Luke 7:18 ff. Doubt and Assurance (Part 2)

I love Bethlehem Bible Church for lots of reasons, but one is, is that you love God's word. I think of the psalmist who says, I rejoice at your word. And he says, like one that finds great spoil. There's so much richness, so much wonder in God's word.

Doubt, Assurance, and the Richness of God's Word

And today we're going to look at a passage that for many years I just read, I knew it was good, I knew it was profitable, I knew it was God breathed, but I was on to other passages because I was not that impressed.

I mean, I was impressed that it was God's word, but not overly. But today we're going to look at a passage and you're going to say, I can't believe how great this passage is, how great the Lord is. And it's not just because you'll identify with somebody who Jesus.

And so let's take our Bibles and turn to Luke chapter seven. Luke chapter seven, we're going to be going through chapter seven, verses 18 through 35. And this is one of those passages where you just think, this is amazing.

I read it, I reread it, and I've been thinking about it for two weeks. I can't stop thinking about how Jesus deals with weak people, how Jesus deals with doubting people, how the Lord attends to his own children.

I think you'll be encouraged today. I think you'll be supported by scripture. And I think, hopefully like me, you'll have a new section of scripture that you would say in the past, I hadn't underlined much in this section, but now I've underlined a lot.

Do people underline things in their iPads and their iPhones and all that stuff? You can do that now, can't you? Okay, all right. Luke seven, 18 through 35. It's a passage about doubt, and it's a passage about Jesus and how he deals with those that doubt.

As we talked about last time, remember, doubting is different than unbelief. Doubt assumes that you believe something because you can't doubt something you don't believe. There's a hard-hearted, resolute, recalcitrant unbelief that simply says, I will not believe.

But there's also something called doubt, and believers sometimes struggle with doubt. Those fleeting thoughts go through your mind because you're thinking intellectually, how could God be three in one?

Is Jesus the only way? Thoughts go through your mind. And then sometimes you're under so much stress in a circumstance or a trial or a difficulty, you could have a doubt and think, is God really good?

Why is this happening? And so we're going to see how Jesus takes care of a doubting person today, and that man's name is not Thomas, but that man's name is, as you know, John. I'm gonna split this section up, verses 18 through 35, with five chapters.

Doubt, assurance, blessing, vindication, and warning. And we'll work through each of those, some in review, but there's five chapters to this section, and it's dealing mainly with Jesus and John, and how does Jesus deal with one of his weak and frail servants, John the Baptist.

John the Baptist’s Doubt and the First Coming of Christ

Now, if I step back and think, why is this whole section even in the Bible? Well, Luke, we know, is wanting to make sure you're certain that Jesus is the Messiah. Eternity's long, sin is real, God is holy.

How can you make sure you answer the question, who is Jesus? Who is Jesus? Not what I think about Jesus, not what I want him to be, but how does God, in his word, present Jesus? And so, is he a prophet?

Is he a teacher? I mean, lots of religions will say he's a good man, he's a good teacher, but is he the only son of God? And so let's look at verses 18, 19, and 20, and this is the first chapter of this story that helps us understand this passage and understand Jesus.

Chapter one, the doubt, the doubt, verses 18 through 20. The disciples of John reported all these things to him, all the healings, et cetera, and John, calling two of his disciples to him, remember he's in jail, sent them to the Lord, saying, are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?

And when the men had come to him, that is Jesus, they said, John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? Now, if you study your Bibles a little bit, and I know you do, you're gonna be thinking about the first coming and the second coming as something very distinct, something that you'll say, oh, Jesus came the first time to save, he's coming again the second time to bring wrath and fury.

And if you study your Bible and you looked at Malachi, for instance, there's a theme that when the coming of the Lord happens, there's going to be fire, there's going to be judgment, there's going to be an execution of God's holy wrath against sin, against all those who haven't had their sins forgiven.

