WEBVTT

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 All right, Luke chapter 7, Luke chapter 7 this morning, as we continue looking here at the

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! situation in the life of John the Baptist and just dealing with that reality of doubt and overcoming

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! and trusting God in the minus. When God takes something away, sometimes it often causes us to doubt.

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 It causes us to question why God is choosing or has allowed that into our lives. And so if you

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 found Luke chapter 7, let's pick up here in verse 18 here this morning as we just set the stage for

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 the lesson here today. And it tells us here in verse 18, the disciples of John showed him of all

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 these things. And John calling unto him two of his disciples and sent them to Jesus saying,

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 art thou he that should come or look we for another? And when the men were come unto him,

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 they said, John the Baptist has sent us unto thee saying, art thou he that should come or look we

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 for another? In the same hour, he cured many of their infirmities and plagues and of evil spirits.

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 And unto many that were blind, he gave sight. Then Jesus answered and said unto them, go your way and

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 tell John what things you have seen and heard and how that the blind see and the lame walk,

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 the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, and the dead are raised. To the poor the gospel is preached.

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 And blessed is he who shall not be offended in me. Let's pray. Heavenly Fathers, we

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 come once again before you, Lord, we pray. Just have your hand upon our hearts and our lives and,

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 Lord, our thinking. Lord, as we consider a very stern reality, a stark reality in our life, Lord,

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 of doubt that comes sometimes because of situations or expectations that we have that, Lord, that don't

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 come out the way that we thought or desire for them to come out. But, Lord, help us to learn to be

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 resilient and to trust you even in the difficult seasons of life. And, Lord, we just pray you have

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 your hand upon each one here today that we might not just be hearers but doers of your word. And,

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 Lord, we just ask it all in your precious name. Amen. You know, we see here this morning, we began

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 looking here last week about trusting God in the minus, trusting God when God takes things away.

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 You know, things or expectations that we have because sometimes God does subtract from our lives.

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 You know, we like multiplication, we like addition, but most of the time we don't like

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 subtraction or division because they take away. And we know there's many examples we talked about last

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 time how God took away. You know, we talked about the example of Job. You know, in Job's life, Job had a lot

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 taken away, you know. And Job could begin to question or to doubt, I mean, the challenges

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 that they have with that, you know. I can't explain why God adds or subtracts, but we know that God does

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 it or allows it for a reason. God allows seasons of subtraction in our lives and partly, I think,

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 because we need to learn to trust Him through it. You know, trusting God through

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 things that are difficult in our life. You know, we don't understand all those things and we've been

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 looking at resiliency and we began looking about the ministry of John last week. You know, John the

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 Baptist is one of the most unusual ministries in the Bible. You know, John we talked about,

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 God blessed John. I mean, John was one. He had great crowds that would come out to meet him and to see

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 him. And that he was there and they would come out and be baptized of him. And the multitudes,

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 it tells us in Luke chapter 3, came out and they were there to see John. And because out where he was,

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 there was nothing. They didn't go for the social aspect. They didn't go because it was a resort area.

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 They didn't go for anything except for the fact that John was there and they saw John and understood

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 he was the one preaching in the wilderness. You know, that John was the one crying in the wilderness

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 to make straight the path, the way of the Lord. And so we see that, that John's role was to prepare

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 the way for Christ. And he knew that. I mean, that was, John was sent forth to do that. That was his mission.

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 That was his task in life that had been given him. And he invested his life into fulfilling that.

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 But you know, there was a time when the crowds started to go away. You know, after Jesus came and was baptized,

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 that many departed from John and began to follow Jesus. There was subtraction in his ministry, you might say.

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 Things were being taken away. But you know, John 3 tells us John's response.

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 John chapter 3 and verse 30 says, he must increase and I must decrease. God brought blessing,

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 but God also allowed a disruption in the life and the ministry of John. You know, John had many disciples

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 that were there. And, but we know that Jesus even had the same situation. You know, there was people

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 who began to follow Jesus and then they backed out. You know, John chapter 8 tells us from that time,

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 many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. You know, there's sometimes people who start

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 on a path with the Lord and turn around. They get sidetracked or distracted by the things of the world or

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 something that makes them uncomfortable or something that moves them outside of their comfort zone.

