Just for a moment, I want you
to open your Bibles before I bring the message to 1 Corinthians
chapter 14. I want to speak just a word or
two about traditional worship, traditional singing, traditional
preaching, traditional praying, and use as my defense the defense
of the Apostle Paul against rabble-rousing and so-called contemporary worship
that they started in his day. 1 Corinthians 14 verse 15. What is it then? I will pray
with the Spirit, I'll pray with the Holy Spirit, and I'll pray
with the understanding also. If you're not praying with understanding,
you're not praying in the Spirit. I'll pray with the Spirit, the
Spirit of God speaking through us, in us, to us, but I'll pray
with the understanding. I will sing with the Spirit,
the Spirit of God being my helper and my comforter and teacher. I'll sing like you just got through
singing, in the Spirit. But I'll sing with understanding
also, so that people who hear me can understand what I'm singing,
about whom I'm singing, what is the truth that I'm singing,
so that they can understand it. You see what I'm saying? That's
what Paul is saying. Else, verse 16, When thou shalt
bless with the Spirit, as they, people that rant and rave and
sing these songs that nobody understands and acting foolish. When you say you sing bless with
the Spirit, how shall he that occupies the room of the unlearned,
say a person comes in who doesn't know God, doesn't know the Bible,
doesn't know the Word of God, doesn't know the way of salvation,
doesn't know Christ. He comes in, he's unlearned. How can he
say amen at the giving of thanks if he does not understand what
you're saying? How can he amen your sermon if
he doesn't know what you're saying? You're screaming and yelling
and ranting and he can't understand what you're saying. How can he
say amen to it? How can he say that's the truth?
That's of God. That's what I need. If you sing,
if you pray, Everybody pray at the same time. How can anybody
here give thanks, or say amen, or understand what you're doing?
You see that? Verse 17, Verily, thou givest
thanks well, but the other is not edified, nobody's blessed. I thank God I speak with tongues
more than all of you. Paul spoke in more different
languages than anyone. I'm not talking about an unknown
gibberish, he's talking about languages. Anytime the word tongue
is used in the Bible, it means one of two things. Either this
thing in your mouth, or what it says. That's just it. Yet in the church, I had rather
speak five words with my understanding, and so that the people who hear
me can understand. With my understanding, then by
my voice, I might teach others also than 10,000 words in a tongue
nobody, or in a dialect nobody, or in an attitude nobody, or
in a frenzy nobody can understand. That's simple, isn't it? I was preaching a meeting over
in Indiana several years ago, and they were carried on like
that, and I got up to preach, and I read that scripture, and
they fired me. I finished my message, and I went
to the motel, and they said, well, that's all. We're not going
to meet anymore. We don't want to understand.
We want to be left alone. I don't. I don't want to be left
alone in my foolishness and lack of wisdom and understanding,
and I don't want you left alone. And so we'll continue to do it
this way. All right. Matthew chapter 11. He that hath ears to hear, let
him hear. It came to pass, verse 1, when Jesus had made an end
of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and
to preach in their cities. Now when John heard in the prison
the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples. Now John
the Baptist is in prison. He came as the forerunner of
the Lord Jesus Christ. You read about him in the book
of Isaiah. But now he's in prison, and our
Lord has begun to preach and to teach. John's ministry is
over. You don't need a forerunner when
the Messiah has come, nor do we need types and pictures when
the Redeemer has come. So John's ministry is over. But
I know what's going through his mind and the mind of his disciples.
