Jesus and the Doubter | Sunday Message

A New Beginning presents a great book from Pastor Greg Laurie called Hope for America. Yes, we're in a political season right now. We need to vote. We should be informed on the issues as Americans and as Christians, but we should also recognize the ultimate hope for our nation is turning back to God. So I talk about this and a lot more in a book I've written called Hope for America.

And I want to send it to you for your gift of any size. Get your copy at harvest.org. Hey there. Thanks for listening to the Greg Laurie Podcast, a ministry supported by Harvest Partners. I'm Greg Laurie encouraging you.

If you want to find out more about Harvest Ministries and learn more about how to become a Harvest Partner, just go to harvest.org. Amen. Let's pray. Father, just as we've sung, that's how we feel all of our lives. You have been so faithful.

You've been so, so good to us. You've been merciful to us, forgiving toward us, loving us in so many ways. So now we ask you to speak to us because your Word is truth and we live in a world filled with half-truths and outright lies. So we want to hear truth from your Word and we pray that you will cleanse us of any sin in our life and fill us with the Holy Spirit right now. We need that power to live the life you've called us to live. And as we start this new series, Lord, help us come to know Jesus more intimately. We ask all of this in your name. Amen. You can all be seated.

Good morning. Well, I had quite the adventure yesterday. I went out to Coachella.

You heard? It's hot in Coachella. Yeah, we got there pretty much 12 noon or so.

My goodness, is it hot. But we were invited to, I was invited to lead a prayer at the rally for President Trump out there. And so 100,000 people showed up.

Can you believe that? In California, in California, people like to write our state off. Let's not forget, this is where the last spiritual awakening happened.

I have hope for California still. So I saw my friend Dennis Quaid there. Sheriff Chad was there. Chad Bianco as well.

And it was just a great time. He is a great guy. Great guy. He looks like he walked out of the Tombstone movie.

You know. He is so cool. And this is his uniform.

He's got his hat, jeans, his sidearm, you know, his badge, his boots, everything. It's just ok. You look like you came out of the Wild West. But he has a strong faith in Christ and I had a great time talking with him. So anyway, so I was asked to do a prayer. Now look when I do things like this I know everyone wants to say, it's partisan.

It's partisan. I have already told you. If I get a call from the Harris Campaign, I will pray at one of their events too. Oh I will.

I would. Anybody wants to give me a microphone and ask me to say something I will do it. And so that is what I did. And I always look for an opportunity to point people to Christ. You know that is my job is to point people to Christ. And so here is just a little. So I got up to lead a prayer and this is a little bit of that prayer.

It's on the screen. Father America was your idea before it was the idea of any man. This land has been a refuge for those yearning for freedom and it has arisen to be the most powerful and wealthy country in history and it's been a blessing to the world. Lord you've blessed America and we all have benefited from that blessing.

So God give us the privilege to pass on the America we have known for future generations. We pray for your blessing on this nation for your mercy on this nation and we pray for all leaders that you will guide and direct them whatever their politics but we pray especially for our friend today President Donald Trump. We thank you for protecting his life from two assassination attempts. You put your angels around him.

You put a hedge of protection around him. Now give him wisdom. May he be closer to you than he has ever been before and may that be true of all of us Lord and so we pray that you will bless America. We entrust our future our families into your hands. Why don't we all close now by praying the Lord's prayer together. Let's pray it now. Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be your name your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

Amen. God bless you all. That was pretty cool listening to 100,000 people pray the Lord's prayer. Now I don't know if everyone prayed it but many of them did and that was just a great moment. So we are starting a brand new series today and the title of it is Jesus and You. Jesus and You.

Let's all grab our Bibles and turn to Matthew chapter 11. Heard a story about a father and son that walked into a hardware store. There was a big old jar full of candy sitting out there on the counter. The owner of the store said to the little boy, son why don't you grab yourself a handful of candy.

It is free. The little boy just looked up at his father. The store owner said, son did you hear what I said. I said, grab a handful of candy.

