Open your Bibles again to Matthew
11. I have an ambitious undertaking
this morning. I'd like to read and comment
on all of these verses. There are 30 of them, so I'll
try to be sensible. But this is a message our Lord
Jesus Christ preached. And in this message, it has six
natural divisions. You'll notice our Lord addresses
different people through this message. You probably noticed
it when I read it a moment ago. But he has a word, first of all,
for his doubting disciples, fearful, doubting disciples. He has a
word of encouragement, instruction. And then he has a word for the
curious crowd, the casual heroes. And then he has a critical, sharp
word for the religious people of his day. And then he has a
word for the unbelieving cities, the world in general. And then
he has a word to the Father. And then he closes with a word
to the needy. to the needy. Let's look at verse
2, a word to a doubting disciple. Now, whether this was John speaking
for himself or for those around him, but nevertheless, there
were some doubts entertained among these believing disciples. John was a believer. His disciples
were believers. John was miraculously born, miraculously
conceived. John was endued with the Holy
Spirit from his mother's womb. Our Lord said about John, there's
none greater born of woman. John saw the dove from heaven
descend upon the master. John heard the voice from heaven,
this is my beloved son. And John had preached for over
four years, this is the Redeemer. This is the Redeemer. This is
the Christ. But look at verse 2, Now when John had heard in
the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples
and said to him, Art thou he that should come? Are you that
prophet of whom Moses wrote? Are you the Christ? Are you the
Messiah? Or do we look for another? Now
John's in prison. He's not out in the wilderness
preaching. He's in prison. And he's going
to be executed, and he knows it. But then there's no more
need for the forerunner. God moves the forerunner off
to the side because the Messiah is here. No need for the forerunner,
just like the law. When Christ fulfilled it, the
law was pushed aside. He taketh away the first, establishes
the second. But John's in a doubtful state. He has told that the king is
coming, and here he sits in prison, and he is thinking, where is
the kingdom? Where is the restoration of Israel? Where is the defeat
of the enemies of the Lord? Where is the Messianic rule?
What is taking place here? He was denied and rejected and
put in prison, and the Lord Jesus was denied and rejected. No beauty about him that we should
desire him. We hear it as it were our faces
from him, despised and rejected, a man of sorrows acquainted with
grief. Is this the king? Is this the
Messiah? Is God moving in great power?
He asked, are you the one that should come or do we look for
another? I look at the Lord's answer. Verse 4, And Jesus answered
and said to them, You go, and show John again those things
which you hear and see. The blind received their sight."
Now, two types of blind are referred to here. One is a type, one is
a fulfillment. Our Lord heals some blind people.
But the blind to whom he refers here, the spirits are blind. God hath revealed Christ, the
blind see. Those who are blind by the fall
and by sin, depravity, they now see. The blind see. The lame
walk. They walk with God as Enoch of
old, spiritually. The lepers are cleansed. Sin is put away, the corruption
of sin. is put away by the power of thy
sins, be forgiven thee, Christ said. The deaf hear the voice
of God. The dead are raised to life eternal. And the poor have the gospel,
the good news preached unto them. Go tell John, my kingdom is not
of this world. My kingdom is not meat and drink.
My kingdom is not success and riches. That's what so many religious
people think today. Oh, God's blessed us so much
we have this, we have that, we have the other. All flesh, all
material, all physical. But my kingdom is not meat and
drink. My kingdom is not success and
riches. My kingdom is not popularity
and fame. My kingdom is not of this world.
My kingdom is righteousness. where the blind see the glory
of God, see beyond this veil of tears, see beyond this valley
of sorrow, see beyond this life of corruption, and see the glory
of God. The blind see the lame walk, not down the streets of our cities
with people recognizing, oh, there goes so-and-so. No. They
are despised and rejected of men like their master, but they
walk with him. That's what he's saying. And
listen, verse 6, and blessed is that person who's not offended,
who's not offended in these things. Blessed is he who can look beyond
this life of sovereignty and trial and sin. Blessed is he
who can see the true kingdom of God, the true family of God. the true glory of Christ. In
this world, he said, you will have tribulation. All of the
apostles, none of them were successful, all of them were martyred, all
of them were put to death except one, John. In this world you
will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome
the world. The sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us. My kingdom is not of this world. My kingdom is not meat and drink.
