[0:00] Welcome to our service this evening and I warm welcome to any visitors who may be among us. There are the following intimations, a prayer meeting on Wednesday at 7pm.
[0:13] Last Wednesday I intimated that there would be a congregational meeting on that Wednesday but I forgot that we do have a presbytery meeting in another congregation so we'll put the congregational meeting now to Wednesday the 30th.
[0:31] There'll be a congregational meeting on Wednesday the 30th. We'll resume singing this evening and because we're wearing masks I think it would be better if we stand to sing.
[0:47] Let us worship the Lord then by singing to his praise from Psalm 51. Psalm 51 at verse 7. Amen. Do thou with hyssop sprinkle me, I shall be cleansed so.
[1:02] Yea, wash thou me and then I shall be whiter than the snow. Of gladness and of joyfulness make me to hear the voice. And so these very bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
[1:14] All mine iniquities blot out thy face hide from my sin. Create a clean heart, Lord, renew a right spirit be within. Cast me not from thy sight nor take thy Holy Spirit away.
[1:28] Restore me thy salvation's joy. With thy free spirit may stay. We shall sing these verses to the Lord's praise. Psalm 51 at verse 7.
[1:38] Do thou with hyssop sprinkle me, I shall be cleansed so. Do thou with hyssop sprinkle me, I shall be cleansed so.
[2:04] Yea, wash thou me and then I shall be whiter than the snow.
[2:21] Of gladness and of joyfulness make me to hear the voice.
[2:39] Thy soul, the very poor, thou hast broken me, I shall be cleansed so.
[2:57] All mine iniquities blot out thy face hide from my sin.
[3:14] Thou Minneapolis by a wise heart. Haul me and then I shall be Ala As I'm not in thy holy spirit, I will restore me thy salvation's joy.
[4:01] When thy peace will be saved. Let us unite together in prayer. Let us pray.
[4:18] Eternal and ever-blessed Lord, we give thanks unto thee that thou hast given us this privilege and opportunity once again.
[4:31] To gather within the courts of thine own house. That thou hast planted a desire in our heart to come together and to worship thee and acknowledge thee as our God and as our Creator and as our Redeemer through thy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
[4:56] Thy word.
[5:26] And that thy word may be applied to us by thy Spirit. That it may be lodged in our heart and bring forth fruit in our lives.
[5:38] That it would be made for us a living, a quickening word. We give thanks unto thee for thy word. And we pray, O Lord, that as it is being proclaimed this evening through the gospel, throughout our communities, throughout our islands, throughout our land.
[5:58] Even unto the ends of the earth. Even unto the ends of the earth, that it may go forth. And the power of thine own Holy Spirit to convict and to convert and to build thine own church here on earth.
[6:14] We pray thy blessing upon our community. And pray that thou would bless every home and every family. That thou would meet with each one at their point of need.
[6:27] Out of the riches of thy grace. Through the Lord Jesus Christ. We remember those who are ill and seek that thine healing hand may be upon them.
[6:38] That thou would restore them back to health and strength. If that be in accordance with thine own sovereign will. And if it be otherwise, we pray, O Lord, that thou would prepare them in their soul.
[6:51] We pray and give thanks for those who care for them. Remember those who have been bereft of loved ones in these days. As thou doth remind us that death is no respecter of persons.
[7:07] That the old and the young die. So we pray, O Lord, that we may apply our hearts into wisdom. That we may seek the Lord while he is to be found.
[7:17] That we may call upon him while he is near. That thou doth remind us that this world is not our home. That we are travelling through it to our long home.
[7:31] To our eternal destiny. And that our eternal destiny depends upon our relationship with thyself. And we give thanks.
[7:41] That that relationship which was broken by sin. Can be restored through the Lord Jesus Christ. So that we can come to have fellowship and communion with God.
[7:54] That we can come to have peace with God. And so we pray, O Lord, as that message goes forth this night. That there would be a people who would embrace that message by faith.