It is free. Again the little boy looks up at his father. So finally the dad reaches in and grabs a handful of candy and they are walking out of the hardware store and the dad asks his boy, son why didn't you grab that handful of candy.

It was free. And the little guy said to his dad, because dad your hand is bigger than mine. I like that. And that to me is a picture of God. Some people envision God as being stingy or cheap or wanting to withhold His blessings. But as we read the Bible we find the opposite is the case. God loves to lavish His blessings on us. He wants to bless us even more than we want to be blessed. I mean I think it is an amazing thing that of all of the pictures Jesus could have chosen to show us what God is like He chose to portray God as a loving Father and what we call the parable of the prodigal son. That son of the father went out and drug the family name through the gutter and did all kinds of things he shouldn't have done. But yet when he came to his senses and returned home Jesus portrays His dad as someone who missed his son and ran to him and threw his arms around him and forgave him.

And that was a picture from Christ of God Himself. So you want to know what God is like. Jesus just told you He is like a loving Heavenly Father that longs for relationship and friendship with us. Not because He needs us. God doesn't need us.

We have nothing to offer Him that He is lacking. But He does it because we need Him you see. And because He loves us. And that is why Jesus came. Jesus was God with skin on. Jesus was not just a good man. He was indeed the God-man. Jesus was God spelling Himself out in language we could understand. God had a face.

God came near. And there has never been anyone who has ever walked this earth more influential than Jesus Christ. You know we may gauge a person's influence by how many followers they have on social media. Or when someone is honored at an event they are chosen to be the man or the woman of the year. Every December Time magazine releases an issue pointing out who they consider to be the person of the year.

Then every ten years they have the person of the decade. But there is only one person that divides human history in half. And that is Jesus Christ. That is how significant He is. The name of Jesus is the most powerful in all of the universe. If you don't believe me just say His name out loud in a crowded room.

You will get an immediate reaction. It is a name that is above all names. And there has never been anyone like Him before. And people want to know more about Jesus. Seventy-seven percent of American teenagers in a recent survey said they want to know more about Jesus.

Three-quarters of millennials say they are searching for a sense of purpose in life. And I go back to my own childhood and as a young boy I always had this fascination with Jesus. And my mother was living her wild life getting married and divorced and moving in with all kinds of guys in between. And so she left me with my grandparents for a period of time. Both of my grandparents were from Arkansas. They were also from another century.

But they were great grandparents. And it was a very stable time in my life. And I remember as a little boy sitting in the front room of my grandparents home and there was a portrait of Jesus hanging on the wall. You have probably seen this portrait before. And as a little boy I would just stare at that image of Jesus. It fascinated me.

It interested me. And I wished I could have known Him but I regarded Him as obviously a historical figure from a long long time ago. But I remember I went to a movie. You remember that movie called Ben Hur with Charlton Heston. That is still I think one of the greatest movies. And one of the greatest depictions of Christ. And there is a scene in that movie where they show the crucifixion of Christ. And I remember as a young man I was probably around 17 maybe 16 and I was watching this movie. They were doing sort of like a revival showing of it in a theater.

It was actually made I think in the 50s. And so I am watching this in the 70s and I was deeply moved by the crucifixion scene of Jesus and Ben Hur. And they never showed the face of Jesus in the movie.

So you just see the reaction of Ben Hur as he looks in the face of Christ. And that moved me deeply. And I remember coming out of that theater and some guy walks by from my high school and I knew him as one of those crazy Jesus freaks. And he said to me, hey man Jesus loves you.

And he kept walking. And somehow at that moment in my little 17 year old brain I made a connection between historical Jesus or cinema Jesus if you will and real Jesus. In other words this guy had a relationship with Christ right now causing me to ask the question could I have a relationship with Him. That was a seed sown in my heart that eventually broke ground.

Most of you have heard my story before. But Jesus then entered my world. And I love the way that Jesus always had time for individuals. And as you look at Him in the gospels you see Him taking time for people from the most varied backgrounds.

