Matthew 11 verse 7 the Bible reads and as they departed Jesus began to say
unto the multitudes concerning John what went ye out into the wilderness to see a
reed shaken with the wind the title of sermon tonight is into the wilderness
we'll have a look at what this what this phrase is about what does it mean to go
into the wilderness what did these people aim to see when they went into
the wilderness so let's look let's pick it up from verse number one there Matthew
11 verse 1 the Bible reads and he came to pass when Jesus had made an end of
command in his 12 disciples he departed thence to teach and to preach in their
cities just the first thing that I want to point there verse number one kind of
feels like it's part of the previous chapter it kind of is because Jesus
Christ sends out his 12 apostles into every city he gives them power to cast
out devils to heal the sick to go and preach the gospel so he sends out his
12 but even though he sends out his 12 we see that Jesus himself departs thence
to teach and to preach in their cities now let me say something about this okay
if we look at Jesus Christ as our ultimate example if we look at Jesus
Christ as the chief Shepherd as the Good Shepherd all right as it were the pastor
the pastor of the sheep even though he sends his 12 to go and preach the gospel
he himself goes out into every city into every town to teach and to preach
all right so when I look at a passage like this I'm encouraged as a pastor not
only should I be telling people to go out and do the great works of God not
only should I tell my congregation the need to go and preach the gospel but if
I'm not doing that if I'm not setting a good example within my own church then
I'm not doing I'm not following the steps that Jesus Christ has left us here
in verse number one but let's keep reading verse number two now when John
had heard in the prison the works of Christ he sent two of his disciples you
see John the John here is referencing John the Baptist and we know about John
Baptist he came and prepared the way of the Lord he came and prepared the way
for Jesus Christ that many would come and believe on Jesus Christ and we see
we pick it up here that he's in prison we see this great prophet of God in
prison and we know what the reason for that is if you know okay Herod the
tetrarch or Herod his name is also Herod Antipas you know John the Baptist
had preached against it because he took his brother's wife and he preaches
against him so Herod takes him and puts him into prison because he doesn't want
to hear the Word of God now if you're curious about who this Herod is this is
the son of Herod the Great and if you remember who Herod the Great was at the
birth of Christ Herod the Great tried to kill baby Jesus remember that when he
when he put in order to kill all the children that were two years old and
under that was Herod the Great he ends up dying if you remember when they when
Joseph takes his family to Egypt and so they come back out of Egypt but this is
now Herod that the tetrarch his son he'd taken his his brother Philip's wife and
so we see John the Baptist in prison it says there in verse number three and said
unto him this is this is a message that John the Baptist is sending to Jesus
Christ and he said unto him are thou he that should come or do we look for
another yeah John the Baptist came to prepare the way of the Lord and now we
have John the Baptist in prison he's discouraged and he's asking Christ are
you the Christ are you the one that I came to repair the way for and what I
want to bring to your attention there though even though John the Baptist is a
great man and yes in the in the following chapter a chapter we'll see
how great this man was but even he in the face of persecution even here here
um he being thrown into prison had doubts of Christ even he got to a point
where he got discouraged he got backslidden and he didn't know is this
true the Christ that I had come to prepare the way and let me just tell you
this you might find yourself in a position where you're discouraged you
might find yourself not reading your Bible anymore not truly seeking the Lord
he seemed so far away and you're wondering why is the Lord so far well
you know what is wrong with me am I saved and you start asking these
questions you start having doubts about your faith but let me say this is normal
this is a normal part of life and this is why God gives us the example of John
the Baptist a great prophet of God and even he had doubts you know and let's
keep reading there verse number four had those Jesus replied to reply to the
disciples of John the Baptist says Jesus answered and said unto them go and show
John again those things which ye do hear and see the blind receive their sights
and the lame walk the lepers are cleansed and the death here the dead
are rised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them now what I love
about verse number five okay is this you might not ever help a blind man see like
physically okay you know you know Jesus Christ has not given you those powers
okay you may never see the lame walk you may never cleanse the leper you may
never make the deaf here you may never raise the dead as it were but one thing
you can definitely do in this list is at the end of it and the poor have the
gospel preached to them so Jesus Christ even amongst all these great miracles
of healing the sick and doing all these things Jesus Christ names preaching the
gospel among that okay so I don't want you to ever feel like man I wish I had
these powers look you have a great responsibility Christ has given you the
gospel to preach to your families your friends in the neighborhood and that's
just as mighty as the works of raising the dead and and you know making the
blind to see and all these other things guys you've been given a great privilege
to do the works of God of preaching the gospel and this is how Christ this is
what Christ uses to encourage John the Baptist hey I am the one that is Christ
I am the Messiah I am the one you've come to prepare the way look at these
amazing works that we've done all right now if you're wondering what is Jesus
Christ quoting you don't need to turn though I'll read it to you quickly he's
quoting the book of Isaiah I'll just read it to you it's Isaiah 29 verse 18