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 You know, Paul faced the same disruptions in his ministry. You know, we talked about, you know,

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 Paul dealing with those things. I mean, you think about all the things that Paul and his companions

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 suffered and things didn't go as they always had planned. I mean, he talks about being beaten and

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 shipwrecked and hungry and thirsty and cold and, and, you know, no place to sleep and weariness and

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 painfulness and all the things. And, but God used and uses setbacks for his glory. You know,

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 when we understand that as with John, because remember we talked about John here,

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 where was John when he sent messengers to Jesus? He was where? In jail.

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 For doing what? Speaking the truth. You know, sometimes people don't like truth.

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 Truth makes people uncomfortable sometimes because truth has the same effect that light does.

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 Light dispels darkness. Truth dispels spiritual darkness. Truth reveals what's truly there.

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 But John was shut up in prison and, and he preached about the sins that were going on. Even the sins of

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 the ruler. Remember Herod was upset because he confronted him about his sin with sleeping with

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 his brother's wife. You know, he didn't step back from it and, and he didn't just cower back from the

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 reality of what could happen. But, you know, we see the doubt of John. We began talking about this a

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 little bit last week, his doubts. You know, sometimes when life doesn't go how we expect or things don't

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 come out, we begin to get doubtful. Is this what God wanted? Is this how God intended? Is there something

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 going on? And, and, you know, the reality of John was in prison and he began to have these things roll

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 through his mind because he's watching Jesus and he's beginning to question because he's not seeing

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 what he thinks he wants to see. He knows that Jesus is the one. Matter of fact, he declared Jesus,

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 behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Intellectually, he knew who Jesus is,

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 but you know, he began to struggle because what he saw Jesus doing didn't match up with what his

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 expectation was. Because doubts can expose our misplaced expectations. Because sometimes

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 God allows things for his glory and his purpose that aren't the way we would do it. You know,

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 I think that's one of the struggles that we have because aren't we by nature people? We like to

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 have things the way we want it done or how we envision it. You know, I have a picture of how it's

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 going to go and then it doesn't match up. And sometimes we get discouraged or, you know, you can

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 do an activity or you can do other things that you say, well, you know, God's going to use this.

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 And then it just goes, you say, why? You know, we have an expectation and expectations can be good,

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 but we need to always keep those things in mind of how is God using those things. You know,

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 look over to Philippians chapter one for a moment. Philippians chapter one, and we find here in

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 verse 12, the word of God tells us this. It says, but I would ye should understand, brethren, that the

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 things which happen unto me have fallen out rather under the furtherance of the gospel, so that my bonds

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 in Christ are manifest in all the palace and in all other places. And many of the brethren in the Lord

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 waxing confident in my bonds are much more bold to speak the word without fear. In other words,

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 Paul says, hey, I come to understand that sometimes God allows these things to happen

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 for the furtherance of his purpose and not my purpose. Think about Paul's writing that to the

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 church at Philippi. Remember what happened at Philippi? Paul was beaten and put in prison.

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 Think about it. Do you think that was on his memo list of things to do while he was doing it at

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 Philippi? I don't think that was on his schedule. Okay, at 2 p.m. this afternoon, they're going to

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 come arrest us and beat us. I don't think that was his expectation of what was going to take place.

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 But yet he understood as he walked through it that, yeah, God allowed that. And we know,

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 how did God allow it for the furtherance of the gospel? We see a jailer whose life was changed and

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 whose family's life was transformed. Why? Because Paul and Silas ended up in a prison cell. It wasn't

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 what Paul and Silas might have desired. I imagine Paul would have said, Lord, couldn't you just pump

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 me into him on the street and I could share the gospel with him? That'd be much better. But you know

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 what God said? No, this is where and what needs to take place for the furtherance of the gospel.

