1Last week we started with some audience participation.

This week I’m not going to ask you to raise your hand, but I am

going to ask a really big question that I want you to answer

personally for yourself. And that question is this: Do you ever

struggle with doubt? Do you ever have doubts about your faith?

About Christianity? About God? About whether everything we

say we believe is true and real?

If you do, I want to encourage you in three ways this

morning. First, I want you to listen to what some very wise

followers of Jesus have said about doubt. John MacArthur says,

“When the New Testament talks about doubt… it primarily

focuses on believers. That’s very important. It’s as if you have

to believe something before you can doubt it; you have to be

committed to it before you begin to question it. So doubt is held

up as the unique problem of the believer.” Basically, what

MacArthur is saying is that doubt only comes up in the context of

faith. So even when you’re struggling with doubt, be encouraged

that that doesn’t mean you don’t believe. It means you’re

wrestling with what you believe.

Alister McGrath explains the difference between doubt

and unbelief when he says, “Doubt is natural within faith. It

comes because of our human weakness and frailty. Unbelief is

the decision to live your life as if there is no God. It is a

deliberate decision to reject Jesus Christ and all that He stands

for. But doubt is something quite different. Doubt arises in the

context of faith. It is a wistful longing to be sure of the things in

2which we trust.” So be encouraged by that distinction between

doubt and unbelief. Doubt comes from a desire to be certain of

the truth you believe. Unbelief is a rejection of that truth.

And then J. C. Ryle says this, “Doubting does not prove

that a man has no faith, but only that his faith is small. And even

when our faith is small, the Lord is ready to help us.” So be

encouraged that even when your faith is weak and you’re

struggling with doubts, Jesus is faithful to offer grace and help

you and strengthen your weak faith.

The second way I want to encourage you this morning is I

want you to see that even the greatest prophet who ever lived

(other than Jesus) struggled with doubt. I’m talking about John

the Baptist. Jesus says that John is the greatest man who ever

lived from the beginning of the world until the time when Jesus

came, and still, we’re going to see in our text that John the

Baptist struggled with doubt. So turn in your Bibles to Matthew

chapter 11. If you want to use one of the Bibles from the pew

rack in front of you, Matthew 11 is on page 816 in those Bibles.

We’re continuing our study of Matthew’s Gospel, and if you

were with us last week, you know that we focused on the last

three verses of chapter 11 last week. This week, we’re going to

come back to the beginning and cover the whole chapter. So let’s

start by reading the first three verses. Matthew writes, “When

Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on

from there to teach and preach in their cities. Now when John

heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his

3disciples and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or

shall we look for another?’”

This is where we see John the Baptist struggling with

doubt, so let’s talk for a few minutes about what’s going on here.

In Luke’s Gospel, we learn that John the Baptist was born about

six months before Jesus. And John the Baptist’s birth was a

miracle. Not a miracle as amazing as the virgin birth of the Son

of God, but still a miracle. John’s parents were very old and had

never been able to have children. They had been infertile their

whole lives, but an angel appears to them and tells them that God

is going to give them a son. They are to name him John, and he

is going to be the prophet who prepares the way for God’s

Messiah. In the Old Testament, God had promised that He would

send a prophet like Elijah before He sent the Messiah, and the

angel tells John’s parents that John will be that prophet. And you

can see in our text today that Jesus confirms this about John.

Look down at verse 13. Jesus says, “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.”

So even before John is born, God makes it clear that the

purpose of John’s life is to announce the coming of the Messiah.

And we saw back in Matthew 3 that that’s exactly what John

does. He preaches to all the Jews, “Repent, for the kingdom of

heaven is at hand.” The Messiah King is coming to establish His

kingdom, and you need to turn from your sin and turn to Him.

And John baptizes all these Jews who are repenting. And one

4day Jesus comes to John to be baptized, and when John baptizes

Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes down from heaven in the form of a

dove and lands on Jesus, and God the Father speaks from heaven

and says, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well

pleased.”

So John has had some pretty clear evidence that Jesus is

the Son of God. Jesus is the Messiah. And John believes. Listen

to what he says in the first chapter of John’s Gospel, starting in

verse 29, “The next day (John) saw Jesus coming toward him,

and said, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the

world!... I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it

remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me

to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit

descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy

Spirit.” And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the

Son of God.’”