He is in the city of Jericho. And He stops suddenly and looks up on a tree and a little guy named Zacchaeus had climbed up there to get a better view of what was going on. And more specifically a better view of Jesus. And Jesus singles him out and says Zacchaeus I am coming to your house for lunch. Or we see Him with that woman at the well getting water at 12 noon because no one wanted to have anything to do with her. And Jesus takes time for her and opens up the truth of eternity for her. And then you see Him in the next chapter or I should say the previous chapter with the religious man Nicodemus. You couldn't have two people any more different than each other than Nicodemus the religious man and the woman at the well. Then you see Him with so many other people with the little children even opening His arms to them while the disciples were trying to drive them away. But the first person I want to look at in this series, Jesus in you, is the cousin of Christ. We know Him best as John the Baptist. In fact John the Baptist recognized Jesus before either one of them was even born.

Because they were both in the wombs of their mothers. John in the womb of Elizabeth. Jesus in the womb of Mary. And when Mary came to visit Elizabeth John the Baptist not born yet but very alive and already full of that unique personality that he had the Bible says left in the womb.

So there was an immediate connection. And even the story of John is quite a miraculous story. Not on the level of Christ who was supernaturally conceived in the womb of a virgin but John's parents were elderly far past the age of bearing a child.

And the angel Gabriel came and announced to them that they were going to have a son. And his name would be John. And he would be a prophet of the Most High.

And he would prepare the way of the Lord. And then when John emerged on the scene and began his preaching ministry it was so significant many thought that he actually was the Messiah. The ancient historian Josephus actually wrote more about John than he did about Jesus. So John was a rock star. John was a very popular figure. He would have had more followers on Instagram than Jesus had.

Ok. I don't know if I would scream at that. But the point is he was so popular but he had a short.

What is going on over here? He had a short lived ministry because his job was just sort of to enter the scene, get the attention of the people. He was hard to miss. He dressed in animal skins.

His diet consisted of locusts and wild honey. So he would have been the guy when you go out to order in a restaurant that would be problematic. There is always one of those people. Excuse me.

I am lactose intolerant. And they have all these issues. And they want to substitute everything for everything. Right. John. Yeah.

Do you have any locusts and wild honey here in this restaurant? You know he would have fit perfectly on Duck Dynasty with all those guys. Right. And so you couldn't miss John. He wasn't dressed in the beautiful robes of the religious leaders.

And in fact he called them out without any apprehension. He said in Matthew chapter 3 verse 7, they are a brood of snakes facing the judgment of God. So John's job if you will was to prepare the way of the Messiah. He was to be the voice of one crying in the wilderness. And so one day as he is baptizing people in the Jordan River who shows up.

Jesus Himself. And Jesus said, John I want you to baptize me. John says, baptize you? You should be baptizing me. And Jesus says, no John.

You need to do this. Let this happen right now so we can fulfill all righteousness. So John baptized Jesus.

And you remember the amazing things that happened. The Holy Spirit came upon Christ in the form of a dove. And there was a voice from heaven, the Father, saying, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. There you see the Trinity in action. The Son being baptized. The Holy Spirit is manifested.

The Father is speaking. Now John's job is done. As he himself said, He must increase speaking of Christ and I must decrease. And he said to his own disciples, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

In other words boys we are done here. I want you to follow Jesus. And they did. And now the public ministry of Jesus is beginning. So John is waiting. Because he like most people of this time had a misunderstanding of the role of Messiah. It was their view that when Messiah came that he would overthrow the ruling power. In this case Rome.

And he would establish his kingdom of righteousness on the earth. But time is now passing. In fact 18 months have passed and none of this is taking place. And John is wondering, wait did I get something wrong? Did I misunderstand? Is Jesus actually the Messiah? And he finds himself discouraged and grappling with doubt. The title of my message is Jesus and the Doubter. So if you have ever entertained doubts you will connect to the story.

