old. I've got four daughters total, plus my wife. So there's a lot of women in my house. And somebody asked me, they said, well, you guys, are you still hoping for a boy? And, you know, we didn't really know how to respond for a while, but I finally figured it out. Somebody told me this recently, why we have so many girls in our house. About ten years ago, right before I got married, God looked down on our household and He said, there's enough man for that house. They don't need any more men in there, we just need a bunch of women. Anyways, it's great to be here. We've been down in Columbia, South America now for several years, since 2013. Coming up on five years that we moved down there. We only had two of our daughters then, and two other ones were born being down in South America. It's a pretty crazy thing. There's a lot of adjustments, obviously a different language. We're already ministering with people in Spanish before that, but we keep on learning how to speak that a little bit better. There's a lot of little changes here and there with the culture and things that are different, and the food's different, the way people do things is different. You know, I remember going back quite a few years before this, I remember dreaming someday of doing what we're doing right now. I remember dreaming really big about maybe going to some faraway place to share a message with people that they'd never heard. This message of the gospel. And I remember for a lot of years thinking, well, I really wish I could do something big for God, but who am I to be able to do something like that? I read stories about people that were used by God, even in the Bible. Have you ever heard of stories like David and Goliath? Ever heard of stories like that? I remember all through Sunday school as a kid in children's church, you know there's only 20 stories they tell in children's church. You can kind of get them categorized after a while. And so after you hear his story so many times, I remember thinking as a kid, well, that's great that David did something like that. He killed a big giant with a rock. And the giant's coming at him with a spear and shield and armor and sword. And David comes at him with a rock, a small rock. And you know, that's great. David could do that. And David killed Goliath with this great mighty faith. When all the warriors of Israel were shaking in their boots and they were scared to do something, David did that. But of course he did. He's David. You know, I heard the story of Daniel in the lion's den and how all this pressure to cave in and to just renounce his God and to not keep on praying to the God of heaven. And even when there was a threat of him being thrown into the lion's den, Daniel kept on being faithful to God. Have you all heard that story? Well, they threw him in the lion's den and sure enough, he survived. How? I don't know. God's hand was with him, and he closed the lion's mouth. So he said, well, they just weren't hungry. Well, if you keep on reading, they threw in a bunch of other guys afterwards, and they just devoured him. So it wasn't that. But of course, Daniel lasted through the night. Of course, he stayed strong in his faith, because he's Daniel. I remember reading stories about the Apostle Peter, how he'd stand up and thousands of people got saved. And of course Peter did that. He's Peter, but I'm just Aaron. I'm just me. I remember reading stories about missionaries and these great men of God and women of God that were used greatly of God, and how guys like Nate Saint flew an airplane into the jungle, and Jim Elliott and some other friends, they went down to preach the Gospel to some people who had never heard, and they were so excited about preaching the Gospel, and yet when they landed, after months and months and really years of preparation, when they finally landed to talk to these people, they were killed. But they wrote in their journals, you know, this is a great privilege, but of course they could do that, because that's Nate Saint and Jim Elliot and all these other guys, but I'm just me. I read about Hudson Taylor, how amongst all the opposition, he went into China as a missionary. And he went deep into China where no one had ever gone before. People had never seen a white man. And nobody from outside of that culture. But he went and he even actually became like them. He dressed like them. And he even grew a little ponytail, because that's what the guys did. They don't do that anymore, by the way. Anyways. And he preached the gospel, and thousands of people got saved. But of course he did that, because that was Hudson Taylor. I'm me. Now, I don't know about you guys, but I've been discouraged sometimes when I think about how God uses other people and how other people can do big stuff. We're going to talk about a guy today, his name, I'll give you a little bit. We're going to go to the book of Luke. If you have your Bible, it's the third book in the New Testament, Luke. We're going to go to chapter number 7. There's this guy that, he was one of those incredible people, one of the most incredible people that's ever been written about. Just a few things about him, he's so unique and so bold, sometimes it's hard for us to maybe relate to him. Because this guy, he was the fulfillment of a lot of Old Testament prophecies, like hundreds of years before he was even born. Several people prophesied about this guy's