WEBVTT 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:13.679 Matthew chapter 11, verses 1 through 6 is our passage this morning. 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:20.719 When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he sent from there to teach and preach in their cities. 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:30.640 When John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? 00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:34.000 Jesus answered them, Go and tell John what you hear and see. 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:44.960 The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the good news preached to them, and blessed is the one who is not offended by me. 00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:51.840 The Pilgrim's Progress is playing as a play right now at the Bible Museum. 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:55.920 And as your attorney, I strongly recommend that you go see it. 00:00:56.399 --> 00:01:02.719 While it is possible to be a Christian without having read Pilgrim's Progress, I wouldn't want to chance it. 00:01:04.959 --> 00:01:09.760 And this play is, you know, two hours long and does a very good job of capturing the story. 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:24.319 One of the most beloved scenes of the story, uh Pilgrim's Progress, of course, written in the 1600s, one of the most beloved and enduring scenes from that allegory of the Christian life, is when Christian finds himself a prisoner in Dowding Castle. 00:01:24.560 --> 00:01:41.920 The overall flow of the story of Pilgrim's Progress, if you're not familiar with it, is that a man named Pilgrim is overcome with burdens that he has on his back, burdens that come from reading the scriptures, burdens that come from knowing God's going to judge the world, but he's unable to get rid of them. 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:44.480 So he begins a quest to figure out how to get rid of his burden. 00:01:44.640 --> 00:01:48.159 He tries climbing Mount Morality, and that just makes his burden heavier. 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:49.840 He goes this way and that. 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:56.400 Ultimately, what takes away his burden is seeing that Jesus died bearing the penalty of sin and fulfilling the law in his place. 00:01:56.480 --> 00:01:58.640 That causes the burden to come off his back. 00:01:58.719 --> 00:02:04.560 He's received by the king and sent on a journey from that point to the celestial city. 00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:06.400 The journey has its ups and downs. 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:07.920 He meets various characters in it. 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:15.520 And as I mentioned, one of the most enduring scenes is when he and his companion, hopeful at this point, come across a turnstile. 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:18.960 They're unable to navigate, they can't get over it, and it's too much work. 00:02:19.039 --> 00:02:22.960 And so they go off the path to take a nap, just a short nap. 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:27.840 Certainly the Lord wouldn't mind a short nap from his believers and his followers. 00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:29.520 After all, the way is hard. 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:34.560 And they find themselves aroused by a giant who is wandering around. 00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:43.039 The giant is named Despair, and the giant is upset that they're in his property, the sleeping Christians, and orders them off to his own dungeon. 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:46.080 His dungeon is the basement of Dowding Castle. 00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:51.599 My favorite part of the story is that the giant is married to a woman named Diffidence. 00:02:51.919 --> 00:02:56.800 Diffidence, if you're not familiar with that old English word, just means like a lack of self-confidence. 00:02:57.039 --> 00:03:03.680 And diffidence takes her own lack of self-confidence out on her husband by ordering her husband to beat their prisoners. 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:08.400 And the husband, who can't stand up to diffidence, does indeed beat the prisoners. 00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:13.360 It is an allegory of the Christian life, but there are allegories to marriage as well in there. 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:22.479 Giant Despair takes out diffidence's lack of confidence on his prisoners, beating them near death. 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:30.960 The prisoners, Christian at this point, renamed Christian from Pilgrim, and hopeful, grow weary of life. 00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:34.960 And they feel guilty because their own sin has brought them there. 00:03:35.120 --> 00:03:40.479 They feel guilty because they know the highway, the Lord's highway, is filled with pilgrims that don't doubt. 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:44.639 It's filled with pilgrims that go about their journey like they ought. 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:54.400 And they know that they're in Doubting Castle because of their own restfulness, because of their own lack of faith, because of their own sin, really. 00:03:55.520 --> 00:03:58.319 So they hate themselves because of their doubt. 00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:00.719 They contemplate suicide. 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:06.879 Dowding Castle is so extreme, they contemplate suicide, they contemplate murdering each other. 