Jesus Says… | Sunday, November 16, 2025

Amen. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Bianca. Good morning, everybody. It is so good to see all of you here. You guys braved the Southern California hurricane, and I appreciate you coming.

It is kind of funny to me. A lot of times when we have weather here in San Diego, especially on a Sunday, many people wake up, look outside, and see it drizzling. They say, "Honey, it's torrential. We can't leave the house." But you guys are here, so you made it!

Before we get into the Scriptures this morning, I want to note a couple of things. First, the song they sang this morning reminded me of a passage from Paul. I had never heard that song before, but it brought to mind Philippians chapter 1, where Paul says, "Being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus."

Sometimes, it’s easy for us to see ourselves, to recognize where we are in our lives, and to focus on our shortcomings and failures, which can lead to discouragement. But what a good reminder that ultimately the Lord will complete the work He started in us. He will finish that work. That is good news!

Also, in your bulletin, you probably saw one of these little cards. We have a whole bunch of these for some upcoming events at the church in the next several weeks. On December 5th, we are having our Nativity Night. You may want to take some of these cards; they will be available at the connection point after the service. Grab some and hand them out. I think it would be a great opportunity to invite people as we prepare for the holiday season.

With that, would you take out your Bible and stand with me? If you don’t have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and an usher will bring you one. We will also put the passage up on the screen. We are in Luke chapter 7 this morning. You might have noticed that as we make our way through the Gospel of Luke, these chapters are rather long, so it sometimes takes a little while to get through them.

Today, we will pick up our reading at Luke 7:24. It says, "And when the messengers of John had departed, Jesus began to speak to the multitudes concerning John. He said to them, 'What did you go out into the wilderness to see when John was out there preaching in the wilderness of Judea? Did you go out to see a reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who are gorgeously apparelled live in luxury and in king's courts. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, more than a...'"

Prophet. This is he of whom it was written, "Behold, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare the way before you." For I say to you, among those born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist, but he who is least in the kingdom of God will be greater than he.

When all the people heard Jesus, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John. However, the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him. The Lord said, "To what then shall I liken the men of this generation? And what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying, 'We played the flute for you and you did not dance. We mourned to you and you did not weep.' For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say he has a demon. The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' But wisdom is justified by all her children.

God, I pray as we consider this text together today that you would continue that work that Paul spoke of in Philippians, that we can be confident of this very thing: that you who began the good work in us will be faithful to complete it. You're continuing that work in us today through the working of your word by the power of your Spirit. I pray that, Lord, we would be willing to allow you to continue that work, whatever needs to be done. God, make us more like you. Transform us from glory to greater glory. Transform us by the renewing of our minds that we would be able to display your good and perfect will in our lives.

Lord, thank you for your grace. Thank you for the kindness that you've given to us, the love that you've poured out upon us. I pray that, Lord, by your grace, kindness, and love, you would make us the kind of people that show grace, kindness, and love to others. For we ask this in Jesus' name. And all those in agreement said, "Amen."

You can be seated. As we consider this text here in Luke 7 this morning, I'd like you to think about a couple of things. First, what would Jesus say to you? As opposed to the second, what might...

What would Jesus say to you versus what might Jesus say about you? That may be a strange thing for you to think about. Some of you might worry about what Jesus might say about you. You might worry about this because, aside from Jesus, you know more about yourself than any other person does.

Now, if Jesus is who we believe Him to be, then He knows everything about us, which is frightening enough. But you know quite a bit about yourself. So, if Jesus knows everything about you, what might He say about you that could be potentially concerning? He could say some pretty gnarly things about you. He could show all the worst possible things about you, and that would certainly cause you a little bit of hesitation and fear.

You might worry about what Jesus knows about you and what He might say about you because you know yourself and you know other people. Unfortunately, if you're honest this morning, there may have been times in your life when you knew some things about someone who had divulged some inner thoughts to you. Maybe, at not the best time, you used those things in a way that was hurtful to them or perhaps it brought you gain through slander or gossip in the past. You know how you've been with things that you knew about someone, and that causes you to think, "Well, Jesus knows everything about me. He could say something about me that might be quite hurtful."

