just speak to all of our hearts as we go through this chapter and please just help us to be
stirred up and brought closer to you from the message tonight. In Jesus' name I pray,
amen. Now in Matthew chapter 11, the main subject toward the beginning is a man named
John the Baptist. Now if you remember, we've been going through the book of Matthew and
in chapters 8 and 9 was more, remember I told you it goes from a story and then more preaching
and then a story and then more preaching. Well, in chapters 8 and 9 we saw a little
bit about Jesus going around healing a lot of people, performing a lot of miracles. People
were constantly coming to him and asking him to do something, some kind of a miraculous
work, something that they needed badly, a friend of theirs or a relative or themself
who was suffering from some kind of a disease or point of death and Jesus, because of their
faith, was healing them and doing all kinds of great miracles. Then in chapter 10, last
week, we saw this great commission that he gives his apostles. Now in Matthew 28 is what's
commonly known as the great commission where Jesus says, go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost
and teaching them to observe whatsoever things I've commanded you. That's known as the great
commission. But there's not a lot of detail there. He just pretty much tells them to go
preach the gospel to every creature. But in Matthew chapter 10 is where he originally
sent them out for the first time, where he ordained his 12 apostles that came to him
and he sent them out two by two to preach the gospel, going from house to house, from
city to city, preaching the gospel to everybody and explains them how to do that. And he gives
them all kinds of tips. Now look at verse number seven of chapter 10, if you would,
and then we'll get into verse one of chapter 11. But in chapter 10, verse number seven,
he's explaining to them what he wants them to do. He wants them to go out two by two.
He wants them to preach the gospel. It says in verse seven, and as you go preach saying
the kingdom of heaven is at hand so that their purpose is to go out and preach, to get people
saved, to win people to Christ. Now look if you would at verse number 11, I mean chapter
number 11 verse one, Matthew 11 verse one, it says, and it came to pass when Jesus had
made an end of commanding his 12 disciples. So he just finished commanding them to go
out and preach the gospel, to go out soul winning if you would, to go knock on doors,
to preach the gospel to every single person in the nation of Israel. It says, 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 cities. You see that? He didn't just tell them to do it. He commanded
them to do it, and then it says as soon as he was done telling them to do it, he said,
now I'm going to go do what I just told you to do. You see, that was one of the great
things about Jesus. Keep your finger there and flip to Acts chapter one. Acts chapter
one, the fifth book in the New Testament. Acts chapter one, look at verse number one
of Acts one. The Bible reads in Acts one, one. Keep your finger in Matthew 11 because
that's where we're going to be. It says, the former treatise have I made, O Theophilus,
of all that Jesus began both to do and teach. You see that? That could be a theme verse
for the entire book of Acts. The first verse of the book of Acts explains the Christian
life. It explains the life of Jesus Christ. It explains our life as Christians is a life
of both to do and to teach. Now, there's nothing worse than a leader. Think about this. A leader
who teaches but he won't do. You know, he gets up and can you imagine Jesus getting
up and saying, this is what I want you to do. I want you to preach the gospel. I want
you to go to these cities where people don't know you, to complete strangers and preach
to them. I want you to go knock on the door of this house of somebody that you don't know
at all and give them the gospel. And then imagine him just going off somewhere and just
saying, I'm just going to go study my Bible. I'm just going to go pray somewhere because
I'm the leader here. You know, I mean, it would be ridiculous. See, Jesus Christ said,
no, here's how you do it. Now I'm going to show you how to do it. And see, that's the
right kind of leadership from the Bible, by the way. Every one of us is a leader in some
capacity. I'm a leader. I have children. I've got three boys here. I'm their leader. I have
a wife that I lead. She is a leader also, my wife, because she leads the three children.
And there are other people that may be following her. There are other people that are following
me that I don't even know about. I'm the pastor of this church, so I'm a leader in that capacity.
Every one of us, if we thought about it, has someone who looks up to us, someone who follows,
someone who we have some kind of authority over, whether it's children or employees or
whether it's just anybody that looks up to us. Look, the way to lead somebody is not to just
tell them what to do, but it's to show them what to do. You see, as pastor of this church,
I'm not going to tell you go out soul-winning, but I'm going to be out soul-winning. I'm not
going to tell you win people to Christ and then me not win anybody to Christ. You see,
the Christian life is both to do and teach. So there are those who teach, but they don't do.
Now, what are they called? They're called hypocrites. A hypocrite is somebody who teaches
something, but they don't do it. Now, a lot of people misdefine the word hypocrite. And
some people have called me a hypocrite and they've called me a Pharisee because I preach
righteous living from the Bible. I preach holiness, so you should live the way the Bible
tells you to live. And they say, oh, you Pharisee, you're preaching all these rules.
You know, I mean, the Ten Commandments are a bunch of rules or the Bible's a bunch of rules.
They say, you Pharisee. But see, this is what Jesus said to the Pharisees in Matthew 23. We're
going to get there later. But Jesus said to the Pharisees, he said, woe unto you scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites. Then in chapter 25, he explains why they're hypocrites. He says,
he says, everything they tell you to do, you should be doing, he said. But don't do the way
that they do it, because he says, for they say and do not. See, that's what hypocrisy is.
When you say and do not, that's hypocrisy. If I get up here and preach something,
if I get up here and preach that something's wrong and then I'm doing it, that's hypocrisy.
