In the name of Jesus, we pray to the Father, the Father of the Church, the Father of Jesus Christ, and you alone, O Lord, are the real joy-giver, worth more than all of earthly treasures. So what will it profit a man if he gained the whole world and loseth his own soul? Father, we pray as the custodians of our soul, you will keep us ever into your hand as your glorious church and the gathering of saints worshiping you on this, the Lord's day. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. I'm going to do something a little different this morning. Matthew chapter 11. Matthew chapter 11, we look into some of Jesus' teaching on the person of John the Baptist. And so we will read from verse 1 to verse 15 this morning. And so Matthew writes, now it came to pass when Jesus finished commanding his 12 disciples that he departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities. And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to him, are you the coming one or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said to them, go and tell John the things which you hear and see, the blind see. The lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear. The dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them, and blessed is he who is not offended because of me." As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John, "'What did you go out into the wilderness to see?' A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft garments are in kings' houses. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet, for this is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you. Assuredly, I say to you, Among those born of women, there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist. But he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, He is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Oh, Father, we who have ears, Father, make them hearing ears even now in your presence. As we read from your holy word, we pray in Jesus' name. That's quite an endorsement. I can't think of a higher endorsement, and I think the Lord intended it to be that way. It's pretty obvious. No greater man has ever been born of woman than John the Baptist. And so we read, when John had heard in prison, apparently he had some access to his disciples in Herod's prison, about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to him, are you the coming one or do we look for another? So Matthew puts this before our eyes. He writes this for his readers for the first time of the imprisonment of John the Baptist. He'll elaborate on the incident in chapter 14, and so we'll revisit it as we go in that direction. In chapter three, he also spoke of the Baptist. Chronologically, he came before Jesus, and he said that about himself. And he spoke of John in chapter three with a little more certainty than he displays here. Was anyone jolted when you first saw these verses that the greatest prophet of all men seemed to be hedging on whether or not he had endorsed the right man. Now, I have a feeling that's not exactly what this means, and I will try to elaborate on that as we go through the message today. But we read such things in chapter three when John was called to baptize in the River Jordan, which he claims to be called by God to baptize in the River Jordan, and they all came out to him. We have some of these pictures and films of some of the great old movies about this incident, and it showed the wilderness along the banks of the Jordan filled with people who came out to hear John. John was a hard man, not clothed in soft garments, right? Not a reed shaken by the wind, not easy to shake up John the Baptist. I remember one old depiction, it might go back to the 70s with the with the Jesus of Nazareth series that was a TV series, anyone remember? And Michael York, the Englishman, played a great John the Baptist. It's always stuck in my head about how potent he was with his words, just like the John of old. How powerful he was, how convicting he was, and yet he was still a popular preacher. In fact, the authorities had to be careful what they did with him because he was so popular they feared for their own lives. And so he comes and Jesus comes out to him. He recognizes him. Of course, he was a relative. And if you didn't know that, we'll get to some of that. But John said, I need to be baptized by you and you are coming to me. That seems to denote some kind of recognition of Christ's highest state. But he allowed him, and when he had been baptized, Jesus came up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Now that's stated differently elsewhere. in minor ways that make a big difference. Because as it's stated here, it seems only Jesus saw the miracles and heard the voice. We find out later that John did hear these things. So why is he asking, is this the one to come? And so isn't this the classic question of the New Testament? Are you the coming one? We can go through the scriptures, Matthew 24, many will come in my name and deceive many. There were many claiming to be the coming one, apparently. Now, I've always found it interesting, if not a bit unsettling, that John, the premier prophet of the age, in fact, of all ages, according to Christ's endorsement, seems strangely unconvinced of the Messiah's identity. In other places, he's depicted as being certain of Jesus' identity. Mark's account is similar to Matthew's with a few distinctive sayings. He says, there comes one after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I'm not worthy to stoop down and loose. I indeed baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. Matthew's version, of course, says with the Holy Spirit and with fire. which I have