Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. In our passage today, we're going to deal with a man. Who had He was a great man, a wonderful man. A man who had a unique ministry in the redemptive purposes of the gospel. We've met this man before.
His name? Is John The Baptist. Welcome to the verdict with Pastor John Monroe, Senior Pastor at Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Some people are surprised to think that even strong believers can experience doubt. but doubt can play an important role in strengthening your faith. Today we'll see how Jesus handles the doubts of a great man. and we'll learn that he is well able to handle your doubts. Here's Pastor John Monroe with his message, a great man doubts.
Have you had any doubts about the Christian faith? Have you ever doubted if the Bible is really the Word of God? Have you ever wondered if Jesus physically and bodily rose from the dead? Is He really God incarnate? There are probably few of us who have never had these types of doubts.
Sometimes our faith is strong. but at other times it wavers and falters. And these doubts arise. Yet doubts can be helpful. if they cause us humbly to look for answers.
Last time we thought of John the Baptist who was imprisoned. and he questions if Jesus is the Messiah. I love how Jesus responds to the disciples of John. When they bring these doubts to Jesus, let's continue to learn about this great man. Who doubts?
Think of all of the great men and women of the Old Testament. Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Rachel and Ruth and Moses and King David himself But John is greater than all. of them. What a commendation. recommendation.
You say, In what way? Is John the Baptist greater than all of the other prophets. In what way is he better than a prophet? He prepares the way for Jesus. Yes, the prophets made prophecies.
Through their types and shadows, that is true. But when John comes, he points directly Two. The Christ. He points directly to Jesus and says, now that one is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin. Of the world.
He is the unique forerunner of Jesus who points everyone to God's salvation, and in that way, he is greater than all of his predecessors. Do you get the point? What a privilege John had. Remember, it said of him, he's filled with the spirit from his mother's womb. And this is the man.
who now has doubts. And then Jesus says something remarkable. Almost unbelievable did you catch it. Let me read verse 11 again. Truly I say to you, among those born of women, there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.
Yet the one, listen to this, the one who is the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. In what way? Is the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven, greater than John the Baptist.
Well, John is the end of the law and the prophets. Verse 13, for all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. John is at the end of the age. The end of the age of the prophets and the law. John stands at the transition of the old age and the new age.
He stands at the point of transition between the old covenant and the new covenant. Yes, but with the coming of Jesus... What have we been learning? What has Matthew been teaching us? With the coming of Jesus, something radical.
Something totally different has come. The new wine. has come. A new age has dawned, the age of the kingdom of God, an age which will never end. The eternal kingdom of God has come in the person of Jesus.
What does it mean? When John said, and Jesus said, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Why? Because Jesus is the king. He is King Jesus, not only King of the Jews, but King of kings and Lord of Lords.
And the new covenant. is greater than the old covenant. Those in the new covenant. Who's in the new covenant? This is encouraging, isn't it?
If you're an authentic follower, of Jesus. You are in the new. Covenant. And that we are adopted into God's family. that we are empowered by the Holy Spirit.
And think of this. We witness. With even greater clarity than John, that Jesus is the Lamb of God. Why? Because we're on the other side of Calvary and we have the fullness of revelation which John didn't have.
We know. That the Lord Jesus Christ Yes, John said he's going to take away the sin of the world. We know that through his death, his burial, and resurrection, he has taken away the sin of the world. And that we who have responded to this magnificent offer of salvation in Jesus, entirely of grace, we enter into that kingdom. That kingdom which will last forever and ever, and in that way.
We are greater than John the Baptist, even if you're the simplest, the least in the kingdom of heaven. In some churches, someone would shout, hallelujah. You're grasping this, brothers. In the fullness of revelation, we know what Jesus has done. and is doing for us.
And we who are his disciples, we are the light. pointing people to Christ. What an incredible privilege that we have. that through the grace of God, we are greater than John the Baptist. And what is our task?
Yes, to be a light, to shine for Christ. To point people and say to people, here is our magnificent Savior, the only Savior of the world. Is there opposition? Of course there's opposition. We saw that in the last two weeks from John chapter 10.
There's great opposition.
Some of you have experienced that perhaps this week as you've shared your faith, that people reject you, that people ridicule you, that people say no, all kinds of things. Did you notice verse 12? From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. Yes, there is violent opposition of evil seeking to take the kingdom by violence. It's under attack.
Yes, and that violence will continue. John himself It's soon going to be executed. through the whim of a of a dancing girl. John's voice, the magnificent voice that cried out in the wilderness, his head is going to be cut off. His message is going to be silenced.