If I preach that you should be a soul winner, that you should win people to Christ and I don't do it,
that's what being a hypocrite is. Being a hypocrite is somebody who teaches, but they don't
do. But then you have the other side of the coin. You have those who do, but they don't teach.
What am I talking about? Well, I think about, I've been in churches a lot of times where you'll see
a nice couple, middle-aged couple, for example, and here they are, they're dressed sharp for
church. You know, they're carrying their Bible to church and maybe the man's wearing, you know,
some kind of button-up shirt. Maybe he's got a tie on, he's got a decent haircut like a man should
have, you know, just a man's haircut. And he's wearing clean clothes and he's got his church
shoes on, he's got his Bible, and he walks in, he's standing up straight, he's poised, he's
dignified, he walks in the building and his wife is beside him. She's wearing, you know, some kind
of a Sunday dress or she's got her hair done up, and then behind them you've got their children.
And you'll see this boy, he's got his shaggy hair hanging down, his shirt's untucked, his
pants are sagging, he's got his big wallet chain hanging down, and he's walking like this, you know.
He's just kind of like dragging in the door. And he just kind of sits around, he slumps in the chair,
and then when it's time to sing the song, dad stands up with the song book and dad says,
this is my story, this is my song, and boy he's singing it out. Mom's singing it out.
And what's Junior doing? He's just sitting there just disinterested because it's not
it's not Green Day that he's listening to, it's not Offspring that he's listening to,
it's not Metallica, so he's not interested. He just sits there disinterested with a dumb
look on his face. Look, I'm not mad at the kid. I'm mad at mom and dad because they do,
but they don't teach. And see, the parents who says, well, you know, this is the way we live,
but our teenagers we can't control. Look, it needs to be both to do and teach. The music that I,
my music is the music for these kids right here. They don't need some kind of special music for
their generation. They don't need to listen to all the rock music and all the garbage of this
generation. No, they're going to listen to the music that I don't listen to any music, but
they're going to sing these songs with me. They're going to sing, this is their music,
because if it's good enough for me, it's good enough for them. And I'm not just going to do
the right music. I'm going to teach the right music to my children. I'm not just going to do
proper clothing. I'm going to teach them how to be dressed properly. I'm not just going to do
a proper haircut. I'm going to give them a proper haircut because I don't want to have Christianity
stop with me. And then my kids go up into rebellious, worldly, you just like the typical
product that you see in this generation. And so Christianity has to be both to do and teach. See,
it's just as bad as the hypocrite who teaches, but he won't do just as bad as the guy who will do,
but he won't teach. Or what about this? The person who's saved, the person who's a saved,
born again Christian on their way to heaven, but they won't tell anybody else how to be saved.
They won't tell their best friend how to be saved. They won't share the gospel with their best
friend. Look, they did, but they won't teach. See, Jesus Christ said, no, the Christian life,
your motto in the Christian life should be both to do and teach. And that's why I just love that.
When I, I don't know, where did my Bible go?
I loved it when I just, you know, this week I was just especially studying Matthew chapter 11,
you know, just in preparation for the lesson. I memorized these chapters, so I quoted over and
over. And boy, just when I quoted that first chapter, I remember that last week's was where
Jesus is commanding them to go soul winning. And then it says, when he made an end of commanding
them, it says, then he went out and I love it. I love how he did what he just told them to do.
It's great. Look at verse number two. It says, now, when John had heard in the prison,
the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said unto him, art thou he that should come
or do we look for another? Now, if you remember in chapter four of Matthew, John was thrown into
prison. Now his ministry was very short-lived. It lasted about six months to a year. He preached
the gospel. He baptized the thrones of people. He had just thousands of people coming to hear him.
Jesus came on the scene and he pointed to Jesus Christ in John chapter one. He said, behold,
the lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world. And he basically channeled people from
following him to following Jesus. And he said, this is he of whom I spake saying, he that cometh
after me is preferred before me for he was before me. And he says, this is the lamb of God, which
taketh away the sins of the world. Then of course, Jesus came to be baptized of John the Baptist
and John for bad saying, I have needed to be baptized of thee and comest thou to me.
And so he knew who this was. He baptized him. And when he baptized him, there's a voice from heaven
from God the father saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Now, isn't this odd?
Read that again. I don't know if you caught that. Now, when John had heard in the prison,
the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said unto them, art thou he that should come
or do we look for another? What? John, you're the one that pointed to him and said, behold,
the lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world. What do you mean art thou he that
should come or do we look for another? You see, even John, when he saw, well, when he heard the
works of Christ, the Bible says it wasn't really what he expected. He didn't expect this because
he says when he heard the works of Christ, here he is sitting in prison. I mean, he was preaching.
He was in his heyday. Everybody was coming to hear him. And boy, he was ripping it up. I mean,
he was preaching some hard message. He was calling names and just screaming and yelling and preaching
out in the wilderness, not in some church building. I mean, people were coming out in
the desert to hear him. And then here he is, he's arrested. I don't think he expected that.
He's arrested and thrown into prison. He's sitting in a prison cell. He hears about Jesus and it just
wasn't really what he expected because a lot of people expected Jesus to just come on the scene
and just set up his kingdom on this earth. A lot of them didn't quite understand that he was going
to die on the cross, that he was going to be buried and that three days later he was going
to rose again. Now, did John understand that? I'm not really a hundred percent sure. I think he did,
but here he is sitting in the jail cell having doubts when he hears about Jesus and he's saying,
is this our doubt he that should come? I mean, are you the right person or should I look for
somebody else or are you just a prophet? It's interesting that even a man like John the Baptist,
when he's going through a really hard time, can have some doubts and be a little bit puzzled.
