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Sermon
The Gospel of Matthew

What Did You Go to See?

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July 27, 2025
Matthew 11:7-15
Steven Lee
Pastor for Preaching & Vision

The Person of Christ

The Gospel

End Times

Transcript

0:20Would you join me as we pray and ask the Lord for help? Father in heaven, we ask that in the power of your Spirit, you would speak to us through your word this morning for your glory and for our good, we wanna see more of you and more of Christ. And would you act through your word to conform us into the image of your son and by the power of your spirit, help us to encounter you through your word. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

1:01It is often a quiet and subtle experience when one era ends and another begins. It's quiet and subtle when one era ends and another begins. Some of you were around in 1991 when it was the end of the Cold War ending decades of tension between the east and the west, or some of you were around in 2010 with the bankruptcy of Blockbuster, which signaled the end of video rentals and the rise of streaming. End of an era, beginning of another. Or some of you in 2014, Microsoft stopped supporting Windows xp, the most used operating system in history. How many of you used, how many of you used Windows xp? Yes.

1:54That little chime when it turned on in 2022, the death of Queen Elizabeth ended a 70 year reign in Britain. How many of you still remember the last time you held onto a flip phone or a dumb phone? And then now we all have these little computers in our hands. These changes often happen with little fanfare, but life is never the same afterwards. I remember when we first moved here, we had five children, seven and under. And so we were just neck deep in car seats and diapers and brushing teeth. And then they all eventually got outta diapers. Thank God they got outta car seats. And then you just look back and you're like, where?

2:46Where did the time go? Some of you experienced some of those moments. You had an open house for a high school or a college graduate. Some of you older folks, you retired from work or you will retire from work this coming year, or you're becoming empty nesters and things will never be the same. And Jesus is pointing out one of those massive moments for us in our texts this morning, John the Baptist, marks the end of one era in the beginning of another one of the most significant eras in all of human history. So I want us to climb into the context of our passage with me to feel the tension in our text.

3:35So last week we saw that John the Baptist is sitting in prison and he sends these messengers to Jesus and they go to Jesus and they ask, are you the one or are we to wait for another? Are you the Messiah that John has been talking about? And Jesus doesn't just come right out and say it. He gives this puzzling answer where he cites Isaiah and sums up his ministry to reveal his identity. In essence, he says, yes, I am the one. But there's a huge problem. I wonder if you saw it last week. Well, what's the problem? Jesus says nothing about John's situation. He, he doesn't say, John, hang tight. We're we're gonna get you out.

4:21He, he doesn't make a beeline to his prison cell to advocate for his release. Remember when the ruler came to Jesus and says, my daughter is dead. Jesus drops everything, follows him and goes with him. When John sends messengers and says, are, are you the one? 'cause I'm sitting in prison. Jesus doesn't drop everything and go, I, I think the, the question that hangs in the air that the crowds are thinking is, if Jesus won't vindicate, John is John who we thought he was? Is John really who we thought he was a prophet sent by God? Or maybe he was just the charlatan? Don't forget John the Baptist was a really, really big deal.

5:04He's the first prophet in 400 years of silence. 400 years have gone by. There had not been a prophet sent by God. And now John the Baptist comes on the scene out in the wilderness preaching repent and all of his identity, all of the eating of locusts and the camel skin signaled this dude is not normal. This guy is from God. And if Jesus doesn't vindicate John, the question then becomes is Jesus who we thought he was? If John doesn't get vindicated, that calls into question John's identity. But then it also calls into question Jesus' identity. The Jewish people, as you may remember, expected a Messiah that would come on to the scene and destroy all of his enemies, free the Jewish people from Roman occupation and establish them once again as a superpower.

6:07That's what they were waiting for in the Messiah. And so Jesus doesn't, if Jesus doesn't lift a finger to save John, it calls into question everything that these people have known. That's the tension that we should be feeling in our texts this morning. And the questions are, is John truly a prophet? And then who is Jesus? Now our passage reveals that John the Baptist signals the end of this era and the beginning of the kingdom of heaven and this season of salvation. So to put it more simply, the main point is that John signals the arrival of the Messiah, John the Baptist signals the arrival of the Messiah.

6:53And what this text is supposed to do is it's to be a wake up call it, it's like all the signs that we see on the highway when we're driving i i in the twin cities now, uh, construction ahead and slow to 55 and take this detour. It's cluing us in to what's going on. And Jesus is trying to help the crowds and his listeners don't miss the most significant shift that has just taken place in salvation history. If you ignore the signs, the consequences are great. So we're gonna look at our passage in two main parts. First, who was John the Baptist? That's gonna be verses seven to 10. Who was John the Baptist?

