Father we thank you that we can sing yes I will because Jesus in him all things are yes and amen and we know that not one promise of yours is void not one season of suffering and discouragement is meaningless Lord we know that you mean all things for good for those that love you Lord would you just stir up a love in us Lord and even to pray that we say thank you God that we can can express a love to a holy God when we were not holy Lord thank you for spiritual eyes to see and to know you God and we pray Lord that we would be faithful in all seasons and you would see us through Lord we do lift up those who just can’t be with us this morning we just pray they would be blessed and kept Lord and we just pray you’d see us through this time and we’d be able just to continue on as a church community loving one another growing together Lord we’re just going to say thank you Lord even until we see the things we want to see with our own eyes Lord we just open our hands this morning our hearts we pray you multiply Lord the tithe and offering that we give back to you Lord that you would continually provide as you have and always Lord will for all of Lord your work here at Providence and beyond God so we bless you bless the name of Jesus and just pray you’d open us up to hear your word and be changed that we would know and be like Christ more we pray that in Jesus name Amen

well good morning it’s good to see you it is good to be with you I should have sent out an email this week but I did not test positive for the virus so all is well they rammed those giant sticks up my nose and did that whole thing and so luckily he didn’t come back praise the Lord I should say he didn’t come back positive so I’m glad to be with you and thank you to Chase for filling in last minute last week that’s always fun to be asked to preach last minute so it gives you a rush something the spirit or anxiety one of the two

we’re going to continue on in Matthew this morning Matthew chapter 11 verses 7 to 15 Matthew chapter 11 verses 7 to 15 and