But look what Jesus says. Jesus answered and said unto them, go and show John again those things,
which ye do hear and see. The blind receive their scythe and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed
and the deaf hear. The dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. You see, yes, John had doubts and I'm
guaranteed that everybody in this room is going to, if you haven't already, you're going to go
through a time where you just question things. You know, as a Christian, you just say, good night,
I'm living for God. And in this case, he's sitting in a jail cell. You say, here I am,
doing everything I'm supposed to be doing, preaching the gospel. And a little later on,
we're going to see that Jesus says that John the Baptist is the greatest man who ever lived.
Now, Jesus says that he must be the greatest man who ever lived. So the greatest man who's
ever walked the face of this earth is John the Baptist, according to the Bible.
And even this greatest man who ever lived, he's probably thinking to himself,
I've done good. I've done right. I'm living for God. What am I doing sitting in a jail cell?
What am I doing on death row? What am I doing? Everything's going against me. And look,
he started to have some doubts about things. That's going to happen to you at some point
where you think, well, I'm doing everything right. I'm living for God. I'm doing everything
I'm supposed to be doing. Why am I in the position I'm in? Why are things going bad?
And see, it's not bad necessarily to have those kind of doubts. It's not the end of the world.
But see, here's the key though. He says, look, just show him again. Just tell him the same thing
again that he already knows. But he says, bless is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
You see, it doesn't matter whether you have doubts from time to time about whether you're living for
God, whether you're in God's will, whether you're doing what God wants you to do. It doesn't matter
as long as you just keep on doing it. And see, here, John the Baptist had some doubts while he
was in prison, but he did not waver at all. He did not change at all. He just said, look,
I'm just questioning things a little bit. But he was faithful all the way to the end until
he was eventually killed by King Herod. And so, look, yes, doubts arise. But you must stay on the
course and say, look, I know that the Bible's true. I know that Jesus Christ is my savior.
I know what he told me to do. If it ends me up in a jail cell, if it ends me up in the wilderness,
it doesn't matter. I'm just going to stay the course and do what God told me to do.
You say, well, do you ever have doubts about it? I mean, do you ever wonder if you're doing right,
if God's really blessing you? Of course. But it doesn't matter because you just keep on going
by faith. See, faith is believing God's word. And so, look, sometimes you believe God's word,
but then you have doubts about it. It doesn't matter just as long as you keep on
following the faith, following the belief. Dr. Jack Hyles had a famous quote. He said, faith
is believing and doubting, but acting on the belief. You see, you believe and you doubt,
but you go with the belief. You act on the belief. You see, your faith is evidenced by what you do,
and your faith is evidenced by what you say. For example, getting saved. Getting saved is 100%
by faith. The Bible says, for by grace are you saved through faith. It says, believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. But then he says, if thou shalt confess with thy mouth
the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thy heart that God is raising from the dead,
thou shalt be saved. Now, look, when you believe on Jesus Christ for salvation,
he says, well, I want you to say that you believe on me. I want you to say it with your mouth.
Because he wants you to say, and look, before a person gets saved, do they know 100% sure that
the Bible's true? No. They have to just take it by faith. You know, they just, and you say, well,
I don't know if I believe enough, because, you know, I have doubt. He says, no, just choose to
say, you know what, I'm just going to believe what it says and I'm just going to say it.
And I'm just going to say, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe that Jesus
Christ is the only way to heaven. That's salvation. It doesn't take some huge amount of faith.
Because God said, look, I remember when the apostles came to Jesus and said, increase our
faith. He said, look, you don't know what you're talking about. He said, if you had the faith of
the size of a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, be removed and cast into
the sea. And he said, it would happen. He says, your faith is so minuscule, but it doesn't take
much faith. It's just, where is your faith placed? See the unsaved person, all they have to do is
just decide, I don't know how much faith I have. I don't know how little faith, a lot of faith,
but what faith I have, I'm going to put it all in Jesus Christ. Well, how do you know you put
your faith in Jesus Christ? Well, because I said, I'm putting in Jesus Christ and I said it with
my mouth, I believe, please save me. That's salvation. See, I remember a man came to Jesus,
another story. He asked that his daughter would be healed. And Jesus said to him, he said, well,
if you believe, he says, all things are possible to him to believe. And he said, Lord, I believe,
help thou mine unbelief. So he says, I believe, but yet I, of course I have a little bit of doubt.
And Jesus says, well, as long as you believe, that's fine. And so don't get hung up on
constantly re-examining. I don't know if what I'm doing is right. Look, you may have doubts come into
your mind, but look, this book never changes. God's will never changes. Right and wrong never
changes. You just stay with it. And that's, that's, that's the greatness. That's part of
the greatness of John the Baptist of saying, look, I'm not even, I'm starting to wonder whether Jesus
is even, you know, the one that I'm supposed to be looking for, the Messiah. But he says,
I don't care whether I, I know that that's what God said. So I'm just going to stay with it.
And the answer that Jesus gave was just, just tell him again. See how it says in verse number
four there, look at verse number four, Matthew 11. Go and show John again, those things which
he do here and see. Just the same thing. He just needs to hear it one more time. You see,
because it doesn't change. It never changed. He didn't say, well, tell him this new thing
to show him that I'm who I say I am. He said, no, you just need the same thing again.