[8:09] And who would come to experience thine own salvation. And the joy of thy salvation. We come before thee, O Lord.
[8:19] And we acknowledge our sinnership. That we sin in thought, in word and in deed. But blessed be thy name for the efficacy of the blood of Jesus Christ.
[8:31] For the finished work of thy Son. Which is able to wash away our sin. And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We pray, O Lord, that thou would be with our young people and our children.
[8:47] That thou would raise up a generation that would fear thine own name. Remember thy people. O grant to them that they may be lights. That thou would raise up a generation that is shining in the midst of the darkness of this world.
[9:01] That their witness may be blessed in their homes and in their neighborhoods and in our community. And wherever thy providence doth say them.
[9:12] And we remember the careless and the indifferent. We pray, O Lord, that thy Spirit would stir them up in their hearts. That thou would draw them through the cords of thy Spirit to see their need.
[9:26] And to see the sufficiency of Christ to meet with their need. We pray for all assemblies of thy people this evening.
[9:38] And pray for all thy servants who proclaim thy truth there. That they may have the unction of thine own Spirit upon them. Remember us as a nation.
[9:49] O Lord, have pity and compassion upon us. And we pray that we would come to that point and that place where we will return unto the Lord.
[10:01] Knowing that thou hast promised that if we return unto thee that thou wilt return to us. O Lord, we need days of revival within thy church.
[10:14] Within thy believing people. That we may be stirred and quickened up in our souls. And that we may become concerned for the state of our communities.
[10:25] O Lord, we pray that it may please thee to outpour thy Spirit upon us. In a day of thine own power. In bringing awakening among those who are still dead in trespasses and in sin.
[10:41] We acknowledge, O Lord, that thou art the sovereign Lord. That thou art the one who is working out thine own purpose. And although things at times may seem to be so confusing to us.
[10:55] Yet there is no confusion with thee. And so we come to rest in thy own sovereignty. We ask, O Lord, that thou would watch over us the moments that we are here gathered this evening.
[11:09] There are many things to distract our minds and to draw our attention away from thy word. And from our reflection upon it. But we pray that our minds may be focused upon thyself.
[11:23] That we may see the glory of the incarnate word through the written word. We ask, O Lord, that thou would bless each one of us. Watch over us, we pray thee, as we wait upon thee.
[11:37] And all that we ask with the forgiveness of our many sins. In Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen. Amen. Amen. We shall now read the word of God as we find it in the gospel according to Luke and chapter 7.
[11:52] The gospel according to Luke and chapter 7. And we'll begin our reading at verse 19.
[12:05] And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus saying, Art thou he that should come, or look we for another? When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come, or look we for another?
[12:23] And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues and of evil spirits. And unto many that were blind he gave sight. Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way and tell John what things ye have seen and heard.
[12:38] 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 is he whosoever shall not be offended in me.
[12:51] And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John. What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind.
[13:03] But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment. Behold they which are largely appareled and lived in the sea and are in king's coax. But what went ye out for to see?
[13:15] 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 messengers before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee.
[13:27] For I say unto you, among those that are born of woman, there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist. But he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
[13:37] And all the people that heard him and the publicans justified God being baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.
[13:52] And the Lord said, Whereinto then shall I liken the men of this generation? And to what are they like? They are likened to children sitting in the marketplace and calling one to another and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced.
[14:06] We have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and yet ye say, ye are the devil. The Son of Man is come eating and drinking, and ye say, Behold, a gluttonous man and a winepepper, a friend of publicans and sinners.
[14:24] But wisdom is justified of all her children. And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and sat down to meet. And behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meet in the Pharisee's house, brought an unvastened box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him, weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears and to wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet and anointed him with the ointment.
[14:54] Now when the Pharisee, which had bidden him, saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, for she is a sinner.
[15:07] And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have some word to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. There was a certain creditor, which had two debtors, the one owed five hundred pence and the other fifty.
[15:21] And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most.