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 This expectation and sometimes disruptions open new opportunities. At other times, disruptions

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 expose our misplaced expectations. Because notice here in our text, look at verse 18. What's John's

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 expectation? You know, the disciples of John give John a report and John calling unto him, two of his

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 disciples, verse 19, sent them unto Jesus saying, what's John asking? Art thou he that should come

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 or look we for another? What's he saying? Jesus, what my disciples told me isn't matching up with what

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 I'm expecting to happen. What I'm expecting to take place and John's doubt or at least his expression of it

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 ought to be in a sense reassuring to us because sometimes the same thing happens.

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 You know, our expectations don't line up with what God has planned. And sometimes that causes us to doubt

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 because I think it'd be, somebody'd have to be lying if you don't ever have doubts. I'm not talking about

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 doubting God in the sense of God, but I'm talking about doubts about, hey, Lord, why'd you allow this to

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 happen or why is this happening? What's the purpose behind this? Our Lord, this isn't going the way I

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 pictured it. We have doubts and during those times we need to recognize that there's a difference between

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 doubt and unbelief because doubt is normal. Doubt is something that actually helps us sometimes because

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 doubt is a form of evaluation. It helps us evaluate the circumstances. It helps us to actually think about and

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 consider those experiences that we wrestle through. But unbelief is the hardening of our heart towards God.

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 Unbelief and a hard heart go hand in hand. And we see that John isn't unbelieving. He's just saying,

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 Jesus, are you the one that was prophesied or do we look for another? Because things weren't going and

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 we understand, look what happens here because doubt can bring us back to the word of God.

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 John's disciples repeated the question exactly as John had given it to him. When you think about it,

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 now notice what Jesus did because Jesus here didn't start jumping all over him for bringing the

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 question. We got to keep in mind that Jesus didn't respond harshly to him. What did Jesus do? Because

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 notice what he asked. He says, do we look, are you the one or do we look for another? Now notice what

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 happened. Verse 21 of our text there in Luke, it says, in that same hour, he cured many of their

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 infirmities and plagues and evil spirits and unto many that were blind gave he sight. And notice what he

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 says, verse 20, go your way and tell John what things you have seen and heard. Why did he tell

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 John to tell him to go back and tell John that? The answer is in Isaiah 35 because Isaiah 35 foretold

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 what Christ was going to do. He said, go back to the word of God. What's been foretold? Isaiah 35 says,

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 in the eyes of the blind shall be open and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. And then shall the

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 lame man leap as a heart and the tongue of the dumb sing. For in the wilderness shall waters break out

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 in streams in the desert. You know, what did Jesus say? He says, go back to the word of God,

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 tell John that look at what's happening, then compare it to the word of God and see if it's so.

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 Because I want you to understand, Jesus didn't tell John anything he didn't already know.

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 What did Jesus do? He helped him reestablish the word of God as the point of reference instead of

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 his own experience. You know, oftentimes instead of using the word of God, we use experience as our

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 reference point. John's settled point of reference was the word of God. We left off last week talking

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 about the compass, you know, and we talked about how the magnetic north, if you try to trust a magnetic

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 compass, it will deviate because it moves. It's not set, it's not fixed. In life, sometimes we chase

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 things that aren't fixed, but we need a true setting. We need something true. You know, I want you to

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 understand why the earth's magnetic fields have shifted. Geographic north hasn't ever moved after

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 they said it. We need something that's steadfast and sure. And what's he pointing back to instead of

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 experience that changes to something that's steadfast and sure? Because experience, you know, let me ask you

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 this, is experience always accurate? Are your feelings accurate? You know, how many times have you had a

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 feeling about something and then you find out your feelings had totally off base? Sometimes feelings

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 might be accurate, but you know what? To about a 50-50 shot, they're not. Because feelings are put, are

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 adjustable to all sorts of different things. And we see here that doubt can reacquaint us also with the

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 gentleness of God. Because John here, even his position and place that God sent him, I want you to understand

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 that Jesus didn't harshly rebuke him. What did Jesus do? He says, hey, look back and see if it's so. Look back to

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 see if it's true. Look back to those things. And we see here he didn't send John's messengers back with words of

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 disappointment or rebuke. In other words, he reassured him and reminded him of the truth of Scripture.