It is righteousness and joy and peace. And blessed is that person
who is not offended in this. He is not looking for success
here, popularity and fame. and all these things that the
love of the world, the love of the flesh, the pride of life,
these things. That man is not offended in Christ. I want to show you a psalm that
I've been looking at lately. I don't think I've ever preached
from this psalm, but it's been a special blessing to me. David
expresses some heartaches trials that he has and some times of
misunderstanding, but look where he comes back. In Psalm 13, Psalm
13, listen to this, and he must have been so down, so, like John
the Baptist, sitting there in prison. Can you imagine the man
sitting in prison, neglected, and he just, what's happening? What's coming off him? What in
the world is happening? Everything is falling apart.
Listen, David said in Psalm 13, Lord, how long will you forget
me? O Lord, forever? How long will
you hide your face from me? How long shall I take counsel
in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long shall
my enemy be exalted over me? Preach the truth. and just troubles
and sours and folks out there not preaching a nickel's worth
of anything and they're just so successful. Seems like everything's
going their way on a downhill, shady side. How long? My enemies, be exalted. Consider,
Lord, and hear me, my God. Lighten my eyes, lest I sleep
the sleep of death. Lest this kills me. Lest my enemies say, well, we
prevailed against him, we put him out of business, And those
that trouble me rejoice when I'm moved, but, but, he's looking beyond this
now, but I've trusted in your mercy, and my heart shall rejoice
in your salvation. I'll sing unto the Lord, because
he hath dealt bountifully with me." Now there's, there's, blessed
is the man who's not offended in me, Christ said. Christ is
who he is. He'll do what he will. He's working
not for success here, and comfort here, and happiness here, and
prosperity here, and all these things here. Our Lord's redemptive
work is to make a people like himself, our child. And blessed is the person who
can see it. and not be dragged down by the
disappointments and heartaches and troubles and trials of this
life and stay there. Oh, they drag you down. But David
said, I would have fainted if I had not believed to see the
goodness of the Lord in the land of the living, not in the land
of the dead. Land of the living. That's why
he said, John, lift up your spirits. I'm not through. You're looking
at this, and this is not it. This is not it. All right. Well,
let's go on to the next. A word to the curious crowd,
verse 7. And as they departed, he began
to say to the multitude concerning John. He's talking about his
preacher. He's talking about John. These people had heard
John. They'd heard John preach. And our Lord asked him three
times the same question. He addresses these people who
went out in the countryside to hear John. Somebody said, hey,
there's a fellow out trying to preach him. Well, let's go hear
him. Pretty good preacher. Let's go hear him. Looks like
he's got some connection with God. Let's go hear him. And our
Lord asked him three times, verse 7, as they departed, he began
to say to them concerning John, what did you go out to see? You went out in the countryside
to hear that, what did you go to hear? Verse 8, what went you out to
see? Verse 9, what went you out to
see? Well, let's see what he says. Verse 7, he said, what did you
go out there to see? A reed shaking with the wind?
What did you expect to see out there? This man's sin of God. A compromiser? A weakling? What's a reed driven
with, shaken with the wind? A reed has no, that old oak tree,
the wind's not going to move it. But that little old reed's
hollow. It ain't got nothing on the inside.
It's straight, but it's empty, like a gun barrel. And it's empty. And that wind just blows. There
are a lot of preachers that way. Convenience compromised. They'll
bend and they'll bow in whatever direction that pressure is put
on them. Pressure. Is that what you expected
to find, he said? You went out to hear God's preacher,
is that what you expected to find? What did you expect to find,
verse 8? A man clothed in soft raiment? A wealthy person? Interested in his income? Interested
in gold and silver, covetous man. A man interested in material
prosperity and property and comforts. A man vain and showy. A little Lord Fauntleroy all
dressed up with his everything fixed just right, you know, to
impress people. Is that a socializer? A fellow
trying to get along with everybody so he can promote his cause.