[15:32] And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman and said unto someone, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house. Thou gavest me no water for my feet, but she hath washed my feet with tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
[15:47] Thou gavest me no kiss, but this woman, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
[15:59] Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.
[16:11] And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith has saved thee.
[16:21] Go in peace. May the Lord bless unto us the reading of that portion of his word. We shall now sing in Psalm 34. Psalm 34 from the beginning.
[16:33] God will I bless all times his praise, my mouth shall still express. My soul shall boast in God, the meek shall hear with joyfulness. Extol the Lord with me, let us exalt his name together.
[16:47] I sought the Lord, he heard and did me from all fears deliver. They looked to him, enlightened were, not shamed were their faces. This poor man cried, God heard and saved him from all his distresses.
[17:01] The angel of the Lord encamps and round encompasseth all those about that do him fear, and them delivereth. We shall sing these verses to the Lord's praise from Psalm 34, verse 1 to 7.
[17:16] God will I bless all times his praise, my mouth shall still express. God will I bless all times his praise, my mouth shall still rest.
[17:40] My mouth shall boast in God, the meek shall hear with joyful lands.
[17:52] I shall bless all times his praise, my mouth shall bless. I shall bless all times his praise, my mouth shall bless. Let us exalt his name together.
[18:03] I sought the Lord, he heard and did me from all fears deliver.
[18:16] They looked to him, and lightened were, nor shamed were their faces.
[18:29] This boob and crying God heard and saved him from all his distresses.
[18:43] The angel of the MSN рез�0 Lord's help and blessing. Let us turn back to the portion of scripture that we read together, the gospel according to Luke chapter 7, reading at verse 19. And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus saying, Art thou he that should come? Or look we for another.
[19:40] There is no one among us who have not had doubts about this and that. Doubts about the future, doubts about our health, our relationships, whether the Bible is really the word of God, whether God really exists. Doubts almost seems to threaten the very foundation of our faith. John Bunyan in Polygamous Progress speaks of Doubting Castle, where Christian and hopeful lie imprisoned for they have been captured by one called giant despair. And this is the situation that is brought before us in the verses that we have taken as our text this evening. Even John the Baptist had doubts.
[20:35] This may seem surprising to us when we consider a little about who John was. John was the son of Elizabeth and Zechariah. He was a cousin of the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel speaks of his birth in a very particular way in this gospel itself. Chapter 1 we read that the angel who announced his birth said to his father, Fear not, Zechariah, for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son. And thou shalt call his name John, and thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. And he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
[21:29] And many of the children of Israel shall return to the Lord their God, and he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. He was the one who was set apart to bear witness to the coming of Jesus Christ. Now John's ministry was the fulfillment of ancient prophecy.
[22:02] In Isaiah chapter 40 we read, The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
[22:30] In the ancient world it was customary for kings and emperors to receive a royal welcome, so whenever they went to visit into a city, the people of that city would be required to prepare for him, lining the road along which he would come with pomp and ceremony. Reminds us of the way that Jesus was welcomed into Jerusalem the week before he was crucified. In order to ensure that the people were ready to receive him, the king or the emperor would send a messenger ahead to herald the news of his coming to the city. And Isaiah took that custom and turned it into a prophecy regarding Jesus Christ.
[23:22] And Luke applies it to John the Baptist there in chapter 3. John's ministry was to get a people ready, to help them to be prepared for the coming of Jesus Christ. He was the one that was talked about much around Israel. As to many of people he was rather a strange and rather a not fellow. He lived in a very peculiar way of life. He lived in the wilderness. His raiment was of camel's hair with a leather girdle about his loins and his meat was locust and wild honey. He was born into the world at a particular time in Israel, at a time when the Romans ruled the world and when they insisted on their pagan worship. For centuries God had been silent to Israel for 400 years, the years between the Old
[24:25] Testament and the New Testament. And Israel was not only used to foreign rule but spiritually they were in a very degenerate way. It was during this dark and dangerous time that John began his ministry. As soon as he received God's word, John began to proclaim it, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. To prepare a people for the coming of Jesus Christ.
