Have
you ever been disappointed with God?
Ever wondered what God was doing ?
Ever doubted God’s Plan?
If yes you are
not ALONE – Some of the greatest men of faith – battled this
It must
have been how Elijah felt – after his showdown on Mt Carmel –
A)Gets word Jezebal is going to kill him – somehow
he starts believing he is the last Prophet alive
B)On the run – Says to God just Kill me God – this didn’t work out the
way I thought
I
think that is how Moses probably felt after he killed an Egyptian for
mistreating a Hebrew –
A)He goes from being 2nd in command to pharaoh to #1 on the most wanted list
B)Flees to the desert to become a nobody – I can hear Moses saying: “Never again – never again will I attempt to do something
for you.” Fade into
obscurity
C)When God comes calling 40 yrs later – Moses has every excuse in the book
why God has the wrong guy
What
about David: Anointed to be
A)Ends up on the run for the next 12 yrs
Three
great men of faith who all had their moments of doubting God and being
disappointed with God
A)I think that primarily happens when God is not responding like we think
He should
B)When He is not doing what we think he should be doing
1)That is when we start to doubt and to question
You are Single – Want to be married – But it isn’t happening – God is not bringing a
mate {What is up
Or You
think you found the one – you get married only
to find out – This is harder than I thought
Launch
out into ministry expecting great things – Instead it is
struggle – You start wondering – was God really calling me?
New Job – this is
it – Confirmation – things aren’t going smooth
– what are you doing God
Tonight we are going to see
a man that Jesus described a the greatest of the
prophets at a time when he was doubting God
We want to take note of what
Jesus says to him
And what Jesus says about
him –
Give
us tremendous insight into those moments when we are
tempted to doubt God / disappointed w/ God
Matt 11:1-3
Now it came to
pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples,
that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities.
2 And when John
had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples 3
and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"
What is
going on here? This is John – Make way….
Greater ….. sandal ….. Not worthy baptize
you
Behold the
lamb – Now he is questioning – why?
Prison: He waiting to be executed –
If
Jesus is the Messiah what am I doing here!
A)Jesus wasn’t doing what John thought he should be doing – not responding – {
Where is the kingdom?
Jesus responds:
4 Jesus
answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and
see: 5 The
blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the
dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6 And blessed
is he who is not offended because of Me."
Offended = Stumbled by me
tripped up -
Here is how to
not be stumbled – all about focus!
Jesus
gives a simple answer yet Profound: John don’t focus on what I am not doing – {releasing
you
Pay attention to
what I am doing
blind see / the lame walk; /the lepers are cleansed
the deaf hear; the dead are raised up
the poor have the
gospel preached to them.
Guys
this is key for everything: So easy to focus on what
is not happening
A)Guy with his wife / Me with Sunday nights
B)Love you guys – See what God is doing – see how God is working
C) So Jesus sends the
disciples of John back with that word – after they are gone he turns to the
Crowd and talks about John
7
As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes
concerning John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? Wimpy guy
easily swayed ? that wasn’t
John –
He was a Wildman – “Brood of vipers who warned you to flee…..” Bold
and powerful
8 But what did you
go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft
clothing are in
kings' houses. That wasn’t
John – Camel skins eating locust and wild honey – 1st hippie
9
But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say
to you, and more than a prophet. 10 For
this is he of whom it is written:
"Behold,
I send My messenger before Your face,
Who
will prepare Your way before You.'
11
"Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen
one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven
is greater than he.
John was the greatest of the
Prophets even though he worked no miracles – but he was the one the other
prophets wrote about – Forerunner
Jesus
sees an era ending with John; anticipated John and his ministry as a herald.
There
is a sense, in which he speaks for every prophet who heralded Jesus’ coming.
But
Jesus says as great as John was – he who is least in the kingdom is greater
than John – why?
A)John Died as part of the new Cov. – He was born
of a woman – but didn’t experience what it meant to be born again.
B)The least among us here who is born again is greater than John
1)Born again { Explain born or flesh vs born of the
spirit!
C)No one was born
again until Jesus died and rose
1)Righteous dead - Abraham Bosom
D)Jesus set the captives free – they benefited but didn’t experience it in
their life time on earth
12 And from the
days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and
the violent take it by force. 13 For all
the prophets and the law prophesied until John
Interesting statement – No
clue what this means
Two ideas for interpretation
1.)“Here’s
the kingdom of heaven and you take it by force. You claim this and grab hold of
the promises of God.”
Clutch fight battle – Pursue
One interpretation
2.)
I think we could more accurately look at in light of
the NLT’s reading of the passage
(Mat
11:12 NLT) And from the time John the Baptist
began preaching and baptizing until now, the
The kingdom was forcefully
advancing
Jesus
was constantly on the move - the very power of God was at work as people’s
lives were being touched.
A)And there were multitudes who wholeheartedly pressed into it
B)But- Simultaneously the kingdom was violently being attacked.
C)Contintues today
D)We need to pray that WE would see the Kingdom
advanced by the power of God changing lives….
E)Oh that we would see people DESPERATELY PRESSING IN to the Kingdom.
So
Jesus is Validating the ministry of John – Continues
in V.14
14 And if you
are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come
A)John’s coming may also be seen as a partial fulfillment of Malachi 4:5.
Elijah would preceed the messiah
B)
John was not actually Elijah, but he ministers in the same in spirit and
power of Elijah, thus fulfilling his "office"
C)Elijah
did come in fact during Jesus’ ministry, during the transfiguration (Matthew
17:3).
1)
But he will come again before the Second Coming of Jesus, likely as one of the
two prophets of Revelation 11:3-12.
15 He who has
ears to hear, let him hear! Now he is going to address
their generation
"But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like
children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, and
saying: ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we mourned to you,
and you did not lament.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they
say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say,
‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But
wisdom is justified by her children."
Jesus paints the picture of a group of
children out playing in the streets.
A)One group says, "Let's play funeral."
B)They play funeral for awhile, soon tire of it and then say, "Let's
play wedding."
1) Soon they grow tired of playing
wedding.
C)They go from one extreme to another. They are like spoiled children.
1)Jesus is keying in on the fickleness of his Generation
Jesus
says to them,
“You know God
sends you a holy man who lives in the wilderness and does not associate with
the sin and the patterns of the world that surrounded him and is completely
separate in his life… PROCLAIMS THE WORD and POINTS TO the LIVING Word… and you
say, ‘this guy is demon possessed.’
Then here I
come, the Messiah, Emmanuel, God with us, to eat and to drink and to sit with
them and to fellowship with them and teach them and you call me a glutton and a
drunkard.
John
was both austere and severe…. And they didn't feel
comfortable with him.
Jesus was friendly.
"Oh, He is gluttonous.
He's too friendly with sinners!"
They weren't pleased with
John, nor were they pleased with Jesus.
APPLICATION: Several things: Pastor or
minister – Motive can’t be to please pp!
A)There will always be those who don’t like you –
Please God
B)2nd Last days: Itching ears – they will
prop up teachers who tell them what they want to hear!
C)3rd thing: Look at the fruit
But wisdom is justified of her children.”
But wisdom is proved right
by her actions."
NIV
Matt 11:19
But wisdom is shown to be
right by its results."
New Living Translation
Look at the fruit of the
ministry of John the Baptist
Look at the fruit of the
ministry of Jesus Christ.
–
{ Don’t chop down a tree that is bearing fruit –
D)Ministries who do things different than
we do –
1)Different not wrong – there is fruit
-