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[0:00] Good morning. Good morning. I'm going to be in the New Testament this morning.

[0:12] ! I think the last time I preached here I made the comment that I'd never preach from the New Testament here.! I was wondering if y'all wondered if I did or not.

[0:24] We're just happening to all be in the New Testament this morning. In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 11. It's kind of funny because it, in an indirect way, goes along with some of the Sunday school lesson that was taught.

[0:46] In fact, Brother Mike was talking about shaking the dust off your feet and going on your way. That's not only mentioned in the book of Acts.

[0:57] It's also mentioned in the three synoptic Gospels. One being in Matthew, chapter 10, where Jesus is giving instructions to the disciples. That if they go in and they're not welcome, that they're going to shake the dust off their feet and move on.

[1:14] But anyway, the Gospel of Matthew is probably my favorite Gospel of the three synoptics.

[1:25] Not that I have anything against Mark or Luke. Certainly not against John. He's not one of the synoptic Gospels. Matthew is my favorite because I feel that Matthew is more detailed than the others are.

[1:39] And I also attribute that to Matthew being Levi, who was a tax collector. He was a publican. And therefore, with him having droves of people coming in and giving him money and such, then he would have had really good shorthand.

[1:54] And so, you know, the Gospel accounts that he recorded would have likely been in shorthand. And then he could, you know, elaborate on them later, knowing his own shorthand.

[2:07] So I think I feel like that's why Matthew is more detailed. But Gospel of Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus Christ, showing his rightful place to the throne of Israel when you get right down to it.

[2:27] But it begins with that. And we also have, of course, what we call the Christmas account, the birth of Jesus Christ. We have the worship of the wise men later.

[2:38] We have God's providential protection over his son and his son's earthly family, over Joseph and Mary as well, as far as them going down to Egypt and all these things.

[2:48] In Matthew chapter 3, we have John the Baptist is introduced to us. And he, of course, in turn introduces us to Jesus Christ. Matthew chapter 4, we see the initiating, if you'd like to call it that, of the ministry of Jesus Christ.

[3:05] Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7, we have the Sermon on the Mount, which, again, is a very detailed account of the Sermon on the Mount, as opposed to what you find in the Gospel of Luke.

[3:18] The Gospel of Luke's just got a very short section of that, but Matthew's last three chapters. In Matthew chapter 8, we see Jesus in his ministry, in fact, chapters 8 and 9, performing miracles.

[3:32] He heals sick people. He heals Peter's sick mother. He heals a leper. He opens blind eyes. He raises the dead. He raises Jairus' daughter. So he is showing that he is the promised Messiah in these miracles that he is working in Matthew chapters 8 and 9.

[3:52] Then we get to Matthew chapter 10. And he is commissioning the 12 disciples at that point, including Judas Iscariot. But he commissions the 12 there and tells them that they're going to go and they're going to preach and that they're not always going to be accepted when they go and they preach.

[4:10] And again, he tells them that if that's the case, if someone doesn't accept their message, doesn't honor them, whatever the case is, shake your dust off your feet and move on to the next town.

[4:22] That brings us to Matthew chapter 11. And we're going to go through the first six verses of Matthew chapter 11, keeping all that in mind that I just told you during the introduction that I just gave, if you'd like to call it that.

[4:41] Matthew chapter 11, beginning at verse 1, says, And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his 12 disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.

[4:53] Now when John had heard in the 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?

[5:05] Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see. The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk.

[5:17] 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 whosoever shall not be offended in me.

[5:29] Back to verse 1 in Matthew 11, And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his 12 disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.

[5:41] Now keep in mind, as I said again in the introduction here, the previous chapter is all about Jesus Christ commissioning those 12 disciples. And Matthew chapter 11 begins with, When Jesus had made an end of commanding his 12 disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities, folks.

[6:02] And this shows the everlasting compassion of Jesus Christ. And this shows that he does not tire in showing compassion. It shows that he does not tire in fulfilling his own mission.

[6:16] And Jesus Christ just commanded 12 men, over an entire chapter in Matthew chapter 10, to go forth and to preach the gospel, and told them, You're going to run into problems.