Let's read about it. Matthew 11 starting in verse 1. And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ he sent two of his disciples and said to him, Are you the coming one or should we look for another? Jesus answered and said, You go tell John the things that you hear and see. The blind see.

The lame walk. The lepers are cleansed. And the deaf hear. And the dead are raised up. And the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of me.

Let's stop there. So where is John? He's in a dungeon. And why is he in a dungeon? He's in a dungeon because he called out King Herod who was living in a moral lifestyle. John didn't pull his punches.

It ticked off Herod. So he imprisoned this great man of God. Here is a guy that loves to be out in the open air fulfilling his ministry trapped in this horrible little dungeon. And he is hearing about Jesus but he doesn't like what he is hearing. Oh that Jesus he is hanging out with sinners. Hanging out with sinners. Oh I thought that he was going to establish his kingdom.

Did I get something wrong? See the problem was he was looking at things BC. Not before Christ but before Calvary. Before Jesus would wear many crowns he would first wear the crown of thorns. Before there would be the throne there would be the cross. And it was after Christ died and rose again they all understood those two disciples who were discouraged on the road to Emmaus leaving town after Christ was crucified and happened to be joined by Jesus himself incognito said this, we had hoped, past tense, he would have been the one to deliver Israel.

Let's paraphrase. Yeah he didn't quite measure up. He let us down. And then Jesus is like what's wrong with you guys you know. And then he took them through the Scriptures pointing them to all the passages that showed that this was always part of the plan. That Messiah would suffer. Messiah would die for the sin of the world. Messiah would rise again from the dead. And Messiah would return one day and that one day is still in our future.

But don't be too quick to judge these guys because we can do the same thing. Sometimes we misunderstand God and his word like when tragedy hits in the life of a godly man or woman and we ask why. When a child dies or a loved one gets cancer we ask why. Why did God do this to me? We find ourselves interpreting God in the light of the tragedy instead of the other way around.

So John is effectively saying, Lord why haven't you helped me? And so he is doubting. And everyone deals with doubt in some way shape or form in their life. It happens to our kids doesn't it? Especially when they get in those teenagers and all of a sudden that sweet little child that loved your little devotions that you did every night for them and hung on daddies or mommies every word are saying, yeah I don't know if I believe the Bible is true dad. I am not so sure if I believe all these things and we freak out feeling that we have somehow failed as parents.

You are not failing. This is a child going through growth and they have to learn these things for themselves. That is why listening to them is important. This is why taking them to church is important.

I have told you this before but it is very interesting. A survey found that among parents who attend church regularly 72% of their children will also attend church when they become adults. Now when only the father attends church regularly 55% of the children will remain faithful in their adult years attending. But if only the mother attends regularly only 15% of the children will remain faithful in going to church. But if neither father nor mother attends church regularly only 6% of the children will remain faithful in church attendance. Listen. You have a very limited period of time with your children. From birth to those teen years to ultimately they become young adults.

It goes just like that. Don't waste that time. Take the time to make church, Bible study, prayer a priority in your home. Because before you know it the window is shut and that time is gone. And that is why youth ministry is so important. And that is why I encourage all of you who especially have younger kids especially as they get in those pre-teen and then of course the teen years get them involved in youth ministry.

And I see parents who are slackers. Oh well let's not go to church today. Let's just go to the beach. Well let's not you know make these things a priority. You are setting an example that is going to be followed by your children. Set a good one.

Set a good one. So John is dealing with doubt. He is wondering what is going on here.

Listen to this. Sometimes we need to go through the foyer of doubt to get into the sanctuary of certainty. That is not original to me. It is a good statement though isn't it? We have to go through the foyer.

We will say lobby to make it easier. Because that is French foyer. We have to go through the lobby of doubt to get into the sanctuary of certainty. A French proverb says, he who knows nothing doubts nothing. It has also been said doubt is not the opposite of faith. It is an element of faith. Doubt is not necessarily a sign that a person is wrong.

