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And this chapter has a lot to do with John the Baptist and so This is where John the Baptist is actually in prison But just different things that we're gonna see about this and and it's beginning here It really tells us where we're kind of leaving off from chapter 10 So chapter 10 was all about soul winning sending his 12 disciples out two by two To go into different cities to go soul winning and so in verse 1 there The Bible reads and it came to pass when Jesus had made an end of commanding his 12 disciples He departed thence to teach and to preach in their city. So this is clearly just continuing on from chapter 10 and You know, basically he sent them out and then he was doing the same thing and then he's gonna meet him meet up with Them later and so in verse 2 It says now when John had heard and in the prison the works of Christ He sent two of his disciples and said unto them unto him art thou he that should come or do we look for another? Now this is a very controversial Passage dealing with John the Baptist and and just the fact of him doubting and just having doubts okay, and so I just wanted to kind of talk about this for a minute as far as just John the Baptist and it's gonna go into who John the Baptist was But go to John chapter 1 John chapter 1 The first thing to see here is that John the Baptist clearly was a believer You know at this point he's in prison But before this we see a lot of statements that he makes before he goes into prison It's clearly stating that he knows and believes that Jesus is the Son of God okay, and and John chapter 1 Notice that one of the most famous phrases that said in verse 29 It says the next day John see it Jesus coming unto him and said Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world and he goes on to say, you know, this is he that was preferred before me because he was before me and Then he goes on to say in verse 32 It says in John bear record saying I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and it bowed upon him and I knew him Not but he that sent me to baptize with water the same said unto me upon whom I shall see the Spirit Descending and remaining on him the same as he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost And I saw and bear record that this is the Son of God and notice in verse 35 It says and again the next day after John stood and two of his disciples and looking upon Jesus as he walked he saith behold the Lamb of God So it's interesting because he sends two disciples when he's in prison saying, you know to ask Jesus question Are you art thou he that should come or do we look for another? And he said he has two disciples standing there with him when he says this is the Lamb of God I bear record. This is the Son of God in John chapter 3. It's very clear You know John chapter 3 is before he's cast into prison because in John chapter 3, he's at baptizing and anon near the Jordan And it says in verse 24 for John was not yet cast into prison So we know this is all before John's in prison. Okay, and verse 26 You know they're coming up to him and saying and they came unto John and said unto him rabbi he that was with thee beyond Jordan to Whom thou bearish witness behold the same baptizes and all men come to him verse 30 it says he must increase but I must decrease he that cometh from above is above all he that is of the earth is earthly and Speaketh of the earth he that cometh from heaven is above all so he's very it's very clear he knows it's the Lord from heaven that Jesus is and In verse 36 we use this out solely all time This is John the Baptist saying this he that believeth on the son hath everlasting life and he that believeth not the son shall not See life, but the wrath of God abideth on him So it's very clear that he understands the gospel He understand that Jesus is the Son of God and what I think is going on here with this as far as having doubts and I'm gonna get into doubting things when it comes to Doubting what what What God's gonna do okay, meaning that Christians can have doubts as far as not doubting salvation not doubting eternal security Okay What I'm saying is like doubting that God's going to provide for them or doubting that God's gonna keep them through tribulation or committing themselves unto Committing their souls unto them as far as in in this world and and just the stuff that they're gonna go through He's in prison. Okay, so you got to imagine that he's in prison And what I think is going on and when with this I think answers a lot of questions when it comes to the disciples in general and How people will say well, you know, they were confused and they didn't understand and all this other stuff What you have to understand is that? When you look at all the prophecies about Christ They're all coupled with him and his kingdom coming. Okay, meaning that he's ruling and reigning What they didn't understand is that there's a gap of time between when he comes and when he's gonna rule and reign Okay, does that make sense? so I didn't put this in my notes, but I think this is very important to kind of understand this because I Don't believe John saying like I don't believe you're the Christ but What he's not understanding is why Jesus isn't setting up his kingdom Okay, and disciples have the same question not only before he died when he died on the cross But even after when he's about to ascend up, you know Right when he sends up before the day of Pentecost and all that stuff. So look at Luke chapter 24 this is when he's on the road to Emmaus He's gonna brave these disciples but and look in the verse 20 there, so Luke 24 and verse 20 and so You can believe the gospel have faith in eternal security Still doubt the promises of God and other aspects other promises that he has does that make sense? You can still kind of have doubts and waiver and the fact of you know Is he gonna come through with this? Is he gonna you know, you kind of think of that? He's not gonna suffer the righteous to To you know be famished and stuff like that and you're like, you know, do you really trust that? You know if it came down to it, are you gonna doubt and waiver in it? I'm gonna get some other verses with that but in Luke 24 and verse 20 it says and Or just talk he's talking to Jesus so these two disciples are talking to Jesus They don't know it's Jesus at the time But it says and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and have crucified him Notice in verse 21, but we trust that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel And beside all this today is the third day since these things were done And later on he's gonna you know, really rebuke them saying Should not this have been the case, you know They had to suffer and die Because what it comes down to is they're looking at the Christ and they're looking at the kingdom They're look and that's a true part of who Christ is and his