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Jan 15, 2023

John the Baptist’s Prison Doubt

John the Baptist’s Prison Doubt

Passage: Matthew 11:11

Speaker: Matt Petty

Series: The Transformed Life

Category: Sunday Sermons

Keywords: church, prayer, faith, jesus, god, christian, bible, new, christ, hope, holy spirit, doubt, john the baptist, baptist, baptism, believe, religion, jesus christ, messiah, the bible, lord, christianity, walk, bible study, encourage, trust god, personality, inspirational, inspire, overcome, motivate, face to face, transformed life, bible stories, christ jesus, christian motivation, believe in god, burnt hickory worship, burnt hickory baptist church live stream, christian encouragement, within temptation

We continue our study of people who came face to face with Jesus in scripture with our focus this week on John the Baptist. Even though John knew that Jesus was the awaited Messiah, the one he had proclaimed, he faltered with doubt while in prison. His doubt shows us that serious doubt can creep into true faith and dealing with long term struggles can challenge even the most faithful of believers. We can find hope in our personal testimony of what God’s done and our future blessings. If you’re dealing with doubt, remind yourself that God loves you and His wisdom is far superior that ours, and know that you are not alone in your doubt. As always, we’d love to take the time to answer any questions or take time to pray with you. Feel free to reach out today, and you can always take the next step by visiting – burnthickory.com/next

Well, good morning, Church. Thank you so much for being here today. You can count on two things happening at the beginning of every single year on this planet. Number one, every gym in America is full. And number two, every church in America is full. So welcome to church today. We are glad that you are here and glad that you are worshiping with us today. It is incredible to be in the halls of the church every Sunday just feeling the energy and the fact that everybody is ready to worship today. Well, look, we started a new series last week called The Transformed Life, where we're looking at some face-to-face encounters with the Messiah, with Jesus and what we said we're going to do is we're going to pull some principles and pull some realities of what happens in these people's lives when they have this encounter with Jesus. And we watched last week, and we're going to watch every week that people are healed, and people are transformed, and people meet Jesus and never walk away the same. But we said the goal in it is not just to study a person, but it's to pull from that some principles of what God wants to do in our lives and how God wants to transform our hearts and our lives.

Last week we looked at the story of this man that was born blind at a John Chapter nine, and we watched Jesus pass by this guy and not only heal his physical eyes, but circle back around and heal his spiritual eyes and save him. Miraculously set him free from this life that he had been in. And we said from that story that we see that God always meets the desperate, that calls out to him, that God is always present, and he is available, and he is willing to step into our hearts. And we asked ourselves last week what it looks like to truly have spiritual sight. And we ask ourselves, has God ever really opened the eyes of our hearts? Now, we're not talking about being a church person or knowing all the words to the music, but has God saved us and has God delivered us and has God redeemed us? And has God adopted us and made us His kids? We saw that last week in the story of the blind man meeting Jesus, but the Pharisees just thinking that they had it all together. Well, this week story is, it's as exciting ss last weeks, but it's just different. But this week's story is incredibly, incredibly relevant for what I'm going to say is every single person that is listening to this to this message's life.

This week, we're going to look at this transforming moment of John the Baptist in prison. Of John the Baptist in prison where we're going to see where Jesus and John this week. They show us something that I wish I would have known earlier in life, and it would have helped me from beating myself up and help me from not moving in a positive direction. And we're going to watch Jesus speak into the heart of John today. You know, if we were able to kind of invite John the Baptist to come stand with me this morning and kind of give a one sentence summary or encouragement from what happens to him, John would look at us today and just say this. John would say, Matt, listen, even the most faithful and even the most strong have doubted, have doubted and have dealt with doubt. Even the most committed believer on this planet, he would say this, has struggled with doubt in their lives, but then he would look at us and say this what matters most is not that you have doubted. What matters most is what you do with that doubt and who you take that doubt to. You see, we've all had doubts in our lives. We've all had moments in our lives where we've been incredibly deflated or incredibly just kind of crushed or something has happened that has made us incredibly second guess ourselves.