00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:12.719 They would prefer death to a life of doubt, and yet they know God's law forbids that. 00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:25.519 Meanwhile, the giant keeps coming down and showing them all the bones of all the other pilgrims that have died in the dungeon and gives them the means by which they can kill themselves to finally rid themselves of their doubt and leaves them there. 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:38.480 We'll return to Christian and hopeful later this morning, but I want to use that illustration to launch us into Matthew 11 by reminding you that doubting is something that is endemic to Christian life. 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:44.800 It is normal in the Christian experience to have or to even entertain doubts. 00:04:44.959 --> 00:04:48.240 And by normal, I don't mean that a Christian doubts all the time. 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:52.720 Somebody who doubts all the time is walking in darkness and not in light. 00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:58.720 If your life is dominated by doubt, the key to that is repentance and place your faith in Christ. 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:02.319 Receive the Word of God as true and humble yourself to that. 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:10.480 But assuming you're a believer, doubt will still be a normal, an occasional part of your life. 00:05:10.639 --> 00:05:12.720 It is what Christians experience. 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:18.079 Now, the reason Christians experience doubt is because we are saved through faith. 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:20.319 We don't believe in a works righteousness. 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:22.879 We don't merit our salvation by our own works. 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:24.160 We have faith. 00:05:24.399 --> 00:05:28.399 Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen. 00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:32.399 We place our faith in the work of Christ, we receive his forgiveness. 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:38.319 And we could be tempted to say, why does God not do away with faith and just have us saved by sight? 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:51.600 Because if you were saved by sight, then you would be the judge, you would be the arbiter of what is true, and you would be saved because of your own verdict that you yourself has rendered from your own wisdom and your own evaluation of the evidence. 00:05:51.839 --> 00:05:52.800 You would be the judge. 00:05:52.959 --> 00:05:54.160 And that is not Christianity. 00:05:54.319 --> 00:05:59.839 Christianity is God is the judge, you are condemned, and so you receive forgiveness that comes through faith. 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:04.879 It's the core tenet of Christianity is that salvation comes through faith alone. 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:12.720 But because we have a religion of faith, there will always be the temptation to doubt. 00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:15.759 And doubts can gnaw at us. 00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:20.399 Everyone has doubts at some period of time in their life. 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:21.120 C.S. 00:06:21.199 --> 00:06:23.920 Lewis captures this really, really well with this quote. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:26.879 It's a longer quote from your Christianity, but it is worth it. 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:34.319 Now, faith, Lewis writes, is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted in spite of your changing moods. 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:42.160 And throughout the rest of this quote, Lewis is going to use the word moods, which is so good, to describe Christians who doubt. 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:48.720 Because when you peel back the layers of the onion, what is behind doubt is your changing moods. 00:06:49.199 --> 00:06:53.199 And Lewis says, moods will change, whatever your view, reason takes. 00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:54.720 And I know that by experience. 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:59.600 Now that I'm a Christian, I do have moods in which the whole thing looks very improbable. 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:04.639 But when I was an atheist, I had moods in which Christianity looked terribly probable. 00:07:05.519 --> 00:07:06.800 And that should make you laugh. 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:15.519 It's just a good reminder that you're changing moods, your doubting is not a good description of truth. 00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:18.399 Your doubts cannot lead you away from the truth. 00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:24.000 The Christian who doubts, you might say, oh, they're doubting that Christianity must not be real because they're doubting. 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:25.680 Well, flip that around. 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:29.920 And Lewis reminds us that when he was an atheist, he doubted atheism. 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:37.199 If you believe that doubting eliminates truth, then you find yourself in a logical impossibility. 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:50.079 Lewis goes on to say, this rebellion of your moods against your real self, and here he's using real self to describe your regenerate Christianity, that you were an old person who through faith in Christ has become a new creation. 00:07:50.240 --> 00:07:51.120 That's your real self. 00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:53.920 Well, that rebellion of your moods against that will come anyway. 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:56.399 That's why faith is such a necessary virtue. 