7:35And then secondly, why was John the Baptist significant? That's 11 to the end, 11 to 15. Why was John significant? So first we come to, who was John the Baptist? We come to verse seven and it says, as they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John. Jesus knows their thoughts and I I imagine that John's disciples are walking away, their heads are hanging low. Jesus didn't say anything about getting John out. What are we gonna tell him? And Jesus knows what they're thinking. And then he challenges them three different times. Look at the second half of verse seven. What did you go out in the wilderness to see a reed shaken by the wind?

8:19Uh, the implicit answer is no. And it could be two different meanings here. The people did not go out to the wilderness to admire the scenery. Uh, they didn't make that long journey to look at the scenery. But the, the reed shaken by the wind actually signifies it's a symbol for a man who would've otherwise been fickle or had his finger to the wind like those politicians like a particular governor in California, right? I'm for this. And then all of a sudden, several months later, I'm for that he's preparing for his presidential bid. And what Jesus is saying, John was not this politician putting his finger to the wind, figuring out which way it would blow.

8:58This man was bold and he was calling people to repentance. And then he goes in verse eight, well, what did you go out to see a man dressed in soft clothing? Answer, no. Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in king's houses. So men wearing soft clothing are lounging in palaces. In other words, John is not royalty. He, he's not this kind of sophisticated and refined sort of man. If you were looking for that type of man, you were looking in the wrong place. John was no professor waxing eloquently from his ivory tower debating the nuances of the Levitical code. John was not clothed in this velvet robe while servants were feeding him grapes.

9:45Instead, he was wearing a camel's skin. He was a severe and austere prophet eating locusts and wild honey. He was no yes man. Verse nine. Well what then did you go out to see a prophet? Yes, I tell you more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written. And then Jesus quotes, Malachi three, one, behold I send my messenger before your face. Who will prepare your way before you? So this is the expected answer that John the Baptist in indeed was a prophet sent by God later in Matthew 14. It says, even Herod feared the people because they held John to be a prophet. Now, why does Jesus quote Malachi three one, if you want to turn there, you can.

10:40It's just the previous book right before Matthew in the Old Testament, the last book of the Old Testament in our English bibles. It's the last of the book of the 12 or what we affectionately call the minor prophets. And Malachi takes place after the exile and it's mainly a book full of judgment. It's foreshadowing and prophesying of this awful and terrible day of the Lord before it comes. And why is this judgment coming? Well, the people dishonor God by offering blind, sick and lame animals as a sacrifice thinking that God doesn't know God's name was being profaned and Yahweh is going to come.

11:21God Almighty was gonna come and judge Israel like a refiner's fire or like Fuller's soap. And so Jesus quotes Malachi three, one in Matthew which says, again, behold, I send my messenger before your face. Who will prepare your way before you? So what's going on? This is a God sent messenger. Later on in Malachi chapter four verse five, it clarifies, who is this messenger? It says, behold, I will send you Elijah, the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord. So Jesus quotes mal high three one in order to say John the Baptist is not just any old prophet, he is the greatest prophet. And in fact, he is the messianic forerunner who prepares the way of God.

12:17God Almighty prepares the way for Yahweh. So John was not merely a prophet, but the forerunner of the Messiah. And not only that, John is not just the forerunner of the prophesied about Messiah, but John's coming is prophesied as well. You see that? So who was drawn the Baptist? He's a prophet sent by God, but he's more than a prophet. He is the promised and prophesied forerunner of the Messiah. He's the one that Malachi three one is talking about and he's this turning point of history. But I want you to notice something. Jesus quotes Malachi slightly differently than the way it shows up in the original in Malachi three, one.

13:07If you go to Malachi three one, you can see that. And uh, I think Jesus is doing something very intentional here. So I'm gonna read Malachi three one and then I'm gonna read Matthew 1110, the second half of that. And notice the difference of what he says. See if you can just figure it out. Malachi three, one reads, behold I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me. And in this prophecy, it's Yahweh speaking God Almighty. And he's sending a messenger to prepare the way before himself before me. But now let's look at Matthew 1110. What does Jesus say? He says, behold I send my messenger before your face.

