The Gospel of Luke chapter 2. I want to begin reading in verse
40. Speaking here of the Lord Jesus
Christ in Luke chapter 2 in verse 40. This is when our Lord was
12 years old. This is the only Gospel that
records this period of His life when He was just a young child.
And I want to read this account. Verse 40 of Luke chapter 2, And
the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom,
and the grace of God was upon him. And his parents went up
to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And some
think this may have been his first year. He was 12 years old.
And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem
after the custom of the feast. This was the Passover. And when
they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus
tarried behind in Jerusalem, and Joseph and his mother knew
not of it. But they supposed him to have
been in the company, went a day's journey, and they sought him
among their kinfolks and acquaintances. And when they found him not,
they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass
that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in
the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them
questions. And all that heard him were astonished
at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were
amazed. And his mother said unto him,
Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold, thy father and
I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is
it that ye sought me? Wist ye not, know ye not, that
I must be about my father's business? And they understood not the saying
which he spake unto them, and he went down with them and came
to Nazareth and was subject unto them, but his mother kept all
of these sayings in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom
and stature and in favor with God and with man." Some suggested, as I mentioned
a minute ago, Sometimes the males didn't go up to Jerusalem until
they were 12 years old. And this may have well been this
child's first time being at Jerusalem since he was born and was taken
there to the temple and circumcised and named. This was the feast
of the Passover. All of us remember what that
was about. The lamb was offered. His blood was put over the doorpost
of angels passed by at midnight, the death angel, and all that
didn't have the blood over their doorpost was slain, all the firstborn. This was still the celebration
of this feast. And even at 12 years old here,
this child, the Lord Jesus Christ, must have known something about
that. Because the Scripture says here
that He increased in wisdom. He knew the Scriptures. He had
understanding. Maybe he had searched them out
himself, the scrolls. He knew something of the sacrificial
lamb. He had heard that voice from
the Word of God. He had probably read it himself.
When I see the blood, I'll pass over you. He knew something about
that, didn't he? Twelve years old and he knew that. This young
child must have been fascinated when he came into this city.
when he came to this temple. Not fascinated with long robes
that the scribes and pharisees were wearing. Not fascinated
with their hypocritical prayers there in the temple. Blowing
the trumpet as they brought in their offerings. But he was fascinated
with this temple. He knew what was going on there
and what had gone on there through the centuries of time. This was
his father's house. That's why he cleansed it as
he did just a few years after this. This is my father's house. This is a house of prayer. He
must have been fascinated as he sat there in that temple,
knowing what, even at this time, was ready to take place and was
taking place. That the lamb was still sacrificed
there in the courtyard. And that the blood was still
taken within the veil and sprinkled there on the mercy seat. He realized
that. There was a lot of things taking
place here in this temple that the remnant of worship of God
was still going on during this day. This was the temple where
just 12 years before this, an old man by the name of Simeon
took this baby Jesus up in his arms and said, Let me depart
in peace. My eyes have seen thy salvation.
That took place right here in this temple. where He was now
sitting. Anna, remember Anna, the old
lady that lived in this temple? And she came in when she saw
Him when He was just born and she spake of everybody about
Him. Do you look for salvation? Do
you look for redemption in Israel? Then she said, here He is. Here
He is. The Lord Jesus still was fascinated
by this place. This publican stood and sought
the salvation of his soul right here in this temple, smiting
upon his breast, God be merciful to me, a sinner. This young child, as amazed as
it seems, remembered what took place on this mountain before
this temple was ever built. He remembered when Abraham stood
on this very mountain. and bound his son Isaac and put
him on the altar and was ready to kill him. And Isaac said, my father, where
is the sacrifice? And Abraham said, God shall provide
Himself a lamb for sacrifice. And you know something? Here
was this 12-year-old boy and that was the lamb. That was the
sacrifice. And this very place is where
that statement was made. And here he stands, this young
child. Don't you think he was probably fascinated? I say he
was probably fascinated because he couldn't leave. He couldn't leave. He tarried
behind. And at the expense of breaking
his mother's heart, at the expense of worrying her sick, he couldn't
leave this place. For all we know, for three and
a half days. We don't know how he survived.
