[0:00] I can sing now to God's praise some verses from Psalm 46. Psalm 46, and we'll sing from verse 6 to the end of the psalm.
[0:16] The heathen raged tumultuously, the kingdoms moved where. The Lord God uttered his voice, the earth did melt for fear. The Lord of hosts upon our side doth constantly remain.
[0:30] The God of Jacob's our refuge hath safely to maintain. Come and behold what wondrous works have by the Lord been wrought. Come see what desolations he on the earth hath brought.
[0:44] Unto the ends of all the earth wars into peace he turns. The bow he breaks, the spear he cuts in fire, the chariot burns. Be still and know that I am God.
[0:57] Among the heathen I will be exalted. I on earth will be exalted high. Our God who is the Lord of hosts is still upon our side. The God of Jacob our refuge forever will abide.
[1:12] I can sing these verses, Psalm 46 from verse 6 to the end. The heathen raged tumultuously, the kingdoms moved where. The heathen raged tumultuously, the kingdoms moved where.
[1:39] The Lord of hosts upon our side doth constantly remain.
[1:54] The Lord of hosts upon our side A constant fear remains The God of Jacob's our refuge A saving to make him Come and behold what wondrous works How high the Lord he brought Come see what ex-prolitions
[2:58] He on the earth hath brought Unto the ends of all the air For come to peace he turns The road he brings The spirit he dies And fire the child burns Be still and know that I am God Upon the heathen eye
[4:00] Will be exalted I am God who is the Lord of hosts The Lord of hosts The Lord of hosts Is still upon our side The God of kings of our refuge Forever will abide So we turn to the passage
[5:01] That we read together The Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Luke chapter 7 And we can read at verse 19 And John calling unto him And two of his disciples Sent them to Jesus saying Art thou he that should come Or look we for another When the men were come unto him They said John Baptist Hath sent us unto thee Saying art thou he that should come Or look we for another And so on Many people are perplexed By this question Not so much because of what The question suggests to us But by reason of the source of the question
[6:06] We can recognize that this question Is brought to the Lord Jesus Christ By the disciples of John We know from the account As we have it in Matthew's Gospel That at the time John is in prison And he speaks to his disciples It seems that he has opportunity To speak to them And send them on this task And ask this question of the Lord Now the one asking the question We all know who he is We know that he is spoken of Within the scripture In different ways For example we know of
[7:07] His spiritual pedigree That his parents Are both of a very rich genealogy In the beginning of this Gospel We are told that In verse 5 Chapter 1 There was in the days of Herod The king of Judea A certain priest named Zacharias Of the course of Abia And his wife was of the daughters of Aaron And her name was Elizabeth And they were both righteous before God Walking in all the commandments And ordinances of the Lord Blameless and so on There are a number of things I suppose connected with that They belong to a rich pedigree Both of them
[8:07] And John It would probably seem That he would also be Of that same priesthood That would be natural He would be expected to serve I came across something In my reading this week And John had finished his course And I was wondering at the time That I read it Whether that meant Simply That he had finished His ministry Or was it alluding to the fact That by reason of Of being a priest Then he would be called To serve At a certain Preordained time Whatever it was That would be required Of him As His father Before him As it was mentioned
[9:09] There Of the course of Abia Each one Who was of The tribe of Levi Would at certain times During their lifetime Have to Fulfill A certain function With regard To that Priesthood Now Maybe that's Not relevant In this case But we can say With certainty That John Had this Pedigree A spiritual pedigree More than that We can say That In a reading Of John's life That He Is somebody Who was In all likelihood A Nazirite From the womb When his mother Was carrying him We are Taught Also That The spirit Gave John The power Of recognition When He Somehow Heard
