Are You the Expected One?, Part 3

Father, we thank you so much for just the joy we have in studying your Word. What a joy it is to know that your Word speaks to us in a very pointed way. Thank you for this past week of EBS and how God's Word spoke to many children's hearts. And for all those kids who gave a profession of faith this week, we pray, Lord, that that truly would be a profession that was in line with your Word, and those young boys and girls would follow Christ. Thank you for all the workers and their service for you and how they took time to teach those kids the truth.

What a joy it is to have many kids and their parents come on a Friday night to hear the Word of God again. So we pray that the Word of God would go forth and that Lord accomplish the great purpose that you have had for it. And pray, Lord, that many, many things would happen for the sake of your great kingdom, in Jesus' name, amen. Christ Community Church has and always will be a place where the holy truth is wholly taught. The holy truth, the H-O-L-Y, is wholly, W-H-O-L-L-Y, taught on a consistent basis.

It's the whole truth. We don't leave parts of the truth out. We give you all of what the Bible says. That's why we preach expositorily through the text, so that we can go verse by verse, sometimes word by word, through the text so that you understand the meaning of what the Bible says.

We know that there's only one interpretation. There are many applications, but there's only one interpretation. You've heard people over the years say, well, that's your interpretation. I have a different one. There are many interpretations. No, that's wrong. There's only one interpretation. God only meant one thing when he said what he said. He didn't mean it to mean many different things. He meant it to mean one particular thing. And so it's our job to be able to study it, that we might understand what God has said in his word, so that we know how to live our lives in conjunction with what his word says.

And we've been studying the gospel of Luke for quite a few years now. And we are on Luke chapter 7. If you have your Bible, I would invite you to turn with me to Luke chapter 7.

And we will study once again, verses 18 to 23. Are you the expected one? That's the question that was asked of Jesus the Messiah by two disciples of John. Because John had sent those two men to ask Christ that particular question. Are you the expected one? Why? Because John had some doubts. It's amazing to realize that this great prophet of God, this great prophet who was prophesied to come and was a fulfillment of the forerunner of the Messiah, could even begin to doubt who Jesus truly was. But he did.

And we have seen that even the best and some of the noblest of men have even had doubts. And there's nothing wrong with having doubts. The question is, where do you go to dispel those doubts? John the Baptist went right to Jesus. Now he couldn't get there himself because he was in prison. Herod Antipas had put him into prison. He had been there almost a year. And so he was unable to see all the miraculous things that Jesus the Messiah was doing. He hadn't heard any of the sermons that Jesus the Messiah had preached firsthand.

He had heard about them through his disciples who had come to visit him at different times. But he had not seen and heard what Jesus did and spoke firsthand. And so he would ask these men, two of his disciples, to go and ask, are you the ah-er-co-manos, the coming one, the expected one, a title for the Messiah out of Psalm 40 and Psalm 118. So they did. And they asked them this question. The Bible says, Luke 7 verse 18, and the disciples of John reported to him about all these things.

And summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord saying, are you the expected one or do we look for someone else? And when the men had come to him, they said, John the Baptist has sent us to you saying, are you the expected one or do we look for someone else? At that very time, he cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits. And he granted sight to many who were blind. And he answered and said to them, go and report to John what you have seen and heard. The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them and blessed is he who keeps from stumbling over me.

Now listen, doubt is not a bad starting point, but it is a bad finishing point. If you start to have doubts and you go directly to the Lord, the Lord will reveal to you exactly what you need to know. And so we begin by understanding that these two men by John the Baptist would go and ask the Lord, are you the expected one? There are many times that we have doubts. We talked about it last week. Many times there are doubts that creep up in our mind as to how it is God works and what it is God is doing.

And you know, like the Bereans in Acts 17.11, they would search the scriptures to see whether or not the things that were told them were so. It's kind of a healthy skepticism not to believe everything that comes down the pike. You don't want to be a gullible person. You want to be able to take everything through the grid of the Word of God to make sure that all doubts are dispelled based on what God's Word actually says. But you must remember that there are many great men who had doubts. We talked to you about them last week.

Abraham was one. He would doubt that he could have a son at the age of 100 years of age. He doubted that. I mean after all, Sarah was 90. How many 90 year old women do you know that had a baby or is having a baby? None, except for Sarah. And Sarah even laughed when she heard that she was going to have a son. She doubted so much it caused her to laugh in her heart because she knew that she was physically incapable of having a son. And yet Abraham was the father of our faith. He was the one who believed his God.