We don't know what he ate. We don't know where he slept. But he was in this temple. And
I say the reason that he was there and spending this time
here is because his heart was caught up with this temple. What had taken place there and
what was going to take place there. Even as a child, he was
such of a spiritual mind and discernment that his desires
and his actions took precedence over the fleshly sympathies and
the anxieties of his mother. Did Mary have a point? Well,
of course she had a point. My son, why would you do this
to me? You knew I would be worried sick.
I had no idea if you was dead or alive. I had no idea if you
were suffering or healthy. I didn't know where you were
staying, what you were eating. You have worried me sick. Did
she have a point? Why, sure she had a point. Which
one of you mothers here this morning, that even if your child
was 12 years of age, if he got lost in a crowd of several hundred
thousand people, wouldn't you wear yourself sick about it?
Is he hurt? Who's he with? Has he been kidnapped? Will they ever find him again?
Well, sure, you'd be worse. Sure, Mary had a point. Did our
Lord have a point? He had a point too, didn't He?
She rebuked Him pretty severe, but I tell you what, He rebuked
her more severely, more sharply than she rebuked Him. Look what
He said. Why is it that you salt me? Why have you salt me like this,
Mother, in the manner that you've salt me? Why are you overwhelmed
with anxiety? Why are you sick? Don't you know
that I must be in my Father's house and about my Father's business? What is wrong with you?" Ain't
that what he said to her? That was a pretty good rebuke,
wasn't it? Who has the better point? The mother or the child? Here's what Mary didn't understand
that she was going to have to come to grips and determined
with. This child was hers. Yes. But this child was God's. And who was to take the precedence?
The mother or God? And that's what she was going
to have to come to terms with because the cross was coming. And the Bible says that's why
she went and pondered these things in her heart. And she began to
realize that. He's my son, yes, but more importantly,
he's God's son. He's God's son. We're told here in verse 51 that
the child went back home with them and was subject unto them.
But boy, the seed had been planted in her heart, hadn't it? Been
planted in her heart and it gnawed upon her. What's going to happen? What, am I going to have to give
up? Am I going to have to give him up? She pondered these things
in her heart. You would probably imagine that
she finally reached this conclusion, no matter how her son dealt with
her in the future. She would have no reason to blame
Him, for His ways are above her ways. His thoughts are above
her thoughts. Her thinking was natural. His
was spiritual. She considered her own needs
as a mother. He considered the business and
glory of His heavenly Father. You've got to come to terms with
that, Mary, as the mother. of this child. And it's the same
with us. This is a lesson hard to learn
and more difficult to retain. Our Lord's ways are higher than
our ways, are they not? And sometimes and often His ways
are contrary to our ways. We think we know that, but we're
surprised when He crosses us, aren't we? When I say that His ways conflict
our ways, well, sometimes they do very deeply. A mother sorrowing for three
days. That crosses her, doesn't it?
Buddy, that crossed her. That wasn't no little thing.
This mother probably didn't eat or drink or sleep for three days. He crossed her. And here's the thing. Our attitude
may be just as noble as Mary's. We all have our plans and wishes
and desires, and they may all be good, just like hers. But
here's the thing. Our Lord's mind and our Lord's
purposes are not always ours. And whose will is to be done?
His or ours. Mary had a son. You and I have
souls. Our souls belong to us just as
surely as this child belongs to Mary. But this is something
we're going to have to come to terms with too. Before our souls
is ours, they're His. They're His. And our desire for our souls
and our purposes for our souls never trumps His. They're His. Our souls belong to Him by creation. He made them and not we ourselves. We are the clay and He's the
potter. He should have His way with us
and with our soul. And when we think of this especially,
that we're His by new creation. He's created us in Christ Jesus. We're His by creation. We're
His by purchase. You are not your own. You are
bought with a price. How could we say we are our own?
We are not our own. All the world and all the creatures
of these worlds could not afford the price that was paid for your
soul. You are bought with a price.
Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which
are God's. Yet this is the most difficult
thing that we can come to terms with. Sometimes it's easy to
come to terms with it when everything's going easy. It's a sunshiny day. It's a beautiful day and we've
got our slippers on. And our Sunday go to meet and
close. It's so easy. But buddy, sometimes it crosses
us, doesn't it? Sometimes the Lord's ways and
His purposes cross our ways. It conflicts with our ways. And
after a while, we're apt to say the same thing that this dear
mother said. Why have you dealt thus with me? Why have you dealt
this way with me? I'm sure there's a good answer
for it. The Lord doesn't suffer His people
to be afflicted and tried without good reason. He never does that.