Matthew writes as they went away Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John the Baptist what did you go out into 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 king’s 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 is arisen no one greater than John the Baptist yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he 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 hear I read a story about a man in France an 80 year old man sitting down for dinner and there was a fly driving him crazy and annoying him so he had one of those electric fly swatters you know that shocks him what he didn’t know is that there was a gas leak in the house so when he hit that fly the spark was just enough to ignite the fumes and it blew up his kitchen he lived I would tell the story if he didn’t live he lived and part of his roof was destroyed and so he had to move out for a while while these renovations were being done to repair his house but that’s the thing that’s dangerous about gas leaks is often times you don’t smell them and you certainly don’t see it you don’t see it even though it is there it is there and it’s the very same thing with the kingdom of heaven it is invisible we cannot see it the world cannot see it but it is there the kingdom of heaven is here the kingdom of heaven is present and it started being present with the ministry and life of John the Baptist and of course Jesus brought the kingdom of heaven in full force and up to this day Jesus is bringing the kingdom of heaven though even now it is invisible but it’s still here and if it’s here even though we can’t see it I want us to look at what Jesus has to say about John the Baptist and press into our own selves and answer how should we live how should we be minding ourselves and our lives if it’s true the kingdom of heaven is here and we will give account for how we have or have not responded to that invisible but present kingdom because it will not always be invisible will it Christ will come back someday and that very present invisible kingdom will be quite visible and quite present for all how do we live as kingdom people while it is still invisible that’s what I want us to learn kind of the last lessons from John the Baptist’s life here in Matthew’s gospel the present kingdom verse 7 again so as John the Baptist’s disciples went away John turned John turned to Jesus Jesus turns to the crowds and he says what did you go out into 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 king’s 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 tell you I say to you among those born of women there is arisen no one greater than John the Baptist so remember what happened last time earlier in this passage John the Baptist is in prison remember he’s discouraged and he sends his own disciples to say essentially hey Jesus are you sure you’re the Messiah Jesus is in a moment or John’s in a moment of discouragement and Jesus sends back an encouraging word to say yes I am the Messiah I accord with all the scriptures of the Old Testament you see that plainness and so they go away with this encouraging word for John the Baptist but what Jesus does not do is miss an opportunity to teach and to preach what he does not do as the crowds are still tuned in to this great teacher and miracle worker is the chance to benefit them by giving the lesson of the life of John the Baptist and more than even the lesson of the life of John the Baptist Jesus preaches to them salvation if they would grasp the great end for which John lived his life so he says what did you go out into that wilderness to see John is not obscure remember John is famous this has been about two years now everybody knew who John the Baptist was it says all the countryside all Judea went out into the wilderness to see this weird dude preaching right there was this guy out and so Jesus says remember that time back then y’all knew it and you were going out to see him what did you go out to see him what did you see was he this weak mild mannered frail man like a grass a reed you know just kind of blown in the wind the implied answer is no that’s not what John was John boldly proclaimed the truth he boldly called out the wicked he boldly condemned the Pharisees hypocrisy he boldly called out King Herod’s adultery Charles Spurgeon said he knew not how to be silent in the presence of God in the presence of royal sin so he’s not John the Baptist a cowering man is he so Jesus says what about soft clothing was was John the Baptist a fancy man wasn’t a fancy man remember camel hair you don’t get less fancy than camel hair he wasn’t a fashionista he didn’t care about fine apparel that wasn’t John’s thing to see so for a third time and on purpose on calculated Jesus says what did you go out to see and they’re left really with only one answer John was not a man to see he didn’t have words of flattery he wasn’t a soft spoken man he just spoke plain truth John was a prophet that’s what John was and at that John the Baptist was a very effective faithful prophet John fulfilled his service to God with flying colors no one could possibly deny that remember what a prophet was a prophet was that person in the Old Testament up until John’s time that you were a mouthpiece for God you spoke God’s truths you gave God’s instructions God commands you were especially careful to know God to obey God you said what God said about the future you said what God said about sin so John is a great prophet but Jesus says here’s another reason why John is such a great prophet because John’s prophetic ministry is itself a fulfillment of a prophecy Jesus said so Jesus just quoted Malachi chapter 3 verse 1 where it says behold I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me so John is the greatest among men because he is a faithful prophet with the greatest message and it’s what hey Jesus Jesus is right around the bend y’all he’s coming John did that great prophetic ministry with zeal with sacrifice with passion John worked he labored his whole life for that present but invisible kingdom so I want us I want us to learn that first lesson from John the Baptist’s life and ministry and it’s this the present kingdom is worthy of our greatest efforts and zeal the present kingdom is worthy of our greatest efforts and zeal John is a bright and burning light that reminds us there is no greater work than work for the kingdom because there is no greater one to work for than God I think we all have ideals don’t we of what greatness is every person does it is that ideal life you wish you could aspire to or at least fantasize about because you know you’re never going to get there usually it’s a combination of two things it’s a combination of comfort security honor health wealth and power and people day after day after day they work their fingers to the bone to get that what we call the quote unquote good life there was that very popular song that was out a while back and the chorus was I want to be a billionaire so freaking bad I don’t know if you should say that in sermons to buy all the things I never had but that’s kind of a mantra of our society is I want more stuff I want more power money’s not enough I would be happy with a million dollars and we’re singing about a billion dollars so it really illuminates the heart and mind of people and that’s not that’s not just the 21st century that’s all people for all time