And the Lord would do something unique in Abraham's life and cause him to understand the uniqueness and the power of God. And Abraham is in Hebrews chapter 11, the great hall of faith. Before that ever occurred, Abraham even doubted that God would supply all of his needs. So when there was a great famine in the land, the land of Canaan, the land that God brought him to back in Genesis chapter 12, he would take his wife Sarah. He would go to Egypt, not because he sought God, but because he thought he had to escape because there was a famine in the land.

And when he went down to Egypt, he would have to lie. He didn't have to. He chose to lie about Sarah being his wife. And you see, he had doubts as to whether or not God would take care of him during a time of famine. And yet we all experience those kinds of doubts. Moses, he doubted that God could use him. He thought that God was going to use him. That's why when he was, you know, up in years, he began to realize that he would be that great leader of Israel. And he tried to enact the plan of God on his own.

But the nation rebelled against the leadership. He then went to the backside of the desert for 40 years. And God appeared to him and said, Moses, you're the man. And Moses doubted whether or not he was the man to lead the nation of Israel out of bondage. And in Exodus chapter three and in Exodus chapter four, you read about Moses's doubt, but he became the greatest leader in Israel's history. You have Gideon, Judges chapter six. He too is in the hall of faith, but he doubted the plan of God. He doubted how it is he with just a few little amount of men could accomplish a great victory over thousands of the enemies.

And yet God did a great work in his life and dispelled the doubt. And then of course you have Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, who doubted that he was going to have a son. He was up in years. Remember back in Luke chapter one, we studied him and Elizabeth and realized that they were probably somewhere in their eighties. And God had promised them a specific son. She was a barren. And yet he would doubt and God struck him deaf and dumb for nine months because he did not believe in the plan of God.

Isn't it interesting that his son then would doubt that Jesus was the Messiah. Next time you begin to doubt, think about how that begins to translate itself into the life of your children and how you model to them what you believe so they can have their doubts dispelled. But Zacharias would doubt, but he became that great man in Luke chapter one. He wrote Zacharias' song, the great song about how the Messiah was the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant, the Davidic covenant, and the new covenant.

And he talks about how the Messiah would be that light that would shine down upon his people and bring salvation, not only to the Jewish people, but to the Gentile world. So God used Zacharias in a great and mighty way. We also remember Thomas. We call him the great doubter, but he was the disciple who had that great confession, my Lord and my God. And then you have all the twelve, we talked about them last week, how Christ called them the ones of little faith. And yet Acts 17, 6 says they were the ones who ended up turning the world upside down because of their faith.

And so when you begin to doubt, you realize that in the Bible, only believers are the ones who doubt. And when you read through the New Testament, you begin to see how God dispels their doubts when they go to him, seek his face, and he reveals himself to them. And that's exactly what was going to happen with John the Baptist. He would go to the Messiah, not personally, but send these two men. And they would go and they would ask the question, are you the expected one? Now think about it. John would grow up with his father, Zacharias.

Zacharias was a priest. And Zacharias wrote that great song in Luke chapter 1 about, we just told you about the coming of the Messiah, how he fulfilled all Messianic promise. And don't you think that Zacharias would relay that truth to his son over and over and over again? He would talk to him about what he had given to the people, how the Spirit of God had inspired him as he would talk about the coming of the Messiah. And John would have had the wonderful experience all throughout his life of the testimony that took place about the events and the people centered around the coming of the Messiah.

And yet, as he understood his dad's song about how this Messiah would be the redeemer and the deliverer of his people, how he would come to bring and usher in the kingdom of the living God, he truly believed. And so he would go and preach in the wilderness or out of the wilderness and people would come to the Jordan River to be baptized because he would be preaching. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe. And God used him in a great and magnificent way. In fact, he was a powerful preacher.

So powerful that he would even confront Herod Antipas. We talked about that last week. And how Herod would throw him into prison because John the Baptist was uncompromising. John the Baptist was not afraid of any man. And he would speak the truth even if it cost him his life. And so he was thrown into prison. He had been there for about a year when we come to Luke chapter 7. But yet in his mind he's thinking, now wait a minute. What am I doing here? We talked to you about how it is we develop doubts the same way John did.