But it's usually after the affliction is past that we find out the
reason for it. Mary didn't know the reason for
this at the time. It was probably years later,
really, that she finally come to terms. Now I see why he was
in the temple. Now I see why he crossed me.
God's ways, His Father's ways, were more important than my ways. But I think if we can look at
two or three places this morning, Two or three people that the
Lord crossed. And I think made them all say,
just as this mother said, why have you dealt thus with me?
And if we can see the reason why God dealt with them the way
He did, maybe you and I can look at our life and say, now I see
why He's dealing with me like that. Now I know. I bet you Job
asked this question, didn't he? I bet you he asked why. We know
he asked why. The Bible tells us he asked why.
Listen to what he said. Why hast thou dealt thus with
me? When Job's trials got so bad,
boy, I tell you what. Usually, at the beginning of
trials, we think, I can get through this, you know. Until they get
real tough, boy. Until they get deep. Until they
get long. I bet you when Job's trial first
started, well, we know when it first started, it was devastated.
Ten children. Can you imagine that? You've
got two boys. What would it be to lose those boys? To get a
call and say, both of your boys killed last night. Oh, it would
be devastating. It would be heart-wrenching.
How about if you got a call that said all ten of your children
are dead? Your seven sons and your three daughters, they're
dead. The servants have been killed. The sheep and the camels
and the asses, they've been stolen. And yet Job said, God gives and
God takes away. I can get through this, he said.
I can make it through this. But then the boils came. The
body full of boils. And he sat down in the ashes,
scraping himself. And then his wife said, won't
you just curse God and die? And then the servants wouldn't
even do what he told them to do. They'd laugh at it. And then
his friends come and say, you must be an outright hypocrite
or all this wouldn't be happening to you. And then after month,
after month, after month passed, then, I bet you then, Job said,
I can't take this no more. I'm going to the Lord and I'm
going to ask Him, why are you doing this to me? Why are you
dealing thus with me? Listen to Job chapter 13 verse
24. Why? Have you hid your face from me?
Why are you beholding me for your enemy? Will you break a
dry leaf driven to and fro? Will you pursue this dry stubble? Why are you doing this? For thou
writest bitter things against me, and you make me to possess
the iniquity of my youth." That's where he finally come to. Just
the same place Mary came to. Mary, when she first discovered
the child was not with him, she probably said, we'll meet him.
Let's head back. We'll meet him. He's coming.
He's coming. He'll be back. But she didn't
meet him. The first day, couldn't find him. The second day, couldn't
find him. The third day, man, she almost was out of her mind. I can't take this no more. I'm
going crazy. What have you done to us? That's
the way Job felt. Boy, let it go on long enough.
Let the trial get deep enough. I bet you everybody in here that's
been on the way very long has had the occasion to get along
with the Lord and say, Lord, why are you putting me through
this? Why are you dealing with me like
this? Why did the Lord do this to Joe?
You know we've got the answer. I want you to turn to James chapter
5 and look at the answer. If Job had outright asked the
question just as Mary did, why has he dealt thus with me? Well, here's the answer. Look
in James chapter 5 and look in verse 10. James chapter 5 and
verse 10. Look at this. Here's the answer
we have. A plain answer. Lord, why have you thus dealt?
Why have you taken my children? Why my cattle? Why my servants? Why my health? Why my friends?
And why does it just keep on happening? Some suggest Job may
have been in that trial for two years. We don't know. But here's
the reason for it. Look in verse 10. James chapter
5. Take my brethren the prophets
who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering
affliction and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which
endear You have heard of the patience of Job, and you have
seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and
of tender mercies." Why did the Lord put Job through that? Why
did He deal with him in such a devastating way? To show him
something. He did all that just to show
him something. What was it He showed him? The end of the Lord. He saw something in the Lord
that he never saw before. What was it? That the Lord is
very pitiful and of tender mercies. Don't you imagine Job knew something
about how pitiful the Lord was? Why, sure he did. Don't we think
he knew something about the Lord's mercy? Why, sure he did. But
not like he did now. He could quote that verse as
well as you and I could have quoted it. As a father pitieth
his children, so the Lord pities them that fear Him. He remembers
our frame. He knows that we're just dust.
