The lesson this morning is in
Matthew chapter 11. Matthew chapter 11. I titled the lesson, Who's Who? The experience of grace is exactly
that. It's a coming to know who's who. The Scripture said, and I'm telling
you this, that it's a matter of fact that the natural man
doesn't know anything. He doesn't know who he is. He
doesn't know who God is. He doesn't know who Christ is.
He doesn't know who Satan is. So all of these things involved
in his salvation, he's totally ignorant of. That's what the
Scripture says. The Scripture said there's none
that understand it. None. They think they understand,
but they don't understand. The Scripture said, I have not
seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man,
mankind, fallen, depraved man, the things that God hath prepared
for them that love Him. And then the Scripture also says
this, when the Lord of glory, you recall, talked to the Jews,
and the Jews said, we have Moses to our father, and he shot that
argument down. And then they said, we have Abraham
to our father, and they shot that down. And they said, we
have God to our father, and he shot that down. And he said,
you neither know me nor my father. So this thing, when we're talking
about an experience of grace, this calling of a man out of
darkness into that marvelous light, what it is, is a coming
to know who's who. That's what it is. When you look
back on it, it's a coming to know who Christ is. And knowing
who you are. And knowing who God is by that
knowledge of Christ. It's a matter of knowing who's
who. Actually, eternal life is coming
to know God in Christ. That's what the Scripture says.
This is eternal life, that they might know Thee, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. And so different,
so different was the concept of men, of God and Christ, that
these apostles, when they began to preach the Gospel, called
calls what these men preached, another Jesus. That's how different
that concept is. It's totally different than the
Jesus of Scripture. Totally different than the Christ.
And then they talked about the Spirit and he said it's another
Spirit. They'll come preaching another
Jesus and another Spirit and another Gospel. It's not the
same. It's another. So this thing of salvation is
coming to know who's who. And that's what's going on here
in Matthew chapter 11. It begins with a kind of who's
who. John's disciples were confused. This was the most powerful man.
Now you think about this. God spoke in Malachi, I think
it's chapter 4, and then He didn't speak again for 400 years. God did. Men continued to speak.
But God didn't speak anymore. He didn't have anything else
to say for 400 years. And then when He purposed to
speak again, He spoke through His prophet John, John the Baptist. And he began to speak to this
man, and all Judea came out to see him. God called all these
people out to see him. He was an important man. This
man had the message of God. This man was different from any
other man around. He had the spirit of Elijah in
him. He was a powerful prophet of
God. And men came out to hear him. John got cast into prison. You
remember John identified the Christ, Behold the Lamb of God
that taketh away the sins of the world, and so on, and he
identified Him. But later on, because of what
he preached to Herod about his adulterous relationship, he was
cast into prison and then beheaded. But his disciples, I know, were
confused and troubled concerning the Christ that John preached.
And they didn't understand. John's down here now in prison.
And I'm not trying to take away from this. It might have been
John who had doubts. I don't care. It could be that
the Holy Ghost has set this in here for us to learn that even
the greatest preacher born a woman has doubts and fears. All men
have doubts and fears. But I rather believe that this
is the disciples that John is sending out to Christ. He's sending
them out to Christ. And that's what every faithful
minister of Christ desires to do, to point men to Christ. And
to declare to them what the Scripture has to say about this Christ. I mean, if we're just going to
have opinions, they're like noses. Everybody has one, and we just
go on with it. But the Scriptures declare a
particular Christ. and tells us what this Christ
was about, what this office was about, what this man was about,
why he had to appear in this world, and so on. And that's
what preachers do. They tell you what the Scripture
has to say about this Christ, and then they point men to Christ,
and then they leave them alone. Let them confront the Christ
that you preached. and wait on His power and glory
to be revealed. And that's what John did with
his disciples. He heard of the work or works
of Christ. When John heard of that, that
it was nearby, that it was going on, that his ministry was actually
taking place, he told his disciples, you go out there and you ask
Him, are thou the Christ or do we look for another? He said,
you go tell John again what you see. in here. Now there's three
things here that I want you to see in the lesson this morning.
