Luke chapter 7, and then if you
want to find Matthew chapter 11, that will be the two scriptures
that I will be reading to you. Just a little bit of lengthy
reading in Luke chapter 7. And I want to begin reading in verse
11. Luke chapter 7, verse 11. And it came to pass the day after
that he, that is, the Lord Jesus, went unto the city of Nain, and
many of his disciples went with him, and much people. And when
he came near to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead
man carried out, the only son of his mother, And she was a
widow, and much people of the city was with her. And when the
Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said, Weep not. And he came and touched the casket,
the bra, and they that were him stood still. And he said, Young
man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead set up,
and began to speak. and he delivered him to his mother.
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. And this rumor of him, this fame
of him, went forth throughout all Judea and throughout all
the regions round about, and the disciples of John showed
him all these things. 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,
they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art
thou he that should come, or look we for another? and unto many that were blind
he gave sight. Then Jesus answered and said,
Go your way, and tell John what things you have seen and heard,
how that the blind see, the lame walk, the leper are cleansed,
and the dead hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the
gospel preached. And blessed is he whosoever shall
not be offended in me." beginning in verse 2 through
verse 6. This is the parallel passage
to the scripture I just read to you. Matthew 11, verse 2. Now, when John had heard in the
prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and
said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for
another? And Jesus answered and said unto
them, Go, and show John again those things which ye do hear
and see. The blind receive their sight,
the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the
dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached unto
them. And blessed is he whosoever shall
not be offended in me." Now, I want to consider this question
that we read here in my text. Art thou he? That's a question
John sent his disciples to ask the Lord Jesus. Art thou he? I want to know why John would
send and ask the Lord Jesus this question. I think there's a lesson
here for us. Some would say that John sent
his disciples to ask the Lord this question because he was
anxious for them. John was a man who was decreasing
in his ministry. His ministry was almost over. And from the very beginning,
he wanted people to know the Lord Jesus Christ. He pointed
him out so plainly. He wanted people to leave his
ministry, to leave his person and follow Christ. So he sends
his disciples that they may hear Christ for themselves. and be
assured that he is indeed that one that he says that he is.
There may be an element of truth in that. But it seems to me that this
question that was asked of John was an answer that he himself
needed. Not just his disciples, but he
himself needed Because he says here in verse 4, go show John
again those things which you hear and see. It seems to me
like John is the one who needed to hear himself, and not just
his disciples. Maybe it was for their good,
but I think first and foremost the scripture seems to indicate
here it was John who was needing to know this answer. Art thou
he that should come? And in the light of that, I think
we have to ask this question. Why did John even have to ask? Did he not know who the Lord
Jesus was? Had he not said, Thou art the
Son of God? Had he not said, Behold the Lamb
of God? Did he not know this was the
prophet that should come into the world? John knew a lot about
him. From the very beginning he knew
a lot about him. Let me show you some of the things
that John knew and confessed concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Look in John chapter 1. I want
you to hold Matthew chapter 11 and look in John chapter 1. This
man was not ignorant concerning who the Lord Jesus Christ was. Look here in John chapter 1 and
look here in verse 19. John chapter 1 and verse 19.
This is the record of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites
from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? Who are you? It's obviously you're somebody
because You're preaching with a great degree of power. You're
baptizing multitudes of people. It's obvious that you're somebody.
Who are you? He said, I'm not the Christ. I want you to know
that. I'm not the Christ. Look in verse 22, And they said
unto him, Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them
that sent us? What sayest thou of thyself? Who are you? Well, look down
now in verse 25. And they asked him and said unto
him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor
Elias, neither that prophet? John answered them, saying, I
baptize with water, but there standeth one among you whom you
know not. Did John know him? Did John know
he was here? Well, sure he knew. Sure he knew.
And look at the very next verse. And he it is who cometh after
me, is preferred before me, whose shoes latch it, I am not worthy
to unloose. And look at verse 29. The next
day John seeth Jesus cometh, and said, Behold the Lamb of
God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom
I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me,
for he was before me. How did John know him? Look on
in verse 31. I knew him not, but that he should
be made manifest to Israel. Therefore I am come baptizing
with water. And John bore record, saying,
I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode
upon him, and I knew him not. But he that sent me to baptize
with water said unto me, Upon whom thou seest the Spirit descending,
and remaining on him the same, is he which baptizeth with the
Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bear record, that
this is the Son of God." Did he know? Sure he knew. He knew that. Look in chapter
3, verse 24. And John was not yet cast into
prison. And there arose a question between
some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying. And
they came to John and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with
thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same
baptizes, and all men come to him. And 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 I am set before him. He that hath the bride is the
bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom
withstandeth, and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of
the bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must
decrease. He that cometh from above is
above all. He that is of the earth is earthy,
and speaketh of the earth. He that cometh from heaven is
above all. And what he hath seen and heard,
that he testifieth, and no man receiveth his testimony. He that
hath received his testimony hath said to his seal that God is
true. For he whom God hath sent speaketh
the words of God, for God gives not the Spirit my measure to
him." Look at this, "...the Father loveth the Son, and hath given
all things unto his hands." John had perfect understanding, complete
knowledge of who Jesus of Nazareth was. He was the Lamb of God,
He was the Christ, He was the Sovereign from Heaven, the Possessor
of everything. Why then did He send this message?
