Let's turn to Luke chapter 7. Luke chapter 7. I want to look
at verses 18 through 23. So let's read these verses together. Luke chapter 7, verse 18. And the disciples of John showed
him all these things, that is, things that they saw. And John
calling unto him two of his disciples, sent them to Jesus, saying, Art
thou he that should come, or look we for another? When the
men were come unto him, that is, unto Jesus Christ, They said,
John the Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, art thou he
that should come, or look we for another? And in the same
hour the Lord cured many of their infirmities and plagues and evil
spirits, and unto many that were blind he gave sight. Then Jesus
turned and answered. He didn't answer them right away.
He waited. He continued healing. He continued
doing the miracles. And then he turned to Jesus answering,
said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye
have seen and heard, how that the blind see, the lame walk,
the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised,
to the poor the gospel is preached. And blessed is he whosoever shall
not be offended in me." Now the lesson, as I see it in these
verses, is seeing the distinction. John was not having a problem
Believing that Jesus was the Christ, it was John that pointed
him out. He said, behold, the Lamb of
God, come to take away the sins of the world. This is the Lamb. This is the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then when he came to be baptized, John said, I'm not worthy to
baptize you. I have need that you baptize
me. And he said, suffer it to be so, for it becometh us to
fulfill all righteousness. Scriptures had to be fulfilled.
John knew who Christ was. He wanted his disciples to know
who Christ is. And believers are men and women
often confused. Often. When I read through these
especially through these narratives of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
I see, in their detailed account, I see their own confusion. They
didn't understand that Christ, even though he told them on numerous
occasions that he had to go to Jerusalem, he had to be crucified,
and had to raise from the dead, he told them that, how many times?
And those are just the times that's written in the Word of
God. Who knows how many times he actually told them? but they
didn't understand that. In their mind, he was this one
that they had been looking at through their traditions all
these years. It's what they've been told since
they were little babies that when the Messiah come, he's gonna
be somebody like David. He's gonna be like Moses or Elijah. Certainly one of the prophets,
he was gonna raised up from among them, and they didn't understand
what deliverance was. They was confused about that.
They thought deliverance was being delivered out from under
Roman bondage. They knew nothing about a deliverance
from sin. They were confused, and believers
are men and women who are often confused and concerned about
things, and it's because of their ignorance. And I don't mean to
belittle anyone by that word ignorance. I simply mean a lack
of knowledge. There's many things I have lack
of knowledge in. It doesn't do me any good to
go around and start explaining COVID to people because I don't
really understand what it is. I don't know anything. I'm not
a doctor. Not gonna do me any good to start diagnosing people
in the congregation. I'm not a doctor. I'm not, I'm
ignorant. ignorant about things like that. And being ignorant of salvation
by grace, and ignorant about the kingdom of God, our Lord's
disciples were concerned, or I mean John's disciples were
concerned about why, the Lord's disciples, they were confused
about who was gonna be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. You
remember that? And they were having this debate
back and forth on who's going to be greatest in the kingdom
of heaven. And so on and so forth. Believers in
Corinth, being ignorant of the ways and means of God, they were
putting entirely too much emphasis on whom they were converted under,
whose ministry. And they went back and forth
about that as though that added some value to their salvation.
And so it is here in these verses, the disciples of John are seeing
Jesus of Nazareth increasing in fame. And you remember when
John came, multitude, they came out of Jerusalem and all Judea
and everywhere, and here's John, he's way out here in the middle
of nowhere. He's out in the wilderness. And these people have synagogues
all over the place. The temple's in Jerusalem, but
did they go to it? No, they went all the way out
there to hear John. You hear John. John was, our
Lord said, the greatest man born of woman. This man was a preacher. He was a preacher's preacher.
He was a great man. But these men were seeing this
great man that they put all this stock in. They were seeing he's
now in prison. And they're seeing his disciples
begin to migrate over to Christ. And they're concerned about it.
They're concerned about it. The disciples of John, they're
seeing Jesus of Nazareth. And He's increasing in fame and
discipleship. And they take those concerns
to John. And I've got four things I want
us to think about as we look at these verses this morning. I want us to see these confused
disciples. And then I want you to see a
faithful servant. That John the Baptist, he was
a faithful servant. And then the person and work
of Christ. And then our Lord leaves us with
a stern warning. So let's look at these things.
