Turn with me, if you would, to
Matthew chapter 11. Matthew 11. There is something
that I pray we might learn this morning from this particular
text. I sincerely pray that I might
learn something of what our Lord is saying right here. We call
this hour, this first service of the day, our Bible study,
our Sunday school lesson. That's what this is. And I pray
that we might learn something from this this morning. What I want to do is we're going
to go down through most of the remaining verses here. And I
just want to tell you what the Lord is saying right here. And
then I want to come back and dwell on something for just a
minute and point out what I want us, and I'm hoping we'll learn,
okay? Our Lord here is talking about preaching. Matthew 11,
he's talking about preaching. If you look at verse one, 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. Verse
2 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? Jesus answered and
said unto them, Go and show John again those things which you
do hear and see. The blind received their sight,
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." John, John the Baptist, was the forerunner
sent by God to prepare the way of the Lord. He was sent to announce
his coming. All of the Old Testament said
he is coming. And John was sent to acknowledge. Here he is. Here is his ministry. John told the people who came
to him and listened to him that he was not that Christ, but he
was here. He said, there is one standing
among you whose shoes I'm not worthy to untie. And John said, you need to look
to him. That was John's message. I'm
not that prophet, but he's about to begin his ministry and you
need to look on him. You need to behold him. You need to behold him. He is
our only hope of redemption. That was John's message. He is
our only hope of eternal life with God. That's it. So John
said, literally, there he is. He told everybody, there he is,
that's him, look and live. Well, John has now been put in
prison by Herod and from prison, he sends some men to ask the
Lord a question and the Lord answers their question. and they
leave to bring that answer back to John. Are thou he that should
come or do we look for another? And the Lord answered their question
and then they go to bring that answer back to John. Now we pick
up today with verse seven. 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. A reed is a hollow stalk of tall
grass that grows by water. That's what a reed is. It's spineless. All right. So when the wind blows
this way, it bends this way. When the wind blows that way,
it bends that way. And the Lord said, is that what
you expected my messenger to be? Not the true preacher of
God. The true preacher of God stands
firm on Christ alone. Christ alone. He is not influenced
by God's grace only by God's grace. Only if God will keep
him, he is not influenced. Money will not influence him
to bend this way. Denominational leaders and committees
and all those things will not influence him to bend that way. Opposition and persecution will
not cause him to bend out of the way. God's true messenger by God's
grace. And that's what I want to really,
really emphasize by God's grace. If God has his hand on him, By
God's doing, by God's keeping, that messenger will stand firm
on Christ alone. Christ alone. He'll be like a
tree planted by God in the rivers of His water. So verse 7 says,
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? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft clothing
are in king's houses. He said, did you think you'd
find a man who was there to be served? Soft Raymond in a king's
house? Sounds like a privileged man
that expects everybody to serve him. The Lord said, that's not my
prophet. That was not our Lord on both accounts. Not only could
he not be moved, not only did he have his face set like a flint,
this is what he said. He said, I did not come to be
ministered to. but to minister and to give my
life a ransom for many. Verse nine, he said, but what
went ye out for to see, a prophet? He said, did you go out to see
a preacher? You know, you don't have to look
too far to find a preacher. I wish that I could convey to
people, once people find out that a person's a preacher, I
do not advertise at all that I'm a preacher. Because as soon
as you do, everybody's like, oh, okay, well, you know. And men love to advertise I'm
a preacher. And I wish I could convey to
people That doesn't mean anything. Matter of fact, that's a pretty
bad sign. You don't have to look far to
find a preacher at all. Men will put themselves in that
position. There are preachers everywhere,
but I'll tell you this, you have to search far and wide to find
a true messenger of God. And I understand that I'm standing
here right now saying this, but this is the truth of God. You
have to search far and wide. I want to be associated with
every true God called messenger, but just these men who go around
telling everybody, now I'm a preacher. No, thanks. If they are not a true God called
messenger, then they won't preach Christ. It'll be everything but
Christ, but it won't be Christ. And if they don't preach Christ,
I don't want to have anything to do with them. And I don't
want to have anything to do with the condemnation that's going
to come to them. This is what our Lord is saying
right here. They didn't represent John the
Baptist and they don't represent any true God called messenger. Verse nine. He said, but what
went ye out for to see a prophet? Yea, I say unto you and more
than a prophet. The Lord said, he's more than
just a preacher. He's a messenger. That is so
weighty to me. Every time I think about that,
I pray, Lord, send a message. Don't, don't let me come up with
an outline or send a message. Verse 10, for this is he of whom
it is written, behold, I send my messenger before that face,
which shall prepare thy way before thee. God's preachers are messengers
sent with a message sent to prepare the way of the message from the
Lord to the one the message is to. Verse 11. Barely I say unto you among them
that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than
John the Baptist. And in Luke's account, that is
worded a greater prophet. There hath not risen a greater
prophet. This is talking about John being
a prophet and a messenger, a preacher. Verse 11, verily I say unto you,
among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater
than John the Baptist, notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom
of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the
Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence
and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the
law prophesied until John, and if you will receive it, this
is Elias or Elijah, which was for to come, he that hath ears
to hear, let him hear. Now I'm gonna come back and say
something about that in just a second. Verse 16. But where unto shall I liken
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've played this
beautiful music unto you and you haven't danced. You haven't
rejoiced. He goes on to say, we have mourned
unto you and you have not lamented. You haven't cried. Verse 18,
for John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say he
hath the devil. The son of man came eating and
drinking, and they say, behold, a man gluttonous and a winebibber,
a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her
children. He said, John came with his mournful
message of woe. Wasn't that John's message? Woe
unto you. Woe unto you. And he said, it
brought no sorrow to you over your sins. And the Lord Jesus
Christ came with his glorious message of redemption through
his blood, forgiveness of sins. He's the friend of centers. He's
the deliverer of centers. Christ came and brought this
glorious message of grace and truth and deliverance from bondage. And he said, you haven't rejoiced
over it. And that describes the world we live in. That describes
this flesh by nature that described the world in the Lord's day that
describes the world in our day. But he said at the end of verse
19, wisdom is justified of her children. Christ is wisdom. Wisdom is Christ. And he has
a remnant. Thank God he still has a remnant
and they mourn over their sins. They do. He's caused them to,
they mourn over their sins and they rejoice over his salvation. And here's the reason why it's
because of his goodness to them in sending a messenger with the
message of their salvation. All right. Now I want to tell
you a story. that very much illustrates what
our Lord is saying right here. This story has been told many
times. I've heard this so many times. A lot of you have heard
this story too. I never knew that this was a
true story until just recently, all right? This is a true story.
Back around 1930, there was a man named Rupert Lewis and he was
a truck driver in Mississippi. And he left a town called Vicksburg,
Vicksburg, Mississippi. And he had to cross over while
he was driving his truck, he had to cross over a river called
Pearl River. And you can imagine back in 1930
that the roads and the bridges and all that in South Mississippi
is not what it is today. Well, on a particular night,
It was pouring rain. And you know how it, how it is
whenever it's extra rainy, it's cats and dogs. You know what
I'm talking about? And we have rain X on our windshield and
we have these nice, uh, windshield wipers. Okay. This man was in
a 1930 vehicle and it is just pouring rain and the wind is
just sweeping and his little 1930s windshield wipers are doing
nothing. When he got to Pearl River to cross over the bridge,
the bridge wasn't there. The river had risen and washed
the bridge out, all right? So he went right over the hill,
the bank, into the river. And somehow he made it out of
his truck and he crawled up. You can imagine how muddy this
bank is. And he got back on the highway, he is literally covered
in mud, he is soaking wet, and he has just been in an accident
in a 1930 automobile. He looked awful, he looked absolutely
terrible. But he stood in the middle of
the road trying to flag down and stop all the other cars from
going into the river, just like he had. So the first set of headlights
that he saw, he started waving his arms and you can imagine
that this car all of a sudden comes up on this crazy looking
man and they just swerved around him and kept going down into
the river, one by one, down into the river. He said some people
didn't even swerve. He had to jump out of the way.
They were gonna run him over. Before he finally got somebody
to stop, 10 cars and two trucks had gone
into that river and 16 people had died. And it's all because
they would not listen to the steadfast word of a true messenger. That's what our Lord has said
about His generation, our generation, every generation. He's saying,
I came to you. I sent messengers to you. We
have piped. We have mourned. Honestly. And because of that, verse 20,
then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty
works were done, because they repented not. Woe unto thee,
Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! For
if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in
Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth
and ashes. But I say unto you, it shall
be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment
than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art
exalted unto heaven, thou shalt be brought down to hell. For
if the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done
in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto
you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the
day of judgment, then for thee. Verse 25 says, at that time,
Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise
and prudent, those who see themselves as being wise and prudent, and
hast revealed them, revealed them unto babes. He's declaring woe on the world. And as soon as he finishes declaring
this, he gives thanks to God because he hid these things from
the wise and prudent, and he revealed them unto babes. And
why did he do that? Verse 26, even so father, for
so it seemed good in thy sight. Now, here's what I pray we might
learn. Number one, we can see, I can
see how, from what our Lord has said here, how important it is
to have, hear, be, we pray, true messengers. True messengers. It is important to heed the message
of a true messenger. If he's a true messenger, the
message is not his, it's God's, okay? He's just delivering a
message. It's not, the messenger doesn't
come up with anything. He just takes it from point A
to point B. And it's important. It's critical. It's absolutely critical. Now this is what I want us to
get a hold of. This is what I want to get a
hold of. This is what I want all of us to get a hold of. I'm
just going to say the word, humility. Humility. Everything that I've
said, I've been talking about the importance of true preachers
and you need to listen to true preachers and okay. Humility,
humility, humility. We need to receive His message.
This is what He said. We need to receive His message
as babes. But this is what He also said.