And we told you last week the way that we develop doubts in our own lives is number one because of personal affliction.

I told you last week personal tragedy or personal affliction somewhere around there. That causes us to doubt what it is God is doing. We serve God faithfully. We've given our life to Him. We understand that we are to be committed to Him and we are and bad things happen to us. We have a hard time digesting that. That is what is the circumstances don't match my commitment. I've been so committed to Christ like John was. He had faithfully served the Lord. He had never rebelled against the authority of God.

He never rebelled against the scriptures. He had always fulfilled what was prescribed for him. He was obedient to the T. Doing exactly what he was called to do. And here he was in prison. Which would cause him to doubt. I am faithful. I'm not sinful. I've done. It doesn't mean he doesn't sin. He does sin. But he was committed to doing what God said. Yet he found himself in personal affliction. That would end up costing him his life. So he began to ask himself the question. Is this truly the expected one?

Or should we look for someone else? Are you the one? Having pointed to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Having spent the bulk of his life preparing for this one event where he would come out of the desert like a locomotive. Preaching the gospel so people would know who the Messiah was. That they would be prepared to receive him when he arrived. All of a sudden now he finds himself in prison. Same is true for us. We serve the Lord. We are committed to Christ. And personal affliction happens to us.

And we ask ourselves what happened? What happened? I thought that because I was faithful to God he would honor me because I honored him. And instead I find myself in prison. I find myself in this affliction. I find myself in this turmoil. I find myself in all these negative circumstances. What happened? And so personal affliction is one of the main reasons we doubt our Lord and God in all that he does. Let me give you a second one.

The second one is this. Popular misconception. Popular misconception is another reason we begin to doubt God and his wonderful plan. We have told you and we have always told you that the Old Testament paints to us a very clear and precise picture of the Messiah. There is no doubt in our minds that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. We look at the Old Testament.

We've studied it together. And we know what the Old Testament says about the identity of the coming of the Messiah. And so we understand that clear picture. John had the Old Testament. We can look at the Old Testament and we know how it prescribes for us the coming of that Messiah.

Who he is. What he is going to do when he arrives. We also have the New Testament which is a fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy. John did not have that. But he did have the Old Testament which paints for us a very clear picture of the coming of the Messiah. But Judaism, Judaism as a system influenced, influenced the perception of the Messiah in what he would do. Oh by the way, that's why the centurion earlier in Luke 7 had such great faith. Because he was a Gentile. And he wasn't swept away in the misconception of what the Messiah would do when he arrived.

He just believed what was told. And he had great faith. He knew that if the Lord just spoke the word it would happen. He had great faith in the authority of the word of God. And so this Gentile was not swept away in the misconception surrounding the Messiah. You see Israel believed in a military leader. They believed that when Messiah came he would overthrow Rome. When Messiah came he would set up his kingdom. He would begin to rule and to reign. And the wolf would lie down with the lamb as Isaiah 11 says.

And the desert would blossom with all kinds of flowers because there would be a fountain, a river that would run from the city of Jerusalem down through the desert. And all of a sudden there would be great, a great herd of blossom in the desert because of the promise of the coming of Messiah and what would take place when he arrived. And so there was this misconception to the people that was translated to them by the religious leaders of what would happen when Messiah came. And John even was swept away by that popular influence, by that popular misconception as to what would take place when Messiah arrived.

That's why the question, are you the expected one? Because we're expecting you to do something a little different than you're doing. We're expecting you to set up your kingdom. We're expecting you to rule and reign. We're expecting you to set us free from our captives. We're expecting you to do all that the Old Testament says. So there was this popular misconception that was translated to the people that they bought into. And you know what? Even John the Baptist was influenced by it. Even John the Baptist, the one who was the forerunner to the Messiah.

They had a popular idea of what the Messiah would do when he arrived. That's why Christ asked the question in Matthew chapter 16, who do men say that I am? Well some say you're Elijah. Some say you're Jeremiah. Some say you're one of the prophets. Because that was the misconception that was being portrayed to the people. That Jesus would be just one of those prophets in a long list of prophets that would come before Messiah arrived. And so that's what prompted Christ to ask the question, who do men say that I am?

What's the popular opinion of who I am? Because there was a misconception as to who the Messiah was and what he would do when he arrived. And that's why Peter, that flesh and blood did not reveal to him, but the Father in heaven did, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. But Christ said don't tell anybody that. Instead tell them this, that the Messiah will die. The Messiah will suffer. The Messiah will rise again. What did Peter say? No! No! Because you see Peter bought into the popular misconception as well.