[25:00] How were the people supposed to get ready? Well according to John they were to repent of their sins and as we noted already today, it is the same message for us. Without repentance we cannot be ready or prepared to meet with Christ. For without repentance there is no forgiveness. To repent means that we become conscious of sinning against God. Only people who see their sins and are mourning for their sins will admit their need of a saviour and appreciate the saviour, appreciate the coming of Jesus Christ.
[25:45] In fact John, this odd and strange fellow because of his preaching and baptism became quite famous to the extent that some people wondered whether he might be the Messiah for whom many were waiting.
[26:02] And as the people were in expectation and all men mused in their hearts of John whether he were the Christ or not. However, in spite of his popularity we are told that people from Jerusalem and all Judea went out to him and all the region around Jordan went out to meet up with John. Nevertheless, although he was in one sense popular, Jesus continued to point the people away from himself to point the people to Christ.
[26:44] John answered them saying, I indeed baptize you with water, but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of his shoes I am not worthy to unloose. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire, whose fan is in his hand, and he will truly purge his floor and will gather the wheat into his garden, but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.
[27:07] And many other things in his exhortation preached he into the people. He certainly lived in accordance with his own word that Christ must increase and he, John, must decrease.
[27:27] John's ministry was a ministry of urgency. He warned the people not to delay in repenting for their sins. For as he said, the axe is laid into the roots of the trees.
[27:40] Every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. In other words, he is saying to them judgment was coming soon.
[27:54] In fact, he says that the axe of divine wrath was ready to strike. Who would be cut down? Well, it was the people who were not bearing fruit.
[28:07] In other words, people who did not show any sign or any marks of repentance in their life. Remember how one day Jesus comes to John to be baptized.
[28:20] Now, Jesus did not need to be baptized for the forgiveness of sin, for he was sinless. Nevertheless, he was baptized. And Jesus, in being baptized, was identifying himself with sinners.
[28:36] He was identifying himself with those that he came to save. But you will recall that at the baptism, there was a descent of the Holy Spirit. When the heavens were opened unto him, and the Spirit of God descending like a dove, lightning upon him.
[28:52] And there was also the Father's voice. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Now, John, as well as the others who were there that day, witnessed all this.
[29:05] In the Gospel of John, we are told that John the Baptist pointed his own disciples to Christ. In those famous words that we have, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
[29:21] However, in time, John was imprisoned by King Herod. He was imprisoned by Herod for criticizing him for marrying his brother's wife.
[29:33] And as he lay in the prison cell, his soul seems to be going through a dark experience. We know, of course, that that period ended with John being beheaded.
[29:46] But as he lay in the prison cell, his soul seems to be going through a dark experience. It would seem that although he was in prison, his disciples could visit him.
[29:56] And in doing so, they undoubtedly would inform him of what was happening around the region, what was happening in Israel. They would inform him about the ministry of Jesus.
[30:08] And yet, here we find a man who is beginning to have his doubts about Jesus. So he sends two of his disciples to Jesus. Art thou he that should come?
[30:21] Or look we for another? The Bible does not tell us why John was entertaining these doubts, or why he asked Jesus to confirm that he was the Christ.
[30:35] Maybe he took his eye of Christ, and because he was no longer looking to Christ and resting in his provision, that he began to entertain doubts.
[30:47] Some suggest that John sent those two disciples to Jesus, in order that their faith would be strengthened, the faith of the two disciples.
[31:00] However, I think that this was rather more personal, and that John's prison cell had become John's doubting castle.
[31:10] Maybe his own personal difficulties and circumstances had begun to dominate his perspective. He could no longer understand what God was doing with him, or perhaps even with the world at large.
[31:30] Perhaps what he was hearing and being told by his disciples about the ministry of Jesus failed to meet his expectations. John's expectation was that God's judgment would come right away.