And by the way, let me just point out the end of verse four. See how it says that you do here and
see. Now in the list that he gives here, the blind received their sight. That's something that
they were seeing. Okay. It says the lepers are cleansed. That's something that they saw.
The deaf hear. That's something that they saw happen. The dead were raised up. They saw Jesus
do that. And the poor have the gospel preached to them. That's something that they heard,
but you'll notice that God always puts the emphasis. And I've noticed throughout the
gospels and throughout the epistles, God always puts the emphasis on the here and not on the see.
See, Jesus is doing all these great works, but he always lists, he almost always listed in that
order here and see. And like, for example, I was thinking about the story in the book of Luke,
where Jesus healed all these people and the people, they marveled at the great miracles
he was doing. And this is what he answered. He said, let these sayings sink into your ears,
sink down into your ears. Because see the most important thing about Jesus when he was on this
earth is not what he did when he healed somebody. It's what he said. It's when he preached the truth.
It's the word of God is the supreme importance. And so, yes, he healed these people, but the most
important thing was what he said. When he said, come unto me later on, all you that are laboring
are heavy laden and I'll give you rest. See, when he preached the gospel, that was the most
important thing was the preaching. Now look at you, let's move on in the story here.
In verse number seven, it says, and as they departed, Jesus began to say into the multitudes,
this is verse seven, concerning John, what went he out into the wilderness to see? He's asked him,
why did you go out into the desert? Why did you go out into the wilderness to hear John the Baptist
preach? Because remember, these men had just come and they were sent from John and they asked him,
John wants to know, are they he that should come or do we look for another? As they're leaving,
he starts to preach to them about John the Baptist because it brought up the subject.
He said, why did you go out to the world? What did you go out to see? What did you expect when
you went there? A reed shaken with the wind. But what went she out for to see? Verse eight,
a man clothed in soft raiment. Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in king's houses.
But what went she out for to see? A prophet? Yeah, I say unto you and more than a prophet.
So he's saying, look, what did you expect? A reed shaken with the wind? Some guy in soft clothing?
Now, what does it mean a reed shaken with the wind? Well, a reed is like a bulrush that grows
up by the side of the, or tulis is what I grew up calling them. But these plants that grow up
by the side of the river, and they're just very weak. The wind will just move them. I mean,
there's nothing there. And so he's saying, did you expect some guy that you could just kind of,
you know, just kind of push them around? Some guy that just kind of blows with the wind, like,
oh, whatever's popular. That's what he's going to preach. I was thinking some of these churches
should be called Reed Baptist Church. Or here we go. Shaken Reed Baptist Church. Blown with the
wind. Wherever the wind blows, Baptist Church. Wind Community Church, Pastor Reed. Okay. That's
what they ought to be called. Because whatever, they just go like this. And that's how they know
what they're going to preach. Oh, okay. What's popular? That's what I'll preach. Because I want
to get the crowd. I want to drive the fancy car. You know, I want to, I want to get the notoriety,
the fame. So just call me Pastor Shaken Reed. And so he says, is that what you expected when
you went to hear John the Baptist preach in the wilderness? Expect some guy in soft clothing?
Some guy to come out in some velvet suit? Some guy to come out in a pink tie? Is that what
you expected? He says, did you expect a prophet? Did you expect a real man of God? Did you expect
a preacher? He says, well, you know what? John the Baptist is more than a prophet.
In verse 10 it says, for this is he of whom it is written, behold, I send my messenger before thy
face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. Verily I say unto you, watch this, 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. Now look, don't take that
statement lightly. Now this is a man that maybe we don't hear a whole lot about in the Bible.
The Bible does not record a huge amount about this man. There are other men throughout the Bible
that God spends chapter after chapter, men like Moses, David, men like, I was thinking of
another one, Elijah. Elijah, you know, men just chapter after chapter after chapter about these
men. Paul, Peter, John, I mean just chapters of their life. John the Baptist, there's not really
a whole lot there. But don't let that dissuade you from the fact that this is the greatest man who
ever walked to the face of the earth out of the mouth of Jesus himself said, there have not,
he said, among them that are born of women, there have not risen a greater than John the Baptist.
He said, there's never been a greater man than John the Baptist. What made this man so great?
Why is it that Jesus would give him this preeminence of saying this is the greatest man
who ever lived? Well, part of the reason was because he wasn't a reed shaken with the wind
and part of the reason was because he wasn't wearing a bunch of soft clothing.
But let me show you something else. Look at Luke chapter one. It's the third book in the New
Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke. Not a whole lot of detail given about John the Baptist in the book of
Matthew, but in the book of Luke, there's a little more detail given. Of course, we saw when we were
in Matthew chapter three, we saw that he was living out in the wilderness. All Jerusalem and
Judea and the reasons beyond Jordan came out to hear him preach and were baptized of him in Jordan
and he preached just a fiery sermon. I mean, just ripping on sin, preaching very hard preaching.
Well, look if you would at Luke chapter one. Let me show you some of the greatness of this man.
Besides the fact that he just got up and preached and didn't, he had no fear, just fearless
preaching. Besides the fact that he didn't need all the conveniences and everything,
but he was just living, just alone with God in the wilderness. Well, look at verse number 15 of Luke
chapter one. This is a prophecy of John the Baptist being born. This is where the angel is
telling his mother, I'm sorry, this is him telling his father Zacharias at this point, and he's
explaining to him some things about the son that they're going to have. They were barren, they
couldn't have a child, but this angel tells them that they're going to in fact have a child. His
name is going to be called John. And in verse 15 it says, For he shall be great in the sight of the
Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost,
even from his mother's womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord
their God. And 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. Now look, let's just run through the list because we don't have a lot of
time tonight, but just blow through the list. Number one, he's filled with the Holy Ghost.