00:07:56.639 --> 00:08:03.439 Unless you teach your moods where they get off, you can never be either a sound Christian or even a sound atheist. 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:10.639 But a creature dithering to and fro with its beliefs really dependent upon the weather and the state of its digestion. 00:08:12.399 --> 00:08:15.199 Oh man, I had a bad burrito for lunch today. 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:17.759 Christianity must not be true. 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:23.360 In other words, eventually you have to have some convictions. 00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:31.920 You can imagine the illustration of a pilot who is circling the airport and trying to decide, land on runway 23 or 45. 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:38.000 You know, there's a crosswind, and he lines up for 23 and then thinks, oh, maybe, you know, the wind is now blowing across. 00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:42.399 Maybe I'm going to go around so I have a you know a headwind, head over to 45. 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:47.120 Oh, the wind's shifting again, and you keep circling, looking for the right approach. 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:52.000 Well, eventually you're going to have to land the plane. 00:08:53.840 --> 00:08:55.600 That's the idea here. 00:08:56.399 --> 00:09:00.879 You land your plane inside of Christianity, which is not just one decision among many. 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:04.639 You understand that your faith is supernatural. 00:09:04.879 --> 00:09:07.120 Faith is a gift of God that He gives you. 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:12.000 So the presence of your faith is itself evidence of the truthfulness of Christianity. 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:19.759 I'm sure many of you have heard illustrations about faith saying having faith in Jesus is like having faith that the chair you sit in will work. 00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:24.960 You know, there's a chair and you have faith that you're going to sit in it or that the hammock will work, or you have faith that you drive a car. 00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:34.720 You don't know how the combustible engine works or how brakes work, or faith that you fly an airplane, you don't know the aerodynamics of the whole thing, but you have faith the plane will work and the car will break and the chair will hold you. 00:09:34.799 --> 00:09:36.720 And so that's what faith in Christianity is like. 00:09:36.799 --> 00:09:40.639 And that's I don't like those illustrations because I feel like that undercuts Christianity. 00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:50.080 Christianity is not like the chair or the airplane or the car, because I mean I still don't understand airplanes, but I imagine like some diagrams could help or something. 00:09:50.320 --> 00:09:52.000 But saving faith is not like that. 00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:54.879 Saving faith is contramundum against the world. 00:09:55.039 --> 00:10:02.960 It changes the world, it turns it upside down, it is supernatural, it is a gift of God, it cannot be explained in earthly terms. 00:10:03.039 --> 00:10:06.159 It is something God gives you that changes your life. 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:12.559 And so the presence of that faith is itself its own evidence of the truthfulness of Christianity. 00:10:13.039 --> 00:10:19.279 But again, because it is faith, that means there will be periods of doubt. 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:30.159 And the Bible doesn't say, listen, if you doubt 26% of the time, then you're walking in the darkness and you're not a Christian and you're a liar and the truth isn't in you, and you need to get saved. 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:33.919 But 24% of the time, that's totally a normal Christian experience. 00:10:34.240 --> 00:10:36.480 It doesn't give you those kind of markers. 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:40.000 And so it is a subjective experience. 00:10:40.480 --> 00:10:46.639 But there are those in the Bible who have periods of doubt that are identified as truly having faith. 00:10:46.799 --> 00:10:50.080 I mean, doubting Thomas is not called doubting Thomas for nothing. 00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:54.720 But this morning we have even a better example than doubting Thomas. 00:10:54.879 --> 00:10:59.679 We have John the Baptist, who finds himself a prisoner in Doubting Castle. 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:08.639 As an outline this morning, I want to take us through why Christians find themselves in Doubting Castle, and then after that, we'll go through how you get out of Doubting Castle. 00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:15.679 I hope we have enough time to do both halves of that, otherwise, I'll be like Pastor Billy Kim was last week. 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:19.600 Half of it this service and the second half at the 11 o'clock service. 00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:23.679 He finished his sermon last week at the 11 o'clock service, by the way. 00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:26.080 Online, we just edited the two of them together. 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:27.600 So there's an hour sermon online. 00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:30.480 So if you missed the second half of it, it's online. 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:32.399 But that's neither here nor there. 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:35.919 How Christians find themselves in Dowding Castle. 00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:40.480 First, you find yourself in Dowding Castle through suffering and persecution. 