[10:10] The voice Of the mother Of the Lord As she Carried Or was Carrying The child And there's All kinds Of Evidences I suppose That remind us Of the This unique Place That John Had He was Prophetically Recognised As the Forerunner One who Would Come Before the Lord And declare The Lord To the World And This was Clearly His calling Somebody Who was Uniquely Equipped To do That Somebody Who This Lord Endowed Spiritually So as To be Able To Carry Out That Unique Ministry He stood Out Amongst His
[11:10] Peers Somebody Who Had an Exceptional Grasp Of God's Word And a Calling From God To call Men and Women To repent For the Kingdom of Heaven Was at Hand He was Given Again At the Hand of The Spirit The Ability To Declare The Lamb Of God Who Was to Take Away The Sins Of The World So When You Examine The Person Who Is Asking This Question When You Gather Together All The Information That You Have Concerning Him When You Examine His Own Ministry And What He Had To Say To Others Concerning The Lord You Know That John
[12:10] Was Somebody Who Was Unique Somebody Who Understands The Scripture When The Lord Jesus Spoke For The First Time In The Temple And Made He Read A Passage From Isaiah And He He Explained That Passage For He Said Today This Prophecy Is Fulfilled In Your Hearing And Everybody Present Even Those Who Were His Enemies Understood Perfectly Well What Jesus Was Meaning By They Were Moved To I They Were Moved To Anger And These Were In All Likelihood Unregenerate Men Who Were Hearing Him Explain The Word In This Word Or Attribute That Word To Be A Word That
[13:11] Spoke Of Himself Now John As Somebody Who Was Undoubtedly Endowed With God's Spirit In A Proportion In A Measure Would Be So Familiar With The Word Of God And So So Aware Of What The Word Said About The Lord Jesus Christ That You Could Hardly Accredit Any Such Question Coming Into His Mind Concerning The Person Of The Lord Jesus Christ And Yet If We Read This Question It Is A Question That Is Asked And There Is No Doubt About What The Question Is Seeking And Because Of The Clarity Of The Question And The Source Of The Question Many Have Questioned Themselves
[14:11] The Meaning Of It Or The Purpose For It What Is It To Serve Who Is Going To Benefit From The Question Being Answered Now We Know That There Are There Are Many Who Who Who Consider This Question To Have Been Asked Not For The Benefit Of John Even Though He Is The One Asking The Question For Example If You Read The Comments Of Bishop Ryle And We We Trust Bishop Ryle Far More Than We Trust Many Other Commentators Of The Scripture But Bishop Ryle Is Of The Opinion That The Question Asked By John Through The Disciples Is A Question That Is Asked For Their Benefit More
[15:12] Than For His Benefit He Does Not For One Moment Countenance An Answer That Would Suggest That There Is Any Question In The Mind Of John Concerning Who Jesus Was Or What His Intentions Were Are You He That Should Come Or Look We For Another It Sounds Strange Coming From His Mouth That Such A Question Would Be Asked Bearing His Mind Bearing In Mind His Whole Preaching Ministry Not God Christ
[16:20] To Be But Who He Knew Christ To Be In Matthew's Gospel In Chapter Three I think Chapter Four When John Again Is Is Preaching The Word There He Is Quite Convinced In His Own Mind As To What The The This Christ Is Going To Do He Says In Chapter Three Now Also The Axe Is Laid Into The Root Of The Trees Therefore Every Tree Which Bringeth Not Forth Good Fruit Is Hewn Down And Cast Into The Fire I Indeed Baptize You With Water Unto Repentance But He That Cometh After Me Is Mightier Than I Whose Shoes I Am Not Worthy To Bear He Shall Baptize
[17:21] You With The Holy Ghost And With Fire Whose Fan Is In His Hand And He Will Throughly Purge His Floor And Gather His Wheat Into The Garner But He Will Burn Up The Chaff With Unquenchable Fire God Now Now That That Is The Message Of John The Baptist To That Generation He Has A Clear Understanding Of Who Jesus Is And What Jesus Is Going To Do And If That Is The Case Then You Would Tend To Favor The Opinion Of Bishop Ryle Which Suggests That There Is No Possibility That Such A Person Would Ask Such A Question By Reason Of His Own Doubts By Reason Of His Own Lack Of Certainty As To
