Please turn in your Bibles before we get to Matthew, Chapter 11, verse 12, which will be our primary focus. Please open, as you see in the bulletin for this evening to Isaiah, Chapter 42. Isaiah, Chapter 42. Begin our reading of the word of God there. This passage, this prophecy figures heavily in the sermon and the text, which we'll consider together this evening. Isaiah, Chapter 42. This is the word of the living God. Behold, my servant whom I uphold. My chosen and whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice or make it heard in the street. A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench. He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth and the coastlands wait for his law. Thus says God the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it. I am the Lord. I have called you in righteousness. I will take you by the hand and keep you. I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison, those who sit in darkness. I am the Lord, that is my name, my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare. Before they spring forth, I tell you of them. Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the end of the earth. You who go down to the sea and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants. Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Selah sing for joy. Let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory to the Lord and declare his praise in the coastlands. The Lord goes out like a mighty man, like a man of war. He stirs up his zeal. He cries out. He shouts aloud. He shows himself mighty against his foes. And now please turn in the word of God to the Gospel of Matthew. And we'll begin our reading there in verse one, Matthew, chapter 11, excuse me, verse one. Matthew, chapter 11, this is on page 1036 in your pew Bible. Matthew, chapter 11, beginning in verse one, again, the word of God. When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities. Now, when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, Are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another? And Jesus answered them, Go and tell John what you hear and see. The blind received their sight in the lame walk. Lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me." And as they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John. What did you go out in the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings houses. What, then, did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you. Truly, I say to you, among those born of women, 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. For from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence and the violent take it by force. 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. He who has ears to hear. Let him hear. The word of God. Brothers and sisters, let's pray now and ask for the Lord's blessing on the preaching and the hearing of this word this evening. Let's pray. Father in Heaven, we thank You for this Word which Your Holy Spirit has authored. Your Holy Spirit who carried those men of old along and filled, as it were, the sails of their hearts such that He would guide them to exactly what must be said, what must be written. We thank You, O God, that all that is written is truly Your Word in these pages and that they all point us to Christ. Father, we pray this evening for the power of your Holy Spirit to be so evident among us. We pray, Father, now that your word would be proclaimed in truth and that it would be received by your people with faith and love and an eagerness to put into action that which we hear. We pray, Father, that by your spirit we would truly hear. and that you would conform us more to the character of our blessed Savior and your Son, Jesus Christ, in whose name and for whose sake we pray. Amen. Brothers and sisters in Christ this evening, is there any way in which or anything about which this evening you are not trusting your Savior? where your faith feels like it's faltering, and perhaps in danger of stumbling. It's not something perhaps you've told anyone else. Perhaps it's simply a quiet quaking within your own heart. Perhaps this evening you feel a bit of shame at your lack of trust in Jesus, and you know it ought to be otherwise, but it certainly doesn't feel otherwise. And perhaps you're so far into this way of thinking and so heavily burdened by it that if you were to speak straight from your heart with unfiltered sincerity. You would perhaps say. That you're ashamed of your savior. Or at least. What he has not done in your life. What he does not seem to be doing. It's not that you're doubting scripture's teaching about Christ and what he's done and what he will do, but perhaps this evening there is a deep disappointment swelling within you like a storm at what Jesus has not done in your life or in the world as you observe it. It's as if you read the scriptures and you read the news You read about Jesus's power and his glory and his kingly reign. And then you look at your life and you cannot seem to reconcile what scripture says with what you see, or you observe the forces around the world, which so blatantly opposed Jesus Christ. And yet they seem to have such unfettered sway and power and cause such untold suffering to those who know and love Jesus. And perhaps this inability to see the kingly reign of Christ as compared to what you see around the world has even caused you to go to that dark place within your heart where you question whether your faith in Christ is well-placed. As we think about those things and perhaps even feel uncomfortable in thinking about them or in thinking them in our own hearts, we find those same unsettling thoughts In what we might presume is the most unlikely of places among all believers in scripture. We find these hearts. We find these questions, these thoughts roiling