The Church of Eleven22 - Sovereign Savior or Circumstances: Where’s Your Faith?- Old to New - Matthew S4E4

Episode Date: May 4, 2026

What do you do when your faith is strong, but your circumstances make you question everything? In this message through Matthew 11, we see even John the Baptist wrestle with doubt while sitting in prison. The same man who boldly declared Jesus as the Messiah begins to ask, “Are you really the one?” This sermon reminds us that doubt doesn’t disqualify your faith. It reveals where to bring your questions. The real battle isn’t faith vs doubt, it’s faith vs fear. And what you choose to trust will shape your life. Jesus doesn’t promise an easy life or perfect circumstances. He offers something greater. Himself. Even when life feels confusing, exhausting, or overwhelming, His invitation remains the same. Supplemental Resources From This Week: • One step. One decision. One declaration. - Max's Baptism Story • Sovereign Savior or Circumstances: Where’s Your Faith?- Old to New - Matthew S4E4 • Sovereign Savior or Circumstances: Where’s Your Faith?- Old to New - Matthew S4E4 (Full Service) • Matthew Season 4 About The Church of Eleven22 The Church of Eleven22® is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. Eleven22 is led by Pastor Joby Martin and based in Jacksonville, Florida, with multiple campuses throughout Jacksonville and the surrounding areas. To support this ministry and help us continue to reach people all around the world click here: http://coe22.com/donate

Amen and amen and amen. How we doing? Doing good? Do it good. You're actually clappy. I love it. I love it. I love it.

I love how we clap every time we see somebody baptized, even it's on a video from a year ago. I love it so much. Because what you celebrate shows the world what you value. And I hope you're planning on being at Beach of Baptism. If you've not been baptized, you should get baptized. Also, if you got a Bible, go to Matthew Chapter 11. That's where we're going to be.

We're going to do the whole chapter. Welcome back. Surprise to see so many of you here after the beatdown we took last week. So good job. This week, it's going to be kind of the opposite. Like in the beginning, it's a little more in your face. It gets real awesome at the end. So hang to the end, okay?

The reality is this, is that you and I, even a lot like this baptism video, we saw, we always have these two competing voices going on in our lives, these two competing feelings going on in our life. And it pretty much boils down to this. You can either listen to the voice of the sovereign, or you can let your circumstances be the loudest voice in your life. And fundamentally, at your core, you believe, you trust, you have faith in one or the other. And where you put your faith, whether it's your sovereign savior, or you put your faith in

your circumstances, will determine your reality. And this, so you'll either trust Christ or you'll take your trust and you'll put it in what's going on in your world. And this could include like you trust your behaviors or your traditions or your upbringing or your financial situation or your health situation, whatever it is. And where you put your faith, where you put your trust determines whether your life is ruled by faith or ruled by fear. it will determine whether you have a life of hope or hopelessness. It will determine whether you live a life of dependence on the Almighty God who is in control of all things and loves you, or you live a life of despair. I told you this 50 times.

The difference, man, between faith and fear is simply this. When you look into the future, who do you think is in control? Because if it's you, if it's your behavior, if it's your medical situation and your financial situation, your marriage situation, whatever it is. If you think that will determine your world, you will be gripped with fear. Because Jesus says, don't worry about tomorrow. Part of the reason he says this is because new mercy's come in the morning

and God has not given you the mercy that you need to worry about tomorrow. But if you look into the future, even if you can't understand why in the world, the almighty sovereign God who loves us and is in control of all things, would even allow us to be in this situation, but you are confidence that he is in control, that's when faith will be bigger than your fear. And so we're going to look at somebody that's struggling.

And he's a boss man. Matthew chapter 11, the Bible says this, when Jesus had finished instructing his 12 disciples, he went from there to teach and preach in their cities. This is Matthew's way of saying that teaching section is over, and now we're going to a new teaching section. And what he had just finished instructing the 12 was he sent out the 12, like sheep among wolves to preach the gospel of the kingdom.

He gave them authority to heal the sick and to raise the dead and cleans the lepers and cast out demons. And then he said, don't worry. Don't worry about money. Got you covered. Don't make a reservation. I got you cover. I will take care of you.

Verse two. Now, when John, that's John the Baptist, John the baptizer. If you're new to Bible study, John's like a Baptist. He's not a Baptist like you think it. It's not like Pete, the Presbyterian and, you know, Tim, the Methodist. That's not what it is. John the Baptist, no, no, no. John was the guy in the Jordan baptizing people, so we call him John the Baptist, that John. Now, when John heard in prison about the deeds of Christ, now listen, we talked about this when I wore a little prayer shawl. John's a really big deal. Malachi prophesized that John, that there would be one coming who was coming in the spirit of Elijah, and that this one who comes in the spirit of Elijah would precede the Lord. Lord. This is how we know that the Lord will be on the way. John the Baptist shows up in the same

essence, the same spirit of Elijah. They were both from the wilderness, man. They were homeschooled. They were tough. They wore camel hair, both of them, probably from a camel that they killed themselves. You understand what I'm saying? And so Malachas says, be on the look. One will come in the spirit of Elijah who will turn the hearts of fathers to their sons and son to their fathers and sure enough this is what John the Baptist does and if you'll remember and I know you remember every word that I say we did a whole series on Elijah remember this we did it last year and the whole stand for me and act like men here because Elijah had faith in God and he had a backbone and we need more believers that have a backbone like he showed up tough man he was not like