So John says that God told him in advance that whenever

he saw the Spirit descend and remain on someone, that person

would be the Son of God. He saw that happen at Jesus’ baptism,

so he knows who Jesus is, and he’s declaring it in John 1, “Jesus

is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus is

the Son of God. Jesus is the Messiah.” John knows this. John

declares this. John believes this.

But when we come to Matthew 11, John is sending people

to Jesus to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look

for another?” He’s basically saying, “I’ve believed you’re the

5Messiah. I’ve told people you’re the Messiah. But are you

really? Or should we keep looking for him?” John is struggling

with doubts. There are some things that are making it hard for

John to believe. So what is it that could make a man as great as

John… a man that Jesus Himself says is the greatest prophet ever

to live before Jesus… what could make him struggle with

doubts?

I want to point out three things right here, because these

three things are often the same things that cause us to doubt.

First, we struggle with doubt because bad things happen. Where

does verse 2 tell us that John is when he asks this question about

Jesus? In prison. And do you know why John is in prison?

Because he had preached the truth so boldly that King Herod got

really mad at him and threw him in prison. So you’ve got this

man who has been a faithful prophet, declaring the truth,

preparing the way for Jesus, announcing that Jesus is the

Messiah… but now he’s in prison. And he’s probably been in

prison for a while. We know that he was thrown in prison at the

very beginning of Jesus’ ministry, and by now, Jesus has been

healing people and teaching for quite a while, so it’s likely that

John has been in prison for several months… maybe even more

than a year. And the result is that some doubts start to creep in.

Have I really done the right thing? Did God really tell me what I

thought He told me? Is Jesus really who I think he is? So that’s

one aspect of what causes John to doubt: Because bad things are

happening to him.

6And then you can combine that with a second aspect of

doubt. We struggle with doubt because things don’t go the way

we expect. Remember, John has been believing and declaring

that Jesus is the Messiah. And listen to what Isaiah 61:1 says

about the Messiah, “(He will) proclaim liberty to the captives,

and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” So John

expects the Messiah to set His people free, but instead, he’s stuck

in prison. It’s the exact opposite of what he expects. Even more,

when the Jewish people read in the Old Testament about the

Messiah establishing His kingdom in Israel, they understood that

to mean that He would come and be a great Warrior King like

David and conquer the nations and set Israel up as the most

powerful nation on earth, and He would reign as King over Israel.

But instead, Rome is still ruling the world, Israel has no political

power, and Jesus doesn’t look like much of a king at all. So John

is starting to doubt because things aren’t going the way he

expects.

And that ties directly into the third aspect of doubt I want

us to see. We struggle with doubt because our understanding is

very limited. You see, it’s not that Jesus wasn’t a king, and it’s

not that Jesus wasn’t ushering in His kingdom. It’s just that Jesus

was doing it in a way that was a complete surprise to John. He

wasn’t setting up a national kingdom to rule in Israel. He was

setting up a spiritual kingdom to rule over all creation. He didn’t

come to conquer the nations and save Israel. He came to conquer

sin and save the nations, including Israel. The work of Jesus was

7much greater than what the Jews understood, even much greater

than what John the Baptist understood. And because John’s

understanding was so limited, he couldn’t see what was really

going on, and it caused him to doubt.

And I want to make sure you see something really

important about these three sources of doubt for John: When bad

things are happening, when things don’t go the way he expects,

when his understanding is very limited… none of that changes

the truth. Jesus is still the Messiah. Jesus is still the Son of God.

Jesus is still ushering in His kingdom. The truth about Jesus does

not change when John’s circumstances change. That’s because

the truth about Jesus is not dependent on what happens to John.

Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is forever

faithful, forever good, forever loving, forever gracious, forever

God. There may be times when you don’t see it as clearly…

there may be times when you don’t feel it as strongly… but He is

still true.

So when you struggle with doubts, I want you to be

encouraged that even someone as great as John the Baptist

struggled with doubts. And then I also want you to remember

when bad things happen… when you’re going through hard

times… illnesses, tragedies, death… or when things just aren’t

going the way you expect… when you have disappointments at

work… disappointments at home… disappointments at church…

it’s important to remember that our understanding is very limited.