The kingdom of God is suffering violence. And of course, our Lord Jesus Christ is going to be taken by evil hands, is going to go through a mockery of a trial, is going to be beaten, is going to be scourged, is going to be spat on, and eventually he's going to be crucified. Yes, the kingdom suffers violence, but the kingdom shall prevail. Jesus says, the very gates of hell shall not prevail against her. Then what's the crowd's response?
How do people respond to this? Rather sadly, isn't it? Verse sixteen. 319. But to what shall I compare this generation as the generation that's listening to Jesus?
It's like people, children. sitting in the market place and calling to their playmates. We played the flute for you. And you did not dance. We sang a dirge and you did not mourn.
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say he has a demon. The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Look at him, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners, yet wisdom is justified by her deeds. The crowds respond.
Some people are just never satisfied, are they? The generation of Jesus is likened to children playing a game in the marketplace. And they play the flute. But people don't dance. They sing a dirge, people don't mourn.
They don't want to dance, they don't want to mourn. What's the point? Je John is the ascetic. He's living in a desert eating locusts and wild honey. People criticized him for that and said he went so far as to say he had a demon.
And Jesus is different. On the other hand, Jesus, the Son of Man, comes eating and drinking, they say. And the crowds criticize him. As a Drunkard. As a glove.
They criticize John because of the way he lives and they criticize Jesus in the way he lives. Uh John is a Is a withdrawn individual. Jesus is a friend of tax collectors and sinners. People object to John's austere message of repentance and object to Jesus' message of grace and compassion and love and celebration.
Some people are always finding fault, aren't they?
Some people will never ever be satisfied. Whatever you say to them, however you explain the gospel, there's still criticism and. This was true even then. But wisdom Verse 19, wisdom. Is justified by her deeds.
That is, we see the reality of wisdom, of truth, by the actions of John and Jesus. A band has dots. Let me ask you do what do you buy Your doubts. Do you have doubts? about Jesus.
How is he described here? He's described here as the Messiah. He's described here as the great teacher. Verse 15: He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Listen to the words of Jesus, reflect on that, and see him in action.
He heals, he raises the dead. And furthermore, although he's mighty in power, Although he's God incarnate and can, with our spoken words, bring peace to the lake, yet also. He's a friend. Of tax collectors and senators. I don't know if we have anyone from the IRS.
Here? If They are, you probably want to keep anonymous. I don't know if we've had any tax collectors, but I do know. That we have a big bunch of sinners here today. And there's a lot of sinners listening on live stream.
Think of this. Almighty God, the holy God. is described as a friend. of sinners. We sometimes sing what a friend we have in Jesus.
It's one thing to know someone. It's one thing to work with someone. It's another thing to be described as a friend of so-and-so. Think of this. Jesus is My friend, You say, John, we know you.
You're far from perfect. That's right. It's true. I'm a sinful man. But Jesus is my friend.
And this is the message of the gospel. But God comes to us. and loves us. You have your doubts. Your faith falters.
You fall into sin sometimes. You're a corrupt tax collector. You're uh Devious business person? Listen. Jesus is a friend of tax collectors.
and sinners. And he loves. you He loves you. But you. Sitting over there, he Jesus loves you.
Isn't that wonderful? and that Jesus certainly, certainly loved. His friends. John. The Baptist, what are you to do?
You're to receive him as your Saviour. You have to realize that he did die for your sins, and if you are a follower of Christ, afresh to embrace him. What was John's basic problem? I think you know what it was. It's the same problem we have.
When doubts and fears and anxieties and worries come into our lives. I mean, there was John. One could have excused him if he was so. Pitying. And one could have excused him if he was a little bitter.
Well, what do you do? What am I to do when these doubts and fears and anxieties? And worries coming into our lives. I I'm reading that because of COVID and other things, the the level of anxiety in our society has gone up. Have you noticed how fearful people are?
Even of COVID-19, there's a rational kind of fear, yes. We understand. It is certainly a disease and we're to be careful, but to live in fear? The Christian to live in fear? What's the problem with us?
While we spend more time talking about our problems. and looking at our tough problems. Rather than hearing, Jesus and looking at Jesus. What was our Lord's answer? His basic answer To John's disciples.
Again, verse four. Go and tell John. What you? Here And see. That's the answer.
That's the answer to your doubts. That's the answer, brother, to these fears that you have, that anxiety that is gripping you, that keeps you awake at night. This is the answer. Hear Jesus. But listen.
to Jesus. Open his word and listen to his voice and get your eyes not off. Not on your tough circumstances, not on the darkness, not on the prison, not on the injustice and the unfairness of it all. Yes, life is often unfair, life is often unjust. That is true, but this is the Christian response.
Hear Jesus. And listen to Jesus. Will you do that? The human driver of a dog swed team. has an interesting relationship with these dogs.
You've seen these dog slayer teams. With the man. I've never been on one, but it must be magnificent. And he's got... Say half a dozen dogs.