but Jesus reminds us this looking at John the Baptist’s life work that’s for the kingdom is the only work that matters because the kingdom is the only kingdom that’s going to last all that the world promises us all the security all the health all the prosperity you could ever have as soon as you get it in your hands it disappears it doesn’t last it doesn’t last or sorry to break the news you don’t last you fade away you pass away you pass away and it may remain for someone else to enjoy all that you labored and worked so hard to obtain and so and so faith is what faith is that what is often very slippery in our hands isn’t it it’s that slippery substance and it helps the soul see with the eye of faith that present but invisible kingdom it’s a present but invisible kingdom unfortunately the eyes of my head say yeah but I see the kingdom of man and I see all this stuff and I see happiness and I see comfort here and so the kingdom of man is constantly trying to weaken my efforts weaken my desire weaken my labors to live for a kingdom that will not pass away but again those labors they produce a fruit that doesn’t satisfy the way it says it will satisfy you working and sacrificing for the unseen kingdom friends it brings joy and satisfaction because that kingdom is uncorrupted and that kingdom will never fade away so Paul gives us this encouragement in 1 Corinthians 15 58 he says this he says your labor in the Lord is what it’s not in vain laboring for the kingdom sacrificing for the kingdom spending myself on kingdom work that yields a harvest of eternal life and that fruit will never perish and I want us to think about this as well you and I should have zeal and passion for kingdom work as John did because the Lord has asked you and I who are unworthy to have a hand in kingdom work I am not worthy to work for the eternal kingdom of heaven think that God would take a sinner such as you and I only worthy of his judgment who are enemies and he would say here I’m giving you responsibilities I’m giving you things to do with your life and what you do with your life it is what you do with your life it is or isn’t going to have an eternal impact on the kingdom it is or it isn’t going to resonate throughout eternity for my glory what are you doing friends with your time what are you doing with the labors and the things that God has asked you to do and you know what I think when you and I get really bored with the idea of sacrificing and laboring for God you know I think why we get so tired of that and underwhelmed it’s because we underwhelm ourselves with the gospel message itself and no longer is it a matter of what we’re going to do with our lives that Jesus the king of that kingdom he bled he died he laid his life down for a wretch like me to be saved when I grab hold of that amazing truth man I want to work for God I want to labor for God I want to do great things for God because God has done the greatest thing for me in giving me new life what do you want to spend your life on for whom do you want to spend your life it will be for someone whether it’s you or someone else or let it be God and you may think well I’m no great prophet like John there’s no prophecies about me you know being awesome so I’m insignificant but I want to say to you if God puts a broom or a paintbrush in your hand or a plunger or a pen whatever work God gives you to do for him it’s work that matters because he asked you to do it do we labor? in the church do we labor for the kingdom of heaven to be seen as great or do we labor for the kingdom to say we have given great obedience to God do we want man’s commendation or do we want God’s commendation do we want to hear well done good and faithful servant John’s labors were great because his eyes were fixed on the great king

John Wesley averaged three sermons a day for 54 years preaching all told more than 44,000 times in doing this he traveled by horseback and carriage more than 200,000 miles or about 5,000 miles a year his published words include a four volume commentary on the whole bible a dictionary of the English language a five volume work on natural philosophy a four volume work on church history histories of England and Rome grammars on the Hebrew, Latin, Greek, French and English languages three sermons a day he works on medicine six volumes of church music seven volumes of sermons and controversial papers he also edited a library of 50 volumes known as the Christian Library he was greatly devoted to pastoral work he arose at 4 a.m. and worked solidly through to 10 p.m. allowing brief periods for meals in the midst of all this work he declared I have more hours of private retirement than any man in England at age 83 he was irritated to discover he could not write more than 15 hours a day without hurting his eyes at the age of 86 he was ashamed to admit that he could not preach more than twice a day in his 86th year he preached in almost every shire in England and Wales and often rode 30 to 50 miles a day in fact I think I’ve heard it said John Wesley has preached more sermons to more people in the world than anyone else that we can know of in churches and in church history he labored he labored he labored for the gospel I want to remind us this morning that you and I we are possessors of nothing but we’re stewards of everything that we have we’re stewards what work has God put in your hands? I want to ask you are you just a parent? just a mom? just a dad? or do you have under your roof the next generation of of churchmen and churchwomen are you responsible for is it in your hands to raise up a godly generation? are you just a teacher? are you just an office worker? or has God called you to be a burning light where you are in labor to bring in a harvest there? you are just nothing what you are is a kingdom worker and you have been called by the king to labor for an eternal kingdom that will not fade away you are not just a church member friends it is a great and high privilege to serve in and among the local church the local church is that context where God does so much work to raise up immature believers to maturity those falling away to be pulled back in to grow us up in the doctrines to grow us up into love to be a city on a hill to be a salt salt of the earth to the world the local church it’s a privilege to be here it’s a privilege to meet it’s a privilege to be here it’s a privilege to struggle together it’s a privilege to make disciples together it is the work of the kingdom and as Paul says it is never when we do it in vain it’s never in vain and lastly I want to remind you again just by way of application time is short life is like a vapor are you using your days wisely or do we treat our days as if well they’ll just go on forever this day is the same as the all the other days all the other ones and they’re not we must give account for our labors labor for the kingdom

