LUKE 7:18-30

ONE DISCOURAGED PREACHER,

AM 11/13//05 Life of Christ #21

 

      I read once that the Devil was having a yard sale, and all of his tools were marked with different prices. They were a fiendish lot. There was hatred, jealously, deceit, lying, pride--all at expensive prices. But over to the side of the yard on display was a tool more obviously worn than any of the other tools. It was also the most costly. The tool was labeled, DISCOURAGEMENT.

 

   When questioned, the Devil said, "It's more useful to me than any other tool. When I can't bring down my victims with any of the rest of these tools, I use discouragement, because so few people realize that it belongs to me."

John Yates, "An Attitude of Gratitude," Preaching Today, Tape No. 110.

 

Martin Luther once was so depressed over a prolonged period that one day his wife came downstairs wearing all black.

Martin Luther said, "Who died?"

She said, "God has."

He said, "God hasn't died."

And she said, "Well, live like it and act like it."

   -- Robert Russell, "Releasing Resentment," Preaching Today, Tape No. 136.

 

John W. Yates shared this letter from a missionary who had gone into the jungles of New Guinea:

   "Man," he said, "it's great to be in the thick of the fight, to draw the old Devil's heaviest guns, to have him at you with depression and discouragement, slander, disease! He doesn't waste time. He hits good and hard when a fellow is hitting him. You can always measure the weight of your blow by the one you get back. When you're on your back with fever and at your last ounce of strength, when some of your converts backslide, when you learn that your most promising inquirers

are only fooling, when your mail gets held up and some don't bother to answer your letters, is that the time to put on your mourning suit?

 

   "No Sir! That's the time to pull out the stops and shout hallelujah! The old fellow's getting it in the neck and he's giving it back. And all of heaven is watching over the battlements: 'Will he stick it out?' And as they see who is with us, as they see around us the unlimited reserves, the boundless resources, as they see the impossibility of failure with God, how disgusted and sad they must be when we run away. Glory to God! We're not going to run away. We're going to stand."

   -- John W Yates II, "Overcoming Discouragement," Preaching Today, Tape No. 42.

 

There are going to be times when you and I feel depressed.

For some, depression is caused by a medical condition and needs to be treated. For most of us depression will be a result of any number of things that will cause us to feel down. And believe it or not, pastors, teachers, and missionaries are very susceptible to getting discouraged.

 

We are continuing our series on the Life of Christ. Last time, we saw Jesus healing a centurion’s servant.  The centurion himself was a gentile who had greater faith than Jesus had seen in Israel.  Shortly after this event, Jesus healed a widow’s son outside the city of Nain. They were carrying the body out to be buried and Jesus brought the man back to life.

 

This morning we want to meet a man who was touched by Jesus who was evidently suffering from depression.  This was a man who had stood firmly for the Lord Jesus and had pronounced that Jesus was coming.  Here was a man who was as bold and as non-institutional as they come.

 

He called people to repent because the Messiah was coming. He also pointed out the Messiah when he came.

 

Mark 1:6-8 - And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey; [7] And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. [8] I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.

 

John 1:29-30 - The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. [30] This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.

 

This morning I want us to look at the story of one discouraged preacher. Let’s look and see if there are any lessons for us when we get depressed or discouraged.

 

THE PROBLEM - 18-20 - Depression and doubt had set in.

 

As we said a couple of moments ago, Jesus had raised the son of the Widow of Nain from the dead. This led to great reports about the Lord Jesus.

 

Luke 7:16-17 - And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people. [17] And this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judaea, and throughout all the region round about.

 

Vs. 18 - John's disciples reported to John the Baptist what was happening. Where was John the Baptist at this time?

 

He was in prison!

 

Luke 3:19-20 - But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison.

 

John, the no-nonsense preacher of righteousness had taken a stand concerning Herod's sin. Now he was paying by being in jail.

 

Life isn't always fair. You can be doing exactly what God wants you to do and still end up facing tough situations.

 

Paul also ended up in jail and also had a thorn in flesh.

Jeremiah ended up being single all his life and doing time in jail.

Ezekiel's wife died.

Hosea had an unfaithful wife.

James was martyred.

Peter did jail time as well and ended up being martyred.

 

Romans 5:3-5 - And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

 

So here is this bold, brazen preacher of righteousness sitting in a jail cell. He hears reports about Jesus. John, in his thinking, begins to doubt.  John was undoubtedly looking for Jesus to set up His kingdom. He was looking for Him to have a bold, brash, approach. He was probably expecting Jesus to take over! Remember what John had predicted?

 

 

 

Mattthew 3:11-12 - I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

 

Jesus was probably taking a kinder, gentler approach.

So John shows signs of doubt.

Remember that there is a difference between doubt and unbelief.

It is possible for the greatest saints to have times of doubt and even wanting to give up. As Warren Wiersbe pointed out Moses, Elijah, and Jeremiah wanted to quit at one point or another, and Paul certainly knew the meaning of the word "despair."

 

I've watched many a saint struggle with the possibility of death, and then die victoriously. Dr. Doris Freese was a professor of Christian Education at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. She fought cancer and came back to live with her sister near Fonda New York. An additional room and bath were attached to the house, and Doris came to live.  I can remember that she struggled with facing the future, and yet in the end, quietly and confidently went home to be with Jesus!