[6:27] You're going to run into people that don't like you. You're going to run into people that don't accept your message. That don't accept me. That don't accept the gospel. You're going to run into all these things. And folks, all that does is confirm what Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy in chapter 3, when he said, All that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

[6:49] It has nothing to do with these men. It has nothing to do with the 12 disciples. It is all about whom they are associated with, why they would be rejected. It's because they were associated with Jesus Christ and His message of salvation.

[7:05] They were going into towns. They were going into cities. They were going into regions and into villages. And they were proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ. They were proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to these people.

[7:18] They were proclaiming it namely to the Jewish people. In fact, in Matthew chapter 10, you can read it for yourself. Jesus told them, Don't you go into the cities. Don't you go into the regions of the Gentiles.

[7:29] You go to where the people are of the house of Israel. You go to the Jewish people and you preach unto them. And that is not God being a respecter of person.

[7:40] That is God fulfilling the plan that He had for His people. The Gentiles would come later. And here we are. In Matthew chapter 11, verse 1.

[7:51] Seeing Jesus Christ. Says He went into their cities. Preaching and teaching. Or teaching and preaching. As it gives it in the order in the Scripture that we just read.

[8:04] Jesus is going in Himself. The King of glory. The very Maker of this universe. The man that had the power to do anything and everything that He could have possibly wanted to do.

[8:19] He had power to do it all. And He chose to walk dusty roads to go to people who were lost in sin. Go to the people who were lost in the darkness.

[8:30] Go to the people that had no way of saving themselves. Jesus Christ, the King of glory, chose to go to these places and preach the good news that even though they were in darkness, even though they were sinful, even though they were rebels against the law of Almighty God, He still had a plan through Christ to save their souls.

[8:54] Hallelujah! What humility we see in Jesus Christ in doing that. The church could learn a whole lot from that. The church could use to learn some humility from Jesus Christ.

[9:06] He departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities. Teaching has to do with instructing the mind. Has to do with exactly what it's called.

[9:18] Teaching. Teaching people how they are to act. Teaching people what they are to do. Teaching people what they are to believe. Preaching is a little different animal though.

[9:28] Preaching does not so much instruct the mind as it confronts the heart. That is what preaching does. And Jesus done both of those things perfectly.

[9:39] He went into the cities. He taught them the ways of God. And after He taught them the ways of God, He pressed the truths of God and God's Word into their hearts so that they might believe.

[9:53] So that they might believe. Verse 2 In Matthew chapter 11 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples.

[10:06] Who is this John? We're reading about this. This is John the Baptist that we're reading about here. John was in prison. Why was John in prison? Again, all they that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

[10:19] John was in prison for doing one thing. Because he confronted sin. He confronted Herod in his sin. And he rebuked that sin.

[10:29] And that is why John was in prison. For simply telling the truth. And there's been many people ever since John the Baptist that were placed in prison for telling the truth.

[10:40] There were people before John the Baptist that were placed in prison for telling nothing more than the truth of Almighty God. The Old Testament prophets they were persecuted. They were hated.

[10:52] They were rejected. Some were thrown in prison. Some were killed. The Jewish tradition holds it that Isaiah the prophet was placed into a log and the log was sown asunder.

[11:04] He was sawed in half for preaching the truth of God's Word. And that has ever been the case. But again, Christians, we were going over it in Sunday school this morning.

[11:15] It is our job. It is our great commission that Jesus Christ gave Himself that we are to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every living creature.

[11:28] Whether they accept it or whether they reject it, that is on them. But that does not negate our responsibility to go into the world and to preach the gospel.

[11:40] In fact, the Bible says in the Old Testament, in the book of Ezekiel, it says that the watchman knows that the army is coming. If the watchman knows that the enemy is near and he fails to sound the trumpet, he fails to warn the people.

[11:54] When the enemy arrives and slaughters the people, their blood is on the watchman's hands. But if the watchman sends forth the trumpet sound, if he tells the people the enemy is at the gate, when they die, his hands are clean because he gave the warning.

[12:13] The same thing applies to us. If we are not warning people, if we are not warning people of the consequences of rejecting the gospel of Jesus Christ, such as John the Baptist was imprisoned for, when they die in their sins and they split hell open, their blood is on our hands because we failed to give the warning when we could.

[12:43] Paul says it best in 1 Corinthians 15. He says, Some have not the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. He was speaking to the church at Corinth when he said that.