[18:21] The Message That He Proclaimed Or The Person Of Whom He Proclaimed That Message And The Answer I Suppose That Needs To Be Supplied If That Is Not The Case Then There Must Be Some Other Reason For That Question And The Suggestion Is That John Is Asking The Question On Behalf Of His Disciples John Is In Prison And Because He's In Prison This Runs The Risk Of Bringing Disillusionment Into The Heart And Mind Of The Many Followers Of John So He Wants Them To Go To The Lord So That They Would Hear From The Mouth Of The Lord The Truth Concerning Who Christ Is A Truth That He Believes A Truth That He Preaches A Truth That He Has Not Lost Sight Of And
[19:22] This Is His Way Because He Can't Go To The Lord For Them He Sends Them To The Lord And The Lord Will Then Disabuse Them Of Any False Views That They Have Of Who Christ Is Now The Problem With That Answer Is That When Jesus Responds To The Question That The Disciples Ask Him Just As John Told Them The Lord Sends Them Back To John He Doesn't Speak To Their Ignorance He Sends Them Back To John And Go Your Way He Says And Tell John What Things You Have Seen And Heard How That The Blind See The Lame Walk The Lepers Are Cleansed The Deaf Hear The Dead Are Raised To The Poor The Gospel Is Preached And Blessed
[20:22] Is He Whosoever Shall Not Be Offended In Me Now What Is He Saying When He Is Saying These Words Well He Is Telling John Directly That The Scripture Is Being Fulfilled The Very Same Scripture That John Is Proclaiming The Very Same Scripture Concerning The One That He Is The Forerunner To Jesus Is Saying To John This Scripture Is Now Being Fulfilled Many Say These Words Are Taken From The Prophecy Of Isaiah And While It's Not A Direct Quotation It Is Still Alluding Very Clearly To The Prophecies That The Prophet Has Made Concerning The Ministry Of The Lord Jesus Christ And The Understanding Is That When
[21:25] Jesus Responds In This Way That The Message Goes Back To The Apostle John Now Not The Apostle But John The Baptist Now The Question I suppose Is Why Is There A Difficulty On Our Part From Suggesting Or Suspecting That John The Baptist Would Be In Any Way Overtaken By Doubt Or Would Be In Any Way In A Danger Of Having Such Thoughts In His Head At Any Point There Is Always A Danger If You Like In Looking At The Saints Of God Whoever They May Be That We May Elevate Them To Such A Position In
[22:25] Our Estimation That They Almost Become Deified As If They Have No Possibility Of Succumbing To Sin Or To Any Spiritual Weakness That May Affect Them On The Other Side Of That Is That We May Suspect That Every Saint Of God Is So Weakened By Sin And Affected By It That They Are Not Much Better Than Ourselves And There Is No Reason To Give A Place To Any One Of These Saints That God Directs Our Attention To Now Both Of These Positions Are Extremely Dangerous There Is Clearly Evidence In The Scripture That There Are Many Saints That God Endows With Gifts And
[23:25] Graces That Are Exceptional And It Is God's Grace No Doubt But Their Willingness To Accept Themselves In Applying These Graces That Makes Them The Exceptional Characters That They Are God And If We Believe That Every Saint Of God Is Almost Always Endowed With These Exceptional Graces Against Their Will As It Were That They Couldn't But Be What They Are They Couldn't But Be A Moses They Couldn't But Be A Peter They Couldn't But Be A John They They Could Be A John The Baptist Because Of God's Intervention In Their Lives And The Gifts And Graces He Endows Them With In A Sense That's Quite True But There Are Always Opportunities
[24:26] For Anyone Of The Saints Of God To To Suffer Loss If They Are Disobedient To To Lose Out In Their Possession Of God's Graces If They Are Not Willing To Apply Them Or Use Them As God Endows Them With So If We Understand That John Is A Remarkable Person And No One Dare Take That From Him And We Have The Testimony Of Christ Which Will Come To Concerning John Which Which Exonerates Him Of Any Allegation Of Being Anything Less Than God Has Made Him To Be But We Should Not Elevate Him To A Position Where He Is Impregnably Situated So That Sin Will Not Enter Into His Heart