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 You know, when we bring our doubts to the Lord, he doesn't rebuke us for what we're thinking or feeling

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 in that moment. Think about Psalm, turn to Psalm 103 for a moment. Psalm 103, the Bible tells us this,

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 God in verse 13, says this, like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear

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 him. For he knoweth our frame, and he remembereth that we are dust. In other words, God understands

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 you're going to have doubt sometimes because you're not going to, you need that encouragement, you need

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 redirected back to the truth. John's doubt, and we find in Matthew's account of this, he came back with a

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 theme of gentleness. You know, right after this, Matthew chapter 11 records after this event, he

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 says, Jesus says this, he says, come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you

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 rest. Take your yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and you shall find rest

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 under your souls. You know, none of us like a doubt. None of us like seasons of things going away.

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 You know, that's a reality, but we can take those to the Lord to understand the dynamic and reacquaint us

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 with who God is, his gentleness, his love towards us. He says, come unto me. You know, in those moments

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 is when we ought to come, but you know what? Oftentimes our fear and our doubt keep us from coming.

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 To say, Lord, I'm just going to trust you in the moment. And we see the faithfulness of John.

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 Not only did Jesus not condemn John for his expressing doubt, but after John's messengers

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 left, Jesus praised John. Look at the rest of this. When John's messengers leave, look down at verse 24,

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 back in our text in Luke chapter 7. It says, and when the messengers of John were departed,

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 began to speak unto the people concerning John. It says, what went ye out into the wilderness for

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 to see a reed shaken with the wind? For what went ye out for to see a man clothed in soft raiment?

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 Behold, they which are gorgeously appareled and live delicately are in king's court. But when you went

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 out for to see a prophet, yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet, for this is he of whom

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 it is written, behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.

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 For I say unto you, among those that are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John

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 the Baptist, but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. You know, think about that

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 for a moment. Here John comes with questions and doubts, and Jesus sends him back, pointing him to

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 the word of God. And after his disciples do, what does John do? Or what does Jesus do? He doesn't say,

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 don't doubt like John. What's he say? He says, hey, John is a prophet sent by God. Matter of fact,

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 John fulfills scripture. You know, John was no weak individual. He wasn't delicate or effeminate. I mean,

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 you think about it. He lived in the wilderness and the clothes he wore, the things he ate. I mean,

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 John would have been a rugged individual. You know, he didn't have soft skin and just lived a soft life.

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 It was a hard life that he lived. And he was a great prophet whose biblical and strong message

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 attracted people out to where he was. Now, I want you to see here, even in his moment of doubt,

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 that he understood the truth of scripture. And Jesus even states that there's no greater prophet

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 than John. You know, if John could doubt because of misplaced expectations, you know what?

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 That tells us something about us. Because if John could have those issues in life, you know what?

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 There's nothing exempting us from it. That there's going to be moments when God takes away or things

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 don't go the way we think. That doubt will come, but it's what we do with that doubt.

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 Right? Because notice, John didn't go to somebody else to get their opinion.

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 What did John do? He went to Jesus. He went to Jesus. He went to, and Jesus responded,

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 he says, directed him back to the word of God. Because John wasn't there just for the fruitfulness.

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 John was there for the faithfulness. Because faithfulness, I want you to understand,

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 is greater than fruitfulness. Sometimes we put fruitfulness above faithfulness.

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 But there can't be true fruitfulness if there's not faithfulness. John is not great because people

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 came out to hear him. He wasn't great because he preached to tens of thousands of people. He wasn't

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 great because he spoke against the sins of the day. The reason for John's gratefulness, what being

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 great, and what is meant there when he shut up in prison and no longer preaching, he was still there.

