Matthew 11:8

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Pray

Blessed Lord give me a voice to preach.

To address these men.

And O God make us men,

who meet the cultural moment in way with which you are pleased.

Deliver us, O Lord, from softness, for the sake of your glory,

among the nations. Amen.

Introduction:

Camels hair was the common dress of the Old Covenant prophet. The camel is a beast of burden. The garment was stiff and coarse and rough. It was not soft to the touch but hard so as to not give way to pressure. John the Baptist dressed in a way appropriate and adapted to his residence. What is called here in our text, “the wilderness.”

Jesus contrasts the rough, coarse attire of John, with the soft, yielding raiment of those who dwell in kings’ palaces.

John has been arrested and put in jail on account of his hard words towards Herod Antipas for marrying the former wife of his still living half brother Philip. As he sits in prison, John, the man, has doubts, even about his own prophecies. His experience doesn’t match his understand of the coming of the Messiah. So he sends his disciples to Jesus to say to Him, “Are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another.” Jesus answers by pointing back to the prophetic promises of Isaiah that are fulfilled in His ministry. And then Jesus does something quite amazing. He gives a tribute, as it were, to John the Baptist. After a mild rebuke, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” Jesus honors John the Baptist, in spite of his doubts.

Three times Jesus asks the people, “What did you go out to see?” John was not a reed shaken by the wind. John was not a man dressed in soft clothing. John was a prophet - even the forerunner of our Lord.

The prophet is a plain spoken man. Contrary to so many self-professed “prophets” today who only speak in self-aggrandizing vagueness, prophets are plain spoken men. They are hard men. Willing to speak hard things because they’re true. Willing to speak hard things even though it might cost them. We can easily observe from John’s ministry that he spoke plainly to government (hence his being in jail), that he spoke plainly to religious hypocrites, and that he spoke plainly to the people.

He was not a soft man.

You and I exist in and struggle against a culture that is designed to breed soft men. Society preaches to men young and old that they must crucify their masculinity. That they must discard it like toxic waste. That they must shut their mouths and yield to the cultural moment.

And every man here, whether you are a husband, father, someone who preaches, who pastors, who who have a certain degree of spotlight, their is pressure on you from without and from within to capitulate to the cultural moment - to give in to the pressure - to yield your plain spoken masculinity - to be… soft.

The word that our Lord uses in verse 8 of Matthew 11, “soft” is the Greek word Malakos. In terms of clothing, as it describes clothing, It means to be yielding, the word carries the idea of being manipulated when touched. To give way to pressure.

That’s what it means in terms of clothing and that’s what it means in terms of a man. Means the same thing and more. It means to be yielding, as a man, manipulated when touched, giving in to pressure. feeble, faint-hearted, cowardly. To be soft, the word actually means) like freshly ploughed ground.

Malakos is used in the parallel accounts of this passage and then it is used only one other place in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul employs this term in 1 Cor. 6:9. In a bullet list of those who will not inherit the kingdom of God, Paul lists the effeminate - malakos - the soft. It is translated in the Septuagint - that is, the Greek translation of the Old Testament - the term is translated as dainty morsel. And carries the sense of one who allows himself to be devoured greedily. Effeminate. This term, as Paul uses it in 1 Cor. 6:9 is understood by many scholars to actually be those who would be on the receiving end of a homosexual relationship. That is what it is to be soft.

Men dressed in soft clothing, as it were, are those men who bend over before government overreach, before religious hypocrisy, and for the approval of men.

John the Baptist was not a soft man.

Despite his stumbling, Jesus is pleased with John the Baptist. Because he is hard man who spoke plainly, as the prophet he was set apart to be.

Hard men do not bend over for worldly powers.

I. Hard Men Do not Bend Over before Government Overreach.

Why was John in jail?

For denouncing Herod’s sin.

Listen to Luke 3:19-20

But when Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the wicked things which Herod had done, Herod also added this to them all: he locked John up in prison.

Also hear Mark 6:18, For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”

Now, why would John say this the Herod? Herod is not a Jew. And that is exactly the point. John rebukes Herod for breaking the moral law of God, from Lev. 18:16, “You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness.” It is a sexually immoral relationship - to which John the Baptist does not shrink back from speaking plainly.

But notice again in Luke 3, it was not only this immoral relationship that John rebukes. It says, But when Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the wicked things which Herod had done, Herod also added this to them all: he locked John up in prison.

John is not a soft man. Soft men are those who refuse to address government overreach, who refuse to rebuke national sin, who refuse to inform the government of their divinely appointed role and warn them to stay in their lane.

As men of God it is our duty to wield the Word of God in addressing the government and tell them you cannot command what isn’t yours to command. It is way outside your God-given jurisdiction to dictate when, where, and how the Church worships.

And so when men who claim to be servants of God, yield, give in, and bend over for the State telling them not to sing, cover their faces, stay away from one another and limit who can come to the place of worship, they prove themselves to be soft men. They give themselves up to be devoured greedily by government overreach. And their reasoning is, well they aren’t telling us to sin, so we should obey. Not only is that not true, but it’s irrelevant. The State is not God. It is the servant of God accountable to the Word of God. By not complying with government overreach we speak plainly that we must obey God rather then men.