ahab ahab was the king who was weak and evil no good he was always also not like Obadiah. Obadiah was the guy that was weak and quote unquote good. I don't know that you can be weak and good. I think you're just weak. If you're weak, your weakness is not a virtue. No, no, no, no, no. But Elijah shows up, and one of the things that he begins to do is he begins to call out immoral, corrupt governments, and he gets attacked for it. He stands on the truth of the Word of God. That's what he does. And by the way, that's what this church does. And by the way, that's what this church does. I don't know if you realize this. You got an award this week. Do you know that? Congratulations. You got an award. I mean, they gave it to me because I have the microphone,

but you got an award. It's pretty awesome, man. It's called the William Wilberforce Award. It's given out by the Florida Family Voice. This is an organization of people run by one of our deacons, Eric Dillingback, and it equips the church to help in the realm of legislation and politics and all that in regards to life, which is God's idea, marriage, which is God's idea, family, which is God's idea, and religious freedom. And so I want you to know, I mean, they gave it to me because I'm going to appear screaming against that evil, demonic, confusing amendment forward. It tried to stick its head up in our state, and we said not on our watch. And because believers did something about it, it got voted down, and they have told me that equates to

40,000 babies every year being able to live. Praise God, okay? So, now listen, I know I'm going to say what I'm going to say, okay? But a lot of churches won't, I mean, I got a bunch of friends that get run off from preaching the truth. Just know this. And so the reason I say we got an award is because you did not just simply hear the word and so deceive yourself. You do something about it and you endure me every single week. And when I call us to action, you actually.

say do something about it, don't just complain because you get offended. So congratulations on your award. Now, John the Baptist, he's in prison, and he is a really, really big deal. He shows up on the scene. Again, he shows up on the scene, and he's in the spirit of Elijah, he's a prophet of God. He is preparing the way of the Lord. He's calling out corrupt governments because the king was sleeping with like his stepdaughter. I mean, it's just sick, man, what's happening?

And he didn't, he did not have the spinelessness to be like, now we just do church and they do. No, no, no, no, no, no. Wherever he saw injustice, he called out injustice, and it got him locked up. John is the one that stands in the water. When Jesus shows up on the scene, he makes the pronouncement that Jesus,

he says, behold, the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the entire world. Let me tell you why this is a big deal, the way the Jewish audience in the first century would have heard, They said, we thought, well, you mean not another Lamb of God that's going to cover over the sins of the Jewish people until next year on the Day of Atoment? And John's going, right, here he is, the Messiah. That one time John the Baptist's disciples come to him, and they're like, hey, boss, we're in trouble. He's like, what you mean?

And he's like, man, we're losing market share. Everybody's leaving us. We used to have huge crowds. Now, our trails are getting smaller because they're following Jesus. And John the Baptist is like, bingo. The point of my life is the point people to Jesus. In fact, I must decrease and he must increase. He said this.

He says, I'm like a groomsman in a wedding, man. It ain't about me. I am just here to point to the marriage of Christ in his church. That's the whole point. I just got to get out of the way. And so he calls out this immoral government and he gets arrested for it. And he's in prison. So can we agree that John the Baptist is legit, man?

In fact, in a little while, we'll get to the passage. I know you think you're awesome. Jesus says John the Baptist is the greatest born of all women. Anybody who ever been born of a woman, John the Baptist is better. That means he's better than you. That's what Jesus says. And so he's in jail and he heard what Jesus is doing and he sent word by his disciples and said to Jesus,

are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another? This hero of the faith, facing down King Herod and baptizing people, and he baptized Jesus, and he heard the voice of God, the Father, speak out loud, and said, behold, my son, in whom I am well pleased. He was an eyewitness to the spirit of God

descending like a dove onto the shoulder of Jesus. He's in prison from a long time, all the way back to chapter four, just hanging out by himself. He's got a very limited perspective, and from his jail cell, he's thinking, are you the one? You ever have doubts?

You ever have unanswered questions? You ever find yourself in a circumstance, and you think, God, what are you doing here? What are you supposed to do with that? Well, I got some really good news. The opposite of faith is not doubt. You know why I know? Jesus post doubt is going to say

This is the greatest of all the prophets And he's got doubts. The opposite of faith is not doubt. The opposite of faith is fear Because faith always produces action And fear paralyzes. You see, here's what the enemy wants us to do, man. In fact, if you've got doubts and unanswered questions,

it's just a shadow of the fact that you do have faith. And the enemy always wants us to doubt our beliefs and believe our doubt. ever notice that? And what God wants us to do is believe our beliefs and doubt our doubts. And so what do you do in circumstances are not going your way? I mean, if you ever, you wouldn't pray this, but if you ever thought, all right, Lord, I've got this whole thing figured out, okay? Why don't you just do my plan and it's going to go way better for me? And then he doesn't. What do you do with that? I mean, I get it, man. What do you do with that? Well, what we're going to

see here is you bring it to the Lord. Do you know that Jeremiah? Eventually we will teach through that book. Do you know that Jeremiah comes before the Lord and says this? You have tricked me, God. You have seduced me. That's what he says. Because when God called Jeremiah, God said,

I'm going to give you the power to build up nations and tear down nations. Ain't a dude in here wouldn't sign up for that. You're like, give me some of that. And then nobody listens to his preaching. And so he's beating up battered bruise, laying in a ditch. And he's like, you tricked me. Anybody ever feel tricked by God? Or how about this?