always held was literally fulfilled in the upper room at Pentecost in the second chapter of the book of Acts. The only place we read of the fire showing up with the Holy Spirit as a sign that he's there. From Luke's account, we might remember that both Mary and her relative, doesn't say her cousin, I've always sort of assumed a cousin relationship with Elizabeth. Elizabeth was the mother of John and she was impregnated before that. before Mary. From Luke's account, we may remember that both Mary and her relative Elizabeth were pregnant at the same time, Mary with Jesus, Elizabeth with John, and Mary went to visit with her cousin Elizabeth. And so we read this, and it happened when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary that the babe leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. I could say that's a miracle, although I know a little bit of babies leaping in the womb. It's a common occurrence. But she elaborates on the concept. So under her new influence of the Holy Spirit, because Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit when Mary walked into the room with the pre-born Savior. Though she was under the influence of the Holy Spirit, she said to Mary, blessed are you among women. And blessed is the fruit of your womb. But why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Here's a believer in Christ before he was born, which is interesting because all believers in the old Testament era were believers in Christ before he was born. So Elizabeth reiterates the story that the babe leapt in her womb as her pregnant relative entered, and she exclaims, blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord. And Mary sings with joy that now famous song from the Gospel of Luke that we call the Magnificat. And the two women stay together for the next three months. So it's interesting. that the mother of John knew who Jesus was, and that he was the one who was to come. John must have grown up in a household where they knew this. I want you to understand something, though, about miracles. They don't change us long-term. And you go through the Old Testament, you'll find, I mean, Jesus opened the Red Sea for these people, and they lost faith on the other side. You know, try to remember, I mean, Jesus healed 10 lepers and only one of them came and thanked him. Miracles don't do the whole job, and I suspect that's why we don't see them in the way we saw them sort of accumulated within a few years in the New Testament and in the ministry of Christ. But in John's gospel, we read of the emissaries from the chief priests and scribes. They were sent to John, they were sent to John to ask him if he is, or sent from John to ask him, or rather they're sent to John to ask him if he is the sent one, if he is the Messiah. And they ask him if he's Elijah, because there's a great prophecy that Elijah will come first. He tells them no. They ask if he's the prophet. We can all debate about who the prophet is. Is it Christ or is it some other Old Testament emissary of the Lord? But again, he denies it. So he denies he's Elijah, but we know that he is the Elijah who is to come because Jesus says that later. So he denies that he's Elijah. He denies that he's the prophet. And they said, well, then who are you? And he answers with the classic prophetic response. He says, I am the voice. I am the voice. I think each of us should put that mantle on. I am the voice. I don't have a lot to give, but I can voice what I know about Christ. I can be a voice for the gospel. I'm the voice of one crying in the wilderness. He didn't go into the city and preach. They had to come out to him. and he didn't rent the Astrodome. They just came out and they had to stand out there and wait their turn. And John preached and John baptized them. He's the voice of one crying in the wilderness, according to Isaiah's prophecy, make straight the way of the Lord. And they ask him again, why then do you baptize if you're not Christ nor Elijah nor the prophet? And he answers again, and he says this, I baptize you with water. But there stands one among you whom you do not know. And it is he coming after me is preferred before me whose sandal strap I'm not worthy to lose. The next day, Jesus appears on the scene and is identified by John. And so John says, very famously, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And John goes on to the inquiring Pharisees. I did not know him. but that he should be revealed to Israel. Therefore I came baptizing with water. I saw the Spirit," John says, I saw the Spirit this time, right? Descending from heaven like a dove and he remained upon him. I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, Upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God." And all of these assurances of John, of the identity of Jesus as the Christ, were prior to his being imprisoned. So it seems that the Baptist, who was once very certain, has been somehow tainted by hardship and disappointment. And I could be disappointed in that, or I could take some comfort in that even the great prophet can be broken down and maybe even in some despair. I mean, here he is in a dark dungeon in Herod's prison. Now, if you don't know anything about this prison, it's been excavated. It does exist, it did exist, it's called Machyrus. And it's on the Dead Sea, and three sides of it are surrounded by steep stone cliffs, and there's only an entrance in from one side. And Herod Antipas renewed this place that his father used as a palace. So at the same time, it's a palace and a prison. If you remember when they killed John, and I know I'm going ahead here, when they killed John, they produced him on the spot. Herod's wife Herodias said, I