First of all, the Lord's vindication of John the Baptist. And then
secondly, there's a warning to those who oppose the gospel these
men preach. Both Christ and John the Baptist
were both preachers. And he addresses their unbelief
of these things that God so powerfully gave witness to. And then thirdly,
there's a gracious call to weary sinners. Matthew 11, verse 1. It came to pass when Jesus had
made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed
thence to teach and to preach in their cities. And 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 receive their sight, and the lame walk, and
the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are
raised up. And the poor have the gospel
preached unto them. Now to understand the significance
of what's going on here, we must have some grasp of who these
two men are. And I believe it's the same at
any given time when we're confronted with the Gospel. God's going
to have to reveal to you who I am, who you are, who Christ
is, who God is. All these things going on right
here, these are all things that He reveals to men's hearts. If
He puts no fear of God in your heart, then you'll never submit
to the message I preach. Until He convinces you that I'm
sent of God, I'm just another man with another opinion. That's
all it is. And you can't do that. No human
being can stand up here and do that. I know they stand up, and
they threaten, and they read things, and they try to make
men fear, and they do all these things. But the truth of it is,
it's a work of grace in the heart that causes a man to submit.
And when he submits to Christ, he submits to that delegated
authority of Christ, no matter who it is or where it is. Now the Old Testament Scriptures
were prophecies of the coming of a man to save God's people.
All the way through there. The Old Testament, Brother Mahan
said one time, says somebody's coming. Somebody's coming. It
just keeps telling you that. The seed of Jesse, the seed of
David. He's a root out of dry ground.
You can go on and on. A priest like Melchizedek. The
woman's seed. Just on and on and on. Somebody's
coming. Somebody's coming. You get over
here to the book of Matthew and it says somebody came. These
four gospels declare that somebody came. And then when you get on
over into the New Testament epistles, it says somebody's coming back.
That's the message of this book. A Savior, a Redeemer, a Reconciler. Listen to Acts chapter 10 verse
43. To Him, talking about Christ,
give all the prophets witness that through His name, whosoever
believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins. And then over
in Luke chapter 4, the Lord read one of these prophecies to them.
Over here in Luke chapter 4. And actually, this is a quotation
from Isaiah chapter 61. know all the different versions
of the Bible that are out. But I know that you can have
some versions, and if you look over there, any time you see
where it says it was written or he turned to this place and
read that Scripture, over on the edge of your Bible over there
in the margin, it will tell you what that Scripture is. You look
over there and you will find Isaiah chapter 61. But our Lord,
as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath
day and stood up for to read. And he found a place. He went
through the scrolls and found that place, John and Isaiah chapter
61. And he read it to them. And he
said, He hath anointed me to preach the Gospel, the Spirit
of the Lord, is what he said. The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me because He hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor.
He sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the
captives, the recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty
them that are bruised, and to preach the acceptable year of
the Lord." Then he closed the book and he sat down. And he looked at the people and
he said, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And you
remember the response? They got angry. They got angry. And then on another day, this
was the day of Pentecost, Peter stood up to preach to that mob
who just returned from the cross just a few days earlier. And
they were down there in that mob and all of them shouting,
been stirred up by the Jewish Sanhedrin and the high priest
and all that out in the crowd. And they were shouting, crucify
him, crucify him, put him to death. We don't want him. Give
us Barabbas in his stead. And Peter stood up and preached
to them. Those same men who were responsible for him being nailed
to the cross. And they said, this Jesus of
Nazareth, a man approved of God among you, right among you, fulfilling
Scripture, right among you, Quoting scripture to you, telling you
this day is this scripture fulfilled. I had to go here because this
scripture said I had to go there and so on. He fulfilled scripture
his whole life long. And then God confirmed him. He
said this same one, this one you despised, God confirmed him
in your midst with miracles and wonders and signs which God did
by him as you yourselves also know. Right in your midst. Be no doubt about it. This was
the Christ. And then to those unbelieving
Jews, that same Sanhedrin that stirred up the people, the Lord
said, if I do not the works of my Father, believe Me not. But if I do, though you believe
not Me, believe the works that you may know and believe that
the Father is in Me and I in Him. And the same scriptures
that declare these things about the coming Redeemer also declare
the forerunner who was to come before Him. That's the significance
of what's going on. If this is not John the Baptist,
then this is not the Christ. If this is not the Christ, then
that was not John the Baptist. These two confirmed one another. They were prophesied as coming
in close relationship. In Malachi 4, verses 5 and 6,
the last words God spoke to men for 400 years, He said, 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. Now listen to what the Lord tells
them here in Matthew 11, verse 13. For all the prophets and the
law prophesied until John. And if you will have it, this
is Elias. That's Greek for Elijah, which
was for to come. So both himself and John the
Baptist are tied in scripture together. And you cannot here
have the one without the other. And both in the providence of
God verified the other. And I believe it's of great importance
that you see our Lord's vindication of John and Himself that they're
both given in the Scriptures. He didn't say, now I'm the Christ
and this is John. The Lord could have done that.