Is that what you expected to see in God's picture? People who wear soft clothing
are not in the king's house. They are in the little letter,
K-I-N-G-S. That's whose house they are in. Verse 9, what did you go out
to see? A preacher? A preacher? Oh, more than a preacher. He says they are preachers and
then they are preachers. Just a preacher? Is that what
you went out to say? Hey, there's a preacher out there. Well, the woods are
full of them. There's nothing to being a preacher.
Anybody who wants to badly enough can be a preacher. There's no
more to being a preacher than being a lawyer. All you got to
do is study the ins and outs and the tricks of the trade.
That's all. You can be a preacher as easy
as you can be a carpenter, easy as you can be a school teacher,
easy as you can be anything else. There's nothing to being a preacher.
Is that what you went out to hear, a preacher? Let me tell
you something, more than a preacher. Look at verse 10. He's my preacher. There's the distinguishing difference. Listen. It is, this is he of
whom it's written, I sent him. That's the difference. He's my
preacher. He's my preacher. I hear people
say, I want you to meet my little preacher. I ain't your little
preacher. I'm his preacher. His preacher. That's the difference,
John. He's my preacher. I sent him. He's more than a preacher. You
go out and see a preacher, he's more than a preacher. He's my,
watch it, messenger. A messenger, one thing distinguishes
a messenger. Two or three things. Number one,
he's sent. Number two, he's got a message. And number three,
he'll deliver it. He'll deliver it. Come hell or
high water, He'll deliver it. That's right. I tell you. And watch this now. Watch what
he says in verse 11. Yeah, verse 11. He's my preacher.
He'll prepare the way for me. I send him. Now look at verse
11. I say unto you, among them that
are born of woman is none risen greater than John the Baptist.
There's nothing greater than being God's preacher. Nothing greater. I know John
was a great man. I'm not sure the Lord's referring
here to his impeccability and perfections. He's referring to
his office. There's none greater than God's
preacher. There was a missionary to Burma,
Judson, who had a son. His name was, my son, Felix. His name was Felix. And he was
with his father as a missionary. I believe it was to Burma. Judson
was the man. Had a son, Felix. And his son
was working with him in the mission field. And he was a very intelligent
young man. Popular young man. Young man with much charisma.
and intelligence, and the Queen of England made him an ambassador
to India. And he left the mission field
and became an ambassador to India. And his old daddy wrote these
words, My son Felix has shriveled from a missionary to an ambassador
to the Queen. And that's what our Lord is saying
right here. None greater than John the Baptist. Yet, notwithstanding,
he that's least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. Oh, what's he saying here? Remember,
remember, the kingdom of heaven is one family, one people. I'm going to preach on that tonight.
great and small in the kingdom of heaven. They are all kings
and priests in Christ. So John the Baptist, though he
was gifted and talented and used of God and powerful and blessed
of God, the least believer in the kingdom of God is greater
than he. Because all that we have is grace. But now, and look at verse 12. Now listen closely to this now. And from the days of John the
Baptist, Until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and
the violent take it by force. What's the Lord saying? Now see,
each time when he gave that word to the doubting disciple, he
said, my kingdom is not of this world. Get over this, get out
of this valley, and look to the mountain. Now he's talking to
these people who went to hear John, casually, curious. What were you looking for? They
were curious. What were you looking for? He
went out to him. What were you looking for? But the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom
of God is not for the curious. It's not for the casual. The
kingdom of heaven is for those whose chief concern is to enter
in. That's who enters the kingdom
of heaven, not the curious. You don't just happen to fall
into the kingdom of heaven. You seek it. And what he's saying here is
this, verse 12, the kingdom of heaven suffered violence. What
is violence? It's force, power, zeal. The kingdom of heaven is not
a hobby. It's not a pastime. It's not for the curious. It's
not for the casual. It comes with power. It comes
with force upon the souls and hearts of men. It conquers. The
kingdom of heaven conquers, changes the heart, turns men from death
to life, from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God's
dear Son, from Satan's power to Christ's family. Paul said,
I know you are God's elect because our gospel came to you, not in
word only, just curious words, casual sermons. came in power. Our gospel came
in power, in the Holy Ghost, in force. And the kingdom of
heaven suffered violence, is taken by force. I will not be
denied. That's right. Seek me, he said,
and find me when you seek me with all your heart. And then down here in verse 14,
he said, if you receive it, this is Elias which was to come. Malachi,
now this will give you a clue in that. The last chapter of
Malachi, it says in verse 5 of chapter 4 of Malachi, Behold, I will send Elijah the
prophet before the great, the coming of the great dreadful
day of the Lord. And he shall turn the hearts of the fathers
to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers,
lest I come and smite the earth." He said, if you'll receive it,
John the Baptist is Elijah. That's the prophet, he said,
that should come before the coming of Christ, the revelation of
Christ. All right, here's a word now.