want the head of the Baptist, actually she had her daughter say that, I want the head of the Baptist on a platter, and they produced him. which has led many of us to believe, and I believe, that he was held in that fortress as prisoner. And you can read about it in I Am Peter if you'd like my rendition of it. So it seems that the Baptist, who was once very certain, has been somehow tainted by hardship or maybe just disappointment. John's inquiry is a partial answer to my old question. Remember my old question about prophets? Do they really understand the prophecy they've been given to preach? And he's a partial answer to this. Did Isaiah know that his very specific messianic prophecies were 750 years before their fulfillment? Think of that. Three lifespans of the United States of America happened between Isaiah's gospel and Matthew's gospel. Did Isaiah have any idea? of the implications of what he said and how specific they were to the events that would happen seven and a half centuries later. And so this we read, surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, Isaiah writes. He carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. That's such a New Testament concept. Now certainly most of the people of Isaiah's time didn't know what that meant, but I have to wonder if the prophet knew. He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. He invokes the lamb that John invoked. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and they made his grave with the wicked, the thieves on the hill of Calvary with him, but with the rich at his death, the pristine tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. He bore the sin of many. Is that an Old Testament concept that was generally understood? I don't think so. I think this is the old being revealed by the new. But note the specificity of the prophet's words, but you have to wonder if you came up and interviewed him and ask him, when will these things take place? If he would have said 750 years from now, I've always wondered if the prophet really envisions the extent or the import or the implications of his predictions. Do they really know in the moment? Did John really know? If this is the case with Isaiah, why was John convinced? Or rather, why was John not convinced? Did David know when he sang Psalm 22 that he was channeling the words of his Messiah from the cross at Calvary? And David predicted this a thousand years before it happened. And so we read this from David Psalm 22, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? If that is a famous phrase, it is because Jesus uttered it from the cross in his native tongue, Eli, Eli, Lama, Sabachthani, he said. And they debated as to what it meant, if you recall, which shows you they're not really familiar with the Psalm. And then he says from the cross, why are you so far from helping me? Or rather, this is David in his psalm, a thousand years before Jesus. Why are you so far from helping me and from the words of my groaning? Sounds a lot like, why have you forsaken me? For dogs have surrounded me, the congregation of the wicked has enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my feet, the psalmist says. I can count all my bones. They divide my garments. If you remember, they cast lots for Jesus' one-piece tunic because it was a valuable item. They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. Very specific prophecy, specifically fulfilled. Thousand years later, did the prophet David know in his mind and for the rest of his life that he had prophesied the events at Calvary? I mean, the simple answer is yes. But if that's the case, why does John, the greatest prophet, indicate that he's not so certain in his prophecy? So of course the Messiah uttered those very words from the cross. The psalmist and the Messiah end with some form of the phrase, it is finished. And so from David we read again, a posterity shall serve him. That's us. He's predicting the church. It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation, which indicates that he didn't think it was far off. Then they'll come and declare his righteousness to a people who will be born that he has finished this. Spurgeon holds that Jesus recited the whole Psalm from the cross. Again, a messianic fulfillment of a very specific and ancient prophecy. So the prophets were right, but did they know they were right throughout their lives? Friends, John was killed for his message. And it's likely John sees his impending death when he asks the question, are you the one that is coming? It's likely he foresees that. He's been in the prison. He's a prophet. He probably has some inspirational idea that he's not getting out. He's going to die. Think of the disappointment of the prophet who may have thought he would be instrumental in the new kingdom. as the new king came upon the land. Maybe he was disappointed, again, I'm just conjecturing here, that Jesus chooses 12 close followers and John isn't one of them. You've got to wonder if he was disappointed. And make no mistake, his gospel predictions were not separated from his cultural and political concerns for his nation. In the final analysis, he was imprisoned and eventually killed for his political motives and not for his eschatological ones. And so Matthew unfolds this fact in the gospel record and we read this, for Herod had laid hold of John and bound him, put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his wife. Herod was a henpecked old potentate of that day. For the sake of Herodias, his brother, Philip's wife. He had his brother's wife. That's a no, no in Jerusalem or in the Israel of the time. And so we put him in prison for her sake, because John had said to