1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:03,600 Gospel John, the 1st chapter, the sixth verse says there came 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:08,039 a man sent from God. That's the verse we're looking 3 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,320 at last week and this week. We are slowly making our way 4 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:15,280 through John's gospel. This is week #10 and we're only 5 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:18,160 on verse #6 so it's going to take us a while to get through 6 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:20,520 the entire gospel. But that's OK. 7 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:23,120 There's no hurry. And we're only going to take the 8 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:27,800 first part of that verse. Verse 6, There came a man. 9 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:30,880 The question is what kind of man came? 10 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:33,440 What kind of man was sent from God? 11 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:36,840 That's the question. And the unique thing about this 12 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:39,720 is that Jesus answers that question by saying the greatest 13 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:42,720 man ever born of a woman is John the Baptist. 14 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:46,560 Greatest man ever, greater than Moses, greater than Elijah, 15 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:50,800 greater than David, greater than Jeremiah. 16 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:56,520 The greatest man born of a woman is the man sent from God. 17 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:00,920 John the Baptist, the greatest of all commendations comes to 18 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:06,440 John. Christ commends him extremely, 19 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:11,600 extremely well in terms that we would never even think to 20 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:14,400 describe someone, but Jesus does. 21 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:19,160 And so this great commendation comes to to John the Baptist. 22 00:01:19,960 --> 00:01:22,480 And so we have to ask, to answer ourselves this question, what 23 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:27,080 kind of man is the greatest man born of a woman? 24 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:32,960 And the Gospels tell us about this man, John the Baptist. 25 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:35,440 And so we want to describe him to you. 26 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:38,360 We're looking at the peculiarity of the man we told you. 27 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:41,200 We're going to talk about his identity, his ministry, his his 28 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:44,560 testimony and his legacy. But we must first tackle his 29 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:47,880 peculiarity. What makes him so peculiar? 30 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:51,360 What makes him odd? What makes him so bizarre? 31 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:55,520 What makes him so outrageous? What makes him so different than 32 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:58,080 everybody else? What separates John from 33 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:01,240 everyone else that's ever existed? 34 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:06,320 For Jesus to say that the greatest man born of a woman is 35 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:10,960 John the Baptist. Well, we began last week by 36 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:14,640 telling you that we have 8 principles that will describe 37 00:02:14,640 --> 00:02:17,640 him for you. We covered seven of them last 38 00:02:17,640 --> 00:02:19,840 week. We'll cover the 8th 1 today. 39 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,040 But that's not all inclusive. That's just the tip of the 40 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:27,680 iceberg to help you introduce, introduce to you this man, John 41 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:30,640 the Baptist, this forerunner to the Messiah. 42 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:34,600 So as you recall, last week we told you that principle number 43 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:39,840 one was this is that he was uncompromising in his message. 44 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:44,960 That's principle number 1. He was uncompromising in his 45 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:48,520 message. John never backed down, never 46 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:51,600 backed away from the truth of the Gospel. 47 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:56,120 The Bible says in John one verse #8 that he came to testify about 48 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:58,400 the light. In John 1011, it says he came to 49 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:00,840 talk about nothing but the truth. 50 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:04,800 So John's whole ministry was to preach the truth about the 51 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:07,600 light. He did it fearlessly, He did it 52 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:11,640 faithfully, He did it forcefully, he did it fervently, 53 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:16,120 but he always told the truth. He was uncompromising in his 54 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:19,800 message. And if we are going to be men of 55 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:23,600 God, men like John the Baptist, because he actually becomes a a 56 00:03:23,640 --> 00:03:26,640 model for biblical manliness. Think about that. 57 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:30,400 If if he is the greatest man born of a woman, he becomes the 58 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:33,680 quintessential example for manliness in the Bible. 59 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:37,320 So it ladies, if you're looking for a man, look for this kind of 60 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:39,640 man. If you're a man, you need to be 61 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:42,160 this kind of man. If you're a father, you need to 62 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:45,280 raise these kinds of boys to be these kinds of men. 63 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:49,480 Then they might understand true biblical manliness. 64 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:53,480 People that are uncompromising in their message. 65 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:56,520 When Jesus said, when you went down to the Jordan, what did you 66 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:58,920 go to see? A Reed blowing in the wind. 67 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:04,200 Somebody tossed to and fro, somebody changes his message to 68 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:06,880 whoever comes to talk to him. Nope. 69 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:12,000 Same message, same person, never compromising, always speaking 70 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:14,560 the truth. He came in the spirit and power 71 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:17,640 of Elijah. They came to preach that truth 72 00:04:17,959 --> 00:04:21,399 uncompromisingly. So that was principle number 73 00:04:21,399 --> 00:04:23,560 one. Principle number 2 is that he 74 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:27,960 was unorthodox in his mannerisms, completely 75 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:31,760 unorthodox in his mannerisms, Different than everybody else. 76 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:37,840 The way he dressed, the way he spoke through the things that he 77 00:04:37,840 --> 00:04:41,320 did. Remember John was in in line to 78 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:45,920 be a priest. His father was Zacharias and so 79 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:48,040 he was in line of the priesthood. 80 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:51,600 But but his dress was the contradiction to the priesthood. 