[31:48] John preached about the imminent judgment of God upon the unrepentant. He says, whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garden, and the chaff he will burn with fire unquestionable.
[32:04] John did not object to the healings, and so on. But where was the judgment? Sometimes we can get so frustrated ourselves, the way that the ungodly person prospers, that we begin perhaps to ask questions about God.
[32:27] Where is he? Why does he not judge? Why does he allow such ungodliness to prevail?
[32:40] There is a sense, too, in which John's question is a crucial question for each one of us, and one for which we also require an answer. Is Jesus the Christ?
[32:52] Is he the saviour whom God promised to send? Well, Jesus answers John by showing who he is and what he does.
[33:04] For we read here, And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits, and unto many that were blind he gave sight.
[33:16] Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way and tell John what things ye have seen and heard, how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised.
[33:28] To the poor the gospel is preached. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. He did not answer him by trying to meet John's expectations and bringing about the mighty acts of judgment, but simply continuing to do the work that God had sent him to do, showing mercy and preaching the gospel.
[33:56] Note that in this long list that he gave John's disciple, it ends in this way, To the poor the gospel is preached.
[34:07] He said the same thing when he preached his first public sermon in Nazareth, as recorded in chapter 4 of this gospel, where he says, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.
[34:23] He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that had bruised, to preach the acceptable gear of the Lord.
[34:38] This seems to be, as it were, the climax to his argument. His calling as the Messiah was not simply to perform miracles, but to proclaim the gospel to the poor and needy sinners.
[34:59] It is interesting to note that his preaching of the gospel was part of the proof that he was the saviour that God had promised to send.
[35:12] Paul could say to the Christians at Rome who were suffering, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
[35:34] To the Thessalonians he could write, For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.
[35:45] We should never undervalue the importance of the preaching of the gospel. People's lives have been changed by the gospel.
[35:57] Again to the Thessalonians, Paul says, Coming back again to John Bunyan's Pilgrim Progress, Christian and hopeful in the dungeon of Doubting Castle, where Christian realises there that he has in his possession the means of escape which he had all along.
[36:32] He has a key that will open any lock in Doubting Castle, and the key is called the promise. And the key represents to us the significant great and precious promises of the gospel, promises that are ours in Christ.
[36:51] Tonight you may be doubting whether a person like you can be saved. When doubts lays hold, and when Christ is not in you, it can be the hardest thing for anyone to believe that they can be saved.
[37:09] But take Christ into you, and hold the key, the key of promise, the promise of the gospel, and it will in doubt indeed open the lock.
[37:20] Yeah, the lock may be stubborn, yet the promises of the gospel will indeed open it. We need to heed the words of hope.
[37:31] Keep turning the key in the lock and press forward until the gate is thrust open. For the promise is given, Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out.
[37:45] Christian and hopeful had been suffering the misery of Doubting Castle for almost four days.
[38:10] They were captured by giant despair on Wednesday morning. Now it is Saturday, and it is almost midnight. And what did they do? Well, the first thing they did was, they began to pray.
[38:25] It is worth noting that the pilgrims escape from Doubting Castle, it begins with prayer. A reminder to us that we can be in no place where God cannot hear, nor can we be found in any circumstances in which God is not able to deliver us from.
[38:51] Prayer with the gospel can bring deliverance. Only Christ, through His saving work on the cross, can bring us grace and mercy and forgiveness.
[39:03] Only in Him can we find freedom from guilt and condemnation. Only in Him can we escape doubt and despair and find peace with God.
[39:14] We must remember the promise of the gospel, and we must run to Christ. When the disciples went back and told John, he would have recognised that the answer came from the Old Testament, and the answer came from the book of Isaiah.
[39:34] Jesus had given John a biblical and practical proof that he was the Christ. He gave him proof, both from the Bible, from the Old Testament, and also practical proof, because he was there healing, performing miracles.