coming and all that stuff But what they're it's kind of like I've heard it explained like this where you have Kind of a mountain that you're looking at you have two peaks to a mountain Okay, and you see the second mountain peak, but you don't realize that that mountains a lot further away And there's this valley in between it Okay, and so you kind of see if you're looking at it from here all you see is the first coming the second coming you don't see the space in between and I talked about this a little Bit when we were in Isaiah 61 where in that one verse between the and there's like 2,000 years of time Between when it says the acceptable year of the Lord and then the revenge the vengeance, right? And there's a huge gap So when you're looking at that if you're looking at Isaiah 61 Where it's talking about Christ coming the Spirit of God coming upon him the preaching the gospel and all that stuff and you're Reading that you would think it's all happening all at the same time Okay, look at Acts chapter 1 Acts chapter 1 You probably do a whole sermon on this, honestly but Acts chapter 1 Jesus is talking to them and He's saying, you know, not many days hence you're going to you know he's talking to them about how they're gonna be baptized with the Holy Ghost and notice in verse 6 It says When they therefore were come together, they asked of him saying Lord wilt thou at this time restore Again the kingdom to Israel So I believe it's the same question that the disciples on the road to Emmaus when they're saying to redeem Israel I believe what they're talking about is restoring the kingdom to Israel. Okay, because we know that Christ is gonna rule and reign for a thousand years But that still hasn't happened yet, okay, and they're basically asking are you gonna do that now? You know, it's kind of like before when he died on the cross. They were kind of confused Because it's not that they didn't trust him to save their from their sins and that and all that I think they just were confused about everything that had to happen between there and the fact that there's gonna be this this gap of time Where there's gonna be You know the time of the Gentiles if you will where people are gonna be Getting saved you have all these local New Testament churches and all this stuff before The Great Tribulation and all that stuff. So they were they even after the resurrection even after he had shown them Hey, I've written from the dead. They've been reviewed for the fact that you know all this stuff everything you had to go through they're still like are you gonna do it now and So I believe that's where John's at when he's in prison He's basically, you know, if you think of all the prophecies about who Christ is and what he's going to do how he's gonna sit on the throne of David, you know all those promises and They're kind of confused on the fact that well if he's dead, how is he gonna sit on the you know? And obviously, you know, he raised from the dead but even in Acts chapter 1 they're like are you gonna do it now? you know, so I think that's where John's coming from here and why he's kind of doubting that a little bit and But I don't believe this is him doubting that Jesus is the Christ or that he's the Son of God I think what he's he's wondering is it is is the one Dealing with this and then there's someone else that's coming that's gonna do that. You know what I mean? It's kind of like just kind of being he's confused. He's confused on the whole aspect of the timeline I think of how things are gonna play out and I believe all the disciples were kind of confused on that anyway But in it and we're gonna see about John the Baptist He's one of the he was the greatest prophet to ever walk on the face of the earth besides Jesus Christ and so he's not Someone that is just a simpleton or anything like that but in Matthew chapter 14, I go to Matthew chapter 14 because Throughout the gospel and throughout the gospels. You'll see different cases where his disciples lack faith or they're faithless, okay, and This is where I believe John the Baptist was kind of getting into the flesh where he's lacking faith and listen you know it talks about the fact that In my flesh it says in me that is in my flesh dwells no good thing And so if you're walking in the flesh, you're not walking by faith and you're not you know So if you're in the flesh your flesh is not going to be believing in God It's not gonna be having that trust in God or you'd be in the spirit at that point Does that make sense? Because if it's not a faith, it's sin Okay, and if you're in the flesh, guess what you're sinning, you know That's the whole aspect of in the old man. You're in sin your new man. You're you're sinless so but Matthew chapter 14, this is a very famous passage of Peter walking on the water, but I want to really focus on him Sinking. Okay. So in Matthew chapter 14 verse 28 It says and Peter answered him and said Lord if thou be if it be thou bid me come unto thee on the water And he said come and when Peter was come down out of the ship He walked on the water to go to Jesus, but when he saw the wind boisterous He was afraid and beginning to sink He cried saying Lord save me and immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him and said unto him Oh thou of little faith Wherefore didst thou doubt? Now I've heard people say this is when Peter got saved But that's kind of ridiculous because he doesn't say your faith has made you whole This is completely opposite of that, right? It's literally that he he he was lacking faith You know and the reason that he was sinking to begin with so I do believe this shows the immediacy or the eminency of of the fact of when you get saved. It's that that quick But what we see here is is Peter doubting Peter lacking faith Peter being afraid okay, and so He has that doubt and he's of little faith and therefore he starts sinking. Okay, so it's very it's possible obviously for believers Okay, John chapter 2 says that his disciples believed on him Okay, and John chapter 2 is before he's even met some of the other disciples at this point We know that he's picked up Peter Andrew James and John and all that stuff, but But it's clear that his disciples believed on him at a very early portion right and so and later on they're gonna be proving that like like and and Matthew chapter 16 is where Peter says thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God okay, so But all that to say is that You can still doubt you can still have doubts and you can you can lack in your faith and all this In Matthew chapter 21 verse 21 go to go to 2nd Timothy chapter 2 2nd Timothy chapter 2 I'm gonna read Matthew 21 21. It says Jesus answered and said unto them verily verily I or verily I say unto you if you have faith and doubt not you shall not only do this Which is done to the fig tree But also if you shall say unto this mountain be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea it shall be done And so what's the opposite of having faith doubting? Okay, and what do you see John doing? He's doubting on What Christ was going to do, but I believe it's more so what you're looking at is he's doubting He's doubting in you know, setting up the kingdom and all this other stuff Okay, when you go out and preach the gospel, you're not preaching You know, Jesus has to set up the kingdom and thousand-year reign. Does that make sense? What we have to believe in is a deathbed on resurrection We have to believe in eternal security. We have to believe in eternal life and then he's paying for our sins. Okay But if someone was doubting, you know, well Let's say a believer just like I don't know when he's coming back or something like that It doesn't mean that you're not saved now. Obviously, it's sin, right? It's sin to doubt God's Word or to doubt what he's gonna do, but we can all doubt and say well God You know, I don't think he's gonna be able to do this or I don't believe he can heal this sickness Or he can do that or this or that. Does that make sense where you can have doubts And so it's not it's not good. Okay, but what I'm saying is it's possible It's possible for believers to have doubts and falter in their faith Okay, this is different than you know, someone doubting whether salvation is by faith alone Okay, when someone's doubting by faith alone, I Think people can get like, you know young Christians or people that aren't rooted and grounded can get hit with stuff And they're just like, oh man, I never saw that and they can kind of get kind of off-kilter with with something But as soon as you show them the Bible, they should be just like yeah, that's right. That's the Bible But if they're just like no, I think you actually can lose it then you probably need to get saved Okay, because that's something that is you know the Spirit beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God and You know the fact of having eternal life and the gospel that's something you don't forget about okay, if you forget about that or You're you're you're like, I don't know if I understand that then you probably didn't get it You know, you probably didn't understand it because that's the thing where when I understand your security whenever I look at the Bible I'd have people say stuff and I'm just kind of doubt, you know, you have those doubts. You're like, you know, am I right? It's not even the matter that I Don't believe it. Does that make sense? It's a matter of You know, I hope I'm right about this, you know I hope that I am interpreting this right and you know that I am you know Say what because this is what the Bible says and that all comes into the fact of not being rooted around it though and knowing the scripture and knowing you know where to go to and how to answer all those things and so Don't let that be confused with someone, you know doubting and becoming some atheist or something like that. Okay, that's different Okay, but in 2nd Timothy chapter 2 We see that we can believe not as Christians As far as not trusting in God to maybe get us Tribulations or trials and stuff like that because 2nd Timothy is that that's what it's talking about 2nd Timothy chapter 1 and 2 is all talking about enduring Hardness as a soldier of Jesus Christ and and it's talking about suffering the afflictions of the gospel in chapter 1 I mean that is the the verse in chapter 1 is where I know whom I have believed and then persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him again unto him against that day and You know what you're dealing with is the fact that Paul's saying I know he I know he's able to deliver me through anything Okay when it comes to afflictions trials persecutions and you commit your soul unto him that judges righteously the Bible says in 1st Peter and All that and unto a faithful creator and all that works together now and 2nd Timothy chapter 2 in verse 11 It says it is a faithful saying for if we be dead with him We shall also live with him if we suffer we shall also reign with him if we deny him He also will deny us if we believe not yet. He abideth faithful. He cannot deny himself Okay, so what we see here is that if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him Now you can look at that as far as the old man new man meaning that When you put on the new man, what are you doing? You're putting the old man to death so to speak right and you know walking a new man all that Living with him walking in newness of life But also if we suffer we shall also reign with him see the suffering and if you look at Romans chapter 8 Which we're not going through right now If you suffer with him, then you're gonna be you're gonna reign with him and that's not automatic meaning You can be heirs with him, but not be joint heirs Okay, meaning that there's there's a there's a you know being over ten cities or being over five cities, you know There is a different aspect to the reigning Depending on how much you suffer the more you suffer the more authority you'll have in heaven Does that make sense? And so that's why that's getting into that if we deny him. He also would deny us We kind of covered that last week Dealing with the fact that we can't deny him and it's more so about at his coming Being ashamed at his coming if we're ashamed of him now as his children But if we believe not yet he abideth faithfully cannot deny himself and so people you know It's kind of like saved when you look at the word saved It's not always talking about eternal salvation and when it says believe it's not always talking about believing the gospel Okay, and this is a case where you're not talking about believing the gospel. I go to mark chapter 9 I'm just going to give you an example of this Someone that got saved and the moment they believed they still had some unbelief. Okay mark chapter 9 mark chapter 9 verse 23 Mark chapter 9 verse 23 Jesus said unto him if thou canst believe all things are possible to him that believe it and straightway the father of the child Cried out and said with tears Lord I believe Help thou mine unbelief. Okay now he heals the child. So he obviously had faith to You know to believe on Christ But what he's saying is that you know, just because I believe on you for salvation doesn't mean that I have this mountain moving faith Okay, you know because he's saying if you have faith and doubt not you'll be able to move mountains Okay, so that's where the unbelief comes in It's so it's not saying like when it says if we believe not doesn't mean we don't believe in anything. You know, I mean it's Certain aspects are you have do you have trust in this aspect? Do you have trust in this area? Does that make sense? You know believers if you're a believer then you've had trust in the gospel that doesn't move that doesn't change It's not like that's like you're not trusting in the gospel anymore. Does it make sense, but