Number two, it says that he's going to turn many of the children of Israel to God. I mean,
this is a guy who's winning people to Christ. I mean, he's not just keeping it to himself. This
is a guy who does and teaches. This is a guy who's preaching the gospel. Everywhere he goes,
he's winning people to Christ. He's just preaching to everybody, his friends, family,
strangers, just everybody. Look at the next thing. You know, it says he's not going to drink.
That'd be a great place to start. Drink neither wine nor strong drink. And then it says that he's
going to preach, basically he's going to preach on sin because he's saying he's going to turn the
disobedient to the wisdom of the just, and he's going to preach the people to obey the Bible,
to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Now, quickly, what does it mean to be filled
with the Holy Spirit? One of those terms that people use so often, misconstrued, and sometimes
the most commonly used terms are the ones that we understand the least because we take it for
granted, what they mean. What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit? Well, does it mean that we
start talking in weird languages and fall on the ground and start flopping around like a fish
on the deck of a ship? Does it mean that we slobber and foam at the mouth and
is that what it means? Does it mean that we lose control of our body and just,
does it mean that we're at a Christian rock concert and just start just swaying and moving
and say, is that what it means to be filled with the Spirit? Well, I don't, don't turn there,
but just let me quickly read for you some verses. First of all, I want to show you the evidence that
someone's filled with the Holy Spirit. Acts 4 31, I'll just read this for you. You don't have to
turn there for the sake of time, but Acts 4 31 reads, let me get there on the wrong page.
And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were
all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the Word of God with boldness. Okay, that was the
evidence right there. They, when people were filled with the Holy Spirit, they spake the
Word of God with boldness. Now remember, John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit from day
one. And here he is, what is he doing? Preaching the Word of God with boldness. I mean, the one
word that would define his preaching was boldness, just fearless preaching. Well, what does it mean
to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Well, I'll show you something else that it means. In Ephesians
chapter five, and this is the most common verse on being filled with the Holy Spirit, but in Ephesians
five the Bible reads here in verse 20, I'm sorry, verse number 18. And be not drunk with wine,
wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. So he says, be filled with the
Spirit. It's a command of God. This isn't just something for some great Christian like, well,
John the Baptist, he is so great. Let me tell you how great he is. He's filled with the Spirit. No,
God says, I expect every man, woman, boy and girl to be filled with the Spirit, because it's a
command of God. He says, be not drunk with wine, don't drink, but rather be filled with the Spirit.
The reason he makes the contrast, of course, I walked by a restaurant yesterday.
I was trying to find a place to get something to eat, and there was a restaurant called Red Robin
Burgers and Spirits. See what spirits mean? Liquor. And so God is saying here, don't be
filled with spirits. Be filled with the Spirit of God, not the spirit of devils that inhabit that
beer can that you throw back. And you're drinking spirits. Why? Because you're inviting the devil to
manipulate you. I mean, you're going to do things that are wrong. You're going to do things that are
sinful when you have the influence of alcohol. But he says here, be filled with the Spirit,
speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. See, it's evidenced by
the kind of music that you're interested in, whether you're filled with the Spirit.
But now let me show you something interesting here. In Colossians 3 16, almost the exact same
wording is used. Let me turn there. In Colossians 3 16, we have the exact same admonition given,
and the Bible reads here, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom,
teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing with grace in your hearts of the Lord. So you have the exact same quote where he's talking
about, in one case, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs. And the other one, he says, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all
wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. And you'll
notice that the whole rest of the chapters of Colossians 3 and Ephesians 5 talk about the same
things. What's the point? Well, Jesus said, the words that I say unto you, they are spirit and
they are life. So you can't be filled with the Holy Spirit unless you're filled with the word
of God. You can't be filled with the Spirit because you went to some rock concert and
got all swaying and falling on the ground. Hey, you're filled with the Spirit when you're filled
with the word of God. When the word of Christ dwells in you richly in all wisdom, that's when
you're filled with the Spirit. See, the fill of the Spirit is not some feeling. It's not some
euphoria that comes over you. It's when you're so filled with the things of God that there's just
not much room for much else and you're just filled with God's word. You've memorized God's
word. You've read God's word incessantly. You're just filled to the brim with the things of God.
Then you're going to have boldness. That's what he's saying. And see, being filled with the Spirit
is directly related with how much time you spend reading and memorizing this book, period. It's not
just some feeling that you get. It's something that you get from God through the word of God.
And so I could spend a whole sermon on that subject and so I don't want to spend too much
time on that. I want to get back to Matthew chapter 11. But I was thinking about this
whole story and I'm running out of time, so let me just kind of
paint the whole picture here. Let me just kind of draw it together.
The whole point of the chapter is that he's saying, look, this man, John the Baptist,
the greatest man that ever lived, his whole purpose was to come before Jesus and prepare
the way before him. Now, why did he have to come and prepare the way before him?
Because when Jesus Christ came on the scene and when John the Baptist came on the scene,
it was just a terrible time spiritually. I mean, there was almost nobody who was living for God.
I mean, there was almost nobody who believed right. It was a day where there had just been
a great falling away. And people were just not ready for Jesus Christ to just come on the scene.
They needed John the Baptist to come before him and just straighten some things out first.