Why did He ask this question? Aren't thou He that should come? Or do we look for another? Would it shock you Would it surprise
you if I told you why he asked that question? Was out of unbelief. Would that surprise you? John was not mistaken in his
identity of the Lord Jesus Christ, was he? Was this indeed the Lamb
of God? Was he the Son of God? Was he
everything that John professed him to be? Sure he was. There
was no mistake in his identity. There was a man sent from God
whose name was John, and this same one who sent John was the
same one who revealed Jesus of Nazareth to be the Son of God. That's what the Lord told John. Upon whom you see the Spirit
descending and remaining, He is the Christ. He's the Son of
God. God revealed the Lord Jesus Christ
to John the Baptist. So John asking this question,
Who art thou? It wasn't out of a matter of
mistaken identity when he asked it. Have I been wrong? No. It's not a matter of knowledge,
then, is it? That's not why he sent and asked
this question. Why did he ask it? A measure
of unbelief. That's it. That's it. Ain't that our problem sometimes?
It's not a matter of knowledge, is it? It's a matter of unbelief. It's a matter of unbelief. I
read the commentary. Most usually before I come and
preach to you folks, I read commentaries. And sometimes they just don't
agree with me at all. And they don't agree with me,
some of them, on this. They just said some of them are almost
horrified to think that John the Baptist could possibly not
believe. that he could fall into a great
measure of unbelief. And here would be two reasons
that they were guilty for believing that. First of all, they don't
believe this would be unbelief on John's part because they say
this, John was a man of high calling. He was a great man of
God. He was a prophet. I tell you
what the Lord Jesus said here in the eleventh chapter, of men
that are born of women, there has not risen a greater prophet
than John the Baptist. When you think of great prophets,
I think of Samuel, but John the Baptist was greater than Samuel.
Do you think of the sweet psalmist of Israel and all the psalms
that he wrote? He was a man that was greater
than he was. You think of Isaiah that spoke
so often and prophesied of Christ. Here was a prophet greater than
Isaiah. Of those born of a woman, there
has not risen a greater than John the Baptist. So men tell
us this man could not have doubted. He could have never fell into
unbelief. Why not? Why not? Believing is a grace. Believing
is a grace in the heart, and this grace can be increased,
and this grace can be diminished, and it's a grace that must be
exercised. But I tell you this, believing
is not automatic. Just because you're a great prophet
or a great man of God, of high calling, or you've been on the
way for a long, long time, That doesn't mean anything when it
comes to faith. He's a great prophet. And what
some, and the reason that some would give For John would not
give for John questioning the person of the Lord Jesus, that
is, unbelief. But this is the very thing that
encourages me, and I bet that it encourages you too. If a man
like this, a great prophet of God, could be afflicted with
unbelief, doesn't that encourage you? Because haven't you sometime
been afflicted with it yourself? Do you ever have any problems
with unbelief? Elijah was a man subject to like
passions as you and I. He was a great man, Elijah was. But you know something? He was
just like you, and he was just like me. And here was a great
prophet that had seen the Lord Jesus in the flesh, had witnessed
of who he was, and now he says, Aren't thou he? Why couldn't he fall into unbelief? Why couldn't he have a measure
of doubt about it all? Just because he was a prophet?
He may have been a great prophet. And he may have been a great
man, but he's just a man. He's just a man. So some would
say, no, not a great prophet could ever doubt. No, John could
never doubt it through the Lord Jesus. It took the same grace for him
to believe as it takes for you and it takes for me. And I tell
you, just let the Lord move His hand, and I don't care how great
your calling is. I don't care if you're a preacher.
I don't care how long you've preached. Just let the Lord move
His hand. And I tell you this, you'll doubt.
You'll doubt. But the second reason that people
don't want us to think that John the Baptist fell into a measure
of unbelief was this. They say that it would give great
occasion to the enemies of the Lord to reproach his gospel,
to reproach his word. And they say it like this. If
John the Baptist didn't believe, then you shouldn't believe either.