it says and in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book and the eyes
of the blind shall see out of out of obscurity and out of darkness the meek
also shall increase the joy in the Lord and the poor among men shall rejoice in
the Holy One of Israel hey who's the Holy One of Israel that's Jesus Christ
you see these poor rejoicing in Jesus Christ why because we have the context
of the New Testament they're rejoicing because they've had the gospel preached
out to them they believed on Christ they've been saved they know their
eternal home in heaven and so what Jesus Christ is telling John the Baptist
hey this is a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy this is the
fulfillment of what Isaiah spoke about yes I'm a fulfillment of that prophecy
but so are you John the Baptist he's encouraging John the Baptist look at
verse number six and then he says and blessed yeah we're reading from Matthew
11 guys if you want to turn there Matthew 11 verse 6 it says and blessed
is he whosoever shall not be offended in me so saying John the Baptist look don't
be offended and yes John the Baptist was offended he was in prison you know I
thought he's doing the great works of God why do I find myself here but here's
a reality guys of the Word of God we must be believers that are non
compromising when it comes to the Word of God you know I've got to be a pastor
a preacher that will not compromise what the Word of God says if that means I
could potentially be cast into prison for preaching the Bible then so be it
now my flesh doesn't want to say that okay in my flesh I'd rather be
protected I'd rather always know that I'm safe okay I don't want to be thrown
into prison in my flesh okay but this the new man the Spirit of God that
indwells in us it wants the Word of God preached without compromise it wants the
Word of God preached even if it offends the authorities even if it means it
brings persecution again amongst believers so be it okay this is a
reality of the of the scriptures hey we've been given the great privilege of
our sins forgiven eternal homes in heaven you know if we're cast into
prison for the Word of God look it's just a temple thing you know the things
that matter are what's eternal the rewards in heaven that God has prepared
for us so it's encouraging don't John the Baptist in verse 6 don't be offended
in me John and then verse number 7 look look at verse number 7 and as they
departed Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John so just in
case these multitudes are like man this John the Baptist has really failed the
Lord and you know what why is he doubting what why is what's going on just
in case here we see how Jesus uplifts John the Baptist okay look at it verse
number 7 what went ye out into the wilderness to see a reed shaken in the
wind so Jesus here sells the multitudes because a lot of them were disciples or
followers were listeners of John the Baptist and John came preparing the way
the Lord he pointed him to Christ so then they went from John the Baptist and
went following Christ it's a great thing okay so he goes what went ye out
into the wilderness to see why would you go into the wilderness it's a place
without luxuries it's a place that's lacking food and resources why would you
go out there he says and it says a reed to see a reed shaking in the wind did
you just go to the wilderness to look at a wheat that's been moved by the wind is
that what you went to see you know and what I'm reminded of here is that John
the Baptist is not obviously is not the reed shaking in the wind okay and as
believers as preachers of the Word of God we ought not to be people that is
tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine and we ought to be believers
that are established that are strong that hey you may need to hear some
wilderness preaching in your life you may need to hear some rough preaching
your life but hey it's the rough preaching it's the wilderness preaching
that can change your lives it's the wilderness preaching that will help you
mature and grow and be a greater Christian let's keep reading verse
number seven sorry verse number eight and what we when you had to see what
did you go to illness that's all about John the Baptist a man clothed in soft
raiment did you go to the wilderness to see a man clothed in soft clothing you
know silky clothes you know fancy clothes is that the guy you went to see
in the wilderness no this is behold they that wear soft clothing are in the
king's houses hey it's the it's the rich it's the powerful it's it's it's the
kings and and the king's house that wears the soft clothing you didn't go
and see him hey how was John the Baptist dressed remember he had camel skin he
had a leather go to a leather belt you know around him you know he was like he
was a wild man a rough man he ate our honey and locusts I mean this guy ate
insects okay for his nourishment this I mean I don't have any of you I've been
to I've been to Bangkok in Thailand and for for work and you know on the on the
streets they sell insects you know to eat it's like you know and they
challenged me can you eat this I know I'm not gonna eat that we had a
challenge for work like a team a team building till team bonding thing and I
wouldn't I just pretended to eat it I didn't need I couldn't do it I'm just
not as rough as John the Baptist but I got I got to work toward that okay I got
to work that but this is John the Baptist doing great works have got a
rough man eating insects eating honey and let's keep reading their verse
number line but what when he had to see a prophet yeah I say unto you and more
than a prophet this guy's even this man that you came to see is a great prophet
and yet he's a prophet of the wilderness okay he doesn't have the luxurious
church building he doesn't have the luxurious clothing he doesn't have the
long robes okay but you went out to see him because you wanted to hear the
preaching of God's Word you wanted to see someone strong you wanted to see
here some wilderness preaching you wanted to to know who the Christ was and
he he pointed you to me you went there to get baptized and do all these things
and then he says in verse number 10 for this is he of whom it is written behold
I send my messenger before thy face which shall prepare thy way before thee
now what I want you to do guys is keep your finger there in Matthew and turn to