Rather it is a sign they are thinking. So it is ok to have moments of doubt. Even great men of the Bible had their doubts. Moses was ready to quit on one occasion in complaining to God about the Israelites. He said, if they are going to treat me like this Lord I would appreciate it if you would just take me out. Just kill me now. A little dramatic.

Right? Elijah was ready to quit after hearing of the threats of Jezebel. And he said, Lord just take my life.

We all remember doubting Thomas. He wanted to see the risen Lord Himself. He said, I will believe when I can put my hand in the wound in His side. Then Christ appears and He says, that is ok. My Lord and my God.

Right? But He just wanted to know for Himself. There is nothing wrong with that.

Nothing wrong with you saying I want to see it for myself. I want to know it for myself. This is all part of growing. Even the great apostle Paul was discouraged. He writes about it in 2 Corinthians 1.8. He was burdened beyond measure. And he said, we despair even of life. So if you are struggling with discouragement and doubt you are not the first nor will you be the last. The problem with John is he had a troubled mind and a broken heart.

Hey man. The guy was in a dungeon. Cut him some slack. Things are not going the way he thought they would go because he misunderstood. So he sends two friends. Just ask Jesus this question.

Are you the one or should we look for another? Now notice how Christ responds. He refers to Old Testament prophecies that He is the Messiah alluding to Isaiah 35 and Isaiah 61. Jesus says, Matthew 11 verse 4, You go till John, the blind are seen, the lame are walking, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up. So then Jesus goes on to make this statement. And God blesses those who do not turn away because of Me. Blessed is a man who is not offended because of Me.

Happy are those who hold their course. I was with Chuck Smith a number of years ago. We were having lunch at the claim jumper. Chuck loved the claim jumper. Whenever we would go to lunch, Chuck where do you want to go? Let's go to the claim jumper. OK. Let's go.

And so we were sitting there over lunch and we had finished it. And I always ask Chuck questions you know. Probably drove him crazy. But I said, Chuck let me ask you this. If an older Chuck could speak to a younger Chuck what would you say to yourself? And he said, would you just leave now? No he didn't say that.

But he should have. And Chuck responded, hold the course. And I said, what do you mean hold the course? Like just keep doing what you are doing?

Sometimes Chuck could be a man of few words believe it or not. Privately. Just hold the course.

I think he just left it out for me to figure out. Hold the course. But that is what he did all the way throughout his life. He held the course.

You know. The apostle Paul said, I fought the good fight. I have kept the faith.

I finished the course. Henceforth there is a crown of righteousness laid up for me in that final day. And not to me only but to all who love the Lord's appearing. Hold the course.

So Jesus is effectively saying to John, buddy hold the course. Trust me. John I know you cannot understand my method and my ways and my timing. Trust me right now. Even when you are unable to see why I am doing what I am doing or why I am not doing what you think I ought to be doing. Just hold the course. And the same is for all of us. True for all of us.

Hold your course. You might be going through a season of doubt right now. Things are not making sense to you. And really you could really be offended by that question. You know the question is John wants to know if you are really the one or should he look for another. What?

Hello? Can you imagine your wife. You have been married for 30 years. She looks at you and says, I think maybe I made a mistake.

Should I look for another? No. And so he is really questioning the ministry of our Lord. Jesus could have said, you know what? Got a little offended.

My cousin has always been a little weird. Okay. Come on. Let's get real. Really?

Locust and wild honey. Is that necessary? No. He didn't do that at all. In fact Jesus did the very opposite. He saw this as an opportunity to speak of the greatness of John. Look at Matthew 11.

He says, as the disciples were leaving Jesus began talking, Matthew 11 rather, began talking about Him to the crowds. He said, what kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? Was He a weak reed swayed by every breath of wind?

Hey what were you guys looking for? A reed just blowing in the wind? Someone unstable with no courage?

Some kind of a snowflake? This is John the Baptist people. And I love him. And let me tell you a little something about John. And then he goes on to describe who John really was.