coming and how he'd be and what he'd do. He was the miraculous son of elderly parents. Can you imagine if your mom and dad were like in their 80s or 90s when you were born? That doesn't happen. That has to be a God thing. And this was that guy. It was mom and dad. They couldn't have any kids until they were really up in age and God gave them a miraculous son. And he was full of the Holy Spirit from the time he was in his mother's womb. Now that doesn't happen either. That's kind of weird. He was Jesus' second cousin, related to him really closely. He's only six months older than Jesus, so they kind of grew up together. You can imagine the family reunions, that had to be really weird. Here's this weird guy, Jesus, that's not like any other human, and this weird guy, his cousin, who's also full of the Holy Spirit from the time he's really young, and he's fulfilling all these prophecies. What a weird family reunion that would have been. He was kind of odd in his appearance. The Bible says he wore camel hair outfit. That's got to be scratchy. That doesn't sound comfortable to me at all. He ate locusts, which is like a grasshopper on steroids. That doesn't sound good at all either. I've had grasshoppers, and believe me, they're kind of weird to eat, especially when they keep jumping in your mouth after you swallow them. I won't go into any more details. But anyways, it's just not a pleasant thing to eat. And that was his diet. But he was an extremely bold preacher. So he'd go out and he'd tell things like they were, and he'd shoot straight. It didn't matter to him what people thought of him. He was just so bold. He was approved by the Lord Jesus Christ. Actually, at the very end of his life, Jesus said that there had never been a greater prophet than John. There's never been a man born of a woman greater than John. What an awesome thing. This guy was faithful to the end, and in the end he became a martyr. That means he died for his faith and died for his message. Really, at the end of his life, and with all that, you say, well, of course he did that, this John the Baptist. That's who we're talking about, this John the Baptist. He's John the Baptist. But I'm Aaron. Or I'm me. I'm not John the Baptist. But there's something we see at the very end of his life, I think we can all relate to this. He came to doubt if it was all real. He started to wonder if this was real. And that's okay. Bible records this story that we're going to look at today, where he had boldly announced that Jesus is the Lamb of God, he's the Son of God, the Messiah, the one that's going to come and take all of our sins away, and that we should look to Jesus and follow Jesus and love Jesus and accept Jesus as our Savior. And he told everyone that, and a lot of these people started following Jesus. But at the end of it all, he starts to wonder if this is really the one that they're supposed to be hoping for. Why? Because maybe he had a different concept of what this Jesus would do, but he finds himself in jail at the very end of his life, and he's about to lose his head. And so we're going to pick up that story there. And so here's all this stuff that Jesus is doing after John has risked his life and really willing to lay down his life. And he sends this weird message to Jesus that I think we can all kind of relate with. I want you to go with me today. We're all going to be in Luke 7. If you have a Bible, look with me. If not, listen very closely. Maybe look on with somebody next to you. This is what it says. Jesus is doing all sorts of miracles and whatnot. We're going to be in Luke 7. Let's start in 17. And this rumor of him, of Jesus, went forth throughout all Judea and throughout all the region round about. So this is before Facebook, before Twitter and Instagram, and before all the social media, before Fox News or CNN, before TV existed, before any of that stuff, before text messaging and phone calls. But yet, everyone all around had heard about this Jesus, and they knew what Jesus was doing. And so this rumor comes around, this news comes to John. It says in verse 18, the disciples of John showed him of all these things. What things? Before this, you see that Jesus had been raising people from the dead, and healing sick people, and doing all sorts of nice things. In verse 19, it says this, and John calling unto him, two of his disciples sent them to Jesus. Listen very closely to this question, saying, art thou he that should come, or look we for another? In other words, are you really the Messiah? Or should we keep looking? Remember, he's sending this message from jail. He's about to die. And he's already told everyone, this is Jesus, the one that's going to save us from our sins. And now he's saying, are you really going to save us from our sins? Can you kind of sense that here? Look what happens here. It says in verse 20, When the men were come unto him, unto Jesus, they said, John the Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come, or look we for another? And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities, and plagues, and of evil spirits. And unto many that were blind he gave sight. Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things you have seen and heard. how that the blind see, and the lame walk, and the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised to the poor the gospel is preached. And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me. Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me. Let's go ahead and pray. We're going to dig into this message when the believer doubts. when we doubt, when the believer doubts. Let's pray. God, I thank you for bringing us here today. Thank you for letting me come here. It's been a crazy time trying to get here. But I thank you for bringing each of us to this place at this time with this message here to consider, Lord, and to contemplate. I pray that you'd speak to our hearts mightily, that you would teach us more about yourself, that you'd help us to be strong in our faith. I pray that if there's somebody here today that's maybe just weighing all the options or trying to figure out if this is all real or not, that today they'll get that settled. I pray that if there's a Christian maybe on the fence about whether really to sell out to you and to give their whole life to you or just to stay being a cultural Christian. I pray that today would be the day that they surrender fully, that they decide, I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back. I pray that you would use me today, Lord, to speak your message. In your name we pray for your glory. Amen. There's three things that we see John did when he doubted. I want you to know that it's human nature to doubt. Maybe you're here today and you've felt this. Maybe you've been in school or amongst some friends of yours and they kind of throw some doubt on your faith. Maybe you've gone to church all your life, and now you're starting to hear teachers at school say, well, you know, Christianity is just one of a lot of religions, and they're all basically different ways to control people or whatnot, and really the smart people don't actually believe in that stuff. You've heard that maybe. Maybe you're going into college, to university, and some of you are really going to have to figure out what you believe. Because there, more than any other place, there's a huge attack on faith. And you can't just depend on your mom's or your dad's faith. You can't just be comfortable here in this place where most people are okay with you believing in God. They're okay with you saying that you're a Christian. But when you go to a place that's hostile to your faith, sometimes it's hard to figure out what you're supposed to do. Maybe you're feeling that right now. Maybe you're kind of dabbling with some of this stuff. Is this really real? Maybe you've been raised and you've been taught that this is real. Now you're actually starting to ask questions for yourself. Is this worth living for? Maybe you're here today and you've never actually considered yourself a Christian, but you're really just weighing the options here. This message is really for all of us. Especially those of you that claim to be a Christian, but really for all of us, because sooner or later there's going to be doubt arise in our minds whether this is all real. Let me tell you from the get-go, if this isn't real, we're wasting our time here. We really are. I know you've had a lot of fun today, and that's cool, but there's a lot of other things that we could be doing besides coming to church. Especially on a Saturday afternoon. I mean, just imagine that. You're given a half day, a Saturday, to church. And that's cool that you got to play games, and you got to eat some pizza, and now you're here to listen to some weird guy yell at you for a little bit. But if this isn't real, we're wasting our time. I want you to really start to consider what we're going to look at here today. There's three things that John did that I want you to also write down. If you've got a pen and paper, just write down these three things. They'll help you. We're going to talk about a few different verses. We're going to give some practical advice. The first thing that John did was research. Research. Do an investigation. Ask good questions. Research. When John had doubts, he's about to lose his head. First thing he did was ask a question. He said, hey, I've heard about this. Two of you guys, come here. Two guys that love John and follow John, he said, I want you to go ask Jesus if he's really Jesus. Can you just imagine those guys? They've been following John now for quite a while now. A year or two. And John's always been saying, Jesus is coming, Jesus is coming, then Jesus is here. Here's Jesus. Look at Jesus. This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Follow Jesus. Love Jesus. Repent and believe on Jesus. This is Jesus. And all of a sudden, he's asking them to deliver a message saying, hey, are you really that guy I've been telling everyone you are? But he did the research. He asked good questions. It's okay to not always have the answers. Do you know that? I fell in this trap a lot, and I have to admit to you, sometimes it's still my tendency to feel like I've arrived, to feel like I know everything. Especially, I remember years growing up, it was so hard for people to teach me things. My youth pastor, as a teenager, he tried to teach me things, and my attitude was, oh, I already know that. I even went to Bible college, and the first year of Bible college, really the first four months, there was this huge clash where I felt like I could actually teach the teachers. That was my attitude, and that was a very wrong attitude. It's okay to not know everything. You know that? It's okay to admit that you still have doubts, that you're still learning. This guy John, he was a great spiritual leader of the day. Everyone knew John. And yet he had a time where he just wanted to figure out if this was real. Do some research. 