[25:27] That No Weakness Will Overtake Him Especially When He Is Placed In A Position Where His Mind Or His Heart Will Be Assailed By By Uncertainty From Whichever Source You Remind Yourself Of This Truth That Many Call John Elijah Because Of The Similarity That His Ministry Bears To The Old Testament Prophet Yet We Know That Elijah The Old Testament Prophet Exceptional As He Is And Without Doubt Endowed With Great Strength And Gifts That God Alone Is Responsible For We Know That There Was
[26:27] A Time In His Life Where He Was Desiring Death Rather Rather Than To Go On Living Where His Heart Was Was Riddled With Fear Not Fear Of The Unknown But Fear Of Man And Fear Of A Man If You Like Somebody Who Was Willing To Take On The Prophets Of Baal Who Were Without Number And Their Wickedness Was Unequaled In That Generation And Yet He Fearlessly Faced Them Up And John Was No Different He Didn't Care About His Enemies He Didn't Care About Who Wanted To Hear About The Need For Repentance We Know That He Faced Up To Herod Because Of His Adulterous Relationship With Herodias We Know That He Faced Up To Those Who Had Power To Impission And Ultimately To Be He And He
[27:28] Wasn't He Wasn't In Any Way A Person Who Would Allow Himself To Be Deflected In That Way And Yet At The Same Time Given The Right Circumstances It Is True Of Any Child Of God That They Can Be Rocked On Their Heels As It Were There's No You Can Never Say About Any Believer That There's No That Will Ever Come Their Way That They Are Immune From You Think About The Apostle Peter And You Know The Apostle Peter Was Somebody Who Was Bold And Bracen And Strong And Fearless In The Face Of Of All Kinds Of Enemies And Yet When He Was Challenged By Barely A Child And
[28:28] As Concerning His Relationship With The Lord He Denied His Lord Why Did He Do That Where Did That Weakness Come From Where Did That Inability To To Face Up To The Challenge Of The Moment Come From We're Not Given Explanations For It And I Know That There Are People Who Are Not Happy To Think Of Anyone Of Of The Saints Of God Having A Chink As It Were In Their Armor But I Think It Is A Weak Explanation For The Question That John Asks To Suggest That It Was Asked For Others Because The Lord Knows What Is Going On In The Heart Of Others And He Would Easily Have Been Able To Speak Into The Situation That
[29:28] These Others Were In Directly Rather Than Send A Message Back To John And Tell Him What John Was Hearing There What Does Jesus Do When The Messengers Depart When The Messengers Of John Were Departed He Began To Speak To The People Concerning John What Went You Out To The Wilderness To See A Read Shaken With The Wind What Went You Out To See A Man Clothed In Soft Raven Behold They Which Are Gorgeously Apparelled And Look Delicately Are In Kings Courts But What Went You Out For To See A Prophet Yea I Say Unto You And Much More Than A Prophet This Is He Of Whom It Is Written Behold I Send My Messenger Before Thy Face Which Shall Prepare Thy Way Before The Jesus Is Saying There Clearly This Person Is Somebody
[30:29] That God Has Marked Out For This Service And I Know To Be John I Say Unto You Among Those That Are Born Of Woman There Is Not A Greater Prophet Than John The Baptist What Could Be Clearer Than That He Has Absolutely No Question In His Mind About The Integrity Of John Or The Role That He Has As His Forerunner Or The Preacher Of Righteousness That He Is In God's Name But There Is A But He That Is Least In The Kingdom Of God Is Greater Than He And That I suppose Should Attract More Questions Than The Questions That Are Asked About John's Question In In What In What Sense Is He Least In
[31:29] The Kingdom Of God Or The Person That Is Least In The Kingdom Of God Greater Than He Christ Was Speaking About A New Kingdom That Was Being Ushered In John And John I Says The Bible Doesn't Tell Us What His Problem Was But If You Go Back To To The Quotation That We Had There From Matthew Chapter Three John Clearly Has God's Word And If He Interpretes That Word Literally What He Expects To See Is Somebody Who Is To Usher In Judgment And That Judgment Is Imminent And He Believes Christ To Be That Judge He