Malachi chapter 3 please turn to Malachi chapter 3 this is really this is really
important if you can turn there Malachi chapter 3 okay Malachi chapter 3 because
what is Jesus speaking about here in verse number 10 I'll just read verse
number 10 again for this is he of whom it is written where is it written
Malachi chapter 3 behold I send my messenger before thy face which shall
prepare thy way before thee now I just want you to notice what Malachi 3
one says look at this it says behold I will send my messenger and he shall
prepare the way before me who let's read it again behold I will send my messenger
and he shall prepare the way before me and the Lord whom you split you seek
shall suddenly come to his temple even the messenger of the Covenant whom you
delight in behold he shall come saith the Lord of hosts hey who did John the
Baptist come to prepare the way for the way of God of me God says of me and
Jesus Christ is calling us from the book of Malachi here in Matthew chapter what
are we chapter I'm getting confused guys 11 Matthew chapter 11 and so so he's
telling the people hey John the Baptist was this prophesied messenger and he
came preparing the way of God okay this is Jesus Christ affirming his deity
affirming that he is the Lord God Almighty okay so we see that Jesus
Christ lifts up John the Baptist and one thing I want you to understand here is
that John the Baptist was depressed he was down he had doubts but how does
Jesus respond does Jesus criticize him they say John the Baptist you're an
idiot why discouraged why you let down no you see he encourages John the
Baptist he speaks well of him and guys the same thing for you you know you and
your spiritual walk might be let down you might be discouraged you might be
backslidden and you might be ashamed to come before the Lord and say Lord help
me encourage me but it's exactly what God wants to do for you it's exactly
what he wants to do he wants to encourage you and speak well of you
speak highly of you okay he wants you back on your feet encouraged preparing
yourselves preparing the way of the Lord how yourselves doing the work that
God has left us to do okay we've all been given work by our Lord God to
accomplish and look at this number 11 go back to Matthew Matthew 11 please verse
number 11 Matthew 11 verse 11 and look look what Jesus says about John the
Baptist verily I sound to you among them that are born of women they have not
risen a greater than John the Baptist that's that's amazing words all right I
mean among them that are born of women that's all the men that have ever
existed of all the people that ever existed he says John the Baptist is the
greatest okay and there we have John the Baptist in prison okay but he's in
prison for preaching the Word of God all right now look what it says here and
some people struggle with it with a second part of this verse it says not
withstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he so
some people get this confused but let me explain this very simply okay John the
Baptist the greatest man that ever lived as far as Jesus Christ is concerned okay
the greatest man you can be greater than him okay and how you say how can I be
greater than him by just being the least by just playing being the least in the
kingdom of heaven okay say look if all you do in your life is get saved you
hear the gospel you get saved you have you you know you have the foundation of
Christ in your life you know what when you get to heaven you're gonna have the
greater riches you're gonna have greater honor you're gonna have a greater life
than the great things you can accomplish on this earth okay so I want you to
think about this perspective it's not saying that John the Baptist is the
least in the kingdom of heaven it's not what it's saying it's just saying the
being the least in heaven is better than all the success you can have in this
life okay that's what it's saying so of course look I don't think any of us if
John the Baptist by Jesus standard is the best I don't think any of us are
going to be greater than John the Baptist in heaven okay but being the
least is still better than being like the best pastor on this earth okay this
this temporary life that we have in comparison to eternity is very small
it's very insignificant okay this is why God has given us our lives so we can
focus on eternity so we can be well this is gonna be awesome in heaven and build
our treasures there then our focus would not be on just temple things we wouldn't
be just be focusing on how much money we can make in this life but we can be
focused and on the treasures that we can have in heaven because that's where it's
gonna matter that's where that's where eternity is that's what matters in the
long run okay heaven verse number 12 and verse number 12 guys I don't know
I'm gonna give you my best shot at this all right verse number 12 and I'll be
honest with you verse number 12 for me has been something I've only learned a
few months ago okay but let's look at verse number 12 it says and from the
days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffered violence and
the violent take it by force say what is that about okay now I'll give you just
one quick thing that I've heard people struggle this verse a lot okay now that
I understand that I don't think it's that confusing but people really
struggle this one teaching I've heard is they're talking about the Roman Empire
they're saying the kingdom of heaven that's the kingdom of Israel and you
know since John since the days of John the Baptist the kingdom of heaven or
Israel suffers violence because of the Roman Empire being being under the
authority of the of the Gentile nations that's something that I've heard but
that makes no sense at all okay the reason it doesn't make any sense it says
verse 12 and from the days of John the Baptist okay so Roman Empire if you know
your history before John the Baptist they were ready they already had control
over that land okay so doesn't make sense that it's from the days of John
the Baptist but I think the key here to understand here in verse 13 is this it
says for all the prophets and the law prophesied until John okay now verse 13
when it says for all the prophets and the law what are we talking about we're
talking about the Old Testament Scripture okay the Old Testament