In bringing that up, you might think, "Well, Miles, you're kind of bumping right up against the border of meddling." Maybe rather than someone else knowing something about you—something that you disclosed to them in confidence—they used it in a way that was hurtful or spiteful.

When Jesus says in the last chapter of Luke, specifically in Luke chapter 6, to bless those who curse you and pray for those who spitefully use you, that's a complicated command. There have been people who knew some things about you that not everybody knew, and they said some things about you to other people that were rather hurtful. So, when you think about what Jesus might say about you, it brings up those fears. But then you're also a little bit worried about what Jesus might say to you because, again, He knows everything about you. He knows the things you did at your worst.

Points in your life can leave you feeling somewhat ashamed. Jesus not only knows all those things—the details about the worst things you ever did—but he also knows all the details about the worst things you ever said. There are moments when you were spiteful, hurtful, angry, or unkind, and you think, "Gosh, I wish I wouldn't have said that," but you did. He knows that.

Even worse than what he knows about what you did or said are the worst details about the things you've thought—those terrible, maybe even malicious thoughts. You might be worried about what Jesus might say to you because of all those things he knows. Additionally, you may have a tendency to think some pretty hurtful things about yourself and say some pretty hurtful things to yourself. Some people really beat themselves up with their internal monologue.

You might also be concerned about what Jesus might say to you because someone in your life said some terribly hurtful things to you. Perhaps it was a parent, a coach, a brother, or a sister—someone who was deeply critical and unkind. It has taken you a long time to get over those things, and even today, you're not sure you're entirely over them. They still affect you. So, it’s understandable that you would be a little worried about what Jesus might say to you.

At this point, you might be thinking, "I'm not sure how this connects to Luke chapter 7." I would forgive you for thinking that. It’s a valid question. How does this connect to Luke chapter 7? The reason it’s not such a bad question is that we skipped over the passage that leads into what we read just a moment ago, which we briefly covered last week.

To give the proper context, if you back up just a little to the previous section, we read this in Luke 7:17: "This report about Jesus went throughout all Judea and the surrounding region." What report? It was the report about the healing that Jesus did for the centurion's servant, which we studied last week.

Right after he healed the centurion's servant, we are told about Jesus going to the town of Nain, which was just across a valley from his hometown of Nazareth. He raised a young man from the dead, and you can be certain that news spread quickly. That news reached John the Baptist, who at this point in time is in prison because he had spoken up against the...

Political leader Herod called John out for his immorality, and as a result, John was suffering the consequences of standing for righteousness. The report about Jesus raising a young man from the dead spread throughout the entire region. While John was in prison, his disciples reported to him concerning all these things.

John called two of his disciples to himself and sent them to Jesus with a question: "Go and ask Jesus this question. Are you the coming one, the Messiah, or do we look for another?" When the men arrived, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, 'Are you the coming one, or do we look for another?'"

At that very hour, Jesus cured many infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits, and to many blind people, He gave sight. Jesus then answered the two disciples of John, saying, "Go tell John the things that you have seen and heard. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them." He added, "And blessed is he who is not offended because of me." Those last words have weighed upon me for a long time.

I think the reason they have weighed upon me is a book I read many years ago. When I was about 19 years old, a friend of mine, who was probably 15 to 20 years older than me and a mentor, recommended a book by an author named Gene Edwards. The book is called The Tale of Three Kings, and it became a very favorite book of mine. I have probably read it no less than six times and recommended it to dozens of people over the years. It's a short book, not a long read, but it really affected me and impacted me.

As a result of that book, I became interested in Gene Edwards and started to see if he had any other books. Sure enough, he had a lot of other works. By this time, I had probably read more than ten of Gene Edwards's books. The second book I read after The Tale of Three Kings, which was very similar, is called The Prisoner in the Third Cell. It is an allegory built on the story of John the Baptist.

In the way that Gene tells the story of John the Baptist, I think he is on to something. It's kind of what I shared last week if you were here. I believe John was discouraged when he was in prison, and understandably so. If you were in the situation he was in, you would be discouraged too. He was in prison because he stood for righteousness, standing against immorality, and standing for God.

The way of God and righteousness got John into trouble. Now he is in prison, facing execution, and ultimately, he will be executed; he will be beheaded. However, he is discouraged and sends two of his followers to Jesus, asking, "Are you the Messiah, or should we look for someone else?"