King David. You know what his nickname is? A man after God's own heart. That's a good nickname. I got a heart. It ain't like that. You know what David says? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

You know what God doesn't do that prayer? You better shut your mouth. No, no, no, no. He's like, oh, write that one down. We'll go put that one in the book. That's Psalm 22, 1. by the way. He'll also say,

why I have, why, oh my soul, why are you so downcast? He talks to his soul. At one point he asked God, how long will you not listen to me? Anybody ever feel like that? This is how John the Baptist feels. So what do you do?

Here's what you do. Number one, do not fake it. Don't, man. David wrote it down. Jeremiah wrote it down. Shared it publicly. Not on social media. He started it with other human beings.

that love God and love him. And he brought it to the Lord. And secondly, here's what you do with your doubts and your unanswered questions. You just pick them up and you follow after Jesus. That's what faith is. My favorite example of this, I've taught it before, is John chapter 6, where Jesus feeds a bunch of people,

and then afterwards the crowds are getting big, but they just want more miracles for their stomach. They don't believe in Jesus, like, in their heart. And so they start asking him for, they're like, hey, do another miracle. He's like, oh, I got you a miracle. And he says this, unless you, you eat my flesh and drink my blood you have no part of me and they're like what what did you say

can't you imagine the note takers eat my flesh flesh he said he said fish we're jewish we can't eat we can't eat pork much less the messiah i mean what everybody starts leaving jesus wasn't going to make the fastest growing church list that year and then here's what's crazy he'll explain it to nobody yeah look we're going to do communion later This is what he's talking about. This is what he's talking about. Unless you accept the gospel, the broken body and the shed blood, which is what communion reminds us of,

you have no part with me. He could have explained it in one second. He doesn't explain anything. Then he goes up to Peter and says, do you want to leave too? Why is he asked this? Because Peter wants to leave. He's like, I have made a poor career decision.

Maybe my dad will take me back at the fishing business. Man, everybody's leaving. And Peter's answer is like John the Baptist. His answer is not like, well, until I figure this out, I don't know if I can keep following you. That's not what he says. He just says, to where shall we go? You're the only one that offers eternal life. I still have no idea what you're talking about with this blood and flesh thing, man.

But I'm going to pick up my doubts. I'm going to pick up my unanswered questions. I'm just going to follow after you by faith. And if you follow after Jesus, one day all your doubts go away. not next Tuesday. One day, you're going to get to heaven, you're going to see him face to face, no more doubts. Nobody in heaven's going to be like,

you believe in Jesus? You're like, he's the shiny one on the throne, man. You can ask him yourself. So John the Baptist's got some serious doubts. Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? And pay close attention to how Jesus answers. And Jesus answered them,

go and tell John what you have heard and see. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, are cleansed and the deaf here and the dad are raised up and the poor have good news preached to them. What Jesus is doing, his answer is, yes, I am the one. And what he does is he doesn't even appeal to his feelings or his circumstances. He appeals to the scripture. He's quoting a kind of a smash-up of Isaiah 35 and Isaiah 61.

Isaiah, one of the major prophets of the old covenant, he says that when the most of the Messiah gets here, here's a bunch of stuff that's going to happen. And Jesus is like, yes, I'm the one. You co-tell John the Baptist that I am the fulfillment of everything that Isaiah said, and check, check, check, check. Part of the reason God has given us his revealed word when you have all kind of doubts and have all kind of questions and you don't know what God's up to, then you can stand on the solid rock of the revealed, infallible, inerrant word of God

and quit listening to so many of your feelings. and quit believing all your feelings and believe God's perfect word. This is what Jesus does. Now here's one little part. I've got to do the Bible study. You'll miss this. It's almost, I don't know if I can say it's mean, but it ain't awesome. In Isaiah 35 and Isaiah 61, if you put them all together, you know what it says?

It says that the Messiah will, the blind will receive. see their sight, the lame will walk, lepers will be cleansed, the devil will hear, the dead are raised up, the poor will have good news preached to them, and the captives will be set free. And Jesus doesn't quote that part of John the Baptist. Think about that. John DeBavis sends this guy, hey, go and ask him, are you the one, or did we miss it? And the guy comes back and says, hey boss, I got good news. He's the one. Is he? Yeah, he told me to tell you that the blind have received their sight. and the lame walk yay and the leopards are cleansed

good for them and the deaf here do what great and the dead are raised up praise God and the poor have had good news preach to them and John's like is there one more now that's all he said now hold on there's one more

that's all he said I wrote it down that's all he said I mean here's what Jesus is saying follow me and it can end badly. No promise of cash and prizes because cash and prizes

are not our ultimate treasure, but Jesus is. That's what he's saying. Anybody that tells you that the way to have your best life now is just to have some faith, they are so out of line with the good news of the gospel.

In fact, we just learned a couple of weeks ago, if you want to find actual life, you're going to have to lay your life down. And if you chase after the temporary thing, of this world, like cash and prizes or even health or long life, then you're actually going to lose your life. That's what is going to happen. And then Jesus keeps going. Verse six, look at this one. And Blessed is the one who is not offended by me. I resonate with this verse. Be offended by the

gospel. It is so offensive. The beginning of the gospel is this. You were created by God for God. That's cool. Next, and sin separates. And you. You and I, by nature and nurture, are a crooked and depraved, wretched, blackhearted sinner. That's who you are. And again, I know your kindergarten teacher told you you were a skittal, but she's a liar. That's what she is. But congratulate, blessed are you, though, when you are convicted by the spirit of God and are poor in spirit. And realize something's broken, and I can't fix it.