Here's some confused disciples. The word disciple means follower. These are followers. Paul commended
the Thessalonians on their discipleship and even listed it as an evidence
of their election. He said, you became followers
of us and the Lord. You become disciples, disciples. Scripture said, obey them that
have the rule over you and submit, submit yourselves. for they watch for your souls
as they that must give an account. And we're exhorted in the scriptures
to be followers, not only of the apostles, but also them that
walk well among you. Mark them that walk well among
you, as you have them for examples. And it's a good thing, the scripture
said, to be followers of God as dear children, as dear children. But our following, and this is
what I want you to see, has to be according to knowledge. These
men were following John the Baptist, but they were ignorant of Christ.
They were ignorant of Christ. Now Paul says this about believers. He said, we were sometimes darkness. You do us well to remember that.
Remember, Paul said. who you are, you're Gentiles.
You're Gentiles. You have no history of God or
knowledge of God. God come to you in his grace
and revealed himself to you. And we were sometimes darkness,
but now are light in the Lord. And we're to prove what is acceptable
unto the Lord. We are to walk circumspectly,
the scripture says. What does that mean? That means
heeding the circumstances. Take heed to the circumstances.
Observing what we see around us. And not as fools, but as
wise. How did we get wise? We got wise
through the revelation of Christ. Christ is our wisdom. And the
disciples of John honored John. They followed John. They were
convinced that John was a man sent from God. And it hurt him
to see him imprisoned and his following slowly, he was decreasing. And that's what he tells them
in the Book of John. He said, I must decrease. He must increase. I must decrease. I'm not the bridegroom. I'm just
his friend. And I'm just happy to be here.
I'm just happy to stand by his side and see him exalted and
honored. They were confused. They were
confused. And being confused has a way
of taking away our peace and our rest from us. We get confused
about these things. I run into it all the time. People
tell me, well, you know, I just feel my assurance slipping away.
Why? Why is it slipping away? Because
you're confused. Well, your assurance can't slip
away if your assurance is Christ. He ain't left. He ain't went
anywhere. He said, I'm the same yesterday,
today, and forever. He's still at the right hand
of God. That's what that man Henry went to seminary with asked
him. Been 20 something years since
they'd seen each other. He saw Henry one morning, came
across the street, and started talking to him. He said, brother,
he said, you still saved? Henry said, I don't know, is
God still on the throne? If Christ is still on the throne,
I'm still saved because he's my salvation. So we don't walk as fools, but
we walk as wise. And then secondly, let's look
at this faithful servant of God. They took their concerns to him
whose disciples they were. Are you troubled? Are you concerned? Are you alarmed by this circumstance
or that one? Don't seek advice from strangers. If God has sent you a man and
convinced you that this man sent of God, go to him. Now that's
what these men did. They were confused, they were
troubled. Their assurance was slipping away. But they didn't
run and seek the advice of strangers, and they didn't run and seek
the advice of them that John called vipers. They went to John. They went to John. You go to him who's not a stranger,
him whom God has sent to you. And if this man is truly a servant
of God, he'll know what to do. He'll know what to do. How much difference is there
in men? I've got a point I'm gonna make
here in just a minute. How much difference is there
in men? None. None. He uses the word all when
he talks about humanity. He uses the word All, and he
uses the word together. Together become unprofitable. All have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. But then Paul interjects a question
into all this. If there's no difference in men,
and yet there's obvious differences in men, who maketh thee to differ
from another? If we all come from Adam and
we're all under the curse and we've all sinned and come short
of the glory of God, if death is passed on all humanity, then
who maketh thee to differ? Is there a difference? How did
that difference come to pass? Who maketh thee to differ from
another? You see, the fact is some do
believe. Some do hear, some do repent,
some are being saved, some There's some to whom Christ will reveal
himself. Some are called to be prophets. Some are called to be apostles.