I was coming back from a trip this week with some friends, and we were riding in the truck, and we were talking about ministry and talking about callings and talking about kind of how God has done things in our lives. And we're having a great, great conversation. And it reminded me of a story when I was at my first church that I ever served, that I was part time, but kind of knew that God was calling me in the direction of pastoring and ministry and what that was going to look like. And one Sunday, something happened, and they didn't have anybody to preach. Something happened and I was a young, maybe 20 years old guy, and evidently, they had called everybody that they had ever known, and nobody could do it. And then they had to look at me and go, Hey, Matt, listen, we know this is probably something you don't want to do, but could you preach on Sunday morning to which, as a young 20-year-old, I was like, Let's do this thing right? I didn't have anything to lose. I'm like, Let's go for it. I didn't know any better. So, I mean, this was like a Thursday afternoon, so I hit the books, man, I am studying, I am praying. I'm asking God, really, just speak to my heart. Give me a word to kind of bring to the church. And I remember like it was yesterday, I remember walking up into that pulpit buttoning my coat up because that was back in the day. You had to wear coat and tie to church, right? I remember buttoning my one coat up that I own. I remember putting that thing on and I remember getting up and opening my Bible. And I thought I was Charles Spurgeon. I mean, I was going for it. I was bringing it. I was doing everything I could to give these guys the message that God put on my heart. And then I thought God was moving. I remember I was praying. I was given the invitation. I was like, God, you're going to save thousands of people today. You are going to bring thousands to you. There was only 200 people in the church. You're going to bring them. I mean, they're going to come in the parking lot and come in the church at the invitation and give their heart to you. Because I am up here as your servant and I'm doing what you've called me to do. This is incredible. I give the invitation and it's like crickets. I mean, it's like a third of the people are out the door to the Dairy Queen. It's like every other church. I mean, they're gone. They're leaving. It is I mean; nothing is happening. And I remember after the invitation and you know what happened, it was kind of one aisle churches. You had to go to the back, and you stood there, and you shake people's hands as they were leaving. And I remember this one old guy from the community, this old guy. I mean super respected, he was a president of one of the banks in the community that I was in, walked up to me and he's like, Matt, can I just can I give you a little bit of encouragement? I was like, Man, this guy is about to lift me up. He's about to speak into my soul. He says, Listen, man, I just heard your message, and you should probably stick with singing. He told me that like out loud said this to me after I thought I had given the message of all messages. This guy just absolutely destroyed me in front of all these people. And listen, I'm telling you what, I'm a decently confident person, what God's calling me to do. But man, I struggled. I struggled for weeks. Of just God, is this really what you want me to do? God, is this really where we're going? God am I even they might even a Christian at this point, I don't even know what's going on. God, what? What do you want to do in my life? You know, the reality is we've all struggled with doubt. And a lot of times our doubt is in our in our relationship with the Lord. But sometimes it it's our ability. Sometimes it's in our job, sometimes it's in closing the deal. But doubt can crush us in especially doubt in who Jesus is, can begin to creep into our life and can creep into our relationship with him.

So let me just say this, just to kind of get everybody on the same page this morning, let me let you in on a little bit of a secret. You're not the only one that has ever doubted your relationship with the Lord. You're not the only one that has ever doubted what Jesus is doing in your life. So, I just want us to breathe this moment for a minute, and I just want us to have the ability to say this. We've all been there. We've all been there at some moment in our walk with the Lord that we have just struggled in doubt. We struggled in where we are in that Jesus today in our text with John. He is going to show us what we can do in order to move through our doubts. Remember, the question is not if you are going to doubt, the question is what you will do with your doubt. If you have a copy of Scripture, I want you to turn me to Matthew Chapter 11 today. Matthew, Chapter 11 is where we're going to land today, and we're going to watch Jesus and John's interaction right here and watch how Jesus speaks into John's soul. As you're finding that, let me tell you a couple of things about who John the Baptist is. John the Baptist is the second cousin of Jesus. We see a lot about John in the New Testament. We know that from the beginning he was set apart. He was special. In fact, many theologians would call John the Baptist the last of the Old Testament prophets. Why? Because his message was the same as theirs. It was a repent for the Messiah's coming. Repent for the Messiah is coming. Well, the Old Testament guys were kind of saying he's coming the in the far-off future. But John was like, Hey, he's literally right behind me. He is with me. He is walking with me. John was, he was an incredible figure. He wasn't just kind of a Sunday and maybe a Wednesday night Christian. John was the real deal. He stood for his faith. He spoke on behalf of the Lord and Jesus incredibly validated who John is. In fact, I want to give you the end of today's story. And then the rest of the time we have we're going to work through what got us to this statement in Matthew Chapter 11, verse 11.