Here's a word to the critical. And I'm not going to say much
about this because I preached upon it a few days ago. In verse
16, verse 15, he said, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
The kingdom of God suffereth. It's a thing of power and force. It's not a hobby. It's not a pastime. It's not
a fad. It's everything that we are and
have is Christ. And that's the folks that enter
it. Take it by force. by his power. A new creature. Now to the critical. But he said, where unto shall
I liken this generation? They are like children sitting
in the markets and calling to their fellows and saying, we
piped to you and you have not danced, we have mourned unto
you and you have not lamented. John came neither eating nor
drinking and they say, he has a devil. The Son of Man came
eating and drinking, they say, a gluttonous man, a wine member,
a friend of public incentive. What's this talking about? Well,
when the parents came in to the markets, and in Mexico and other
places they still do these things, the marketplaces, on Saturday
and in the mornings are filled with people who bring in their
crafts and their wares and their vegetables and sell them. They
set up their little stands just for acres of all these people. They all have children. And they
have to bring their children with them. They don't have daycare
centers. They don't have any place to put the children. They bring
them with them. And the children go off over here and somebody
entertains them. A whole bunch of children over
here in a place being entertained by one parent or one like we
do in the nursery. There's some ladies in there
taking care of the children. And this person taking care of the
children is saying to these children, they're saying to these children,
these children are stubborn and uncooperative. And this person
is saying to these children, I've piped to you, I've played
an instrument, I've sung happy songs to you and you won't laugh. Well, I tried telling you sad
stories since you had such a sad look. I decided to tell you some
sad stories, and I mourned and lamented and told you sad stories,
and you won't cry. Nothing pleases you. What application does our Lord
make to that? He is saying, this generation,
critical, religious but critical. John came. John was separated. Solemn, serious, no humor, no
funny business. Clothed in leather girdles, out
there in the wilderness, preaching the Kingdom of God, calling on
people to repent. Wasn't a socializer. Out there
alone. They went to hear Him. They wouldn't
hear Him. Our Lord Jesus Christ came, drinking
and eating, going to their weddings, going to their feasts, Being
a friend of public and sinners, you wouldn't hear him either.
But he makes a statement here in the last part of verse 19,
but wisdom is justified, vindicated of wisdom's children. What's
he saying? The wisdom of God The wisdom
of God in Christ, in His obedience, in His death, in His blood, in
His Word, in His preaching, in His ransom, the wisdom of God.
You see, the preaching of the cross is foolishness to them
that perish, but to us who are saved, it is the wisdom of God
and the power of God. And this wisdom of God in Christ
is seen and understood and acknowledged and experienced and vindicated
by wisdom's children. People who have wisdom, God's
wisdom, Christ, they rejoice in the solemn message and in
the glad message. They rejoice in the rebuke and
in the comfort. They rejoice in his message.