Some are called to be evangelists and pastor teachers. Who makes
that distinction? God does. God does. I'm not an apostle or a prophet
and I'm not an inspired writer of scripture and if God has indeed
called me to do anything, it's to preach his gospel and to pastor
this little flock down here in Arkansas to the best of my ability. And only God, by his grace, can
cause you to see this and submit yourself to his servant. Only
God can do that. That's not something generated
by you. It didn't come from you, it comes
from God. And that's why Paul talks about
it in 1 Thessalonians as an evidence of their election of God. And
that's exactly what these confused disciples did. They came and
told John their concerns and this faithful servant of God.
He didn't sit down and start explaining this and explaining
that. He's already done that. He's
been preaching to them for who knows how long. He'd given them
all the details. He'd given them all the information.
This man's ministry was to make straight the way of God. And he did that better than anybody. He made known exactly who he
was. So they came and they talked
to John, and here's what John did. This faithful servant of
God turned him around and sent him back to Christ. He sent him back to Christ. And
I don't care if you're John the Baptist or you're me at the bottom
of the barrel. It doesn't make any difference.
All of our ministries are to do one thing. It's to point you
to Christ. Point you to Christ. I just keep
trying to point you to Christ. I can't reveal Christ to you. I can declare that revelation,
I can declare that that revelation has to take place, but the only
thing I can do is show you where he is. Here's where he's at.
He's seated at the right hand of God. What did he do? Why did
he do it? Who is this man? Where is he
now? Those are the things that I tell you. I can't assure you
that you're the elect of God, only God can do that, and that's
what he did. He said, you go back there to
him. You go back there to him, and here's what you ask him.
You ask him this. Now, isn't that the issue? Isn't
that the issue with all of us? Aren't thou the Christ? Now,
I'm telling you, early in my life, I was following after another
Jesus. I was led into another gospel
by another spirit. And I got sucked into that mess.
I believed those things were so. I had a father who walked
before me for years and years and years, and I was convinced
that this man was serious, that he was sincere, and that he loved
me. But he didn't know God. And finally,
I heard a man tell me who Christ was. Who Christ was. And I got out my Bible, blew
the dust off of it, and started reading. I found out that man
was right. That man was right. What did he tell me to do? You
go to him. You go to him. Only he can reveal
himself to you. I can tell you who he is. I can
point you. But I can't make him do anything
for you. I can't. And from the least to the greatest,
all any servant can do is point you to the Savior. It'll be entirely
up to Him. That's why we preach grace, but
we preach sovereign grace. I'll have mercy on whom I will
have mercy, and I'll have compassion on whom I will have compassion. John the Baptist was the greatest
man born of a woman, but he could do no more for his disciples
than to point them to Christ. And here's the question. Is Jesus
of Nazareth the Christ? How do I know that? I need to
go to him. I need to go to him. Where are
we gonna find him? In the word of God. In the word of God. Now, the entire Old Testament
tells us somebody's coming. Somebody's coming. Somebody's
coming. They're gonna be the root of Jesse, the seed of David.
He's coming. He's gonna be virgin born. When
He's come, He's gonna do miracles and wonders and signs in our
midst. He's gonna be a great prophet, a great man. Now, is Jesus of Nazareth the
Christ, or do we look for another? And I discovered by a faithful
servant to go and ask for myself, and I learned that the Christ
I'd been looking to was another Jesus. John said, now when you get there,
you take what I said unto him, you ask him. And the two men
he called for the task, they did that very thing. And that's
the third thing I want us to see in these passages. I want
you to see is how Christ is revealed to men. Christ reveals himself
through his word. through his word. And we look
at him and the only way we can discern if this is the Christ
is to see what he did. To see what he did. Our Lord
said to those two disciples after a while. He first just ignored
them. They come to him and they said,
John sent us. He said, just stand right there.