He's the Lord. He didn't have to explain anything. He didn't
have to give any reference to anything. He's the Lord. But
He didn't. He showed them in the Scriptures
where this was John the Baptist, and proved to them of his own
station, and his own title, and his own office. God always works
in conjunction with His Word. James said, of his own will begat
he us with the Word of truth. With the Word of truth. This
is the Word which by the Gospel, Peter said, which is preached
unto you. And then over in II Thessalonians
2.13, he said, God hath from the beginning chosen you unto
salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth. God always works in conjunction
with his word. And so he vindicated John the
Baptist. I don't have time this morning
to get into all of these things, but he asked him, he said, what
did you go out to hear? What did you think you were going
to see when you went out there? A reed shaking in the wind? Somebody's
out there, if the mob wanted this, he went that way. If the
mob wanted this, he went that way. What did you go out there
to hear? I'd like to ask that of you this morning and of any
crowd that comes in here. What did you come in here to
hear? Men go out shocked sometimes on what I say. Men go out mad
sometimes on what I say. Men and women both. What did
you come out to see? What did you think you were going
to hear when you come over here? Kind words? That's what the Lord
said. Is that what you thought? You were just going to see a
reed? You blow on it and it bends over this way or you blow on
it and it bends over that way? Oh, this was the greatest preacher
born woman. He didn't blow anyway. He preached. He didn't move. He didn't do
anything. Those intimidating religionists come out there in
all their fine garb and stuff and he said, what did you come
out here for? Who sent you out here? So that's what the Lord, He vindicates
the ministry of John and describes his ministry and describes his
character and tells him that this is that prophet who was
to come. And then the second thing I want
you to see here is a stern warning to those who are indifferent
to, not moved by, and just overall despise the gospel. There's a
warning. A stern warning. Matthew 11,
verse 16. But where unto shall I liken
this generation? It's like unto children sitting
in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, and saying, we
piped unto you, and you didn't dance. And we mourned unto you,
and you have not lamented. But John came and he didn't eat
or drink. In other words, he didn't mingle. He didn't go into their houses. He was kind of a separationist. He lived out in the wilderness
and they invited him over to supper. He didn't go over there
and have a glass of wine with them and eat their bread and
eat their meat and stuff that they prepared. He stayed out
there and ate locusts and wild honey and kept to himself. The
Lord came and he ate and drank with publicans and sinners. And
what did they call him? He was a gluttonous man and a
wine-bibber. That's what they called him. Verse 20, Then began he to upbraid
the cities when most of the mighty works were done, because they
repented not. And he said, 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 at the day of judgment
than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art
exalted into heaven, shall 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 unto this day. But I say unto
you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the
day of judgment than for these. And at that time Jesus answered
and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
thou shid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed
them unto babes. Why? Because it seemed good in
his sight. That's why. There's a declaration
here that ought to leave us shaking in our shoes. It should. It ought to cause you to quiver
in the presence of God. And that is that the sin of unbelief
is here declared to be the most hideous sin there is. The greatest crime in the world
is unbelief. Do you believe that? That's the
greatest crime. Now, we're shocked. Well, they're
not so much in this generation. They're not shocked at anything.