However God sends his word, whatever messenger, they rejoice. Wisdom is justified by the children. And then here is a word to the
unbelieving cities. Listen to this. The world in
general. And this applies to America as
much as any country in the history of the world. This applies to
Ashland. Then began he to upbraid the
cities where most of his mighty works were done, where his gospel
was preached, where his word was preached. Where is Bible
today, where the Bible is found, religion? Because they repented
not. And he said, Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! The
mighty works, if the mighty works which are done in you had been
done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago
in sackcloth and ashes. And I say to you, it'll be easier
in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you and Capernaum.
You've been exalted unto heaven, the Son of God walked your streets
and preached. How much gospel has been preached
here in this city? You'd be brought down to hell
if the mighty works which are done in you had been done in
that awful place called Sodom. If the mighty works that are
done in this city, the gospel preached here, had been preached
in Sodom, it would have remained. Not that everybody would have
been converted, but now wait a minute. When Abraham prayed
for Sodom, the Lord said he was going to destroy Sodom. Abraham
said, Lord, will you destroy the righteous with the wicked? The Lord said no. Lord, if I
find 50 men in Sodom who believe, would you spare it? Yes. If I find 40, would you spare
it? Yes. If I find 30, would you spare
it? Yes. 20? Yes. 10? Yes. That's it. So what he's saying, If he had
found ten righteous people in Sodom, it would have stood. And
if what we have heard preached in this city is preached there,
there would have been ten. And that's what he's saying.
I'm going to show you tonight in the scripture, there are no
degrees of glory. There are no rewards, plural. for God's people in heaven. Christ
is our singular reward. But there are degrees of judgment.
To whom much is given, much will be required. That's what Scripture
says. And he's saying that here. If what you've heard, Sodom and
Herod, they'd still be here. That's what he said. And that's
awesome. Responsibility. A man is responsible
for what he hears. Take heed what you hear. He that hath ears to hear, let
him hear. All right. Then our Lord has a word to the
Father. In verse 25, At that time he
answered and said, I thank you, Father. I thank you. Our Lord, I need to take some
courage here. Encouragement. He didn't despair. He wasn't discouraged. He wasn't
defeated. He just talked to his doubting
disciples. He just talked to this curious
crowd that came and was about to leave with no purpose and
no interest, no intent. He just talked to these critical
people. He said, you wouldn't hear John, you won't hear me. He just addressed this unbelieving
world. in which his mighty works are
done." And they didn't hear it. And now he says, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. In
other words, Lord, Sovereign God of heaven and earth. Let me read you something over
here in Daniel. What King Nebuchadnezzar said
in Daniel, He said, at the end of the days,
I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my understanding
returned to me. I've been a fool, but my understanding
returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised
and honored him that lives forever, whose dominion is an everlasting
dominion, whose kingdom is from generation to generation, And
all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he
doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and among
the inhabitants of this earth, and none can stay his hand, stop
his purpose, or say unto him, What are you doing? And that's
what our Lord says, Father, Lord, army of heaven, the inhabitants
of the earth. I thank you. I thank you because,
verse 25, you've heard these things from the wise and the
prudent. You've heard these things. What
are these things? These things I've been talking
about. His person as God and the Son of God. His office, prophet,
priest, and king. His redemptive work, His perfect
obedience, His righteousness, His precious blood, His intercession,
His spiritual kingdom. His kingdom is not of this world.
He said, if it was, my servants would fight. But my kingdom is righteousness
and peace and joy. And you've heard these things from the wise, the wise in this
world. and you've revealed it to babes. Did you know Solomon? There are a lot of people who put a
great deal of emphasis upon people's accomplishments in so-called
education, in this worldly wisdom. intellect and so forth and so
on. It seems like that as people get more of that, more recognition
and more so-called intellect and more degrees and more accomplishments,
the prouder they get. And to them it's kind of slumming
to even carry on a conversation with somebody of less gifts,
mentally and so forth. But the smartest man who ever
lived, The wisest man who ever lived called himself a baby. Did you know that? Let me show
you that. You young people turn with 1 Kings 3. 1 Kings 3. I want you to look at this. I
hope I've got the right scripture here. This is so important. 1
Kings 3. Verse 5. 1 Kings 3, verse 5, in Gibeon,
the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream. You with me? You
got it? 1 Kings 3, 5. By night, and said, Ask what
I shall give you. And Solomon said, Thou hast shown
unto thy servant David my father great mercy, Lord. You are good
to my father. According as he walked before
thee in truth, in the truth of the gospel, in righteousness,
in an uprightness of heart. David was a man after God's own
heart. And, Lord, thou hast kept for him this great kingdom, and
thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne as it is this
day. Now, O Lord God, thou hast made
me thy servant, king, instead of David, my father, and I am
but a little child. I don't know even how to go out
and come in. Yes, I'm such a child. I don't even know where out is
and where in is. And Lord, verse 8, thy servants
in the midst of thy people, which thou hast chosen, a great people,
it cannot be numbered, accounted for multitude. Give therefore
thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that
I may discern between good and bad, For who is able to judge
this, thou so great a people?" And that speech pleased the Lord.