[12:54] He was speaking to professing believers in Jesus Christ when he said, Some don't even know about God and it's your fault! Some that I know probably still don't know about God.

[13:06] Whose fault is that? That's mine. That's mine because I haven't told them about Him. I haven't told them about the goodness of God. I haven't told them about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[13:18] I haven't told them that although they be a sinner, God is a marvelous Savior. I haven't told them these things. So if they die in their sin and I have failed to give that warning, their blood is on My hands.

[13:31] I'm not saying that we are responsible for someone else's decision or indecision for that matter for Jesus Christ or for the gospel.

[13:41] I'm not saying that at all. In fact, the book of Romans in chapter 1 speaks to the tune of nature itself speaks of the existence of Almighty God.

[13:53] It speaks to the glory of God. Therefore, man is without excuse. So, when someone goes to hell, it is not necessarily my fault that they did not believe.

[14:05] But, their blood is still on My hands according to what I read in the Scripture. John the Baptist was doing exactly what John the Baptist was supposed to do in rebuking the sin of Herod.

[14:17] And he was placed in prison for doing so. What a fertile ground that is to start to doubt. Being placed in prison. God, I was just doing what I was supposed to do.

[14:29] I'm supposed to rebuke sin. I'm supposed to call people out. I'm supposed to show them that what they are doing offends the thrice holy God of the universe.

[14:40] But that there is a way to escape that. But what fertile ground for doubt? What better fertile ground for doubt than a prison cell?

[14:50] A cold, dark, more than likely wet, damp prison cell away from your family, away from anybody that you know, away from anybody that might love you.

[15:04] What fertile ground for someone to start doubting. And John here, again it says, Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples.

[15:18] Sent two of his disciples, two of the people. Now John, John was a prophet, yes. In fact, the Bible says that the prophets ended with John. It teaches that. That the prophets were until John the Baptist.

[15:30] He was the last prophet known. Outside of Jesus Christ, of course. But, he was also a rabbi. And he had followers. He had disciples.

[15:41] He had those that followed him around. Every rabbi had their disciples. You can read more about that over in Paul's letters to the Corinthians. When he's talking about that very thing.

[15:53] He said, Some of you say you're of this one. Some of you say you're of that one. Then Paul says, I thank God that I didn't baptize any of you. Because I'm, because he was of Christ and he wanted them to be of Christ.

[16:08] Don't be a preacher follower. Don't be a pastor follower. Don't be a deacon follower. You be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. No deacon and no preacher and no pastor has the ability or the power to save your soul.

[16:21] But Jesus Christ does. He sent two of his disciples according to verse 2 here. Verse 3, And said unto him, Now he sent these two disciples to ask Christ the question.

[16:35] And these disciples come to Jesus and said unto him, Art thou he that should come? Or do we look for another? This is one of the most astounding questions in the entire New Testament to me.

[16:48] Are you the one that was promised? Are you the Messiah that should come? Are you the one that was promised in Genesis chapter 3? Are you the one?

[16:59] Are you the seed of the woman that was promised to bruise the head of the serpent? Or should we look for another? Folks, this is the same John that we saw boldly in the Scriptures at the river when he saw Jesus coming down.

[17:19] Said, Behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. This is the same John who boldly preached to those who were questioning and those who were doubting.

[17:32] He said, He will throughly perch his floor. He will throughly perch his floor. This is the same John.

[17:43] And here, here, he is asking a question. Are you that Messiah? John knew the answer. But yet, he sends his disciples to ask the question.

[17:57] Are you the one that should come? Are you He that should come? Or do we or should we look for another? Again, here's John in prison for doing nothing more than what he was supposed to be doing.

[18:15] What do you do when you're persecuted? What do you do when you're hated? Do you back down? Do you tuck tail and run? Do you find a hole and hide in it?

[18:27] That's not what we're called to do, Christians. We're called to push forward. We're called to press toward the mark of the high calling of God and Jesus Christ.

[18:39] And sometimes that pressing gets hard. And sometimes that pressing brings hatred from the world. You remember now, though, that Jesus Christ said Himself, If the world hates you, know that it hated me first.

[18:53] In fact, He gave us warning. He told us it would be that way. He said, You shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. We are called to be salt and light.

