MATTHEW 11:1-15 “A BEATITUDE FOR WHEN YOU ARE UPSET WITH GOD”
A) There are several beatitudes in the Scripture!
* Those that we are most familiar with are the 9 Jesus delivered in His sermon on the mount.
* “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
* “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.”
* “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.”
* “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”
* “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”
* “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”
* “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”
* “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of ...”
* “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil
against you falsely, for my sake.”
B) There are other beatitudes that Jesus gave:
* Luke 11:28 “Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.”
* Luke 12:43 “Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.”
* Matt.11:6 “And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.”
C) We call them Beatitudes because of the word “blessed!”
* The word basically means “happy” or “blissful.”
* It speaks of an inner peace, an inner bliss, an inner happiness and joy!
D) In our story we see a man that was in need of inner joy and peace!
* We see the great John the Baptist ... But when we look at him in this story we see that his faith
was bordering on doubt and heart was sinking into discouragement.
* Yet in the low moment of his life, Jesus sent him a message, a beatitude, that served to bring an
inner peace and joy.
* Let’s look at John the Baptist in the lowest moment of his life and the beatitude Jesus sent him ...
(1) A MAN COMMENDED BY THE WORDS OF JESUS!
* There are certain things for which we should be thankful and for which there should be a deep
appreciation.
* I read about a class assignment in which 4th grade students were to write a short paper on
“Things I Am Most Thankful For.”
* One fourth grade boy wrote, “I am most thankful for my glasses ... They keep the boys from
punching me and the girls from kissing me.”
A) One area in which we should be most appreciative is those special people God allows to
cross our paths and touch our lives!
* There are certain people that deserve our praise, honor, and recognition.
* What is distasteful is someone bragging on themselves ... That is nothing less than pride.
B) I heard about a preacher that said to his wife one time, “You know honey, there’s not many
great preachers in our day.” * She replied, “And there’s one less than you think.”
* Proverbs 27:2 “Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not ...”
* Some people deserve recognition, praise and honor!
* When you look at our text we see John honored and recognized by Jesus! * Jesus said in v.11 ...
* John 10:41 says, “John did no miracle,” yet Jesus said that all that had been born, there was no
greater than John.
* Clarence Macartney said, “If praise is to be measured by the lips which pronounce it, then never
was man so praised as was John the Baptist.”
C) I want to say that the only commendation we should seek or desire is a heavenly
commendation! * If God cannot commend us, then it matters not who else does.
* People get upset if they don’t get recognized, but I want to say that your concern should not be
what others say about you, but what God says about you!
* George Whitfield said, “If I please Christ, it matters not what others don’t say ... If I please not
Christ, it matters not what others do say.”
D) When Verdi the Italian composer of operas produced his first opera in Florence, at the
completion, the crowd stood to their feet and cheered!
* Yet his eyes were fastened on the face of one man in audience (the great Rossini).
* It mattered not to Verdi whether the people in the hall were cheering him .......
* All he wanted was a smile from the master musician!
* I had rather have the smile of God on my life than the smile of men!
(2) A MAN CONFUSED BY THE WAYS OF JESUS!
* Our story finds John the Baptist in prison.
* In his cell there is a struggle going on in his soul ... Notice v.2-3 .......
A) First: We See A Discouraged Man! * It seems that John is discouraged and downhearted.
* I seem to detect a hint of discouragement in the tone of his words.
* The man that had been so dynamic seemed so discouraged.
* Discouragement is a frequent weapon of the devil! * John Stott said .......
* “The Christians’ chief occupational hazards are depression and discouragement.”
B) There is an old legend of how the devil once advertised his tools for sale at a public auction!
* When the prospective buyers assembled, there was one tool labeled, “Not for sale.”
* When asked why it was not for sale, the devil replied, “I can spare my other tools, but I cannot
spare this one ... It is the most useful tool I have ... It is called discouragement!”
C) Why was John discouraged? * For one thing, the place he was in didn’t help matters!
* He wasn’t in a penthouse but a prison. He wasn’t rolling in the lap of luxury but rotting in a
dungeon of extremity!
* The dark, stuffy cell, cold nights, wet bed, and tasteless food was enough to depress any man!
* But you add to that that John was a man of desert and wide open spaces .......
* You can imagine how easy it would have been for him to become discouraged in such a confined
place to four narrow walls!
D) But no doubt that which discouraged him the most was the absence of his Lord!
* Jesus was in the area ... He was in the neighborhood.
* John no doubt felt that Jesus was surely stop in and see him.
* He quite naturally thought that Jesus, as busy as he may have been, would at least visit him with
a word of comfort! * But days had dragged by .......
* And not only had he not seen the Lord, he hadn’t heard a word from Him.
E) There are times in life when the circumstances we find ourselves in are discouraging!
* What is even worse is the seeming disinterest and care of our Lord.
* We know that our Lord knows what we are going through, yet we don’t hear from Him.
* I think of the Psalmist’s cry in Psalm 13:1, “How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? forever?
how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?” * Where was the Lord?
* That was the cry of the Psalmist and part of the confusion of John.
* That is often our cry and reason for discouragement!
F) Second: We See A Doubting Man!
* There was not only the outward situations that troubled him, but there were those inward
struggles! * John’s inward struggle was, “Is Jesus the Christ or have I been mistaken?”
