So we're in, we're going to Luke
chapter 7 and we're going to read from verse 24. Luke chapter 7 and verse 24. You remember the Lord has been
speaking to a couple of the disciples of John the Baptist and then
it says in verse 24, And when the messengers of John were departed,
he began to speak unto the people concerning John, What went ye
out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind. But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously
apparelled And live delicately are in kings' courts. But what
went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you,
and much more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written,
Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare
thy way before thee. For I say unto you, among those
that are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than
John the Baptist, but he that is least in the kingdom of God
is greater than he. And all the people that heard
him and the publicans justified God. being baptised with the
baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers
rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptised
of him. And the Lord said, Whereunto
then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what
are they like? They are like unto children sitting
in the marketplace and calling one to another and saying, we
have piped unto you and ye have not danced, we have mourned to
you and ye have not wept. For John the Baptist came neither
eating nor drinking wine, and ye say, he hath a devil. The
son of man is come eating and drinking, and ye say, behold,
a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners.
But wisdom is justified of all her children. Amen. May the Lord
bless to us this reading from his word. The Lord allowed John's
two disciples to leave and return to their master with the answers
concerning Christ's power and doctrine. I'm sure that these
two men, whoever they were, I'm sure that they were convinced
of Christ's true identity by what they'd seen and heard. As
we mentioned last time, it was not John the Baptist who was
undecided or unsure concerning Christ's identity and whether
we should look for another. John's design in sending these
two disciples was much higher and much more noble. By facilitating
this meeting, by orchestrating this personal encounter between
Jesus and his disciples, John was bringing his own ministry
to its end, to its conclusion, in a most kind and considerate
way. He was taking care of the future
spiritual needs of his close friends and helpers. As his own
ministry came to its end and the days of his life fast ran
to their close, he was passing the baton and committing the
welfare of his followers and indeed his movement into Christ's
hands. I was reminded recently that
John was only 30 years of age at this time. Think about that. Think about the people that you
know who are 30. He wasn't a boy, but he certainly was only a young
man. and yet here he is acting with
a maturity of a man perhaps twice his age in making provision for
those who had gathered around him in the short but effective
period of his preaching and baptising ministry. While continuing at
the same time his greatest work of identifying the Messiah and
pointing others to the Saviour, Jesus Christ. The Lord allowed
John's two disciples to leave because what he was about to
say greatly honoured John, greatly honoured his cousin. But there
was no need for John's disciples to hear this. in case perhaps
they suspected that Jesus was merely flattering John for their
sakes. But as they left, Jesus turned
back to his audience and he asked, what went ye out into the wilderness
for to see? These people had gone out to
see John, They had gone out to hear him preach. They had gone
out into the wilderness to see a reed shaken with the wind. And yet Jesus was asking them
this question. Had John in his preaching been
fickle? Had he been evasive? Had he been
in any way indecisive? Like perhaps a reed blown in
the wind? We might say today a candle in
the wind. Had the prophet been ambiguous? about what he preached and what
he stated? Not at all. He had been forceful
and he had been clear. John had not been draped in fine
apparel like a king. He didn't wear the long robes
of the scribes and the Pharisees or the priests who lined their
pockets and made themselves rich by their religion. and enjoyed
the luxurious lives by wheeling and dealing and conniving politically
with Herod and the Romans. John was an honest preacher. John had a God-given task and
he fulfilled it boldly and emphatically. He confronted sinners, he condemned
hypocrisy and he called for righteousness. and many who heard him among
the people, especially the publicans, were challenged, they repented,
and they were baptised. John was a prophet, the prophet,
the prophet who'd been repeatedly promised in the Old Testament
as the one ordained to prepare the way for the Messiah. And
it is true that all the prophets, including Moses and Samuel and
Elijah and Isaiah, they had all foretold the coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ. But John fulfilled a peculiar
role of preparing the way and then being the one who personally
identified Christ to the world. And this, with all the other
distinguishing aspects of his life. his unusual birth, his
separatedness, his unique ministry, his success, and even his approaching
execution, earned him the Lord's tribute for its usefulness and
its greatness. Nevertheless, the Lord goes on
to say He that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than
he, is greater than John. By which we understand the apostles
that were then present, those converted and brought into the
church in those days of the Lord's ministry, and the gathered multitudes
in the days following Christ's resurrection and ascension. their greatness as opposed to
John's, their greatness was in them being witnesses to the Lord's