Scripture there's two ways to look at this that the Old Testament Scriptures
and we know that at the end of the Old Testament it prophesies of John the
Baptist coming into the world to prepare the way of the Lord that's one way to
look at it that the law and the prophets the prophets and the law prophesied
until John meaning they prophesied of John that was the last thing they
prophesied of that's one possible scenario of looking at this the other
way of looking at this is that all of the Old Testament were until John the
Baptist because when you look at John the Baptist he was the last Old
Testament prophet and then we have Jesus Christ who had his death and
resurrection brought in the New Testament okay so we see that John the
Baptist in that sense is also the last of the Old Testament prophets now let's
understand what's going on here guys keep your finger there keep your finger
there turn to Galatians chapter 3 please this is a bit of a Bible study but let's
look at this Galatians chapter 3 verse 21 Galatians chapter 3 verse 21 so we
know this is about the Old Testament verse 13 made that clear okay for all
the prophets and the law prophesied until John what is God's purpose for the
law what is God's purpose for the commands and the laws that God has given
us in the Old Testament it's it's found here in Galatians chapter 3 verse 21
Galatians chapter 3 verse 21 it says is the law then against the promises of God
God forbid for if there had been a law given which could have given life
verily righteousness should have been by the law now let me just quickly talk
about a false doctrine that's out there some people say that the Old Testament
Saints the ultimate prophets were saved by works they were saved by keeping the
law that's such a ridiculous teaching because we know that no flesh can be
saved by keeping the law and verse number 21 makes it clear right it said
there for if there had been a law which could have given life meaning that no
amount of law keeping can give anybody any life okay let's keep reading verse
number 22 but the scripture have concluded all under sin that the promise
by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe hey how do we get
the gift of faith or how do we believe how do we how do we are how are we no
longer under sin by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ verse 23 but before
faith came we were kept under the law shut up unto the faith which should
afterwards be revealed now look at this verse 24 wherefore the law was our
schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith but
after that faith is come we are no longer under a schoolmaster so what is
the purpose of the law of the prophets and the law what's the purpose of the
Old Testament it says that we see ourselves as sinners okay we see
ourselves as sinners it's the schoolmaster that will bring us to Christ
because it's when you realize that you're a sinner when you realize you've
come short of the glory of God that's the point when you realize I need a
Savior I need Jesus Christ he died for me it's a free gift it's my faith great
this is good news I'm gonna believe on him all right say what does this have to
do about the violent taking it by force we'll get there all right turn to
Genesis 21 now Genesis 21 verse 25 Genesis 21 verse 25 I just want to
compare scripture with scripture here because a lot of people struggle with
that verse okay but I believe I have the answer now so I want to tell you I want
to tell you guys what that is go to Genesis 21 verse 25 because when we
compare scripture with scripture it really helps us understand some maybe
cryptic words or cryptic verses in the Bible Genesis 21 verse 25 now look at
this and Abraham reproved Abimelech now just quick history Abimelech was the
king that wanted to marry Abraham's wife and Abraham kind of lied it said oh
that's my sister they were that it was his half-sister or something like that
okay but that's Abimelech and then now they want to they want to have peace
okay they want to they want to have a covenant between the two of them it says
and Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech's
servants had violently taken away hey that kind of sounds like what we saw
before about the the violent take it by force the kingdom of heaven by force
okay do you notice here that Abimelech's servants had violently taken away a well
of water that Abraham wanted to use for his you know for his servants for his
flocks and if you get the context of this the reason why Abraham's upset
about this is because Abraham himself dug this well it was Abraham's well and
Abimelech's servants had tried to take it away had oh you know from from from
Abraham so what I want to explain to you there is violently taking something away
was something that belonged to someone and then they stole that away and Bible
uses the words violently taken away can you guys turn to Leviticus now
Leviticus chapter 6 verse 1 Leviticus chapter 6 verse 1 Leviticus chapter 6
verse 1 the Bible says and the Lord spake unto Moses saying and look at this
if a soul sin and commit a trespass against the Lord and lie unto his
neighbor in that which was delivered him to keep or in fellowship or in any or in
a thing taken away by violence or have deceived his neighbor so we have here in
Leviticus some other sins some other crimes that can be committed and if your
neighbor's given you something but you've taken that away you've stolen
that away it's something the neighbor cannot use did you notice that it said
or in a thing taken away by violence taken away by violence okay because the
word violence means violates you know when you steal something from someone
you have violated that person they cannot use that object that they once
had you violently taken that away now go to the book of Deuteronomy please
Deuteronomy chapter 16 or 28 sorry Deuteronomy chapter 28 you're not far
from there Deuteronomy chapter 28 verse 31 I just want to show you the
consistency of the Bible and then we'll go back to Matthew 20 Matthew 11
Deuteronomy chapter 28 verse 31 now look at this and by the way Deuteronomy
chapter 28 starts off by God blessing Israel God says to Israel if you keep my
commands if you follow after me then I'm gonna bless you okay but then he says to
Israel if you disobey my commands you break my commands you move away from me
