In spite of his this incredible faith, John the Baptist went through an experience in his life of great doubt where his dreams were shattered. I want to make sure Im talking to the right crowd today. I want to take a little survey here. How many of you have ever had a dream shattered? Youve been disappointed, had unmet expectations? Okay, it looks like we have the right crowd the right group. It could be something trivial. It could be something like we go to our favorite restaurant to get our favorite sandwich, and its been taken off the menu. Thats a devastating thing. Our favorite team doesnt win the game; our favorite team doesnt win the World Series for the 101st year in a row. It could be something more serious. It could be that husband and wife that walked down the aisle with all these great expectations, and it didnt work out. How many times have I seen parents who are so excited about the pregnancy, and the pregnancy ends in a miscarriage and the child is gone? The nursery stays empty. You see a lot of heartbreak in ministry. Its true that every single person here has gone through struggle and heartache of one kind or another, so thats why we spent time on this series because its where we live. Its our reality. I want to focus in on John the Baptist because hes not a man that you normally associate with shattered dreams, is he? Yet he was one who lived a life of unmet expectations. I want you to turn in your Bibles please to the Book of Matthew 3 (page 957 of pew Bibles). Were going to read his story. John is a Prophet. Prophets dont care a lot about what other people think, what other people say or who they offend. All a Prophet cares about is speaking the Truth. A Prophet does so boldly, and a Prophet does so without apologies because Truth is the most important thing in the life of a Prophet. There are still Prophets walking around today. I read about one such man, a prophet who liked to speak the Truth above all things. He was hired by the Health Department in Pensacola, Florida. His job was to look after the peoples health. Did you read about him this week? When he took over, he started putting signs up that said things like, Sweet tea equals liquid sugar. French fries equal thunder thighs. Then he started to attack businesses like KFC and Dunkin Donuts and name them by name. America dies by Dunkin it said on the clinic. He ruffled the wrong feathers, and they had this guy run out of town, run out of his job. They said, We dont want to listen to you preach to us. We dont want to hear what you have to say, so he was fired. He was released from his duties. He just got a little bit too personal and stepped on too many toes. He said, I dont care if people dont like it. I was hired to protect the health of the citizens and to speak the truth. It doesnt matter who listens to me or if I lose my job. Thats a Prophets mentality. Many times in the Bible, Prophets would end up beaten, imprisoned or even killed for speaking the Truth. John the Baptist-as bold as he was-you know there is going to come a time when hes going to ruffle the wrong feathers, and hes going to get himself into trouble with his mouth. Thats whats going to happen. When it starts off, his ministry is well-received, and things are going great. Lets look at Verse 1 together. In this passage, youre going to see Johns dream. Youre going to see his expectation. Youre going to understand how John interprets his role in the ministry and his expectation of what Messiah will do when He comes. In those days, John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near. Repent is in the continuous tense, meaning he would say these repeatedly. It was something he beat like a drum: repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is near. Matthew writes, This is he who was spoken of through the Prophet Isaiah. A voice of one calling in the desert, Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him. So Isaiah identifies this voice as the one who will herald Messiah. John sees himself as the fulfillment of that prophesy. Johns clothes were made of camels hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. He sounds a little bit eccentric, doesnt he? Thats because he was. He wanted nothing to do with establishment. His clothes were a statement. His diet was a statement. He was saying, I dont need your fancy clothes. I dont need your fancy houses. I dont need your city life. I can be happy here in the desert wearing these clothes, eating this food, this high-protein diet; and Im going to get along just fine. I dont need the trappings of society. Verse 5, People went out to him from Jerusalem, all of Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. His ministry is effective. People are coming; theyre repenting; theyre turning to God. When he saw the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them… Wanting to be loved and popular, You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Its a rhetorical question, but the answer is, You did, John. You warned us. Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. In other words, this is not a game. And do not think you can say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father. I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. Dont count on your ancestry. Dont count on your heritage. Friends, if youve grown up in Janesville, and maybe your church has been a part of the church for generations, dont count on that. Dont count on your upbringing. Dont count on your fathers faith, your mothers faith. What is your faith? What is the status of your walk with Christ? This is a personal matter. He was saying, Dont just trust in how you were raised or how you were born. Johns question to them was, Where do you stand before our Holy God? The ax is already at the root of the trees… God means business. …and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. What did the trees represent? These are people, right? He said, If your life is not conforming to the will of God, youre in hot water. Youre in big trouble. I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come One who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Fire represents judgment and purification. Hes not messing around. Hes going to do this. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor, gathering His wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire. You take that winnowing fork and you lift the wheat into the air. The wheat falls on the threshing floor, and the chaff blows away. You sweep the chaff up, and you burn it. God means business. When Messiah comes, if your life is not right, you could be consumed. Hes painting a picture of a Messiah who is not going to mess around. Hes coming real soon, and Hes coming right here; so you better get your life together. John is one of the original Hellfire and Brimstone teachers, isnt he? So its very clear what Johns message is of what the Messiah will look like. Hes a Messiah that will cause fear-a holy fear-to rise up in your heart. Youd be best to repent right now and turn right now before its too late. Thats his message. He sees his ministry as an important part as he prepares peoples hearts for what is to come. Now we said that Johns mouth will get him in trouble; it does. There is a ruler in the area named Herod. Now its not Herod the Great. Its Herod the great son, Herod Antipas. Hes a tetrarch, so he rules one quarter of the region, but he is the top dog in that region. He had taken his brother Philips wife to be his wife, Herodias. When John the Baptist catches wind of this, he points it out and says, Youre living in sin. What youre doing is wrong. You should not have your brothers wife. Herodias is fit to be tied. She says to Herod, That man has embarrassed me. That man has embarrassed you. Who does he think he is, a desert dweller, telling us how to live, telling us what to do? Sometimes if a Prophet speaks truth into your life, you are offended by what the Prophet says. You need to get rid of him. Shut him up. Make him quiet. So Herod orders John the Baptist to be arrested and thrown into prison. Can you imagine what that does to him? This guy is a free spirit. This guy is out in the wilderness, and hes out in the open air in the desert, sun, the wind and the water. Here is a free spirit proclaiming the will of God and proclaiming the coming of King, and now hes in prison. Now hes in darkness; now he is in isolation; now he is pacing the floor. How could God let this happen to him? How could God allow this to happen to him? Whats more-not only is he in prison, but he is in prison for what? For speaking truth. Have you ever tried to do the right thing and got in trouble for it? Has anybody done that? You spoke truth, and you got in trouble. Many times, Prophets would speak the Truth-theyd speak Gods Word-and they would get in trouble. Thats what happens here. John the Baptists only crime is standing up for righteousness. Now hes in jail and his ministry has come to a grounding halt. Now were going to look at some lessons from prison from John. What are the things we can learn from Johns imprisonment? While hes in prison, hes getting reports back from his Disciples. His Disciples are coming and telling him all the things that Jesus is saying and doing. Remember John baptized Jesus shortly after the passage we read, and Jesus began His ministry in earnest. While Hes beginning His ministry, all these wonderful things John had been waiting to see-all these wonderful things he had been waiting to hear-where is he? Hes locked up. He doesnt get to hear it. He doesnt get to see anything firsthand. Its all second-hand. Its all coming to him through the mouths of other people. So thats lesson #1: a lesson in humility. John learned it wasnt about him. John learned that the work of God was going to go on with or without him. Thats an important thing for us to learn: God can use us, but Gods ministry goes on with or without us. If God calls you to a purpose-God calls you to a ministry-if you say no, then the one who misses out is you because Gods work is going to go forward. God will raise someone else up to do it. God doesnt go, Oh, boy. I wanted to accomplish My purpose. Now I cant because they said no! No, youll go on, but Gods purpose will go on too. So John learns that hes not the show. John had been so intrical to what God was doing in the region, and now he is in prison; yet the work of God is going stronger than ever, so John learns a lesson in humility. He learns its not about him. As people, we learn that its not about us. The infant cries. Hes hungry and wants to be fed. Shes thirsty; she wants a drink. If theyre messy, they want to be changed. If theyre restless, they want out of the playpen. Everything revolves around them, and you have to learn as a human being that the world does not revolve around you. You have to learn patience. You have to learn to share and all of these other things that arent too much fun to learn. Sometimes as Christians, its the same thing. When we become Christians, we think everything revolves around us, right? Oh, God loves me. He wants to forgive my sins. He has a plan for my life. He has a ministry, a spiritual gift, a calling and me, me, me. You come to find out its all about Him. You are redeemed for His glory. Youre called to His purpose. Its about Him. So John had to learn that lesson the hard way. The second lesson he learns is that often times what we desire and what God desires are two different things. John wants to be let out of prison, and youd think if your cousins the Messiah, you have a pretty good shot. If there were ever a get-out-of-jail free pass, that had to be it, right? My cousin Jesus-He is going to get me out of jail. He is