13:55Who will prepare your way before you. You see that shift, it goes from before me to before you. So Jesus takes a passage about the messenger preparing the way for Yahweh God almighty, and he applies it to himself and he says, this messenger is going before me. He's gonna prepare the way before you. Yahweh is speaking to Jesus. And what is the payoff here? It's that I am the perfect man manifestation of Yahweh. I am God almighty. That's what Jesus is trying to get us to see. It's not mainly about John, John is the prophetic forerunner to the Messiah. Not only am I the messiah, but I'm God in the flesh.

14:47That's what you shouldn't miss. Jesus is not mainly making a big deal about John. He must de decrease. I must increase. And not only is John the prophetic forerunner, not only does he pave the way for the Messiah, not only am I the messiah who's come, but I'm God who's come to dwell among his people. It's remarkable what Jesus is saying here in this passage. John is merely a signpost and a pointer to Jesus, the Messiah, the perfect manifestation of God Almighty. This is the greatest moment in history. It marks the end of an era and the beginning of God's dealings with mankind through the person and the work of Jesus.

15:39Now we come to the second question verses 11 to 14. Why was John significant? Why was John significant? Look at verse 11. Jesus says, truly I say to you, among those born of women, there has not arisen. No there has arisen. No one greater than John the Baptist, yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. Huh? It sounds like he's saying John is the greatest man who's ever lived, greatest man, born of woman, and yet the least in the kingdom is greater than he. What are we to make of what Jesus is saying here? Well, uh, I I think what he's saying is that John is the climax of the old covenant and he's the springboard into the new covenant.

16:30So, uh, let's see this. So all the prophets culminate in John the Baptist. You see that in verse 13 where it says, for all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. So he's saying all of the prophets in the Old Testament. And then I think the reference to the law is Moses, all of those guys in the Old Testament were pointing forward to one thing and they culminate in John the Baptist. They pointed forward to the Messiah. But John serves as the immediate forerunner to the Messiah, which makes him the greatest. So John's proximity and placement in salvation history make him the greatest prophet of all time.

17:14Did you see that John's proximity and placement in salvation history make him the greatest? Now the puzzling question is how can the least in the kingdom be greater than John? If John's the greatest, I think Jesus is making the point that even the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John because they will see more clearly and experience more fully all the privileges and benefits of the kingdom. They will see more clearly and experience more fully all the privileges and benefits of the kingdom. Let, let, let me see if I can show you this. So John comes in the as the greatest prophet and a long line of prophets.

18:00He is the most privileged place in salvation history. He prepares the way of the Messiah, but everyone who comes afterwards, even the lowest person in this new established kingdom will be greater than John because of what they see and because of what they benefit from what they experience. It's a little bit like the debates of who's the goat. The goat stands for the greatest of all time. And the debates take place in sports all the time, right? And all the old people say, it was the guy from my era and all the young people say, no, it's this current day person, right? So who, who's the greatest? Who's the goat?

18:39Uh, bill Russell or Michael Jordan or LeBron James? Is it Joe Montana or Tom Brady? Is it Pele? Marna Messi or Ronaldo? Is it Tiger Woods or Jack Nicholas? And the reason these debates go on and on is because the game changes over time. The rules change over time. They introduce the three point line, the technology changes, the clubs the tiger's using are different than what Jack Nicholas was using. The rules change in, in essence, they played in different eras. And in a sense Jesus is saying that John was the goat of the former era, he was so great. But what I'm establishing is so much greater, so much more wonderful that the goat of the old covenant will look like the lowest bench player in this new kingdom.

19:30Why? Because Christ's new kingdom is so much more amazing, so much greater, the benefits that we will receive and experience makes this former era pale in comparison. So the comparison is not between individuals. It's not saying that each one of us is personally greater than John. It's saying that all those in this era are greater than even the greatest of that former era. It's not because we're great because Jesus is great and what he's established is so amazing. So everything was building forward, looking forward to the Messiah. All the saints in the Old Testament waited and walked by faith.

20:20All the prophets of the past culminated in John and John is this arrow right at the end, the spotlight right on Jesus. And he says he must increase. This is the lamb of God who's come to take away the sins of the world. He must increase. I must decrease. I am not the Christ. He says that twice in Luke's gospel or John's gospel, excuse me. No one supersedes John's importance at this pivot point in history. And yet the kingdom of heaven is so much greater that even the lowest is going to be greater than the greatest prophet who ever lived. It's like this. Imagine that the entire world's internet goes down.