then I'm gonna curse you what we're reading here in verse 31 is part of that
curse part of the curse that God would put upon the people of Israel and it
says in verse 31 thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes and that shall not eat
thereof thine ass that's your donkey shall be violently taken away from
before thy face and shall not be restored to thee thy sheep shall be
given unto thine enemies and thou shall have none to rescue them so do you
notice there that part of the curse of God is that a man's donkey there shall
be violently taken away okay now let me just just think about this guys you know
we've gone through the exercise for a reason do you think when someone
violently takes something away do you think that's a good thing or a bad it's
a bad thing okay someone's still in something that belongs to another it's a
curse of God as it were as well okay and so we definitely see that as a negative
thing go back to Matthew 11 please Matthew 11 Matthew 11 now I'm gonna
read to you from another passage a parallel passage in the book of Luke I'm
just gonna read to you from Luke 16 verse 16 once I've read this we can
start putting it all together Luke 16 verse 16 it's very similar it says the
law and the prophets were until John since that time the kingdom of God is
preached and every man presseth into it okay let's under Luke 16 16 is easier to
understand okay let's look at this it says that the law of the prophets were
until John so we know it's from the days of John the Baptist since that time the
kingdom of God is preached why because when John the Baptist came on the scene
Israel was in a really dark spiritual place okay there were ungodly rebellious
people it's John the Baptist that came and prepared a new generation to follow
after Christ to serve Christ to believe on Christ this is why John the Baptist
is so important in the New Testament all right now it says when the kingdom of
God is preached and every man presseth into it you see here's the truth of the
of the Bible every man wants to go into the kingdom of God every man wants to be
saved every man wants to know how can I make myself right with God and as soul
winners you're gonna say no that's not true because I knock on their doors and
they say I'm not interested look that's what they ignorantly say to you that
they are not interested but the honest truth is they would want nothing more
than to know exactly what they must do to be saved okay so the Bible said there
in Luke 16 every man presseth against it yeah into it everyone wants to know
okay and this is why it's so important that we be people that preach the gospel
because people out in our community want to know how do I make sure I enter the
kingdom of God but what has Satan done Satan set up his false religions the
false Gospels the works based Gospels the other Gospels the other Jesus's the
other spirits you know the other so-called Christian churches that are
leading people to hell okay but notice every man wants to know what do I need
to do to go to heaven the devil and his minions you know make sure that it's
it's clouded it's difficult to understand so when you go back to
Matthew 11 let's understand this now Matthew 11 verse 12 Matthew 11 verse 12
and from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffer
violence and the violent take it by force what's going on here we have John
the Baptist wanting to preach the gospel what do we have we have violent
people and if you've read your Gospels you know who these people are it's the
Pharisees it's the Sadducees it's the scribes it's the rulers the people in a
fiery the people that were leaders in temples in synagogues these were the
violent that would take away the kingdom of heaven from those that are trying to
press in to know the truth you see this is the battle that we all have guys we
have the truth of the Word of God every man wants to know it okay and I it's up
to you are you gonna take it to your community or not because here's what's
going on you've got the the Jehovah Witnesses you've got the Mormons you've
got everyone else out there trying to get their gospel out as it were you know
that they're they're violently taking away that kingdom and then and they're
replacing it with something else they're replacing it with something difficult
they're placing it replacing it with something evil okay so they will be
blinded from the truth of God's Word so this is how I understand that verse if
you guys have been wondering is that hey these people are working against John
the Baptist against on baptism and you'll know that if you've read all
your gospel you you'll know that there are plenty of people trying to blind the
eyes of people that are wanting to trust on Jesus Christ it's the same today back
in Matthew 11 verse 14 Matthew 11 verse 14 I better hurry up
Matthew 11 verse 14 and Jesus says and if you will receive it this is Elias
that's Elijah which was for to come he that hath ears let him hear sorry he
that hath ears to hear let him hear so I won't go I had a whole thing here but
basically just very just very quickly summarize this John the Baptist did not
recognize himself as the fulfillment of prophecy as as Elijah coming before I'll
read it to you quickly in in Malachi 4 5 it says behold I will send you Elijah
the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord and
he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the
children to their fathers lest I come and smite the earth with a curse
actually this is really important let me touch on this point okay why was John
the Baptist so important before Christ came it just said it there in Malachi
4 5 5 by verse 6 it says lest I come and smite the earth with a curse you know
what if John the Baptist did not come before Christ Christ would have turned
up and be like look at this wicked nation just smite them with a curse
it's just gonna destroy the nation of Israel because their hearts were so
darkened was so turned against the Lord that the Lord would just come and smite
them with a curse this is why John the Baptist had to come as a forerunner and
get a new people prepared to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ but here's the
thing the Bible the Old Testament calls John the Baptist Elijah and we know that
Elijah and the Old Testament was a prophet but then when Elijah is asked