Because Jesus wanted to come to a people that were ready to hear what he had to say.
And so that was the purpose of sending John the Baptist. Now, I was thinking about this.
Remember in chapter nine, just a couple of weeks ago, that verse where he said,
look, he says, the fields are white unto harvest. He says, the harvest truly is plenteous,
but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he would send forth
laborers into his harvest. Where did that harvest come from? Where did that crowd come from that
Jesus was pointing at when he said that? He looked on the multitudes and he said,
the harvest truly is plenteous. Well, I'll tell you where a lot of them came from.
They came from John the Baptist because John the Baptist is the one that originally came and
preached. He's the one that baptized the 12 disciples. He's the one that assembled these
great crowds of people out in the wilderness. And then when Jesus came on the scene, he just said,
there he is, behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world. And the disciples went
from following John to following Jesus. You see how he went before him and a lot of those crowds
came as a result of him. And that's why Jesus had those crowds, some of them. Now look,
the parallel is with the day that we're living in right now. We're living in a day of just spiritual
famine in this country, spiritual deadness. I don't know if you didn't notice the fact that
this country is changing every day and that it's going down the tubes morally and spiritually.
The decline is just out of control. And if you think it's just going to go on the way it is
right now forever, you're wrong because it's going to come to a point where judgment of God is coming
on this country. And of course we know that eventually Jesus Christ is going to come back.
We don't know when that is. It could be sometime very soon. It could be sometime very far away,
hundreds of years from now. We have no clue. But as Jesus Christ is coming the second time,
he needed somebody to prepare the way the first time. I just have a suspicion that we're living
in a day that's very similar to the day that John the Baptist came on the scene, where he came on
the scene to a bunch of hard-hearted people who were not spiritual, who were not living for God,
who did not know the truth. And he came on the scene, and he was filled with the Holy Spirit,
he was strong in spirit, and he preached and turned them to him. Now look at this. It's so
weird. Now I want to tell you just a personal note. I'm working the last three days, right?
I'm in California, driving all over, working. And I was reflecting just on the 4th of July.
Yesterday I was working, and I was doing a lot of driving yesterday on Tuesday. It was the 4th of
July. And I was just driving around Los Angeles, and I'll be honest with you, it was a sad day for
me yesterday. And I was really just disgusted with a lot of things that I saw in California,
in Los Angeles. I drive down the road there, and every single sign, every sign, and every underpass
is either covered in barbed wire or covered in graffiti, one or the other, in Los Angeles. I don't
know if you've ever been to Los Angeles and seen that. Every sign is covered in graffiti or barbed
wire, one or the other. And I mean it's to the point of ridiculousness. I've never seen anything
like it in my life. Every billboard, I remember I'm driving down the road, I'm driving through
the city of Los Angeles, actually I was driving out of Los Angeles down south into like Long Beach
area, and just every billboard in a row was just something wicked and ungodly. It was something
perverted. And they were so brazen, it's like I'd never seen billboards that were this bold
with the sin. I just thought to myself, how can this be allowed on a freeway? You know, I mean,
I could have my kid in the car with me, I could have my little toddler, and just the filthiest,
you know, just innuendos and just fornication and just everything. And it seemed like the mildest
billboard was a beer ad. That was like the best one, you know, because the rest of them were just
so filthy and wicked I couldn't even believe it. And I was just, you know, in these different
department stores that I was testing the fire alarms in and different restaurants I was in and
just seemed like everywhere I looked there was just ungodliness and just filth and I just could
not believe it. And it's funny because I was quoting this chapter over and over in my mind,
just through the last several days, Matthew chapter 11. And I didn't even pick up on this
until I was just reading it right now in church, you know. It's funny because I quoted myself like
hundreds of times, literally, I mean hundreds of times, and then here I am in church, we just read
it at the beginning of the service, and something just jumped out at me that's exactly what I was
thinking about yesterday. And I don't know if I subliminally picked this up just from quoting it
so many times and didn't even realize that I picked it up from the chapter, but I remember
I was sitting, of all places, in Jamba Juice, okay. And if you want to see some strange people
go to Jamba Juice, okay. But I like to go there because I try to get something healthy, you know,
because I'm out of town so much and I don't want to eat at Burger King and everything. So I'm
sitting in Jamba Juice and I'm just sitting there waiting for my order and I was sad. I mean this is
yesterday. I was feeling kind of sad just with everything that I was seeing. I was just thinking,
what's happening to America? And I was driving down the road and I had my hymnal and it's funny
because I left the house and Solomon caught me out the door. He said, Dad, bring this with you
so that you can sing these songs. As I was leaving on Sunday night. And, you know, I like to bring
this, but I usually forget to bring it. And I like to bring this because this is my CD player,
literally. This is my tape player. It's my radio. I don't listen to music. I sing these songs out of
the hymnal. And it's funny because Solomon caught me as I was driving off. He said, Daddy, bring
this so you can sing these songs. I said, oh, thanks. And I packed this. And I was driving in
Long Beach yesterday and I pulled out the hymnal and I thought, you know, it's the Fourth of July
and I saw some fireworks going off in the distance to my right-hand side. And I pulled out the hymnal
and I started singing the Star-Spangled Banner. And I went through all four verses. And I got to
the fourth verse. Let me turn there because I want to get the words right here. I got to this
fourth verse where it says, oh, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand between their loved homes
and the war's desolation. I got to this part right here. Blessed with victory and peace,
may the heaven rescued land praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Are you listening to those words? He said, blessed with victory and peace,
may the heaven rescued land praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
And then it says, then conquer we must when our cause it is just and this be our motto
in God is our trust. And boy, when I got by the time and I'd sung to all the other three verses
and these are great verses of this song. I love this song. And by the time I got to the fourth
verse, just tears were just streaming down my face, literally. And I got to, I was singing
those words of the fourth verse and tears just streaming down my face. And I was just thinking
to myself, boy, what a great country this was. And then just watch just how we're just going to
watch it just go into ruin. And I say, man, this was a great country as I read this. And I was sad
and it made me sad. And I sang through that fourth verse and tears are coming down my face.