We need to preach this message as babes. As babes. Is this important? You better
believe it is. Do we need to stand firm on Christ
alone? You better believe we do. Are
we here to be served? You better believe we're not. We need to deliver this as babes. Even in declaring the greatness
of John's ministry, he said, there's not risen a greater prophet
than John. Even in declaring the critical
importance of heeding the message that he's given to his prophets,
look at how he smothers every bit of it in humility. Look with
me back at verse 11. He said, verily I say unto you,
Among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater
than John the Baptist. Now watch this. He said, not
withstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater
than he. What is the kingdom of heaven? I'm looking at it right here. I'm looking at it right here.
God's messengers are servants of his kingdom. They are called
on by God to serve his people. You think about a dinner table,
a very nice, distinguished dinner event. One man stands up while
everybody else sits down. Who is it? The server. The server. One man sets the food forth.
He said, if you love me, feed my sheep. You go around and you
feed my sheep. God's messengers are servants
called on by God to serve his people. Those who he said have
been made to be kings and priests by the blood of Christ the lamb,
robed in his righteousness. The last thing that should come
with the office of being a servant, if you have to go around and
tell everybody, when we say, well, I'm a preacher, what we're
saying is, well, I'm a servant. And if you go around telling
everybody, I'm a servant, the last thing that should come with
that is pride, self-worth, room for boasting, seeing ourselves
as being something when we are nothing. We are nothing. This is what he said in verse
12. Now watch this verse right here. He said, and from the days
of John the Baptist, all right, John the Baptist was 2000 years
ago at the time of our Lord. From the days of John the Baptist
until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence. And if you
have a center margin, that means is gotten by force. Suffereth violence is gotten
by force. The kingdom of heaven is gotten
by force. And what the word translates
is seized from the days of John the Baptist. The kingdom of heaven
is seized. The kingdom of heaven suffereth
violence and the violent. That word means the forcer, the
one who forces it through. Who's that? God. Jesus Christ. He is the one who
forces it through. He takes his people by force
with the net of the gospel. He lays hold of them by the power
of his spirit until John, the law said, you do this and you'll
live. Man didn't do it. So John came,
God sent the gospel message of Christ through John, and with
that message, he has violently, forcefully captured his people. And what that means is the work
is all his. It's all his. We're not soul winners. We're
servants. And the work is all his, and
there's nothing for his messenger to boast in. The work is all
his. The moment we feel like, you
know, I'm a prophet of God, I'm a prophet of God. The moment
we feel like we have arrived and we have obtained wisdom and
prudence. The Lord said, you remember this.
If you want to have these things revealed to you, you have to
receive it as a babe. You have to be a babe. This is
God's work. And he only uses the lowest of
the low. The least in the kingdom of heaven
is greater than the messenger. That's what God said, greater
than the messenger, because he's being served like a king. I'm
not going to turn, I was gonna turn to a few places to show
you that John knew this humility. All right, I was gonna have you
read where they came to him and they said, you know, they wanna
know what's your name? And he said, I'm not telling
you my name. I'm just a voice in the wilderness. And they asked
him, are you that prophet? And he said, no, I'm not that
prophet. John told his disciples who were following him in his
congregation, he said, there he is. And they all left John
and followed him. And John said, I rejoice. And I'll stop because I don't
wanna, I'm gonna let Cody talk about that tonight. We were talking
about it together. John knew this humility. All
right. Now, if you haven't gotten anything,
get this. Our Lord said among them that
are born of women, our Lord was born of women, of a woman born
of a virgin. Okay? Our Lord said, among them
that are born of women, oh my goodness, I pray this blesses
you. He said, there has not risen a greater prophet than John the
Baptist. And in doing that, he proved he was the most humble
of them all. He humbled himself. He said,
the one who is the least. Our Lord humbled himself. Our Lord was made sin. The high and holy God came down so
low. There was no prophet like Jesus
Christ. No prophet, the man who came
to be a servant to his people. I didn't come to be ministered
to, I came to minister. Here, you sit there, let me serve
you. Let me do this work of service
for you. No example has ever been given
of the humility. He said, you learn of me. I am
meek and lowly in heart. We're about to read that. Not
in this message, but it's coming. That's what he's talking about
here. No humility has ever been seen like the humility of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He made himself of no reputation. I just love that. No reputation. May God teach us something of
this humility. I want to learn something about
it. I'm being serious. For the good of the ministry,
for the good of you, my brethren, I want to learn something of
this. I pray that God might give us the strength to declare his
message and to believe his message without wavering, without bending. But may he cause us to do that
with humility, knowing our place. Let's not ever forget our place. May He give us a heart and a
desire to have the things of His Word revealed to us as babes.
I want to be a babe. I want you to be babes. May all
wisdom and prudence be unto Him. All wisdom unto thee, all prudence
unto thee. May all of this be in His hands
for His glory and not for ours. May that seem good in his sight.
All right, you're dismissed.