And we can quote that, can't we? We know something about the
pity of the Lord, we think. But boy, let us get down where
Job was. Let Him put us through where
He put Job. And then let Him lift us up. And we'll say, Lord,
I thought I knew something about You. I didn't know anything. When misery comes, I thought,
well, the Lord's left me. He can't help me. I'm too miserable.
He don't have pity enough to behold me. But now Job saw something
that he never saw before. Not just the Lord was pitiful,
but very, very pitiful. What do you think about His pity?
What do you know about the pity of the Lord? Have you experienced
it? You know it's our misery that
draws out pity, isn't it? But just let a little bit of
misery come, and we start thinking, Oh, He don't care nothing about
me. Oh, He don't care nothing about me. Until He shows us.
And mercy, mercy, We read about mercy. We talk about mercy. Wayne
talked about mercy this morning. I beseech you by the mercies
of God. And I bet you Job said, Lord,
I've talked about your mercies before. I want you to forgive
me because I didn't put this adjective in front of it. Tender
mercies. Tender mercies. If Job asked the Lord, why have
you dealt thus with us? I imagine the Lord would have
said this, Job, I wanted you to know me better. I wanted you
to experience me looking upon you with pitiful eyes and a pitiful
heart and reaching down in your misery and lifting you up. I
want you to know something about my mercies that's higher than
the heavens. My everlasting mercies. I don't
pray to suffer, do you? I ain't going to either. I'm
suffering enough without praying anymore. But you know something? If it draws out of the Lord's
heart what's there and lets me see it, then I can't help but
see, Lord, deal with me any way You're pleased if it will bring
me to draw this pity out of Your heart, this mercy out of Your
heart. Because that's what I want to see in the Lord, isn't it
you? One man said, I don't want Your pity. I do. Just Lord pity me to death. Just
pity me, pity me, pity me. I'm fit to be pitied, aren't
you? And do you reckon there's pity enough in His heart for
people like us? There is. There is. And if it takes the
deep trials to bring it out, then so be it. Why, Lord, have
you dealt thus with me? was a teenager, 17 years old,
the best I can figure out, when his brothers put him in a pit
and sold him down into Egypt as a slave. He went down there and couldn't
speak their language, couldn't tell what they were saying, couldn't
talk. He's down there about 12 years.
Started out just as a slave. A fellow bought him by the name
of Potiphar and he probably got down to Egypt and he thought,
man, you know, I can endure this until I can get out of here.
You know, I'm in a clean house. I've got clean clothes. This
man has sent me over his household. And I can take this trial. This is bad. I'm longing for
my dad and mother and even my brother that hate me. I'd love
to see him. But I can make it. I can make it. Until it changed. Until the woman said, he tried
to rape me. He tried to rape me. How would
you like to be accused of that? Wouldn't that be awful? And they
sent him to the dungeon. It wasn't even true. He's a faithful
man. Sent him to the dungeon. He's
down there probably, I don't know, maybe 12 years or so. 10
years. Boy, they hurt him down there.
Psalms 105 said they hurt his feet in the stalks. His feet probably swollen and
probably raw where they tightened the stalks down on him. They
put him in chains. They laid him in chains. Can
you imagine laying there like that? In a dungeon away from
your dad, away from your mother, away from everything you knew.
And he was probably about 18 or 19 years old. And he stayed
in that dungeon until he was 30 years old. You think he asked why? Oh, I bet he asked why. Why, Lord, have you dealt thus
with me? Why have you dealt thus with
me? And you know something? How many reasons could be given?
We could find several reasons. We know the reasons because the
Lord has told us the reasons. God purposed to exalt this young
man. Remember his dreams that he had?
The Lord told him, young man, there's coming a day when I'm
going to set you second in command. You're going to be on a throne.
And even your dad and brother are going to come down and bow
down to you. I'm going to exalt you. Could you imagine the confusion
in this poor young man's mind? This don't seem to me like I'm
exalted very high. Lord, why are you dealing with
me? And you know what the Lord told him basically? Yeah, I'm
going to exalt you. I'm going to put you on the throne
down here in Egypt. But I'm going to do it in such
a way that I'm going to get glory from it. I'm going to do it in such a
way that you're going to appreciate me doing it. You know, it was a miracle the
way this happened. It was an absolute miracle the
way it happened. If Joseph had migrated down to
Asia and got into politics, and got elected to the Senate, and
just by happenstance got acquainted with Pharaoh, and he was such
a lucky, smart fellow that Pharaoh said, listen, I can use you up
here in the White House. I want you to be second in command.