1 Corinthians 8 says, If any man think he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet, as he ought to know. In other words, if you think you're all that, you're nothing. If you think that you've arrived, you've got a long ways to go. And be a lifelong student. Learn how to learn. Learn how to ask good questions. Philippians 3 talks about this. Paul, this guy that's a great leader spiritually, he says, not as though I had already attained, means I haven't arrived, neither we're already perfect, but I follow after that if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count myself not to have apprehended. I haven't arrived, he says. But one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth into those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." We need to have that attitude to say, hey listen, I've come a long ways, but I can't just depend on the past I can't depend on the things I already have learned. I can't just depend on the things I already have done. I need to keep being more like Jesus. I need to keep learning more about Jesus. Amen? Proverbs 9 says, He that reproveth a scorner. Proverbs 9, 7-10. He that reproveth a scorner giveth to himself shame. He that rebuketh a wicked man giveth himself a blot. Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee. That's somebody that doesn't want to hear what you've got to say. It says, rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. Give instruction to a wise man, he'll be yet wiser. Teach a just man, and he'll increase in learning. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. This is what it says. There's some people, when you try to teach them, they're just going to hate you for trying to teach them. Don't be like that. Amen? Don't be like that. When you've got people in your life that want to help you, let them help you. Let them help you. Being a wise person is knowing when to ask questions and knowing when to receive that instruction. John, he started doing this research. Obviously, there's some silly questions and arguments that we should avoid. 1 Timothy 1 talks about that. There's people that just ask silly questions just to try to stump the people they're asking questions of or they're trying to argue over things that don't really matter. That's not the kind of question John's asking here. He wanted to dig deep. to know why you should believe. Do you know why you believe what you believe? Let me ask you another question. Are you willing to die for it? Most of us have never been and probably never will be in that position, where somebody's got an ax ready to chop off our head for what we say we believe. Let's be honest, that just doesn't happen here in America. In our generation, we've got so much freedom, and I think sometimes that makes us so casual about whether we believe or what we believe. And here John is about to lose his head, and instead of just denying the faith, and instead of saying, well, I don't understand it, but I'm sure it will all work out in the end, he did some research. He said, are you really Jesus? Are you really the Messiah? I've been telling everyone you are. I need to know. I need to know. You know, those questions are okay for you to ask. I know you all come from different churches, and maybe you never have gone to a church before. You're not part of a church, but there's pastors and youth pastors all in this room and around this community, too. They're okay with you asking those questions. You can come and say, hey, why should I believe that Jesus is the only way to God? Why should I believe the Bible's true? Do some research. I remember trying to ask some of these questions in my own life. And I had already wanted to be in ministry. I knew I was saved. I knew where I was going to spend eternity. And I'd learned a lot about the Bible. I'd read a lot about the Bible. But I remember starting to ask some of these questions. Well, what if? What if? And I started to do some research. You know, there's a lot of amazing things out there. You know, I heard people attack whether this was actually God's Word, so I wanted to know for sure if this was God's Word. So I started to do some research. You know, it's impossible that this is just a human invention. There's a lot of people that try to criticize, especially if you go off to college. There's going to be professors attacking the Bible. It's just a tool to control people. It's just something that people made up. And if you start to look at it, that's impossible for it to have just been made up. You start to look at all the evidence of when it was written, and then in light of that, all the historical evidence, all the stuff it talks about, the Bible talks about, actually happened. And there's times where, you know, the archaeologists and historians and the scientists, they say, well, you know, actually the Bible's wrong here because this civilization didn't exist. And then years and years and years and decades and even centuries later, sure enough, they found out that it existed. All the archaeological evidence, all the historical evidence, all the literary evidence, all the scientific evidence. When the scientists in general believe that the world was flat, the Bible talks about