But I remember when I was a child, we didn't even know what a homosexual
was. Nobody ever used the word. And
if it was, it was whispered. We didn't know what it was. This
generation, they promote it, don't they? Giving them rights
to vote and all this type of thing. The sin of unbelief is
here declared more hideous than that. Now you think about that. This is the greatest crime that
can be done. It's here said to be greater
than the sins of those given up to a reprobate mind. Greater
than the sins of men who worship snakes and beasts and defile
their bodies and unnatural activities. Those that hear the gospel and
believe it not, are guilty of the greatest evil in the world.
Now, they might be morally clean. That's hard to understand, isn't
it? You see this man and he's morally...
I mean, he wouldn't take a drink. You couldn't hold him down and
pour it in him. He's not going to touch you. He don't smoke.
He pays his bills. He's clean as a houndstooth.
He's morally clean as a houndstooth. They might be outwardly a shining
example of civil duty and responsibility. You might look around, and these
men, they hold offices in the community. They teach. They do all these things. Might
be a pastor of a church. They might be perfect in their
attendance to worship and faithful in reading and prayer. But if
they despise, if they're indifferent to the gospel, they're more rank
than those wicked idolaters in Tyre and Sidon and those men
in Sodom, wicked and twisted. And the woes pronounced here
are the same on those who heard the 12. If you go back to Matthew
chapter 10 and you look when he sent the twelve out, he said
the same thing about the cities that wouldn't hear then. And
the same thing applies to his ministers today. These things
are not ancient and dropped away like the ceremonial law. These
things are as pertinent today as they were when he gave them
to his apostles back then. There's a woe pronounced on men,
and that woe concerns their unbelief. To me, I see in the Scripture
that the rejection of the Gospel is like spitting in the face
of God. That's what it is. That's what
it is. It mocks His goodness, and it
scorns His mercy and grace. It defiles His sovereign Godhead,
and it manifests no respect for His person. And so Paul, when
he described those who are under sin, he said, there is no fear
of God before their eyes. And I tell you this, it's a personal
affront on God. And then thirdly, the Lord of the field. It says
the Lord. The Lord. The Lord of the field,
the Lord of the harvest, the Lord of the dead and the living.
The Lord graciously called weary sinners to come to Him and find
rest for their souls and forgiveness. for that unbelief which is so
common to us all. You know, to me it's not so much
what men say when I preach to you and I go outside and men
come by and have comments. It's not so much what men say
to me or even what men do that stirs my heart. But it's the
evidence of a man's heart in unrest. That's what I look for. Unrest. Unrest. A man in trouble. The Lord will
never give rest to those who have a false sense of peace and
a false refuge until He roots them out of it. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians
chapter 10. There will never be a convincing
of righteousness. That righteousness manifested
in Christ. A convincing of judgment satisfied
until there's first a conviction of sin. That's the first one. Now listen how Paul described
the weapons he used in the ministry. Listen to this. They're spiritual
weapons. You can't accomplish this in the flesh. You can't
sit home and pick out really good illustrations. And I do
look for them. I want to use good illustrations.
But good illustration is not going to accomplish this. This
takes spiritual warfare, spiritual weapons. And the Spirit of God
is the only one who can accomplish this. But listen to the 2 Corinthians
10 verse 4. The weapons of our warfare are
not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of what? Strongholds. You ever seen that
before? Strongholds. What's a stronghold? That's a hiding place. That's
somewhere when the enemy is coming, you run up and get in this stronghold. You build a wall around the city,
or you build a fort out in the wilderness. There's strongholds. When the enemy comes, he can't
get in. Strongholds. Well, he said these spiritual
weapons are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.