81 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:56,320 The way he lived his life was was one of self denial, not self 82 00:04:56,320 --> 00:04:59,360 indulgence like the religious leaders of his day. 83 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:04,240 His whole life was a contradiction to the religious 84 00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:10,160 business of the day. And that's why he ate locusts 85 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:14,120 and and wild honey and and that's why the Bible says that 86 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:17,800 in Luke one verse 17, that no wine would come up on his lips 87 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:21,480 because he would take it. A Nazarite vow, a vow for life. 88 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:27,040 Completely unorthodox, completely unusual, but this is 89 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:35,160 John the Baptist and he came baptizing Jews and what he did 90 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:39,120 to Jews was what Jews did to Gentiles when Gentiles wanted to 91 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:41,960 convert to Judaism. But instead these were Jews 92 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:45,360 coming down to the Jordan River. These were Jews being convinced 93 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:47,800 that they were separated from their God, that they, they 94 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:51,360 weren't a part of who God really wants them to be. 95 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:53,880 And even though they're descendants of Abraham, even 96 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:56,680 though they, they are the seed of Abraham, they are, they are 97 00:05:56,680 --> 00:06:00,480 far from God. And they began being baptized by 98 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:03,040 confessing their sins that they were separated from their God. 99 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:07,320 Completely unorthodox in all of his mannerisms. 100 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:11,240 Again, that was that was last week and then #3 was that he was 101 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:18,200 unequalled among men, unequalled among men, unparalleled among 102 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:22,120 men, unrivalled among men. Nobody like John. 103 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:27,040 Why he he was filled with the spirit from his mother's womb 104 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:31,520 that's unequalled among men. He came in the spirit and power 105 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:34,560 of Elijah. He came as, as his father said, 106 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:38,840 the the prophet of El Elian, the God Most High. 107 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:44,160 He was, He was unequal to among men, so much so that Christ said 108 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:47,480 he was the greatest born of a woman. 109 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:54,640 Then #4 We told you that he was unlimited in his mission. 110 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:59,240 In other words, he realized that he had a mission to accomplish 111 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:01,600 and that was to be the forerunner to the Messiah. 112 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:05,160 So whether he was speaking to Jews or whether he's speaking 113 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:08,720 to, to to Herod, the king, who was an idiomian, who was the 114 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:12,040 descendant of Esau. He was an Edomite and they hated 115 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:15,080 the Jews. He he still in a very loving 116 00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:16,960 way, would, would reprimand the king. 117 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:19,720 He would tell the king that he was living in an immoral 118 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:23,280 relationship with his half sister, who was The Who was 119 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:26,520 married to his brother, and that he committed all this 120 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:29,200 wickedness. And, and John would confront 121 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:33,400 Herod. Because in all reality, if you 122 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:36,360 love somebody, you're going to tell them the truth about their 123 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:39,400 sin and how they need to get right with the true and living 124 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:42,120 God. So John didn't care about your 125 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:44,760 ethnicity. He didn't care about your social 126 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:46,800 background. He didn't care if you were poor 127 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:48,760 or rich. He didn't care what it was. 128 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:51,840 You needed to hear the gospel. You need to hear the truth. 129 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:55,680 His mission was an unlimited mission. 130 00:07:56,520 --> 00:08:02,720 And then #4 he was uninhibited in his ministry. 131 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:07,000 Nothing stopped him, not even the king. 132 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:11,520 Or the king would silence his voice by having him beheaded at 133 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:17,520 the request of his his daughter, which came through Herodias, 134 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:20,080 Herod's wife. But the fact of the matter is, 135 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:25,840 is that John was uninhibited. He didn't back down from 136 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:28,680 confronting Herod, confronting anyone about their sin, 137 00:08:28,680 --> 00:08:31,160 confronting the religious establishment, you brood of 138 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:34,120 Vipers who who told you to flee from the wrath to come. 139 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:37,520 He, he was completely uninhibited. 140 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:43,240 He would not back down even in the midst of of horrendous 141 00:08:43,240 --> 00:08:46,320 circumstances, the fear of losing his life. 142 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:50,040 He was uninhibited in his ministry. 143 00:08:50,680 --> 00:08:58,280 And then we told you number six, that he was UN unpopular with 144 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:02,440 the multitudes. Unpopular with the multitudes. 145 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:04,920 And I'll be honest with you, I got some pushback from this last 146 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:08,520 week from several of you. Well, how could it be unpopular 147 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:11,360 among the multitudes? I mean, Herod wouldn't kill him 148 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:13,880 because the multitudes knew he was a prophet. 149 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:18,760 And and and there were scores of people coming from Jerusalem to 150 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:21,440 be baptized by John in the Jordan. 151 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:23,840 He he was the most popular person around. 152 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:27,480 Why would you say he was unpopular by the multitudes? 153 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:34,800 That's because Jesus said he was unpopular with the multitudes. 154 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:39,520 Listen to what Jesus says in Luke's Gospel, the 7th chapter, 155 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:42,960 verse 31. To what then shall I compare the 156 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:45,480 men of this generation and what are they like? 157 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:49,280 They're like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one 158 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:51,600 another. And they say, we played the 159 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:54,040 flute for you, and you did not dance. 160 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:58,880 We we sing a dirge and you did not weep for John the Baptist 161 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:06,000 has come eating no bread, drinking no wine, and you say 162 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:13,440 John has a demon. I would say that's unpopular. 