He said this, when we preach messages that discuss some biblical character, we do not come together to sit in judgment on that character. But rather, we through the lessons learned on that character, come together to sit in judgment upon ourselves. So this morning, I want us to tenderly consider John the Baptist. Tenderly considering because our Lord tenderly considered him. You know, it's interesting, I told our folks at Maranatha several months ago, I'd read a little article, a little story about an auto mechanic and a heart surgeon that were carrying on a conversation. And the auto mechanic said to the heart surgeon, you know, I really don't see that big of a difference between your job and my job, I work on engines, you work on people's hearts. I do everything you do. I open it up, I correct the timing, I change the valves, replace the seals, etc., etc. But how come you get paid so much more than I do?" And the heart surgeon thought for a minute and he looked at the auto mechanic and he said, try doing that while the motor is running. You know, I think it's important for us when we evaluate someone's life to do it from their shoes. And so I want us to look at the life of John the Baptist this morning. Tenderly consider him as our Lord considered him. And I want to address the subject, dealing with doubt. Dealing with doubt. Doubt is crippling for the believer, whether it's in regards to your salvation or your call to the ministry And for many Christian young people, especially those who've been born into a Christian home, saved at a young age, and have basically been fed a second generation Christianity until it becomes their own, many of them may doubt the truth of it all. Many doubt the old paths, especially in light of the criticisms of modern methods the new approaches, the purpose-driven models. But do you know there's a reason the old paths are old? It's because they've been around a long time. And it's because through the venue of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, they've been proven for centuries to work. But sadly, many struggle with them. I want you to see this morning. In dealing with doubt, you must deal with it. You must deal with it. You can't afford for it to go unchecked in your life. It will cripple you as a believer. I don't care what your doubt is about. I don't care if it's about your salvation. I don't care if it's about your call to the ministry, or the truth of it all, or the old paths. You must deal with it. Let's pray. Father, guide our hearts this morning as we look into Your Word. I pray that as we take in hand, Lord, the life of one of Your greatest servants, John the Baptist. I ask that You would help us above everything else to sit in judgment of ourselves. Lord, one of the great lessons You've taught me lately when I preach on Bible characters is that one of these days I will meet these men, and I want to have handled them in my preaching as You would handle them. But I pray more than anything else today that whatever area of doubt someone here may be struggling with, You would, through Your Word, give them comfort. Give them the strength and the courage to deal with it. In Jesus' name we ask it. Amen. In dealing with the doubt, the first thing I want us to see this morning is you must understand some of the causes of doubt. What is it that causes doubt? In the Lord Jesus Christ and the story of John the Baptist, very clearly laid out. Let's read verse number 1 through 6, and then we'll go back and take a peek at verse number 2. And it came to pass, verse number 1, when Jesus had made an end of commanding His disciples, He departed the fence to teach and to preach in their cities. Now when John had heard in prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said unto him, Art thou he that should come? Or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached unto them. And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me." The causes of doubt. Dealing with doubt, you must first of all recognize the causes of doubt. Notice verse number 2. Now, when John had heard in the prison, the first cause of doubt I want us to see this morning is the cause of difficulty. Difficulty causes doubt. We find John in the prison. John, consider John, he had been a child of the desert. From the time he had been put in God's wilderness schoolhouse, it's likely he had never slept under a roof since that time. He was used to having the starry night sky as the roof over his head. He was used to living in freedom, roaming where he pleased and where God led him. And now, because of doing right, he finds himself in the confinement of Herod's prison. He had had only 18 months of ministry approximately before the day that he confronted Herod with his incestuous relationship with his stepbrother's wife. And now he finds himself in what many believe to be the prison Machaerus on the east side of the Dead Sea. Basically, the prison cell would likely have been a hot pit in the ground. Basically also, the only comfort that he was provided was the privilege of having His disciples come and see Him. For a year now, He's been in prison. And the child of the desert is now confined. And thoughts begin to come to His heart and mind. Do we suffer for doing right? Difficulty. A cause of doubt. One of these days, you're going to face difficulty. And it can be a cause of doubt in your life. And you've got to realize that it can be a cause when difficulty comes. But I also want us to see another cause of doubt. Notice verse number 2 again. Now, when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, Not only is difficulty a cause of doubt, but I also see this, that having the incomplete picture can be a cause of doubt as well. You see, John in prison, a year of confinement in a hot stifling cell, has only been hearing second-hand information about the works of Christ. His position is similar to that of the Old Testament prophets. who