Listen to what Jesus says about this guy that we're about to study. Verse 11 and Matthew 11 says this. Jesus says, truly, I tell you, among those born of women, there is not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist. Than John the Baptist. And the reality is that such an incredibly true statement, if you read about John's life, maybe if you got some time this week, go to Matthew chapter three and read the first 17 verses in that and watch kind of the resume of who this guy is that we're studying. John was validated by the Old Testament. It talked about him over and over that a forerunner of Jesus, a prophet, a person is going to come to welcome Jesus onto this planet. In fact, Matthew, or Malachi chapter three, verse one says that I will send my messenger who will prepare the way before me, God says. So, when you look at John's life, you kind of have to stamp onto his life that he is Old Testament confirmed and he proved this everywhere he went. But when you're looking at John's life, he did look a little bit different, like he was a wilderness guy. He was rough around the edges. He was a little bit different than most, but he had an incredible following. The Bible points out very clearly that John was baptizing many people into who the Messiah was going to be, that he had an incredible following after him. In fact, John the Baptist, you probably notice if you looked at him a lot, he was the guy who baptized Jesus. This incredible moment we'll come back to in a minute but this moment where John actually took the Messiah and baptized him as an example for all of us. The moment where God the Father and God, the Son and God, the Holy Spirit all in one time was in this very moment. You see, John fulfilled the role that he was called to every single moment that he could. He knew the task that was there, but he also never claimed to be anything as important as Jesus. Jesus confirmed John. We just read it right here in Chapter 11. But also, if you go back to Luke seven, you see that Jesus says that John is indeed this messenger that the Old Testament is talking about. John not only kind of proved it with his works, but he proved it with his words. If you look at what John says, a lot you'll see in Matthew chapter three that John says, Hey, listen, this guy, Jesus, he is so incredible. I'm not even willing to tie his shoes. Right. He called him the son of God. He called him the lamb of God in John chapter one. But when you look at his life, one of the most impressive things about John the Baptist is this he was always obedient, even when he knew consequences would come. Even when he knew it was going to bring something on to his life. And that is where we catch him this morning.

John in Matthew Chapter 11 is in prison. He's in prison. In fact, John was in prison for calling out King Herod. Remember, King Herod kind of snuck around and stole his brother's wife and nobody said anything because he was the king. But because it was so unrighteous, John had to say something, and John was thrown into prison for saying something. In Matthew 11, where we're about to read, John the Baptist has been in prison for a year. He's been in prison for a year now. Look, I don't know about your last stay in prison, but it's tough. Right? It is a tough spot to be for anybody. But it's especially tough for this guy, this animal skin locus eating wilderness man who had never even really had a home and lived outside. So, I want to ask a question before I read the text. We know that we're about to walk into John's doubting moment, but why did John doubt? Why did John go from this guy that scripture says was a mountain of a man, was a signpost for Jesus, was a guy that proclaimed the name of Jesus, love Jesus walked with Jesus. But now we're looking at him in this moment of despair and he is doubting everything. Why did he get there? Let me give you a couple of hints. These aren't your notes, but these will just help bring you into the story. The first reason was just isolation. It was isolation for a year. Can you imagine being in a dungeon prison on your own? Now, I'm not talking about three square meals a day watching Fox News and getting a master's degree. I'm talking about like in prison, right? He's in prison and he has no body. He has no body. He's isolated. God has just seen fit to allow him to be in this situation. And Satan has grabbed on to his isolation. Let me ask you this. Have you ever been in an isolated moment where you know that absolutely Satan is right on your heels? That's what we're seeing in John's life. And secondly, we see that John was just feeling like he was a failure right here. So, Matt, why would he feel he's a failure? Because he knew his mission. He knew his mission was to proclaim the coming Christ. And while he was in prison, he couldn't do this. He couldn't live out his life goals.