[19:06] Flip back to Matthew chapter 5. You can read it for yourself. We are to be salt and light to this world. If you consider that Christians are supposed to be light in this world. Folks, Jesus Christ was the light of the world.

[19:19] The Bible plainly tells us that. It says it in John chapter 1. It says it several other times throughout the Gospel accounts that Jesus Christ is the light of the world.

[19:31] What an honor it is for Him to tell His own. Now are ye the light of the world. But what do we learn in John chapter 3? Men love darkness more than light.

[19:46] That's why we're hated. Not because of who we are. It's because of whom we are associated with. Don't you dare break your arm patting yourself on the back saying I witnessed about Jesus Christ and they run me out of town or they run me out of their yard or they run me off of the sidewalk or whatever the case is run me out of the store.

[20:09] Don't you dare pat yourself on the back because it's not you. It is Christ and Christ alone that the world hates. Because I promise you and I said this not too awful long at the church that Missy and I attend.

[20:25] I said it not long ago at all. I promise you if the world hates you because of Jesus Christ if the next day you are out with the world in their places doing their things doing the exact same things that the world does the world will love you.

[20:47] They'll say I knew you wasn't so bad but they hate you because of Jesus Christ. John was in prison because of doing what he was supposed to.

[20:58] Verse 3 again and said unto him art thou he that should come or do we look for another? And I love Christ's response in the next verse.

[21:10] Jesus answered and said unto them go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see. Go and shew John these things which ye do hear and see.

[21:24] In other words Jesus is saying don't go back with any other story. You go back to John and you tell him what you know. Go tell him what he knows.

[21:37] Just on a side note when John asked the question in verse 3 are you he that should come or do we look for another? My goodness what kind of lesson do we learn from that church?

[21:49] John was confused. John was obviously in doubt. John was in prison. But yet he did not take his questions to the prison warden.

[22:05] He did not take his questions for his disciples to answer. He sent his question unto Christ who would know the answer to give him. We could learn a valuable valuable lesson from that.

[22:19] Are pastors and preachers and Sunday school teachers useful as far as scriptural questions go? As far as spiritual questions go? Yes absolutely. Are grandparents if they're born again are they useful?

[22:33] Are aunts and uncles if they're born again are they useful in such things? Yes. But folks ultimately it comes down to Christ. Christ. And we need to go to him first instead of last.

[22:46] We need to go to him with our questions. Go to him with our concerns. Go to him with our doubt. There's one over in Mark in chapter 9. His boy was possessed with a demon.

[22:58] The demon would throw him down on the ground. He'd throw him into the water. He'd throw him into the fire. And Jesus told that man I can heal him if you believe.

[23:10] And that man said I believe Lord help thou my unbelief. Help thou my unbelief. How often could we say that? How often could I say that?

[23:22] To help my unbelief. I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. I believe that he lived the perfect sinless life. I believe that he died on behalf of rebel sinners. I believe that he was buried.

[23:34] I believe that he resurrected. And I believe that he has since ascended to the Father to make intercession. on behalf of all of those that have repented their ways and believed on him.

[23:45] But still yet I have to cry sometimes. Help thou my unbelief. I've cried that over loved ones being sick. I've cried that over myself being sick.

[23:58] I've cried it over people that have died and families that are hurting and writhing in pain over that. I've had to cry Lord. I believe and you know that I believe.

[24:11] Help thou my unbelief. Folks, the greatest saints in Scripture had doubt. The greatest saints in Scripture sometimes misinterpreted what God was doing.

[24:23] Elijah, not long after he had called fire down out of heaven to consume the sacrifice, to consume the water, to consume everything, not long after that, he was found huddled in a cave, afraid and discouraged.

[24:42] You look at David, look at David over in the Psalms, three times in two Psalms, two back to back Psalms, Psalms 42 and Psalms 43, three times in those two Psalms.

[24:55] He says, why, why is my soul cast down? Why is it cast down? Why is my heart disquieted within me?

[25:06] Even David, the one person in all of Scripture that God describes as a man after his own heart doubted God and had discouragement and had fear and had confusion.

[25:24] So don't look at me like I shouldn't have it. And don't be so prideful as to say you shouldn't have it. We all have it. We're all human, but I praise God for the psalm that says that God understands that we are but dust.