Oh that's not going to happen to you. You're the Messiah. You're the Christ, the Son of the living God. And we know exactly what you're going to do when you arrive. And death is not a part of the plan. And Jesus said to Peter, get thee behind me, Satan. Because you don't have in mind the things of God, but the things of man. You see Peter was influenced by that popular misconception. John the Baptist was influenced by that popular misconception as to who and what the Messiah would do. And so in John 14 on the eve of his death he says, I'm going to leave you.

They said, where are you going? Where are you going? Oh I'm going to die. Die? You can't die. We want to go too. And Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. You see even at the eve of his crucifixion they didn't get it. And even at the end after he rose from the dead they still doubted. Because they had bought into a system that had led them down the primrose path that Messiah would not die. That Messiah would come and he would do this. And he would rule and everything would be great.

And guess what? We today fall prey to a popular misconception as to who Jesus is. We do. Let me give you a really practical example.

If you go to the bookstore today, if you go to the airport today and see there in bookstores or if you just go to any library today, there is a book that has been number one on the bestsellers list.

Probably the most talked about pseudo-Christian book that's ever been sold in the world. The title is, Your Best Life Now.

Maybe you have that book. It says these words. It says, God wants this to be the best time of your life. That's a quote. The book also says this, happy, successful, fulfilled individuals have learned how to live their best life now.

The book goes on to say these words, that if you follow the principles of this book, you will begin living your best life now.

Listen to what I'm going to tell you. That is absolutely true if you're not a Christian. It's absolutely true if you are not a Christian. Because the next life will be so horrible that you won't be able to stand it. It will be a life of perpetual pain. It will be a life of complete hopelessness. It will be a life of absolute no joy and no peace. It will be a life of weeping and gnashing of teeth. It will be a life so horrible, we can't even begin to imagine what it'll be like. So if you're not a Christian, this is your best life now.

It is. But if you're a child of the living God, and you have committed your life to Jesus Christ, and know him as Lord and Savior, have repented of your sins, then you understand that you are not even close to living your best life now.

Not even close. Because the Bible says, I have not seen nor ear heard the wonderful things that God has prepared for those who love him.

The Bible never promises your best life now. In fact, what the Bible does promise you is this, trouble, persecution, trials, temptation, rejection, difficulty, pain, suffering, sickness, and death. So I thought about writing another book. Your Worst Life Now.

I want to have that on sale. One who will buy that. Your Worst Life Now. Now we know that life now isn't as bad as it possibly can be for us right now.

But we do know that the next life is going to be so beyond anything we can ever imagine, that that's what the believer looks forward to, his life with the Lord. Now does God promise you, promise you a healthy life? Yes. In the next life. He promises no pain in the next life. He promises supreme joy in the next life. He promises all those things in the life to come, because you'll have a glorified body, and you'll be with your Lord and Savior in heaven forever. But your best life now, that's only true if you are not a Christian.

That should tell you a little bit about the author and where he stands with the Lord Jesus Christ. But you know what? We buy into a popular misconception as to what it is Jesus is supposed to do for me now.

Don't we? We buy into it hook, line, and sinker. As Peter was influenced by a popular misconception as to saying, Lord, you're not going to die. You've got your Messiah all wrong. Let me explain to you what the Bible says the Lord, Lord, you're going to do.

Or John the Baptist saying, wait a minute, I'm in prison, and I preach the gospel, and I point to the Messiah, and somehow the Messiah is not doing what he's supposed to do. And so he even bought into that popular misconception as to the workings of the Messiah. And there are many times, even us today, fall into that same popular misconception because Jesus has been painted on television, and in books, and on the radio in a different light than what he truly is in the scriptures. And we buy into those things because it sounds good, it looks good, it feels good.

And when you buy into a false system that God is supposed to deliver you from all your problems, and you buy into a false system that you are to be healthy all the time, and that you are to have lots of money and be wealthy, and everything is supposed to be done for you in a great and wonderful way. You buy into that system, and it doesn't happen. You have doubts, right? You have doubts. Well, what happened? Why is it I have financial distress? Why is it I have problems, and I have bought into this whole system that Jesus is supposed to erase all that from me?