163 00:10:14,680 --> 00:10:16,680 If someone says you got a demon, you're not a very popular 164 00:10:16,680 --> 00:10:19,680 person. And so he was unpopular to the 165 00:10:19,680 --> 00:10:23,000 multitudes. You see that they got tired of 166 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:25,640 his message. Yes, they were coming down in 167 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:28,000 scores. The novelty of John would soon 168 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:31,040 wear off. You know, they were coming down 169 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:33,280 to the Jordan. They were being baptized and, 170 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:37,720 and, and everybody got on the, the, the JB wagon and we're 171 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:40,560 going down to be baptized there in the Jordan River. 172 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:44,600 But, but soon they, they got tired of the, of the sin and, 173 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:48,840 and the preaching that gets sin and repentance and, and, and 174 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:52,360 judgement of God. They got tired of that, that, 175 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:56,320 that, that war on them, that they wanted to hear the, the 176 00:10:56,320 --> 00:11:00,760 nice cushy, cozy sermons. They wanted to hear those things 177 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:02,560 that made them feel good on the inside. 178 00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:04,680 And John didn't make anybody feel good on the inside. 179 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:09,480 And they got tired of that so much so they, they would say he, 180 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:12,840 he has a demon. Oh, his message was serious. 181 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:17,520 His message was severe. His message was intense because 182 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:19,280 he wanted people to know time was short. 183 00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:24,840 The Kingdom of Heaven was at hand, so he was unpopular with 184 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:28,960 the multitudes. Fitting in was not a part of 185 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:32,920 John's modus operandi. He didn't care if you liked him 186 00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:35,640 or didn't like him. He wasn't out to make friends. 187 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:38,680 He was out just to do. A gut called him to do. 188 00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:46,760 He wasn't out to, to, to, to socialite with all the, all the 189 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:49,440 people of society. No, he was just there to do one 190 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:52,920 thing and one thing only be a forerunner to the Messiah, to 191 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:57,440 make sure people understood the way to the Kingdom of heaven. 192 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:02,080 And then there were seven. We told you last week he was he 193 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:08,440 was unforgettable as a man, completely unforgettable. 194 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:10,680 Why? Because he's in the he's in the 195 00:12:10,680 --> 00:12:14,640 pages of the eternal word of God always to be commended. 196 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:20,280 And Solomon tells us that that blessed, blessed are the 197 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:22,440 righteous for they should be remembered forever. 198 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:26,760 And that was John. He was an unforgettable kind of 199 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:30,360 man. But note this, even though he 200 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:35,200 was uncompromising in his message like Oliver should be, 201 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:41,400 even though he was unorthodox in his mannerisms, even though that 202 00:12:41,400 --> 00:12:46,800 wasn't necessarily his his his push in ministry, he wanted to 203 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:50,600 live a life contrary to everyone else in the world around him. 204 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:56,040 And even though he was unequalled as a man, and even 205 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:59,400 though he was unrivaled as a man, even though he was 206 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:03,200 unlimited in his mission, even though he was uninhibited in his 207 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:08,880 ministry, even though he was unpopular with the multitudes, 208 00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:11,840 he was a man that was completely unforgettable. 209 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:17,360 There was one thing in his life that I think you need to know 210 00:13:18,760 --> 00:13:28,840 and that he was unimaginable for one brief moment. 211 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:34,920 Unimaginable. And I say that because it's hard 212 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:41,640 to imagine a man with these qualities would begin to be 213 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:46,200 disillusioned. Turn me in your Bible to Luke 214 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:49,560 Chapter 7. I know we're in John's Gospel, 215 00:13:49,560 --> 00:13:56,960 but we're looking at the man that came from the Lord, John 216 00:13:56,960 --> 00:14:01,920 the Baptist. In Luke 7, John's in prison. 217 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:06,920 John's in prison at a place called Macarius, which is 7 218 00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:11,160 miles north and east of the Dead Sea. 219 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:17,840 There are two dungeons at this summer palace of Herod's. 220 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:23,320 They are deep, they're dark, they're damp, they're 221 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:27,480 depressing, they're debilitating, they are 222 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:31,720 discouraging. And John finds himself sitting 223 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:38,160 in this location. But that's not the dungeon that 224 00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:43,160 weighs heavily upon him, because he's in a different kind of 225 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:49,320 dungeon, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. 226 00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:54,280 He's in the dungeon of disillusionment. 227 00:14:55,120 --> 00:15:01,560 Listen to what it says. Luke 7 verse #18 The disciples 228 00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:04,800 of John reported to him about all these things. 229 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:06,880 What things? Well, the things that were just 230 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:09,120 happening. He just raised the widow's son 231 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:13,440 at name and Christ was doing all kinds of miracles. 232 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:18,000 The the Bible never tells us that John ever heard Jesus 233 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:22,240 preach A sermon. Bible never tells us that John 234 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:26,360 ever saw Jesus do a miracle. He was the forerunner of the 235 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:28,240 Messiah. He paved the way. 236 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:31,120 We're 18 months into his ministry. 237 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:35,320 He's now in prison. And so John's disciples come to 238 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:37,640 him and say, look, I'm going to report to you the things that 239 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:41,360 Jesus is doing. So John is caught at the speed 240 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:47,280 as to this Messiah who's doing all these miraculous deeds. 241 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:55,320 Then it says, summoning 2 of his disciples, John sent them to the 242 00:15:55,320 --> 00:16:01,400 Lord, saying, are you the expected one, or do we look for 243 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:04,440 someone else? When the men came to him, they 244 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:10,000 said, John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, are you the 245 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:15,920 expected one or do we look for someone else? 246 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:19,720 Now just stop right there for a second and think about that. 247 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:24,080 John's the forerunner to the expected one. 248 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:27,640 The expected one. The Eric O Mai is a is a title 249 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:30,840 for the Messiah taken from Psalm 1/18/26. 