around earth. The Bible talks about the sphere of the earth. It's interesting, the Bible is not a scientific textbook, but when it talks about science, it's right. The Bible is not a historical textbook, but when it talks about history, it's right. And all the other evidences, you know, the thing that really got me the most was the prophetic evidence. And so, centuries before things happened, It was said that it's going to happen this way. Sometimes down to the name of the person that was going to be king, centuries later. It talked about Alexander the Great in the book of Daniel. You start to read some of the prophecies there, and it talks about this guy from Greece who's going to do this, and he's going to be like this, and he's going to go in these places, and then he's going to reign, and he'll be like this, and then he'll die really young, and somebody else will come in. And all that happened. All that happened. It talks about the uprising in Rome and stuff before all that happened, centuries before that happened. Of course, when you talk about Jesus, how Jesus fulfilled everything down to the letter, every little aspect of who he was and what he did. Let me tell you, if you start to do some honest research, it'll change your life. It really will. You say, well, Christianity is based on faith. And it is. It really is. But our faith doesn't have to be blind. Amen? Jesus has given us so many reasons to believe. So the first thing is what? Research. Number two leads us into it. Reason. Number two what? Reason. Use the logic that God has given you. This is a very interesting thing. When John the Baptist's disciples came to Jesus and said, hey, John's asking this question. Are you really the one he's been telling everyone you are? This is interesting here. I want you to go with me again. John 7. Look real quick. Sometimes we miss things by reading it quickly. It says, verse 20. When the men had come unto him, they said, John the Baptist had sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come or look we for another? And in that same hour, when did he do it? In that same hour. That time doesn't necessarily talk about 60 minutes, but in that moment, in that time, He cured many of their infirmities and plagues and of evil spirits and of many that were blind. He gave sight. Then Jesus answered and said unto them, Go your way and tell John what things, what does He say? Ye have seen and heard. How the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are clean, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and to the poor the Gospels preach." Here's what he said. He didn't actually answer John's question. Aren't thou He? Can you imagine the frustration of these guys? A lot of people really. Jesus taught in a very unique way. So they come to Jesus and they say, hey, John wants to know if you're really the one that's supposed to save us. Aren't thou He? And here's what Jesus did. Watch this. He heals a blind person. He gives hearing to a deaf person. He raises up a dead person. He heals the leper. He does all these miracles. Then he goes back and he says, all right, now go tell John all this that you've seen. And they're probably like, well, you didn't actually answer the question. Are you really the one that we're supposed to be hoping in and trusting? And he says, I want you to use the reasoning, use the logic that I've put in your brain to make a decision based on reality what you're going to put your faith in. And here's what a lot of times we want. We want somebody to say, believe this. and you'll be okay. Here's what God says. Here's all the evidence. Now you choose what you're going to believe. Here's all the evidence. And from the very beginning until the very end, God wants us to choose. God wants us to choose. And a lot of times we don't know everything. I'll be honest, we never know everything about everything. But based on all the evidence, we must reason. We must choose. It's a conscious choice. I love the first part of several books of the Bible. I'm going to read the very first few verses of the book of Luke. It says this. Luke 1, 1-4, "...for as much as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, even as they have delivered them unto us, which were from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word." I mean, somebody's told us about all these things that Jesus has done. We believe those. Verse 3, it says, It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, I love his humility here, to write unto thee, in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed. So there's this rich guy, his name was Theophilus. Theophilus was a man of authority, and that title that he used there and later on in the book of Acts 2, it's only used for people in a certain position of authority. But this guy, Theophilus, had heard about the gospel, he had believed the gospel, but it would seem that he paid this historian, this medical doctor, Luke, to do an investigation to make sure everything is true. And so Luke took several years and he went to all these places. I think what I read was he went to between 60 and 70 different cities and little villages. And he interviewed hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people saying, hey, listen, tell me about when Jesus healed you from your blindness. Were you really blind or were you just faking it? Actually, let me go ask your friends from when you were