And when you study prophecy, I've been taught it this way, it's like there's a mountain here and a mountain here, and when I'm at this side looking at this mountain, I can't see the second mountain. If I turn this way a little bit, I could see, oh, mountain one and mountain two, first coming of Jesus, second coming of Jesus.

But looking at the Old Testament, it seemed like they were kind of together. And so John the Baptist is in jail, and he's thinking, Malachi, he's thinking, Luke three, there's going to be an ax at the root, there's going to be fire, there's going to be wrath.

When the Messiah shows up, I'm not going to be in a jail, I'm going to be liberated, I'm not going to be in a jail where the Baptist would be doubting. Well, are you the one to come, are you another? I think he's in a tough spot, he's in jail, Herod should be in jail, but he's in Herod's jail.

And certainly, why would Jesus say that those disciples, go back and tell John what you have heard and what you've seen? If it's only the disciples who are wondering what's going on, he would say, hey, disciples, look, here's the situation.

It's interesting that Sinclair Ferguson said, what John the Baptist could not understand clearly was that the fire of what he spoke would fall upon the Messiah himself in the judgment of the cross. There is going to be fire in the life of Jesus, but it's going to be on him as God judges him.

And then of course, when Jesus comes back, there's going to be fire. And so John the Baptist is in jail, and he's wondering what's going on. Are you the one to come? What a great title for the Messiah.

I think even in the book of Revelation, the one who is, the one who was, and the one who is to come, the expected one. We're waiting for Jesus to come back. And John is doubting. John is wondering what is going on.

But he does the right thing.

When you doubt, when you're John the Baptist and you doubt, he goes straight to study science. He goes straight to study philosophy. He says, please send me all the best psychologists and the Greek philosophers so I can discern this.

Is that what he does? No, he says, I'm going to go right to Jesus. He couldn't go because he was in jail, so he sends his disciples to go straight to Jesus. When you're doubting, you go right back to Jesus.

And for us, we talked about last week, the best thing to do when you're doubting, back to the Gospels, 89 chapters, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, rich passages that remind you who Jesus is. And you would say to yourself, of course he has to be the Messiah.

I don't know why I even doubted. Well, we come to chapter two, the assurance or reassurance in verses 21 and 22. Second chapter to try to understand this passage and Jesus. How does Jesus respond to John the Baptist who doubts?

In that hour, verse 21, he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind, he graced them with sight. He gave them a gift. He bestowed sight. So there's the actions.

And then there's words that go along with it. And John the Baptist, being a scholar of the Old Testament, would know this is right from Isaiah 35. And he says, if you want to know that I'm the Messiah or not, I will prove it by actions and authenticate that, but also go to the word.

John the Baptist, go to the word and see if it matches up. Verse 22, the blind received their sight. This is what you tell John. The lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear. And the dead are raised up.

The poor have good news preached to them. We saw last week, did we not, in Jude 22. How do you deal with doubters? You have mercy on them. Of course, John the Baptist, while he's bold, this is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

While he was in his mother's womb, he's leaping for joy because of the Messiah. He's still not a perfect man. He's not the God man, and he struggled with these doubts. And Jesus, in his kindness and in his mercy, he doesn't say, well, I'll wait a while for you disciples to watch me.

He just deals with it right away and grants assurance. Seems to me that he, Jesus, when you struggle with assurance, you go to the word. And what does God do here? The son, he says, here's Bible verses.

Here's Isaiah chapter 35, which reads, the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap like a deer and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. And so we see Jesus deals with him kindly and gently as we saw last week.

It reminds me of this story. Now, Thomas 1 of the 12, called the twin, was not with them when Jesus came. This is regarding the resurrection. So the other disciples said, we've seen the Lord. Unless I see his hands, the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails and place my hand to his side, I will never believe.

I wonder how the Lord deals with doubting Thomas. Eight days later, his disciples were inside again. Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, peace be with you.

Then he said to Thomas, put your finger here. I mean, so kind. Here, see my hands? Put out your hand, place it at my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe. Thomas answered, my Lord and my God. Jesus said to him, have you believed because you've seen me?