would prophesy things they didn't necessarily totally understand. Turn, if you would, to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1 and verse number 10. I want to read just a few verses here. Peter, in encouraging the believers who are suffering, talks about receiving, in verse number 9, the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. That which has been promised to you is coming, he would say. Verse number 10, "...of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently who prophesied of the grace that should come to you, searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister these things." As these Old Testament prophets preached, they were seeing, as you've heard in class, the mountaintops. There were gaps. There were things they were not seeing and understanding. And John the Baptist finds himself as the last of the Old Testament prophets in a place of incomplete information, an incomplete picture. There is revelation still to come. He would also be like the Old Testament saints that Paul refers to in Hebrews 11. Verse number 13, "...these all died in faith, not having received the promises." Verse number 39 and 40, "...and these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise, God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." John the Baptist would not be an eyewitness to the majesty. He would not see the crucifixion. There were so many things that he would not see in this life. And he had an incomplete picture. But I love the Lord's tender confirmation. You see, John had preached a solid message until the time he had been put in prison. Everything that he had said was true. Everything that he had said did and would come to pass. But now in a situation of difficulty, the clouds of doubt begin to crowd around him. And he hears some things about Christ that don't seem to add up with what he knew from the Old Testament. Notice what Jesus does. Verse number 4, Go and show John again those things which ye do see and hear. Show him again. This is a tender confirmation on behalf of our Lord. He's confirming everything that John knows about the Old Testament. It's as though Jesus is saying to John's disciples, you go back and tell him that everything's on track. He may not have all the pieces put together in his mind, but everything's on track. It's going according to plan. Look at verse number 5, "...the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached unto them." I can imagine John sitting in that hot cell when those two disciples came back and quoted these words of Christ back to John again. And all of the sudden, an echo of Old Testament prophecy began to ring in John's mind. And he was reminded of Isaiah 35 and verse number 5 and 6 when the prophet says, Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as in heart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing, for in the wilderness water shall break out and streams in the desert. And probably Isaiah 61 and verse number 1 begin to ring in his mind as well. where it was said, the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. And all of the sudden as Christ recounted through the disciples of John back to John the fact that Old Testament prophecy is being fulfilled by the very things you just saw me do. Verse 11 is profound. Notice Jesus' words. Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist. Notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. Why? Because he that is in the kingdom of heaven has all the pieces. He's got the completed revelation. But John had an incomplete picture. Go and show John again. I love Luke chapter number 7, the same parallel account. Let me just read it to you. The disciples of John showed unto him all these things, that is, the works of Christ. And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come, or look we for another? When the men were coming to Him, they said, John the Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? Or look we for another. And in that same hour, He cured many of their infirmities and plagues and of evil spirits. And many that were blind, He gave sight. In that same hour. Isn't it wonderful how the Lord deals with us? In that same hour. I can't tell you even in my young life how many times in that same hour wrestling with some kind of situation, or some kind of question, or some kind of struggle, or some kind of need, and God and His grace end that same hour. Is it not a fitting illustration when the Lord met those two disciples on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection? Luke 24. He met them. They were discouraged in heart, doubting whether all the things that Christ had lived before them were true. He's put in the tomb. He's dead. We've heard rumors He's alive and Jesus meets Him on the road. Their eyes were hidden. Old fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets had spoken. Should not Christ have suffered? And here's a good outline for you. And it's not original to me. My dad used it. Maybe he got it from somebody too. I don't know. Three things Jesus opened that day. He opened their eyes. He opened Scripture. And He opened their understanding. Causes of doubt, difficulty, incomplete picture. He had heard the works. What Jesus was doing now, and for some reason it wasn't adding up, but Jesus said, just wait, just wait. Everything's on track. Third cause of doubt. Look at verse number three. And He said unto him, Art thou he that should come? He that should come was a common Jerusalem or Israelite description A popular description and a biblical description both for the Messiah. He that should come was the Messiah. He was the hope of Israel. All eyes of Israel looked for Him. But there were many misconceptions about the signs that would precede the coming of the Messiah. There were misconceptions, not only in John's day, but in other days, as to the events that would surround His coming, what He would do when He got