you don't work in the way that they thought you

would. Father, help them not to turn away. But

Lord, continue in faith wherever that leads them.

Because Lord, you alone are the one who is worthy.

But you're also the only place where true life

and eternal life is found. It's in your son,

Jesus. Lord, help us to make much of him. Lord,

if there is one who today who is lost, Lord God,

whose heart is... undelieving and cold. Lord,

I pray by your spirit, convict them, open their

eyes, bring them to faith this morning, we pray

in Jesus' name. Amen.