And you know here is what it comes down to. You know it is really not what others think about us. Or even what we think about ourselves. I am interested in what Jesus thinks about me. Jesus had some good thoughts about John. And Jesus has some good thoughts about you too.

I want you to know that. Now we know what happens when we get bragged on by God in heaven. We saw that in the book of Job. It is like hey let's not be bragging too much in heaven.

Okay. After I look at the calamities that befell your servant. But you know I love Jeremiah 29 11.

I think you know that by now. I quote it quite often. But here is what God thinks about you. I know the thoughts that I think toward you says the Lord.

Thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you a future and a hope. See a lot of us think God is mad at us. When in reality God is mad about us.

He loves us. That is what we see so clearly in Scripture. So now Jesus says this about John. Verse 11.

Let me tell you something. Among those born of women there has not been one greater than John the Baptist. John the Baptist was the last of the Old Testament prophets. Not only was he the last but he was the greatest of the Old Testament prophets.

Now that is pretty amazing. How could John be greater than Samuel, Elijah, Isaiah, Ezekiel. John never called fire down from heaven like Elijah did. He never parted the Red Sea as Moses did. He did not write a book of the Bible like Isaiah or Ezekiel or even minor prophets like Micah.

That doesn't mean that he was underage Micah. Being a minor prophet just meant shorter book. He didn't write a book.

He didn't do a miracle. But Jesus says of men born of women there has never been a greater than John the Baptist. Why was John the greatest of the Old Testament prophets?

Answer. Because John and John alone was the direct forerunner of Jesus. His greatness came as a result of his closeness to Christ.

And now Jesus drops his bombshell. Verse 11. And he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. What that means is you as a Christian in the New Covenant now are greater than John. You say how could I be greater than John. He was the direct forerunner. He was the voice crying in the wilderness.

I know. But you see you have a relationship with God that John did not have. John was a herald of the king. You are a friend of the king. John was a friend of the bridegroom.

You are the bride of the bridegroom. Right? So this all happened because of the death and resurrection of Christ. So I title this message Jesus and the Doubter.

Jesus and You. Now maybe you are struggling with doubt right now. There is a difference between doubt and unbelief. You know doubt asks questions. Unbelief doesn't want answers. Doubt can be overcome and resolved but unbelief is an act of disobedience. So it is ok to come with your doubts and say Lord I don't get this.

Help me. Like that one guy that said Lord I believe. Help my unbelief. So when you are praying about something you say Lord we are praying for this. We are asking this in the name of Jesus. We are praying about this together. But Lord we are also saying we believe but help our unbelief. Because sometimes our faith is not as strong as it should be. But God understands that. He will more than meet you halfway.

So let's wrap this up now. How did Jesus deal with doubt in the life of John? And how does He want to deal with doubt in our life?

Number one. He refocused John's priorities. He refocused John's priorities. John misunderstood as I said the mission and purpose of the coming of Christ.

And it was true of the disciples as well. He refocused Him. He didn't rebuke Him. He refocused Him. Because the problem with John was not that he was asking too much.

It is that he was asking too little. Hey John I am going to do something even bigger than you are expecting. Overthrow the Romans. I am going to come and establish my kingdom on earth one day. And the righteousness of the Lord will fill the planet.

So it is going to be bigger than anything you ever dreamed. So he refocused his priorities. Secondly he used the scripture or brought John back to the scripture. He took John back to the Bible. Buddy remember what the Bible says. Remember what the prophets say.

You need to go back to the Bible. I cannot say enough about how important the Word of God is for everything in life that you are facing. This is why we need to memorize scripture and know scripture when we fall into that little pit of despair. When we are dealing with hardship.

When we are looking for direction. Really whatever you are going through know the Word of God. And as I have said to you you need to think biblically. So Jesus brings them back to the Bible. Coming back to those two disciples on the Emmaus road. They said to Christ, who again was incognito, we were hoping Jesus would have been the one to deliver Israel. But it has been three days since these events happened. Jesus must have thought oy vey.