trusting in God You know, if you look at Hebrews chapter 11 by faith, they kept the Passover, you know talks about Moses Was that when he got saved? No By faith, you know, they did this and this by faith Abraham offered up his son Isaac So it's not that that and we've already covered that that's not when he got saved But we still do a lot of things by faith. What if he didn't offer up Isaac? They didn't have faith to offer up Isaac. Like he like God wanted them to do some make sense Then he would have lacked in faith or have been faithless in that aspect That doesn't mean Abraham didn't have faith to begin with or he still didn't have faith in the gospel Okay, and so that's what we're dealing with John John the Baptist being in prison. He's in prison. He's at a low point. Okay, he's in the flesh I mean when you're in that kind of position you you're gonna tend to get into the flesh. Okay as far as You know doubting things doubting, you know doubting your senses you're in the flesh and you know, you're doubting, you know You know, am I right about hopefully I'm right about this, you know, and they just kind of asking Jesus to show you that you're right or whatever And so John sends him back some evidence with his disciples and says in John 11 Going back to John 11 verse 4. It says Jesus answered and said unto them go and show John Again, those things which ye do hear and see the blind receive their sight and the lame walk The lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear the dead are raised up The poor have the gospel preached to them and blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me I Believe he's talking to John on that one meaning like don't be offended in me later on in John chapter 16 he talks about these things that are written unto you that you should that you should not be offended and The chapter ends with the fact that in the world you should have tribulation but be a good cheer. I've overcome the world So he's basically telling John. Hey, just remember I'm doing this and I believe he's pointing back for him to look at the scriptures And see hey, I am that you know, I'm the same guy I'm that guy and so don't doubt that there's someone else that has to come or anything like that I go to Isaiah chapter 35 Isaiah chapter 35, and I believe again what what you're dealing with is where you have prophecies of Jesus in the Old Testament are all bunched together his first coming and second coming are pretty much in the same passage and Like we saw in Isaiah 61 they're linked really close together if you look at Isaiah 65 You're you have a really hard time. Sometimes it'll talk about the new heaven new earth Then I'll be talking about the millennium and people get mixed up with that Because it'll talk about new heaven new earth then I'll be talking about the millennium It's like wait a minute the millennium is before the new heaven new earth, you know And then you're trying to figure out where that break is there So even though you know We know for sure right because we have Revelation 20 and Revelation 21 we know exactly the correlation We know what what applies to what right because we have more of a revealed word but if you're looking at that you'd be kind of wondering is the new heaven new earth come first and then the millennium and You kind of be confused on that So you got to understand the lens that they're looking at and the fact that they're kind of seeing the two mountain peaks But they don't see the gap between it. Okay, and so in Isaiah 35 verse 1 it says The wilderness And the solitary place shall be glad for them And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice even with joy and singing The glory of lebanon shall be given unto it the excellency of carmel and sharon They shall see the glory of the lord and the excellency of our god strengthen ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees Say to them that are of a fearful heart be strong fear not Behold your god will come with vengeance even god with a recompense He will come and save you now. I want you to see what said that he's going to come with vengeance Even with a recompense he will come and save you now, obviously jesus came to what? Seeking to save that which is a lot. Did he come the first time though? for vengeance So you can see in here where this could kind of and we saw that in isaiah 61 as well, right? He's preaching the gospel then he says then he talks about the vengeance after that And so you can definitely see where people are thinking. This is all just happening at the same time Notice what it says in verse four I'm, sorry in verse five Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped Then shall the lame man leap as in heart in the tongue of the dumb sing for in the wilderness shall waters break out in streams in the desert So you can definitely see why why is he telling him to go tell john this? Right pointing back to isaiah 35 Saying this is what's going on. So guess what? I You know, this is all together. But what he's misunderstanding is that the vengeance doesn't happen right now You know the vengeance of the lord isn't going to be poured out right now The day the lord isn't happening right now Right, it's kind of like you think about elijah We're going to get into that about john the baptist and elijah coming before the great terrible day of the lord come And he's saying if you will receive it john the baptist with elijah So you kind of think about well, they think this is elijah that's for to come therefore the day of the lord's coming right after that And so a lot of this you can see why they're fuzzy on it Whereas we're looking back at it where it's like crystal clear. We're like, of course you know because There's no doubt because there's been 2 000 years between that and now That we know that there's this big gap between him coming to save And him coming for with vengeance. It's kind of like the lamb and the lion They're kind of seeing it together And we know that he came first as a lamb then he's coming as a lion so I hope that makes sense. I hope that that helps you understand, you know, why? John, the baptist was you know having doubts or why the disciples would be kind of fuzzy on what's going on and why they're saying You know, we thought that he's going to redeem israel and then they're saying well, are you going to now? restore the kingdom unto israel Because all the prophecies are showing that Whereas we know that comes later and so and obviously they figured that out too, okay, because You know paul's preaching that later and you know all that stuff They paul's preaching later that the day the lord is not at hand and all that stuff So it's not like they didn't figure this out, but you can definitely see how that had to be explained and revealed to them Now matthew chapter 11 see who john the baptist is and I preached the whole sermon on john the baptist I don't want to kind of belabor