verse 11 go back there with me if you would

John says Jesus says 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 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 law prophesied until John if you’re willing to accept it he is Elijah who is to come now what could Jesus mean because Jesus just went on and on about this John guy is pretty great I mean he’s pretty great in his sacrifice in his service John the Baptist can be compared to him compared with no other prophet because he is above all the prophets in purpose and in his message and he gave his whole heart to work and labor for the kingdom what greatness does the ministry of John the Baptist lack that Jesus could say somebody else even you even me could be called greater than John well John actually is the one that explains what exactly Jesus means in Matthew chapter 3 verse 11 John said at the time of his ministry I baptize you with water for repentance but he who is coming after me is mightier than I whose sandals I am not worthy to carry and he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit with the fire so that great and wonderful man his ministry was a pointer he was a great messenger and the end of that great ministry great ministry though was a greater thing it wasn’t an end to itself and what was that greater thing that greater thing is this church that by faith you and I and all people and all nations could come to Christ in simple faith and so be called children of God so be called redeemed renewed blood-bought saints that you and I could have a special place in the heart of God because we are found in his son Jesus Christ and that is the greatness that Jesus is talking about that far outstrips hear me say this any great labor or feat by any person even if that great labor or feat is for God you see all you could ever do for God in life it could never replace knowing God that’s greatness knowing God knowing God that’s the heart of what Jesus means John the Baptist nor you nor I we are not significant because of what we do for God friends we are significant because we are found in Jesus Christ we are not significant because of our person or our labors we are significant to God because of Christ’s person because of Christ’s labors so when I come to God in Christ Jesus he doesn’t see my best labors that count for nothing that are small he doesn’t see my my failures as a person he sees me as a person he sees his perfect son Jesus it’s based on the perfect labor and work in person of Jesus so Jesus lifts our eyes from the great ministry to the greater reality of life in the kingdom life in the kingdom the father owning us as his children the son loving us as his bride that’s true greatness simply being God’s

but I want to say when we discover that the reaction if we really discover that wonderful truth is not to say well that’s great man we can all take a big breath and just sit back now because Jesus did all that work for us the opposite when you and I really get a hold of or should I say when free grace gets a hold of us I don’t want to sit down I want to get up and I want to know this God that would shed the blood of his perfect son I want to know this God that would die for a wretch like me I want to know this father whose love runs so much deeper than I can know I want to know this Jesus whose ways are perfect and who’s better than any person or way I’ve ever known when I really get a hold of free grace or free grace gets a hold of me man I want to know and I want to be more like this Jesus so we cannot say great Jesus has done the work let’s go on a hunt let’s go on a holiday Jesus is the holiday Jesus is the rest Jesus is my life and so that question comes to you and I does it stir you up so much that you could be called even the least in the kingdom of heaven does that stir you up to say yes I have a strong passion I have a strong desire not to quote unquote be a Christian not to quote unquote go to church not to be seen as great but just to rejoice rejoice in that fact that I can know God and God desires to know me that’s what Jesus is turning our minds to this morning Jesus says something else verse 12 I’m going to read it again he says from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence and the violent take it by force