[25:40] He knows that about us. And God does not just cast off people if a little bit of doubt enters in. And I praise God for that. You take Thomas in the Gospels for instance.

[25:51] Was Thomas not a doubter? Is that no way he has the nickname doubting Thomas? Even after the resurrection when Thomas wasn't present but the others told him about it.

[26:02] He said unless I see the nail prints in his hands and unless I thrust my hand into his side I will not believe. Jesus didn't just cast him into the ditch though.

[26:14] Jesus showed up not long after that and showed him graciously showed him the nail prints and showed him his side and Thomas believed.

[26:26] Thomas believed. I thank God we have a compassionate Savior like that. We should all thank God for his compassion because if you were God or if I were God and anyone acted that way toward us toward what we had done and said they did not believe you or I either one would immediately cast them into hell and not blink an eye about it.

[26:50] But my God doesn't do that. He is the God of all mercy. He is the God of all compassion. He is the God of all love. He is the God of all trust. He is the God of all.

[27:01] Period. And John the Baptist gets an answer from Jesus. Jesus sends it back with the disciples. Jesus answered and said unto them go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see.

[27:16] Don't change the story. You tell him what he already knows. In other words. Folks we have to do that. When doubt and fear and perplexity in our entire lives.

[27:29] We must do the same thing. We must go back to whom we know who Jesus Christ is. We know that he has saved our soul. We know that he has died for us.

[27:41] And we know that he has redeemed us. Otherwise those doubts will fester and they'll grow and they'll produce more doubt and more fear and more perplexity in our lives.

[27:53] But when we go back to the truth of whom Jesus Christ is, that should quash that doubt at least for a little while. At least for a little while.

[28:03] Verse 5 The blind receive their sight and the lame walk. The lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear and the dead are raised up.

[28:14] The poor have the gospel preached to them. My goodness what a mountaintop. This is in this short little six verse passage that we read here this morning.

[28:26] Verse number 5 is the peak of this verse. Again in verse 4 Jesus answered John through his disciples and said unto them go and shew John again those things which he do hear and see and then he told them what those things are.

[28:45] The blind received their sight. Hey folks I understand when Jesus was going through the towns and through the regions and through the different cities when he was performing his miracles and all this yes he was opening physically blind eyes but that wasn't the ultimate mission that he was on his mission was to open the spiritually blind eyes when he opened the eyes of Bartimaeus hey he was yes he opened them physically but it was a spiritual picture that Christ was painting that is painted in the gospels for us in John chapter 9 there's another man had been blind since birth the disciples asked Jesus Christ they said what sin has this man committed that he was born blind Jesus said it wasn't his sin nor was it his parents sin but that the glory of God might be manifest that the glory of God might be brought to someone's attention in the healing of this man when it happens he opens the blind eyes and every one of these that you read about here you can find that it is prophetic of the

[30:01] Messiah of the Old Testament that was promised to come Jesus is saying I am that Messiah he says I have opened the blind eyes the blind receive their sight and the lame walk folks before you were born again you were spiritually blind before you were born again before I was born again we were spiritually crippled we could not do anything we could not lift ourselves up we could not walk we needed Jesus Christ and a touch from him you consider the man at the full of Bethesda in John chapter 5 38 years that man had laid there 38 years without being able to get himself to the pool when the water was disturbed so that he could be healed someone always beat him to it but one day one day Jesus walks in and goes straight to that man and says wilt thou be made whole 38 years that man was lame 38 years he could not move his legs what does religion say religion says try harder

[31:11] Christ says take up thy bed and walk folks when you were born again that was the words take up your bed and walk you are no longer spiritually lame you have been given strength and power from on high by Jesus Christ who died for your soul go out into this world and tell them about the goodness of Jesus Christ the lepers are cleansed leprosy is ever a picture in the scriptures of sin and the defilement of sin lepers were cast off they were not allowed into the towns they were not allowed into their families they had to live in communities all by themselves why because they were unclean and they were defiled but I praise God that the defilement and the filthiness that was leprosy in the scripture was unable to defile my savior and folks it being a picture of sin and it being a picture of defilement it being a picture of wickedness and blackness that we are unable and these people in the scriptures were unable to do anything about there was no man made cure but all