the question you Elijah he says no but then when Jesus says Jesus says yep that
was Elias that was yeah that was Elias which was to come now that's not to say
that Elijah got reincarnated okay it's not like Elijah was back physically in
that form okay but that John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah he
was very similar to Elijah okay well if people knew Elijah they saw John the
Baptist they go man this is this is like the same guy you know have you ever you
know has anyone ever said to you you know you remind me of such-and-such you
remind me of this person you remind me of that person it's kind of the same
thing I remember when I went went to um one of my old churches victory Baptist
Church like the first time I went there you know I didn't know anybody and there
was a lady just kept looking at me just kept looking at me I'm like why is she
looking at me at the end of service she came out to me and said can I just ask
who your parents are so I gave my parents name I knew it I knew that you
were the son of you know Ernesto you know and she only knew me as a little
like she knew me as a little baby I've never met this lady before before that
you know she knew me as a little baby but for some reason none of my my
appearance or my mannerism reminded her of my dad of you know of my father so
it's kind of the same thing when John the Baptist came on the scene it's not
like he was Elijah reincarnated it's just that he was so similar to Elijah
and so he came in that same spirit in the same power of Elijah but yeah I had
a whole other thing to cover there we'll move on verse number 16 please Matthew
11 verse 16 and this is another passage of scripture that I've never really been
able to really grab ahold of what's it saying there but I again I have an
answer now it says verse 16 but where unto shall I like in this generation it
is like unto children sitting in the markets and calling unto their fellows
and saying we have piped unto you and you have not danced we have mourned unto
you and you have not lamented and if you're looking at that going what is
that about then yeah that's where I was okay but the next verses kind of help us
understand that look at verse number 18 he goes for John came neither eating nor
drinking and they say okay these are those that take the kingdom of heaven
violently by force those Pharisees those Sadducees wherever they were it's
them okay for they say he hath a devil say why did they say that John the
Baptist had a devil because this guy was in the wilderness he wasn't eating and
drinking he was in the locusts okay he was a wild man and these people would
say he's of the devil but look at verse 19 the son of man referring to Jesus
Christ himself he goes came eating and drinking hey I'm going in I'm going in
I'm invited to feast I'm going in and eating I'm drinking and they say what
do they say about Jesus behold a man gluttonous and a winebibber a friend of
publicans and sinners but wisdom is justified of her children so they
criticize John the Baptist because yet he was without he wasn't feasting he
wasn't eating and drinking right he was in the wilderness but Jesus Christ comes
and you know the stories many times he's invited to people's houses they feast
and they eating he's eating he's drinking you know and they criticize
Jesus you know they say gluttonous they say you know he eats too much or he's a
winebibber he's a drunkard they say about him okay these are false
accusations made about Jesus Christ and what Jesus Christ is saying here it's
kind of like for some people you know you're damned if you do and you're
damned if you don't it's what he's saying okay it doesn't matter what John
the Baptist was like they would still criticize him Jesus comes you know doing
things differently they criticize him okay now if we backtrack there in verse
number 17 just to help us understand that and saying we have piped unto you
and you have not danced we have mourned unto you and you have not lamented it's
like these people are never satisfied okay they they pipe they play music but
you're not dancing okay it's like John it's like John the Baptist why aren't
you eating and drinking you know and you're not doing it and then to Jesus
why are you eating and drinking okay that they're being critical it doesn't
matter what they do they're never satisfied we've with the response of the
people of God and the only thing that I want to take out of this passage just
for your for your understanding is you can't make everybody happy okay and this
is a realization that I've learned as a pastor okay of a church obviously in
Queensland and here I just had to realize you know I love you guys I do I
love the Brethren you know I don't travel down from Queensland every week
just for myself okay I do it for you guys I really do love you but I realize
that I can't make everybody happy okay and I just have to make sure that I'm
doing what God has asked me to do I've got to make sure that I just preach the
Word of God all right and if you pipe and I don't dance well so be it all
right that's just the way it is like you can't make everybody happy and that's
what Jesus Christ is saying that these guys are just never satisfied no matter
how the the prophets of God act or behave they will never accept the
prophets of God okay let's keep reading verse number 20 now this is really
important okay because before I before I read that I'll just say to you guys have
you ever have you ever been told by people you know shouldn't Chris I'll say
shouldn't Christians be like told like shouldn't I have tolerance that they say
doesn't Christianity teach tolerance okay because here's the thing we preach
against abortions we preach against homosexuality we preach against sins
okay we preach against things that that God teaches us and people will say well
where's your tolerance doesn't Christianity teach tolerance and you
know what it does teach tolerance it does but it's right here in this passage
let's look at it what does Jesus Christ teach this number 20 then began he to
abrade the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done because they
repented not so you see Christ was going around cities doing great works but many
of them would not repent many of them would not believe on Christ look this is
in verse 21 well once you are chosen well once you Bethsaida hey these are