Really. Three days. Don't you remember how many times they said I the Son of Man will be betrayed. I will be crucified. And three days later I will rise again. Read my lips. Three days.

But they may have said it has been three days. And then He took them on a guided tour of the Bible and pointed them to all of the passages that pointed to the Messiah's suffering for our sin. So what did He do? He brought them back to the Word of God. And the Bible says as they came to the end of their journey they said, did not our hearts burn within us while He opened the Word on the way.

Number three. Jesus kept right on with this purpose and asked John to not be stumbled or annoyed. He is just saying, just trust me. God never promised He would inform us all about His plan ahead of time. He just promised us that He has one. And ultimately it is for our good and it is for His glory. Let me say that again. God never promised He would inform us all about His plan ahead of time.

He just promised that He has one. And it is ultimately for our good and it is for His glory. I know there are things in life that don't make sense.

I know there are questions that remain unanswered. I know you have times of disappointment as a follower of Jesus. But one day it will all be made clear. And whatever you have lost for the kingdom of God in this life, whatever you have suffered, will be made up to you in the next life.

God has promised that in Scripture. So right now the Bible says, we see through a glass darkly but then face to face. You know it is sort of like someone that has tinted glass on their car and you can't see in. And that is how it is sometimes. We are trying to figure these things out. We squint our eyes. We are trying to see what is taking place and why God is doing it. Another translation of that same verse there in 1 Corinthians 13 says, Paul speaking, I know now in a fragmentary fashion fragmentary fashion but then I will fully known as I am known. I know you have questions you want to ask God. But in that final day when we stand before God we will realize He never sat on His hands because they were nailed to a cross. God is in control.

God is at work. So if you have a doubt you just bring it to Jesus. And that is really to me the big story here. John had his doubts but he brought his doubts to Jesus.

And that is what we need to do. And Jesus wants some more than meet you halfway. He came to this earth. He walked among us. He lived a perfect life.

He died a perfect death. He died on the cross for our sins and He rose again. And now He stands at the door of our life and He knocks and says, if you will hear my voice and open the door I will come in. Sometimes people say, I have a few questions and if you can answer these questions I will become a Christian.

I think many times what we will see is when we become a Christian that is when the questions are answered. Not all of them but I will say this. Most of them. Most of the big ones for sure.

When you enter in to this relationship with God that is available through Jesus Christ. You know I saw an interesting interview the other day between Tucker Carlson and Elon Musk. And what an amazing guy Elon Musk is. You know I just saw a video of one of his rockets landing in some kind of a container of sorts.

I have never seen anything like that before. And all the other things that he has created. The man is an absolute genius. And so Tucker asks Elon, who is an engineer, knows a little bit about creating things. Do you believe in a Creator? And Elon had to say he did believe in a Creator. Of course he would because creators or engineers make things for a purpose. And he realizes that all the things he makes have a purpose and the same must be true of God as well.

But then Elon said, but I don't know that we can really know His nature. But we can. And we must. And that is what I started this message with. Talking about how God is a loving heavenly Father that longs for a relationship with us. A friendship with us. That comes through Christ. So if you have never asked Jesus to come into your life you can do it right here, right now, as we close in prayer.

Let's all pray. Father thank You for sending Jesus to enter our world. God was skin on. You had a face. And we heard You and we saw You. And now You want to enter each of our lives individually. You want a relationship with each of us. And I pray for anybody here, anybody watching this message, wherever they may be, if they don't have a relationship with You let this be the moment they believe. Now while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we are praying together if you would like Jesus Christ to come into your life, if you would like Him to forgive you of your sin, if you would like to know that when you die you will go to heaven, if you want this friendship and relationship with God pray this prayer with me right now. Just pray, Lord Jesus I know that I am a sinner but I know that You are the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. Now come into my life. I choose to follow You from this moment forward. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. God bless each one of you. Hallelujah!