this too much But I do want to talk about this passage in verse seven there. It says As they departed john began to say unto the multitudes concerning john What went you out into the wilderness to see a reed shaken in the wind? But what went you out for to see a man clothed in soft raiment behold they that wear soft clothing are in king's houses But what went you out for to see a prophet? Yeah, I say unto you and more than a prophet For this is he of whom it is written behold. I send my messenger before thy face which shall prepare thy way before thee now That's quoted in malachi So malachi chapter three, we see that prophecy of john the baptist and The thing that that I see here is first of all, it says what'd you what'd you go out to see? Did you did you go out to see a reed shaken in the wind? What do you think that's talking about? Well, you kind of think of the reeds that are like in a swamp or something like that. They're kind of just wherever the wind blows Right, and I think about ephish in chapter four. We're talking about being tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine So what you have is a preacher that's steadfast and unmovable in his doctrine Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 14 it says That we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro And carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men in cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive So he he's he's someone that has firm doctrine. He's not just tossed to and fro to every wind of doctrine He's not a reed shaken in the wind James chapter 1 talks about this where it says, you know If any man lack wisdom Let him ask of god that giveth all men liberally and abraith not and it shall be given him But let him ask in faith nothing wavering for he that waverth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed But let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the lord a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways So what do we see, you know being tossed he's not tossed with doctrine and he's also not a double-minded man But even John the Baptist had some doubts You know what that shows you is that he and what he's going to show you here is that he was the greatest prophet You know, that's what we'll see next And so it really just shows you that hey even the greatest of the prophets was still human Right because you look back and you look at Moses you look at Job and you look at these other guys You kind of look at them as superhuman, you know where they're just kind of like these These uh, they kind of elevate above the rest of us But John the Baptist is the greatest prophet we'll see that so when you look at this in Matthew chapter 11 It says in verse 11 Verily I say to you among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist Notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he go to luke chapter 7 because it's going to clarify It's not just saying he's the greatest man that walked the earth just in general Okay, it's talking about something specific about John And so in luke chapter 7 verse 28 Luke chapter 7 verse 28. It says for I say unto you among those that are born of women. There is not a greater prophet Than John the Baptist, but he that is least in the kingdom of god is greater than he and so What you're dealing with is the fact that he's the greatest prophet That's ever risen That's a bold statement. Okay, you think of uh, Noah Daniel and Job, you know where he says, you know I'd kill everybody else but Noah Daniel and Job John the Baptist is greater That's a strong statement and when he says this is right after John was basically saying should we look for another? Okay, so it's a great passage to show you that hey listen all the prophets were human all the prophets had flaws And Even when you know you think well, you know, they just went through persecution and they just took it on the chin didn't have any worries No You know even John the Baptist when he was in prison Was kind of like what am I doing, you know? and uh, you know, obviously Uh, everybody's human. Everybody has the flesh and so I think it's a great passage to kind of remind us of that But John the Baptist was the greatest prophet But he also ended the prophets okay the law and the prophets, you know I keep saying in the law and the prophets in the law and the prophets John the Baptist was the last prophet because Jesus he he bring in Jesus. Okay, so in Hebrews chapter one I know I quote this all the time But this is a great passage also to show you that we don't have prophets like we did in the old testament anymore Okay Now in the new testament starting off the new testament we had apostles but those also stopped Because the apostles were those that saw his resurrection or witnesses of his resurrection So there's no one that's living today that witnessed his resurrection There's no one still alive from back then. Okay In Hebrew chapter 1 1 it says god who at sundry times in a diverse manner spake in time passed unto the fathers by the prophets Happened these last days spoken unto us by his son So back then it was the you know, we had the law and the prophets in the prophets It says in in in matthew chapter 11, it says for all the prophets in the law prophesied until john Does that make sense so basically you have all the law and the prophets they're all prophesying until john abraham was in there, too Right. So you have abraham even before the law So you have all of them prophesying prophesying prophesying and then jesus came And now we have jesus And so there's no more prophets that are coming up, you know, like the mormons think or like Uh, you know islam thinks there's going to be some other prophet coming. The only prophet that's coming is jesus christ coming back Okay, so now obviously he's the prophet Okay, he's the prophet priest and king When he came he fulfilled all of that. Okay. There's no more high priest. He is the high priest. There's no more prophets He is the prophet. There's no more kings, right? There's no more kings that are coming down the line to sit on the throne. David. He is the king Okay, he's taking all that okay, and so But also and I preached a whole sermon on this when I was dealing with modalism, but I go to luke chapter one luke chapter one Because in matthew 11 it says and if you will receive it, this is elias which was for to come Okay, and so this gets into the fact that you know, well jesus is called the everlasting father Well, john was called elias so You know just because someone's called somebody doesn't mean he's that person Okay, and luke one really clears that up meaning that there's a prophecy in malachi chapter four About elijah coming before the great terrible day of the lord And you can see why people would be confused because he just said hey elias has come, you know, he's already come It's john the baptist Can you see why everybody's thinking the