The fact that John asks this question is striking to me because we need to consider who John is. When we hear "John the Baptist," if you've been around the Bible for a long time or grew up in children's ministry, you might picture a man in a camel fur coat or robe, with a leather belt, eating locusts and honey. That's what the Bible tells us. He is out in the wilderness, gruff and rough, a man's man, a wilderness man. People go to him, and he calls them out, referring to them as a brood of vipers, saying they came from snakes and urging them to repent. He is a powerful figure, and we might wonder, "Who is this guy?"

This is the man that God the Father selected to be the forerunner of the Messiah. Jesus references the prophet Isaiah, saying that John is the one whom God said would go before Him to prepare the way. He is the herald announcing the coming of the Messiah. Before John began his ministry, the Gospel of John, chapter 1, tells us that he received a revelation from heaven, a revelation from God the Father.

What did God the Father tell John? He instructed him that he would announce the Messiah and reveal Him in a very specific way. God said, "John, I want you to go out into the wilderness and baptize people. As you are baptizing them, the word 'baptizo' means to submerse or immerse them in water. As you baptize them, the one upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining, that is the one."

So, understand that John's baptism was not for the purpose of purification; he was not cleaning people. It was for the purpose of revelation. He was looking for the Messiah. God told him, "You will see the Spirit descending like a dove and remaining on Him, and that is the one."

I have this theory, which I have shared before: every time John baptized someone, I think he did this. Then Jesus shows up, and he baptizes Him. The Spirit descends, and...

What does he say? "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." And you know what happened in John's baptism ministry at that point? It basically stops. Why? Because it wasn't for the purpose of purification; it was for the purpose of revelation.

If anybody had the authentication that Jesus was the one, it was this guy who now says, "So, are you the Messiah? Or should we look for somebody else?" Why is he saying this? Well, he's discouraged. Why is he discouraged? Because he had a conception in his mind, as did pretty much every faithful Jewish person in the first century, about who the Messiah was and what the Messiah would do.

Who was the Messiah to a first-century Jewish person, especially someone like John the Baptist? The Messiah was the anointed deliverer and royal King of Kings. He was going to come and rescue the people of Israel, destroy their captives, the Romans, and exalt Israel and his kingdom above all kingdoms. His kingdom would have no end. John is anticipating and expecting that, and now he's in prison, and that's not happening. I think he's discouraged.

So, he sends these messengers to Jesus and asks, "Are you the one, or should we seek another?" Now, Jesus sends a message to John. So that question arises: what would Jesus say to you? In all honesty, on face value, especially as we Westerners living in 2025 read this passage, we seem to think that Jesus gave him the non-answer answer. It doesn't seem to answer the question, "Are you the one, or should we seek another?" He doesn't say, "Yes, I'm the one." So we think, what kind of answer is this?

But what he does say is very important. He says, "Go and tell John what you see and hear." You see, if we understand the first-century Jewish mind and their understanding of the coming of the Messiah, then this would make more sense. When Jesus says, "Go tell John what you see and hear: the deaf hear, the blind see, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them," I think John the Baptist would know instantly what Jesus was saying.

Why? Because I think he knew the prophet Isaiah. Let me read to you from Isaiah 35:3. The prophet Isaiah, 700 years before Christ would come, says this, and the Jews in the first century believed this to be a messianic prophecy.

"Strengthen the weak hands." Do you think at this moment discouraged John's hands were a little weak? "Strengthen, make firm the feeble knees." Say to those who are fearful; John was fearful. "Be strong. Do not fear. Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with recompense. He will come to save you." I think John was probably thinking, "Where is my Savior?" He said, "Say to the fearful-hearted, He will come with recompense and vengeance to save me. Where is He?"

But then Isaiah says this: "The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped, and the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing. For the water shall burst forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert." John knew what Jesus was saying. But that's not all that Jesus said. I have a feeling that the last eleven words of Jesus hit his heart like an arrow: "And blessed are you if you are not offended with me." Heavy.

You see, Jesus answered the deeper issue that He needed to deal with underneath John's question. It can be interpreted, and I think rightly so, as a mild rebuke. It's not a "smack in the face" kind of thing. I just had an image in my mind of the Godfather once again: "You could act like a man, right?" Smack. He didn't do that, but He did say, "Blessed are you if you're not offended with me." It was a mild rebuke, a challenging word from Jesus as John was in this place of discouragement.