[32:29] Jesus had to do was say be healed all Jesus had to do was touch a leper and they were healed and that leprosy could not defile them I'm glad when Christ reached down for me and pulled me up from the muck and the mire that my sin was unable to affect him my sin was unable to make him unclean he is perpetually holy he is infinitely holy he is infinitely righteous there is nothing that can take that about Jesus Christ and I thank God for that lepers were cleansed the deaf here folks not only were you blind not only was I blind not only were we lame not only were we lepers in the spiritual sense but we were also deaf we were spiritually deaf we might have heard someone preaching the gospel for years before God ever opened our ears to where we could truly hear it but it takes God to do that it takes

[33:36] God to convict your soul it takes God to show you who you are and who he is we do not understand that in our natural state God opens up the spiritually deaf ears so they can hear spiritual truth and receive spiritual salvation for all of eternity praise God for that so the deaf here the dead are raised up again Jesus raised people from physical death he raised he raised Jairus' daughter he raised the widow at Nain he raised her son he raised Lazarus from the tomb did he not but all that is meant to paint a picture of what he does for us spiritually folks we were dead in sins we were dead in trespasses and dead men cannot revive themselves it took

[34:38] God to open your eyes it took God to put strength in your limbs it took God to raise you up from the dead and to give you eternal life period you had nothing to do with being saved it was all of God and you might say well I've got to repent and believe who gives you the ability to repent God who gives you the ability to believe God it is all of God every single bit of it bar nothing it is all of God the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them that's my favorite part I appreciate God opening blind eyes I appreciate that he put strength in limbs I appreciate that he opened up deaf ears I appreciate that he raised the dead to life but more than anything this is me personally more than anything the last line of verse 5 is what I appreciate the most the poor have the gospel preached to them the poor had nothing to offer

[35:45] God physically or spiritually the poor were bankrupt physically and spiritually they had nothing they were like the thief on the cross they were like the other malefactor he had nothing!

[36:00] to offer Jesus Christ he couldn't go perform any kind of ceremony he had no money in his pockets he couldn't make a call to anyone all he could do was look at Jesus Christ and say remember me when thou comest in to thy kingdom and he received paradise that day because he believed the gospel he believed that man that was standing there in front of him!

[36:27] beside him he believed that and he received paradise he received eternal life because at some point the gospel had been preached to him and then the gospel was hanging right there with him the gospel itself was hanging there with him the poor had the gospel preached to them you dear Christian at some point in your life were spiritually bankrupt you had nothing to offer God you may have went to church for 20 years for all I know I don't know any of you that well you may have went to church for 20 years and threw all kinds of money in the coffer you may have even taught Sunday school you may have sung some songs you may have planned bake sales you may have been the curator of Bible schools I don't know but none of those things are good enough to merit your way into heaven you had to have the gospel preached to you you had to show that you had nothing to offer

[37:36] God we just sung that not long ago didn't we just this morning nothing in my hands I bring simply to thy cross I clean we can't offer anything to God for salvation we can offer nothing but God himself offered it all and gave it all he gave the crown jewel of heaven for a bunch of rebel sinners for a bunch of people that despised him Jesus Christ came here and was hated of men the entire time that he lived upon this earth maybe not of all men but of most men the Jews wanted him dead the Gentiles wanted him dead everyone wanted Christ dead and that is the whole purpose he came was to give away out from underneath the condemnation and the judgment of almighty God through the giving and offering of his own life so that those

[38:40] Roman soldiers that knelt into the tree would have an opportunity to receive salvation so that those Jews that scream crucify him crucify him let his blood be upon us and upon our children so that they could have a way unto salvation so that you regardless of how long or how little you are in rebellion against God so that you and I would have an opportunity of salvation the gospel is preached to those who are poor blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall receive the kingdom of God the gospel is preached to those that have nothing else that's not to say that the gospel isn't preached to the rich it was preached to the Pharisees it was preached to those who thought that they were rich in the things of God yet they were bankrupt just like everyone else was they thought that they had it all down path they thought that they knew it all they thought that they knew the scriptures well enough to see