250 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:33,720 Psalm 40, verse #7 He is the coming one. 251 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:36,960 In fact, when he goes into Jerusalem on that palm Monday, 252 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:41,160 not Sunday, on that palm Monday, they quote Psalm 11826 saying 253 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:44,240 blessed is the coming one who comes in the name of the Lord. 254 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:47,960 So he is the expected one. That's the title for the 255 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:49,960 Messiah. That's why there was this great 256 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:52,280 anticipation around the arrival of the Messiah. 257 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:56,680 But here's John. We, we would expect the crowd to 258 00:16:56,680 --> 00:17:00,080 ask this question, but not the forerunner to the Messiah to ask 259 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:03,600 this question. And John comes and says to his 260 00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:09,280 disciples, go and ask Jesus, are you the Messiah? 261 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:15,000 Are you the expected one? See, this is unimaginable that 262 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:19,920 this man who would preach as he preached, lived as he lived, 263 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:22,839 knew that he was a forewind of the Messiah. 264 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:26,480 His Father had given him all the information that he needed. 265 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:30,080 He knew who he was and what he was about. 266 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:36,120 All of a sudden he is completely disillusioned as to what's 267 00:17:36,120 --> 00:17:38,640 happening in his life. Completely. 268 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:45,920 So much so he begins to doubt that Jesus is who he said he 269 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:51,120 was. And yet John was a forerunner to 270 00:17:51,120 --> 00:17:55,040 the Messiah. This is a very important passage 271 00:17:55,040 --> 00:18:00,880 of Scripture because you see, every one of us in the room at 272 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:08,960 some time or another finds ourself in the same kind of 273 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:14,680 dungeon, the dungeon of disillusionment, where we are 274 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:20,840 taken back. We begin to question all that 275 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:25,920 God is doing and why he's doing it now. 276 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:31,200 This is the greatest man born of a woman, and he is disillusioned 277 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:33,240 as to the activity of the Messiah. 278 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:37,960 And so he begins to ask this question. 279 00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:46,840 It's perplexing to us, but it's encouraging to us because when 280 00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:50,120 we ask the question, Lord, what are you doing? 281 00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:53,440 Why are things happening the way they are? 282 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:57,280 We find ourselves in this dungeon of disillusionment. 283 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:04,520 John does the right thing. John goes to the Lord. 284 00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:10,600 He goes to, he goes to the source, he goes to the Christ 285 00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:16,200 and he asks them, are you the expected 1? 286 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:19,400 He sends his men there. How? 287 00:19:19,560 --> 00:19:23,600 How did John get here? How did not? 288 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:24,920 How did he physically get in the dungeon? 289 00:19:24,920 --> 00:19:27,880 We know how he got there. We know he's going to die soon, 290 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:29,840 but how did he get here mentally? 291 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:32,920 How did he get here spiritually, emotionally? 292 00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:35,880 How did he come to this place where he's doubting the fact 293 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:44,920 that Jesus is the Messiah and he is the preordained forerunner to 294 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:48,320 the Messiah? How does he get here? 295 00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:56,840 Four ways. One was simply because of 296 00:19:56,840 --> 00:20:00,320 personal affliction, personal affliction. 297 00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:05,360 When personal affliction arises in our lives, personal 298 00:20:05,360 --> 00:20:09,320 persecution arises in our lives. We can come to a place of 299 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:11,280 complete and total disillusionment. 300 00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:21,160 John was a faithful preacher. John was a consecrated man. 301 00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:27,080 He was a courageous man. He knew about his mission in 302 00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:28,280 life. He knew about his calling in 303 00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:30,040 life. He fulfilled that calling. 304 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:35,800 He didn't back away from it. He was very, very faithful. 305 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:38,120 It wasn't like John was living in sin. 306 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:42,240 Like John had had a, had a young girl in every little village 307 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:44,480 that he went to and he he spent the night with her. 308 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:48,600 No, it, it was not that way. John wasn't living a sin. 309 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:50,960 It wasn't that he was sinless, but he wasn't living in known 310 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:53,960 sin. He wasn't rebelling against the 311 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:55,720 Messiah. He wasn't backing away from his 312 00:20:55,720 --> 00:20:58,440 call, so he'd be thrown into prison. 313 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:02,400 No, he was faithful. He was true to the Lord. 314 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:06,280 He was committed to his God, and now he's in prison. 315 00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:11,320 So is this what happens when when the Bible says he wants me 316 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:14,920 for Samuel 2:30, I will honor? Is this the honor John gets? 317 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:18,600 He's honoring the Lord with his life and now he's thrown into 318 00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:21,880 prison. Who does that? 319 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:26,520 Why would God do that? It's it's like the person who 320 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:28,520 says, you know, I'm committed to serving the Lord. 321 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:31,800 I want to honor the Lord and, and live for the Lord and raise 322 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:33,640 the godly family. And then and then all of a 323 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:37,600 sudden one of my children dies said, well, wait, wait a minute. 324 00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:40,960 I'm not living in sin. I'm not rebelling against the 325 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:45,200 Lord and and yet the Lord takes, takes my child. 326 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:50,240 I don't understand or, or you're, you're, you're, you're 327 00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:52,200 living the life you're, you're obedient to the Lord, you're 328 00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:54,720 serving in the church and you're, you're glorifying his 329 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:55,800 name. You're you're preaching the 330 00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:58,000 gospel to everybody you know, and you go to the doctor and 331 00:21:58,000 --> 00:21:59,880 says, you got an inoperable cancer. 