Anybody watch Theo Vaughn? Sinners? Now he seems awesome If you watch him this week he put on display what poor in spirit is He's saying I need to do story and I was reading and this is him He was saying I'm reading in the Bible in John chapter 5 the man at the pool of Bethesda and Jesus says do you want to be healed? That is the question and he's wrestling on air with like do I really want it because if I Because I know I need to change but do I want a new story?

Blessed are you when you realize that You need someone to do for you what you cannot do for yourself. And blessed are you when you are ready to receive what you need instead of merely looking to Jesus to meet a temporary want. So Jesus says, Blessed is the one who is not offended by me. Listen, if you go in for surgery, are you offended by the doctor because he cut you?

No, you want him to so that he can make things better. This is what Jesus wants to do. He wants to cut you at the heart and rip out your heart of stone and give you a new heart, his heart. That's what he wants. It's going to sting a little. Man, I got a text this week from a saint at our church. I'm not going to share any of the details.

And I didn't ask this person for permission, so I'm definitely going to use it in a sermon. And this person walks with the Lord, and they are praying and praying and praying. And so far, God has not answered their prayers the way they want them to be answered. And it just said this, has God turned his face from me?

I've prayed and I've cried. You ever feel like that? It's a legit feeling. And then my answer was, no. No, God has not turned his face from you. Romans 5-8 says, but God demonstrates his love for us and this, that while we were yet still sinners, Christ died for us. That Jesus on the cross says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

The actual answer is the father turned his face from Jesus on the cross that you and I could be face to face with him. that your circumstances do not dictate God's love for you, the empty tomb does. That's how we know that he loves us. So Jesus says, Blessed is the one who is not offended by me. And as they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John.

He's going to hype him up, man. He asked this question, what did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by wind? answer, no. You didn't go out there because he's a weak man. He's not a weak man. He's a strong man.

What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? You see, Jesus was the originator of save not soft. Johnny's soft. He wore camel hair. Listen, you want to go hear soft preaching? The options are endless, but you ain't going to get it here. All right?

He says, behold, those who wear soft preaching, closing are in King's houses. What a jab there. He's like, you want to meet some men with soft hands? You go check out some government work, okay? Praise B. He said, what did you go to see? A prophet?

Yes, I tell you, and more of their prophet, this is he of whom it was written. Behold, I will say my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you. And truly, I say, among you, those born of women, there have arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. He makes this statement about John the Baptist after John Howells has his doubts. Jesus can handle your doubts. Just bring them to him. Then he says, yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

One of my favorite verses. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence. And the violent take it by force. Some translations say it this way. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing. forceful men take hold of it. Listen, church, I've told you, man, we've got time to play church. We are at war.

Now our battle is not against flesh and blood, but there is no place in the church for these spineless, pansy, good do-gooters that just want to show up and hear a nice sermon and have a little nice life, but not want to advance the kingdom of God. Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and darkness. It's against false ideologies and false religion and wolves and sheep's clothing and a Christless Christianity.

It's about protecting the vulnerable and standing up for righteousness. Because all it takes for evil to prevail in our world is for godly men to do nothing. And not on our watch. We are raising up warriors. The Bible says the Lord is a warrior. The Lord is his name.

And so from the days of John the Baptist until this day, A kingdom of God has been forcefully advancing and violent men take hold of it. This is who John the Baptist is. Verse 13, 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, let him hear. What Jesus is saying is, remember Malachi? Malachi said, one was coming in the spirit of Elijah.

I'm here to tell you, it's John the Baptist. And then he turns on the crowd. He's like, so don't hate on John the Baptist. He's having a rough day, but your worst days don't define you. Jesus defines you. Then he turns to the crowd and he says, but watch how I'll compare this generation. And he says, it's like children sitting in the marketplaces

and calling to their playmates. Let me explain this a little bit. He's like, I just said that from the days of John the Baptist until the day, the kingdom of heaven, has been forcefully advancing and violent men take hold of it. But you guys, y'all are acting like children. You're like children in the square.

We're at war and you're playing tallywinks with your classmates. What are we doing here is what he's saying? I told you a couple weeks ago, instead of being alert on watch for the attacks of the enemy, advancing the kingdom of God, advancing the great commission, most of us are just chasing after the applause of man and comfort. We spend all of our time, effort, and energy on these things, and God gets our leftovers. People ask me all the time, this question about 1122.

What's the greatest threat at 1122? Okay. And I can tell you what it is. Complacency. You know why? Because it's going good, man. the moment you begin to think, well, look, man, there's so many people here, surely somebody else will do everything about everything, then it's over, bro. The moment you just get comfortable attending a service and you know, encounter the King of Kings and then get about what he has ordered us to do, then it's over.

We're just playing games like children in the street calling out their playmates. And then he says, we play the flute for you and did not do. dance, we sang a dirge and you did not mourn. And you're like, what, let me explain. There was this little game that kids would play in the first century and this is what they'd do. It was kind of like Simon says. And instead of Simon says, if they played a flute, they danced and if they played

whatever the other thing is and they played a durs, they would mourn. That's what they would do. But instead of playing the game, they're not listening to their cues and they're just messing around with each other. That's what's going on. And what Jesus is saying is, I am clearly articulated. the advancement of the kingdom of God, and you're not responding. You're not listening.

Do you hear the music of the gospel? This is what he's saying. Then surrender to the advancement of the kingdom and be about his business. For John came neither eating or drinking, and they said, he has a demon. And the son of a man came eating and drinking. And they say, look at him, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of a tax collector, and a sinner. This is more evidence that the religious people are the HOA of religious. of the first century.