You know what everybody said? Man alive, he's a smart fella,
ain't he? Boy, he's something else now.
Look, he's from up there and he came down here and learned
our language and got in with Pharaoh. Man, he's just a brilliant,
lucky fella. But when you take an 18 or 19
year old boy out of the dungeon one morning, And he's sitting
on the throne that evening. Somebody's got to stand up and
say, what in the world is going on here? What has God wrought
here? Lord, why have you dealt thus
with me? I have dealt thus with you because
I'm going to exalt you from your low, low position, and I'm going
to do it in such a way that I'm going to get all the glory for
it. And here, look at us. Look at
us. We're just getting old and wrinkled
and weak. We're afraid to get out on the
snowy days. We stay scared to death half the time. Can't climb
a ladder even on the first run. And we're going to get worse,
aren't we? Pretty soon, they'll have us in the nursing home.
Pretty soon, they'll put us six foot under. And the bugs will
eat us. And we can say, Lord, why haven't
You done something else with me? I'm going to exalt You to
heaven. I'm going to bring You up to
my house. But I'm going to do it in such a way that it's going
to be so miraculous that I'm going to get all the glory for
it. Ain't that it? Let me show you another reason
why we're there. Look over in Genesis chapter 50. Look here
how Joseph put it. Here's the reason the Lord dealt
thus with him. Look at Genesis chapter 50 and
look down in verse 19. Look down in verse 19. Look back up in 18. This is where
Jacob had died and his brethren got scared and thought, boy,
he's going to put us in jail. He's going to pay us back for
what we did to Him. In verse 18 of Genesis 50, And his brethren
also went and fell down before his face. And they said, Behold,
we be thy servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear
not, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you thought
evil against me. But God meant it unto good. To bring to pass, as it is this
day, to save much people alive. My goodness. Why did God deal
with Joseph like He did? To bring much good out of him.
To save much people alive. What would have happened, humanly
speaking, if God hadn't have dealt thus with Joseph as He
did? When the drought came for seven
years, can you imagine the millions of people that may have died?
He dealt with him to bring great good out of his sufferings and
afflictions. You know something? I earnestly
believe this. I do not think God is going to use us to do
hardly any good at all, but as He brings us low and afflicts
us. Luther said, a preacher wasn't
worth his weight in mud if he didn't suffer afflictions and
temptations. I've come to believe that. I wonder if Fanny Crosby had
ever wrote that wonderful song that we so often sing, I shall
see him face to face and tell the story saved by grace, if
she wasn't born and lived blind. Most of her writings is about
sin, and they came out of the fact that she could not see.
Look at the great men down through history that God used mightily,
and all of them were brought low and afflicted. Just like
Joseph. Lord, why have you dealt thus
with me? I'm going to do great things
with you. But you're going to know that
I did it. And everybody's going to know that I did it. I imagine John the Baptist asked
this question. Why have you thus dealt with
me? John was the greatest prophet
the Bible says ever lived. That's what the Lord said. A
man that's born to a woman, there's not risen a greater than John
the Baptist. Man, he was preaching to crowds.
Multitudes it said. Those in Jerusalem, the city
about emptied out, went down to Jordan and all of Judea, the
Bible says, and those in the regions of Jordan, they came
to hear John and be baptized of Him. Can you imagine the crowds? I mean, along the banks of the
Jordan River, can you imagine the thousands of people standing
on the banks and John and his disciples down there baptizing?