332 00:21:59,920 --> 00:22:02,200 You got three weeks to live and then you're going to die. 333 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:06,560 You're like, whoa, time out. I've been faithful to the Lord. 334 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:10,720 I've been true to his word. I've been committed to Christ. 335 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:14,360 And this is what I get death three weeks from now. 336 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:18,960 This is what I get my child being killed in an accident. 337 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:25,000 Or you're married for 4050, sixty years and God has brought 338 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:28,000 you through your life together with your your your wife and and 339 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:29,720 your husband. And all of a sudden your spouse 340 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:33,400 dies. You're left all alone and you 341 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:35,840 don't know what to do. You see. 342 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:37,600 Wait, wait a minute. Lord, our marriage honored you. 343 00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:39,720 We are faithful for all these years. 344 00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:42,360 We are true to you. We served you together. 345 00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:46,280 We lived in in harmony together. We raised the godly family and 346 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:49,640 and now you, you take my my husband from me and I'm all 347 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:53,560 alone. You become disillusioned. 348 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:59,960 This is the plan and purposes of God in your life happens. 349 00:23:01,360 --> 00:23:05,120 Here's John, he's going through a personal affliction. 350 00:23:05,120 --> 00:23:09,520 He's thrown into prison not, not because of any sins that he's 351 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:12,080 committed, not because of his rebellion or disobedience to 352 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:15,760 God, simply because he's been faithful to the Lord, true to 353 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:19,960 his God, honoring his God. Now he's in prison. 354 00:23:21,360 --> 00:23:25,920 His responses, Well, maybe, maybe he's not the expected one. 355 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:31,040 I mean, didn't he come to release the the captives set the 356 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:34,520 set the prisoner free and here I am in prison. 357 00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:39,440 Well, what's the deal with that? How come things are the way they 358 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:43,560 are? Why is it I'm a I'm about to die 359 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:47,240 and I've been called to be the forerunner of the Messiah. 360 00:23:47,360 --> 00:23:49,440 I was, I was willing to step aside. 361 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:51,160 I was willing to say he must increase. 362 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:54,160 I must decrease. I was willing to do all that, 363 00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:55,520 Lord. And this is what I get Death. 364 00:23:56,960 --> 00:24:02,360 Is this a result of a faithful, courageous, true, committed 365 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:07,200 ministry? You know, sometimes we go into 366 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:11,880 those places in our lives and realize, realize that a lot of 367 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:17,760 that's out of out of ignorance and unfortunately selfishness 368 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:22,960 because somehow we, we, we think that there are certain things we 369 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:28,040 do not deserve. And if we get them, what's wrong 370 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:30,680 with God? That's why I would get it. 371 00:24:31,360 --> 00:24:35,440 I don't deserve this. And we would say John didn't 372 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:40,360 deserve that. But you know, God has a plan and 373 00:24:40,360 --> 00:24:43,840 a purpose for everything. He's in charge. 374 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:46,280 Which leads us to the to the next, the next element. 375 00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:49,480 Not not just personal affliction, but how about this 376 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:59,080 popular misconception? John had a popular misconception 377 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:04,320 about the Messiah. He had bought into the populist 378 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:08,200 view of the Messiah. Even though the Bible taught 379 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:12,040 that the Messiah would come and die, Old Testament teaches this, 380 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:17,640 that he would rise again. Even though the Old Testament 381 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:22,640 taught this, there was this misconception about the Messiah 382 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:25,440 that was taught by the religious establishment that the Messiah 383 00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:28,200 would come as a as a military conquering hero. 384 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:31,120 He would overthrow Rome, he would set up his Kingdom, he 385 00:25:31,120 --> 00:25:35,680 would rule from the throne of David in Jerusalem, and we'd all 386 00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:39,640 be at peace together and he would destroy the enemies. 387 00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:44,600 That was a popular misconception. 388 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:50,080 And believe it or not, John to some degree bought into that. 389 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:53,960 I mean, after all, Peter bought into that, right? 390 00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:58,440 Remember in Matthew 16 when, when Christ said to them that he 391 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:01,160 was going to suffer and die? And Peter says, Oh no, no, Lord, 392 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:04,360 no, no, you're, you're the Messiah, you're not going to 393 00:26:04,360 --> 00:26:06,200 die. And Christ said to him, get thee 394 00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:08,320 behind me, Satan. Why? 395 00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:12,080 Because Peter had bought into the popular misconception about 396 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:15,920 the Messiah, his coming and how he would operate when he arrived 397 00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:17,400 and what he would do when he got there. 398 00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:20,840 He'd been sold the bill of goods. 399 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:25,080 Habakkuk was the same way, was he not? 400 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:30,240 Habakkuk's praying for, for revival in the, in the nation, 401 00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:33,640 praying that that God would raise them up and strengthen 402 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:35,360 them. And, and so he's praying and God 403 00:26:35,360 --> 00:26:37,720 says, I'm not going to do that, Habakkuk. 404 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:40,480 Habakkuk says, what do you mean you're not going to do that? 405 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:43,120 No, no, I'm going to do something different. 406 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:46,040 In fact, I'm going to send the the most wicked people I know 407 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:50,640 that are going to take them into captivity and they are going to 408 00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:53,360 learn so much in that captivity and the back says why? 409 00:26:53,360 --> 00:26:56,280 Why are you going to do that? Why? 410 00:26:56,480 --> 00:27:01,640 He's completely disillusioned until God begins to explain his 411 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:07,400 providential plan to backup to Finally he capitulates to the 412 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:09,800 plan of God and realizes that God knows exactly what he's 413 00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:16,840 doing. But it's easy to buy into a miss 414 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:21,880 the conception of the Messiah, His plans and purposes for our 415 00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:25,960 lives. Abraham did right. 