there. And after more than four centuries of misconceptions building, and although John the Baptist was not a man who was swayed by popular opinion, He was not a man who licked his finger and held it to the wind of popular desire to find out which way it was going and let that determine his message. He didn't read the surveys and the polls. But after 400 years of misconceptions, Israel was confused. Even our Lord's own disciples, by the way, study sometime the differences between how Christ dealt with John the Baptist's doubt and how He dealt with the doubt of His disciples. Here were men who for three years were intimately associated with Christ, and yet John the Baptist's contact with Christ was very, very limited in comparison. They had far more light, if you would, than did John the Baptist. They lived with Him day and night for three years. We find Peter, even after his great confession. Remember what happened. Jesus asked the disciples. He said, Whom do men say that I am? And then they gave this whole stream. You're one of the prophets. You're Jeremiah. You're this. You're that. And you see, the scribes, in their common misconceptions, had laid out a whole track of who would precede the coming of Messiah. God only promised one man would precede the coming of Messiah, and Malachi wrote about that. John the Baptist was the one. But these people, because of misconceptions, were confused. Peter himself was so confused and so set on a misconception that even when the Lord told him, listen, I'm going to Jerusalem in suffering and I'll die at the hands of Israel. Even Peter, not so Lord. Even after Jesus had rose from the dead, The disciples asked Jesus just before His ascension, will thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? Jesus, it's not for you to know that. Have you ever thought about the effect of popular opinion on the way you view the Lord? What about the way we, to use a worldly term, Or should I say a modern term, the way we do church. Or the way that many modern people are telling us we should be doing church. And if we're not careful, popular opinion. By the way, CBD has a lot of books in it that are not Scripture. They're popular opinion. There are a lot of books that are written to supposedly and purportedly correlate with this book that are popular opinion. I have a lot of good books in my library, but I kind of like what one old preacher said. He studied the Bible and then he would study commentaries. He said, boy, that their Bible sure does shed a lot of light on them, their commentaries. But I also see this, not only popular opinion, not only incomplete revelation, not only difficulty, but another cause of doubt was unfulfilled expectations. Notice the end of verse 3. Or do we look for another? Do we look for another? You know, it's interesting. When Jesus quoted verse number 5 and referred back to Isaiah 35, in Isaiah 61. He didn't go to Isaiah 61-2. He stopped at the end of Isaiah 61-1. Because Isaiah 61-2, go back and look it up sometime, introduces the work of judgment the Messiah would do. Keep your hand here and go to Matthew chapter 3, just a few chapters back. Verse number 11 and 12. This is John preaching. And he lays out the correct expectation of Messiah. When Messiah comes, this is what he will do. By the way, Malachi prophesied that when John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ, would come, his coming would be an indication not only of the coming of Messiah, but of the judgment that would come as a result of the Messiah's coming. Notice verse number 11 and 12. John preaching, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire, whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor and gather his wheat into the garner, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. John, in anticipating the coming of Messiah, anticipated judgment. When He came, the fan would be in His hand. He would purge the floor and that work of judgment would be done with an unquenchable fire. But John, for a year confined in a prison, had expectations. He had preached them. But now, He sits and it's for a year He sat here and His disciples have been coming back and giving Him this second-hand information. All He's hearing, all He's hearing is that Jesus is giving sight to the blind and making the lame to walk again and raising the dead, preaching the gospel to the poor. But what about judgment? Here's a man who when He came forth, came forth with a vengeance and a fire upon a wicked and an apathetic nation. And even society realized the contrast between the ministry of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ if you look in the latter part of chapter 11. John the Baptist was no fun. But now Jesus comes along and the criticism they find of Him is He has too much by Him. John the Baptist, a man who was locked into a passionate desire for God's judgment upon sin, doesn't see any of it happen. Rather, a Jewish carpenter, taking as his followers twelve nondescript common men, not opposing the Roman government like popular opinion had thought the Messiah would do, overthrowing oppression. Rather, Jesus goes around and even says, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. I wonder what unfulfilled expectations you have. You know, it would do us all well to ask ourselves this question. Are my expectations biblical? Do the things that I expect from the Christian life, do the things that I expect as a preacher for my preaching, are they biblical expectations? The causes of doubt. I love the fact that verse number 21 through 24, the very thing John thought was missing, Jesus began. Woe unto thee, Chorazin, Bethsaida. Verse 23, Thou compert in which are exalted to heaven shall be brought down to hell. The very thing John thought was missing, Jesus got to. Let me tell you something. We talk about the imminent return of Christ, and it is, but be careful. to not settle into apathy because it hasn't happened