We have these atheists today who are trying their best to
disprove God's word. And they take every occasion
they can to reproach it. So if you say, here John the
Baptist fell into unbelief, you know what they say? Ha, ha, that
shows you. Why would you believe him when
his own prophets don't even believe him? So they say, therefore,
that we should never say that John fell into a measure of unbelief. Well, our answer is this. God
has no perfect people, not even among his prophets. He has none. Did you know that? Ain't that
something? He never pretends that his prophets
are perfect. He doesn't hide the sins of his
prophets and his people down through time. He even exposes
them. Remember Noah? How old was Noah when he got
drunk? You'd think being 400 and something
years old, he'd have learned better than that. But he was
drunk, was he not? You know one of the Lord's servants
fell into incest? Can you imagine a Lord's servant
that the Bible calls a just man falling into incest? Can you
imagine that? That happened a lot. Can you imagine the sweet psalmist
of Israel, a man after God's own heart, murdering another
man? Can you imagine that? Can you
imagine the wisest king that ever lived departing from the
Lord, being led away by strange women? Solomon did. And the Lord never hid it. He
exposed it, did He not? Can you imagine a chief apostle
leaving the gospel? denying the gospel? Peter did. Read Galatians chapter 2. Does
this offend us? What does this tell us? God has
no perfect prophets or apostles or saints. And these fellows
that want to come here and find fault with the Lord's saints
and use the sins and infirmities of His saints to reproach Him,
just remember this, God never tells us He has perfect people. And if He saves some of those
infidels, they won't be perfect either. Wouldn't you hate to sit down
and read a Bible and all you found in here was perfect saints?
that never failed, never faltered, had no infirmities, I tell you,
I'd close my Bible and never read it again. When you get in
trouble, when your heart is heavy, when you feel your unworthiness
and your trials, and you need some help, you need some sympathy,
where do you go to? You go to Psalms, don't you?
There's a reason when you pick up somebody's Bible, and through
the Psalms, the pages are almost wore out. That's where we go. Why? That's where we see people
in trouble. That's where we see people crying
out, ain't it? Out of the depths. Oh, he brought me up out of a
horrible pit. Why are you cast down on my soul?
Why were these people going through these situations? Purge me from
my sin, and I shall be clean. What are you talking about, David?
Against thee and thee only have I sinned. That's God's saints,
and He doesn't hide the fact that His saints fall, that His
saints are full of infirmities. I'll tell you what He teaches
us. He taught them by their falls. He teaches us by their falls,
that even His prophets and even His apostles and choice saints
are saved by His grace. Not the strictness of their lifestyles,
not their holy walk, not their separated life, but after all,
they are saved by grace. A fellow asked Brother Scott
Richardson one time, he said, Scott, what do you think about
King David and his falling like he did? And Scott said, one thing
I think about, if he ain't saved by grace, he ain't saved. We
learn that from that, don't we? God does not hide the mistakes
of his saints. Did he hide John the Baptist's
unbelief? No, he didn't. Are you perfect? Are you trusting in the strictness
of your lifestyle? Can you fall into unbelief? Might
the Lord expose you? Has he ever exposed your sin? Then why do you think that he
would have hid John the Baptist? I don't marvel that the Lord
exposes his unbelief. He has no perfect saints. It was unbelief. That's all it
was. Unbelief. He was the greatest prophet that
ever lived. And he sends this message to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Art thou he that should come? No, it wasn't a lack of knowledge. That's not it at all. He knew.
He identified with Christ perfectly. Faith had grown weak. Unbelief
had gotten the upper hand. That's it. That's it. Now, secondly then, let's ask
this. What was the source of this unbelief? Why did he fall into unbelief?
Well, he tells us here in Matthew 11, in verse 2, he gives us these
two things. John had fallen into a great
trial. Look at this. He says here in
verse 2, when John had heard in prison, he was in jail. This is even documented by history. History tells us what jail he
was in, where he was at and everything. Herod had laid hold upon this
man because Herodias, his brother's wife that he was living with,
hated him. And Herod laid hold upon him
and put him in this prison. And some tell us he was there
for a year, about a year. Now you imagine this man, he
was a free spirit, was he not? You never saw him living in town.