Where's the kingdom? Turn to Matthew 3. This was John's
message. Matthew chapter 3. Where's the
kingdom? Matthew the third chapter verse
1 is kind of a summary of John's ministry. Matthew 3 verse 1. In those days came John the Baptist,
the forerunner, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying,
Repent ye, the kingdom of heaven is at hand." The kingdom of heaven
is at hand. For this is he, this is he that
was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah saying, the voice of one
crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make
his paths straight. So John sent two of his disciples
to Christ. And verse 3. This is what those
two disciples asked the Lord. Art thou he that should come,
or do we look for another? Now we could spend a while this
morning wondering why and trying to explain why John the Baptist
should ask such a question. When John the Baptist was filled
with the Spirit in his mother's womb, when his mother, who Had
John in her womb, came into the presence of Mary, John leaped
in his mother's womb. He's the one who baptized Christ
and saw the Spirit of God descend upon him from heaven. He's the
one to whom the Lord spake and said, the one upon whom you see
the Spirit of God descending, he's the Messiah. He's the one
that baptized with the Holy Ghost. John is the one that pointed
to Christ and said, behold the Lamb of God that taketh away
the sin of the world. Why would he ask this question?
I don't know. I really don't know. I read a
lot of sellers giving reasons, but I really don't know. John
knew for what purpose he asked. So I'll leave it there. But you
know what I'm interested in? What the Lord said in reply to
that question. That's what ought to occupy our
attention. So here it is in verse 4. And
Jesus answered and said to them, to the two disciples, you go
and show John again those things which you do hear and see. And here it is, the blind receive
their sight. Now go back with me to Isaiah
a minute. Isaiah's prophecy, chapter 35. Isaiah 35, this is a prophecy
of what should take place when the kingdom of God did come.
When Christ did come, when the Messiah did come, this is the
prophecy. Listen. In Isaiah 35, verse 3. Strengthen ye the weak hands,
and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful
heart, Be strong, fear not. Behold, your God will come with
vengeance. Even God with a recompense, he'll
come and save you. And this is how you'll recognize
him. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears
of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap
as a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing. For in the wilderness
shall waters break out, and streams in the desert." The kingdom of
God has come. And what our Lord is saying to
these disciples, you go tell John, that the blind do receive
their sight. Who are these blind? It's us
who were born blind. If our gospel be hid, it's hid
to them whom the God of this world has blinded. And now they
see. They see the Redeemer. They see
the Savior. They see the glory of God in
the face of Christ. And then he said, those who are
lame, lame through the fall, the lame walk. Those who are
lame through the fall, now walk with God. like Enoch of old,
by faith. They walked with God. And then
the lepers are cleansed. All the way through the Old Testament,
leprosy is a type of sin. Anyone who had leprosy had to
live isolated from everybody else, unclean. When he saw someone coming, he
had to cry unclean and cover his face. He wasn't allowed to
let his shatter even fall on anyone, unclean. But these lepers,
unclean, defiled by sin, doomed to perish, they're cleansed. They're cleansed. The lepers
are cleansed. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses
us from all sin. David prayed, Lord, purge me
with hyssop and I'll be clean. Wash me and I'll be whiter than
the stone. That's the kingdom of God. And
the deaf hear, they hear the voice of God. My sheep hear my
voice and they come unto me. And the dead are raised. You
hath equipped them who were dead in trespasses and sin. Raised
to die no more. He that believeth on me shall
never die. And the poor, the poor have the
gospel preached to them. Those who, Pink said, poor in
spirit, have nothing. can do nothing, know nothing. They're poor in spirit, and they
have the gospel preached to them. This is the kingdom. This is
my kingdom. My kingdom is not of this world.
The kingdom of God is not meat and drink. The kingdom of God
is righteousness, peace, joy, and eternal life. And then he
adds this, listen, and blessed Blessed indeed is he whomsoever
shall not be offended in me. In me. Blessed is he that shall
not be offended in the way God, through his dear Son, is pleased
to bring in that kingdom and to make us a part of that kingdom.
Now, the Jews were offended. The religious Jews were offended
by the poverty of his parents. when his parents went to Bethlehem,
the city of David. Direct descendants of David.
They couldn't find a place to stay. No room for them in the
inn. No room for David's great, great,
great, great granddaughter and grandson. No room for them. Or
David's son. No room. The Jews not only were
offended by the poverty of his parents, but they were offended
by his appearance. There's no beauty about him that
we should desire him. He had no form, no comeliness.
They were offended because he was a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief. They were offended by his doctrine.
They were offended by his followers. They were offended by his death.