But I am convinced, both through the Scriptures and through my own experience and my observation of other people who have followed Christ, that the rebukes and challenges of Jesus spoken directly to us are not intended as a punishing chastisement. They come from the heart and place of love, and they are intended to get to the heart and to grow us more into what God wants us to be, to help grow our understanding and to help grow our character. Now, just like John...

Just like you, I want things in my life to go the right way, my way. I want to have things work out well. I want smooth sailing and easy riding. I want to be able, like John did with Herod, to say to someone, "You need to repent. Your life is out of order." I want them to immediately respond, "Oh, you're so right. Forgive me. I'm sorry." Unfortunately, they don't always do that. I don't want to suffer, but Jesus frequently has a different agenda than I do.

Point number one, if you're taking notes this morning: Jesus wants to make me better than I am. I am often amazed at the way that God puts things together. I didn't know what song Bianca and the team were going to perform before I came up here to teach this morning, but it always seems to be the fitting and right thing at just the right time. The reminder from that song is powerful: being confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in me will be faithful to complete it.

Jesus wants to make me better than I am. I hold this as a core understanding of the things I go through in this life. The situations that, on face value, are discouraging or, in the moment, seem like they can't possibly have a good outcome. I have these reminders in the Scriptures, like the one from Philippians, but also that favorite verse of so many Christians in Romans chapter 8: "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

How many of us have encouraged ourselves or someone else in the midst of very difficult situations? God knows what you're going through, and He knows what He is seeking to accomplish in this situation. He will accomplish what He is trying to do because He is trying to make me better than I am. This sometimes means He has to speak challenging words to me, like He spoke to John: "Blessed are you if you are not offended with Me."

Immediately after Jesus says, "Blessed are you if you are not offended with Me," He tells John's disciples to go and deliver a message. What did Jesus do next? Look again at Luke chapter 7, verse 24. When the messengers of John had departed, they had just received this message from Jesus. Jesus began to speak to the multitudes. He turned from the messengers.

To the multitudes, He speaks concerning John. He's talking now about him. What would Jesus say about you after He has just spoken this mild rebuke to you? He asks, "What did you go out to the wilderness to see?" In verse 26, He continues, "What did you go out to the wilderness to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet." Verse 28 is amazing: "For I say to you, among those born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist."

Now, how many of you this morning were born of a woman? It's an easy question, not a trick. All of us. Could you come up with a greater compliment than the statement that among those born of women, there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist? What would Jesus say about you? He has just said to John, who is discouraged and at a very low point, "I'm doing something. You may not understand what I'm doing. Blessed are you if you're not offended with me." This is a mild rebuke. He turns and immediately says about John, "This is one of the greatest people that has ever lived."

Sometimes, Jesus has to say challenging things privately to us to challenge us, to transform us, and to make us more and more into what He desires us to be, because we are not there yet. But then, Jesus says amazing things publicly about us. Sometimes, through the things that He allows us to do on His behalf, He is giving us His affirmation.

Here’s the awesome thing to keep in mind: Jesus sees the future vision of where He is ultimately taking us, a vision that we don't always see in the moment. So, Jesus addresses our flaws with us privately, but He announces our identity publicly. He is never harsh, even when He is honest. Sometimes, He has to be honest with us when He corrects us to restore us. He speaks well of us to remind us of who we are in Him.

I think this is really important—something for us to think about and consider. A lot of us believe this conceptually; we understand it in our brains, but we don't understand it actually. We believe it in our minds, or we imagine, "Okay, I see the truthfulness of..."

The truthfulness of this is evident, but we have a hard time walking in it. Point number two: Jesus thinks well of you. Did you know that He thinks well of you? As I said, there is hardly a greater compliment than what He says about John. Of those born of women, there is not one greater than John the Baptist. However, I think that we often believe Jesus thinks about us with a bit of embarrassment.

You want to hear that again? I think that we think Jesus views us with a bit of embarrassment. Sometimes, we imagine Jesus kind of perpetually shaking His head in shame, cringing, and muttering, "Oh, come on." That's how I sometimes think Jesus is thinking about me. But remember, Jesus sees the future vision of us that we don't see and don't comprehend. Being confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. He sees the finished product of where He is taking you and me.