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. And then the very next verse. Now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written so that what?

Why is the Bible written with these accounts about who Jesus is? Answer, they're written so that you may believe. Thank you. We have a few Baptists left in this congregation. When people ask you, what do you believe in?

I hope you say, I'm a Christian. And then when they say, what kind of Christian? Then I never know really what to say. Baptist, half Baptist, kind of Presbyterian. I mean, what do we end up saying? I don't know.

I just usually say, oh, we're a Bible-believing church, Christ-exalting church. When there's doubts, you go to the Lord Jesus and we see in his word promises. We see in the word the spirit of God working in us.

That's how we deal with doubt. One of my favorite theologians in the 1600s was named John Owen, and John Owen dealt with doubt. And how did John Owen alleviate his doubt? Pleasure, entertainment, no Psalm 130.

So we talked last week a little bit about God loves to grant assurance. There are people that don't want you to have assurance. God loves to grant assurance. Well, let's continue in this because it keeps getting more fascinating as time goes on.

The Blessing on Those Not Offended by Christ

Chapter 3 of the story, the blessing found in verse 23. The doubt, the assurance, and now the blessing so we can understand the story better and who Jesus is. Verse 23, blessed is the one who is not offended by me.

Blessed is the one who is not offended by me. Do you think John the Baptist was offended by Jesus? Or do you think he had a fleeting doubt? Circumstances, temporarily things going not right, kind of conflating first and second coming?

The word offense is, have you ever tried to walk in the house barefoot in the dark and you stub your toe and it splits right in the middle? When you're older, things split faster and heal slower. And this is not just like stepping on a Lego.

Do you know some adults actually play with Legos still? It's an inside joke. Now, while John was doubting, he's not offended. Jesus, you offend me. He's doubting and here the Lord Jesus was with this great beatitude.

It's the same language of blessed are those in the Sermon on the Mount. He is commending John. He's not saying doubt's a good thing. When we doubt, we repent and we want to move on and we want to anchor our lives in the truths of scripture.

He's not commending doubt. He's commending John. And John is doubting, but he's not offended. Here God the Son treats John kindly, gently. Jesus, because of the incarnation, knows that it's difficult.

This is a blessing. Blessed are those who aren't offended. I could ask you this. When you're doubting, say to yourself. I guess I said I'd ask you, so I'll put a question for him. Do you ever say to yourself when you're doubting, God the Son, you offend me?

I hate you.

I'm angry. And you are an offense to me. It's like I'm spiritually stubbing my toe because of you. Well, if you say that, of course, immediately repent. But from my perspective and my experience, most people that struggle with doubt, if I asked them and I would say, do you think God is still good?

Do you think God is kind? Do you think God is the creator? Do you think God is the only Redeemer? They would say yes to all those questions. And if I were to say to them, are you offended by God? They would say, of course not.

I'm hurting. I'm struggling. But I'm not offended by God. And here Jesus gives a blessing. And He blesses John the Baptist in front of all these people. He's applying this to John the Baptist, but it would be to all those who would ever believe.

I mean, the people standing around watching could be thinking, what would Jesus say about John the Baptist? And it is a wonderful declaration of John the Baptist. I mean, the Bible, doubt, assurance or reassurance, the blessing, and now the vindication.

The Vindication of John the Baptist and Public Vindication on Judgment Day

The kindness of Jesus just keeps going. Chapter 4, to understand the story in Jesus, the vindication. Let me read the section, and then let's talk about it. Far from being offended by Jesus, far from Jesus being offended by John, verse 24, when John's messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John.

So Jesus sends the messengers back. Make sure you tell John, I'm the right one. Make sure you tell him what you saw. Confirm those things in his mind. And now he talks to the crowds. What did you go out to 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 are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in king's courts. He says it again.

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.

I tell you, John the Baptist, among those born of women, none is greater than John. Stop there just for a second to think about that. John's wondering, are you the one who's coming? And Jesus now publicly vindicates John.