Listen, man, if you're in the HOA and you just walk around town with nothing but a clipboard, you can't celebrate anything. All you can see is what's wrong because that's all you're looking for. Your grass is too long. Well, you did it too short. Two demerits. This is what's happening. So John the Baptist shows up.

He's a teetotera. I'm like, you legalist. Jesus shows up eating and drinking him. Like, you're not doing it right either. And I love this response. What do you do when people attack you? yet wisdom is justified by her deeds. You just outlive the critics and do what he tells you to do

and you trust him with the consequences. So this is the conversation he's having. And then it gets worse. It's going to get way better at the end. And then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done because they did not repent. The Bible says in Romans chapter one

that because of God's general revelation to all people no one has an excuse for not turning to the Almighty God. That's what he says, that we will all bear an account. He goes on to say that it is actually God's judgment to turn you over to your own desires, that the worst thing God could do for you and me is give us what we say we want. You ever think about that? Then you get to chapter two of Romans, and it says, but it is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance.

So you realize one of the kindest things that you could ever do if you're chasing after the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, or the pride of life is for you to get busted? That it would be the kindness of God for you to experience the conviction of your sin. And the conviction of your sin is not God being mad at you. It's a warm invitation for us to run to the Father instead of from him. This is what he's saying. And he says, woe to you, Corazon. on. Woe means, I want to give you a warning of judgment.

And he says, woe to you, Beth, Satan. For the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon. These are super pagan, super gross, Old Testament cities where evil things happen. In fact, Sidon is where Jezebel's from. This ain't good, man. They would have repented long ago in Sackhaught and Atches, but I tell you it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for tire and sin. Sidon than you. Man, one of my, something I found sadly hilarious these days is the number of people that have

not surrendered to Jesus, but they will say things like, I love Jesus's teachings. But about him, like dying for your sins and, you know, resurrecting for the grave. I'm not sure about that, but I love Jesus's teachings. I just want to go, have you read his teachings? Because his teaching was that you were going to burn in hell forever and ever and ever. Amen, you love that part? Then you should surrender your life to the Lord'ship of Christ because that is what he's teaching.

And you, Copernium, this is where he is. I mean, it's great when somebody brings down a woe on the town next to you, right? You're like, you get them. And then he's like, well, while I'm here in Copernium and you, Copernium, will you be exhausted at heaven? They're like, we're good, right? No, you ain't good.

you will be brought down to Hades. Here's what he's saying, man. The line in heaven is a single file line. You don't get credit for being near Jesus. God credits you with his righteousness once you surrender your life to him. God saves first names, not last names. And the South better hear this. The number of people I ask about, oh, so when did you become a Christian?

I've been a Christian my whole life. That is impossible. You were born, unless your last name's Christian, but that ain't going to get you in heaven. You were born in iniquity. You were born separated from God, and Jesus came on a rescue mission to save you. Now, just because you can't remember the moment

that you surrendered your life in Christ, there was a moment when that thing happened when you went from death to life. He says, you will be brought down to Hades, for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom. And bro, when he said Sodom, people are like, oh, it would have remained until this day. Sodom was judged by God because of their rejection of God,

and it played out in the abuse of people and the rejection of God's ways, primarily in sexual immorality. And the thing, the straw that broke the camel's back is two male angels show up to Sodom, and the men of Sodom tried to rape the male angels. That'll get you judged. He says, but I tell you that it'll be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than you. Why? Jesus is saying, because you have more evidence than they had.

They had a general revelation, and now God in the flesh is doing miracles and preaching the gospel right here in front of you. And I would say the same for those of us in every one of our campuses and every one of us listening online because you have heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. Do not close your eyes to the Savior. And Jesus is going to shift gears. He has made the diagnosis. on your own trouble.

And at that time, Jesus declared, this is so incredible. This is a prayer between God the Son and God the Father. He says, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. That you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and reveal them to little children. You know why? Because wisdom and understanding won't save you. Only faith will. Later, Jesus is going to say, unless you change and become like one of these little children, you have no place in the kingdom of heaven.

Well, what do kids have? Do kids have power? No. And if they got too much in your house, that's your fault, parents, okay? Do kids have knowledge? No. They're morons. They don't know anything.

Do they have experience? No. Do they have a religious pedigree? No. Do they have status? No. Now power and knowledge and experience and status are fine. They just won't save you.

You know what a child has? Trust. Trust. We're not supposed to be childish, but we're supposed to have a childlike faith. I mean, how many of you have been in the pool and reach out to you a kid and be like, come on, jump. And with a childlike faith, they believe you are who you say you are and that you're going to keep your promise and not going to let them die. That's what it means to be saved. that's what it means to put your faith in Jesus Christ.

It doesn't mean to get your act together so that you can prove yourself righteous before the Lord. That is by definition self-righteousness. But the Bible says in 1 John 410, and this is love, not that we first loved him, but he first loved us, and he gave his son as the propitiation for our sin. Propitiation means a payment that satisfies, which means that the verdict comes before the performance, and if you put your faith in Christ, then he gives you, credits you, his perfect life. which means God's not dissatisfied with you. John chapter 1, verse 12 says,

but to all who did receive him who believed in his name, he gave the right to become a child of God. Jesus is saying, I'm not opening this thing up to the smartest people because they'll want to take credit for it. I'm opening up to anybody who would have faith. That's what he says. Trust.