message and his miracles and possessors of the fullness of
God's revelation. Everyone before had only seen
the Lord through the types, through the pictures. But now the church
saw Christ in his full glory, in the full revelation. They
saw the Lord's message, his miracles. They were possessors of the full
revelation. They were heirs of Christ's doctrine
and ministry. And we are as well. Sometimes we wonder what it must
have been like in those Old Testament days to, I don't know, hear an
Elijah or witness the miracles that were performed, the great
things that God did in the days of Moses. Or perhaps to have
been present in the days of the Lord Jesus, to have been present
there and see the mighty works that he did. Yet none of those present then
saw the fullness of the gospel and the success and the accomplishments
of the Lord's works as we see them today. And who knows what
great achievements are still to be revealed. We must not be
despondent or pessimistic about what is going on around us. There are great things being
achieved amongst Christ's gathered church right now and we his people,
his little flock, are greatly blessed to be his witnesses and
to witness his works. Having spoken so highly of John
and the power of his ministry. The Lord then points out the
hypocrisy of those who condemned John for his ways, for his austere
lifestyle, his judgmental and reproving ministry. John demanded
repentance and righteousness from sinners. for which his critics
denounced him as harsh and fanatical. And then these same people turned
around and condemned Christ for his ministry of freedom and liberality,
and for his familiarity with sinners. Christ calls out their
childish, contrary opposition. These men were against John and
now they are against Christ. John was like one who played
a mournful tune at a funeral, but these contrarians would not
mourn with him. John lived frugally and they
accused him of having a devil for his lifestyle. Jesus' ministry
was like the playing of a joyful tune, much more outwardly liberal. He feasted and dined, but they
accused him of eating and drinking inappropriately, which just revealed
their condemning attitude, the condemning attitude that they
harboured towards the gospel and the message of righteousness
either way. And if we consider this in the
context of law and gospel, then neither of those messages is acceptable
to hard-hearted sinners. Neither the thunderings of judgment
under the law, nor the whispers of peace under the gospel, neither
the melody of salvation by Christ, which is the sweet message of
faith, nor the dire threatenings of Moses which judge and condemn
the lost. Neither message will have any
influence on the unregenerate heart. Only the life-giving work
of God the Holy Spirit in quickening grace and conversion can give
a hearing ear and effect a saving change. And there's something
important here, I think, for us just to lay hold on. We must
not think that if we change our methods that the world will hear
and accept our message. It will not. Many so-called Christians
today tell us that we have to change our old-fashioned approach
to ministry and preaching if we expect to get a hearing in
today's world. Well, that's not the case. we
shall continue to preach the gospel of free sovereign grace,
because this is the God-ordained and God-honoured way by which
the gospel is communicated to the Lord's children. The truth
is consistently opposed, whether we come mournfully and seriously
with our message in a condemning way, or joyfully and winsomely
in the full gospel liberty. The truth is that nothing will
alter the world's innate opposition to the uniqueness of Christ as
the way of salvation or make them realise the necessity
of grace. and the certainty of judgment.
It takes a new birth, it takes a new creation to make a believer
in Christ. And because our message tells
the world it isn't good enough for God, it isn't fit enough
for heaven, the world does not want to hear. And only divine
regeneration and spiritual transforming grace will alter that. But here's
the sum of the matter. And that's a lovely little verse
that is at the end of our passage, our reading today. Wisdom is
justified of all her children. And this is a powerful statement
of gospel success and sovereign mercy. Wisdom is truth. The truth is honoured and justified
by all those who are of the truth, all those who are the children
of truth. Wisdom is the gospel and the gospel is received by
all those to whom it is given, all those spiritually equipped
and enabled to hear and understand the gospel message. and wisdom
is Christ himself and he is accepted and he is received and he is
believed and he is honoured by all the children whom God has
given to him. Wisdom, Christ, his truth and
his gospel is justified of all her children. Christ's wisdom
is in the way he acted amongst men, stooping to where they were
and lifting them up, meeting them in their need with his empowering
grace and mercy, quickening them in their dead state and providing
every needful grace to secure their eternal wellbeing and glory. Yes, it's true, Christ's ministry
differed in its character to John's ministry, but the message
still called for repentance and righteousness. The style and
approach of the Lord differed greatly, and yet both these men
called men and women to trust God for grace. John called, behold,
the Lamb of God to taketh away the sin of the world. And the
Lord converted and saved his people by doing that very thing,
taking away the sin of the world. The children of wisdom are the
children of Christ, who are his children given to him by the
Father in the eternal covenant. And these he came to save, these
he died to save, and these he rose again to justify. and they
justify him by coming to him, believing in him and being made
righteous by him in accordance with his work and his will. May
the Lord bless these thoughts to us today. Amen.