in the heart of John the Baptist. This is John, who had so passionately preached the arrival of the Messiah. And so courageously called everyone, including and perhaps especially the religiously elite to repentance because of the nearness of the Kingdom of Heaven. And as we find him here in Matthew 11, John is in prison for that preaching. And he is seriously questioning whether all his efforts were in vain. Whether the Jesus whom he knew was in fact the Christ whom he preached. John's heart is doused in doubt. Now, Jesus hears of it, and he sends word through messengers to John to ignite again the zeal for the kingdom of God, which once burned within John's heart and which shone so brightly in his preaching. And Jesus' message is not meant to shame John, but certainly to caution him and to comfort him and to give him courage, especially in the fading final days of his ministry here in this world. to assure John that all of his service for the kingdom of heaven had indeed been rendered to the true king. That his trust in Jesus was not in vain, nor, brothers and sisters, is yours this evening. Do not stumble in your confidence in the risen Christ, in Jesus who gave himself for you. And perhaps this evening your heart is happily on the other side of the spectrum. You feel on fire for the Lord and you can't imagine why anyone would feel otherwise. Perhaps you're even without saying it, agitated at other Christians who are not seeing the glory of King Jesus all around them as clearly as you seem to see it. Now, if your heart feels warm this evening with deep affection for Jesus, and the highest confidence in his kingly reign, then praise God, but also be cautious. Be careful that within that warmth. There are not traces of a false fire. Pride. Or a sense of autonomy masking itself as zeal. In the name of kingdom service. Be careful that within your heart there are not the seeds or the evidence, indeed, of service which will fade when service to the kingdom becomes costly. Now, as John's servants leave with Jesus's message, Jesus turns and he speaks to the crowd surrounding him, and he means to sober them as to the severe toll that kingdom service can take upon the king's servants. Brothers and sisters, you must be keenly aware of that same fact this evening. It costs to serve the one who has redeemed you freely. And at the same time, Jesus encourages these servants as to the unprecedented privilege which defines kingdom work in the age that was dawning. The age in which you and I render service to our king. Think of it this way, and this is no exaggeration. In a very real sense, this room this evening is full of the most privileged people to ever walk this planet. This evening we'll explore how and why that's true. Why our faith in Jesus is well placed by God's grace. Why our service to Him must and can be full of humility and holy fire, true holy fire. All this weekend in the conference, we've been considering the Lord's path laid out before us to live by his grace, a faith that is vibrant and viscerally alive. As Jesus would describe that way of life here this evening. As violent. Violent. Look with me again, please, to verse 12 of Matthew chapter 11. God's word says this. Jesus says here before the crowds from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence. And the violent take it by force. Jesus presents here the image of a fortress that is under assault. An aggressive force has come up against it, and as you look at it in the original language, there's a certain cadence to the wording where it's almost a pounding, a rhythmic pounding that illustrates so well the words which Jesus is speaking here. Now, this aggressive rush on the kingdom is fierce, and it's from people whom Jesus describes as fierce and aggressive, even to the point where their actions lead to the kingdom of heaven being taken. Who are these violent ones? And how can they possibly take the kingdom of heaven by force? Well, one very popular interpretation in this much studied passage, much debated passage, is that Jesus is referring here to the political zealots of that day, those who indeed sought to take, in other words, to establish the kingdom by force, to establish violently, if necessary, with physical action, the kingdom of a political messiah. But notice again the beginning of verse 12. From the days of John the Baptist until now, this violence has been happening. Jesus puts a time frame on this aggressive rush. It was spurred by the ministry of John the Baptist. And of course, John's message was never one of political revolution, but rather of repentance and faith. And Jesus links this aggressive force with the message and the ministry of John the Baptist. And so the violence here is not politically motivated, no matter how some people may have interpreted it to be so. Now, another popular interpretation is that Jesus is seeking to describe those who are opposed to the kingdom of heaven and seek to destroy it. And that idea would certainly seem to fit the language of violence here and of aggressive movement. However, Jesus and Jesus's entire emphasis in this passage is on the glory of the kingdom. And the greatness of those who belong to it. And so a sudden reference to the enemies of the kingdom would be a bit jarring and out of place, especially because Jesus describes these violent ones. As actually taking the kingdom. Jesus never tells us that his enemies will successfully seize his kingdom, they will try, yes, and the church will suffer, absolutely. But even that suffering is the means of the church's further establishment and expansion into the world. And so Jesus is not speaking here of a violence. By the enemies of the kingdom. What then is his reference? Well, as he goes on. Jesus describes this particular violence as motivated and spurred by the preaching of John