We hid, as it were, our faces from him. But our Lord said,
blessed is he. Oh, highly favored, twice blessed. Let me give you four things,
who can see these four things. Number one, blessed is he who
knows the exceeding sinfulness of sin. David did. He said, Lord, my sins are ever
before me. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest
be justified when you condemn, and righteous when you judge.
Purge me with hyssop, and I'll be clean. David knew the exceeding
sinfulness of sin. Do you know that? Blessed is
he who knows that he's the chief of sinners. Blessed is he who knows in his
heart and mind the only way that a holy God can be just and justify
a sinful man. Do we know that? You're blessed.
Blessed indeed is the person who is not offended by being
faced with his sins and being faced with the fact that the
only way that our Almighty God can be holy and just and love
us, accept us, Forgive us, receive us, and glorify us is in Christ
Jesus. That's the only way. Blessed and holy, and how wonderful
it is, number three, to know the price of redemption. You're
not your own, you're bought with a price. And that price is the
blood of God's Son. We're not redeemed with corruptible
things as silver and gold and traditions and ceremonies and
ritualism. We're redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ as a lamb without spot or blemish who barely was
foreordained before the foundation of the world but manifested in
these last days for you who are kept by the power of God through
faith. God made him to be sin for us. who knew no sin, we might be
made the righteousness of God. That's the price of redemption.
That's the glory of the cross. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross. There's no other place to glory.
There's no other place of hope, of salvation. Blessed is he that
is not offended by the exceeding sinfulness of his sins, and the
only way that God can be just and justify, and the precious
price of redemption, the blood of Christ, and the glory of that
cross. And blessed is he who can see
beyond this present life, this present world, can see beyond
it. and see yonder everlasting glory
awaiting those who find this blessed hope in him. And as Paul
said in Philippians 3, can worship God in spirit, and who can rejoice
only in Christ Jesus, and who has no confidence in this flesh. Oh, blessed is he. Blessed is
he. Whomsoever. Whomsoever. He may be a preacher, he may
be a deacon, he may be an elder, he may be whomever. But he's not offended in Christ
Jesus, in his person and divine work, in the exclusiveness of
his work, in the excellence of his work, in the eternal glory
of his work, but finds all we need in him. That man is blessed
above every person in all the world. All right, look at the next verse.
That's the kingdom. That's the kingdom. All right.
And as these men departed, verse 7, the Lord Jesus began to say
to the multitude concerning John, concerning this forerunner, this
servant of his, And I think the Lord is talking about all his
true preachers. John not the only true preacher,
we're going to see that in a minute. But our Lord's speaking here
about John and about every true minister and preacher of the
gospel. And these people were familiar with John. Oh yeah,
everybody knew who John was. John ministered for several years,
and they were familiar with his ministry. In fact, many of them
had gone out into the wilderness to hear him. Even Herod the king
had gone out to him. He feared John. Because of the
preaching of John, he did a lot of things. That's right, he did
many things. Everything but believe. But he
did many things. And our Lord, in describing the
ministry of John, and I believe all of his true servants, he
asked the same question three times. Three times. Did you notice it when I read
it? When you heard, this is what he's saying, when you heard there
was a prophet in the wilderness, they had to hear about him to
go and hear him. When you heard there was a prophet
of God in the wilderness, preaching in the wilderness, what did you
go out to see? What did you expect to find?
What did you expect to hear? Now here you are and someone
comes to you and says, there's a man preaching out there, and
he's sent by God, and I'm going to hear him. Well, what did you
expect to find? What were you looking for? What
in your mind is a preacher sent from God? Number seven, the Lord
Jesus said, what went ye out to see? Number one, a reed shaken
with the wind? Were you expecting to find a
compromiser? Were you expecting to find a
weak man? What is a reed shaken in the
wind? A reed shaken in the wind is a holler reed, got no substance,
no insides. And whichever way the wind blows,
that's the way he goes. He said, is that what you think
God's preacher will be? Like a reed that will bow in
whatever the direction public opinion goes? that he'll say
what you want to hear, or would like to hear, or what he thinks
you'd like to hear? Is that what you thought? Second,
verse 8, listen, what went you out to see? When you heard there
was a preacher, God's preacher, out there, what did you expect
to find? A weakling, a compromiser, a
greedy Satan? Or were you expecting to find
a man, a worldly man, in soft rain? Were you expecting to find
a man who was taken up with riches and materialism? God expects
us to be rich and successful and materialistic. And were you
expecting somebody putting on a vain show out there with all
of these trinkets and visual aids and enticements to worship
and to sell his goods or sell his books or promote himself?