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 What would it mean when the Pharisees thought that he was going to be put out of the way? And we see

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 here that we should praise the Lord. And at times, he allows us to serve him and enjoy those fruitful

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 seasons. But we ought to be also thankful when we see things diminish, when it's in God's hand,

00:22:29.539 --> 00:22:34.799
 because John was not great because of the outward fruits of his ministry. You know, one of the false

00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:40.759
 narratives today is crowds mean blessing. You know, think about how many people measure by crowd.

00:22:41.720 --> 00:22:45.379
 I want you to understand there's nothing wrong with crowds. Crowds are good, but that's not the

00:22:45.379 --> 00:22:50.599
 measurement. The measurement that God measures is faithfulness. Because if you're faithful,

00:22:51.119 --> 00:22:57.960
 there'll be fruit. You see, our assignment, God never expresses the importance of fruitfulness.

00:22:57.960 --> 00:23:04.220
 He says that we ought to bear fruit, but that fruit comes from faithfulness because faithfulness is

00:23:04.220 --> 00:23:10.400
 where the root is. It's what we're bound in. Think about what does Christ tell us? He doesn't say,

00:23:10.940 --> 00:23:16.200
 well done, thou good and fruitful servant. What does he say? Well done, thy good and what?

00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:23.840
 What's that word? Faithful servant. You know, we understand that we want to be fruitful.

00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:30.159
 There's a sense which bearing fruit glorifies God. I mean, think about John chapter 15.

00:23:30.679 --> 00:23:33.059
 John chapter 15 in verse 8, it says,

00:23:33.220 --> 00:23:38.299
 Herein is my Father glorified that you bear much fruit, so shall you be my disciples.

00:23:39.799 --> 00:23:44.139
 I want you to understand, fruitfulness is what glorifies God.

00:23:45.699 --> 00:23:51.480
 Fruitfulness is in the hand of God. We're not able, nor does God expect us,

00:23:51.480 --> 00:23:58.799
 to produce fruit by the sheer power of ourselves. You cannot produce fruit of yourself. That's not

00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:05.960
 God's expectation. You know, think about there. Look earlier in John chapter 15, look up at verse 5.

00:24:07.799 --> 00:24:08.539
 He says this,

00:24:08.539 --> 00:24:27.579
 Faithfulness is different from fruitfulness.

00:24:27.579 --> 00:24:31.559
 Because true fruitfulness cannot come until there's faithfulness.

00:24:33.240 --> 00:24:39.960
 The faithfulness has to be there. And we understand that sometimes fruit from things is going to be evident.

00:24:40.460 --> 00:24:46.799
 You know, things pop out and things are kind of well seen or easy. You know, other times, I want you to understand,

00:24:46.919 --> 00:24:51.519
 sometimes the fruit that's happening isn't always seen on the surface.

00:24:51.519 --> 00:25:00.259
 It isn't seen in the moment because sometimes fruit will be immediately evident.

00:25:01.339 --> 00:25:05.599
 I mean, when somebody, when you share the gospel and somebody gets saved, that's like immediate fruit.

00:25:05.819 --> 00:25:09.180
 You see that dynamic, but other times, I want you to hear, it's going to be hidden.

00:25:10.839 --> 00:25:16.099
 Because sometimes it's in seasons of loss, wondering what God is doing in your life.

00:25:16.099 --> 00:25:20.079
 I mean, think about all the Old Testament examples that you have.

00:25:21.879 --> 00:25:24.899
 Joseph. Joseph had a lot of things taken away.

00:25:26.179 --> 00:25:30.219
 But you know what? God was bearing fruit in Joseph's life that whole time.

00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:33.859
 God was working where other people weren't seeing what was happening.

00:25:34.240 --> 00:25:39.259
 Even when our fruit is not evident, if we are being faithful where God has called us,

00:25:39.299 --> 00:25:41.980
 we can be sure he's producing fruit.

00:25:41.980 --> 00:25:50.579
 Because faithfulness is tied to abiding, and abiding produces fruit.