Jewish cities these are Jewish towns Jesus says to them well unto you for if
the mighty works which were done to you had been done in Tyre and Sidon they
would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes now Tyre and Sidon
if you don't know these are Gentile cities so it's saying well to you Jewish
cities because if I did these works in these Gentile cities they would have
repented okay and you guys know you've not done that okay and then it says in
verse 22 but I sent you now here's the word it shall be more tolerable for Tyre
and Sidon at the day of judgment then for you there's the tolerance now let me
just read to you quickly from Luke 6 17 I just read this to you very quickly and
he came this story in Jesus and he came down with them and stood in the plain
and the company of his disciples and a great multitude of people out of all
Judea and Jerusalem so that's the Jews and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon
that's the Gentiles which came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases
so this is true you know Jesus did not go to the Gentile cities he was focused
on Jerusalem in Judea but when the Gentiles heard of Jesus Christ they're
like we've got to go and see him we got to go and then they went to hear him
they were healed of their diseases this is true Jesus Christ was able to do
mighty works amongst the Gentiles as well so it's criticizing these Jewish
cities where they have Jesus Christ there and it says look it's gonna be
more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment then for you hey look
there's come in a time when every man is gonna be judged by God now if you're a
believer praise God you're not gonna be judged for your sins you're not gonna
be judged for rejecting Christ okay you're gonna be judged for the works
that you've done for Christ and Christ will reward you okay you're not gonna
have to answer for your sins because Jesus Christ already nailed those sins
on the cross 2,000 years ago okay your past present and future sins you know
praise God we're not gonna be judged for our sins we'll be judged by our works
okay so try to make sure your works have eternal value okay it's gonna
matter when you stand before God but for the non-believing they're gonna stand
before the great white throne judgment of God they will also be judged by the
works say why are you gonna be judged by their works because they believe they
can be saved by their works they believe hey I'm a good person I've done my best
for God and God's gonna judge their so-called goodness next to the law of
God next to the perfection of God and they're gonna come short okay they're
gonna come short and they're gonna be thrown into the lake of fire but notice
that on the day of judgment for the non-believing cities it's gonna be more
tolerable for some than for others okay meaning that hell is not this equal
place okay it's not like equal suffering in hell for those that had the greater
opportunity those these people in these cities where Christ did his amazing
works but they still rejected him it's gonna be more tolerable for the city
that didn't have Christ there okay and they still didn't believe but because
they've had the works done they're gonna suffer a more terrible punishment okay
it's gonna be more tolerable for the ones that didn't have the opportunities
as other people now I want you to consider this you know this is really
important because you know I have children many of you guys have your own
children you know we go to church we grow up into church our children go to
church and I want you to make sure you never neglect your children okay I've
been in church my whole life how many times have I seen children go up into
teenagers they want nothing to do with church you know how many children do I
see grow up and want nothing to do with Christ they grow up and they're not even
saved okay they've had the opportunity to hear the gospel they maybe you heard
it week in and week out sometimes parents we let down our kids we think oh
we're just bringing to church and they're gonna get it no parents we need
to invest our time into our children because if our children hear the gospel
they come to church they hear the good news but they don't believe it they
reject it reject it reject it hey they might get to a point when they stand
before God and it's gonna be more tolerable for others than it is for them
okay it's really really important let's keep reading verse number 23 and that
Capernaum this is another Jewish city which are exalted unto heaven shall be
brought down to hell so we know this judgment is the judgment to hell here
okay we brought down to hell for if the mighty works which were have been done
indeed had been done in Sodom it would have remained until this day we know the
story of Sodom and Gomorrah we know that Christ rained down fire and brimstone on
these cities okay and destroyed them okay that reprobate city but you know
before they got to that point Christ says if I came did the works in Sodom
they would have repented okay before they got to that point of rejection to
Christ okay and look I mean how bad is Sodom Gomorrah and yet for Capernaum
it's gonna be worse for the non-believers in Capernaum their suffering
in hell is gonna be worse than for those that die that perished in the story of
Sodom and Gomorrah so we see yes the Bible teaches tolerance it's about hell
okay it's how bad you know how tolerable hell be for some people you know for
those that were you know you know exceedingly wicked for those that had
the opportunities but they still rejected Christ hey their suffering in
hell is going to be so much worse than for others that maybe just ignorantly
went about life you know whatever and and died a relatively reasonable person
I suppose they're still going to hell but they're not gonna suffer they it's
gonna be more tolerable for them than it is for those that had the opportunity
let's keep reading verse number 25 verse number 25 and at this time Jesus
answered and said I thank thee Oh Father Lord of heaven and earth because thou
has hid these things from the wise and prudent and has revealed them unto
babes even so father for so it seems good in thy sights so the wise and
prudent that Jesus speaking of here that was obviously that generation that
is critical of John the Baptist critical of Jesus Christ but he says look the