Now, some of you are of the artistic sort. I'm not super artistic; I mean, you could replace the "R" and put a "U." I'm more like that, but you can figure it out later. One of my daughters is very artistic, and she can draw in ways I wish I could. She creates amazing drawings, and both my daughters are quite artistic. Sometimes, the other one is working on art projects, and I look at what they are doing and think, "What are you doing?" I don't see the vision they have.

Then, when you see the finished product, you go, "Wow! How did you do that?" They saw the vision; they had the vision of what it was going to be in the end. I don't always see that, especially about myself, because I have to live with me every single day. But Jesus thinks well of you. He sees the end product.

Remember, He saved you when you were dead in trespasses and sins. He died for you when you were far from Him, as His enemy. Paul, I think it's in Romans, says that God the Father did not spare His only Son for you. So, if He did not spare His only Son for you, how much does He really love you? He gave His only begotten Son for you, that if you believe and trust in Him, you would not perish but have everlasting life.

There are a couple of stories that Jesus tells, and I think we'll find them in the Gospel of Luke, if I remember correctly. I'm pretty sure they are about the treasure in the field and the pearl of great price. There are at least a couple of ways to interpret them. One interpretation is that you are the treasure in the field and you are the pearl of great price for whom God gave everything to redeem you. That's who you are; that's how He sees you.

The potter and the clay is another powerful image. In Jeremiah chapter 18, the prophet goes to the potter's house and watches the potter forming the clay. God speaks, saying, "You are the clay; I am the potter." God sees the finished product of what He is trying to mold you into.

Point number three is that Jesus sees the end product, not the current condition. I see the current condition, but here's the thing: even though Jesus sees the end product and not the current condition, He still has to address the current condition. Sometimes He has to speak to you and me and say some challenging things while, at the same time, He speaks about us in some of the most awesome ways.

Another story comes to mind as I was thinking about this idea last week in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 16. Jesus takes His disciples to the northernmost part of the nation of Israel at that time, to a place called Caesarea Philippi. Caesarea Philippi is near the ancient ruins of a city called Dan. You could walk from the ancient city ruins of Dan to Caesarea Philippi in probably about 20 minutes; it's not a far walk.

At Caesarea Philippi, there is a red rock cliff, probably about an 80-foot cliff, at the base of the mountains that rise to the highest point above the nation of Israel, where the Jordan River begins, Mount Hermon. In Jesus's day, at the base of this cliff, there was a pantheon of pagan gods where all these different deities were worshiped. Jesus goes there, where all these pagans are offering sacrifices to gods like Pan and others.

He asks His disciples a couple of questions. The first one is, "Who do men say that I am?" Here they are among all these other gods that are worshiped, and He asks, "Who do people say that I am?" They respond, "Well, you're this or you're that." Then He directs it to them personally, asking, "Who do you say that I am?" One of the disciples speaks up—it's always Peter—saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." It's a great declaration, and every time I read that passage, I can't get it out of my brain.

I see Bob Barker on The Price is Right. It's like ding, ding, ding, ding! Yes, the price is right! That's what I think of when he says, "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell."

Here's the interesting thing: where that cliff is, where the temple to Pan was 2,000 years ago, there's a cave in the rock wall at Caesarea Philippi. They called that cave the gates of hell. So, Jesus says, "Blessed are you, Peter. God revealed that to you. And you are Peter. On this rock, I will build my church. The gates of hell, all the gods of this world, will not prevail against the church. I will give you the keys of the kingdom. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

This is a great statement about Peter. Jesus makes this awesome proclamation about him. I imagine Peter, as Jesus is saying this, thinking, "Yes, that's right! Remember when I walked on water, gentlemen?" John's over there, saying, "Yeah, but you sank." The other disciples are like, "Oh goodness, he's talking good about Peter again." That's how I imagine it.

But you move from Jesus saying this about Peter to what? Immediately after Peter makes this great proclamation, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," Jesus says these glowing things about him. Listen to this: from that time, Jesus began—this is the very next verse—to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and raised again the third day.

Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Blessed are you, Peter. Hey Jesus, come over here. This will not happen to you. Far be it from you, Lord." He begins to rebuke him, saying, "Far be it from you, Lord. This shall not happen to you."

And Jesus turned and said to Peter, what he said about Peter, now what he says to Peter: "Get behind me, Satan. You are an offense to me because you are not mindful of the things of God, but of the things of man."

The juxtaposition of these two statements about Peter is remarkable. Jesus first says, "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. I’m going to give you the keys of the kingdom," and then immediately follows with, "Get behind me, Satan. You are an offense to me." This fascinating dynamic reveals much about Jesus' character.

One of the things I love about Jesus, and appreciate deeply, is His ability to speak a glowing word of affirmation. He allows us, on His behalf, to accomplish amazing things that have nothing to do with us and everything to do with Him. Yet, He can also turn to us and say, "What you just did was wrong." This is not because He is angry or upset; rather, Jesus is not a fawning sycophant. He does not constantly affirm us with uncritical praise that overlooks our shortcomings and sin. Instead, He addresses those issues directly.

Jesus is not the kind of person who is merely trying to be liked through flattering obsequiousness. He is willing to confront the problems we face, not to tear us apart or bring us down, but to help us grow and move further toward glory. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 3, states that we are being transformed into the same image, the image of Christ, from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. Jesus is always in a redemptive posture with us, striving to transform us. He views us through the lens of grace and the future glory to which He is leading us.

Now, consider this: when Jesus says to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan. You are an offense to me," do you think Peter was a little troubled in that moment? I believe he was. However, those words from Jesus, as troubling as they may be, are also liberating. Why are they liberating? Because with those words, when He says, "Get behind me, Satan," He is saying to...

Peter, that's not you. The interesting thing about that is the same thing is true when he made this proclamation: "You're the Christ, the Son of the living God." What did Jesus say to him then? "Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, Peter, but my Father in heaven."

In the same way, He says to him, "What you just said is an offense to me. That's not you." But when you said that awesome thing, proclaiming me as the Christ, that wasn't you either. That didn't come from you; that came from the Father.

When all is said and done, we need to keep in mind point number four: Jesus works and speaks from a place of love to produce a perfected outcome. He is making you into a finished product, and you're not there yet. But we can be confident in this very thing: He who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Now, these two events—John's disciples, their inquiry of Jesus and His response to John, and Peter doing what Peter did—bring up something that I think is a fascinating consideration that I want to leave with you as we close today. I encourage you to think about this next week: Where did it come from?

Where did this discouragement and this dejected loss of faith come from for John? And don't misunderstand; he was in a pitiful state. He's not in a good situation, a situation that none of us would ever want to find ourselves in. He's in prison, facing execution, and wondering when his Deliverer is going to show up, who never showed up. He is fighting faithlessness.

So, it's understandable that he's discouraged because he's in a discouraging situation. But where did this discouragement come from to move him to ask the question, "Are you the Messiah?" Or to even wrestle with the thought, "I guess Jesus isn't the one." If anybody had the affirmation that Jesus is the one, it's John, who saw the Spirit descending and abiding upon Jesus. That was the fulfillment of the word that God had told him.

The spirit descending and abiding is significant, and that's the one he saw. But how can he get from that to this? I want to suggest to you for your consideration this week that that conclusion came to John from somewhere else. In the same way that somehow, in some transcendent, unexplainable process to us, Peter's declaration, "You're the Christ, the Son of the living God," and "Far be it from you, Lord, this shall not happen to you," did not actually come from Peter, but came from somewhere else to Peter. In that same way, John's conclusion was not entirely from John.

Now, this confronts us with the strangeness of reality. What do I mean by the strangeness of reality? Well, we live in a culture that constantly bombards us with this Enlightenment prospect that everything that exists is just what we see and sense through our senses. There's nothing beyond that. However, even Enlightenment philosophers like Immanuel Kant believed that there was something beyond the sensory perception we have. He called the things that you can sense with your eyes, ears, mouth, and nose "the phenomena." He said there is something beyond the phenomena that we can't sense, and we Christians would call that the spiritual realm.