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:43.679 This is where we pick up the story of John the Baptist. 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:45.039 This is Matthew 11. 00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:47.519 Last time we were in Matthew's gospel was Matthew 3. 00:11:47.679 --> 00:11:50.080 John the Baptist was at the zenith of his ministry. 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:52.320 Massive crowds were out there to see him. 00:11:52.559 --> 00:11:54.960 He was one of the most well-known people in the world. 00:11:55.120 --> 00:12:00.080 Tens of thousands of people came to the wilderness to be under the influence of his ministry. 00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:02.240 He hands it off to Jesus, so to speak. 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:03.679 He fades in the background. 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:06.240 You don't see him again in Matthew's gospel until now. 00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:09.600 And Matthew drops you a little note that, by the way, he's in prison. 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:10.720 That's in verse 2. 00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:15.200 John had heard in prison about the deeds of Christ. 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:18.480 Now, this is what is provoking John's question. 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:23.039 John's question in verse 3 is, are you the one who is to come or should we look for another? 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:25.200 That is a jarring question. 00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:33.519 John is asking Jesus Christ, are you the Messiah? 00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:34.879 Are you the Christ? 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:36.720 That phrase, are you the one to come? 00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:38.320 That's from Psalm 118. 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:39.840 It's a messianic phrase. 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:43.919 Psalm 118, one of the Halail Psalms, which Jesus sung the last night of his life. 00:12:44.080 --> 00:12:48.159 That's a messianic psalm that is pointing you forward to the day the Messiah comes. 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:50.559 And it became a title, Psalm 118 did. 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:52.399 It's 118, verse 26. 00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:55.840 That title became the coming one or the sent one. 00:12:56.320 --> 00:12:59.600 The word Messiah means the sent one or the anointed one. 00:12:59.840 --> 00:13:01.919 So it's a title, it's all wound up together. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:07.360 So it's the word Christ, which is Christos, which means Messiah, which means sent one. 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:12.559 It's a messianic title, Psalm 118, that the Savior will come to the world. 00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:22.159 So here John is aware of all that and is asking Jesus, are you the Messiah, or should we look for someone else? 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:29.120 John, who baptized Jesus. 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:32.159 John who was Jesus' cousin. 00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:35.600 John who likely grew up around Jesus. 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:37.679 John who knew the sinlessness of Jesus. 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:40.960 John who's already declared, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:43.919 And John, by the way, who had no shortage of evidence. 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:47.360 The last time John saw Jesus, the heavens opened up. 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:50.559 The Heavenly Father said, This is the Messiah. 00:13:50.720 --> 00:13:53.200 The Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove. 00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:56.320 He has a triune testimony. 00:13:56.480 --> 00:14:01.840 So if you're tempted to think, oh, people doubt because of a lack of evidence, I would like you to meet my friend John the Baptist. 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:05.360 There's no more evidence he needs. 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:12.639 And now, a year later, a year after that experience, he's asking Jesus, quick question, Jesus. 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:15.039 Are you actually the Messiah? 00:14:15.279 --> 00:14:18.240 Because otherwise I'm about to be martyred for nothing. 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:23.519 Matthew lets you know that question doesn't exist in a vacuum in verse 2. 00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:26.000 It exists with John in prison. 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:28.960 John is suffering. 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:36.879 John had said, He must grow greater and I must grow lesser, but that lesserness now looks like John in prison. 00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:39.200 John was facing death. 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:44.559 By the time Matthew is written, everyone who receives Matthew's gospel knows what happened to John the Baptist. 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:49.919 As I mentioned in our study of Matthew 3, John was one of the most famous people in the world. 00:14:50.080 --> 00:14:52.799 So by the time and Jesus was unknown at this point. 00:14:52.960 --> 00:15:02.320 So by the time Matthew's Gospel is written, the readers in Israel throughout the Roman Empire would be familiar with John's death. 