Man, he's a famous fellow, wasn't he? A very famous fellow. He was the one that coined that
phrase, Behold the Lamb of God. Remember that phrase? He said
it twice. Nobody else said that but him. Behold the Lamb of God
that taketh away the sick. How many people, do you wonder,
have been converted from messages preached from that day? I remember
Spurgeon telling about they went to Sherry Gardens, I think it
was, while they were building the tabernacle, and they were
going to use the Sherry Gardens for their worship center. About
four or five thousand people showed up there, so he wanted
to try out the acoustics in that building. And he got behind a
little pulpit that set up, and he said, Behold the Lamb of God
that taketh away the sins of the world. Just trying out the
acoustics in the building. A fellow contacted him two or
three days later, and he said, Mr. Spurgeon, he said, I'm a
janitor. at the Sherry Gardens. And I
was down between the seats cleaning, and I heard this voice fall from
heaven, Behold the Lamb of God! And he said, God took it home
to my heart and it saved me. And he said, I found out it was
Spurgeon that said that. Behold the Lamb of God. That's
where this came from. This man, John the Baptist. And man, what a preacher he was.
What a preacher he was. You talked this morning about
giving instructions, Wayne. He not only said, Behold the
Lamb of God. Boy, those that beheld Him, He
told them how to live. The common people come to Him
and said, John, how should we live now? We believe in this
Messiah. He said, if you've got two coats
and somebody else don't have one, you go give them that coat.
The soldiers came to Him and said, John, what should we do?
He said, don't put anybody in fear. Be content with your wages. And even the tax collectors come
to him and say, what should we do? The Lord was saving them
through this message, through this man. And he said, just collect
what Rome tells you to collect. Don't cheat people. And boy,
I tell you what, he spent the Pharisees alive, didn't he? I
mean, boy, they came, the Pharisees and the scribes, and he said,
old generation of vipers. Who's warned you to flee from
the wrath of God? Don't come to my ministry and
let me hear you say, we've got Abraham to our Father. Your lineage
means nothing. You've got to know Him. You've
got to be born again. Boy, He skinned them alive, didn't
He? And I tell you what, you talk about a brave man. King Harry took his brother Philip's
wife. And John went to him and said,
it's not lawful for you to have her. That's against the law of
God. You're living in adultery. That's
sin against God. And Herod said, well, I'll tell
you what I'm going to think about you. I'm going to put you in the dungeon.
And they hauled John off to the dungeon. You think he began to ask why?
I bet he did. Because he sent his disciples
to the Lord Jesus and said, go ask Him if He's the one that
should come. Or are we to look for another?
Some commentators said, well, John was too great a man to doubt.
But here's the key to that. John was a man. And here's a man that was raised
in the hills of Judea. Man, he was a man of fresh air,
eat locusts and wild honey, and now he was in an old, stale jail. He preached to crowds and now
he had nobody to preach to. And he sent those apostles, he
sent his own disciples and said, you go ask him. One man said
that he believed that it was just for John's disciples' sake. John did it to increase their
faith. That may have a sense to that. But when the Lord Jesus
told John's disciples to go back and tell John what you saw, You
saw me heal the lepers. You saw me heal the lame. You
saw me give sight to the blind. You've even seen me raise the
dead. Go tell John, and then he'll know. Yes, John, I'm in."
That will pacify his doubts. It will strengthen his weak soul.
But I bet you John stayed in that dungeon long enough until
he began to say, Lord, why have you dealt thus with me? And boy, he heard this clatter
outside. He hears some commotion outside and doors are slamming
and somebody raising their voice. And he jumped up and looked out
the little peephole in the window. And here comes this soldier down
the aisle with a 12-inch blade and his knife. Where's the Baptist? I've been sent for his head.
He didn't have time to pray. He didn't have time to think.
Here's this man come to his door. Grabbed him by the hair of the
head. Lord, why have you dealt thus with me? My son showed me a video a few
days ago, well, it's been two or three months ago now, and
I've got on to him ever since. Son, don't ever come down here
and show me a video again like this. I can't get it out of my
head. Russian soldiers, some of the
Muslims called them and cut their heads off. You're talking about
violence. That was violence. Some of them
were still breathing with their heads caught, but gurgling. It
was sad and sick. That's why John suffered. And don't you think maybe he
was sitting there, Lord, why? Why? Why? Why are you doing that? Why can't I just lay down and
go to sleep? Why are you dealing with me like that? You know we
know why. The Bible tells us why. Look
over here in John's Gospel. In John's Gospel, look in chapter
3 and look in verse 25. John's Gospel, chapter 3, and
look at this. Let's read the whole story all
the way back up to verse 25. Then there arose a question between
some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying. They
came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with
thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou bar'st witness, behold, the same
baptizeth, and all men come to him. John answered and said, A man
can receive nothing, except it be given to him from heaven.
You yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ,
but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the
bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom,
which standeth in birth, and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly
because of the bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must
decrease." Why did the Lord deal with John like He did? Why did
He lose the crowds? Why did He find Himself in solitary
confinement? Why was he finally had his head
cut off? He had to decrease. And Jesus had to increase. I almost chuckle as I read you
in verse 25, some of John's disciples. John still had some disciples? They were still following John? What were they doing following
John? Why didn't they do like the other
disciples? When he said, Behold the Lamb of God, they followed
Jesus. John had to decrease, not only
in his own eyes, but in the eyes of everybody else, that Christ
may be exalted. He still had some disciples.
And his disciples obviously weren't going to follow Christ until
John had completely diminished Who is Paul? Isn't that what
Paul said? Who is Apollos? Who is Cephas? Who is John the Baptist? He's
just a voice. Paul and Barnabas, they're just
waterboys and seed sowers. Who are you? And who am I? We're nothing, are we? What is
Christ? He's everything. He's all in
all. He's the worthy one. Paul said,
God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. He must increase and I must decrease. Sometimes, brothers and sisters,
that's exactly why we go through what we go through. It's to bring
us low. Not only in our eyes, but in
the eyes of everybody around us. Robert Mary Machane was one of
Scotland's, they called him the bright and rising star of Scotland. Man, could he preach. Could he
write. Educated man. Educated in other chambers of
wise theology. Everybody was saying, oh, a rising
star. Scotland's got a rising star. God sent Typhus and killed him
at age 29. And he decreased. And Christ
increased. Jonathan Edwards, they pinned
this tag upon him even in his own day. He's America's greatest
theologian. England has her theologian. Wales
has her theologian. But we've got the greatest. Edwards
is our theologian. And they made him president of
Princeton. And they started calling him
President Edwards. Now he's our president. You write
the books and we'll read them. President Edwards. They gave
him inoculation for smallpox and it killed him. He served
six weeks as president. And he diminished and Christ
increased. A man left America to go do some
business and he was there in London. Spurgeon told this story. A man was just coming by the
tabernacle and he wanted to stop and hear the Gospel. And he stopped
to hear Spurgeon preach the Gospel. And he went on his way rejoicing. He heard the Gospel. He said,
Oh, I've got to go back through there on my way back to America.
He stopped and sent in the service and got absolutely nothing out
of it. He met Mr. Spurgeon out in the vestibule
and told him about it. And Mr. Spurgeon said, well,
why did you come here the first time? He said, I come here to
hear the gospel. He said, why did you come the
second time? I come here to hear Spurgeon. He said, there's your
problem. You come the first time to hear
about Christ. You come the second time to hear
me. And when we come to hear people,
and when we get our eyes up on people, you know what I want
you folks to think about me as your pastor. This is my earnest
feelings this morning, what I want you to earnestly think about
me. I want you to go to the Lord and tell Him this, Lord, our
pastor is as dumb as a box of rocks. He's not going to get a message.
He's not going to help me. He's not going to honor you if
you don't keep Him low and bless Him with your Holy Spirit in
the study. And as He preaches, He will do
none of us any good. It's only when He diminishes
and He exalts you that He will do us any good. You know some
people need to lose their pastors. Some people have lost their pastors.
One of the most famous pastors, in our day that you and I know,
you know why the congregation lost him as a pastor. They put
all their confidence in that dear man. They quit praying for
him. He can do it. Man, he's smart. He's smart. Look at the messages
he's come up with for all these years. We don't need to pray
for him. He can do it himself. We don't
need to read. We don't need to stay spiritual.
We don't need to stay faithful. Our pastor is a famous man. He's
a brilliant man. He can do it. And they lost him. We diminish. We diminish in our
own eyes and in one another's eyes. We diminish that He may
be exalted. We decrease that He may increase. And that's fine with me. Isn't
it you? It hurts. But when we say, Lord, why have
you dealt with me this way? You're getting a little too high.
A little bit too proud. So you need to come down that
I could be exalted. That I could increase. Not unto
us, Lord, not unto us, but unto Your Name. Give glory for Thy
mercy and for Thy truth. Why have you dealt thus with
us? Well, there are some answers, isn't there? And I bet you we'll
probably fit in all three places and more. Let us pray.