21:05We would, our life would come to a standstill. No 5G, no fiber optic, no high speed internet at all. Not on your phone, not on your computer, not on all your smart appliances, nothing. Everyone goes back to dial up the buzzing AOLs. You've got mail, right? And some of you, pretty much everyone younger than me has no idea what I'm talking about. But this is where internet would take minutes to just even get on the internet. And then it would take minutes to download one high resolution image. You would, you know, check your mail, leave, make yourself a sandwich, come back, go make yourself another sandwich, come back, and then finally you would get your mail.

21:48It's the difference between qua crawling on your hands and knees to get to Chicago versus flying on a jet plane that that's the comparison. Anyone with high speed internet would run circles around those using dial up. There's just no comparison between the two. That's what Jesus is saying. The kingdom of heaven is so incomparably great that even the least is greater than even the greatest man, the greatest prophet to have ever walked the earth. Why? Because we new covenant believers have died with Christ. We've risen with Christ, we've received the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, and we have the testimony of the scriptures and we get to read about his life, his death, his resurrection, his ascension.

22:35He seated at the right hand of the Father and he rules and reigns from on high. And everyone in the Old Testament was just looking forward through a glass dimly thinking. I, I think it's coming. I think it's coming. Uh, I think there's a messiah on the way. I think he's gonna do something great. We don't know what it is, but I've been told it's gonna be good. And we have all of those glories this morning. Now verse 12 is a puzzling verse. Verse 12 has many interpretations. Let me read it for us. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence and the violent take it by force.

23:18What does that mean? There's lots of different interpretations for this and it hinges on how we understand the word violence and violent. And essentially there's four ways you can understand it. It's entirely positive. So you take violence and violent in a positive sense, which means God forcefully advances his kingdom and the disciples forcefully take hold of it. Or it could be entirely negative. So the kingdom suffers violence like persecution and violent people like enemies plunder it or some combination where the first one is positive, the second one's negative or the first one's uh, negative.

24:03And the second one is positive. Now I'm just gonna tell you what I think it is. I think it's best to understand it as primarily negative meaning the kingdom of heaven suffers the violence of persecution, which would've been sort of the context of what Jesus has been talking about. And the violent take it by force, which means that there are folks like the scribes and the Pharisees and even Herod that's imprisoned John. They're gonna seek to attack this kingdom. And the reason for this is the Greek word that's translated as violence or violent is overwhelmingly negative. It means to attack or to dominate or to constrain.

24:41And so if we understand it this way, it means that Jesus is saying that the kingdom of God has suffered violence such as persecution, John's imprisonment, he's going to be executed and there's violent people who will seek to pl it. And what he's doing is he, he's showing us sort of this paradoxical kingdom. He had just said the the least in this kingdom will be greater than the former kingdom and yet this kingdom will be marked by suffering, persecution and some of its greatest prophets will even be put to death like John. So it, it means that there's this kind of weird experience in this already not yet kingdom.

25:30This new kingdom that Jesus is establishing is so much greater like we just rehearsed. We've been brought into union with Christ. We have the indwelling power of the Spirit. We get to experience all of the blessings and benefits of this kingdom. And all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. You may be killed for your faith. People will indeed hate you. It does not go forth and dominate all of its enemies quite the same way that we would think. And so Jesus has just stated how great and amazing and wonderful this kingdom is, and yet it will be marked by violence, suffering, persecution and enemies.

26:15Verse 13 and 14, drive home Jesus' point for all the prophets and the law prophesied until John and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. In other words, the prophets pointed forward to Jesus, but how are the prophets treated? People loved them, carried them on their shoulders, gave them riches. No people hated the prophets. They were speaking for God and often they were hated and they were killed and that's how God's people were treated. And he's saying they've prophesied, they were in this long line and John comes as the culmination of that. And the hard saying is this, I'm not gonna get John out.

27:00John's gonna die. He's gonna, he's gonna be executed because that's what all the people are wondering. Are you gonna get him out? He's in prison. He, he was sending guys to ask Jesus, are you the one or are you gonna do what we think you're gonna do? Make Israel great again, right? That's what they were waiting for, dominate the Romans, destroy all our enemies. And Jesus says, this kingdom will be far greater than you could possibly imagine. And yet John staying in jail, he's gonna be killed. And so will the Messiah.

27:40John the Baptist is the turning point in history. Things will never be the same. After John the age of the prophets has ended, the law is fulfilled. He's the forerunner to the Messiah. And then he goes and makes it clear in verse 14. And if you're willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. So what he said earlier, when quoting Malachi three, one, he now makes explicit Malachi four, five, where it says Elijah is coming before this great and awful day of the Lord is come. That was John, he is Elijah. Now he's not Elijah brought back from the dead, which is what some asked him in John 1 21.