00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:59.559
 And when we understand that we need to anchor ourselves to truth of Scripture during times of minus,

00:25:59.720 --> 00:26:04.420
 times of doubt, and why times of addition and multiplication are exciting,

00:26:05.259 --> 00:26:07.720
 you know, oftentimes we grow most in subtraction.

00:26:07.720 --> 00:26:13.220
 Why? Because we draw closer to the Lord.

00:26:14.299 --> 00:26:15.819
 We draw closer to Him.

00:26:16.519 --> 00:26:18.279
 We rely more upon Him.

00:26:19.140 --> 00:26:22.460
 We're brought back to the truth that we are in Christ,

00:26:22.660 --> 00:26:26.380
 and what we are in Christ matters more than what we do for Christ.

00:26:27.660 --> 00:26:33.259
 It reminds us that what we do for Christ must flow out of who we are in Christ.

00:26:33.259 --> 00:26:41.019
 When we understand that dynamic, our service for Christ matters.

00:26:42.059 --> 00:26:45.059
 But we can't say we love Him and not serve Him.

00:26:45.119 --> 00:26:48.019
 But service is not where we derive our worth.

00:26:48.759 --> 00:26:54.539
 Our worth is in Christ, and in Him we have all that we need.

00:26:54.799 --> 00:26:57.099
 Faithfulness is greater than fruitfulness.

00:26:57.099 --> 00:26:57.579
 Faithfulness.

00:26:58.299 --> 00:27:01.519
 Because without faithfulness, there won't be true fruitfulness.

00:27:03.240 --> 00:27:03.759
 Faithfulness.

00:27:04.359 --> 00:27:09.139
 Secondly here, what I have in Christ is greater than anything I don't have in this life.

00:27:10.519 --> 00:27:10.759
 You know?

00:27:11.519 --> 00:27:16.839
 What I have in Christ is greater than anything I don't have in this life.

00:27:16.959 --> 00:27:20.039
 You know, we mentioned earlier another season in John's ministry,

00:27:20.299 --> 00:27:22.240
 which he encountered a minus.

00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:26.420
 You know, after John's publicly identified Jesus as the Messiah,

00:27:26.880 --> 00:27:28.839
 people had been listening to John,

00:27:29.160 --> 00:27:32.059
 now turned their attention and attendance to Jesus.

00:27:32.640 --> 00:27:36.599
 Naturally, there are those looking for controversy always try to stir something up.

00:27:36.680 --> 00:27:38.819
 You know, look back over to John chapter 3 for a moment.

00:27:39.079 --> 00:27:40.180
 Look at verse 26.

00:27:40.539 --> 00:27:42.920
 And they came unto John and said unto him,

00:27:44.359 --> 00:27:46.880
 Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan,

00:27:46.980 --> 00:27:49.599
 to whom thou bearest witness, behold, the same baptizes.

00:27:49.599 --> 00:27:51.419
 And all men come to him.

00:27:53.179 --> 00:27:54.279
 What's going on there?

00:27:55.719 --> 00:27:58.539
 After some went away from John and went to Jesus,

00:27:58.779 --> 00:27:59.879
 who showed up?

00:27:59.939 --> 00:28:01.579
 Somebody trying to stir something up, didn't they?

00:28:02.419 --> 00:28:04.759
 Trying to stir up jealousy with John, saying,

00:28:05.139 --> 00:28:06.339
 John, look at Jesus.

00:28:06.500 --> 00:28:08.039
 Look what he took away from you.

00:28:08.199 --> 00:28:09.859
 Trying to stir up controversy.

00:28:10.339 --> 00:28:14.439
 How did John respond to that?

00:28:14.659 --> 00:28:18.079
 Look down in verse 30 of John chapter 3.

00:28:18.079 --> 00:28:19.039
 He says simply this,

00:28:20.699 --> 00:28:23.659
 He must increase, but I must decrease.

00:28:24.720 --> 00:28:30.119
 John didn't mind the subtraction when it didn't add up to a focus on Jesus.