And his relationship with these dogs is an intriguing one because the dogs know if a storm is coming, they can sense it. Uh the dogs know if they're being followed. The dog know knows If a an animal has gone over the trail even a day or two before. But there's a lot they don't know. When they leave home, These dogs Think of this.
They don't know whether they're going to go a mile. Five miles. Ten males. Thirty miles, a hundred miles. Runners, can you imagine you're just running and you don't know how long it's you're going to run?
Without it cross country, we we knew was about five or six miles. You're going to run, but I can't imagine just saying, well, you're going to run and you're going to keep on running. That's exactly what the dogs do. They keep running. and running and running and running.
And there's no way that the that the human driver can say to the dogs, now today, we're gonna take it easy, we just want you to, it's only gonna be a mile or two. No, the dogs have no idea, but they keep running and they keep running and they keep running. See the dogs have to trust. The driver. There's that relationship between the dogs.
and demand. And life We don't know what lies ahead. John didn't know what lay ahead. He's going to get his head. Qadof, he didn't know that at this time.
You don't know what lies ahead. And you don't know the speed with which events in our lives will unfold. Isn't it true that something can happen very, very quickly in our life? Just in a split second, your life can be turned upside down. And sometimes it takes a few weeks or months.
We just don't know the speed with which events unfold in our life. And we certainly don't know how far it is to the finish line. You don't know how long you're going to live, and I don't know how long I'm going to live. I don't know if the Lord Jesus is going to come today or is going to come in 100 years. I believe it's very soon, but I don't know.
That caused Not for doubts. Not for fears. but for trusting. our magnificent Saviour. He has infinite wisdom.
Infinite strength. And he is my friend. He loves me, and he loves you intimately more than any other human beings. And around you today, Things may be very, very dark. As John felt in that dark dungeon.
I couldn't imagine spending a day or two in that dungeon, far less being thrown into it. No light, no sentence given. You're just there. You don't know what's gonna happen. And then the darkness.
And the problems of life and the injustices of life. And the health and family difficulties that come into all of our lives. Doubts, anxieties. And fears are very normal, aren't they? He was a great man who doubts.
Proof here. in a problem hasn't cried out to God and Said why? and question God. What what's the answer? Here Jesus.
Go tell John what you hear. And see. Dear Jesus. See Jesus. He's in control and all is well.
Do you hear me? God is in control. The Lord Jesus is in control. There is no need to panic. There is no need to fear.
If you're a follower of Jesus Christ, your life is in the hands of God. Precious hands. Powerful hands, loving hands, do not fear. And nowhere. Honours.
Do we hear and see? Jesus more fully more intimately More joyfully. more trusting fully. Is that a word? Then here.
At the Lord's Table. We come. To the table of the Lord. What are we doing? We're listening to Jesus.
Do this. In remembrance of me, we're looking at Jesus, looking to Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith. I need to get my eyes off these difficulties, they'll depress me, they'll cause fear, they'll cause anxiety. I need to hear Jesus, I need to look up, and I need once again to hear what John says: behold. The Lamb of God.
Who takes away the sin. of the world. Will you behold? Let me bow. In prayer.
Perhaps Not perhaps. I know some of you. have never yet come to Christ. Will you come to him? A friend, a saviour, a redeemer.
The Lord God triumphant over the grave. Will you come to him? And trust them. Others of you are believers in Jesus Christ, but You need afresh to hear from Jesus. You need to hear his words.
This old hymn. One is all to take it to heart. Just as I am though tossed about. With many conflicts Many doubt that's John the Baptist, tossed about. with many conflict, many doubt.
Fighting and fears within, without. O Lamb of God. I come. I come. I'm going to pray.
Father. We do thank you. for our Saviour. May all of us. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin.
of the world. In Christ's name we pray. Am I going to be able to do it? This is the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. There's still more to hear when John returns in just a moment, so stay with us.
From matters of truth and identity, to the subjects of love and grace, our world seems more confused than ever. but to find truth and certainty about who we are and find peace, we must turn our attention away from the world and look to the Word of God. To help you do that, John wrote a booklet titled Eternal Security, Finding Certainty in a Chaotic World. Through this special resource, John shares his personal testimony, along with a careful examination of Scripture, to offer us clarity on matters of eternity. Get your copy today by visiting our website at theverdict.org.
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Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? I found, as you probably have, That the more we focus on our difficult circumstances and the disappointments in our lives, the greater our doubts. But the more we focus on Jesus, the more we read His Word, the stronger our faith becomes. If you have some doubts today, don't despair. There are answers for your doubts.
Look to the word of God, speak with a wise friend, pray for wisdom. and bring your doubts to Jesus. These doubts can act in a positive way to strengthen your faith. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies.
Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