[39:56] As Jesus performed the miracles and preached the gospel, Jesus was doing the very things that the Bible promised that the Saviour would do. Jesus will judge the world in accordance with His word, but He first came to seek and to save the lost.
[40:15] This is His primary work, as it were. He's coming to seek and to save the lost before judgment. But judgment will come.
[40:28] But first of all, He is here to seek and to save the lost. Maybe Jesus gives a warning to John and to us with these words, and blessed is He whosoever shall not be offended in me.
[40:42] The warning not to be offended by the saving work of Christ. Not to stumble or be offended or entertain doubts because Jesus is not meeting our expectations.
[40:55] That He is not bringing imminent judgment upon the ungodly. Peter reminds us in the second letter, that the Lord is not slack concerning His promise as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us, Lord, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
[41:18] We are living in that period, are we not, of the longsuffering of God, where He is wanting that many would come to repentance.
[41:32] Our main focus must be the preaching of the gospel. In Ecclesiastes chapter 8 we read, Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
[41:55] Though a sinner do evil a hundred times and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God which fear before him.
[42:09] Here He says to us that blessed is the person who seeks the Lord. Blessed is the person who runs to Christ for refuge.
[42:25] blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me. There are many for whom Christ is an offence.
[42:37] When Isaiah prophesied about the coming of the Saviour in chapter 8 of his prophecy he said, and it shall be for a sanctuary but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the house of Israel, for a jinn and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and many among them shall stumble and fall and be broken and be snared and be taken.
[43:01] Isaiah is saying that when God comes to bring salvation that many will reject him, many will reject Christ, they will stumble and be offended with the fact that they need Jesus to be their Saviour.
[43:16] but to all those who trust in Christ they are given the promise, Behold, I lay inside on a stumbling stone and rock of offence and whosoever believeth in him shall not be ashamed.
[43:30] Although Jesus does not bring judgment right away upon the wicked, let us not be offended but rejoice in the fact that the gospel is proclaimed to the poor and to sinners.
[43:43] When the messengers went back to John, Jesus began to speak to the people about John. He wanted to make sure that although John was seen to be having doubts, he was still a great prophet.
[43:59] And he said of another Old Testament mighty prophet Elijah that he was a man subject to like passions as we are. So John was a man subject to like passions like me and you.
[44:11] John was a great prophet and God used his ministry to bring many to the Saviour and still John could fall into this pit of doubt.
[44:25] Jesus gave a high place to John's ministry calling him not merely a prophet but much more than a prophet. But what would he have for to see a prophet yea I say unto you and much more than a prophet.
[44:38] This is he of whom it is written behold I send my messenger before thy face which shall prepare thy way before thee. For I say unto you among those that are born of woman there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
[45:00] What made John much more than a prophet? Well what made John much more than a prophet was a special calling to prepare the way for coming of Christ.
[45:14] As the man who was promised to be Christ's messenger behold I will send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before him. This made him the last and the greatest prophet before Christ.
[45:29] All the other prophets of the Old Testament looked for Christ from a distance behind shadows and types but John saw him he saw Christ he saw him with his own two eyes he alone of all the prophets had the privilege of pointing at Christ and saying behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.
[45:57] But then Jesus goes on to say a very surprising statement for I say unto you among those that are born of a woman there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist but then he says but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
[46:18] What does he mean by that? What does he mean? Well here he speaks about our personal privilege as believers in Jesus Christ.
[46:32] But he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. The weakest Christian tonight is greater than John.
[46:45] How? Well we have a more privileged place in the history of salvation. John saw only the beginning of what Jesus would do.
[46:56] He believed and was saved but we have the whole gospel given given to us. In our knowledge of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus we have a fuller experience of Jesus Christ.
[47:15] We have in the gospel not only a knowledge of the beginning but also of the end, the finished work of Jesus Christ and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
[47:26] We live in a time where there is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. To those to whom much has been given much shall be required.
[47:42] He that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. And here we see how people responded.