We only see the smallest fraction of what God is doing. He is

8always at work in much bigger and much better and much greater

ways that we can even come close to comprehending.

And then the third way I want to encourage you today is I

want you to see in our text how you deal with doubt. When

doubt creeps in, how do you drive it back out? And there are two

main things I want us to see in the rest of chapter 11. The first

way that you deal with doubt is that you have to know what the

Bible says. Remember, John has sent his disciples to ask Jesus,

“Are you really the Christ, the Messiah?” Look at how Jesus

responds in verses 4-6, “And Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell

John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the

lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead

are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.

And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.’” You may

read that and think, “Jesus is pointing out all the miracles He’s

performing. He’s telling John that the miracles are evidence that

He is the Messiah.” And that’s true. But that’s not all to see in

these verses. You see everything that Jesus says in these verses

comes out of Isaiah 61, Isaiah 35, and Isaiah 8. These are all

prophecies that God had given through Isaiah in the Old

Testament, and now Jesus is fulfilling all of them. So Jesus isn’t

just saying, “Look at the miracles. They’ll show you I’m the

Messiah.” Jesus is saying, “Look at the Bible. The Bible will

show you I’m the Messiah.” The answer that Jesus gives when

John the Baptist doubts is that Jesus points him back to the truth

of the Bible.

9And Church, I want to encourage you that this is always

how you respond to doubt. God’s Word is always true. God’s

Word will be your foundation. God will hold you secure with the

truth of His Word. So make sure that you’re devoting yourself to

reading your Bible, studying your Bible, memorizing your Bible,

sitting under biblical preaching and teaching. It doesn’t mean

you won’t ever struggle with doubts, but it does mean you’ll have

the foundation and the strength and the truth that you need to deal

with your doubts when they come.

And then the second way you deal with doubt that I want

you to see in our text is that you have to know who Jesus is.

Even in the verses we just read, it’s not just about knowing what

the Bible says. It’s about knowing what the Bible says about

Jesus. Jesus isn’t just telling John, “Remember what Isaiah said.”

Jesus is telling John, “Remember what Isaiah said, and look at

what I’m doing, and now realize what that tells you about me.”

The point of knowing the Bible is to know Jesus. Make sure you

hear that, because that’s crucial for religious people like us.

Knowing the Bible isn’t enough by itself. The scribes and the

Pharisees knew the Bible, but their knowledge just made them

proud and legalistic and self-righteous and drove them further

away from God. Even the devil knows the Bible. We saw him

quote the Bible to try to tempt Jesus back in Matthew 4. So

knowing the Bible isn’t enough by itself. That’s because the

Bible doesn’t exist for itself. The Bible exists so that you can

know Jesus and have a relationship with God through Him. The

10Bible is God revealing Himself… God showing us who He is and

what He has done. And all of it is centered on the person and

work of Jesus, so that we will know Him and trust Him and be

saved by His grace and live for His glory and enjoy His love for

all eternity.

So when we come to the Bible, we have to come to see

and know Jesus. And that’s what I want us to do in the rest of

our time today. I want us to see four pictures of Jesus in chapter

11… four truths about who Jesus is (adapted from David Platt).

And as you see Jesus, I pray that you will see that Jesus is the

answer to all your doubts. Jesus is worthy of your faith. You can

trust Him. You should trust Him. Someone this great…

someone as great as what we’re about to see… you should trust

Him and you should worship Him and you should follow Him

and you should give Him your life.

So the first truth I want us to see about who Jesus is is that

Jesus is the Promised Messiah. That’s what we’ve already been

looking at with John the Baptist. John’s asking, “Are you really

the Messiah?” And Jesus is answering, “Look at all the

prophecies about the Messiah in the Bible. Then look at my life.

Yes, I am.” Jesus is the One who God had been promising for

centuries and centuries. Jesus is God’s Chosen One, God’s

Anointed King. Jesus is the One God is sending to save His

people and establish His eternal kingdom and rule over all things

for all time. That’s what it means for Jesus to be the Messiah,

and that is who Jesus is.

11And after Jesus assures John the Baptist that Jesus really

is the Messiah, read with me what Jesus says next, starting in

verse 7, “As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds

concerning John: ‘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 kings' houses. What then did you go out to

see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This

is he of whom it is written, “Behold, I send my messenger before

your face, who will prepare your way before you.” Truly, I say

to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one

greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the

kingdom of heaven is greater than he.’”