there is a reason and I’ve talked about this before a huge gap between what we read sometimes in the English and really the heart and the thrust of what the original languages teach us and say to us and this is one of those places where when we look at the original context we come to see maybe slightly in what we would get if we just skim it when it says suffered violence and the violent take it by force that phrase suffers violence it means really to struggle against or it means to seek fervently and then when Jesus says the violent take it by force violent means strong person or a forceful person lays claim to it so I think what Jesus is doing here he is in a very riddled very kind of poetic way saying this John the Baptist aroused in the people a great passion for the kingdom and it was a passion for the kingdom and it was a passion and desire for this free grace that they had never heard before and Jesus is continuing that ministry and the kingdom of heaven then is only entered by those who stop at nothing to possess it because they are possessed by a violent passion for it a desire that will not be satisfied until I know and have God so that’s one that’s one huge interpretation for that passage but it’s also a passion for the kingdom that’s what a lot of people think I will say to you I struggle with this because this is one of the if not the most difficult verses in the New Testament to interpret alternatively we can see Jesus saying the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and that people hate it and there are people who are constantly working against it trying to destroy it if that’s true either way friends the application for you and I is the same if we want to get into that kingdom and we want to even be the least God is calling you in to do that then I have to strive because there will be enemies against us you do have a sinful flesh that’s trying to give up all the time there is a sinful world a fallen world that’s trying to pull you away to its pleasures and its desires so either way you and I must have a holy violent passion to get in the kingdom it’s not that God’s grace isn’t sufficient it is the realization when you get a taste of free grace you are possessed by that spirit that will go on and will not give up because you have seen the greater beauty of God the beauty of the cross of Christ and it is all you want Matthew Henry says self must be denied the bent and the bias the frame and the temper of the mind it must be altered there are hard sufferings to be undergone a force to be put upon the corrupt nature we must run we must wrestle we must fight and we must be in agony and all little enough to win such a prize and to get over such opposition from within and from without they who will have an interest in the gospel in the great salvation are carried out towards it with a strong desire they will have it upon any terms and not think them hard nor quit their hold without a blessing they who will make their calling in election sure must give diligence the kingdom of heaven was never intended hear me say this the kingdom of heaven was never intended to indulge the ease of triflers but to be the rest of them that labor

do you and I have and it’s a question that I cannot answer for you but only you can answer with the Lord do you have an unbridled holy violent passion for the greatness of the kingdom of heaven is it a blessed thing to be called even the least in the kingdom that the Lord your God would have you and you would have your God amen are we like or are we unlike Jacob when the angel of the Lord said let me go the morning is breaking Jacob said back no I will not let go until you give me that blessing I pray that the spirit of God would arrest you and I with a holy zeal for heaven that in all things Jesus would be our joy Jesus would be our treasure Jesus would be our life to fellowship with him amen to know the Father to live by the power of the spirit and that the song of our life the message of our life would be the free grace of God to sinners like us the free grace of God in Luke chapter 13 someone says this he went on his way through towns and villages teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem and someone said to him Lord will those who are saved be few and he said to them strive to enter through the narrow door for many I tell you will seek to enter it and will not be able to how do I hear that and not get terribly discouraged because I’m thinking surely I want to beat down the doors of heaven and have this great holy violent passion but I know you know I’ve sat in church and I’m like thinking about what I’m going to have for lunch that day and I’m like and the Bible gets dusty and I don’t pray as I ought and I’m awfully ill sometimes with my family or friends and I’m not loving God and beating down the doors of heaven so what can I do but condemn myself and say that’s probably going to be me friends here’s why because God has not called you and I to a kingdom that we can apprehend in our own strength if God has called us into that kingdom it means He’s already given us the spirit and vigor we need to be able to do that to carry out the work and be the people we need to be to make it to the end you need not wonder is it me is it me look at the Savior and say is He yours because if He is yours you are possessed by that spirit that will strive in you until the very end so labor and labor on grace is sufficient in our failings labor and strive until you’ve won the prize of Christ Jesus our Lord

