“Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” (Matthew 11:2-5)

This is something that all of the saints of God need every once in a while – a little reminder. John the Baptist was one of the greatest preachers of the New Testament. He did not compromise; and he called sin, sin. It did not matter what status you may have had, or position of authority, the Word of God went forth.

The religious leaders of his day came to his church service; and this is what John told them:

“Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,” (Matthew 3:5)

“And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.” (Matthew 3:6)

“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matthew 3:7)

“Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:” (Matthew 3:8)

John the Baptist preached the coming of the Lamb of God. John baptized the Lamb of God. John witnessed the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Jesus; and he heard a voice from heaven that said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:16-17).

In the Gospel of John the Apostle (John 1:29), we see John the Baptist acknowledging Jesus as the Lamb of God. But now, in our text verses, John is in prison; and he is questioning whether Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, or do we keep looking? Would you say that doubt and fear have set into John’s mind?

Why do we allow doubt and fear to build in our minds as to Who Jesus is?

John needed a little reminder, and sometimes we need one too. We have an adversary, and a crafty one. If our enemy can get us to second-guess ourselves as to who we are in Jesus, and what Christ has done for us – we will find ourselves in serious trouble.

We have to keep in mind that prison in John’s day has no comparison to prison today. Prison for John was a dark, filthy dungeon; thereby leaving John with a lot of time to think.

We have to guard our minds against those negative thoughts that try to capture our minds. Those negative thoughts will lead us to believe that we have no hope. Jesus is our Hope!

Our adversary wants us to turn back; to give up. He wants us to question our salvation and question God – are You the One, or do I look for another? Are You really real? Why do I have to suffer?

We must be careful – I am reminded of the Children of Israel when God brought them deliverance from the bondage they were under in Egypt, which is a type of the world. Moses, who was used of God, had led the Children of Israel out of Egypt from hard bondage. All was glorious. The Children of Israel had seen the Power of God manifested on their behalf to bring them out of bondage. God, their Provider, fed them with manna; but Israel began to complain and desired “flesh” to eat.

Let’s look at the Scriptures:

“And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:” (Numbers 11:4-5)

Why is it that when we reflect back on our past life before God saved us, the only things that we can remember are the good times?

We all need Just a Little Reminder!