By the way, you're wondering about John, if he's the right one. You're wondering about his message. Is he giving you the right message? John the Baptist is greater than Moses, Malachi, Socrates, Alexander the Great, Daniel, Jonah.

I don't know if you can memorize the 12 minor prophets. Can you sing those songs? Did you ever teach your kids how to memorize the books of the Bible? The New Testament was a lot easier, right? Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

The Old Testament was harder, the beginning of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus. But once you got down to Hosea, and Joel, and Amos, and those things, I mean, Jesus said he is better. John the Baptist is better than Zechariah, Abraham, publicly vindicating John the Baptist.

Yet the one, back to the text, who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. When the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they did the right thing. They declared God just.

That's right. John's right.

John's right in declaring the Messiah. Having been baptized with the baptism of John,.

That is of repentance.

And then horrifying words, but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him. This is the vindication of John the Baptist. Jesus vindicates him publicly.

He doesn't say, I'm offended by him. I'm hurt by him. Makes me sad. Back to verse 24, what did you go out to see, a reed shaking in the wind? The reeds would be about 12 feet tall in some places. And when the wind would come, they would just bow down, almost flat.

Wind would let up, and it would come back up. You think John the Baptist is the kind of guy where whatever the people want to hear, he gives them? I could maybe put it in the vernacular. What did you go out to see in the wilderness?

Joe Osteen?

You're not supposed to laugh in the front row. I mean, what did you go out to see? See how he's vindicating John, even? John the Baptist was a prophet, a great prophet. Yes, there's some doubt here or there.

John's human. But Jesus is saying, when you went out there, what did you expect to see? He's not going to tell you what you want. Matter of fact, he's going to say, Pharisees, you need to be baptized by me.

That's what John the Baptist would say. The Pharisees would probably be saying, the Gentiles need the baptism, not us.

What did you go out to see?

Somebody just dressed up really nicely? As soon as the disciples leave, Jesus defends the reputation of John the Baptist for John's sake and also the message's sake, because Jesus has a forerunner and his name is John the Baptist, pleading John the Baptist's case.

One man was saying, John the Baptist probably never heard this vindication by the Lord Jesus, because John the Baptist was soon to lose his head and his head be placed on a platter. And one man was just kind of surmising, what would it be like?

John the Baptist never heard these words from Jesus, and then he gets beheaded, and now he's in heaven, and the angels are like, you should have heard what Jesus was saying about you.

Wow.

You think he's a reed?

No, this is John the Baptist.

This is John the Redwood tree. This is John the Sequoia tree, firm and stable. That's who John is. He just doesn't say, well, whatever the people want, I give them those things. It's like the pastor that sends out the survey to the congregation.

What do you want me to talk about and what do you want me to avoid? That's not John the Baptist. This is the messenger that goes before Jesus, and this messenger is the greatest ever under the old covenant system.

Once the Messiah shows up, once we get into the new covenant, once we have fulfillment, those that are least in the kingdom are greater than John, not in a salvific way, but just in an order, better than Moses, better than Isaiah, better than Ezekiel, better than Nahum.

And the people, verse 29, they declared God just. Yes, John is God's man. John is praising Jesus, and God is working through John.

But look at verse 30.

I mean, how awful this must be. The Pharisees and lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves. They said, we don't care. We will actually then kill the Messiah eventually. And it's like the stiff arm, right?

You watch football players, and they've got the football, they're running, somebody's going to tackle them, and they just take their arm and just put it right up underneath the chin of the defender who's trying to tackle them, and just can sometime just slam the defender onto the ground.

You think I need to repent, and I need a Savior, and my Judaism can't save me, and my self-righteousness can't save me? John the Baptist, Jesus, I stiff arm you. Back to 23, I'm offended by you. I don't need you.

And in my mind, I'm thinking, there's a big difference between doubting something for a fleeting moment and digging your heels down, saying, you know what? I'm not going to believe. I reject this. John the Baptist is saying, here's Jesus.