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:08.399 The cliffhanger in Matthew's gospel is what happened to Jesus, not what happened to John. 00:15:10.399 --> 00:15:11.279 John dies. 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:13.600 Why does he die? 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:19.919 For opposing Herod's illegitimate marriage. 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:27.360 Not Herod the Great, not the one who butchered the babies in Bethlehem, but Herod Antipas, who's now ruling over Galilee. 00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:31.440 He is the leader of the political area where John is, where Jesus is from. 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:32.559 That Herod. 00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:35.279 He married his brother's wife. 00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:38.559 And John opposed him. 00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:42.080 John said, that's an ungodly marriage. 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:44.320 That's no marriage at all. 00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:47.519 You can't marry your brother's wife. 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:54.000 You might be inclined to tell John, hey, John, people love who they're gonna love, you know? 00:15:55.679 --> 00:16:00.240 What determines a godly wedding is if the marriage license is filled out with the county commissioner's seal on it. 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:02.240 That's what determines a godly marriage. 00:16:02.559 --> 00:16:03.440 Not the Lord. 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:06.879 I mean, after all, Herod doesn't even necessarily believe in the Lord. 00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:08.320 It's just an issue of paperwork. 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:21.440 And Herod is, after all, the king, so he decides what marriages are legitimate and illegitimate, not you and your religious fanatics, so just dial it down a notch, John, or you're gonna end up being persecuted over marriage rather than important things. 00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:26.320 Well, John was willing to be persecuted over this. 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:40.320 John tells Herod, I don't care what commissioner you filed your form with, I don't care who signed off on it, I don't care what Proposition 8 or 128 says, you are in an ungodly marriage that is illegitimate by God's standard, and so Herod throws him in jail. 00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:46.480 And Herod's going to keep him in jail, by the way, until John agrees to authenticate and vouch for his marriage. 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:48.639 After all, you can't control who you love. 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:52.639 And so John finds himself in prison. 00:16:52.879 --> 00:16:58.000 Now, initially, John, I'm sure, understands this. 00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:01.600 But how long until John starts to ask him questions? 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:07.039 If God is good and God is sovereign, why am I in the clink? 00:17:08.480 --> 00:17:12.559 If God is good and he loves me, why am I suffering? 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:18.880 And we can extrapolate from John the Baptist here to, I think, every Christian. 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:28.960 Although not every Christian is, of course, going to be in jail for opposing gay marriage, although some Americans have certainly gone to jail for their opposition of it, but not everyone does, obviously. 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:35.279 But every Christian, I think, will experience periods of doubt when you go through periods of suffering or persecution. 00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:47.039 Where people lie about you for your Christianity, or where there's just suffering independent of that, where you have cancer, your parents divorce, or you get cut from the soccer team, or you lose your job, or whatever. 00:17:47.599 --> 00:17:55.279 Your kids rebel, your neighbors get angry at you, your car breaks down, you don't get the promotion, your husband leaves you. 00:17:55.920 --> 00:18:02.640 And you begin to entertain doubts of if this, if God is good, why am I going through these things? 00:18:03.599 --> 00:18:06.400 That's the context in which John asks the question. 00:18:06.480 --> 00:18:07.680 And the context is important. 00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:17.920 I don't want to over-cycleanalyze John by reading too much into him, but Matthew does drop for you the nugget of truth here that John was in prison, and that's what's behind him asking the question. 00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:19.200 Are you the Messiah? 00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:25.920 John knows he's the Messiah, but he has to ask the question now because he is being persecuted. 00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:28.160 And so he's wondering. 00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:35.039 Second way people find themselves in doubting castle is because the fear of anonymity. 00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:36.880 They don't want to be forgotten. 00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:43.519 I describe that just as anonymity here, but the idea that believers are, we're all pawns. 00:18:43.599 --> 00:18:47.519 You know, the Lord moves us around and disposes of us as he sees fit. 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:52.720 John was once a prominent person, famous in the world. 00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:58.480 Now he's been in prison for a period of time, and it seems like people have forgotten. 