Was that what you were looking for? Well, you know the scripture
says, all that's in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes, the pride of life, that's not of the Father. This
stuff's not of God. It's of the world. And the world
passeth away, and all that's in the world passeth away. But
he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. What were you
looking for? A man popular with the world,
who cares about his popularity with the world, who'll say what
people want him to say, who'll bend the way the wind blows.
Is that what you were looking for? Or verse 9, here's another
question. What went ye out to see? You
heard there was a preacher out there, a prophet out there. Did
you go out and see a preacher? You wouldn't go that far just
to hear any old preacher, would you? Just looking for a preacher?
A preacher? There are all kinds of preachers,
orators, philosophers, psychologists. In fact, the Old Testament describes
them here in Jeremiah 23. Listen. Jeremiah chapter 23. All kinds of preachers. You know,
the false prophets outnumbered the true prophets 500 to 1 on
Mount Carmel. That's a big, that's big odds. In Jeremiah 23, listen to how
Jeremiah describes some of these preachers. Jeremiah 23, verse
25. I've heard what the prophets
say, that prophesy lies in my name. They say, I've dreamed. Not God has said, I have dreamed,
I have dreamed. How long shall this be in the
heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? Yea, they are prophets
of the deceit of their own hearts, which think to cause my people
to forget my name by their dreams, which they tell every man to
his neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.
The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream. He that
hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the
chaff to the wheat? Is not my word like a fire, saith
the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? Behold,
I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words,
every one from his neighbor. I am against the prophets, saith
the Lord, that use their tongue and say, He saith. I am against
Them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord, and do them,
do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, by their
fephality, by their lightness and foolishness. Yea, I didn't
send them, I didn't command them, and therefore they shall not
profit this people at all. They're not going to help them
at all. Did you go out to see a fellow
that was servant of men? Did you go to see a fellow that's
interested in building a kingdom of his own? Did you go out just
to hear a preacher? Well, listen to what the Lord
says in verse 10, verse 9. What went you out to see? A prophet?
Yea, I'll say unto you, more than just a prophet, more than
just a preacher. Can a man be more than just a
preacher? He can be God's preacher. Can a man be more than just a
prophet? Yep. He can be God's prophet. Because,
listen, and he gives us three points about this prophet. Number
one, this is he of whom it's written. This is he of whom it's
prophesied. Behold, let me read it to you
so I won't misquote it. Isaiah 52, listen. Isaiah 52,
verse 7. How beautiful. are the feet of Him that bring
good tidings, that publishes peace in Christ, that bring good
tidings of good, that publishes salvation. How beautiful are
the feet of Him that saith undesired, Our God reigns. That's my thought there. Number
one, it's written about He preaches what's written. He preaches what's
written. Next thing he says about him,
he says in verse 10, Behold, I send him. I send him. Behold, I send my messenger. I send him myself. How should
they preach except to be sent? Lift up your eyes, the fields
are white unto the harvest. Well, let's get some preachers
out there. That's not what he says. Pray ye the Lord of the
harvest, that he'll send forth his laborers into the field.
Isn't that what that says? His laborers. It's written of
him, who he is, what he'll preach, and I sent him. As my Father
sent me, even so send I you. And then the third thing about
it. I send my messenger before my face. What does that mean,
brethren? It means so very much I don't
even want to attempt to describe it. I send my messenger before
my face. Number one, he's my servant.