the Baptist. And as we consider this idea of aggression, brothers and sisters, aggression is not always a negative thing. Again, the kingdom of heaven. Suffers violence. And the violent take it by force. There were those in the crowd who were broken hearted. Yes, over political domination by Rome, and we ought never to under emphasize the difficulty of life in the days of Jesus. But there were those in the crowd whom Jesus addressed and the crowds whom John addressed who were fundamentally broken hearted, not over political domination by Rome, but over the domination of their hearts by sin. of their alienation from God. And so when these hurting hearts heard the message of John the Baptist, that there was a way to be right with God, that there was a way to not only be somehow servants of the kingdom, but citizens of that kingdom, that the king was coming. And more than that, the fact that the king had actually arrived and was with them to the point where John could say, look over there, there he is. Well, when these hearts breaking under the burden of sin heard that message, they rushed forward with what John Calvin calls a violent impetuosity. And this evening, many of us joined together just before the worship service in a fellowship meal. And at the congregation that I was privileged to serve for seven years in the South Hills of Pittsburgh, Every week after morning worship, we would meet together downstairs for a meal. And there was always a dessert table. Yes, some of you remember and still presently experience that rush that happens after morning worship. Now, as morning worship lets out, there is a thundering procession downstairs occupied primarily, but not exclusively by children. And these children can see the dessert table in the distance and woe is you if you try to get in their way. And again, there are adults who join in the fray or who have reserved their desserts earlier so as not to be taken by the kids. These children can see what they want and they look to rush upon it aggressively. And they can taste it even before they touch it. They want that dessert and nothing and no one will stand in their way. So it was for these violent ones. They saw their king. And nothing. Not anyone. Not any threat of political persuasion or coercion. Not reputation among family and friends, nothing and no one would stand in their way from rushing forward and seizing. As it were, the grace offered by the king and proclaimed by John the Baptist, they rushed forward as if their lives depended upon it. Of course, their lives did depend upon it. It found salvation. In the king. when those hungry, thirsty people, those blessed people in the days of John the Baptist saw their savior and his kingdom come, they rushed forward. I mentioned John Calvin a couple of minutes ago. Calvin is known for the famous line from one of his letters, addressing himself to the Lord in the context of committing himself to a miserable ministry. He writes, I offer you my heart, Lord, promptly and sincerely. What would it mean, brothers and sisters, for each of us and for all of us to say with integrity, I offer you my heart, Lord, promptly, sincerely, without reservation. What would it mean for the people of God to say such things and to mean such things? What it may mean, brothers and sisters, is a much harder life. It might mean, in this culture and in this time, the beginning of real, visceral, and violent, in the negative sense, persecution. It may mean the loss of a job. It may mean the shattering of a dream. It may mean the loss of friendships. It may mean family members turning their back on you and saying, I don't even know you anymore. And I don't even want to be around you anymore. Think of John the Baptist here in our text. His preaching is what spurred this aggressive rush on the kingdom of heaven. And yet, what did John receive in this life for such bold service in the name of the King? Well, after suffering as a societal outcast and languishing in prison, the greatest of Old Testament prophets, the greatest of those born of women until that point in history, the herald of the King of Kings had his head cut off at the whim of a wicked ruler. And the disciples recovered his headless body and buried it. And such was the unceremonious, brutal end to the earthly life and ministry of the greatest born among women until that point. People of God, we must have a down-to-earth realism in our understanding of the kingdom of heaven. and what it means and what it has meant for most Christians throughout history to live explicitly as citizens of that kingdom. And when we truly feel crushed by the cost of following Christ. When we think, I knew it would be hard, but Lord, this? Now? Or how long, oh Lord? We see the world in such rebellion against God's law. And at times when the church does not seem to be all that much better. We begin to understand what John is going through here. And we may begin to ask if the Lord is indeed reigning from heaven. And why do I feel like this on Earth? Again, remember how this passage begins. John the Baptist is in prison and he's ready to look for another Messiah. And think of who this is. This is John who saw Jesus with his own eyes. He saw God in the flesh. As I've already mentioned, he could point and he did point to Jesus coming from a distance and said, look, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. There he is. This is John the Baptist who baptized Jesus and who had to be convinced by the Lord to do it. Here he is doubting. The voice of one crying out in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. Now he just seems to be crying. The Lord hears about his dearly loved, doubting disciple. And he responds. as a good shepherd would. Look at verses two through six of Matthew 11. Now, when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another? And