And the Pharisees are saying, no, essentially, kill him. This is going to seem like an odd question, not related, but it's directly related.

The Warning Against Hard-Hearted Unbelief

Judgment day.

What do you think is going to happen on Judgment Day,.

Dear Christian?

What do you think that's going to be like? Now, the good news is you're not going to be judged for any of your deeds, any of your actions, any of your words, not breaking the law that says, love God and love neighbor, all paid for by Jesus.

While the unbeliever, the deeds written in the book of life, they'll be judged for those. The believer, the deeds aren't written in the book of life because Jesus has paid for them. The only things written in the book of life is your name.

What will happen on that day? What's going to happen on Judgment Day? Great white throne. Are you going to be afraid? What will happen on Judgment Day when every person that's ever been born is standing before the judge of the universe?

And do you know what's going to happen, dear Christian? As Jesus vindicated John publicly, Jesus will vindicate you in front of the billions of people, and in front of all the angels, and in front of the Father.

That's pretty amazing. Public vindication. Listen, Revelation 3, the one who conquers will be clothed in white garments. And I will never blot his name out of the book of life, Jesus said. I will confess his name before my father and before his angels.

Public vindication on Judgment Day, great white throne. He will publicly announce your name as not guilty, my son. Matthew 10, Jesus said, so everyone who acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven.

But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven. Do you know Judgment Day is a public vindication of you by name? And you're thinking, that's incredible. After my doubts, after my sins, even as a Christian.

But it has been paid in full. Listen to what the Belgic Confession says. The faithful and elect shall be crowned with glory and honor. And the Son of God will confess their names before God his Father and his elect angels.

Listen, all tears shall be wiped from their eyes. And their cause, which is now condemned by many, will then be known to be the cause of the Son of God. And for a gracious reward, the Lord will cause them to possess such glory as never entered into the heart of man to conceive.

No wonder the end of that confession says, even so, come Lord Jesus. This is a little picture. John the Baptist getting vindicated by Jesus in public is a picture of what will happen eventually on that day.

The fifth chapter and final chapter in verses 31 and following, the warning. The fifth story, chapter, that helps us understand the passage and who Jesus is. Verses 31 through 35, the warning. As John the Baptist had some doubt, and he was doubting what he thought should be, conflating the first and second coming.

We're going to see now from back in verse 30 with the Pharisees rejecting the purposes of God. What does that look like? What does rejecting God's work in Christ Jesus look like? Jesus with the forerunner John look like?

This is real unbelief. This is not a doubt. This is real unbelief, refusal. To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, verse 31?

What are they like?

They're like children sitting in the marketplace calling to one another. We played the flute for you, and you didn't dance. We sang a dirge, you didn't weep. For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, he has a demon.

The son of man has come eating and drinking, and you say, look at him, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Yet wisdom is justified by all her children. The Pharisees reject.

The Pharisees stiff arm. The Pharisees say, we don't want any of this. It reminds me of Romans 10. For being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness.

Now, when I was a kid, we played certain games. I think some of those games are illegal now in schools. We played dodgeball. We actually called it war ball. We played line tag. It's so funny when visitors come to Bethlehem Bible Church, it takes them quite a bit of courage for them to finally ask me, what are these lines for in this church?

Line tag.

Red Rover, Red Rover. You just try to find the weakest two people, and you're going to run through them. What else did we play? Ring Around the Rosie. When we really wanted to have fun, we played Tarzan.

Why did we play Tarzan? Well, he was cool. He was on TV. And you didn't need much to dress like Tarzan. I wanted to be Batman, but you know how expensive utility belts are? Cowls, and capes, and shoes, and tights, and all that stuff.

But if you had a swimsuit, and if you had some kind of knife, you could be Tarzan. We had lots of young Tarzans running around, Tarzins. What kind of games did they play back then? Kids played, and they made up games.

And they played two specific kind of games. Others, but two big ones. And the games were copying the parents. What parents did, they did. Instead of copying Tarzan, they would copy big things that would go on.