yet. I remember something Dr. Bond said years ago. He says, a man who says he loves the appearing of Christ and believes in the immediate return of Christ, but does not live a life of holiness, does not really believe in the imminent return of Christ. Every man that hath this hope in him purifies himself. the causes of doubt, but then I want us to see the cure for doubt. When I think about the cure for doubt, I think about the gentleman who said one time about the Christian life just gets gooder and gooder and sweeter and sweeter. If it gets any better, it'll turn to sugar. You know what I love about John? John's not in despair yet. He's having some questions, he's having some doubts, but he is not in despair. You know, I know that. Notice verse number 3. And He said unto him, Art thou he that should come? Or do we look for another? John's not questioning whether or not Messiah will come. He just wants to know if Jesus is Him. Or do we look for another? You know what else I see here? John hadn't quit looking. And furthermore, who was it he went to get his answers from? He understood. Even though he may have been having questions in his mind whether or not Jesus was the Messiah, he knew that if he was going to find the answer to his question, that was the place he had to go. What a testimony of dealing with doubt. The cure for doubt. You know what the cure for doubt is? Let me just put it in one simple elementary statement. Go to Jesus. Go to Jesus. I have to tell you that when I was in Bible college where you are, we got so locked into the mechanical learning in the classroom. It was so easy to get locked into the mechanical restraints. and forget about the fact that my Lord was a special relationship. And the sooner that you throw off those mechanical restraints, and as the song says, I will arise and go to Jesus, He will embrace me in His arms. And it goes on, in the arms of my dear Savior, oh, there are ten thousand charms. And if John the Baptist, the burning and the shining light that he was, knew that the best way to deal with his doubt was to go to Jesus, then what better are you and I going to do? If we could see, if we could know, we often say, I love this, but God in love, a veil to throw across our way. We cannot see what lies before, and so we cling to Him the more. He keeps us till this life is o'er. Trust and obey. Is it not also interesting that John, in patterning for us how to deal with doubt, to go to Jesus? Is it not interesting that our Lord Himself in the last three verses of chapter 11 would say these words, come unto Me? All ye that labor and are heavy laden, And I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. And ye shall find rest unto your souls, for My yoke is easy and My burden is light." The cure for doubt. Go to Jesus. Then I also see this. Get wisdom. You notice what Jesus does? He refers John back to Scripture. If there's anything that will dispel the doubts of life, it is this blessed book. Many times we get so busy that we fail to give it its place. I have to tell you, if a geologist knocked on my door this afternoon at my residence and said, Mr. Dietrich, we have reason to believe from soil samples that your house is sitting on an emerald mine that is worth billions of dollars. I have a backhoe here. If you'll allow us to dig, all we want is 5% of the profits for doing the work. You know what I'm going to say? Start digging. By the way, that's not too far-fetched. Do you know the largest emerald mine in the world is located just over an hour from here in Hiddonite, North Carolina? It's very possible. Now listen, don't show up in my house with a backhoe this afternoon. You might get into my septic system. Get wisdom. Psalm 119, 162, I rejoice that thy word is one that findeth great spoil. It's interesting. Listen, listen. This is complete now. This is complete now. Any doubt can be dispelled right here. Right here. And you don't have to be old in the ministry to have seen it proven. My heart was broken my junior year of college to have a dear friend, one of the smartest, I mean just across the board, one of the smartest guys I've ever met, sit at the foot of my bed in the dormitory And hold this up and say, I don't know if I can believe anything I've ever been taught anymore. And this is about how I sat there. You know why? Because he had been reading books of popular opinion rather than letting the Bible be the commentary on commentary. Proverbs 4, 18 and 19, the path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more into the perfect day. Thy Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. The cure for doubt, the causes of doubt. Number three and finally, this thrills my heart too, the compassion of Christ for the doubter who comes. Notice I said, the doubter who comes. The compassion of Christ for the doubter who comes. I see three brief things that Jesus did. Verse number 6, And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me. The first thing Jesus does to show His compassion is promise a blessing. He promises a blessing for the man who comes, for the man who is not offended in Christ. The picture here is this. There will be a continual state of blessing for the man who does not trip over a doubt. Let me tell you something, the very fact that John sent to Jesus, came to Jesus, shows us that he did not sink into despair. The message that was sent back, listen, you will experience doubts. You will experience difficulty. You will experience unfulfilled expectations. You will at times not see the whole picture. You will at some times be pummeled by popular opinion. But let me tell you something, go to Jesus. Go to Jesus and have those doubts resolved. The doubts may come, the difficulties may come, but what you do with them, is where the issue lies. Jesus promised a blessing. Blessed is he whosoever shall not... and it goes from a present tense and being in a continual state of blessing. Blessed is he whosoever, then the condition, shall not be offended is an aorist tense having the idea of a point in time, an instance where I trip. Faced with the doubts, John went to Jesus. The compassion of Christ for the doubter who comes, He promised a blessing. But I love this too. He commended John's tenacity. Look at verse number 7. Jesus addresses the multitudes after the disciples of John leave. What went you out in the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? Understood answer, no. But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment?" Understood answer, no. Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses, and almost by way of inference, they're not in kings' prisons. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. Why is that? Because John was not just a prophet himself, but he was the fulfillment of prophecy. And Jesus commends his tenacity. In Christ having compassion for the doubter who came, He promised a blessing. He commended John's tenacity. But I also see this. He exalted John's ministry. We mention in verse number 11, the Lord said, There's not arisen one born of woman greater than John the Baptist. Verse number 12, from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violence taketh it by force. Do you know what he's saying? John, when he came crashing onto the scene, just as Elijah exploded on the scene in his day, just as John exploded onto the scene, and his preaching was like a shockwave throughout Israel, John was so powerful that his ministry began an epic. in Israeli history. This was no light-hearted man. This was no soft man. This was no reed shaken by the wind on the banks of the Jordan River. This was a powerful man. Verse number 12, We saw that from the time of John, until the Kingdom of Heaven, it suffereth violence, and the violence taketh by forth two sides of a single coin here, and that is this, that when John introduced the Kingdom of Heaven like a shockwave onto the Israeli stage, it caused such a stir that there was immediate opposition to it. And the Kingdom of Heaven will always suffer opposition. But then the flip side of the coin is this, Those who are pressing to enter into it must strive to do so because the way is narrow. It is not for wimps." John was no coward. John was no wimp. He exalted John's ministry by showing John's own prophetic significance. This is powerful too. John's ministry to his own ministry. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. Verse number 14, And if you will see that this is Elijah, the fulfillment of Malachi's prophecy, which was for to come, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Then he goes on to talk about the generation and their being fickle. the causes of doubt, the cure for doubt. Go to Jesus. Get wisdom. The compassion of Christ for the doubter. You know, it's interesting. When I was a child and I'd have questions, many times I was intimidated to go get the answer. But do you know one of the reasons I believe that Christ's commendation of John is in here? So that I can know that if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God. that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not." I can know that when I go to Christ, even with doubts, He'll not upbraid me. I conclude by saying this. Another of God's servants sat in a jail cell 350 years ago, During his third time in jail, which would bring his total time in jail in his life to around 13 years, John Bunyan wrote Pilgrim's Progress. As I thought back on Pilgrim's Progress, I was amazed to realize how many valley occurrences John Bunyan included in Pilgrim's Progress. I thought about Christian in company of Pliable coming to the Slough of Despond. And not being heedful of where they were going, remember they fell into the Slough of Despond, began to struggle and sink in the mire as it pulled them down. Before they fell in, Christian had been telling old Pliable about how wonderful it would be when we get to the city. Then they fell in. They came upon a hard time, a difficult time. Pliable, turned back around as best he could in the slew of despond and headed back toward home. This isn't anything you told me about. I'm getting out of here. And sure enough, he was able to shake free and lead Christian to Waller and to Meyer. But an interesting thing John Bunyan put about Christian, Christian didn't turn back to get out. He kept struggling toward the other side. with his nose pointed toward the wicked gate. Go on in the story to read that as he was just about to go down, a man named Help, personifying the Holy Spirit, reached down and snatched him out and set him on his feet in his way. I love the fact that Christian didn't turn back. he kept his face pointed toward the wicked gate. But John Bunyan gave us another instance. Now it was Christian and his traveling companion hopeful. They went into Bypath Meadow when they shouldn't have. They fell asleep for the night. In the morning, they were captured by the giant of despair. And he took them and put them in the dungeon in Doubting Castle. For several days, they struggled on whether or not they could get out. They suffered beatings at the hands of the giant of despair. And then as they sat there one night in despair in Doubting Castle, Christian remembered that he had a key hidden in his clothes, the key of promise. And he took out the key of promise and it opened every lock In the castle. This is my key of promise. And yours too. Will you go digging for the treasure? Because the answer to dispel every cloud of doubt is within the pages of this blessed book. One final thought. With all that John the Baptist was, and I want to use this to bring it home to you and me. Listen, listen closely. One final thought. With all that John the Baptist was, being part of the Old Testament economy, not having the complete picture, can you imagine what he would have been had he had the complete picture? and you and I have it.