00:18:58.640 --> 00:19:01.680 He doesn't have crowds outside his jail cell. 00:19:01.920 --> 00:19:05.039 His disciples have dispersed around the world for the most part. 00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:07.279 Some of his disciples have already caught up with Jesus. 00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:12.720 We saw that in Matthew chapter 9, where Jesus has fellowship with some of John's disciples. 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:15.920 We'll see some of his disciples in Ephesus in the book of Acts. 00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:18.720 But for the most part, they've moved on. 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:23.519 John, who used to have tens of thousands, now has nobody. 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:25.359 He's forgotten. 00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:29.359 That has to produce doubt in a person's life. 00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:31.839 You see that in our world as well. 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:34.880 We so often just want to be remembered. 00:19:35.759 --> 00:19:41.359 You see this in Christian ministry, where Christian pastors or leaders want to make a bigger impact in their making. 00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:47.920 They want a bigger congregation or bigger crowds or more readers or they just want to have a bigger influence. 00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:59.039 I remember somebody asking Al Muller how he stays humble in the ministry, and his response was saying, it doesn't matter how significant Al Muller's president of Southern Seminary, by the way. 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:03.279 He says, It doesn't matter how important of a Christian leader you think you are. 00:20:03.359 --> 00:20:05.759 You can pastor the same church for 50 years. 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:08.319 But one day you're gonna die. 00:20:08.720 --> 00:20:14.480 People will throw dirt on your face and go inside and eat potato salad and then move on. 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:20.880 I heard him say it and I thought, potato salad? 00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:21.759 Really? 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:26.559 There's a humbling effect behind that. 00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:32.000 John MacArthur is often asked, you know, who's gonna take over your ministries when you die? 00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:38.880 And he he always gives a consistent answer that serving a Christian ministry is like keeping your hand in a bucket of ice water. 00:20:39.039 --> 00:20:48.640 Like you, it's hard work and it hurts your hand to keep it there for a while and you think it's so important, but the truth is you take your hand out and it fills up and everything moves on as if you were never there. 00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:52.559 That's the reality of being a Christian. 00:20:53.440 --> 00:20:57.039 And that's those are two examples from ministry, but that's true in every area of life. 00:20:57.119 --> 00:20:59.039 You know, you just want your kids to remember you. 00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:04.720 You just want your company to need you, you just want your family to realize how important you are in your family. 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:08.160 But then they don't. 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:12.160 And you start to entertain doubts. 00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:17.839 You remember the time where your kids hung on every word you said and now they don't. 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:21.920 You remember the time where your company needed you and now they don't. 00:21:23.200 --> 00:21:25.920 And you think, if God is good, why this? 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:29.839 Certainly John is going through some of that. 00:21:30.160 --> 00:21:35.039 Because you see this here, I think in verse 2, he's in prison and he heard about the deeds of Christ. 00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:36.640 There's a little phrase Matthew gives you. 00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:38.319 He heard about the deeds of Christ. 00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:40.240 That's the deeds in Matthew eight and nine. 00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:43.599 He preached the Sermon on the Mount, but he doesn't say that here. 00:21:43.759 --> 00:21:45.119 It says the deeds of Christ. 00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:47.920 That's all the things Jesus did in Matthew eight and nine. 00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:56.960 He healed the leper, he healed the centurion's servant, he healed Peter's mother in law, he cast the demons into the pigs, he calmed the wind and the waves. 00:21:58.960 --> 00:21:59.599 Those deeds. 00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:04.240 Jesus is growing. 00:22:04.400 --> 00:22:06.640 And John is forgotten. 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:07.680 Thirdly. 00:22:08.079 --> 00:22:09.759 Unmet expectations. 00:22:10.400 --> 00:22:16.000 There's a massive delta between what John had thought Jesus was going to do and what Jesus is doing. 00:22:16.160 --> 00:22:19.519 Do you remember the last words we had, John speaking about Jesus? 00:22:19.680 --> 00:22:24.720 He said, This is the one who's going to bring fire and brimstone down. 00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:29.440 He's going to take this generation and bind them up and throw them into the fires of hell. 00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:34.720 He brings unquenchable fire, John said. 00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:36.400 Yes, he's going to bring the gospel. 