416 00:27:27,280 --> 00:27:28,520 God says he's going to have a son. 417 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:34,680 Well, years went by, still didn't have a son. 418 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:41,560 So he and Sarah got together and conjured up a plan to have a son 419 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:46,880 to Hagar the handmaid, because they had a, a, a, a 420 00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:50,400 misconception as to how God was going to orchestrate his plan in 421 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:56,080 their lives. Getting that same thing hit all 422 00:27:56,080 --> 00:27:58,080 these men. And God wills him down to 300. 423 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:00,280 And he's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, 300 men. 424 00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:02,920 We can't, we can't go against the enemy of 300 men. 425 00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:08,440 Completely disillusioned as to what God is doing. 426 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:16,520 Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, the Angel Gabriel 427 00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:18,800 comes to him. This is your wife. 428 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:22,760 Elizabeth's going to have a son. He's like, whoa, she's 80 years 429 00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:25,440 old, 80 year old women don't have kids. 430 00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:32,520 And God made him deaf and dumb for for nine months so he could 431 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:36,360 not speak or hear. Why? 432 00:28:36,360 --> 00:28:39,760 Because he was disillusioned as to the plan of God in his life, 433 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:43,680 even though he was told his wife would conceive the forerunner of 434 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:47,240 the Messiah. See, we get there because there 435 00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:50,480 there is this, this conception that we have with the Messiah 436 00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:53,360 that unfortunately has been sold to us by TV preachers and books 437 00:28:53,360 --> 00:28:55,040 that have been that have been printed today. 438 00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:58,680 We we've been told, hey, yeah, you give your life to Christ, 439 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:00,920 man, your marriage is going to be great, man, just give your 440 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:04,360 life to Jesus and, and marriage will be great. 441 00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:08,840 I give my life to Jesus and my marriage is in shambles or give 442 00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:11,760 your life to Jesus and your children will be obedient to to 443 00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:14,000 you because now you love the Lord and and they're going to 444 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:16,080 follow the Lord and they're going to serve the Lord. 445 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:18,680 And I give my life to Christ and my wife gives the life to Christ 446 00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:22,360 and my children rebel like nothing else. 447 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:27,600 Give your life to Christ. Got to give you a great job, 448 00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:31,200 best job, more money. What give my life to Christ. 449 00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:36,880 I lose my job, I lose my money. Well, why is that completely 450 00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:38,800 dissolution? Because there's this popular 451 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:41,760 misconception that if you if you come to Jesus and you give your 452 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:44,440 life to him, everything is going to be a bit of roses. 453 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:48,120 You're going to be walked into the primrose path of success and 454 00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:50,920 everything will be fine. That's you didn't read that in 455 00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:53,080 this book. This is only a book that 456 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:56,560 matters. Jesus said if you give life to 457 00:29:56,560 --> 00:29:58,480 me, I'm going to I'm going to divide your family. 458 00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:01,280 I'm going to separate the father from the mother. 459 00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:03,120 I'm going to separate the husband from the wife. 460 00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:05,400 I'm going to separate the daughter from from the father. 461 00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:07,640 I tend to bring a sword, not peace. 462 00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:11,320 If they hate me, they're going to hate you. 463 00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:15,640 If they persecuted me, they're going to persecute you, right? 464 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:19,040 It's been granted to you. Not just to believe on his name, 465 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:24,560 but to suffer for his sake. Philippians tells us, See, we've 466 00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:27,200 been sold the bill of goods. We have this popular 467 00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:31,680 misconception of the Messiah and what he does and how he works 468 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:36,560 that when it doesn't meet the standard that I think it should, 469 00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:40,240 I completely disillusioned as to his working. 470 00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:42,680 This is John the Baptist, it's where he is. 471 00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:45,840 It's like, I don't understand. I don't get it. 472 00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:53,360 So go ask Jesus if he's the expected one because I'm 473 00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:55,440 expecting things a little bit differently than what I'm 474 00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:58,480 getting right by now. And so just just go ask him, 475 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:01,880 right? And then another one is, is 476 00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:05,240 partial revelation because we don't have the full revelation 477 00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:07,240 of of all that God is doing. Here's John. 478 00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:09,520 He only has the Old Testament. Although the Old Testament 479 00:31:09,520 --> 00:31:11,880 taught about the coming, the Messiah, the death of the 480 00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:14,560 Messiah, the resurrection of the Messiah, that the Messiah was 481 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:17,680 divine, even though it's clearly taught in the Old Testament, not 482 00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:22,280 all that was, was, was connected together in his mind. 483 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:25,760 See all the pieces of the puzzle. 484 00:31:25,760 --> 00:31:28,560 We're not fitting together perfectly for John. 485 00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:34,120 So he's disillusioned and that's because he only had partial 486 00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:38,280 revelation didn't have all of the truth didn't have didn't 487 00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:39,640 know anything about the second coming. 