Can I tell you when some of our most doubting moments come in our lives is when we feel like we can't live out what God has God has put in front of us? We can't do what God has created us to do. Third is just from some unmet expectations. You see, John felt like Jesus should have already delivered him right. He had been saying He's the Messiah, he's the deliverer. But now John has been present for a year and Jesus has done nothing about it. So, we had these unmet expectations in his life. And really and truly, here's what John thought. He thought, Hey, Jesus, you have let me down. You should have already overthrown the government and already done something in my life. Can I can I just be as bold to say this? You found yourself in one of those categories before, whether it be isolation or unmet expectations or just feeling like you're a failure, you're feeling like you're abandoned. And I tell you this, it is at those moments that Satan, the deceiver, begins to creep into our lives and begins to make us doubt. In fact, write this principle down. We're all one moment away from doubting Jesus is truly who He says He is. That's what John shows us. We're all one moment away. And here's what John would say. And we need a plan of how to get out of it. We need a plan of how when it begins to sneak into our lives, how do we move out of it? Now, we won't say that out loud because we want to look like a good Christian.

But here's the thing. We're all one moment away from where John is in the story. But also, I want you right this second principle down, because here's what doubt does. Doubt shows itself the strongest when we feel like God has not met an expectation that we have put on him, that's when he shows it, right? That's what happens in our lives. That's where some of you are like, Yeah, that's I'm just coming out of a season like that. Now, that's a fancy way of saying this. God, I just can't believe you didn't heal me. God, I can't believe you didn't heal her. God, I can't believe you didn't give me that promotion. I can't believe you did not save her. I can't believe you didn't get rid of this pain. I can't believe you haven't brought that kid back. You see, that is the moment that Satan begins to creep into our lives, and he begins to make us doubt. So, can we please this morning take off the hat that we all just have it figured out? Because we don't. Because I guarantee you, here's where all of us are. Either A, you've just come out of a season of doubt in your life. B, you're stepping into a season of doubt in your life, or C, you are one step from being there. That's what John's story shows us, and he's about to show us how we counteract it. Check it out. Here it is. Matthew chapter 11, verse one says this After Jesus had finished instructing the 12 disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.

Now in Matthew chapter ten, Jesus sends the disciples out there doing miracles in Galilee, reaching as many as possible. And then Jesus decides He needs to follow up on what His disciples are doing. He's by himself. He's doing ministry because the disciples are out. But his ministry has kind of changed a little bit. He's not just healing everybody now. He's preaching and teaching. He's telling people about the coming kingdom of God. Now watch verse two. When John, who was in prison, this is the year in I might add, heard about the deeds of the Messiah. He sent some disciples to ask Jesus, What's the question? Are you the one who is to come? Are you the one who is to come? Or should we expect someone else? Now, we mentioned this earlier, but John is locked up, right? And the only way that John would have heard the news about what's going on is because the only way he would still be alive after a year in prison at this time is that his disciples brought food to him. His disciples had to feed him. His disciples gave him the news of what was going on in the outside world. Right. So, John knew that Jesus was working, knew that Jesus was doing miracles, knew that Jesus was doing things in people's lives. Honestly, John knew what was up. But here's the problem with John, and here's the problem that we have with Jesus sometimes. Jesus was at work, but Jesus wasn't doing what John thought He should be doing. You ever been there in your life? You ever been there in your life where you're like, Yeah, I know Jesus is working. Yeah, I know God's doing something. Yeah, I know God is delivering people. But the problem is right now, he's not delivering me. He's not doing anything for me, which John thought what he should be doing was obviously saving John. Right? I can almost guarantee you that we've probably been there in our lives. Now, remember, John is not losing his faith right here altogether. Right. I've heard some pastors try to teach this in the context of he has given up his salvation. He wasn't really saved. He was he was out there. He never really knew who Jesus was. No, he knew who Jesus was. I mean, when you call Jesus the son of God, the lamb of God, when you say that He's baptizing with the Holy Spirit, and when you say that He was sent from God and He is so much more powerful from you, you have met Jesus. The reality is that John is struggling. John is just struggling right here, and John is right where a lot of us are in our lives. And as a result of the isolation and as a result of the pain, John began to doubt. Do you know why? Because Satan always jumps on isolation, and he always jumps on pain. He always does it, and he's looking for that. So, John needed some assurance. That's what John needed in his life. He's like, Hey, I'm going to give my life right here, but I need some assurance.