Casting down. Now listen. Imaginations. and
every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge
of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience
of Christ." That's what this thing's all about. That's what
this thing of preaching does. Men come in with their preconceived
notions and their traditional religious conceptions and all
that, and they come in and they listen to you preach. Well, I
tell you, if God If God accompanies that message to them, if God
means to intervene in that man's life, first thing He'll do is
tear that stronghold down. He'll destroy that traditional
conception they have of God and religion and church and all that
type of stuff. He'll destroy it. That's what
these weapons are. They tear it down. They tear
it down. Preachers are never satisfied
to leave their heirs hiding in false religion and clinging to
an empty hole. We've got the Word of God, the
Gospel of Christ and the Spirit of the Living God to expose and
tear down these false hopes and refuges of lies. And the soul, now hear me, the
soul upon which God begins this stripping is left in unrest,
John. He's hoped in these things. He's
rested in these things. He has confidence in these things.
And you just cut the trunk of the tree off. The axe is laid
to the root. You didn't just trim off a limb.
You cut the tree down at the bottom. He's got nowhere to stand. He's got no excuses. He's got
no hope. That's what it means. And that
soul is in unrest. First time in his life. He can't
look to himself. He can't look to his own hopes.
He can't look to anything. And that process is to shut him
up to the grace of God in Christ. That's the first work. Now you
can't get to the second work until you have the first work.
You see what I'm saying? Begins to see himself for what
he fought. What he thought peace was, not
peace at all. What he thought was sufficient
to save didn't save anybody. What he thought was righteousness
was filthy rags. He began to learn them things.
I'll tell you what, if you learn them things, you'll be in unrest.
You'll be in unrest. I'll tell you, it's a fearful
thing when God sends unrest to a soul. That man or woman discovers
in the Word of God that they've got no foundation for their hopes,
dreams. But some men in sovereign, distinguishing
grace, the Lord troubled their very soul. As they examined themselves in
the light of His gospel and looked at the gracious works that God
did by Him in their midst, they began to question their standing
before God. You know, in Luke's account of
this, what I've read to you here in Matthew chapter 11, if you
go over to Luke chapter 7 and read his account in this, it
says in that same hour, just the hour, the hours right there
present before all these things took place, Listen to what happened. It says, In the same hour he
cured many of their infirmities and plagues and of evil spirits,
and unto many that were blind he gave sight. All of these things
were accomplished as he preached, confirming that message of grace.
And to those that it was purposed to be, their hearts were troubled,
John. Their hearts were troubled, and
he could see it. I can see it when God begins to trouble your
heart. I can see it. And you know what Christ, when
He sees a man in trouble, you know what He said to him? Come
unto Me. Huh? Now there's weary sinners. You can talk to a weary sinner.
You can't talk to that self-righteous man. You can't talk to him. You
can't even get his attention. He's over there going, but, but,
but, but, but. While you're trying to talk to him. Trying to think
of what he's going to say next. But let the Lord strip him. Let
the Lord do His work. And then when you begin to talk,
you can see he's a troubled soul. And you can begin to talk to
him. And so he says, come unto me, all you that labor and heavy
laden, and I'll give you rest. He's the only one who can. He's
the only foundation of hope. He is the way, the truth, and
the life. He's the only active priest who
ever lived who finished his work and sat down. His priesthood
takes place, John, from a seat. That old high priest was never
done with his work. He had to stand throughout the
whole night. This priest is actively engaged, representing sinners
before God, and he sits. His work accomplished. and makes
intercession for us. And he says, take my yoke upon
you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and you'll
find rest for your soul. He said, my yoke is easy and
my burden is light. There's a yoke to put on. A yoke
to put on. There's a call to weary sinners
to voluntary submission and obedience to Christ. We must bow to and
slip the yoke of his profession upon our necks. What he's saying,
put my yoke upon you. You know what a yoke is. You
yoke those oxen together. Now they're pulling in one direction,
they're pulling together, they're walking together, they're moving
together. Put my yoke on you. But he said,
unlike that old bird and beast, my yoke is easy. and my burden
is light. And you will find rest for your
souls. The rest and the yoke and the
learning all come together in one object, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you.