Stop there for just a minute. I don’t want us to miss what

Jesus is saying here. Jesus has just told the crowd that John is the

prophet that God sent to prepare the way for the Messiah. And

because of that Jesus says you can take everyone from the

beginning of time until John… that includes people like Noah

and Abraham and Moses and David and Isaiah and Daniel… take

all of them… and none of them is greater than John the Baptist.

Why? Because John had the privilege of announcing the coming

of the Messiah. John got to prepare the way for the King of

Kings in a way that none of them did. But then, as great as

John’s role was, the very next thing Jesus says is, “Yet the one

who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” John

had the greatest privilege and role of anyone who came before

12Jesus because he got to announce that Jesus was coming, but

Jesus says that anyone who comes after Jesus and believes in

Him and is part of His kingdom has an even greater privilege and

role than John the Baptist. Why would Jesus say that? Well

think about what we have that John didn’t. John only had a

partial understanding of what Jesus would do. We have the full

revelation of what Jesus has done. John knew Jesus was the

Messiah, but he didn’t understand everything that meant. We

know Jesus is the Messiah, and God has now revealed exactly

what that means. We have the privilege of seeing and knowing

and declaring the grace of Jesus’ death and the glory of Jesus’

resurrection in a way that John the Baptist never got to do.

Church, make sure you realize what a privilege and honor

and amazing role God has given us. Every time you speak the

gospel… every time you declare Jesus… Jesus says, “Greater

than John the Baptist.” God has given you a greater privilege

than John the Baptist, because you get to declare the full and

complete work of Jesus the Messiah. And I want to challenge

you… I want to challenge me… do we treat the privilege of

sharing the gospel and making followers of Jesus as the greatest

privilege anyone has ever been given in the history of the world,

or are we more interested in Facebook and snapchat and video

games and shopping and ball games and entertaining ourselves

than we are with declaring the good news of the King of the

Universe? Church, I pray that God will wake us up from our

drunken stupor… that He will tear us away from all the stupid

13and useless things we give our lives to… and He will turn our

hearts to Him in such a mighty way that it is the passion of our

lives to make Jesus known. Nothing else matters. You and I get

to declare the gospel of the grace and glory of King Jesus. We

get to lead people into the eternal kingdom of the Almighty King.

Do you see who He is? If you do, you know there is no greater

privilege. You know that He is worthy of your entire life.

Let’s pick back up in verse 12. Jesus is continuing to talk

about John the Baptist, and what He says here reminds us of how

some people will respond when we speak the truth about Jesus.

Let’s read verses 12-19. Jesus says, “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.

“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like

children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their

playmates, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;

we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ For John came neither

eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of

Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A

glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’

Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”

Jesus reminds us that as great as our privilege is, not

everyone is going to respond well when we declare the truth

about Jesus. He says that people may reject us, they may ridicule

14us, they may even respond with violence. It’s the same thing that

we saw in chapter 10. Following the King of the Universe very

well may mean suffering and persecution in this world. But even

if that comes… even in the middle of difficult circumstances and

terrible situations… don’t doubt who Jesus is. Look at the next

picture we get of Jesus in verses 20-24. Matthew writes, “Then

he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works

had been done, because they did not repent. ‘Woe to you,

Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done

in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have

repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will

be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than

for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven?

You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works

done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained

until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the

day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.’”

We’ve already seen that Jesus is the Promised Messiah.

Now we see that Jesus is also the Powerful Judge. Jesus is

warning these people who have not repented that judgment is

coming for the unrepentant. There were cities where Jesus had

performed many miracles, and the people were still indifferent

toward Him, and He warns them that wrath is coming for all who

are indifferent to Jesus. So if you are here this morning and you

have never repented of your sin… never turned to Jesus in

faith… if you’re still living indifferent toward Jesus as if He

15doesn’t really matter in your life… I pray that you will hear His

warning for you. Judgment is coming. Wrath is coming. Hell is

coming for those who reject Jesus. And in His grace and mercy,

Jesus is warning you now before it’s too late. Repent and turn to

Him and find forgiveness and be saved.