But let me show you some things about John's doubt real fast that can help all of us kind of bring us into the picture a little bit. Number one, write this down. Serious doubt can creep into true faith. It can. Serious doubt can creep into true faith. And here's what that means. That shows us that if you are a Jesus follower here and you are struggling, rest assured that you are not on your own. You're not by yourself. There are many people that fall into this category, and it's also a warning for us to really be careful of our judgey-ness when people are in seasons of doubt because God moves into doubt, and we can all be there very quickly. John wasn't renouncing his faith. He's not a false believer. Johnny B is just struggling here, right? He's right where we are. He's just on the struggle bus a little bit. Number two, write this one down. Long term struggles can challenge even the most faithful, even the most faithful. To which some of you would have to just give a really big amen to that, because you've lived it, haven't you? You've seen it. You've walked in this.

Listen to me. quick battles, quick spiritual and physical battles are always better than long battles. They're always better. I'm just telling you really quickly, the longer you struggle, the more willing you are and the more tempted you are to just give up. It's what happens in our life. Some of you right now, you are in a long battle. And you know what I'm talking about. You're in a long battle of something that you don't feel like God has done something. You don't feel like you have anybody. You don't feel like anybody's walking with you. And as a result of it in your struggles, you are looking at God and there is a moment or something in you that is beginning to creep in there to go, Does he really love me? Does he really want to move in me? John had been in prison for about a year, but I'm going to tell you, some of you guys have been in some struggles for years. For years. And you are looking at your life and you're honestly saying this, I'm doing everything I can to just hold on. And you're looking at God going, I know you're faithful, but I'm just tired and I'm at my breaking point and you feel like you're slipping.

Can I tell you why? Because Satan knows exactly what he's doing. He does. He knows how to work it. That's doubt. Write this one down about doubt. Number three, prolonged temptation and pain can test even our deepest beliefs. Prolonged temptation and prolonged pain can test even our deepest beliefs. You think there's any consequence why Satan came to Jesus after 40 days in the wilderness without any food? Without any water? No. Why? Because prolonged pain and prolonged temptation can and likely will begin to skew our thinking. I'm just going to be honest here and take a stab at it and say this. Some of you are back finally, after a long battle of doubt. After a long battle of pain. And it started just very suddenly and grew and grew and grew and grew. Before you knew it, you got to somewhere. You swore you would never be. That is exactly how doubt works. It's exactly how it works. Ask any addict their story and they will say that before they know it. After isolation and after pain, after years of dealing with something, they finally just gave up. So, a year into this isolation, John calls out to Jesus. He calls out to Jesus. Now, I love this. In the middle of this moment, John reaches out and says, Jesus, I, I need you. And if you don't hear anything else from me today, hear this in the middle of your pain, you can always reach out to God. You can always reach out to Jesus. In fact, write this principle down. Never feel like you are too far gone to call out to Jesus. Never feel like it. Why? Because he hears you. He wants to be with you. He wants to walk in your struggle. So, John does what all of us should do in verse three, John asks the greatest question that has ever been asked on this planet. He looks at his disciples. He said, Go ask him, Are you the one? Are you the one? Are you the one that is the greatest salvation question in the greatest faith building question that we can ever ask Jesus? Are you the one? Before we get too down on John, let's remember, though, we have a little bit of an advantage of John. Yes. John knew the character of Christ. Yes. So, he saw the miracles of Christ. But John hadn't seen the resurrection yet because it hasn't happened. John hasn't seen the cross yet because it hasn't happened. He still has a little bit of a skewed image of who Jesus is, but he could see Jesus and He reaches out to Jesus, and He says, Jesus, if you are the one, I just need to know.