 

John simply wanted to know.  Are you really the Messiah, or should we look for another? I'm sure the months spent in a dark, damp jail cell were enough to get anyone discouraged.

I think John's message was his way of saying, "If you're the Messiah, get busy!”

“If you're the Messiah get the Kingdom set up!

“If you're the Messiah, get me out of this place!"

 

You wouldn't want anyone to judge your life's work based on a bad moment or two when you lost it! So let's not judge John based on a moment or two when he struggled. John was a great man of God!

 

Alexander MacLaren – “John's gloomy prison thoughts may teach us how much our faith may be affected by externals and by changing tempers of mind, and how lenient, therefore, should be our judgments of many whose trust may falter when a strain comes.”

 

THE PROBLEM - 18-20 - Depression and doubt had set in.

THE PROOF - 21-23 - Look at the truth!

 

I have a friend named Chuck Renken.  Whenever I have visited with Chuck I feel like his life is centered around an early elementary school experience most of us had.  It was called "show and tell". Chuck is still playing the game. He'll show you a picture, or an artifact or a book and tell you about it. He never seems to stop!

 

In this passage, Jesus plays "show and tell" with John's disciples.

 

Vs. 20 - They give Jesus John's message.

 

Vs. 21 - Jesus shows them what He has been doing.

             It was show and tell time!

Jesus cast out demons, healed people and made the blind to see!  John wanted to know "Jesus, are you the Messiah?" Jesus answered by giving the John's disciples a report to send back to their leader.

 

Vs. 22 - Jesus gives John's disciples the message.

             "You tell John what's happening."

            

And what was happening, was in fulfillment of Old

Testament prophecy about the Messiah."

 

Isaiah 61:1-2 - The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

 

Isaiah 29:18-19 - And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

 

Isaiah 35:4-5 - Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

 

Jesus says "John, this is what is happening in fulfillment of prophecy about me. This is the truth! Then He adds in verse 23, And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

 

John was in danger of being offended or trapped because of Jesus.  He doubted because of what Jesus was not doing, instead of trusting in what He was doing!

 

The blessed man is the believer who doesn't get trapped by what God is not doing in their lives.

It is very easy to doubt when God is not doing what we think God should be doing.

In a gentle way, Jesus was saying, "Trust me!"

May we take this to heart! Meditate upon the positive things that God is doing in your life, the lives of your friends and in your church and community. When discouraged, remember what God has done, and what He has promised to do. His promises have never failed.  Concentrate on the truth!

 

Psalm 27:13 - I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

 

Psalm 143:5 - I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.

 

Psalms 119:15-16 - I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.

 

THE PROBLEM - 18-20 - Depression and doubt had set in.

THE PROOF - 21-23 - Look at the truth!

THE PRAISE - 24-30 - God is keeping score!

 

Jesus had a message for John - "Hang in there!"

Jesus also had a message for those who were in his audience - "John is a great man!"

 

God is keeping track of all we say and do.

God will reward Christians according to their works.

2 Corinthians 5:10 - For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

 

1 Corinthians 4:5 - Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

 

Warren Wiersbe - What we think of ourselves, or what others think of us is not as important as what God thinks.

 

Vs. 24 - Jesus asks, "When you went out to see John, did you go to see someone who was so wishy washy that he was like a reed being blown by the wind?"

 

The answer, of course, was "No"! Part of the appeal of John the Baptist was that he was so firm, so bold, and so sure about what he was saying!

 

Vs. 25 - Jesus then asks if they went out to see a man who was well to do! Again the answer was "no!" Well to do people were in king's courts.

 

They went to the wilderness to see a man who was concerned about eternal things, and not comfortable things. I wonder how much more would be accomplished by Christians today if they were more concerned about getting out God's Word than being comfortable!

 

Matthew 6:24 - No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

 

Matthew 6:33 - But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

 

Verse 26 - The true prophets of God were great men.

                They went to the wilderness to hear a great man of

                God!

But Jesus says that John was more than a prophet!

John was a great man because He was the last Old Testament prophet.

John was a great man because He was closest to Jesus and knew Jesus personally. He was even related.

John was a great man because He was prophesied about in the Scriptures.

 

Vs. 27 is a quote of Malachi 3:1

 

Isaiah 40:3 called John, The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

 

Vs. 28 - What a compliment Jesus pays here. There was none greater born to women than John the Baptist.

 

But Jesus doesn't stop there. He says that the least in the kingdom of God is greater than John.

 

Warren Wiersbe - How is the least person in the Kingdom greater? In position, not in character or ministry.  John was the herald of the King, announcing the kingdom: believers today are children of the kingdom and the friends of the King.

 

Vss. 29-30 - John was sitting in jail. Why?

John's ministry had an impact on the common men and sinners. They heard John and repented!

The Pharisees and scribes were too good for John's Baptism and rejected his message. If they had followed John's teaching, they would not have stood for John being in prison.

 

God is never fooled. He knows who serves Him and who doesn't.

God will give praise to those who deserve it.

And note that Jesus waited for John's disciples to leave.

Then wasn't the time to praise John. He would receive his reward later.

Now is not necessarily the time for us to receive praise, but if we are faithful, it will come later.

 

THE PROBLEM – Depression and Doubt had set in.

THE PROOF – Look at the truth.

THE PRAISE – God is keeping score.