He'd eat locusts and wild honey, dressed in this girdle of a camel
skin, and he lived out in the desert. I picture John like he's
a wild man, don't you? Could you imagine putting him
in a dungeon? Laying in that place, not one
day, not a week, not a month, but for a year? His ministry is gone. He doesn't
have anybody to proclaim the gospel to. Most of his friends
have forsaken him. And lo and behold, we never read
one time where the Lord Jesus Christ ever came and visited
him in that jail. Not one time. You think he resented that just
a little bit? Oh, not John the Baptist. Wait
a minute now. He is a man subject to like passions
as we are. Why did the Lord Jesus say, Blessed
is he who is not offended in me? I think John's source of unbelief
was this, this long, severe, drawn out trial that he had gotten
himself into, or he had been gotten into. I tell you what
can happen. You can go through a fiery trial
for a day or two, or a week or two, But let it get really, really
severe. And let it get prolonged. And
let you reach the place where you can't see any relief in sight. And that faith that was strong
can start to waver. And then you can start saying,
wait a minute, am I wrong? Am I sure about this? Look here in Psalm chapter 13
with me right quickly. Look in Psalm chapter 13. Look in verse 1. It's not long after the Lord
saves one of his people. He keeps them up on the clouds
for a while. They have this newfound freedom
and joy. But I tell you, it's not long
till he gets them in this valley. And it becomes a deep valley. And it becomes a long valley. And it's a dark valley. And here
is what they begin to say in their hearts. Look at Psalm 113. How long will thou forget me,
O Lord? Forever? How long will thou hide
thy face from me? How long shall I take counsel
in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? shall my enemy
be exalted over me. Consider and hear me, O Lord
my God. Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep
the sleep of death. Lest my enemy say I have prevailed
against him, and those that trouble me rejoice when I am loosed."
How long? Forever? That's where John was. That's where John was. I've been to some trials, and
you've been to some trials, and if they don't last long, we usually
weather them pretty good, don't we? But, boy, let them linger. Let them linger. And after a
while, after a while, it could lead to some doubts creeping
in. That's what John's source of
his unbelief was, a deep, prolonged trial. But secondly, in Matthew
chapter 11 and verse 2, he heard of the works of Christ. That's what he said there in
verse 2. He heard in the prison of the works of Christ. Now I
read to you in Luke chapter 7 where the Lord Jesus had raised this
young man from the dead. Now can you imagine that? I thought
about this yesterday while we were sitting at the funeral.
I thought about this. Here's a dead person. Here's
a dead person. What would those people have
done if I had went over there and laid my hands on Martha Johnson
and she had sat up and went to talk to me? Everybody in there
would have probably passed out and ran out. What in the world
happened? If I had done that, that would
have scared me to death. Can you imagine this man that was
dead, he sat up and began to talk? What a miracle that was!
And the fame of what the Lord Jesus was doing was spread all
over this region. And it was said here that John
the Baptist heard of these mighty works. The fame of what the Lord
was doing and His glorious person was shed abroad in his heart. He heard about it. I don't think
I'm stretching this year when I say that when you and I hear
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, I mean when we hear THE
gospel, I'm talking about the good news of what Christ has done. when
we hear about the mighty, mighty, mighty works of the Lord Jesus. We have this high estimation
of Him in our hearts. It sets up in our hearts this
good news to the poor soul that we are. What He's done and who
He is and where He's When we truly hear this, and it gets
in our hearts, it not only is a source of faith, but you know
what else it's a source of? Unbelief. Hold that, and I want you to
look at one more Scripture. Look over in Luke chapter 24. Look
at this. This is exactly what I'm saying.
In Luke chapter 24. And look in verse 36. Look at
this. Verse 36, Luke 24. This is where the Lord Jesus
had raised from the dead, and His disciples and apostles were
in the upper room hiding out. And as they thus spake, Jesus
Himself stood in the midst of them and said unto them, peace
be unto you. And they were terrified and affrighted,
and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them,
Why are you troubled? Why do thoughts arise in your
heart? Behold, my hands and my feet, it is I myself. Handle me and see, for a spirit
hath not flesh and bones, as you see me have. And when he
had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet." And
look at this, "...and while they yet believed not." Why did they
not believe? For joy. Have you ever heard
anybody say, that's too good to be true? I just can't believe
that. That's the situation that they
found themselves in. John heard of the fame of Christ. He heard of what He was doing,
His mighty works. And you know what it bred in
his heart? A measure of unbelief. It's too good to be true. It's
too good to be true. You tell us of a God who has
no purpose, He has no power, He has no will, but what we allow
Him to have? You tell us that his hands are
tied and he's at man's disposal? You tell us that about God? You
tell us of a Christ whose death is mostly in vain? Tell us of
a Holy Spirit who is trying to regenerate everybody, but they
won't let Him, so He's failing? What kind of effect does that
have upon us? It sends us on in our self-centeredness
and pride. unconcerned and indifferent,
does it not? I don't worship a God like that.