I want us to look at Jesus's response to this because it's incredible. Now, if you grew up in an incredibly fundamental church, you're already thinking, well, Jesus is about to smoke this man, right? No, that's not what he's going to do. Look at verse four, what Jesus says to the question. Jesus replied, Go back and report to John what you hear and see. The blind receive sight, the lame walk. Those who have leprosy are cleansed. The deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me. Now notice what Jesus does in the middle. The question. Because many of us were taught growing up, never questioned, never questioned, never question. To which, that's a good idea if our question has a bad mindset. But listen to me real close. If your question is an honest question before the Lord and you are reaching out before Jesus to go, Jesus, I need you and I need you to deliver me. And I need you to show yourself to me. Jesus will always show up in the middle of your question. There's a tenderness to Jesus's answer here. Jesus doesn't strike him down. No. Why? Because He's a loving God. He is a loving savior. And Jesus is confident enough. And He's strong enough to always take your questions. But look at Jesus' response. You see, if I were Jesus, which would never be a good idea, right? If I were Jesus, and one of my disciples were to ask me this, I would have given him a total dad answer. I'd be like, Yeah, and moved on, right? Because that's how he answers for 99% of the things, right? His dad's is either yes or no. There's no commentary. Right. But Jesus doesn't do this because he loves them. What does Jesus do? Jesus gives John an answer that brings him hope. He gives an answer that he can build his life around. And it gives him an answer that we can build our lives around. In fact, he gives him three categories of hope in his answer. Look at it with me real closely. Number one, there's three things that we can always hope for. The Christ says, number one, there's always hope in our personal testimony. That's what Jesus said right here.

Right now, our personal testimony is the beginning of our hope in Christ. Look at verse four. I'll prove it, Jesus replied. Go back and report to John what you hear and what you see. Church, there is power in what Christ has done in you. Okay, now, look, you guys know I love education, I love biblical knowledge. I love dividing scripture, taking scripture, mulling over Scripture. But can I tell you something? Somebody can always debate your theology, but they can never debate what God has done in you. They can't do it. Your personal testimony is what makes you hold when Satan begins to bring doubt in your life, your moment of God can be taken from you. If, say, never makes you doubt that. Listen, you have to take a stand and go. No, no, no, no. I remember. I remember when you begin to doubt that God is not incredibly visible in your moment right now, you've got to look to where he was incredibly visible. That's what he's saying in the text. You know, when John's guys came back, right. Because they asked Jesus, is Jesus like, okay, watch this. You know, John's guys came back to John and say, John, listen, I know it's hard, but it's but you got to see what Jesus is doing.

You should see this. And when they did that, what did it do in John's life? It brought him back to the moment that he walked with Jesus. Church, let me ask you something? When's the last time you sat down, and you really prayed through the moment Christ redeemed you? You got to keep that handy. When times of emotion begin to rise, you've got to keep that moment that God's solidified that you are His. Don't let Satan take that from you. Find hope in your personal testimony, he said. But number two, it starts personal, but then it moves to number two. We find hope in the biblical reliability. We find hope. Watch what Jesus does. Jesus is a master of weaving the Old Testament in the New Testament together. So, watch what he says to make his point in verse five. This is so good. It says the blind receive sight. Jesus says the lane walk. Those who have leprosy or cleanse the deaf hear the dead erase. The good news is proclaimed to the poor. Now, there's a whole lot in that statement, but here's what Jesus is doing in this statement. It's masterful. He's saying, John, listen, I may not be destroying the government. I may not be overthrowing your situation right now, but I am doing exactly what Scripture and the father said that I should do and what does Jesus do? He gives him a list of what He is doing and what He was supposed to do. He does it masterfully with one list. He goes back to the Old Testament, and he proves what he's doing now.