Pistuo is the Greek word. He says, yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over. to me by the Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him. First of all, you cannot reject God the Son and claim to know God the Father. Jesus says that's impossible. Don't like it? Cool. Take it up with him. You will one day. It's not going to go good. Secondly, he says, No one knows the father except the son and anyone to whom the son chooses to reveal him.

Listen to me. He wants you. You're like, me? Uh-huh. How can you say that? The empirical evidence that God would situate all of the universe that in this moment right now, whether you're hearing me live or it's three months from now and you're cutting grass, listening to this on a podcast or something,

that God would come reaching out for you with an invitation, sharing the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I'm just daring you to actually listen to the voice of God in your life right now instead of listening to your circumstances. There we go. And it's some of the coolest verses in the Bible, man. Jesus, the Christ, the second person of the Trinity, God the Son, who spoke all things into existence

and by his very power holds all things together, who will return one day to judge every single person, and we will all bow. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. He'll either be Lord of your salvation or Lord of your damnation. And if you bow on this side of the return, he will lift you up. We will go to heaven with him, a new heaven, and a new earth, and we will hear well done, good and faithful servant.

But if in our arrogance and if in our self-reliance, we do not bow, then we will bow and we will receive the just do for our sins. This Jesus, coming back on a white horse with fire eyes and a sword out of his mouth and tattoos on his quads, this Jesus, he doesn't say you better get right. He don't yell like I'm yelling. He yells at religious people a lot. But here's, you ready for it? He's just called down, woe to you, tyrant siding, woe to you.

Sodom and Gamoire. Whoa to you, Copernium. But then when he looks at the people, he says, come to me. What an invitation. Jesus, in this moment right now, because we don't follow a dead rabbi with some unique teachings. We follow a resurrected living Christ.

And he calls nobody's like me to speak on his behalf, to be an ambassador for the reconciliation. of sinful humanity with an almighty holy God. And the word of Christ to you right now is, come to me. And some people hear that differently. Some people hear, even me. And Jesus goes, yeah, even you.

And I know you can say to me, yeah, but you don't know what I've done. But you can't say it to him because he knows what you've done. and he's not surprised. Like, he knows every sin. He knows the ones that you didn't even act out, you just thought in here. Can you imagine if you were held accountable legally for everything you thought in here?

Can you imagine the friends that you wouldn't have if they knew what you think about them sometimes, but you just don't say it? Jesus knows. And he goes, yeah, you know. you with all your doubts and all your struggles and all your sin and all your depravity, all that, I want you to come to me. Even me?

Yeah, even you, especially you. Now there's another group of people who are like, yeah, but I go to church. Cool. Jesus didn't say come to church. He said, come to me. Church is but a means to an end to know Jesus better and Jesus' people better so that we can advance the kingdom all together. That's what the church is there. The church cannot save you, man.

You see, the reality is that we are experientially rich and we're spiritually bankrupt. And Jesus has come to me all who labor and are heavy laden. Anybody humble enough to admit that they're worn out? Sometimes it's physical, you know? That's fine, though. It's easy to fix the physical exhaustion.

You just eat a little bit, sleep a little bit. No problem, man. But you feel like mentally, emotionally, spiritually exhausted? Let me tell you what's exhausting. It's exhausting to chase after the temporary things of this world, man, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And you chase them and you chase them and you chase them.

And I don't know what's worse. To spend your whole life chasing a dream and not getting it or to grab onto it and realize it's not what you thought it would be. It's exhausting to try to figure everything out before you'll just choose God and trust him. It's exhausting to try to be good enough. a relationalist religion is exhausting. Gretz and I were filming a podcast last week, and she said this, secrets are exhausting.

Some of you are living a life of secret in darkness, and it's exhausting. Sin is exhausting. I know it can be entertaining for a season, man, but it will always cost you more than you thought. You always stay longer than you plan, and it always hurts worse than they advertised. Anxiety is exhausting.

because we're not in control. The approval of man is exhausting because they all won't light up at the same time. You take the keys of your happiness and you hand them out to everybody and then one knucklehead just won't treat you the way you want to be treated and it doesn't matter what the other ones think.

Comparison is exhausting. The rat race is exhausting. Keep him up with the Joneses is exhausting. It's not. The pursuit of happy is exhausting because it's so conditional. Religion. is exhausting.

You see, because when you chase after any of these things, it's the myth of there. And when you begin to think, because we've told ourselves before, oh, when I just get there. Anybody about to graduate from something? And you begin to think, oh, man, that's when life's really going to begin.

Or if I could just get this job, oh. Or if I could just get another job, or when I go on that vacation, oh, or when I get married, then no more problems ever. If you only knew, man. If I just had more money, if I just living in a better neighborhood, if I just had a better spouse,

maybe I didn't pick wisely the first time. If I could just get to retirement, oh, man. Well, see, the problem with the myth of there is you're here. Like right here and right now. And Jesus doesn't say, come to me then. He doesn't say get your act together and send in your application and I'll review it

and we'll see if you make the second interview. That's not what he does. Whether you reject him through religious activity because you think that's going to earn you a spot or you reject him by sinful rebellion, he says to every single one of us come to me because I can see it. You're worn out.

And then look at what the sovereign, perfect, holy judge giving out woes to people. Listen to what he offers. come to me, 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 soul. You know, I've intentionally never looked up

what those words mean, I don't know what they mean, but boy, it sounds like the greatest invitation I've ever heard in my life. I mean, isn't that what you're looking for? Peace, contentment, meaning, purpose, union with God. sins washed away, adopted into the family. You know why this world could never provide it?