He is supposed to make life easy for me, supposed to make life comfortable for me, and I am supposed to live a wealthy and healthy kind of life, and I'm not doing that. Something must be wrong, and I have doubts, and they creep up, and they become huge in my mind. We ask questions, if Jesus cares, why so many problems? If the Lord loves people, why do children die? Why do people starve? Why do planes crash into buildings? Why do fires happen, and people die and lose their homes? If God cares, why doesn't Jesus stop all of this?

And why doesn't He stop people from teaching error if He hates error? Why does He allow it to happen? Simply because the Bible never says He's going to. It doesn't say that. See, we have a misconception of God. We are swayed by the popular image of Christ, not swayed by the truth of the Scripture. And when we begin to buy into a system, when we begin to buy into what people are saying about God, instead of knowing what the Scripture describes for us God to be, we will always have doubts. Always have doubts.

That's why the greatest study you can ever partake in is a study of theology, a study of God, the attributes of God, coming to know who He is, what He does, and how He does it. The greatest personal study you can ever do is on the attributes of God. Who is He? What does He do? How is it I worship this God that I serve? And that's so important. Because doubts begin to creep in. Remember Habakkuk? He had prayed for revival for his people. That's a good thing to pray for, right? You're praying for revival for your people.

And God says, I'm not going to do that, Habakkuk. What? I'm praying for revival. I'm praying for my people to be restored. I'm praying for my people to follow you. I'm praying for great things to happen in your people, God. And you're coming down here and telling me, no, that's not going to happen. And Jesus says, no, it's not going to happen.

In fact, what I'm going to do is I'm going to send the wicked people to destroy my people. That's just uncalled for. How can God do that? And Habakkuk had all kinds of worries in Habakkuk chapter one. All kinds of worries as to what God was going to do until God began to reveal His great nature and great character. And then Habakkuk says at the very end, oh God, now I understand who you are. And no matter what happens on this earth, I know that you are God and that your way is perfect and I will follow you.

But he didn't understand his God because he had bought into a popular misconception as to how God operates in and among his people to bring about his purposes. So many times we fall into that same category. And that's because we're not students of the word. That's because we're not keeping our finger on the text. That's because we are not into studying exactly what the Bible says God is and how He works.

We don't get it. But we're easily swayed, aren't we? Habakkuk was, the apostles were, Peter particularly, John the Baptist. You see how doubts begin to creep in in our lives? The same is true for us. There's this popular misconception that seems to sweep Christianity about Jesus and who He is and how He operates in your life and what He does when you give your life to Him. Give your life to Jesus and everything will be better. Give your life to Jesus and your marriage will be healthy. Give your life to Jesus, you'll have no more problems.

Really? Where does it say that in the Bible? It doesn't say that. It says direct opposite. Give your life to Jesus and your family is going to be torn apart. So it says, He came to bring a sword. Separate a father from his daughter, a husband from his wife. You see, we don't understand that. That's what the Bible says, you see.

There's this popular misconception. Number three, let me give you another one. Time is fleeting. Partial revelation. There is a personal affliction, a popular misconception, and a partial revelation. John didn't have the New Testament. All he had was the Old Testament. He didn't have all that was there. He had all the Old Testament, but what he had is what he went on. And so he didn't have all the fulfillment of prophecies that like you and I have about how Christ died and how He rose again from the third day and we see His ascension into glory and we understand those kind of things because we have the New Testament.

John only had a partial revelation. He knew the kingdom was going to come when the King appeared and so he preached the kingdom of God is upon us. Repent, believe, because the kingdom of God is here. And yet Jesus said in Matthew 22, 29, you are mistaken not understanding the scriptures. Isaiah 53, Psalm 22 both speak of the death of the Messiah. But John didn't have first and second Thessalonians.

He didn't have second Peter. He didn't have the book of Revelation. He didn't have those things. And so because there was only partial revelation, he had doubts in his mind as to how the kingdom would be restored and how the King would rule and when exactly the King would rule and how it was he would take that throne and he would deliver his people from their sin. He didn't have all that revelation. And so when we have doubts, what do we do? We need to go to the scripture. We need to go and see what the Word of God says because it has the answer.

And when you find the truth, it dissipates all doubt. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2.16 that we have the mind of Christ.