Now, Matthew doesn't tell us this, but if you go back to Luke Seven's account of this happening in verse 21, it says that when the disciples asked Jesus this question at that very moment, Jesus began to heal people and began to perform miraculous signs. In other words, these guys walk up to Jesus, go, Hey, Jesus, are you the one? And Jesus is healing for you and healing for you. Healing for you. Sight to you. Raising you. And then he looks at them. He goes, Now go back there and tell John, I'm doing exactly what the Bible said I'm going to do. Now, when he did that, though, Jesus quoted a passage out of the book of Isaiah. That's what this passage we just read is it's it’s a passage out of Isaiah. Now, why would he do that? Listen to this. Jesus knew that John knew the Bible. Not only did John know the Bible, but John loved the prophet, Isaiah. John quoted him all the time, and Jesus spoke into John, the prophet Isaiah, and said this Isaiah 35 say to those with fearful hearts, be strong and do not fear your God will come and he will come with vengeance, with divine retribution, and he will come to save you. Then with the eyes of the blind, be open and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the mute tongues shout for joy. Jesus looked at John and basically said, Hey, boy, remember your Old Testament? Remember your New Testament? I'm doing exactly what I've been called to do, and you can count on Scripture. Listen church, you can too. You can count on the Word of God to raise you up. You can count on the Word of God to encourage you. You can count on the Word of God to meet you right where you are. It is alive and it is living, and it will pierce into your soul. Can you count on your own personal experience?

Oh yeah, you can. But you can also count on Scripture. He says. But thirdly, he says, you can also count number three on your future blessings. There's hope in your future blessings. There's an assurance that one day we walk with Jesus. In fact, look at verse six. It says, Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me. That word stumble there means that blessed is anyone who doesn't take offense in who I am. In other words, blessed is anyone who sees what I'm doing, who knows what I'm doing, who walks with me. Jesus is saying to John, Hey, Jesus, don't fall into the trap of not knowing me and not trusting me and not loving me and not walking with me because I've given you enough evidence and one day you will be with me and one day we will walk together. And I know it's not how you think it's supposed to go right now, but one day we'll be with each other in eternity. If you bought all of this down, Jesus is looking back, John, and he's saying this, Hey, I am the Christ and I am in control and I am committed to you. And you know what Jesus is telling us the same thing. Even in our doubts, He's saying that I am the Christ, and I am in control, and I'm committed to you. And Jesus is saying, and you can trust me in your good days, and you can trust me in your hard days, and you can trust me in the depths, and you can trust me in your joys, and you can trust me when you're struggling, and you can trust me when you think everything is going together. I'm worth it. I'm worth it. So let me close with this. What do we do when we doubt? What do we do? Let me give you three really practical things. When Satan begins to try to drag you into doubt. So practical. Number one, just remind yourself that God loves you. Isn't that what Jesus just did right here?

Just remind that He loves you. I know that sounds so elementary, right? But he loves you. John 3:16. For God so loved you that he gave his one and only son whosoever believe in him should have ever lasting life. Listen, nobody in this planet loves you with the capacity that he does. When doubt begins to roll in, you conquer the doubt with knowing that he loves you through the doubts. He loves you before the doubt. And He loves you after the doubt. God loves you when you doubt. Number two remember that God's wisdom is far superior to yours. Isn't that what got John in this whole problem right here? When you begin to doubt, you've got to remember that that the one thing that gets us into the most trouble on this planet is when we take off the throne and we put us on it. His wisdom is far superior to ours. The audacity we have looking at Jesus saying, Jesus, I just don't feel like you're doing what you should be doing right now. Now, we don't say it with those words, but we say it in a lot of others, don't we? But Jesus is always perfect, Psalm 18:30 says, As for God, his way is perfect. The Lord's Word is flawless, and he shields all who trust in him. When you doubt, not only do you remind yourself God loves you, but then you remind yourself that his wisdom is far superior to our wisdom. What have we been doing this at like 80 years? At best he's been doing it for eternity. His wisdom is far greater.