488 00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:41,600 I mean, there's two comings. What do you mean the second 489 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:44,720 coming didn't know anything about the church age knew 490 00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:47,120 nothing about the the mystery of the church, nothing about the 491 00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:49,240 mystery of the lawless one. Second Thessalonians said the 492 00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:51,960 two knew nothing of the mystery of 1 body Ephesians, yet the two 493 00:31:52,120 --> 00:31:55,720 knew nothing of the of the mysteries of of Christ in you 494 00:31:55,720 --> 00:32:00,440 the hope of glory didn't know any of that because they had 495 00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:04,560 partial revelation. We can become very disillusioned 496 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:10,080 when we only know parts of the Bible and not all of the Bible 497 00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:13,680 like we should. We know bits and pieces here and 498 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:17,960 there and we glop on to those verses, but there are so much 499 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:21,480 more in the Scripture that explain to us our God. 500 00:32:21,480 --> 00:32:24,080 That's why that's why theology is the greatest study, the study 501 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:26,480 of God. You need to know your God, 502 00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:29,280 right? What did Daniel say? 503 00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:37,600 Those who know their God will do great exploits and take great 504 00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:40,600 courage. But if you don't know your God, 505 00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:43,160 you can't. You got to know him. 506 00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:48,360 And so we, we come to to life and we have a little bit of the 507 00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:50,000 Bible here and a little bit of the Bible there. 508 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:52,600 And then all of a sudden things begin to go haywire and we're 509 00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:54,520 like, whoa, what's going on here? 510 00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:58,600 And not knowing that that God is sovereign and God is all 511 00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:02,120 authoritative and that God, God's Providence is at work and 512 00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:04,720 that God is orchestrating every event in life to bring about his 513 00:33:04,720 --> 00:33:06,800 great glory. And the reason God answers 514 00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:09,360 prayer is not to meet my needs, but that the Father will be 515 00:33:09,360 --> 00:33:12,200 glorified in heaven. John 1413 But I'm, I'm going to 516 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:14,520 prayer thinking he's going to meet my needs and, and my needs 517 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:16,920 aren't being met. And I'm praying fervently. 518 00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:18,920 And it says the affectionate, fervent prayer of a righteous 519 00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:21,400 man, the faith of much and nothing's happening in my life. 520 00:33:21,600 --> 00:33:24,400 That's because God answers prayer not for your sake, but 521 00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:28,600 for God's sake that he might be glorified. 522 00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:32,160 That's because we only have partial revelation. 523 00:33:33,160 --> 00:33:34,680 That's why you need to be in the book. 524 00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:37,960 You need to be in the Word, studying the Word, learning the 525 00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:45,760 Word, growing in the Word all the time #4 that's this. 526 00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:54,520 A perceived expectation. A perceived expectation. 527 00:33:56,840 --> 00:34:04,000 Whenever you expect the expected one to meet your expectations, 528 00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:08,280 you will always be in the Dungeon of Disillusionment. 529 00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:15,040 Whenever you expect the expected one to meet your expectations, 530 00:34:16,639 --> 00:34:20,520 you will always find yourself in the Dungeon of Disillusionment. 531 00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:25,840 That's John. John had expectations. 532 00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:31,600 He's coming with an axe, with a widow and fork in his hand. 533 00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:34,920 I baptize you with water. He's going to baptize you with 534 00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:38,719 fire. And he's healing everybody. 535 00:34:39,639 --> 00:34:42,760 He's letting the blind see. He's raising the dead. 536 00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:47,040 He's curing everybody. Where's the fire? 537 00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:49,199 Where's the axe? Where's the judgement? 538 00:34:49,199 --> 00:34:52,639 Where's the throne? Where's the military prowess of 539 00:34:52,639 --> 00:34:54,639 the Messiah? Where is all that? 540 00:34:56,159 --> 00:35:00,440 And Jesus is just showing the kindness of his mercy, His love 541 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:04,720 to those all around him, eating with tax gatherers and sinners, 542 00:35:05,960 --> 00:35:07,720 presenting the Kingdom of heaven to them. 543 00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:12,400 So many times we have expectations, do we not? 544 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:18,760 We expect God to do this or do that and he doesn't like, why? 545 00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:23,840 Why wouldn't you do that, Lord? Why won't you answer this or why 546 00:35:23,840 --> 00:35:28,920 won't you do this for me? You know, you know, I, I, I, I, 547 00:35:29,240 --> 00:35:32,040 I grew up at home and I, I expect to get married. 548 00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:35,040 But now I'm 35 and I'm not married. 549 00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:40,840 Those are my expectations. I I grew up and I grew up at 550 00:35:40,840 --> 00:35:43,600 home and I get married and I expect to have children, but I'm 551 00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:48,480 barren and I have no children. And I find myself in the dungeon 552 00:35:48,480 --> 00:35:52,720 of of disillusionment wondering, God, what are you doing? 553 00:35:53,760 --> 00:35:57,000 How come? How come my expectations are not 554 00:35:57,000 --> 00:36:05,160 being met? Here's John the Baptist asking 555 00:36:05,160 --> 00:36:09,560 his disciples to go and say to Jesus, are we supposed to be 556 00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:13,000 looking for somebody else or are you the guy? 557 00:36:14,760 --> 00:36:17,320 Because if you're not the guy and we need to know now, but if 558 00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:22,600 you are the guy, why is it that our expectations are not being 559 00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:27,200 met? So look at the next verse. 560 00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:31,120 If you're still in Luke 7, verse 21. 561 00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:34,120 That very time he cured many people of diseases and 562 00:36:34,120 --> 00:36:37,680 afflictions and evil spirits, and he gave sight to many who 563 00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:43,360 were blind in one motion, in one word, in one wave of the hand. 564 00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:48,160 However he did it, everybody that was there instantaneously 565 00:36:48,520 --> 00:36:52,760 totally healed from any disease they had. 566 00:36:52,920 --> 00:36:54,760 They were blind. They could see, they couldn't 567 00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:56,680 walk. They could walk if they had a 568 00:36:56,680 --> 00:36:59,760 demon, demon, demon in them. That demon was cast out. 569 00:37:00,960 --> 00:37:03,840 Just a one moment, one brief moment, boom, everything's gone, 570 00:37:05,280 --> 00:37:07,360 every sealed. And he says this. 571 00:37:08,600 --> 00:37:12,480 He says go and report to John what you have seen and heard. 572 00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:15,000 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are 573 00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:18,160 cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor 574 00:37:18,160 --> 00:37:19,600 have the gospel preached to them. 575 00:37:19,600 --> 00:37:24,160 You go tell John that everything I said in Isaiah 35, everything 576 00:37:24,160 --> 00:37:27,640 I said in Isaiah 42, everything I said in Isaiah 26, everything 577 00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:30,480 I said in Isaiah 61 just happened before your eyes. 578 00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:34,640 Because all this is a preview to the coming Kingdom of God. 579 00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:38,880 And I'm showing you how it all happens instantaneously. 