[47:53] They responded in two different ways. And all the people that heard him and the publicans justified God being baptized with the baptism of John but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves being not baptized of him.
[48:10] This is what always happens when people are confronted with the truth. They either accept it or they reject it. it. Some of the people including publicans on hearing the message of salvation they accepted that message by faith.
[48:29] They declared that God was just that God was right about their sin and about everything else. They were willing to confess their sins and repent and as a sign of that they received the baptism of John.
[48:45] However the scribes and the Pharisees they rejected the counsel of God against themselves. What this means is that they decided to reject the gift of salvation which God freely and sincerely offered to them.
[49:06] They decided to reject it. Well the question is what are you going to do with the gospel? remember that reliance upon anything whatever it be apart from the mercy blood and grace of Christ can only bring you to despair.
[49:28] Many have tried many other means of escape from what our sins deserve from the wrath and condemnation of God. They have tried many other ways other than the blood of Christ.
[49:42] But the thing is that our sins can only be removed by the blood of Christ. Can only be removed by nothing else but faith. Faith in nothing but the precious blood of Christ can take away sin.
[49:58] That is the only way in which our sins can be forgiven. That is the only way in which our souls can be delivered from the condemnation that is due to our sin.
[50:12] So what are we doing with the gospel? What are we doing with the message of God? As we have already said, to whom much has been given, much shall be required.
[50:30] To those who are living like yourselves here in the last days, much has been given to us. It has never been a more privileged people than us.
[50:43] So because of those privileges, much will be required. Well, what is our relationship to God? What is our relationship to the message?
[50:55] What is our relationship to the gospel? These are questions that we ought to consider well?
[51:07] Ought to consider them well? May the Lord bless our thoughts. Let us pray. O Lord, our God, we pray that we would truly consider this evening our relationship with thyself.
[51:30] We give thanks for the gospel, that the gospel has been preached to the poor and to sinners. We give thanks that we are given this opportunity to have, to come and to be restored by faith through the blood of thy Son into fellowship and communion with thee, so that we can experience thy salvation and that we can have peace with God.
[52:04] We pray, O Lord, that thou would continue with us, that thou would meet with us at our point of need, whatever it is this night that hinders us or is a stumbling block to us from coming to put our faith, our trust in thee.
[52:21] We pray that those things may be taken away, that any doubts that may be in our minds will be taken away, that we will remember and have that key of promise that whosoever will come to thee, that thou wilt in no wise cast them down, that thou, O Lord, are more willing to show mercy to us than we are to ask for mercy.
[52:50] We ask, O Lord, that thou would continue with us during the coming days and forgive us for all our sins. In Jesus' name, Amen. We shall now conclude by singing to the Lord's praise from Psalm 121.
[53:06] I to the hills will lift mine eyes from whence doth come mine aid. My safety cometh from the Lord to heaven and earth hath made. Thy foot he'll not let slide, nor will he slumber, that he keeps.
[53:18] Behold, he that keeps Israel, he slumbers not, nor sleeps. The Lord he keeps the Lord thy shade on thy right hand to stay. The moon by night he shall not smite, nor yet the sun by day.
[53:31] The Lord shall keep thy soul, he shall preserve thee from all ill. Henceforth by going out and in, God keep forever well. We shall sing the whole psalm to the Lord's praise.
[53:44] And after the singing, you can remain standing for the benediction. Psalm 121, I to the hills will lift mine eyes, from whence doth come mine aid. I to the hills will lift mine eyes, from when I'll come my aid.
[54:18] my safety cometh from the Lord, who hand and other men.
[54:36] I could hear Lord as I nor will be day.
[54:54] Be behold he nor theyに 高 The members not, not the, The Lord, the king, The Lord, thy name, All I have I now lay, The moon by night, He shall not smile, Nor yet the sun by day, The Lord shall keep thy soul,
[56:00] The Lord shall preserve the Lord, And for my holy God, And for my holy God, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, And the love of God, And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, Be with you all now and forevermore.
[56:42] Amen.