2 Corinthians 10.5 we are to bring every thought into the captivity of Christ. And so therefore when we as Christians have doubts about whatever it is we're going through, when we go to the truth, the truth shows us exactly what is right and begins to dispel all doubts. And number four, there is a perverted expectation. A perverted expectation which flows out of a popular misconception. That is we expect God to do certain things at a certain time and when he doesn't do it we're confused. And we begin to doubt how it is God operates because he didn't do it in my timetable or he didn't do it the way I thought he should or he didn't do the way I'd like him to do it.

You know we're a lot like that. We expect God to bow to our every whim. We expect God to do exactly what we say and when he doesn't do it we're confused. We begin to doubt God. We begin, well where are you? How come you're not doing it my way? Why has it always got to be your way God? Why can it never be my way? You ever ask that question? Sure you do. Every day you ask that question. And yet we have this perverted expectation as to how it is God accomplishes his plan and his purposes. And John had that.

I mean he, John was a fiery preacher. He preached fire, brimstone. He, you know, he preached about the axe being in the Messiah's hand. He preached about the wooden fork. He preached about the fire that was going to come when Messiah was here. And here was Messiah and he showed up. There was no fire out of his mouth. There was no axe in his hand. There was no judgment. Instead there was love and mercy and grace and healing and all this thing that he didn't expect. He knew Messiah was that way. He just didn't expect Messiah to do that when he came.

He expected the Messiah to come and just cut down those people who were against the Jewish nation and he would raise his people up and Israel would be the glory of the world and the glory of the land. And Israel would be put up on a pedestal and everybody would flock to Israel because they were God's chosen people. That wasn't happening. Instead he was casting out demons and raising people from the dead and healing people from all kinds of diseases and causing the blind to see. And these people didn't even know God.

They didn't believe in God. And he was doing all these kind of things. And John spent his whole ministry preaching about fire, hell, judgment, damnation. His expectation of the Messiah was that he would do all those things and then Messiah came and didn't do that. He says, are you the expected one? Because I got some doubts. That leads us to the answer. Three things I want you to see about the answer. The evidences, number one.

The explanation, number two. And the exhortation, number three. First of all the evidences. These two disciples come to Jesus. They come humbly asking, listen, John has sent us to you to ask just one thing. Are you the coming one? The Bible says in verse number 22.

And he answered, no I'm sorry, verse 21. And at that very time he cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits and he granted sight to many who were blind. This, listen, this was a personal miracle for two men. This was a supernatural act of God that would sweep the crowd for two men. He did it for those two men. He caused the blind to see. He healed many people. He cured him instantaneously. Are you the one? What? Go tell John that. See? He did it for those two men. Remember the Pharisees asked, show us a sign.

And Jesus never showed him a sign, did he? The only sign he gave them was a sign of how Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. That's the only sign he would give them. Speaking specifically of his death and resurrection. But they would come and show us a sign. And God never gave them a sign. Never did. Because their hearts were corrupt. But these two men, they needed their faith to be completed. And the only way that could happen is for Christ to give them the evidences of the Messiah.

What did his Messiah would do? Because you see he did the evidence so he could give this, this particular explanation. Verse 22. He answered and said to them, go and report to John what you have seen and heard. The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them. You go and you tell him that everything that I am doing is a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Of what the Messiah would actually do. And he quotes from Isaiah 35, Isaiah 42, Isaiah 61, Isaiah chapter 28.

He says, listen, you go and tell John that he preached about the coming kingdom of God. You tell John the kingdom is here. This is a preview of what's going to take place in the ultimate kingdom. But you tell him the king is here because the blind receive sight, the lame can walk, the deaf can hear, the poor have the gospel preached to them, and the dead are raised. And all that is from the book of Isaiah. The prophet that would prophesy about the coming Messiah and what he would do when the kingdom had arrived.

He says, you go tell John the kingdom is here because the king is doing what the king said he would do. Remember in Isaiah 61 when that was the sermon that Christ preached in Luke chapter 4 in Nazareth, his own hometown. Talked about how he came to release the captives and how to preach the gospel to the poor. But he stopped. He didn't continue on in Isaiah 61 because the day of Remember? We talked about in great detail back in Luke chapter 4. The day of vengeance was not now.

Now was a time for grace. And now was a time for mercy. And now was a time for redemption. And now was a time of restoration. And now was a time of healing. He's come to offer himself to those who are brokenhearted, to the afflicted, to the poor, to the imprisoned, to give his life for them. It wasn't the time of vengeance. Oh, that time's coming. But that's why he stopped. It didn't continue on in Isaiah 61 because the time of vengeance was still yet a future. So he explains to the disciples, you tell John, you go back and tell him exactly what you saw.