growing up if you were really blind or if you were faking it. How was that? Explain that circumstance, that situation with you. And obviously they're talking to a guy that was trained as a medical doctor, as the other scriptures talk about Luke. This was a guy that was pretty educated and pretty serious, and he went to go interview all these people, and then he writes this big gospel of Luke, as much as he could, put everything in order, and had all the evidence, weighed everything, there out on the table, and he says, hey, I want you to have a reason, to be more certain of what you've been instructed, to have a reason to believe what you've believed. It's an awesome thing. You study the book of Luke, and there's so much evidence there. And the book of Acts was really volume two because it's written to the same person and it's written by the same person. And it says, all right, the book of Luke, the gospel of Luke was about Jesus' life. Now the book of Acts is about the apostles and the early church and how all that went down. And so he says, I want you to know that all that we've believed and all that we've been instructed in, there's a reason for that. John says something really similar, 1 John 1, 1-4, that which was from the beginning, which we have heard and we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled, the word of life, talking about Jesus, for the life was manifested and we have seen it and bear witness and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested unto us, that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye may also have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full." He says, hey, we've been there, we've seen it, we've heard it, and we want you to know all this stuff. We're not just making it up. Peter said about the same thing, 2 Peter 1, 16, For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice unto Him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard. We were with Him in the holy mountain. We have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto you do well, that you take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts." This is what Peter says. We've seen it. We've heard it. We've been with Him. And really, this is even greater than all of our experiences combined. And you have a reason to believe what you believe. It doesn't have to be a blind faith. Without faith, it's impossible to come to God. But he's given us a reason for our faith. And I want you to know that. Now, when somebody comes and attacks Christianity or attacks the Bible, if you do a little research, honest research, you'll find out that it takes more faith not to believe the Bible than it does to believe it. If you do a little research, when they come out saying, you know, the idea of creation, no scientist actually believes that. Real science, we believe that we all came from a one-celled creature, that before that there was this massive catastrophic event, Big bang and explosion through all that through the chaos came life and little by little through billions of years from a single single cell organism We've all come here all life exists because of that and all scientists believe that this is scientific fact It's not actually fact because there's no proof There's never been any proof It's an idea, it's a theory, but it was made up by some dude that didn't want to believe that God had anything to do with this. When we start to look at everything, we start to say, well, I don't want to believe in God, so I'm going to look at everything without trying to admit that there's a God. The Bible says in Romans 1 that we become fools in our own reasoning. But if we're honest, everything is clearly seen. This is an amazing thing. This will change your life, young person. I want you to know this. I need you to know this. God wants you to know this, that our faith is a reasonable faith. Amen? Are you with me tonight or are you sleeping? I don't want you sleeping now. We're almost done. There's a lot more I could talk about there. We ought to have a reason for what we believe. When somebody comes and asks you, that's what first Peter 315 says, but says, but sanctify the Lord God in your heart. Let me set him apart. Have a special place. And it says, be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. They ask you what a reason. How can we present a reason if there's no reasonable faith? This is what he says, there is a reason. You ought to have a reason. Are you a Christian tonight? Do you know why you're a Christian? If somebody were to come in here and to threaten your faith, or to tell you to renounce Christ, how easily would you back down? This is hard. Romans 12, 1 and 2, many of you have heard this before. It says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. All the things about not conforming to this world, being transformed by the ruining of our mind, all of that, by doing God's perfect, good, acceptable, perfect will, all of this is reasonable. Research, reason, and number three, resolve. This is just a simple message. John the Baptist asked this question of Jesus. He sent word. He said, hey, are you really the guy? I've been telling everyone you are. I've got my doubts. I'm kind of wondering right now. Because it's not actually going down the way I thought it was going to. I thought you were going to come in and clear out all the Roman government and start to rule and reign