00:28:30.379 --> 00:28:32.859
 Now, I want you to understand that as John doubted,

00:28:33.099 --> 00:28:35.039
 it's the same doubt that the apostles had.

00:28:35.279 --> 00:28:38.059
 Think about what was the apostles' struggle that they had with Jesus,

00:28:38.659 --> 00:28:39.879
 especially at the end of his ministry.

00:28:39.880 --> 00:28:43.520
 Jesus, when he went for the last time to Jerusalem, said what?

00:28:43.600 --> 00:28:44.280
 I'm going to go.

00:28:46.220 --> 00:28:48.140
 They're going to accuse me.

00:28:48.260 --> 00:28:50.920
 They're going to abuse me.

00:28:51.820 --> 00:28:53.080
 They're going to kill me.

00:28:53.260 --> 00:28:55.180
 And on the third day, I'm going to rise again.

00:28:55.360 --> 00:28:57.020
 The disciples struggled with that.

00:28:57.140 --> 00:28:57.820
 Do you know why?

00:28:58.900 --> 00:29:04.960
 Because their expectation of the Messiah was that he was going to come and immediately establish his kingdom.

00:29:04.960 --> 00:29:08.799
 And when it didn't happen, what's John asking?

00:29:08.880 --> 00:29:09.840
 Are we looking for another?

00:29:09.980 --> 00:29:14.860
 Because what I'm seeing happening isn't what I have perceived in my mind what's going to happen.

00:29:15.920 --> 00:29:16.980
 But what did Jesus say?

00:29:17.000 --> 00:29:20.100
 He says, point you back to the word of God, back to Isaiah.

00:29:20.240 --> 00:29:23.600
 He says, what's happening is exactly what God said was going to happen.

00:29:23.880 --> 00:29:27.940
 And in seasons of doubt, we need to look, what does God have to say about what's going to happen?

00:29:29.039 --> 00:29:29.960
 How is it going to transpire?

00:29:30.700 --> 00:29:31.880
 What's going to take place?

00:29:31.880 --> 00:29:40.340
 You know, we can learn from John the Baptist in his seasons of minus when God subtracts from our life,

00:29:40.760 --> 00:29:47.480
 no matter what it is, whether it's ministry opportunities, relationships, possessions, or anything else,

00:29:47.720 --> 00:29:51.340
 we can express our trust in God the same way that John did.

00:29:52.280 --> 00:29:57.140
 Because notice, John didn't start a complaint group when he was in prison.

00:29:58.000 --> 00:29:59.940
 You know, he didn't go protest Jesus.

00:29:59.940 --> 00:30:02.779
 He sent two of his disciples because he couldn't go himself.

00:30:02.880 --> 00:30:06.180
 He says, go ask Jesus, are you the one or do we look for another?

00:30:06.600 --> 00:30:13.000
 John was questioning because he says, things aren't going the way I thought they were going to go.

00:30:14.100 --> 00:30:18.100
 Not only did I lose people, now I've lost my ministry.

00:30:18.220 --> 00:30:19.360
 Because remember, where's John at?

00:30:19.400 --> 00:30:21.740
 He's in prison.

00:30:22.019 --> 00:30:24.019
 But his focus was on Christ.

00:30:24.180 --> 00:30:26.340
 And he brought his doubts to the Lord.

00:30:26.339 --> 00:30:30.839
 He didn't try to grab a hold of them and try to solve them himself.

00:30:31.139 --> 00:30:33.599
 He said, Lord, what do we need to see?

00:30:33.679 --> 00:30:34.480
 What do we need to do?

00:30:34.699 --> 00:30:38.099
 We need to be redirected back to the truth of God's word.

00:30:40.199 --> 00:30:44.299
 You know, for John the Baptist, resilience didn't mean physical deliverance.

00:30:44.559 --> 00:30:47.879
 His faith in God didn't mean that he was going to get out of jail.

00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:50.039
 Matter of fact, he never made it out of jail.