Back to John Bajuse. I'm sitting in John Bajuse, right? And I'm looking at, I'm looking at all the
people around me and I was thinking to myself, you know what's wrong with our generation? You
know what's wrong with 2006? I'm seeing people that are in their 20s and their 30s and their
40s and their 50s and their 60s and they're like children. That's exactly what I was thinking.
I mean, they come in and they're dressed like teenagers. And there's nothing more ridiculous
than seeing a 50 year old man dressed like a teenager and seeing a 45 year old woman dressed
like a teenager dressed as all trendy and promiscuous and just, they look like little
kids. They acted like little kids. And I thought to myself, if I just kind of didn't notice how
old these people are and I watched the way they act, the way they dress, the way they talk,
I would think that I was back in high school. I was thinking I was back in junior high.
And I was thinking, we live in a generation of children. You know, you think of, you think of
all the rock music and all the wild clothing and the wild hairdos. You think of teenagers, right?
You don't think of 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, but we're living in a day when everybody's just like
children. And they're so just irresponsible and they don't care what's going on. And that's why
our country is going down the toilet because everybody's just a little kid. They're immature.
And it's weird because I was thinking that, right? And I don't know why that thought came
into my head. I'm sitting in John Medusa's thinking, this is a generation of this.
Everybody's a child. And then look, I read this verse just now. I didn't even see this until I
was reading this in church. It says in verse 16, and I promise you, I didn't even notice this,
but where unto shall I liken this generation? It is likened to children. You see that?
Because I was thinking to myself when I was preparing the sermon, I was thinking like,
man, I think that John the Baptist is the kind of man that we need right now in 2006.
Because I was just thinking to myself, I bet you the spiritual condition that we're looking at
right now is similar to what John the Baptist faced when he came on the scene. And I thought
to myself, man, we need a John the Baptist. We need all kinds of John the Baptist to bring
America back to God. Men who will just get up and preach and they don't, they're not some
reed shaking with the wind. They don't care what people think. They just preach it because it's
right and right's right and wrong's wrong. And if you don't like it, there's the door.
And I was thinking, man, that's what we need in this country. John the Baptist is what we need.
And then I looked at this and it said, but where unto shall I liken this generation?
It's like unto children sitting in the markets. That's John the Juice. No, I'm just kidding.
But you know, sitting in the markets and calling unto their fellows and saying,
we've piped unto you and you've not danced. We've mourned unto you and you've not lamented.
And then look at this in verse 18. For John came neither eating nor drinking. And they say,
he hath a devil. This guy's insane. He's living out in the wilderness. He doesn't eat or drink.
He eats locusts and wild honey. He's just a wild man. I mean, he's out there just preaching and
he's in the wilderness. He's nuts. And then it said, the son of man came eating and drinking.
And they say, behold, a man gluttonous and a wine bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners.
He says, look, these people are like children. And it doesn't matter whether you get up and preach
like a wild man, like John the Baptist, or whether I'm like Jesus Christ and kind and
loving. And of course he preached and yelled a lot too. We've seen that in other chapters.
But he says they won't receive it because they're just immature. They're childless.
It's time for America to grow up. It's time for people in this country to grow up and to realize
that there's more to life than just their little clothes, their little outfit, their little ensemble
that they're going to wear today, their little trip down to Jamba Juice, their fancy little
car that they drive around, all their toys. Look, there's something that's more important than that.
There's a nation that people died for to give us. There's a church that Jesus Christ died to give
us, the local church. There are people who are hanging in the balance as we preached about on
Sunday night, like Absalom was hanging between heaven and hell. The Bible says he was hanging
between the heaven and the earth, and nobody cared enough to reach him, to save him. And see,
the point is, there's more to life than just piddling around like a bunch of children playing
with your little flute and your harp here and playing games and ha ha ha funny, funny humor
and jokes and everything. He says, look, there's more to life than that. He says we need to just
be like John the Baptist and just sell out for God. I mean, like look at John the Baptist.
He's filled with the Holy Spirit. He says, look, we've got to grow up and realize that the only
way we're going to reach this nation, the only way that we're going to see anything happen for God
is when we quit being a child and we say, hey, maybe I have some doubts sometimes, maybe things
don't go my way sometimes, but nothing is going to move me. Nothing is going to shake me. I will
sell out for God and be 100% filled with the Spirit and live for God.
Anyway, I've got to hurry because it's time to be done. But let me just show you one last thing at
the very end. It says in verse 27, go down to verse 27, we'll close with this. All things are
delivered unto me of my Father, and no man knoweth the Son but the Father. Neither knoweth any man
the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. So he's saying, obviously,
the only way that you're going to get to know God is to get to know Jesus Christ, because of course
Jesus Christ is God. But notice how he says, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
Now the word will there in the Bible, usually when God uses the word will, it has to do with
like the will of God, like he will, because there are two words used, will and shall. You'll notice
this in the Bible. Here's the King James Bible, will and shall. Shall is just talking about the
future tense. It's what I'm going to do. He shall do thus and so. Will means he intends to do it.