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:40.799 He'll baptize with water and he'll baptize with fire and judgment. 00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:45.200 The fire is the unquenchable torment of hell, John says. 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:52.720 That's his last words about Jesus he's bringing judgment and the hell's coming with him, and you guys better get right, or you're going down. 00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:56.000 Now fast forward, Herod is in power. 00:22:56.240 --> 00:22:57.440 John is in prison. 00:22:57.680 --> 00:23:02.240 Jesus is healing people, and there's no sign of judgment coming. 00:23:03.680 --> 00:23:05.519 I thought he was going to overthrow Rome. 00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:07.359 I thought he was going to return temple worship. 00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:10.240 I thought he was going to bind up the Pharisees, throw them into the fire. 00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:12.000 That's what John said he was going to do. 00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:17.359 And instead, you've got John in prison. 00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:20.480 Now John has some incomplete information. 00:23:20.720 --> 00:23:30.400 He wasn't with Jesus in Nazareth, where he read half of the Messiah's prophecies and stopped and said, that's fulfilled, leaving the second coming text for next. 00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:32.480 John doesn't have that information. 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:33.680 He wasn't there. 00:23:33.839 --> 00:23:41.039 Certainly, John has some worldly influence on him, this idea of Jesus overthrowing the political leaders of the day. 00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:48.160 So certainly he has incomplete knowledge, worldly influence, but all behind all that is unmet expectations. 00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:58.319 Jesus is doing these kinds of ministries, and he's sending his disciples into the world to heal the poor, to heal the sick, to preach the good news to the poor. 00:23:58.480 --> 00:23:59.599 That's what Jesus is doing. 00:23:59.759 --> 00:24:01.039 That's Matthew 10. 00:24:01.119 --> 00:24:03.200 So Matthew 8 and 9 was the deeds of Jesus. 00:24:03.359 --> 00:24:07.759 Matthew 10 was Jesus sending his disciples out to do more of those deeds. 00:24:08.079 --> 00:24:10.559 They're going out in the world, not John. 00:24:12.079 --> 00:24:16.400 They're going to go heal people, not overthrow Rome. 00:24:16.880 --> 00:24:26.160 So John is going through the experience that Judas is going to have in a couple years, the experience that many of the followers of Jesus, including Peter, is going to have. 00:24:26.400 --> 00:24:32.640 Remember, in a couple years, they're going to go through this whole, you can't go to the cross because we're supposed to launch the kingdom. 00:24:32.799 --> 00:24:34.559 That's two years from now. 00:24:35.200 --> 00:24:36.880 John's going through that first. 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:46.640 And he's having to reckon with what he expected Jesus to do and what he's doing, and they're not the same thing, and so he has some questions. 00:24:50.720 --> 00:24:52.720 We should learn a lesson from this. 00:24:53.119 --> 00:25:01.119 Our expectations of what God should be doing with our lives are very poor markers of the truth. 00:25:02.079 --> 00:25:04.319 We have a certain expectation for what God should do. 00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:05.359 He's not doing it. 00:25:05.519 --> 00:25:07.519 We entertain doubts. 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:14.400 John heard the voice from heaven say, This is the Savior, but now the Savior isn't doing things the way John expected him to be doing them. 00:25:14.480 --> 00:25:19.200 And so now he's saying, Ah, are we sure about this, Holy Spirit? 00:25:19.519 --> 00:25:21.119 We got the right guy here. 00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:32.880 If you have an idea for how God should be conducting himself specifically with you in this world, and God's not matching that, that can produce doubts. 00:25:33.039 --> 00:25:36.960 But really, what that's doing is exposing the idolatry of your own desires. 00:25:37.200 --> 00:25:39.359 You have an idea of what God should be doing. 00:25:39.599 --> 00:25:40.559 He's not doing it. 00:25:40.640 --> 00:25:46.160 That's you becoming aware of the ever-increasing reality in your own life that you're not God. 00:25:46.640 --> 00:25:51.680 The ever-increasing reality in your own life that God might have a different plan than you do. 00:25:54.559 --> 00:25:57.200 At your conversion, this isn't that big of a deal. 00:25:57.519 --> 00:25:59.279 Because your conversion, you're burdened by sin. 00:25:59.359 --> 00:26:00.720 You have the burden of sin on your back. 00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:12.960 The Lord takes it off, nails it to the cross, forgives you, it regenerates you, gives you faith and a new heart, and you're excited because your sins are forgiven and you love prayer and you love worship and everything's going well, and you're sharing the gospel with the fire hydrant. 00:26:13.039 --> 00:26:14.480 I mean, you'll witness to anybody out there. 00:26:14.640 --> 00:26:15.839 That's the initial time. 00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:32.720 But as you're a Christian longer, you start to game this thing out, and you start to realize you have a life in front of you, and you would like it to go a certain way, and God doesn't have it planned that way, and so then you forget about the joy of your salvation, and you're back to like, why is God doing it this way? 00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:36.160 That's John. 00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:38.000 Unmet expectations. 00:26:39.920 --> 00:26:40.319 Forth. 