Turn to Galatians chapter 1. He serves men on God's behalf and for the glory
of God. But he's not the servant of men.
Galatians 1 verse 9. As I said before, Paul says,
So I say unto you, if any man preach any other gospel unto
you than you have received, that it be a curse. For do I now persuade
men or God? Do I seek to please men? If I
seek to please men, I'd not be the servant of Christ. Paul called
himself the bondservant of Jesus Christ, the bondservant. I send
my messenger. He's my messenger. He's my messenger. He belongs to me lock, stock,
and barrel. He's my messenger. And he preaches
before my face. He preaches always with a realization. He's not just preaching to the
people, he's preaching to the Lord who's standing right here. Let me illustrate that a little
bit. Paul called it in the sight of God. I preach in the sight
of God. I came back from the Navy after
World War II, May 1946, and went to work in a steel mill,
hot strip mill. I was green, didn't know anything,
young, not quite 21 years old. And he put me in the hot strip
mill office to type orders for rolling corrugated roofing, tin
plate, and sheet metal. Big office, there's lots of men
in there. But the superintendent of the hot strip mill, Mr. Myers,
I remember him like yesterday. He made an impression on me.
His office was as close as that piano there from my desk where
I was sitting to do my work. And his desk was just beyond
that door and he never closed the door. I felt like he was
watching me all day long. I'd type and look up and there's
Mr. Myers. And I gave a full day's work.
That's right, we usually will. Let me just ask you, how does
the average person work How does his work improve when the boss
walks in? I'm an average person, you know.
How diligently do we strive to be our best more than when the
boss is looking on? Well, my boss is not as mean
as Mr. Myers, my father, my master. He's a lot more forgiving, a
lot more understanding, and I do a lot of loafing in his presence.
But I'm telling you this, I want to do what he says. I want to
preach what he sent me to preach. That's what I mean before his
face. I recognize and realize that he's my master, and I'm
sent by him to tell his truth, whatever folks may think. And that's what he's saying here.
It's required of a steward to be found faithful. And my messenger,
I send him before my face, which shall prepare thy way before
thee. But here's something interesting.
Listen to what our Lord says in verse 11. Listen. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, among them that are born of women, there is not risen a greater
than John the Baptist. That includes Moses and all the
rest of them. This is what our Lord is saying. John the Baptist
is the greatest man born of woman. Humanly speaking. Humanly speaking. That's the way we're talking
here. We're talking about as he's observed as far as men compared
to men. Greatest man. Notwithstanding,
he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater or just
as great as John the Baptist. Notwithstanding, the person who
may be thought by people to be the least in the kingdom of God,
the most unworthy, or the weakest, or the last, by man's standards,
or the less gifted, is greater than John the Baptist. I ask you this. And you go back
over there, and you did this myself, preparing this message. I thought about all the characters
in the Bible, all the believers I'm talking about, people who
know God, all the believers in the Bible. Who would I pick to
be the one the Lord's talking about here, the least? Who would
you pick? The least. The least in gifts,
the least in ministry, the least in length of service, the least
in service, the less example of continued faithfulness. Who would it be? The thief on
the cross, wouldn't it? If you're going to pick somebody
in the eyes of men, that's the least. In fact, that's the way
he's described in the Bible, the thief on the cross. He never
walked, he never washed, he never worked, he never witnessed, he
never gave a dime to a missionary. Notwithstanding, if I think that
I deserve any place or station or recognition in heaven more
than he, I deny salvation by grace. With that very thought,
with that very thought appears in my mind that next to him I'm
somebody I've denied salvation by grace, or that I deserve If
I think for one moment that I deserve some reward for these years of
preaching, or some recognition in the sight of God for somebody
that I've witnessed to, or some higher place in that faith, I
deny the very righteousness of Jesus Christ. That's serious,
isn't it? I deny the very righteousness
of Christ, because that's all of my clothing that my robe and
wedding garments is righteous. If I think just for a moment
that my length of service enables me to be more loved or more accepted
or more glorified than that man that I consider to be the least
by human standards, I'm denying that salvation is by the blood
of Christ who said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life, and
no man comes to the Father but by me. If righteousness of any
kind comes by the law, Christ died in vain. So that's what
our Lord is saying. Thank God for John the Baptist.