him, it is not lawful for you to have her. In other words, he spoke on a moral cultural issue about his leaders and the character of the leaders. So John spoke truth to power. He was not afraid of the wrath of the princes he would rebuke. It's biblically acceptable practice for the prophet of God to comment on the morality of nations, on the times, on the leaders, and the societies in which they lived. And he was a social commentator as well. The Pharisees came out, the religious leaders of the day, and he said, who told you to flee the wrath to come? So I say this in defense of all God's spokesmen to the present day, that we are not silent on the cultural issues that affect society in this moment. Why is it okay in some people's eyes that when we get together socially, we can talk about any manner of social or moral or political thing, but the preacher dare not do it from the pulpit? Where do we get such foolish ideas as that? It's a trick of Satan to try to silence the preachers with regard to public policy and the morality and legitimacy of our leaders. John did this and Charlie Kirk did this. And so I'll pick out the example of the moment. Please see through the new speak of the moment. Anyone know what new speak is? Anyone remember? From the novel 1984, Newspeak was the official government statement of the Vax. See through the Newspeak of the moment. Charlie was targeted for his Christianity. It was his commitment to Christ that drove him to speak truths that had fallen into obscurity. He spoke truths that people had forgotten and they were glad to have forgotten them. And being obscure and untaught and neglected in our time, such truths are happily forgotten by this generation and just as unhappily reminded when the prophet of the moment comes on the scene. Charlie Kirk spoke on the sanctity of national borders. on the need for this generation to commit to a biblical model of the family. And he singled out the black community for the epidemic of fatherlessness that afflicts their families. Try to remember Barack Obama did the same thing and nobody criticized him for doing it. It's just a fact that he brought out. It shows no animosity or hatred toward groups. That's the new speak of the moment that I ask you to look squarely in the eye. And so all I can say with regard to truth and the forces that oppose it is that truth unknown is truth denied. If I don't know it, it can't be true. It's as if our society is offended to be told there's more to being informed than our professors or our peers or our pet websites are willing to offer us. There's more to being informed, friends. But we don't want to hear it from the likes of you. It was Charlie's commitment to Christ that drove him to speak on such things as life beginning at conception. You know, as I was reading that thing about the baby leaping in the womb, did abortion come into your mind at all? I mean, it's a biblical statement of life being there before birth. And with those two particular women, the identity of their children were known. So we spoke on things like life beginning at conception and the reality of a sexually binary world that there are only two genders, male and female, assigned at birth by an omnipotent God and that's the final word on it. You can think what you want, you have the freedom to be what you want, but don't ask the man of God to enter into your fantasy. We won't do it. So Charlie was killed for his message. John the Baptist was killed for his message to people in power. Jesus Christ was killed for his message to people of power in politically oriented and religiously oriented worlds. He violated the cardinal commandment at the Thanksgiving table. Don't talk religion and politics. It's amazed me no end that so many in our time could be duped into believing in gender fluidity according to the whims of individual human beings. But we were warned about such things. The Apostle Paul wrote this to the Romans, for the wrath of God was revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who do what? Suppress the truth. They suppressed the truth in unrighteousness, because although they knew God, they would not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. professing to be wise, they became fools. Therefore, God gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature, rather than the Creator, who was blessed forever. Amen. That's what they did, and that's what we do now. I wonder if our society has not been given over to their own lusts. in this time, and certainly it seems to. I was talking with an old friend, a Christian friend, many years ago, when this whole sort of homosexual movement became popular in the land, popularized in the land, and I said, I wonder if there'll be judgment for this, and he said, read Romans 1, this is the judgment. God gave them over to a depraved mind to defile the bodies among themselves. And so the believer is identified for the truths they hold to. Kill the believer, kill the truth. It's never worked, but these are not people who have a great understanding of history anyway. I saw one woman recently in the media calling people fascists and was asked, what's a fascist? She had no idea and admitted it. And so the believer is identified for the truth they hold to, for the truth they impart to anyone who will listen. It was truth that killed the prophets. It was the message that Jesus brought that killed him. Recall, Jesus said to them, most assuredly I say to you, before Abraham was, I am, and they took up stones to stone him. They didn't want to hear it. And so when John falls, into this moment of uncertainty, it is the message of the gospel that Jesus uses to define himself. Think about it. Are you the