And he just pretty much ignored them. And then he began to do
miracles that only God could do. He raised, cleansed the lepers,
gave sight to the blind. And you know, here's an interesting
thing. And all of those evidences that
he was giving to them, these were miraculous things. These
were things that nobody had ever seen before. Raising the dead
and all of these things. They were great miracles. You
know what he listed with those miracles? preaching of the gospel
to the poor. That's a great miracle. That's
a great miracle. In that same hour, He cured many
of their infirmities and plagues and evil spirits, and many that
were blind, He gave sight. And when He finished demonstrating
who He was to them, He answered their question. Verse 22. And he said, now you go tell
John what things you've seen and heard, how that the blind
see, the lame walk, and the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear,
and so on. What our Lord did in this world
was prophesied long before he came. And the prophecy told of
miracles and wonders and signs which God would do by him in
our midst. And prophecy Brother Mahan said
one time, weaves a garment that'll just fit one man. All through
the Old Testament. Prophecy makes a garment that'll
only fit one man, Jesus of Nazareth. And his miracles were such that
only God could have done them. And that even his preaching he
lists with the miracles. Scripture said, great is the
mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, seen of angels. Now watch this. This is a manifestation of God
come into the flesh. He was preached unto the Gentiles
and believed on in the world. Isn't that what we hope for men
to do? Well, I tell you, when they do,
you just saw a miracle of God. Every time a man believes, you're
seeing a miracle of God. This world despises him. They
despise this gospel. The Jews in John 10, 24 said,
if thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered and said,
I told you, and you believe not. Now listen to what he says next.
The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. We know that Jesus of Nazareth
is Christ, and we know by his person and work that he's Christ. John 10, 37, if I do not the
works of my Father, believe not me. Don't believe anything I'm
saying if I don't do the works of my Father. But if I do, though
you believe me not, Believe the works that you may know and believe
that the Father is in me and I in him. Only way you're gonna
ever see God in Christ and discover that this is the Christ is to
see him accomplishing these mighty works of God. At the end of our lesson last
week it says, after he raised that widow's son from the dead. It says, and there came a fear
on all, and they glorified God, saying that a great prophet is
risen up among us, and that God has visited his people. This is what John wanted them
to see for themselves. We preach Christ and Him crucified. We preach Him doing and accomplishing
the redemptive will of God. He said, My Father worketh hitherto
and I work. We're working together. And we
see and know by the witness of the apostles and prophets that
Jesus is the Christ. And then we know it by the works
that He did. And in Matthew's account it says,
Go tell John the blind see. The lame walk, the lepers are
cleansed, and so on. In Luke's account, I don't know
if you noticed this, but our Lord says, go tell John how,
how that the blind see, how that the lame walk, how that the lepers
are cleansed. How these things are done is
through the person of Jesus Christ. That's how they see. It's not
just the fact that they sing. How come they sing? They wouldn't
sing without Christ, would they? No. And then he leaves us here
with a stern warning, verse 23. And blessed is he whosoever shall
not be offended in me. The gospel's offensive. I can't
help it. It's offensive. How so? Well,
it's offensive to man's sense of self-worth to be told he's
a poor, lost, guilty sinner. He values himself higher than
that. I'll never forget down at the old church that man coming
in, and he began to tell me what a great sinner he was. And when
I'd finished up, he got mad and went outside, and he said, I'm
a sinner. But he said, I ain't as bad as he said. I'm not all
that bad. I don't hate God. Yeah, you do. Yeah, you do. It offends man's
sense of self-worth, don't it? It offends man's pride to be
told that we're utterly helpless and incapable of saving ourselves,
or even to contribute something to our salvation. Boy, I tell
you, that steps on a man's pride. What must I do to be saved? With
man it is impossible. It's offensive to self-righteous
man to be told that he must be justified by the righteousness
of another. That his sins can only be atoned
for through the substitution of another. He must be saved
by grace alone. And it's offensive to our sense
of dignity and pride to be told that we must enter heaven together
with harlots. and publicans and sinners. It's
offensive to our sense of personal intellect to be told that the
knowledge of God and of Christ can only come by way of revelation
of God. That's offensive. I'll take this
book and read it one man told me over the weekend. Monday morning
we'll talk. It's offensive to our sense of
self-determination to be told that salvation's all together
by the will of God. It's the will of God. And untold
thousands have heard this gospel and been offended by it and run
back to the darkness of antichrist religion. They run back and hide
in that darkness that they've lived in their whole lives. And
our Lord said, blessed is he whomsoever shall not be offended
in me. All these things that they saw,
But they saw Him do. They were all God's testimony
concerning His Son. God did these things by Him in
your midst. That's what Peter told them. In your midst. All right. Thank
you.