00:30:50.039 --> 00:30:56.000
 Because if you recall, he made Herod's lover so mad, she did what?

00:30:56.159 --> 00:30:57.159
 Called for his head.

00:30:57.399 --> 00:30:58.759
 And his head brought to her.

00:30:59.000 --> 00:31:02.200
 He was beheaded because he was faithful.

00:31:02.599 --> 00:31:04.559
 God used him in a mighty way.

00:31:04.899 --> 00:31:09.759
 You know, when we understand that sometimes when we stand for the Lord,

00:31:09.859 --> 00:31:11.819
 there's not going to be the outcome that we expect.

00:31:12.019 --> 00:31:15.680
 When we understand that sometimes God takes away for a reason.

00:31:15.680 --> 00:31:23.039
 You know, we talked last week and mentioned about Hugh Latmer there in England in the 1500s.

00:31:24.580 --> 00:31:27.500
 You know, the guy who preached the same sermon after he got out of jail.

00:31:27.840 --> 00:31:30.240
 A little later on, he was martyred for Christ.

00:31:30.920 --> 00:31:33.440
 Queen Mary took the throne in 1553.

00:31:33.600 --> 00:31:38.279
 She was determined to reinstate Roman Catholicism as the official religion

00:31:38.279 --> 00:31:44.980
 and sent hundreds to their death because they would not give up the truth for the doctrine of Rome.

00:31:45.059 --> 00:31:48.180
 And one of those burned at the stake was Hugh Latmer.

00:31:48.299 --> 00:31:52.180
 He was burned with Nicholas Ridley for the same public spectacle.

00:31:52.500 --> 00:31:57.599
 As the flames rose around their bodies, it's reported that Latmer called out,

00:31:57.599 --> 00:32:02.299
 Be of good comfort, Mr. Ridley, and play the man.

00:32:02.299 --> 00:32:05.940
 And we shall this day light such a candle by God's grace in England,

00:32:06.480 --> 00:32:10.720
 as I trust never shall be put out.

00:32:11.899 --> 00:32:16.819
 It's interesting, from that moment, he stirred a great many other people to take a stand for Christ.

00:32:17.159 --> 00:32:23.079
 It tells us, history tells us that throughout England, the gospel spread because of their stand.

00:32:23.079 --> 00:32:31.639
 Because of what was looked at as a negative or subtraction, God used to make fruitful.

00:32:33.000 --> 00:32:37.139
 Why was it fruitful? Because of their faithfulness.

00:32:39.039 --> 00:32:44.379
 Faithfulness is greater than fruitfulness.

00:32:45.059 --> 00:32:49.539
 Because there'll never be fruitfulness without faithfulness.

00:32:49.539 --> 00:32:57.240
 You know, when you question the losses and disappointments, the minuses of life,

00:32:58.319 --> 00:33:00.519
 and of your service to the Lord, don't despair.

00:33:00.659 --> 00:33:03.099
 Don't assume God has abandoned or forsaken you.

00:33:03.720 --> 00:33:07.339
 Don't remain stuck in doubt, but instead do as John did.

00:33:07.420 --> 00:33:08.159
 Bring it to the Lord.

00:33:08.420 --> 00:33:12.079
 Lord, what am I to do? How am I to respond to this?

00:33:12.299 --> 00:33:15.299
 Because when we understand his promises above all,

00:33:15.759 --> 00:33:18.759
 when Christ is the most valuable thing we can win,

00:33:18.759 --> 00:33:23.839
 it's in the minuses that we learn the greatness of what we have in Christ.

00:33:25.220 --> 00:33:28.440
 Because it clings us to Christ and not to what we possess.

00:33:29.879 --> 00:33:30.920
 Or what's happening.

00:33:32.200 --> 00:33:35.039
 Because as a believer, the greatest thing we have is Christ.

00:33:35.379 --> 00:33:38.099
 In him are hid all the treasures are in Christ.

00:33:38.200 --> 00:33:38.579
 Let's pray.

00:33:38.579 --> 00:33:39.079
 Let's pray.

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