And then for those of us who are trusting Jesus, I want to

connect the picture of Jesus in these verses back to what we saw

a minute ago about the fact that some people may reject us and

ridicule us and persecute us when we declare Jesus in this life.

That is true… they may reject you and ridicule you and persecute

you… that’s exactly what they did to Jesus… but don’t forget

that this life is not the end of the story. Jesus reminds us that a

day is coming when He will sit as the Judge over all people, and

those who rejected Him will suffer the power of His wrath and

justice. But those who trust Him and follow Him, He will accept

in the fullness of His grace and love. And let me tell you, it is

infinitely better to be rejected by this world during this life and

accepted by Jesus for all eternity than the other way around. So

let the truth that Jesus is the Powerful Judge make you bold to

speak about Jesus and risk everything for Jesus in this life.

The third picture we see of Jesus is in verses 25-27.

Matthew writes, “At that time Jesus declared, ‘I thank you,

Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these

things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to

little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All

things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one

16knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father

except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal

him.” So the third picture I want us to see of Jesus is that He is

the Sovereign Son. Just look at verse 27, the three straight

statements Jesus makes about Himself. First, “All things have

been handed over to me by my Father.” All things belong to

Jesus. All authority… all control… all power… over all things.

Jesus has all the power of God Himself, because He is God the

Son. Next, Jesus says, “And no one knows the Son except the

Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son.” Jesus is

claiming an intimate relationship with the Father that no one else

has. Only Jesus has been God the Son to God the Father for all

eternity. And that leads us to the third thing: Only Jesus can

reveal the Father perfectly. Look at the end of verse 27, “No one

knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son

chooses to reveal him.” The only way you will know God the

Father is through Jesus the Son. It will not be because of your

intelligence or your education or your achievements or anything

else about you… that’s what Jesus says in verse 25. It will only

be because of God’s grace in Jesus. That’s what Jesus says in

verse 26. So if you know the Father, it will only be because Jesus

reveals Him to you. The Son is sovereign over salvation.

And here’s what that means for us. Two things, very

quickly: If you are longing to see people saved… if there are

people you love and you are burdened for them to trust Jesus…

#1, Pray and ask the Son to do the work that only He can do.

17Jesus is able to do it, so ask Him to do it. And #2, Share the

gospel with them. The Son is sovereign over salvation, and the

Son has made it very, very clear how He will save people: He

will save people when His people speak the gospel.

So you pray and you speak the gospel, and you trust Jesus

to do the sovereign work of salvation that only He can do,

because that’s how He chooses to do it. And then when He does

it, He gets all the glory, because it’s clearly all by His grace,

because no one else can do it.

And that leads us directly into the fourth picture we see of

Jesus in verses 28-30. Jesus is the Gracious Savior. We focused

all last week on these verses, but read them again with me right

now. Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy

laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and

learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will

find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is

light.”

If you’re exhausted by the weight of your sin… if you’re

worn out by all of your trying and striving to be a good person…

if you feel the burden of knowing that it’s not enough… it’s

never going to be enough… no matter what you do, you fail

again and again and again… what a precious invitation Jesus

gives you. Jesus says, “Come to me, and I will give you rest.

Get in the yoke with me… Be joined to me in faith… and I’ll

carry your burden for you. I’ll take your sin from you. I’ll do the

work in my strength. I’ll give my righteousness to you.

18Everything you need, I will give it you… I will be it for you… I

will be it in you… if you will trust me.”

And make sure you see the beauty when you combine this

fourth picture with the third one. The same Jesus who is the

Gracious Savior who promises to do everything for you is the

same Jesus who is the Sovereign Son who has been given all

things by the Father and is able to do whatever He wants. His

sovereignty makes His grace powerful. And His grace makes His

sovereignty beautiful. What He promises you in His grace, His

sovereignty guarantees He can do it.

And He is the one inviting you to come and trust Him and

get in the yoke with Him and find out how light the burden is

when you’re resting in the strength of the Sovereign Son and

Gracious Savior.

I pray that you see Jesus today. I pray that you see Jesus,

the Promised Messiah… Jesus, the Powerful Judge… Jesus, the

Sovereign Son… Jesus, the Gracious Savior. I pray you see that

He is worthy of all your trust… all your worship… all your

love… all your life. And I pray that you will trust Jesus and

follow Jesus and make Jesus known with every breath you take

from this moment on.