Father has allowed this to be revealed unto babes hey what's he talking about
you see for us to receive Christ for us to know what the Word of God says okay
we can't be wise and prudent in our own eyes we can't be that way we've got to
be like babes we've got to have the humility of little children you know
parents you tell your child something and they'll believe you you know
children out there kind of wondering you know dad said this is that true is that
no if you tell your children something they'll just believe it okay it's the
same thing when we learn about the gospel all of us if you've been saved
all of us had to get to a point of humility and go well that's the word
what the Word of God says that's what it says I guess I have to believe on Christ
I realize that I can't be wise and prudent I can't be puffed up I can't be
prideful I can't get myself to heaven I have to lower myself and accept what
Christ has done unto me hey but this is the same thing even after you're saved
you know even as a preacher when I study my Bible to bring your sermon I've got
to come as a little babe okay because it gets things get revealed to babes things
get revealed to those that have humility if I come here trying to impress you
with my wisdom and and my understanding in my and my studies that's not what
it's about you know I'm trying to come and preach the Word of God to you and I
try to come with humility because I you know I've got a fear like as far as God
is concerned you're like the best people in the world you're like you're like
you're the best people okay you're the children of God and God says to me can
you feed my children I mean think about how scary that is like for a minute if
you're going to think about that right put it this way and you probably don't
even care about the Queen of England but let's say you were chef and you were
hired to cook a meal for the Queen of England okay and you were just you
probably don't care because you're a believer you're like whatever okay but
if you were just a worldly person you're like you're gonna be nervous aren't you
you're gonna be afraid you're gonna be you're gonna be like man I hope this
person you know enjoys my cooking I hope it I hope I don't mess it up hey when I
come preaching to you it's the same thing you know the Word of God is is the
food of the spirits it's the bread okay it's a bread for the spirit and when I
come preparing a sermon it's the same thing I know you guys in God's eyes are
the most important people in the world okay you're his children and he's like
can you feed them please I'm like oh man I realize now just how important the job
is as a pastor as a preacher okay but the only way I'm going to get the the
wisdom of God the insight and the food to feed your spirits is by being a babe
by being humble and hearing from the Word of God let's keep reading verse
number 27 and we're just we'll just wrap it up now but verse 27 I want to expand
too much on these verses says all things are delivered unto me of my
father and no man knows the son but the father neither know if any man the
father saved the son and he to whomsoever the son will reveal him you
see the only way to the father the only way to the father is through the son for
the son by through Jesus Christ and of course John 14 6 Jesus saith unto him I
am the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the father but by me you
see these these Jews these people that rejected Christ they wanted to make it
to the father but they didn't want to do it through the son Jesus Christ was
coming doing great works you know teach them great things often himself and they
still rejected him and it's just reminding hey without me we have a son
you're not going to make it to the father let's keep reading verse 28 and
this is a promise for us guys this is the promise for us okay verse 28 says
come unto me all ye that labor and a heavy laden and I will give you rest
okay so first thing if we want to apply this to salvation again how many people
say you've got a labor to get saved you've got to do the heart the good
works you've got to try really hard you've got to try to stop sinning you've
got to go to church you've got to get baptized you've got to do this you've
got to do that you've got to keep that sacrament you got to keep that
sacrament no okay labor into heaven is not going to get you there Jesus says
come unto me all ye that labor and a heavy laden and I will give you rest you
see salvation has been completely paid for by the works of Jesus Christ all
that's required from us is to rest in him to rest in the in the work that he
has done and once you've done that once you've been saved verse 29 Jesus says
take my yoke upon you hey what's a yoke something that that's that puts two
things together Jesus Christ wants to work with us take my yoke upon you and
learn of me for I am meek and lowly in the heart and you shall find rest unto
your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light so how do I serve the
Lord how do I do the works that God has left me to do is it gonna require a lot
of my time is it gonna require a lot of my effort no his yoke is easy okay his
burden is lights okay all you need to do guys is spend time with the Lord all you
need to do is be praying okay be speaking to the Lord all you need to do
is open his word and read the Bible okay all you need to do is come to church and
sit down and praise the Lord and then listen to preach and now all you have to
do and this is the hardest part is go out there and preach the gospel to this
lost and dying world yes it's a little hard on the body sometimes okay but
really you're repeating the same great news you know that you've received that
you've enjoyed receiving and you're just feeding that to other people okay so the
yoke of God is easy he doesn't want us you know laboring hard look Jesus done
all the hard work and when you when he asked you to labor with him he says it's
a yoke you're working with him you're learning from him okay so I hope that
gives you a good understanding of Matthew chapter 11 if there's anything
that I felt like I skipped for a lot of things that I had prepared just to save
time but if there's any questions if you feel like I haven't covered something
clearly enough please let me know after the service okay let's