day of lord's coming? You know because they're kind of confusing this okay Now I do believe there's a dual prophecy with that passage meaning that john the baptist was in the spirit and power of elijah But then there's going to be the two witnesses We're going to have moses and elijah literally those prophets And they're going to do all the stuff they did in the days of their prophecy And so you are going to have elijah coming before the great terrible day of the lord physically, okay Um, but they weren't putting all that together, okay, it's easier for us to do it because we have revelation We have all these passages. We have all this revealed stuff unto us, you know, so But in luke 1 17 it says and he he shall go before him in the spirit and power of elias To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready a people prepared For the lord when you look back in malachi, that's what's being quoted only it says i'm going to send you elijah the prophet The new testament is clarifying saying this is the spirit and power of elijah that john the baptist is coming Okay and so You can see why they would be confused about that and even you know, john the baptist said i'm not elijah Okay Now could he just be like not knowing that you know that he really I just don't I don't believe he's reincarnated elijah Okay, I believe he's his own person He's born of a woman, you know into this world as a man as his own person I believe Moses, I don't believe moses and elijah when they come as the two witnesses that they're going to be birthed into the world Okay. Now where does it say they're birthed into the world? They're standing before God right now and I do believe they'll be given like a physical body But it's kind of be kind of like lazarus was given a physical body You know what? I mean or like people came back from the dead and they rose out of the graves and showed themselves onto jerusalem I believe it's gonna be kind of like that. It's not gonna be their bird back into the world so But uh, but going back to matthew chapter 11 and verse 15 So He kind of hits all this stuff about john the baptist Okay, so hopefully all that makes sense as far as you know, john having some doubts It's not you know, it's not doubting. I don't believe he's doubting his salvation I think he's just doubting You know, he's in prison. Okay, he's in this, you know, you can think of having a fleshly moment so to speak of doubt but in matthew chapter 11 or verse 15, it says He that hath ears to hear let him hear But where unto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets and calling out to their fellows and saying we have piped unto you And you have not danced and we have mourned unto you and you have not lamented for john came neither eating nor drinking and they say He hath a devil The son of man came eating and drinking and they say behold a man gluttonous in a wine bibber a friend of publicans and sinners But wisdom is justified of her children You know what I see with this an implacable generation You know, they're basically like John came fasting. He wasn't eating and drinking And you're like he has the devil Jesus comes eating and drinking and you're saying he's a glutton Do you see that it doesn't matter who comes to them? And so and you kind of see, you know, we we've we've piped unto you and you have not danced. They're like dance monkey dance Right, they come into the town be like show us a miracle You know or you think of harrod saying that you know show me some miracle You know show me you think of the pharisees when he's on the cross, you know, you know come down and we'll believe you You know We piped on you and you haven't danced for us And so when I read this, I just think of someone like, you know telling you to dance like a monkey You know god's not a monkey. He's not just going to dance for you when you say dance. Does that make sense? And it's kind of like ask, you know You know not living for god at all and then asking him to just do everything for you You know or you don't talk to him at all you don't pray to him at all and then when you need them You're like, hey god, I know I haven't talked to you in a while, but can you take care of this for me? You know what I mean? And so but I see an implacable generation and what's implacable mean It means uh, you kind of think of the word pacify Like a pacifier that you give a child. What does that do? It appeases them right It makes them content So implacable when you put the m on front of that Placable would be like pacify implacable would be not not pacified Or you think of the word satiate the bible uses the word satiate was kind of like satisfy Insatiable it'll use or unsatiable will say in the bible So that's what you're dealing with here is you're dealing with a generation that you can't please them It doesn't matter if you come eating they'll say you're glutton. It doesn't matter if you come fasting. They'll say you have a devil And so that's the generation he's dealing with and not only are they implacable, but they're basically just saying dance monkey dance And he's the son of god, he didn't have to come down and die on the cross for our sins And so that's the type of generation he was dealing with Then he goes into a braid them even more saying hey, you know, you're gonna have worse punishment then Then sodom and gomorrah then tire and zidon because think about this. This is the son of god Coming down to them because before they had the law and they had prophets and prophesying on something. They were without excuse no doubt But there's a greater than solomon here. There's a greater than jonas here. There's a greater than all the prophets that's here It's jesus christ the son of god the second person of the trinity. It's god almighty. It's god in the flesh. It's a manual God with us down here on the earth how much more sore or punishment shall they be given out? And so that's what he's saying to corazon That's what he's saying to beth seida And he said and he's comparing corazon and beth seida. He's saying, you know tyran zidon They would have repented if I was there Does that make sense? And then he goes into sodom this is where people say see sodomites can be saved Listen, it didn't say that jesus was going to go to him the day before You know god destroyed it Okay What it's saying is that even how bad sodom was they could have repented if they would have came in earlier It's kind of like jonah jonah went into the city of ninova, right? And they repented at the preaching of jonas But then there came a point where they didn't And that's where you have nahum where they're destroyed And completely annihilated. Okay, so there comes a point where for a Country or town where they become reprobate to where there is no hope But what he's stating is that if if jesus would have went to sodom before it got that bad they would have repented Okay, that's what he's stating And that it would