[39:46] Messiah when he! come but Jesus Christ said himself to that religious bunch he searched the scriptures thinking that in them you have eternal life but they are they which testify of me talking about the Old Testament scriptures the gospel is preached to the poor and I thank God for that every one of us I don't care if you're Bill Gates I don't care if you're Elon Musk I don't care how much money you got in your account or how much money some great uncle has in his account that you might have claim to one of these days you are poor if you don't have Jesus Christ you are poor without the gospel therefore the gospel is preached to all that they might be rich in the things of God what are the things of God everything he has everything he made everything belongs to him and we are heirs to that

[40:48] Romans chapter 8 says we are heirs to God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ Galatians chapter 3 says if you be Christ then are you Abraham seed and heirs according to the promise we are heirs to God when once upon a time we had nothing but God has made us rich in his own things verse 6 and we'll be done and blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me this word for offended doesn't mean what we think of it nowadays someone offends me I wish they'd outlawed that word I get tired of hearing about people being offended at every little thing that comes their way but this word here that Jesus is using when he says and blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me he's saying whosoever shall not stumble at my truth whosoever shall not fall

[41:51] Solomon wrote in Proverbs that the wicked the wicked stumbleth the wicked are in the dark and they know not at what they stumble the wicked can trip straight over the gospel of Jesus Christ and not even know that that's what tripped them why because they are so set in their ways they are so in love with their sin and their evil that they know not at what they stumble folks this is just as as imperative and just as relevant now 2000 years after this was written as it was when Jesus Christ first spoke the words blessed is he whoever shall not be offended in me what do people stumble over now they stumble over the truth they stumble over

[42:54] Christ himself they stumble over the cross does the Bible not teach that the cross itself is a stumbling block the gospel is a stumbling block why because man wants something to do with his salvation man wants something to do with him being saved man wants to say look what I have accomplished man has accomplished nothing but inciting the fury and the judgment and the anger of an almighty God that's what man has accomplished but even though God can be wrathful does the Bible not say in the book of Hebrews it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God God says himself in the book of Deuteronomy and it's quoted in the New Testament vengeance is mine saith the Lord I will recompense God is a

[43:55] God of love and I thank God for that God is a God of mercy! He is a! God of compassion He is a God of patience My goodness think of John the Baptist here John the Baptist sending two of his disciples to say are you he that should come or do we look for another a God who was impatient would have broken to that prison himself and taken John the Baptist out himself but not my God not my God the God of all patience but while God is all of those things he is also a God of wrath and he is a God of vengeance he is a God of fury he is a God of judgment and a God of anger and who receives those things of God everyone and anyone who rejects the gospel of Jesus Christ you think of

[44:55] John 3 16 every one of us should know that verse by heart for God so loved the world he gave his own begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life if whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life there's only one other side to the coin folks whosoever does not believe on him will perish and will not have everlasting life every person that has ever lived from Adam and Eve on will live for all of eternity somewhere but that place that is called hell in the scriptures that place that is called the place of outer darkness the place where the worm doth not the place where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth that's not much of a!

[45:49] death but you will live there and you will die for all of eternity there will never be a complete death it is a place of death it is a place of sorrow it is a place of pain it is a place where God's anger will live for all of eternity why is that blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me those who stumble over Jesus Christ those who reject those who hear it but do not believe those will be the ones folks there is no other offering outside of Jesus Christ there is no other offering that can be made all the blood of bulls and all the blood of goats was never able to wash away man's sin but Jesus Christ came he said it himself I came to seek and to save that which was lost not those who were righteous in fact he said something about that too didn't he

[46:56] I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance that's all of us he came to save those who were unworthy which is all of us he came to save all those that have sinned which is all we are all guilty before God and Christ came that we could have that guilt and that shame lifted off of us and in doing so have the condemnation of almighty God lifted off of us and God gave his only begotten son that that could be made possible don't stumble over Christ don't be offended at Christ and certainly don't have so much pride as to say that will never happen because Peter said that Jesus told the disciples himself all of you will be offended of me this night and

[48:03]  Peter said I'll never be offended of you I'll go with you all the way I'm ready to die for you Lord and we all know how that turned out for Peter I'm not looking down my nose at Peter and I ain't saying I'm any better than Peter we have three instances in this book of Peter denying Christ and I wish I could tell you now that I only had three instances to my account of denying Christ but I can't say that God bless you all that's this morning's message I appreciate your time and I appreciate