Solomon had asked this thing, I'm a kid, I'm a baby, I don't
even know how to go out and come in. That pleased God. And God
said unto him, because you have asked this thing, and you have
not asked for yourself long life, you haven't asked riches for
yourself, You haven't asked the life, you haven't asked, let
me give you the power to kill your enemies, but you've asked
for yourself understanding to discern judgment. Behold, I have
done according to your words, I've given you a wise and an
understanding heart, so there's none like thee before thee, neither
after thee shall any arise like unto thee. And I've also given
thee that which you didn't ask. I like that, don't you? Both
riches and honor, there'll not be any among the kings like unto
thee. Isn't that tremendous? But come on down, let's... God's hid these things from the
wise and the prudent. And I tell you, they're not hid
so that he's being cruel. They're hidden in Christ. If they'd looked at Christ, they'd
see them. You understand what I'm saying? If something is not discovered
by you, you're not looking in the right place. And it'll stay
hidden until you look where it is. It's like yesterday, I was
cleaning out the fire in the basement upstairs, running a
sweeper for Doris, and I lost a broom. And that two days I've
been looking for that broom. And so this morning went out
to get in the car and went around back to put something in the
trunk and there was my broom. I had swept the garage and swept
all the trash over here and was going to pick it up later and
there was broom, there was trash. She said, it's right where you
left it. I looked everywhere, but it didn't look where it was.
and righteousness and peace and joy is in Christ. Salvation is
in Christ. And that's the reason this last
thing I'm going to give you now is a word to the needy. In verse
27, Matthew 11, verse 27, he said, "...all things are delivered
unto me of my Father. No man knoweth the Son, but the
Father, neither knoweth the Father save the Son, he to whom the
Son will reveal." It's hidden in Christ. But you can't look in your intellect
and your pride and your own self-righteousness and church and these things and
find Christ, find hope. You've got to look in Him. So,
come to me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. And all
we are with poor and needy, labor and heavy laden, come to me.
I'll give you rest. Come to me. How do you come to
Christ? You admit your need of Christ. You admit your poverty. You admit your inability to do
anything about it. You're persuaded that all the
needs are in Him. Spiritual needs. You believe
Him. And you commit yourself to Him.
Look to Him. And you publicly acknowledge
Him. And then you rest in Him. And
then you keep coming. Listen. Take my yoke upon you. You know, an oxen wears the yoke
of his master. Like Walter told us down in Mexico,
those owners of the oxen, they fix that yoke to fit that particular
ox. It's made for him. And he said,
they take that yoke upon you and they become the servant to
that master. So you take my yoke. I'm meek
and lowly in heart, and you'll find rest. My yoke is easy. His yoke is easy. There's too
many people here that can attest to that fact. And you find it
out as the years go by, his yoke is easier and easier and easier. The world yoke gets heavier and
harder. There's nothing more blessed
than an old believer. There's nothing more cantankerous
and mean and unhappy and sad as an old unbeliever. That's
right. There's nothing in the world
as precious as an old believer and happier than an old believer
who's ready to go home. And there's nothing more, nothing
sadder than an old unbeliever. That yoke gets heavier. This
yoke gets easier. Doesn't it? It's easier and easier. That one gets heavy.