* Here is a man perplexed and uncertain! * What he had preached as an exclamation point had
now become a question mark.
* At Jordan, there had been no questions that He was the Lamb of God!
* But now in jail he had questions whether or not He was the Son of God!
G) What was it that caused this great man to wonder and doubt?
* G. Campbell Morgan says that his doubt was “created by the methods of Jesus.”
* It didn’t seem to John that Jesus was doing the things he expected Him to do.
* What was it that the Lord was doing that made John wonder?
* You remember that John had preached that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand.
* Matt. 3:1 ... He had anticipated that when the Messiah came, He would begin setting up that
Kingdom, and from John’s viewpoint, it didn’t appear that Jesus was setting up that kingdom!
H) You also remember that John had preached a message of judgment and doom!
* Matt. 3:7-12 ... He expected the Lord to come as a cleansing fire.
* Why had Jesus not laid the ax to the root?
* The seedbed of his doubt was that the Lord was not doing things the way he thought they ought
to have been or would be done!
I) Have we not been guilty of the same?
* “Lord, why are you not answering my prayers? You promised you would, but you haven’t.”
* “Lord, why did you allow this happen? Why didn’t you stop this?”
* “Lord, why did you do this for so and so, and you didn’t do it for me?”
* At times we find ourselves perplexed with what God is doing and at other times we find
ourselves perplexed with what He is not doing!
* Sometimes we ask, “Lord, what are you doing?” and other times we ask, “Lord, where are you?”
1) A Man Commended By The Words Of Jesus ... 2) A Man Confused By The Ways Of Jesus ...
(3) A MAN COMFORTED BY THE WORKS OF JESUS!
* Notice the answer Jesus sent to John in v.4-6 .......
* The sequel is not recorded, but there is no doubt that the message Jesus sent back to John was
healing to his troubled mind and heart!
A) Jesus Assured John Of His Works! * Jesus said, “John I am working .......”
* “The blind are seeing, lame are walking, lepers are cleansed, the deaf are hearing, the dead are
living, and the gospel is being preached ... John, yes, I am doing My work.”
* I want to assure you that God is doing His work!
* We may not see His work, or sense His work, but He is working!
* He is not a passive God sitting in heaven twiddling His thumbs.
* He is an active God on earth bringing to pass His will and His plan! * He is at work in your
situation ... You may not think so, but you can rest assured that He is at work!
B) Jesus Assured John Of His Ways! * I love what Jesus said to John in v.6 .......
* It literally means, “Blessed is he, who finds nothing in Me to stumble at.”
* I love Vance Havner’s interpretation, “Blessed is he whomsoever shall not get upset by the way I
run my business.”
* He was saying, “John, I am doing things my way ... Don’t get upset with what I’m doing and
how I’m doing it ... My work is being done and My will is being done.”
* God don’t always do things the way we think He ought to, but happy is the man who does not get
upset with the way He does His business!
C) First, we need to realize that since He is Lord, He has the right to run His business any way
that He wants to!
* I confess to you that I don’t always understand why He does this for one and not for another.
* I think about Peter in jail ... God delivered him! * Yet here is John, and God allowed him to die
in jail! * But that’s His business and He has the right to do what He so desires and plans!
D) Secondly, we need to realize that since He is God, He has a reason why He runs His
business the way that He does!
* My Father’s way may twist and turn, but He maketh no mistake!
E) I think of Mary and Martha ... They sent an SOS to Jesus!
* “Hurry Lord, Lazarus is sick ... Get here as quickly as possible.”
* But it was 4 days before Jesus showed up.
* But before the Lord was through, Mary and Martha were running around shouting, “Lord, You
doeth all things well.”
F) We are sometimes like the little boy who couldn’t understand why God put so many
vitamins in spinach and didn’t put more in ice cream!
* Things don’t always work out the way we think they should, but blessed in the person who
doesn’t get upset with God!
* Instead of finding in the Lord a stumbling block, you need to find in Him a sanctuary.
* As Corrie ten Boom said, “Don’t wrestle, just nestle.”
G) During the Second World War, when Hitler was blitzing London .......
* The English loaded train after train with children and moved them out of the country, evacuating
them for safety! * Somebody asked one little youngster, “Where are you going?”
* He said, “I don’t know, but the King knows.”
* The King knows ... He knows what is best ... He knows the future ... He knows the end!
CLOSE
A) Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family!
* The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion’s guest room.
* Instead the angels were given a small space in the cold basement.
* As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it.
* When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied, “Things aren’t always what they
seem.”
B) The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer
and his wife.
* After sharing what little food they had, the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they
could have a good night’s rest.
* When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears.
* Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field.
C) The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel, “How could you have let this
happen? The first man had everything, yet you helped him,” he accused.
* “The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let the cow die.”
* “Things aren’t always what they seem,” the older angel replied.
* “When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in
the wall.”
* “Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed
the wall so he wouldn’t find it.”
D) “Then last night as we slept in the farmers bed, the angel of death came for his wife .......”
* “I gave him the cow instead ... Things aren’t always what they seem.”
* Sometimes we get upset when things don’t go the way we expect them to go.
* Always continue to have faith!
* Trust that every outcome is always to your advantage in the long run.
* You might not know it until some time later.
* When things go bad, just always remember: Things aren’t always what they seem!