Pastor of GraceLife Church of Edmonton, James Coates - who presently sits in jail for refusing to bend over before government overreach - puts it this way, in his sermon on the 14th, the Sunday before he turned himself in, “By not pointing out that they are acting unjustly, we are not loving the government. These are individuals, human beings, who are accountable to God, who need to be confronted with their sin in order to realize they need to be reconciled to God, through the Son, Jesus Christ.”

This is what John the Baptist does. He confronts all the wicked things that Herod had done.

“What did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing?”

Jesus says that if the people wanted to see someone soft, they should visit a king like Herod, who held John in prison. Soft men are the one’s holding God’s men in jail.

Soft men are also those who compromise by complying when the government exercises an authority that it does not actually possess.

Men, you want to love your neighbor? You don’t do that by bending over before government overreach. That is what loving your neighbor has come to mean now. You do it by speaking plainly, addressing the sin, and if they tell you to close your church you keep it open. And you preach.

Pastor James Coates affirmed this to his congregation saying, “By meeting we are testifying that the government has no jurisdiction here… and the government is being forced to consider what their authority actually is.”

When David instructs the rulers of the earth in Psalm to the be wise and to be instructed and to kiss the Son, he does not tell them they have no authority, but that their authority must be in subjection to Christ. To serve Him in their office. So that, as Paul admonishes Timothy to pray for kings, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life life in all godliness and dignity.

Brothers, this is why we cannot compromise, this is why we must consider it SOFT to do so, when we, like Jehoshaphat, proclaim to the judges, “Consider what you are doing, for you do not judge for man but for the LORD who is with you when you render judgment. Now then let the fear of the LORD be upon you; be very careful what you do, for the LORD our God will have no part in unrighteousness or partiality or the taking of a bribe.” We let them know that there authority goes so far as it is subject to Christ’s rule by the Word of God, and that they will be held accountable to God for the violations of their office.

On Thursday, as the Equality Act was being passed, in response to a statement against it about the consequences a nation will suffer who rejects God, Representative Jerry Nadler said, “God’s will is not the concern of this congress.”

Should they bring Christians before the tribunal for meeting to worship? They must know that they likewise will be brought before the judgment seat of Christ.

Our Lord would have be men who are willing to do that.

And so, hard men, the men with whom Christ is pleased, do not yield to Government overreach.

Nor do they bend over

II. For Religious Hypocrisy

Jesus is pleased with John the Baptist because in the fulfillment of his office, as he prepared they way for the Lord, he spoke plainly to the religious hypocrites.

Matthew 3:7–10 NASB95

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. “The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Pharisees and Sadducees he called a brood of vipers.

The Pharisees, who made the keeping of the law a burden and who loved public demonstrations piety.

The Sadducees, who coveted political power and denied the resurrection.

Groups who would oppose the Lord Jesus Christ, whom He would rebuke and denounce as hypocrites of the worst kind.

John is baptizing in the Jordan Valley. The river has steep rocky banks. An ideal environment for serpents. John calls out the Pharisees and Sadducees who are approaching for baptism, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” He rebukes their venomous influence on religion. He discerns that they are only there because at that moment it is the popular thing to do, but they have no repentance. His question to them, “Who warned you to flee form the wrath to come?” Is intentionally ironic and sarcastic because they did not consider themselves to be in danger of God’s wrath. They are like the snakes slithering among the rocks on the shore of the Jordan, who scurry away when a fire is cast. Yet they do not recognize their need to escape God’s judgment.

Now take note of something very important: John will not baptize them. Instead he calls them to genuine repentance. If there was anybody worthy of baptism, from the perspective of the way these groups had set themselves up in that society, it was them. Everyone would have expected John to baptize them. His words are therefore shocking.

The ax is already laid at the root of the trees. The use of the terms “already” and “is” convey a graphic, emphatic present tense. It is happening, immediately, and certainly and even now.

Well, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing?

Brother’s today in our society and even in some of our churches we are battling against a different gospel that goes by the name of social justice. It places an emphasis on what is done on the outside rather then the inside. We face a pagan religion of wokeism, that loves public demonstrations of social justice piety. We war against a virtue signaling hypocrisy. A hypocrisy that even pastors that we know have engaged in and do engage in so that it will go well with them politically.

We are in combat with hypocritical stances on abortion. We can cheer for a heartbeat bill and think we’ve done our part. We can call abortion sin and then affirm that women are actually victims themselves. We would call ourselves men of God, and then give money to gospeless organizations in order to quiet our consciences, rather than going out on the street to fight.

Right legistration, praying for the street fighters. Abortion is not a box to be checked.

And in doing so men prove themselves to be soft. A prophet is a plain spoken man, a hard man. A soft man will be passive on all these issues. He wont open his mouth and teach his people and confront religious hypocrisy. Why? Well he might lose members, friends, money, status, popularity and then he turns out to be the biggest hypocrite of all.