This is the strangeness of reality: there is a world you cannot see, and there are beings and entities that exist in that world that you cannot see. Somehow, in some way that I don't fully understand and can't completely articulate, those entities can influence your thinking. You might ask, "Is that really possible?" Well, Jesus said, "Flesh and blood didn't reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven." When you said this thing, it didn't originate from John entirely; it came from somewhere else. That's a strange thing to consider. Where do these thoughts come from? They are your thoughts, and yet, I would say, not always in every way.

I confess this is kind of a strange contemplation. I'm going to leave this with you, and in about four minutes, you're going to leave here. For me, four minutes feels like eight minutes.

It's an NFL four minutes. You know what that means? I'm going to leave this with you for something to think about. It's a strange contemplation, but it's worth considering.

I recently had a conversation with someone who has been struggling with intrusive thoughts. What are intrusive thoughts? They are random, errant images or thoughts that come into our minds and are often unwelcome and troubling. Everybody has them. You all have them. Have you ever had a thought and wondered, "Oh, where did that come from?" You might think, "Oh man, what does that say about me that that thought would come? Oh my goodness gracious, I must be worse than I thought." But maybe it didn't come from you entirely.

You might wonder, how is that possible? The Bible indicates that there is a spiritual realm, and those thoughts could come from the Father, God in heaven, or they could come from dark spiritual entities. It's fascinating that the word we use in English, "angel," comes from the Greek "angelos," which is translated as "messenger." Those are spiritual messengers, and somehow, in a way we can't fully understand, these messages sometimes come to us.

This raises a troubling question: How do I know if this thought is good, bad, right, true, or false? How do I discern if this is from me or from another source? Is it something to be accepted or rejected? I think there's something in the last bit of this text that might lead to a contemplative answer to this question.

Look at Luke 7:31. The Lord said, "What shall I liken the men of this generation? And what are they like?" They are like children sitting in a marketplace, calling to one another, saying, "We played the flute for you, and you did not dance. We mourned to you, and you did not weep. For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you said, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you said, 'Look, a glutton, a wine bibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.'"

And here's the key, verse 35: one of my favorite sayings of Jesus. "But wisdom is justified by all her children." Remember back to point four. Jesus works and speaks from a place of love to produce a perfected outcome.

When you have a random, errant thought, ask the question. God has given you a rational brain. What does it speak? What does it produce? Where does it lead? Jesus says...

Wisdom is justified by her children. Whether or not something is wise, good, true, or beautiful is proven by its outcome. Wisdom is justified by all her children. What does it produce? The fruit tells you something about the source, the tree. Outcomes are important.

So, follow the line of reasoning with the rationality that God has given you. The logical conclusion of this form of thinking is to ask: If I follow its path, where does it take me? Does it lead to a place that honors and glorifies God, building up others, or does it take me to a place of destruction and death? This might indicate something about the source. There is the Father of God, and then there is the father of lies. Where does it take you?

Not every thought that goes through your mind came from you. Not every imagination leads to a wholesome or good conclusion. Therefore, use the rationality that God has given you and consider where it goes. If it leads to a place of death, it probably came from the father of lies and ought to be rejected. You have the choice and the power, with the help of God, to reject whatever that thought may be.

You might ask, "How on earth do I do that?" I think Paul gives us a good answer to that question in Philippians chapter 4. I will close with this. As I read, you can stand.

In Philippians chapter 4, Paul says, "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say, rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to all men, for the Lord is at hand. And here's the kicker: Be anxious for nothing. But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus."

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report—if there is anything virtuous, if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things, the things which you learned.

Received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. That errant, random, disturbing image or thought that comes to mind—if you dwell on that, it will take you down a path you don't want to go. So, he says here, think on these things: the things that are true, the things that are just, the things that are good, the things that are noble. The peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds. Then you can fulfill that command, and it is a command: be anxious for nothing.

Father God, I pray that you'd help us this week because there are so many anxiety-producing images and thoughts. Images that are fed to us through the nightly news or through Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, X—whatever it may be. So many images are fed to us all day, every day, that vex, disturb, worry, and grip us. We don't have to think on those things. We get to choose, by the power of your Spirit, to think on those things that are lovely.

And Lord, you might say to us today, be anxious for nothing. But in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. So God, we come before you with our requests and we say, renew us in our minds. Transform us by your grace. Make us more and more into what you want us to be and help us to be confident of this very thing: that you who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. We pray this in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said, Amen.