In Search of Faith : Lesson 5

Text: Matthew 11: 1-15; Luke 7:19-30
6 November 2016

Struggles in Faith

Example 1 John the Baptiser

  1. John the Baptiser                                       Matthew 11:2-3

a) The voice in the wilderness
b) The fore-runner of the Messiah
c) Effective ministry                                                       Matthew 3
  1. The plight of John

a) He was in jail
b) For speaking against the king                              Mark 6:17-18
  1. His questions

a) Are You the Coming One?
b) Do we look for another?
  1. What his questions signify

a) Doubts
b) Struggles in faith
  1. Response of the Lord Jesus Christ

a) He healed many in that very hour                   Luke 7:21
b) His answer to John
i)   The blind see
ii)  The lame walk
iii) The lepers are healed
iv) The dead are raised up                                                      Matthew 11:4-5
v)  Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me     Matthew 11:6
  1. In praise of John the Baptiser

a) More than a prophet                                                       Matthew 11:9
b) Not one greater than John the Baptist                   Matthew 11:11
c) He is Elijah who is to come                                         Matthew 11:14

Example 2

  1. The generation of the Lord Jesus            Matthew 11:16

a) Like spoilt brats                                                             Matthew 11:17-18
b) Whimsical and unruly
  1. Rebuke of 3 cities

a) Chorazin                                                                          Matthew 11:21
b) Bethsaida                                                                         Matthew 11:21
c) Capernaum                                                                     Matthew 11:23

3. Ministry of the Lord Jesus in these cities

a) Teaching
b) Preaching
c) Miracles (“mighty works”)                                       Matthew 11:21, 23

4) Comparison

a) If the mighty works had been done in the following cities
i)   Tyre
ii)  Sidon
iii) Sodom
b) They would have repented

5) Stern and solemn words of warning             Matthew 11:24

a) More tolerable for Sodom
b) Than for the cities that had rejected the Person and ministry of the Lord Jesus

SPECIAL SPONTANEOUS PRAYER OF THE LORD JESUS

  1. God had hidden His truth from “the wise and the prudent”    Matthew 11:25

  1. He has revealed them to babes Matthew 11:25