I don't believe in a Christ like that. A Holy Spirit like that
is not appealing to me at all. I'm not interested. I'm not impressed. But tell us of a God who has
filled the Lamb's Book of Life with the names of all of those
whom He has purpose to save. Tell us of a Christ who was punished
for all the sins of God's elect and has put them away for time
and eternity? Tell us of a Holy Spirit who
comes irresistible in sovereign power and grace, revealing the
Son of God in His word to our hearts? giving power to our inner
man to will and to do of his good pleasure, sealing us to
the day of redemption? Tell us of a God who has fixed
our eternal destiny, and the suffering saints upon this earth
are just as secure as those who are in heaven? Tell us of such
a crowned God, and how does it affect I'll tell you how it affects
our heart. Oh, could this be so? I've never heard anything
like this. Me? Died he for me? Why did he even ask that question?
Why didn't he just say, well, sure he died for me. He was amazed
that the Son of God had died for him. If Jesus Christ has
died for you, what does that mean? Did you ever think about that? If Christ has really borne your
sins, what does that mean? Listen to how Mr. Bliss says,
"...burned shame and scoffing rude. In my place condemned he
stood, sealed my pardon." Did Christ die for me? Then what does that mean? He
sealed my pardon. My pardon is sure with His blood. Oh, it's difficult to believe
that, is it not? That's the time you think you've
got a hold of it. But for the joy of such a truth,
unbelief comes in. and afflicts your soul, you believe
not for joy. Guilty, vile, and helpless we,
spotless Lamb of God was He, full of atonement. Can it be? Can it be? Can you imagine yourself sitting
here this morning and all your sins that you are so concerned
about? that you're burdened about? That
you're struggling with? All those sins have been atoned
for? Full atonement? Can you imagine
that? Can you believe that? Any son of Adam, any natural
man can believe that Christ died for everybody without exception
and did just as much for one man as He did for another. But
when you believe the scriptural account of the gospel, that He
entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for me, ain't that glorious? Isn't that
a mighty work? But how does it affect you? The
same way it affected John when he was in prison. I can't explain
all of this, but I know it's so. I see it in him. I see it
in my own heart. Heaven for me? That high and
glorious place for me? Wretched me? Oh, I believe not for joy. Well, I think you and I would
live to bless God that John the Baptist fell into a marriage
of unbelief. Because we see ourselves there.
And sometimes we worry, how did I get here? But here's how we
get here sometimes. Oh, we estimate Jesus Christ
so high. We thank so highly of His person,
His work. It's amazing in our hearts. And
sometimes we exalt it so high as we should, but we think it's
too good for us. Surely not me. Oh, surely. Every time somebody tells me
something that's good news, and I go after it, it winds up being
nothing. Too good to be true. It probably
is. But not this. Not this. Are you surprised that you're
saved? Are you surprised that you have an interest in Jesus
Christ? Are you surprised with that? Men build in competition on who's
been baptized the most. I was baptized in Tennessee. I
don't know how many times they baptized me. I didn't know a thing. I never
saw the glory of God in Jesus Christ. I never saw what I was
in myself. I never saw that. I wasn't amazed
by that. But, oh, when God the Holy Spirit
opened my heart and I saw the work of Christ and the glory
of Christ, oh, me, me! And I've been struggling with unbelief
ever since. Old Augustine said, we're not seeking to know some
new thing. was seeking to believe what we
already know, an interest into this glorious Savior. Oh, He's
mine, and I'm His. He died for me, full atonement. What was the remedy that the
Lord gave John's disciples to give to John? Look back over
again in Matthew chapter 11, and I'll close by just reading
this. Look at this. In Matthew 11, verse 4, they
came to John and said, Our Master sent us to ask, art thou he?
He fell into a great measure of unbelief. Lord, do you have
a remedy for him? Jesus answered and said unto
them, Go and show John again. Go show him again. Show him what? Go show him what I'm doing. Go
tell him what I'm doing. The blind are seeing. The lepers
are cleansed. The dead are raised. The lame
are walking. The poor have the gospel. Just tell him over and
over and over again. What's the remedy for unbelief,
brothers and sisters? Just hear the gospel again. And
hear it again. And hear it again. saying them
over again to me wonderful words of life. Why? Because I'm having
struggles in my soul laying hold upon these things. Then I go
out and I forget it. Then I begin to doubt. That's
why we need to be here to hear the gospel every opportunity
we have. Tell him again. Tell him again. Let's pray.