580 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:42,080 In a moment. You go back, you tell John that, 581 00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:45,600 and then as you go back, you tell him that. 582 00:37:45,600 --> 00:37:48,960 Tell him this too. He says this verse 23. 583 00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:58,640 Blessed is he who does not take offence at me, or blessed is he 584 00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:06,280 who does not stumble over me. Or better translation, blessed 585 00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:14,360 is the one who doesn't quarrel with me about the way I do my 586 00:38:14,360 --> 00:38:17,720 business. That's the blessed person. 587 00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:22,680 Stop questioning me. You want to be blessed? 588 00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:27,480 Stop questioning the way I do my business, the way I operate. 589 00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:30,160 I'm in charge. I got a plan. 590 00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:35,840 It moves perfectly. It moves exactly as it designed 591 00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:39,440 it to function. So just trust me. 592 00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:42,720 Wait upon me. Tell John to trust and wait upon 593 00:38:42,720 --> 00:38:46,400 me. Tell John to just just wait. 594 00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:52,320 The plan is an operation exactly as it designed it. 595 00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:58,600 And blessed are all those who do not take offense at the way I do 596 00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:02,080 my business. This is this. 597 00:39:05,320 --> 00:39:07,880 When the message of John had left, he began to speak to the 598 00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:12,320 crowds about John. What did you see, or what did 599 00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:14,240 you go out into the wilderness to see? 600 00:39:14,240 --> 00:39:18,120 A Reed shaken by the wind. But what did you go out to see? 601 00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:23,760 A man dressed in soft clothing. Those who are splendidly clothed 602 00:39:23,760 --> 00:39:28,680 and live in luxury are found in royal palaces. 603 00:39:29,640 --> 00:39:32,360 But what did you go out to see? A prophet. 604 00:39:32,360 --> 00:39:36,360 Yes, I say to you, and one who was more than a prophet. 605 00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:39,280 This is the one about whom it is written. 606 00:39:39,280 --> 00:39:43,000 Behold, I send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare 607 00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:45,960 your way before you. I say to you, among those born 608 00:39:45,960 --> 00:39:48,320 of women, there is no one greater than John. 609 00:39:49,360 --> 00:39:53,920 It's in this context when John's in the dungeon of 610 00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:59,520 disillusionment, when John had that unimaginable moment in his 611 00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:04,000 life when he began to question the way God did his business. 612 00:40:04,200 --> 00:40:09,960 Is it that moment that Jesus says that this is the one, the 613 00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:16,080 greatest man born of a woman, John the Baptist? 614 00:40:18,280 --> 00:40:22,120 Jesus didn't condemn him. Jesus didn't RIP on him. 615 00:40:23,240 --> 00:40:27,040 Saying what a what a lousy prophet this guy is. 616 00:40:27,960 --> 00:40:29,600 He doesn't even believe in who I am. 617 00:40:30,600 --> 00:40:32,320 Who chose him to be the forerunner? 618 00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:35,720 What was my father thinking? I don't know. 619 00:40:35,720 --> 00:40:40,840 Oh, Jesus responds. This is what you go out to see? 620 00:40:42,520 --> 00:40:45,520 Reach shaking the wind Guy dressed the soft clothing. 621 00:40:46,320 --> 00:40:48,160 You kidding? Camel's hair? 622 00:40:49,640 --> 00:40:55,400 Smelly body, no brush, teeth, hair all dishevelled, eaten 623 00:40:55,400 --> 00:40:58,600 locusts and wild honey. What do you think you went out 624 00:40:58,600 --> 00:41:02,200 to see? I'm going to tell you this guy. 625 00:41:02,480 --> 00:41:05,760 This guy is the one who prepared away in the wilderness. 626 00:41:06,120 --> 00:41:11,160 Here's the guy. And this man is the greatest man 627 00:41:11,480 --> 00:41:17,880 born of a woman. But the next phrase says this. 628 00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:27,680 Yet he was least in the Kingdom of God is greater than the 629 00:41:27,680 --> 00:41:31,320 greatest man born of a woman. John the Baptist. 630 00:41:32,640 --> 00:41:38,960 Whoa, what? How can that be the least in the 631 00:41:38,960 --> 00:41:43,280 Kingdom any of us? The least in the Kingdom of God 632 00:41:45,400 --> 00:41:50,360 is greater than the greatest man ever born of a woman. 633 00:41:51,520 --> 00:41:58,240 Not not greater in character, not greater in influence, the 634 00:41:58,240 --> 00:42:06,560 greater in terms of a revelation because of what we know, because 635 00:42:06,560 --> 00:42:08,920 of what we have, we got the the entire New Testament. 636 00:42:10,160 --> 00:42:11,880 We know all about the rapture of the church. 637 00:42:11,880 --> 00:42:15,440 John didn't we preach Christ crucified. 638 00:42:15,440 --> 00:42:19,640 John never did that. We preach the fullness of the 639 00:42:19,640 --> 00:42:24,400 Gospel itself, that Jesus came and and and lived and died and 640 00:42:24,400 --> 00:42:26,280 rose again and it's coming back again. 641 00:42:26,480 --> 00:42:29,560 John couldn't preach that. He didn't know about that. 642 00:42:31,320 --> 00:42:36,200 John knew nothing about how God wouldn't dwell you. 643 00:42:37,400 --> 00:42:45,600 He knew about God with us, God above us, God among us, but he 644 00:42:45,600 --> 00:42:50,240 never heard about God in us. That's a mystery reveal in the 645 00:42:50,240 --> 00:42:55,400 New Testament. We preach Christ in you, the 646 00:42:55,400 --> 00:43:01,160 hope of glory. And Jesus says, let me know this 647 00:43:01,160 --> 00:43:03,040 guy is the greatest man born of a woman yet. 648 00:43:03,040 --> 00:43:07,200 Yet those in my Kingdom, the least in my Kingdom, the very 649 00:43:07,200 --> 00:43:11,640 least in my Kingdom, is going to be greater than John because of 650 00:43:11,640 --> 00:43:16,320 the revelation you will receive about who I am. 651 00:43:17,640 --> 00:43:21,080 Wow, what a great passage of scripture. 652 00:43:22,840 --> 00:43:28,960 For I know that everyone of you, including myself, have all 653 00:43:28,960 --> 00:43:32,760 experienced the dungeon of disillusionment and ask 654 00:43:32,760 --> 00:43:35,000 ourselves, what are you doing, Lord? 655 00:43:36,480 --> 00:43:42,520 Why are you operating this way? And and God is patient. 656 00:43:43,760 --> 00:43:50,120 He is so kind, He is so loving, doesn't rag on us or RIP on us, 657 00:43:50,600 --> 00:43:55,520 beat us over the head. He's very kind and gentle, just 658 00:43:55,520 --> 00:43:57,760 leads us to a greater understanding and knowledge of 659 00:43:57,760 --> 00:44:02,000 Himself that we might fully come to grips with the plan and 660 00:44:02,000 --> 00:44:04,920 purposes and Providence of the living God. 661 00:44:07,840 --> 00:44:11,440 And so they would go back and they would tell John what took 662 00:44:11,440 --> 00:44:14,720 place and John would die. He'd lose his head. 663 00:44:16,280 --> 00:44:23,800 But you know what, I bet you, when John died, he couldn't 664 00:44:23,800 --> 00:44:27,400 wait. He couldn't wait to be in glory. 665 00:44:27,400 --> 00:44:32,800 And that's where he is today, in the presence of Almighty God. 666 00:44:34,600 --> 00:44:39,320 And so we come today to realize that that there is a man sent 667 00:44:39,320 --> 00:44:40,520 from God. What kind of man? 668 00:44:41,080 --> 00:44:43,720 Well, we described him a little bit for you. 669 00:44:43,720 --> 00:44:47,480 And next week we'll move on to the next phrase. 670 00:44:48,360 --> 00:44:51,760 There was a man who was sent from God. 671 00:44:53,360 --> 00:44:55,680 As we make our way slowly through the Gospel of John, 672 00:44:55,840 --> 00:44:58,880 let's pray together. Father, we thank you for today. 673 00:44:59,760 --> 00:45:02,400 We thank you for what you've done and our doing. 674 00:45:03,160 --> 00:45:08,360 We are a blessed people. You've given us the knowledge of 675 00:45:08,360 --> 00:45:11,640 the Scriptures. You've given us your word that 676 00:45:11,640 --> 00:45:16,920 will allow us to understand the blessedness and the beauty of 677 00:45:16,920 --> 00:45:21,840 your character and your plans. We thank you for that. 678 00:45:23,160 --> 00:45:25,120 For everyone in the room today, Lord, I pray that you do a 679 00:45:25,120 --> 00:45:26,320 mighty work in their heart and life. 680 00:45:26,960 --> 00:45:30,400 Draw them closer to your presence until you come again, 681 00:45:30,400 --> 00:45:34,760 as you most surely will, in Jesus name, Amen.