And you go back and tell him that what I have done is exactly what was prophesied by Isaiah the prophet about the king when he would arrive and he would present his kingdom to the people. You tell him that. And then he gives this exhortation in verse number 23. And blessed is he who keeps from stumbling over me. You tell John that the most blessed person on this earth will be the one who's not offended at me, who does not fall over what he sees and what he hears, but believes all that he sees and all that he hears.

That's the blessed man. That's the one who understands my true messiahship. The person who doesn't stumble over me buys into everything I say and believes in all that I have done. But you know, most Jews didn't do that, did they? And that's why the kingdom did not come. Because they rejected the king of the kingdom. They rejected him. They ended up hating the king who came to them and did all that he did for them. They turned against him. The Bible tells us about the conclusion of this. You know, sometimes we don't expect or don't understand what God is doing.

And we begin to stumble over what he says and what he does, don't we? We don't actually get it. And Christ says you need to believe.

Remember we told you a couple weeks ago, Luke 24, oh foolish and slow of heart, not believing all that the scriptures say. You've got to believe it all, my friend. You can't believe parts of it. That's why it's so important for you to study the Bible. So you know all that it says. You say, well, how are we going to know all what the Bible says?

That's an endless study. Exactly. It should be something you do every single day of your life. Because we stumble over Christ because we don't believe all that he says. We don't know all that he says. He told those two disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24, oh you foolish and slow of heart. You didn't believe all that was said. You just believed the parts you wanted to believe. And you know what? We're like that too, aren't we? We kind of believe the parts we like to hear. And the parts that confront us on our sin and talk about the consequences of sin, we don't like to believe those parts.

We kind of bypass them. But it's all true, right? It's all true. And when we don't believe all that God says, doubts begin to well up in our minds.

That's why it's so important to go back to the truth. Over in Matthew chapter 14, the Bible says this in verse, in verse number nine.

Matthew chapter 14, verse number nine. It says, and although he was grieved the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths and because of his dinner guests. He sent and had John beheaded in the prison. His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl. She brought it to her mother. And the disciples came and took away the body and buried it. And they went and reported to Jesus. You know the story of Herod Antipas and how he was succumbed by this young woman's lustful passions. And he granted her a wish.

What do you want? The kingdom is mine. I'll give it to you. What do you want? I want the head of John the Baptist on a platter. So he did. He went, had John beheaded. She brought the head of John the Baptist to her mother Herodias. The disciples would come and get the body and take the body and bury the body. And they would go and report it to Jesus. Why? Because Jesus was John's Messiah. That's why. Jesus was John's Messiah. See they would go back and they would report to John all they saw and all that they heard.

And John would be satisfied. He would understand more and more as time went on. About the greatness of his Messiah. And you know the king has come. And the king will one day return. And when the king came, yes he did set up his kingdom. It wasn't a literal kingdom. It was a spiritual kingdom. One day it will be literal. Well Jesus is the king. He is a universal king. He is the king over all the world. He's a spiritual king. And one day he will be a literal king over every man, every woman, every boy, every girl.

But when the king came, he did set up his kingdom. He did. He set it up in your heart and mind for those of us who understand his kingship. And we have become children of the king. And we believe and not stumble over the things that he said. He is our king. And we worship him as such. But one day the king is going to return, isn't he? He will come in all of his glory. And the second half of all the prophecies in the Old Testament will be fulfilled when he arrives again.

But you know what? It's so important for us to believe all that Jesus said. This is a lesson to us. That when doubts creep in as to the plans and purposes of the Messiah in your life personally, in our church's life corporately, to make sure we understand what the Bible truly says. So that doubts can be dispelled because we know the truth. And when you know the truth, you know the God who is called the God of truth. And doubts begin to slowly dissipate because we know the true king. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for the truth of your word and the opportunity we had to study it every single day.

Forgive us, Lord, for not being the kind of people who were like the Bereans who study the scriptures to see whether these things are so, to make the study of the scriptures a part of our everyday life. That we would be able to understand the truth and dispel all doubt. Because that's what you do, Lord. You are a great God. And we thank you that we can go to you and ask and receive because you speak the truth. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.