the Messiah. All He has to do is say, Im the Messiah. Im here, and Im standing up for righteousness, and Herod doesnt have a chance. Herodias doesnt stand a chance. Ill walk out of here a free man, but that get-out-of-jail free pass never comes. He stays in jail. Days turn to weeks; weeks turn to months, and John doesnt understand. Some of you have been in that jail place. You know that place of darkness, isolation and loneliness? Youre wondering why in the world God doesnt get me out of there. If I would take a little small poll-which I wont do at this time-some of you would raise your hands and say, Im in there right now, and you want to get out. You want to get out in the most desperate way, but there is something that God wants to teach you. Thats what you have to find out; that's what you have to listen for; thats what you have to be watching for. There is holiness that He wants to produce in you. That process sometimes involves pain. The things we want that God doesnt want-we want all the problems and all the pain to just go away, and God wants to form character and holiness in our lives. I just want to know my future. I want to know exactly whats going on. I want all the questions answered, and God wants you to learn to live by something called faith. I want to make this world my home. I want to just snuggle up and cozy down and live as though I will live here for eternity! God wants you to desire Heaven. God wants you to desire the things above. Sometimes our desires and His desires are not the same. The Apostle Paul has a thorn in the flesh, and he prays to God and says, Lord, take this thorn from me! God doesnt, so Paul asks a second time, and he asks a third time. Jesus responds back and says, My grace is sufficient for My strength is perfected in weakness. We want the problems to go away, and He wants us to learn that His grace is sufficient. John doesnt understand why hes not being released from prison. John doesnt understand why Jesus is not acting the way the Messiah is supposed to act. You read the description, right? You read how he expected Jesus to act-you know, separating the wheat from the chaff and burning the chaff; the ax is at the root; Hes going to come with fire. You read what Johns expecting. Jesus comes on the scene and instead of leading His revolution against Rome, Hes talking about sparrows and lilies. Instead of overthrowing the enemy, Hes saying, If your enemy strikes you on the cheek, turn to him the other also. Instead of smiting the foes of God, Hes saying, Love your enemies. Bless those who persecute you. John catches wind of it, and hes like, What is this? What is this? When does the good stuff start? When does the fire start to fall? When are you going to set them straight? All the healing and all of that is nice, but come on! Do what Youre supposed to do! Look what it says in Chapter 11:2 (page 965 of pew Bibles), When John heard in prison what Christ was doing… What Christ was doing… It was what Christ was doing that was throwing him for a loop-the things He was saying, the way He was acting. It was not at all what John expected Him to say and do. …He sent His disciples to ask Him… And, boy, I want you to see how deep this question is. Are You the One who was to come, or should we expect someone else? Wow! Heres a guy who saw the Heavens open; saw the Spirit descent as a dove and rest upon Jesus; heard the voice of God the Father speak and say from Heaven, This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased. In spite of all of that in this prison, he doubts God. He doubts Jesus. He doubts his own perceptions. Friends, if doubts could arise in the heart of John the Baptist in the midst of his prison time, dont be surprised when you have to grapple with doubts and fears in your prison experiences. Its going to happen. This guy should know beyond any shadow of a doubt that Jesus is the Messiah. Yet in this prison receiving only second-hand news, his dreams are shattered. He says, Did I miss something? Sometimes our problem is we just dont see the whole picture, or we only see what we want to see. Heres the thing: John is in prison, and hes waiting for wrath to come. Gods wrath is going to come. But instead of being delivered by Jesus to the people, the wrath of God comes on Jesus for the sins of the people. John did not see that one coming. John did not expect that. That was not in the cards. He didnt see the tender side of God. He didnt see the mercy side of God; yet it was in Gods Word all along. It was there the whole time, and John missed it. That passage that John had read so many times in Isaiah 40 and came to the realization that that was talking about him-lets turn there: Isaiah 40:10 (page 714). This is the passage that talks about the voice crying in the desert. This is John the Baptist. John would echo… It says, See the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and John would say, Yeah! …and his arm rules for Him. Yeah! See, His reward is with Him, and His recompense accompanies Him. Yes! He is going to bring recompense! He gets excited about that verse, but he must have stopped right there. The next verse was missing in his scroll or somehow he missed it. Look at Verse 11, He tends His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young. The tenderness of Jesus, the love and compassion of the Savior-John didnt see it. Its been in the Bible the whole time. Sometimes you and I miss it. We dont see the whole picture. We dont see the other side of the coin. John is expecting judgment and wrath to come; and when it comes, it comes in the form of a sacrifice as God Himself bares the wrath. Its interesting that when Jesus answers Johns question, He does not answer it directly. By the way, when you are going through those prison experiences, its important to express your doubts, your fears and your confusions to