Jesus answered them, go and tell John what you hear and see. The blind receive their sight in the lame walk. Lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear. and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me." See, John could not reconcile the reality of the kingdom of heaven with the circumstances he faced in the world. And the message that Jesus sends to John is self-consciously filled, notice, with the word of God. It is filled with scripture which John knows very well. Scripture, which details the distinguishing work of the Messiah, mighty acts and miracles, very particular to the prophesied deliverer of God's people, the coming king. And so Jesus assures his downtrodden disciple that he is exactly the one whom John had been preaching and whom the scriptures had proclaimed ahead of time. For seven. As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John. What did you go out in the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What, then, did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. Now, when Jesus says in verse 7, a reed shaken by the wind, He doesn't just mean a plant which gets a good shiver from a brisk breeze. This is a word which Jesus uses later in the same gospel to describe the shaking of the powers of the heavens in the day of his return. And so as we draw together Jesus's words to John's servants with what he says to the crowd as they leave, here's what Jesus is saying to John and about John. John is a bruised reed, but he's not broken. He's not uprooted and tossed about as in a violent windstorm. He's trembling, but he's firmly rooted. Rooted particularly in the scriptures which Jesus sends back to him, which we read earlier. A description of the Lord's servant and of the humility in which he comes. He will not cry aloud. There is no pomp and circumstance to Jesus is coming into the world. There were no. Loud celebrations upon his birth, except what the angels declared from heaven to the shepherds and those few gathered around. Jesus comes meekly. To assert his kingly rights. And yet, as we go on, we see in the passage in Isaiah chapter 42, that this King is indeed a mighty warrior and that he will cry out and that he will bring God's justice and that he will not tire until that is done. And so Jesus is calling John and the Holy Spirit calls all of us to a patience, a patience and recognizing that Jesus is not inactive. Jesus is not dormant. As we heard from the pulpit this morning, Jesus is not absent. He is king and he is about his kingly work in exactly the way the scriptures have prophesied and planned it. Now, Jesus goes on to say something very puzzling in verse 11. He says, truly, truly, I say to you, among those born of women, there has arisen none greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven. Is greater than he. How can that be? How can you be greater than the greatest ever? Well, Jesus is signaling here the dawn of a new era. In which the Old Testament saints had basked ahead of time. And John was the last in that line of prophets and the greatest, according to Jesus. Well, how do we define greatness? Greatness is defined by closeness to Christ. How is John greater than David? John got to see Jesus. Again, John baptized the Lord of heaven and earth. John's greatness is defined by his proximity, his closeness to the Savior. But Jesus goes on to say that the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven, now that the kingdom of heaven has come, is greater than John the Baptist. And that greatness still retains that definition. How are we then greater than John the Baptist? And how has every Christian born and reared and brought to new life in this New Testament era greater? Well, do you remember the counterintuitive words which Jesus spoke to his disciples when he was preparing them for his departure as he gathers them in the upper room? He says that the Holy Spirit will come. The Comforter will come. Now, obviously, the disciples do not want Jesus to leave. To them, it's the most obvious thing in the world that it's not a good thing that He's going away. They're perplexed. They're wondering what's happening and why He's telling them about His departure. And He says to them, it is better for you if I go. How can it be better than to be in the bodily presence of Jesus Christ? Jesus says, if I do not go, the helper will not come. Who will come in my name and who will teach you and remind you of everything that I say. And as the risen Christ speaks to those disciples before ascending to heaven, he says, wait in Jerusalem. Wait. And we see what happens as the Holy Spirit comes upon the church. It's not His first appearance among them, but He comes with an unprecedented power and fullness so that the Word of the living Christ can burst with unprecedented force and fullness beyond the borders of Jerusalem and into all the world. And here's how we're greater, brothers and sisters. The Spirit has come. As we were reminded this morning, the spirit is among and the spirit is within us. Individually and as the corporate people of God, especially as we assemble for worship. And we have the privileged position in all of history so far. Of being able to have 2000 years worth of seeing the gospel go forth with a new fullness and vitality into all the world. and to outlast and even to redefine and shape and transform kingdoms that have come. Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall all according to the whim, all according to the rule, excuse me, of the king of kings. Nothing outlasts his gospel and every rise and every fall of every leader, every emperor and every servant is for the advance of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. And Paul writes in Ephesians 1 that God has given Christ as head over all things. He is king now. He doesn't await enthronement on some political throne in Jerusalem someday. He is king now. He reigns over all things now. And He has been given as head over all things to you, brothers and sisters. His church, His body, the fullness of Him who fills all and all, And unlike John the Baptist, or even some of those who saw the resurrected Christ, remember, John never in this life got to see Jesus' resurrection. We have a completed Word from God. We have been equipped with all that we need for life and godliness. And the Savior says to His disciples, As he sends them out into the world, all power and authority have been given to me. Heaven and on earth, Jesus earned as man what he already owned as God. Go, therefore, into all the nations. Disciple the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. That is greatness. The greatness of our Savior having fulfilled that great promise which animates scripture and moves history. I will be your God and you will be my people and I will make my dwelling among you. And we have seen more of that gracious work than anyone in history. And you are its subjects. It is true, we do not yet see everything in subjection to Christ. There is rebellion among those over whom Jesus rules. And yet we do see, the book of Hebrews tells us, Jesus, Through the eyes of faith, we see him as he is crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God, he might taste death for everyone. That vision of Christ, which ignites. The doubt doused heart into a fiery pursuit of holiness. This is the vision which fans into flame the embers of our former zeal. Brothers and sisters, as we contemplate our lives and the world around us, we must come back to our spiritual senses. You have seen the work of your King. You are the work of your King. Your eyes have been opened. You've been given ears to hear. You've been set free from sin and death and hell. You are a living, breathing result of His reign. Here you are this evening, all of you who are trusting in Christ. Justified. Right with God. Your sins forgiven. You are saints. You are servants of the king. You are soldiers. You are citizens of the kingdom. God has given you faith and made you. Part of the family of the faithful. The one faith that will march straight into eternity. And we who have been grabbed from hell by the grace of the living Christ join in the triumphant march of the gospel throughout history. People of God. What we await now in our active service is the Lord's return. We work and we pray and we labor and we rest toward that day. And as we see that day coming and our hearts are focused upon it, we grow. John puts it this way in 1 John 3. See, behold, what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called the children of God. And so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself, even as he is pure. The day of our Savior's return is coming. In fact, it is already dawn. And you are closer to it than when I first started speaking this sentence. Brothers and sisters, God has equipped us with everything that we need to serve him, not with a godless bravado that masks itself as gospel boldness, not with an arrogance, not with a quickfire temper to criticize Again, not with a false fire. That false fire will be extinguished in the crucible of suffering through which God calls and brings all of His people. But the real thing given by God will endure and will shine as His work. The King has come. His kingdom is spreading. You are demonstrations of His power and grace, and you are heralds of His return. Soldiers, sheep, servants, friends of the risen King. Brothers and sisters, fix your heart upon the Lord Jesus Christ and His return. And in so doing, by the grace of God, moved by the Spirit of God, you will find yourself living more and more That visceral, vibrant, violent life to which the living Christ calls us. A life more and more like his. Let's pray. Our God and our Heavenly Father, we address you this evening as people who in ourselves deserve nothing. And yet, in your son, you've given us everything. And more than everything, you've given us him, the Lord of everything. Well, God, you have been unspeakably gracious to us, and yet you call us to speak of your grace, to speak to one another of your grace, to stir one another up. toward good deeds and all the more as we see the day of our savior's return approaching grant us grace oh god that we would be faithful to that duty that where we see a brother or sister hurting and downtrodden and perhaps even desperate oh god that we would bring the word of your power and grace to them that we would know when to speak and when to be silent that we would know how to love that we would, with humility, bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. Grant us, O God, as your people, an increasingly fervent desire to not hide in the shadows, to not live beneath the radar in our confession of Christ, but, Lord Heavenly Father, to launch out quickly with temper and ego. But, O God, give us a holy fire that would burn steadily and increase. in our days of service, however many of them you would give us here in this world. We pray, O God, that your Holy Spirit would be especially close to any shivering heart this evening, any heart wrestling with your providence in that life, any heart dealing with doubt, Pray that your spirit, through your word, would bring comfort and assurance that the Lord Jesus is exactly who he claims to be. That he is risen, that he is reigning, and that he is Lord. And he is that great and good shepherd who guides his people even through the valley of the shadow of death. And that as your word says, even on through death itself, you are our constant guide. Grant all of these things, oh God, for your honor and glory. We pray in the name of our risen Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.