00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:43.920 Seeing a lack of gospel progress. 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:48.559 A lack of gospel progress. 00:26:50.400 --> 00:26:53.279 Disciples are going out in the world, but not John. 00:26:54.079 --> 00:26:56.240 Rome's not being overturned. 00:26:56.880 --> 00:27:01.200 John had big designs on what Jesus would do and said he's in jail. 00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:05.680 Sometimes our doubt comes from the sense that the gospel is not making adequate inroads. 00:27:05.839 --> 00:27:18.960 I could have subsumed this point under unmet expectations, but I think for our culture, I think for Americans today, likely you all, I have more conversations about doubt coming from this one than even the others. 00:27:19.200 --> 00:27:20.559 Like people just doubting. 00:27:20.640 --> 00:27:23.519 Like, is God really doing work in our world? 00:27:23.920 --> 00:27:26.480 Is God really, is the gospel really going forward? 00:27:26.720 --> 00:27:36.559 If we hear language like, you know, we put so much hope in politics, and if the next election doesn't go this way, which you hear every four years, and you have since 1782, okay? 00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:40.079 You know, if Jefferson wins, this whole country is over. 00:27:40.799 --> 00:27:42.720 We have a monument to him in everything, you know? 00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:44.000 You can go see it. 00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:52.160 But we entertain that idea, and we think just all the gospel work in our world is for naught. 00:27:52.319 --> 00:28:00.799 It's contingent on some election, or it's contingent upon whether my kids follow the Lord, or it's contingent upon the fruitfulness of this one church plan or this one missionary. 00:28:00.960 --> 00:28:02.079 And those things are all important. 00:28:02.160 --> 00:28:07.119 I'm really not trying to dilute the importance of the election or the church plan or the missionary or your kids. 00:28:07.279 --> 00:28:08.160 I'm really not. 00:28:08.480 --> 00:28:17.119 But when those things start to sputter out and not get traction, doubt comes in because we think the gospel's not actually pulling the weight it should around here. 00:28:19.039 --> 00:28:23.680 Sometimes our doubt comes from a sense that the gospel is not making adequate progress. 00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:28.480 And then finally, sometimes doubt comes from self-pity. 00:28:31.519 --> 00:28:34.400 Sometimes it just doesn't seem fair. 00:28:35.839 --> 00:28:42.400 In Matthew 10, Jesus sends out the twelve disciples in the army, the 72 and all that. 00:28:42.640 --> 00:28:44.640 But John's doing some math here. 00:28:45.200 --> 00:28:47.039 Jesus is 12 apostles. 00:28:47.200 --> 00:28:50.559 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. 00:28:50.880 --> 00:28:54.000 And John's not one of the twelve. 00:28:54.240 --> 00:28:57.599 And the twelfth guy is a loser from Jerusalem, by the way. 00:28:58.400 --> 00:28:59.200 Not John. 00:28:59.920 --> 00:29:01.599 John didn't get drafted. 00:29:02.240 --> 00:29:06.400 Maybe John even entertained this idea that he would be out doing ministry with Jesus. 00:29:06.559 --> 00:29:09.839 After all, Jesus said he's the greatest prophet who ever lived. 00:29:10.160 --> 00:29:15.599 Certainly that would get him a spot on the podium, so to speak. 00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:18.160 Certainly he would be part of the entourage. 00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:20.640 Certainly he would get to go see the Sermon on the Mount. 00:29:20.880 --> 00:29:21.839 Certainly him. 00:29:22.880 --> 00:29:26.240 If Peter is there, if Thaddeus is there. 00:29:27.519 --> 00:29:28.799 If Judas is there. 00:29:29.279 --> 00:29:30.079 Where's John? 00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:32.720 Poor John. 00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:34.799 Poor John. 00:29:35.440 --> 00:29:38.319 I think of people I knew in seminary. 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:42.559 Really godly guy I knew in seminary. 00:29:43.119 --> 00:29:48.559 Devoted to the Lord, knew the Word of God, a powerful evangelist, an exceptional preacher. 00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:50.880 One of my favorite preachers to listen to. 00:29:51.039 --> 00:29:56.000 I used to go preach at drug rehab centers with him every weekend, and man, I loved it. 00:29:56.160 --> 00:29:57.440 The guy could bring the thunder. 00:29:57.599 --> 00:30:03.839 And today he's pastoring a small, tiny church in a rural part of the country. 00:30:04.480 --> 00:30:07.359 He has a lot of kids, but it barely makes ends meet. 00:30:07.519 --> 00:30:09.039 His congregation can't really pay him. 00:30:09.119 --> 00:30:12.960 He's dependent upon generosity from people in the congregation to have one car. 00:30:13.039 --> 00:30:15.519 And when that breaks, he needs people from the church to fix it. 00:30:15.599 --> 00:30:22.799 And, you know, and people bring him food, and they don't even mean that in a condescending way, but they bring him food, and that's kind of what he needs. 00:30:23.279 --> 00:30:24.720 And he's so gifted. 00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:37.119 I think of a godly guy I knew in seminary who's you know single still and laboring out in the the wilderness in a forgotten part of the world. 00:30:38.160 --> 00:30:44.160 And you think of guys I knew in seminary who were like losers. 00:30:45.519 --> 00:30:49.680 That just didn't seem all that godly, honestly, or that gifted. 00:30:49.759 --> 00:30:57.359 And yet they have big congregations and families that love them and a dog that likes them, and they seem so blessed in this world. 00:30:57.839 --> 00:30:59.359 I'm just comparing the two. 00:30:59.519 --> 00:31:05.519 Like, that's not and I could see how easy it would be to have self-pity for those first guys. 00:31:07.519 --> 00:31:12.240