He wants to do it. And he's saying, no man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever
the Son will reveal him. Now if you read that, you almost think, well, it seems like Jesus is
only choosing to reveal himself to certain people, because he says, the only one who's going to know
the Father is the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. But then I love the next
words. Come unto me all, all ye that labor in our heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Come
unto me all, because Jesus says, look, it's not for just a select few. It's not just for my
disciples. It's not just for this multitude. He says, come unto me all ye that labor in our heavy
laden, and I'll give you rest. The rest, if you were here for the book of Hebrews, if you're here
for Hebrews chapter 4, I think Amanda was here for that lesson. Remember we learned about the
rest that God gives. He says, they which have believed do enter into rest. And he talks about
when you believe on Jesus Christ, you enter into rest, where you're no longer trying to work your
way to heaven. Am I good enough? And you're trying to struggle and try to do your own good works to
get you to heaven, being baptized, going to church, living a good life, praying, whatever
it is that you think is going to get you to heaven. Rest is where you just say,
I believe on Jesus Christ, and I know I'm going to heaven, and it's just like the load is removed.
It's done. As Jesus said on the cross, it is finished. There's nothing that I have to do to
earn my way to heaven. It's done. And boy, the load comes off, because now you don't have to
worry and work and try to strive to, I don't know if I'm going to make it into heaven. You
don't know if I'm good enough. The load comes off, and he says, you've entered into rest.
Now look at the next words. He says, come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. Now you've got the rest. You've just got rid of your burden of
trying to think you have to work your way to heaven, as we learned in the book of Hebrews,
on and on. But look now, he says, take my yoke upon you. Now he wants you to take on a new burden.
Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly and hardened. Ye shall find rest
unto your soul. So here's what a yoke is. Everybody probably knows what a yoke is, but
you take two cows, two oxen, and you put them side by side, and you take a wooden piece,
a wooden harness, and you set it on both of them. That's called a yoke. And that yoke is so that
you can work. I mean, it's so that these oxen can pull a wagon, or they can pull a till, so they
can till the ground for farming. He says, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. He says, here's
what it is. I saved you. That was all me, 100% me. You entered into rest. I paid it all on the cross.
You just have to just receive the finished gift that I already paid for, just receive it.
And he says, now that you're saved, I'm inviting you to get into yoke with me. And Jesus is saying,
you and I will side by side work together and labor for the kingdom of God. We will work
together to get as many people saved as we can. We will work together to try to save this nation,
as John the Baptist saved his nation and turned people's hearts to God so that they were ready
to receive the gospel when Jesus came. And he says, we will work together. I'm not just going to
tell you what to do. And remember, this goes all the way back to verse one of the chapter, where
he said he commanded them and then he went out and did it. He says, listen, I want to work with
you. I want to be side by side with you. You and I, friends, pals, co-workers, Jesus Christ wants
to be your co-worker and be right with you and say, we're going to get into yoke together and
we're going to do something. He says, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. For I am meek and
lowly and hardened, ye shall find rest unto yourselves. For my yoke is easy and my burden is
light. He says, this is a lot easier. Yeah, it's work and it's a burden. It's hard to live for God.
But he says, it's easier than living like hell. Because he says, when you get in the yoke with me,
I'm there pulling with you. I'm right there with you. You're going to like it better
than what you're doing out in the world. That's what he's saying. He says, get in the yoke with me.
So you can say, you know what, I'm saved. I know I'm going to heaven. No matter what I do,
whether I live for God, whether I live like hell, I'm going to heaven because I've believed,
I've been born again, I'm in God's family. But don't you want to take up the invitation
to get in the yoke with Jesus? Or do you want Jesus to pull it all by himself? I mean, good
night. Must Jesus bear the cross alone and all the world go free? No, there's a cross for everyone
and there's a cross for me. And see, Jesus Christ is pulling the yoke. He wants you to get in the
yoke with him. So go ahead and live like hell. Go ahead and live like the world. Go ahead and
say nuts to the things of God and just leave Jesus to pull it by himself. But you know what,
you're not going to find any rest out there in the world. You're going to find a bunch of slavery
and bondage and addiction and pain and sorrow. Or you can say, you know what, I'm going to tighten
the belt a little bit. I'm going to yoke up. I'm going to get ready to work. I'm going to get here
right side by side with you, Jesus, and we're going to work together. Boy, doesn't that sound
good? I mean, he's working with you. Look, the fellowship, here's the final lesson. I'll close.
The fellowship with Jesus is when you're working with Jesus. See, you're never going to be closer
to Jesus than when you're in the yoke with Jesus because then you're just side by side.
The people that I've been the closest with is people that I've worked with.
I mean, people that I've worked together with. You know, my wife, I'm close with my wife because
we're working together on raising children. We work together on all kinds of things.
And so that's where the closeness comes. And look, you say, I just don't feel very close to God.
Start working for God. Get in the yoke with Jesus, doing the work of getting people saved,
of getting people in church, and boy, you'll feel close to God. I guarantee it because you'll be in
the yoke with Jesus. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. God, I thank you so much for the
lesson tonight and just for the clear teaching of the Bible. And Father, I just thank you so
much that you want us to be in the yoke with you and that you give us that invitation.