Because you were created for more than this world. When Adam, the very first human being, was ever created, God forms together the dust of the earth, and he is physically a human, but he's not yet what the Bible calls a living creature. That's where some of you are right now. I mean, you're alive, but you're not living. And then God breathed the breath of life into the very first man. He opens his eyes and he's face to face with his Heavenly Father.

And that was imprinted on him and we inherited that. And this is why the temporary things of this world will never, ever, ever, ever satisfy. And then Jesus says, my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Man, I read a bunch of commentaries about how a yoke is this farm tool where they put like a strong ox with a young ox. And it preaches really good. I just don't think that was what Jesus was talking about at all. a little bit maybe. But do you know what a yoke was in the first century?

What they called a yoke were the requirements of a rabbi to be his follower. So they would take the Word of God, they would take the Torah, the 613 laws. And there's a lot of general laws in there, like remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. And then a rabbi would write down what exactly, like if you want to follow me, here's what that means. We can take 100 steps. We can do these things. We can't do these things. And then rabbis would get in this competition of like who could be the best, who could be the most strict, who could be the most dedicated, who could be the most legalistic.

And they would literally roll these things that roll their yokes out in front of everybody and be like, look how dedicated to God I am. It is impossible to be my rabbi. Who won't see it? That's what they would do. And so the religious legal requirement was exhausting. Get it? It's called a yoke. And Jesus says, my yoke, it's easy.

And my burden is light. And if you were to say, okay, so what is it? So what do I have to do to follow you? He says, repent and believe. That's it? Hold on. Come on, man. Don't I got to get baptized or go to a class or say, hell, Mary.

I mean, I got to do something, right? Pray a prayer or raise my hand. I mean, come on. I got to do something. Jesus goes, no, no, no, no. This is how simple this thing is. You repent. You're going to reject.

I'm not an ad on, okay? I'm not like an accessory to your life. That's not what this is. You turn away from the sins of your past, the ways of this world, all the dark and demonic things that you've ever been connected to in your whole life. And then you put your faith in me. And all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. And you're like, God, that doesn't seem fair at all.

Jesus is like, right, it's not. It's not. that if you believe that when Jesus died on the cross, somehow that counted for you, then you receive the right to become a child of God. Not a slave, not a worker, not a member of the army, but a child of God.

The invitation of all invitation is Christ's invitation. So let me ask you, I know you've been doing life your way and how's that going? Some of you have finally come to the end of it and you're like, man, it's not going good. My way's not working. I'm either gripped by this besetting sin

that won't let me go and it's wearing me out or I've achieved all the things, man. I've achieved all the things and they just won't fully and finally satisfy and Jesus says, okay cool, why don't you come to me? all who are weary and heavy burden. He says, I'm gentle. I'm lowly.

I ain't mad at you. I actually took the punishment and the payment that you deserve because I love you. And if you want credit for that, and if you want rest for your soul, you want your share. to be gone, your guilt to be gone, you want you the exhaustion of religious activity to be gone, then Jesus says, just come to me.

Here, here's my yoke. Just repent. Our God, my way's not working. And believe. I trust that when you died on the cross, somehow that counted. I did that a long time ago. I was in high school. And I heard the gospel a hundred million times because I'm Southern, man.

And if you'd asked me when I was in high school, if I was a Christian, I'm like, of course, I'm Southern. I believe in God. Like I believe in the Tooth Ferry, the Second Amendment, and the SEC football. I thought it was like, one, like a package deal. You know what I mean? But there was a distinct moment in my life. What it was, it was not my knowledge of Bible stories that I could regurgitate, but it had to be personal for me. Yeah, the only paperwork that's going to matter when you stand before the throne of God.

It's not your birth certificate, nor your birth certificate, nor your rules. resume. But it's your RSVP to his invitation. And so right now, right here in this place, Christ is staying to you and you and you and you come to me. And we simply do that by putting our faith in Christ. Would you bow your heads? Would you close your eyes? And if today you are ready to receive the free gift of the invitation of Christ, to repent, to admit it. My way isn't working. This world isn't working for me.

My flesh is a terrible God. And if you're ready to turn away from that and turn to Christ and say, I believe, I trust that when Jesus Christ pushed up on his nail pierced feet and says, it is finished that somehow that counted for me. If you were ready to receive that invitation to come to Christ, not just to better you, but to come to him by fate for the first. time, I just want you to lift your hand as high as you can right now. And in your own words, praise God.

In your own words, you just tell him, Lord Jesus, save me. And he will not take back this invitation. He is a promise-keeping God. And in this very, very moment what he is doing in this moment, as you receive that free gift, then you also receive the right to be a child of God. Sins washed away. The righteousness of Christ imputed, counted, credited to you. that your name is changed, your eternity is changed, and in this very moment, you have been saved.

Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, God, we love you more than anything because you first loved us. And God, I thank you so much that, God, you came to seek and to save the lost. Lord, I thank you so much for the invitation to come to you, not a set of rituals or religious activity, but to come to you. because through your life, death, and resurrection, you give us what we're all looking for, and that is peace with God and the peace of God inside of us. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

So we're going to close by celebrating communion. Our ushers are going to start making their way around to hand out the elements. And so if you could just help them out, that would be awesome. You see, there are two things that, two ordinances that Jesus gave the church that we should continually practice. And we don't call them sacraments because they're not means of grace. In fact, that very idea doesn't make sense.