right now. But instead of that, you're just being really compassionate. And when Jesus, he did all the more miracles in that hour and he sent word with the disciples saying, go tell them what you've seen and heard right now in this time. And he starts to describe to him what they've seen. Jesus is actually fulfilling a ton of Old Testament prophecies right there. See what John didn't realize, he didn't have all the answers. He thought Jesus was coming once, both to be the Savior and to be the King. Both to be the Lamb of God. of God and to be the lion to rule and reign. What he didn't see and what most of the Old Testament prophets didn't see is that Jesus is coming first to make a way of salvation and he's coming later. He will come again one day to rule and reign. But in the meantime, he's a very compassionate God. He's long-suffering. He doesn't want anybody to perish in this world. That's what the Bible tells us. He wants all to come to repentance. So here's what John did. He said, I don't really understand everything, all of God's timetable, but I've done research, I've reasoned, and now I'm going to resolve. Decide to live and even to die for the truth. And this is the big decision I want you to make here today. Maybe you go out of here and you say, well, I'm just still not sure. Do some research. There's a lot of cool books I could recommend to you of people that were atheists and started to do honest research and they became believers because they had to be honest with the facts. There's other people that don't want to take into account that there is a God and so their research is always going to be tainted. It's always going to be tainted. But if somebody comes at it with an honest heart and an honest eyes, honest mind to weigh all the evidence, they're always going to know that there is a God, and that this actually is a supernatural book, and that all that God said that he did and will do is credible. And that leads us to a big decision. Now what? What are you going to do with all that? Jesus is real. If his word is true, it changes everything. It changes everything. Let me be honest with you, young person, this has changed my life. Like I said at the beginning, I don't feel like I'm anybody special. I'm not. I'm just kind of an ordinary guy. If you would have known me 15 years ago when I was sitting where you're sitting, 20 years ago sitting where some other yous are sitting. I've been in Ohio, forgive me, I'm sorry. If you would have known me 15, 20 years ago, You say, that guy wants to be a preacher? No way. I didn't know how to talk to people. I didn't know how to explain an idea. I was always nervous and just kind of backwards with everyone. I'd get my words all twisted. I still do that sometimes. I was very self-aware. I mean, just a lot of insecurities. Maybe that's where a lot of y'all are. I wanted to do something with my life. I didn't want to just waste my life. But you know, when I started to look at all the evidence, this is my decision, Lord, whatever you want with my life, if you can use me in any way, here I am, because I don't see any other way to live this life than to live it for you. After doing research, after reasoning over the evidence, John the Baptist resolved to gladly give his head for the message he preached. It wasn't long after this that They chopped it off. This is a whole other message in itself. But he didn't back down. He didn't back down. Millions of martyrs, people that were killed for their faith, they gave their lives for their faith. Millions of martyrs have the same testimony. This is real. And we're not only willing to live for it, we're willing to die for it. When you take an honest look at who God is and who we are and what He's done for us in spite of that gap between how awesome He is and how little we are, it compels us to live radically different from the world. And what is the world's goal? Living in South America, You know, the American dream has caught on down there. Everyone talks about how great it must be to be in America. Why? Because we can be anything we want to be, right? We've heard that. We can make lots of money. You can get a good education. You can have a great job. If you have a little bit of work ethic or a little, if you, aspire to anything, you can really do almost anything in this country. You can get a job that pays six figures a year, or seven figures a year, if you really apply yourself. And if you want, there's so many opportunities. But you know, people think that having a large income is, you know, the big goal. I've talked to those people that have large incomes, and you know, they're not happy with what they have. They asked Warren Buffett one time, one of the richest men in the world, how much is enough? And he said, just another dollar. Just one more dollar. It's not enough. It's never going to be enough. It doesn't satisfy. Many of you are thinking, well, once I get married and have a family, then I'll be happy. A marriage isn't going to make you happy. It's a happy thing to be married, but a wife or a husband is not going to fulfill all of your needs of happiness. You should think, well, if I have kids, I'll be... No! Kids are awesome and they're a blessing from God, but they're not going to fulfill your happiness. They're not going to give you that purpose you're longing for. Say, well, if I could live in this type of house, or if I could drive this type