still be here to this day but obviously jesus hadn't come yet, you know, so What he's saying is that You know you have it better off. You know more you've seen more works and mighty deeds. You've seen you're seeing the son of god How much sore punishment are you going to have and even sodom? Or tyron zidon or all these places in the old testament name it name any place in the old testament That got destroyed or god poured out his wrath on it They didn't have it as good as these places did Does that make sense? They had more shown unto them. They had more revealed unto them Same with us how much more sore punishment when we had the whole word of god We have it all right here at our fingertips and You know our country doesn't see it And that's why you can see in revelation why it's going to be so harsh The stuff that's being poured out in revelation is pretty much the cumulative of all The plagues and judgments of all the old testament Basically just taking all the stuff that happened in the old testament and all those different times and places and all that stuff and just taking that And just saying boom right there at the end times is what's going on And why because They rejected jesus christ the son of god. They had all this revelation. We had the whole word of god We have a more sure word of prophecy how much more sore punishment is our country worthy? And we have all that now You know i've i've read these verses off before but you think it's second peter chapter two verse six It says and turning the cities of sodom and more into ashes condemned with an overthrow Making them an ensemble unto those that should after live ungodly So there there is an example to who carazin bessada Right capernaum and same thing with uh, you know today It's not like they're the only cities, you know, like you just stop judging people after you know, bessada and capernium, right? No, that's still today And so in in matthew chapter 11 in verse 25 Trying to finish it up here So In verse 25 it says at that time Jesus answered and said I thank thee o father lord of heaven and earth because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent And hast revealed them on the babes even so Father for so it seemed good in thy sight All things are delivered unto me of my father and no man knoweth the son But the father neither knoweth any man the father but save the son And he to whomsoever the son will reveal him Now this is kind of gets into out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou has perfected praise it talks about the new testament Go to psalm chapter 8 psalm 8 and so this just gets into the fact that He didn't he didn't give all this wisdom to those that were the bible scholars right In their ivory towers and all this stuff. So he says the wise and prudent when it says wise You can think of the wisdom of this world though Like you think of the people that are very highly educated Okay Now it's not saying that the disciples were idiots Or dunces, okay, but they weren't they weren't in the higher education. They were fishermen Or they were republican or they were you know, whatever right? They were they had some trait like you think of paul even paul who was brought up At the feet of gamali. He was a tent maker. Okay, so he's blue collar So what do you what what is this really saying basically he gave it to the blue collar guys to the plowman, right? You think about the king james when they were translating it They wanted to make it they wanted to make it in english so the plowman could read it meaning that Anybody can understand it because at the time it was only in latin and only if you were educated and understand Learned latin you could that was the only people that could read the bible, right? Does that make sense? Whereas What he's saying is that you know? God the father revealed all this onto under those people that weren't in this higher education like ivory tower you know People that were on that top realm of uh education, I guess you would say And so that's why he's saying babes. He's not saying babes like Like, you know infants, okay, so he's talking about peter james and john he's talking about his disciples. They were all men They weren't children And so what babes is referring to The amount of education I would believe you're talking about there Or even humility you think about the the humble or the meek Okay, because you think of babes Or you know children, what are they likened unto being meek and humble right receiving the kingdom of god as a little child What does that mean? humble, you know a child has You know that kind of uh, you know childlike faith, you know and all that stuff. So but in psalm 8 in verse 1 it says Oh lord our lord, how excellent is thy name? In all the earth who has set thy glory above the heavens out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou has to ordain strength Because of thine enemies that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger It's interesting because in the new testament it says out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou has perfected praise and here it says It will ordain strength. Well go to psalm 78 psalm 78 So Psalm 78 I believe really links into what we're saying here in matthew 11 because we really haven't got to the When we get into the parables, you know in matthew 13 is really when you get you know Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings how it's perfected the praise and all that But in psalm 78 where we get the fact that he's gonna open his mouth of parables, okay? But in psalm 78 verse 1 it says give give ear o my people to my law incline your ears to the words of my mouth I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old Which we have heard and known and our fathers have told us We will not hide them from their children Showing to the generation to come the praises of the lord and his strength And his wonderful works That he had done out of the mouth of think about this. What did it say there? To come The praises of the lord and his strength and you think about how it was quoted in new testament out of the mouth of babes and Suckings out his perfected praise in the old testament. It says has ordained strength So you can see well, where do you get the praise from when you link it all together? so it all fits together, um, but You know or you know his strength and his wonderful works that he had done so Uh, this is just going into the fact that hey, we're going to reveal it unto the children We're not going to hide it from the children. They hid it from the wise and the prudent Okay And that's where we haven't got there yet, but we'll get into the parables why jesus spoke to them in parables Why he spoke to all the scribes pharisees doctors the law he spoke to them in parables on purpose So they would not understand that would be hid unto them. But then he revealed it unto his disciples so you can kind of see um, you