Like if it's grace, then what do you have to do to earn it? If you do something to earn it, then it's not grace. No, no, no, no. They're just pointing back to the celebration of what Christ has already done for us. And so what we as a church do and what Protestant churches do in accordance with the scriptures, there are two ordinances that Jesus says that we should continually practice to point to the gospel, to point to the good news of the grace of Jesus. One is baptism.

It's coming up in three weeks. And if you've never been baptized as a believer, you should be obedient to Jesus and you should go publicly declare your faith in Jesus. Now we're going to do this thing in the Atlantic Ocean. There ain't nothing wholly about the water in the Atlantic Ocean. All right? We're going to do it at Mayport. You know what I mean? So there's nothing magical about that water that saves you.

What happens in that water is you were declaring to the world that Christ has already saved me. That you're going to reject, renounce the sins of your past, the waves of this world, anything darker demonic that you've ever been connected to. And you are going to declare in front of all of us that show up and all of heaven that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior. And when you get dumped down into the water, it is a picture of the moment you died to yourself, the Spirit of God, through the blood of Christ, washed away your sins. And just like Jesus came out of the grave, you will be resurrected to new life. And there's a party in heaven, and there'll be a party on the beach.

That's one of the ordinances. So get baptized. If you've never been baptized as a believer, get baptized. And if you're getting baptized, you should ask all your friends, you should tell them, hey, I'm getting baptized. You want to come? And if they go, nah, then ain't your friend, man. I mean, straight up. And then they go, yeah, sure.

You're like, yeah, come celebrate with me. And then I want you to ask, do you believe in Jesus? This be a great day. We'll do it together. Me and you get baptized. That's one ordinance. The other ordinance is the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper.

You see, the Lord's Supper was instituted by Christ to his church. So I would say this. This is the Lord's table. This ain't my table. So he determines who comes to the table. And all who believe in Jesus Christ are, welcome to the table. Now honestly, man, I would warn you, if you're not a follower of Jesus, the only reason that I would warn you not to do it is because there's some serious warnings

in the New Testament about anybody that does this flippantly and not by faith. So I'm just warning you. It's kind of a hand to the hot stove kind of thing, okay? So if you do it, that ain't on me when you stand before him one day. All right, so. But I don't care what denomination you grew up in or whatever, man. This is the Lord's table. And it is a picture of the gospel, the broken body and the shed blood of Jesus. It points back to the Passover meal when the

children of Israel are enslaved and then God sends Moses and 10 plagues come. And on the 10th plague, God tells Moses to go to the people of Israel and say, take a perfect spotless lamb, shed its blood and put it on the doorpost of the house. And then the angel of death will pass over. So this was called the Passover meal.

And so the reason the bread is flat is they knew that they were going to be heading towards the promised land crossed into the Red Sea the next day so they didn't have time for the bread to rise to ever had to sleep with their tennis shoes on because you got to go. And so on the night, Jesus was betrayed

and he's supposed to quote all this stuff from Exodus and he doesn't. He makes up his own words. He doesn't talk about Exodus. Talks about himself. And he says, this is my body broken for you. And what he's saying is

that thing that happened at the Exodus This was actually just a foreshadowing of the real story. And behold, here I am. The Lamb of God has come to take away the sin of the entire world. If you look at some other verses in the New Testament, the New Testament says this. For the joy set before him, Christ endured the cross. Well, what was the joy set before him?

Now, it's not all about you, so don't get too far in there. God's for you. Anybody that dies for you is for you. It's ultimately about the glory of God, but God has decided that what would glorify him most is for him to rescue and redeem his children. Anybody that would believe would receive the right to become a child of God. And so as you take this bread, Jesus says,

as often as you eat of it, you do so in remembrance of me. But I want you just to yourself to say, for the joy set before him. And that's me. Christ endured the cross. taking him. And then on that night he held up the cup and he said

this is the cup of the new covenant. Covenant and testament mean the old thing. The same thing. The old covenant was a covenant of law. And Jesus says, I'm coming to do a new thing. That I bring you a covenant of grace. It's not by your obedience to the law that you were made right

before God, but it is by my finished work on the cross, by my shed blood on the cross. And because Jesus would drink the full cup of the wrath of God. Every single believer in Jesus is invited to drink the full cup of the grace of God. And he says, and as often as you drink of this, you do so in remembrance of me. Would you stand and let me pray for us.

Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, God, we thank you for the gospel. May we never forget it. God, with the circumstances that folks are walking through right now and they just don't understand what you are doing, God, I pray that we would just fashion our fate to what you have done, that you sit your only begotten son on a rescue mission to live a perfect life, to die of sinners' death, to be resurrected on the third day,

and for all who would believe we would be resurrected just like that. And in the meantime, God, I pray that we would hear and heed your invitation. to come to you. So God, all of us that are weary and heavy burden, I pray that we would come to you, and in so doing, we would find rest for our souls. We prayed in Jesus' name. Amen.

The Bible says in the New Testament that after the early church, the early disciples would celebrate communion, that they would sing together. And so we're going to do just what the early church did. We're going to sing. And we're going to bring our ties and our offerings, our first and our best. And we're going to pray.

So when Jesus says, come to me, that was not just a one-time offering for salvation. That's an all-the-time offering for every single believer in Jesus. And if you are going through something right now and you're a little worn out and you're a little tired, whether it's mentally or spiritually or physically, whether it's relationally, then the invitation is, wouldn't you just come to me? Peter will say it this way later. He says, cast all your cares upon him because he cares for you. So let's sing, let's bring, let's pray.

Let's respond.