of car, if I could be respected amongst my peers, if I could win the championship in the sports, if I could maybe go on American Idol and sing for the world so everyone could give me a pat on the back and I could earn millions of dollars, if I could be a star athlete, or if I could be a CEO of a company, then I would be happy. I would be fulfilled. Those people are not happy and they're not fulfilled. It all comes down to what are you going to do with Jesus? Because true fulfillment, true purpose only comes through knowing Him and living for Him. Resolve. Galatians 2.20, Paul says, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. He says, every day I realize how awesome it is to know God. 2 Corinthians 5.14, for the love of Christ constraineth us. 15, and he died for all that They which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again. It constrains us, it compels us, it almost leads us captive, motivating us to live for something bigger. Philippians 1.20, according to my earnest expectation, my hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." John 6, 66, some people were casually following Jesus, but He said something that was hard for them to swallow. It says, from that time, many of His disciples, the people that claimed to follow Him, went back and walked no more with Him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, will you also go away? Then Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. You can be sure of that today. Maybe you're here today and you don't know where you're going to spend eternity. You've never actually dealt with that. Kind of that thing back in the corner of your mind, you fear going into that step of eternity, but you don't really know how it's all going to work out. The Bible says you can have assurance, you can know for sure that you're saved. It doesn't depend on how good you are. In fact, if you think you're pretty good, you're definitely not going there. That's what the Bible says. Jesus didn't come to save well people. He came to help the sick. Amen? We all got to realize we're messed up. We've got bad thoughts and bad deeds and bad words and all the things in our life. We need a Savior. We need somebody to help us. And when you realize that, He can help you. He can help you. Maybe you're here today and you've never been saved. Just in a couple minutes here, I'm going to give you an opportunity to come forward and talk with somebody about that. Today, you can be sure that you're saved. Maybe you're here and you're still weighing all the evidence, you're trying to figure it all out. There's a reason for why we believe what we believe. Maybe you're here and you are saved. Maybe you've been saved since you were five years old. You've been in church all your life. But you're just kind of lukewarm. So far, there's not really been any pressure to know why you believe or why you're a Christian. You just are. Because it's really the most convenient thing. Your family's Christian, so obviously you're a Christian. This community is Christian, so you're a Christian. When that pressure is applied, do you know how you're going to answer? Do you have a reason for your faith? If you're here and you aspire to greatness as the world defines it, I would challenge you. Take a good look at what Christ has done for you, who he is. Make that decision. Lord, I'm willing to live for you. I'm willing to die for you because you've changed my life. You've bought me with a price, and I'm no longer mine. I'm yours, God, and here am I. Send me, if it means you'll send me to the mission field, if it means you'll send me across the street to witness to my friends, if it means, Lord, that you want me to be a faithful minister here in this church, to serve here in this church, to find somewhere to plug in, to use my talents and abilities and my time for you. Lord, that's what I'm willing to do, but if it means to take me off somewhere far away from family and from what I'm familiar with, to tell people that don't know about you, Lord, I'm willing to do that too. I haven't even really talked about the need around the world. I wish that God would call all of y'all to be missionaries. We just need we need a lot of people around the world telling the gospel, but it doesn't start with the need. It starts with realizing who God is. And then we're compelled to go. Amen. Consider him today when you doubt. research, reason, resolve. God, I thank you for this little story that you've put into this text here, our scripture, of a man that we often exalt to being very different, His boldness, sometimes we attribute that to just his, he was a super person, a super believer. Well, we see here his humanity that he also had times of doubt, and I pray that you'd help us to follow his example, to know why we believe, and then to do something about it, to resolve to live and to die for you, God. You're worth it, and you're a worthy God, and I pray that today, as people are considering all the evidence that today you would allow them to see their need of you, and that they would soften their heart towards you, and you would save people today through repentance and faith. I pray that believers would sell out completely to you, and just no reservations to give it all to you. Lord, I pray that you would bless this time, and in your name we pray these things. I ask that you stand today with your heads bowed and your eyes closed,