know, uh the elder compared to the babe so to speak in You know society if you want to look at it that way, uh psalm 34 psalm 34 You think about this when it comes to uh, first first peter chapter two says uh As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby If so be that you have tasted that the lord is gracious Well psalm 34 in verse eight. It says oh taste and see that the lord is good Blessed is the man that trusted trusted it trusteth in him In verse 11, it says come you children hearken unto me and I will teach you the fear of the lord Okay, so you can see how this works together with babes and and all that stuff as far as teaching them wisdom And how babes and just in general when you're dealing with children, they suck up stuff like a sponge And they don't have all this pride usually Where it's like oh, I already know it and stuff like that now when they get older You gotta get you know, when they get into the teenage years, you're probably getting that. Oh, I know I know how to do this it's like uh, but when you have little children a lot of times it's more of the fact of you know, show me And just kind of soaking it in and that's the way we should be as you know When it comes to learning the bible is just show me, you know instead of saying I know it all You know, just show me what I need to know But going back to matthew chapter 11, we're going to end with this dealing with the yoke I just want to touch on this real quick But in matthew chapter 11 verse 28 It says come unto me and all you that labor and are heavy laden And I will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn of me For i'm meek and lowly in hearts and you shall find rest unto your souls for my yoke is easy And my burden is light. So when you're dealing with a yoke, obviously you could have a yoke where it's just one But what I believe what you're dealing with is where fellow laborers with christ Meaning that when he's saying take my yoke upon you what I believe he's saying my yoke meaning that he's there with you Okay, when we're doing the work, it's not that we're doing it alone, right? We're abiding with christ, okay So when you're doing the work, you got to think about that. You're there with your savior your savior's there with you He's by your side And so when you're doing that work, he's there with you doing it and you're basically just late co-laboring with the savior And so we need to kind of keep that in mind so we don't get Discouraged to think wow, you know, I just can't do this. Well christ is there He's there in the yoke so when you feel like you can't do it let him take a little more More of the load right casting all your care upon him for you care for you in lamentations chapter 3 You know, this is a good verse for the young men, you know to to memorize i'm still young so I still think it applies to me But and uh, I think we're all young enough to apply this to ourselves but lamentations 3 27 It says it is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth And so this isn't a matter, you know and children even you know Of all ages you got to think about this that this isn't just for adults where it says take my yoke upon you He's saying it is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth What do you think? What yoke do you think he's talking about the yoke of christ? The yoke of the lord and so as a young person if you're going out soul winning listen That's the way it should be, you know, and you say well, you know, should you take your kids out soul winning? Yes As early as you can now, obviously, you know, it gets hard when you have infants and or it's just hard just logistically You can't be you only have two arms, right? And you're trying to go so any so you may have to like take them out each you know, like Take turns taking your children out and stuff like that if you have a lot of kids and stuff like that but what i'm saying is that You know if they can go out and and they're not going to be a huge distraction You know do it as early as you can to get them ingrained into that and then eventually it's just going to be a huge distraction You know, then they'll want to do it. Okay, it'll just be normal Right, if your kids grow up with you going out soul winning, they're just going to think that's just what people do They're probably going to later on be like, oh, you know, not everybody does this You know, you know let that let that hit them some other time You know that that not everybody goes to church and not everybody does not everybody reads the bible, you know Most the world is not godly Okay, and they'll figure that out pretty soon But it's not going to be that weird it was weird for me to go soul winning when I got saved because I didn't grow up like that Okay, so that's why it's good to bear the yoke in your youth because it's just commonplace then and so um, but yeah, so when I when I see this, you know, take my yoke upon you I think about the fact that hey This is and this isn't just when when you're young this isn't just when you're just an adult This is also when you get older too. So listen when we get older, it's not like listen take the yoke off when you die You know Let us therefore labor to enter into that rest lest any man fall at the same example of unbelief The only time you know, when I when I believe i'm gonna rest from all my works is when I die Okay So when you old get older, you know and and and all that stuff. Listen, you can still give the gospel And and let's say you get to the point where you're just homebound. I mean if it gets that bad you can still pray You still pray for people to get saved or talk to people and stuff like that If you're to the point where you can't talk, I mean, okay, I mean just take me home at that point If I can't walk talk or do anything like that, but what i'm saying is that this is for all of our lives As soon as you get saved take that yoke upon you and learn of him, you know, and when it comes to the work of christ You want to know how do I work? You know, what do I need to do? Look what jesus did Whatever jesus did that's what you should be doing You're like, oh, you know, he ripped face on all the pharisees, okay Yeah, so that's what we should be doing, you know i'm telling you i'm not going to cherry pick unless you'd be like well, jesus, you know did this or that it's like you know, I don't care if it's if it doesn't fit your Uh your little box of who you think jesus is Whatever jesus did that's what we should be doing, you know, follow his steps in every way And so let's end with the word of prayer daily father. We thank you for this evening Thank you for this chapter and thank you for this book And what we just uh, just pray that you'd help us to use it and what we just uh, we love you and just pray that you'd uh, Allow us to do the work with you and to take that yoke upon us as you are working And lord pray to be with those that aren't feeling well