So they had two games that they played back in those days, the wedding game and the funeral game. And you could see why they would do it, because both had processions, and parade, and sounds. The wedding would have flutes and musical instruments, and there would be a whole procession, bride and groom.

And of course, even some countries now, the groom will be on a horse and ride to the house of the bride-to-be, all the stuff that's going on. And here, they're in the marketplace. They're in the agora.

There's some downtime. And so they say, you know what? We, as children, are going to play the wedding game. You be the bride. You be the bridesmaid. You be the groom. And they also played the funeral game.

And they would sing sad songs. And of course, back in those days, they would weep, and they would wail, and you would have professional mourners. And so Jesus is saying, you know what? You people today are like children that don't want to play any game.

You're like children that won't play the happy game, wedding, Jesus's ministry. You won't play the sad game, funeral, John the Baptist.

Ministry.

And you're not satisfied with anything in between either. You're not for joy and happiness and eating and drinking. Remember, Jesus shows up in John chapter 2, the first miracle he ever does. If I was Jesus, I would have my first miracle being raising people from the dead.

His first miracle is at a wedding. And he says, you are so strangled by legalistic, self-righteous Pharisees and false teachers. I'm going to liberate you by making sure there's enough wine for everyone.

And you want to make sure that you're just corking down on everything? I want you to know when the Messiah shows up, there's joy. His Old Testament, wine and joy go together. When the Messiah is here, there's joy.

He's arrived.

John the Baptist, it's a funeral game. It's locust, honey, camels, hides. And Jesus is saying, you know what? Like peevish, petulant children, here's the point. If you reject the message, repentance, you reject every messenger.

If you reject God's call to faith in Christ Jesus, it doesn't matter who's saying it. Happy, joyous, eating with drunkards and sinners, fellowshipping with Pharisees, that won't do it because you don't want the message.

Because you don't think you're sinning enough to need repentance. And the other way, from celebration to austerity, you don't want the message. And so he says back in verse 31, take a look. I'm going to compare this generation to these kind of people.

They reject the message, therefore they reject the messenger, and ultimately, God, the Father. These kids are playing around in the Agora, and they're like, we don't want to play that dumb game. OK, let's play this other game.

That's a dumb game, too. Every game is dumb. And so if you look back at the passage, Jesus ties it in, verse 33, for John the Baptist came eating no bread and drinking no wine. You say he has a demon.

Son of man comes eating and drinking. You say, look at him, a glutton and a drunkard, and more. Unbelief says, I hate God. I don't want to have anything to do with God. I don't want to have the message from God.

I don't care about the messengers from God. Unbelief says this, John the Baptist, I read about you. You've got a demon. You're like that guy who was running around in the cemetery cutting himself naked.

That's what John the Baptist is like. And when it comes to Jesus, I mean fellowshipping with sinners, and tax collectors, and prostitutes, and lowlifes.

You know what?

Jesus, you're a drunkard and a glutton. So how about this? Have you ever said to yourself in the midst of kind of a crisis of assurance, do I really believe or not? In the middle of that crisis as you're working through it, and by the way, it is a crisis because nothing's more important than eternity and making sure that you're confident and realizing that, in fact, I have security in Christ.

And no one can snatch me out of the Father's hand. And there's no condemnation in Christ Jesus. And Jesus sought me and bought me. And my sins have been paid in full. And when I die, I'm going to go straight to heaven.

If you're struggling with assurance, there is a crisis there. But have you ever in that crisis said, you know what? The guy that came before John the Baptist, he's got a demon. And have you ever thought about Jesus and you said,.

You know what?

I'm struggling with my faith. And I have to conclude that Jesus is a drunkard. And I say to myself, what's the difference between doubt and unbelief? Lots of things. Doubt presupposes something that you do believe that is true.

John the Baptist, he understood the Bible. But he didn't quite get the second coming and the first coming. He's not saying, you know what, Jesus? You're a drunkard. He's saying he's the Holy One of God.