Thank God for his faithfulness and loyalty. Thank God for his
dedication. Thank God for his message. But
thank God for it. Not him. Thank God for it. Because without the grace of
God, he wouldn't have even known a message. But here's in closing,
in verse 12. And from the days of John the
Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffered violence.
And the violent take it by force. Now here's, let me tell you something,
John the Baptist was the last of the Old Testament prophets.
I can show you that clearly. John the Baptist comes in the
same vein as Moses and Elijah and Jeremiah and Isaiah and all
these. He's the last of the Old Testament prophets. I'll show
you that if you turn to Malachi chapter 4. Malachi chapter 4. Actually, John the Baptist ministered
under the Old Testament dispensation. That's right. Christ died after
John the Baptist was already gone. So he was the last. Here in Malachi chapter 4, verse
4. Remember ye the law of Moses
my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel
with the statutes and judgment. And I said, Behold, I will send
you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful
day of the Lord, before Christ comes to the earth. And he shall
turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts
of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth
with a curse. Who is that Elijah? Well, turn
to Matthew chapter 17. Our Lord tells us who that is.
He tells us who that Elijah is, Matthew 17, verse 10. The Lord Jesus tells us who that
is, in Matthew 17, verse 10. And his disciples ask him, saying,
Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus,
I quote Malachi now, Jesus answered and said to them, Elias truly
shall first come and restore all things. But I say unto you,
Elias is come already. And they knew him not, but have
done unto him whatsoever they listed. They killed him. Likewise
shall we also the Son of Man suffer them. Then the disciples
understood that he spoke of John the Baptist. So John is, so verse
12 then, from the days of John the Baptist until now, he's saying
from the days of all the prophets, which was culminated in the coming
of John. John was one of them. In the
days of all the prophets, Abel testified by faith, Abraham,
Moses, from the days of all the prophets to John the Baptist. God spake in times past to the
fathers by the prophets. John, God spake. He's now spoken
to us by his son. You see what I said? From the
days of all the prophets until now, days of all the prophets
which culminated when John died until now. People back there,
now here's what he's saying, men and women back there, they
heard the prophets. They heard the prophets in type
and shadow, prophecy and all these things, from Abraham to
John. They heard about Christ's coming
and they believed it. They sought the kingdom of God
with diligence, with violence. The word violence there is commitment,
sincerity, enthusiasm. We use the word violence like
beating up on somebody, but the King James Version uses that
word violence as totally sold out. Seek ye the Lord with all
thy heart. You'll seek me and find me when
you search for me with all your heart. Seek ye first the kingdom
of God and his righteousness. Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found. These people under the ministry of those prophets
sought the Lord, the coming Redeemer, the coming Lamb of God, with
diligence, with enthusiasm, with vigor, with sincerity. And they died not having received
the fulfillment of the promise. Now here's what I'm asking. Turn
to Hebrews 2. Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2, verse 1. in the days of Christ, days of
full revelation, the days of the gospel manifested. We ought to give the more earnest
heed to the things which we've heard, lest at any time we should
let them slip, for if the words spoken by the prophets, the angels
are messengers. Angels didn't preach the gospel,
prophets did. If it was steadfast, And every
transgression and disobedience received a just recompensive
reward. How are we going to escape if
we neglect so great salvation, which at first began to be spoken
to us, not by prophets, but by the Lord himself? And was confirmed
unto us by them that hurt him. How shall we escape? And that's
what I believe our Lord is saying right here. Back there in those
days, such limited revelation, such limited manifestation, such
limited ministry, talking about something that would come, and
yet those people pressed into the kingdom of God, pressed. Abel, Abraham, Enoch, Noah, pressed
into the kingdom of God. We ought to be more diligent
from the understanding we have. Make that the very goal of our
being, to win Christ and be found in Him. Verse 15, that's the
last verse, He said, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.