amen I remember my early 20s I was going to be a camper so I didn’t have any money I worked at UPS making nothing but the bank gave me a credit card and so I went out and bought this really nice tent these really expensive camping shoes really nice sleeping bag if you would believe it I bought a fish fillet kit I was like I was like going to live in the wild and like eat fish and like this was going to be cool and like live off the land like I had this whole thing in my mind right and I went camping one time

maybe twice you can have all the stuff in the world but at the end of the day if your heart is into something you do it right your heart is into it and I think in the same way you and I we can give ourselves false comfort false hope because we answer irrelevant questions for ourselves here’s some of the irrelevant questions we answer well I believe the doctrines of the Christian faith I think it’s all true well I go to church even pretty regularly I mean I tithe we give money to the church

friends those are those are good things but those things do not save you the one question that matters for your life it’s the one question that matters for your life do you desire to know God to be in the kingdom that is the one and only one question because when you can answer that question you can answer that question with a burning zeal yes then work for the Lord becomes sweet labors for the Lord become vigorous and alive but not until in our heart of hearts the spirit births a burning desire to just know and be with and be like God

let us labor friends and then for the kingdom let us first labor to know the king of the kingdom let that be our joy let that be our hope let that be our hope let us pray for more love what does Paul say we should live in the spirit and what does the spirit do the spirit produces fruits of the spirit so if you find yourself in a season of coldness towards Christ coldness towards the work coldness towards holiness and righteousness what should we do pray by faith that the spirit would bear the fruit of what love right Lord give me the fruit of love what I don’t have and can’t have in and of myself and that’s a love in your spirit for you and that love would keep me loving and growing in you and keep me serving you so love to love God more can I say that love to love God more

verse 14 he says and if you’re willing to accept it John the Baptist is Elijah who is to come he who has ears let him hear he who has ears let him hear if we look in Malachi chapter 4 verse 5 what you find is it’s saying that the great and awesome Elijah will come and Jesus says hey that was it was John the Baptist he came in the power and spirit of the prophet Elijah but he didn’t just come so we could say wow what a great ministry what an amazing ministry wouldn’t it be cool to be like John the Baptist that’s not why he came if we read on in Matthew 4 5 it says this messenger comes to do what to turn the hearts of the father towards the child and the heart of the child towards the father John the Baptist came to preach a gospel of the kingdom that Christ came to fulfill and that he takes out the heart of stone and he gives us a living heart of flesh to know God and to love God and to love people and to be people of the kingdom and it’s a kingdom worth working for suffering for sacrificing for it is a kingdom worthy of all loss that we could gain the king himself so Jesus says if you have ears to hear if you have ears to hear hear that receive that believe that give your life to the present but unseen kingdom while it is unseen now know that as you labor for it as you labor for it as you seek to live in it by the spirit now the day will come when it is seen and it is made evident and your joy and my joy and all of our work and our labors for it will be seen and the king himself will be seen and there will be our joy and our life and our satisfaction and our peace forever the present kingdom friends that is among us let us see it with the eye of faith and give ourselves wholly to it amen amen let’s pray together

father we thank you for your word and Lord we just pray by the power of it and the working of the spirit you would stir up in us Lord a holy passion a holy desire for your name’s sake

Lord our hearts are so good at despairing our hearts are so good at drifting our hearts are so good at creating false idols and living for small things Lord remind us of the beauty and power of the cross of Jesus

where you poured out your justice on your son and you showed us love and mercy

oh Lord stir up in us a warmth a gospel warmth where we’re cold a gospel warmth a gospel warmth stir up in us a desire to sacrifice stir up in us a desire to lose that we may gain that we may lose this world but be found in Christ that’s my prayer for all of us here in this room for all of us at Providence it’s my prayer for myself and Lord it is by your free grace alone that it will be so so we pray these things in Jesus name amen