28:24They say, are you Elijah? And and John says No. And what he means is, I'm not Elijah brought back from the dead, but rather what Luke one 17 says, he comes, he's a prophet who comes in the spirit and the power of Elijah who prepares the way of the Messiah. In in modern vernacular we would say he is the man, he's him. John is the mess, the forerunner to the Messiah. Now if you see there's this conditional phrase, if you are willing to accept it, it doesn't mean if you're not willing to accept it, it's not true. It's what it's saying. It's a condition of fact, which means even if you don't accept it, it's still true, but then you'll miss it.

29:06John is Elijah. And what Jesus means is if you have eyes to see, John is the one who is prophesied in Malachi four, five. And you should be able to do the simple math from there. John equals Elijah, John equals forerunner to the Messiah, which means Jesus is the Messiah. That's what Jesus ultimately wants them to see. He's using John precisely the way he should be used. He's a forerunner to highlight the Messiah. And Jesus is saying, I'm standing right in your myths and you're missing it. You're wondering about John and whether he's going to get out. And here I am the Messiah standing in the flesh.

29:56Later on in Matthew chapter 17, Jesus will refer back to the people's blindness. This is Matthew 17, 12 and 13. He says, but I tell you that Elijah has already come. 'cause they were like, well, doesn't Elijah come before the Messiah? And he says, I tell you, Elijah has already come that did not recognize him, but did to him. Whatever they pleased. Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist. So why was John significant? That's our second question. He's the forerunner of the Messiah. And so here we have this great man, the greatest man of that generation, the prophet sent by God the first prophet in 400 years, the one prophesied in Malachi three, one and four, five.

30:44The second coming in a sense of Elijah, the prophet who's come to pave the way for the Messiah and he's sitting in jail and he's gonna die in jail. It's hard to believe. And yet here is the unexpected kingdom that Jesus is establishing. And our text concludes with verse 15. He who has ears to hear, let him hear the truly. Back in verse 11, and this closing phrase here, I think Jesus is highlighting the difficulty of his teaching. It's almost proverb like, it's a little bit cryptic. That's why when we've read this before, maybe in the past we're like, oh, what does that mean? That John's the greatest and yet the greatest in the kingdom, the least in the kingdom is greater than him.

31:28There's almost this kind of cryptic parable like element to Jesus teaching here. In, in other words, he's saying this is a hard teaching. The greatest prophet who's come to pave the way for the Messiah is going to stay in jail and die. And so will the Messiah. Uh, 'cause the people still at this point did not understand Jesus' final and ultimate mission to die for the sins of the world. Even though John said, behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. When Jesus says, I have to go to the cross. What does disciples say? No, no, no, never. You can't talk like that. Jesus says, get behind me Satan.

32:10You don't understand what I'm supposed to do, my purpose and my mission. And so these concluding words I is like saying you better listen up it. It's mainly Jesus revealing his own identity here in these verses were to read this passage, see through John to Jesus the Messiah, Yahweh in the flesh, he's an arrow pointing to Christ. And Jesus is the Christ. He's the Messiah. So what, what do we do with this? I have two applications for us. The first is that we are to pay attention, excuse me, pay attention to Jesus identity as the Messiah we're to pay attention to Jesus' identity as the Messiah. When I first moved from San Diego to Minneapolis, this was back in 2008, uh, we lived in this, uh, downtown Minneapolis on 26th and Blazedale in this four story building.

33:14And we lived on the top floor in this brownstone apartment. And one afternoon I remember hearing this weird sound and then the sky looked ominous and the trees were swaying and the hail was falling and there was rain and lightning and thunder. And so I went to the window to admire this and I was like, what's that sound? Well, lo and behold, it's a tornado siren, right? We have those things here. And instead of going to the window, you're supposed to go into the basement. But little did I know, I didn't understand the sign of the times. This text is that tornado siren going off. John the Baptist is Elijah prophesied in the Old Testament and he prepares the way for the Messiah.

33:58And if you miss John, you're gonna miss Jesus. And if you see John as he is supposed to be seen, then you'll see Jesus. And unfortunately the crowds, they're all hung up on John and they miss the fact that he is who he is. He is who he said he would be. And Jesus is who he is. Jesus is indeed the Messiah. And unfortunately fault. Far too many in our world cannot read the signs of the times. Uh, there may be some here in our gathering this morning. You look out at creation, we love going to our state parks and beholding these waterfalls and leaves and everything else. And we know that creation testifies to a creator and yet we reject it.