[32:29] Believes Him To Be That Person And He's Right He's Right But The Judgment Isn't Imminent Not As John Sees It Because The The Understanding That He Has Is That When Christ Comes That He Is Going To Be This Powerful Figure Well Read Again These Words From Matthew Chapter Three Whose Fan Is In His Hand And He Will Thruly Purge His Floor And Gather His Wheat Into The Garner But He Will Burn Up The Chaff With Unquenchable Fire What Kind Of Picture Is That That's The Picture Of Judgment It's The Picture Of Christ Coming To Judge The World And Bring All To Account And Answer For Their Sins To
[33:31] So If John Is Hearing About Jesus And Hearing About The Things That He's Doing But He's Not Hearing The Ushering In Of The Reign Of Judgement It May Well Promote Questions In His Life And His Heart now that's only a suggestion it's a possibility but I believe it's more of a possibility than suggesting that the question was asked on behalf of others because for John who is in prison he wants to hear he wants to be convinced that the kingdom that he has been proclaiming and preparing the people for and the king that was going to king to sit as a ruler over that kingdom he fully expects it to be accompanied with the evidence that would prove that to him but Jesus directs somewhere to God's word and it's not our interpretation of God's word that we depend upon but the word itself and if we take one step away from the word of God and put our trust in our interpretation of the word it will lead us down a blind alley it will leave us perhaps struggling to understand the truth that is at the heart of that word well it is a passage
[35:06] I think that has given many people more questions but I think for the believer it should be a reminder to us of the fragility of our own of our own faith because sometimes some things may come and they embroil us and attack our faith and what we believe so that a person who is one moment perfectly content as a believer and assured and aware of of where you stand and what God has done for you and what he is yet to do for you that person can very quickly have the wind taken out of their sails in a way that they did not anticipate I am not saying that it was as grievous as that for John but certainly you must remind yourself that he was asking this question from prison and that probably he was staring death in the face and maybe for a fleeting moment he took his eye off the Lord
[36:23] I was reading recently Robert Murray McShane and his advice to every Christian he says for every look inside yourself take twelve more or whatever number he said to Jesus because we know that when we look at ourselves and we look at what we've done look at what we've said and we're trusting in that then maybe one day we'll come and we'll see something that we can't we can't say is good that we can't say is beneficial that can't say that it's something that that we're proud of rather more ashamed of and when we're when we're looking at that and when that is pointed out to us that's when we need to look at Christ and remind ourselves that's where where our salvation is not in what we do or say or what God makes makes of us or what God endows us with by way of gifts well may God give you opportunity to think about this for yourselves and work work out what God is doing in the life of of this this great man that he used mightily at a very particular moment in the life of our Lord let us pray
[37:59] Lord help us to understand your word and help us to apply it meaningfully to our own lives that we may see your truth and that your truth will be what we are enlightened by bless your people with all their needs and with all their varying situations here in this world this world will not leave your people without occasion to be fearful and to be trembling and to think of themselves as nothing other than the dregs of society when they compare themselves to others but your word tells us and reminds us that they are to fear not little flock for it is your father's wish to give you the kingdom bless us together to that end in Jesus name Amen I'm going to conclude by singing the last two verses of Psalm 84 these last two verses in
[39:08] Gaelic Psalm 84 is hear inEM Oh, oh, oh.
[40:09] Thank you.
[40:39] Thank you.
[41:09] Thank you.
[41:39] Thank you.
[42:09] Thank you.
[42:39] Thank you. Thank you.