And here's number three, the last one. We've got to, when we doubt, trust that God has promised to bring good promise, to bring good. Here's the question. Does that good always look like the good you think it should? No, it doesn't. But God has promised to bring. Good. Romans 8:28 We quote it all the time that all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Now, is that good always in an earthly sense of when everybody's going, Yeah, I can see how God's doing. Good. Maybe. But sometimes we're not going to see the good until the other side of eternity. You say Matt, what do you mean? Well, let's take John's life. Most of these transformation moments, we're going to walk through that. The guy walks, right? The guy sees. The guy moves. The guy lives. John, what happened to John? Did Jesus bust into the prison all commando like and drag him back to Homebase? No, he didn't. Actually, John ends up giving his life for Jesus. After his little pep talk here and after his moment of doubt, he realizes that He is Christ, and he is worth it. And John never renounces his faith, and he was beheaded because of it. You say Matt, how does that work together for the good? Well, it’s to live as Christ, and to die is gain. Can you imagine with me just for a minute John's entry into heaven? Now I'm taking some liberties here. But can you imagine John being beheaded, walking into glory and the applause of all the saints from old going, You did it, you did it, you made it, you showed us. You worked through it. You know that you know that you know the Messiah loves you. And that's just the start. Fast forward just a little bit later. Jesus dies on the cross. He raises from the grave. He is sent back to the father. Can you imagine the first embrace of Cousin John and Savior Jesus walking together? Do you think John looked at Jesus and went, You didn't deliver me? No, no. All he could do is praise the Savior for all he had done. Church He always works for good. He always moves. But the question we got to answer today is the same question John had to have answered. Jesus, are you the one? Are you the one?

I know where I stand in that - emphatic yes, but I don't know about you. I'm not assuming either way. But I'm asking this. Have you settled that in your soul? Because he would say to you, I am the one, I am the Christ, and I am control and I am committed to you. But the question is this Have you ever in your moments said, Jesus, I need you to be my Savior. I need you to save me, and I need you to do it for me? Maybe even right now, those are the words in your heart, and you're inviting Christ to be your savior and to save you right now. If that's you, in just a minute, we're going to have an invitation. I'm going to step over here by the next steps banner. If you need to invite Christ into your life and you to settle this issue today of Christ, are you the one? And you need to make a stand to say yes. Today I'd love to just pray with you. I'd love to encourage you just for a minute over here today. But I also know there's a whole lot of us in here that are in a major season of doubt. Can I just beg you today to see Christ for who he is and say, Yes, Jesus, I don't understand, but here I am, use me.

Lord God, I honestly pray today that you would move in this place in a mighty way. God, I know that there are so many people that have just dealt with, with prolonged seasons of pain and God, they may be right on the edge today of giving up. Would you just show yourself to them? Would you meet them right where they are? Would you encourage them? In fact, if that's you today, we've got some counselors that are going to be up here with me today. And if you need somebody just to pray over you today and to pray with you and encourage you today. Man, I'm just going to ask you to be bold, just like John did, and call out for help and just allow them to bless you today. Just step out from your seats during this next song. Walk over here and go, Hey, I just need somebody to pray with me today. I got some things going on and they'd love to walk with you.

Lord, thanks for meeting us, even in our doubts. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.

Let's stand and sing together.

Follow Along with the Message

John the Baptist’s Prison Doubt

January 15, 2023

Matthew 11:11
Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.
Malachi 3:1
I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me.

PRINCIPLE: We are all one away from doubting Jesus is truly who He says He is.

PRINCIPLE: Doubt shows itself the when we feel like God has not met an expectation we have put on Him.

Matthew 11:1
After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.
John 9:4–7
2 When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
John’s Doubt Shows Us:

1. Serious doubt can creep into .

2. Long-term can challenge the most faithful.

3. Prolonged and can test our deepest beliefs.

PRINCIPLE: Never feel like you are too far gone to Jesus.

Matthew 11:4–6
4 Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. 6 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
3 Things We Can Always Find Hope In

1. Our testimony.

Matthew 11:4
Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see.”

2. The reliability.

Matthew 11:5
The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.
Isaiah 35:4–6
4 Say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance with divine retribution he will come to save you.” 5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.

3. Our blessings.

Matthew 11:6
“Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
When We Doubt:

1. Remind yourself that God you.

2. Remember God’s is far superior than yours.

Psalm 18:30
As for God, his way is perfect: The LORD’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.

3. Trust that God has to bring good.

Psalm 136:1–4
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.His love endures forever. 2 Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. 3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever. 4 to him who alone does great wonders,His love endures forever.

Additional Notes

 

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