34:50Or maybe there are some who suspect perhaps the Bible has one cohesive message and yet you refuse to read it, rather nitpicking at things that you think are contradictory. You can sense that the world's answers don't bring any lasting satisfaction, and yet you refuse to submit to King Jesus. That if you think long and hard enough, you, you know that you have this, what we call often, this God shaped vacuum where you're longing for some sort of satisfaction and yet the world's treasures don't satisfy it, that only Jesus can satisfy that. And this passage is warning those who have not yet trusted in Christ, come, repent, believe, submit, see John, but then do the math.

35:40John's Elijah Jesus is the Messiah. And if he's the Messiah, he's the one who determines our eternal destiny. And all we need to do what we must do is repent and believe and surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. That is what we desperately need this morning, is to read the signs that our work in this text today can be the day of salvation. Second application is that we would just marvel at our place in God's redemptive plan, Marvel at your place in God's redemptive plan. So John's identity as Elijah not only awakens us to Jesus' identity as the Messiah, but Jesus' identity as the Messiah is to awaken New Testament believers to the amazing privileges that we have as members of this kingdom right now.

36:42So often we can go through life complaining, grumbling, just wishing we, we could go back to the good old days. And yet we fail to realize we are living in the best days and in fact, we're living in the last days. It's a little bit like this sometimes I, well, not sometimes every year I try to strong arm my small group into going camping together. Um, and it's not because I love camping. I actually don't really like it. My kids don't like it. Um, but shared suffering creates shared memories, right? So you get to bond, you get to complain. Remember how those mosquitoes were really bad or you know, so and so's shoe fell in the fire And after two days without walls, without real clean bathrooms, without a kitchen sink, without your bed, your Tempur-Pedic and temperature controlled indoor plumbing and a kitchen in a fridge, all of that, you get home and what do you do?

37:38You think we have it so good? We have it so good. That's what I want my kids to feel. You're so blessed to have this home. And in the same way because of what Christ has done, because we are now living in the greatest time. We have it so good. What are those privileges? What are those benefits that we have received in Christ? We see the unfolding of God's plan of redemption. We're not in the Old Testament wondering and waiting and saying, when will the Messiah come? But we see him in the flesh. We see him as revealed, which is even better actually than seeing it in the flesh. These are the things which angels long to look into.

38:25We've obtained our forgiveness of sins. Jesus has risen again from the dead. And in our death with him, we rise again with him. All those who have been called will be justified. And if you've been justified, you will be increasingly sanctified. And all those who are increasingly being sanctified into the image of Jesus will be glorified. We will dwell with Jesus in heaven for ever. We know that without a shadow of a doubt because we see the scriptures and we believe in him. We see the unfolding of the mystery of salvation. We see Jesus seated at the right hand of the Father and he makes intercession for us.

39:10And he says, come to the throne of grace with confidence and boldness. Don't hold back. Old Testament saints wouldn't dare go into the holy of Holies. They would be struck down and we can casually waltz right into the throne room and say, Jesus, I need your help. We have such glorious and amazing privileges in Christ Jesus. Don't be inoculated to these wondrous, glorious, don't go and and just think, yeah, I guess it's okay. Being a Christian, we have some of the greatest privileges and experiences ever. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Your shame and your guilt is washed away.

40:02Nothing stands against you, nothing condemns you. When Satan brings his accusation against you and says, that's a sinner, you can't let him in. Jesus, across your record of debt is stamped, paid. We now have the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, dwells within us and enables us to now walk in newness of life. You can brothers and sisters put off sin because Jesus dwells within us by the power of his spirit. And we can walk in holiness. We are not powerless to sin. We conquer sin and we are more than conquers in and through Jesus Christ. So we are living in the age of salvation in these last days and brothers and sisters, we have it so, so good.

41:07He who has ears to hear. Let 'em hear. Let's pray. Father, oh, that we would be those who hear and not just hear with our ears, but that we would behold with our eyes and delight with our hearts. Oh, precious is the blood of Jesus. Thank you for sending John who was pointing to Jesus. And thank you for sending Jesus the perfect manifestation of God Almighty. And thank you for the life and salvation and hope that we have in Him. Oh, may we walk in that truth this morning and delight ourselves all the more in Jesus. And Jesus is alone. We pray in his name. Amen.

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Sermon Text

Matthew 11:7-15

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