one to come or shall we look for another? He could have used his Davidic lineage. He could have said, well, ask Matthew about my lineage. Remember chapter one of Matthew, that great chapter about Jesus' lineage. He could have said, I come straight from David, through my mother and my legal father. He didn't do that. He could have said, haven't you not heard the story? God is my father. He could have spoke of the virgin birth. He didn't do that. He might have made divine commentaries on spectacular heavenly events or described the things that only he is the son of God was privy to. But he didn't do that. Rather, he said, go tell John the things you see and hear, that the blind see, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them, and blessed is he who's not offended because of me. And I see that as a subtle rebuke to the prophet. Don't be offended because of me. In other words, the prophet that you envisioned that was coming may not be the one who came. If we track the history of Jesus' relationship to John, even before their birth, they were acquainted. And so it seems to me as if John is more disappointed than uncertain. He wanted certain things to happen faster than they did. Welcome to the church. I always want things to happen fast, and they don't. One day is a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day, and I'll never like the fact that that's the case. Well, maybe someday I actually will like the fact that that's the case. And so it seems to me as if John is more disappointed than uncertain. He prophesied him, and we read of it when he said, the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, after me comes a man who was preferred before me, for he was before me. And John bore witness, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and he remained upon him." That's a miracle that happened in his presence. Notice how miracles fade in their power over our faith. I did not know him, but he sent me to baptize him with water and said to me, upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit." See, that's the real baptism. The Holy Spirit is the real baptism. The water is the symbol of that. So it seems our dejected and confined prophet has grown impatient. to see the type of Messiah he had envisioned. What many commentators say was that John, like many of that era, was expecting a prophet that was Israel-centered. R.T. France comments saying this, it is possible, too, that John, like many, like many other Jews, understood the role of the Messiah in a more politically and nationalist light than Jesus was prepared to countenance, and that like many of those who followed Jesus during his ministry, he was disappointed at the low-key nature of Jesus' village ministry of healing and teaching. For the first three years of his ministry, he didn't go to Jerusalem. It wasn't a political ministry. It was something else. And it wasn't just Israel-oriented. Jesus is one of the great spokesmen of that. There were many Phoenicians in Israel at the time of Elijah the prophet. There were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah the prophet, but he went to one Phoenician lady in Zarephath. There were many lepers in Israel Jesus could have healed, but he healed the Syrian. He wasn't as nationalistic, maybe, as they had hoped he would be. And so if the Messiah is not a political redeemer, then where's the evidence that he's an eschatological redeemer? You know, when you go to the Old Testament and you look at the term, the day of the Lord, I'm ambivalent as to whether or not that meant the coming of Christ. I think it means the next coming of Christ. I'll show you why. If the Messiah is not a political redeemer, then what is he? The Messiah, many imagined from the prophecies of old, came with fire and judgment and retribution. We speak of a second coming with regard to Christ. It's my evaluation that those of old saw only a single coming of Messiah as a time of judgment and a culmination of human history. And so from Isaiah, we read this, the day of the Lord shall come upon everything proud and lofty. The loftiness of man shall be bowed low, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low. The Lord alone will be exalted that day, but the idols he shall utterly abolish. Jesus didn't do that in his first coming. Amos writes this, woe to you who desire the day of the Lord, for what Good is the day of the Lord to you. It will be darkness and not light. It will be as though a man fled from a lion and a bear met him. Or as though he went into the house, leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. Is not the day of the Lord darkness and not light? When you start out with John's gospel, he talks about Jesus is the light that gave light to every man coming into the world. Maybe the prophets weren't completely understanding their own prophecies. Certainly not in a timeline fashion. And yet there are other predictions that seem more in line with the first coming. As is depicted in the gospel era, from Joel we read, I will pour out my spirit in those days and I will show wonders in heavens and in the earth, blood and fire and pillar of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to you that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls." Friends, is it any wonder that the Messiah who said these words might not be identified with the wrathful predictions of old? How about this? Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. That's quite different than Amos saying, woe to you who desire the day of the Lord. He said, take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I'm lowly and gentle in heart. And you'll find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Maybe John didn't expect a passive savior. And so the Savior's answer shows that his identity and his itinerary are one and the same. Is it any wonder that the message of Christ was his calling card? Go tell John the things you hear and see. The poor have the gospel preached to them. It's always the message that defines Jesus, and it ought to be the message that defines us. It's the message that is our calling card. Who are you? When someone says, are you Elijah? No, I'm not Elijah. Are you Jesus Christ? No, I'm not Jesus Christ. Well, who are you? I'm one acquainted with the coming of the Lord and with the Lord of the coming. For in him, Paul answered this way, in him we live and move and have our being. As also some of your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring. Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone. What's he doing? He's decrying their idolatries in the city of Athens. The nature of God is not something shaped by art and man's devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked. But now commands all men everywhere to repent. And he said that 2,000 years ago when they asked who Paul was. I'm the offspring of God. It's the message that got them killed. It got Jesus killed and John killed. It was the message and not the man that the ignorant of the world denied. And so they disposed of them. Or so they thought. A dead Christ was far more trouble to the Roman Empire than the living Christ ever was. Those who heard Charlie Kirk's message remind me of the Jews who Stephen preached to. He told them the truth about themselves and their response was the same we're seeing today. They cried out with a loud voice, they stopped their ears and ran at him with one accord. Remember the kid who doesn't want to be told to put his toys away, he la, la, la, la. This is where we are today as a society. Just block your ears to the truth and kill the messenger and your problems are over. Is it any wonder that they were at times so secretive, so implicit, and unwilling to speak in a way that their pearls were cast before swine? Follow this theme throughout the New Testament and it will be unfolded to you. Recall when the Lord told the disciples to prepare for the Passover, the Last Supper, He did not give an address. He said, rather He spoke in code. And I read this, what I'm going to say next, in the commentaries of Richard Wurmbrandt. Everybody remember Richard Wurmbrandt? Tortured for Christ. The novel Tortured for Christ. He was held 14 years in a Romanian prison for his faith. He got out. He started Voice of the Martyrs. Right? And he put out a magazine around the world about the martyrs that still exist all around the world. An incredible story, an incredible man. And he said, I know what this passage meant. I know about this kind of secrecy. And so Jesus spoke in code when they asked him, how should we prepare for the Passover? And he said, behold, when you've entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him into the house which he enters, then you shall say to him, to the master of the house, the teacher says to you, where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? And he will show you a large furnished upper room, there make ready." Imagine that. How many people do you think were carrying water in Jerusalem that day? But there was one who was picked by Christ to show the disciples where their room would be secretly prepared. Is it any wonder that the so-called messianic secret, I don't use that term often because it's used by liberal theologians and I don't like their use of it, but the messianic secret was carefully guarded. You may remember Jesus told demons to shut up about who he was. They knew he was the son of God. Have you come to torment me? Right? When people got healed, he said, go and tell no one. Right? And what did they do? They told everybody. When it was asked of him why he spoke in parables, why did he speak in parables? Even the disciples didn't know. He saw them speak to multitudes, and they're thinking, they don't know what you're talking about. And he didn't say, oh, I'm sorry. I'll try to be more clear. I'll give a three-point sermon next time. Maybe everybody will get it. I'll give a little application in the end, and maybe a couple of cliches, and we'll all go home happy. He didn't say that. He said, because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given, at least not yet. Right? It was a secret. It was only for some. For whoever has, to him more will be given and he will have abundance. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Can you imagine saying that today to society? Are you poor? Don't worry, God will make you poorer. That's not gonna go well. but of course he's speaking in spiritual terms about knowledge and understanding therefore i speak to them in parables because seeing they do not see and hearing they do not hear neither do they understand and so jesus will speak to them again of this very thing and he says i thank you father lord of heaven and earth that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them unto babes. And I am fully confident that when Jesus sent the disciples of John back to him with the message that defines him, John respected the code and understood the Lord's message to him was, don't look for another. You have indeed identified the right man. And so, Father, I Ask in Jesus' name that we might identify the right man, and that we might know him by his power, we might know him by his word, written and preached, that we might know him because the Holy Spirit of God, who is God, has entered into our hearts and revealed him to us. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.