You are like the reed that Jesus describes, that is shaken by the wind. It puts up no fight against the force of the wind so that it is blown every which way. The word “shaken” there in verse 7 means to totter, waver. Look around! How many men, who claim to be stewards of the household of God, have treated her like a house of cards. A thing that totters and bends and is shaken under the slightest turbulence. The church is not a house of cards, she is the pillar and ground of the truth. She does not totter nor bend nor shake. And so those who would be her stewards, must neither totter, nor bend, nor be shaken.

Don’t be that man, brothers. Stand your ground. Open your mouth. Confront and expose these evils like John the baptist confronted and exposed those gospel opponents.

And remember dear brothers, that it is the Lord Christ whom you aim to please and not mere men.

Our third point:

Hard men do not bend over

III. For Man’s Approval

John the Baptist did not carry out his ministry in order to maintain a following. Rather, when his disciples come to him John 3:26 and say to john, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.” John recognizes that “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven” - that whatever ministry he has is the gift of God, and so must be carried out in a way that honors and pleases God, even if it displeases men. And he concludes, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

When Jesus says in verse 8 of chapter 11, “What did you go out to see?” The word see is (Gk. theaomai ) and it means to look at or behold, but here it carries the sense of gazing at something entertaining. To gaze upon something stimulating. To view as spectators.

Dear brothers the so called church in America has men, who call themselves men, who treat the house of God and the corporate worship of the saints like an entertaining spectacle, soft men who peacock on stage dressed quite literally in soft clothing. Why do they do that? For man’s approval. They’re not stupid, some of them, they know what carnal men desire, and they give it to them.

It comes from a desire to be seen and to be liked. But notice the phrasing of Jesus question. Three times he asks the people, not “Whom” but “What” did you go out to see. Jesus does not call attention to the man, John, who doubts. He calls attention to his office. And to his fulfillment of that office. Jesus answers his own question. “A prophet.”

Brothers, refusing to fulfill your task as a servant of God so that people will like you is what soft men do. Not gathering, for the approval of man. Or even, gathering because men would disapprove if you didn’t. It’s pragmatism. It’s soft. Stand firm on biblical conviction.

Don’t be a reed. That is Jesus’s first question: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?”

Reeds grow on long horizontal trunks under the water. The higher they ascend the thinner they get so that they are quite flimsy - the part that’s out of the water. Reeds went with the wind. If your wanted to know what direction the wind was blowing, you could look at reeds. We don’t have time to go to these passages but in elsewhere Scripture they are used to illustrate weakness, fickleness, and instability. It is the temptation that far too many men yield to, to go with the wind of the cultural moment. To march because it’s right in the eyes of the world to march. One day these men are saying these things, and the next they saying something else, whatever they think appeals to the culture their trying to reach. Men, know that if you do that, you are considered unstable by other men. Men become hesitant to go into battle with you, because they don’t know where you’re going to stand on, “this issue or that issue” next year.

The string east wind in this region would actually bend these reeds over, so that they would lay almost flat upon the water. Do not be a reed who will not stand against the wind.

As a man, you may be a bruised reed that He will not break, yes, but in your office, in whatever position He has you as his prophet, as it were, don’t be a reed that bends over for the approval of men.

Not only must we not bend before government overreach, before religious hypocrisy, and for the approval of man, but we must also not be soft when it comes to self-government, personal piety, and the fear of God. You say, “I would never deny my Lord, no matter if the government threatened me with fines, or took away my family, or put my in jail, or put a gun to my head. No matter what seductive teaching comes down that would advance my position. No matter what people would praise me for, I would never deny my Lord.” But do you, O man, deny your flesh in the hour of temptation? If not, then do not presume that you will not deny your Lord.

Many in our day are and will be like the prophets spoken of in Zech. 13:4, who contributed in leading the nation astray by their false prophesies, “each will be ashamed by his vision when he prophecies, and he will not put on a hairy robe.” Camel’s hair, the symbol of a plain spoken man, who does not yield, a hard man, who does not bend.

“What did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing?” Jesus no, but a prophet.

Verse 11: “Truly I say to you, among those born of women, there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist!”

This is a man whom Jesus esteems.

Now, you must notice something significant. John is in prison. Jesus will never see him again. Not long after Jesus says these things, John is beheaded.

Brother’s this is Jesus’s eulogy for John the Baptist. This is, as it were, Jesus’ funeral oration for John. There will be consequences, for not bending over. Would you be likened unto the prophet whom our Lord esteems? Then you must be prepared to suffer like one. So that when we are given the choice between bending over and beheading, we will gladly offer our necks.

You might think well I’ll never be great in the eyes of my Lord like that, but look at what he says!

Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

How can that be? John died before the work of Christ was accomplished, before the plan of God was revealed. But you and I, as though we are standing on John’s shoulders, proclaim Christ crucified, dead and buried, risen and ascended

Brothers! Would you have your Lord’s approval? Would you have your Lord, be pleased with you like He is here pleased with John the Baptist. Then stay faithful to the message he has given you to preach! And behold, even those who are least in the kingdom of heaven, like myself, are greater than he.