Jesus. Dont just keep them inside. Express them to the Lord. Thats what John does. Ask the questions; seek the answers. John does that. Are You the One, or should we expect someone else? Its a cut-and-dry answer. Its a yes or no answer with some explanations, but Jesus does not directly say yes or no. He answers this way: He says, Go back and report to John what you hear and see. Tell him the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of Me. [Its like Jesus saying], So, John, you dont understand. Im not acting like you expect Me to act. Im not delivering you from prison. Im not delivering the Jewish people from Roman rule, but I am doing the work of My Father. I am doing what I was sent to do. John, you dont understand. I want you to trust Me. Trust that I know what Im doing. Trust that Im doing exactly what the Father has sent Me to do. God says that same thing to us today. God says, In your prison experiences, I want you to understand there are things in this experience you need to learn. There is character that needs to be formed. There is faith that needs to grow. There is humility that needs to be forged. There is a big picture that needs to be seen, and there is a faith that must be discovered. Understand that God does His best work in those prison experiences of your lives because there is no other time when you are more ready to listen and more willing to see than right there. When you have the world by the tail, and everything is wonderful and good, sometimes its hard to get your attention. This free spirit is now in prison. Instead of the sunshine, he has a prison wall over his head. Instead of the wind in his face, there is a musty prison smell-a stench; and God speaks to him. We dont know what Johns response is, but his silence tells us that he understood. It wasnt Johns plan for John, but it was Gods plan for John. I want you to pray a prayer with me right now. I want you to open up your Bibles to the Book of Psalm 86 (page 585). Were going to do two things at once. In response to the message weve heard this morning, were going to read. While we read, were going to pray. This is a prayer that you might want to put to memory. This is a prayer that you might want to mediate on in your prison experience, a prayer that you might want to confess-not only this morning but tomorrow and the next day as well. Its a prayer of David. Were going to read this prayer out loud together. As we say this prayer, were going to say this prayer from our hearts to God. Lets read together aloud Verses 1-7, Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am devoted to You. You are my God; save Your servant who trusts in You. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to You all day long. Bring joy to Your servant, for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to You. Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble I will call to You, for You will answer me. Confession prayer starts off with, For I am poor and needy. When you come to the Lord, and you say, Im poor in spirit. Im in need of Your council and strength, friends, in that moment, you instantly become spiritually richer. If you say, I dont need help. I dont need guidance. I understand it all. I know whats going on, you have no idea how blind and poor you are, spiritually-speaking. When our hearts are broken, and we are receptive and ready, then God is ready to do tremendous work in our lives. I want to pray especially this morning for those of us who are going through those difficult prison experiences right now. Id like it if every head could bow and every eye could close for a moment. In this private time, I just want to ask a question. If you are in that time right now, and you say, Im in that John the Baptist experience where things are happening in my life I dont understand; I feel like a victim… Maybe youre suffering for things youve done, or maybe youre suffering for what others have done; and youre in that place where you need to hear the Will of God; you need to experience the presence of God, and you need prayer this morning, can I see your hand? Just put it up. Thank you for your honesty today. I want to pray for you. Father, all over this sanctuary there were hands that went up. Those hands represent a pain-emotional and sometimes physical anguish. When they have found themselves in a circumstance beyond their control or sometimes it was through their control but they dont want to be there, Lord, they have said, Rescue me. And theyre still there. Sometimes like John the Baptist, days turn into weeks, and weeks turn into months, these have been desperate times. Lord, I want to take a moment, and I want to pray for my brothers and sisters whose hands are upheld. You know those stories. You know that pain. Father, just like John didnt understand that the wrath of God would come, but it would not come as he saw it, Jesus was not there to judge or to destroy, but to shepherd and to forgive. Lord, help us to trust in those times of darkness when we dont see the bigger picture; when we dont see the other side of the coin; we dont see the purposes. Lord, I pray that each one would be in tune to what Your voice is saying, how Youre leading them, what You want them to learn, how they need to grow-that they listen even now. God, I pray that You will reveal Yourself to them, that You will reveal Your purposes in them, and You will produce the fruit in them that You desire. Father, I pray for Your grace-that they would see that Your grace is sufficient for them. I pray that Lord, they would emerge from that experience with joy, hope and a renewed faith in You. Lord, these who have hurt and suffered, I pray that they might be able to come alongside those in the future who will hurt and suffer and minister and comfort them with the comfort that they received. Sustain them, we pray, in Jesus name, Amen.